950 PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 



world is his country — all men, his countrymen." The 

 origin of the funds, the bequest of a foreigner, should alsa 

 preclude the adoption of apian which does not, in the words 

 of Mr. Adams, " spread the benefits to be derived from the 

 institution not only over the whole surface of this Union, 

 but throughout the civilized world." " Mr. Smithson's rea- 

 son for fixing the seat of this institution at Washington 

 obviously was, that there is the seat of government of the 

 United States, and there the Congress by whose legislation, 

 and the Executive through whose agency, the trust commit- 

 ted to the honor, intelligence, and good faith of the nation, 

 is to be fulfilled." The centre of operations being perma- 

 nently fixed at Washington, the character of this city for 

 literature and science will be the more highly exalted in pro- 

 portion as the influence of the institution is more widely 

 diffused. 



That the terms increase and diffusion of knowledge are 

 logically distinct, and should be literally interpreted with 

 reference to the will, must be evident when we reflect that 

 they are used in a definite sense, and not as mere synonyms, 

 by all who are engaged in the pursuits to which Smithson 

 devoted his life.. In England there are two classes of insti- 

 tutions, founded on the two ideas conveyed by these terms. 

 The Royal Society, the Astronomical, the Geological, the 

 Statistical, the Antiquarian Societies, all have for their object 

 the increase of knowledge ; while the London Institution, 

 the Mechanics' Institution, the Surrey Institution, the Soci- 

 ety for the Difinsion of Religious Knowledge, the Society 

 for the Difi'usion of Useful Knowledge, are all intended to 

 diffuse and disseminate knowledge among men. In our 

 own country, also, the same distinction is observed in the 

 use of the terms by men of science. Our colleges, acade- 

 mies, and common schools, are recognized as institutions 

 partially intended for the diffusion of knowledge, while the 

 express object of some of our scientific societies is the pro- 

 motion of the discovery of new truths. 



The will makes no restriction in favor of any particular 

 kind of knowledge; though propositions have been fre- 

 quently made for devoting the funds exclusively to the pro- 

 motion of certain branches of science having more imme- 

 diate application to the practical arts of life, and the adoption 

 of these propositions has been urged on the ground of the 

 conformity of such objects to the pursuits of Smithson ; but 

 an examination of his writings will show that he excluded 

 from his own studies no branch of general knowledge, and 

 that he was fully impressed with the important philoso- 



