994 LETTERS ON PROGRAMME OF ORGANIZATION. 



gent men to a vast number of interesting and important 

 objects to which their researches and observations ought to 

 be extended. It exhibits too, in a very striking light, the 

 great deficiency which exists among us in the means and 

 resources for conducting extensive inquiries, or for pursuing- 

 thorough investigations upon many — nay, indeed, upon 

 almost any important subject. With this view, my own 

 feelings would have led me — and I dare say I am not alone 

 in this — to desire that a greater share of the appropriation 

 should have been made — at first — for the purchase of books 

 and for the more rapid accumulation of such a library as is 

 ultimately contemplated, and a greater share also to provid- 

 ing apparatus and instruments — all the means and facilities- 

 requisite for pursuing original scientific investigations on a 

 more extended scale here, in Washington. I should prob- 

 ably have given to the will of the donor a somewhat stronger 

 interpretation in that direction, especially as he chose ta 

 give to his Institution " a local habitation and a name," 

 here, in the metropolis of the nation. Still, this might 

 have been deemed less liberal and less catholic in spirit, and 

 it is, perhaps, better as it is. I certainl}' have the greatest 

 confidence in the wisdom and discretion of the able and 

 judicious men who have adopted the present arrangement, 

 and should not for a moment think o*f placing my own 

 judgment in competition with theirs. 



The objects embraced in the present plan are all of them 

 important, all valuable, and I should feel the greatest pleas- 

 ure in being able to contribute, in the smallest degree, to 

 the attainment of any of them. Great credit is certainly 

 due to those who have conceived, and thus far matured 

 the plan for the liberality and comprehensiveness of their 

 views. And it cannot be doubted that all the true friends of 

 learning — all who can appreciate the value of real knowl- 

 edge and the importance of its " diflusion among men " — 

 will hail with pleasure the adoption of such a plan, with 

 such means for carrying it into execution, and will be ready, 

 by their countenance and co-operation, to aid in carrying 

 out its noble objects to their fullest and happiest results. 



Permit me, gentlemen, to congratulate you upon the very 

 favorable auspices under which your labors have been com- 

 menced, in connection with the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and to express the hope that, in your future effbrts, with 

 the ample means placed within your reach, " for the increase 

 and diffusion of knowledge among men," you may not only 

 be cheered by abundant evidences of success, but by the 

 approbation of a liberal and enlightened public. 



