JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 125 



The Board then adjourned to meet on Saturday, the 22d instant, 

 at 11 o'clock a. m. 



March 22, 1856. 



The Board of Regents met this day, at 11 o'clock. 



Present, Hon. It. B. Taney, the Chancellor, Messrs. Mason, Doug- 

 las, English, Warner, Totten, Towers, Seaton, Treasurer, and the 

 Secretary. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. 



Mr. Mason stated that he had made an examination of the papers 

 referred to him relative to the Wynn estate. 



After some remarks respecting the proper course to be pursued, 

 on motion of Mr. Douglas, it was — 



Resolved, That Messrs. Mason and English be appointed a committee to draught a 

 bill, and present it to Congress at their discretion, asking the authority for the Insti- 

 tion to receive funds or legacies, and for power to sue and be sued. 



The Secretary presented the subject of the removal of the collec- 

 tion of objects of natural history, now in the Patent Office, to the 

 Smithsonian building. 



The Secretary presented to the Board a manuscript work on 

 bibliography by Mr. Ludewig, which had originally been offered to 

 the Smithsonian Institution, but which Mr. Triibner, a liberal and 

 intelligent publisher in London, had now undertaken to present to 

 the world at his own expense. 



The following letter from Mr. Stone, of Washington, was read: 



Mount Pleasant, 

 Washington City, February 13, 1856. 



Dear Sir : Some time since I spoke to you of the propriety and advantage of pro- 

 curing from Europe copies in plaster of the best antique and modern statues and bas- 

 reliefs. Having since reflected on the importance of cultivating a taste for the tine 

 arts in our country, I now communicate to you my views, knowing that the object 

 will tind in you a zealous friend and advocate. 



I am aware, to undertake what is required will subject you to some trouble and 

 opposition, owing to the absence of that knowledge, to procure which your exertions 

 arc solicited. 



As the country advances in science, the elegancies of life are in demand ; decora- 

 tions, ornaments, &c, in every fabric, tind purchasers, and the higher the state of 

 refinement, the more is art required. To meet this demand, it is requisite that we 

 should have the advantage of seeing what has already been done in sculpture to servo 

 as a basis. Thus, we may not only cultivate the talent of the artist, but the taste of 

 the consumer, and thus the arts will meet with proper encouragement. 



It is not expected that all who study from the models will acquire equal eminence ; 

 still all who work with zeal will be improved and find employment in the various 

 branches of trade that require cultivated talent, as in works of design, including the 

 various factories for using the loom for wool, cotton, or silk, potteries, including por- 

 celain ware, founderies, &c. Painters, architects, and sculptors are usually thought 

 to bo those only benefitted by schools of art ; but it is not so ; they are a few among 

 the thousands who will be prepared to give beauty and elegance to every fabric of 

 manufacture known in the mechanic arts. 



On examination it will be found that the cultivation of the art of design will thus 

 be of immense value to the country. On application being made by our minister in 

 Eome, casts would be permitted to be taken from the moulds in the possession of the 



