126 BOARD OF REGENTS. 



Government, the cost of which would be trifling. The statues would decorate the- 

 Smithsonian building, and many could be so placed as to appear as accessories to it. 



If a school of design is formed, it may be independent of the Institution. But 

 should the Smithsonian Institution deem it of sufficient importance, and consider it 

 as one of the means of diffusion of useful knowledge among men, and grant an occa- 

 sional lecture as on other subjects, it would accomplish much, and Congress may be 

 made to feel that the interests of the country demand their fostering care in regard to 

 the arts. I think you will find that ours is the only Government that has not seen 

 and felt the importance to manufacturers of cultivating the fine arts. The great strife 

 with manufacturers is to obtain elegance and beauty without interfering with dura- 

 bility. Beauty and symmetry should be made essentials in the manufacture of the 

 simplest articles, as they maybe attained without interfering with more substantial 

 qualities. Articles manufactured with elegance and good proportion will always be 

 preferred to those of only equal strength and durability, of uncouth form. It is true 

 that we may manufacture from forms and patterns produced by the forethought and 

 liberality of other nations, and still be inferior to what our own genius would produce, 

 were the facilities of cultivation in the fine arts made equal with those of other 

 nations. The free institutions of our country cause men to rely in a measure on their 

 own resources, thus early developing and practising those inventive powers so peculiar 

 to our people. We are not bound down by the local laws and prejudices of societies 

 as in the Old World. Here a man, if he pleases, is his own carpenter, mason, or 

 smith. His inquiring mind and ingenuity lead him to undertake and accomplish 

 what he desires. How little will be required to cultivate talent and produce men who 

 will record the history of their country in marble or imperishable bronze — in the 

 language of nature, always to be understood. Our monuments and antiquities will 

 not carry with them the odor of royalty and nobility, but forms of elegance and 

 beauty. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



WILLIAM J. STONE. 



Prof. Henry, 



Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 



The Secretary exhibited a new form of meteorological blanks 

 which he had prepared for the joint use of the institution and the 

 Patent Office, and also a simple form of the rain-gauge, of which a 

 number had been ordered for distribution to different parts of the 

 country. They are so constructed as to be readily transmitted by 

 mail. 



The Secretary presented the following resolutions, which had 

 been unanimously adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education r 

 at a meeting held in March last : 



"Whereas the Illinois State Board of Education concur in the opinion of the nec- 

 essity and importance of the meteorological observations to be made, in accordance 

 with the system established by the Smithsonian Institution, of simultaneous observa- 

 tions in every State of this Union ; and whereas that institution has undertaken to 

 collect and digest all the observations which may be made on this continent; there- 

 fore — 



" Resolved, That wo will co-operate with said institution in order to obtain full and 

 reliable reports from the various sections of this State. 



" Resolved, That each member of this Board select some competent and reliable 

 person in his congressional district to take charge of the observations in said district, 

 and from time to time report the same to the Secretary of our Board. 



" Resolved, That a committee of four be appointed by the President to memorialize 

 the Legislature for an appropriation to aid in the purchase of a set of meteorological 

 instruments for each Congressional district in our State. 



" Resolved, That be appointed actuaries, in behalf of this Board, to 



collect and prepare specimens of the natural history and products of our State, and to 

 co-operate with that department of the Smithsonian Institution." 



The blank in the last resolution was filled with the names of 



