JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 131 



March 16, 1857. 



A meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day at 11 o'clock 

 a. ra. 



Present : Hon. R. B. Taney, Chancellor, Hon. John C. Breckin- 

 ridge, James M. Mason, S. A. Douglas, Gen. Jos. G. Totten, Prof. 

 A. D. Bache, Wm. B. Magruder, and the Secretary. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. 



The Chancellor, Chief Justice Taney, then presented the follow- 

 ing communication : 



Washington, March 16, 1857. 



Gentlemen : When the Board of Eegents was originally organized it was deemed 

 proper that the Vice-President of the United States for the time heing should he 

 elected as the Chancellor. The Institution exists under the authority of Congress, 

 and they have made certain officers of the government ex officio Eegents. The Vice- 

 President is the highest in rank of the officers thus designated ; and it would seem to 

 he peculiarly proper that the one who presides over the deliberations of one branch 

 of the national legislature should also preside over the deliberations of a scientific 

 institution which the nation has brought into existence and fosters. 



Unfortunate events have for some time past left the Government without a Vice- 

 President elected by the people. And when that office was vacant the Eegents con- 

 ferred on me the office which had always before been filled by the Vice-President. And 

 when I accepted it I regarded the appointment as a temporary one. The reason for 

 the appointment has now happily ceased, and I desire to give the Eegents an oppor- 

 tunity of restoring the original plan of organization, in which I fully concurred 

 when it was adopted. 



I therefore resign the office of Chancellor of the Institution, and at the same time 

 return my thanks for the honor which the Eegents bestowed upon me in electing me 

 to that office. 



But my resignation will not lessen the interest I feel in the institution. On the 

 contrary, every year's experience has more and more convinced me of its usefulness 

 and efficiency in promoting the objects of its founder, and I shall always be ready to 

 offer my humble aid if I can be useful in advancing its prosperity and success. 



I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your obedient servant, 



E. B. TANEY. 



To the Eegents of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Mr. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States, moved 

 that the present Chancellor, Chief Justice Taney, be re-elected to 

 that office, expressing his unwillingness to assume the position 

 which had been so long and so ably filled by its present occupant. 



The motion was adopted unanimously, whereupon Judge Taney 

 remarked that he was anxious to serve the Institution to the best of 

 his ability, and he could not decline this expression of the confi- 

 dence of the Board, if they insisted on his retaining the office of 

 Chancellor. 



The Secretary announced that, by joint resolution of the Senate 

 and House of Representatives, Hon. Richard Rush, of Pennsylva- 

 nia, and Gen. Joseph G. Totten, of the city of Washington, had 

 been re-elected Regents for six years ; also that the President of 

 the Senate had re-appointed Hon. James A. Pearce and Hon. James 

 M. Mason, Regents for the same period of time. 



