138 BOARD OF EEGENTS. 



the estimates for the year 1858; and, on motion, they were adopted. 



The following report was presented from Professor Felton, of the 



committee to whom was referred the communication of Mr. J. M. 



Stanley. 



Report on the proposition to purchase the Indian Gallery. 



The Secretary laid before the Board a letter from Mr. J. M. Stanley, painter of the 

 gallery of Indian portraits now on deposit with the Smithsonian Institution, propos- 

 ing to sell them to the Institution for the sum of twelve thousand dollars. 



The committee appointed to consider and report upon the subject respectfully repre- 

 sent that, while they are fully sensible of the great historical and ethnological value 

 of this collection of portraits, and of their characteristic excellence, they are yet of 

 opinion that it would be inexpedient to withdraw the sum mentioned from the funds 

 necessary to carry on the scheme of active operations, which has been so ably inaugu- 

 rated and, thus far, so successfully executed. The income of the Smithsonian fund 

 should not be scattered among different and disconnected objects, and the sum neces- 

 sary for the purchase of the gallery cannot be spared, without crippling for a time, 

 at least, the regular operations of the Institution. 



Among the Contributions to Knowledge several important works relating to the 

 aboriginal inhabitants of America have been published by the institution and circu- 

 lated over the civilized world. 



Grammars and dictionaries of the Indian languages may be mentioned as of special 

 interest and of great value to the science of comparative philology. Their language 

 will probably pass away, and the races speaking them disappear ; but the works to 

 which we allude will preserve, for future investigators of the science of philology, 

 the characteristic form in which their thoughts were expressed, and will have an im- 

 portant bearing, not only on general ethnological inquiries, but on the philosophy of 

 the human mind. These volumes have been eagerly sought and studied by the most 

 eminent comparative philologists of Europe, and have, by universal consent, contrib- 

 uted materially to the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men in that depart- 

 ment of science. 



But though your committee are of opinion that the purchase of this gallery would 

 interfere with the present plan of operations, and that it would not so directly tend 

 to the increase and diffusion of knowledge, they would earnestly express the opinion 

 that, in a national point of view, the value of these portraits can hardly be over-esti- 

 mated. 



They represent forty-three different tribes, and are taken from the leading person- 

 ages in them. The artist has studied carefully the peculiarities of the tribes, the 

 characteristic expressions of the individuals, their natural attitudes and actions, their 

 several styles of costume and ornament, and has reproduced, with artistic skill, all 

 these particulars. To this interesting enterprise he has given ten of the best years of 

 his life, having traversed, with great labor and inconvenience, the principal regions 

 inhabited by the subjects of his pencil. The number of portraits, including that of 

 the artist, enumerated in the catalogue, is one hundred and fifty-two, The price for 

 which they are offered is much below their real value, being less than $80 a piece. 

 At the proposed rate the artist will receive no compensation for his time and labor, 

 and barely enough to defray the cost of material, transportation, traveling expenses, 

 and insurance. 



The number of the tribes represented so faithfully in this gallery, and the promi- 

 nence of the individuals, render the collection very complete and satisfactory, as pre- 

 senting a general view of the characteristic features of the red man. These circum- 

 stances make it important that the gallery should be preserved entire. Its peculiar 

 value consists in its comprehensive character no less than in the fidelity of its indi- 

 vidual details. Centuries hence, when most all of the tribes here represented shall 

 have disappeared, as the New England tribes, for example, have nearly disappeared, 

 this gallery will be an object of the profoundest interest to the student of man, the 

 historian, the philosopher, and the statesman. 



The relations between the Government of the United States and the Indian tribes 

 form one of the most delicate and important subjects of national legislation. The 

 Government has not only endeavored to deal with the red men in a liberal and pater- 

 nal spirit, but has done much towards illustrating their character and condition by 

 the publication of costly works embodying the observation; and researches of investi- 

 gators who have devoted themselves to Indian studies. It appears to your committee 



