154 BOARD OF REGENTS. 



Bordeaux, accompanied by a report on the history, operations, and 

 publications of the Smithsonian Institution, which that gentleman 

 had presented to the Imperial Academy of Bordeaux. 

 The Board then adjourned sine die. 



January 18, 1860. 



In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Regents of the 

 Smithsonian Institution fixing the time of the beginning of their 

 annual session on the third Wednesday of January of each year, 

 the Board met this day in the Regents' room of the institution. 



Present, Hon. James A. Pearce, Hon. W. II. English, and the 

 Secretary. 



No quorum being present, the Board adjourned to meet on the 

 28th of January. 



January 28, 1860. 



The Board of Regents met this day, at 10J o'clock, a. m., in the 

 Regents' room. 



Present, Hon. Mr. Breckinridge, Hon. James A. Pearce, Hon. J. 

 M. Mason, Professor C. C. Felton, Professor A. D. Bache, Hon. J. 

 G. Berret, W. W. Seaton, Esq., Treasurer, and the Secretary. 



The Secretary announced the reappointment, by the Vice-Presi- 

 dent, under a resolution of the Senate, of the Hon. S. A. Douglas, 

 .as a Regent for the term of six years, and stated that the House of 

 Representatives not having organized, the vacancies in the Board 

 from that body had not been filled. He regretted to state that the 

 Chancellor of the Institution, Chief Justice Taney, was confined to 

 his bed by temporary illness; that Mr. Hawley, of Albany, was 

 unable to attend on account of bad health, and that since the last 

 meeting of the Regents a vacancy had occurred in the Board by 

 the death of the Hon. Richard Rush, of Philadelphia. 



Hon. Mr. Pearce then made the following remarks : 



Since the last meeting of the Board of Eegents, as announced hy the Secretary, one 

 of its earliest and most distinguished members, the Hon. Eichard Eush, has departed 

 this life. 



The history of his public career is familiar to all the Eegents, to whom I need 

 scarcely detail even its more prominent incidents; but I may remark that it is seldom 

 the good fortune of any man to fill so many important offices, and to execute so many 

 responsible public trusts, not only with credit, honor, and usefulness, but with ever- 

 increasing reputation. Mr. Eush's life was a long one, and he entered into the ser- 

 vice of his country while yet in the spring of manhood. He was Comptroller of the 

 Treasury at a time when the fiscal affairs of the Government were in disorder, when 

 the public accounts were numerous and complicated, and often required difficult legal 

 adjustment. He was next Attorney General. Soon after the peace of 1815 he was 

 minister to England, and occupied that important post during eight years, when 

 various national questions of difficulty and delicacy required for their proper settle- 

 ment diplomatic skill, firmness, and caution. He was Secretary of the Treasury 



