686 REPORTS OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE. 



feet, having a central building of fifty by two hundred feet in the clear inside, with 

 two towers ; two wings of unequal fronts, the east one forty-five by seventy-five feet 

 in the clear inside, with a vestibule and porch attached to it; the west one thirty- 

 four by sixty-five feet in the clear inside, with a northern semicircular projection. 

 These wings will be connected with the central building by two ranges sixty feet in 

 length in the clear inside. It will have a central rear tower, and other towers of 

 different heights, sizes, and characters, two of them placed in the wings. All these 

 numerous towers are essential to arrangements within, as flues, stairways, ventilators, 

 and detached rooms ; and are of different heights, varying from sixty to one hundred 

 and fifty feet. 



" The first story of the central building will be occupied by the library, the chief 

 lecture room, and the principal hall ; the second story by the museum. The labora- 

 tory and chemical lecture room will occupy the east wing ; the gallery of art the 

 western wing and western connecting range. The chosen material is a freestone of 

 a lilac-gray color, drawn from a quarry on the banks of the Chesapeake and Ohio 

 canal, near Seneca creek, and twenty-three miles from this spot. 



" It is gratifying to me to be able to accompany this imperfect sketch with the 

 statement, that the entire pile is to be finished, and furnished, and fitted up, for a 

 sum less, by thirty-seven thousand dollars, than the one set apart by Congress a3 

 applicable to the building alone. 



"Howbest'to put this Smithsonian Institution in progress; to give it definite 

 character and views ; to shape its line of march as Congress has either ordered or 

 intimated that it should be, and to let the testamentary purpose be apparent in all 

 its operations, was a task on which ability and much consultation have been expended. 

 There were, I may almost say, necessarily, and of course there were on this cardinal 

 point, great diversities of sentiment and construction, as there had been during the 

 masterly debates which prefaced the passage of the law. "What constituted ' knowl- 

 edge,' in the sense of Smithson's bequest? In what manner shall its ' increase' be 

 provided for ? By what method shall its 'diffusion' besought? Should the devel- 

 opments of the laboratory be more engrossing than the stored resources of the 

 library ? Will oral expositions or printed treatises be preferable ? Are permanent 

 professorships to be systematized, or temporary teachers to be enlisted ? In fine, what 

 should be the instruments and the orbit of an establishment whence the light of 

 knowledge was required constantly to radiate among men ? 



" They to whom was confided the resolution of these problems into practical meas- 

 ures, have felt the weight and delicacy of their mission. They began by profoundly 

 studying the subject in its several aspects. They cherished with ardor, and discussed 

 with freedom, their respective projects. The conflicts of upright minds, however, 

 rarely fail to end in mutual concession and compromise ; and thus scarcely a single 

 measure was adopted except by unanimous concurrence. The Eegents have submit- 

 ted their labors and conclusions to the country — the report of their proceedings was 

 duly made for legislative supervision; and may they not confidently hope for (what 

 they know knothing of theirs can succeed without) the co-operation and sympathy of 

 the American people ? 



" There are some results to be anticipated from the success of the Institution, 

 which, though not as obvious as others, are, nevertheless, such as no sound American 

 heart can wholly disregard, and which it may not be misplaced to glance at. That 

 we shall fulfill, in the presence of watchful civilization, an admitted obligation, and 

 that the common mind of our country, on which the permanency of its liberties so 

 closely depends, will be exalted and invigorated, are considerations abundantly 

 strong to rally us all to the manly effort. No greater shame, and no greater loss can 

 readily be incurred, than would be consequent on ignoble failure. But may it not 

 be justly said, that the mild and genial influence of this establishment will strengthen 

 and tighten the cords of our Union, and give to the capital of that Union a new 

 charm, with greater stability ? 



"The Smithsonian design is, as I have already suggested, a peculiar one. It can- 

 not, as a scene of educational training, have any pretensions or provoke any jealousies. 

 It is no rival of the many admirable schools which adorn the respective States, and 

 can in no manner intrude upon their spheres of action. Yet it will be a factory and 

 a storehouse of knowledge, accessible to all the agents of this vast confederacy — its 

 executive, legislative, judicial, civil, military, foreign and domestic agents. It will 

 be the recipient, too, of such fruits of the labors, and such acquisitions of the enter- 

 prise and travels of these agents, as may contribute to illustrate, and explain, and 

 facilitate the public service, or to give precision and vigor to its operations of every 

 kind. As a resource and a sanctuary for intellect, the Institution can hardly fail to 



