THE "ESTABLISHMENT" 

 OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



Section 5579 of the Revised Statutes of the United States provides that " The 

 President, the Vice-President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster General, the At- 

 torney General, the Chief Justice, the Commissioner of the [Patent Office] [Patents], 

 and the Governor of the District of Columbia, and such other persons as they may 

 elect honorary members, are hereby constituted an Establishment, by the name of 

 the 'Smithsonian Institution,' for the increaseand diffusion of knowledge among 

 men ; and by that name shall be known and have perpetual succession, with the 

 powers, limitations, and restrictions hereinafter contained, and no other." 



Section 5585 provides that " The members and honorary members of the Institu- 

 tion may hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the 

 Institution, and the advice and instruction of the Board of Regents, to be called in 

 the manner provided for in the by-laws of the Institution, at which the President, 

 and in his absence the Vice-President, shall preside." 



JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT. 



"Washington, August 1, 1849. 



A meeting of the Establishment of the Smithsonian Institution was held this day, 

 at 5 o'clock p. m., in the eastern range of the Smithsonian building. 



Present : Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, and ex officio President 

 of the Institution; John M. Clayton, Secretary of State; Wm. M. Meredith, Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury; Jacob Collamer, Postmaster General; Thomas Ewbank, Com- 

 missioner of Patents ; W. W. Seaton, Mayor of Washington ; Joseph Henry, 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The President took the chair. 



This being the first meeting of the Establishment, the Secretary gave an account of 

 the Institution, of the plan of organization adopted by the Board of Regents, and of 

 the progress made in carrying the several parts into operation. 



The chairman of the Executive Committee gave to the meeting an account of the 

 disbursements of the Institution and the state of its funds. 



The following gentlemen having been recommended by the Regents and officers of 

 the Institution, and being duly considered by this meeting, were, on motion of Mr. 

 Meredith, unanimously elected honorary members of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 viz: Dr. Robert Hare, of Philadelphia; Albert Gallatin, of New York; Dr. Benja- 

 min Silliman, of Connecticut; Washington Irving, of New York. 



On motion of Mr. Clayton, it was — 



Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to draft and report by-laws 

 and regulations for the future meetings of the Establishment. 



Whereupon, the President appointed Mr. Clayton, Mr. Meredith, and Mr. Seaton, 

 the committee. 



On motion of Mr. Collamer, the Secretary of the Institution was added to the said 

 committee. 



On motion, the meeting then adjourned, to meet again on the call of the President. 



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