388 CONGRESSIONAL PEOCEEDINGS. 



Marsh, inquired what there was in the learning and science of Europe 

 comparable to the discovery of the steam engine by an American, or 

 of the cotton gin, or of the magnetic telegraph. All our inventions 

 had a tendency to improve the condition of the human race, and par- 

 ticularly of the common people; and it was no doubt under a just and 

 proper appreciation of that character that the testator left his money 

 to be applied to such objects. Did he intend to establish a university? 

 No. Did he intend to establish a magnificent library? No. He 

 knew that the world was full of musty compilations, of the produc- 

 tions of learned authors, to be wondered at more for their extent than 

 for their usefulness. He [Mr. Morse] was not among the number of 

 those who wished to depreciate the learning treasured up for ages 

 past by the bookmakers and book collectors of all nations; but he 

 proposed to offer to the consideration of the committee a substitute 

 which, he thought, would remove some of the constitutional objec- 

 tions raised against the bill and which would, in his judgment, meet 

 the intention of the donor. 



He did not wish, however, to interfere with the progress of this 

 bill. He concurred in the opinion which had been expressed, that it 

 was a crime, a burning sin, that this nation should have held this 

 money for ten years, in violation of a solemn trust and in violation of 

 the solemn obligations imposed upon every man who, at this bar, had 

 taken the oath to support the Constitution and to act for the best 

 interests of the people. It was in violation of that spirit which ever 

 ought to actuate the American nation to be the recipient of this 

 munificent sum, and yet to suffer the people — the masses, the Jioi 2)ol- 

 loi — to be so long deprived of any benefit from it. But if there was 

 strength enough in the House to pass the bill, he had no particular 

 pride in taking another course. H6 should, therefore, submit his 

 proposition at the proper time, leaving the committee to act upon it 

 as it might think proper. 



The substitute of which Mr. Morse gave notice is in the following 

 words: 



A bill to establish the Smithsonian Institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among 



men." 



Whereas James Smithson, esquire, of London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, 

 by his last will and testament did give the whole of his property to the United States 

 of America to found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men ; and whereas 

 the creation of a university, academy, or college is liable to constitutional difficulties, 

 sectional jealousies, and would absorb a large proportion of the funds in the erection 

 of buildings, and would more or less interfere with the numerous institutions through- 

 out our country; and with a view of carrying out in the simplest form the benevo- 

 lent intentions of the donor, 



Be it enacted, etc., That the management of this fund shall be entrusted to a board 

 of managers, to be styled the trustees of the Smithsonian legacy, to be composed of 

 the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Chief Justice, during the 

 time for which they shall hold their respective offices, the heads of the different 



