496 CONGRESSIONAL PKOCEEDINGS. 



with a fair construction of the will, and wliether any of the income is 

 being- devoted to objects not directly contemplated by the testator, 

 and which may be as well attained by existing institutions that have 

 neither the means nor the mission for that which maj^ be regarded as 

 the specialty of the Smithsonian bequest. 



And the inquiry is, in the opinion of the committee eminentl}' wor- 

 thy those who are acting for the nation which, having accepted the 

 solemn and im})ortant trust conferred by Mr. Smithson, is bound to 

 give to its administration all that attention which is due to tiic liberal 

 views and lofty objects of the testator, and which is no less becoming 

 the peculiar character and natural distinction of the trustee. Regard 

 for the memory of the dead who conferred upon our citizens the bene- 

 fit of the fund and upon our nation the honor of its administration, no 

 less than a mere self-respect, will ever lead this nation, through its rep- 

 resentatives, to guard with peculiar vigilance the sacred trust involved 

 in the bequest of Mr. Smithson, and carefully and diligently to watch 

 the progress of the Institution in the fulfillment of the noble wishes of 

 the founder and the just expectation of mankind in its regard. 



With this view, evidently, the Government supplied the deficiency 

 in the funds resulting from loans authorized by act of Congress; and, 

 pursuing the same object, it is believed that Congress will suggest 

 that the Treasury of the United States be the depository of the fund, 

 and that the Institution shall derive an unfluctuating income from the 

 interest which the Government of the United States shall pay for the 

 use of that deposit. 



James Smithson was the son of the Duke of Northumberland by 

 Elizabeth, niece of the Duke of Somerset. The disadvantages of the 

 circumstances of his birth seem to have been less than the benefits of 

 the wealth of his parents, and he surmounted the former ])y the 

 assistance which the latter gave to the energy of his character and 

 the ennobling objects of his pursuits, and having achieved distinction 

 by science, an attainment fortunately not dependent upon hereditary 

 honors, his wish was evidently to open up avenues to knowledge and 

 facilitate its attainment for the multitude. It is better to suppose 

 that the exalted opinions of mental cultivation and scientific attain- 

 ment which Smithson manifested in his life and writings, and the 

 efforts and contribution which he made toward insuring to learning a 

 superiorit}^ to any distinction founded on hereditary title, resulted 

 rather from the ennobling influence of great scientific attainments 

 upon his own character than from the misfortunes of his liirth, which 

 forbade his enjoyment of the titular honors that distinguished his 

 father. 



Or, if made to feel the incompatibility of his condition with the 

 kind of distinction which was enjoyed by his more fortunate relatives, 

 he may be pardoned the ambition which led him to adopt a course to 



