THE GENESIS OF THE NATIONAE MUSEUM. 313 



tor Preston, is printed in a note appended to this iiienioir,* accom- 

 panied by a liitberto nnpublished letter from Senator Woodbridge, of 

 Micbigan, wbo, as a member of tbe committee, was able to explain the 

 real significance of its action. 



All of tlieso papers are given in a pampblett pnlilished at the time, 

 which is, however, now exceedingly rare, and almost forgotten. 



The versions of the papers here given are for the most i)art from the 

 originals or verified copies in the archives of the National INEuseum, 



Senator Tappan's speech and the snbseqnent action of Congress did 

 much to undermiixi the foundation of the Institute, which was evidently 

 scarcely solid enough to sustain the structure which it had been pro- 

 posed to rear upon them. 



After this it was inevitable that there should arise confiicts of author- 

 ity, and they were not slow in coming. 



It is possible that they were precipitated by Oapt. Wilkes, Avho 

 naturally may have felt some irritation at the manner in which the con- 

 trol of the collections made by his expedition were taken out of his con- 

 trol Avhile he himself was for a time under charges. 



The Commissioner of Patents too seems to have been irritated by the 

 occupation of a hall in the Patent Office controlled by alien authority. 



In July, 1813, Dr. Pickering resigned his curatorship, and the Li- 

 brary Committee, now hostile, and acting in the spirit of their report, 

 made iise of the authority vested in them by the act of August 20, 1S42, 

 and appointed to the custodianship of the Government collections the 

 Commissioner of Patents, Mr. Ellsworth, and in August placed Capt. 

 Wilkes in special charge of the gatherings of the exploring expedition. 



The action of the committee does not appear to have been known to 

 the officers of the Institute, except by rumor, but they were left to find 

 out the change of policy by an uni)leasaut series of exi)eriences. 



The first serious friction was in connection with Capt. Wilkes. Its 

 character is shown by the following corres])ondence, which is here 

 printed on account of the new light it throws upon the condition of the 

 jSTational Cabinet of Curiosities in the years 1843-'44 and upon the other- 

 wise inexplicable circumstances which led to the collapse of the Na- 

 tional Institute shortly afterwards: 



Letter from Col. Ahert to Capt. Willes, Sejytember 5, 1843. 



Dear Sir: Reports of a painful character, involved in the questions 

 of the inclosed letter, have reached the ears of many of us, and I have 

 been urged as chairman of the committee having charge of these mat- 

 ters to bring them before the directors. But I refused, on the ground 

 that 1 would not be the medium of bringing forward misunderstood or 

 exaggerated facts, for discussicm or action, ]>referring the course of the 

 enclosed letter, as it will procure the desired information from the best 

 authority and under its true aspect. It seems to me that the Institute 

 is the last which should receive unkindness from any one whose fame is 



* Note E, I, II, III, IV. 



1 1843. [Abert, .Joha J., and Frauds Markoe. jr.] Reply j of | Col. Abert and Mr. 



Markoe | to the | HoiiMr. Tappan, | of the | United Stales Senate. Washington,— 



Wm. Q. Force, printer. | 1843. | 8 vo. pp. 1-lX. 



