DISCOURSE. 



THE duty assigned me on this occasion is of such a 

 character that I regret it has not devolved on some one 

 more capable of performing it. To do justice to the 

 subject requires more knowledge than I possess, and 

 more leisure than I now enjoy ; and I feel constrained 

 to solicit your indulgence, while I explain the origin of 

 the Institution for the Promotion of Science and the 

 Useful Arts, and attempt to describe, as plainly and 

 briefly as the subject will permit, its objects and im- 

 portance. 



The lovers of science, literature, and the fine arts, 

 residing in this District, felt sensibly the absence of 

 those resources which are found elsewhere, and are 

 necessary for the attainment of knowledge. They were 

 mortified to perceive that the great advantages possessed 

 by the public authorities at Washington were neglect- 

 ed, and that, at the seat of Government of this great 

 nation, there existed fewer means than in any other city 

 of the Union of prosecuting those studies, which, while 

 they impart dignity and enjoyment to existence, lead to 

 the most useful practical results. They believed it to 

 be their duty to arouse the attention of Government to 

 these deficiencies, and, at all events, to address them- 



