4 few voluntary contributors to a precarious and inadequate treasury 

 have furnished, as they might be able, a portion of the expenses 

 4 which are required, and have in many instances received into 

 their care, for the moment, objects of interest which could not be 



* provided for elsewhere. It never was expected that a national 



< establishment could subsist upon individual bounty alone. When 

 4 it shall have derived dignity and confidence from the permanent 

 encouragement of the Congress of the United States, it may well 

 ' be hoped that private munificence will frequently pour out its 



< stores, and that a laudable pride will be felt in mingling personal 

 1 associations and favors with the steady support contiibuted by the 

 ' Government. A period has now arrived when legislative assist- 

 ' ance may be expected without arrogance, and sought without pre- 



* sumption." 



It thus being asserted by a distinguished member of the House of 

 Representatives, that the present is the fit time for urging the claims 

 of the National Institute before Congress, or, in his own words, 

 *' that the period has now arrived when legislative assistance may 

 be expected without arrogance, and sought without presumption," 

 I may be allowed to suggest a way for that desirable action to be 

 rendered efficient, and to express the hope that the gentleman him- 

 self, from whom I have just quoted, may be induced to take the 

 matter in hand, and to associate his name, already so well known 

 and respected, with an enterprise of the utmost public interest and 

 importance. 



I find, by reference to the 8th volume of the Laws of the United 

 States, that, on the 14th July, 1832, lots to the value of $25,000, 

 within the city of Washington, were voted to the Columbian Col- 

 lege ; that, on the same day, lots to the amount of $20,000 were 

 appropriated, in equal proportions, to the two charitable institu- 

 tions, Saint Vincent's Orphan Asylum and the Washington City 

 Orphan Asylum ; and, finally, that $25,000 worth of lots were also 

 voted, by act approved 2d March, 1833, to Georgetown College. 

 Your readers who may wish to consult these acts, will find those of 

 July, 1832, in vol. 8 of said laws, pages 713, 714, and that referring 

 to Georgetown College, same volume, page 832. 



Now, I take it, that these appropriations, which do honor to the 

 Congress by whom they were passed, were so voted because the 

 establishments receiving the said bounty were devoted to the diffu- 



