412 MEMORIAL, OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



ber 8, 1847, Henry strongly urged that "In carrying out the spirit 

 of the plan adopted, namely that of affecting men in general by the 

 operations of the Institution, it is evident that the principal means 

 of ( diffusing knowledge' must be the Press."* In his second 

 report he sets forth that "The Institution is not for a day, but is 

 designed to endure as long as our Government shall exist ; and it is 

 therefore peculiarly important that in the beginning we should pro- 

 ceed carefully and not attempt to produce immediate effects at the 

 expense of permanent usefulness. The process of 'increasing 

 knowledge ' is an extremely slow one, and the value of the results 

 of this part of the plan, cannot be properly realized until some 

 years have elapsed." f In his fourth report he recapitulates : " To 

 carry out the design of the testator, various plans were proposed; 

 but most of these were founded on an imperfect apprehension of 

 the terms of the will. The great majority of them contemplated 

 merely the ' diffusion ' of popular information, and neglected the 

 first and the most prominent requisition of the bequest, namely the 

 ' increase of knowledge.' The only plan in strict conformity with 

 the terms of the will, and which especially commended itself to men 

 of science, a class to which Smithson himself belonged, was that of 

 an active living organization, intended principally to promote the 

 discovery and diffusion of new truths. - - - It was with the 

 hope of being able to assist in the practical development of this 

 plan that I was induced to accept the appointment of principal 

 executive officer of the Institution. Many unforeseen obstacles 

 however presented themselves to its full adoption ; and its advocates 

 soon found in contending with opposing views and adverse interests, a 

 wide difference between what in their opinion ought to be done, and 

 what they could actually accomplish. - - - After much discussion 

 it was finally concluded to divide the income (after deducting the 

 general expenses) into two equal parts, and to devote one part to the 

 active operations set forth in the plan just described, and the other 

 to the formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art. It 

 was evident however that the small income' of the original bequest 

 though in itself sufficient to do much good in the way of active 

 operations, was inadequate to carry out this more extended plan. 

 - - - Though one-half of the annual interest is to be expended 

 on the library and the museum, the portion of the income which 

 can be thus devoted to the former, will in my opinion never be 

 sufficient without extraneous aid to collect and support a miscella- 

 neous library of the first class. Indeed, all the income would 



* Smithsonian Report for 1847, p. 133 (Sen. ed.) p. 130 (H. R. ed.) 

 t Smithsonian Report for 1848, p. 156 (Sen. ed.) p. 148 (H. R. ed.) 



