8 SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 



proceedings should be adopted, considering the point should be deter- 

 mined by our counsel here, after the opinion of the proper law officers 

 in the States has been taken on the subject. 



Any further information you may require we shall be happy to give 

 you, and are, sir, your most obedient servants, 



CLARKE, FYNMORE & FLADGATE. 



A. VAIL, Esq., 4$ York Terrace. 



A. Vail to John Forsyth. 



LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 



London, July 8, 1835. 



SIR: The papers which I have the honor herewith to communicate 

 to you will acquaint 3 T ou with the particulars of a bequest of property 

 to a large amount left to the United States by a Mr. James Smithson, 

 for the purpose, as stated in the will, of founding at Washington an 

 institution "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 

 * * * The letter of Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate, the 

 solicitors, by whom I was apprised of the existence of the will, together 

 with the inquiries I have made, leave no doubt of its having been 

 established and its dispositions recognized by the court of chancery, 

 the first legatee under it having for several years and to the time of 

 his death received the income of the property, which is stated to have 

 amounted to upward of 4,000 per annum. 



According to the view taken of the case by the solicitors, it is now 

 for the United States, in the event of their accepting the bequest and 

 the trust coupled with if, to come forward by their representative and 

 make themselves parties to an amicable suit before the lord chancel- 

 lor for the purpose of legally establishing the fact of the demise of 

 the first legatee without children and intestate, prove their claim to 

 the benefit of the will, and obtain a decree in chancery awarding them 

 the proceeds of the estate. Messrs. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate 

 are willing to undertake the management of the suit on the part of the 

 United States and, from what I have learned of their standing, may 

 safely be confided in. Not being acquainted with the exact structure 

 of our institutions, they are not able to point out the exact manner in 

 which the United States should be represented in the contemplated 

 suit, but they believe that their diplomatic agent here, if constituted 

 for that purpose the legal representative of the President, would be 

 recognized by the court of chancery as the proper organ of the United 

 States for all the purposes of the will. 



Should it be thought unnecessary to await the action of Congress to 

 authorize the institution of the requisite legal proceedings, and should 

 the course suggested by the solicitors meet the views of the President, 

 his power of attorney authorizing the diplomatic agent here to act in 



