TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-1841. 189 



On the 26th of January, 1839, the chairman of the committee on the 

 part of the House, by their direction, reported to the House the fol- 

 lowing resolutions: 



Resolved, That the sum of dollars, being the amount deposited in the Treas- 

 ury of the United States, proceeding from the bequest of James Smiihson to the United 

 States of America, for the purpose of establishing, at the city of Washington, an insti- 

 tution to bear his name, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, 

 together with what additional sum or sums may hereafter accrue from the same 

 bequest, and so much of the interest as has become, or may become due on the first- 

 named principal sum, until the day of , ought to be constituted a perma- 

 nent fund, to be invested in a corporate body of trustees, to remain, under the pledge 

 of faith of the United States, undiminished and unimpaired. 



Resolved, That the said fund ought so to be invested that the faith of the United 

 States shall be pledged for its preservation, unimpaired, and for its yielding an 

 interest or income at the rate of six per cent a year, to be appropriated from time to 

 time, by Congress, to the declared purpose of the founder; and that all appropria- 

 tions so made shall be exclusively from the interest or income of the fund, and not 

 from any part of the principal thereof. 



Resolved, That the first appropriations from the interest or income of the Smith- 

 sonian fund ought to be for the erection and establishment, at the city of Washing- 

 ton, of an astronomical observatory, provided with the best and most approved 

 instruments and books, for the continual observation, calculation, and recording of 

 the remarkable phenomena of the heavens, for the periodical publication of the 

 observations thus made, and of a nautical almanac, for the use of the mariners of the 

 United States, and of all other navigating nations. 



These resolutions were ordered to be printed, and laid on the table 

 for consideration. 



On the 6th of February, 1839, the following resolutions were sub- 

 mitted by the chairman of the committee on the part of the House, to 

 the joint committee for consideration: 



1. Resolved, That the education of the children and youth of these United States 

 has for its object, not the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, but the 

 endowment of individuals of both sexes with useful knowledge already acquired, and 

 suited to their respective conditions. 



2. That the declared object of the bequest of James Smithson to the United States 

 of America being the foundation, at the city of Washington, of an establishment ' ' for 

 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," no appropriation of any part of 

 the fund to the purpose of educating the children or youth of these United States 

 would fulfill the intent of the testator. 



3. That the education of the children of these United States is a duty of solemn 

 and indispensable obligation incumbent upon their parents and guardians, not for 

 the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men, but to qualify them for the 

 enjoyment of their rights, and the performance of their duties throughout life. 



4. That the United States of America, having, by their Congress, accepted as a 

 trust a large and liberal bequest from a foreigner, for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men, and having pledged their faith for the application of the 

 proceeds of that bequest to the declared purpose of the testator, would neither fulfill 

 that purpose nor redeem their pledge, by appropriating a fund, devised for the 

 benefit of mankind, to the education of their own children. 



5. Resolved, therefore, That no part of the Smithsonian fund ought to be applied to 

 the education of the children or youth of the United States, nor to any school, college, 

 university, or institute of education. 



