8 . SMITHSONIAN BEQUEST. 



Richard Rash to John Forsyth. 



LONDON, September 24, 1836. 



SIR : I had the honor to inform you, on the 31st of Aug- 

 ust, of my arrival at Liverpool, having embarked in the 

 first ship that sailed from New York after my letter of the 

 1st of August, informing you that I was ready. 



I reached this city the early part of the present month, 

 and, as soon as circumstances would permit, entered upon 

 the duty which the President's power of attorney devolves 

 upon me. 



Towards asserting and prosecuting with effect, before the 

 legal tribunals of England, the claim of the United States 

 to the legacy bequeathed to them by James Smithson, of 

 London, to found, at Washington, an institution u for the 

 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," the first 

 consideration which seemed to present itself was, the selec- 

 tion of fit legal characters here, through whose aid and 

 instrumentality the incipient steps could alone be judiciously 

 marked out or adopted. In a country where the profession 

 of the law is known to be so subdivided as in this, I re- 

 garded it important that not only the counsel whose services 

 it may ultimately become necessary to engage, but the 

 solicitors to be approached in the first instance, should huvo 

 a standing suited to the nature of the case, and the dignity 

 of the constituent I represent. The letter addressed you in 

 July, 1835, by the late charge d'affaires of the Tnited States 

 at this Court, left little doubt, indeed, that Messrs. Clarke, 

 Fynmore, & Flagdate, were proper solicitors ; yet, as the 

 President's power to me, and your instructions, appeared to 

 place the whole subject anew in my hands, some previous 

 inquiry into their standing seemed necessary on my part. 

 This I set on foot, and am glad to say that it ended to my 

 satisfaction; the more, as their connexion with the case in 

 its origin naturally pointed to their selection, other grounds 

 continuing to justify it. 



Accordingly, on the 14th instant, 1 addressed a note to 

 these solicitors, informing them that I had arrived in this 

 country with full power from the President, founded upon 

 an act of Congress, to assert the right of the United States 

 to the Smithsonian bequest, and receive the money ; and 

 requesting that they would call upon me on the 16th. A 

 copy of my note is enclosed. This is a season of the year 

 when professional and official business of every kind is 



