TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 393 



theless a matter of the first importance to the institution 

 itself. It secures for it a permanent support, and places its 

 revenues beyond the power of any contingency. No one, 

 I presume, except my colleague, will object to this provi- 

 sion. By adopting it, the United States will evince a dis- 

 position to fulfill the high trust they have assumed in a 

 spirit of liberality and justice somewhat worthy of the 

 great object sought to be accomplished. 



But while the Government will contribute in this small 

 way to the institution, it will receive a direct compensation 

 which far more than balances the sacrifice made. The bill 

 proposes to appropriate a portion of the public grounds in 

 this city for the buildings and gardens necessary for the 

 establishment. Handsome yet useful structures will be 

 erected, and the cultivation of the grounds will render 

 them beautiful and attractive, while they may still be acces- 

 sible to the harmless examination and enjoyment of the 

 public. All this will be done out of the Smithsonian fund ; 

 and the expense which the government would otherwise 

 incur by carrying out the original plan of the city as designed 

 lay Washington, will be avoided, while all its desirable ad- 

 vantages will be obtained. The benefit will be mutual to 

 the Government and to the institution. 



So also in regard to the transfer of the specimens of 

 natural history, of minerals, and other scientific and curi- 

 ous objects now in possession of the Government, and kept 

 at the Patent Office. The exhibition and preservation of 

 these things are now the source of some expenditure. 

 When they shall be transferred, as proposed in this bill, 

 this expenditure will cease, or be removed from the public 

 Treasury, to the fund of the institution. They will be 

 equally subject to public examination, while they will be 

 made to answer a more useful end, as constituting the basis 

 of instruction for able and scientific professors. 



My remarks, so far, Mr. Chairman, relate only to some 

 unimportant preliminary arrangements, not affecting the 

 general scope and design of the proposed institution. These 

 must now be examined ; and I propose to do it with refer- 

 ence to the probable design of Mr. Smithson, to be inferred 

 from his own pursuits and character of mind from his 

 selection of our Government to execute his will, and from 

 the language in which he has expressed his intentions. 



I do not propose to enter upon any biographical sketch 

 of Mr. Smithson, or to go into a history of his philosophi- 

 cal labors. I will merely state what has been truly said by 

 the gentleman from Indiana, (Mr. Owen,) that he was 



