MEMOIRS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 765- 



its spirit, and to the increase and diffusion of knowledge 

 among men ! 



JANUARY 12, 1836. 



1 made this morning a draft of a bill to enable the Presi- 

 dent of the United States to obtain and cause to be remitted 

 to the United States the funds bequeathed to them by James 

 Smithson for the establishment at Washington of an insti- 

 tution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men. The committee of the Senate have reported for the 

 ^ame purpose a joint resolution containing an appropriation. 

 I took it as the basis of my draft, but added a section pro- 

 viding that the agent to be appointed should give bonds to 

 the Treasurer of the United States for the faithful perfor- 

 mance of his trust and the remittance of all the moneys 

 and other funds that he may receive in fulfillment of the 

 bequest. This labor occupied my time, so that I had none 

 left to journalize. 



JANUARY 15, 1836. 



I carried round my report on the message relating to the 

 Smithsonian bequest to all the members of the committee 

 excepting Speight, who is yet confined by illness ; it was 

 unanimously approved, though Hannegan said he was op- 

 posed to accepting the bequest, and Garland, of Louisiana, 

 thought the Charge d'Affaires or Consul at London should 

 be authorized to procure and remit the funds, instead of a 

 special agent. The other members of the committee ap- 

 proved the bill as well as the report. 



JANUARY 16, 1836. 



I brought back my report on the Smithson bequest mes- 

 sage, to revise and correct the manuscript, feeling no small 

 degree of anxiety concerning it. The occasion is very ex- 

 traordinary, as an incident in the course of legislation. 

 The reference of the message to a select committee waa 

 made not without some murmurings from members of the 

 Committee on the District of Columbia. The report of 

 the committee of the Senate has been very favorably re- 

 ceived, and pronounced a very able one, but it does not 

 touch upon any one of the views which occupy nearly the 

 whole of mine. The condition of the testator, the nature 

 of the trust, the character of the trustees, and the practical 

 effect of our political institutions upon the moral feeling of 

 Europe, illustrated by this incident, are not even glanced at 

 in the Senatorial report, written by Benjamin Watkins 

 Leigh. Mine embraces them all. The unanimous accept- 



