Founding of the Institution 55 



John Davis, of Massachusetts, was the one in the Senate 

 who, in 1836, stoutly maintained, against much opposition, 

 that the government had the right to accept the bequest and 

 to apply it for the purpose indicated by Smithson, saying 

 that "he deemed the establishment of institutions for the 

 diffusion of knowledge a vital principle of a republican gov- 

 ernment." 



Joel R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, aided by his associates 

 of the National Institute, exercised an influence greater per- 

 haps than any other in shaping the final disposition of the 

 fund. The Smithsonian Institution became in time almost 

 the equivalent of the National Institute, as in 1841 he hoped 

 it would be, an institution which, having at its command an 

 observatory, a museum containing collections of all the pro- 

 ductions of nature, a botanic and zoological garden, and the 

 necessary apparatus for illustrating every branch of physical 

 science, would attract together men of learning and students 

 from every part of our country, would open new avenues of 

 intelligence throughout the whole of its vast extent, and 

 would contribute largely to disseminate among the people 

 the truths of nature and the light of science. To Poinsett 

 are due: (i) the idea of an important building, which should 

 be a permanent feature at the capital ; (2) the plan for a 

 national museum of science and art, with a staff of curators ; 

 (3) the determining of the location of the Institution upon 

 the Mall; (4) the main features of the plan of organiza- 

 tion, with the President and his Cabinet as trustees, and a 

 subordinate board of trustees selected by Congress in part 

 from among its own members ; (5) the inauguration of a 

 system of international exchanges of books, under the inspira- 

 tion of Alexander Vattemare, which, though not provided for 

 in the organizing bill, was actually in operation as early as 

 1841, with indirect aid from the government. 



