THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 293 



sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge among men/' 



The motives which prompted James Smithson to bequeath his 

 fortune to the young republic across the seas are not certainly 

 known. In the year 1818 (or 1819) he had some misunderstanding 

 with the Royal Society, owing to their refusal to print one of his 

 papers, and from that date he published exclusively in Thomson's 

 Annals of Philosophy ; it is said that prior to this difficulty he 

 had intended to make the Royal Society his legatee. Having, 

 however, abandoned that plan, he seems to have perceived with a 

 prophetic eye the " germs of rising grandeur " in the free Amer- 

 ican nation, and to have felt a desire to promote the increase and 

 diffusion of knowledge in the New World. 



Whether he was more friendly to republicanism than to mon- 

 archy, as some have claimed, is not certain ; at all events, by select- 

 ing the United States of America as the depository of his trust 

 " he paid the highest compliment to its intelligence and integrity, 

 and testified his confidence in republican institutions and his faith 

 in their perpetuity." 



In attempting to fathom the thoughts which directed Smith- 

 son's attention to the United States we are met by the surprising 

 fact that he had not a single correspondent or scientific friend in 

 America, nor did he write a line in any of his papers indicating 

 appreciation of the republic. 



Mr. Hungerford survived his uncle only six years, during 

 which he received the benefits of the will ; he led an aimless, rov- 

 ing life on the Continent, and died at Pisa, Italy, June 5, 1835, 

 under the name of Eunice de la Batut, this being the surname of 

 his stepfather, a- Frenchman whom Hungerford's mother had 

 married. By this death the United States became entitled to the 

 estate. The first intimation received by the Government to this 

 effect arrived in a communication dated July 28, 1835, from the 

 charge d'affaires of the United States at London to the Secretary 

 of State, transmitting a letter from the firm of attorneys who rep- 

 resented the bankers holding the estate in trust. The estate was 

 estimated at 100,000. In December, President Andrew Jackson 

 sent to Congress a message setting forth the facts in the case and 

 asking for authority to accept the trust ; in July, Congress passed 

 an act authorizing the President to appoint an agent to prosecute 

 in the Court of Chancery the right of the United States to the 

 legacy. This simple measure was not, however, secured without 

 great difficulty, being opposed by several active Congressmen. 

 Mr. W. C. Preston, of South Carolina, thought the donation had 

 been made partly with a view to immortalize the donor, and it 

 was " too cheap a way of conferring immortality " ; and Mr. John 

 C. Calhoun, of the same State, was of the opinion that it was be- 



