No. 216.] 383 



ers, as the Smithsonian Institution. Such men as these Judges, with 

 such other men as Albert Gallatin, James Kent, James Tallmage, 

 ■would be inaccessible to the corrupt influence of party. In the man- 

 agement of the trust confided to them, they would give to the country 

 the benefit of their wisdom; they would posess its confidence, and re- 

 deem its plighted faith. They should be invested with large discre- 

 tionary powers, and should report to Congress at each session the do- 

 ings and condition of the Institution. 



IIL THE EDITORIAE, BUREAU. 



Let the Board of Regents appoint the subordinate officers of the 

 Institution; namely, two Editors and two Assistants; one of whom 

 shall be the Corresponding, and another the Recording Secretary of 

 the Institution. These officers should be selected from among the 

 ablest men whose services can be commanded. Their compensation 

 should be liberal. They shoud not be removable except for cause, 

 and by the vote of a majority of the appointing power. The per- 

 manency of their appointments would be an inducement to bring all 

 their faculties to their work, and to aim at the highest perfection in 

 the duties assigned them. 



IV, VOLUME OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE. 



Let it be the duty of this Editorial Bureau to collect from all 

 sources, all that is known touching the subjects of Agriculture, 

 Manufactures, Commerce, Architecture, Engineering, the Fine 

 Arts — in short, in all branches of productive industry; to extract 

 from the mass that which is best calculated to subserve the industrial 

 interests of the country, and digest and arrange the same into a form 

 adapted to popular use. Let a large annual ^ olume, of 800 or more 

 pages, octavo, be compiled, containing more or less upon all these sub- 

 jects, so as to give to each volume the attraction of a rich variety. Let 

 it be stereotyped in the best manner, with double sets of plates. Let 

 the work be enriched and embellished with maps, plans, plates, en- 

 gravings, illustrative of the matter contained in the volume, particu- 

 larly natural history, mechanics, architecture, and the fine arts. 

 Thus making it at once an invaluable compendium of practical 

 science, and a book of beauty; adapted to the wants of the cottage 

 and worthy for its elegance of the saloon of the palace. Besides 

 the standard topics mentioned, other matters of science and general 

 interest, improving to the taste and elevating to the character, might 

 be admitted to enliven its pages. I would wish to have, in process 

 of time the kingdoms of nature and art explored, to find the form 



