32 JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 



nine members, of which Hon. John Quincy Adams was chairman. Be- 

 sides the letters transmitted to Congress by President Van Buren, other 

 plans were brought before the committee. 



A memorial from Prof. Walter R. Johnson suggested the establish- 

 ment of an institution for experiment and research in physical science 

 especially pertaining to the useful arts, and the discovery, description, 

 application, and improvement of the natural resources of our country. 

 Anotlicr schomo was prosontod by Mr. Charles L. Fleischman for the 

 establishment of an agricultural school and farm, and he entered into 

 the most minute detail as to the buildings and estimates for all the parts 

 of the plan. There were also propositions to use the fund " for the in- 

 struction of females," for the establishment of " professorships," for 

 " courses of lectures," for " improved methods of rearing sheep, horses, 

 and silkworms," for founding a great library, &g. 



Mr. Adams very earnestly opposed the appropriation of any part of 

 the fund to educational purposes, believing that it was the duty of the 

 country itself to provide the means for this important object. His own 

 favorite scheme was the establishment of an astronomical observatory, 

 and this he advocated in the most ardent, able, and persistent manner. 



The chairman of the Senate committee, Hon. Asher Bobbins, of Rhode 

 Island, proposed the creation of " an institution of which there is no 

 model either in this country or in Europe, to provide such a course of 

 education and discipline as would give to the faculties of the human 

 mind an improvement far beyond what they obtain by the ordinary 

 systems of education and far beyond what they afterwards attain in any 

 of the professional pursuits." His speech in the Senate on the lOtli of 

 January, 1839, in presenting his views on this subject is remarkable for 

 its beauty of diction, elevation of sentiment, and classical erudition. 



Mr. Kobbins's resolutions provided for a scientific and literary in- 

 stitution, and stated that to apply the fund to the erection and support 

 of an observatory "would not be to fulfil bonajide the intention of the 

 testator, nor would it comport with the dignity of the United States to 

 owe such an establishment to foreign eleemosynary means." 



The plan of Mr. Bobbins was not received with sufficient favor in the 

 Senate to secure its passage, and it was laid on the table by a vote of 

 20 to 15, on the 25th of February, 1839. Among those who favored the 

 bill were Senators Clay, Davis, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, and Walker, 

 and among those opposed to it were Senators Allen, Bayard, Benton, and 

 Calhoun. 



Mr. Adams remarks in his diary, October 26, 1839, that his mind was 

 "filled with anxiety and apprehension lest the fund should be squan- 

 dered upon cormorants or wasted in electioneering bribery." He adds: 



" It is hard to toil through life for a great purpose with a conviction 

 that it will bein vain, but possibly seed now sown may bring forth some 

 good fruit hereafter. If I cannot prevent the disgrace of the country by 

 the failure of the testator's intention, I can leave a record of what I 



