178 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



science and literature from the degree of attention its importance may 

 demand. 



4. Since mankind are to be benefited by the bequest, any unneces- 

 sary expenditure on merely local objects would not be in accordance 

 with the proper administration of the trust. 



5. Though the funds are generally considered large, and much is 

 expected of them, they are really small in proportion to the demands 

 made upon them. The annual income of the bequest is less than half 

 the cost of the publication of a single yearly report of the Patent Office. 



6. In order, therefore, that the limited income may effect the greatest 

 amount of good, it should be expended in doing that which cannot be 

 done as well by other means. 



These views, which have commanded the assent of all unprejudiced 

 and reflecting persons who have studied the subject, have been the 

 guiding principles in all cases in which I have had any power of di- 

 rection ; and I am happy to say they are fully adopted by the present 

 directors and officers of the Institution. 



To carry out the design oi the testator, various. plans were proposed ; 

 but most of these were founded on an imperfect apprehension of the 

 terms of the Will. The great majority of them contemplated merely 

 the diffusion of popular information, and neglected the first and 

 the most prominent requisition of the bequest, namely, the "increase 

 of knowledge." The only plan in strict conformity with the terms of 

 the Will, and which especially commended itself to men of science, a 

 class to which Smithson himself belonged, was that of an active living 

 organization, intended principally to promote the discovery and diffu- 

 sion of new truths by instituting original researches, under the direc- 

 tion of suitable persons, in History, Antiquities, Ethnology, and the 

 various branches of Physical Science, and by publishing and distribut- 

 ing among libraries and other public institutions, accounts of the re- 

 sults which might thus be obtained, as well as of those of the labors of 

 men of talent which could not otherwise be given to the world. 



This plan, which was probably in the mind of the donor when he- 

 gave expression to the few but comprehensive words which indicate the 

 objects of the bequest, is found from our experience to be eminently 

 practical. It requires no costly building or expensive permanent estab- 

 lishment. Its operations, limited only by the amount of the income, 

 are such as to affect the condition of man wherever literature and science 

 are cultivated, while it tends in this country to give an impulse to ori- 

 ginal thought, which, amidst the strife of politics, and the inordinate 

 pursuit of wealth, is of all things most desirable. 



It was with the hope of being able to assist in the practical develop- 

 ment of this plan, that I was induced to accept the appointment of prin- 

 cipal executive officer of the Institution. Many unforeseen obstacles, 

 however, presented themselves to its full adoption ; and its advocates 

 soon found, in contending with opposing views and adverse interests, a 

 wide difference between what, in their opinion, ought to be done and 

 what they could actually accomplish. 



The plan was novel, and by many considered entirely chimerical ; 

 indeed it could not be properly appreciated except by those who had 

 been devoted o original research. Besides this, the law of Congress 



