THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION. 
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templaled by the testator than an establishment intended for the education ol youth ; 
and the second, that the legacy itself, though liberal, was not adequate to the esta¬ 
blishment of an institution that would require large buildings and other expenditures 
that usually attend establishments based upon a large foundation. As Congress 
did not act upon that report, we may well presume that its opinion coincided with 
that of the committee. 
As things stood at that time, it was very difficult to come to a conclusion upon 
this very important subject. Mr. Adams, no doubt considering the inadequacy of 
the fund to an establishment that would embrace all the sciences, proposed that its 
application should be confined to the promotion of the most important of all sciences, 
astronomy, and that it should be employed in the erection and maintenance of an 
observatory, and generally for astronomical purposes. This was, as far as I can 
judge, the best plan that could be proposed under the then existing circumstances; 
nevertheless, it was not thought to answer the views of the testator, and therefore it 
was not carried into execution. 
When we consider, attentively, the words by which Mr. Smithson has expressed 
the object of his legacy, we cannot but be convinced that his views were more ex¬ 
tensive than the foundation of an establishment for the promotion of particular 
objects of science, and that he contemplated an institution that would embrace the 
whole circle of human knowledge. His object-is stated by himself to be “the in. 
crease and diffusion of knowledge -among men” It is knowledge in general that 
he contemplates, and its diffusion amongst all mankind. This idea was thrown 
out by a few individuals at home and abroad, but does not appear to have attracted 
much attention. 
While, in consequence of the variety of opinions which existed upon this sub- 
ject, no measure was taken to carry the testator’s will into execution, there arose, 
at the city of Washington, by the combined efforts of the Government and of pub¬ 
lic-spirited individuals, an institution truly national, having for its object the pro. 
motion of science. When that institution was first established, I addressed to you 
a letter in November, 1840, which the institution has done me the honor to insert 
in its first bulletin, in which I suggested the idea of applying the Smithsonian fund 
to that institution. I find, from Mr. Rush’s letter, which you have communicated 
to me, that I was not the only one to whom that suggestion occurred. Since that 
time, it appears to have struck the mind of many of the most respectable friends 
of science, and it appears to have agreed with the opinion expressed by your distin¬ 
guished President, Mr. Poinsett, in his inaugural address. I see, with pleasure, that 
Mr. Rush entertains the same opinion. No one has had a better opportunity to 
know the real intentions of the testator; and his opinion, on that and many other 
accounts, is entitled to the greatest respect. 
Indeed I do not see how two institutions, having a similar object in view, can 
exist, at present at least, both with limited means, at the city of Washington, at 
the same time; and if it could be, the similarity of their pursuits might create jea¬ 
lousy, which would be productive of very disagreeable consequences. The National 
Institution, founded in a manner and patronized by the Government, would with 
justice claim the superiority over a rival establishment, which had no such grounds 
to support it. The national honor would suffer by such a contact, and in the 
capital of a great nation it could not be tolerated that the foundation of an indivh 
