THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION. 
207 
the different colleges in the universities of Europe. I therefore would recommend, 
that the Smithsonian Institution should be annexed to, and made a part of the na¬ 
tional establishment; dependent on, and subordinate to it, preserving to the national 
body its superiority and supremacy over all its dependencies, and the Smithsonian 
among others. By this arrangement, the object of the testator will be fully accom¬ 
plished. His will requires only an institution for the “ increase and diffusion of 
knowledge among men,” and that it should bear his name. By the plan which I 
take the liberty to suggest, the terms of the legacy will be fully complied with. 
I have seen with great pleasure the bill brought into the Senate by the Hon. 
Mr. Preston. It fully coincides with the views that I have expressed. It may per¬ 
haps receive some modifications in the details, but, keeping the main design in view, 
they can easily suggest themselves. The object, in my opinion, is, to preserve the 
superiority of the National Institution over the Smithsonian, and that of the Go¬ 
vernment over both. Mr. Preston’s plan appears to me well calculated to accom¬ 
plish these purposes. 
I would beg leave to suggest, whether it would not be advisable to make some 
small alteration in the name of the National Institution, so that it should not bear 
exactly the same name with the Smithsonian, but one expressive of some degree of 
superiority. I would recommend, for instance, that of Institute, which appears to 
me more dignified than that of Institution, which is equally applicable to a school 
or college as to a great national establishment for the promotion of science. If any 
other, or a better name can be suggested, it will answer the same purpose. My 
idea would be to call the national establishment the “ National Institute for the 
Promotion of Science,” and the subordinate one the “ Smithsonian Institution,” 
without more. But this is, after all, but matters of secondary consideration. 
The more I consider Mr. Preston’s bill, the more I find it difficult to amend it. 
Therefore I shall not undertake it. If the passage of that bill can be obtained, the 
cause of science shall have gained an immense advantage, and due honor shall have 
been paid to the memory of the benevolent testator. 
I have already observed, that the Smithsonian fund—half a million of dollars— 
was inadequate to the objects contemplated by either of the two institutions that 
I propose to be joined. When I consider that two millions of dollars were be¬ 
queathed by Mr. Girard to the city of Philadelphia, with a larger fund to be recur¬ 
red to in case of need, merely for the erection and endowment of a college, and 
that this immense legacy has produced nothing in the course of ten years but the 
bare walls of an unfinished palace , I must acknowledge that I tremble at the pos¬ 
sible consequences of the go-ahead system, which, notwithstanding the severe les¬ 
sons that we have received, still prevails too much among us. Rome, as the pro¬ 
verb says, was not built in a day. We have centuries before us, and the present 
generation must not expect to enjoy all what is promised to the country by the foun¬ 
dation of the National Institution, with the addition of the Smithsonian legacy. 
We must work for posterity. I rejoice that the stocks in which the capital of that 
legacy has been invested by Congress, are not susceptible of a ready sale. I hope 
that for a long time, the interest alone, and if possible only a part of it, will be 
employed for scientific purposes ; that in the erection of buildings, the embellish¬ 
ment of the city will not be attended to, but their usefulness alone contemplated ; 
and that the strictest economy will prevail in the application of the means. De- 
