THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
work of the expedition so far has been the establishment of 
a cooperative agreement with the Chinese authorities with 
regard to archeological investigation, confirmed by the 
appointment of Mr. Bishop as Honorary Adviser in 
Archeology to the Historical Department of the Chinese 
Government. The continued work of this expedition will 
undoubtedly add valuable material to the collections and 
greatly promote those studies of Far Eastern civilization 
proposed by the terms of the will. 
To summarize the value of Mr. Freer’s munificent gift 
to the Nation, I will quote Carroll, who just before the 
actual beginning of the building in 1916, wrote in Scrib¬ 
ner s Magazine: 
“Donor and architect together are now planning the 
details of the museum that is to open new fields of study, 
to which limits may hardly to be set. . . . 
“Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Persia, 
China, Korea, Japan—the history of the ancient world 
recorded by itself, preserved by Mother Earth and in 
temples, palaces, tombs, and the treasure-chests of Ce¬ 
lestial generations: a history written in terms of art and 
of domestic and political life, in objects of daily use 
enhanced and exalted by the imaginative, the creative 
mind and skill of the artist and the artisan. This history 
the museum is to open to scholar and artist, to specialist 
and public, proffering to all the elevating influences of 
ancient attainments by diverse peoples.” 
