170 
James  Smithson, 
\  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       April,  1904. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  excel  the  simple  majesty  of  the  last  few 
words  of  that  clause.  Possibly  no  higher  tribute  has  ever  been  paid 
to  the  honor  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  than  the  absolute 
trust  which  Smithson  reposed  in  them  when  he  placed  in  their 
hands  what  was  at  that  time  a  very  large  fortune  (about  one-half 
million  dollars)  without  hedging  it  all  about  with  directions,  restric- 
tions and  safeguards  of  various  kinds.  His  wishes  as  to  trustees, 
place,  name,  purpose  and  beneficiaries  are  all  told  in  twenty-eight 
words,  and  those  few  words  have  afforded  the  means  for  wonderfully 
increasing  the  stock  of  human  knowledge  of  all  kinds,  and  the  whole 
world  has  been  the  beneficiary.  Could  Smithson  at  this  day  view 
the  results  of  his  benefaction,  he  must  needs  say  that  they  have  far 
exceeded  any  expectation  which  he  may  have  cherished.  The 
Smithsonian  Institution,  founded  in  1846,  is,  in  itself,  a  grand 
memorial  to  him,  and  much  grander  still  when  it  is  remembered 
that  it  has  called  into  being  and  has  under  its  care  the  National 
Museum,  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  the  National  Zoologi- 
cal Park,  the  Bureau  of  International  Exchanges,  and  the  Astrophy- 
sical  Observatory,  and  that  it  has  mothered  various  other  of  the 
scientific  bureaus  of  the  Government's  work.  Probably  no  trust 
has  ever  been  more  honorably  and  successfully  administered,  and 
certainly  none  has  had  so  great  effects  both  at  home  and  to  the 
far  corners  of  the  earth.  The  seal  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
contains  the  words  from  Smithson's  will,  u  For  the  increase  and 
diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men,"  and  the  words  per  orb em  have 
been  added. 
Smithson  died  June  27,  1829,  at  Genoa,  Italy,  and  was  buried  in 
the  English  cemetery  on  the  heights  of  San  Benigno.  A  few  years 
ago  the  Smithsonian  Institution  placed  a  tablet  on  his  tomb  and  a 
similar  tablet  in  the  English  church  in  the  city  of  Genoa. 
Last  January,  through  the  agency  of  Prof.  Alexander  Graham 
Bell,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
his  remains  were  brought  to  this  country  and  are  to  find  a  final 
resting-place  in  the  Smithsonian  Park,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
institution  which  he  founded. 
The  United  States  despatch-boat  "Dolphin"  was  sent  to  New 
York  to  receive  the  remains  upon  their  arrival  in  this  country  and 
to  bring  them  to  Washington.  Here  they  were  placed  upon  a  gun- 
carriage  and  with  a  military  escort  were  brought  to  the  Institution 
