Show the smithsonian institute we know it is very verr easy to rail against any institution and to gain a kind of claptrap I 1 po popular algx ap applause t lause even evell when facts will not warrant it by y being sharp and seve severe re in I 1 censuring cep suring but bu wo we hope we shall ahall never nover be guilty of seeking sach ovations what we have ave to say therefore respecting the above n bained a institution springs only from from a desire to 0 do good in presenting our views respecting its its management it is aig or opinion that if smithson gerdto were to rise from froin the dead his first 0 object would be ao try and and get the funds he bequeathed to our nation I 1 for cafor the increase in orease and diffusion of knowledge among men removed from the guardianship of our 0 ur governa government ent at washington 9 ton let us briefly cicur recur to his bequeath beque be at 1 bequest auest james ames smithson an eminent chemist and 1 natural son of the duke of northumberland P 1 died in 1826 and in his bis will vill made the following bequest in the event of the death of I 1 I 1 his nh n h w and heir 1 11 I 1 then bequeath the whole who of my property to the united states of Aine america rici to found at washington ivington under the name 0 of the smithsonian institution institute ion an I 1 establishment for the increase and di diffusion ff 11 I 1 in 1830 1835 his to nephew died an and d in 1836 president jackson selected richard bichard rush of philadelphia as the special agent of the united states to proceed to england and prosecute i the bequest to i its to final anal recovery I 1 I 1 this commission he faithfully and successfully executed and on the first of september 1 1 lam 1838 he deposited in jold gold at the philadelphia ra mint ut the s sum am of being the proceeds then recovered of the bequest more than thirteen years have since passed away and what has hao been done to carry out the will of or this lover of our country considering ai si the donor and the nature of the our government should have executed the bequest of smithson with sacred and religious scrupulosity but this has not been done nor has a decent approach yet yei been made to do so our bols congress tresi wrongfully invested the money in the bonds bonds of a few 13 states tates which for a number X I 1 I 1 of years did not pay a single cent cant of capital or iu interest terest I 1 I 1 for eight years after the money was obtained not a stone was laid to found the institution for which it was donated and etow kinoe since thy thie structure has been erected and the institute organized by law with guardians and officers appointed for its government vern yern ment what has it done ifor for the ind increase rease and diffusion of knowledge among men nothing to what it should have done it is ia an secretary professor fessor henry and if we had been called upon to name the most suitable man in our oar countr country y for this office he would have been the one we ve should have selected but the institution is faulty we think in management I 1 the object of smithson was the increase and spread of the most useful knowledge knowledg among men democratic knowledge that which is elevating and belef beneficial acial not that which involves mere learned curiosity the only kind for which the institution ha has s been most distinguished As smithson was a chemist he be abt desired tolbee a knowledge 0 ol 01 of that science spread abroad mo men n I 1 I 1 the smithsonian institution done to promote the of achl chemical mica I 1 knowledge among our oar I 1 people nothing at ag it was not until two weeks ivee s a go that we knew it had published any work on en chemical science this is a collection a very useful one ode no I 1 doubt but is composed mos mostly ty of extracts I 1 from foreign magazines it has also published I 1 a number of abstract works on very unimportant subjects which are of 0 no goi I 1 interest whatever everything Every connected with it seems to have been mismanaged the building is a agrim grim distasteful dista pile I 1 not creditable to the taste aaste of the architect and twice as much money was spent to erect it as honor common sense and the objects I 1 for which it was originally designed required i I 1 we believe that the will of smithson Saut coAld 1 be bi carried out in the best manner to pay nine nine or tep ten eminent professors r men aen of scientific reputation liberal salaries for the purposes purposed seg purely of making experiments searching after knowledge giving ascertain number of free lectures each season then publishing the results af their expert experiments ments every year in a cheap form for diffusion among the people f I 1 the american academy of arts and sciences at cambridge mass blass a voluntary association does ten times more for science every year than the smithsonian institute this should not be andas and as the latter institute is national we speak in the name of bf the people and request congress to do its duty with respect to the will of smithson gi nith and endeavor hereafter to carry out his bequest in a liberal and honorable manner the smithsonian institute has done a great deal of good since it was organized this we cannot d deny emy we are glad to be able to say this but bat i it berti certainly should have done more so 0 far as it relates to popular useful a cienci for the millions that was the object of smithson in making the bequest he was a scientific democrat or he an english no biemans bl emans son never would have left his fortune I 1 to found such an institution i in republican america scientific american |