Upon the Mall stands the Smithsonian Institution, of world-wide
renown, one of the most interesting public structures in
Washington, its turrets and towers rising above the trees. The origin
of this famous scientific establishment was the bequest of an
Englishman, James Smithson, a natural son of Hugh Smithson, Duke of
Northumberland, born in 1765. He was known as Louis Macie at Oxford,
graduating under that name; early developed scientific tastes; was a
Fellow of the Royal Society, the friend and associate of many of the
most learned men of his time, and lived usually in Paris, where in the
latter part of the last century he took the family name of his father.
He died in Italy in 1829. In Washington's Farewell Address, issued in
1796, there occurs the phrase, "An institution for the increase and
diffusion of knowledge," and it was well known that the Father of his
Country cherished a project for a national institution of learning in
the new Federal City. This was evidently communicated to Smithson by
one of his intimates in Paris, Joel Barlow, a noted American, who was
familiar with Washington's plan, and in this way originated the
residuary bequest, which was contained in the following clause of
Smithson's will: "I bequeath the whole of my property to the United
States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the
Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and
diffusion of knowledge among men." Upon the death of Smithson's
nephew, without heirs, in 1835, this bequest became operative, and the
United States Legation in London was notified that the estate, then
amounting in value to about £100,000, was held in possession of the
Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery. This was something novel
in America, and when the facts became public opposition arose in
Congress to accepting the gift, eminent men, headed by John C.
Calhoun, arguing that it was beneath the dignity of the United States
to receive presents. Others, however, led by John Quincy Adams,
ardently advocated acceptance. The latter carried the day; Richard
Rush was sent to London, as agent, to prosecute the claim in the Court
of Chancery, in the name of the President of the United States; and
the legacy was obtained and delivered at the Mint in Philadelphia,
September 1, 1838, in the sum of 104,960 British sovereigns, and was
immediately recoined into United States money, producing $508,318.46,
the first installment of the legacy. There were subsequent additional
installments, and the total sum in 1867 reached $650,000. This
original sum was deposited in the Federal Treasury in perpetuity, at
six per cent, interest, and the income has been devoted to the
erection of the buildings, and, with other subsequently added sums, to
the support of the vast establishment which has grown from the
original gift.
[Illustration: _In the Congressional Library, Washington, D. C._]
The Smithsonian Institution was formally created by Act of Congress,
August 10, 1846, the corporation being composed of the President,
Vice-President, members of the Cabinet and Chief Justice, who are
constituted the "establishment," made responsible for the duty of "the
increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The Institution is
administered by a Board of Regents, including in addition three
Senators, three members of the House, and six citizens appointed by
Congress; the presiding officer, called the "Chancellor," being
usually the Chief Justice, and the secretary of the board is the
Executive Officer. The late eminent Professor Joseph Henry was elected
secretary in 1846, and he designed the plan and scope of the Institution,
continuing as its executive head until his death in 1878. His statue
stands in the grounds near the entrance. Two other secretaries
followed him, Spencer F. Baird (who was twenty-seven years assistant
secretary), and upon his death Samuel P. Langley, in 1888. The ornate
building of red Seneca brownstone, a fine castellated structure in the
Renaissance style, was designed in 1847 and finished in 1855. Its
grand front stretches about four hundred and fifty feet, and its nine
towers and turrets, rising from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty
feet, stand up prettily behind the groves of trees. This original
building contains a museum of natural history and anthropology. In
connection with it there is another elaborate structure over three
hundred feet square--the National Museum--containing numerous courts,
surrounding a central rotunda, beneath which a fountain plashes. This
is under the same management, and directly supported by the
Government, the design being to perfect a collection much like the
British Museum, but paying more attention to American antiquities and
products. This adjunct museum began with the gifts by foreign
Governments to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, most of
them being still preserved there. The Smithsonian Trust Fund now
approximates $1,000,000, and there are various other gifts and
bequests held in the Treasury for various scientific purposes
similarly administered.
Briefly stated, the plan of Professor Henry was to "increase
knowledge" by original investigations and study, either in science or
literature, and to "diffuse knowledge" not only through the United
States, but everywhere, and especially by promoting an interchange of
thought among the learned in all nations, with no restriction in favor
of any one branch of knowledge. A leading feature of his plan was "to
assist men of science in making original researches, to publish them
in a series of volumes, and to give a copy of them to every
first-class library on the face of the earth." There is said to be
probably not a scientific observer of any standing in the United
States to whom the Institution has not at some time extended a helping
hand, and this aid also goes liberally across the Atlantic. As income
grew, the scope has been enlarged. In the various museums there is a
particularly good collection of American ethnology, and a most
elaborate display of American fossils, minerals, animals, birds and
antiquities. There are also shown by the Fish Commission specimens of
the fishing implements and fishery methods of all nations, an
exhibition which is unexcelled in these special departments. Many
specifically interesting things are in the National Museum. The
personal effects of Washington, Jackson and General Grant are there.
Benjamin Franklin's old printing-press is preserved in a somewhat
dilapidated condition, and there is also the first railway engine sent
from England to the United States, the original "John Bull," built by
Stephenson & Son at Newcastle-on-Tyne in June, 1831, and sent out as
"Engine No. 1" for the Camden and Amboy Railroad crossing New Jersey,
now a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It weighs ten tons, and has
four driving-wheels of fifty-four inches diameter. This relic, after
being used on the railroad for forty years, until improved machinery
superseded it, has been given the Government as a national heirloom.
Among the anthropological collections is a chronologically arranged
series illustrating American history from the period of the discovery
to the present day. This includes George Catlin's famous collection of
six hundred paintings, illustrating the manners and customs of the
North American Indians. One of the most important features of the work
of this most interesting establishment is its active participation in
all the great International Expositions by the loan to them of
valuable exhibits under Government direction and control.