Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-06-07
THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

]
Good Words.
! THE SMITHSONIAN NTNSTTTETfON
There stands aloof at the capital city Of
the Union a strikingly picturesque building
in the midst of beautiful park, the rich red
! sandstone towers and fretted battlements Of
! which always attract aud please the swelling
| tide of national visitation for the quaint and
! unusual Romanesque architecture seldom fails
! to challenge attention and to call forth gen
| eral expression of pleasure especially when
! viewed in the glowing light Of bright morn
/ ing, or in that OF warm sunset AS the Grim
son tone of the structure comes out in bril-
liant contrast with TIE luxuriant surroundings
| of lawn, trees, shrubs and evergreens This
is the Smithsonian Institution-an establish
| ment now always referred to with pride by
| Americans and is in itself SH gtHerjs in the
world
| The death Of the venerable Prof,ss ssor Hen
| ry on the 18th of May, at the age of eighty
| years, makes it especially appropriate to give
| an account of tins institution, which owes 50
| much of its success to his uutiring devotion,
and which may justly be called his monu-
| ment.
Some forty-fve or fifty years ago an Eng
| lish. gentleman, who claimed that the blood Of
Percy and Northumberland flowed through
/ his veins, became imbued with this wise CON
! cet. that if he was to live in the minds of his
fellow-men, he must depart from the usual
| custom of the wealthy, and make such dispo-
| stion of his estate us should be necessary to
successfully attain the object Of his ambition.
| Being himself "a scientist of no mean qualif-
! cation, he soon arrived at the conclusion that
his property after his death, and that of his
nephew, q sole surviving relative, should be
] used ia fgunflirff ip4tifttff,,, 4
| bear his name and be devoted 'to the in
crease and diffusion of knowledge among
! men and SO james Smithson, unmarried
! after carefully looking about him. chose the
| government Of the United States as the tr7ls-
! tee for his purpose and in ls2s died and
soon after lie was followed by his nephew.
and the estate resolved into coin and
/ transferred in trust to the Treasury of the
| government, after the usual preliminaries had
! been settled in the English courts. The be-
! quest of SmlthsOn amounted to SIlj. 600 in
round numbers" it was brought over in SOW
ereigus, deposited in the Mint, where it was
| recoined into American eagles, and at once
| became IN this way part OF our currency.
At the time Of the organization of the In
| stitution in 1876. the snm of S249, 900 had ac-
| cumulated in interest on the principal nt six
| per cent, which was and is the rate paid by
the government for the use Of the money.
| Congress appointed then Board of Regents,
who were appointed to take the practical
work in hand of complying with the terms of
| Smithson's will. and these gentlemen began
at once TO consider the matter of erecting a
suitable building. and of adopting such rules
as should best serve the end held in view by
| Smithson.
! The language of the testator was brief to a
fault, and a great variety Of opinion arose
| over the true construction that should be
| placed on the words Of direction. which were
ito found ut Washington an establishment,
under the name of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton, for the increase and diffusion of knowl-
edge among men The President Mr.. Van
| Buren,, through circular addressed to the
leading scientists and men of culture at that
time known in this country, invited from
them frank, full expression Of their views
as to the method for carrying out the terms OF
| the bequest. The almost unanimous reply
was that "A university should be established
! but, coming after President John Quincy
Adams, more clearly perceiving the intention
of the donor, affirmed that "A university would
not fulfill the terms of the bequest, since the
! function of an establishment Of that kind is
not the increase of knowledge, but the teach
ing, instead, Of what already exists
Finally, after long and earnest deliberation
the Board of Regents adopted the plan OF
Professor Joseph Henry, then in the chair OF
Physics at Princeton College, and he wa,
called by them to the charge and direction OF
the affairs of the new establishment and from
that day to this the sagncity and wisdom OF
the professor have never been questioned bN
the logic Of events.
Though the theory of Professor Henry
which has been carried successfully into
practice. was exceedingly clear when frs
given to the Board of Regents in 1876, ye
! pr,pp.ifinp IN W. ~ and l,ittar
but fortunately for the good name and use
fulness of the Smithson bequest, the advanced
sentiment of the professor prevailed, and W,
here have the extraordinary spectacle of tn,
vast power for extending and aiding tht
spread of knowledge which a small sum Of
money possesses annually expended with ju
dicious energy. The income (about So,
OO0) of the Smithsonian Institution is not
quarter of that enjoyed by over dozen col
lrges and universities in our country to-day
but while these establishments are hardly
known beyond the local boundaries that en-
yiron them, the name of the Smithsonian In
stitution is honorable and familiar not alon,
to every scholar, but to every reading man il
the length and breadth of the civilized world
The principle upon which Professor Henr,
based the Smithsonian work in 1916 is a
simple as that of the cavern upon which tn
Egyptians founded their massive and elegan
architecture he contended that ito inereas,
knowledge" We must add to the sum of ex
istng knowledge, and not merely recite anew
that which was already known, as is done il
our schools and colleges and to this end o
adding to the sum of existing knowledge ant
ditiusing it among men the efforts Of the Sec
retary of the Smithsonian Institution hay
been unswerYing and direct during the las
thirty years and that the world may in brie
clearly understand the method of Smithson
ian labor, We propose to review it seridtim.
The operations of the Institution come di
rectly under the following heads its publca
tions; its system of foreign and domestic ex
changes its correspondence. aided by stat
of nonresident collabomtors and its grea
labor of collection in the fields of ethnolog.
and natural history
BY its system of publications it vitalize
the thought and action Of every man engaged
in matters of original research throughout tn
country, for he has the guarantee that thOugl
his means be ever so limited, yet if the re
suits OF his investigations shall bear fruit, tn,
world will speedily know of it and rende
credit through its publication by the lnstitu
ton.
Memoirs upon every subject of human in
quiry are constantly received at the Smith
sonian, and are referred to jures of expert
for examination and report. The result o
! these decisions by those who are most com
petent to render opinion is, if favorable, fol
lowed soon by the printing of the paper o
memoir in the Smithsonian Contributions I,
knowledge" and if not so, the article is re
turned to the author, with brief synopsis o
the unfavorable report, in which the errors o
fallacies are pointed out.
The activity of thought and research il
this country is abundantly manifested by tn
amazing number of articles received at tn
Smithsonian Institution during the year 70
publication. The reports and memoirs whiel
! are evolved from sound and unsOund mind