The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-20
r WoULD be very interesting to

TT WOULD be very interesting to
! positively know whether or not.
James Smithson, founder Of the Smith
sonian institution at the national cap
itaL whose remains have just been
brought here, was the original for
Charles Dickens character Of Mr..
Pickwick.
Many years ago there was in Lon
don quite discussion as to who was
the authors original or real Mr.. Pick
wick, and Dickens always maintained,
quite naturally, that the character was
entirely original with him and abso-
lutely creation of his BRAIN
Now that Prof. Graham Bell, the
telephone man, after a long siege, has
succeeded in bringing the remains OF
Smithson here for interment in the
Smithsonian institution grounds all
lovers of Dickens works, as well as
all persons who are familiar with the
work of the great scientific bureau
which Smithson made possible, will at
least be interested in the remarkable
similarity between the daily life of our
dead benefactor and the daily life OF
that great man, Pickwick.
Smithson died in Genoa. Italy, sew
GQIy-uVG years dSO, VI e1bOoI q oSSoCN
before ,"PickWick Papers" was pub
lished. His remains have until now
rested in a grave in the British ceme-
tery there. When it was recently de-
cided to make a quarry of this ceme-
terry Secretary Langley, of the Smith
sonian institution and Prof. Bell set
about bringing Snlithson's remains to
this country.
one little incident In Smithson's life
Iox
enough for Dickens to have based all
the ridiculous things which Mr.. PICK
wick did in his efforts ito benefit man.
kind" 1t is related that upon seeing
a. tear gliding down lady's cheek
he quickly caught up his monocle and
endeavored to catch the drop, that ne
might analyze it 'for the beneht OF
mankind" Half of it got away from
the venerable gentleman, but he pre-
served the other half, and after shut
ing himself UP In his laboratory came
out with a few valuable notes in which
he states that he found in the half
which he examined "much salt, mur1ate
of soda, and other saline substances:
What value this could have been TO
mankind probably any member OF INC
Pickwick club would have at once appre-
cfated no matter how dense the outside
world might be.
Tn addition to this, Mr. Smithson al
ways carried with him very elaborate
travelling laboratory, and its contents were
of far more importance to him and the
coterie of trained scientific persons whom
he had always for companions than their
yalises or even their money belts. 1t Is
said this laboratory was most carefully
guarded by Mr.. Smithson's body servant
Mr.. Weller, perhaps-and always placed
in his masters room or tent whenever
stop was made.
He was ever proud of his work, and he
was equally proud of his ancestry. both
of which he boosted of literally. He was
an illegitimate son Of Hugh Smithson, the
first Duke of Northumberland, and Mrs
Elizabeth Macie, who was Hungerford,
and who came from the renowned Percys,
irnmortalized by Shakespeare and 9TH
ers.
It is believed he never had friend In
America, and it is known positively that
he never visited this country. Why he
left his fortune of more than half mil
lion dollars to found the Smithsonian in
stitution was entirely unexplained, except