Evening star., 1929-06-28
James Snlithson
BY THOMAS n. HENRY.

Yesterday was the one hundredth an
niversary Of the death Of James Smith
son.
The psychological genesis of the great
scientific institution which bears his
name In the mind of Ghis scholarly, Sc
elusive Englishman is Of more than
passing interest.
He was the son Of one of highlands
greatest noblemen. Through his veins
ran the direct stream of the blood of
He was born with all the material
things the heart could desire for the
asking. He received the finest educa-
ton obtainable in his day. He had
vast wealth.
But there was one thing lacking
Throughout his life the very soul of the
man was driven and lashed by q winged
fury. He was OF lleeitimate birth. He
was not q Percy. He was entitled to
everything inherent in his fathers posi-
ton except-a name
In the terms of the psychoanalyst,
SmithSon became the victim Of an over
whelming iT1Heriority complex But his
was not the aggressive, active type Of
personality In which the complex would
find its outlet In overt acts. He did
not denounce the Percies. He did not
quarrel with his father and half
brothers. Instead he lived on apparent
ly good terms with them and accepted
unoStentatiously whatever was due
him from them.
But this retiring soul was bearing
heavy cross In silence In the depths
of his mind he nursed plots for re-
venge on the Percies which would be
far greater than possibly could come
from overt acts Of opposition. He would
make the name of Percy, for all its
ancient honors, an insignificant one
compared to the name fate forced him
to bear
A half-brother, a legitimate Percy,
served with Cages troops at Lexing-
ton and Concord. He formed q high
opinion of the courage and character
Of the New England farmers who op-
posed him in battle. He told Smith
son about them.
The latter said nothing. But the
germ Of the political philosophy of
these farmers In homespun stuck in his
mind. They were trying to create a
social order where ancient lineage meant
nothing, where man would stand on
his own feet instead of on the shoulders
Of his father and mother, where theo-
retically the humblest name would have
an equal standing with the name Of
Percy.
But it Is unlikely that the vision
of the Smithsonian Institution came to
him fully formed at that time. He still
was young, with the world before him
and all possible advantages for making
his way in It. His was the philosophic
rather than the active mind. He was
the dreamer rather than the doer. He
would make the name Of Smithson
stand above the name Of Percy in its
own right--just as the name of Shake
Speare or Newton stood above the name
of Percy.
He turned to the relatively new field
of the natural sciences to achieve his
greatness. But he does not appear to
have possessed an extraordinary men,
tality. Not for him was the imagina-
ton and understanding requisite for
great names. Greatness eluded him.
The fleeting years rolled by. He was
still plain James Smithson and his
father was the Earl Of Percy.
He crossed the dreaded borderline Of
middle-age. He had done nothing of
great moment In the world. Fate was
playing the cards Of the Percies. His
tombstone would bear the simple in
scription James SmithSon," and moth
ing more. He would be just one of the
unnumbered, unremembered dead. But
be inscribed: 1.-THE Earl OF Percy"
The thought Of the defeat which had
attended his life must have driven the
man nearly mad. But, perhaps in a
fash of inspiration, he found the solu-
ton of his life problem and warded off
the paranoiac drives which were as
sailing him.
In Westminster Abbey. among the
kings and princes Of his race, slept his
- YSN ktNa TfCk aR n,
honors upon his tomb were engraved
the words: "Custos Rotolorum of
Northumberland and Middlesex and Of
| all America"
"Of all America" James Smithson
| smiled q sardonic smile. Vain, mean
ingless title-America had succeeded
| where he had failed. 1t had fought for
| and established social order in which
the name Of Percy was an insignificant
thing. 1t was not too late to make
| common cause with these farmers In
homespun-to join the name Of Smith
son to the name Of America.
He called in his attorney and wrote
| his win. With stroke OF his pen
| providing for the establishment in
America Of an institution bearing his
| name "for the increase and diffusion
| Of knowledge among men"-he sue
ceeded wherein his whole life had
| failed.
| To all outward appearances he was a
| quiet. modest man, notg iven to vain
glory. But he could not resist the
temptation TO express this one great
triumph.
| MY name shall live in the memory
| Of man." he wrote, when the titles OF
, the Northumberlands and Percies arc
| extinct and forgotten"
| The fury that had attended his
path In the world was shaken of at
last. It would not follow him now into
the great shadows beyond, where the
path was leading. With the victory
won he could afford to die-and having
no further purpose in life he proceeded
| to do so.
And who shall say that any one Of q
thousand accomplishments of the insti-
| tuition bearing his name-for example
Joseph Henry'S experiments with mag
netism which led to the telegraph-is
| not Of far greater consequence and
destined to live far longer In the mem
cries of men than all the loves and
wars and Statecraft OF all the Percies2
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