Levi Woodbury to the President. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Dec. 3, 1838. SIR: I have the honor to report to you that, under the act of Congress approved 1st July, 1836, in relation to the legacy bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, the sum of $508,318.46 has been received, and paid into the Treasury of the United States. In compliance with the provisions of the sixth section of the act of Congress for the support of the Military Academy of the United States, and for other purposes, approved 7th July, 1838, the sum of $499,500 has been expended in the purchase of five hundred bonds of the State of Arkansas, for one thousand dollars each, bearing six per cent. interest, payable semi-annually, on the first days of January and July in each year, from the fourth day of September last, (the period of their purchase.) The further sum of $8,270.67 has been applied to the purchase of eight bonds of the State of Michigan, bearing six per cent. interest, payable semiannually hereafter, on the first Mondays in January and July, from the 1st of May last. The interest on all these bonds is payable at the city of New York. There is still left in the Treasury the sum of $547.79 which has not yet been invested, but will be as soon as a favorable opportunity offers. The amount received in London by the agent of the United States, under the decree of the court of chancery of England, was the gross sum of £106,490 11s. 9d., ineluding the sum of £116 2s. 2d., for costs refunded. This was reduced, by the payment of commissions, insurances, &c., to the sum of £104,960 8s. 9d., which was brought into the United States in gold, and produced at the Mint the sum of $508,318.46, before mentioned. This department having doubts as to what constituted the amount of the Smithsonian fund, consulted the Attorney General, and he has given his opinion (hereto annexed, A,)' that the proper construction to be given to the legislation of Congress on this subject requires that the gross amount of the payment made to the agent of the United States, after deducting the costs refunded, as before stated, shall constitute the fund, "and all expenses, of whatever kind or nature, should be paid out of the appropriation made by Congress." That appropriation, however, not being sufficient, an estimate will accordingly be submitted to the House of Representatives, to enable the Department to comply with the acts of Congress referred to, in accordance with the construction thus given to them by the Attorney General. The estimate to be submitted is for $10,000. Of this, the sum of $128.24 will be required to make good a deficiency in the former appropriation. The sum of $6,848.12 will be required to be added to the fund, on the principles laid down by the Attorney General. This sum is estimated on the same ratio as upon the amount produced in the United States on the remittance which has been received. The balance, $3,023.64, will be required to pay the freight, &c., of the remittance amounting, to $2,235.63, and such expenses as may be incurred in disposing of the personal effects of Mr. Smithson, which have been brought to the United States; for the sale of which I would suggest that provision should be made by Congress. This report is submitted to you, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives, which you referred to this Department for the necessary information that its archives would furnish in relation to the call thus made upon you. Respectfully submitted: LEVI WOODBURY, To the PRESIDENT of the United States. A. Felix Grundy to Levi Woodbury. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, November 16, 1838. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 11th of October last, requesting my opinion upon various points in relation to the Smithsonian legacy. A separate answer to each of your inquiries is deemed unnecessary, as the opinion I entertain, and am about to express in general terms, will be found to cover most of them. James Smithson, of London, on the 23d of October, 1826, executed his last will and testament, by which, upon the happening of certain contingencies, he bequeathed to the United States of America all his property, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. The Congress of the United States, by an act passed 1st of July, 1836, accepted the bequest, and directed the President to appoint an agent to assert and prosecute the claim, and by said act pledged the faith of the United States to apply the moneys and other funds which might be received to carry into effect the provisions of said will; and, by the fourth section of said act, it is provided, "that to the end that the claim to said bequest may be prosecuted with effect, and the necessary expenses in prosecuting the same be defrayed, the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to apply to that purpose any sum not exceeding $10,000," &c. From these provisions it appears to me that Congress intended that there should be no diminution of the funds bequeathed for the purpose specified in said will, but that the whole, whatever they might amount to, should be applied to carry into effect the intention of the testator; and when the object of the bequest is considered, it cannot be supposed that Congress would act in any other than a liberal spirit. My opinion, therefore, is, that the amount of the whole money and other funds received by the agent of the United States, under the act of July 1st, 1836, without reduction, constitute the Smithsonian fund, for the purposes specified in said Smithson's will; and that the whole expenses of prosecuting said claim, receiving, and transporting the same to this country, including any additional expenses which may have been incurred here, ought to be defrayed out of the appropriation made by Congress. It appears that cash and stocks, which, when converted into money, amounted to £106,490 11s. 9d., were decreed to the United States, as the amount of the legacy and bequest in said will. This sum, after deducting £116 2s. 2d., the amount of costs refunded, is the amount which should be paid to the Treasurer of the United States, to be kept and disposed of according to the provisions of the act of July 1, 1836, and the sixth section of the act of July 7, 1838; and all expenses, of whatever kind or nature, should be paid out of the appropriation made by Congress. In relation to the disposition of the other personal effects of Mr. Smithson, which have been transferred to this country by the agent of the United States, my opinion is, that Congress should direct the disposition of them. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, FELIX GRUNDY. Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury. RESIDUARY BEQUEST OF JAMES SMITHSON. From Report of the Secretary for the year 1861. Information has been received from London of the death, at an advanced age, of Madame de la Batut, the mother of the nephew of James Smithson, to whom an annuity was conceded as a compromise by the Hon. Richard Rush, with a view to the more expeditious realization of the Smithsonian legacy. The principal of this annuity, amounting to five thousand and fifteen pounds, (about $25,000,) will now be added to the bequest of Smithson, of which it originally formed a part. From Proceedings of the Board of Regents, May 1, 1862. The Secretary gave an account of the circumstances connected with the money left in England by Hon. Richard Rush, as principal of an annuity to the mother of the nephew of Smithson, and presented the following communications from Fladgate, Clarke & Finch, of London. 40 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, London, W. C., May 16, 1861. SIR: We had the honor, in the year 1838, of acting professionally for the President of the United States in the suit in the English court of chancery, under which the funds for the foundation of the Institution (of which we address you as manager) were decreed to be paid over to him for the purpose of establishing the Institution. We have now to make to you as the manager thereof the following com munication: On referring to the papers connected with the Institution you will find that a sum of £5,015 three per cent. consols, part of the estate of Smithson, the founder, were retained in the court of chancery to answer a claim of one Madame de la Batut. That person was, in fact, entitled to a life interest in the fund, and at her death it was to revert to the President as an additional fund for the purposes of the In stitution. Madame de la Batut is now dead, so that the fund has become transferable to the President, and it will be requi site for him, or some person duly authorized by him, to take the necessary steps to obtain a transfer. We have had some communication with the solicitor of the lady's family, who writes as follows: "My client Mr. La Batut, upon taking out administration to his late mother, Madame La Batut, to whom Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lewis Dickinson, by his will dated 17th July, 1819, gave half of the income of his property, for her life, will be entitled to an apportioned part of such income from the last payment, on the 22d March, 1858, to 10th September, in the same year, which would amount to about £70. "The property originally consisted of French 5 per cent. rentes, payable 22d March, and 22d September, but by order of the court a sum of £5,015 three per cent. consols was invested in the name of the accountant general in this suit, to the separate account of Mary Ann de la Batut, the annuitant, to meet the payments of the life income. By the law of France, the life income is apportionable and payable up to the time of death, and Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson having been domiciled in France at the time of his death, that law will apply to this case. "Will you be good enough, under these circumstances, to obtain the consent of your client in presenting a petition as to the £5,015 and the arrears of dividends due thereon, to ask for the payment to my client of the apportioned sum out of such arrears, without obliging him to go to the expense of proving the law of France upon this subject. I will hand you the necessary proof of death, the expense of which can be included in the necessary costs of the application." We should recommend that the request contained in this letter be complied with. We have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servants, FLADGATE, CLARKE & FINCH. To the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, U. S. 40 CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, London, W. C., October 26, 1861. SIR: Your letter of the 14th August reached us in the long vacation which has just terminated, and we hasten to reply to it. All that will be requisite to be done in the first instance is, that we should have the authority of the President of |