Pursuit of Knowledge
I guess you would call James an inquisitive fellow. His
friends say he thought nothing of risking life and limb in
pursuit of knowledge. He published dozens of scientific
papers, and some of those are still mighty interesting. He
once wrote up his analysis of a lady’s teardrop. And he
convinced all England that there was a surefire scientific
method for better coffee.
James was a member of the royal society of London. Now
you’ve heard of those guys. They’re the ones who led us all
into the age of science. James was a leader in that circle of
great men. They called him the best chemist of his time. But
there was one thing about James that was a little different
from the scholars he hung out with - he was rich.
He was the illegitimate son of the first Duke of
Northumberland and his mother, well she came from royalty.
When James died in 1829, both England and the United States
were surprised at the will he left behind. Oh, at first glance it
wasn’t anything unusual. He left his estate to a nephew since
he didn’t have any close family. But in a contingency clause,
if that nephew died without children, well, then his riches
would go to the people of the United States of America.
Now nobody could figure out why James would do that.
He didn’t know anybody from America and nobody could
remember him ever visiting the U.S. You can imagine what
an uproar it caused. And wouldn’t you know it, a few years
later that nephew did die childless. But there was one
stipulation to America’s fortune. All those bucks had to be
used for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
Now a good many Congressmen didn’t think we had any
business accepting that inheritance. James was, after all, a
foreigner - and an English one to boot. And not only was
taking the money beneath our dignity, some said, but it was
probably unconstitutional. Well, President Andrew Jackson
was all for accepting the gift, and after a lot of bickering and
debate in Congress, we did.
But wouldn’t you know it, that was just the beginning of
the arguments. After we’d sent a man over to collect our
inheritance, which, by the way, was more than a half a million
dollars (quite a fortune in those days), nobody could agree on
how to spend it. A bunch of people thought we ought to start
up a university, but then they couldn’t decide whether it
should be dedicated to science, or to social reform, or to the
classics - whatever those were. But finally, someone had the
bright idea to start a museum.
And It’s a Little Known Fact that we didn’t just build any
old museum, but our pride and glory, unequaled in the entire
world. And for that the American people are beholden to a
blue-blooded Englishmen: James Smithson, the benefactor
of the Smithsonian.
I don't make speling mistakes. 4 Today’s Senior Magazine does not endorse copy of contents of articles, editorials or ads
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