. Book of the Royal blue . s of time would doubtless never haveechoed the name of Snnthson. James Smithson is ciiditcd with \ingsaid, with a bitterness that easily beunderstood: The best blood of EnglandHows in my veins. On my fathers side Iam a Northumberland, on my mothers side1 am related to kings, but this avails menot. Nevertheless,the memory of menNorthumberlands .ancand forgotten. The young man. known lirst as afterward authorized by parliament his fathers surname, w^is graduatedfrom Pembroke College, Oxford, in 178(i,and soon showed so much interest in scienc
. Book of the Royal blue . s of time would doubtless never haveechoed the name of Snnthson. James Smithson is ciiditcd with \ingsaid, with a bitterness that easily beunderstood: The best blood of EnglandHows in my veins. On my fathers side Iam a Northumberland, on my mothers side1 am related to kings, but this avails menot. Nevertheless,the memory of menNorthumberlands .ancand forgotten. The young man. known lirst as afterward authorized by parliament his fathers surname, w^is graduatedfrom Pembroke College, Oxford, in 178(i,and soon showed so much interest in sciencethat he became a fellow of the Royal and mineralogy received liisspecial attention. His political tendencieswere always republican, due in large meas-ure, if not entirelv, to the unfortunate cir-( umstances of his birth. The class distinc-tions of the British were regardedbv him with (lc,„ aNcrsMm. The bulk of name shall live inen the titles of theePercvs arc extinct JAMES SMITH SON, INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON one other sons by a toniiir Noneof it was from his fathfrs family. Sniithson had stronjf faith in the endiir-anee and fiiture greatness of the InitedStates. Desirinir to do some great .let thatwould he of lasting benefit to the risingnation, he made a will in 182() bequeathinghis estate, amounting to about $51,5,000, tothe Ameriean government in the event thathis nephew rhildless. The moneyhe direeted to be used in founding in thecapital city of tiie republic an institutionbearing his name, for the increase anddiffusion of knowledge among men. Hedied in Genoa in 1829, and his nephew,wlio had no heirs, survived until estate was held in chancery two years,but the decision was favorable to the UnitedStates. The first installment of the legacy, morethan 100,000 English sovereigns, was de-livered to the Philadel|>hia mint in lS:;n,and coined into American money. ()nl.\the interest was to U- used for the
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