12. London: The Will, 1825–1829
1 William Buckland to Georges Cuvier, March 26, 1825; Fonds Cuvier, 3247, item 3, Institut de France.
2 Victor Hugo told the story of the duke renting the main house on the square across from the Cathedral for the extraordinary sum of 30,000 francs for three days, when the house had been put up for sale before the announcement of the coronation at 10,000 francs. See chapter one, "Reims," in The Memoirs of Victor Hugo (New York, 2006). See also "Percy, Hugh (1785–1847)," Dictionary of National Biography (London, 1895).
3 Smithson to Jöns Jakob Berzelius, June 6, 1819; Archives of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
4 Royal Society Club record book, RS Archives. Staunton's villa was Leigh Park, near Portsmouth; the Staunton Papers at Duke University include a list of guests between 1820 and 1858, but it does not feature Smithson. Richard Rush was invited to come for a few weeks in the summer of 1837, when he was in England pursuing the Smithson bequest in the Court of Chancery; the reference to "bachelor's villa" is George Thomas Staunton to Rush, May 25, 1837; Rush Family Papers, Princeton.
5 Smithson's copies of the Egyptian Hall exhibition pamphlet and the Heuland auction catalogue are both in the Smithson Library, SIL.
6 The first sale by "Smithson," on October 15, 1825, was "An Historical painting" by an unknown painter, which sold for £0.5; the second sale on December 14, 1825, was "A Lady reading a letter," by "Hamilton." This last was bought in by the house, for £1.1. Getty Provenance Index Sale Catalogs Database.
7 Dr/427/258, ff. 635 and 639; Royal Bank of Scotland Archives, London. When Richard Rush was in London, 1836–8, pursuing the Smithson bequest at Chancery Court, the solicitors consulted Smithson's accounts at Drummonds "to ascertain whether any drafts had been drawn upon them by the testator, which would tally with the claim brought forward by Mrs. Batut, but found it was the testator's habit to draw only for large sums, and his account proved nothing." Bill of Costs submitted by Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate, quoted in Rhees, Documents, p. 89.
8 James Smithson, "A Method of Fixing Crayon Colors," Annals of Philosophy (1825).
9 "When the sole view …" is from Smithson's "Some Improvements of Lamps," Annals of Philosophy (1822). "In all cases means of economy …" is from "An Improved Method of Making Coffee," Annals of Philosophy (1823).
10 Colin Russell, Science and Social Change, 1700–1900 (Macmillan, 1983), pp. 138 46, 155–61. D. S. L. Cardwell, The Organisation of Science in England (London, 1972), p. 41.
11 Brougham, Preliminary Treatise on the Objects, Advantages, and Pleasures of Science (1826?), quoted in F. A. Cavenagh, "Lord Brougham and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," The Journal of Adult Education 4, no. 1 (October 1929), pp. 3–37. See also the excellent article, William L. Bird, Jr., "A Suggestion Concerning James Smithson's Concept of'Increase and Diffusion, '" Technology and Culture, vol. 24, no. 2 (April 1983), pp. 246–55.
12 Ian Britain, "Education," in An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age, British Culture 1776–1832, Ian McCalman, ed. (Oxford, 1999), p. 165.
13 Morris Berman, Social Change and Scientific Organisation: The Royal Institution, 1799–1844 (Ithaca, NY, 1978), p. 111. Warburton's friendship with Smithson is indicated in Warburton to Howard, August 4, 1816, Wollaston Papers, Cambridge University Library, Add MS 7736, Box 2.
14 John C. Greene, American Science in the Age of Jefferson (Iowa State University Press, 1984), p. 12.
15 William Stanton, "Banks and New World Science," in Sir Joseph Banks: A Global Perspective, eds R. E. R. Banks and others (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1994), pp. 149–50.
16 Tait's Edinburgh Magazine (1832), p. 234; quoted in Rhees, James Smithson and His Bequest, p. 22.
17 See E. M. Butler, ed., A Regency Visitor: The English Tour of Prince Meckler-Muskau 1826–28 (London, 1957), quoted in Celina Fox, ed., London: World City, 1800–1840 (London and New Haven, 1992), p. 20.
18 Quoted in Merrill D. Peterson, The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (New York and Oxford, 1960), p. 6.
19 Quoted in Peterson, The Jefferson Image in the American Mind, pp. 5–6. I am grateful to David Shayt for his inspiration and conversation on this subject.
20 J. F. C. Harrison, Quest for the New Moral World: Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America (New York, 1969). For Goethe see Karl Arndt, ed., Harmony on the Wabash in Transition (Worcester, MA, 1982), pp. 795–6. Owen's quote from Gregory Claeys, Selected Works of Robert Owen (London, 1997), vol. 4, p. 209. For Maclure and Thomson see H. S. Torrens, "The Geological Work of Gregory Watt, his travels with William Maclure in Italy 1801–02 and Watt's 'proto-Geological' map of Italy of 1804," in The Origins of Geology in Italy (Geological Society of America, 2006). Baume biographical material, from the Manx Museum, courtesy of Roger Cooter.
21 Davy to his wife Lady Jane, quoted in David Knight, Humphry Davy: Science and Power (Cambridge, 1996), p. 161.
22 Sir Henry Lyons, ed., The Record of the Royal Society of London (London, 1940), p. 142. Charles Lyell was not so critical as Davy; he told his sister: "He [Wollaston] has left £2000 to the Royal Society, and £1,000 to the Geological Society, a bequest, as Fitton says, which although of great consequence in itself, will do us more good as showing the deliberate approbation of such a mind." Charles Lyell to his sister Marianne, Rome, January 21, 1829; printed in Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell, Bart. (1881). Wollaston's obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine asserted that his platinum production alone yielded some £30,000, but some have argued this is much exaggerated, and that his profits were more like £15,000. L. F. Gilbert, "W. H. Wollaston Mss. at Cambridge," Notes and Records of the Royal Society 9 (1951–2), pp. 326.
23 Davy's will was published in The Times, December 4, 1829, p. 2. Paris, Life of Davy. See also John Ayrton Paris, The Life of Sir Humphry Davy (London, 1831), 2 vols.
24 Blagden suggested in his diary that Davy had hoped for some bequest: "Davy said, Mr. C. has at least remembered one man of science [i.e. Blagden], in a tone of voice which expressed much." Blagden diary for 1810, Royal Society; quoted in Christa Jungnickel and Russell McCormmach, Cavendish: The Experimental Life (Bucknell University Press, 1999); see pp. 493, 502, 504.
25 George E. Ellis, Memoir of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, with Notices of his Daughter (Boston, 1871), p. 635.
26 A. H. B., "Francis Douce (1757–1834)," Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 1973 reprint), vol. 5, p. 1161.
27 Correspondence with Barbara English, author of Strict Settlement, spring 2000.
28 Will of Hugh Percy, first Duke of Northumberland, July 4, 1786; TNA: PRO PROB 11/1144.
29 Plain Advice to the Public, to Facilitate the Making of Their Own Wills (London, 1826); SIA, RU 7000, Box 2.
30 John Guillemard to Richard Rush, July 4, 1837; Box 13, Rush Family Papers, Princeton.
31 I am very grateful to Roger Cooter for sharing his research on Baume from the Baume papers in the Manx Museum, Isle of Man.
32 A "bond for 20,000 francs dated 8th July 1828 due by Sailly and Soeur of Paris" and also a bill for 2000 francs dated February 8, 1822 are listed in "An Inventory of the Effects left at Genoa by the late James Smithson Esqr with a valuation there of transmitted by the British consul," undated [1829]; SIA, RU 7000, Box 1.
33 An inventory of Smithson's possessions was made at the time of his death in Genoa by the British consul; SIA, RU 7000, Box 1. Another inventory was made of the belongings in Paris/London, which was submitted as part of the suit Henry James Hungerford pursued to claim his inheritance after Smithson's death. Richard Rush, the American agent who was sent to England to collect the bequest, annotated this second inventory prior to sailing to America with everything in 1838; this list was published in Rhees, Documents, vol. 1, pp. 98–9. The inventory does not appear to have been completely accurate, however. The list of Smithson memorabilia on display in the Patent Office in 1855, as part of the National Institute, includes a riding whip, "a
sword belt and plume," portable chemistry set, silver plate with the coat of arms of the Northumberland family, and other objects which were not detailed in any previous Smithson inventory; Alfred Hunter's "Popular Catalogue of the Extraordinary Curiosities in the National Institute" (1855), quoted in Rhees, James Smithson and His Bequest (1880), pp. 16–17.
34 Entry for May 14, 1824; Paula R. Feldman and Diana Scott-Kilvert, eds, The Journals of Mary Shelley, 1814–1844 (Oxford, 1987), vol. 2, p. 476.
35 For a detailed discussion of Smithson's connections with Genoa, see Francesca Boschieri, "James Smithson: il mecenate dimenticato," in Viaggio In Liguria, vol. 2, no. 1 (Fondazione Regionale Cristoforo Colombo, 2004). Smithson made notes on Genoa in C. M. Dubois-Maisonneuve, Nouveau voyage de France (1806), vol. 2, pp. 82–3. Smithson Library, SIL. A guidebook of 1830 explained: "Genoa is generally healthy, but the winter is severe, and the neighbouring mountains are covered with snow for a long period. It is by no means a place for an individual threatened with pulmonary or cutaneous complaints, or for an invalid; indeed it has few or no inducements as a place of long residence for any one who visits Italy either for health or pleasure." William Cathcart Boyd, M.D., A Guide and Pocket Companion Tlxrough Italy (London, 1830), pp. 279–80.
36 Sandro Doldi, Scienza e Technica in Liguria dal Settecento all'Ottocento (Genoa, 1984), p. 46. Batt in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks referred to "the chemical Mr. Macie (who analysed the Tabaschir)." February 7, 1803; Sutro Library, California.
37 Quoted in Robert Perceval Graves, Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton (Dublin, 1882), vol. 1, p. 381.
38 Thomas Thomson, History of Chemistry (London, 1831), vol. 2, p. 151; quoted in Pierre Lemay and Ralph Oesper, "Claude Louis Berthollet (1748–1822)," Journal of Chemical Education (May 1946), p. 235.
39 Report of "J.B." to the Superintendent of the Consular Service and Report of the Consulate to the Attorney General of Genoa, quoted in Long and Carmichael, Smithson and the Smithsonian Story (New York, 1964), pp. 141–2.
40 Philosophical Magazine (1830), vol. vii, p. 42.
41 Gentleman's Magazine (1830), pp. 275–6. Smithson's will was probated on December 4, 1829; TNA: PRO PROB 11/1763.
42 Gentleman's Magazine (1830), p. 541.
13. America: The Finger of Providence
1 Henry James Hungerford's passport is located in SIA, RU 7000, oversized box.
2 For information about Monsieur Pierre-Claude Aubouin, the master of a pension for young men in Bourg-la-Reine where Henry James Hungerford was lodged, see Charles Oudiette, Dictionnaire Topographique des Environs de Paris (Paris, 1817), p. 93. Rhees, Documents, vol. 1, p. 8. A calling card for "Henry de la Batut" [n. d.], in the SIA, gives his address as the "Hotel Britannique, rue Louis le Grand, 20." His last address in Paris, according to his passport, was at "Boulevard des Capuchins [sic], no. 15." In Italy Baron Henri de la Batut became Baron Enrico de la Batut. At some point in the nineteenth century, perhaps even at the time of the court case in the late 1830s, some hapless soul misread Enrico as "Eunice." The nephew has been tarred with the name Baron Eunice de la Batut ever since. TNA: PRO TS 11/623/2012.
3 TNA: PRO C 125/V/4. Henry de la Batut or Baron Enrico de la Batut traveled with his servant Auguste Lefevre. He presented himself to the English consul on May 27 and died on June 5. Richard Rush detailed the financial situation of the nephew at the time of his death. Rush Family Papers, Princeton.
4 Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate to Aaron Vail, July 21, 1835; printed in Rhees, Documents, p. 3.
5 This story is told much more fully in Madge E. Pickard, "Government and Science in the United States: Historical Backgrounds," Journal of the History of Medicine (April 1946), pp. 446–81. I have also referred to Margaret C. S. Christman, 1846: Portrait of the Nation (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), pp. 11–24.
6 Aaron Vail to John Forsyth, July 28, 1835; vol. 957A, RG 59, National Archive and Records Administration.
7 Rhees, Documents, p. 150.
8 Records of the 24th Congress, April 30, 1836; quoted in Rhees, Documents, p. 138.
9 John Claiborne to Martin van Buren, July 27, 1836; Library of Congress; SIA, RU 7000, Box 4.
10 John Forsyth to Richard Rush, July 11, 1836; printed in Rhees, Documents, pp. 6–7.
11 See Bradford Perkins, "Richard Rush," American National Biography Online (February 2000), andj. H. Powell, Richard Rush: Republican Diplomat, 1780–1859 (Philadelphia, 1942).
12 In the case at Chancery, Theodore and Mary Ann de la Batut alleged "that the said Testator James Smithson had given them to understand and believe that the sum of £240 per Annum was the half of the Income of the property of the said Henry Lewis Dickinson to which she was entitled under his said Will." TNA: PRO C 38/1714. Rush's statement of the case, made October 1, 1836, and the subsequent opinion of counsel, given November 2, 1836, are printed in Rhees, Documents, pp. 10–12.
13 Prince Pückler-Muskau, diary, February 28, 1828; quoted in Celina Fox, ed., London: World City, 1800–1840 (London and New Haven, 1992), p. 20.
14 Charles Dickens, Bleak House (Random House Modern Library edition, 2002), p. 54.
15 Quoted in J. H. Powell's Richard Rush, p. 238.
16 I am very grateful to Ronald Graham for all his help with this subject. Richard Rush, "Smithsonian Trust," vol. 1, pp. 46–7; Rush Family Papers, Princeton. In a way, the English government had already taken their cut of the Smithson money. In 1831, during the nephew's case against Drummonds to claim the estate after Smithson's death, it was determined that although Henry James Hungerford was said to be the testator's nephew, the court in fact believed him to be "a Stranger in Blood" to Smithson and thus subjected the estate to a ten-percent legacy duty. Henry James Hungerford v. Charles Drummond, July 9, 1831; TNA: PRO C 33/813, 99909.
17 Richard Rush to Secretary of State John Forsyth, June 9 and June 24, 1837. Quoted in Rhees, Documents, pp. 29–30, 31–3. See also William J. Rhees for the record, February 17, 1892. SIA, RU 7000, Box 4, f. 6.
18 Richard Rush to Secretary of State John Forsyth, April 28, 1837. Quoted in Rhees, Documents, p. 26.
19 General J. D. Evereux to Richard Rush, May 27, 1838; Box 30, Rush Family Papers, Princeton.
20 Richard Rush to Secretary of State John Forsyth, April 24, 1838. Quoted in Rhees, Documents, p. 50.
21 Richard Rush to Colonel Aspinwall, June 16, 1838; SIA, RU 7000, Box 4. Secretary of State John Forsyth, June 13, 1838. Quoted in Rhees, Documents, pp. 61–2.
22 The inventory is undated; it may have been prepared as part of the Chancery Court case that the nephew brought after Smithson's death. Clarke, Fynmore & Fladgate to Richard Rush, July 13, 1838. Quoted in Rhees, Documents, pp. 92–3.
23 For modern equivalents of UK pounds, see Lawrence H. Officer, "What is its relative value in UK pounds?" Economic History Services, October 30, 2004; http://eh.net/hmit/ukcompare. This source also suggests that the equivalent in US dollars would be over $10, 500,000, using the consumer price index, or $220,000,000, using the nominal per-capita GDP. Memorandum regarding the Smithson bequest, Edie Hedlin to Jim Hobbins, November 1, 1999; Budget Reference File, Institutional History Division, SIA. The total was later augmented by the repayment of certain charges for freight, insurance, etc., that had been incurred during the prosecution of the claim, so that the trust in the end equaled £106, 374, 9s. 7d., or $515, 169. Proceedings of Board of Regents, February 1, 1867, printed in Rhees Documents, pp. 130–31; Rhees, "Founding of the Institution," in Goode, ed., History of the Smithsonian Institution (1897), p. 31.
24 Madge Pickard, "Government and Science in the United States," p. 454. Rhees, Documents, pp. 146–63, 336–7.
25 Samuel Gilman Brown, The Works of Rufus Choate, with a memoir of his life (Boston, 1862), vol. 1, p. 101.
26 Rhees, Documents, p. 362. Trevor Levere and Gerald L. E. Turner, eds, Discussing Chemistry and Steam: The Minutes of a Coffeehouse Philosophical Society (Oxford, 2002), p. 22. Seymour S. Cohen, "Thomas Cooper," American Nati
onal Biography Online (2002).
27 John Quincy Adams was wary of Cooper, whom he called "a man whose very breath is pestilential to every good purpose." Madge Pickard, "Government and Science," p. 454.
28 Consideration in the Senate of Bill S292, February 29, 1839. Rhees, Documents, p. 176.
29 Marc Rothenberg, ed., The Papers of Joseph Henry (Washington, 1992), vol. 6, p. xxvi.
30 Sally Kohlstedt, "A Step toward Scientific Self-Identity in the United States: the Failure of the National Institute, 1844," Isis, vol. 62, part 3, no. 213, pp. 339–62.
31 Under the auspices of the National Institute, Francis Markoe and James Dwight Dana looked at the mineral collection. W. R. Johnson examined the papers for his 1844 article on Smithson, which was written with an eye towards making a case for the National Institute as the natural repository of the Smithson monies. Walter R. Johnson, "A Memoir on the Scientific Character and Researches of james Smithson, Esq., F.R.S." (Philadelphia, 1844).
32 George Ord of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia to Titian Ramsey Peale, March 16, 1843; Peale MSS, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; quoted in Kohlstedt, "A Step toward Scientific Self-Identity," p. 347.
33 Entries of October 26, 1839, and April 14, 1841; Charles Francis Adams, ed., Memoirs of John Quincy Adams (Philadelphia, 1876), vol. 10, pp. 139, 462. This problem was not resolved until the act for the Smithsonian was finally passed, at which time it was agreed that the Smithson fund was to be lent to the Treasury, at a 6 percent annual interest dating from September 1, 1838. The resulting interest, which amounted to some $242,129 was allocated for the construction of the building and other expenses of the Smithsonian, and the 6 percent interest was to be paid out from then on for the Smithsonian's operating budget. Act of Congress passed August 10, 1846 (9 Stat. 102; 20 U.S.C. 41, 50 61).
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