Excerpt from Discourse, on the Objects and Importance of the National Institution: For the Promotion of Science, Established at Washington, 1840, Delivered at the First Anniversary
The duty assigned me on this occasion is of such a character that I regret it has not devolved on some one more capable of performing it. To do justice to the subject requires more knowledge than I possess, and more leisure than I now enjoy; and I feel constrained to solicit your indulgence, while I explain the origin of the Institution for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts, and attempt to describe, as plainly and briefly as the subject will permit, its objects and importance.
The lovers of science, literature, and the fine arts, residing in this District, felt sensibly the absence of those resources which are found elsewhere, and are necessary for the attainment of knowledge. They were mortified to perceive that the great advantages possessed by the public authorities at Washington were neglected, and that, at the seat of Government of this great nation, there existed fewer means than in any other city of the Union of prosecuting those studies, which, while they impart dignity and enjoyment to existence, lead to the most useful practical results.
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