Tour the Smithsonian After its First Fifty Years

The earlier lot of relics comprises several articles of clothing, including the uniform worn when Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the armies, at Annapolis, in 1783, and a dress suit. This suit consists "of a buff woolen vest, spangled and embroidered along the edges of the collar and front, and at the pocket flaps, five cloth- colored ornamental buttons down the front; a pair of woolen 'smalls,' having three large cloth- covered buttons at the waist- band, five small ones at the knees, two at the flaps, and one at each pocket." The household furniture consists of tables, dressing cases, wash stands, and the like, all of mahogany; various articles of cutlery and table- ware, including a dinner- set, of which 32 pieces remain, presented by the Society of the Cincinnati (whose funds, on disbandment, went to the endowment of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va.), and another set of china given by Lafayette to Martha Washington; a large punchbowl and an immense blue meat dish, with some vases in blue and gold. Connected with Washington's military life, are a large number of articles of camp equipage, Including a sleeping tent, a marquee and cover, with the pouches and furniture belonging to it, -even the 36 pegs having been preserved. The mess- chest of the general has been preserved, and contains "one gridiron with folding legs and sliding handle, two knives, five forks, four large glass bottles, five small ones, two tin boxes, one tinder- box and candlestick, one broken bottle, one woolen sack, one lamp- burner." There is also a small iron- studded treasure- chest, and a leather- covered travelling secretary, containing, among other correspondence, the following jovial invitation to some ladies to dine at headquarters:

CAMP AT WEST POINT

"Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have had a ham, and sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to grace the head of the table, a piece of roast beef adorns the foot, and a small dish of greens or beans, almost imperceptible, decorates the center, when the cook has a mind to cut a figure, and this, I presume, he will attempt to do to-morrow. Of late, he had the surprising luck to discover that apples will make pies, and it's a question that, amidst his efforts, we don't get one of apples, instead of having both of beef. We have two beefsteak pies or dishes of crabs, in addition, on each side of the center dish, dividing the space and reducing the distance between dish and dish to about six feet, which, without them, would be twelve feet apart. If the ladies can put up with such an entertainment, and will submit to partake of it on plates, once tin, but now iron- not become so by the labor of scouring- I shall he happy to see them," etc.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Among the Lewis relics, the most noteworthy are the following:

One large mirror; one dozen parlor chairs, upholstered in figured black and white hair- cloth; two arm- chairs; the large easy chair in which Washington sat a few minutes before he died; a double brass candlestick, which held the candles by the light of which the farewell address was written; a field glass and an opera glass, used in the Revolutionary war; a large mahogany box, in which silver plate was kept; a portrait of Washington; the robe of figured white silk lined with scarlet silk, in which he was christened; a quantity of table and toilet articles of glassware and crockery; a ledger, kept by the General, and several survey-maps of his making; a guitar presented by him to Miss Nellie Custis, and an engraving of the Countess of Huntington, given to her by Washington; oil paintings from Mt. Vernon, and the spy- glass which always hung in the hall of that house and was in constant use for scanning the river; and, finally, articles of dress worn by Martha Washington.

The most valuable part of this series, however, were the portraits. Two were the miniatures on wood of the General and his wife, painted by Trumbull, and still in their original frames, which remain in the Museum and were considered excellent likenesses; and the well- preserved half- length portrait which hangs in the Interior Department, and is signalized by tradition as the best likeness of Washington in existence.

Next in interest to these, no doubt, will be found the printing press upon which Benjamin Franklin worked when a journeyman printer in London, in 1725-6. His experiences at that time are related in his autobiography:

"I now began to think of getting a little money beforehand, and, expecting better work, I left Palmer's to work at Watts', near Lincoln's Inn Fields. At my first admission into this printinghouse I took to working at press, imagining I felt a want of the bodily exercise I had been us'd to in America, where presswork is mixed with composing. I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in number, were great guzzlers of beer. . . .

Watts. after some posing- room, I left the premises." In spite of this abstemiousness during his Prentice days, when Dr. Franklin visited England in 1768 as agent for Massachusetts, he visited Watts' old printing office, in Wild street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and going up to this particular press, greeted the men who were working at it: " Come, my friends," he said, '- we will drink together. It is now forty years since I worked like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer." The Doctor then sent out for a gahon of porter, and he drank with them-" Success to printing "It is therefore about 160 years since Benjamin Franklin worked the lever of this interesting relic.

Mr. Rhees records "that this press was purchased by Edward Cox, with other materials from the printing office, and afterwards was put aside in a garret. Here it was discovered by Mr. John B. Murray, of New York, who, after long negotiations with its owners, Messrs. Harrild & Sons, obtained it in I84t, in return for a gift to the Printers' Pension Society of London (the object of which was the support of aged printers and widows of printers) sufficient for the maintenance of one person to be called the Franklin Pensioner. The money for this foundation (about $750) was raised by exhibiting the press, by selling impressions of a poem by Dr. Franklin, entitled 'Paper,' and the twelve rules which he laid down for his own government in early life, and by the proceeds of a lecture on Franklin by Rev. Hugh McNeile, one of the most eloquent and popular clergymen of England."

This press is said to be almost identical with the Blaew press, the first patent press made, and in use in 1620.

The Smithsonian Institution, with filial zeal, has collected many mementos of its founder, John Smithson, and placed them on exhibition. They consist of a portrait (to be seen on the seal of the Institution), a miniature on ivory, and portraits of his father and half- brother; his library (123 volumes and 88 pamphlets), extra pamphlet copies of his scientific memoirs in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society, and various manuscripts, including the original draft of his momentous will. The Smithsonian Institution has published an interesting biography of Smithson, ably written by Mr. Wm. J. Rhees, chief clerk of the Institution, and including a large amount of Smithson's writings.

The Syrian sarcophagus, which for several years stood outside near the entrance to the old building, is now within the walls of the new Museum, where it loses dignity. This sarcophagus "was removed from elevated grounds in the rear of Beirout, Syria, by Com. Jesse D. Elliott, in 1839, and brought home in his flagship, the Constitution, immortalized by Dr. Holmes' stirring poem."Who the occupant was, "says Rhees, or what his position, is a subject of pure conjecture, though it has been supposed to have been the last resting place of a Roman emperor." Commodore Elliott wished it to become the tomb of Andrew Jackson, and in 1845 made a formal offer of it to him for that purpose; but in a letter full of public patriotism and manly pathos, General Jackson declined the intended honor, which was forbidden by his republican feelings and principles. " I have prepared," said he, "a humble depository for my mortal body beside that wherein lies my beloved wife, where, without any pomp or parade, I have requested, when my God calls me to sleep with my fathers, to be laid." General Jackson's pistol case and flint- lock pistols, and his uniform coat worn at the battle of New Orleans, are among these relics.

Besides the special collections mentioned above there is a large quantity of odds and ends of material of historical interest as connected with persons and incidents prominent in American annals. Here may be seen coats worn by Santa Anna, La Paez the associate of Gen. Simon Bolivar, and Gen. Andrew Jackson; the writing materials of Thomas Paine; the war saddle of Baron de Kalb; swords presented to several American officers by foreign potentates, and especially a beautiful set of thirteen dress sabres given by Ali Pasha, Bey of Egypt, to Captain Perry (hero of the battle of Lake Erie) and other officers of the U. S. ship Concord when at Alexandria in 1832. Exquisite examples of gold and silver arabesque are displayed upon the ornamentation of some of the guns given to American officers of former years and now deposited in the Museum. These and many other lesser objects will have a varying interest for visitors, though differing in associations; yet all have an absolute historical and artistic value.

Coming to quite recent times, there are stored here a number of outfits of distinguished governmental travellers. Thus one case contains the palanquin chair and camp equipage with which Lieutenant Shufeldt, U.S.N., made his remarkable journey across Madagascar in 1884. In another case are set up the fur suits worn by Dr. Kane (together with much of his apparatus); by Melville, in his escape from the Jeannette, and by Danenhower and Melville in their search for survivors of that ill- starred ship.

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