"We Find the Following Statement Respecting a Will . . ."
The press in Europe as well as the United States considered Smithson's bequest to the United States to be newsworthy even before the contingency clause became effective in 1835.
What Was Smithson Thinking?
Did he hope to immortalize himself in the United States in reaction to opportunities denied him in Britain by his illegitimacy? (Smithson once wrote, "On my father's side I am a Northumberland, on my mother's I am related to kings, but this avails me not.")
Was he inspired by the tenets of many scientific societies of his day that held that civilization could achieve perfection through increased knowledge and public education?
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