"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
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