dge than astronomical
observation; nor is there, in the opinion of this committee, any
duty more impressively incumbent upon all human governments than
that of furnishing means, and facilities, and rewards, to those who
devote the labors of their lives to the indefatigable industry, the
unceasing vigilance, and the bright intelligence, indispensable to
success in these pursuits."

These remarks are succeeded by others on the Royal Observatory of
Greenwich, on the connection of astronomy with the art of navigation, on
the increase of observatories in the British Islands, in France, and in
Russia; and, after repeating the objections to applying the fund of Mr.
Smithson to a school devoted to any particular branch of science, or for
general education, Mr. Adams, in behalf of the committee, submitted a
bill for the consideration of the house, embracing the principles
maintained in his report.

On May 8th, 1840, a bill to insure a more faithful execution of the laws
relating to the collection of duties on imports being under
consideration of the house, Mr. Adams, after commenting on the nature
and injurious consequences of the fraud which it was the object of the
bill to prevent, said that this practice was "a sort of national thing,"
to such an extent were the citizens of Great Britain accustomed to come
over to this country to cheat us out of our revenue, and to defraud our
manufacturing interest, and added:

"I have said that there is something national in this matter, and I
will now proceed to state what, in my judgment, lies at the bottom
of this proceeding. It is a maxim of British commercial law that it
is lawful for the citizens of one nation to defraud the revenues of
other nations. The author of the maxim was a man famous throughout
the civilized world,--a man of transcendent talents, who fixed,
more, perhaps, than any other man of the same century, his impress
on the age in which he lived, and upon the laws of England,--I mean
Lord Mansfield. In some respects it has been greatly to the
advantage of those laws, but in others as much to their disadvantage
and discredit, of which the maxim of which I now speak is a signal
instance. He was the first British judge who established the
principle that it is a lawful thing for Englishmen to cheat the
revenue laws of other nations, especially those of Spain and
Portugal.

"This prin