Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1849-05-23
G1eorILAMrous SELECTIONS.


1880 ssniah. the Ph110mehrOpsss'
W.. Sud in the ~ i. Tribune letter from
-. o.,;,t- ~h;ch has no equal that we know OIL
...o,d. If the Country for the spirit OF
-. ch,;.tiauity, br.athed in the act, and !" Inc
,e,ds. The reader will bettef
~ reference 10 some previous ac's' !" ''' ''' "
NJ, Smith. Cerrit Smith inherited '"e
t..dsd Estate, perhaps, in the oni'ed 'o'aoe'
". Ind several hundred thousand acres J." '"e
s,.a. of New York. Very much OF ms "as'
.-a..d in the wild, and Mountainous region OF
w.,,he,u New York. Still, large part oil 1t
- valuable. Smittcn with more than common
.s,i to elevate the condition Of the negro race
n dis country. but also with the spirit OF ohrs-
e;.sity, he gave away to Colored men very large
- Of h;s land. lie actually made De'ds to
ayee thousand Colored persons, thus constituting
diem freehoIdersn This act alone. Is unparai-
lsl~d, in any country; but his last act is even
more 90. Having much land yet left, he has de-
teru,iued to make Deeds to thousand schfe
,ersoss: The following extracts. from his let
sss will explain the Transaction and his motives:
CIRCU LAR.
PErER.soRo', May !, I849.
70 John Cocirane, w. l.. K-mbys, Isaac +.
Hopper. George ~. Evans, Daniel e. Eaton,
Of the County Of New York.
Dear Sirs:-I still have village and city prop
erty; hut on the larger share OF II there remains.
and must long remain, a very great debt The
debt due 90 the State Of New FORK on my other
land will, hope. be paid within the coming wear
All, or early all, such Of this land as shall, then,
remain upon my hands, shall wish to give
away. There will, perhaps, be enough of Il to
enable me to make gifts To a thousand persons
These persons must b. white inhabitants of the
State Of New York must be between the ages
Of q and 60; must be virtuous. Iandiess and
poor; and must be entirely clear of the vice OF
drinking intoxicating liquors. Moreover, they
must, in each county, be taken from the sexes
in equal numbers.
Along with each gift Of land. there will be a
gift Of $40 in money. Where the land is worth
removing to, aud where there is "a disposition TO
remove to il, this money will help TO defray the
expense Of removal. In, perhaps, every case, II
will be sufficient to pay the two or three years
tax-s now due and also the taxes for II number
Of years to come.
Eaci, county, except Madison. is to share in
the proposed gifts, and each according to the
amount Of its population. ] shall not be blamed
for making this exception by any who are aware
that, in some $50 instances. have given to IN
habitants Of the County Of Madison either land,
or money to enable them to buy land Nor shall
be blamed for distributing the thousand par
GELS Of land among white persons exclusively,
by any who are informed that 1000 colored per-
sons have received deeds Of land from me entire
1y free OF all charge either for the land or Tor
the expense Of the perfected deeds thereof
will remark here that the deeds Of the ! 900 par
GELS will be made, acknowledged and prepared
Tor record at my own expense.
Mr. Smith. thinking. that perhaps he may not
have enough, or his title may fail, ads this:
You will, moreover, inform thcr,. that in the
event Of my not having land enough to give each
Of the thousand II parcel, some of those chosen
in your County may be unsupplied. You are,
however, authorized to say to them, that who
ever Of the thousand shall fail 10 get parcel Of
land from me, instead thereof, $40 i'll money
and this. too. in addition to the $40. The $50
will enable it's possessor TO buy forty acres of
Government land. hope that it vii! be eXpen-
sed in some land or other: for one Of my deep
est convictions is, that every person, who can,
should make himself the acknowledged owner
cG n piece Of Land.
This convictions, we have also; and il may be
an abstract Of truth. that every man is entitled
TO a piece Of earth; but. he cannot be entitled to
what belongs to another man, till, in the case
of G.rrit Smith, that men chooses to give it away
The case Of Mr.. S., is one Of rare bsnevolence
one which, the world hardly knows how to ap-
preciate.