New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-08-17


thing You labor under a curious delusAon
Oh this point. We have no desire to injure
you and never had, but the contrary; indeed.
We have never lest an occasion of doirg justice
10 your many good qualities and laudlble
public acts; and if we have sometimes-at
very rare intervals-been constrained TO speak
of you in other terms than those Of praise,
it has always been with regret. Does Mr. Smith
suppose all the world is bound to glorify him
at every turn For our part we answer that for
most of the time we have better business on
hand indeed, he nightly exaggerates his i'm
pOrtance when be supposes that THE TRIBUNE
bears him constantly in mind, whether for admira-
ton or contempt. He is well-meaning man, ac-
cidentally very rich, and able to do good with his
money but we must confess that for at least as
much as eleven months out of every year, we are
30 absorbed BY other matters of interest in the
world as totally TO forget bis existence.
But though Mr. Smith has not referred to file
Of TIE TRIBUNE to prove that we have steadily
illuminated and injured him, we have had the Gu
riOsity TO make such an examination for the pur-
pose of discovering if by chance any expression of
the nature complained ofhad inadvertently made lite
way into our leading columns We find that since the
first of April, 1854 Mr.. Smith has been four times
spoken of in these columns. The first occasion
was on April of that year when in speaking of
the previous DAYS debate on the Nebraska bill in
the House of Representatives we stated that
&" Mr. Gerrit Smith of New.York made powerful
" speech against the bill" Next, on June 20, 1854,
we announced his resignation of his seat in Con-
eress in the following terms:
"Gerit Smith has resigned his seat in Congress, to
take effect the close of The present session. We re-
get this withdrawal. Mr.. Smith is pree ninently a
patriot Christian, and phianthropist; and men of
that stamp are scarce 10 her House
Again Oh July Is, 1854, in publishing from
The Uiiod Morning Herald the extract from Mr..
Smiths private letter about going to bed at 9
o'clock, We made some remarks, of which the
following is specimen;
"Mr Smith now sees what it is to he misjudged by
overzealous compstrots because he does not see the
wisdom good policy OF doing Just as they think
best. Perhaps he may have declared or resolved
other men traitors to liberty because they
did not see fit to train in his troop. Now very
sure GerIit Smith is not and never can be at heart
traitor to liberty though he may err sadly ia judy
ment as we think he did at the time the Nebraska bill
passed. His intentions excellent but he mstook
his course
Again, on August H. 1854, in publishing Mr..
Smiths Address to bis constituents we accompa-
MED it with some perfectly kind and respectful
comments, concluding in these words:
We publish Mr.. Smith's Address, regretting that
We cannot agree with the points of explanation de-
tense therein ret forth by who aims to be nothing
but defender of the universal rights of man.
Aside from these occasions we do not find
that either The TRIBUNE or any of its cor
respondents has spoken of Mr.. Smith at all for
the last year and upward, uutil a letter from
Syracuse was admitted without complete scru-
tiny, month or more ago, stating that he did
not vote on the Nebraska BILL that statement
We promptly corrected when brought to our
attention by a friend of Mr. Smith, who had
written to him on the subject; and if there are
other articles respecting him which have escaped
our notice we are confident that there is moth
ing in them out Of keeping with the friendly
spirit exhibited in the extracts we have quoted.
What folly is it, then, which urges him to
assail aud misrepresent us in such gratuitous
and groundless mannerl
Mr.. Smith goes into some new explanations
on tie question of his being absent from the at
tempt 10 stave off the Nebraska bill on the
ground of its interfering with his bedtime. He
bave failed to show thai his desire to 90 to bed
at O'Clock had any thing to do with his absence
on that occasion, and maintains with curious
oblivion of his own former statements, that his
only motive for refusing to engage in that con-
test was fidelity to the democratic principle.
We accordingly waste no time "a his puerlle ar
gument, but proceed directly to settle the ques-
ton by his own evidence. The extract from a
private letter of Mr.. Smith, referred to above,
reads as follows
"My friends and constituents need not be troubled
by these things. Should they not rejoice in them : |
Only few months ago regarded on all hands as
a too e alous Aboiti0nst. But the Wings and |
Democrats are driven far ahead OF me by this Ne
braska impulse that they look back UPON me and call
me traitor TO liberty Other gentlemen of your |
County to whom referred suggest that can defend
myself in the newspapers. But there two things
have not time TO do One of these is TO prove that
am reel AbolitiOLst; and the other that am real
Tempe rance man. / declined en- |
teng into the ply steal srfe-into the question which
party could do the longest without eating and sleep
ing. Mr. Matteson thought did wrong in not going |
with him into the contest of physical endurance. But |
so did most of the opponents of the Nebraska bill |
think wrong in this respect. All of the technical
Aboli,ionsts thought that did wrong; my excellent
and beloved friends, Chase and Sumner were deeply |
grevtd that stood aloof from that physical struggle.
I am sure however, that they would have been more |
deeply greved had they seen me debase myself SO far
as TO substitute their consciences for my own.
- Ii is not strange that keeping up as do my coun
Try habits going to bed and rising at 5, should
deny the right Of Congress TO have night sessions.
Suppose our House had appointed o'clock In the |
morning as the hour for taking the inal vote the
Nebraska BILL / should not in that have given
my vote for should have felt il TO be my duty 10 be
in my bed at that hour. On whom would rest the re-
sponsibity of my absence and my missing vote Some