Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1859-11-18
The Insanity of Gerrit smith.

We have stated the fact, and the New
York newspapers corroborate the state
ment, that Gcrrit Smith has become in
sane, and has been confined in the In
sane Asylum at Utica.
There are some who attribute his in-
sanity ard confinement, to fear of the lc-
gal consequences of his alleged compiled
ty in the Harper's Ferry conspiracy
but tho general belief is, that he is really
a maniac requiring the restraint and dis
cipline Of mad-housc If such be the
case, what a melancholy lesson does his
fate teach to those who. like him, believe
in the "higher law" tho right of yio-
lent interference with the institutions of
Independent States, and the legitimate
use of bloodshcd and robbery in order to
carry out the purposes of abolitionism
Gerrit Smith was man Of intellect and
kindly disposition, highly educated, and
endowed with large means. Had he
used the means, mental and material ,
with which Providence endowed him to
advance the interests of his country and
his citizens, he might have occu-
pied high and honorable position. But
he prostituted his intellect aud his wealth,
for years past, in promoting the wicked
est, most dangerous, and maddest of
causes, the abolition of slavery, and
the end is, escape from an ignominious
death by confinement as raving lunatic
within the gloomy walls Of a mad-housc.
Abiding to Mr.. Smiths deplorable
fate, the journal Of Commerce makes the
following truthful remarks:
=" Mr.. Smith possessed in an eminent
degree tho elements of statesman; but
his mind became imbued with those
'higaer-law sentiments which prompt
to the overthrow of existing government,
and he has nursed the infatuation until
the country has become embroiled in Sec
tional controversy, and we fear until he
has made q wreck Of once brilliant and
expansive intelect--for we assume that
his removal to Utica is an act demanded
by the actual condition of his mind, and
not to relieve him from any responsibility
for his connection with the Harper's
Ferry matter.
" In any aspect Of the case, the re-
Elections which force themselves upon the
mind are melancholy and distressing. ---
But while we deplore the causes and the
results in this particular case, we should
not discharge our duty as conservutors
of the public sentiment, and the advo-
Gates of good government and sound po-
ltical principles did we not hold them up
as warning to all who, like Mr. Smith
have been tempted to triAe with the
rights of existing authority, and to en-
courage interference with the domestic
affairs Of communities sovereign in their
character, and upon whose affairs We
have no legal Or moral right tc intrude.
" Is it not time to pause in the agita-
ton of questions concerning the domestic
affairs Of our sister States? Shall not
the manifestations Of riot and bloodshcd
the consequences of the teachings Of
Smith, Seward, Giddings, and other
statesmen Of the irrepressble-conHct
school, prove sufficient to stop the mad
career of sectionalsm ? And if this is
not enough, shall not the inevitable con-
sequences of such teachings and such
sentiments, upon the teachers and actors,
as exhibited in the case of Gerrit Smith,
DR.. Chceyer, John Brown, Cook, and
their associates, impart useful admoni-
! ton %