The New York herald., 1874-12-29
The Death or Gerrit Smith.

The reaper, Death, whose sickle spares
neither the tender flowers nor the bearded
grain, has of late been gathering rich harvest
Some of our most eminent merchants, philan-
thropsts and public servants have been called
to their other life during the closing months
OF the year. 1t is only few weeks since the
venerable Jonathan Sturges breathed his last
Following close upon his friend Mayor Have
meyer died in the harness. Within q fort
night we have been compelled to announce
the death of Ezra Cornell. the founder of Cor
nell University. On Christmas Day we gave
an obituary of the Rev. DR.. Walker the en-
inent leader of Unitarian thought in New
England. Yesterday the death Of an old
public servant, Congressman Croker, of
Massachusetts,, was announced, and to-day the
list bears the name of Gerrit Smith. 1t is
seldom the mortuary record is SO full, and
though Death loves a shining mark, it is not
often he obtains SO many brilliant trophies
within SO short period.
The demise OF Gerrit Smith, especially as it
follows so closely upon the death of so many
other persons almost as well known, cannot
fail to arrest the attention of all of us and
cause us to think of an epoch the remem-
brance of which will pass away with the men
who impressed their individuality upon it It
seems but yesterday since we were discussing
Mr.. Stewards 'irrepressible conflict" and yet
the men who we're most active in precipitating
that conflict have nearly all gone from among
us. Garrison and Whittier are still with u.s.
it is true, but Arthur Tappan and most of the
other "orignal abolitionists' have gone
before To-day we contemplate the open
grave of Gerrit Smith, and with his silent
clay we almost feel that we bury the dead past
out of sight His virtues and the record of q
noble life alone remain to be celebrated in
this hour of sorrow. His was not a selfish nor
self-willed nature Though born to more
landed acres than any of his compeers
in the State, he felt from the beginning
that SO much was beyond his right
to keep, and so he strenuously set himself to
give it away, not as child casts aside the toy
of which it has wearied, but as solemn work,
to be wisely accomplished. Those who were
oppressed more than others and who had
least were possessed in his eyes of the first
right to receive, and as slavery to him was
the great crime of the age, SO the slave, of all
men, was the most neediul of succor. But the
same mental and mo~al characteristics which
made him an abolltlonist in the days when
abolitionism was hateful made him also de-
clare that the punishment OF treason would be
the mean crime of the age, if it was enforced
in obedience to the popular demand Such
qualities could not fail to make their possessor
q marked man among his fellows, and Gerrit
Smith, more than any other OF the anti-slavery
leaders, has left his impress on his age He was
not great, as Clay and Webster and Calhoun
were great-he was not even SO profound
a champion of his cause as Charles Sumner,
but he united the aristocratic bearing of the
gentleman with the simplicity of the servant
of the bondman, giving to him as to
brother, ia , gneG equal proportions that he
earned for himself title better than that Of
gentleman, better than that of philanthropist-
that of a man. Gerrit Smith never gave for
the sake of giving-he never talked merely
that he might be heard neither was he so
careful not to let the left hand know what the
right hand did as to err in the opposite direc-
ton. His work was the simple performance
of his duty as he understood it, and thus he
was his won't in his own way and at his own
time.
If we look back over Mr.. Smiths history
we find in it few things to criticise unless we
condemn his work itself. The American peo-
pie no longer assail a man because he was an
abolitionist, nor do they denounce him be-
cause he once held slaves. In the new era of
our national lite Gerrit Smiths memory is
above criticism. Even those things which
were most warmly condemned in him by his
friends, turned into enemies are the
surest indices to his sturdy character.
We can almost admire the act for its
own sake when we find man who had
battled against slavery all his life failing to
vote against pro-slavery measure because
the vote was taken after nine o'clock, when
nine was his bedtime. He could not defeat
the measure and he would not affect that his
vote was useful when he knew to the con-
trary The proof of his sincerity was
as plain to others as it was to himself When
he gave it was to make some man better and
happier. When he preached it was that he
might convince. He was an advocate of
peace, yet he favored war when it became
inevitable. He condemned the war as the
crime of the South but urged forgiveness of
those who precipitated it. He helped the
slave to-day and was equally willing to assist
the master tomorrow In spite OF all this he
was not bundle of contradictions, but q man
who lived with q purpose and after consist
entity pursuing his mission died only when
his work was finished.