Sentence:  Despite the opposition of the city newspapers , the Pratt Hall meeting `` brought together a very respectable audience , composed in part of those who had been <WSD>distinguished</WSD> for years for their radical views upon the subject of slavery , of many of our colored citizens , and of those who were attracted to the place by the novelty of such a gathering '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense