Mr. Smith is one of the noblest men that America has ever produced; and
is especially remarkable for his profound appreciation of that sublime
command of our Saviour, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them." Where he treads no angel of sorrow
follows.
He is a man of vast estates--a millionaire. He is also what in America
is termed a land reformer. He believes that every man should possess an
inviolable homestead. He himself possesses by inheritance millions of
acres in the Northern and Eastern States of America; and shows his
sincerity and consistency by parcelling off from time to time such
portions of these lands as are available, in lots of forty or fifty
acres each, and presenting the deeds thereof, free of charge, to the
deserving landless men, white or black, in the region where the lands in
question are located. He also long since vacated the splendid Peterboro'
mansion, into possession of which he came on the death of his father;
and now resides, himself and family, in a simple cottage near
Peterboro', with only forty acres attached. His sympathies are not
bounded by country or clime. He sent into Ireland, during the famine of
1847, the largest single donation that reached the country from abroad.
He was elected to the United States Congress a few years ago, as one of
the members for New York, but resigned his seat after holding it only a
year--probably feeling outraged by the manners and morals, not to say
superlative wickedness, of so many of his associates.
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