EARLY MANHOOD -1851-1857 63 



to rescue him, for the souls of the kidnappers, and for 

 the country which was to his people a land of bondage, 

 were most pathetic. Then arose Gerrit Smith. Of all 

 Tribunes of the People I have ever known he dwells in 

 my memory as possessing the greatest variety of gifts. 

 He had the prestige given by great wealth, by lavish gen- 

 erosity, by transparent honesty, by earnestness of pur- 

 pose, by advocacy of every good cause, by a superb pres- 

 ence, and by natural eloquence of a very high order. He 

 was very tall and large, with a noble head, an earnest, yet 

 kindly face, and of all human voices I have ever heard 

 his was the most remarkable for its richness, depth, and 

 strength. I remember seeing and hearing him once at 

 a Republican State Convention in the City Hall at Syra- 

 cuse, when, having come in for a few moments as a spec- 

 tator, he was recognized by the crowd and greeted 

 with overwhelming calls for a speech. He was standing 

 at the entrance door, towering above all about him, and 

 there was a general cry for him to come forward to 

 the platform. He declined to come forward; but finally 

 observed to those near him, in his quiet, natural way, 

 with the utmost simplicity, "Oh, I shall be heard. " At 

 this a shout went up from the entire audience ; for every 

 human being in that great hall had heard these words 

 perfectly, though uttered in his usual conversational 

 voice. 



I also remember once entering the old Delavan House 

 at Albany, with a college friend of mine, afterward 

 Bishop of Maine, and seeing, at the other end of a long 

 hall, Gerrit Smith in quiet conversation. In a moment 

 we heard his voice, and my friend was greatly im- 

 pressed by it, declaring he had never imagined such 

 an utterance possible. It was indeed amazing; it was 

 like the deep, clear, rich tone from the pedal bass 

 of a cathedral organ. During his career in Congress, 

 it was noted that he was the only speaker within remem- 

 brance who without effort made himself heard in every 

 part of the old chamber of the House of Eepresentatives, 



