Monday, July 1, 2019

Gerrit Smith, 1864

The President of the United States is both a great and a good man. But neither greatness nor goodness would be manifest in consenting to a peace, which, however admirable in other respects, failed nevertheless to secure the ballot to the black man, and left him therefore, at the mercy of his enemy and ours — of his and our demonized enemy. Happily, among the highest proofs that the President is both great and good, is his willingness to grow and change. Such willingness is not found in little and mean men.

SOURCES: Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Gerrit Smith: A Biography, p. 260

No comments: