from the affairs of daily life, and in one of his pul>- [ished letters If wrote: "No man's religion is bet- ter than his politics ; his religion is pure whose ]>"lities are pure: whilst his religion is rascally whose politics are rascally." He disbelieved in the right of men to monopolize land, and gave away thousands of acres of that which he had inherited, some of it to colleges and charitable institutions. and some in the form of small farms to men who would settle upon them. He also gave away by far the greater part of his income, for charitable purposes, to institutions and individuals. In the financial crisis of 1837 he borrowed of John Jacob Astor a quarter of a million dollars, on his verbal agreement to give Mr. Astor mortgages to that amount on real estate. The mortgages were exe- cuted as soon as Mr. Smith reached his home, but through the carelessness of a clerk were not de- livered, and Mr. Astor waited six months before inquiring for them. Mr. Smith had for many years anticipated that the system of slavery would be brought to an end only through violence, and when the civil war began he hastened to the sup- port of the government with his money and his influence. At a war-meeting in April, 1861, he niMile a speech in which he said: "The end of American slavery is at hand. The first gun fired al Kurt Sumter announced the fact that the last fugitive- >lave had been returned .... The armed null who go south should go more in sorrow than in anger. The sad necessity should be their only excuse for going. They must still love the south ; we must all still love her. As her chiefs shall, one after another, fall into our hands, let us be re- strained from dealing revengefully, and moved to deal tenderly with them, by our remembrance of ih<- large shaiv whi'-h the north has had in blind- ing t hem." In accordance with this sentiment, two years after the war, he united with Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt in signing the bail-bond of Jefferson Davis. At the outset he offered t" equip a regiment of colored men. if the govern- ment would tfccept them. Mr. Smith left an r-iate of about .$1.000,000, having given away eight times i hat amount during his life. He wrote a great deal for print, most of which appeared in the form a! pamphlets and broadsides, printed on his own press in Peterboro. His publications in book-form were " Speeches in Congress " (1855) ; " Sermons an I Speeches" (1861); "The Religion of Reason" U864); "Speeches and Letters" (1865); "The Theologies " (3d ed., 1866) ; ' Nature the Base of a Free Theology " (1867) ; and " Correspondence with Albert Barnes" (1868). His authorized biog- raphy has been written by Octavius B. Frothing- ham(New York, 1878).
SMITH, Preston, soldier, b. in Giles county,
Tenn., 25 Dec., 1823 ; d. in Georgia, 20 Sept., 1863.
He received his early education at a country school,
and at Jackson college, Columbia, Tenn. He stud-
ied law in Columbia, and after practising there for
several years removed to Waynesboro', Tenn., and
-ub~equently to Memphis. He became colonel of
the 154th Tennessee regiment of militia, which was
afterward mustered into the service of the Confed-
eracy, and he was promoted to brigadier-general,
27 Oct., 1862. He was severely wounded at the bat-
tle of Shiloh, and commanded his brigade under
Gen. E. Kirby Smith at Richmond, Ky. He was
killed, with nearly all his staff, by a sudden volley
during a night attack at Chickamauga, G:i.
SMITH, Richard, journalist, b. in the south of
Ireland, 30 Jan., 1823. His father, a farmer of
Scottish ancestry, died when Richard was seven-
teen years old, and the widow and her son emigrated
to this country and settled in 1841 in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Richard apprenticed himself to a carpenter
and builder until he could secure a better opening.
On reaching his majority, he gained employment
on the " Price Current," of which he soon became
proprietor, and greatly improved it, making it
virtually a new publication. He accepted also the
agency of the newly organized Associated press,
and was the first man in Ohio to transmit a presi-
dential message over the wires. About 1854 he
purchased an interest in the Cincinnati " Gazette,"
the oldest daily in the city, which was then in a
languishing condition from lack of proper manage-
ment. Selling the Price Current." he concen-
trated all his energy on the " Gazette," which be-
came prosperous under his direction, especially
during the civil war. But in 1880 its interests
and those of the Cincinnati " Commercial " indi-
cated the financial and political wisdom of their
union, and accordingly the first of the following
year they were consolidated under the name of
the " Commercial Gazette." Richard Smith is the
vice-president of the new company. He exeivi-r.s
much influence, journalistic and political, through-
out Ohio. Though he is often jocularly referred
to as " Deacon," he is only a lay member of the
Presbyterian church.
SMITH, Richard Soiners, educator, b. in
Philadelphia, Pa., 30 Oct., 1813 ; d. in Annapolis,
Mil., 23 Jan., 1877. He was graduated at the
U. S. military academy in 1834, but resigned from
the army in 1836, was assistant engineer of the
Philadelphia and Columbia railroad company in
1836-'7, of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in
1839-'40, and projected several other important
railroads. He was reappointed in the U. S. army
in the latter year with the rank of 2d lieutenant,
was assistant and afterward full professor of draw-
ing at the U. S. military academy in 1846-'52, and
was then transferred to the 4th artillery, becom-
ing quartermaster and treasurer, but in 1856 he
again resigned. He was professor of mathematics,
engineering, and drawing in Brooklyn collegiate
and polytechnic institute in 1855-'9, director of
Cooper institute. New York city, for two years,
was reappointed in the army as major of the 12th
U. S. infantry in 1861, and served as mustering-
and disbursing officer in Maryland and Wisconsin
in 1861-'2. He then took part in the Rappahan-
nock campaign with the Army of the Potomac,
participating in the battle of Chancellorsville, Va.,
2-4 May, 1863. He resigned in the same month to
become president of Girard college, Pa., which
post he held till 1868. For the next two years he
was professor of engineering in the Polytechnic
college of Pennsylvania, and' from 1870 till his
death he was at the head of the department of
drawing at the U. S. naval academy. Columbia
gave him the degree of A. M. in 1857. He pub-
lished a " Manual of Topographical Drawing "
(Philadelphia. 1854), and a work on " Linear Per-
spective Drawing" (1857).
SMITH, Robert, clergyman, b. in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1723; d. in Rockville, Pa., 15 April, 1793. His father emigrated to this country when the son was seven years of age, settling in Chester county. Pa. Robert received a classical education from Rev. Samuel Blair at Fogg's Manor school, Chester county, Pa., was licensed to preach in 1749. and from 1751 till his death was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Pequea, Pa., a part of the time supplying the church at Leai k. Shortly after his settlement in Pequea he founded a classical and theological seminary, which enjoyed a high reputation, and was one of the most popu-
