The law of labor is equally binding on genius and mediocrity. The mind and body rarely visit this earth of ours so exactly fitted to each other, and so perfectly harmonizing together, as to rise without effort, and command in the affairs of men. It is not in the power of every one to become great. No great approximation, even towards that which is easiest attained, can be accomplished without exercise of much thought and vigor of action; and thus is demonstrated the supremacy of that law which gives excellence only when earned, and assigns labor its unfailing reward.
It is this energy of character, industry, and labor, combined with superior intellectual powers, which gave Dr. Smith so much influence in New York.
As a speaker, he was eloquent, and at times brilliant, but always clear, and to the point. In stature, the doctor was not tall, but thick, and somewhat inclined to corpulency. He had a fine and well-developed head; broad and lofty brow; round, full face; firm mouth; and an eye that dazzled. In blood he stood, apparently, equal between the Anglo-Saxon and the African.
DANIEL A. PAYNE, D. D.
Teacher of a small school at Charleston, South Carolina, in the year 1834, Daniel A. Payne felt the oppressive hand of slavery too severely upon him, and he quitted the Southern Sodom, and came North. After going through a regular course of theological studies, at Gettysburg Seminary, he took up his residence at Baltimore, where he soon distinguished himself as a preacher in the African Methodist denomination. He was several years since elected bishop, and is now located in the State of Ohio.
Bishop Payne is a scholar and a poet; having published, in 1850, a volume of his productions, which created considerable interest for the work, and gave the author a standing among literary men. His writings are characterized by sound reasoning and logical conclusions, and show that he is well read. The bishop is devotedly attached to his down-trodden race, and is constantly urging upon them self-elevation. After President Lincoln’s interview with the committee of colored men at Washington, and the colonization scheme recommended to them, and the appearance of Mr. Pomeroy’s address to the free blacks, Bishop Payne issued, through the columns of the “Weekly Anglo-African,” a word of advice, which had in it the right ring, and showed in its composition considerable literary ability. A deep vein of genuine piety pervades all the productions of Bishop Payne. As a pulpit orator, he stands deservedly high. In stature, he is rather under the middle size, intellectual countenance, and gentlemanly in appearance. He has done much towards building up Wilberforce College in Ohio, an institution that is an honor to the race.
ALEXANDER CRUMMELL, D. D.
Among the many bright examples of the black man which we present, one of the foremost is Alexander Crummell. Blood unadulterated, a tall and manly figure, commanding in appearance, a full and musical voice, fluent in speech, a graduate of Cambridge University, England, a mind stored with the richness of English literature, competently acquainted with the classical authors of Greece and Rome, from the grave Thucydides to the rhapsodical Lycophron, gentlemanly in all his movements, language chaste and refined, Dr. Crummell may well be put forward as one of the best and most favorable representatives of his race. He is a clergyman of the Episcopal denomination, and deeply versed in theology. His sermons are always written, but he reads them as few persons can.
In 1848, Dr. Crummell visited England, and delivered a well-conceived address before the Anti-slavery Society in London, where his eloquence and splendid abilities were at once acknowledged and appreciated. The year before his departure for the Old World, he delivered an “Eulogy on the Life and Character of Thomas Clarkson,” which was a splendid, yet just tribute to the life-long labors of that great man.