Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1850-08-06
personal SKETCHES.
S. S. PrentisS, Esq.

-. PrentISS. IL Is one oil tne most ihelaH-
cholv reflections connected with the death
of Prcnliss, that he leaves behind no solid
memorial Of that wonderful genius which
enchained his audience by magic spell.
His glorious thoughts have passed away
with the sound Of his voice. Let us hope
that some future Writ may be found TO inn
mortalize this second Patrick Henry:
Judge BulIard arose and SAID, that IT
would be more appropriate if the duty OF
addressing the Bar, upon the melancholy
occasion of their assembling, had been as
signed to a Younger man. He was old
enouCh 70 be the father of the lamented
deceased and was far advanced beyond
that period when the thoughts and feel
inqs suitable to such an occasion. find ut
rerance in words Of appropriate feivor and
eloouence. But he had known the de-
ceased for twenty years-he cherished
for him warm iriendship-a deep and
ardent admiration, that prompt him, des-
pi,e age and many deficiencies, to bear
testimony TO his remarkable abilities and
great worth as man and lawyer.
When first made the acquaintance Of
Sergeant S. Preatiss, continued Judge
Bullard,) he was then a mere youth, and
was Just emerging from the condition OF a
schoolmasler, and under the solicitations
of some discerning friends, embarking in
the practice of law. In first following the
profession of a schOOlmaster, he pursued
the course almost invariably adopted by
the eminent men who came from the Sec
ton of the Union where Prentiss was
horn. Nearly all the great men New En-
gland has produced, have passed through
the condition of schoolmaster. 1t may
be said TO be the chrysalis state of her
great men. Before they expand their
wings, and essay to sore aloft, they deciP-
fine their minds and enPers in the hum
bic sphere Of the teacher. 1t was so OF
John Adams, and many other of the great
men of New England. The man from
whom | learned the first rudiments OF
knowledge, became chief justice. and
my brother had an opportunity OF imbi-
bing his first elements of knowledge from
no less man than the present distinguish
ed Judge Woodbury., of the Supreme
Court. Prenliss passed through this or
deal, and soon emerged into the active
world, ripe scholar and brilliant genius.
1t was not long before his great talents
were discovered and appreciated. 1t was
not long before the renown of his oratory
blazed through the whole country, and
his reputation as all advocate became coe-
val with the boundaries of the Republic.
He was native of Maine, the extreme
of the Northern States. Reasoning a pri-
orr, one would suppose that the character
of his mind would have been as cold, sol
id, and compact as the granite of their hills
that his nature would have been COO, eau
tous, sedate and prudent; and yet how
different was the real man. His soul
was as fiery as that of the Arabian; his
heart was as warm as if its first thrObbings
had been made beneath Southern sun !;
his imagination was as luXurlant as the
vegetation of the Tropics, as fertile as
that of the author of the Thousand and
One Nights.
The Flora of the South is richer and
more abundant than that of the NOnh.
Every flower here sends forth its fra
GRANGE, and delights the eye with lis
bloom; but, now and then, there springs
up from some sterile crag, or at the fool
of some snow clad mountain of the North.
beautiful flowret, which, in fragrance
and beauty, exceeds the choicest produce
of the Tropics. The heavens near the
Equator are bright and refulgent with the
rays Of the sun, and golden radiance sur
rounds every object; but the cold and
dark North is sometimes lighted up with
the unequalled refulgence of that brightest
oil celestial phenomena-thc Aurora Bo-
reals. In the South, there are numer-
Gus volcanoes which periodically belch
forth bright and devastating flames, but
none Of them exceed in grandeur the vast
,oumc of fire which Hecla sends forth
from lis deep caverns, to roll in dcsolatlng
torrents down It's snowy sides.
Mr.. Prentiss possessed the most tril-
liant imagination of any man of his day.
He had more of the talents of the Italian
lmprovlsatorl than any man living, or,
perhaps, than any man dead. 1t was,
however, great error to suppose that he
was mere decaimer. On the contrary
all his flights of fancy rested on the firm
basis Of reason. Even on convivial occa-
sions, when he gave full reias to his i'm
agnalon, his oratory consisted of some
thing more than Gorgeous imagery-sparl,,
ling wit and brilliant language. There was
; aIway some solid principle, some well
settled doctrine ON which his most brll'
liant metaphors and oratorical flights res
Ted. lie was not satisfied merely with
throwing out few smart things. The
rich ornaments and brilliant gems which
hung up IN the jeweiry Of his imagination
were used TO deck, 10 brighten, and ren.