New-York daily tribune., 1859-02-11

5nr;ug which be made purchases, OF sttendeu !"
hee.;oess n. miaht have in State street, wnere,
think. he always went at TINS nour. AZ 80
ts returned and resumed the laoors OF me stu'!
for sno,her hour and half. AZ y he dlned. Alter
S;,n.r Nrs Prescott again read to him Tor an
SH e., |. novel. while he smoked tie soI-
go .;csr Ia which be restricted himself, always
ahoo.ing the mildest be could get. His nu-
,asrous friends and correspondents in Cuba and
n,ber narts of Span sh America, kept him supplied
ui,h curious variety Of brands. Ii | remember
rightly, be walked out again for hall hour IN The
afternoon, his daily stint of exercise IN this way
beire FIVE miles, He never failed 20 perform az
least that amount of walking If the weather was
so stormy that he could not go out, when his SET
times arrived, be would put ON his hat boots and
gloves, take his cane, and walk briskIy about
the house for the haf hour or hour, as the case
might be.
Atop came to him again. and remained
ill g. when the labors of the day were over. his
rule TO spend five hours of the twenty four IN
his study and he never exceeded that amount
Mr.. Prescott's study was in the back part OF the
upper story of the house. II vas room ABOUT
twenty feet square, the external wall OF Wnlch, lor
the freer admission Of light, was formed almost
entirely Of windows Of plate glass. Around the
walls stood bookcases, contalnlng WORKS OF REFER
epce aud the books used in composing whatever
historical work he might be engaged on variety
a.
and tres Of al sorts occupied many of the shelves
Near the door was portable fight of steps, such has
are used in Libraries. On these steps ne Kept his
shoes. Of which he had singular variety, some
times, if my memory serves me rightly, as many as
fifteen or twenty pairs The usual door Of entrance
led from the common entry of the house. 10 the
left, in the side wall of the apartment, was door
leading by circular staircase, TO the library be-
meath. Nearly in the middle Of the study, facing
the main door stood Mr. PrescOtts own desk and
arm chair This chair was large enough to recline
in. and was plainly lined with leather. The desk
was small, with cOntrvances for extension and
was always kept in the utmost neatness and order.
He prlded himself on this Deatness, and few things
annoyed him so much the defacement OF his desk
by ink or other stains. He never laid down pen
without carefully wping it, and putting it IN It's
proper place. Behind his own desk, against the
wall to the left, and near the window, was the desk
Of his secretary. On the right of Mr.. Prescott chair
was sofa covered with red velvet, and on the lett,
amOyeabled screen shaded him from the fire, which
was made in an open CRATE, OF camel coal during
the day and of anthracite during the evening, when
his eyes could not enure the flicker OF the btumOn-
GUS coal.
When I entered the study in the morning At half.
past 10. | generally found Mr.. Prescott seated in
his Of eat arm chair, with his back to the light.
He never failed to salute me with cheerful good
mornir g." accompanied by some kind and pleasant
observation and was always careful to bid me
{" good evening" when We parted at the close OF the
day, and disked to have Inc omit the same ceremony
under any circumstances. If IfIhsppened to neglect
it he would remind me of the omission by repeating
his salute but always good-naturedly. He had an
aversion to newspapers, the much reading of which
he regarded as sort of mental dissipation, incon-
sistent with habits of serious study or literary
labor. The only papers he would take or look at
were The Boston Daily AdceHiSer and The National
Ineiiigencer-tbe latter Sc ni-weekly. lie would
glance rapidly over The Adrertisd before j came
in the morning. looking only at the headings OF the
articles, marking with pencil such of them as ne
wished to hear and then laying the paper on my desk
After the morning salutation, he would make some
remark upon the weather, or ask after the health
Of my family, and then say, " Let us see what IL
in The Respectable DAILY this morning would
begin the first article he had marked, and generally
when had read few lines be would say, " TO
on to the next If you please-there Is nothing IN
that" lie would seldom hear an article through
unless it contained news, and news of an important
character. He cared nothing for accounts Of tires
dreadful accidents, and the like, beyond the most
concise statement. Almost always the paper was
dispatched in five minutes, or even less, unless the
foreign news was Of especial interest was with
him at the time of the Revolutions OF ISIS, and he
then INDUCED in newspaper reading to an unusual
extent.
The newspaper read and put away invariably
in the same place in the room, Mr. Prescott
next attended to bis letters and accounts. He
opened his letters himself, glanced at the sigma
lures, and then handed them to Inc to read aloud.
Ills correspondence, though not frequent, EN-.
braced wide area of the earths surface, and
some names of emneDce. Humboldt wrote to him
occasionally. More frequently wrote from Pirls
Count de Circourt, author of a History OF the
Spanish Arabs, and from Madrid, Senior de Gayan-
gos, author of 50 that treasure of Oriental learn
| ing" the History of the Mohammedan Dynastles IN
| Spain. Strangers wrote TO him from Cuba from
Mexico, Peru, Buenos Ayres, Spain, Italy, Hol-
land--n short from almost all parts of the world.
| He replied courteously TO all letters which seemed
to require an answer. His mode of reply was this
If the letter were long one as read It to him he
| would stop me and dictate memoranda for reply.
| Then at the conclusion, would dictate an answer,
which wrote roughly as fast as possible, TO be al
terward carefully copied, preserving the rough
draft and fpg il away with the letter TO which 1t
was an answer. a short note he would dictate at
once. He was particular and punctilious about the
| appearance of bis letters, always using fine note
paper, and directing me to begin the writing at a
good distance from the upper margin and TO spread
| il or condense il as TO fill out one or two pages
| as the case might be. lie liked to have ample
room for his signature, SO that the letter should
| not have have scrlmped look. He was paItlcu.
| lar about the way in which they were folded an
usually sealed them himself, which he did with
much neatness. The tone OF bis letters was invarl-
ably sprightly and cheerful, and be never wrote
as he never spoke-s word that could burt the iee-
iDes or reputation of any one.
Mr. Prescott kept his accounts with great method
and exactness. At the time Of which write he
limited his expenses of all sorts to : 900 am0n.h,
which was much lees than his income. 4 tenth OF
his eNpendtures-tbat is TO say, $1,000 ayear-
be gave in charity. No deserving person ever ap-