The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1860-09-04
6. 8. PRENTIss,
BORN PORTLAND, ME. (,
SEPT. 20, 1903.
Departed
THIS LIFE,
MATCHES,
uLY /, 1850 .

| JULY j, 1851.
Had not the Holy Bible some other
verses than these bitter ones! We are all
sinners; but why should this man be held
up thus as a sinner more than all T?
Permit me to add here the following
tribute to my noble friends memory, Qor
1 knew him we'll, as an Offset, if possible,
to this severe memento mori, which, it is to
be hoped, will ere long be removed from
the head of his graveit SO inapproprately
distinguishes:
When intelligence of his death was
sent abroad, scarce journal arrived
without containing its tribute of respect
to the memory of this gifted man. His
hold upon the hearts of his countrymen
was exhibited. not so much in cold hon.
age to his greatness, rs in the warm en-
thusiastic expressions Of admiration, alike
from political friends and opponents
Equally gratifying was the response from
the Northern States. Prentiss' fame was
no sectional thing. His eloquence touch
ed the heart and riveted the attention,
while his personal qualities attracted the
warm attachment of every one within his
reach. copy from the New Orleans CO.
tcmporarics some portion Of their hasty,
but eloquent and truthful eulogiums:
From the New Orleans Delta.
A weak and debilitatcd boy, with a
gentle lisp and supported by sustaining
cane, was soon seen stealing away the
technical hearts of stern judges, and weav-
inc seductive tales in the honest ears of
sworn jurymen. Resistless as the pene-
trating breeze, his juvenile eloqucncc
searched every avenue Of thought and
feeling. The classic page and the varied
mass of modern literature were conve-
niently stored away in the massy caverns
of his broad and fertile intellect. A close
train of didactic reasoning on the most
abstruse legal topic, was lit up with the
pyrotechnic fires Of fancy. The most or
dinary incidents of life, the mcrest COM
mon places, were caught upon the wings
of his imagination and blended and effec-
lively commingled, in his illustrative ora
tory, with the boldest and most gorgeous
metaphors.
Nor was his mind "cribbed, cabined,
and confined" within the narrow limits OF
mere professional life. lie always iden-
tilted himself with every project of patri-
otism, benevolenee. charity, or literature,
that was agitated in his vicinage. A
monument to Franklin, or a sympathetic
appeal in favor of struggling Hungary, or
a donative response to the fearful orphan,
OF a commemoration of the birthday of
the Bard of Avon, would equally fire his
soul and syllable his tongue. Heposscss-
cd one of the most highly endowed intel
lects we ever knew. His memory was
singularly retentive, so that he could re-
peat whole cantos of Byron on the mo-
ment. His logical faculty was very acute
and discerning. It was often the COM
plaint of the court and his brother law
yers, that he would argue a case all to
pieces. He would penetrate to the very
bottom of a subject, as it were, by intui-
ton, and lay it bare in all its parts, like a
chemist analyzing any material object, OF
surgeon making dissection. His read
ing was full and general, and everything
he gathered from books, as we'll as from
intercourse with his fellow-men, clung to
his memory, and was ever at his COM
mand But his most striking talent was
his oratory We have never known OF
read of q man who equalled Prentiss in
the faculty of thinking on his legs or Of
extemporaneous eloquence. He required
no preparation to speak on any subject
and on all he was equally happy. We
have heard from him, thrown out in din
ner speech, or at public meeting, when
unexpectedly called on, more brilliant and
striking thoughts, than many of the most