The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-27
PRENTICE.
His Inst Hours and Dying Words.

From the Louisville Journal, jan 20. tuT ~ Es
When Dr. Benson reached Mr.. Prentices bed
side, evening before last he found that his pa
tient was rapidly sinking. He was yet conscious,
and remained so up to the moment of his death.
One of Mr.. Prentices earliest literary produc-
tions was story called, we believe, THE Maniac
of the Lake, an extract from which has been
making the annual rounds Of the press for the
last thirty years. "A few days ago Mrs. DR..
Benson, who took deep interest in the spiritual
welfare of Mr.. Prentice, clipped the extract
from newspaper, and requested her husband to
ask MT: Prentice to read IT. The following Ia,
1T cannot be that this earth is mans only
abiding place. 1t cannot be that our life is a
bubble, cast up by eternity TO hoat a moment
upon its waves and sink into nothingness. Else
why is it the high and glorious aspirations
which leap like angels from the temple of our
hearts are forever wandering unsatis6ed? Why
is it that the rainbow and the clouds come over
us with beauty that Is. not of earth, and then
pass off and leave us to muse on their loyeli-
ness Why Is it that the stars which hold their
festival around the midnight throne are set
above the grasp of our limited faculties, forever
mocking US with their ,unapproachable glory
And, finally, why is 1t that bright forms of
human beauty are presented 10 our views and
taken from US, leaving a thousand streams of
our affections to flow back in an Alpine torrent
upon our hearts We are born for higher
destiny than that of earth. There is a realm
where the rainbow never fades; where the stars
are spread out before us like islands that slum-
Der on the ocean, and where the beautiful
beings which pass before us like shadows will
stay forever in onr presence" ~. E.--E d. u
During the night the doctor asked Mr.. Prem
tice if he would read the extract. He replied
that he was no longer able 10 read. ''Shall l
read 1t for you 2' asked the doctor. ''Yes yes"
was the reply. The beautiful words were read
but their dying author was too near the other
world to appreciate fully their significance.
He muttered few sentences, with his failing
| eyes turned heavenward, but the sounds were
| too indistinct to be Ineligible. In the mean
| time two of Mr.. Prentices best and most be-
| loved friends, Mr. and Mrs. q. w. Griffin, had
| reached his bedside. To Mrs. Griffin the poet
ess of this city, the last poem he ever wrote was
| addressed She was much devoted to him, and
| he ever spoke of her in the most affectionate
| terms, always calling her ''Alice.n She APP
| preached, and, leaning over his pillow short
| time before he breathed his last, asked him, "Do
| you know me p ''Yes," said he, ''it is Jo-
| sephine." 'sNo, said Mrs, Griffin, |itis Alice
Eyes, yes, ! know you now" said he after
| which he spoke few intellgible words. For the
| last hour he made no effort to converse with
/ those around kim. To the questions that were
addressed to him he merely answered yes or no,
| His last intelligible words, uttered some two
hours before his DEATH were, II would like to
| know