Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-19
PRENTIss.
The Lecture Of Or Mllburb---StOrIss Never
Tsld Before.

We had not space for full report OF
the pleasing lecture Of Mr.. MilbuFn In
fact, We thought it somewhat unfortunate
for the lecturer that the greater his sue
cess In the ~delineation Of Prsntiss' charsc-
Ter and in the portrayal Of his marvellous
powers and endowments, the more strfk-
ing the defects OF one who is not the peer
OF Prentiss. The theme OF the lecture is
thus unfortunate for him who adopts it,
aud especially Is this true when among
the audience there were very many who
used TO follow "Prentiss' Meuagerie,'
None of them can ever hear with perfect
patience an orator, even as DR.. Milburn is
Pr8ntiss' elOqpence. When the lecturer
evOkes the dead from his resting place
and re-invests with life the little body
that used to swell till it became glganJlc
in the eyes of the listening, wondering
s~pell-boUnd populace, inetfaoesole mem
Dries are re excited, so VlvlaIy thaS Dr.
Milburn'B r~Bcitals are forgotten while the
marvellous realities Of the flush times" Of
Mississippi float before enraptured
visions. We remember, and it is among
the Grst rscOllscciOns of bOyhoOd, now
Prentiss once addressed a throng within
the walls Of q church. Women filled the
/ body oft building, while men crOWded
sislss and windows. In the midst of the
speech the wOmen threw up their hand
kerchisfs and applsuded sOme pOetical
| outburst of the peerless orator. Prentiss
was suddenly silent, his face grew pale,
and, when he began to spsak, his lips
trembled and his eyes told of an inexpres-
sibls sorrow. He said he would tell how
it was that he so loved and admired
woman, and yet had never welded a
wife. He told of a fsir-haired,
~blue-eyed little girl, his cousin, if we
! remember Alright, with whom he was
reared be told how he had loved the pref
" child, and how one sultTy summer
| Sunday afternoon he went with her TO the
l end Of the lane in front Of his home, and
sat at the foot Of a great oak with his arm
around the girls waist how he was study
| ing the world of wonders and Of love that
dwsIt in the depths of the eyes OF the
matchless child. A thunderstorm came
and the lightning killed the girl in his
arms. No stroke Of lightning was ever SO
terrible as this simple story, az it fell from
Prentiss' lips. such was its effect that he
was for a long time silenced by the weep
ing Of men and N Prentiss' genius
was such that it invested the simplest
story with the richest charms, and what
ever he touched turned 70 gold.
ANOTHER STORY.
Not long Z we read q story told by
Cough, the temperance lecturer, to which
Prentiss gave paternity. In was of Prem
tiss' invention, and if memory serve US
Mr.. FOOte was the subject Of criticism
when it dawnsd upon Prentiss' inventive
faculties. He was ridicuIing Foote'S
l0QuaciOusness and fOudness for the tones
of his own voice. He said that IN one
occasion, in the midst Of a vast assem-
blage, when the orator of the day had
finished his task, FOote was anxious to
be heard. He had asked persons stationed
in different parts of the crowded hall to
cry out "FooteI' "FOotei7 Mr.. FOote
sOon mounted Che rOstrum, but a huge
fellow wOuld not be EilenCad, and con-
tinued to sXclaim with Stsntor's longs,
"F00tel ~ "FOotei'' "FoObe!' The chair
man Of the meeting came forward and IN
sisted that the admirer Of Mr.. F0OJe
should be silent, as Mr.. FOOte was on the
stand and raady to speak. "YOU can't
fool me-" answered the SJentOr, that's
the fellow that told me 10 call for FOOte."
E0OJei' EOOtBt' "FOObsin psrsiEtenJlV
yelled the admirer OF a suggestions Mr..
F00ta Ig was found necessary to eject
Mr.. Foote'S ciGqUsr from the house, and
as he was kicked down the stairs, he still
shouted, like the drifting head in the an
cisnt fable, "FOOtel" "FOotei'' "FOotei"
IN MEMPHIS.
Prentiss nsver appeared but once in
Memphis. He came through the village /
in 1897. General E. p. Gaines was then a
citizen Ofthe place. lie and many other
NAEG n EELHLaH al the WHIT ana bHlDrbtO ]
him to the town hall. a room forty by
twenty feet, above a confectionery, on
Market street, beJWeen Main and Front.
The building disappeared years ago. The
apartment was sOOu filed by the pOpulsCs
eager to hear him speak, whose wonder
ful elOquence had recently shaken the
Federal capitol and entranced statesmen
and orators, such as no longer live to
gid with the lustsr of splendid genius
the annals Of a mighty republic. Prem
tiss was full of physical and intellectual
force, weary of confinement and wsaried
the mOnOtOuVO Of a tedious Journey. He
rave unrestricted rein to his fancy and
deliueated with a masters hand scenes be
had recently bsheld, and events in which
be had been the most prominent actor at
Washington. be uttered anathemas
against the dominant party, compared
with which those that DemOsthenes di-
rscted against Philip of MacsdOn, p2lsd
their Intellectual fires. As the blind
preacher asserted, each auditor I'm
sgiusd that this Grafton was the
great masterpiece Of Prentiss. Old men,
who wer5 boys then, still talk with Won
der Of the startling eft5cts produced by
the defamation, the Wit, satire, splendid
1lctlOu and irresistible action Of the o
derful impersOnatiCn Of marvellous elO-
gusDce. But this is all tha5 is remember
ed of the speech It is now a vague
dream, q vision of splendid ~pagesnts, a
mirage that rises up now and then in the
desert OF The past, and spans with its
lights and shadows the horizon Of memo
Nothing since has reproduced iL.
OrstOry has exhausted its arts, and
genius its tolls, and Craftsmanship its
prophetic Utterances in vain. None who
have delighted in subsequent years the
pOpulace of this city by sppeals to passion
or reason havO ever lone more than in
HHnlan Hhnaa wrha NHHHanan To pwamHFGa IN ]
TO bis matchlsss excellence, and
sssert his uurivslsd greatness.
PRENTIss IN NEW ORLEANS.
Prentiss went to New Orleans, and in
the Arcade in that city, after a week Of
fearful -dsbaucherY, addressed q vast
thrOng. He swOOnsd at the conclusion
of one Of the sublimesJ passages that ever
from mortal lips. RsstoraJives we're
used, and, when be was still pale as
death and his eyes we're limo luster-
less, and his form upheld by q friend, he
said in broken accents full Of melody that
had swOOned because OvermssJered by
The splsndor Of W0man's charms, and in
sheer gratitude for Woman's boundless
applause.
BIS ADMIRATION o CLAY.
His admiration for Henry Clay's char-
and intellect was ~bOundless. 1t was I
only sUperstitiOus reverence he ever J
udulged. He deemed Mr.. Clay more
han mortal, and bent before the majesty q
jf his immortal worth IS If the great Ken {
we're a god. The story is {
rite but Illustrative, not only of Prentiss' s
admiration of true greatness, {
put Of the marvellous readiness and apt q
less of his illustrations Of a passion Of the a
When Nh. Clay was at the St. q
and q mighty multitude were
,athered about the massive hotel, all eager
o hear the voice and behold the majestic
0rm Of the sage and statesman Of Ken
uQky, Prentiss was seen leaning against
column near which Mr.. Clay was sx-
,scted to appear. Prentiss was recOg-
.iZsd and the multitude, eve eager to
isJeu to his eloquent u~bterances, cried
"Preutiss." "Prsntiss." He came
the presence Of the tUmUltuous as
emily, and, lifting his hand, there was
stiffness and profound silence ss when
be sun rises above the Unruhsd ocean
tier 3 night Of storm and tempest. Prem
iss was silent sill every eye in that
nightly thrOng was fixed upon his own.
to the majestic form Of Henry
Jay, who appeared at the moment, he
ali, ina tones of tremulous earnestness
rang and echoed and resOunded like
trumpsJ's clangOr: When the eagle
oars IN he mid heavens, owls and bats
re seen no more" He disappeared, and
tenry Clay filed the place, and as no
American that has lived, save Pat
Henry, could have done-held an
udisnce spell bound when the echoes or
'rsntiss' voice had died away in the dis
ancs.
APhLR or STRANGE BEDFELLOws.
McNutt was a wonderful man-Heaven-
ndowed, K Frentiss, with a wonderful