The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-02-09

to me. he pressed my hand, turned and
assembled the scsffold with unfsltering steps.
a few moments all was over. Many a
time have heard Colonel Talmage tell
this story, and privilege esteemed it TO
hear from the lips OF the man who had super
intended 1t the story of the execution O.
Andre {
''Who Is the most eloquent man that you
ever heard?"
Il have heard nearly every prominent
man that has figured in American history
ana never heard any man to equal s. ).
Prentiss. He and were close friends for
years and up to his death. His speech in
Fanueil Hall was the grandest effort ever
made In that body perhaps. A venerable
Judge Of New Jersey told me a strange
story concerning Prentiss' powers. Said
he:
IL never believed. any man living could
enchain my attention for three hours as he
Is said to have done the audience in Fanueil
Hall, as took the first chance of hearing
him. j found an enormous crowd gathefed
snd was unable to get seat. AS be began
to speak took out my watch 10 note the
time. The first words that he uttered ar
rested my attention. There was something
in his eye that startled me, and the words
came bubbhng up so full of power.
eloquence and originality, that found nv
self enthralled. His flights of passion were
so hea-t-searching and superb that find it
impossible to take my eyes from his face
AT one time L remember l felt as if / should
faint under the intense feeling he produced.
L forgot the presence of the crowd-I fore OF
my seventy years Of age, although l was
standing-and when ut last his physical
powers falling under the enormous pressure
they were subjected, 10 he sunk back in his
seat completely exhausted, found that
was still holding in my hand the watch,
that had taken out three hours and fifteen
minutes before. My attention had been so
completely absorbed that had failed to
return 1t to my pocket. At my side stood
an old mana minister of the gospel. He
WAS livid with excitement, and mis- lips
trembled as he said, Will you ever doubt
again that God inspires man2"
Ibid you hear Prentiss speak often7"
Frequently. The greatest speech ever
heard him make was in court room. 1t
was in the prosecution of a prominent man
for fraud. Prentiss spoke for hours, pro-
ducing the most wonderful effect. | re-
turned from the Court House with him and
remarked that his conversation tagged He
l feel as il did not have an idea in nv
head"
"You have poured out enough to-day to
empty any head" L remarked.
"And yet he SAID, 81 have made signal
failure. l exhausted my culver in the effort
to pierce that mans armor and reach his
vitals, but his integuments wereproof against
my shafts, and / failed"
Failed! Why, you made the most
powerful and telling speech Of your life"
"Yes, upon the audience. perhaps but not
on the victim--he escapes uncrushed. /
care nothing for the crack of the rife if the
bullet flies wide of its mark. / wanted to
reach his heart and crush it to remorse and
confusion-but l have learned that his obtu-
sity is superior to my invective."
This was Prentiss' way. He always had
terrible and earnest purpose in his ora
tory. Poor fellow. His greatness was his
ruin. His genius burned so freely that it
wore his system away and created the de
mand for artificial stimulants. The mere
fact that liquor ruined one man like Prem
tiss is sufficient TO have it banished en-
tirely from the world. He said to me once:
''The great mistake of my life was in leav-
ing my Northern home. There home in
tiuences might have restrained me, before
this fearful habit got hold upon me-" Prem
tiss was a chivalric man in the highest sense
of the word He and II. S. Foote had Bit
ter feud that at last eliminated in a duel, in
which FOote was wounded. A short time
afterward Prentiss was with some friends
in Cincinnati. and toadying fellow sought
to curry favor with Prentiss by abusing
Foote. At last he went so far as to denounce
him as dog. At this Prentiss turned
sharply on him and said: "Stop, sirl You
shall not abuse Mr.. Foote in my presence
If he is a dog he is our dog, and he shall
not be abusedp'
But space fails for further recital of the
"reminiscences Of Colonel Sparks. / have
only written down 1.-THE of the graphic
and entertaining things he told me, and be
only drew casually upon his enormous fund
of personal information. He has embodied
much of the gossip and history of the
century in charming book, called
The Memories of Fifty Years." but when
he dies there will perish with him more i'll
formation concerning the great men of this
country than was ever before locked up in
the heart of any one man. H.'W. G.
kTLANTA, Ga, January. 1881.