mute, it is said, only because he was afraid of the shadow of his own reputation; Byron had sunk beneath the sun at Missolonghi, but the echo of his harp still vibrated through the world.

Of the poets, Shakspeare, Campbell, Scott, and Byron were Prentiss's favorites, and he could rehearse them, I might almost say, by the volume, and in rehearsing from them he could thrill any one. His contemporary licentiate, W. C. Harris, who did not profess to have the least bit of poetry in his composition, once told me that Prentiss never failed to melt him to tears as he repeated the "Sailor Boy's Dream."

"In slumbers of midnight the sailor boy lay,

His hammock swung loose at the play of the wind,
But, watch-worn and weary, his cares flew away,
And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind.

"He dreamed of his home, of his dear native bowers,
And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn,
While memory each scene gayly covered with flowers
And restored every rose, but secreted the thorn.

In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss ;
Where now is the picture that Fancy touched bright,
Thy parent's fond pressure, and love's honeyed kiss?

"Oh, sailor boy! sailor boy! never again

Shall home, love, or kindred thy wishes repay;
Unblessed and unhonored, down deep in the main,
Full many a score fathom, thy frame shall decay.

"Days, months, years, and ages shall circle away,
And still the vast waters above thee shall roll;

Earth loses thy pattern forever and aye;

Oh, sailor boy! sailor boy! peace to thy soul!”

*

I myself, though but a boy at the time, remember being thrilled by his rendering of the night scene of "Alf the Renegade" in the "Siege of Corinth":

"And he saw the lean dogs beneath the wall

Hold o'er the dead their carnival.

Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb,

They were too busy to bark at him.

From a Tartar's skull they had stripped the flesh

As ye pull the fig when the fruit is fresh ;

And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull

As it slipped through the jaws when their edge grew dull,
As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead.

"So well had they broken a lingering fast

With those who had fallen for that night's repast."

As Prentiss's deep guttural tones threw expression into the theme I could almost see the horrible banquet. He seemed always able to touch the diapason that vibrated through the soul. Byron was his chief favorite; in fact, the cast of his genius was not unlike that of the poet's: the same brilliant imagination, the same capacious memory, the same exquisite diction, the same classic culture; if we add to this a similar physical infirmity, the likeness is still more complete; this misfortune warped Byron into misanthropy and colored the life of Prentiss with a faint tinge of jocular cynicism. There is not the least doubt but that, if he had devoted himself to the Muses instead of throwing his genius on to the Hustings, he might have rivalled his great idol ; but, alas for his fame, he flung his glittering thoughts broadcast among the multitude and they have sunk into oblivion.

Inasmuch as Huston had an extensive practice, Prentiss realized enough to be independent, and, had he been of a selfish disposition, he might have been content with a moderate income, and would have probably remained in Natchez; but, after the death of his father, he ever thought it a solemn responsibility to help support his family and, above all, educate the younger children.

He did not profess to be pious and only occasionally attended church, sometimes the Presbyterian and sometimes the Episcopal. He acknowledged a deep veneration for the preachers of religion and always showed a reverence for the ministers of the gospel, but he could not comprehend or appreciate the differences of faith between the various sects.

Impelled by a noble self-devotion to his great life-work, he determined to cast about for a more prolific field. At one time he thought of settling in Port Gibson, a town about forty-five

miles northeast of Natchez, but on mature deliberation he selected the then young town of Vicksburg.

During his brief career in Natchez he formed the deepest and most lasting attachments of his life. The members of the bar, old and young, had not only conceived a high estimate of his talents, but had formed a personal attachment for the man. His intercourse with them was marked by professional courtesy, and in the social circle he was the light of the company.

CHAPTER IV.

PRENTISS took his final leave of Natchez as a place of residence, and arrived in Vicksburg about the 1st of February, 1832. The Vicksburg bar was then, as it has ever been, distinguished for its great ability. W. L. Sharkey, John I. Guion, W. C. Smedes, T. A. Marshall, J. Harrison, Joe Holt, J. M. Chilton, W. F. Bodley, A. G. McNutt, H. S. Foote, were some of its members who achieved great reputations. Through this array of talent Prentiss had to make his way. His reputation had already preceded him, and his arrival is beautifully described by his contemporary, John M. Chilton.

The very first case in which he was employed attracted a great deal of attention from its novelty as well as its public interest. The smallpox had broken out in a large hotel, which stood alone in one of the squares of the town. Moved by a desire to confine the disease and prevent its spread, the city authorities had by an ordinance quarantined, or rather embargoed, the building. Prentiss was employed to enjoin the enforcement of the order and have it repealed. This was a theme well suited to the cast of his mind; on it he could bring to bear his logical power, blended with wit, sarcasm, and pathos.

Although not a note is left of what he said on the occasion, yet, from the meagre description given, we can imagine how clearly he dissected the powers of corporations and showed their want of authority in the charter; how pathetically he appealed to the humanity of the board: could they, or would they, like the heartless priest or the hypocritical Levite, turn aside from the sick stranger and leave him to die? or, worse than that, bar him within the doors of the contagion, and let him die like a rat smothered in a hole? Would they not rather imitate the good Samaritan, help the stranger in his sickness, soothe him in his distress, and, if possible, save and restore him to health?

The embargo was an outrage on our humanity, a disgrace to the age, and contrary to the teachings of Christianity, etc. It is said that he spoke for two hours. Knowing, as we do, how hard it is to move men to revoke an order which they have deliberately adopted; knowing, too, what a panic is created in a little town by the presence of a contagious disease, and how clamorous the people are for quarantine, it is a wonder that the young lawyer succeeded at all, but the result was a triumph, the obnoxious ordinance was repealed.

This remarkable speech for one so young at once enhanced his reputation, and his star began its upward ascent. It was not long ere he stepped into a large practice and assumed his position in the front rank of the profession. While his forte was in criminal cases, he was equally at home in the dryer matters of civil causes and the more pliable principles of courts of equity.

The old court-house was a square brick building, standing upon the lofty eminence where the present court-house now stands; this latter is a beautiful airy structure, and is the first object which strikes the traveller as he approaches Vicksburg by the river; but whenever the men of the days of Prentiss visit the spot their memory goes back to the days of the old square brick court-house that so often resounded to the tones of his eloquence.

In the arena Foote was often pitted against him, but, by common opinion, his most formidable opponent was Joseph Holt. Never, perhaps, were there two great men more dissimilar in manners, tastes, and habits; the one, as we have seen, was jovial, genial, and sparkling; the other was quiet, retired, and reticent; the one was bold, brilliant, and dashing in his arguments; the other spoke with a polished beauty and power,-of him it could always be said semper paratus. He was called the "Demosthenes of the bar," because his arguments were thoroughly prepared orations. Only a few days since I heard an octogenarian say that Holt was the most beautiful speaker to whom he ever listened, and I have often been told that it was an intellectual treat to hear the arguments of these two remarkable men in some of their great cases.