One of these had sought out Prentiss, and was attempting to make
himself agreeable to him by abusing Foote: this abuse wound up by
denouncing the distinguished Mississippian as a dog. Prentiss turned
sharply upon him with the exclamation: "If he is a dog, sir, he is our
dog, and you shall not abuse him in my presence!" The discomfiture of
the toady may be easily imagined; he slunk away, nor did he again
obtrude his unwanted presence upon Prentiss during his stay.
Few men have ever so fastened themselves upon the affections of their
friends as did Prentiss: his qualities of heart and head were
fascinating, almost beyond humanity; none ever met him for a day and
went away unattached; strangers, who knew him not, listening to him,
not only admired, but loved him. He never lost a friend; and all his
enemies were political, or from envy. In the society of ladies he was
extremely diffident and unobtrusive, and always apprehensive lest he
should be unable to entertain them agreeably.
On one occasion, not long before our final parting, he said he had
committed two great errors in his life: leaving his native home to find
one in the South, and not marrying when he first commenced the practice
of law.
Pages:
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761