never make the same sacrifices to the public, which I have heretofore done. But for my political engagements for the last three or four years, I should have been able to furnish W. and S. such means as they required for their success in business, and long ago been relieved from any necessity of professional exertion. As it is, I will accomplish the result after a while. I am now very busy practising law, and shall have my hands full of business. However, enough of business matters, my little sister. I have paid a great compliment to your good sense (though a very deserved one), by talking so much about them. Don't give yourselves any trouble or anxiety about these things. I certainly don't deserve the credit I have received if I do not manage them all very easily. I have received two letters from you since I wrote, one from Portland and the other from Boston, or rather Cambridge, where, I am pleased to learn, you have been enjoying so delightful a visit at the house of your friend, Mrs. G. I was quite taken with your description of the domestic happiness you witnessed, and if I could find a woman I loved, and who loved me, and I had nothing else to do, perhaps I might follow your advice and marry, myself. I called last night on Mrs. Bodley, and also Mrs. Vick, who has just returned from Kentucky. They are both well, and talked a great deal about you, and regretted much that you did not return this winter. They are very much attached to you. I dined at Mr. Smedes' yesterday, and called at Mrs. Lake's, but did not find her at home. I have seen none of your Natchez friends yet, but shall go down to N. before long. I am glad mother had so pleasant a visit in New York, and trust her health has not suffered by the exertion. How much I would give to come and spend the winter with you all. Warm hearts would conquer cold weather. But as I can't be with you, I must hear from you often. I got a letter from G. the other day. He is very happy, and that makes me so too. I have looked over my letter, and there is nothing in it worth sending, but as I have not time to write another, you must take this from

Your affectionate brother,

SEARGENT.

You must write particularly of your health. If the cold weather affects you unkindly, you must come and keep house for me next winter. I am in earnest about this. God bless you all.

то HIS YOUNGEST BROTHER.

VICKSBURG, Nov. 12, 1840.

DEAR GEORGE :—

The contest is at length over, and I have leisure at last to sit down and commune with my dear brother. Upon my return from the North, of which you have already heard, I felt it my duty, from every consideration both of patriotism and interest, to canvass the State in my capacity of candidate for elector. Accordingly, I started out, and for four or five weeks before the election, addressed the people in various portions of the country, exerting myself to the utmost of my ability, mental and physical. I was exhausted by my previous efforts, on starting, and returned about a week ago, completely worn out; so much so, that this is the first day I have felt able to write a letter. My general health has been, and still is good, and I am rapidly recovering the use of my faculties. I assure you, however, that on my return, so severely had my powers been taxed, they seemed hardly under the control of volition. In none of my previous political campaigns have my energies been so severely tested. You will doubtless be gratified to learn (if you have not already done so) that success has crowned the efforts of the Whigs in this, as almost in every other State. Mississippi has gone for "Old Tip " by nearly 3,000 majority. No event in history presents a subject more interesting for the observation of the politician or the philosopher, than this Presidential election. All that is serious and ludicrous, all that is sensible and foolish, reason, passion, and prejudice, have combined in producing the result. General Harrison has been elected President, I judge from what we have already heard, almost by acclamation; and yet four years ago, the same people,

with the same facts as to the characters of the two men before them, rejected him, and chose Mr. Van Buren. General Harrison is, I doubt not, a good man and a patriot; and, I believe will conduct his Administration so as to restore purity to the Government, and prosperity to the people; but he is a very ordinary man.

His election, however, has convinced me that a man of ordinary ability, in a free government, has, in time of peace, a better chance of political success, at least in attaining the chief magistracy, than a man of great and acknowledged talent. The people in a Republic have a jealousy and fear of commanding and superior intellects, and will not, except in some desperate emergency, such as war or revolution, trust them with the highest office of the country. If I recollect right, such was the case in the ancient Republics. They called upon their great men when in great straits, not from choice, but from necessity. However, I did not intend to philosophize myself, but merely to state that it was a good subject for reflection. I am heartily rejoiced at the result, and that it is over. I have fought through the war, and feel now entitled to an honorable discharge. I have returned to the practice of the law, which will, I trust, enable me before long “ to take up the stitches" (to use an old woman's phrase) which I have dropped while engaged in politics. Till my pecuniary affairs are placed beyond reach of accident, I shall not again quit business. I received your letter from Berlin, and sympathize with you in the pleasure afforded by your summer rambles. I would I could have been with you; my gratification would have been as great as your own. You ask if I saw your friend Sand conversed with him in relation to your plans. I saw him, but only for a moment at a time, and had no conversation with him. But whatever your plans may be, they are mine. Nothing has occurred, or can (excepting my death), which can interfere with their accomplishment, so far as my co-operation is concerned. In pecuniary matters you already understand my wishes and ability, neither of which are changed. On that subject, once for all, my dear brother, put your mind at ease. Whenever it shall

be necessary to take that matter into consideration, I will not hesitate to inform you. When you write again, unfold your wishes and views, if they have undergone any change. I had a sweet letter from Anna, a day or two since. She was on a visit to Mrs. G., at Cambridge, Mass., where she appeared to be enjoying herself much. I miss her exceedingly, and but for mother and Abby, would try and have her out here again. I sometimes feel very lonely, and almost determine to go back to Portland, become a boy again, fish in the Great Brook, and live and die at home. I know not that I shall ever have a home elsewhere. Your friends about Vicksburg are all well, Mr. Smedes, Judge Guion, &c. &c. Pray write me very often, and not attribute to neglect any infrequency in my letters, for business almost destroys my capacity for other matters. Pleasant hours to you, my brother.

Yours affectionately,

SEARGENT.

CHAPTER XIX.

Domestic Correspondence-His Marriage-Letters-His Course in Relation to the Gubernatorial Election of 1843-Visit and Letter from Henry Clay-Letters.

ÆT. 32-4. 1841-3.

WE now approach the most eventful period of Mr. Prentiss' personal history. The year 1841 was the darkest in his life; but near its close, it was suddenly brightened by a star of promise, which attended him all the rest of his mortal journey. It is plain, that the knowledge gained in his political career, was chiefly of that kind which only "increaseth sorrow;" while disclosing the depths of human selfishness and folly, it afforded nothing to satisfy the cravings of a mind like his. The applauses of the multitude, as we have seen, he estimated according to their real value. His pecuniary embarrassments were increasing; his health, too, began to show signs of failure; while his disappointment and disgust at the world were fast deepening into downright misanthropy. Yet his affections, though a "sealed fountain" to most of his intimates, were still pure and strong; they only wanted a home in order to spring forth in all the ardor and beauty of his earliest years.

But the following letters throw so clear a light upon this point, and upon the whole inner life of their author, that they need no interpreter :