ould give. "A speech! A speech!" thundered a thousand voices.
Prentiss lifted his hand; in an instant everything was still--then
pointing to the group that surrounded Mr. Clay, he said,
"Fellow-citizens, when the eagle is soaring in the sky, the owls
and the bats retire to their holes." And long before the shout that
followed this remark had ceased, Prentiss had disappeared amid the
multitude.

But the most extraordinary exhibition of Prentiss' powers of mind and
endurance of body, was shown while he was running for Congress. He
had the whole State to canvass, and the magnitude of the work was just
what he desired. From what I have learned from anecdotes, that canvass
must have presented some scenes combining the highest mental and
physical exertion that was ever witnessed in the world. Prentiss was
in perfect health, and in the first blush of success, and it cannot be
doubted but that his best efforts of oratory were then made, and now
live recorded only in the fading memories of his hearers. An incident
illustrative of the time is remembered, that may hear repeating.

The whole state of Mississippi was alive with excitement; for the
moment, she felt that her sovereign dignity had been trifled with,
and that her reputation demanded the return of Prentiss to Congress.
Crowds followed him from place to place, making a gala time of weeks
together. Among the shrewd worldlings who take advantage of such times
"to coin money," was the proprietor of a traveling menagerie, and he
soon found out that the multitude followed Prentiss. Getting the list
of that remarkable man's "appointments," he filled up his own, and it
was soon noticed as a remarkable coincidence, that the orator always
"arrived along with the other 'lions.'" The reason of this meeting was
discovered, and the "boys" decided that Prentiss should "next time"
speak from the top of the lion's cage. Never was the menagerie more
crowded. At the proper time, the candidate gratified his constituents,
and mounted his singular rostrum. I was told by a person, who
professed to be an eye witness, that the whole affair presented a
singular mixture of the terrible and the comical. Prentiss was, as
usual, eloquent, and, as if ignorant of the novel circumstances with
which he was surrounded, went deeply into the matter in hand, his
election. For a while the audience and the animals were quiet, the
former listening, the latter eyeing the speaker with grave intensity.
The first