The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss
by George L. Prentiss

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Title: The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss

Author: George L. Prentiss

Release Date: March 12, 2004 [EBook #11549]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Transcriber's Note: Footnotes have been numbered and relocated to the
end of the chapter in which they occur. They are marked by [1], [2],
etc.]

THE LIFE AND LETTERS

OF

ELIZABETH PRENTISS

AUTHOR OF _STEPPING HEAVENWARD_

BY GEORGE L. PRENTISS

This memoir was undertaken at the request of many of Mrs. Prentiss' old
and most trusted friends, who felt that the story of her life should be
given to the public. Much of it is in the nature of an autobiography.
Her letters, which with extracts from her journals form the larger
portion of its contents, begin when she was in her twentieth year, and
continue almost to her last hour. They are full of details respecting
herself, her home, her friends, and the books she wrote. A simple
narrative, interspersed with personal reminiscences, and varied by a
sketch of her father, and passing notices of others, who exerted a
moulding influence upon her character, completes the story. A picture is
thus presented of the life she lived and its changing scenes, both on
the natural and the spiritual side. While the work may fail to interest
some readers, the hope is cherished that, like STEPPING HEAVENWARD,
it will be welcomed into Christian homes and prove a blessing to many
hearts; thus realising the desire expressed in one of her last letters:
_Much of my experience of life has cost me a great price and I wish to
use it for strengthening and comforting other souls._

G. L. P.

KAUINFELS, September 11, 1882.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE CHILD AND THE GIRL.

1818-1839.

I.

Birth-place and Ancestry. The Payson Family. Seth Payson. Edward Payson.
His Mother. A Sketch of his Life and Character. The Fervor of his Piety.
Despondent Moods, and their Causes.