There arrived, with other members of the bar, from Natchez, a limping youth in plain garb, but in whose bearing there was a manly, indeed almost a haughty, mien; in whose cheek a rich glow, telling the influence of more northern climes; in whose eye a keen but meditative expression; and in whose voice and conversation a vivacity and originality that attracted every one, and drew around him, wherever he appeared, a knot of listeners, whose curiosity invariably yielded in a few moments to admiration and delight.  There was then a buzz of inquiry, succeeded by a pleased look of friendly recognition, and a closer approach, and in most instances an introduction, to the object of this general attraction, so soon as it was told that the stranger was S. S. Prentiss, of Natchez.  His fame had preceded him, and men were surprised to see only beardless youth in one whose speeches, and learning, and wit, and fine social qualities, had already rendered him at Natchez “the observed of all observers.”

Society in the Southwest at that day was full of perils to young men, especially to young men of talent and generous, impressionable natures.  Drinking, duelling, and gambling widely prevailed.  It was a period of “flush times,” and wild, reckless habits.  Mr. Prentiss did not wholly escape the contagion; but his faults and errors were very much exaggerated in many of the stories that found currency concerning him.  One of his friends wrote after his death:  “I have heard many anecdotes of him, which I considered of doubtful authority; for he is a traditional character all over Mississippi—­their Cid, their Wallace, their Coeur de Lion, and all the old stories are wrought over again, and annexed to his name.”  Another of his friends, who knew him long and intimately, the late Balie Peyton, of Tennessee, testified:  “No man ever left a purer fame than Seargent S. Prentiss, in all that constitutes high honor and spotless integrity of character.  His principles remained as pure, and his heart continued as warm and fresh, as at the instant he bade farewell to his mother.”

From his settlement at Vicksburg his career as a lawyer was one of remarkable success; and it were hard to say in what department of his profession he most excelled, whether in the varied contests of the Nisi Prius courts, in an argument on a difficult question of legal construction, or in discussing a fundamental principle of jurisprudence.  In 1833, at the age of 24, he appeared before the Supreme Court at Washington, where, in spite of his youth, he at once attracted the notice of Chief Justice Marshall.  “I made a speech three or four hours long (he wrote to his mother); and I suppose you will say I have acquired a great deal of brass since I left home, when I tell you that I was not at all abashed or alarmed in addressing so grave a set of men as their Honors the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States.”  In attending the circuit courts of Mississippi he had experiences of the roughest sort and many a hairbreadth escape.  He wrote: