] On hearing of Mrs. Prentiss' death, the "poor, homeless fellow"
wrote to her husband a touching letter of sympathy. The following is an
extract from it:

It was, I must acknowledge, a cherished desire of your dear departed
lady that I should walk in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, and, to
obtain that grace, I must invoke God's Power that I may accomplish
that great Result. Dear sir, I would like to suggest to you that I am
disgusted with a wandering life; would like to see Dorset next Summer
and look on the grave of my greatest friend. Nothing could give me
greater Pleasure than to be under the Influence of your Christian
family; now, if I had any Employment, no matter how simple, in that
locality for the winter, then I would feel Happy to go next season to
your country Residence and offer my services free.

[11] Meeta Sophia Schaff died July 14, 1876, in the twenty-first year of
her age. She had just returned from the Centennial. She was a young lady
of unusual loveliness of character, and was deeply lamented by a wide
circle of friends, both young and old.

[12] A printed copy of Lines on her Golden Wedding, written by Mrs.
Prentiss.

[13] The article is entitled _Educated while Educating_, and appeared in
the Brooklyn Journal of Education for March, 1875.

[14] The Rev. C. H. Payson. See the interesting Memoir of him, entitled
"All for Christ," edited by his brother George, and published by the
American Tract Society.

[15] See HENRY BOYNTON SMITH; His Life and Work. Edited by his Wife. A.
C. Armstrong & Son. 1880.

[16] His biographer, Mr. Moore, relates of Lord Byron that in all the
plenitude of his fame, he confessed that "the depreciation of the lowest
of mankind was more painful to him than the applause of the highest was
pleasing."

[17] _Peterchen and Gretchen_. She translated it at Genevrier during the
illness of her children.

[18] Dr. Gurdon Buck. He died shortly afterwards. For more than a
quarter of a century be had been a faithful friend of Mrs. Prentiss, and
as their family physician had made both her and her husband his debtors
alike by his kindness and his skill. With a generosity so characteristic
of his profession, he refused, during all these years, to receive any
compensation for his services. As a surgeon he stood in the front rank;
some of the operations, performed by him, attracted wide attention for
then--novelty and usefulness. He published an account of them, with
illustration