The questioned looked, and answered--"He has made me childless, let
the law take its course."

"And would wringing his mother's heart and hurrying her gray hairs
with sorrow into the grave, by rendering her childless, assuage your
grief?"

All present were dissolved in tears--even convulsive sobbing was heard
in the courtroom.

"No!" said the witness, with all the gushing tenderness of a
mother--"No! I would not add a sorrow to her heart, nor that of her
son!"

Admissions in the evidence followed, and hopes were uttered for
the prisoner's acquittal, that changed the whole character of the
testimony. What was a few moments before so dark, grew light, and
without the slightest act that might be construed into an unfair
advantage, in the hands of Prentiss, the witness pleaded for the
accused.

Soon after Mr. Prentiss settled in New Orleans, a meeting was held
to raise funds for the erection of a suitable monument to Franklin.
On that occasion, the lamented Wilde and the accomplished McCaleb
delivered ornate and chaste addresses upon the value of art, and the
policy of enriching New Orleans with its exhibition. At the close
of the meeting, as the audience rose to depart, some one discovered
Prentiss, and calling his name, it was echoed from all sides--he tried
to escape, but was literally carried on the stand.