620 PRENTICE, GEOKGE D. 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



the throne, which announced the renewal of 

 diplomatic relations with Italy, temporarily 

 suspended in consequence of a misunderstand- 

 ing between Marshal Saldanha and Marquis P. 

 Oldoini, the Italian minister at the court of 

 Lisbon. 



PRENTICE, GEORGE DENISOX, an Ameri- 

 can journalist, born in Preston, Conn., Decem- 

 ber 18, 1802; "died in Louisville, Ky., January 

 22. 1870. At the age of seventeen he entered 

 Brown University, whence he graduated in 

 1823. Immediately after leaving college he 

 entered upon the study of law, supporting him- 

 self in the mean time by teaching school in 

 Hartford, but never engaged in the practice of 

 his profession. In 1828, having already at- 

 tracted notice by the grace and piquancy of 

 his style as a writer in various periodicals, 

 among which was the Connecticut Mirror, of 

 which he was the editor in 1825, he associated 

 himself with John G. Whittier in the publica- 

 tion of the New-England Weekly Review, a 

 journal then widely popular, and remained as 

 one of the editors for about two years; at the 

 end of which time, he removed to Louisville, 

 Ky., and engaged as a writer for the Louisville 

 Journal. In 1831 he became chief editor of 

 that paper, which under his charge rose to be 

 the leading journal of the "West. Its gracefully- 

 written editorials, its spicy paragraphs, in 

 which the topics of the day were epigramma- 

 tized, its keen, cutting sarcasm, its wit and 

 satire which cropped out in every line, made 

 it peculiarly popular among all classes of peo- 

 ple. For many years the Journal was the 

 principal advocate, in that region, of the policy 

 of the Whig party, and, during the stormy pe- 

 riod of our political history preceding the 

 late war, it maintained with unflinching cour- 

 age and untiring zeal the cause of the Union 

 against the secessionists. When South Carolina 

 seceded, Prentice boldly and manfully opposed 

 the efforts of the Kentucky disruptionists to 

 drag their State into secession ; and it is 

 largely owing to the unswerving fidelity of 

 that journal that their success was not con- 

 summated. Though one of the proprietors, 

 Mr. Prentice was never the entire owner of the 

 Louisville Journal, and during the war he be- 

 came embarrassed in his finances, in part owing 

 to his unfortunate habits, and the controlling 

 interest in the paper passed into the hands of 

 those who were less vigorous for the Union, 

 but who insisted on still having his name and 

 services on it. For a short time he withdrew 

 from the editorial charge of the paper, but 

 afterward returned to it as a regular writer 

 for its columns, though not the responsible 

 editor. He never was as prominent in its 

 pages after its consolidation with the Courier 

 under the name of the Louisville Courier- 

 Journal. The change in the control of the 

 paper, the loss of one of his sons who fell 

 in battle, in the ranks of the Southern army, 

 and other afflictions and trials, rendered his 

 declining years sad and sorrowful. In ad- 



dition to his editorial labors on the Journal, 

 Mr. Prentice wrote much for other periodicals. 

 He contributed several brilliant papers to Har- 

 per's Monthly, and for some time supplied a 

 column of " Wit and Humor " for Bonner's 

 Ledger. His poems, of which he wrote many, 

 were nearly all first printed in the Journal, 

 thence extensively copied, but never collected 

 in a volume. That which he always looked 

 upon as his best, and which, indeed, in depth 

 of pathos, beauty of rhythm, and wealth of im- 

 agery, has but few equals in any language, is 

 his " Closing Year," written for the Journal 

 in 1849. Mr. Prentice was a bitter opponent, 

 whether wielding the pen or the sword ; and 

 as a consequence was drawn into frequent sharp 

 conflicts with his editorial brethren differing 

 from his views. But with all his severity and 

 sarcasm he was a man of kindly feelings and 

 warm attachments. A collection of his witti- 

 cisms, entitled Prenticeana, was published in 

 1860. 



PRESBYTERIANS. I. PRESBYTERIAN 

 CHURCH ix THE UNITED STATES (NORTH). 

 The reunion betAveen the Old School and New 

 School branches of the Presbyterian Church 

 was consummated at the General Assembly 

 the first regular one of the reunited Church 

 which met in Philadelphia, Thursday, May 19th. 

 The predominance of^te reunion thought ap- 

 peared in all the proiRdings, from the formal 

 preliminaries of the oHfanization of the assem- 

 bly to the close. A "New School " man (the 

 Rev. Dr., Adams) nominated an "Old School" 

 man (the Rev. Dr. Backus) for moderator, who 

 was chosen by acclamation. An " Old School " 

 man nominated the former stated clerk of the 

 New School General Assembly (the Rev. Dr. 

 Hatfield) for stated clerk, who was also ac- 

 cepted with unanimity. The spirit of the body 

 was described as that of a sort of pleasant 

 strife observable between the representatives 

 of the two late branches, to see which should 

 outdo the other in courtesy. During the open- 

 ing proceedings, a telegram, sending greeting 

 and good wishes, was received from the Rev. 

 David Elliott, D. D., "Moderator of the last 

 General Assembly (1837) immediately preced- 

 ing the separation." The numerous difficult 

 points in reorganizing the synods and boards 

 of the two assemblies were satisfactorily ad- 

 justed. A rearrangement of the synods was 

 made by the General Assembly itself. The re- 

 arrangement of the presbyteries was left to be 

 decided upon by the synods in which they are 

 situated. While the Old School branch had 

 supported a Board of Missions of 'its own, the 

 New School branch had not maintained a sep- 

 arate missionary society, but had cooperated 

 with other denominations in the support of 

 the American Board of Commissioners for 

 Foreign Missions. The reunion made it neces- 

 sary to give the support of the united Church 

 to a single board, involving the withdrawal of 

 Presbyterian support from the American Board. 

 The General Assembly decided also to assume 



