George Lewis Prentiss - The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss

1818-1839.

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. His bright, natural Traits. How he
prayed and preached. Conversational Gift. Love to Christ. Triumphant
Death.

Birth and Childhood of Elizabeth Payson. Early Traits. Devotion to her
Father. His Influence upon her. Letters to her Sister. Removal to New
York. Reminiscences of the Payson Family.

Recollections of Elizabeth's Girlhood by an early Friend and Schoolmate.
Her own Picture of herself before her Father's Death. Favorite Resorts.
Why God permits so much Suffering. Literary Tastes. Letters. "What are
Little Babies For?" Opens a School. Religious Interest.

The dominant Type of Religious Life and Thought in New England in the
First Half of this Century. Literary Influences. Letter of Cyrus Hamlin.
A strange Coincidence.

1840-1841.

A memorable Experience. Letters to her Cousin. Goes to Richmond as a
Teacher. Mr. Persico's School. Letters.

Her Character as a Teacher. Letters. Incidents of School Life. Religious
Struggles, Aims, and Hope. Oppressive Heat and Weariness.

Extracts from her Richmond Journal.

1841-1845.

At Home Again. Marriage of her Sister. Ill-health. Letters. Spiritual
Aspiration and Conflict. Perfectionism. "Very, Very Happy." Work for
Christ what makes Life attractive. Passages from her Journal. A Point of
Difficulty.

Returns to Richmond. Trials There. Letters. Illness. School Experiences.
"To the Year 1843." Glimpses of her daily Life. Why her Scholars
love her So. Homesick. A Black Wedding. What a Wife should be. "A
Presentiment." Notes from her Diary.

Her Views of Love and Courtship. Visit of her Sister and Child. Letters.
Sickness and Death of Friends. Ill-health. Undergoes a surgical
Operation. Her Fortitude. Study of German. Fenelon.

1845-1850.

Marriage and Settlement in New Bedford. Reminiscences. Letters. Birth ofher First Child. Death of her Mother-in-Law. Letters.

Birth of a Son. Death of her Mother. Her Grief. Letters. Eddy's Illnessand her own Cares. A Family Gathering at Newburyport. Extracts fromEddy's Journal.

Further Extracts from Eddy's Journal. Ill-Health. Visit to Newark. Deathof her Brother-in-Law, S. S. Prentiss. His Character. Removal to Newark.Letters.

1851-1858.

Removal to New York, and first Summer there. Letters. Loss of Sleep and
Anxiety about Eddy. Extracts from Eddy's Journal, Describing his last
Illness and Death. Lines entitled, "To My Dying Eddy.".

Birth of her Third Child. Reminiscences of a Sabbath Evening Talk. Storyof the Baby's Sudden Illness and Death. Summer of 1852. Lines entitled,"My Nursery."

Summer at White Lake. Sudden Death of her Cousin, Miss Shipman.
Quarantined. Little Susy's Six Birthdays. How she wrote it. The
Flower of the Family. Her Motive in Writing it. Letter of Sympathy to a
bereaved Mother. A Summer at the Seaside. Henry and Bessie.

A memorable Year. Lines on the Anniversary of Eddy's Death. Extracts
from her Journal. Little Susy's Six Teachers. The Teachers' Meeting.
A New York Waif. Summer in the Country. Letters. Little Susy's Little
Servants. Extracts from her Journal. "Alone with God."

Ready for new Trials. Dangerous Illness. Extracts from her Journal.
Visit to Greenwood. Sabbath Meditations. Birth of another Son. Her
Husband resigns his Pastoral Charge. Voyage to Europe.

1858-1860.

Life Abroad. Letters about the Voyage, and the Journey from Havre to
Switzerland. Chateau d'Oex. Letters from there. The Chlet Rosat. The
Free Church of the Canton de Vaud. Pastor Panchud.

Montreux. The Swiss Autumn. Castle of Chillon. Death and Sorrow of
Friends at Home. Twilight Talks. Spring Flowers.

The Campagne Genevrier. Vevay. Beauty of the Region. Birth of a Son.
Visit from Professor Smith. Excursion to Chamouni. Whooping-cough and
Scarlet-fever among the Children. Doctor Curchod. Letters.

Paris. Sight-seeing. A sick Friend. London and its Environs. The Queenand Prince Albert. The Isle of Wight. Homeward.

1861-1865.

At Home again in New York. The Church of the Covenant. IncreasingIll-health. The Summer of 1861. Death of Louisa Payson Hopkins. Extractsfrom her Journal. Summer of 1862. Letters. Despondency.

Another care-worn Summer. Letters from Williamstown and Rockaway. Hymnon Laying the Corner-stone of the Church of the Covenant.

Happiness in her Children. The Summer of 1864. Letters from Hunter.
Affliction among Friends.

Death of President Lincoln. Dedication of the Church of the Covenant.
Growing Insomnia. Resolves to try the Water-cure. Its beneficial
Effects. Summer at Newburgh. Reminiscences of an Excursion to Palz
Point. Death of her Husband's Mother. Funeral of her Nephew, Edward
Payson Hopkins.

1866-1868.

Happiness as a Pastor's Wife. Visits to Newport and Williamstown.
Letters. The Great Portland Fire. First Summer at Dorset. The new
Parsonage occupied. Second Summer at Dorset. Little Lou's Sayings and
Doings. Project of a Cottage. Letters. The Little Preacher. Illness
and Death of Mrs. Edward Payson and of Little Francis.

Last Visit from Mrs. Stearns. Visits to old Friends at Newport and
Rochester. Letters. Goes to Dorset. Fred and Maria and Me. Letters.

Return to Town. Death of an old Friend. Letters and Notes of Love and
Sympathy. An Old Ladies' Party. Scenes of Trouble and Dying Beds. Fifty
Years Old. Letters.

1869.

Death of Mrs. Stearns. Her Character. Dangerous Illness of Prof. Smith.
Death at the Parsonage. Letters. A Visit to Vassar College. Letters.
Getting ready for the General Assembly. "Gates Ajar".