Chapter 22:
- 1859 to 1864. -- life of Prescott. -- civil War.
The heavy loss of dear and trusted friends had fallen on Mr. Ticknor repeatedly, for in Haven, Legare, and Webster he had parted from much that gave charm and interest to his thoughtful life at different periods; but no blow of this kind struck so near the centre of his heart as that which deprived him of the delightful companionship of Prescott. Such constant affection as had united them for forty years is very rare, and their sympathy of tastes, heightened by the charm of Prescott's winning, joyous, affectionate nature, made their daily intercourse –and it was almost daily when both were in Boston—fascinating as well as important to their happiness.
The warning of coming danger, given by Mr. Prescott's illness in 1858, had not been lost from sight, but there was much to feed the hope that he might still be spared for some years, and Mr. Ticknor said in a letter to Sir Edmund Head, 1 after his death, ‘The shock to me and to those nearest to him could hardly have been greater if he had been struck down two years ago.’ A short time afterwards, 2 in writing to Mrs. Twisleton, he says: ‘I do not get accustomed to the loss. Indeed, something or other seems to make it fall afresh and heavier almost every day. I go to the house often, of course, and always find Susan in the little upper study where he used to work, with everything just as he left it the moment before he was struck down, . . . . and the whole room crowded and tapestried with associations and memories . . . . . Much sunshine has been taken out of my way of life for the few years that I am to tread it,— ’
