lution were kindled. The labors, the struggles, and the sacrifices of that Revolution were fresh events in the memory of the generation in which he passed his childhood and youth. That they should have made a deep impression upon his mind, is not surprising. He loved America and her institutions. He was an uncompromising enemy of tyrants and tyranny. His first published sermon was upon the inestimable value of civil and religious freedom. His intimate acquaintances knew wel how deeply the sentiments of the sermon had taken hold upon his mind. He never lost his interest in

the subject.

He occuHe never

Fifthly. It may be remarked in conclusion, that the temperament, habits, and general character of Mr. Ewing fitted him for the position which, in the providence of God, he was called to occupy. He was constituted for a leader, and the men with whom he was associated needed a leader. pied his space, and occupied it well. faltered in the management of the high trust providentially committed to him. His published sermons, up to his old age, show clearly enough that the purity and prosperity of the Church, especially of the Cumberland Presbyterian branch of the Church, together with the salvation of the world, were the great objects of his thoughts, labors, and prayers.

REV. SAMUEL KING.*

1804-1842.

ROBERT KING, the father of Rev. Samuel King, was an early settler in North Carolina, and served his country for some time as a captain of volunteers in the war of the revolution. In this position he acquitted himself with honor to himself and the country. He and his family were members of the Presbyterian Church, and highly respected in the community in which they lived.

Samuel King was born in Iredell county, North Carolina, on the 19th of April, 1775. About the year 1791 Mr. King moved to what was then called the "Cumberland Country," and settled in what is now Sumner county, Tennessee. The old gentleman became an elder, and his family members of Shiloh congregation. This congregation was successively for a number of years under the pastoral care of Rev. William McGee and Rev. William Hodge. Mr. McGee was the son-in-law of old Mr. King. An Indian war was then raging in Tennessee. It is said that Samuel King took an active part

*Ladies' Pearl, April, 1859: article by Rev. J. B. Logan. Smith's History.

in repelling the murderous invasions of the Indians. In the year 1795 Mr. King was married to Miss Anna Dixon, of Sumner county. Rev. William Hodge performed the marriage ceremony. Miss Dixon's father had been killed by the Indians. The writer has passed the spot where this murder took place a hundred times. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. King moved to Wilson county, and settled near the Big Spring.

At the time of his marriage, he was a regular member of Shiloh congregation; and feeling it his duty, now that he had become the head of a family, to erect the family altar, and hold family prayers, he did so. He had not, however, kept up the practice of family prayer long, before he became convinced that his religious hope was without foundation. Of course from this time forward the wants of his own soul formed a prominent part of his petitions when bowed at the family altar.

On one of these occasions, while engaged in family worship, he obtained such a discovery, and felt so deeply overwhelmed with a sense of his lost condition, that he ceased praying for others, and for all things else than himself, and continued on his knees to pour out his soul to God for mercy and pardon, until God heard his prayer, and sent peace to his mind. His joy, and his views of the atonement of Christ, and of the Divine goodness were such, that his wife, who at that time had not professed religion, said, "She thought he never would get done saying glory to God."

He soon began to feel great anxiety for his unconverted friends and neighbors, and such was his burden of heart on this subject, that at prayermeetings, and other social meetings, he was strongly urged by his feelings to get up and talk to the people. When he first commenced these exercises, such were the unction and power attending his words, that many were cut to the heart, fell down, and cried for mercy on the spot.

When Rev. David Rice, the oldest Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, seeing the destitute condition of the congregations in Tennessee, recommended that pious and promising young men should be sought out, and encouraged to exercise their gifts publicly, and prepare themselves for the work of the ministry, Mr. King was one of the first selected. It was not contemplated that these men should go through the ordinary process of education required in the Presbyterian Church, preparatory to licensure and ordination. The wants of the Church and the circumstances of the country forbade it. Their cases were to be regarded as exceptions to the general rule. He seems, however, to have turned his attention to the work with great hesitation and reluctance. He was uneducated, in the technical sense of the term, had a family, and was poor. The way before him seemed very dark. He felt like the call was from God, but still did not know how he could fulfill its requisitions. He had a brother, a well-educated and most estimable man. There was an old tradition amongst his friends,

that in his struggles and misgivings in those days, he sometimes prayed that God would call his brother to the work of the ministry, and excuse him. Still, the great Head of the Church made his own choice, and the suppliant for indulgence was not excused. The revival ministers, as they were called, encouraged three young men, Alexander Anderson, Finis Ewing, and Samuel King, to prepare written discourses, and to present themselves before the Transylvania Presbytery, at its sessions, in October, 1801. At this Presbytery Mr. Anderson was received as a candidate by a majority of one vote; the others, by a majority of one vote, were rejected as candidates, but continued as catechists. In the fall of 1802 they were all licensed as probationers for the holy ministry.

At the sessions of the Synod of Kentucky, in 1802, Transylvania Presbytery was divided, and Cumberland Presbytery was formed, including the Green River and Cumberland countries. By this Presbytery Mr. King was set apart to the whole work of the ministry in June, 1804.

He was of course one of the ministers who were called before the Commission of the Synod of Kentucky, in December of 1805, and proscribed by that body. It is known that the proscribed ministers formed themselves into a Council, which met from time to time, with a view to adopting measures for the promotion of the interests of religion within the bounds of their operations, and keeping the congregations together. These congregations had