Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/578

542 strong friend of Silas Wright, and an admirer of Andrew Jackson, and established the "St. Law- rence Republican " at Ogdensburg in 1830, in sup- port of the latter. He was for a time postmaster there, and in 1834-'7 a member of the state assem- bly. He was a representative in congress in 1843-'7 and in 1849-'53, having been elected as a Democrat, but in 1854 joined the Republican party, was its candidate for secretary of state in 1855, and in 1857-63 served as U. S. senator. Early in 1861, in the debate on the naval appropriation bill, Mr. King said that the Union could not be destroyed peaceably, and was one of the first to give his opinion thus plainly. In closing, he said : " I tell these gentlemen, in jny judgment this treason must come to an end — peacefully, I hope; but never, in my judgment, peacefully by the igno- minious submission of the people of this country to traitors — never. I desire peace, but I would am- ply provide means for the defence of the country by war, if necessary." After the expiration of his term, Mr. King resumed the practice of law in New York city. He was a warm friend of Andrew Johnson, and, as a member of the Baltimore con- vention of 1864, did much to secure his nomination for the vice-presidency. After his accession to the presidency, Mr. Johnson appointed Mr. King col- lector of the port of New York. Financial trou- bles and the responsibilities of his office unsettled his mind, and he committed suicide by jumping from a ferry-boat into the Hudson river.

KING, Rufus, statesman, b. in Scarborough, Me., in 1755 ; d. in New York city, 29 April, 1827. He was the eldest son of Richard King, a suc- cessful merchant of Scarborough, and was gradu- ated at Harvard in 1777, having contin- ued his studies while the college buildings were occupied for military purposes. He then studied law with Theophilus Par- sons at Newburyport. While so engaged, in 1778, he became aide to Gen. Sullivan in his expedition to Rhode Island, and after its unsuccessful issue was honorably discharged. In due time he was admitted to the bar, where he took high rank, and was sent in 1783 to the general court of Massachusetts. Here he was active in the discus- sion of public measures, and especially in carry- ing against powerful opposition the assent of the legislature to grant the 5-per-cent impost to the congress of the confederation, which was requisite to enable it to insure the common safety. In 1784, by an almost unanimous vote of the legislature, Mr. King was sent a delegate to the old congress, sitting at Trenton, and again in 1785 and 1786. In this body, in 1785, he moved " that there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the states described in the resolution of congress in April, 1784, otherwise than in punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been personally guilty ; and that this regulation shall be made an article of compact, and remain a fundamental prin- ciple of the constitution between the original states and each of the states named in the said resolve." Though this was not at the time acted upon, the principle was finally adopted almost word for word in the famous ordinance of 1787 for the govern* ment of the northwestern territory, a provision which had been prepared by Mr. King, and which was introduced into congress by Nathan Dane, his colleague, while Mr. King was engaged in Phila- delphia as a member from Massachusetts of the convention to form a constitution for the United States. He was also appointed by his state to the commissions to settle the boundaries between Massachusetts and New York, and to convey to the United States lands lying west of the Alleghanies. While in congress in 1786 he was sent with James Monroe to urge upon the legislature of Pennsyl- vania the payment of the 5-per-cent impost, but was not so successful as he had been in Massaehu- setts. In 1787 Mr. King was appointed one of the delegates from his state to the convention at Phila- delphia to establish a more stable government for the United States. In this body he bore a con- spicuous and able part. He was one of the mem- bers to whom was assigned the duty of making a final draft of the constitution of the United States. When the question of its adoption was submitted to the states, Mr. King was sent to the Massachu- setts convention, and, although the opposition to it was carried on by most of the chief men of the state, his familiarity with its provisions, his clear explanation of them, and his earnest and eloquent statement of its advantages, contributed greatly to bring about its final adoption. Mr. King had now given up the practice of law, and having in 1786 married Mary, the daughter of John Alsop, a dep- uty from New York to the first Continental con- gress, he took up his residence in New York in 1788. The next year he was elected to the assem- bly of the state, and while serving in that body " received the unexampled welcome of an imme- diate election with Schuyler to the senate " of the United States. In this body he was rarely absent from his seat, and did much to put the new gov- ernment into successful operation. One of the grave questions that arose was that of the ratifica- tion of the Jay treaty with Great Britain in 1794. Of this he was an earnest advocate, and when he and his friend Gen. Hamilton were prevented from explaining its provisions to the people in public meeting in New York, they united in publishing, under the signature of " Camillus," a series of ex- planatory papers, of which those relating to com- mercial affairs and maritime law were written by Mr. King. This careful study laid the foundation of much of the readiness and ability that he mani- fested during his residence in England as U. S. minister, to which post, while serving his second term in the senate, he was appointed by Gen. Wash- ington in 1796, and in which he continued during the administration of John Adams and two years of that of Thomas Jefferson. The contingencies arising from the complicated condition of affairs, political and commercial, between Great Britain and her continental neighbors, required careful handling in looking after the interests of his coun- try : and Mr. King, by his firm and intelligent pres- entation of the matters intrusted to him, did good service to his country and assisted largely to raise it to consideration and respect. In 1803 he was relieved, at his own request, from his office, and, returning to this country, removed to Jamaica, L. I. There, in the quiet of a country life, he in- terested himself in agriculture, kept up an exten- sive correspondence with eminent men at home and abroad, and enriched his mind by careful and varied reading. He was opposed on principle to