KINC, rilAKl.KS. 



. JOHN A. 



425 



The constitution (.!' the State of Km: 

 reqiiin s that in case of tin- death or ivinovnl 

 of tli- (I. .\crtioi- before two years of his term 

 of ollice ha\e expired, a new election shall bo 

 la-lil on tin- first Mondas of tho next August to 

 till tin- vacancy. In accordance with this pro- 

 vision, tin- Chii-t' Justice o!' tin- State has by 

 proclamation directed an election to la- held 

 on the first Monday of August next, to supply 

 tin- vacancy occasioned by tin- death of Gov- 

 ernor IK-lin. Tin- Democratic State Central 

 Committee called tin- i-onvi-ntioti of their party, 

 to be held at Frankfort on the 22<1 of February, 

 for the purpose of making the nomination of a 

 candidate for the unexpired term, and also to 

 appoint Miitahle delegates for the next National 

 Democratic Convention to be held for the pur- 

 pose of nominntiiur candidates for President arid 

 Yiee-Pre.sident of the United States. 



Kl.\(i, CHAIILES, LL. I)., an American jour- 

 nali.st and college president, born in New York 

 City, in March, 1789 ; died at Frascate, near 

 Koine, Italy, September 27, 1867. He was the 

 second son of the eminent diplomatist and 

 man, the late Hon. Rufus King. He was a 

 pupil of Harrow School during his father's resi- 

 dence in Knjrland as minister to the court of 

 St. James, and afterward prosecuted his studies 

 with his brother, the late Governor King, in 

 Paris. After his return to this country, in 1810, 

 he married Eliza Gracie, the eldest daughter of 

 iing New York merchant, with whom he 

 'ated in business. Upon the breaking 

 out of the war with England, Mr. King, though 

 a Federalist, was in favor of bringing the hos- 

 tilities to an amicable close, and as a member 

 of the Xew York Legislature in 1813, and a 

 volunteer soon afterward, he acted upon this 

 principle. In 1823 the firm with which he 

 was connected, failed. Mr. King then became 

 associated with Johnson Verplanck, in the pub- 

 lication of The New York American, a conser- 

 vative newspaper of considerable political influ- 

 ence. It was vigorous and even vehement in 

 its discussions, but always marked by a scholar- 

 ly tone and a dignity of manner which gave it 

 great distinction with the educated portion of 

 the public. It acquired special distinction by 

 the notices of books to which every Saturday 

 it was mainly devoted, and which were marked, 

 by great ability and independence. In its 

 earlier days its political tone partook of the 

 temper which marked the politics of the day, 

 being severe in its personal denunciations to a 

 degree which the improved sentiment of the 

 present day would not tolerate; but this was 

 somewhat redeemed by the solid ability and 

 the polished style which characterized all the 

 writings of Mr. King. When the American 

 was merged in the Courier and Enquirer, Mr. 

 King also transferred his services to that jour- 

 nal, and continued to be one of its editors un- 

 til 1849, when he was chosen president of Co- 

 lumbia College, and held tho office until 1864, 

 when his tailing health and advanced years 

 compelled him to leave it and seek repose and 



relief ahroai I. !!< performed the duties of tho 

 presidency with marked ability, and won tho 

 esteem both of the faculty and .students. ]) r . 

 King was throntrliout his career an active 

 politician in early life -a Federalist, after- 

 ward a Whig, and during hi> later yearn, 

 though withdrawn from active participation 

 in public atVair.s, in sentiment and sympathy 

 a Hi-publican. All his opinions and all his 

 actions were marked by the independence 

 which was a conspicuous trait of his charac- 

 ter. He never surrendered an opinion or re- 

 frained from expressing it, because of its un- 

 popularity ; nor could any party obligations or 

 interest induce him to swerve in the least 

 from what he believed to be the path of duty 

 and of honor. His earliest public act afforded 

 a striking illustration of this trait of his char- 

 acter. Being sent to England by the Gov- 

 ernment after the War of 1812, to investigate 

 the treatment of our prisoners at Dartmoor, he 

 did not hesitate to exonerate the British author- 

 ities from all censure in the matter, in the face 

 of the most intense indignation on the part of 

 the American people, and of what many per- 

 sons continued to believe the clear and unques- 

 tionable facts of the case ; and toward the 

 close of his active life he evinced the same, 

 courageous and uncalculating independence of 

 temper, by refusing to acquiesce, even by silence, 

 in some eulogistic remarks pronounced by Mr. 

 Webster before the Historical Society concern- 

 ing Andrew Jackson, upon the decease of that 

 eminent public man. As a natural consequence, 

 Mr. King was never what is called a " reliable " 

 politician, inasmuch as the dictates of party 

 leaders or of a party caucus never had weight 

 with him beyond the point where they met the 

 approval of his own judgment. In society and 

 in personal intercourse, Mr. King was always 

 a special favorite. He was always polite, 

 always in high spirits, and always agreeable. 

 He had seen a great deal of the world, and, 

 without being a profound scholar in any de- 

 partment of learning, he was a gentleman 

 of wide reading and observation, and was 

 thus a fine talker and a most desirable acces- 

 sion to any social gathering. To a fine person 

 he added the attractions of a dignified and 

 courtly manner, which, however, never degen- 

 erated into mechanical stiffness nor interfered 

 with that fresh and genial cordiality which al- 

 ways impressed all who met him. 



K I XG, JOHN ALSOP, an American statesman, 

 formerly Governor of New York, born in the 

 city of New York, January 3, 1788; died -at 

 Jamaica, L. I., July 8, 1867. He was the eldest 

 of tho four distinguished sons of the eminent 

 statesman and diplomatist, Hon. IJufus King, 

 and in his boyhood accompanied his father 

 then United States minister to the court of St. 

 James to England, where he was educated at 

 Harrow School, having Lord Byron, Sir Robert 

 Peel, and others who subsequently became 

 men of eminence, for his schoolmates. He 

 afterward accompanied his brother Charles to 



