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 Columbm (Hnit^e rsftp 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 
 Bequest of 
 
 Frederic Bancroft 
 
 1860-1945 
 
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AUNT PEGGY; 
 
 A M E M O I R 
 
 PrH. Illargaret gauidiioii d^iutng, 
 
 WIFE OF THE LATE REV. FINIS EWTNG. 
 
 BY ONE OF HER SONS. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Publication, 
 
 41 Union Street. 
 
 1873- 
 
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 9 3^.:^ ' 
 
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 4^ ^ 
 
 PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. 
 
 "Aunt Peggy" is the title of this very in- 
 teresting volume, the second in the "Bright 
 Page Library" of Sunday-school books, 
 which the Cumberland Presbyterian Board 
 of Publication is now issuing from the jH^ess. 
 
 "W. E. DUNAWAY, 
 
 Publishing A(jeni. 
 Nashville, Teiin., 1873. 
 
 (3) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This little book will partake more of 
 the character of memoir than of biog- 
 raphy, and will be largely deficient in 
 both. 
 
 There was nothing in the unpretend- 
 ing career of Mrs. Ewing to afford 
 very abundant material for biography. 
 Her life and labors were so interwoven 
 with the events of the early history of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
 that it was found impossible to separ- 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 ate them, and the author has availed 
 himself of the latitude thus afforded 
 to incorporate in the work many mat- 
 ters that may not, at first glance, seem 
 germane to the main object. A sketch 
 of the men who became the first and 
 leading preachers of the Church in Mis- 
 souri could not be omitted without leav- 
 ing many large blanks in the picture 
 the author has attempted to draw. 
 
 As there was no thought by Mrs. 
 Ewing in her life-time, or by any of 
 her family, that a biography would be 
 attempted, there was no effort made 
 to collect and preserve the material for 
 such a work; consequently the writer 
 was compelled to confine himself to 
 his own personal recollections of the 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 deceased, and these do not extend 
 over a long and eventful period of her 
 life. 
 
 Justice to the subject and to the au- 
 thor both require the statement of an- 
 other flict : that book-making has never 
 been the business of the writer — his 
 pursuits in life have not tended to 
 qualify him for literary . labor, and 
 especially that of writing for the 
 press. 
 
 If, however, one single person, by 
 this unpretending volume, shall be 
 brought to think better of the Chris- 
 tian religion on account of its develop- 
 ment in the life of Mrs. Ewing, then 
 the author will be fully compensated 
 for the work he has done. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 It may be proper to add farther, 
 that this manuscript was written in the 
 midst of exacting and laborious official 
 duties. The Author. 
 
AUNT PEGGY, 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 'HE subject of this brief little 
 notice was born in the State 
 of North Carolina, January 23, 
 1774. She was the youngest 
 daughter, and the youngest member of 
 the family, except one. 
 
 The names persons receive at their 
 baptism are very often lost sight of, and 
 others, bearing no relation to the orig- 
 inals, substituted in their places. Mar- 
 garet is an ancient name, and is derived 
 from a Greek word signifying a pearl. 
 
 (9) 
 
10 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 One can very well imagine how such a 
 name should be first introduced. A 
 fond mother, contemplating the budding 
 beauties and unfolding loveliness of a 
 first-born daughter, would very natu- 
 rally esteem the child a pearl of rare 
 value, and, accordingly, so name her. 
 It is also common for names to be ab- 
 breviated in early childhood, especially 
 if it can be done so as to make a pet 
 name, and thus carry with it an expres- 
 sion of greater endearment. But how 
 Margaret ever became "Peggy" is more 
 than I can now explain. It may suffice 
 upon this point to say that Mrs. Ewing 
 was called Peggy in early life, and in 
 her old age was universally called "Aunt 
 Peggy." Hence the title of this little 
 book. I have chosen, therefore, to pre- 
 serve the name by which she was known 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 11 
 
 best among all those who loved her most 
 and esteemed her highest. 
 
 So little is known of the early life of 
 Mrs. Ewing, that we will not attempt to 
 say any thing about it, farther than to 
 remark that her earliest recollections 
 Avere of the terrible w^ar that ravaged 
 the portion of the country in which 
 her family resided, and of the part her 
 father took in that struggle on the side 
 of the colonies. She remembered dis- 
 tinctly the sad day on which was brought 
 the tidings of his death*. It will appear 
 in the course of this narrative, as a sin- 
 gular coincidence, that she should have 
 lived through all the great wars that 
 have afflicted this country, including the 
 terrible civil strife that desolated the 
 State and county where she resided; 
 and in every instance the war was 
 
12 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 brought home to her by the active par- 
 ticipation therein of some member of 
 her family. The fact has no signifi- 
 cance, farther than its being a remark- 
 able thing in the history of one life, es- 
 pecially when nearly a century of time 
 was comprehended within that period. 
 
 All that is known of her early life — 
 her marriage, and conversion to Christ, 
 and connection with the Church — is to 
 be found in Dr. Cossitt's "Life and 
 Times of Rev. Finis Ewing;" and, as 
 that part of Mrs. Ewing's history is so 
 much better stated by this author than 
 I could do it, I propose to make liberal 
 extracts from the work referred to. I 
 therefore commence with the following : 
 
 " On the 15th day of January, 1793, 
 Finis Ewing w^as united in matrimony 
 with Peggy, daughter of Gen. William 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 13 
 
 Davidson, formerly of North Carolina, 
 deceased. In honor of this patriot of 
 the American revolution, and in memory 
 of his gallant services and lamented 
 death during the darkest period of that 
 eventful contest, the county first organ- 
 ized in the Cumberland country received 
 the name of Davidson. Nashville, its 
 seat of justice, afterward became, and 
 continues to be, the capital of the State 
 of Tennessee. The widow and family 
 of the deceased general had removed 
 from North Carolina and settled in this 
 vicinity. The husband and father had 
 distinguished himself in his native State 
 among the earliest opposers of British 
 oppression, had served his country in 
 various w\ays during her struggle for 
 liberty, and was killed in battle, on the 
 Catawba River, wdiile opposing the ad- 
 
14 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 Vance of the British army under Lord 
 Cornwallis. 
 
 " The death of Gen. Davidson was uni- 
 versally lamented, especially in North 
 Carolina, where his public and private 
 virtues were so well known and highly 
 appreciated. This action, and the loss 
 of the brave general, was not without 
 its value to the cause of American free- 
 dom: the army under Cornwallis was 
 therebv held in sufficient check to enable 
 Morgan, with his whole force, to retire 
 untouched to Salisbury. To avoid a 
 general action, and at the same time to 
 annoy and weaken the enemy as much 
 as possible, was the present policy of 
 the Americans. 
 
 " Davidson was a Christian as well as 
 a patriot. His name is enrolled on the 
 list of martyrs to American liberty, and 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 15 
 
 patriotism awards to his memory the 
 tribute of tears of gratitude. The Con- 
 tinental Congress passed an order for 
 the erection of a monument to the mem- 
 ory of this brave and good man; but 
 owing to the embarrassment of the na- 
 tional finances, the order was not car- 
 ried into effect at the time, and it was 
 neglected until the Hon. Mr. Graham, 
 late Secretary of the Navy, and candi- 
 date for Vice-President (a connection 
 of Gen. Davidson), became a member 
 of the United States Senate from North 
 Carolina. Through the influence of this 
 gentleman the order was revived, and 
 the original appropriation renewed for 
 the erection of the monument. 
 
 "At the time of their marriage, Mr. 
 Ewing was in his twenty -first year, and 
 Miss Davidson in her nineteenth year. 
 
16 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 This young lady was distinguished among 
 her acquaintances for her beauty of per- 
 son, strength of intellect, and amiability 
 of character. This is according to the 
 recollection of several persons now liv- 
 ing ; and the impression of her virtues 
 is so strong on the minds of some that 
 they become animated and eloquent in 
 their description. Rev. Samuel McSpad- 
 den distinctly remembers her, and unites 
 in the general voice of commendation. 
 He speaks of the good opinion enter- 
 tained of her by the Rev. Dr. Brooks, 
 though he was never married, and was 
 no great admirer of the sex generally. 
 
 " This union was approved by the 
 families on both sides, and acquaint- 
 ances generally augured a bright future 
 for the wedded pair. 
 
 "At the time of their marriage, neither 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 17 
 
 Mr. Ewing nor his wife knew any 
 thing of experimental religion. Both 
 were doubtless amiable, strictly moral, 
 and inclined to be religious in their 
 way; but having never heard any thing 
 from their spiritual guides on the sub- 
 ject of an experience of grace, they knew 
 not that a change of heart was necessary 
 to salvation. They had long attended 
 on the ministry of Dr. Craighead, and 
 had frequently listened to the sermons 
 of other Presbyterian ministers, but 
 never heard the doctrine of regenera- 
 tion inculcated or explained. 
 
 " The truth is, that the Presbyterian 
 Church, at the time and in that region, is 
 acknowledged to have been in a lament- 
 ably lukewarm and almost lifeless state : 
 its ministers were formal and cold ; and 
 but few of its members, as it afterward 
 2 
 
18 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 became manifest, knew any thing of 
 experimental religion. Much was heard 
 from the pulpit about the 'elect of God/ 
 but little or nothing about ' born of the 
 Spirit.' With regard to the character 
 of Presbyterian preaching in the coun- 
 try, at the time, the report is almost 
 universal that its tendency was to a 
 dry, speculative orthodoxy, leaving the 
 heart without interest and the conscience 
 without alarm. 
 
 " Ewing and his wife were now the 
 united head of a family. They esteemed 
 it their duty to make the God of their 
 fathers their trust and portion, to honor 
 him in all things, and to walk in the 
 way of righteousness. Uninformed as 
 they were with regard to the essentials 
 of Christian character, they seem to have 
 been desirous of doing their duty, so far 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 19 
 
 as it had been made known to tliem. 
 They had certain ideas of their respon- 
 sibility to their Heavenly Father, their 
 duty to domestics, and the importance 
 of ordering their household in a man- 
 ner well-pleasing in the sight of God. 
 
 "They seem to have looked upon the 
 preaching of the word and the privi- 
 leges of the Church as means of grace, 
 -which, in some indefinable way, were 
 to work for their benefit, prepare them 
 for the wiser discharge of duty, and 
 secure the favor of God. Therefore, 
 without any suspicion of their natural 
 depravity or the necessit}^ of regenera- 
 tion, without any conception of the 
 grace of God as it is offered in the 
 gospel, farther than certain confused 
 notions of foreordination and election 
 which they had learned from their 
 
20 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 spiritual teachers, they concluded to 
 join the Church. They were led to 
 believe themselves entitled to this priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 "They were the children of Presby- 
 terian parents ; and their preposses- 
 sions were altogether in favor of that 
 Church. Accordingly they applied and 
 were received without farther ceremony 
 as regular members of Dr. Craighead's 
 Church. Here they dedicated their 
 first-born in the ordinance of baptism." 
 
 By way of farther illustrating the 
 character of Presbyterian preaching and 
 the general religious teachings of that 
 denomination at the time referred to, I 
 quote farther from Dr. Cossitt the tes- 
 timony of the Rev. Samuel McSpad- 
 den, as follows: 
 
 "I sat under Dr. Craighead's preach- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 21 
 
 ing for fourteen or fifteen years, and 
 never heard him advance any thing in 
 favor of the new birth, evangelical re- 
 pentance, or saving faith, though his 
 character for orthodoxy at the time, 
 and for many years afterward, was un- 
 doubted. His sermons appeared not to 
 have the slightest tendency to alarm 
 the conscience of his hearers, or to 
 render them dissatisfied with them- 
 selves. On the contrary, his preach- 
 ing seemed calculated to quiet the fears 
 of the people, and to keep them from 
 being disturbed about their soul's salva- 
 tion." 
 
 And such is the general testimony, 
 not only as to this preacher, but nearly 
 all others of that denomination during 
 the period referred to. 
 
 "We have seen that Mr. Ewing and 
 
22 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 his wife had joined Dr. Craighead's 
 Church, maintaining an upright and ex- 
 emplary deportment. They were anx- 
 ious to do their duty so ffir as they un- 
 derstood it. The work of the Spirit 
 was wholly unknown to them. They 
 had received from their spiritual guides 
 certain indefinable notions of predesti- 
 nation, election, and effectual calling. 
 
 " Nothing, however, had been incul- 
 cated on the doctrine of fliith beyond 
 a mere belief that Jesus Christ is the 
 Son of God. This they had been 
 taught by their parents from their ear- 
 liest years; this they never doubted; 
 and now, as members of the Church, as 
 parents, expecting to dedicate their 
 children in baptism, and especially as 
 persons giving diligence to make their 
 calling and election sure, it is not sur- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 23 
 
 prising that they embraced this senti- 
 ment as the foundation of their hopes. 
 Thus they continued satisfied with their 
 condition, except as an occasional diffi- 
 culty or passing doubt was suggested 
 from reading the Scriptures, until their 
 removal from Tennessee to Kentucky. 
 
 "They settled in Logan county, near 
 the town of Russellville, and near to 
 the Red River Meeting-house. The 
 congregation which worshiped at this 
 church was under the pastoral care of 
 Rev. James McGready, and afterward 
 became famous as the initial point of 
 the great revival of 1800." 
 
 Mr. McGready was one of the most 
 remarkable men of his day. As the 
 original and most efficient promoter of 
 that great religious awakening above 
 mentioned, he will always occupy a 
 
24 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 conspicuous place in the religious his- 
 tory of that period. His biography 
 has been written, and sketches of his 
 life by different authors have fre- 
 quently appeared in the religious litera- 
 ture of this country. It will, there- 
 fore, suffice to say but a single word 
 about him in this connection. 
 
 Mr. McGready's great forte and spe- 
 cial mission seemed to be to unsettle 
 the foundations of those who had built 
 upon the sand, to disturb the peace of 
 those who had no adequate grounds for 
 their security, to awaken those who 
 were dead in trespasses and in sins, to 
 arouse to a sense of their danger those 
 who were sleeping on the very verge 
 of ruin, and to point out with inimita- 
 ble precision and directness the way of 
 escape. The testimony is also that he 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 25 
 
 was a very earnest man, that he had 
 great faith m the promises of the gos- 
 pel, and could successfully infuse that 
 spirit into the minds of his Church; 
 that under his tremendous preaching 
 the leaden dullness and the icy cold- 
 ness, that lay as a fatal incubus upon 
 the spiritual life of the Church, was 
 broken up, and a new era in the his- 
 tory of Christianity on this continent 
 was inaugurated through the revival of 
 1800. 
 
 The results to the general Church of 
 Christ in this country, and to the good 
 of mankind generally, that legitimately 
 follow from that great religious awak- 
 ening, cannot be comprehended by fin- 
 ite minds, and will only be known fully 
 in the last great day. 
 
 In illustration of the character of this 
 
26 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 truly great maiij I quote from Dr. Cos- 
 sitt : 
 
 " From the testimony of thousands, 
 it would appear that few men of any 
 age have excelled him in power of 
 description, whether his theme w^as the 
 joys of the righteous or the torments 
 of the wicked. Rev. Wm. Barnett says 
 he would so describe heaven that you 
 could almost see its glories, and long to 
 be there ; and he would so array hell 
 and its horrors before the wicked that 
 they would tremble and quake, imagin- 
 ing a lake of fire and brimstone yawning 
 to overwhelm them, and the wrath of 
 God thrusting them down the horrible 
 abyss. His genius, however, was better 
 suited to the sublime than the beauti- 
 ful, to the dreadful than the enrap- 
 turing. His method was heart-searching 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 27 
 
 and soul-stirring, powerful to detect the 
 hypocrite and alarm the formalist, to 
 sweep away sandy foundations, to cause 
 men to build anew on the rock Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 " The sermons of Mr. McGready soon 
 awakened in the minds of both Mr. 
 Ewing and his wife new thoughts and 
 anxieties with regard to their spiritual 
 condition. They heard nothing to which 
 their minds could remain indifferent, or 
 over which their consciences could slum- 
 ber. The whole system of religion 
 seemed to be presented to their view 
 in an unusual form and invested with a 
 different character; but whether their 
 past or their present instructions were 
 the more scriptural and worthy of their 
 regard, was a question they wxre not pre- 
 pared to decide. It was an absorbing 
 
28 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 question, however, which occupied their 
 thoughts and investigations during their 
 waking hours. The soul's concerns and 
 the mind's exercises were not with them, 
 as with too many professors of religion 
 at that time, prohibited subjects. They 
 had been taught that saving faith con- 
 sisted in the belief that Jesus Christ is 
 the Son of God ; but their present pas- 
 tor made a clear distinction 'between 
 a mere historical and a true saving 
 faith.' When doctors differ, what shall 
 the learners do ? The subject appeared 
 intricate and full of mystery : it con- 
 flicted with all their previous instruc- 
 tions and settled opinions ; and to their 
 grief and consternation, it struck at the 
 very foundation of their hopes. Know- 
 ing that God desired 'truth in the in- 
 Avard parts/ and praying that he might 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 29 
 
 ^make them to know wisdom/ long and 
 carefully did they investigate this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 " But this state of things did not last 
 long. After a few days, as Mr. Ewing 
 was returning from the grove where he 
 had been praying for the conversion of 
 one so dear to his affections as his wife, 
 she met him, her countenance beaming 
 with joy and her heart glowing with 
 love to God. She, too, had found a 
 kneeling place, where her Saviour had 
 deigned to meet her and speak pardon 
 and peace to her soul. Now the love 
 of Christ, which passeth knowledge, had 
 come to that house ; and the peace of 
 God, which passeth all understanding, 
 was to keep those hearts and minds 
 through Jesus Christ." 
 
30 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ■^j\ URING the period commencing 
 with the time of Mr. Ewin«'s 
 entering the ministry, down to 
 the removal of the family from 
 Kentucky to Missouri, but little is known 
 of the personal history of Mrs. Ewing. 
 Her life was so much a part and parcel 
 of that of her husband during the event- 
 ful years referred to, that we could 
 say but little of the wife that did not 
 embrace the history of the husband. It 
 covered the period that formed the crisis 
 in the life of Mr. Ewing, and the sub- 
 sequent years of unabated toil, and care, 
 and anxiety for the little organization 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 31 
 
 that had been set up, having for its foun- 
 dations (as they supposed) the eternal 
 truths of the gospel, and for its hopes 
 the promises extended only to those 
 who are faithful to the end. Whether 
 should it live to bless the world, or die 
 with odium upon its authors, was the sol- 
 emn and weighty question for years to- 
 gether. How deeply this matter affected 
 the subject of this notice can never be 
 fully known. 
 
 In consequence of the position of her 
 husband, how her life became one of 
 toil, care, and anxiety, can be very 
 easily seen. How well she acted her 
 part in this trying period can only be 
 conjectured from her subsequent his- 
 tory. But as the years advanced, the 
 little Church grew apace, the hopes of 
 its founders increased, and the load 
 
32 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 began to lift from their shoulders to 
 a degree. A large family of children 
 came to the household ; and in the 
 midst of all the cares that appertained 
 to their situation, we introduce another 
 extract from Dr. Cossitt upon the domes- 
 tic relations of this family : 
 
 "Mrs. Ewing was a woman of sound 
 judgment, general intelligence, and ar- 
 dent piety. Her fondness for reading, 
 for cultivated society, and the ever- 
 instructive conversation of her husband 
 had stored her mind with an amount of 
 useful information which few of her age 
 and sex around her had the good fortune 
 to acquire. In the absence of her hus- 
 band, her time was divided between 
 domestic cares and religious reading. 
 Her skill in farming, managing servants, 
 and arranging her household concerns, 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 33 
 
 accomplished her as the help-meet of a 
 man whose whole time was devoted to 
 the service of God and the Church ; and 
 when her husband could come home for 
 a day or a night, whether he came alone 
 or brought little or much company with 
 him (as frequently happened), her joy- 
 ful recognition, cordial welcome, and 
 afflible manners, added a peculiar charm 
 to the hospitality which she delighted 
 to afford. She was never unprepared, 
 never taken by surprise, but always 
 ready, and rejoiced to entertain the 
 servants and followers of the Lord. In 
 short, Mrs. Ewing had a true woman's 
 tact always to please her husband, ex- 
 cite the admiration of his friends, and 
 make every one comfortable and happy 
 around her. As if by intuition, she 
 anticipated and provided for the wants 
 3 
 
34 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 of all who favored her -with their com- 
 pany. 
 
 " The husband and wife were always 
 communicative, always free in the inter- 
 change of their thoughts with each other; 
 whatever interested the one could be no 
 secret to the other. The husband was 
 accustomed to breathe forth to his wife 
 all his thoughts and feelings, his doubts 
 and fears, his prospects and discourage- 
 ments, his joys and sorrows ; and her 
 soul of sympathy made them all her 
 own. His interests, friends, religious 
 sentiments, Church relations, and plans 
 for glorifying God, were all hers by 
 adoption, and she could have none be- 
 sides. When he began to be impressed 
 to preach the gospel, she not only ac- 
 quiesced, but encouraged. When he 
 was appointed to a circuit, she said, ^Go 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 35 
 
 where duty calls.' When his labors 
 were blessed, she rejoiced exceedingly. 
 When he was persecuted and slandered, 
 while she sorrowed and sympathized 
 with him, she could rejoice even that 
 he was accounted worthy to suffer for 
 Christ's sake. When he became the 
 acknowledged spiritual father of hun- 
 dreds, she regarded them all as dear 
 children begotten in the gospel. When 
 he and others refused submission to the 
 illegal demands of the Commission of 
 Kentucky Synod, she said, ^ Never sac- 
 rifice principle, even for peace.' When 
 he and others considered it their duty, 
 regardless of prohibitions, to supply the 
 destitute, she said, ^Obey God rather 
 than man.' When he and all other 
 friends of this great awakening (the 
 great revival of 1800) saw the neces- 
 
36 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 sity of constituting an independent Pres- 
 bytery in order to promote the gracious 
 work and protect its fruits, she resolved 
 to become a nursing mother to the in- 
 fant Church to be born in this revival 
 of God's work and baptized in the tears 
 of his devoted worshipers. Well and 
 faithfully has she fulfilled her deter- 
 mination. She has been permitted to 
 live long enough to see that infant, 
 growing in fixvor with God and man, 
 arrive at a strength and maturity which 
 have already accomplished great things, 
 and promise still greater, with the bless- 
 ings of God upon her and his glory in 
 her midst. 
 
 " The heart that dictates these lines 
 is fully assured, from the character and 
 sentiments of this venerable lady, that 
 if she still lingers upon earth, though 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 37 
 
 in full view of heaven, she prays with- 
 out ceasing for God's blessing ever to 
 rest upon the Church with which she 
 has so long sympathized, sacrificed, and 
 suiTered." 
 
 
38 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^^]@|rERELY a glimpse of the life 
 UM' of our subject up to the time 
 of the removal of the family 
 from Kentucky to Missouri, in 
 the year 1820, is furnished by the 
 foregoing. And this glimpse is all that 
 can now be reproduced of the life and 
 labors of Mrs. Ewing down to the time 
 indicated. 
 
 The reasons which led to this change 
 of residence are detailed in the Life of 
 Mr. Ewing, and do not enter into the 
 scope of this work. 
 
 As has been intimated already, noth- 
 ing whatever has been preserved for 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 39 
 
 this memoir. What follows will be ' de- 
 m^ed chiefly from the personal recollec- 
 tions of the author. Mrs. Ewing never 
 dreamed that her uneventful life Avould 
 be written and published, and hence no 
 effort w\as ever made to preserve any 
 material for it. It was the aiime case 
 with her husband. I know of my own 
 knowledge that he was called on many 
 times in his life -time to prepare the 
 data for the early history of the Church 
 and his own biography; but such was 
 his repugnance to the task, that he 
 never complied with the request of his 
 friends, chiefly because he Avas himself 
 an important figure in that history. 
 
 The truth of history would have 
 been greatly subserved, if he had done 
 as he was so often requested to do. 
 
 When the family first reached Mis- 
 
40 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 sonri, they settled for awhile at the 
 then village of Boonville, located on 
 the Missouri River, in Cooper county, 
 and about the geographical center of 
 the State. Intending to take his fam- 
 ily to a farm, Mr. Ewing prepared 
 his residence near to the place now 
 known as New Lebanon, in the same 
 county. 
 
 The name of Lebanon seemed to 
 have peculiar attractions for Mr. Ew- 
 ing. The congregation near his old 
 home in Kentucky was called Lebanon; 
 and after a congregation near his new 
 home in the West was organized, it 
 was called New Lebanon, and by this 
 name it is still known, as also that of 
 the Presbytery within whose bounds it 
 is located. 
 . The residence of the family was very 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 41 
 
 r 
 
 beautifully situated in an arm of tim- 
 ber that stretched out into the prairie 
 to the north, from the main forest on 
 the south. 
 
 It was a delightful place. It was 
 such a home as one could love and re- 
 member always. 
 
 In a few years a large, two-story, 
 brick house superseded the original log- 
 cabins; a very extensive and well-ar- 
 ranged farm was laid out in the prairie 
 adjoining; fine barns and other outbuild- 
 ings were erected; the great orchard in 
 the rear, and the garden at the south, 
 were all features about the premises 
 that I can never forget. Across a lit- 
 tle span of prairie - land, just in the 
 edge of another grove, and not far from 
 a famous spring of water, the church- 
 house was located. The camp-ground 
 
42 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 was laid out in a square to the rear of 
 the church. 
 
 I am thus particular in the description 
 of this locality because a thousand de- 
 lightful reminiscences of my own early 
 life cluster about the dear old place ; but 
 chiefly because it has become historical 
 ground to the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church — historical in this, that a num- 
 ber of the early and able ministers of 
 the Church were brought into the min- 
 istry here, and were instructed in the- 
 ology and prepared for their work by 
 Mr. Ewing while he resided at this 
 place. These men made an important 
 history in our denomination, and it will 
 soon be written and sent out to the 
 world. 
 
 A large number of the members of 
 the old Lebanon and other contiguous 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 43 
 
 congregations in Kentucky had re- 
 moved to this neighborhood, and, of 
 course, connected themselves with the 
 congregation of New Lebanon. In 
 a few years this was a flourishing 
 Church. 
 
 I remember the names of very many 
 of the old members who were always 
 seen in their places on the Sabbath. 
 They have all gone down to the grave 
 long since, yet they live in the mem- 
 ory of a large and highly respectable 
 posterity, many of whom have become 
 ornaments in the Church and valuable 
 citizens of the State. I recall with 
 pleasure the names of Kirkpatrick, 
 Sloan, John and James Wear, Benj. 
 Rubey, Burnes, McCorkle, Bryant, and 
 others. These were the early pioneers 
 of the country and the Church. They 
 
44 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 bore an honorable testimony to the doc- 
 trines and usaires of the infant Church 
 with which they identified their spir- 
 itual welfare, and they illustrated the 
 power of their faith in the happy death 
 that is recorded of them all. If a 
 man's faith stands this test, then it is 
 worth every thing to him. Its value 
 is beyond all price, and no considera- 
 tions of Church aggrandizement and 
 social position can compensate any one 
 for its loss. 
 
 Some of them w^ere men of more 
 than ordinary influence in their Church 
 relations. I call to mind, in this con- 
 nection especially, old Uncle Robert 
 Kirkpatrick — everybody called him un- 
 cle. He lived very near to the church, 
 and was one of the first elders in the 
 congregation. He was a hale, hearty 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 45 
 
 old man within my first recollection. 
 He was a very fine singer, as men 
 were adjudged in that day — had a rich, 
 full, melodious voice, that would not 
 only fill the old church-house, but 
 would roll out in erreat volumes throuo'h 
 the open doors and w^indows and wake 
 the slumbering echoes among those 
 grand old trees for a great distance 
 around. 
 
 I have sat in the door at home and 
 heard the music at the church many a 
 time, and the distance was nearly half 
 a mile. But it was on camp-meeting 
 occasions when this master of song 
 would exhibit himself in all his strength 
 and glory. 
 
 On a calm summer evening, when 
 the large congregation Avould be quietly 
 seated in the shadows of the great 
 
46 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 forest, and the first tune would be 
 raised by old Father Kirkpatrick, his 
 voice would ring out on the air like the 
 mellow notes of a silver trumpet. The 
 gi'een arches above would reecho the 
 sound, and the whole camp-ground be- 
 come vocal with melody. 
 
 Dear, good old man! long ago has 
 thy music been turned to higher themes 
 and thy voice to a higher praise on 
 the beautiful shore beyond the dark 
 river ! 
 
 It was a part of the regular duty of 
 Mr. Kirkpatrick to li7ie out, and sing 
 the hymn for the pastor, preliminary 
 to the preaching service. His accus- 
 tomed seat was in front of the pulpit; 
 and after the first reading of the hymn 
 by the minister, he would rise to his 
 feet, line out the hymn, and raise the 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 47 
 
 tune and lead the singing of the whole 
 congregation. 
 
 In those early days there were no 
 books to, distribute among the people as 
 is now the custom. How ffir Church- 
 music has been improved thereby, I 
 do n't pretend to say. My recollection 
 is that, when the whole congregation 
 joined to follow the old elder, the 
 music was very grand, according to my 
 conception. It was apparently easy 
 to follow a good leader; they sang 
 with the spirit, and made music for the 
 Church, and melody in their hearts. 
 
 Another feature of Church -services 
 in those early days has long since dis- 
 appeared. The services at any one 
 given church Avere not very frequent. 
 The supply of ministers did not afford 
 preaching oftener than once in two or 
 
48. AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 three weeks to the same congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 Coming to church, then, once in two 
 or four weeks, the people thought it no 
 hardship to listen to a sermon one or 
 two hours long, and to an exhortation 
 immediately afterward. 
 
 The exhorter at Lebanon was old 
 Uncle Jimmy Wear. He lived in the 
 near neighborhood, and generally was 
 without' a special charge of his own. 
 lie was not learned or great in any 
 sense of the terms, but was humble 
 and pious in the best sense of those 
 terms. He usually sat in the pulpit 
 with the pastor, and, after the sermon, 
 closed the meeting with a zealous and 
 fervent exhortation. Frequently he 
 would use the expression that " he had 
 been greatly refreshed" during the ser- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 49 
 
 inon which had preceded, but it was al- 
 ways an unsettled question among the 
 "boys," who were present, whether he 
 had been refreshed by the long, sound 
 nap he had taken, or by the truths of 
 the sermon which had been delivered, 
 for it was one of his weaknesses to 
 sleep ivell during the service. No one 
 who knew him, however, but enter- 
 tained for him the highest respect on 
 account of his earnest piety and un- 
 pretending walk in life. Peace to his 
 ashes ! 
 
 After all, it is the humble Christian 
 who reflects most the true spirit of 
 genuine Christianity. It is he who re- 
 flects most faithfully the light of that 
 inner life which is born of the Spirit, 
 and which derives vitality from the 
 breathing of Christ upon the naturally 
 4 
 
50 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 dormant heart. Not so extended in his 
 influence and usefulness, perhaps, as his 
 more brilliant and gifted neighbor; but 
 he lives in a serener atmosphere, is su-r- 
 rounded with a balmier influence, and is 
 altogether a happier Christian than the 
 other, because his condition is not dis- 
 turbed by rude contact with the world 
 and wicked men. He lives more apart 
 from evil influences, and hence his path- 
 way lies over even and sunny grounds. 
 For many years after the early pio- 
 neers to this State (Missouri) had made 
 their homes in the wilderness, there 
 were but few church-houses erected; 
 the people w^ere widely scattered in 
 their settlements, and the camp-meeting 
 then was a necessity. That such meet- 
 ings have been a thousand times honored 
 by the great Head of the Church, there 
 
A U N T P E G G Y. 51 
 
 can be no manner of doubt ; and that 
 they have been the means of bringing 
 to Christ thousands of unconverted per- 
 sons, is equally true. I contemplate 
 with regret the abandonment by our 
 people of the camp-meeting. It is true 
 that in thickly-settled neighborhoods, 
 where commodious church-edifices have 
 been erected, the services of the house 
 of God may be adequately maintained 
 without the pitching of tents in the 
 consecrated grove; but the abounding 
 influences that surround and overawe 
 the people while worshiping God in his 
 own great temples are utterly lost in 
 the painted and bedizened church-house. 
 There is an invisible spirit that is felt 
 in the sighing breeze, that is heard in 
 the rustling leaves, that is seen in the 
 beautiful architecture of the green arches 
 
52 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 above their heads, that will make itself 
 felt and obeyed by the people on these 
 occasions, when even the message of 
 salvation, promulgated from the pulpit, 
 will fail to do so. The influence of 
 such surroundings as these on the spir- 
 itual nature of men is illustrated in the 
 practice of many heathen peoples, who 
 worship their deities in sacred groves, 
 and who build their shrines under the 
 shadows of the great trees. 
 
 A camp-meeting of four or five days' 
 continuance nearly always resulted in a 
 revival of religion and in the conversion 
 of many precious souls. Now, a pro- 
 tracted meeting in a church-house will 
 require weeks of labor before any sen- 
 sible impression is produced. Of course 
 it will not be understood that I depre- 
 ciate the value, and even necessity, of 
 
A U N T P E G G Y. 63 
 
 meeting-houses in every congregation. 
 The camp - meeting is held annually, 
 whereas the congregational meetings 
 should he held every Sunday. I make 
 the point here merely to show that 
 change is not always improvement — 
 that old landmarks should not be too 
 hastily erased, and that some old ways 
 may be the best ways after all. 
 
 As for myself, I can bear this testi- 
 mony: that I have heard the gospel 
 preached under every variety of cir- 
 cumstances — ia the rude log- cabin, in 
 the plain, unpretending church, in the 
 splendid churches of the large cities, 
 and in the grand old cathedrals that 
 have pointed their spires to heaven for 
 two hundred years ; and yet the mes- 
 sage of salvation never fell upon my 
 ears w-ith such solemn fervor, with such 
 
54 A U N T P E G G Y. 
 
 powerful force, and Avith such winning 
 persuasiveness, as it has under the leafy 
 boAvers that Avere woven by the vines 
 and branches of those old monarchs of 
 the forest, that had been stretching out 
 their arms to the storms of a hundred 
 vears. 
 
 To the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church the camp-meeting should be 
 a sacred institution. It is interwoven 
 with her history from the day of her 
 birth doAvn to the present moment; 
 and for all coming time the history of 
 camp-meetings in the Mississippi Valley 
 will lie at the foundation of her own 
 history, whatever that may be. 
 
 It is in this connection that I pro- 
 pose to bring out a striking trait of 
 Mrs. E wing's character. Camp -meet- 
 ings always involved a great deal of 
 
A U N T P E G G Y. 55 
 
 care and labor to the heads of families 
 who moved on to the ground and made 
 that their place of abode during the con- 
 tinuance of the meeting. The people 
 came from far and near, and had to be 
 entertained, boarded, and lodged. I 
 have seen scores of persons accommo- 
 dated at the same meal at the camps of 
 ^^ Uncle Finis and Aunt Peggy." As 
 long as there was a hungry stranger 
 on the ground, their ample board was 
 spread, and a free invitation given to 
 all comers. 
 
 Also the care of a large family and 
 numerous colored servants entered into 
 the list of her labors ; but when the sil- 
 very horn sounded the note to assemble 
 for public worship, she was always in 
 her place. No combination of circum- 
 stances could so conspire as to prevent 
 
66 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 her from participating in the feast of 
 fat things that was always provided in 
 the house of God's people. That was 
 the recognized source of all her strength 
 and capacity to work for the people at 
 the camp, and for the promotion of 
 God's cause at the altar. 
 
 A long period of training in the ac- 
 tive duties of life had qualified her for 
 every emergency. The wife of a min- 
 ister whose duties call him a great 
 deal from home must bring herself 
 up to a double capacity for business, 
 or sink supinely under the burden. 
 With a fine physical organization and 
 uniform good health at that period 
 of her life, she exhibited a wonderful 
 fitness and capacity for the onerous du- 
 ties of her position. She was always 
 found equal to the occasion, however 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 57 
 
 exacting and trying it might prove 
 to be. 
 
 With an industry that never faltered, 
 and a vigilance that rarely slumbered, 
 she pursued the even tenor of her way, 
 first in the government of her large 
 household, and next in the punctual dis- 
 charge of all her public religious duties. 
 She had an abiding abhorrence of a lazy 
 person. I have often heard her say that 
 she could not comprehend how a sloth- 
 ful, indolent person could be a good 
 Christian. 
 
 Another leading feature in the char- 
 acter of Mrs. Ewing was her cordial 
 and unaffected hospitality. During the 
 whole period that the family resided 
 at Lebanon, there were no villages, or 
 towns, or country taverns, within a ra- 
 dius of many miles from her homestead. 
 
58 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 People traveling through the country 
 on business or for pleasure must look 
 to the private hospitality of the inhab- 
 itants for food and shelter. Mr. Ewing 
 being well known throughout the State, 
 and his independent circumstances being 
 w^ell understood, it followed almost as a 
 matter of course that every friend or 
 stranger wdio passed through the coun- 
 try called at his house. The dwelling 
 occupied by the family was large and 
 commodious, the barns were spacious 
 and well filled, and the mistress of the 
 mansion always at home if the master 
 was not; so that the place became a sort 
 of free hotel — everybody was welcome, 
 and was entertained comfortably and 
 pleasantly without charge. Every pos- 
 sible character of guest, almost, was an 
 occasional recipient of its hospitality. 
 
AUNTPEGGY. 59 
 
 The preacher always found it a pleasant 
 home, and was not slow to enter its 
 open doors. The poor emigrant, just 
 arrived from a distant State in search 
 of a new home, was equally welcome. 
 The politicians of the State occasion- 
 ally paid the family a visit. I have 
 seen United States senators, governors, 
 congressmen, judges, and other public 
 characters, the recipients of its bounty; 
 and all, of every class, were met at the 
 threshold by a simple, unostentatious, 
 easy, and natural politeness that made 
 every one feel at home at once. 
 
 But the great point I wish to make 
 in this connection consists in the fact 
 that the house of Mr. and Mrs. Ewing, 
 for very many years — not at Lebanon 
 only, but wherever they lived — was the 
 home of the young Cumberland Pres- 
 
60 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 byterian preacher. I feel safe in as- 
 serting that no one ftimily in the bounds 
 of the whole Church has contributed 
 more, in this way, to bring forward the 
 young candidate for the ministry. 
 
 Free board and free instruction were 
 cheerfully tendered to all who desired 
 such assistance. Very many accepted 
 gratefully the kind offer who afterward 
 became an honor to the Church and a 
 blessing to the country. Some of them, 
 indeed, were towers of strength to the 
 struggling cause which they had es- 
 poused. 
 
 The practice of taking young preach- 
 ers into the family was continued until 
 the death of Mr. Ewing. The additional 
 labor which this enlargement of the do- 
 mestic circle imposed on Mrs. Ewing 
 was very great. Her own large family 
 
AUNTPEaGY. 61 
 
 and numerous servants to see after, with 
 a constant influx of visitors, would seem 
 to have been enough for the mistress of 
 the household ; but so long had she been 
 accustomed to the duty of self-sacrifice, 
 that I never heard her murmur under 
 such trying circumstances, except per- 
 haps once, when the school-teacher was 
 added to her already numerous house- 
 hold. She really thought that this gen- 
 tleman, important character as he was, 
 might find a home elsewhere. 
 
 The value of the labor performed by 
 Mrs. Ewing in this department of her 
 daily duties cannot well be estimated. 
 A pleasant home, with motherly care 
 and attention, encouraging advice, with 
 valuable instruction, was simply the 
 making of many a timid man, who, if 
 left to himself, would have sunk down, 
 
62 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 a miserable failure. A man coming for- 
 ward under these circumstances, who 
 reaches eminence in his calling, and who 
 makes his mark m his day, and leaves a 
 broad and deep impress upon the Church 
 and the community, is a contribution to 
 Christianity beyond all price. 
 
 I have never on a single occasion 
 heard Mrs. Ewing take any praise to 
 herself for this part of her Christian 
 work. She always seemed to regard it 
 as a simple duty, growing out of her 
 position in the Church. If she ever felt 
 her lot to be a hard one, or that her 
 Christian duties were at all burdensome, 
 she was never heard to complain. She 
 accepted cheerfully the situation, and 
 set about her multifarious duties with 
 resolute purpose to do faithfully what- 
 ever might lie in her pathway. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 63 
 
 Very often, and sometimes for long 
 periods, Mr. Ewing would be absent 
 from home. He made several trips back 
 to Kentucky after he came to Missouri. 
 These journeys were generally made to 
 attend the Church judicatures — Synod 
 and General Assembly. The usual dis- 
 tance to his destination was about five 
 hundred miles, and the journey always 
 made on horseback. (Some preachers 
 can't get to Synod at all notv unless they 
 can go on a railroad.) During these 
 times, the care of the w^hole household 
 — children, servants, young preachers, 
 and travelers — devolved on the hands 
 of Mrs. Ewing ; but there was no diffi- 
 culty anywhere. Servants w^ere respect- 
 ful and obedient, and children the same 
 as at other times. Every one tacitly 
 promoted the mistress of the household 
 
64 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 to the place and authority of the master. 
 Firmness and decision, intelligently dis- 
 played, combined with gentleness and 
 love, will govern well any household. 
 The practice of family prayers was kept 
 up by Mrs. Ewing, in the absence of 
 her husband, uniformly. And thus the 
 days of her life were filled up. When 
 the Sabbath came around, it was indeed 
 a day of rest. The old custom of pre- 
 paring for the Sabbath prevailed then, 
 and but little work was tolerated when 
 the day arrived. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 65 
 
 CHAPTEH IV. 
 
 ^^s>N this connection, I do myself 
 
 ^JH the pleasure to recall the names 
 g^/H)0 of some of that noble band of 
 
 ^ ministers who first introduced 
 our cause into this State (Missouri), 
 and who came up to Lebanon, from 
 time to time, to attend the judicatures 
 of the Church, or to pay their respects 
 to "Uncle Finis and Aunt Peggy." 
 
 Let us call the roll and see who mav 
 answer; and if not, wherefore. 
 
 Rev. R. D. Morrow was the first 
 
 CumberJ^nd Presbyterian preacher who 
 
 came to Missouri in the character of 
 
 missionary. I have been under the im- 
 
 5 
 
66 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 pression that he was the first minister 
 of the denomination who came to the 
 State, but I believe it is true that Rev. 
 G. P. Rice preached in St. Louis as 
 early as 1817. Mr. MorroAV came in 
 the spring of 1819. It is also proba- 
 ble that Rev. Daniel Buie was in the 
 State when Mr. Morrow arrived. 
 
 I have just read the address, pre- 
 pared by Mr. Ewing, to the few and 
 scattered members of the Church in this 
 then Territory. It announced the com- 
 ing of the missionary, who, it will be 
 remembered, was sent to this country 
 under the auspices of a ladies' Mission- 
 ary Society organized in Southern Ken- 
 tucky the year previous to his arrival 
 in this country. I do not propose, in 
 this connection, any thing farther than 
 a mere allusion to the character of the 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 67 
 
 ministers whose names I shall mention 
 — simply the impressions that a boy 
 would receive upon a first acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 The mere mention of Mr. Morrow's 
 name calls up a thousand interesting 
 reminiscences of the early days of 
 Cumberland Presbyterianism in Mis- 
 souri. In his person, he was low of 
 stature, but symmetrical and well knit 
 together. The most striking features 
 about the man. were his massive head 
 and his noble brow, and deep-set eye. 
 It was such a head as we have seen 
 m the likenesses of great statesmen, 
 judges, and others of commanding in- 
 fluence. His mind w^as well disci- 
 plined, and was adequate to the most 
 intricate analysis. He was a born logi- 
 cian and metaphysician. His style in 
 
68 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the pulpit was a clear statement of his 
 points, a logical discussion of the doc- 
 trine involved, and a powerful, practical 
 application to his audience. He an- 
 swers not to our call, but has gone to 
 meet his brethren in a court that sits 
 within the gates of the New Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 H. R. Smith answers not, for he has 
 but recently transferred his member- 
 ship to the general Church which holds 
 its meetings hard by the throne of its 
 great Head. Mr. Smith was far above 
 the average preacher of his day. He 
 was not a young man of brilliant prom- 
 ise, but his laborious industry and un- 
 conquerable perseverance in his prepa- 
 ration for his work made him the best 
 educated preacher among the old men 
 in the State. His manner in the pul- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 69 
 
 pit was exceedingly dignified, his ar- 
 guments as clear as the sunshine, and 
 his voice soft, yet full of strength and 
 power. He lived and died with the 
 harness on. No man of the denomina- 
 tion in this State has more deeply im- 
 pressed his character upon the Churches 
 with whom he labored than did Mr. 
 Smith. The young men whom he 
 trained for the ministry were among 
 the best workers and best preachers 
 we ever had in the country. 
 
 Mr. Smith was modest and unpre- 
 tending in his manners, yet possessed 
 of a lion-like courage, when occasion 
 demanded its exhibition. His life will 
 be written, and will be preserved as a 
 sacred legacy to the Church in all 
 time. 
 
 Robert Sloan, several years ago, as a 
 
70 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 ripe shock, was gathered into the heav- 
 enly garner. His family resided in 
 the near neighborhood of Lebanon, and 
 Mr. Sloan was brought into the minis- 
 try there. 
 
 The leading characteristics of the 
 man were his unaffected humility, his 
 singleness of purpose, and his great ear- 
 nestness in the prosecution of his min- 
 isterial work. His mission was to 
 preach to the Church, but upon occa- 
 sion I have heard him address himself 
 * 
 
 to the unconverted with wonderful 
 force and energy. He lived to a good 
 old age, performed a great deal of 
 work, and did it well. He died as he 
 had lived, full of the faith which he 
 professed and recommended to others. 
 He answers not to our call. 
 
 Caleb Weedin spent several years of 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 71 
 
 his early ministry in Missouri. I have 
 seen him at Lebanon often when he 
 Avas a young man; but he removed to 
 Kentucky, and spent the maturer years 
 of his ministry in that State. He was 
 a tall, spare, dignified man in his ap- 
 pearance, but the writer has no distinct 
 recollection of his style of preaching. 
 He acquired a fine reputation in central 
 Kentucky, and was largely useful in 
 his day. He died several years ago, 
 and answers not. 
 
 David M. Kirkpatrick was a son of 
 the old elder of whom I have already 
 spoken. No one among the early 
 preachers who came into the ministry 
 at Lebanon gave more promise of use- 
 fulness, and, indeed, eminence in his 
 profession than Mr. Kirkpatrick. His 
 person was remarkably fine — large, 
 
72 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 handsome, and dignified. He inherited 
 his fiither's splendid voice, and, when 
 preaching in the open air, his ckirion 
 notes would be heard far and near, like 
 the sound of a bugle call. His early 
 and untimely death was a great calam- 
 ity to the young Church in Missouri. 
 From this new country he was the first 
 minister to pioneer the way to that 
 better land, whence there is no emigra- 
 tion or departure. 
 
 Daniel Buie was a member of the 
 first Presbytery ever held in Missouri. 
 I remember him at Lebanon in the 
 early days, and have heard him preach 
 a few times. His usefulness in the 
 ministry was cut short by a most dis- 
 tressing and incurable malady which 
 came upon him in the maturity of his 
 years. He has gone up to that coun- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 73 
 
 try where no cloud ever comes upon 
 the intellect and no darkness ever en- 
 shrouds the heart. 
 
 F. M. Braly resided in south - east 
 Missouri, within wdiat afterward be- 
 came St. Louis Presbytery. He was 
 among the young men whom I fre- 
 quently saw at Lebanon. He was a 
 man of very smooth and winning man- 
 ners — easy, pohte, and dignified — with 
 a handsome face and a merry, twinkling 
 black eye. While he did not rank 
 among the ablest of the young men, he 
 was yet a very fine preacher, accept- 
 able and popular wherever he lived. 
 His life was above reproach, and his ex- 
 ample alwaj^s good. He lived to a rea- 
 sonably old age, and left a good name 
 and a fair fame behind him. He also 
 answers not, because he has gone up to 
 
74 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 that General Assembly which sits in 
 perpetual session. 
 
 Archie McCorkle lived for many 
 years in the near neighborhood of Leb- 
 anon. He came into the ministry con- 
 temporaneously with those of whom 
 mention has been made. He w^as a 
 very zealous preacher, and with abili- 
 ties above the average. His style was 
 sometimes remarkable for its power. 
 His general attainments, and especially 
 his historical and miscellaneous reading, 
 w^ere very good, and I have heard him 
 frequently draw upon such resources 
 with excellent effect. He preached for 
 some time in the town of Boonville 
 and at Jefferson City. But in the de- 
 cline of life, his health failed, and he 
 removed to Texas, w^iere he died not 
 long since at an advanced age. Some 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 75 
 
 of his friends predicted a failure when 
 he entered the ministry, but he disap- 
 pointed them most happily. He was a 
 good and useful man, and he now has 
 his reward along with his early com- 
 peers in the ministry. 
 
 Laird Burnes was also one of the 
 early ministers of the neighborhood. 
 He was a man of respectable abilities, 
 but had not energy and industry enough 
 to accomplish any considerable results 
 in his profession. He was very amia- 
 ble in his intercourse with men, and 
 upright in his Christian character. I 
 have no information of the later years 
 of his life. 
 
 We have already spoken of James 
 L. Wear. He lived to a great age, 
 beloved by all who knew him. His 
 great consistency of character com- 
 
76 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 nianded an extensive influence in the 
 community where he lived. He was 
 not great, but he was better than great 
 — he w^as genuinely good. 
 
 Thus the roll-call of the departed is 
 closed. Half a score of them answer 
 not. One by one, they dropped out of 
 the list till all are gone. Their theo- 
 logical instructor and spiritual leader 
 preceded most of them to their final 
 home. They have all met for a camp- 
 meeting on the heavenly plains, hard 
 by that pure river of life that flows 
 forever from the foot of the throne. 
 They have already answered to a roll- 
 call in Presbytery that holds its sessions 
 in a house not made with hands. They 
 have convened in a Synod where Christ 
 is perpetual Moderator, and where the 
 saints from all the Church of God on 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 77 
 
 earth are the members. They are all 
 members of that General Assembly 
 which will never adjourn. But not 
 only is this little band of preachers 
 found there, but thousands to whom 
 they broke the bread of life in this 
 world have joined them, and the sub- 
 ject of this memoir will be found 
 among the number. What a grand ju- 
 bilee it was when they all met under 
 the cedars of the Lebanon that lies 
 beyond the stars! 
 
 But I continue the roll-call of those 
 who may yet answer. 
 
 Robert Renick answers that he is 
 still on the hither bank of the dark, 
 cold river, and that his confidence in 
 the power of the gospel he has preached 
 for half a century, is strong and un- 
 shaken. He is one of the "old guard" 
 
78 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 still clad in full armor, and as ready for 
 the fray as when but thirty summers 
 had passed over his rugged brow. 
 
 John B. Morrow answers with feeble 
 voice, but it utters no uncertain sound. 
 Treading close upon the margin of the 
 cold river, there is no recoil in his 
 steps, nor dread in his onward move- 
 ment. Confident and buoyant as in 
 the spring-time of life, he knows in 
 whom he has trusted. His work is 
 now practically finished, and, when the 
 records of his life shall be opened and 
 read, it will be found to have been 
 a great work. 
 
 Henry Renick answers with clarion 
 voice from the plains of Texas. He is 
 still on the walls, in the midst of his 
 life's work, hale and vigorous, striking 
 hard blows against the common enemy 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 79 
 
 of onr race. His great powers are still 
 unimpaired, and his burning zeal un- 
 quenched. How well I remember, af- 
 ter the lapse of a quarter of a century, 
 the bugle call of that wonderful voice, 
 which is still clear, and ringing as the 
 morning bell! 
 
 J. W. Campbell, "the old man elo- 
 quent," still answers for his Master 
 whenever called. For fifty years he 
 has preached the gospel of Christ to 
 his fellow-men. But the other day he 
 filled the pulpit in the church where I 
 worship. His tall and manly form is 
 as stout and vigorous as a man of 
 thirty. His eagle eye needs no arti- 
 ficial aid to read the sacred pages, and 
 his voice is as mellow as the notes of 
 a flute. What a great record has he 
 already made ! Fifty years in the con- 
 
80 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 stant and faithful work of the ministry, 
 with the fruits of his labors to be found 
 all over the country ! 
 
 John T. A. Henderson still answers 
 promptly and decisively. His work 
 has been upon a somewhat different 
 line from that of most of his compeers. 
 After a few years of experience as 
 circuit-preacher, he devoted himself to 
 pastoral duty altogether; and although 
 this line of labor has not brought 
 him conspicuously before so many 
 congregations of the Church as a 
 more desultory method of work would 
 have done, yet it has not been the 
 less productive of important results. 
 He is still hale and vigorous in his 
 physical and mental powers, and his 
 capacity for useful labor is undimin- 
 ished. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 81 
 
 . Thus the roll of the living and the 
 dead is concluded. The men whose 
 names have been mentioned have made 
 abundant and useful history for our 
 beloved Church. It was a noble and 
 faithful band — pious, able, earnest, la- 
 borious, and devoted. Look down the 
 list and see if any other fifteen names 
 in the Church, who have made a con- 
 temporaneous history, can furnish a 
 complete parallel. I would not ut- 
 ter undue eulogium on the names of 
 any class of men, but I speak con- 
 scientiously and, I believe, truthfully, 
 when I say that the good these men 
 have accomplished will never be fully 
 known in this world, and that noth- 
 ing but the records of the kingdom of 
 heaven will disclose the magnitude of 
 the blessings they wrought for a sin- 
 
82 * ^NT PEGGY. 
 
 ful world. But whether written or un- 
 written be their lives, their monuments 
 have already been built, and each has 
 reared his own for himself. Their me- 
 morials are seen on every hand in the 
 hundred churches which they estab- 
 lished, and in the manifestations of af- 
 fection by the thousands of Christians 
 whom they were instrumental in bring- 
 ing to a knowledge of the truth. 
 
 May we not trace something in the 
 great work of the noble band which we 
 have named — of the silent and gentle 
 influence of the mother in Israel, at 
 whose fireside they all sat from time to 
 time, and to which kindly advice, gentle 
 encouragement, and motherly care and 
 attention were given? 
 
 The sources of all great influences 
 are generally remote from the places 
 
AUNT PEG '^^ 
 
 83 
 
 of their exhibition. The motive-power 
 of many great acts in human life seems 
 insignificant when compared with the 
 deeds themselves. And thus it is with 
 the influence of a pious, good woman. 
 It falls as the silent dew, yet it nour- 
 ishes and strengthens every thing it 
 touches. 
 
84 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 URING the residence of the 
 ..-j^, -,. family at Lebanon, one event 
 occurred which tried the sound- 
 ness of the faith and of the 
 Christian hopes of the subject of this 
 memoir. 
 
 A terrible fever, then new to the coun- 
 try, broke out among the people, and 
 spread, as an epidemic, far and wide. 
 It was fatal in numerous instances. 
 Death and mourning were brought to 
 many households. An estimable gen- 
 tleman, connected with the family by 
 marriage, and a physician of learning 
 and ability, was numbered among the 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 85 
 
 victims. Mrs. Ewing was attacked with 
 the fever, and for many long weeks was 
 not expected to live. Then it was that 
 the ffxith which she had professed and 
 preached to others so long sustained and 
 supported her, with the almost certain 
 prospect of death staring her in the face. 
 The long and painful illness developed 
 the rich fruits of a well-spent Christian 
 life, and without a fear or a doubt she 
 awaited, and almost invited, the mes- 
 senger to take her home. But she sur- 
 vived, and lived many long and weary 
 years after that. 
 
 The twelve years of the residence of 
 Mrs. E wing's family at Lebanon com- 
 prehended the period of her life in 
 which her good works most abounded. 
 She was then in the full maturity of 
 her physical and mental strength. She 
 
86 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 had the benefit of long years of disci- 
 pline, trial, and suffering. During the 
 dark days of the early period of the 
 Church, she passed through a refiner's 
 furnace. The little band with which 
 her destiny was cast was persecuted 
 without stint, was despised and ma- 
 ligned, and was often discouraged and 
 driven back. All this came home to Mrs. 
 Ewing with terrible force. Her husband 
 was so deeply involved in every thing 
 that appertained to the welfare and his- 
 tory of the young Church, that she could 
 not avoid a personal interest in every 
 thing that transpired. 
 
 This, then, was the long course of 
 discipline through which she had passed. 
 With a strong and cultivated mind, and 
 with a stronger faith in the promises 
 and encouragements of the gospel, she 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 87 
 
 could derive strength, and courage, and 
 confidence from the fiery ordeal of per- 
 secution, and never give Avay to despond- 
 ency or despair. With the benefit of this 
 dear-bought discipline and experience, 
 she entered upon her unostentatious 
 Christian career at Lebanon, and contin- 
 ued her work with unabated zeal up to 
 the day of her removal to another home. 
 
 There is no special prominence attach- 
 ing to the Christian life and labors of 
 Mrs. Ewing during the years referred 
 to. The excellency of her character is 
 seen rather in the untiring devotion 
 which she always exhibited in the dis- 
 charge of all her duties, whether private 
 and domestic, or public and general. 
 
 As a mother, her devotion to the wel- 
 fare of a numerous family of children is 
 w^orthy of all praise. No self-sacrifice, 
 
8^ AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 no manual labor, or motherly attention, 
 was ever too great for her to perform 
 whenever the emergencies of the case 
 demanded it. 
 
 Then a large family of servants re- 
 quired untiring labor and attention. No 
 mistress was ever kinder to her depend- 
 ents, or exhibited more solicitude for 
 their welfiire, than did Mrs. Ewing. 
 
 Grouping together the general fea- 
 tures of character and habits of life of 
 Mrs. Ewing, we deduce from them the 
 following conclusions : 
 
 That her piety produced abundant 
 fruits in love to God and good works to 
 all those with whom she was surrounded 
 or came in contact. 
 
 That benevolence was demonstrated 
 in the work she performed and the 
 solicitude she exhibited for others. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 89 
 
 That self-sacrifice and constant labor 
 were regarded as no hardships, if there- 
 by the general interests of religion, or 
 of its ministers, could be promoted. 
 
 That her excellent sense and cultiva- 
 tion were fully shown in maintaining so 
 well the difficult position that she was 
 called on to occupy. 
 
 That her children will have cause to 
 revere her memory and call her blessed 
 through all the years of their lives, and 
 to hand down her name in praise to the 
 generations which shall follow them. 
 
 That her servants found in her their 
 best friend. 
 
 And that the infant Church with 
 which, so early in its life, she cast her 
 lot, was never blessed with a truer 
 friend or more prayerful supporter. 
 
 In her intercourse with her family or 
 
90 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 society there was nothing demonstrative. 
 Her manners were quiet, dignified, and 
 unconstrained. She did not talk loud 
 or fast. Upon occasion, however, she 
 could easily and promptly render a rea- 
 son for the faith that was in her. There 
 were no negative qualities in her char- 
 acter : every attribute of her nature 
 was positive in its development; but 
 long discipline, a thorough self-control, 
 and the sanctifying influences of grace 
 in the heart, toned down these active 
 traits, so that she became capable of 
 performing the highest duties in life 
 without making an offensive exhibition 
 of self 
 
 I don't call her a perfect woman, by 
 any means. She had her faults, and 
 knew them well, and prayed against 
 them, all the later years of her life. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 91 
 
 every day. With the candor of a sim- 
 ple historian, without undue eulogy or 
 praise, I claim her character to be as I 
 have stated it above, and refer to her 
 long life of fidelity to sustain the con- 
 clusions I have reached. 
 
 The features of the religious life of 
 Mrs. Ewing are deserving especial re- 
 mark. Religion to her was a sublime 
 and living reality — a real experience, 
 derived from an abiding trust and faith 
 in the great Author of her salvation. 
 The very mental constitution and tem- 
 perament of the woman demanded an 
 experience that could not be doubted, 
 and an actual realization of its joys 
 and consolations. 
 
 It was her great happiness to enjoy a 
 large share ©f the comforts of religion. 
 It was her unfailing resource in all the 
 
92 AUNTPEGGY. 
 
 trials and afflictions that beset her path- 
 way in life. It was her constant prac- 
 tice to refer all her difficulties to her 
 Heavenly Father, and to ask his guid- 
 ance and direction on all occasions. A 
 favorite idea of hers — and she so ex- 
 pressed herself very often — was to live 
 very near the Saviour, and to realize 
 constantly that the Holy Spirit was in 
 communion with her own spirit. Some 
 persons will scout this as idle enthusi- 
 asm; but it was a living and sensible 
 condition to her, especially in the later 
 years of her life, when no business or 
 worldly cares were upon her hands. If 
 it were enthusiasm, it was a blessed one, 
 and brought infinite happiness to the 
 subject of it. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ^A^^MONG the interesting cliarac- 
 z-f^i ters who visited the family very 
 often during its residence at 
 Lebanon, and who were always 
 welcome, was Dr. Wm. W. Kavanaugh. 
 In some respects he was one of the 
 most interesting men in the social circle 
 I ever saw. His conversational powers 
 were of the finest order, and his fund of 
 anecdote and humor almost inexhaust- 
 ible. He was a gentleman of the old 
 school, polite, urbane, benevolent, and 
 kind to a fault. He was not a great 
 preacher, as that term is now under- 
 stood ; but there were few men of any 
 
94 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 pulpit who could be more eloquent or 
 powerful in exhortation. I have heard 
 him, a few times, when his eloquence 
 reached to positive sublimity. And, 
 again, his appeals to the unconverted 
 were wonderfully forcible arid effective. 
 
 His great fault was in a want of 
 steadiness of purpose in reference to the 
 business affairs of life. He was never 
 contented in any place longer than a 
 year or so at a time. He moved and 
 removed more frequently than any man I 
 ever knew. Half the then States in the 
 Valley of the Mississippi were his place 
 of residence at one time or another. 
 
 Mrs. Ewing frequently remonstrated 
 wdth him against this habit; and finally, 
 on one occasion, after hearing that he 
 contemplated another removal, she told 
 him if he died before she did, not to 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 95 
 
 move from heaven before she should ar- 
 rive and know he was there. 
 
 He did not preach regularly to any 
 particular church, but wherever and 
 whenever he felt disposed, and in the 
 later years of his life devoted himself 
 to the practice of medicine, in which he 
 possessed eminent skill. He was a man 
 of mark in whatsoever society he might 
 be placed, and commanded the respect 
 of all and the esteem and love of many. 
 He is now dead, and I can but invoke 
 the blessing of Heaven upon those he 
 has left behind, and say, " Peace to his 
 ashes ! " 
 
 Another character, who was our neigh- 
 bor at Lebanon, deserves more than a 
 passing notice. Hon. John Miller be- 
 came a member of the Church in early 
 life, lived for awhile in Howard county, 
 
96 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 Missouri, and then settled not far from 
 Lebanon, in Cooper county, and re- 
 mained there till he died. He was a 
 man of very fine talents, and a forcible, 
 vigorous public speaker. He was fond 
 of political life, and was frequently a 
 member of both branches of the Legis- 
 lature, in which positions he always 
 distinguished himself for his integrity 
 as a man and for his ability as a states- 
 man. 
 
 He was an elder in the congregation 
 of Pilot Grove after it was organized 
 out of the Lebanon Church, and was fre- 
 quently a member of Presbytery and 
 Synod. He took an active and zealous 
 part in the affairs of the Church. His 
 influence was greatly sought after by 
 the leading politicians of the State. He 
 was the intimate friend of Senator Ben- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 97 
 
 ton, Governor Miller, and others who 
 filled the high places in the State. 
 
 About the year 1850, Mr. Miller was 
 a Democratic candidate for Congress in 
 his district, and his opponent was a 
 very eloquent young Whig lawyer of 
 Boonville, whose name was also John 
 Miller, and our Mr. Miller became known 
 throughout the country as '' Ugly John," 
 to distinguish him from his handsome 
 young rival for congressional honors. 
 Mr. Miller was a man of unfailing good 
 humor, and took in good part the slurs 
 of his political opponents. He lived 
 to a great age, and illustrated in his 
 death the infinite value of the religion 
 which he had so long professed, and for 
 which he had so long labored and sacri- 
 ficed. 
 
 One of his sons is an eminent minis- 
 7 
 
98 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 ter in the Church, and another one has 
 been for twenty years a distinguished 
 judge and politician, and a reputable 
 member of the Church. 
 
 The influence of Mr. Miller was 
 widely felt in his day, in both Church 
 and State; and in the character of such 
 men lies the salvation of both. 
 
 In this connection it may not be 
 either indelicate or inappropriate to 
 give a filial estimate in brief of the 
 character of Finis Ewing. He was so 
 intimately associated with the noble 
 band of early ministers already men- 
 tioned, that the picture would be incom- 
 plete without a sketch of his portrait. 
 No effort at his biography w^ill be at- 
 tempted — that has been written by 
 other and abler hands. 
 
 During the period of the family resi- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 99 
 
 dence at Lebanon, Mr. Ewing was in 
 the full maturity of his powers. The 
 great struggle with the old Church and 
 the trying ordeal of the new organiza- 
 tion had been passed. The battle had 
 been fought, and victory had perched 
 upon the banner of the little band, 
 which had been flung to the breeze, not 
 defiantly, but with an humble trust in 
 the power and. grace of the great Head 
 of the Church. The first contest over, 
 however, did not give to the victors im- 
 munity from perpetual labor, watchful- 
 ness, and prayer. To maintain the 
 position which they had fought so gal- 
 lantly to gain, required all the skill, and 
 courage, and vigilance which was requi- 
 site to the first achievement. 
 
 At this period of his life, then, Mr. 
 Ewing occupied the position of a vet- 
 
100 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 eran soldier. He knew the power and 
 strength of the enemy, and, above all, 
 he understood well the true source of 
 his own influence and power. In hours 
 of great emergency he never lost sight 
 of the fact that the battle is not to the 
 strong, nor the race to the swift. His 
 reserve force, in all his conflicts, was in 
 the omnific arm of his divine Master, 
 and an humble reliance upon that re- 
 source was the leading and controlling 
 idea of his life. It was indicated in all 
 his preaching and in all his writings. 
 
 The Church then being fully organ- 
 ized and equipped for work, it was the 
 business of the preachers of that day 
 to do the work before them. Mr. Ew- 
 ing claimed no exemption from his 
 share of the labor; he traveled and 
 preached constantly. He made it a 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 101 
 
 special duty to be with his own Leb- 
 anon people at his regular appoint- 
 ments. 
 
 In all the intervals of time, however, 
 he was in the field; and wherever 
 there was work to be done, he was 
 ready and willing to put forth a helping 
 hand. 
 
 Camp-meetings w^ere then held in all 
 the congregations that were at all able 
 to support them; and Mr. Ewing not 
 only went himself, but to many places 
 took his family and assisted in main- 
 taining the people during the occasion. 
 As a general rule, he would preach 
 once every day. 
 
 It was the usual custom to have two 
 sermons during the day and one at 
 night. Nor was the labor of the 
 preachers confined to the pulpit. In 
 
102 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the altar and at the places of secret 
 prayer, out under the leafy shelter of 
 the spreading trees, they were found 
 engaged on all occasions demanding 
 their attention. 
 
 These camp-meetings were generally 
 fields for great achievements of the 
 Church. Scores, and sometimes hun- 
 dreds, would capitulate to the embas- 
 sadors of the heavenly kingdom, and 
 surrender unconditionally to the de- 
 mands of Christ for their love and obe- 
 dience. 
 
 I will not attempt any analysis of 
 Mr. Swing's style of preaching farther 
 than to say that he was more argu- 
 mentative than declamatory, and was 
 always logical and conclusive in his rea- 
 soning. Occasionally he would make 
 very impassioned appeals to his audi- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 103 
 
 ence. But all the habits of his mind 
 and all his early training in the mat- 
 ter and manner of his discourses led 
 him to an argumentative and logical 
 method. 
 
 The new doctrine, for the first time 
 so distinctly advanced by Presbyterian 
 divines, that Christ had provided salva- 
 tion for all men, was so vehemently op- 
 posed and so bitterly assailed by the 
 advocates of high Calvinism that the 
 supporters of the new theories were 
 compelled to train their minds to habits 
 of close argument and critical analysis. 
 The circumstances that surrounded Mr. 
 Ewing in all the years of his ministry 
 made it a necessity with him to study 
 to give a reason for his opinions ; and 
 under this sort of discipline and train- 
 ing, he became simply powerful in ar- 
 
104 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 gnment. That power, however, w\ns 
 never exhibited, except in the pulpit. 
 Under the inspiration of an interest- 
 ing discussion his logic was invincible, 
 and his reasoning irresistible. The er- 
 rors and sophisms of his opponents 
 would be swept away like cob-webs. 
 
 Mr. Swing's true abilities as a 
 preacher and theologian are not exhib- 
 ited in his writings. Nothing that he 
 has ever written, except a letter or cir- 
 cular in reply to an attack, does any 
 thing like justice to his abilities. The 
 characteristics of his mind and his men- 
 tal training would have qualified him 
 eminently for the bar, the political 
 forum, or the bench. Indeed, many of 
 his admirers thought the true theater 
 of his life lay in statesmanship. It is 
 not denied either that he had consider- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 105 
 
 able taste for legal and political reading. 
 At no time, however, did he lose sight, 
 for a single moment, of his commission 
 to that highest and greatest of all 
 vocations, the ministry, of Christ. He 
 took just so much interest in the affairs 
 of his country as to qualify him to act 
 intelligently upon all questions presented 
 for his consideration, and to vote under- 
 standingly at all elections. He was a 
 usefid citizen and a Christian patriot, in 
 addition to that of being an humble and 
 able minister. 
 
 The leading elements of his charac- 
 ter may be stated, briefly, as follows : 
 His administrative abilities w^ere of the 
 highest order. This was demonstrated 
 fully in the manngement of his family 
 and business affairs, and especially in 
 his Church relations. His chief mental 
 
106 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 characteristics find expression in the 
 terms logical and forcible. These ele- 
 ments of mind and character quaUfied 
 him for the position of a leader in what- 
 ever walk of life he chose to enter. 
 These, combined with his ardent zeal 
 and humble piety, fitted him for trying 
 emergencies in the history of theolog- 
 ical and ecclesiastical questions. 
 
 The theory of a possible salvation for 
 all men, and at the same time security 
 in Christ for the true believer, is no 
 new truth. It is as old as the Bible 
 and as the Author of our salvation. It 
 was simply eliminated from the teach- 
 ings of Christ in the New Testament, 
 divested of the rubbish of high Calvin- 
 ism and the fallacies of Arminianism. 
 It was simply reasserting, in a new 
 formula, the sublime truth of the Bible, 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 107 
 
 that a just and merciful God must be 
 true to his essential nature, and cannot 
 deal with the creatures of his hands 
 (all being alike sinful) except on the 
 general principle of justice to condemn 
 all, and of divine benevolence to pro- 
 vide salvation for all. 
 
 The great central idea of Cumber- 
 land Presbyterianism, as promulgated 
 by the fathers, is simply a possible sal- 
 vation for all men, and security in Christ 
 to the penitent believer. In this sys- 
 tem the character of God, in the attri- 
 bute of his justice, is unimpugned, and 
 the power and willingness of the Father 
 to save to the uttermost the children 
 begotten to him by the Holy Spirit, are 
 unimpeached. 
 
 The old ship "Cumberland," about 
 which some of our new-found Scotch 
 
108 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 friends liaA^e written lately, can find a 
 smooth passnge between the rocks of 
 Scylla on the one side and the whirl- 
 pool of Charybdis on the other. 
 
 Mr. Ewing's intercourse with the nu- 
 merous young preachers who attended 
 the same Church-meetings and judica- 
 tures was cordial, paternal, and kind. 
 There was nothing assumed on account 
 of his position ; only the character of 
 instruction was exhibited. I have heard 
 the young men argue with him stoutly 
 and boldly upon questions of theology 
 and Church polity. 
 
 He was often flattered and made 
 much of by indiscreet persons ; but if 
 it ever augmented his pride, or puffed 
 him up, I do n't remember to have seen 
 any evidence of it. One of the lessons 
 that he endeavored to teach the preach- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 109 
 
 ers and tlie Church generally, more per- 
 sistently than any other, was the grace 
 of abidmg and growing humility. The 
 very prosperity of the Church was a 
 source of uneasiness and alarm to him, 
 for fear that the people should become 
 proud of their strength and forget their 
 reliance upon the all-powerful Arm 
 which had raised them up from such 
 small beginnings. 
 
110 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 ^m 
 
 CHAPTER YII, 
 
 linger in the shadows of 
 Lebanon with pecuhar pleas- 
 ure. In the cemetery hard 
 by, several members of our 
 family and many dear friends and neigh- 
 bors have found their last earthly home. 
 To the old meeting-house we went to 
 school in the week, and to church on 
 Sunday. 
 
 We recall the names of some of our 
 teachers and school - fellows with a 
 mournful pleasure. To many of them 
 " the fitful fever of life's dream has 
 closed forever." How widely scattered 
 are the men who grew up from boyhood 
 
AUNT PEGGY. Ill 
 
 in that vicinity, and how varied has 
 been their destiny in life ! Some of 
 them have made an honorable record in 
 the annals of the Church and the State. 
 A number of years ago, three or four 
 of the Lebanon boys became members 
 of the Missouri Legislature, at the same 
 session ; another one had become a dis- 
 tinguished judge, another Attorney-Gen- 
 eral of the State, and another held a 
 high office under the United States. 
 They all met in Jefferson City, the 
 State capital, at the same time ; and no 
 incident in the life of one of them at 
 least has afforded him more unalloyed 
 pleasure than that meeting. Most of 
 them were members of the Church, and 
 they all recalled the period of their 
 early days at Lebanon with the great- 
 est interest and satisfaction. I have 
 
112 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 good reason to hope that they will all 
 meet again in the capital of the heav- 
 enly kingdom, where God is the Gov- 
 ernor and Christ the great Minister of 
 State. 
 
 The old settlers about Lebanon seemed 
 to be content with their homes and their 
 countr}^, and there they lived, and died, 
 and were buried. Many of the young 
 people, of course, sought their homes 
 and their fortunes in other lands. 
 
 Twenty-live years after the family of 
 Mr. Ewing had removed from Lebanon, 
 the writer again visited the old place 
 under circumstances of unusual interest. 
 When he left the neighborhood he was 
 a boy of sixteen, and returned again a 
 gray-haired man, seeking political hon- 
 ors from the people of the State. The 
 announcement that an old Lebanon boy 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 113 
 
 would present his claims to the people 
 for the office of Governor, brought out 
 all the old citizens of the neighborhood; 
 and notwithstanding the long absence 
 of a quarter of a century, every f^ice 
 was instantly recognized ; and then the 
 pages of all the history of our residence 
 under the shadows of the old church 
 were unfolded, and their contents scan- 
 ned, read, and re-read, with infinite in- 
 terest and attention. 
 
 A few years later, the writer again 
 visited the place, and a different, but 
 far more interesting, event was trans- 
 piring. The old church, that had done 
 duty for a third of a century as school- 
 house and meeting-house, had been re- 
 moved, and its place was occupied by a 
 large, handsome, v/ell-built brick edifice; 
 and this was the occasion of the dedica- 
 8 
 
114 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 tion of the new cLiirch. I looked over 
 the great congregation, and nearly all 
 the old faces were absent. A new gen- 
 eration had come upon the stage. Rev. 
 P. G. Rea preached the sermon on the 
 occasion. The congregation was very 
 large, and respectable in appearance. 
 Quite a large sum of money was raised 
 to pay off the debt upon the house; 
 and thus the Church at Lebanon entered 
 upon a new era in its history. The 
 seed planted in the wilderness has 
 borne most abundant fruit. Hundreds, 
 and perhaps thousands, have been con- 
 verted upon the consecrated ground, 
 and influences for good have gone out 
 from them to the four quarters of the 
 compass. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ($^ HE family of Mr. Ewing, in 
 the year 1832, moved from 
 New Lebanon, Cooper county, 
 to Lafayette county, Mo., and 
 settled, near the town of Lex- 
 ington, in the Brick Church congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 The reasons for this change of resi- 
 dence — for breaking the ties that bound 
 pastor and people, neighbors and friends 
 — were not fully understood, and have 
 frequently been misstated by those not 
 familiar with all the facts. 
 
 At first glance it seemed incredible 
 that persons so pleasantly situated, as 
 
116 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 were Mr. Ewing and family, could be 
 induced to break away from such a 
 home and so many agreeable associa- 
 tions and tender ties. All the appur- 
 tenances of the home — houses, lands, 
 and fields — were in the very best con- 
 dition. All the arrangements and ap- 
 pointments of the place were in perfect 
 harmony, indicating the prevailing hab- 
 its and tastes of the master. Every 
 thing bore the character and influence 
 of thorough system. 
 
 This work was projected when the 
 country was a comparative wilderness, 
 but, at the date we speak of, the whole 
 land was dotted over with other beauti- 
 ful homes, and altogether it was a good 
 country for one to spend his life and 
 finally be buried in. 
 
 The force requisite to cultivate this 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 117 
 
 f?irm was necessarily considerable. It 
 required a great deal of attention from 
 the head of the household. 
 
 About this time, or perhaps a little 
 before, Mr. Ewing had reached the con- 
 clusion that it was wrong for him to 
 hold slaves, and had determined to pro- 
 vide for their emancipation at an early 
 day. Though still in the vigor of 
 life, he was advancing in years. He 
 disliked to bestow upon his farm so 
 much time and attention which he de- 
 sired to devote to his ministerial duties. 
 The purpose to manumit his slaves 
 would render him comparatively a poor 
 man, and he still had a number of his 
 children to bring up and educate. He 
 had served the Church nearly all his 
 life without compensation, because the 
 Church was young and poor^ and he 
 
118 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 desired that what the people could give 
 to sustain the gospel should be given to 
 those who were in greater need of as- 
 sistance than himself. He w^as always 
 a successful manager of his temporal 
 affaii^j and was always independent in 
 his circumstances. 
 
 These and other considerations not 
 necessary to detail here induced Mr. 
 Ewing to accept from President Jack- 
 son a Federal appointment in the town 
 of Lexington, the duties of which he 
 could discharge by deputy, and the 
 avails of which would support him 
 handsomely after he had given up his 
 fine farm at Lebanon. 
 
 Accordingly Mr. Ewing moved to 
 Lafayette county in the fall of 1832. 
 He left nearly all of his servants on 
 the farm in charge of a man as man- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 119 
 
 ager, with all the details arranged for 
 their speedy emancipation.- 
 
 A small farm was purchased near the 
 Brick Church, as stated above, and the 
 family took up their residence there. 
 The removal from Lebanon was a se- 
 vere trial to Mrs. Ewing. Her friends 
 were counted by hundreds, not only in 
 that immediate vicinity, but through- 
 out the county. Her solicitude for the 
 servants left behind was very great. 
 A married daughter, who had been 
 many years an invalid, was also left in 
 the neighborhood. But, for many long 
 years, she had been learning the lesson 
 every day that her duty lay in the 
 path of self-sacrifice and self-denial, 
 and she submitted to what seemed to 
 be her duty in the premises without 
 complaint. In the ]:>ew home, new as- 
 
120 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 sociations were to be formed and new 
 neighbors to be cultivated. I have of- 
 ten heard her say that she never lived 
 in a place where she did not have good 
 neighbors. I have thought of the re- 
 mark frequently. 
 
 In order for one to have good neigh- 
 bors, he must himself be a good neigh- 
 bor to others, and they will not often 
 be otherwise themselves. The rule, of 
 course, has its exceptions; but the sen- 
 timent uttered by Mrs. Ewing, in that 
 connection, has influenced my own con- 
 duct in my neighborly relations, and I 
 have always found good results follow- 
 ing it. 
 
 We found quite a large congregation 
 of Church-members in our new neigh- 
 borhood. I believe the minister who 
 organized the Church was the Rev. R. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 121 
 
 D. Morrow. He did not live immedi- 
 ately in that vicinity at that time. 
 
 The only preacher of our denomina- 
 tion residing in that part of the country 
 was Rev. (Col.) Wm. Horn. He was so 
 much of a character in the community 
 at that time and afterward, that I can- 
 not resist the temptation to give a short 
 sketch of the man. He had been a 
 very worldly, wicked man, according to 
 his own account; was fond of military 
 life and the trappings of military pa- 
 rade. He bore the title of colonel, and 
 long after he became a minister he 
 was called Col. Horn. He was a frank, 
 genial, social man in his manners — 
 sprightly to a degree, quick at retort, 
 and often too quick to resent a real or 
 supposed affront. He came into the 
 ministry too late in life and with ac- 
 
122 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 quirements too limited to qualify him 
 for the deep learning of theology; yet 
 he was a good and useful preacher. 
 His exhortations were sometimes really 
 powerful, and would create a deep im- 
 pression on the minds of his congrega- 
 tions. 
 
 He was naturally a belligerent man. 
 He was born to fight, and generally to 
 conquer. It afforded him the keenest 
 enjoyment to get into a private argu- 
 ment or public controversy with a foe 
 worthy of his steel. Though his mind 
 was never disciplined, yet he could argue 
 a point with a good deal of logical force, 
 and that, combined with his powers of 
 ridicule, made him a formidable opponent. 
 He acquired more fame as a temperance 
 lecturer than as a preacher. He made 
 a most effective temperance speech. He 
 
AUNT PEGGY. IZo 
 
 would sometimes convulse his auditors 
 with laughter, and then have them in 
 tears over the woes of the drunkard's 
 wife and children. The Synod of Mis- 
 souri employed him at one time to 
 travel and lecture upon this subject 
 throughout the State. 
 
 He had faults, as all other men who 
 inherit our sinful nature ; but they were 
 largely counterbalanced by his excellent 
 qualities of head ai>d heart. The friend- 
 ship between him and Mr. E\Ying was 
 more than ordinarily cordial and tender. 
 He died in middle life, having accom- 
 plished very much good in his brief 
 ministerial life and labors. 
 
 The leading character connected with 
 the Church in our new home, who was 
 not a minister, was Chatham Ewing, 
 elder brother of Rev. Finis Ewing. " Un- 
 
124 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 cle Chatham," as everybody called hira, 
 had been an early settler in the coun- 
 try, and Jiad contributed very greatly 
 to the building up of the congregation, 
 in which he was a ruling elder. I feel 
 no delicacy in speaking of this most ex- 
 cellent man. I think he was the most 
 useful layman that I have known in 
 the denomination. Every person in the 
 community had unbounded confidence 
 in his integrity and piety; and with 
 that he was the most industrious, zeal- 
 ous' Christian in the congregation. He 
 always took an active part in the public 
 exercises of the meetings he attended 
 — prayed and exhorted with more effect 
 than most of the preachers. His pow-' 
 ers in this direction were indeed re- 
 markable. The boldest sinner in the 
 land w^ould bow before his persuasive 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 125 
 
 eloquence. He was a man of meek and 
 gentle spirit, and was not qualified for 
 the rough contests of life. He con- 
 quered by kindness and love. When I 
 first knew him, he was quite advanced 
 in life, and was rapidly preparing for 
 the final summons. Death never at- 
 tacked an earthly tabernacle that was 
 more ready and willing to surrender, 
 than when he knocked at the door of 
 old Uncle Chatham. He bade him en- 
 ter with an absolute confidence that his 
 divine Master would rescue him from 
 all enemies after the earthly house had 
 fallen. He was a ripe Christian, and 
 ready for the heavenly garner. I don't 
 know where his mantle fell, if it ever 
 did fall; for I have seen no one just 
 like him since his departure. 
 
 I speak within bounds when I say I 
 
126 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 have never seen so large a concourse of 
 people attend the burial of any private 
 citizen as followed to the old Brick 
 Church the remains of this good man. 
 His memory is precious to hundreds 
 who still remain, and scores will call 
 him blessed w^ho have already joined 
 him in that better land. 
 
 Contemporary with Uncle Chatham 
 was another most excellent man and 
 member of the Church — Capt. William 
 Jack. He was an early settler in this 
 new country, and, I believe, emigrated 
 from Tennessee. He was one of those 
 sterling, incorruptible men, who gave 
 character to society among the first in- 
 habitants of the country. The first em- 
 igrants to central and western Missouri 
 were not the rough, lawless characters 
 that frequently make their way to new 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 127 
 
 countries before a better class of citi- 
 zens come in. Most of the first emi- 
 grants which reached this part of the 
 State were men of excellent character, 
 who had large and growing families, 
 and sought a new country to get cheap 
 lands, and thus contribute to the ad- 
 vantageous settlement of their children 
 in life. Capt. Jack had a most estima- 
 ble family. Moral, intelligent, and re- 
 fined, they were ornaments of society in 
 his day, and have been in the several 
 communities in which they have resided 
 since. Most of them were members of 
 the Church, and an eminent minister and 
 a distinguished lawyer married two of 
 the daughters. 
 
 Among the young preachers who 
 came into the ministry about this time 
 were Rev. T. M. Johnston (now of Cal- 
 
128 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 ifornia) and Rev. A. A. Young. I refer 
 to these two in particular because of 
 the conspicuous part each of them took 
 in the establishment of the Church in 
 the localities where they resided. Both 
 of these good men rode the circuit in 
 south-west Missouri, when there were 
 but few inhabitants and no ministers of 
 our denomination. They laid the foun- 
 dation for the most numerous body of 
 Cumberland Presbyterians to be found 
 in the same area of country anywhere 
 west of the Mississippi River. There 
 are now three Presbyteries and one 
 Synod, and num.erous churches, and a 
 large membership, within the bounds of 
 their old circuit. 
 
 Mr. Johnston is of the Barnett stock, 
 and has a good many of the character- 
 istics of the eminent ministers of that 
 
AUNT PEGGV. 129 
 
 name who were so conspicuous in the 
 early days of the Church. He is a 
 most earnest, humble, and faithful 
 Christian minister, and has- accom- 
 plished wonderful results in his profes- 
 sion. 
 
 Mr. Johnston went to California at 
 an early day, and has probably done 
 more to establish our cause on the 
 Pacific coast than any man of the de- 
 nomination. His abilities are far above 
 the average, and his attainments in lit- 
 erature and theology are very respect- 
 able. 
 
 Mr. Johnston edited and published 
 the first paper of our Church on that 
 coast, for many years with the most mea- 
 ger support from the scattered Churches 
 of that country. It was a decade of 
 unremitting toil and labor, and no re- 
 9 
 
130 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 muneration. He would write his edi- 
 torials, and often set them up in type 
 and work at the press upon occasion. 
 Not one in a thousand would have per- 
 formed such a work under the same 
 circumstances. He deserves to be 
 honorably mentioned upon all occa- 
 sions, and I here pay my humble trib- 
 ute to his eminent worth as a minister 
 of the gospel, and pray that the long 
 period of his labor of love may yet be 
 crowned with the most glorious results, 
 and that his last days may be his 
 brightest and best! All honor to the 
 man who can Avork for years, and know 
 that his reward is only to be realized 
 beyond the confines of life ! 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 131 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 HE next summer after the ar- 
 rival of the family at their new 
 home was held the great camp- 
 meeting. 
 The camp -ground formed a square 
 in the rear of the church-house. In 
 the center of the square a spacious 
 shelter was erected and covered with 
 boards. It was as secure from the 
 rain and as comfortable as a house. A 
 large number of persons encamped on 
 the ground, and, as was usual in that 
 day, the people came from far and near 
 to attend the meeting. The congrega- 
 tions were very large and orderly. 
 
132 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 The ministers preached with the spirit 
 and unction that was exhibited in the 
 earlier days of the Church. The peo- 
 ple seemed to be under the spell of 
 some great awe which hushed every 
 thing into silence, except during the 
 public exercises. They trod lightly 
 upon the grassy turf, and spoke with 
 bated breath. 
 
 In the evening twilight the camp- 
 ground was almost deserted, and the 
 contiguous groves became vocal with 
 prayer and praises, and, ever and anon, 
 the glad shout of deliverance from sin's 
 captivity rang out upon the evening 
 air. That was an occasion on which 
 Israel prevailed in every conflict with 
 his enemies. The converts were num- 
 bered by scores, the Church was greatly 
 strengthened, and a permanent and 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 133 
 
 powerful influence for good was estab- 
 lished in the community. It was on 
 these and all similar occasions that the 
 influence of the subject of this memoir 
 was peculiarly exerted and widely felt. 
 In her new home, as well as in the old, 
 her life was devoted to toil and labor. 
 Her house again became the home 
 of the young preacher, and again she 
 dedicated the years of her life to la- 
 bor and work for her Master in what- 
 soever situation she might be placed. 
 Unobtrusive and unostentatious, she 
 rather sought the humbler spheres of 
 useful labor; and if her work was not 
 so prominently connected with the 
 cause of her Master, it was for the 
 benefit of those who were directly en- 
 gaged in the work. 
 
 And in this manner is a woman's in- 
 
134 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 fluence most generally to be employed. 
 She does not pray in public, or preach 
 from the pulpit. Her power is felt as 
 is the falling of the gentle rain or the 
 silent dew. It makes no noise, yet it 
 nourishes and vivifies every thing it 
 touches. 
 
 The new ideas of woman's rights and 
 woman's sphere did not prevail in those 
 days; and the day when all such ideas 
 are banished from the minds of good 
 women will deserve to be marked with 
 a white stone. A truly pious woman, 
 and one who really desires to be useful 
 in her day, can find a thousand ave- 
 nues through which influences for good 
 may be employed, without pushing her- 
 self to the front, and without obtruding 
 herself upon man's exclusive theater 
 of action. True benevolence seeks con- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 135 
 
 cealment rather than ostentatious and 
 garish exhibition. A true woman, with 
 her spirit sanctified by the holy influ- 
 ences of genuine religion, will make 
 herself an active and positive power 
 for good wherever she may live. In 
 the character of her children, relations, 
 friends, and neighbors, may be found 
 the real fruit of her labor, and that 
 may be traced from one generation to 
 another. A great sermon may be ex- 
 tolled and praised throughout the land, 
 but the silent influence that molded 
 and qualified the preacher may never 
 be heard of. 
 
 As a minister's wife, enough has al- 
 ready been said to indicate the fitness 
 of Mrs. Ewing for that position. I 
 avail myself of this connection to say 
 a word in vindication of preachers' 
 
136 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 wives generally. I have heard num- 
 erous complaints by fastidious members 
 of the Church to this effect, that cer- 
 tain ministers were unfortunate in their 
 marriage relations — their wives were 
 not cultivated women, they were not 
 adapted to refined society, and, of 
 course, could not exert their proper 
 influence among the more intelligent 
 members of the community. That this 
 is true in some instances, and is to be 
 regretted, is not denied; yet there is 
 an apology for such women that is not 
 often thought of. When the young 
 preacher and his wife were married, 
 there was general equality in their 
 character, habits, and attainments. 
 Then she was altogether his equal. 
 But in the course of years the minister 
 improves very much; becomes quite a 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 137' 
 
 prominent man, it may be, and his wife 
 remains stationary. She has had no 
 time for literary culture, no means to 
 gratify such a taste if she possessed it, 
 and has had possibly to submit to the 
 hardships of cook and nurse without 
 any alleviation or mitigation of her 
 condition for long years together. 
 
 The preachers are nearly all poor, 
 and but poorly paid for their work, and 
 their wives are subjected to a lot that 
 seems almost cruel in many cases. I 
 have a profound sympathy for the fam- 
 ily of a good preacher which is thus 
 situated. His wife works like a slave 
 — dresses poorly — has nothing to read, 
 and no time to read if she had — a fam- 
 ily of children to rear and work for, 
 with no means of educating them. It 
 seems a terrible ordeal for a good 
 
138 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 3^oman to endure. But I cannot pass 
 from this point without reprobating the 
 practice of very early marriages among 
 preachers. 
 
 A man of some promise enters the 
 ministry, and about the time he is or- 
 dained, and very frequently before, he 
 takes a wife, young, poor, and green, 
 as he is, and thus he closes forever 
 the door to distinction and extended 
 usefulness. They are both subjected 
 to a life of unmitigated toil and sacri- 
 fice, and their children are dedicated to 
 ignorance and obscurity. 
 
 I return from this episode about 
 preachers' wives and the evils of the 
 early marriages of ministers. I propose 
 to give my views at length upon the 
 last part of this topic in another more 
 appropriate connection. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 139 
 
 We have found the family settled 
 pleasantly in their new home. It was 
 not a place of much pretensions. The 
 house and farm were both smaller than 
 at Lebanon. The children at home 
 were reduced to two, and sometimes 
 only one. The servants were reduced 
 in number, also. The heads of the fam- 
 ily were on the decline of life, and 
 making slow, but sensible, progress in 
 that direction. The capacity for effec- 
 tive labor on the part of both was per- 
 ceptibly diminishing; yet the services 
 at the church and the camp-meetings, 
 both far and near, were still regularly 
 attended. No special event broke the 
 monotony of their lives for several years. 
 
 One circumstance is well remembered 
 that occurred during this period. Rev. 
 Eeuben Burrow, so well known to the 
 
140 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 whole Church, had preached in western 
 Missouri shortly after he entered the 
 ministry. He was probably one of the 
 first of our preachers who labored regu- 
 larly in this country. His stay was 
 only temporary, however. He returned 
 to his home in Tennessee after awhile, 
 and in about eight or ten years he re- 
 visited his old friends and his early field 
 of labor in western Missouri. He and 
 his traveling companion, Mr. Bigham, 
 arrived at Mr. Ewing's in mid-summer, 
 in 1834 or 1835. The writer traveled 
 with them from Boonville to Lafayette. 
 They were simply on a preaching tour 
 through the country. Mr. Burrow was 
 then in the prime of his manhood. 
 His mental characteristics resembled 
 his physical — strong, powerful, and 
 rugged. His thoughts were original 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 141 
 
 and vigorous, and expressed with singu- 
 lar force, and sometimes with great ve- 
 hemence. He was an effective preacher. 
 His style was not palatable to a fastidi- 
 ous taste, but he always commanded 
 attention through the mere force of his 
 character. In debate, I don't suppose 
 he would have been ready and quick 
 enough for reply or retort : his tem- 
 perament w^ould require him " to warm 
 up," and he would need time to adjust 
 himself to the task before him; but 
 w^hen aroused, and all his great powers 
 brought fully into play, he was a lion 
 indeed. 
 
 e^J^' 
 
142 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 jHIWAVING resided a few years at 
 i^ their country home in Laf^iy- 
 ette county, the family removed 
 into the town of Lexington. 
 The children had all grown up and left 
 the paternal roof, except one, and he 
 discharged the duties of his father's 
 office in town. The family servants 
 were nearly all practically free, if not 
 legally manumitted. The household was 
 now very small : two servants and the 
 two old people were the ordinary fam- 
 ily. But a house without children, that 
 had been so long accustomed to them, 
 seemed almost desolate. Children are 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 143 
 
 the sunlight of any household ; and I 
 pity the family in whose home the pat- 
 ter of little feet was never heard. The 
 unnatural vacuum could not remain long 
 in this family, and accordingly several 
 grandchildren w^ere duly installed to fill 
 the places made vacant by the departure 
 of their predecessors ; and then the old 
 home looked like itself again. 
 
 There was no church -house in the 
 town at the time referred to. The 
 court-house served for that purpose to 
 all denominations. ,Mr. Ewing never 
 lived long in any place without a suit- 
 able place of public worship; and ac- 
 cordingly, with his accustomed energy, 
 he soon had a comfortable building 
 erected and a congregation duly organ- 
 ized. Two of the first elders of that 
 congregation deserve a passing notice. 
 
144 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 George and William Houx are brothers. 
 They are old-time Cumberland Presby- 
 terians. They are now far advanced in 
 life, and can look back upon a long 
 career of usefulness to the Church and 
 the country. They are of a class of 
 men now very rare within my knowl- 
 edge. While energetically employed in 
 temporal pursuits, and unusually suc- 
 cessful in business, they are always 
 prepared for the duties of religion and 
 the obligations of the Church. 
 
 A friend of ming, who had long been 
 a merchant, quit the business and went 
 on to a farm. He told me he liked his 
 new pursuits better than the old, be- 
 cause he could worship God while fol- 
 lowing the plow. So in reference to 
 these men ; they worshiped God while 
 in the midst of absorbing^ worldly en- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 145 
 
 gagements. One of them is remark- 
 ably gifted in prayer; and I once heard 
 the reason asked why it was so : he 
 was not learned or fluent of speech. 
 The ready answer of one who knew him 
 well was, that he practiced praying a 
 great deal, and was therefore unusually 
 fluent. William Houx always goes to 
 Presbytery and Synod, and frequently 
 to the General Assembly. No branch 
 of Christian duty suffers in his hands 
 for want of attention. They both re- 
 side now in the Mount Hebron congre- 
 gation, twelve miles south of Lexington. 
 The nucleus of this congregation was 
 furnished from Lexington and the old 
 Brick Church. They have an excellent 
 brick house, beautifully located, and a 
 convenient parsonage, with ten acres 
 of ground, for the use of the pastor. 
 10 
 
146 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 They are a strong Church, well off in 
 the world's goods, and influential in the 
 community. No congregation in this 
 State can be more successfully appealed 
 to for benevolent purposes than Mount 
 Hebron. Indeed, whenever money is 
 to be raised in Lexington Presbytery, 
 the first place the agent visits is this 
 Church. It is no difference where the 
 charity is located, if it is a worthy ob- 
 ject — the pocket-books of the members 
 open instinctively to the call. It is 
 called a "star" congregation 5 and long 
 may it continue to deserve the compli- 
 ment ! 
 
 During the years that we are now 
 considering, great changes have occur- 
 red in the society of the country. A 
 heavy tide of emigration has set in, and 
 the people bring with them their pre- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 147 
 
 viously-formed religious opinions, and 
 many of them are hostile to what is re- 
 garded by all Protestant denominations 
 as orthodox doctrines. The schism in 
 the Baptist Church, caused by the in- 
 troduction of error through Alexander 
 Campbell and his followers, has greatly 
 demoralized that denomination ; and 
 they are themselves, in great measure, 
 responsible for the mischief done, by 
 the undue importance which they at- 
 tach to water -baptism, and especially 
 to the mode by which it is to be per- 
 formed. The converts from the old 
 Baptist Church to the new theories of 
 Campbell have swarmed into the coun- 
 try by the thousand, and have contrib- 
 uted very greatly to retard the spread 
 of the gospel doctrine of repentance, 
 faith, and regeneration. Sharp contro- 
 
148 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 versies are frequent between these ad- 
 vocates of the easy road to heaven and 
 those still adhering to the old paths; 
 and, as a consequence, the growth of 
 true piety is retarded among the people. 
 
 No event worthy of special notice 
 occurred in the family till the death of 
 Mr. Ewing, on the 4 th of July, 1841, 
 at his own home in Lexington, Mis- 
 souri. This event was not unlooked 
 for. During the preceding year, Mr. 
 E. had suffered very greatly from a 
 malady of long standing, and in the 
 midst of the hot weather of summer he 
 was prostrated by another disease pecu- 
 liar to the season, and died as above 
 stated. 
 
 In anticipation of his approaching 
 end, the writer was called on to pre- 
 pare the last will of the deceased ; and 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 149 
 
 I now recall with pleasure, after the 
 lapse of more than thirty years, the 
 precaution taken by Mr. Ewing to pro- 
 vide for the comfort of those of his 
 servants who were advanced in life. A 
 sum of money was placed in the hands 
 of trustees, to be used only when the 
 beneficiaries became incapable of taking 
 care of themselves. One old man is now 
 enjoying the benefit of that thoughtful 
 provision of his old master. 
 
 Mr. Ewing had begun to manumit his 
 slaves many years before his death, and 
 in his last will provided for the full 
 freedom of all the remainder. I men- 
 tion these facts in this connection simply 
 because they were among the last acts 
 of his life, and they are nowhere else 
 recorded. 
 
150 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OR nearly fifty years Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ewing had walked side 
 by side, and with mutual aid 
 
 and support had breasted the 
 storms of life, had endured the trials, 
 sorrows, and persecutions incident to 
 their position. In the dark and troub- 
 lous period antecedent to the organiza- 
 tion of the Church, all the energies of 
 their natures were elicited to meet the 
 trying emergencies of the hour. They 
 had suffered together all the anxiety 
 and solicitude inseparable from the 
 birth of the infant Church. They had 
 prayed and labored together inces- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 151 
 
 santly for the bantling born under their 
 auspices. They had watched its devel- 
 opment and rejoiced in its growth with 
 unabated interest for a third of a cen- 
 tury. They had assisted in its bap- 
 tism, and nurtured its tender years 
 with prayers and tears; and they had 
 witnessed together its progress toward 
 athletic and vigorous manhood. They 
 had gone up to the house of God and 
 worshiped at the same altar for more 
 than the life -time of a generation. 
 They had supported camp -meetings, 
 Presbyteries, and Synods for more 
 than thirty years. They had labored 
 together to prepare and qualify for the 
 sacred office numerous candidates for 
 the holy ministry, and had reared, and 
 educated, and sent forth into the world 
 a large family of sons and daughters. 
 
152 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 They had performed together all the 
 duties and offices of parents, masters, 
 neighbors, and Church-members, during 
 all this long period. And now they 
 had reached together the margin of the 
 dark, cold river, and one went over, 
 and the other was left behind. What 
 innumerable ties were thus suddenly 
 ruptured and forever broken asunder! 
 How inscrutable are thy ways, Lord ! 
 Why the husband should be taken and 
 the wife left for another thirty years' 
 pilgrimage alone, is the mysterious 
 providence no one can comprehend. 
 The beneficent purpose to be accom- 
 plished by this incomprehensible dis- 
 pensation of the Divine Providence will 
 only be unfolded in the great day. 
 
 No one who has not passed through 
 a similar ordeal can appreciate the 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 153 
 
 depth of such an affliction under such 
 peculiar circumstances. The whole 
 public career of Mr. Ewing was prac- 
 tically a trial before the high court of 
 Christendom, for the part he had taken 
 in setting up another Church organiza- 
 tion in the country where there were so 
 many Churches already. He and those 
 associated with him were subjected to 
 continual criticism, generally unfriendly, 
 and often virulent and vindictive. The 
 wife of a man thus situated could not 
 escape the consequences of such an 
 ordeal, even if she would. It had, 
 therefore, become a part of her daily 
 duty, as it seemed to her, to put her 
 own shoulders under a part of the bur- 
 den. The responsibilities of her hus- 
 band's position had excited in her mind 
 unabated and inexhaustible solicitude, 
 
154 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 and had caused the ties that bound them 
 together to multiply and strengthen with 
 age. They had so long fought the war- 
 fare of life together, under the protec- 
 tion of the same Shield, guided by a 
 common motive, and looking forward to 
 the same reward,. that a separation, even 
 on the margin of the dark river, was an 
 overwhelming shock to the one left be- 
 hind. It was long a source of perplex- 
 ing inquiry to Mrs. Ewing why she 
 should be left when her husband was 
 taken; but in the course of time she 
 bowed submissively to her Master's 
 will, and did not murmur or complain. 
 Thus she soon became reconciled, and 
 took up her solitary march for the re- 
 mainder of the journey of life. Her 
 prayer was that it might be a short 
 journey and quickly performed. But 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 155 
 
 God's ways are not man's ways. Her 
 life was protracted for nearly thirty 
 years after the death of her husband, 
 and for much of the time through great 
 affliction and bodily suffering. 
 
 The joint labor that she had been so 
 long accustomed to perform with her 
 husband, being now broken up by a dis- 
 solution of the marriage partnership, left 
 her in doubt for a time as to what av- 
 enue of usefulness might be open to 
 her. The household was broken up, 
 and she could no more take care of 
 the young preachers, or spread her hos- 
 pitable board for the servants of her 
 divine Master, as they would pass to 
 and fro through the country. She 
 finally concluded, however, that she 
 could speak a word in season, when 
 opportunity offered, both for the gen- 
 
156 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 eral cause of Christianity and her own 
 branch of the Church ; but, above all, 
 the resource of prayer was left to her. 
 She could make this influence for good 
 as potent as ever; and from that time 
 forward till the day of her death, she 
 never lost sight of the great privilege 
 she enjoyed of praying — not statedly, 
 but very often and on many days, almost 
 constantly — to her Heavenly Father, 
 first for a large supply of grace for her- 
 self, and then for her children, and for 
 the Church. 
 
 This habit of prayer was one of long 
 standing with her. It was formed with 
 her, and her husband also, in the early 
 days of their life, when their trials and 
 labors were hard to be borne, and when 
 they both realized the necessity of more 
 than mortal help in the work in which 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 157 
 
 they were engaged. With Mr. Ewing, 
 every thing of any importance whatever 
 became a subject of prayer. If a jour- 
 ney was to be undertaken, a member of 
 the family sick, or any thing transpired 
 out of the ordinary daily course of 
 events, it was always referred to the 
 divine Source of all wisdom for guid- 
 ance and assistance. 
 
 Mrs. Ewing took up her abode, from 
 time to time, with different members of 
 her family. She was then in compar- 
 atively good health, and would take her 
 servant and travel extensively to visit 
 her friends and relatives. She made an 
 extended visit to the South, going into 
 several of the States in search of the 
 members of her own branch of the 
 Davidson family. On all these jour- 
 neys she never met with an accident, 
 
158 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 or experienced any thing but kindness 
 from friends and strangers alike. 
 
 One whose life had been so active 
 and full of labor could scarcely be con- 
 tent to sit down in idleness. Her long- 
 established habits of industry would 
 allow of no slothful indulgence or ease. 
 She often expressed the opinion that 
 indolence, or laziness, was a sin. She 
 never could conceive how such a char- 
 acter as that could be a Christian. 
 There were several persons of her ac- 
 quaintance whose habits gave rise to 
 that expression of opinion. She could 
 not tolerate a preacher who was not 
 actively employed in his profession. 
 She had seen so much of the labor and 
 self-sacrifice done by the early preach- 
 ers of the Church, that she had no 
 patience with a minister who would 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 159 
 
 preach only when all the conditions 
 about him were favorable. Her theory 
 was, that those who professed to be 
 called to that high office, ought to seek 
 and find his field of labor, and not "wait 
 for something to turn up," Micawber- 
 like, before he would embark in his work. 
 Notwithstanding she had no house- 
 hold to work for, she was always doing 
 something for others. Her grandchil- 
 dren claimed a great deal of her loving 
 attention. Some poor, needy preacher 
 was frequently the object of her kindly 
 solicitude; and any aid, by her own work 
 or by other means in her power, that 
 she could afford to him, was cordially 
 rendered. The benevolence of her dis- 
 position was not now exhibited for the 
 first time : it was a leading feature of 
 her character throughout her long life. 
 
160 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 We have alread}^ alluded to the l^ome 
 which she gratuitously furnished to the 
 numerous young preachers who were 
 about the house for nearly thirty years. 
 No characteristic of her life stands out 
 more prominently and attractively than 
 that of her unselfish desire for the hap- 
 piness of others. 
 
 I have frequently heard the unfilial 
 and unchristian remark made by chil- 
 dren in reference to their aged parents, 
 that they had outlived their usefulness. 
 Good Christian people never outlive 
 their days of usefulness. The prayers 
 and example of a pious parent are of 
 infinite value to her family and friends, 
 and to the community generally. They 
 are the true salt of the earth. It is 
 the history of the aged Christian that 
 demonstrates the true value of religion. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 161 
 
 The young Christian may fail in his 
 course, may yield to temptation, and 
 thus bring reproach upon the cause of 
 religion; but the venerable patriarch, 
 who has borne his Christian honor un- 
 tarnished through the thousand tempta- 
 tions of a long life — who has been 
 victorious in every battle with the arch- 
 enemy of souls — who has illustrated 
 the truth of his profession by a godly 
 walk and pious conversation, through 
 the years of trial, and labor, and hard-, 
 ship — this character proves, by the cer- 
 tain light of his long, well-spent life, 
 that there is a blessed reality in the 
 Christian religion which he professes. 
 
 When we consider the period of life 
 
 of any aged Christian who is no longer 
 
 able, by reason of physical infirmity, to 
 
 labor actively in the general cause of 
 
 11 
 
162 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 religion, "we must not therefore conclude 
 that his usefulness is ended. The riper 
 the Christian character, the broader and 
 more mellow the Christian benevolence; 
 the more fervent the devotion, the 
 stronger the faith, and the more benefi- 
 cent the influence that results from this 
 condition. In regard to the subject of 
 this memoir, I can assert with confidence 
 that, during the last years of her life, 
 long after she became unable to leave 
 her room, the foregoing sentiments were 
 demonstrated by her every day. 
 
 In this connection, I extract from Dr. 
 Cossitt's " Life and Times of Eev. Finis 
 Ewing" again, as furnishing his impres- 
 sions from a personal visit to Mrs. Ew- 
 ing when she had become far advanced 
 in life : 
 
 "The writer visited this venerable 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 163 
 
 lady in the summer of 1848, and her 
 numerous religious friends and admiring 
 acquaintances will expect to hear some- 
 thing concerning her spiritual state and 
 prospects in her advanced age. 
 
 " Mrs. Ewing was then in her sev- 
 enty-sixth year, but retained in a re- 
 markable degree her native vigor of 
 intellect. She considered herself a mir- 
 acle of the grace and mercy of God, 
 who, through the instrumentality of one 
 of his faithful servants, had brought her 
 to abandon a dangerous error and em- 
 brace the truth as it is in Jesus. Her 
 heart seemed full of gratitude to God 
 that she had been permitted to witness 
 the glorious revival of 1800 and its 
 no less glorious results, something of 
 which she could see and hear every 
 day, and that she had been united with 
 
f 
 
 164 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 one who lived only to labor for God and 
 our fallen race, and who afforded her so 
 many opportunities of doing what she 
 could in her humble sphere for the same 
 precious cause. ' I can do nothing now,' 
 she said ; ' but it is still my privilege to 
 pray for the Church ; and for this I may 
 have been so long spared.' Though her 
 husband had been much from home, en- 
 gaged in the service of the Church, she 
 praised her Heavenly Father's goodness 
 that no adverse providence-, no disas- 
 trous event, no domestic affliction, had 
 ever occurred in his absence. It was 
 matter of great joy to her that, with 
 the exception of two, all her children 
 had professed the faith of the gospel; 
 and she seemed to exercise strong faith 
 that God, in answer to the many pray- 
 ers of which they had been the subjects, 
 
AUNT r E G G y. 165 
 
 would convert those two unbelieving 
 ones. ^All the days of my appointed 
 time will I wait till my change come/ 
 said she; Hhen shall I leave this world 
 of sin, sorrow, toil, and pain, and go to 
 my home in heaven, where I shall see 
 my Saviour as he is, and be like him.' 
 One who was present asked, ' Do you 
 not anticipate a joyful meeting with 
 those loved ones who have gone be- 
 fore?' Her answer w^as, ^Oyes; and 
 it Avill be joyful, but nothing like seeing 
 my precious Saviour. Without him, 
 heaven would be no heaven to me.' " 
 
 These extracts will show very clearly 
 that as she glided on down the stream 
 of time, her faith grew stronger and 
 stronger, her confidence never abated, 
 and her anticipations of the reward that 
 awaited her beyond the grave filled her 
 
166 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 heart with joy unspeakable. The long 
 years of painful affliction through which 
 she was called to pass were a fiery or- 
 deal, but they purified her spirit and 
 qualified it for the heavenly state to 
 which she was now drawing nigh. '^All 
 the days of my appointed time will I 
 wait," was frequently repeated by her 
 during this long period of affliction; 
 and patience and resignation followed 
 naturally from this condition of mind. 
 And so on down to the end did she 
 pursue her earthly journey. 
 
 As corroborating the sentiments ex- 
 pressed by Mrs. Ewing in the conversa- 
 tion with Dr. Cossitt, I introduce in 
 this connection a matter recently re- 
 lated to me by Rev. W. B. Farr, one 
 of the devoted ministers of our Church 
 in Missouri. Many years after the in- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 167 
 
 terview with Dr. Cossitt, above referred 
 to, Mr. Farr, with his fjimil}^, called to 
 pay his respects to Mrs. Ewing. After 
 a long conversation on various religious 
 subjects, and after she had repeatedly 
 said that she was often afraid that she 
 did wrong in becoming so impatient in 
 her anxiety to leave the world and go 
 up to her home in heaven, Mr. F. asked 
 her what was her chief motive for wish- 
 ing to leave the world — was it to get 
 release from her afflictions >and personal 
 discomforts, or to meet her friends in 
 the better land? Her answer was to 
 the same purport as given to Dr. Cos- 
 sitt nearly twenty years before, and 
 that was, that to be released from per- 
 sonal afflictions and to see her friends 
 who had preceded her to their heavenly 
 home, were minor considerations alto- 
 
168 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 gether ; that the great controlling desire 
 of her heart was to see the Saviour, to 
 be with him and near him, as bei^g 
 the great source of all her hopes of hap- 
 piness when she should reach her final 
 home. 
 
 For many years before her death, her 
 health became very feeble; but her 
 strong, vigorous intellect was scarcely 
 impaired at all till the very evening of 
 her days. She read constantly religious 
 papers and books ; but a copy of the 
 New Testament, in large print, lay on 
 her table every day, and was as regu- 
 larly read as the day came. On account 
 of great deafness and disability for con- 
 versation, her only resource was in 
 reading, meditation, and prayer. She 
 constantly looked forward to the day 
 of her final release from all bodily afilic- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 169 
 
 tions and earthly cares and disappoint- 
 ments. 
 
 She not only anticipated tliis event, 
 but actually longpd for it. The only 
 impatience she almost ever exhibited 
 in these her last days was at what 
 seemed to her the unaccountable delay 
 of the final messenger. But no condi- 
 tion of bodily pain, or other source of 
 anxiety, could for a moment darken 
 the glad prospect of a reiinion with her 
 family and friends beyond the river 
 and on the beautiful shore of the bet- 
 ter land. Her faith on this score never 
 faltered — it had become permanently 
 strons^ and buovant. 
 
 And but for that faith and the hope 
 that follows, her life had been utterly 
 desolate. what is there in all the 
 world to keep the aged and helpless 
 
170 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 from sinking down into utter despair, 
 but the Christian's hope that casts out 
 its anchor beyond the dark chasm of 
 death, and takes fast hold upon the 
 banks of the river of life, which flows 
 on forever from the mercy-seat! 
 
 The young may and do live without 
 religion, but to the old it is a necessity 
 that nothing else under the sun can 
 supply. With no staff to support the 
 tottering steps down the declivity of 
 time, with no strong arm of deliver- 
 ance, when the feet touch the cold wa- 
 ters of death, what can the old man 
 do, but sink down overwhelmed in the 
 dark waves that pass over him, and 
 the piteous cry of Lost! lost! is heard 
 for the last time and forever! God 
 help the old people, for no power short 
 of thine will be sufficient for them in 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 171 
 
 the day that hastens to meet them at 
 their commg! 
 
 From year to year Mrs. Ewing lin- 
 gered on, and the final summons was 
 still delayed. Her prayers for her 
 children, and the Church, and a wicked 
 world, never abated. One or two 
 members of her own fiimily long claimed 
 her special intercessions at a throne of 
 grace. It was her conviction that the 
 chief duty of her life now was to pray 
 for these and others of her children. 
 The hope is not without foundation 
 that all these earnest and faithful pray- 
 ers have produced their purposed re- 
 sults. 
 
 Amid all her afflictions, her spirit 
 rarely became depressed. Christian 
 resignation pervaded all her thoughts, 
 and exhibited itself in all her conduct 
 
172 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 during these sad years of her life. A 
 calm serenity, born only of the Spirit 
 of air grace, came over her life, and 
 her pathway on to the end was 
 unobscured by a single cloud touching 
 her own personal destiny. A fliith 
 stronger than death surmounted every 
 obstacle and smoothed every rugged 
 place, and finally illumined the end of 
 the road with rays of heavens own 
 light. 
 
 One terrible experience her friends 
 w^ould fain have spared her, if it had 
 been possible. The war raged fiercely 
 all over that part of the State in which 
 she resided; many of her relations and 
 friends were involved in its conse- 
 quences; the churches were closed, the 
 members scattered to the four winds, 
 the ministers ceased to preach, and 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 173 
 
 every thing seemed destined to an- 
 archy and ruin. It afflicted her be- 
 yond all conception to see such demor- 
 alization in the authorities of the land, 
 and in the Churches, and among the 
 people. But she survived this dreadful 
 ordeal, and saw the country once more 
 restored to peace, and the broken altars 
 of the Church once more reestablished. 
 
 During the last years of her life she 
 had her home with her son-in-law. Rev. 
 Robert Sloan; and, during this period, 
 Mr. Sloan was in declining health him- 
 self, and the two old people, belonging 
 to different generations, however, sat 
 down together by the river-side, and 
 waited patiently for the final summons, 
 and it came to both very nearly to- 
 gether, though he was called first. 
 
 It was wonderful with what tenacity 
 
174 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the frail body still clung to its mortal 
 existence. 
 
 The life of Mrs. Ewing had been 
 one of great activity and uniformity 
 of habit, and, in consequence, her con- 
 stitution had become compact and hard- 
 ened to a degree that long resisted the 
 assaults of disease and natural decay. 
 Her naturally good physical organiza- 
 tion had never been impaired by ex- 
 cesses or dissipation of any kind. 
 With regular habits, even temper, con- 
 stant industry, and a quiet conscience, 
 she laid the foundation for a term of 
 life that went far beyond three-score 
 years and ten. 
 
 It was now nearly thirty years since 
 the death of her husband; and, during 
 all these years, she never neglected for 
 a day what seemed to her the only 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 175 
 
 remaining duty of her life, and that 
 was to pray for her family and for the 
 Church. Unable to do any thing else, 
 all her ideas of duty seemed to concen- 
 trate in this one obhgation; and she 
 performed it with a faithfulness and 
 singleness of purpose that has no paral- 
 lel within my observation. Very fre- 
 quently, during her last years, she 
 would experience severe attacks of ill- 
 ness, and every one she hoped would 
 be the last, and seemed for a moment 
 disappointed when the danger passed, 
 and the prospect of recovery became 
 certain. 
 
 Finally, on the 12th of December, 
 1868, she realized what had been the 
 desire of her heart for the last twenty 
 years, and her sanctified spirit was re- 
 leased from the crumbling clay tene- 
 
176 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 ment which it had inhabited for nearly 
 an hundred years. She was about 
 ninety-five years old when she died, 
 and, in her last moments, she left the 
 most satisfixctory evidence to her friends 
 that the religion of her life was all that 
 could be desired in the last supreme 
 moment. There was no mistake as to 
 the grounds of her faith and the ob- 
 ject of her hope. She had built on 
 the rock Christ Jesus, and the storms 
 of life for three-quarters of a century 
 had beat upon the house, and it fell not, 
 because it was founded upon the Rock, 
 and even in death it was not shaken. 
 A remarkable and interesting fact was 
 exhibited just before she breathed her 
 last. 
 
 For many years before her death, Mrs. 
 Ewing had become very deaf; so much 
 
AUNT PEGGY. ' 177 
 
 SO, that the only means of communica- 
 tion with her was by writing on a 
 shite. A few minutes before her final 
 departure, her old and wrinkled ffice, 
 upon which time had written with iron 
 fingers for nearly a hundred years, be- 
 came smooth and fair — became, as it 
 were, rejuveifated and glorified — her 
 deaf ears were unstopped, and she con- 
 versed freely with her friends, hearing 
 distinctly every word they uttered. 
 
 It was not merely a calm and peace- 
 ful death, but it was a triumphant 
 one. It was a signal victory over the 
 last enemy. And thus qualified and 
 equipped for her heavenly journey, 
 she swept through the gates of the 
 New Jerusalem, all washed in the 
 blood of the Lamb. It was a fitting 
 close of the battle of life that had been 
 12 
 
178 
 
 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 SO long waged against sin, the tempta- 
 tions of the wicked one, and the weak- 
 ness and infirmities of the flesh. 
 
 To conquer in death is the great mys- 
 tery of the Christian rehgion ; and but 
 for the death of the Saviour, no such 
 anomalous fact would ever have been 
 presented by dying man. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 179 
 
 ^3^ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ;S>N reviewing the life of Mrs. 
 Ewing, among other conclusions, 
 the following may be stated : 
 Her lot in life demanded great 
 labor, toil, and self-sacrifice; and we 
 have found that all these were be- 
 stowed, liberally and willingly. 
 
 Benevolence of character — to work 
 for others, to promote their happiness 
 and welfare, without expectation of re- 
 w^ard — was a prominent characteristic. 
 
 Great honesty and sincerity in all her 
 dealings with herself and others were 
 manifest. She would not deceive her- 
 self, and could not mislead others. 
 
180 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 Singleness of purpose in every thing 
 comprehended within the limits of Chris- 
 tian duty she exhibited. fJhe held her 
 eyes fixed upon her duty, as she under- 
 stood it, and nothing could divert her 
 mind from it. 
 
 Fidelity to all her obigations, per- 
 sonal, domestic, and public, she main- 
 tained. If there ever was a serious or 
 long-continued failure in any of these 
 duties, it has not come within my knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 She was eminently devoted to the 
 duty of prayer. In all conditions of 
 life, and whatever varying circumstances 
 she may have experienced, daily and 
 almost hourly prayer was her practice, 
 and that was the chief source of her 
 pleasures and consolations. 
 
 Great love for her Church and for all 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 181 
 
 good men and women she felt and culti- 
 vated. Her Christian charity was as 
 broad as the human race. 
 
 And in the matter of her labors for 
 the benefit of the Church, directly and 
 indirectly, I feel safe in challenging a 
 brighter experience in the life of any 
 woman of the denomination who has 
 lived through the same period of time. 
 Whatever of results may have followed 
 tlrese labors, no estimate can now be 
 made. Her work has been finished, 
 and the record thereof has been made 
 in the courts on high — the judgment 
 thereon will be rendered at the last 
 day. What shall be the character of 
 that judgment we may very well appre- 
 hend from the nature of the work itself. 
 To that august tribunal it is now finally 
 remitted. 
 
182 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 The lessons that may be legitimately 
 drawn from the developments that we 
 have seen in the life of Mrs. Ewing are 
 mainly addressed to those of her own 
 sex. Some of these lessons may be 
 briefly stated as folloAvs : That in the 
 matter of simple means of usefulness, the 
 sphere of woman is not limited, and that 
 there are a thousand avenues open to 
 her through which she may send forth a 
 healthy and salutary influence for good ; 
 that consecration and devotion to duty 
 are needed, rather than an enlargement 
 of w^oman's sphere ; that faithfulness to 
 given, specific duties will always be 
 crowned with important results ; that it 
 is preeminently within the prerogative 
 of those who become the wives of min- 
 isters of the gospel to give tone and 
 character to their ministerial labors; 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 183 
 
 that eminent piety is compatible with 
 the duties and responsibilities of the 
 most laborious life ; and that, in many 
 of the departments of Church work, 
 women are more efficient than men. 
 These and other lessons that may be 
 derived from the foregoing portraiture 
 are commended to the female readers of 
 this little book throughout the Church. 
 
184 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 "WHAT a vast panorama passes 
 in review before the eye that is 
 '^^^ an hundred years old ! What 
 an infinite variety of objects 
 has passed under its observation ! and 
 what a world of varied experiences has 
 occurred in the life of one who has 
 reached that great age ! Mrs. Ewing 
 was born before the Revolutionary War 
 with Great Britain. Her recollection of 
 the later events of that war were very 
 distinct. She retained a vivid impres- 
 sion of the sorrow and desolation that 
 came to her father's household when the 
 news of his death was received. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 185 
 
 The bloody scenes of that long and 
 exhausting struggle were finally closed. 
 The curtain of history, if not of obliv- 
 ion, fell upon them at last for all time. 
 Peace blessed the land once more, and 
 Prosperity poured out blessings from 
 her horn of plenty on every hearth- 
 stone in the country. 
 
 At that period the populated portions 
 of the continent lay between the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains and the Atlantic coast. 
 Now the Americanized Anglo-Saxon is 
 crowding every other race to the very 
 extremities of the continent. The Mis- 
 sissippi Valley has demonstrated a suffi- 
 cient capacity to support half the people 
 of the world. A thousand towns and 
 cities have sprung up within the life- 
 time of a single person. A great com- 
 merce, soon to be without a parallel in 
 
186 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 histor}'', has arisen out of the industry 
 of the teeming millions who fill the 
 land. The feeble and unorganized colo- 
 nies have developed into a great and 
 powerful government, commanding the 
 respect of the civilized world. The 
 commercial navy spreads its sails on 
 every sea, and the flag of the nation 
 floats in every harbor of the globe. 
 Numbers, wealth, and power have su- 
 perseded the few, feeble, and poor. 
 Kailroads sp/ead out their Briarean 
 arms all over the continent, and the 
 telegraph girdles the globe. All these 
 great and wonderful events have trans- 
 pired within the life-time and recollec- 
 tion of one person. What a magnificent 
 drama it is that was produced and acted 
 within the period of a single life ! Nor 
 is this all. The most perfect and per- 
 
• AUNT PEGGY. 187 
 
 nianent of the forms of government 
 comprehended in the formula — man 
 governing himself — that has come to 
 the pages of history, has been inaugu- 
 rated within the time indicated. How 
 long this is to remain no human wisdom 
 can foretell. If the people would all 
 become and remain virtuous and wise, 
 the Government would last through all 
 time — till the " end " should be written 
 upon the final page of the world's his- 
 tory. But it often happens that men, 
 in the strength of an innate meanness 
 and a blind perverseness, will tear down 
 the very temples of their safety, and 
 will ruthlessly trample under foot every 
 safeguard to their prosperity and happi- 
 ness. There is absolute stability in 
 nothing under the sun that has its ori- 
 gin in the works of men. Nothing but 
 
188 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the religion of Jesus Christ will furnish 
 a history reaching from the day of the 
 crucifixion to the day of the final judg- 
 ment. 
 
 But to return. We have seen that 
 the history of this remarkable and long- 
 extended experience commenced ante- 
 rior to th^ War of the Revolution, and 
 that the sad consequences of that war 
 invaded the household of Mrs. Ewing. 
 The same experience extended to and 
 through another w^ar with the same 
 power, in which her son was a soldier 
 and her husband both soldier and chap- 
 lain, thus bringing to her hearth-stone 
 «ngain the bloody events of history. 
 Then followed the long period of peace 
 till the little episode wdth Mexico, and 
 then another long peace till our own un- 
 fraternal contest. I call it our own war 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 189 
 
 because it was all our own. What a 
 rich and abundant harvest for history 
 would such a life and such an experi- 
 ence have afforded, if it had been care- 
 fully preserved ! But Mrs. Ewing never 
 dreamed of contributing one iota to the 
 written history of herself, or of the 
 Church J or of her times. No one in 
 the Church, or out of it, was less ambi- 
 tious of notice or distinction. She was 
 naturally and religiously humble in all 
 her views of herself and of her flimily. 
 But the experience of Mrs. Ewing in 
 the matter of religious history is even 
 more remarkable than that which passed 
 through decade after decade of national, 
 material, and political progress. 
 
 As already indicated in the extracts 
 taken from Dr. Cossitt's book, the re- 
 ligious condition of the western country, 
 
190 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 at the time Mrs. E. came upon the stage 
 of active life, finds apt and fitting ex- 
 pression in the words "a dead formal- 
 ity." There was the form, hut not the 
 power, of godhness. Men found a fatal 
 security hy connection with the Church, 
 when their hearts were strangers to par- 
 doning grace. But all this was finally 
 broken up by the Holy Spirit, through 
 the instrumentality of a few pious men, 
 who had long deplored the fatal calm 
 that had fallen upon the Church. 
 
 A narrative of the great revival of 
 1800 has been often repeated, but I 
 doubt very much if its true history has 
 ever been written — that is, if the entire 
 scope of its influence, and the results 
 that followed, have ever been fully com- 
 prehended and accurately stated by any 
 who have written upon the subject. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 191 
 
 Perhaps only the final record of all 
 human affairs will ever disclose all the 
 real facts that grew out of that great 
 event in religious history. At any rate, 
 as a part of the consequences flowing 
 from this great awakening by the Holy 
 Spirit, we see a vast change in the 
 style of preaching by all the evangelical 
 denominations of the country. There 
 is more spirituality, more fervor and 
 earnestness, more eloquence and power, 
 more appeals to the conscience and 
 to the heart, and an absolute demand 
 upon the sinner to repent and be- 
 lieve on Christ. The "glittering gen- 
 eralities" of the old style have been 
 abandoned. Men are, from almost every 
 pulpit, urged to act. There is no lulling 
 the sinner into false security by the 
 fatal teaching that the destiny of all 
 
192 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 men beyond the grave is irreA^ocably 
 fixed by the decrees of the Almighty, 
 and that man has nothing to do, and 
 can do nothing whereby his salvation is 
 to be worked out with fear and trem- 
 bling. If the Presbyterian clergyman 
 believes the doctrines of his standards, 
 he does n't often preach them, as Dr. 
 McKee, Commissioner from the Presby- 
 terian Church, said of himself in his 
 address to our General Assembly at 
 Evansville, Indiana, in 1872. The truth 
 is, they do not and dare not preach their 
 doctrines, as laid down in their stand- 
 ards, pure and simple. 
 
 It is the writer's opinion, however, 
 that this great change in the pulpit per- 
 formances of the Presbyterian ministers 
 in the South and West is more immedi- 
 ately due to the fact that another class 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 193 
 
 of Presbyterian preachers was every- 
 where proclaiming an unlimited atone- 
 ment and free salvation for all men, 
 exposing with tremendous effect the 
 monstrous and revolting doctrine taught 
 in the standards of the old Church. A 
 fair and honest presentation of those 
 doctrines would cause the mass of the 
 people to turn away with disgust, if not 
 with horror, from such teachings, and 
 thus would the influence and power of 
 that great denomination become limited 
 and broken. If the hyper-Calvinism 
 taught in the Presbyterian standards is 
 scriptural truth, then it ought to be 
 preached from every pulpit in the land, 
 and in the strongest terms our language 
 will afford. God's own truth will never 
 operate to the spiritual injury of one 
 of his creatures. Men should not hesi- 
 13 
 
194 AUNT PEGGY. ^ 
 
 tate to declare it from the house-tops, 
 and on all occasions. No, this doctrine 
 will not bear to be preached on all oc- 
 casions, and therein it fails when tried 
 by one of the very best tests of any 
 scriptural truth — that is, the advantage 
 to follow from its widest dissemina- 
 tion. 
 
 I know one Presbyterian preacher, 
 however, Avho has the boldness to 
 preach the true doctrines of his Church 
 standards occasionallv: and the follow- 
 ing effects were produced by one such 
 sermon. Three very well-educated, 
 intelligent young men heard the doc- 
 trine of election and predestination 
 preached in a very plain manner by 
 this minister. On their return from 
 church one evening, they called at my 
 room, and their comments on the doc- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 195 
 
 trines of the sermon were to this effect : 
 that if the preacher had promulgated 
 the true doctrines of the Scriptures, 
 then they could have no personal 
 agency in their salvation — that if they 
 were to be saved, they would be, in 
 spite of themselves ; and if they were, 
 to be lost, they would be, because God 
 had so decreed. 
 
 These impressions were the legiti- 
 mate results of such teachings. So far 
 as such influences should operate to 
 control the conduct of these young 
 men, it could only be ruinous and dis- 
 astrous in the extreme. Men taught 
 to believe that they can do nothing in 
 the matter of their salvation will fold 
 their arms, and wait in fatal security 
 until they are lost beyond redemption. 
 God pity the man who is lost under 
 
196 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the direct teachings and influences of 
 the Church of Christ! 
 
 By way of farther illustrating the 
 statement that Presbyterians generally 
 do not press these objectionable doc- 
 trines upon the people, I quote an ex- 
 tract from a distinguished literary and 
 theological writer, published many years 
 ago: 
 
 "Even in the dark period when this 
 system (Calvinism) was shaped and 
 finished at Geneva, its advocates often 
 writhed under its weight; and we can- 
 not but deem it a mark of the progress 
 of society that Calvinists are more and 
 more troubled with the palpable repug- 
 nance of their doctrines to God's na- 
 ture, and accordingly labor to soften 
 and explain them until, in many cases, 
 the name only is retained. If the 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 197 
 
 stern reformer of Geneva could lift up 
 his head and hear the mitigated tone 
 in which some of his professed follow- 
 ers dispense his fearful doctrines, we 
 fear that he could not lie down in 
 peace until he had poured out his dis- 
 pleasure on their cowardice and degen- 
 eracy. He would tell them with a 
 frown that moderate Calvinism was a 
 solecism, a contradiction in terms, and 
 would bid them in scorn to join their 
 real friend, Arminius. Such, then, is 
 the power of public opinion that naked, 
 undisguised Calvinism is not very fond 
 of showing itself." 
 
 The experience of the subject of this 
 memoir was to witness the general pro- 
 mulgation, from the pulpit of all denom- 
 inations, of the great fact in theology, 
 that the sacrifice of Christ provided 
 
198 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 salvation for all men. How great a 
 change is this from what was the case 
 in the beginning of this century! But 
 especial emphasis is placed on the great 
 change that has taken place within the 
 period referred to in the method of 
 conducting religious services and in the 
 general style of pulpit performances. 
 
 A cold, dry, dull sermon 7^eadfYom the 
 pulpit was the style previous to 1800. 
 Now, men freach everywhere. I was 
 once a student at a Presbyterian col- 
 lege. The president was pastor of the 
 Church in the town, and he was a very 
 able and excellent preacher. He be- 
 lieved in and taught the spirituality 
 of the Christian religion, that its seat 
 was in the heart, and the Holy Spirit 
 its Divine Author. It w^as the doc- 
 trine of the new birth. On one occa- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 199 
 
 sion the pastor commenced a pro- 
 tracted-meeting. He preached with 
 great ability, but no special results 
 were visible. He sent for Kev. Laban 
 Jones, a Cumberland Presbyterian min- 
 ister, who lived in the neighborhood. 
 
 Mr. Jones was not a very pleasant 
 speaker. He had a little impediment 
 in his speech that, on first hearing him, 
 made an unpleasant impression. The 
 critical taste of a college of educated 
 young men was not satisfied at first, 
 but before many meetings had passed 
 they forgot all about his impediment. 
 
 Dr. Young would preach, and Mr. 
 Jones would follow in exhortation and 
 call for the mourners to come forward. 
 
 The pastor of the Church and other 
 Presbyterian ministers present cooper- 
 ated heartily with Mr. Jones in his 
 
200 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 method of conducting the exercises at 
 the altar, and the result was a great 
 revival in the college and in the town. 
 This is only one of many instances 
 that have come under the observation 
 of the writer as to the manner of con- 
 ducting protracted - meetings now by 
 very many ministers of that Church. 
 I don't pretend to say it is universal in 
 that denomination even in the Western 
 country. One thing I do say : a great 
 change has taken place in their style 
 of preaching and of conducting their 
 meetings — all of w^hich has followed as 
 a legitimate result from the great re- 
 vival of ISOOj chiefly through the 
 agency of the new denomination that 
 was organized at that time. The means 
 by which this agency was brought to 
 bear on the minds of the Presbyterian 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 201 
 
 clergy was chiefly through the public 
 sentiment of the country. Every- 
 where that the new preachers operated 
 great results followed their labors — a 
 certain style of preaching and a partic- 
 ular method of conducting their meet- 
 ings was observed by everybody to be 
 followed with happy results. 
 
 Naturally, and almost of necessity, 
 other preachers who labored in the 
 same sections of country would fall 
 into the same channel, and, in order to 
 reach like results, would adopt similar 
 means. And just in the ratio of the 
 change was the degree of their success, 
 and comprehended in that success was 
 tlie salvation of thousands of precious 
 souls. This is one of the benefits 
 brought to the Church at large and 
 the world by the new denomination. 
 
202 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 Then the immediate results following 
 from the establishment of a new de- 
 nomination came within the experience 
 of the subject of this notice. From 
 small beginnings it grew to be a great 
 matter. From three preachers it in- 
 creased to many hundreds, and the mem- 
 bership to multiplied thousands. And 
 now it is a power for good in all the 
 States, from Pennsylvania to California. 
 
 In the course of my w^anderings in 
 the Rocky Mountains, I have several 
 times stood upon the very apex of that 
 great backbone of the continent. I 
 have seen the small rivulet running 
 toward the east, which was the source 
 of the great Missouri River; and I 
 have also seen a similar rivulet flowing 
 to the west, which w\as the beginning 
 of the mighty Columbia River. I 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 203 
 
 have followed the course of this rivulet 
 toward the east, 'and observed, from 
 time to time, an accession to the little 
 stream from some neighboring hill-side, 
 and a little way on another w^ould 
 come in. And so on, continually, un- 
 til in a broad and beautiful valley the 
 three rivers — the Gallatin, the Madi- 
 son, and the Jefferson — flow together 
 and form one great river, the Missouri. 
 Thus I behold the little Church 
 which sprang out of the great moral 
 upheaval of 1800. At first, a little 
 rivulet of pure and spiritual piety finds 
 its way to the surface; it winds its 
 course through the valleys of moral 
 death and desolation; continues to run 
 on, and increases in volume at each 
 stage of its progress ; a dead formalism 
 is broken up, and a channel is made for 
 
204 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the passage of the stream of spiritual 
 life that is reviving and nourishing the 
 Churches, and that is surmounting 
 every obstacle in its way, until the 
 happy confluence is reached, and the 
 three messengers of a broader salva- 
 tion meet and deepen the channel and 
 widen the banks of the great river 
 which floats the ark of universal salva- 
 tion, and promises a living and active 
 voyage down the bosom of the broad 
 current to the wide but peaceful ocean 
 of eternal blessedness. 
 
 From the small beginning of three 
 ordained preachers, we have seen the 
 Cumberland Presbyterian Church come 
 up in little over half a century — within 
 the life-time of one person — to over a 
 hundred Presbyteries, with twelve or 
 fifteen hundred living ministers, and a 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 205 
 
 membership of one hundred and forty 
 thousand or more. This estimate does 
 not include, of course, the many hun- 
 dreds of preachers who have finished 
 their work and gone up to their re- 
 ward, nor the many thousands who 
 have died in the triumphs of a living 
 faith as members of this despised little 
 Church, nor the thousands of others 
 who have been converted through the 
 instrumentality of this agency, and 
 who have connected themselves with 
 other denominations. Judging from 
 what has come under my own observa- 
 tion, this latter class is very numerous, 
 and will continue to be so, necessarily 
 from the very condition of things with 
 which we, as a denomination, are sur- 
 rounded. 
 
 Then let us re-survey the period of 
 
206 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 the life comprehended in this memoir, 
 and see if there be not abundant cause 
 for encouragement. And in making this 
 survey, we may read a chapter in the 
 history of civilization and government 
 that has no parallel in all history. We 
 may see that the little tree that v;as 
 planted in the Valley of the Cumber- 
 land has grown to be a monarch of the 
 forest, overshadowing an area that em- 
 braces the happy homes of multiplied 
 thousands, stretching out its generous 
 arms in all directions, and inviting to its 
 shelter and protection the fainting and 
 weary of all lands and tongues. As in 
 the shadow of a great rock in the wil- 
 derness the world may find protection 
 from the scorching rays of the sun, so 
 under the tree of free salvation may all 
 nations and peoples find shelter and 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 207 
 
 safety. We may see the gathering, 
 after many days, of the bread that was 
 cast in faith upon the waters. We may 
 see the rich fruits that are produced by 
 the labors of the pious and faithful of 
 all orders and classes of persons, from 
 the talented and gifted minister to the 
 humble and unpretending Christian, 
 whose deeds are perpetuated only in 
 the records of the upper sanctuary. 
 We may see a thousand things to in- 
 spire us with courage and confidence in 
 the promises of the gospel. We may 
 farther see that, in the case of Mrs. 
 Ewing, we can safely claim the fact 
 of an accomplished salvation. If the 
 evidence afforded by the three-quarters 
 of a century that comprehended her re- 
 ligious Hfe is worth any thing — if the 
 great solemnity of a dying hour, when 
 
208 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 all persons must be honest with them- 
 selves and with their friends, will fur- 
 nish any additional testimony to the 
 fact — we must conclude that there was 
 no doubt as to the all-sufficiency of the 
 religion which she professed. I love to 
 dwell upon this fact, and to draw conso- 
 lation from it, that if the blood of Christ 
 is sufficient for the final salvation of one 
 poor sinner, then it is ample for the 
 whole human race ; and that if he will 
 save one, he may save all. If there is 
 no comfort in this interpretation of the 
 divine economy, then I shall fail to find 
 it anywhere ; and if there is any antag- 
 onism in the idea of a possible salvation 
 for all to the divine character, as re- 
 vealed in his works and in his word, 
 then I have w^holly failed to see it. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 209 
 
 CHAPTEPl XIV. 
 
 'HE author cannot close this 
 hasty and desultory sketch of 
 one who was so deeply involved 
 in the matter of the organiza- 
 tion of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, without saying a word in be- 
 half of that denomination. 
 
 The sympathies of a brave man are 
 always with the weak. There is not a 
 feeling of his nature, or a sentiment of 
 his heart, that will not spontaneously 
 and promptly respond to a call for help 
 from the feeble and oppressed. There 
 is no merit in rendering assistance to a 
 strong arm that can fight its own battles 
 14 
 
210 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 and make its own way through the 
 world. A generous nature will instinct- 
 ively hold out its hands to a tottering 
 infant in its first attempts to w^alk. A 
 great, brawny man will scorn to receive 
 aid, because he can walk alone. 
 
 The circumstances that surrounded 
 the early life, and the conditions under 
 which they were brought up, ' impose 
 special and peculiar obligations upon 
 many persons. These obligations in- 
 volve considerations of filial affection, 
 religious duty, and personal honor. 
 
 Freedom of conscience is not abridged 
 in discharging a hereditary duty, nor in 
 meeting obligations that become incum- 
 bent upon us, even without our agency. 
 Every man is born to a part of his des- 
 tiny, at least; the remainder he makes 
 for himself. 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 211 
 
 I have known a few persons who 
 were brought up m the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church, w^ho, after they 
 had seen the world, became ashamed of 
 their association with the little band of 
 earnest Christians w^ith wdiich they w^ere 
 surrounded in their earlier days. They 
 looked at the Church from the stand- 
 point of a business man. They com- 
 pared it with other old and powerful 
 denominations, and discovered in the 
 new Church a great want of costly 
 church - houses and the trappings of 
 wealth and power that belong to the 
 rich and great ; and forthwith they did 
 violence to all the obligations imposed 
 by birth, education, early religious train- 
 ing, and their own views of the doc- 
 trinal teachings of the Scriptures, and 
 abandoned the friends of their youth 
 
212 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 and the young Church of iheiv fathers, 
 and allied themselves with the old, rich, 
 and powerful. 
 
 Christ's kingdom is a spiritual one, 
 and all who are members of that king- 
 dom are one in him. 
 
 In the visible Church, the only differ- 
 ence between all true Christians is, that 
 they hold to certain different interpre- 
 tations of the Scriptures, and worship 
 God in different houses, and, to some 
 extent, with different formalities. If a 
 man is conscientious, he will give his ad- 
 herence to that formula of Christian faith 
 which he believes the Bible teaches ; 
 and the fact that those who believe with 
 him do not worship God in so grand an 
 edifice as others do, should not drive 
 him from their company. A Christian 
 man should be true to himself as well 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 213 
 
 as to God. He should have the manli- 
 ness and the courage to do whatever 
 his conscientious convictions point out 
 as a plain Christian duty. A proud 
 Christian is an anomalous character ; 
 it is unknown to the Scriptures and un- 
 recognized by Christ. No true follower 
 of the meek and lowly Saviour can en- 
 tertain that sentiment in his heart. 
 Humility is of the very essence of 
 Christianity. Pride and piet}^ are not 
 only as unlike as day and night, but 
 they are actually and irreconcilably an- 
 tagonistic. The idea that a man is too 
 proud to worship God with his poor 
 and humble fellows-creatures, is a su- 
 preme absurdity. All the teachings 
 of Christ and his apostles make espe- 
 cially prominent the idea that men must 
 humble themselves in the very dust of 
 
214 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 humility. Indeed, there is no assurance 
 that Christ will bless his followers in 
 any other condition. It therefore be- 
 hooves all persons who claim to be 
 Christians to examine themselves care- 
 fully in reference to this matter of 
 Church relations, and see how much 
 sinful pride has contributed to shape 
 their course in that connection. Human 
 obligations may be shamelessly ignored, 
 but God will have a pure heart in the 
 services of his own sanctuary. 
 
 But is it true that the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church is a failure ? Let us 
 inquire. As a general rule, the value of 
 any given agency is determined by the 
 magnitude of the objects accomplished 
 by such agency. The Scriptures teach us 
 that one soul is worth more than the 
 world, and it follows logically and legiti- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 215 
 
 mately that any means employed to bring 
 one sinner to repentance should be es- 
 teemed a great thing. The Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church has been in exist- 
 ence a little over sixty years. It em- 
 braces in its communion about 140,000 
 members. Very nearly all of these were 
 converted through the instrumentalities 
 employed by that Church. We get but 
 few members from the religious meetings 
 of other denominations, because ours is 
 the youngest and weakest of them all; 
 and, by the general law of attraction, 
 large bodies overcome the opposing force 
 of smaller bodies. In this connection it 
 is legitimate to take into the account the 
 number of persons who have died in the 
 communion of the Church. It is impos- 
 sible to ascertain this with accuracy. 
 We may also consider the great number 
 
216 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 of those who have been converted 
 through the instrumentalities of the 
 Church, and who have connected them- 
 selves with other denominations. This 
 number is necessarily very large, for the 
 obvious reason that, for the first twenty 
 years of the Church's existence, there 
 were but few persons educated in the 
 faith of the denomination to be brought 
 into the Church, and of course our mem- 
 bers were all derived from the families 
 of those who were brought up under 
 other religious influences ; and of the 
 great number who were converted at our 
 meetings, many, perhaps a majority, 
 would connect themselves with the 
 Churches of their fathers. Every 
 Church in the vicinity of our denom- 
 inational work has reaped largely of the 
 fruits of our labor. From all the data 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 217 
 
 before us, then, we may safely say that 
 the direct and positive results accom- 
 plished by our despised little Church 
 will approximate to a million of persons 
 who owe their conversion to the instru- 
 mentalities employed by our denomina- 
 tion. But this estimate does not present 
 the whole truth in this connection, if we 
 also take into consideration all the di- 
 versified influences for good that have 
 been originated and developed by our 
 denomination as such, and by our mem- 
 bers as individuals, and the results of 
 which influences have been profitable to 
 others, but scarcely seen or felt in this 
 Church at all. With this meager and 
 imperfect exhibition of the work accom- 
 plished by the Church, resulting in the 
 eternal salvation of thousands and mul- 
 tiplied thousands of precious souls, I 
 
218 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 challenge all men to the task of comput- 
 ing the value to a wicked world of the 
 agency that has wrought this great work. 
 Will any man in all Christendom say that 
 this work, accomplished in half a century, 
 and springing from such small begin- 
 nings, indicates a failure either in design 
 or execution? The man who utters such 
 a thought is willfully blind and wickedly 
 ignorant. 
 
 But it is answered that, if this Church 
 had not been organized, other existing 
 denominations might have accomplished 
 all that has been done by us. Let us 
 see : The means by which any influence 
 is established, or the avenues through 
 which it reaches the mind, are purely 
 accidental. They depend upon a thou- 
 sand contingencies that occur in our 
 every-day life, apparently without inten- 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 219 
 
 tion or design. Sometimes a single cir- 
 cumstance will give bent to a man's in- 
 clinations ; at other times a combination 
 of circumstances is necessary to reach 
 him effectually. The families and com- 
 munities that grew up under the new 
 stimulus given to religious faith and 
 practice by the new denomination, be- 
 yond all question acquired a degree and 
 character of influence over each other, 
 and upon those with whom they were 
 surrounded, that no other conditions of 
 religious society then existing could pos- 
 sibly have exercised. 
 
 The promulgation of a new religious 
 formula, especially if it passes success- 
 fully the ordeal of the severest criti- 
 cism, will attract the attention and 
 command the respect of great numbers 
 of thinking men who have lived un- 
 
220 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 affected and uninterested for years un- 
 der the religious influences of the old 
 denominations. Thousands of persons, 
 when first made acquainted with the 
 great central idea of our denominational 
 theology (to-wit, a possible salvation 
 for all men and security to the peni- 
 tent believer in Christ), were ready to 
 embrace it at once — to take the truth 
 to their hearts, repent of their sins, 
 and be converted to Christ. The elimi- 
 nation of that great thought from the 
 theological rubbish that filled the minds 
 of men, w\as of itself the means of 
 emancipating thousands of minds from 
 doubt and distress on the subject of 
 religion. The new phase thus given 
 to the doctrines of the gospel attracted 
 many to their embrace who had been be- 
 fore repelled by the old theologies. The 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 221 
 
 neWj living thought thus set loose, the 
 new beauties thus exhibited in the re- 
 ligion of Christ, the new ideas elicited in 
 doctrinal discussion, the new views thus 
 brought out in relation to the extent and 
 efficacy of the atonement, each and all 
 contributed to establish new influences 
 whereby men were brought to a knowd- 
 edge of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 Now, consider for a moment the va- 
 riety and extent of these new influ- 
 ences ; and then consider the infinite 
 combinations of which these same are 
 susceptible, and which will certainly 
 spring out of the multifarious pursuits 
 and associations of men; and then at- 
 tempt to estimate the number of per- 
 sons who will be reached under all 
 these various conditions, and ultimately 
 be brought to Christ through these agen- 
 
222 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 cies who otherwise would go on down to 
 death unafFected and unobstructed. 
 
 I might follow these thoughts into a 
 thousand details, but the space I have al- 
 lotted myself will not allow it. I have to 
 say, in conclusion, that the man who 
 says that the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church is a failure, or that it has accom- 
 plished its mission, is grossly ignorant, 
 and is incapable of reaching a clear con- 
 clusion by a broad and open road, as he 
 wickedly misstates the plain facts of his- 
 tory. With all the denominations in the 
 land, and with all the diversified influ- 
 ences which they can employ, compar- 
 atively but few men become Christians 
 — the world still lies in wickedness, 
 and sinners daily crowd the road to 
 death. Tell me not that any Church or- 
 ganization is a failure that has brought 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 223 
 
 even one soul to a knowledge of the 
 truth. God employs no agencies for 
 the promotion of his cause that are not 
 consonant with his will ; and when he 
 does greatly bless and prosper a given 
 class of means for the promotion of his 
 OAvn glory and the salvation of sinners, 
 we may be satisfied that it is all right, 
 and go forward, each to his own work. 
 
 The .only apology that the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Church now needs 
 is : that she has accomplished so little 
 considering the means in her hands ; 
 that her energies have not been fully 
 developed, nor adequately employed; 
 that she has suffered herself to become 
 a pigmy upon a pyramid of power; 
 Avhereas she might have put on the 
 royal habiliments of the giant, and 
 shaken the earth under her tread. 
 
224 AUNT PEGGY. 
 
 No; her work has not been a faiUire, 
 but a magnificent and glorious success. 
 Let her fifteen hundred ministers fling 
 to the breeze the banner of the cross, 
 and, with the tens of thousands of her 
 membership, go forward to the contest. 
 Let them recognize the common enemy 
 wherever found, and offer battle on every 
 plain. Let them plant their standards on 
 every hill-top, and hurl defiance in the 
 face of every foe. And thus shall they 
 continue to vindicate our beloved Church 
 before Christendom and the world, and be- 
 fore the great Head of the Church himself. 
 
 THE END. 
 
938.21 
 
 0035520051 
 
 5/J/771E DO Ivor 
 mTOCOPY