his talents, advised him to exhibit a written discourse upon the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ for a sinner's justification, at their next meeting; and to continue. his meetings for exhortation, and read as diligently as he could upon the subject of Divinity, under the direction of Mr. Mitchell.

In April, 1791, he met Presbytery again, and exhibited his piece upon the subject assigned him. They had further examinations with him, much to their satisfaction, and assigned further pieces of trial to be produced at their next meeting. In July, 1791, he produced the pieces of trial, much to their approbation. Further pieces of trial were still assigned, and a subject for a popular discourse, to be exhibited at their next meeting.

In October, 1791, the Presbytery met at Cub creek, heard his popular sermon and other specimens of trial, all which passed creditably; and after a full examination upon divinity, they licensed him to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to perishing sinners.

Within the space of two years from the meeting at Pisgah, where he first became awakened, we have pursued Mr. Turner from the card table, into the pulpit; and no one who was at all acquainted with his preaching and usefulness, ever doubted for a moment, the propriety of the movement.

When Mr. Turner was first licensed to preach, he was directed by Presbytery to labor mostly among vacancies and destitute neighborhoods, in Bedford, Franklin, Henry, Campbell and Buckingham, and the counties adjacent, as a kind of itinerating missionary.

In this way he was diligently employed for some time. Within a year or eighteen months, he was, by invitation, ordained and installed as a colleague with Mr. Mitchell, in the extensive bounds of his charge, where there were three or four different. houses and places of worship. This was in accordance with the earnest wishes of the people of this pastoral charge.

This progressed well for a while; but eventually not very comfortably for Mr. Mitchell's feelings, who was but a common, and not a very interesting preacher, with quite moderate talents; whereas Mr. Turner was rising fast into notoriety as one of the

most acceptable preachers of the day. The people were not as careful as they should have been, manifesting their feelings too plainly by flocking after him, to Mr. Mitchell's discomfort. Turner could not avoid noticing this, and did every thing he could to avoid disagreeable consequences. As he and Mr. Mitchell lived twelve or fifteen miles apart, in different parts of the congregation, they agreed that each should labor in the parts most contiguous to his residence, where their congregations would not interfere with each other; by this means they maintained peace among themselves, and interchanged or assisted each other, as occasion required.

It will now be necessary to be a little more particular in noticing the peculiar manner, style, and effects of Mr. Turner's preaching.

He was the sport and creature of his feelings, upon all occasions. The excitability of his mind was great at all seasons; sometimes his zeal was ardent and enthusiastic in a high degree, and at other times, as is customary with all persons given to such flights, his feelings would flag, and then he would sink as low, and be subject to great depressions of spirit and discouragement, so as almost to unfit him for the discharge of his duties. The transitions from one of these states to the other, were frequent, and often very sudden and unexpected. The commencement of his sermons was, generally, in a low, easy, unpretending and conversational style and manner, free from all pomp and display. As he would rise with his subject, and wished to do something extraordinary, while the proper feelings were not in tune, he has been known to become boisterous and declamatory, without awaking any suitable affections in his hearers. These were among his failures, which did not, however, often occur. As he never wrote out his sermons, and had no stock of fixed ammunition to draw upon, but was entirely extemporaneous, it is strange that these failures did not more frequently occur. He was generally considered, upon ordinary occasions, a dead shot for an animated and interesting sermon. He was easy, natural, and unstudied in his language. The subjects of his discourses were the plain, common, but important doctrines of the gospel; such as the dreadful depravity and wickedness of fallen man; his great danger without an interest in Christ;

repentance and faith, and the retributions of eternity. He never meddled with metaphysics, religious controversy, and dry doctrinal subjects; but confined himself exclusively to experimental and practical religion, and would glory in nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.

He had a tact at getting at the feelings of his hearers, peculiar to himself, and could at times command the passions and affections of an audience beyond any other man; and work them up to the highest pitch. He has been known so to affect large audiences, as to excite a pleasant, involuntary smile, mingled at the same time with a flood of tears, so as not to leave a dry eye in the whole congregation, and has often made persons to spring from their seats to their feet, without being conscious that they did so, but without noise or confusion. This would be done without artifice or design, by a transition from something amusing to the deepest pathos, purely by the bursts and promptings of nature. In fact, he was an untaught, unstudied orator of nature's forming, resembling a rough, rolling mountain torrent, which bears all before it.

His forte was within the pulpit, and there he surpassed any of his brethren for impressive preaching and popularity, after he had been a few years in the ministry. He did not confine himself closely to his parochial bounds; but would frequently send out a succession of daily appointments for preaching, for two or three weeks at a time, and would generally, if practicable, get some ministerial brother to join him in such excursions. Upon one occasion of the kind, he and Dr. Speece went out together; their plan was to alternate in preaching, while the other was always to follow with a concluding exhortation and prayer. There was a perfect contrast in the temper, qualifications, and style of the two brethren, although they were very fond of each other; Turner, all impulsive and extemporaneous; Speece, calm and sedate, without much animation.

In a place where ministers seldom visited, a large and interesting congregation of strangers collected, and it was Speece's turn to preach. Turner's zeal was all awake, and he was very anxious that something peculiarly interesting should be said to benefit the people. Speece got up and preached one of his dry, learned discourses, without any thing calculated to interest such an

audience; Turner was so disappointed and mortified, that he was entirely out of tune to add a word of exhortation, and told Speece to close the services, for he had nothing to say. As soon as the people had dispersed, Speece seeing Turner somewhat out of temper, said to him, "What is the matter with you now?" He replied, "Brother Speece, I do not like your preaching at all; if I could use such language and sentiments as you have at command, I could prostrate all before me. But you go drawling along, letting your words drop out of your mouth, like stones out of the tail of a cart. Why do you not fire, man? Put in more powder, and fire clear, and then you may expect to do execution." This was characteristic of the two men. Dr. Speece would often tell this anecdote, as descriptive of Turner, for the amusement of his friends and himself.

As the writer, during the latter years of Mr. Turner, lived at a great distance from him, and had but little intercourse with him, he has scarce any information further to give. He became very corpulent and unwieldy; and at last, very infirm and inactive. He died like a Christian; his last end was peace. He left a wife and several children. Two of his sons became ministers, one of whom survived him. He died before he could be numbered with old men; but at what time and age, is not recollected. He was a bright and shining light, and many were willing, and rejoiced to walk in his light.

ARTICLE V.

Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, with an Appendix. A. D. 1854. New York: Published by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, pp. 183.

One of the ablest, and now amongst the oldest of our active ministers, one who is almost unrivalled for strength and acuteness of mind, said to us immediately upon the adjournment of the Assembly, "I have been a commissioner, I think, to fifteen

Assemblies, and this is one by itself. I believe I never knew one but this, in which something unpleasant did not occur, something to give pain, something to excite apprehension." This was the well-nigh universal feeling. The Assembly closed its sessions with every heart softened. Tears of thankfulness, love to the brethren, love to the Church and its exalted Head, were so near the eye-lids, that a word almost would have caused them to overflow. Yet there were strong men who had borne scores of winters in the service of the Redeemer; middle-aged, roughened with the severity of conflict; young men, bright with the joyousness of hope. There were the lawyer, the politician, the physician, the merchant, who had turned aside from the busy scenes of life, to mingle in deliberation with their ministerial brethren. It was an Assembly girded for effort, rather than emotion, which had come prepared for every thing that might happen, and, if necessary, to withstand error or wrong action. But it found itself, under an overruling Providence, and through the wisdom and kindness of the captains of the Lord's Host, overcome, not to the yielding of truth and righteousness, but by the sincerity of earnest desire to do right, by the warm attachment of honest men to the Church, and by the considerate wisdom which gathered, as into a common stock, the opinions of our entire body, that we might learn from hence the proper methods of an onward progress, as well as of a rational conservatism. Never did a body of two hundred men more beautifully exemplify that wisest of all maxims, festina lente. And the result was so unexpected; to be called to rejoice, instead of to grieve; to congratulate, instead of to condole; to high and holy thanksgiving, instead of sackcloth and ashes; that those whom misfortune would only have made more stern and unyielding, could not choose but be filled with softened gratitude at the greatness and unexpectedness of God's favors. The sword that could never have been forced from the right hand by any violence or opposition, fell voluntarily, when brother felt the pulsations of the heart of brother, when amidst gushes of kindly feeling, we could hardly remember, so auspicious were the issues, wherein we had differed at the beginning, or how or by whom were brought about the happy results.