The private character of this public benefactor was, in all respects, amiable, pure, and consistent. He was a large man, with an open, frank, and pleasing countenance, gentlemanly in his manners, and agreeable in all his associations. He was most highly esteemed by those who knew him best. Although no proud monument of marble is reared over his ashes, his name is deeply engraved upon the tablet of enduring fame, and will be revered by every true American and patriot until the historic page shall cease to be read, and civilization shall be lost in chaos.
The man who places his confidence in the Supreme Ruler of revolving worlds, leans upon a sure support, that earth can neither give nor take away. When we can appeal to Heaven with clean hands for aid in our undertakings, faith bids us fear no danger. A large portion of the patriots of the revolution were pious men; and I am not apprised that one among them, who became conspicuous, was a disbeliever in an overruling Providence. Several of them were devoted ministers of the Gospel, among whom was JOHN WITHERSPOON, a native of the parish of Yester, near Edinburgh, Scotland, born on the 5th of February, 1722. He was a lineal descendant of the celebrated John Knox, the heroic reformer of Scotland. The father of John Witherspoon was the minister of the above named parish, and was instrumental in moulding the mind of his son in the paths of wisdom, virtue and science. He placed him at an early age in the Haddington school, where his young mind unfolded its rich beauties, with all the fragrance of a spring flower. He soared above the trifles and allurements that too often lead childhood and youth astray, and made his studies his chief delight. He manifested a maturity of judgment, a clearness of conception, and a depth of thought rarely exhibited in juvenile life. At the age of fourteen years he entered the university of Edinburgh, where he fully sustained the high anticipations of his friends, and gained the esteem and admiration of his fellow students and the professors. His acquirements in the theological department were of a superior order. At the age of twenty-one, he passed the ordeal of his final examination, and received a license to proclaim to the world the glad tidings of the everlasting Gospel.