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 for a few months, he was presented in 1744 to the parish of Beith by Alexander Montgomerie, tenth earl of Eglinton [q. v.], called on 24 Jan. 1744–5, and ordained on 11 April. On the outbreak of the rebellion in 1745 Witherspoon, influenced by loyalty, placed himself at the head of a small body of volunteers and marched to Glasgow. Being ordered to return, he disobeyed, continued his advance, and was made prisoner by the rebels after the battle of Falkirk, in which, however, he took no part. He was confined in the castle of Doune with other prisoners, until they managed to escape by a rope of knotted blankets.

Witherspoon's fame as a preacher steadily increased, and on 16 June 1753 he attained distinction as an author by his ‘Ecclesiastical Characteristics, or the Arcana of Church Policy, being an Attempt to open up the Mystery of Moderation’ (Glasgow, 8vo), written in a vein of delicate humour against the ‘moderate’ party in the Scottish church. The work was deservedly popular, and reached a fifth edition in 1763 (Edinburgh, 8vo). It at first appeared anonymously, but it was followed in 1763 by a ‘Serious Apology’ for the ‘Characteristics,’ in which Witherspoon acknowledged the authorship (Edinburgh, 8vo). It also earned the praise of Warburton and of Rowland Hill, and was lauded by the bishops of London and Oxford as an exquisite exposure of ‘a party they were no strangers to in the church of England.’ In his warfare with the moderates he had to encounter almost alone writers of the calibre of Hugh Blair [q. v.], Alexander Gerard (1728–1795) [q. v.], and William Robertson the historian.

In 1756 Witherspoon established his reputation by his ‘Essay on the Connection between the Doctrine of Justification by the imputed Righteousness of Christ and Holiness of Life’ (Glasgow, 16mo), one of the ablest expositions of the Calvinistic doctrine in any language. It has been repeatedly republished. He increased his popularity by his ‘Serious Enquiry into the Nature and Effect of the Stage’ (Glasgow, 8vo). John Home [q. v.] had scandalised popular ideas of ministerial propriety by placing ‘Douglas’ on the Edinburgh stage in 1756, and Witherspoon's grave and temperate rebuke came as a solace to outraged sentiment. It was reprinted in 1842 as the first of a series of ‘Reprints of Scarce Tracts connected with the Church of Scotland’ (Edinburgh, 8vo), with an ironical preface by Alexander Colquhoun-Stirling-Murray-Dunlop [q. v.], directed against the ‘moderates’ of his own time. No more of the series appeared. A new edition by William Moffat was published in 1876 (Edinburgh, 8vo). On 9 Dec. 1756 Witherspoon was called to the town church at Paisley, and on 16 June 1757 he was admitted. He continued to publish pamphlets and sermons for some years, until in 1762 a discourse, entitled ‘Sinners sitting in the Seat of the Scornful: Seasonable Advice to Young Persons,’ involved him in unexpected difficulties. In the preface he rebuked by name, and with some severity, some young men who had travestied the Lord's Supper on the night before its celebration at Paisley. In consequence he was prosecuted for libel and defamation, and, after proceedings extending over thirteen years, he was sentenced by the supreme court on 28 Feb. 1776 to pay damages to the extent of 150l. Much sympathy was shown him, and on 28 June 1769 the university of St. Andrews bestowed on him the honorary degree of D.D.

In 1765 Witherspoon published a delightful satire, ‘The History of a Corporation of Servants discovered a Few Years Ago in the Interior Parts of South America’ (Glasgow, 4to), in which, after tracing the growth of ecclesiasticism before and after the Reformation under the guise of the history of a guild of servants, he proceeded to hold up to ridicule the abuses prevalent in the Scottish church. In the meantime his fame was growing daily. He declined invitations to become minister of a congregation in Dublin and of the Scottish church at Rotterdam. On 9 May 1768, however, having received two invitations to become principal of Princeton College, New Jersey, he resigned his charge, and in July sailed for America. He was received in New England with great enthusiasm, and his journey from Philadelphia to Princeton was a triumphal procession. His reputation was great enough to ensure Princeton a marked increase in prosperity after his arrival. He and his friends presented a large number of books to the college library, and he exerted himself to obtain pecuniary aid for the college from the North American colonies. He effected a revolution in the system of instruction by introducing the Scottish system of lectures, greatly extending the study of mathematical science, improving the course of instruction in natural philosophy, and in 1772 introducing Hebrew and French to the curriculum. He himself lectured on eloquence, history, philosophy, and divinity. Under his auspices were educated many ministers and early patriots and legislators of the United States, among them James Madison.