Last but greatest of all to be mentioned is the Rev. John Witherspoon
(1722-94). Born in Yester, Scotland, educated in Edinburgh, minister
in Paisley, he was called in 1768 to be President of the College of
New Jersey, now Princeton University. He said he had "become an
American the moment he landed." He took an active part in the public
affairs of the colony of New Jersey, and in the convention which met
to frame a constitution he displayed great knowledge of legal
questions and urged the abolition of religious tests. In June, 1776,
he was elected to the Continental Congress, and in the course of the
debates he displayed little patience with those who urged half
measures. When John Dickinson of Pennsylvania said the country was not
ripe for independence, Witherspoon broke in upon the speaker
exclaiming, "Not ripe, Sir! In my judgment we are not only ripe, but
rotting. Almost every colony has dropped from its parent stem and your
own province needs no more sunshine to mature it." He further declared
that he would rather be hanged than desert his country's cause. One of
his sons was killed at the battle of Germantown.




SCOTS IN THE PRESIDENCY


Of the twenty-nine Presidents of the United States five (Monroe,
Grant, Hayes, Roosevelt, and Wilson) are of Scottish descent, and four
(omitting Jackson who has been also claimed as Scottish by some
writers) are of Ulster Scot descent, namely, Polk, Buchanan, Arthur,
and McKinley. Jackson may possibly have been of Ulster Scot descent as