Framer of the framers: John Witherspoon was not only a Founding Father, but in his roles as preacher and professor he taught and influenced many of the great men of the Founding era.(HISTORY--GREATNESS OF THE FOUNDERS)(Biography)

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On November 15, 1794, a 72-year-old Presbyterian preacher lay dying on his farm near Princeton, New Jersey. In some ways he may have welcomed death. His wife had died five years earlier, and for over two years he had been blind, so his associates had to lead him into the pulpit, where he still preached with his usual earnestness and perhaps with more than his usual solemnity and animation. Even though his bodily infirmities increased, his mind remained active to the end, and he continued to exercise his duties as pastor and college president until the end.

His name was John Witherspoon, and he was probably the most famous and respected clergyman in America at that time. For 26 years he had served as president and professor at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton). In those 26 years, 478 young men graduated from the college, an average of 18 in each class, so Witherspoon had considerable interaction on and influence with each student. Of those young men, 114 became pastors; 13 were state governors; three were U.S. Supreme Court justices; 20 were U.S. senators; 33 were U.S. congressmen; one, Aaron Burr, Jr., became vice-president; and another, James Madison, became president. If Madison can be called the Father of the Constitution, then Witherspoon deserves the title Grandfather of the Constitution.

A Life of Accomplishment

During those final hours, the old reverend probably reflected upon his life, wondering whether his efforts had been productive and his sacrifices worthwhile. He may have thought about his early years in Scotland, where he was born in 1722. John Witherspoon's father was a Presbyterian clergyman, and his mother traced her genealogy back to the founder of Presbyterianism, John Knox. Mrs. Witherspoon taught her children at home, and John could read from the Bible at age four. He then attended grammar school, and at age 14 he enrolled in the University of Edinburgh, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in three years and then completed his studies for the ministry by age 20.

Witherspoon's first call was to the Presbyterian church at Beith, Scotland, where he served eight years. Shortly before this time, the Scottish Jacobites had fought for independence from England, and the Scottish spirit of independence may have influenced Witherspoon throughout his life. At this time the Scottish church was split between the popular party and the moderates. The popular, or evangelical, party stressed Bible-centered sermons and local control of the church. Witherspoon soon emerged as a leader of the evangelical party, and a satirical pamphlet attributed to him called Ecclesiastical Characteristics ridiculed the moderates.

In 1757, either in spite of or because of this pamphlet, Witherspoon was called to the pastorate of Laigh Kirk (Church) in Paisley, considered the intellectual center of Scotland, where "every weaver is a politician." At Laigh Kirk, Witherspoon preached a sermon entitled "The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ," in which he declared that salvation by grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ must not be compromised. Moderate Presbyterians charged that Witherspoon's sermon lacked Christian charity; Witherspoon responded with a sermon entitled "Inquiry into the Scripture Meaning of Charity," in which he declared that true charity includes "an ardent and unfeigned love to others and a desire for their welfare, temporal and eternal." Witherspoon insisted that charity requires "the deepest concern for their dangerous state," and that one who does not care about the salvation of people's souls does not practice true charity toward them.