The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-21
STATUE IS UNVEILED
TRIBUTES PAID TO REV. DIR. JOHN
 WITHERsPOON.
A Handsome statue Is Dedicated In Memory of His IllustriOus Servieea as . Patriot. PhiIanthropist
 and Theol0gfan.

Washington, May 20.--In memory of his illustrious services as a patriot, philanthropist and theologian. a hand some statue was dedicated here today -ta- the Rev. pr. John Witherspoon. famed as Scotch Presbyterian minis ter, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, member of the Continenta Congress and once president of Prince ton University.
 Assembled to do honor to the mem ory of WitherSpoon was the diplomatic representatives of foreign governments, men high in the official and industrial life of the nation, many of the de- scendants of the noted Scotchman and others.
 The statue. which has been erected on the triangle formed by Connecticut avenue and Eighteenth and N streets, directly in front of the Church of the Covenant, Is of bronze and represents Witherspoon in oratorical attitude. He holds a book in one hand and faces the South.
 The feature of the program was the pulling of the silken cord which un- yelled the statue by William Banks Withers, 7-year-old son of Professor Withers. of the Agricultural and Me- chanical College of North Carolina. and lineal descendant of John Wither- spoon. of the sixth generation.
 The ceremonies which began at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon, were held In the Church of the Covenant, and General John w Foster. chairman of the board of trustees of the Wither- spoon Memorial Association. presided. The Rev. pr. Jerre Witherspoon, pas tor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond, Va. a lineal descendant of Witherspoon, delivered the Invoca- ton. while the benediction was pro- nounced by Rev. David A. Wood. of Gettysburg. Va. another descendant.
 The opening address was made by James Bryce, the British ambassador, on "The Contributions of Scotland to Amerlca."s He was followed by Pro- lessor Woodrow Wilson, of Princeton University. whose subject was The Review Of the Life and Service of Witherspoon." Vice President Sher- man also made a short address.
 Tn paying tribute to a member of the nation which forms part of the kingdom he represents, Amba ssadlor Bryce. of Great Britain, called Wita- erspoon a remarkable man in all his three characters of pastor. politician and college president" The statue unveiled today stands almost opposite the entrance to the British embassy here. A
 MI. bIJ QCNloA Sh tlt0t w TpOOii was a true descendant of those form idable fellows, the Scottish refofmers 1 nthe sixteenth century, men who wrought more by their voices and their pens than others were able to effect by their swords and who more than any other people may be said to have created Nie modern Scottish nation He was a man who would at all times have declared his independence of everything and everybody and who is worthily remembered by one of your greatest universities as the most strilS- ing figures In its earlier annals.
 '"rhe greatest service was rendered by the Scotch-I Irish pioneers, who went South and went from Pennsylvania, tough and valiant men, prepared to face the Indians and all the hardships of a lonely life, adventurers who took nothing with them but their axes, their guns and their Bibles and spent their lives in securing for those who came aftre them that security which you now enjoy It was a strong race, one of the strongest that has gone to the making of this now composite nation.''