A Failed Utopia: John Witherspoon's History of a Corporation of Servants

Using Witherspoon’s published works while in Scotland, the article analyses his growing pessimism about the state of virtue in the Church of Scotland and wider society. From the witty Ecclesiastical Characteristics to the bitter and self-pitying History of a Corporation Servants, it looks at his criticisms of the Moderates, charts his disengagement from the Church, and casts light on his decision to emigrate in 1768.