His education, from its earliest stages until he entered on the duties of active life, was directed by an English gentleman of rare attainments as a scholar and eminent skill as a teacher, and the successful results of his training were finely illustrated in the subsequent career of his gifted pupil. After leaving school he turned his attention far a short time to mercantile pursuits, and was engaged as book-keeper by a large commercial house in North Carolina. Not finding this sphere of effort congenial to his taste, he returned, after a year and a half, to Brooklyn, where he established, and successfully conducted for ten years, a select school. On October 5, 1825, he was married to Mary W., daughter of Isaac Searles, of Brooklyn. A few years afterward he accepted an invitation to the position of principal of White Plains Academy, an incorporated literary institution under the care of the regents of the State. This position he filled with the highest credit to his ability as an educator of youth. While principal of this academy he received, as an entirely voluntary tribute to his learning and skill, the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. The president, Rev. Wilbur Fiske, D D., LL.D., in presenting this degree, said, in his letter to Professor Swinburne : "This honor is regarded by our Faculty and Board of Trustees as justly due to your superior scholarship, as proved by the fact that your scholars, who enter our Institution, are the best fitted of any we receive."