?av 
 
MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 Morris C. Sutphen, d.d. 
 
 
 ^rintfO for ii3ribatc (Circulation, 
 
 i^-^^ 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS. 
 
 1S76. 
 
CAMBRIDGE : 
 PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
 
HTHIS Memorial of Dr. Sutphen is 
 printed for the eyes of his friends 
 and kindred. In writing it, we have 
 remembered that his modest, manly 
 nature would have recoiled from an 
 exaggerated estimate of his life, his 
 character, and his services to the church. 
 We are conscious rather of failing to do 
 justice to his merits than of magnifying 
 them. 
 
 W. C. STITT. 
 
 PlERMONT, N. Y. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 "V/rORRIS Crater Sutphen was 
 born on the first day of Decem- 
 ber, 1836, in the township of Bed- 
 minster, Somerset County, New Jersey. 
 His boyhood, like that of most boys 
 reared on a farm, was divided between 
 the public school, country sports, and 
 helping in the toils of farm work. After 
 the public school, came private lessons 
 in Latin, from J. V. D. Ayres; and 
 then, at the age of thirteen, his brother 
 John and himself began their classical 
 training for college, under the instruc- 
 tion of the Rev. W. W. Blauvelt, of 
 
6 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 Lamington, New Jersey. At first they 
 reached their teacher on foot, across 
 the fields and through the woods, a 
 daily conversation with Nature which 
 the young Morris transcribed in a com- 
 position, read as a school exercise. 
 Afterwards, when they were making 
 five trips a week, they went to school 
 on horseback, John in front and jNIorris 
 behind, his little legs quite too short to 
 spread in a way worthy of being called 
 a ^^ straddle." He engaged in boy's 
 sports with all a boy's zest. To yoke 
 and drive young steers, to gig lish, eels, 
 and lampreys in the brook, to swim in 
 the " deep hole," to tap the maple-tree, 
 and to try, at least on one occasion, to 
 sail on the brook in the upper half of a 
 washing-machine, was his youthful de- 
 light; whilst his greatest dissipation was 
 to quaff the root-beer of Aunt Dean, 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 7 
 
 an aged colored Hebe, of the " cross- 
 roads." A schoolmate, the Rev. I. Al- 
 styne Blauvelt, writes of him: "The 
 fish at which he aimed the gig stood 
 the poorest chance of its life, and the 
 young steers found him the pluckiest 
 and most persevering of all the amateur 
 trainers." 
 
 Like many other boys who have be- 
 come eminent scholars, he was, during 
 all the years of his studies preparatory 
 to college, doing a great deal of work 
 on the farm at home; the two boys 
 together, according to their father's 
 statement, " doing as much as would 
 have been expected of a hired man." 
 "And yet," says his classmate, Mr. 
 Blauvelt, " Morris made quite as rapid 
 progress in his studies as boys ordina- 
 rily do who have nothing else to oc- 
 cupy their time. He was always all 
 pluck and grit and energy." 
 
8 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 He was a remarkably correct and 
 conscientious boy. He had been guilty 
 at one time of an act of disobedience 
 which many boys would have regarded 
 as trifling; yet his conscience was quick 
 to feel the fault, and he came to his 
 mother and confessed it, and himself 
 suggested that she should whip him 
 for it, — "a height of sanctification," 
 says Mr. Blauvelt, "which for me was 
 unattainable." 
 
 He was a child of the covenant. 
 Covenant faith, covenant prayer, and 
 covenant consecration had devoted him 
 from infancy, first to Christ, and then to 
 Christ's service in the ministry. Like 
 the child Samuel, he "grew on, and 
 was in favor both with the Lord and 
 also with men." He was trained by 
 Christian parents " in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord," and could 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 9 
 
 scarcely tell when he began to love 
 Christ or show the fruits of a regener- 
 ate heart. His profession of faith was 
 not made, however, until August, 1855, 
 when he connected himself with the 
 Presbyterian Church, of Lamington, 
 New Jersey. Though his father — a 
 man of rare excellence and intelligence 
 — alwa3^s commanded his warm affec- 
 tion and respect, yet he ever spoke of 
 his mother as the guide and inspirer of 
 his life, to whose prayers and counsels 
 he was indebted, under God, for all that 
 he was, and for much that he did. 
 
 At the time of his matriculation in 
 Princeton College, Aug. 12, 1853, he 
 was still very boyish in face and fig- 
 ure, though dignified and thoughtful in 
 manner. Short in stature, slight and 
 even frail in bodily appearance, with an 
 earnest fape and beautiful eyes set 
 
lO MEMORIAL OF 
 
 under an open brow, "little Morrie " 
 was a lad of mark from the first. His 
 finished and accurate recitations put 
 him at once by the side of one who 
 was in prophecy, and who was to be in 
 the event the first-honor man in the 
 class of 1856. The contrast between the 
 two in voice and size and manner was 
 so complete as to lift young Morris into 
 special prominence before the class, 
 and to make all long for a treat which 
 the Professors, who saw the humor of 
 the situation, would sometimes give 
 them, — namely, the enjo3'ment of 
 " Morrie's " piping treble reciting im- 
 mediately after the thundering bass of 
 his competitor for the first place; and 
 rounds of applause always testified the 
 admiration for the accurate reciter, and 
 entertainment in the fresh illustration 
 he always gave of the meaning of the 
 Latin phrase, mulhmt i7i parvo. 
 
MORRIS CRA TER SUTPHEN. i I 
 
 The years of academic life passed 
 on in quiet performance of every duty. 
 He pursued the routine of studies with 
 steady persistency, shrinking from no 
 task, disappointing no expectation; 
 growing not only in stature and wis- 
 dom, but also in favor with God and 
 man. He won the respect and admira- 
 tion and affection of his classmates and 
 friends, and the very favorable notice 
 of ail the Faculty. Writing of his col- 
 lege career, one of his professors (Rev. 
 Dr. J. C. Moffitt) says: "There was 
 nothing about him ostentatious. The 
 degree of his manly, self-possessed 
 modesty was the most remarkable feat- 
 ure of his manner. Even the superi- 
 ority of his scholarship impressed itself 
 upon me slowly. It was only when, 
 recitation after recitation, I found my- 
 self marking the same quiet, orderly 
 
12 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 lad with the very highest number on 
 the scale, that I was impressed with 
 the fact of his uncommon accuracy." 
 
 Rarely has a student passed through 
 college life with a character more free 
 from the tinge of any vice, or less com- 
 promised with the follies popularly sup- 
 posed to beset the herding of youth in 
 college walls. He graduated on the 
 last Wednesday of June, 1856, with 
 the second honor in a class large in 
 numbers and strong in scholarship and 
 abilities. 
 
 Immediately after taking his degree, 
 he began teaching in the Academy of 
 Rev. J. T. Owen, Chestnut Hill, Phila- 
 delphia, where he remained until Sep- 
 tember of the same 3'ear. On the loth 
 of October he left home to teach in the 
 family of Col. James Hunter, of Vir- 
 ginia. He returned home in July, 1857, 
 
Af ORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 13 
 
 and on the 3d of September entered 
 the Theological Seminary at Princeton, 
 New Jersey. 
 
 In his seminary life, he evinced the 
 same high qualities as a student which 
 had marked his college career. With 
 his study-door generally locked against 
 intrusion, and with ears deaf to the 
 visitor's knock in study hours, he pre- 
 pared every recitation with scrupulous 
 care, and achieved once more the re- 
 spect of his professors and the admi- 
 ration of his fellow-students for his 
 thoroughness and accuracy. In April, 
 1859, he was elected to the tutorship of 
 mathematics in Princeton College, and 
 in August of the same year was trans- 
 ferred to the chair of Greek, performing 
 at the same time all his duties as a stu- 
 dent in the Seminary. Both in College 
 and Seminary he was laying the foun- 
 
14 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 dation not only of that scholarship for 
 which he was subsequently distin- 
 guished, but also of that devout piety 
 and earnest prayerfulness which ever 
 marked him as a minister of Christ. 
 His native sweetness of disposition and 
 humbleness of mind were receiving a 
 color from that hand of Grace which 
 alone knows how to "paint the lily and 
 adorn the rose." That his study was 
 a house of God, and even a gate of 
 heaven, was fully revealed in his prayers 
 in the orator}^, and his walk and con- 
 versation among his fellows. The ven- 
 erable Professor Charles Hodge writes 
 of him as follows: "When he was in 
 College, I often heard of him from his 
 professors as distinguished for his ami- 
 able disposition, his exemplary conduct, 
 and his superiority to most of his fel- 
 low-students in ability. When he en- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 
 
 15 
 
 tered the Seminary, I of course knew 
 him personally, and found that he fully 
 came up to the expectations founded on 
 the judgment of his college professors. 
 He stood among the very lirst in the 
 Seminary as it regards character, talent, 
 and scholarship. So far as I know, he 
 was respected and loved by all who 
 knew him, and very much in proportion 
 to the intimacy of their acquaintance." 
 
 On April 14, 1859, he was licensed to 
 preach by the Presbytery of Rah way, 
 and returned to the Seminary to finish 
 the course. In January, i860, while 
 yet a student, he received a call to the 
 pastorate of the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Plainfield, New Jersey. 
 After frequent correspondence and 
 prayerful thought he declined the call. 
 On the loth of March of the same 3'ear, 
 he received a call from the Spring- 
 
1 6 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 Garden Presbyterian Church in the city 
 of Philadelphia, to be colleague with the 
 venerable Dr. John McDowell, of holy 
 memory. Although at the same time 
 he received solicitations from other 
 churches and the offer of other situa- 
 tions, he decided to go to Philadelphia. 
 After a masterly examination before the 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia, he was 
 ordained to the ministry and installed 
 as co-pastor with Dr. McDowell on the 
 first of May, i860. 
 
 On the 28th of June, he was married 
 to Miss Eleanor Brush, a daughter of the 
 Rev. William Brush, of Bedminster, 
 New Jersey, — a marriage which indeed 
 " doubled his joys and divided his sor- 
 rows," proving a blessing to him in his 
 ministry, his study, his closet, and his 
 home ; for she was a help-meet in all the 
 relations of his life, public and private. 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 17 
 
 In a review of his life at this period, 
 Mr. Sutphen wrote: "Surely the Lord 
 hath crowned my life thus far with lov- 
 ing kindness and tender mercy. I would 
 here raise an Ebenezer and say, ^ Thus 
 far hath God helped me.' " 
 
 He was now fairly engaged in his 
 life-work. The delicacy and difficulty 
 of his position as colleague with the 
 venerated and beloved John McDowell 
 were modified by the fact that he was the 
 choice not only of the people, but also 
 of the senior pastor himself We well 
 remember the radiant happiness of Dr. 
 McDowell's face during the examination 
 of Mr. Sutphen before the Presbyter}^, 
 and on the occasion of his installation.. 
 Under these favorable auspices he began 
 a ministry which, though not free from 
 the usual trials and burdens of the pas- 
 toral office, was singularly happy, pros- 
 2 
 
1 8 • MEMORIAL OF 
 
 perous, and blessed during the six years 
 of its exercise in a large city. System 
 in the arrangement of his duties and 
 thoroughness in their performance were 
 apparently a necessity of his nature. 
 He at once took rank as a preacher 
 of scholarly resources, Scriptural tone, 
 theological acumen, spiritual unction, 
 and tender and persuasive oratory. 
 Strong as he was in the pulpit, he was 
 still stronger as a pastor. With a 
 dignified reserve which exacted respect, 
 he blended a winsome sympathy and 
 open candor, which irresistibly drew 
 affection and esteem. He became the 
 friend of each and all of his people, 
 welcomed always in their homes, and 
 especially loved and prized in times of 
 trouble and bereavement as a true son 
 of consolation. With all these demands 
 upon him, he found time to devote a part 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. I 9 
 
 of each day to the instruction of a 
 younger brother who was looking for- 
 ward to the ministry. He was a young 
 man of bright promise and earnest 
 piety, and his early death was keenly 
 felt by Mr. Sutphen. 
 
 On Feb. 13, 1863, Dr. McDowell 
 died, and Mr. Sutphen became in name 
 as he had long been in fact the sole 
 pastor of the church. He was ar- 
 duous and even intense in preaching, 
 in prayer, in self-discipline and self- 
 culture, in visiting and in study; and 
 impressed himself on his congregation 
 and his brethren in the ministry as a 
 man thoroughly consecrated to his 
 Divine Master and that Master's cause. 
 The church grew in character, in piety, 
 in numbers; its light grew brighter, its 
 usefulness increased. Amons^ the reso- 
 lutions of Mr. Sutphen, not only formed 
 
20 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 but fulfilled in this pastorate, were such 
 as these: ^^ Resolved, that I will en- 
 deavor to live more singly for God's 
 glory; that I will cultivate more 
 charity towards my brethren; that I 
 will envy no brother, nor speak ill of 
 any; that by temperance in diet I will 
 endeavor to secure more time and 
 vigor for Christ's service; that I will 
 endeavor to be before men what I am. 
 So help me God." So disciplining, 
 himself and toiling with earnest zeal for 
 his people, it is no wonder he won all 
 hearts, and grew steadily in reputation 
 w^ithin and without his congregation. 
 Years afterwards, when tidings of 
 his decease reached his Philadelphia 
 charge, as his successor Dr. Cunning- 
 ham has written, there followed " a 
 profound impression; for his memory 
 here is precious, and his name is always 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 2 1 
 
 mentioned with pleasure." Letters of 
 condolence poured in from that congre- 
 gation upon his widow, revealing the 
 strength and sincerit}^ of their love for 
 him, which years of separation had in 
 no wise diminished. One speaks of him 
 as "one of the loveliest characters, a 
 second Summerfield." Another writes: 
 " His influence for good was so great 
 here, that eternity alone will reveal the 
 extent of it; he was so unselfish, so 
 loving, so sympathizing." 
 
 Of course, he was becoming more 
 widely as well as more favorably knowm 
 and esteemed as the years passed on. 
 Another aged servant of Christ, Dr. 
 McElro}', of the Scotch Presbyterian 
 Church, New York, began to feel the 
 weight of years and the need of help in 
 his ministry; and the attention of his 
 people was turned to a man who had 
 
2 2 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 already succeeded so well in the diffi- 
 cult role of junior pastor. When over- 
 tures were made to Mr. Sutphen to 
 remove to New York, he felt that his 
 health demanded a change, and he re- 
 solved to accept a proffered call which 
 was made on March 5, 1866. But great 
 was the surprise and grief of his people. 
 They generously offered to send him to 
 Europe for rest and recreation, and to 
 make other arrano^ements for his com- 
 fort and relief But he had made up his 
 mind that it was wisest for him to seek 
 relief in a new field of labor. He had 
 gone to a large city-charge directly from 
 the Seminary, with scant materials for 
 the heavy demands of a prominent 
 pulpit, and his strength was much im- 
 paired by his stern devotion to duty and 
 toilsome attention to every claim in his 
 pastorate. After the first shock 'of 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 23 
 
 sorrow, his people yielded to his wishes 
 and consented to a dissolution of the 
 pastoral relation. The following paper 
 expresses the feelings of the Session in 
 view of the separation: — 
 
 ^' With deep emotion and profound regret 
 this Session has listened to the statement 
 made by our beloved pastor. It comes, an 
 unexpected and unvyelcome visitor, forebod- 
 ing days of darkness and scenes of trial. 
 
 "Fresh from the Theological Seminary, 
 with but little pulpit preparation in advance, 
 our 3'oung pastor entered upon his labors 
 among us with a zeal and earnestness that 
 fully compensated for any lack of experi- 
 ence. The health and strength of our late 
 pastor. Rev. J. McDowell, D.D., soon after 
 the formation of the co-pastorate, were so 
 far impaired that the entire labor fell upon 
 the junior pastor. From that time to the pres- 
 ent, both in health and in sickness, he has 
 labored on regardless of personal comfort, 
 devoted to the interests of our church, and 
 the cause of the Master. 
 
24 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 "The presentation of the Sacred Word, 
 both on the Sabbath and during the week, 
 has been of such a character as to ' feed the 
 flock,' and lead to its constant growth. Its 
 fideHty has received the seal of the Mas- 
 ter's approbation in making it effectual to 
 conversion. 
 
 "The interests of the young have espe- 
 cially enlisted the labors and sympathies 
 of our pastor. Not only has the Sabbath- 
 school received his constant support, but 
 the children in our families, individually, 
 have engaged his kindly notice and coun- 
 sel. His sympathies have everywhere been 
 drawn out by the sick and the suffering. 
 More than any other man we ever knew, 
 has he abounded in this service. 
 
 "All the departments of our church enter- 
 prises have steadily prospered during these 
 six years. The attendance on the ministra- 
 tions of the Word has more than doubled. 
 Our contributions to benevolent objects, 
 though far from what they should be, have 
 shown a gratifying advance from year to 
 
A/OT^AVS CRATER SUTPHEN. 25 
 
 year. The tone of confidence in which all 
 
 speak who are engaged in any sphere of 
 
 the work, shows a healthiness greatly to be 
 
 desired. 
 
 " But our work thus pleasantly prosperous 
 
 must be interrupted. He who has been our 
 
 chosen leader, led as he esteems it by a 
 
 sense of duty, asks us to unite with him in 
 
 seeking a dissolution of these pleasant ties. 
 
 In view of all the circumstances, painful as 
 
 is the task, we feel constrained to present no 
 
 bar. We will, therefore, in deference to 
 
 our pastor's desire, most reluctantly unite 
 
 in his request ; and may the great Head of 
 
 the Church go with him wherever duty may 
 
 call him. 
 
 "GILBERT COMBS, 
 
 " Clerk of Session. 
 
 "Philadelphia, March 15, 1866." 
 
 The resolutions of the consrreofation 
 (too lengthy for insertion here) were 
 even more tender, tearful, appreciative, 
 and affectionate than those just quoted. 
 
26 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 The commissioners appointed to read 
 them in the Presbytery which dissolved 
 the pastoral relation were deeply 
 moved, and the Presbytery itself could 
 not part with Mr. Sutphen without the 
 following record of its feeling : — 
 
 "The following minute was adopted by 
 the Central Presbyter}', of Philadelphia, at 
 the late meeting held in Princeton Church, 
 West Philadelphia, April 3, 1866 : — 
 
 "'That this Presbytery in receiving Mr. 
 Sutphen's resignation of his congregation, 
 and dismissing him to the Second Presby- 
 tery of New York, part with him with feel- 
 ings of deepest respect and most cordial 
 affection. 
 
 "'Coming to us a young man from the 
 studies of the Seminary, and' entering on 
 the co-ordinate pastorate of one of our most 
 important churches, he has proved himself 
 equal to every occasion; — a faithful, labo- 
 rious, affectionate, and successful preacher 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 27 
 
 and pastor ; a systematic, attentive and 
 
 useful presbj^ter, and a lovable and loving 
 
 companion and friend. That in going to 
 
 occupy the high position so long and 
 
 successfully occupied by Dr. J. McElroy, 
 
 and formerly by Dr. Mason, we will follow 
 
 him with our best wishes for his success, 
 
 and with earnest prayers that his labors 
 
 may be even yet more highly recognized 
 
 than they have been among us. 
 
 "'Attest. 
 
 '"J. ADDISON HENRY, 
 
 " ' Stated Clerk of Central Presbytery: " 
 
 lie preached his farewell sermon in 
 Philadelphia, on the second Sabbath in 
 April, and the very next Sabbath began 
 his labors in New York; on both occa- 
 sions dispensing the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 The location of the Scotch Presby- 
 terian Church and the drift of population 
 in New York City gave occasion for 
 
2 8 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 hard work to keep up its strength and 
 influence. Yet Mr. Sutphen's zeal over- 
 ran the boundaries of his congregation, 
 and his Christian sympathies went out 
 to the outlying masses, who were as 
 sheep without a shepherd. 
 
 He persuaded his people to establish 
 a parochial Sabbath-school, and to this 
 he gave time, strength, and toil, with 
 great enthusiasm; and from this came a 
 blessing not only to the children and 
 adults instructed in it, but also to the 
 church which sustained it. He threw 
 himself with characteristic ardor into 
 those occasional services which are de- 
 manded of city pastors on the platform, 
 in connection with the reforms and 
 charities of the day. His stud}^ was not 
 neglected for pretentious activity, nor 
 was any genuine call to "bear a hand" 
 in public work declined for the attrac- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 29 
 
 tions of the study. In the second year 
 of his New York pastorate he writes 
 to his friend, Rev. William Scribner: 
 " I have begun the New Year with 
 man}^ new resolutions. Oli, that God 
 would give me grace to keep them ! 
 This is my calendar: severe study for 
 at least one hour each morning of the 
 master-pieces of the masters in Poetry, 
 Philosophy, Theology, History, Homi- 
 letics. Languages. Expect to take 
 each department for a month. January, 
 
 — Languages; Hebrew and Greek. 
 February, — Poetry; Homer. March, 
 
 — Theolog}^ ; Augustine. April, — Bib- 
 lical Histor}^; Stanley. IMa}^, — Phi- 
 losophy; Plato. June, — Homiletics; 
 Latin and Greek Pulpit. July, — Po- 
 etry; Dante. August, — Philosophy; 
 Bacon. September, — Theology; Tur- 
 retine. October, — History; SchalT. 
 
30 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 November, — Hdmiletlcs. December, 
 — Languages. My plan also includes 
 the reading of the Old Testament once 
 through in English and half through 
 in Hebrew; and the New Testament 
 once through in Greek and once through 
 in English." Then follows a pro- 
 gramme of the day's employments, as- 
 signing to each division its proper work 
 from six o'clock a.m. to eleven o'clock 
 P.M., — not forgetting the hour to be 
 spent in reading to his children, and gen- 
 erously providing for the outdoor work 
 of his pastorate. Thus he extended his 
 studies and researches quite beyond the 
 immediate preparation of some, particu- 
 lar discourse. " This enriched his mind, 
 and saved him from that poverty and 
 monotonous sameness of discourse 
 towards which they tend who read 
 nothing, study nothing, and care for 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 31 
 
 nothing which will not directly aid 
 them in working up some particular 
 discourse." 
 
 The fame of his fidelity to duty and 
 zeal for souls and pulpit ability opened 
 many other doors of usefulness in the 
 early part of his metropolitan life. He 
 received overtures from Boston, San 
 Francisco, Plainfield, N.J., Quincy, 111., 
 Albany, Chicago, and Louisville. Not- 
 withstanding trials inseparable from his 
 position as associate pastor, and pecul- 
 iar to the church from its geographical 
 position, he remained at his post, faith- 
 ful to every duty. The toils of the 
 study and the field began to show them- 
 selves upon his constitution, and fears 
 were entertained at this time by 
 watchful friends that he was straining 
 his strength beyond his power of en- 
 durance. In 1868 he took a summer 
 
32 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 trip to Niagara and Montreal, and 
 immediately thereafter to the Rocky 
 Mountains; by which he was greatly 
 benefited. Of these tours he wrote a 
 graphic account for the columns of the 
 " Philadelphia Presbyterian; " of which 
 paper he had been the regular New York 
 correspondent, furnishing weekly letters 
 remarkable for their grasp of public 
 questions and their bright and sketchy 
 style. 
 
 In the summer of 1869 his health 
 again required immediate attention, and 
 for rest and recreation his congregation 
 generously sent him abroad. He visited 
 Ireland, Scotland, England, France, 
 Switzerland, Upper Italy, Rhenish Ger- 
 man}^, Holland, and Belgium, and went 
 as far south as Milan. During most of 
 the time he travelled in company with 
 a number of American ministers, the}^ 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 33 
 
 generally leaving it to him to sketch out 
 and decide the route of travel. Dr. 
 R. W. Clark, of Albany, says of him: 
 " I am free to say that he w^as decidedly 
 the best and most accomplished travel- 
 ling companion that I met with in all 
 Europe. His accurate and general in- 
 formation, his uniform courtesy, and his 
 pure Christian kindness won my admi- 
 ration and affection. I shall ever think 
 of him with delight and gratitude." 
 
 He returned in September invigorated 
 by the tour, and full of fresh hope of 
 protracted service in the Lord's vine- 
 yard. " It was my earnest prayer," he 
 wrote, " as I left the Old World, that I 
 might leave behind every thing which 
 exalted itself against God; in a word, 
 "^ the old man.' " 
 
 His joint ministry with Dr. McElroy 
 lasted five years. His personal rela- 
 3 
 
34 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 tions with this eminent servant of God, 
 as they had been with Dr. McDow^ell, 
 were of the tenderest kind. Both loved 
 him as a son, and he gave to them the 
 reverence and respect due to a father. 
 In June, 1871, the aged pastor became 
 ^^ Pastor Emeritus," and the entire charge 
 was devolved on Mr. Sutphen ; at the 
 same time he was deliberating on a vir- 
 tual call to the professorship of Pasto- 
 ral Theology, Church Government, and 
 Homiletics in the Allegheny Theologi- 
 cal Seminary. The work of teaching 
 in that department was very attractive to 
 Mr. Sutphen, for which also he w^as 
 specially fitted by his experience of pas- 
 toral and pulpit success in two impor- 
 tant churches, and by extensive reading 
 and study. The very strong desire of 
 Dr. McElroy, his church and session, to 
 retain him in New York, and the cor- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 35 
 
 dial assurances of his usefulness in the 
 pastoral work led him at length to re- 
 gard it as the Divine will that he should 
 decline the proffered election. 
 
 In June, 187 1, Mr. Sutphen was 
 unanimously elected by the Trustees of 
 Princeton Colleo^e to receive the des^ree 
 of Doctor of Divinity. One of the pro- 
 fessors, in a letter of congratulation, 
 says: "Some of our degrees are not 
 well bestowed, but there is only one 
 opinion in reference to you." This was 
 certainly the judgment of all, especially 
 of Dr. Sutphen's intimate friends, who 
 knew how thorough as well as exten- 
 sive his Biblical studies were. 
 
 In July, 187 1, he was invited by his 
 dear and valued friend, Mr. Robert 
 Carter, to join him with his family 
 and friends at South Egremont, Mass. 
 While there he was attacked by inflam- 
 
36 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 matory rheumatism, followed in August 
 by a rheumatic fever which prostrated 
 him entirely. By mismanagement of 
 his case he was brought to the very 
 gate of death, and was supposed to be 
 dying, but " was saved (as he writes) 
 by the skill and heroism of my dear 
 wife." Reviving sufficiently to travel, 
 Mr. Carter strongly urged his trying 
 again a sea voyage, and sent to New 
 York to have his passage engaged; but 
 his physicians discouraged the trip, and 
 he went instead to Clifton Springs to 
 recruit his shattered health. 
 
 Before the rheumatic fever came on. 
 Dr. Sutphen " had three most precious 
 and wonderful visitations of the Divine 
 Spirit," of which he gives a rapid 
 sketch. "First, the Lord seemed to 
 speak to me of the matter of preaching: 
 ^ preach the preaching that I give to 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 37 
 
 thee; ' ^ especially emphasize the powers 
 of the world to come;' ^preach the 
 judgment.' It seemed to me that I was 
 like Jonah, and had on one pretext or 
 another been disposed to run away from 
 my work. Now, the Lord calls me 
 back to His work of preaching a com- 
 ing judgment to the careless, godless 
 city around me. It seemed as though 
 the Lord suggested to me how largely 
 a coming judgment made up the revela- 
 tion in the Scriptures, and how greatly 
 such preaching was needed in this 
 materialistic as^e. I can never foro^et 
 the power with which this impression 
 came. The room seemed filled with 
 electric sparks, which shook and sw^ept 
 and wrapped my body as with a mighty 
 wind. Never had such an influence 
 passed over me. This was so precious 
 and powerful that I was compelled to 
 
38 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 say, ^ Stay Thy hand, O Lord, for my 
 soul can hold no more!' Then the im- 
 pression ceased, and I fell back into a 
 sweet repose; which however was not 
 sleep. 
 
 " I felt a longing for the return of the 
 heavenly vision, and my soul went up 
 to God that He would again visit me; 
 and this He generously did. This sec- 
 ond impression had reference to the 
 manner of preaching. ^Preach,' seemed 
 the voice to say, ^ as my prophet, speak- 
 ing in my name and by my authority. 
 Challenore attention to the truth as be- 
 ing mine. Stand up, and as the ambas- 
 sador of God speak.' This also was so 
 powerful that again I was forced to cry, 
 ^ Stay Thy hand, O Lord, for I can hold 
 no more! ' 
 
 " And yet I longed for further commu- 
 nication; and so a third time it seemed to 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 39 
 
 come, and then to speak of the manner 
 oi preparation. It seemed to say, ^ Be 
 not ever poring downward. Seek not 
 inspiration at the point of your pen. 
 Prepare with eye looking upward for 
 heavenly light. Instead of laborious 
 framing and decorating of thoughts, — 
 poor thoughts, worried from your brain, 
 — look out and up by meditation and 
 reflection to God Himself As I look 
 back on these manifestations and mer- 
 ciful deliverances from death, I must, 
 as Jacob, call the place ^ Peniel,' for I 
 have seen God face to face, and my 
 life is preserved. 
 
 " On Sabbath morning my wife read 
 with inexpressible new force to me the 
 fifty-first Psalm. But especially has the 
 one hundred and third Psalm come to 
 me with power in view of the number- 
 less mercies I have received at the hand 
 
40 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 of all these dear people who have vied 
 w^ith each other in their ministries of 
 love. ^ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
 all that is v^ithin me bless His holy- 
 name.' God draw me nearer and 
 nearer to His glorious Self. Peniel." 
 Dr. Sutphen was physically unable 
 to preach until December of 187 1. In 
 a self-humbling record of his sorrow 
 for sin at this time he mentions " impru- 
 dence in work. I have been wont sim- 
 ply to ask whether any thing presenting 
 itself before me were possible. I have 
 overtaxed my strength, and have brought 
 sickness upon me; which sin I do con- 
 fess and sincerely forsake. I have 
 overworried as well as overworked. I 
 have not taken God at His word, as I 
 ought. I have not been content to do 
 what I might, and then leave results to 
 God; which also I acknowledge as a 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 41 
 
 sin and shame, and desire to renounce. 
 And now, O Lord, I desire on this 
 Sabbath [Dec. 3, 1871] to commit my- 
 self anew to Thee. Oh cut me not ofF 
 in the midst of my days! Deal with 
 me not after my sins! Spare me not to 
 a life of feebleness and misery on the 
 earth! ^But oh forgive my sins: remit 
 their punishment, if it please Thee! 
 Grant that this body, threatened lately 
 with death, and yet afflicted with dis- 
 ease, may by the invigoration of Thy 
 Spirit become once more perfect in 
 strength; and that my mind and heart 
 and spirit, too sadly abused, may also 
 be replenished out of the fulness in 
 Thyself! O Lord, I should be ashamed 
 to come home to Thee with the little I 
 have yet done for Thee! Oh renew my 
 life and inspire me with Thy Spirit, and 
 enable me to enter upon a career of 
 
42 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 signal service to Thy cause! Oh grant 
 this for the sake of Thy Son! And this, 
 O Lord, I especially desire because I 
 have now entered upon the second half 
 of the existence which is set as the 
 limit of human life. I am midway be- 
 tween the cradle and the grave, reck- 
 oning three-score years and ten as the 
 term of human existence. Oh that I 
 may enter on this a new man, devoted 
 in bod}', mind, soul, and spirit to God!" 
 God deemed it best not to answer 
 the prayer of his servant as he wished. 
 He continued to preach with difficulty 
 until June, when he with his wife went 
 to Colorado, where they spent the sum- 
 mer, but without any marked benefit to 
 his health. On his return, after careful 
 examination of his throat, his physi- 
 cians enjoined him to cease preaching 
 at once, and gave him little hope of 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 43 
 
 soon resuming his work. Deep as was 
 his affection for his people, and certain 
 as he was of their sympathy and sup- 
 port in this trying hour, he felt that 
 justice to his church required that he 
 should at once resign his charge and 
 leave the pulpit for a stronger man. 
 His resignation was offered in October, 
 1872. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Walter 
 Carter shows the loving estimate of his 
 New York pastorate: — 
 
 " There is so much that I would like to 
 write you about dear Dr. Sutphen, that I 
 hardly know where to begin. No human be- 
 ing could be long in his company without 
 loving him ; his kindly face, the index of a 
 loving heart, drew .all toward him. His 
 power over the young was a marked charac- 
 teristic of his ministry among us ; my own 
 children almost worshipped him, and his 
 influence for good was visible in every fam- 
 ily in the congregation. 
 
44 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 " I have never known his equal in the vis- 
 itation of the sick, and early in his ministry 
 I had proof of his power. At the close of 
 a sultry Sabbath in June, 1866 (the year he 
 came to us), I waited for him at the close of 
 the afternoon service, and mentioned to him 
 that one of our members had met a sudden 
 and awful death the day before, leaving a 
 large family of young children without 
 father or mother. Notwithstanding his fa- 
 tigue, he walked a mile with me to the house 
 where the children stood around their dead. 
 Their excitement on seeing the young min- 
 ister was fearful ; as he spoke of their loss I 
 almost feared that reason would lose its 
 throne with some of them. With his tender 
 voice so gentle and sympathetic, he repeated 
 the hymn, ' O Thou that driest the mourn- 
 er's tears,' &c. ; before he had finished the 
 first verse the room was hushed, the mourn- 
 ers comforted, and all present fell under the 
 spell of his loving heart. As a pastor I 
 have seldom seen his equal, especially at 
 the bedside of the sick and dying. In that 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 45 
 
 most delicate of pastoral duties, addresses at 
 funerals, he excelled ; even over the grave of 
 the unconverted he could draw the appro- 
 priate lesson for the living without jarring 
 the sensibilities of friends. As a preacher 
 he was earnest, pungent, practical ; a mas- 
 ter of analysis, never forcing a text to sus- 
 tain a hobby, but letting it tell its great 
 truths in its natural way. While he faith- 
 fully presented the threatenings of God's law 
 and strove to call the sinner to the sense of 
 his danger, his delight was in the Gospels, 
 in the loving character of his loving Lord. 
 His presentation of divine truth was fresh, 
 original, and popular, and the hearers were 
 ever impressed with the sincerity of the 
 preacher, — that every word uttered was 
 believed and felt. 
 
 "But perhaps his social power was his 
 most efficient agency for good ; all who met 
 him loved him, and he never lost a friend. 
 The glance of his melting eye, the pressure 
 of his loving hand, was, as one of our plain 
 people once said, 'as good as a sermon.' 
 
46 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 In the Presbytery of New York, the largest 
 in the United States, he was greatly esteemed 
 and beloved by his associates ; his familiar- 
 ity with the forms of procedure was remark- 
 able in one so young, and while strength 
 remained he took an active part in all public 
 business. He was a thorough business man 
 in church affairs, reducing all to system and 
 order. He divided the congregation into 
 four districts, assigning two Elders to each 
 district, for more intimate acquaintance and 
 supervision ; he added five Elders and a 
 Deacon to our number, and not only strove 
 himself to know all the members of the 
 church and congregation, but to have the 
 Elders and Deacons familiar with them 
 also. He presented most faithfully the va- 
 rious schemes of the church to his people, 
 and developed an increase of liberality in 
 all. While exercising a large charity to all 
 his neighbors of other creeds, he stood 
 firmly up for the doctrine and discipline 
 of his own church, and strove with all his 
 might to cultivate among his people a 
 
AT ORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 47 
 
 knowledge of and affection for the faith of 
 their fathers. 
 
 " His heart was deeply stirred when he 
 first came to our city by the destitution all 
 around us, and he endeavored in some meas- 
 ure to supply this want by a kind of parochial 
 system which would make each church re- 
 sponsible for the region immediately around 
 it. In order to jx^ther in the multitude of 
 children around us who went to no Sabbath- 
 school, and their parents who went to no 
 church, he organized a parochial mission- 
 school which should visit every home by its 
 teachers and missionary, and get all who 
 had no other spiritual home to come to our 
 church and Sabbath-school room of the 
 church. This has proved a great success, 
 not only blessing the destitute families 
 around us, and giving all the opportunity of 
 hearing the Gospel, but it has proved a 
 blessing to the church itself, in developing 
 the active missionary spirit in our young 
 people, and acting as a natural feeder to the 
 church. But I shall tire you in my love for 
 
48 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 the dear man, and must close. He has been 
 called to a higher, holier service, and he 
 was ripe for it; he was too pure for earth, 
 and he has left us to follow and mourn his 
 
 loss." 
 
 The following letter from a young 
 lady of his parish reveals better than 
 any words of ours his influence among 
 the 3^oung: — 
 
 "We young people always called him 
 saintly, his life seemed so far above the 
 plane of ours. ... 
 
 "The last Sunday of his work among 
 us stands saddest and tenderest in our mem- 
 ory of all the days of his ministry. 
 
 "It was Communion Sunday, and, as it 
 used to be, the white-draped tables were 
 spread down the aisle and across the 
 church. 
 
 " It had been a very solemn service, unusu- 
 ally so ; for was it not the last time we should 
 receive the consecrated bread and wine from 
 his hands? A strange quiet fell upon us as 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 49 
 
 he arose to speak ; his pale face was touched 
 with a calm, a brightness, which was not of 
 earth. 
 
 "He spoke of his plans, of all he longed 
 so much to do, of his bitter 4isappointment ; 
 and in faltering tones warned us that the 
 time was short, — how short we did not 
 know. 
 
 " He addressed each class separately, — the 
 aged, those in middle life, the young; to 
 those who had supported him in all, thank- 
 ing them for their kindness to him, and 
 asking their forgiveness had he ever caused 
 them pain. 
 
 "^And now,' he said, glancing down the 
 long table, and over the church, arresting 
 every eye, 'I would speak to those who have 
 been brought to Christ during my ministry, 
 my very joy and crown.^ He bowed his 
 head, overcome by emotion. Then he 
 gathered strength, and in those low hoarse 
 tones so painful to listen to, he gave to these 
 his parting charge. He urged them to hold 
 fast their profession unto the end, watching 
 4 
 
50 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 unto prayer, working earnestly, unceasingly, 
 for Christ, trusting to Him for each day's 
 strength until He called them home. 
 
 "No one who witnessed that scene can soon 
 forget it. Strong men wept like little chil- 
 dren, and I am sure there was not a dry eye 
 in all the church. 
 
 "As I write, I seem again to see that saintly 
 face, and to hear his voice. We shall not 
 forget him ; he speaks to us yet. We en- 
 deavor to carry on his work in the school 
 he established ; and at home, everywhere, 
 we would remember the motto he gave to 
 us one summer, long ago, 'As ye go, 
 preach.' " 
 
 The follov^ing sketch of his remarks 
 at the Communion Table, referred to in 
 the above letter, show the depth of his 
 sorrow in the prospect of separation 
 from his dear people and his precious 
 work: — 
 
 "My dear People, — As you are al- 
 ready aware, and as you are reminded by 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 5 I 
 
 the notice just read, this is the last time I 
 shall sit down with you at this table as your 
 pastor. I need not say that this circum- 
 stance is deeply affecting and afflicting to 
 me. The feelings which animate my heart 
 tow^ard you are of the tenderest character. 
 You have most kindly ministered to me and 
 mine, and in parting from you I feel that I 
 am parting from the nearest and dearest 
 friends. The older among you have been 
 as fathers, and the younger as brothers. 
 And especially have I found sympathy from 
 your venerated pastor, between whom and 
 myself the most affectionate relations have 
 ever obtained, and who I know is afflicted 
 with me in the affliction of this hour. 
 
 " But I must not allow these personalities 
 further to invade the sacredness of this me- 
 morial hour. We are here to remember 
 Jesus. And though it is a dictate of love 
 to plead for remembrance, and though our 
 dear Divine Redeemer himself begged his 
 disciples not to forget him, and to this end 
 instituted this holy supper, — yet this day I 
 
52 
 
 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 call upon you to remember Jesus, no mat- 
 ter what may become of the poor voice 
 which speaks to you. 
 
 "I recall with peculiar happiness that 
 m}^ ministry among you began at the Lord's 
 Table, and that it is to end at that table. 
 It began with remembrance of Christ, and 
 it ends with the remembrance of Christ. 
 Alas that it has not been more full of Christ ! 
 Alas that no opportunity is given me to 
 supply the many deficiencies of which I am 
 so painfully conscious ! Alas that I cannot 
 speak to you once more of the beauty and 
 goodness of this precious Saviour ! How 
 startling to think that our respective records 
 as pastor and people are sealed, — sealed 
 irrevocably against the great day of final 
 account ! O Lord, have mercy on our ten 
 thousand sins and short-comings ! If Thou 
 should'st be strict to mark iniquity, who 
 shall stand ? 
 
 " And now it is only left to me to ask 
 you to recall the poor words I have uttered 
 while among you. If I have ever spoken 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 53 
 
 any thing of the infinite preciousness of the 
 Saviour, or of the all importance of the 
 great salvation, or of the transcendent in- 
 terests of the vast eternity so near, which 
 has moved your heart, believe me that 
 now I would that I could intensify such 
 utterance ten thousand times. My heart 
 has almost burst with longing to plead with 
 you once more as the ambassador of God. 
 Methinks that, almost as one escaped from 
 the other w^orld, I should press the high 
 realities of eternity upon you. 
 
 "Finally, my brethren, the time is short. 
 Oh does not God with singular impressive- 
 ness illustrate this truth for us to-day? 
 Like a thunderbolt out of a cloudless sky 
 this dispensation has fallen on me. Stand- 
 ing here in the midst of my unfinished 
 schemes and unaccomplished enterprises, 
 unable to preach even a farewell sermon, is 
 not my very presence a call of God to you 
 to do with your might whatsoever your 
 hand finds to do? You who are God's 
 people, hasten your complete sanctification 
 in Christ. Attain at once fulness of stature 
 
54 
 
 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 in him who is the head. Forget those 
 things which are behind, and reach forth 
 unto those things which are before. You 
 who under my ministry have confessed 
 Christ, my very joy and crown, stand fast 
 in the Lord beloved. Fight manfully the 
 good fight of faith ; lay hold on eternal life. 
 You who are parents, agonize for your chil- 
 dren yet unsaved, until Christ be formed in 
 them the hope of glory. You who are still 
 without, once more I plead with you by the 
 tender mercies of God, by the infinite love 
 of Christ, by the all-gracious wooing of the 
 Spirit, by the tremendous realities of eter- 
 nity, flee, flee at once, with all dispatch — 
 flee from the wrath to come ! Make sure, 
 oh make stire^ of eternal life ! 
 
 " And now may the God of all grace, who 
 has called us to his eternal glory by Christ 
 Jesus, after we have suffered awhile, stab- 
 lish, strengthen, settle us, and at last gather 
 us all from these scenes of trial and conflict 
 into the Church triumphant, where our com- 
 munion and joy will be perfected for ever ! 
 Oh let us ever keep the eye of faith directed 
 
MORJ^IS CRATER SUTPHEN. 55 
 
 upward and heavenward ! Oh let us never 
 amid the joys or sorrows of life forget the 
 glory that remaineth ! Oh let us so live that 
 v^hatever separations may come in time, we 
 may all, all meet at last in our Father's 
 house, to go no more out for ever ! Amen, 
 and amen." 
 
 " Preamble and resolutions adopted at a 
 meeting of the members of the Scotch Pres- 
 byterian Church, held Oct. 28, 1872, for 
 the purpose of uniting with Dr. Sutphen in 
 an application to Presbytery for relief from 
 his pastoral charge : — 
 
 "'Whereas it has pleased our Heavenly 
 Father to afflict our beloved pastor, Dr. Sut- 
 phen, with partial loss of voice, unfitting him 
 for his pulpit duties, and rendering his res- 
 ignation necessary : 
 
 ^^^ Resolved^ That we deeply regret the 
 necessity for this separation, recognizing in 
 Dr. Sutphen the able scholar, the earnest 
 and faithful preacher of the Gospel, and 
 the loving pastor and friend of every mem- 
 
56 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 ber of his flock. We gratefully acknowl- 
 edge his tender ministry of love among the 
 sick and the dying, his sympathy for the 
 bereaved in the house of mourning, and his 
 unflagging interest in the children of the 
 Church, and of our mission schools. He 
 carries with him the warm affection of this 
 people, and of the community among whom 
 he has so faithfully labored for the last six 
 years ; and we earnestly pray that he may 
 speedily be restored to health, and to the 
 work he so fervently loves. 
 
 ^^^ Resolved, That as a token of our affec- 
 tionate regard for him, and for his estimable 
 family, we appoint Messrs. A. R. Walsh, 
 Robert Carter, and James Miller a com- 
 mittee to raise a memorial free-will offering 
 to present to our beloved pastor.' " 
 
 These resolutions were no empty for- 
 mality. The feeling of sympathy with 
 Dr. Sutphen in his affliction, and of 
 sorrow in view of their own loss, took 
 shape in a handsome and generous pro- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 57 
 
 vision for his family, by which he was 
 relieved of all anxiety about his im- 
 mediate support, and enabled to travel 
 in pursuit of health and strength. In 
 November of the same year he sailed 
 for Nassau, and spent the winter in a 
 tropical climate ; returning North in 
 the spring of 1873, by easy stages 
 through Jacksonville, Florida, and 
 Aiken, South Carolina. His health, 
 though not established, was greatly 
 benefited by his residence in the 
 Bahamas. His voice grew stronger, 
 and he increased in flesh. His whole 
 correspondence with his family and 
 friends shows an ardent desire and con- 
 fident anticipation of a return to work, 
 coupled with a sweet submission to 
 God's will. A few extracts from let- 
 ters to his wife will reveal his Christian 
 temper under his trials : — 
 
58 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 "I begin to think about the future. Let 
 us henceforth with more specialty pray for 
 a place and post of usefulness. I desire at 
 least to be willing to abide God's will. Oh 
 to be swallowed up in Him ; to place 
 uppermost His glory ! Then all must be 
 well." 
 
 "To-day has been one of great spiritual 
 refreshment to me. It was communion in 
 the Presbyterian Church. I was enabled 
 with new consecration to lay myself on the 
 altar, and was made to long greatly to re- 
 engage in some way and place in the Mas- 
 ter's service. I long to return to the pulpit. 
 I feel I have never preached. The Lord 
 appoint us a ministry in w^hich we may sin- 
 gularly glorify Him ! To the preaching of 
 the Gospel I have been pre-eminently con- 
 secrated, and to that I desire, if it be God's 
 will, to return." 
 
 " I have souo-ht anew cjuidance for our 
 dear people, that they may speedily and 
 safely choose one worthy to lead them 
 through the wilderness. And for that, how 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 59 
 
 much more important piety is than is usu- 
 ally assumed ! Moses had no preaching 
 power. He was not half so popular a 
 speaker as Aaron. But how much more 
 important to Israel was Moses' power in 
 prayer than Aaron's power in preaching ! 
 Paul was in presence mean and in speech 
 contemptible, and yet who in the apostolic 
 college compares with him ? Oh that, if I 
 am again permitted to enter the pulpit, I may 
 earnestly cultivate the power of speaking to 
 God as well as that of speaking to man ! " 
 
 " I have more than ever lately had motions 
 of the Spirit to prayer, invitations as it were 
 to plead with God. Glimpses of truth, 
 higher truth, loftier meanings of the Script- 
 ures, have also flashed on me ; but I have 
 been compelled rather to lay them aside as 
 germs to be developed in the future than to 
 prosecute them now, when all the resources 
 of my system need to be concentrated on my 
 restoration to physical health. Now, 'first 
 that which is carnal.' I bless God that 
 the winter of death is coming, and that we 
 
6o MEMORIAL OF 
 
 cannot renew our 3^outh in such a disjointed 
 world as this ; though I feel if any one has 
 reason to celebrate the goodness of God in 
 his experiences, I am he ; and if any one 
 ought to long to live alway, I am he. Only 
 goodness and mercy have crowned my path, 
 and yet I cannot but think of the richer, 
 higher, nobler life beyond." 
 
 "There is one experience at least mine, 
 — more and more dissatisfaction with the 
 vanities of earth, more and more longing 
 for the fulness of Christ. Oh that I might 
 be willing in the day of God's power, will- 
 ing to welcome Him with all the spiritual 
 good He so graciously offers ! I desire that 
 we make this anew our motto, 'For me to 
 live is Christ.' Oh to reproduce in walk 
 and conversation the man Christ Jesus ! " 
 
 " What a blessed thought that the Being 
 who has the boundaries of our habitations 
 as well as the limits of our lives in His 
 hands is our Father, and loves us as ten- 
 derly as we love our children, and will dis- 
 pose our lot with infinite wisdom and love ! 
 Let us implicitly trust Him." 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 6 1 
 
 " I feel unceasingly desirous to subordi- 
 nate all selfish ambition to His supreme 
 glory. Character, inward and eternal ex- 
 cellence, grow hourly in their hold on my 
 admiration, and I desire that we put them 
 above all things else." 
 
 "Humility, genuine humility, — this is 
 my great need. Help me. Lord, to believe 
 that if I really surrender self, and trust in 
 Thee, I shall have all needful good." 
 
 " ' Friend of God,' — let this be our motto 
 as we move once more our camp, or as we 
 take a new departure. Oh, let me as never 
 before seek to please God ! If God is my 
 friend, then what can I want, or what can 
 I fear?" 
 
 " I have been impressed much with this 
 phrase: *The beauty of holiness.* How 
 supremely beautiful true holiness is ! Not a 
 strict, straight-laced, long-faced Pharisaism, 
 but such real holiness as shone forth in 
 Jesus. His life, his words, his acts, how 
 wondrously beautiful! — and because they 
 were perfectly holy. And a truly holy per- 
 
62 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 son, how lovely he is ; the very face shines ! 
 The brave stand for principle is made with a 
 meekness and consideration which compel 
 admiration." 
 
 "The hardest obstacle to be overcome in 
 my pursuit of health is the longing to return 
 home. But by God's grace I shall hold on 
 and hold out undl I am permitted to present 
 myself again sound in body. But I don't go 
 about moping. I am on principle and on 
 purpose happy as the day is long. I know 
 that a merry heart doeth good like a medi- 
 cine, and so I am merry. I go and roll the 
 burden of my loved ones on the heart of 
 Jesus, and then take the bliss out of every 
 thing." 
 
 Dr. Sutphen reached Fordham, N.Y., 
 his famil37's temporary abode, on May 
 22j 1873. A few days afterwards the 
 reunited happy household moved to 
 Morristown, N. J., where Dr. Sutphen 
 spent a pleasant summer. In the fall, a 
 persistent influenza and the renewal of 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 63 
 
 sore throat reminded him of the neces- 
 sity of seeking once more a winter resi- 
 dence in the South. Having received 
 an earnest solicitation to supply the 
 pulpit of the Presbyterian Church in 
 Jacksonville, Fla., he reached that place 
 with his family, on Nov. 12, 1873. 
 Not without occasional trouble in his 
 throat, and fears for the issue of the ex- 
 periment of preaching, he served with 
 his accustomed fidelity and success the 
 people of Jacksonville during the winter 
 and early spring. As usual, he won all 
 hearts by his urbane deportment, Chris- 
 tian zeal, and faithful preaching; as the 
 following^ from the conorreoration when 
 he left, and the extracts from letters re- 
 ceived after his death, will testify : — 
 
 '•Jacksonville, April 21, 1S74. 
 " It is with deep regret that we hear of 
 your recent decision to leave us. We had 
 
64 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 hoped that a few weeks' rest might again 
 restore your voice ; but for the present at 
 least we must forego the pleasure and profit 
 of your ministry among us. We can assure 
 you that this ministry has been very accept- 
 able to us all ; your kind words, earnest 
 prayers, and Christian example have greatly 
 endeared you to us. But while we cannot 
 fathom the mystery of the way in which 
 God moves, we can learn a lesson of sub- 
 mission to His divine will, which you so 
 well exemplify, and which we shall not 
 forget. We thank you for your encour- 
 aging words for our future, for your counsel 
 and care, and for your parting blessing ; 
 and we are confident that the good seed 
 sown in your brief stay with us will bring 
 forth fruit meet for eternal life." 
 
 A friend writes, — 
 
 "This sweet Sabbath morning brings the 
 dear departed one very vividly before me, 
 as I picture him the first time I saw him in 
 our pulpit. I can almost hear the words of 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 65 
 
 his first text, ' Who is he that overcometh 
 the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is 
 the Son of God? ' This faith he spoke of as 
 a world-conquering, soul-saving power, and 
 the illumination of his countenance seemed 
 almost heavenly. How mysterious that one 
 so useful, so beloved, so essential to his 
 family and to the church should be thus 
 early taken ! We can only say it is the will 
 of God." 
 
 From another, — 
 
 " Here in our little church his memory is 
 very dear : we are happy to have known 
 him. The few months of his stay here were 
 a blessing to the church, and we have 
 needed him since : we have had troubles 
 through which he would have guided us 
 safely. But the Lord knoweth best." 
 
 It had long been surmised by his 
 
 friends that he would not be able to 
 
 enter the pastoral office again. The 
 
 more sanguine among them, however, 
 
 5 
 
66 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 hoped he Vv^ould be able to teach in - 
 some department of college or semi- 
 nary studies; and their influence, to- 
 gether with his increasing reputation 
 for scholarship, opened many doors of 
 usefulness in prospect. We have seen 
 that his services were in great demand 
 among the churches. Besides these, 
 he was in request for many posts of 
 honor and trust. In 1869, he was urged 
 to write a commentary on the Epistles 
 to the Corinthians, by the editor of an 
 expository series. In 187 1, he was 
 informally asked to take the chair of 
 Rhetoric in Princeton College. In 1873, 
 when it seemed as if years of usefulness 
 were before him, he received offers in 
 rapid succession of eminent positions. 
 He was asked to become President of 
 a Female College at Pittsburg; to take 
 the chair of Rhetoric in Wooster Uni- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 67 
 
 versity; to become Principal of Blair 
 Hall, New Jersey; to accept the Presi- 
 dency of Wilson Female College; to 
 become Principal of the Princeton Pre- 
 paratory School; to become President 
 of a College at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; to 
 become President of Rutgers Female 
 College, New York; and to be the 
 agent of the Presbyterian Board of 
 Education in the collection of funds 
 wherewith to pay its debt. All these 
 offers he was compelled to decline, 
 even when he was thirsting for work, 
 because he feared to test his streno^th 
 in heavy responsibilities. At the same 
 time, letters written by him and written 
 to him when recruiting in the Bahamas 
 make it evident that he, and distin- 
 guished friends who knew his scholar- 
 ship, hoped the day would come when 
 his health would warrant his accepting 
 
68 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 some chair of Greek, or Hebrew, or 
 Homiletics in one of the seminaries of 
 the Church. 
 
 He left Jacksonville in April, and, 
 after spending a few weeks in Savan- 
 nah, reached New York in the latter 
 part of May. By a severe cold con- 
 tracted on the passage he entirely lost 
 the use of his voice, which he never 
 regained. This was an additional trial, 
 not only depriving him from engaging 
 in lengthened conversation with friends, 
 but also closing the door to almost 
 every kind of work. June 4, 1874, we 
 find the following record in his diary: 
 
 " Dr. Loomis told me to-day that 
 Professor Elsberg finds by the laryngi- 
 scope that something is growing at the 
 upper part of my larynx. My heart 
 quite failed me at this; it would seem 
 to portend a long career of suffering. 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 69 
 
 and to clash all my hopes of ever again 
 being able to enter the ministry. But 
 these things comfort me: (i) Nothing 
 can come on me but what my Father 
 permits; and He has promised that 
 nothing shall befall me but what is for 
 my good, yea, highest good. (2) My 
 Saviour has promised to go with me 
 through my trial, yea, even to the end. 
 Then, ^ though I pass through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
 evil.' (3) God is able to deliver me 
 from this disease by the direct exercise 
 of His almighty power. (4) God may 
 be moved to this immediate and direct 
 deliverance by my prayer, if importu- 
 nate. (5) God may interpose directly 
 in the way oi sttggestion to me or to my 
 doctor of what to do in order to a cure. 
 (6) God may interpose directly in en- 
 ablinor me to do what I see will tend to 
 
70 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 my healing. (7) God may exert His 
 almighty power without the interven- 
 tion of means, as Christ healed when 
 on earth." 
 
 June 18-20, 1874: "Rev. Mr. Erd- 
 man, and Rev. Mr. Cochran, have each 
 proffered their parsonages to me for the 
 summer. How kind ! How like the 
 Master ! (i) In these proffers I find 
 evidence that God is graciously leading 
 us. And how tenderly! ^ Like as a 
 father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
 pitieth them that fear Him.' (2) So it 
 has been all through my sickness ; mercy 
 has followed mercy, so that while I 
 sing of judgment I can also sing of 
 mercy. (3) The Lord has made plain 
 the way. The stepping-stones have 
 been very apparent. He showed the 
 way to Florida, and now^ points to Mor- 
 ristown. (4) Ought we not implicitly 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 71 
 
 to trust Him? He that has not failed 
 in six troubles will not fail in seven." 
 For several reasons he felt it best to 
 accept the use of Rev. Mr. Erdman's 
 parsonage, and passed a summer of 
 comparative comfort. 
 
 In August, 1874, he reveals his feel- 
 ings in these words: "It is now nearly 
 two years that I have been without a 
 charge, and have been drifting about, 
 not knowing what the future has in 
 store for me. It is more than two years 
 since I was overtaken by the severe 
 sickness from which I am still suffer- 
 ing. But though the way has been so 
 long and weary, ,and the future is yet 
 so uncertain, I have been kept wonder- 
 fully free from anxiety. At times so 
 unnatural have this quiet and calm 
 seemed, that I have queried whether 
 it were a healthful feeling. But I have 
 
72 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 been led to see in it the fulfilment of 
 the Scripture, ' Thou wilt keep him in 
 perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on 
 Thee.' My wife and I have been ena- 
 bled as never before to cast ourselves 
 on God, and He has not failed or for- 
 saken us, but has redeemed all His 
 promises. What has been our special 
 support has been the word of Scripture. 
 We have for some time been wont to 
 select a golden verse from the chapter 
 read for special meditation." 
 
 In the fall. Providence opened an- 
 other home. Mrs. Edgar F. Randolph, 
 of Morristown, ■ had taken a deep in- 
 terest in his welfare, and had put her 
 beautiful home at his disposal, while 
 she was absent for months. For this, 
 and for various kindnesses from others, 
 his gratitude was touching in expres- 
 sion, as it was heartfelt in sincerity. 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 73 
 
 Here he enjoyed the many home-com- 
 forts of which he had been long de- 
 privedj and would often exclaim, "Oh 
 what mercies, what mercies! How 
 good the Lord is ! " H^e was now a 
 permanent invalid, and could only hope 
 for recovery at the end of protracted 
 suffering at the best, and was compelled 
 to face death as its probable issue. 
 During all the year preceding his death, 
 he was an admirable illustration of 
 Paul's state of mind when he was " in 
 a strait betwixt two ; " for he had a 
 desire to depart and to be with Christ, 
 and felt it to be far better; nevertheless, 
 to abide in the flesh he felt w^as more 
 needful for his work, his family, his 
 plans. Few men have combined with 
 a ready willingness to die at any mo- 
 ment a more earnest desire to live for 
 the sake of his vocation, and to work 
 
74 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 while he lived. He used with assiduity 
 the means of recovery. He watched 
 his symptoms; he studied the effect of 
 his medicines, and the influence of at- 
 mospheric changes; he did whatever 
 promoted his cure, and avoided what- 
 ever retarded recovery. This manful 
 struggle for life, protracted to his last 
 hour, in his case was consistent with 
 patience in suffering, submission to 
 God's will, and a bright anticipation of 
 the valley of the shadow of death as 
 the King's highway into heaven. 
 
 His active mind refused the repose 
 and ennui which belong to the invalid. 
 During this last 3^ear he engaged him- 
 self in two enterprises; one was the 
 drawing of plans and making arrange- 
 ments for building a house, which 
 should be his family's permanent resi- 
 dence after his death. It seemed 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 75 
 
 strange to friends that a dying man 
 should be so thouixhtful and careful in 
 the smallest details of plans, all of 
 which were drawn by his own hand, 
 and constantly altered and amended 
 with reference to completeness and 
 convenience of structure. In inter- 
 views with his builder, it seemed as it 
 he thought only of a home in this 
 world; but as soon as these interviews 
 were over, his thoughts recurred at 
 once to the house not made with hands, 
 whose builder and maker is God. He 
 said to his family on the day of his 
 death, "I've made arrangements to pro- 
 vide for you a house, but I'm going to 
 a mansion." He felt the importance of 
 anchoring wife and children in a home; 
 and it is due to his forecast and affec- 
 tion that they occupy to-day a comfort- 
 able and pleasant house in Morristown, 
 
76 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 every part of which testifies to his archi- 
 tectural skill and self-denying care. 
 
 His other project in the last months 
 of his life was that of a new family 
 Bible, and was one that fairly aroused 
 his enthusiasm. Writing to a friend in 
 February, 1875, ^^ says: "I am work- 
 ing about three hours a day on my 
 book, and it is an exceeding joy to me. 
 My only trouble is that it is too absorb- 
 ing. If it never sees the light, it will 
 at least have lig^htened the darkness of 
 this winter to me. I am up and down 
 as usual, experiencing a sort of living 
 death, or dying life. I feel like one 
 escaped from the coffin, or hiding away 
 from death, and in my hiding-place 
 anxiously trying to finish what my 
 heart burns to accomplish." Viewing 
 with disapprobation the mutilation of 
 the Bible in similar works, he arranged 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. ^^ 
 
 with great labor for the reading of the 
 entire Scriptures within the year. Hav- 
 ing made the proper divisions for this 
 end, he designed to accompany each 
 with a Biblical, Critical, and Practical 
 Commentary, and also with appropriate 
 prayers and hymns; the whole to be 
 adapted to the use of Christians, in 
 their family worship and closet duties. 
 For this work he was la3nng under con- 
 tribution the commentaries of all kinds, 
 the prayers of all ages, and the hymns 
 which had become household words 
 in the family of God. In looking over 
 the scheme of his work, and the mate- 
 rials he had gathered for its execution, 
 instead of asking the melanchol}^ ques- 
 tion, "Wherefore is this waste?" we 
 are disposed to thank God that His ser- 
 vant in the last months of his life had 
 so much spiritual delight in a fresh 
 
78 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 Study of the Bible, so much communion 
 with the saints of all ages, in their 
 prayers and songs of praise. 
 
 The spring of 1870 came on with 
 song of birds, and wealth of vernal 
 green, and flush of flowers. It was 
 greeted by Dr. Sutphen with a revived 
 and intense enjoyment of the beautiful 
 in Nature. Long would he gaze at the 
 landscape, picking out its beauties, and 
 letting his imagination fairly revel in 
 the grace of trees, and mountains, and 
 meadows. More than ever he talked to 
 his wife of the glories of this world, as 
 he was ripening for the glories of an- 
 other; murmuring now and again, "I 
 will rejoice in the works of Thy 
 hands." In May, the death of a be- 
 loved sister, and the anxiety to live un- 
 til the birth of an expected child, had 
 a depressing eflect on his condition. 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 79 
 
 and brought him to the very edge of 
 the grave. In this emergency his wife 
 rose to unusual fervency of prayer and 
 strength of faith, which God regarded; 
 and his life was spared to welcome the 
 child to the beginning of a race which 
 he himself had almost run. 
 
 From this time his sufferings in- 
 creased, and continued with little relief 
 or intermission. He expressed no wish 
 to be restored, but waited on God's will 
 without a murmur, though it was evi- 
 dent his unfinished plans were rarely 
 out of mind. " It seems hard," he said, 
 not long before the end, " that so man}^ 
 who have finished their work should be 
 spared, whilst I have so much work 
 laid out." In all his sufferings he en- 
 dured as seeing Him who is invisible: 
 " how much more," said he, " did Jesus 
 suffer for me!" His gratitude to his 
 
So MEMORIAL OF 
 
 wife and mother, and others who exer- 
 cised the usual ministry of love in his 
 sick-room, was unbounded, every atten- 
 tion receiving his loving recognition. 
 " You do it for the Saviour's sake," he 
 said, when receiving a kindness. 
 
 His energy even at this late stage of 
 his disease was remarkable. He rose 
 every morning with his family, and, 
 although obliged to lie down many 
 times during the day, was only con- 
 fined to his bed the three days pre- 
 ceding his death. 
 
 On Sunday, the 15th of June, the 
 shadows began to deepen. To a friend 
 who called he said, ^^ I am too tired to 
 talk to you, but you know how I love 
 you." On Thursday morning after a 
 very wakeful night, he asked his faith- 
 ful physician, "How long can I live.^" 
 The answer was, " Perhaps twenty-four 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 8 I 
 
 hours." Without any signs of agitation 
 he asked to see the children at once. 
 They were brought in one by one; and 
 to each he gave appropriate counsel, and 
 to all words of blessing and love. The 
 servants were not forgotten, but received 
 a dying man's counsel for godly living. 
 Nor would he be satisfied until he saw 
 the builder of his projected house, and 
 gave his last directions in regard to 
 some feature of its construction. Then, 
 when his conscience had discharged its 
 last duties pertaining to this world, he 
 called for the singing of hymns and the 
 reading of the Word. " Rock of Ages, 
 cleft for me," "Jesus, lover of my soul," 
 "Jerusalem, my happy home," " He 
 leadeth me, O blessed thought," were 
 the hymns sung from full hearts in the 
 holy hush of the chamber of death. His 
 father-in-law, who had been summoned, 
 6 
 
82 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 baptized the babe in the name of Him 
 who took little children in his arms. 
 When asked what petition should be 
 offered for himself, Dr. Sutphen replied, 
 " Ask that I may have an abundant 
 entrance into heaven." 
 
 The hours wore on towards midnight. 
 At eleven o'clock, the hour for taking 
 his medicine, his wife feared to disturb 
 him by giving it; when his old faith in 
 God's power flashed out once more into 
 the words, " But it isn't right to stop a 
 moment: we don't any of us know what 
 the Lord ca7i do yet. But do not think 
 I am not willing to go." 
 
 One petition had for years recurred 
 again and again in the public and family 
 prayers of Dr. Sutphen. It was, "Give 
 us, O Lord, a quiet hour in which to die." 
 This prayer was answered. The hush 
 of midniofht was over the town. His 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 83 
 
 household — all except her who had 
 promised to be his loving companion 
 until death should part them, and his de- 
 voted mother — were taking rest, when 
 their watchful eyes caught the pallor of 
 death; and, summoning the two eldest 
 children, they alone in the awful silence 
 of the midnight hour, which only death 
 can deepen, saw him gently pass away 
 until he was not, for God had taken him. 
 He died on Friday, June 18, 1875; 
 and on the following Tuesday, June 22, 
 the funeral services were attended in the 
 Presbyterian Church of Morristown, — 
 the Rev. Dr. John Hall, of New York, 
 and the Rev. J. Addison Henry, of 
 Philadelphia, addressing the friends, 
 clerical and lay, who had come from all 
 quarters to honor the dead. 
 
 " What did we ask, with all our love for him, 
 But just a little breath of fuller life 
 To float the laboring lunors ? And God hath given 
 
84 
 
 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 Him life itself, full, everlasting life ! 
 What did we pray for ? Rest even for a night, 
 That he might rise with sleep's most golden dew 
 Refreshed to feel the morning in his soul : 
 And God hath given him his eternal rest. 
 We could not offer freedom for one hour 
 From that dread weight of weariness they bear 
 Who try for years to shake death's shadow off: 
 And God hath made him free for evermore ! 
 
 *' Before me hangs his picture on the wall. 
 Alive still with the loving cordial eyes. 
 How tenderly their winsome lustre laughed ! 
 The fine pale face, pathetically sweet. 
 So thin with suffering that it seemed a soul, — 
 We feared the angels might be kissing it 
 Too often or too wooingly for us ; 
 The hands, so woman-white and dehcate, 
 That day by day were gliding from our grasp. 
 They used to make my heart ache many a time. 
 
 '■'■ I see another picture now ; the form 
 Ye sowed in weakness hath been raised in power, 
 A pleasure-palace for a prison of pain ! 
 The beauty of his nature that we felt 
 Is featured in the shape he weareth now ; 
 The same kind face, but changed and glorified, 
 From life's unclouded summit it looks back 
 And sweetly smiles at all the sorrows past, 
 With such a look as taketh away grief, — 
 No longer pale, and there is no more pain. 
 His face is rosed with heaven's immortal bloom, 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 85 
 
 For he hath found the land of health at last, 
 The one Physician who can cure all ills ; 
 And he hath eaten of the Tree of Life 
 And felt the eternal spring." 
 
 So lived, and so died, a man whose 
 life was hid with Christ in God, and 
 whose death was a sleeping in Jesus. 
 
 The features of his character are por- 
 trayed in the record of his daily living. 
 As a follower of Jesus Christ he emu- 
 lated the whole-heartedness of Caleb, 
 and followed the Lord implicitl}^ and 
 without compromise. He believed like 
 a child, and his faith constantly ap- 
 peared in his absolute submission to 
 God's word, and in his abiding confi- 
 dence in the efficacy of prayer. All 
 parts of the Bible were equally the 
 mind of the Spirit to Dr. Sutphen; 
 and he himself wrote, "We should 
 want to hear all the words which our 
 gracious Father has deigned to write to 
 
86 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 US." Prayer was a favorite topic in his 
 preaching, because he knew it Scriptur- 
 ally and experimentally as power with 
 God, the Hearer and Answerer of 
 prayer. Prayer swept the field of his 
 whole experience in life, and he looked 
 to God for gifts to mind, body, and es- 
 tate, as well as for grace to his soul. 
 Writing to Rev. William Scribner with 
 reference to a change of plan in the 
 structure of his " Family Bible " he says : 
 " If, last summer, I had fallen on this 
 plan, I could have saved the work of 
 the fall. The Lord could have shown 
 it to me then. If I had prayed more 
 for light, light might then have been 
 given. Verily, ^ bene precasse est bene 
 studuisse.' Since this experience, I 
 have been very anxious to have full 
 Divine direction for every step. To be 
 kept from profitless — and, worse than 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. Sj 
 
 profitless, erroneous — work, all the way 
 I need constant illumination. And this 
 leads me to ask for your continued in- 
 tercession, my dear brother." This last 
 sentence discloses another feature of his 
 Christian character, — his faith in inter- 
 cessory prayer. He received much 
 comfort from the prayers of his friends 
 in his behalf, and loved himself to plead 
 their names and needs at a throne of 
 grace. The true answer to the question, 
 "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" 
 he said, was another question, "Where 
 is the Elijah ? " Given the spirit and 
 power of Elijah, and the God of Elijah 
 would manifest His arm of strength. 
 A friend who was with him in Massa- 
 chusetts when he was hanging between 
 life and death, by reason of rheumatic 
 fever, writes : " I shall not soon forget 
 how earnestly he spoke of the comfort- 
 
88 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 ing vision of himself which God. had 
 given him in that hour. He talked as 
 if he had been on the mountain-top, 
 instead of in the valley of the shadow 
 of death." 
 
 He had learned the value of routine 
 in his closet duties as well as of system 
 in his studies. The hour appointed for 
 secret devotion found him at a throne 
 of grace, before the open Word, and 
 searching his own heart. This very 
 rigidness of plan in his piety made him 
 lay stress on the value of ejaculatory 
 prayer and occasional petitions, in sup- 
 port of which he preached an earnest 
 sermon, and which he exemplified in 
 his practice. 
 
 Giving, as a privilege and part of 
 Christian worship, was his constant 
 habit during all his ministry. One- 
 tenth, at least, of his income was con- 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 89 
 
 secratecl gladly and solemnly to the 
 Lord's work; and his unusual success 
 in enlarging the contributions of his 
 churches was due in part to his teach- 
 ing on the subject of giving, as a grace 
 and a means of grace, and partly to the 
 efficacy of his own example. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Robert 
 Carter, among other things, illustrates 
 this point in his character: — 
 
 " I need not speak of Dr. Sutphen's pul- 
 pit labors. These were known to all who 
 had the privilege of sitting under his minis- 
 try. In the division of his subject he was 
 remarkably happy, and had great facility 
 in makinij his meaninix understood. Earn- 
 est and affectionate, plain and simple, he 
 carried his audience easily with him. He 
 had a gift possessed by few of arousing his 
 people to give and to work in the Master's 
 cause. Though our number was not so 
 great as in some earlier periods of our 
 
90 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 church's history, we never gave so much 
 nor worked so hard as during his stay 
 among us. And this was owing largely 
 to his transparent loving spirit, which said 
 to us, ' Come let tis work to-day in the 
 vineyard.' 
 
 " In his intercourse from house to house 
 there was a charm that made him every- 
 where a welcome visitor. Among my chil- 
 dren I have seen him fairly bubble over 
 with wit and humor. 
 
 " 'A merrier man within the h'mits of becoming mirth 
 I never had an hour's talk withal.' 
 
 He enjoyed truly the ^ feast of reason and 
 the flow of soul.' But it was by the bed- 
 side of the sick and dying that his excel- 
 lence was most conspicuous. His tender- 
 ness, his childlike simplicity, his warm- 
 hearted prayers, and his wise counsels 
 carried captive the hearts of the suffering. 
 
 " But our bright and loving pastor was 
 not to be long with us. A worm was gnaw- 
 ing at the root, and the fair and fruitful tree 
 was early laid low. His meek and patient 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 91 
 
 spirit under suffering gave strong evidence of 
 the faith and love which had been so richly 
 given to him. His yearnings over his du- 
 tiful wife and helpless children were truly 
 touching. While he carefully provided for 
 them to the best of his ability, he lovingly 
 committed them to the Husband of the 
 widow and the Father of the fatherless. 
 And God is truey 
 
 Dr. Sutphen felt the need as a Chris- 
 tian not only of the means of grace, "the 
 Word, the Sacraments, and prayer," 
 but also of constant self-examination, 
 a watchful eye on his outward life, and 
 a monitor upon his lips. He reviewed 
 the work and words of each day, and 
 brought every thing to the line and 
 plummet of God's will. Constantly in 
 his meagre diary, if he has time to write 
 nothing else, there appear the words, 
 " Lord, what hast Thou found in me 
 to-day.^" — sometimes coupled with the 
 
92 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 answer, "Alas, How much sin and in- 
 firmity! " No wonder he grew in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of his Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 As a minister of the Gospel Dr. 
 Sutphen won success in the only way 
 any worthy success can be reached, — 
 he lived near to Christ, he loved souls, 
 he worked hard in the field, and hard in 
 the study; and he prayed in faith. As 
 a preacher he was always respectable, 
 and at times very admirable. His ser- 
 mons were exegetic of the text and 
 context, rich in instruction, full of 
 points logically arranged, warm with 
 persuasive eloquence and unction; and, 
 aided b}^ his earnest delivery and saintly 
 presence, they always made a deep im- 
 pression, and sometimes melted and 
 moved his audience to an unusual 
 degree. 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 93 
 
 As a pastor Dr. Sutphen was pre- 
 eminent. He loved and cared for each 
 and all of his people. He had the gen- 
 ius of sympathy, and its treasures were 
 lavished without respect of persons. 
 His words were a benediction of peace, 
 a blessing of comfort to the sick, the 
 troubled, the dying, the bereaved. " At 
 the communion-table," writes Mr. Peter 
 Carter, of New York, "he always ap- 
 peared to the greatest advantage. There 
 was such tenderness in his tones, such 
 admirable taste in all his illustrations, 
 a mind so attuned to the whole service, 
 that these occasions are very delight- 
 ful in the remembrance." As late as 
 June, 1875, Mr. Walter Carter writes 
 to Dr. Sutphen: "The return of our 
 Communion Season (to-morrow) brings 
 you always vividly to remembrance. 
 We will remember you and yours as 
 
94 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 we present our requests to our beloved 
 Master at His table. How many happy 
 seasons we have had together of that 
 kind in days gone by! " 
 
 The children of the church were 
 greatly attached to Dr. Sutphen, — his 
 winning smile, his gentle manners, his 
 affectionate nature, easily gathering the 
 little ones about him. He often gave 
 crumbs from the Masters table for their 
 enjoyment and profit, and sometimes 
 spread it solely in their interest. He 
 was especially fond of sowing seeds of 
 truth in the Parochial Mission-school, 
 and found his greatest delight in reap- 
 ing in that virgin soil; for the sowing 
 and the harvest went on together in that 
 field of toil and reward.* To all and 
 with all, young and old, rich and poor, 
 
 * "That was a good work, — your starting the Im- 
 manuel Sunday-school," writes Mr. Walter Carter to 
 him ; "souls have been saved there." 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 95 
 
 he was always the pastor. He magni- 
 fied his office by never abdicating it; 
 and though he sometimes wore an un- 
 dress uniform, and never assumed an 
 official tone or an ecclesiastical man- 
 ner, he knew how to impart a sugges- 
 tive flavor of the Master's business to 
 all his conduct in every company. 
 
 In scholarship, he cared more for 
 depth and thoroughness than for exten- 
 sive excursions in the fields of knowl- 
 edge. He was apt to choose one or 
 two great masters in the departments 
 to which he confined his studies, and 
 read them constantly. Their depth be- 
 came his. As already intimated, his 
 favorite branches were Hebrew and 
 Greek, Theolog}-, Homiletics, and espe- 
 cially Exegesis, his fondness for which 
 amounted to a hobby. He rarely met 
 a ministerial brother without forcing a 
 
96 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 comparison of views as to the meaning 
 of some passage of Scripture; and if he 
 gained new light, out of his pocket he 
 took one of the many note-books which 
 he filled with explanatory comments, 
 together with homiletical hints for ser- 
 mons, and every worthy suggestion 
 would be carefully written down. " His 
 mind," says one who knew him well, 
 " seemed stronger to me on the side of 
 the acquisitive and reasoning powers 
 than in the imaginative or creative fac- 
 ulty." There can be no doubt that he 
 had acquired an amount of thorough 
 knowledge, both of " principles and 
 practice," in the departments of Homi- 
 letics and Exegesis of Old and New 
 Testaments, sufficient to have made him 
 an admirable professor of those subjects 
 in any of our Theological Seminaries. 
 Whilst Dr. Sutphen expended his 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 97 
 
 main strength on such subjects, it may 
 be truly said of him that nothing which 
 belonged to man was foreign to him. 
 He both understood and was interested 
 in the movements of Church and State 
 and society, in the Old World and the 
 New. He showed the concern of a 
 man's heart in the affairs of men. And 
 ever}^ thing which he observed among 
 the children of Adam was related in his 
 mind to the second Adam, whose king- 
 dom Cometh not with observation. The 
 field was the world, and all its forces 
 in all their contests were ever present 
 to his mind, as working out the will of 
 Him whose right it is to reign. His 
 mind kindled and his tongue became 
 eloquent in the discussion of some ques- 
 tion of public concern, involving the 
 morals of the people or the safety of 
 7 
 
98 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 the State. During the late War his 
 whole heart was enlisted in the work 
 of the Christian Commission; and not 
 only was his voice often heard on the 
 platform in its behalf, but with other 
 Philadelphia ministers he went to the 
 battle-field of Gettysburg to care for the 
 sick and wounded. He used his time 
 as one that must give an account, and 
 filled its hours not with " laborious 
 trifling," but with toil that pertained to 
 his life-work, and could be made avail- 
 able for that at all times. The thought 
 of souls perishing, souls to be saved in 
 his congregation and among " the out- 
 lying masses," determined the nature 
 and amount of his studies; and the 
 culture of mind and heart was at once 
 devoted to the out-door work of the 
 pastor. By his brethren in the ministry 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 99 
 
 he was truly beloved, and he greatly en- 
 joyed meeting those in New York with 
 whom he was associated in the two 
 societies of which he was a member, — 
 " Sigma Chi," and " Chi Alpha." For 
 the latter, just before his sickness, he 
 wrote an article on the "Antiquity of 
 Man," which was very favorably re- 
 ceived by the members, and afterwards 
 printed in the " American Presbyterian 
 Review." 
 
 In the family-circle our dear brother 
 was at once the most loving and the 
 best beloved. God gave him a wife 
 with whom he was indeed " one flesh." 
 God gave him six children, whom he 
 counted his dearest earthly treasures. 
 Into the sacred precincts of his home 
 we can take the merest glimpse, for 
 silence is often most golden when one 
 
lOO MEMORIAL OF 
 
 could say the most. Here, too, he was 
 not merely the affectionate and wise 
 father and tender husband, the dutiful 
 son and affectionate brother, but also 
 the Christian minister and pastor. He 
 read the Scriptures systematically in 
 the family as in the study. Whilst 
 faithful in giving instruction in the let- 
 ter, he daily prayed with his children 
 that they might find Christ when they 
 searched the Scriptures. In allusion 
 to the "children's hour," he writes: 
 " Read ^ Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ' 
 to the children. Willie,' I think, now 
 begins to understand how Christ justi- 
 fies the ungodly, or the philosophy of 
 the plan of salvation. Never myself 
 enjoyed Bunyan more. May my chil- 
 dren have a proper sense of sin, and 
 a proper view of the Saviour." On 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. lOI 
 
 another occasion he writes: "I must 
 pray for each of the members of my 
 family by name." When absent in 
 Bermuda, he writes: "How hard these 
 separations are! Blessed be God they 
 are hard; and may they ever grow 
 harder! Oh, how inexpressibly , sweet 
 is the spirit of that dear wife and those 
 dear children which now speaks to my 
 heart! Like the dew on flowers do 
 your loving voices fall on my inward, 
 ear." At home, when once sick and 
 burdened, he wrote: "Felt downcast, 
 but found comfort in reading the Bible 
 to my children. Let me always do this 
 hereafter." He is always thinking what 
 will profit his children ; as, for example, 
 after a discussion on popular amuse- 
 ments with some gentleman-in Bermuda, 
 he sits down and writes home for their 
 
I02 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 benefit as follows: "I think these prin- 
 ciples the right ones: (i) that I as a 
 parent am in the place of Christ. Be- 
 cause he cannot come down to earth to 
 train my child, he intrusts that care to 
 my hands. I am bound to train it 
 therefore as Christ would train it. In 
 every case of doubtful amusement, my 
 duty and my rule should be, ^ What 
 would Christ do?' (2) In case of 
 amusements not sinful per se, I should 
 have my children avoid those which 
 Satan has throughout the ages suc- 
 ceeded in managing and monopolizing 
 in his interest. Thus, though the vision 
 of a moral theatre has floated before the 
 minds of men for centuries, and though 
 the scenic representation of truth is not 
 inherently evil, yet as the theatre has 
 ever been practically and irredeemably 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 1 03 
 
 in the hands of Satan, I should avoid it 
 for myself and children. (3) The best 
 plan to follow with children is to pre- 
 occupy mind and heart with higher 
 and nobler pleasures. Tares cannot 
 do much on ground on which wheat is 
 vigorously growing. Truth will keep 
 out error, and so will good, evil. And 
 more, we must impress on our children 
 at the earliest years that ^ life is real, life 
 is earnest; ' that pleasure is not the high- 
 est thing, but duty. And this we must 
 show them in sweet lovely lives, like 
 that of our blessed Master. Oh the ra- 
 diance of that perfect life ! — the beauty 
 of holiness. True holiness, as shown 
 in Jesus, is infinitely beautiful. And 
 withal we must earnestly ask the help 
 of Heaven. We must enlist God on 
 our side and beseech Him to make our 
 
104 
 
 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 children lovers of Him rather than lov- 
 ers of pleasure." He adds this to his 
 wife: "Lest, however, you might pos- 
 sibl}^ fancy that I intended you to take 
 these suggestions to yourself, I will add 
 that it has been my joy and rejoicing, 
 while sitting here, that we are so entirely 
 sympathetic on this point, as on every 
 other. Our spirits, like kindred drops, 
 melt into one on every subject. You 
 are not another, but my other and 
 better self" 
 
 Many of his letters from Bermuda 
 are written to his children, and not 
 only show his concern for their mental 
 and religious improvement, but also 
 overflow with tenderness and gleam 
 ^Yith humor. After some sage advice 
 or graphic description is apt to come 
 the phrase, ^^ Now for a little fun; " and 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 105 
 
 the earnest minister and faithful father 
 would reveal the child-nature which 
 he never lost, and which made him a 
 delight to the children even through 
 all his suffering. True, this playful- 
 ness was part of his nature; and yet he 
 brought this as every thing else into the 
 field of duty, and under the training 
 of grace. Once he wrote, when sick 
 and burdened with unusual cares in 
 his ministry, " I find it so hard to re- 
 joice ; but rejoice I must : this is a 
 commandment P 
 
 One of his resolutions, early made, 
 was this : " Resolved^ that I will ask 
 myself every evening, ^What has God 
 found in me to-day?' — remembering 
 that he is proving me." In God's sight 
 he ever took the attitude of the publi- 
 can, described himself as a sinner, and 
 
I06 MEMORIAL OF 
 
 asked for mercy. Before men he was 
 gentle, humble, teachable, a pleasant 
 companion, frank and honorable. 
 
 And what were his faults? Writes a 
 friend who knew him well, " I have no 
 doubt that he noticed his failings more 
 attentively and felt them more keenly 
 than any one else." The suggestion of 
 fault attaches perhaps to two marked 
 traits of Dr. Sutphen's character. He 
 was ambitious; and yet, as judges the 
 friend already cited, " It was no mere sel- 
 fish ambition. He desired success for 
 the sake of-his family whom he tenderly 
 loved, and for the sake of the Master 
 to whom he consecrated all his gifts." 
 And, for the sake of finishing a work 
 or project undertaken, he would strain 
 his mind and risk his health unduly; so 
 that success was sometimes won at the 
 
MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 1 07 
 
 cost of labor which impaired his strength. 
 Another trait was also a " virtue in ex- 
 cess." His thorough amiability, his con- 
 stant desire to please by saying kind 
 things, amounted sometimes almost to a 
 fault. Whatever spots, however, may 
 have been on the sun of the bright char- 
 acter we have been describing, we 
 may adopt the words of one of his New 
 York Elders, Mr. A. R. Walsh, and 
 say, " Would there were many, many 
 more like Morris Sutphen ; and that 
 all God's children were as devoted to 
 His service! " 
 
 It was his frequent prayer, " Give me, 
 O God, gifts, but rather give me grace! " 
 The prayer was answered. God gave 
 him gifts in his person, his mind, his 
 heart, — gifts of wisdom, learning, tact, 
 executive power; and the}^ were all laid 
 
I08 MORRIS CRATER SUTPHEN. 
 
 upon the altar of sacrifice. And God 
 gave him grace, — the grace of faith 
 and love and charity; the grace of a 
 holy life and a peaceful death. 
 
 Thanks be unto God for such lives, 
 for such deaths ! 
 
 Unto Him that loved us, and washed 
 us from our sins in His own blood, and 
 hath made us kings and priests unto 
 God and His Father, — unto Him be 
 glor}^ and dominion for ever and ever! 
 Amen. 
 
 Cambridge : Press of John Wilson & Son.