n^'^ ■•" 
 
 3n memariam 
 
Ai.AJi^. 
 
 
\,i'\\\\arv\ 44ewy (^ree.r\ 
 
 In illcmoriam 
 
 JAMES CLEMENT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 3une 7, 1890 
 
James Clement Moffat was the eldest 
 son of David Douglas and Margaret Clement 
 Moffat, and was born at Glencree in the south 
 of Scotland, May 30, 181 1. He landed at New 
 York, July 29, 1833 ; his father, with the rest 
 of the family, having come to America the 
 preceding year. He was twice married ; first, 
 at Easton, Pa., October 13, 1840, to Ellen, 
 daughter of John and Elizabeth Stewart, 
 who died at Oxford, O., July 15, 1849. Of 
 the three children of that marriage, the eldest, 
 Edward Stewart, is now a resident of Scranton, 
 Pa., and general manager of the Lackawanna 
 Iron and Coal Company. Clement, the 
 second child, died at Princeton in the eighth 
 year of his age ; and Elizabeth, the third, died 
 in infancy at Oxford, O. 
 
 His second marriage was at Oxford, O., 
 December 26, 1850, to Mary B., daughter of 
 Professor Thomas J. Matthews of Miami Uni- 
 
4 MEMORIAL. 
 
 versity, who died at Princeton, N. J., April 9, 
 1875. Of this marriage there are seven living 
 children, four sons and three daughters, viz. : 
 James Douglas, architect, New York City ; 
 Henry, physician and surgeon, Yonkers, N. Y.; 
 Alexander, electrical engineer, New York City ; 
 William David, occupying a position in the 
 publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons, 
 New York City ; Ellen Stewart, wife of Rev. 
 Charles Lowell Cooder, rector of Christ's 
 Church, Pottstown, Pa. ; Annie and Mary 
 Belle. Three children died in infancy, viz.: 
 Stanley, Robert, and Margaret McClellan. 
 
 The funeral took place Wednesday after- 
 noon, June II. It was a beautiful day, clear 
 and cloudless. All the living members of the 
 family, with other relatives, were present. At 
 two o'clock there was a brief private family 
 service at the house, conducted by a relative. 
 The public service was at three o'clock in the 
 Second Presbyterian church. The honorary 
 
MEMORIAL. 5 
 
 pall-bearers were the Rev. John T. Duffield, 
 D.D., J. Stillwell Schanck, M.D., LL.D., and 
 the Rev. Henry C. Cameron, D,D., of the 
 college; Casper W. Hodge, D.D., Charles A. 
 Aiken, D.D., and the Rev. William M. Paxton, 
 D.D., LL.D., of the seminary. 
 
 The funeral address, which it is the object 
 of this Memorial to preserve, was by the Rev. 
 William H. Green, D.D., senior professor of 
 the seminary. President Patton of the college 
 read selections from the Scriptures, and Ex- 
 President Dr. McCosh offered prayer. The 
 hymns sung were, '' My Jesus, as Thou wilt," 
 and ** Asleep in Jesus." 
 
 After the service at the church, the pro- 
 cession moved to the cemetery where rest 
 the ashes of so many of Princeton's honored 
 dead. At the grave the Rev. Lewis W. 
 Mudge, D.D., pastor of the Second church, 
 made a beautiful brief address in the words 
 of Scripture, and the Rev. Dr. Duffield pro- 
 nounced the benediction. 
 
txaotinl. 
 
 There is nothing more admirable among 
 men than a useful, well-spent life, filled with 
 patient, persevering, and successful labor, de- 
 voted to what is pure and true and good, 
 faithfully employed in serving God and in 
 the upright discharge of duty in all human 
 relations, and crowned with length of days 
 beyond the usual term. The honor attach- 
 ing to such a life lies not so much in its 
 surroundings as in its intrinsic character. 
 We honor the man for what he is and shows 
 himself to be, rather than for the accidents 
 of his position. The statue is of greater con- 
 sequence than the pedestal which holds it up 
 to view. The figure in the picture is of more 
 account than the background, which only 
 serves to bring out with greater distinctness 
 merits which inhere in the figure itself. • 
 
8 MEMORIAL. 
 
 The quiet, unobtrusive life of a scholar and a 
 teacher may be inconspicuous and not attract 
 the gaze of the multitude like those which are 
 conducted on a more prominent arena. It is 
 not trumpeted by fame. It does not sparkle 
 on the page of history. It fills an inconsider- 
 able space and moves within a narrow sphere. 
 It is retired, noiseless, and uneventful. But it 
 offers scope, nevertheless, for the exercise of 
 great and noble qualities. Unflagging ear- 
 nestness is shown in the persistent pursuit of 
 knowledge, digging for it as for hid treasure, 
 sparing no pains in its acquisition, toiling 
 unobserved, not for applause, not for merce- 
 nary gain, but for intellectual wealth which 
 may store the mind and may enrich others. 
 And the impelling motive is love for truth for 
 the truth's sake. The object of his quest is 
 what is true and what is right, not what may 
 promote some interested purpose or serve 
 some partisan end. And hence the true 
 scholar, however firm his convictions, strives 
 to maintain an unbiassed mind and a candor 
 
MEMORIAL. 9 
 
 which welcomes fresh light from every quarter, 
 and seeks to apprehend whatever is good 
 wherever it may be found. His studies bring 
 him into converse with the great thinkers of 
 every age and of every land, who have penned 
 their thoughts upon the subjects with which 
 he deals, and thus his views are broadened as 
 well as rendered more profound. 
 
 But this quiet toil does not terminate ex- 
 clusively upon himself. A life passed in 
 scholarly retirement is not, therefore, uninflu- 
 ential. Silent forces are oftentimes the most 
 powerful. The pen is mightier than the 
 sword, and who can measure the influence 
 which has been exerted by a teacher who has 
 for fifty years been impressing himself upon 
 the minds and hearts of successive generations 
 of pupils, whose studies he has guided, whose 
 minds he has quickened, whose thoughts he 
 has directed, whose lives he has enriched, 
 whose characters he has helped to form ? 
 What a power has been directly exerted upon 
 those who have sat at his feet, and heard his 
 
10 MEMORIAL. 
 
 words, and received his counsels, and imbibed 
 his ideas, and caught the inspiration of his 
 enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful and 
 the good, and his whole-souled love of the 
 pure and the true ; his transparent honesty, 
 his unwearied devotion to duty, the gentle- 
 ness, humility, urbanity, simplicity, sincerity, 
 which so charmingly adorned his whole spirit 
 and temper ; his childlike faith in the word of 
 God, and the fervor of his personal attachment 
 to his Lord and Redeemer. And if the direct 
 influence cannot be measured, who can trace 
 the waves of spiritual and intellectual energy 
 which he has set in operation, as they perpet- 
 uate and propagate themselves from each and 
 all of this vast train of pupils as so many 
 centres widening and spreading almost with- 
 out end ? 
 
 Dr. Moffat ever felt an honest pride in 
 claiming Scotland as the place of his birth — 
 the land of John Knox and of Robert Burns. 
 He brought from it his vigorous constitution, 
 the ineffaceable Scotch tone of his voice, an en- 
 
MEMORIAL. II 
 
 thusiastic admiration for the scenery, the his- 
 tory, the literature, and the institutions of his 
 native land. When, some years since, he re- 
 visited the scenes of his childhood, after a long 
 period of absence, it was with untold delight 
 that he retraced the objects familiar in his 
 early youth — the mountain slopes on which he 
 had pastured his flocks as a shepherd boy, the 
 lake that reposed at their foot, and the scat- 
 tered habitations of kindred and neighborly 
 households — and sought out the few remaining 
 survivors among the friends of long ago. He 
 never spoke of this visit but in glowing terms. 
 He could never hear or utter the Scotch dia- 
 lect without kindling into fervor. The simple- 
 hearted piety learned at his godly mother's 
 knee was inwrought into every fibre of his 
 being. He was inborn and ingrained a true 
 Scotch Presbyterian, not in any bigoted or 
 prejudiced sense, but with a thorough, honest 
 conviction. 
 
 In 1833, when he was twenty-two years of 
 age, he removed to this country. He was at 
 
12 MEMORIAL. 
 
 that time a printer, having worked at the 
 trade for five preceding years. By the most 
 extraordinary diligence he had been prose- 
 cuting studies during all this time, not only 
 in English literature, but in Latin, Greek, 
 French, German, and Hebrew, using for this 
 purpose hours saved from sleep in the early 
 morning. His avidity for books had shown 
 itself when he was but a child. His mother 
 had cultivated his infant taste by repeating to 
 him stories from the Bible and from Bunyan's 
 '^ Pilgrim's Progress." And when, at the age 
 of ten, he was set to watch the sheep, he 
 eagerly read all the volumes that he could 
 borrow, while the flock was grazing or repos- 
 ing. 
 
 When he arrived in New York, he sought 
 employment as a printer, and had no other 
 thought than that of continuing in that oc- 
 cupation. But Providence had determined 
 otherwise, and a most unexpected turn was 
 given to all Mr. Moffat's plans of life through 
 the influence of a friend of his father's— a Mr. 
 
MEMORIAL. 13 
 
 Douglas, originally from Scotland, but then 
 resident at Charleston, S. C. Mr. Douglas, 
 chancing to be in New York, met young 
 Moffat on Broadway, as he was in quest of a 
 place, and persuaded him to come to Prince- 
 ton. Here he was introduced to Dr. Maclean, 
 then professor of Greek in the college, who 
 examined him and admitted him to the Junior 
 class. The expenses of his college course, 
 which he had not sufficient means to meet, 
 were defrayed by the generosity of his friend. 
 Although this was freely offered as a gift, 
 and was so intended by his benefactor, for 
 whom he always cherished the most grate- 
 ful admiration and affection, Mr. Moffat re- 
 garded it in the light of a debt of honor, and 
 never rested until, as he became able in later 
 life, he returned every cent of this most ser- 
 viceable loan. 
 
 Mr. Moffat graduated in 1835, in the same 
 class with several who gained distinction in 
 various professions. Among others I may 
 make special mention of the martyred mis- 
 
14 MEMORIAL. 
 
 sionaries, Oren K. Canfield and Levi Janvier, 
 the former of whom fell an early victim to the 
 inhospitable climate of Africa, and the latter 
 was a prey to the fanaticism of one of the 
 Sikhs in India ; also Joseph Owen, another 
 missionary in India, to whom he was warmly 
 attached, and to whom he rendered a friendly 
 tribute by writing his memoirs, under the title 
 of " The Story of a Dedicated Life/' 
 
 Upon his graduation, on which occasion the 
 valedictory was delivered by him, he went to 
 New Haven in the capacity of private tutor 
 of two promising young South Carolinians, 
 and availed himself of the opportunity thus 
 afforded him of prosecuting study and attend- 
 ing lectures at Yale College. At the end of 
 that time he was appointed tutor of Greek in 
 Princeton College, and returned to this place, 
 accompanied by his pupils. In 1839 ^^ ^^" 
 came professor of the Greek and Latin lan- 
 guage in Lafayette College. It was at that 
 time that my own acquaintance with our 
 departed friend began. And I take pleasure 
 
MEMORIAL. 15 
 
 in adding my testimony to his rare accom- 
 plishments, his refined taste, and the ardent 
 enthusiasm which he awakened in his favorite 
 pursuits among the students under his instruc- 
 tion, and the strong personal attachment by 
 which he bound them to himself, which ripened 
 in not a few cases into a life-long intimacy. 
 
 In 1841 he accepted the professorship of 
 Latin and modern history in Miami Univer- 
 sity, Oxford, Ohio, the faculty of which was at 
 that time reorganized, with very promising 
 prospects, under the presidency of Dr. George 
 Junkin. 
 
 Some years later the question of a Presby- 
 terian theological seminary for the West was 
 earnestly agitated in various quarters. A wide 
 difference of opinion existed as to the best site 
 for such an institution. The seminary at New 
 Albany had been in existence for several years, 
 but it was under the local control of certain 
 synods, it was but slenderly attended, and its 
 affairs were by no means in a prosperous con- 
 dition. The heirs of the original donors of the 
 
1 6 MEMORIAL. 
 
 land upon which Lane Seminary was located 
 were dissatisfied with its management, which 
 they claimed was in violation of its trusts, and 
 they were threatening legal steps for the re- 
 covery of the property. There was at that 
 time no other Presbyterian seminary west of 
 Allegheny. In this state of affairs it was 
 thought best to undertake the establishment 
 of a seminary in Cincinnati, under distinctively 
 Old School Presbyterian control. Dr. Nathan 
 L. Rice, at that time one of the leading pas- 
 tors in Cincinnati, and one of the most emi- 
 nent divines in the West, became its professor 
 of theology, and Dr. Moffat was invited, in 
 1852, to become the professor of the lan- 
 guages and the exegesis of the Old and New 
 Testaments. His ready facility in both the 
 Greek and the Hebrew naturally marked him 
 out for such a position, and as he had resolved 
 to give himself to the work of the ministry, 
 and had been licensed to preach the gospel in 
 the preceding year, he accepted the position, 
 receiving at the same time the degree of D.D. 
 
MEMORIAL. 17 
 
 from his Alma Mater. The institution, how- 
 ever, was short-lived. In 1853 Dr. Rice was 
 called to an important charge in St. Louis, 
 and at the same time Dr. Moffat was recalled 
 to Princeton as the professor of the Latin 
 language and of history in the college. The 
 Cincinnati seminary, thus deprived of both its 
 professors, was by its directors placed at the 
 disposal of the General Assembly, in order 
 that the whole subject of a seminary for the 
 West might be considered and issued by that 
 body. This resulted, as is well known, in tlie 
 establishment of Danville Seminary in Ken- 
 tucky, and McCormick Seminary in Chicago. 
 
 In 1854 Dr. Maclean became president of 
 this college, whereupon Dr. Moffat was trans- 
 ferred to the chair which the new president 
 had so long occupied, that of the Greek lan- 
 guage and literature. In 1861 he was elected 
 by the General Assembly Helena professor of 
 church history in the Theological Seminary 
 in this place, upon a memorial foundation 
 created by Mr. John C. Green. This posi- 
 
1 8 MEMORIAL, 
 
 tion he continued to occupy until two years 
 ago, when the infirmities of advancing years 
 admonished him to discontinue active duty. 
 His resignation was offered and accepted in 
 the spring of 1888, but in view of his long- 
 continued services, and as a mark of the re- 
 spect and affection which was cherished for 
 him, he was made professor Emeritus of 
 church history, and a retiring salary was 
 voted to him for the remainder of his life. 
 It being found impossible to fill this chair 
 satisfactorily at once. Dr. Moffat consented, 
 at the unanimous request of the faculty, to 
 deliver his course of lectures for yet another 
 year. 
 
 As a professor and teacher. Dr. Moffat was 
 most assiduous and punctual in the discharge 
 of every duty belonging to his position, and 
 he was ever forward and ready to bear any 
 additional burden, or perform any task as- 
 signed to him, with the utmost cheerfulness 
 and promptitude. His relations to his col- 
 leagues in the seminary have been in all re- 
 
MEMORIAL. 19 
 
 spects most cordial and delightful. There 
 never has been the slightest jar or discord ; 
 he was ever frank and outspoken in the ex- 
 pression of his opinions, but never hesitated 
 to yield his judgment with perfect courtesy 
 if it did not meet the general approval of 
 those associated with him. He was a model 
 of Christian, gentlemanly bearing upon all 
 occasions, and received, as he deserved, uni- 
 versal respect and confidence. In the whole 
 of my acquaintance with him, I never heard 
 from his lips an unkind or ungenerous remark, 
 or a single expression which it is unpleasant 
 to recall. He won the respect and affection 
 of all his pupils ; and his guileless nature, his 
 purity of character, his undeviating sense of 
 honor and of right, and the thorough con- 
 sistency of his Christian spirit and demeanor, 
 secured for him universal admiration. There 
 will be sad hearts among those who knew and 
 loved him throughout this land and in other 
 lands, as they hear the announcement of his 
 death. 
 
20 MEMORIAL. 
 
 On the 30th day of May last our venerable 
 friend entered upon his eightieth year. His 
 feebleness was then such as to indicate that 
 his departure could not be long delayed. 
 And on last Saturday, the 7th inst., his suf- 
 fering spirit laid aside the weary burden 
 which he had carried so long, and entered 
 into rest in that blessed world where there 
 shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain, 
 for the former things are passed away. And 
 now upon this Commencement Day, when the 
 college which he loved so well and served in 
 such varied capacities, and which holds him 
 in honor among its distinguished sons, has 
 just concluded another year, we are gathered 
 here to bear his body to its last earthly reposi- 
 tory. A new band of eager young men has 
 just gone forth to enter upon the battle and 
 the work of this earthly life. This aged vet- 
 eran has laid his well-worn armor down ; his 
 battle has been fought, and the victory won ; 
 his work is ended, and the reward is his ; he 
 
MEMORIAL. 21 
 
 has gained the prize of an immortal crown, to 
 lay it in triumph at the feet of Him who sits 
 upon the throne. There are partings here, 
 and sad regrets are felt when the final sepa- 
 ration comes, and friend leaves friend, and 
 familiar scenes are left behind. But this is 
 the day that the patient scholar ever kept in 
 view from the beginning — the day that ends 
 his course, the day that sets the seal of appro- 
 bation upon all. It is not death — it is the 
 entrance upon life. 
 
 In addition to his strictly professional work. 
 Dr. Moffat was abundant in other useful labors. 
 He loved to preach, and in former years he was 
 in much demand to supply occasional vacan- 
 cies. He rendered such services cheerfully 
 and was an acceptable preacher. But chiefly 
 he devoted his extra hours to literary labor, 
 which was always congenial to his taste. 
 He made large use of his pen. In addition to 
 numerous contributions to \.\vt. Biblical Reper- 
 tory^ and to other reviews and journals, he 
 prepared several volumes, among which may 
 
22 MEMORIAL. 
 
 be mentioned as specially noteworthy a ** Life 
 of Dr. Chalmers," '' A Comparative History 
 of Religions," '* The Church of Scotland," 
 " Church History in Brief," and the me- 
 moirs of his friend and classmate, Dr. Owen, 
 which has been already alluded to. He also 
 published some volumes of poetry, which have 
 been regarded as indicating no small degree of 
 poetic talent. 
 
 My dear friends, we cannot but feel the mel- 
 ancholy of this sad occasion. We are here to 
 give our sympathy to those who are called to 
 part with a much-loved parent and friend, and 
 yet we are here in the indulgence of a Chris- 
 tian trust. We sorrow not as those who have 
 no hope. We know that as Jesus died and 
 rose again, so them that sleep in Jesus will 
 God bring with Him. Ah ! we are not here 
 in the chill and the gloom of a cheerless ma- 
 terialism. Physical dissolution does not ter- 
 minate personal existence. The grave is only 
 the temporary receptacle of this exhausted 
 bodily frame until such time as it shall be 
 
MEMORIAL. 23 
 
 invigorated afresh. The yawning sepulchre 
 does not imprison the unfettered soul. We 
 lay this precious dust gently away in the bed 
 prepared for it ; there may it slumber quietly 
 until the shadows of the night are over, and at 
 the dawn it shall awake and be tenanted once 
 again by the thinking, the conscious, the im- 
 mortal part which 'has winged its way to God 
 who gave it. 
 
 We base this confidence upon the sure word 
 and the accomplished work of Him who abol- 
 ished death and brought life and immortality 
 to light ; who is the resurrection and the life : 
 and who said, he that believeth in me, though 
 he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whoso- 
 ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. 
 Jesus himself rose from the dead because it 
 was not'possible that He should be holden of 
 death, and in His own victory over the grave 
 He secured the final triumph of all His fol- 
 lowers. The sentence of death has indeed 
 passed upon all our race who are involved 
 in transgression. But to those who are par 
 
24 MEMORIAL. 
 
 takers of the redemption of Christ, death has 
 become the gateway of eternal life. Jesus has 
 gone to prepare a place for them in the many- 
 mansions of His Father's house ; and now for 
 them that are His, to be absent from the body 
 is to be present with the Lord. For we know 
 that if the earthly house of this tabernacle be 
 dissolved, we have a building of God, a house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
 
3n iHemoriam. 
 
 JAMES CLEMENT MOFFAT. 
 
 Born May 30, 1811. Died June 7 1890. 
 
 He sleeps ; and o'er his honored tomb 
 
 Let June's enamelled verdure grow ; 
 Earth's fairest gems no purer bloom 
 
 Than he who rests below. 
 
 He lived a5 lived the hallowed saints 
 
 To darker ages kindly given, 
 Whose presence lent life's discontents 
 
 A healing touch of heaven. 
 
 He came, and earth new beauty wore — 
 
 Ev'n care assumed a gentle grace ; 
 And darkening doubts aye fled before 
 God's sunshine in his face. 
 
 I loved him ; yet I grieve not now, 
 
 Though quenched that wealth of golden speech 
 Nor moan though glory gilds his brow 
 
 Beyond my little reach. 
 
26 MEMORIAL. 
 
 Around me still his friendship clings, 
 
 Upon my path his blessing lies, 
 Sweet as the light from angel's wings 
 
 That beams and beautifies. 
 
 His voice still greets me from afar, 
 
 Like anthems echoing far away ; 
 His presence fades but as a star 
 
 That melts in perfect day. 
 
 James Kennedy. 
 
 New York City, yune 9, 1890.