STEPHEN tORREY 
 
 A MEMORIAL 
 
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 fl« PRTMrPTTOM M T ^<3 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
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 Presented by VT\\^£)'31 .OA .^5aoSy~o CAy^ 
 
T 
 
 
 In Memoriam 
 
 V 
 
 REV. STEPHEN TORREY 
 
 A DISCOUKSE 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 HONESDALE, PA. 
 BY 
 
 y ■ 
 
 The Pastor, Rev. W. H. Swift 
 
 AT THE MOBNING SERVICE 
 
 CAZENOVIA, N.Y: 
 
 PRESS OF W. J. HUTCHINSON 
 
 1890. 
 
" Tudlight and evening bell 
 And after that the da/rh^ 
 And may there he no sad farewell 
 When I eniha/rk ! 
 
 '■'■ For though from out our hou/rne 
 of Tvme and Place 
 The flood should hea/r me fm% 
 I hope to meet my Pilot face to face 
 When I hwve crossed the, bary 
 
INTRODUCTORY, 
 
 Mr. Stephen Torrey's long and influential connection 
 with the Presbyterian church at Honesdale, led, after 
 his death, to the appropriating of the Sunday morning 
 service of December 15th, 1889, as a service memorial 
 of him. On that morning was delivered the memorial 
 sermon which constitutes the substance of this little 
 book. 
 
 When good men die they are not altogether lost to 
 us. Their memoiy and theii' influence remain, and they 
 thus bequeath themselves to the chui'ch and are a part 
 of its heritage. 
 
 The Scripture says to Christians: "All things are 
 yours ; whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, all are 
 youi'S." That is to say, all good men belong to us, even 
 when they are gone from our sight. We have a certain 
 property in them. We, at this day, are the richer for the 
 holy zeal and Christian heroism of the apostle Paul, 
 and, to this extent, he is ours and cannot be taken from 
 us. 
 
 And so, when a good man dies from among us, after 
 a while — after the fii-st bewildering sense of loss is 
 over — we have a "memorial service." 
 
 What is the object and meaning of it ? It is not a 
 
 (1.) 
 
n. INTR OD UCTOR Y. 
 
 funeral service this time, nor a burial service. Ratlier 
 it is a sort of resurrection seMce. He that seemed to us 
 to be dead is recognized to be living. 
 
 And so, at the memorial service v^e think and speak, 
 not of the good man's death, but of his life — contem- 
 plating his excellences, summing up his achievements, 
 computing his worth. And thus, while doing honor to 
 his memory, we are, at the same time, measuring, as 
 best we can, the value of what he has left to us — esti- 
 mating the worth of our ownership in him, and thus 
 also recognizing the fact that a good man's memory 
 will be honorable in proportion as he has bequeathed 
 treasures of good influence and good example to those 
 who survive him. 
 
 Mr. Torrey has left us such a legacy. We come in 
 this service to probate it, and, in a sense, to take pos- 
 session of it. We are his heii^s in the broad kinship 
 of the Christian family — "the household of faith." 
 And it is characteristic of this heritage, as of all spirit- 
 ual riches, that the administering of much to some of 
 the heirs leaves none the less to others. We are all re- 
 siduary legatees, so that each one may receive all that 
 has been bequeathed. 
 
 To impart this benefit to us is the design and aim of 
 the discourse which will be found on the following pages. 
 
The Sermojnt. 
 
 "7i! is a becoming service to embalm the m,em,ory of those whose 
 lives have enriched the world in virtue and truth." 
 
InM 
 
 EMORIAM. 
 
 Rev. Stephen Torrey. 
 
 '''' For^e was a good man^ and full of the Hol/y Gho8t 
 and of faith ; and much people were added unto the 
 Lordy — Acts xi : 24. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY is usually interesting, and always, if 
 a correct portraiture of character, instructive. 
 
 "History," some one says, "is a statement of the 
 progress of a nation or an institution, with philosophi- 
 cal enquiries respecting effects and causes." 
 
 But all history arranges itself about individuals, and 
 can be understood only as we know something about 
 the men who made the history. Leave out the individ- 
 uality of Patriach, Prophet, and Apostle, and what re- 
 mains of Scripture history? 
 
 Biography is a living commentaiy on historic truth — 
 a concrete illustration thereof — and so its study be- 
 comes, not only desirable, but necessary, if our enquir- 
 
 1 
 
2 IN MEMOBIAM. 
 
 ies respecting causes and effects in history are to be 
 philosophical. 
 
 We can read correctly the life of an individual — 
 appreciate it only as we discover the environments un- 
 der the pressure of, or resisting which, the character was 
 formed. No life reveals itself to us so that we can fully 
 grasp the lessons it teaches till we can trace the trend 
 of its fii'st twenty years. 
 
 I could wish, therefore, that some other person, some 
 one acquainted with Stephen Ton-ey from his youth, 
 had undertaken the pleasant task assigned to me this 
 morning. I enter upon it with diffidence, conscious of no 
 special fitness for it save that inspired by an intimate 
 acquaintance with Mr. Torrey in his later years ; a true 
 appreciation of the worth of his life ; admiration of his 
 character and loyalty to his memory. 
 
 * 45- 
 
 Stephen Toreey, the seventh of eleven children, and 
 fifth of nine sons, the oldest and youngest of whom 
 were Christian ministers, was bom in Bethany, Wayne 
 County, Pa., Nov. 9th, 1808. His father was Jason 
 Torrey, who was born in Williamstown, Mass., June 
 30th, 1772, and removed to Wayne County, Pa., fif- 
 teen years before the birth of Stephen. His mother, 
 Lois Welch, was also of New England parentage and 
 birth. She was an earnest Christian woman, and died 
 in 1813, leaving this boy motherless before he was five 
 years of age. 
 
 Owing to much necessary absence of his father from 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRET. g| 
 
 home, his instruction, for a time, was largely left to 
 housekeepers, some of whom, at least, did not claim to 
 be Christian women By the second marriage of his 
 father, when Stephen was in his eighth year, he came 
 under the instraction and influence of one who was em- 
 inently a gifted and devoted Christian woman, Mrs. 
 Achsah, the widow of Kev. Whiting Griswold, a Pres- 
 byteiian minister. 
 
 She, too, was of New England origin, trained to 
 observe New England customs in religious matters, and 
 soon after coming into the family she began the sys- 
 tematic instruction of the childi'en in that matchless 
 compendium of Scripture truth, the Westminster Short- 
 er Catechism. The lucid questions and answers of this 
 book were finnly imbedded in Stephen's memory, and 
 helped to develop a staunch, Calvinistic type of relig- 
 ious convictions and character, and also made him an 
 enthusiastic admii^er of the Catechism, and an earnest 
 advocate of its use in the family and Sabbath school as 
 a powerful moulding influence in training the young. 
 
 When Stephen was ten years old, a Sabbath school 
 was started in Bethany, one of the first in the State, 
 possibly, north of Philadelphia. 'J'he " Order of Exer- 
 cises" was not elaborate, but consisted mainly, as Mr. 
 Torrey delighted, in the closing years of his life, to 
 relate, in the recitation of Scripture committed to mem- 
 ory by the pupils. During the few years he was in 
 Sabbath school, he committed and recited nearly all 
 of the New Testament, and down to the close of his life 
 
4 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 could accurately repeat almost any passage of Scrip- 
 ture suggested to him. 
 
 In June, 1820, in his twelfth year, sixty-nine years 
 before his death, he was hopefully converted, and in 
 July of that year united with the Presbyterian church 
 of Bethany. He immediately began to take an active 
 part in religious meetings, encom^aged so to do by his 
 Sabbath school teacher, Mi\ Sheldon Norton, who at 
 the time was Prothonatary of the county. A few 
 months after the boy had publicly consecrated himself 
 to the Christian service, Mr. Norton called on him to 
 lead in prayer at a public meeting. It was Sabbath 
 evening, and the Court House, in which revival meet- 
 ings were being held, was densely filled. Whatever 
 feelings of timidity or reluctance the boy might have 
 had he did not hesitate, but through the grace which 
 God gave him, rose to his feet and poured out his heart 
 in a prayer which left upon the memory of persons 
 present that evening, an ineffacable impression. It was 
 a foregleam of that power in prayer which has marked 
 his entire Christian life, a gift from God which was 
 kept bright by constant use. 
 
 His education began at home. He was early trained 
 to habits of industry, economy, and usefulness. Vaca- 
 tion did not mean idleness ; it meant the rest that comes 
 from change of work, and he never knew how to rest 
 in any other way. 
 
 His ambition kept pace with his opportunity. An 
 inward energy stimulated him to meet every demand 
 
REV. STEPHEN TOREEY. 5 
 
 that duty laid upon him. The keynote of his young 
 hfe, as of his matui'e years, was faithfulness. 
 
 Between the ages of eight and eighteen we find him, 
 a part of each year, enjoying the advantages of school- 
 life in Bethany and Harford, training his intellectual 
 powers for a career that would task all the talents God 
 had given him. 
 
 In 182 6 his father began to cleai' the land where 
 Honesdale now stands, and Stephen was his right-hand 
 man, keeping the accounts, and, when not thus engaged, 
 swinging the axe by the side of the men, doing his full 
 share of manual labor, as he delighted to do down to 
 the close of his life. 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church of Honesdale was or- 
 ganized February 11th, 1829. Mr. Torrey was one of 
 its nine charter members, and though but twenty years 
 of age, one of its first Buling Elders. 
 
 His life, from 1824 imtil 1872, furnishes a chapter 
 in his history that is worthy to be carefully read, earn- 
 estly marked, and widely imitated by the laymen of 
 oui' churches. At the early age of sixteen, Stephen is 
 Superintendent of a Sabbath-school at the old Glass 
 Factory, a mile or more west of Bethany. Next we find 
 him doing similar and more advanced work in Promp- 
 ton, fom- miles west of Honesdale, laying the founda- 
 tion of a church. So consuming is his zeal that, in his 
 earlier life, he is not content to work in one field only, 
 the necessity of other fields appealing successfully to 
 his large heart and untiring courage. It was his habit, 
 
6 IN ME3T0RIAM. 
 
 when he began his missionary woi'k, to attend the ser- 
 vices of his own church in the morning, and when the 
 church was without a pastor, he frequently read the 
 seiTQon. Then he would drive to the " Smith Settle- 
 ment," now Berlin township, where he held a Sabbath- 
 school ; then to Paupack, now Hawley, where he had 
 another Sabbath-school; then hold another Sabbath- 
 school, or preach in a school house on his way home. 
 In an interesting article written by him at the request 
 of Rev. Dr. Kendall, and published in Tlie Church at 
 Home and Abroad^ of March, 1889, he says: "In these 
 days of pioneer Sabbath-school work, when we had no 
 'helps 'but the Bible, much more prominence was given 
 to committing the Scriptures to memory than is custom- 
 ary in these advanced days in Sabbath-school work. 
 Now, the best available talent of the Church is called 
 into requisition to provide helps for Sabbath-schools 
 and Sabbath-school workers. Then, after the recita- 
 tions of Scripture, as a general rule, I took the whole 
 school in hand and gave such exposition of the lesson, 
 and practical instructions from it, as I was able to give. 
 This method of working, with variations to conform to 
 the changes of circumstances in different neighborhoods, 
 was continued for a considerable number of years, dur- 
 ing which time, I extended my work into several 
 remote neighborhoods, where no stated means of grace 
 had ever been introduced. For, at that period this 
 section of Pennsylvania was as emphatically Tnissiona/ry 
 
BEV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 7 
 
 ground as is any portion of our Western countiy at 
 this day. 
 
 " These Sabbath-school services led to the introduction 
 of prayer meetings in some of these neighborhoods, 
 where, for a while, we had two or three persons to par- 
 ticipate in the services. But from removals or other 
 causes this help gradually failed, and the responsibility 
 of conducting the services devolved upon me alone. 
 For more than twenty years I maintained my Sabbath 
 evening services in different neighborhoods, till my in- 
 creasing business responsibilities, at remote distances 
 from home, rendered it impracticable for me to main- 
 tain them longer, and I passed them over into other 
 hands. Several church organizations, where the preach- 
 ing of the gospel is now regularly maintained, and 
 where commodious church edifices have been built and 
 paid for, had theii' origin in this pioneer Sabbath-school 
 work. As to the number of schools in maintaining 
 which I have been directly interested, about which you 
 make inquiry, I cannot answer definitely ; but I had 
 more or less to do with some twelve to fifteen schools, 
 some of which remained on my hands only a limited 
 time, while the responsible care of others devolved 
 upon me for a considerable number of years. I was en- 
 gaged in this work for about forty-five years, and until 
 I entered upon my presbyterial missionaiy work, more 
 than sixteen years since." 
 
 What a record that of missionary zeal and contin- 
 uous devotion to the cause of Christ ! How shaiply 
 
8 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 and painfully it contrasts with the easy-going life of 
 too many members of our churches ! One can but won- 
 der what the results might be, in a very few years, if, 
 in all ^ur churches were found a few men and women 
 whose hearts were fired with the same self-sacrificins: 
 love. May God's Spirit baptize us all/o/" service ! 
 
 So successful was Mr. Torrey in this foundation 
 work that, at the age of thirty, he resolved to study for 
 the gospel ministry, and next we find him at Harford 
 Academy, pouring over Latin and Greek with all the 
 earnestness of an aroused soul. A year or two, how- 
 ever, to his great regret, demonsti'ated the fact that his 
 health would not admit of his pursuing the life of a 
 student, and he reluctantly returned home. 
 
 Here he entered with characteristic energy the office 
 of his brother John, then a land-agent, and so earnestly 
 did he devote himself to the practical mastery of sm-- 
 veying that he became, it is said, one of the most 
 accurate surveyors in north-eastern Pennsylvania. This 
 led to his accepting an important position in the land- 
 office of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, 
 which took him to Carbondale, So interested had he 
 become, however, in his missionary work in Wayne 
 county, that he drove to Honesdale — sixteen miles — ev- 
 ery Saturday afternoon or evening; superintended a 
 Sabbath -school the next day, and taught a Bible class ; 
 then preached in the evening to a full congregation. 
 This sermon, or address, was of the nature of an expos- 
 itory discourse, and always the result of cai*eful study 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 9 
 
 and profound tliouglit. Says one : "In my correspon- 
 dence witli him, year after year, his letters indicated 
 always a paramount interest in his parishes and his 
 Christian work. While he was always faithful to his 
 secular business ; always thorough and successful in it, 
 he had a supreme interest in his Christian work — ' seek- 
 ing ^rs?^ the kingdom of God.' He used to arrange his 
 business so as to devote, now and then, a week-day to 
 visiting individuals and families at Prompton, or at 
 Indian Orchai^d. There were forty years or more, in 
 which he was engaged in his several parishes, almost as 
 steadily as any pastor in his." 
 
 A volume might be written upon the work done by 
 him before 1872, which date, as we shall see, marks an 
 advance — the beginning of a new era — in his career. 
 But time forbids my dwelling longer upon this import- 
 ant period of his life, so unique and suggestive. 
 
 Mr. Torrey had manied, September 18th, 1833, 
 Maiy Chapman, of Dui'ham, N. Y. Three children 
 were born to them. Two of them died in infancy. The 
 thii^d — Jason— a young man of rare promise, and pro- 
 nounced Christian character, in whom the heart of his 
 father was bound up, died at the age of twenty-nine. 
 Two years later, August 4th, 1870, when absent from 
 home, his beloved and accomplished wife, who had 
 been unable fully to rally after the death of Jason, was 
 also taken. These mysterious providences, breaking up 
 a happy home, which might have embittered the life of 
 a man of weaker faith, only prepared the way for the 
 
10 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 special work to which God called him in 1872, at the 
 age of sixty-four. 
 
 After the re-union of the Old and New School 
 Chui'ches, in 1870, the Presbyteries of Luzerne, Mont- 
 rose, and Susquehanna, were united in one — called 
 the Presbytery of Lackawanna. A large number of 
 weak churches were thus grouped together, requiring 
 peculiar care and nurtm'e, and Mr. Torrey was asked to 
 undertake the work of a Presbyterial missionary — a 
 work which would furnish scope for unweaiying pa- 
 tience, sleepless vigilance, consummate tact, indomitable 
 will, unfaltering faith, and Christ-like love. With all 
 the ardor of youth he entered upon this work, never 
 faltering in it till the master called him home. If suc- 
 cess is measured, not simply by visible results, but by 
 steadfastness of pm-pose, purity of aim — the earnest ef- 
 fort to realize a high ideal, taking as the motto of life, 
 " This one thing I do," then Mr. Torrey was grandly 
 successful in his missionary work. His whole soul was 
 absorbed in it. The weak churches were always in his 
 mind and on his heart. Often, after we had puzzled 
 together over some difficult question, and could reach 
 no satisfactoiy conclusion, the following day he would 
 tell me of some happy solution that came to him during 
 the night watches. Day and night he earned these 
 weak churches in his thought, seeking theii' welfare, 
 making their bm*dens his own ; and such confidence had 
 the Home Missionary Committee of the Presbytery in 
 his judgment, that oftentimes, I fear, we permitted him 
 
BEV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. H 
 
 to bear burdens alone, that might have been lightened, 
 had we taken that intelligent interest in these churches, 
 that claimed the sympathizing thought of Mr. Torrey 
 always. Who ever heard him pray, save at a funeral, 
 when he failed to caiTy to God in earnest, confident, 
 touching petition, the feeble churches and distant fields 
 of the Presbytery ? He supplied chui'ches with minis- 
 ters and pastors. He secured young men from our 
 seminaries to labor, duiing the summer vacations, in 
 fields where, even with the help of the Boai'd of Home 
 Missions, they were unable to support men throughout 
 the year. He went into distant fields as a peacemaker ; 
 into discouraged fields to kindle hope ; into dormant 
 fields to stimulate faith and zeal, and benevolence ; urg- 
 ing the churches to reach the high vantage ground of 
 self-support. Yet, he went always as a burden-bearer ; 
 leading rather than drimng ; first setting the example 
 and thereby arousing enthusiasm ; and the record he 
 has left is that of faithfulness, unselfish endeavor, prac- 
 tical sympathy and helpfuhiess, and no place in the 
 Presbyteiy will it be more difficult to fill than that 
 made vacant when God took him from us. 
 
 After thirteen years of this vital and fruitful ministr}'- 
 as a licensed preacher, it became evident to the Presby- 
 tery that the value of his work would be increased if, 
 by his ordination, he were qualified to administer the 
 sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. For this 
 reason, as well as in recognition of his past services, the 
 Presbytery, of its own accord, arranged to meet at 
 
12 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Honesdale on Mr. ToiTey's seventy-seventh birth-day, 
 and on that day he was impressively ordained to the 
 gospel ministry. Though he had reached the age when 
 most men lay aside the heavier burdens of life, and, 
 while waiting for the sunset, enjoy a well-earned rest, 
 he regarded his ordination as a fresh baptism for act- 
 tive service, and no crusader could have entered more 
 enthusiastically upon his mission, than did Mr. Ton^ey, 
 at this advanced age, looking upon it as a call from 
 God for greater consecration to this special work. Had 
 one entered this church, early on the evening of Nov- 
 ember 9th, 1885 — the evening of his solenm ordin- 
 ation — he would have found Mr. Torrey on his knees 
 behind the sacred desk, the tears tnckling down his 
 face, as he sought God's blessing upon his ministry. 
 Tears of joy no doubt they were, as he saw fulfilled the 
 hopes of earlier years. At the same time, no young 
 man had a keener sense of personal responsibility as he 
 hega/n the work of a Christian minister, than had Mr. 
 Torrey, when standing on the threshold of almost four- 
 score years. This place is sacred because of all the 
 associations of the past ; but more so, because baptized 
 with the tears of God's aged servant as he buckles on 
 the armor and, with the courage of youth, goes forth, 
 " counting not his life dear unto himself, so that he 
 might finish his course with joy, and the ministry 
 which he had received from the Lord Jesus, to testify 
 the gospel of the grace of God." 
 
 As we come into closer contact with tlie life, review 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 13 
 
 the work and read the character of Mr. Torrey, we can- 
 not marvel that his life was a grand success. It could 
 not be otherwise. It was simply the result of causes 
 and influences that are adapted to produce a character 
 energized, in every faculty, by truth and goodness. 
 His Chi'istian life began at the Cross, when, as a boy 
 of twelve, he became, not a "son of the law," (as the 
 Hebrew boy did at the age of twelve), but a disciple 
 of Him who is the end of the law to every one that be- 
 lieveth. He enthroned Christ as his Saviour and Lord. 
 He always pitched his tent in sight of the Cross ; in 
 which he gloried ; by which the world was crucified 
 unto him and he unto the world. He was always loyal 
 to Him who had bought him with his own precious 
 blood. He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and 
 faith, and because he was genuinely., thoroughly good., 
 his life, which was only the expression — the outward 
 expression of the inward character — ^was one of bless- 
 ing. His Christian influence was felt wherever he was, 
 because he always lived in the presence of Christ — ^was 
 united to Christ as the branch is united to the vine, 
 and loved to dwell upon the intimate relationship be- 
 tween Christ and the believer. 
 
 He was a man of prayer — a man who could not live 
 without prayer. It was his "vital breath," his "native 
 air." He always sought God's guidance at every turn 
 of life. Business and Christian work alike received the 
 baptismal touch of consecration; because both were 
 laid before God in prayer, and his blessing sought upon 
 
14 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 each. In his room a tablet, on which his eye rested iii'st 
 every morning, contained these words — the key to his 
 power in prayer: "Abide in me," " Ask what ye will." 
 He asked and received, because, abiding in Christ, he 
 came to know Christ as a friend, and so asked for 
 things that were agreeable to his will. 
 
 He always " talked with God." He was strong in 
 faith, giving glory to God. His prayere were marked 
 by great humility, child-like confidence, intense earnest- 
 ness; and all who listened were conscious of God's 
 nearness, and so strengthened in faith and life. Mi'. 
 ToiTey believed with all his heart in God's willingness 
 to answer prayer, and so took his burdens to God and 
 left them there. A few months since he gave this tes- 
 timony to God's faithfulness to his promises: "The 
 memory of the past is precious, affording as it does an 
 occasion of devout thanksgiving to God for all his 
 goodness to me in times of perplexity and intense solic- 
 itude to know what, under the then existing circum- 
 stances, the Lord would have me do. His assurance, 
 ' And, lo ! I am with you always,' is unchanged and 
 unchangeable." He was a man of OTie hook. He long 
 ago forgot the Latin and Greek he learned at Harford. 
 When examined in Presbyteiy, he could answer but 
 few questions in general Church history. He was not 
 acquainted with the technical statements of Mental 
 Philosophy. Of Logic, Rhetoric, and Belles Lettres he 
 knew little. He was not interested in the cuiTent news, 
 save as it took on itself a reformatory or religious 
 
EEV. STEPHEN TORREY. 15 
 
 aspect. But he was possessed of an extraordinary 
 knowledge of the Bible and Biblical Theology. No one 
 who heard his examination for ordination will ever 
 forget the profound acquaintance with the letter and 
 the spirit of Scripture he evidenced, or the clearness of 
 his statements of doctrinal belief — his answers usually 
 being given in the very language of Inspiration ; yet so 
 simple that a child could understand tbem. He stud- 
 ied God's Word and men — human nature ; its needs, 
 its limitations. Man made for God : God revealed to 
 man — for man. The Word — ^the Word made flesh. 
 Man a great sinner : Christ a great Saviour, longing 
 unutterably to save man. How logically and earnestly, 
 with what spiritual power and unction, how persua- 
 sively he dwelt upon these and kindi*ed themes ! Strong 
 men were impressed by his intellectual, as well as his 
 spiritual grasp of the truth and its marvelous adapt- 
 ability to every occasion. His memory was so stored 
 with Scriptural truth, and the powers of his mind un- 
 der such perfect control, that he was always prepared 
 to preach, and able, with marvellous lucidity, to pre- 
 sent the very heart-thoughts of God's Word. With the 
 Word he comforted God's tired, troubled, discouraged 
 children, strengthened weak, tempted saints, instructed 
 the awakened sinner, and rebuked the infidel. Always 
 bright, because in constant use ; always effective was 
 the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, in his hand. 
 The Word was the man of his counsel, was hidden in his 
 heart, as well as stored in his memory ; was a lamp un- 
 
16 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 to his feet, a light unto his path ; to it he gave good 
 heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, till 
 the day dawned and the day star arose in his heart. 
 German rationalism, materialistic philosophy, higher 
 criticism did not in the least disturb him. Heaven and 
 earth might pass av^ay ; God's word would not pass 
 away; that word would stand forever. He built upon 
 the rock foundation; for he built upon the eternal 
 Word of the Eternal God: — 
 
 '* Upon the Gospel's sacred page 
 The gathered beams of ages shine ; 
 
 And, as it hastens, every age 
 
 But makes its brightness more divine. 
 
 "On mightier wing, in loftier flight, 
 From year to year does Knowledge soar ; 
 
 And, as it soars, the Gospel light 
 Becomes effulgent more and more. 
 
 "More glorious still, as centuries roll. 
 New region blest, new powers unfurled. 
 
 Expanding with the expanding soul, 
 Its radiance shall o'erflow the world, — 
 
 "Flow to restore, but not destroy; 
 
 As when the cloudless lamp of day 
 Pours out its floods of light and joy, 
 
 And sweeps the lingering mist away." 
 
 He cared very little for the external proofs of a Di- 
 vine Kevelation; he had the " inner vdtness " to the 
 truth. So that he received it, "not as the word of men, 
 but, as it is in tinith, the word of God, which e^ 
 tuall/y woi'heth in them that helievey 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 17 
 
 His tact in approaching men on the subject of relig- 
 ion was very noticeable. He seemed intuitively to know 
 when to speak, ^vhat to speak, and lioio far to press the 
 question, " Why are you not a Christian ? " He never 
 introduced the subject in such a way as to embarrass 
 one, or give offence. On all occasions, however, in the 
 most natural manner, he managed to speak of the sub- 
 ject that was foremost in his thoughts. He might stop 
 a stranger on the way, to inquire which road to take in 
 order to reach some point, and though the interview 
 would last but a few moments, would manage to learn 
 itt which direction the stranger was traveling — toward 
 God, or away from him. Communing daily, homiy with 
 Christ he could but give expression to the thought of 
 Christ — earnest solicitude for the welfare of men. 
 
 His was not a gloomy religious experience, because 
 so prominently spiritual. Far from it. His presence al- 
 ways enlivened rather than depressed society. His own 
 soul was bathed in sunshine, and so his influence was 
 necessarily cheering. He uniformly looked on the bright 
 side, because of his unwavering confidence in God, and 
 this spii'it of ti*ust was contagious, so that timid ones, 
 always seeing lions in the way, went from his presence 
 cheered and strengthened. 
 
 His life was one of incessant activity. He never 
 seemed to be idle. Possibly his best work was done 
 when, through an accident, he was laid aside for sever- 
 al years from active prosecution of business. More time 
 was found for quiet Chiistian work — the effort to lead 
 
18 IN MEMO RI AM. 
 
 souls, one by one, to Christ. He showed the same sin- 
 gleness of purpose, whether his companion were a man 
 of great intelligence, or an obscure fellow traveler. He 
 was always seekiiig opportunity to point souls to Christ, 
 so found the opportunity. No one could often come in 
 contact with him and say truthfully, " No man cares for 
 my soul." Others might neglect this supreme mission 
 of the Christian; he did not. Because he was a good 
 man, and full of tlie Holy Ghost and faith, therefore 
 much people was added unto the Lord. " They that be 
 wise shall shine as the brightness of the finnament, and 
 they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for 
 ever and ever." No "starless crown" is that which 
 rests upon his brow. 
 
 He led souls to Christ, but was not satisfied with 
 that. He was always seeking to build souls up in 
 Christ. Regeneration was only the heginning of a 
 Christ-life that ought steadily to grow in sweetness, 
 beauty, and power. This he insisted on. Did we hear 
 of a revival in Antioch ? Like Barnabas, Mr. ToiTey 
 was sent, "who when he came and had seen the grace 
 of God was glad, and exhorted them all that with pur- 
 pose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." 
 
 He gave himself, his time, his talents, his property 
 to the Lord, to be used in His service, for the building 
 up of His Kingdom. He preached that, when it was 
 possible, a man should be his own executor, and con- 
 sistently practiced what he preached. In the last few 
 years of his life he gave away, through the channels of 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 19 
 
 Christian benevolence, between twenty and thirty thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 Every young man, just from the seminary, going into 
 one of the destitute fields of the Presbytery, found him 
 a firm friend, a wise counselor, a true yoke-fellow, 
 ready to help in eveiy way in his power, and yet en- 
 couraging them to form and caiTy out their o^vn plans, 
 seeking to develope self-reliance. Is money needed to 
 supplement the salary of the student who, for months, 
 has labored in a barren field, or to repair a chui'ch, 
 or build a new one, or remove a debt that stands 
 in the way of usefulness or progress? — he gives; 
 gives wisely, judiciously, always with the intent of 
 stimulating larger benevolence on the part of the 
 church. No young man from the seminaiy goes back 
 wdth a burdened heart, because unpaid. All pledges 
 are more than redeemed, all promises abundantly ful- 
 filled. He was not always imder the spell of that woe 
 pronounced against those of whom all men speak well. 
 There were times when he was misunderstood by some. 
 There were small souls who thought the sala/ry of a 
 Presbyterial missionary was the lode-stone that drew 
 him to the work. But that salary, over and over again, 
 went, not into his own pocket, but to encourage de- 
 pressed ones, and push on the work at home and 
 abroad. Now to a mission church ; now to a discour- 
 aged pastor, w^ho gives his note for the amount, and 
 afterwards receives it back cancelled, though not one 
 cent has- been paid on it ; now to educate a young man 
 
20 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 for the ministry ; now to a sti'uggling little college in 
 the West ; here, there, any where it may be needed, 
 with the one desii'e to glorify God, he gives. Because 
 he gives, God gives him to give ; and meanwhile his 
 character is ripening for eternity. Moreover, when he 
 was at home for a Sabbath, resting, besides attending 
 church morning and evening without fail, he must 
 needs, in the afternoon, find his way to the jail — that 
 neglected field. Here is the testimony of one who 
 knows whereof she writes — ^the wife of the sheiifF of 
 the county: "I have been feeling ever since Mr. Tor- 
 rey's death that I wished his good work in visiting 
 the jail might be more generally known. While we 
 lived in the shei'ifP's house he began visiting the prison- 
 ers on Sunday afternoons, and scarcely ever failed when 
 in town. He always won the regard of even the rough- 
 est of them. After prayer and a short talk, Mr. Tor- 
 rey would go from one cell to another and question 
 them kindly, and draw them on to talk of their troub- 
 les, and then administer consolation. My husband 
 generally went with him, and used often to speak of 
 his tact in not asking a single question which could 
 seem to be prompted by curiosity, or be unpleasant for 
 the men to answer. He always appeared so earnest that 
 they soon learned to trust him, and those who were 
 there for months would ask after him, if he were ab- 
 sent for two or three Sundays. In our household the 
 memory of Mr. Torrey will always be cherished." 
 
 " Before honor is humility." His was the Christ-like 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORREY. 21 
 
 spirit, and so he won the children to him, for he always 
 had a smile and a kind word for them. He no more 
 truly loved to preach to men and women from a text 
 in the Epistle to the Romans, than to talk to the child- 
 ren about the Good Shepherd. His heart was young, 
 even when four-score years had told their experience. I 
 think the childi-en whom God gave to and took from 
 him were always near him. He loved to talk about 
 them, and I know he joyfully anticipated the time 
 when he should again meet them. In a letter received 
 since his death, the wiiter says: " On one occasion, as I 
 entered my home, I found Mr. Torrey telling the story 
 of Samuel to my boy. The child, about eight years of 
 age, was deeply interested, and at the conclusion he 
 leaned lovingly against the shoulder of his dear old 
 friend and said, 'Mr. Torrey, where are your little 
 boys?' His eyes grew dim as he replied that 'they 
 were waiting for him in another home.' " 
 
 While he and I were waiting together for a train, 
 only a week or two before his death ( and already that 
 drowsiness that finally overcame him was taking hold 
 upon him), two little children came, several times, into 
 the station, and each time he roused himself and had 
 some pleasant word to say. When the sununons came 
 this lover of little children had not far to go before he 
 met that Saviour who, when here upon the earth, took 
 the children in his arms, put his hands upon them and 
 blessed them, and has since gathered many of the lambs 
 vdth his arms and earned them in his bosom. He was 
 
22 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 a broad-minded, well-rounded man. He believed heart- 
 ily in the necessity of sustaining and enlarging the 
 work in his own church. His practical encouragement 
 first suggested to us the possibillity of building a new 
 chapel. He realized the necessity of taking an active 
 interest in moral refoi-m, and he, more than any other 
 man in Honesdale, urged Sabbath observance, practical 
 temperance work (his last addresss was for prohibi- 
 tion), the formation of a Law and Order Society, and 
 the claims of the Bible cause. He took an intelligent 
 interest in the missionary work of our Presbytery, and 
 was the first to urge Presbyterial sustentation. He felt 
 intensely the importance of our Home missionary work 
 in the Far West. More than one vacation had been 
 spent by him in visiting the frontier settlements, carry- 
 ing cheer and sympathy with him, and the Treasurer 
 of the Board of Home Missions can testify to his sub- 
 stantial aid. Christian education found in him a 
 constant friend, and owes his memory a debt of grati- 
 tude. But no cause aroused his enthusiasm, or kindled 
 his faith, or inspired his devotion like the evangeliza- 
 tion of the world. He had visited some of our foreign 
 missionary fields, and was always interested in the 
 latest missionaiy intelligence, believing mth intense 
 conviction in the ultimate tiiumph of Christ's Kingdom 
 in the earth, and the responsibility and privilege of the 
 individual Christian to obey the ringing command, " Go 
 ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
 creature." What sublime confidence ; what hearty con- 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORRET. 23 
 
 secration; what genuine love breathed through his 
 prayer, ' Thy kingdom come ! ' Believing that he who 
 gives quickly twice gives, he was always the tu'st to re- 
 spond to every cry for help from the Treasurer of the 
 Board. He rests now from his labors, and his works do 
 follow him. Eests! No, he does not idly rest; he 
 could not. Just before he ceased to work on earth, 
 when the first strains of the heavenly music fell upon 
 his ear, he said to me, "That view of the future is most 
 delightful to me in which we are told ' Therefore are 
 they before the throne of God and serve hun day and 
 night in his temple.' " He who served through a long 
 life with ever increasing zeal is still, I doubt not, in the 
 good pm-pose of God, permitted to labor somewhere. 
 
 On Monday morning, June 17th, 1889, after a brief 
 illness, God's aged servant gently fell asleep." He walk- 
 ed with God; was not for God took him." "Blessed 
 are the dead that die in the Lord." His influence is a 
 precious legacy to the church ; by it he being dead yet 
 speaketh. His character will be more clearly under- 
 stood as we come to know more truly the pm-e spirit 
 that d^velt in this tabernacle of clay, and read, as we 
 may, the one purpose of his life — to make more lus- 
 trous the name of Him who loved us and gave himself 
 for us, that name which is above every name. He was 
 loyal to Christ; loyal to Christ's Church; loyal to duty; 
 faithful everywhere; a thoroughly consecrated man; a 
 gentle, humble, loving disciple of Jesus, made meet to 
 
24 IN ME MORI A M. 
 
 be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 ^^And we demure that every one of you do show the same 
 diligence to the full assurance of hope wnto the end ; 
 that ye be not slothful^ hut folloivers of them who 
 through faith and patience inherit the promises.''' More 
 faith-filled will our lives be because of the impress left 
 upon us by this man of God whose life was inspired by 
 the spiiit of Jesus. Farewell, devoted soldier and ser- 
 vant of God ! May we follow thee, as thou didst fol- 
 low Christ, and, too, be ready, when the Master calls 
 us home I 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The Memorial Service was closed witli a hymn of 
 which the first and last stanzas are here given: 
 
 " O for the death of those 
 
 Who slumber in the Lord ! 
 O, be like theirs my last repose, 
 
 Like theirs my last reward ! " 
 * * * ♦ 
 
 "With us their names shall live 
 Through long succeeding years, 
 
 Embalmed with all our hearts can give, 
 Our praises and our tears," 
 
 Thus, mth Sermon and Song, the church with which 
 Mr. Torrey had been, not only connected, but to which ° 
 he had "belonged," in the fullest sense of that old Sax- 
 •on word, for more than sixty years, endeavored to 
 express its estimate of his Christian character and the 
 value of his Christian work. 
 
 Several weeks after Mr. Torrey had entered upon his 
 
 25 
 
26 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 rest, there appeared in The. Church at Home and 
 Abroad, the following item by Rev. Dr. Kendall, Sen- 
 ior Secretary of Home Missions: — "We have only just 
 heard of the death of Stephen Ton-ey, at Honesdale, 
 Pa. We vronder that we have seen nothing in the 
 newspapers about it, and we presume something will 
 be prepared by his friends, for the story of Stephen 
 Torrey's life and labors in his presbytery and in the 
 work of home missions has never been fully told. It is 
 a fruitful story and ought to be well told." It is hoped 
 that the printing and circulation of this Memorial will 
 satisfy this desire, which has expressed itself, not only 
 from New- York, but also from other great centres of 
 Christian work and influence, as Philadelphia, Cincin- 
 nati and Chicago, and from other sources. If anybody 
 cared to print eulogies of Mr. Torrey, it would be easy 
 to do so by reproducing the tender and earnest ad- 
 dresses that were made at his funeral by several of his 
 co-presbyters. But more touching and telling, perhaps, 
 than the testimony of pastor and presbyters was that 
 of prominent, influential, discriminating business men 
 in this and adjoining counties, who, on hearing of his 
 death would exclaim, ^^ He certainly magnified the 
 Christian name," or " ^/s religion was a manifest reality." 
 A gentleman in Scranton, one of the Superintendents 
 of the Delaware and Hudson Company, who was asso- 
 ciated with Mr. Torrey for many years in the service of 
 the Company, and who had known him for more than 
 half a century, and who has a characteristically fi'ee and 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORREY. 27 
 
 easv way of saying the most serious things, on hearing 
 of Mr. Torrey's death, said, "When he comes up to the 
 gates, St. Peter will meet him and say, ' Come right in 
 Uncle Stephen, We have been expecting you for a long 
 time, and one of the high seats in heaven is waiting for 
 you.' " That was not a very solemn, but was, none the 
 less, a sincere and grapliic way of expressing a feeling 
 that was awakened in hundreds of minds by the memo- 
 ly of Mr. ToiTey's remarkable life of guileless fidelity 
 and conspicuous usefulness. 
 
 Among Mr. Torrey's papers is an outline plan of a 
 sennon, which, if compactly produced here, omitting 
 the numerous Scriptui'e references, and giving only the 
 several heads, and a single suggestion under each, will 
 both furnish a sample of his method of preaching, and 
 a key to the explanation of his life. 
 
 Text : Luke xn, 31-34. 
 
 31, "Seek ye the Kingdom of God." 
 
 32, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the King- 
 dom." 
 
 33, "Sell that ye have and give alms." 
 
 34, "Where your treasure is there will your heart be." 
 
 I. The Kingdom. This implies that God is supreme Sovereign, 
 claiming a boundless sway over the souls of men, for their good. 
 
 n. Citizenship, It implies, of course, an oath of allegience, 
 and this means, not only loyalty, but a patriotic zeal for the ex- 
 tension of the Kingdom. 
 
 III. The means. The preaching of the gospel is the recognized 
 means of extending the Kingdom. 
 
 IV. The duty. Hence the duty of all Christians to be heralds, 
 and to contribute for sending the messengers of the Kingdom 
 
28 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 throughout the earth, and for furnishing all needed accessories 
 to their work, such as houses of worship, &c. 
 
 V. The encouragement. Fear not, little flock, it is your Fath- 
 er's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." — i. e. However 
 small the beginnings, and apparently feeble the instrumentali- 
 ties, the ultimate triumph is sure. 
 
 VI. The method. "Sell that ye have and give alms." — i. e. 
 Make your earthly treasures clearly subordinate to the Kingdom- 
 
 Vn. The reward. "A treasure in the heavens that faileth not." 
 Your gold and silver shall be transmuted into spiritual and ev- 
 erlasting riches. 
 
 VIJLL The reflex influence. He that seeks the Kingdom of God 
 vrill thereby exalt his whole nature. "For where your treasure 
 is there will your heart be also." — i. e. Elevated as your controll- 
 ing purposes are, will your character be. 
 Any person acquainted with Mr. Tbrrey's manner can 
 imagine with what glo^ving ardor he would fill out the 
 several divisions of this comprehensive plan. And for 
 the reason that it was all as clear as life to him. He 
 was living that sermon day by day, and year after year. 
 
 Whether in his daily home life, or in his Indian Or- 
 chard parish, or in his Presbyterial loimds in the coal 
 regions of Pennsylvania, or on his several trips across 
 the continent, among the Home mission fields of the 
 vast West, or among the Foreign missionary stations of 
 northern Syria, and far up the Nile in Egypt, he mani- 
 fested a ceaseless feeling of personal responsibility to be 
 doing something for the "Kingdom" which was there 
 and everywhere. To seek the Kingdom of God was the 
 fervent impulse of his heart and the steady business of 
 his life. 
 
 The cheerful diligence with which he pursued his 
 
REV. STEPHEN TORREY. 29 
 
 work, is illustrated by the statements of a brother min- 
 ister who writes thus: "After Mr. Torrey had been 
 several years in the ministiy, he was wanted, at one 
 time, by the Delaware and Hudson men, for a fortnight, 
 to do a delicate piece of surveying, the conditions of 
 which he understood better than any body else. About 
 Thursday of the second week he was vniting me on 
 some Presbyterial business, and added that he ^vas feel- 
 ing a good deal used up. I replied very promptly and 
 said, ' No wonder you are used up ; you are attempting 
 impossibilities. Don't you remember the Master said. 
 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon ? ' 
 
 "The next Monday he wrote me saying, 'The Mast- 
 er's rules evidently do not apply to my case. I did feel 
 much run down the last of the week, but took a good 
 dose of preaching three times and attending one Sun- 
 day-school yesterday, and have come out all right this 
 momins:.' " 
 
 While he was always a working Christian, it would 
 be a mistake, as has been said in the sermon, to suppose 
 he was only that. He was genial in society. He was 
 always ready to be playful with children and playful 
 with friends. He was a hearty laugher, enjoyed a joke, 
 was ready at repartee, giving as good as he received. 
 He was a happy man. His busiest industry never made 
 him morose, or even unsociable. His spirit of unbend- 
 ing faithfulness was sweetened by a spirit of gentleness 
 and love. 
 
 While the text, "Seek ye the Kingdom of God," fur- 
 
30 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 nishes tlie key to his character as a worher^ the key to 
 his entire character is found, perhaps, in those words 
 applied to him at the very close of the Sermon: — "He 
 followed Christ." 
 
 Herein, after all, do we find the measure of his 
 worth and the Divine approval of his character. 
 
 St. Paul was giving to certain Christians the encour- 
 agement of his praise, when he said, " Forasmuch as ye 
 are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, 
 written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living 
 God, not in tables of stone, but in iieshly tables of the 
 heart, known and read of all men." 
 
 That man is unmistakably right whose life brings 
 you a constant message from Christ; across the front 
 of whose daily living the Spirit of God has written the 
 lineaments of the Saviour's character ; the pureness and 
 rectitude of whose spirit and pm-poses are always draw- 
 ing you toward Christ. 
 
 Such a man was Mr. Toirey, as it seemed to his 
 brethren. In his business life, in his social life, fi'om 
 morning to night, from Monday morning to Sunday 
 night, from New- Year's day until the 31st of Decem- 
 ber, and from the time he was twelve years old till he 
 gathered up his feet to die, and was carried by angels 
 to Abraham's bosom, he seemed to be swayed, controll- 
 ed, guided, by such principles, aims, purposes, as could 
 only flow into his life from the Spirit and teachings of 
 Jesus. 
 
 That combination of firmness and gentleness in him 
 
RJiJV. STEPHEN TORRE Y. 31 
 
 which made his character so substantial and yet so lov- 
 able, so strong and yet so sweet, was the result of receiv- 
 ing and working into the actual current of his life, from 
 first to last, that "wisdom which cometh from above, 
 and which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy 
 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
 partiality and without hypocracy." 
 
 Such a life is worth living. Such an example it is 
 safe to follow. The abiding influence of the memory of 
 such a spirit is a precious legacy, for which we cannot 
 be too thankful. 
 
 ^ 4 n^T"^^ j^®^ ^® ^^ gates were opened to let 
 -L^ in the men, I looked after them, and be- 
 hold the city shone like the sun ; the sti'eets also were 
 paved with gold ; and in them walked many men, with 
 crowns on theii' heads, palms in their hands, and gold- 
 en harps to sing praises withal. 
 
 " There were also those that had wings, and they an- 
 swered one another without intermission, singing, Holy, 
 holy, holy is the Lord. 
 
 "And after that they shut up the gates, which, when 
 I had seen, I wished. myself among them." 
 
I 
 
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