Maltbie Davenport Babcock - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Babcock died at age 42 in Naples, Italy, on May 18, 1901, returning from a trip to the Holy Land. According to a New York Times report of May 20, 1901, he committed suicide by slitting his wrist and ingesting "corrosive sublimate" or mercuric chloride. He was being treated in the International Hospital in Naples for what was called "Mediterranean fever," an archaic term for brucellosis. Several of his travel companions suffered from this bacterial infection which causes fever, pain and depression. Babcock had been hospitalized for depression in Danville, New York, ten years before his death.

At his funeral in New York City, the presiding clergyman eulogized him, "We do not need a candle to show a sunbeam...The work our brother has done — the life he lived speaks for him." In Baltimore, a memorial service was held on June 2, 1901, where he was eulogized by various prominent educators, including Daniel C. Gilman, the first president of Johns Hopkins University, John F. Goucher, the founder of Goucher College, and Francis L. Patton, president of Princeton University. Babcock was praised as "always wise, patient, sympathetic and inspiring". He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York.

When Babcock lived in Lockport, he took frequent walks along the Niagara Escarpment to enjoy the overlook's panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario, telling his wife he was "going out to see the Father's world". She published a poem by Babcock shortly after his death, entitled This is My Father's World. Now sung as a well-known hymn, its verses are:

This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.

This is my Father's world, he shines in all that's fair; in the rustling grass I hear him pass; he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad!

A large stained glass window was installed in 1905 at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Babcock's memory. The Holy City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany, depicts St. John's vision of the "New Jerusalem" described in Revelation 21:2. It has brilliant red, orange, and yellow glass etched for the sunrise, with textured glass used to create the effect of moving water. It is said to be one of the two largest windows crafted by Tiffany.