[Dr. Swanson was for twenty years a valued member of the English
Presbyterian Mission at Amoy, and subsequently Secretary of the Board of
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church of England until his death,
November 24, 1893]
My first meeting with Dr. Talmage took place in the early days of July,
1860, and from that day till the day of his death he was regarded as not
only one of the best and most valued friends, but I looked up to him as a
father beloved and respected.
One cannot help recalling now the impressions of those early days. There
was a marked individuality about this man that made you regard him whether
you would or not. You felt that he was a man bound to lead and to take the
foremost place amongst his brethren and all with whom he came in touch.
There was a firmness of tread, and the brave courage of conviction, united
with a womanly tenderness, that were unmistakable.
You saw he had made up his mind before he spoke, and that when he did speak
he spoke with a fullness of knowledge that few men possessed. He was every
inch of him a man.
And what touched us very much, who were young men, was the tender
forbearance with which he always treated us. We saw this more clearly as
the years passed on, and learned how much, perhaps, he had to bear from
some of us whose assertiveness in some matters was in the inverse ratio of
our knowledge. The reference here is to matters and methods regarding our
work as missionaries to the Chinese. He bore with us, and knew well the
day would come when, with increasing knowledge, there would come increasing
hesitation in pronouncing too hastily on the problems we had to face; and
he knew well that day would come if there was anything in us at all.
In my own study of the Chinese language he and another who also has gone to
the "better land"--the Rev. Dr. Douglas--assisted in every possible way;
and to both in this line am I indebted for what was the most important
furnishing in the first instance for every missionary to China. I can well
remember the plane upon which Dr. Talmage placed this study of the
language.
It was our work for Christ, at this stage a far more important one than any
other. He encouraged us to use whatever vocables we had got, no matter
whether we were met with the wondering smile of the Chinaman in his vain
endeavor to understand us, or to keep from misunderstanding us.
"Use whatever you have got, be glad when you are corrected, but use your
words." To some of us the advice was invaluable.
And in other ways the same spirit was manifest. He did all he could to get
us to attend every Christian gathering, to sit and listen to the business
of the Sessions, and to show the Chinese as soon as possible that we were
one with them, and he succeeded. There was an enthusiasm and warmth
distinguishing these early days of the Amoy church that were formative in a
very high degree, and that are now a precious memory.
Then Dr. Talmage was a scholar, with a very wide range of scholarship. We
looked up to him and we respected him, with an esteem few men have ever
won. And in conjunction with his scholarly furnishing there was an
absorbing, consuming zeal for Christ and His kingdom, and an intense love
for the Chinese people. If he had not this latter, he could not have been
the unmistakably influential and successful missionary he was. These,
coupled with a Christian walk and devotion, formed the furnishing of this
man of God.
He was also a true gentleman, a Christian gentleman in every sense of the
word. The best proof of this was that we loved him, and if the foreign
ladies in Amoy who knew him were asked what they thought of him--many of
them have gone to rest--they would hardly get words to tell out all their
respect and love for him. His visits in our houses were most welcome, and
when he spent an evening with us there was always sunshine where he was.
He was essentially a happy man, and nothing pleased him more than to see
all happy around him.
There is still one point to which reference must here be made.
Missionaries were not the only foreign residents in Amoy. There was also a
considerable number of American and European merchants. Unfortunately the
missionaries and the merchants did not always see eye to eye. Dr. Talmage
was a favorite with every one of them. They esteemed him, they would have
done anything to serve him; and at no cost of principle or testimony he won
this place with them.
And to those who know the conditions of life in China, it will be at once
understood what a man he must have been to win such a position.
It may not be generally known that in Amoy we have a "Union English
Church," with regular Sabbath services in English. These services were
conducted by the missionaries in turn. And we fear it may also not be
known what Dr Talmage's powers as a preacher were. He was a very prince
among English preachers; and if he had remained in America this would very
soon have been acknowledged. There were no tricks or devices of manner or
words employed by him for winning the popular ear. He never seemed to
forget the solemnity and responsibility of his position in the pulpit. He
hesitated not "to declare the whole counsel of God." He stands before me
now as I listen with bated breath to the fire of his eloquence, denouncing
where denunciation was needed, contending with a burning earnestness that
never failed to carry us with him, for "the faith once delivered to the
saints," and then with exquisite tenderness seeking to draw his hearers to
Him who is Saviour and Brother. He never failed to think and speak as much
about temptation as about sin. It was a real feast to attend the English
service when it was conducted by him. And during all my time in Amoy,
there was always a large congregation when Dr. Talmage was the preacher.
He was not all tenderness. He would only have been a one-sided man if this
were all. He was as strong as he was tender; a keen and powerful opponent
in discussion. And we often had very warm and keen discussions; keener and
warmer than I had ever seen before I went to Amoy, or have ever seen since.
We had to discuss principles and methods of translation, hymnology, Church
work, Church discipline, and many other subjects. And there was no mincing
of matters at these discussions. Foremost amongst us was Dr. Talmage,
tenaciously and persistently advocating the view he happened to have taken
on any question. There were men of very strong individuality among us, and
these gave as good as they got. I can recall these scenes, but I cannot
recall a single word he said that involved a personal wound or left a barb.
When it was all over he was the same loving brother, and not an atom of
bitterness was left behind. By us, the brethren of the English
Presbyterian Mission, he was looked up to as a revered father, just as much
as he was by the brethren of his own Mission. This will be seen more fully
further on, and a simple statement of the fact is all that is necessary
here.
There is another and most sacred relation--his position as the head of a
family,--the veil of which it seems almost sacrilege to uplift. But it
must be said, and it is only a well-known fact, that few happier homes
exist than his home was. He was there what he was elsewhere, the man of
God.
Dr. Talmage was not perfect. He was essentially a humble man, and he would
be the first to tell us that of every sinner saved by grace, he was the
most unworthy. And when he said it, he felt it. And he had not the very
most distant idea how great a man he was. Sometimes one fears that this
very modesty pushed to an extreme prevented others who did not know his
life and his work from accurately gauging his real work. Better perhaps,
he would say, that it should be so; better to think of the work than of the
workers. To hold up Christ and to be hidden behind Him is the highest
privilege of those engaged in the service of this King. And this, his
uniform bearing, made him all the greater.