[Pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Church, New York City.]
My acquaintance with Dr. Talmage began at a very early period. During the
years 1842-5 his father was Sheriff of Somerset Co., N. J., and resided at
Somerville. While there he and his wife were members in communion of the
Second Reformed Dutch Church, of which I was pastor; and from them I heard
frequently of their son John, who was then a student in New Brunswick.
He prosecuted his studies in the College and Theological Seminary with zeal
and success, and was duly licensed, and then, while awaiting the arrival of
the period when he would be sent to join the mission in China, he accepted
the position of assistant to the Rev. Dr. Brodhead, who at that time was
minister of the Central Church of Brooklyn. Here his services were very
acceptable, and the training under such an experienced man of God was of
great value to him. His course was what might have been expected of one
reared in a peculiarly pious household. His father was a cheerful and
exemplary Christian, and his mother was the godliest woman I ever knew.
Her religion pervaded her whole being, and seemed to govern every thought,
word, and deed, yet never was morbid or overstrained. The robust common
sense which characterized her and her husband descended in full measure
upon their son John. His consecration to the mission work was complete,
and his interest in the cause was very deep, but it never manifested itself
in unseemly or extravagant ways.
So far as I can recall, there was nothing particularly brilliant or
original in the early sermons or addresses of the young missionary--nothing
of those wondrous displays of word-painting, imagination, and dramatic
power which have made his brother, Dr. T. De Witt Talmage, famous. But
there was a mental grasp, a force and a fire which often induced the remark
that he was too good to be sent to the heathen, there being many at that
time who labored under the mistake that a missionary did not require to be
a man of unusual ability, that gifts and acquirements were thrown away on a
life spent among idolaters. Still, while this was the case, none of his
friends expected that he would develop such marked and varied power as was
seen in his entire course at Amoy. I remember the surprise with which I
heard the late Dr. Swanson, of London, say from his own observation during
ten years of the closest intercourse at Amoy, that Dr. Talmage was equally
distinguished and efficient in every part of the missionary's work, whether
in preaching the Word, or translating the Scriptures, or creating a
Christian literature, or training native workers. Nothing seemed to come
amiss to him; everywhere he was facile princeps. I suppose that the
explanation is found in his thorough and unreserved consecration. He was
given heart and soul to the work. Whatever he did was done with his whole
mind. There was no vacillation or indecision, but a deliberate
concentration of all his faculties upon the task set before him. Nor did
he work by spurts or through temporary enthusiasm, but with a steady,
unyielding determination. So he went on through life without haste and
without rest, doing his best at all times and in every species of service,
and thus earning the brilliant reputation he acquired. The same qualities
rendered him as wise in counsel as he was efficient in working. He was
able to look on both sides of a given problem, was not inclined to snap
judgments, but preferred to discriminate, to weigh, and, if need be, to
wait. Yet, when the time came, the decision was ready.
He perceived earlier than his brethren at home the true policy as to
churches in heathen lands, that is, that they should not be mere
continuations of the denomination whose missionaries had been the means of
founding them, but should have an independent existence and grow upon the
soil where they were planted, taking such form and order as Providence
might suggest. When the proposal was made in accordance with these views
to build up a native Chinese Church strictly autonomous, there was an
immediate revulsion. The General Synod in 1863 emphatically declined to
consent, not, however, from denominational bigotry, but on the ground that
the new converts must have some standards of faith and order, and, if so,
why not ours, which had been tested by centuries? And, moreover, if they
were to be regarded as an integral part of the Church at home, that fact
would prove to be a powerful incitement to prayer and liberality on the part
of our people. But the rebuff did not dishearten Dr. Talmage. He renewed
the appeal the next year, and had the satisfaction of seeing it succeed.
Full consent was given to the aim to build up a strong, self-governing,
and, as soon as might be, self-supporting body of native churches in China,
who should leave behind the prejudices of the past, and form themselves
under the teaching of God's Spirit and Providence in such way as would best
meet the demands of the time and be most efficient in advancing the Kingdom
of God upon the earth. The consequences have been most happy. The
missionaries of the Presbyterian Church have cordially co-operated in
renouncing all denominational interests and giving all diligence to the
forming of what might be called a Chinese Christian Church, freed from any
external bond and at liberty to shape its own character and course under
the guidance of the Divine Spirit. The experiment has been entirely
successful, and stands conspicuous as a testimony to the true policy of
carrying on missionary work in countries where there is already an antique
civilization and certain social habits which need to be taken account of.
Dr. Talmage always kept himself in touch with the Church at home by
correspondence or by personal intercourse. His visits to America were in
every case utilized to the fullest extent, save when hindered by impaired
health.
It is matter of joyful congratulation that he was permitted to finish the
usual term of man's years in the missionary field. Others of our eminent
men, such as Abeel, Thompson, Doty, and Pohlman, were cut off in the midst
of their days. But he spent a full lifetime, dying not by violence or
accident, but only when the bodily frame had been worn out in the natural
course of events. Our Church has been signally favored of God in the gifts
and character and work of the men she has sent into the foreign field--and
this not merely in the partial judgment of their denominational brethren,
but in the deliberate opinion of such competent and experienced observers
as the late Dr. Anderson, of the American Board, and the late S. Wells
Williams, the famous Chinese scholar; [One remark of Dr. S. Wells Williams
is worth reproducing: "I think, myself, after more than forty years'
personal acquaintance with hundreds of missionaries in China, that David
Abeel was facile princeps among them all."--Presb. Review, II. 49.] but I
think that none of them, neither Abeel nor Thompson, surpassed Dr. Talmage
in any of the qualities, natural or acquired, which go to make an
accomplished missionary of the cross. I enjoyed the personal acquaintance
of them all, having been familiar with the progress of the work from the
time when (October, 1832) our Board of Foreign Missions was established,
and therefore am able to form an intelligent opinion. Our departed brother
can no more raise his voice, either at home or abroad, but his work
remains, and his memory will never die. For long years to come his name
will be fragrant in the hearts of our people; and his lifelong consecration
to the enterprise of the world's conversion will prove an example and a
stimulus to this and the coming generation. The equipoise of his mind, the
solidity of his character, the strength of his faith, the brightness of his
hope, the simple, steadfast fidelity of his devotion to the Master, will
speak trumpet-tongued to multitudes who never saw his face in the flesh.
The unadorned story of his life, what he was and what he did by the grace
of God, will cheer the hearts of all the friends of foreign missions, and
win others to a just esteem of the cause which could attract such a man to
its service and animate him to such a conspicuous and blessed career.