Authorized and authentic life and works of T. De Witt Talmage

Front matter

.■4

C

A

Preface

THE life of Thomas DeWitt Talmage will be an inspiration to all men for centuries to come. Of all the great American preachers he made the greatest impression on his time. A man of sublime imagination he drove the chariot of his genius ever under the battlements of Heaven. A rebel by nature, he overthrew customs and creeds of the church, but like the reforms of the Master he so loved and honored, his reforms purified the temple but left the structure itself unharmed. He fought with humanity for humanity. He despised hollow forms so much that he sometimes touched the border of the ridiculous in his anxiety to overthrow them. But he was so grandly, deeply, humanely in earnest that his most glaring faults came at last to act as servants to his virtues. In all his preaching (and who has done anywhere near so much of it), he took Christ for his model. He says of the Savior: ''He upset all their notions as to how preaching ought to be done. There was this peculiarity about his preaching— the people knew what he meant. His illustrations were taken from the hen calling her chickens together ; from salt ; from candles ; from fishing-tackle ; from a hard creditor collaring a debtor. How few pulpits of this day would have allowed him entrance? He would have been called undignified and familiar in his style. And yet the people went to hear him. The philosophers sneered at his ministrations and said, 'this will never do.' The lawyers caricatured, but the common people heard him gladly."

This criticism applies to Talmage himself as no other utterance could do. He had felt the scoffs, and flings, and jeers of the polite in church affairs. He had been tried by a synod of the Presbyterian church for buffoonery in the pulpit. Because he believed in humanity as it is, and not in the tailor-made article, because he believed there was as great a prayer in an innocent laugh as in a groan of remorse; because he believed in the utterance that came hot from the heart rather than in the polished rhetoric of the dim and dusty study,

PREFACE.

he was on the point of being driven from the pulpit. If the preachers and elders could have had their way in 1879 this mighty voice, that has in all the intervening years from that day to this never ceased crying out to the troubled world : "Right thinking, right living mean right dying and a life immortal," would have been stilled at the outset. Because he had a message to deliver and thought more of the message than he did of the words in which it was clothed pious purists would have sent him into ignominious silence. Better disgraced, or dead, they thought, than to go on to overthrow the etiquette of the pulpit. So wedded to forms was the church of even thirty years ago that Talmage was forced to stand a trial which lasted nearly four months, and which discovered unfathomed depths of bitterness, because he allowed his sympathies full play in the pulpit, was not ashamed of a tear on his own cheeks, yet hesitated not to rainbow that tear with a sunbeam of his wit.

But he did not change because of this criticism. Year after year he preached on to the largest congregations that ever continued to hear one man. And the people went to hear him! Why? Because he was a. great, human personality. "We spend three years in college studying ancient mythology," he says, "and three years in the theological seminary learning how to make a sermon, and then we go out to save the world ; and if we cannot do it according to Claude's Sermonking or Blair's Rhetoric or Kame's Criticism, we will let the world go to perdition. If we save nothing else, we will save Claude and Blair. The work of the religious teacher is to save men ; and though every law of grammar should be snapped in the undertaking, and there be nothing but awkwardness and blundering in the mode, all hail to the man who saves a soul from death!"

The Reverend J. A. Singmaster, A. M., of Brooklyn, N. Y., writing in the Lutheran Quarterly for April, 1888, on the Elements and Power of Talmage's Preaching, says : "He is a preacher of great power. He may not be the greatest preacher living, but he is certainly the most popular. His congregation, numbering upwards of four thousand members, is probably the largest Protestant church in Christendom. He claims that about six thousand people were converted last year through his preaching. In this city of world-renowned preachers, he commands twice as many hearers as any other. Indeed,

PREFACE.

while men of distinguished learning and reputation even as classic orators preach to a handful, the tabernacle is crowded to the doors. When other churches are poorly attended on account of inclement weather, there is often not standing room there. I believe there are fifty churches in Brooklyn whose combined Sunday evening congregations are easily outnumbered by the people who throng to hear Talmage. Nor is this the exception ; it is the rule. For nearly a score of years he has labored here with ever increasing popularity and success."

This is the statement of a Lutheran minister of pronounced reputation and can be depended on to be well within the facts. He further says : "This wonderful status has not been attained by organized lay efforts, by impressive music, by pastoral activity, by oratorical trickery or anything of the kind, for his sermons are quite as popular in the printed form as when delivered by the enthusiastic preacher. Of what other preacher, living or dead, since the age of the apostles is this true? Even Beecher's sermons lost their spell in the printing office, and Spurgeon's often are commonplace, divorced from the magic of their delivery."

This was written fourteen years ago, when Talmage was at the height of his fame, but his popularity with the reading public has not diminished. Over fifty books are in circulation under his name. His sermons had been published weekly for twenty-nine years, without the exception of a week, through syndicates in 3,600 different papers, reaching, it is estimated, 30,000,000 people in the United States and other lands, weekly. These sermons have been translated into most European and many Asiatic languages. Their circulation in newspapers, magazines and books is almost fabulous, and have made his name a household word to the ends of the earth. Few men have ever lived, presidents, emperors, princes, authors, philanthropists, who are as widely known as Talmage.

Abundant evidence may be adduced from able and unprejudiced men to the great power and genius of Talmage. Spurgeon said : "His sermons take hold of my inmost soul. The Lord is with this mighty man. I am astonished when God blesses me, but not surprised when he blesses him." Reverend S. T. Spear pronounced him the most remarkable, impressive and profitable

PREFACE.

tened to — "a poet, a dramatist and a genius for the glory of God and the good of mankind." Dr. Prime said that his sermons were "as simple as Bunyan, as cogent as Wesley and as mighty as Edwards." Beecher, Storrs, Lyman Abbott, Talbot W. Chambers and other eminent preachers spoke in a similar vein. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen considered his sermons '*as unequaled in their power to commend Christ to men as a never-dying Savior." Such are the tributes of poets, scholars, orators and judges to this remarkable man while he was yet living. His death has accentuated his virtues and given new interest to his utterances.

The pages of this book are dedicated to his memory. They are written with a keen appreciation of the genius of the man and the value of his life-work to the human race. From his own voluminous utterances on the almost numberless phases of human society an earnest endeavor has been made to reproduce the character, aspirations, belief and faith of this giant of the pulpit, this wonderful orator, writer, traveler and sublime Christian man. How honestly he has toiled ! How deeply he has felt ! How broadly he has sympathized! How gloriously he uttered himself! And in that utterance how nearly he has come to speaking your thought and mine; our joys, our griefs, our comedies and our tragedies. His nature was vital. He encompassed the world. No feature of life escaped him. He not only saw the beauty of the world from the mountain top but he went alone into the Garden of Gethsemane to wrestle with grief and despair. He loved humanity more than he loved ease or praise or fame. All these he threw to the winds in the early days of his ministry for the sake of making people think. If his earnestness won them all and more in the end it was not what he aimed at. He began by sacrificing the good opinion of those whose favor must have meant much to him, because he would not be unnatural ; because he could not but forget self in his anxiety to save souls.

Talmage died as he had lived, in the full faith of a better life to come. In his sermon on Christ the Wonderful, he says: 'Tn most houses there is a picture of Christ. Sometimes it represents him with face effeminate; sometimes with a face despotic. I have seen West's grand sketch of the rejection of Jesus; I have seen the face of Christ as cut on an emerald, said to be by command of Julius Caesar; and yet I am convinced that i shall never know how Jesus looked until, on that sweet Sabbath morning, I shall wash the last sleep from my eyes in the cool river of heaven."

These words now seem almost prophetic. On the eve of a Sabbath day God's finger touched him and he slept. Those who read the record of his thoughts and work in the following pages must be convinced that he closed his eyes for the last time on earth with a firm belief in a sweet awakening.

TALMAGE.

Light of Faith on the strong, szveet face; Who shall stand on the heights with him!

Rugged son of a rugged race.

Under his feet were the worn-out forms

Of the man-made creeds with their chilling breath, But his head zvas lifted above all storms,

And he walks unharmed through the halls of Death.

— Charles Eugene Banks.

i

Contents

Page

Preface 17

Talmage, Poem 21

Chapter 1. The Death Of Talmage

Talmage's Death — The Great Magician of the American Pulpit, the King of the American Platform, the Man who Thrilled Millions of Human Souls in Europe and America with His Eloquence is Gone — We Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again — Last Hours in Washington 33

CHAPTER 11.

TALMAGE THE MAN.

His Sincerity— Disregard of Conventionalities — Originality of His Methods — His Idea "To Throw His Line Out Into the World"— His Motto, "Arousal"— His Strength- Personal Appearance — Mannerisms — Quaint Symbolism of His Oratory 42

Chapter III. Birth, Family, And Early Life Of Talmage

Birth — Large Family of Brothers and Sisters — David T. Talmage His Father — His Character and Love of Nature — His Mother Catherine and Her Piety — Boyhood Incidents — His Love of Leap-Frog— Mother's Spectacles — The Face Over the Cradle 53

Chapter IV. Youth And Education

Graduated at University of New York in 1853 — Speech at Niblo's Garden — Had Become a Christian Three Years Before — Idea of Studying Law — Parental Prayers that He Might Enter the Ministry — Enters New Brunswick Theological Seminary — Graduated and Ordained in 1856 73

Chapter V. Preparatory Ministries

First Pastorate in Belleville, New Jersey, 1856— Preaching in Syracuse, 1859-1862— Growing Famous in Philadelphia, 1862-1869 — Chaplain of a Pennsylvania Regiment —Early Horror of Extemporaneous Speaking— His Story of His First Sermon so Preached— Saved by the Gas 78

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VL CALLED TO BROOKLYN.

Page

Talmage Called to Chicago, San Francisco and Brooklyn — Goes to the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn — Idea and Building of the Tabernacle — Possibility of a Free Church Decides Talmage in Favor of Brooklyn — His Sermon on the Free Church. . 89

CHAPTER Vn.

THE TABERNACLE LAY COLLEGE.

A Long Cherished Ideal of Talmage — Purpose of Training Laymen to Preach — Street Preaching Similar in Purpose to Salvation Army Idea — Likens Ministers to Brigadier-Generals Without Any Troops 112

CHAPTER Vni.

BURNING OF THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLES.

Regarded by Talmage as a Blessing — Quick Rebuilding of the Largest Protestant Church in the World — The Anniversary Discourse an Example of Talmagean Metaphor — Talmage's Own Description of the Conflagration — The Fire of the Spirit 125

CHAPTER IX.

MARRIAGES AND HOME LIFE.

Mary Avery, of Brooklyn, Talmage's First Wife — The Tragedy of Her Death in 1862 — Susan C Whittemore His Second Wife — Their Six Children — Frank, Jessie, May, etc. — Readers of Talmage Made to Feel Personally Acquainted With Them — Glimpses of His Home Life at Belleville and Elsewhere 155

CHAPTER X.

BLESSED INFLUENCES OF HOME.

Domestic Life Overarches and Undergirds All Life — Grandeur of Individuality and the Necessity of Contrasts — Marriage the Beneficent Legacy of Eden — Free-Loveism the Bane of Modern Society 170

CHAPTER XI.

TALMAGEAN ORATORY.

Colloquial and Dramatic— Disregard of Conventionalities — Contrasts With Rich Men's Churches and Their Preachers — Stories Illustrative of the Character of the Man — Tricks of Manner and Speech 184

CHAPTER XII.

UNIVERSALITY OF THE MAN.

Interest Shown in Men and Their Employments — His Display of the Practical Knowledge of Commercial Travelers, Clerks and Telegraphers — Finds Something in the Bible That Applies Directly to Every One 197

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER XIII.

LOVE THE MOTOR POWER OF GREATNESS.

Page

What a Study of Talmage Reveals — His Great Love for Nature in All Her Forms- Hunting for Seclusion in a Country Home — Criticism of a Rural Village — Poetry of the Woods, Fields and Mountains 222

CHAPTER XIV.

HUMOR AND PATHOS OF TALMAGE.

Hutnor Necessary to Eminence in Literature — Chaucer and Shakespeare Models of the Brooklyn Divine — His Fine Sense of the Ridiculous — Pathos Often Saved Him From Ridicule — Some of His Characteristic Stories — His Quaint Drawing of the Sexton . . 242

CHAPTER XV.

THE TRIAL OF TALMAGE.

The Charge and Specifications — The Details of the Trial — "Away With Technicalities and Give Us Eternal Justice" — The Acquittal of Talmage by the Presbytery — Public Opinion Pro and Con as Expressed in the Nation and Elsewhere — The Great Triumphs of Talmage Subsequent to the Trial 269

CHAPTER XVI.

LECTURES IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Talmage Becomes a Star on the Lecture Platform — Taken to England Under the Management of Major J. B. Pond — Overwhelmingly Welcomed by the English People — His Manager Swamped with Requests for Dates — Estimate of the People of Great Britain 287

CHAPTER XVII.

THROUGH SCOTLAND AND WALES.

Sailing Up the Tay — Visits Church and Grave of Robert Murray McCheyne for Inspiration — Beautiful Women of Scotland — Beautiful Banks of the Tay — Sermons Drawn From Ruined Castles — Unpronounceable Names of Wales 288

CHAPTER XVIII.

TALMAGE FEEDS IRELAND AND RUSSIA.

The Land of Goldsmith, Grattan, Burke and O'Connell — If Orators Were Demanded They Would Spring From the Peat Beds — Oppression Gives Birth to Great Souls — Great Improvement in Ireland — Help for the Famine Stricken of Ireland and Russia 340

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER XIX.

LETTERS TO YOUNG PEOPLE.

Page

Pleasing Dissertations on Education, Growth, Development — The Folly of Flirtation — The Useful Friend — Modesty a Necessary Accomplishment — Dissertation on Dress — Honesty An Active Principle 356

CHAPTER XX.

TALMAGE IN THE HOLY LAND.

His Purpose in Going to Write a Life of Christ — The Journey to Athens — Talmage Preaches On Mars' Hill, Where Paul Once Preached— He Tells How and Where He Wrote "From Manger to Throne" — Talmage Baptizes an American in the River Jordan 385

CHAPTER XXL

FAREWELL TO BROOKLYN.

Decision Not to Rebuild the Tabernacle After Fire of 1894 — Dr. Talmage Called to Washington — Celebration of His Silver Jubilee in Brooklyn — His Connection With the First Presbyterian Church of Washington — Retires From Ministry — Editor of Religious Weeklies 399

CHAPTER XXn.

TALMAGE ON THE THEATER.

A Lover of Histrionic Art, A Foe to Theatrical Vices — A Sermon He Never Preached — "I Am Too Busy to Hunt Down Lies" — The Theater a Good Place in Which to Preach the Gospel 408

CHAPTER XXni.

TALMAGE ON INGERSOLL.

Talmage's Idea that Ingersoll Helps Rather than Harms Religion — Talmage Not at His Best in Denouncing Intellectual Evil — His Power Against Moral Evil — His Appeal to the Heart in the Great Passage, "Burn the Bibles" — Certain Sophistries Employed by Talmage 418

CHAPTER XXIV.

TALMAGE ON RUM.

The Awful Ravages of Alcohol — Allegory of the Four Fiends — What the Inebriate Suffers — Loss of Property, Position and Family— Impossibility of Reform Without the Help of God— "O Thou Recruiting Officer of the Pit, I Hate Thee" 436

CHAPTER XXV.

TALMAGE ON THE CHINESE.

A Challenge of the Law of Exclusion — Christian Nation Has No Right to Exclude Any Human Being — Estimate of Chinese Character — Missionary Work Among the Mongolians Has Good Results 446

CONTENTS. 81

CHAPTER XXVI. ' THE CULTURE OF TALMAGE.

Page

Life Itself the Chief Source of His Culture — A Student of the Fine Arts— Talmage on Turner — Thomas Webster, Painter of Boys — Rosa Bonheur's Hayfield — Fig Leaves — The Culture of Travel — Description of the Champs Ely sees 456

CHAPTER XXVIL

A VISION OF THE FUTURE.

Talmage Prophesies the "Sundown" of His Own Life— The Glories of the Night— The Evening of Christian Sorrow — Grand Old Age — To-day the Early History of Everything Good — Insecurity of All Earthly Treasure. 471

CHRONOLOGY OF TALMAGE'S LIFE.

Born Bound Brook, N. J Jan. 7th, 1832

Became a Christian 1850

Graduated University of New York 1853

Studied Law. 1853

Entered New Brunswick Theological Seminary 1853

Graduated and Ordained , , 1 856

Pastor of Reformed Church of Belleville, N. J 1856- 1859

Pastor of Reformed Church of Syracuse, N. Y 1859- 1862

The Tragic Death of His First Wife, Mary Avery 1862

Pastor of Reformed Church of Philadelphia 1862- 1869

Chaplain of Pennsylvania Regiment 1863

Married Susan Whittemore 1864

Called to Brooklyn Second Presbyterian Church March 22nd, 1869

The First Tabernacle Built 1870

Founding of the Tabernacle Lay College 1872

Burning of the First Tabernacle Dec. 22nd, 1872

The Second Tabernacle Built 1873

Became Editor of The Christian at Work 1873

Became Editor of The Advance 1876

Tried for Falsehood and Acquitted by Brooklyn Presbytery May, 1879

Triumphant Lecture ToUr of England i June- Sept., 1879

Burning of the Second Tabernacle. Oct. 27, 1889

Journey to the Holy Land 1889

Return from the Holy Land Feb. 3d, 1890

The Third Tabernacle Dedicated April 26th, 1891

Burning of the Third Tabernacle May 13th, 1894

Death of Mrs. Talmage August 5th, 1895

Succored Starving Russians and Conferred with the Czar 1892

Called to Washington 1 895

Married Mrs. Collier Jan. 22nd, 1898

Retired from the Ministry 1899

Died April 12th, 1902

LIFE OF T. DeWITT TALMAGE.

Chapter 1. The Death Of Talmage

TALMAGE IS DEAD THE GREAT MAGICIAN OF THE AMERICAN PULPIT, THE

KING OF THE AMERICAN PLATFORM, THE MAN WHO THRILLED MILLIONS OF HUMAN SOULS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA WITH HIS ELOQUENCE IS

GONE— WE SHALL NOT LOOK UPON HIS LIKE AGAIN LAST HOURS IN

WASHINGTON.

The end came quietly, peacefully, without a struggle, at the great clergyman's home on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington at nine o'clock in the evening, Saturday, April 12th, 1902. He had been unconscious for many hours, and the end came gradually. No remedies that the specialists were able to administer had any effect upon the congestion and inflammation of the brain, and after the consultation of the physicians at one-thirty in the afternoon, the anxious relatives and friends had been told to resign themselves, for the end was near and sure. The stricken preacher was merely lingering. Visitors thronged the residence all day, but were denied admittance to the sick-room. The sons and daughters were all at the residence, the trained nurse sat watching for the final sign, and when she perceived it, summoned the family to the bedside. Amid their prayers the soul of T. DeWitt Talmage left its clay.

So passed the man who was undoubtedly the best-known clergyman on earth, whose fame was world-wide, whose sermons Queen Victoria included among her favorite books, whose personal friendship was highly valued by the Czar of Russia, whose name was and is a household word in hundreds of thousands of homes in America, England and her colonies, and whose soulinspiring words, written and spoken, reached millions every week, and whose

THE DEATH OF TALMAGE.

striking sermons will for years be read, and to those who have heard him it will be as though they heard him preaching from the grave. In the opinion of eminent divines his sermons will be read for generations.

When Dr. Talmage set out from his home in Washington for New Orleans, on February 12, he was in excellent health and spirits. He went to fulfil a long-standing preaching engagement in the Crescent City, where the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church, and thousands of citizens affiliated with other churches, were looking forward to his visit with pleasure. His southern journey was destined to be an eventful one. He narrowly escaped a train wreck at Valdosta, Ga., caused by an open switch. As it was, the train in which he rode was so roughly shaken up that all the passengers suffered, though not seriously. The Doctor fortunately escaped with no worse misfortune than the loss of part of his baggage.

At New Orleans, a remarkable welcome awaited him. He was received by a distinguished deputation with the utmost cordiality. When he went, on the following Sunday, to the First Presbyterian Church, he found a great multitude assembled, the large building densely packed within, and a much vaster gathering out-of-doors, unable to obtain admittance, as auditorium, galleries, and even the organ-loft, were filled almost to suffocation. Thousands went away disappointed, but an immense crowd remained outside while the service lasted. He spoke with even more than usual force and conviction, and it was evident that the message was enriched by Divine power and made a blessing to many. It seemed to reach the hearts of his auditors and to evoke responses which may have a marked spiritual influence upon the future of many lives. Seldom has Dr. Talmage, in all his long experience as a preacher, faced such a multitude. Only at the memorable gatherings around the Academy of Music, New York; at Ocean Grove, where he preached the Gospel to 10,000 hearers ; at the various Chautauquas, and during his preaching tours in Great Britain, has he enjoyed the great privilege of addressing similar assemblages.

Leaving New Orleans, he proceeded to Mexico City, where he arrived safely, though somewhat fatigued with the labors he had undergone. He was to preach and lecture in the Mexican capital. Though the city has an altitude of several thousand feet above sea level, it is unhealthy for foreigners, unless

THE DEATH OF TALMAGE.

they are fully acclimated. Shortly after his arrival, he had premonitions of an attack from his old enemy, the grip, but his health had been so robust that he gave these warnings little heed. In a few days they became more pronounced, and one morning, after a restless night, he found himself a thoroughly sick m.an. His physician advised his removal to Washington at once, and as every hour seemed to aggravate his condition, his wife and friends prepared for the homeward journey, which was begun without delay.

He was still quite ill when he reached Washington and was conveyed to his home at No. 1400 Massachusetts avenue, where, under careful nursing, he soon began to improve. The lethargy^ slowly gave way before returning strength, and on ^londay, i\Iarch 24, his wife and family and his friends all over the world were pathetically gladdened with the too hopeful news that the patient was on the road to recovery.

For a week the patient's supposed convalescence progressed, and the prospects for complete recovery were regarded as excellent, no set-back being apprehended. Dr. G. L. IMagruder, the chief physician in attendance, issued this statement under date April i :

"Dr. Talmage's condition is very satisfactory this morning. There is marked improvement in every respect."

Hope grew strong, but it was unfortunately without basis, and after alternate cheer and gloom, a bulletin issued on the twelfth by the attending physicians said: "Dr. Talmage is gradually sinking. He may last through the evening. He is profoundly unconscious."

During Dr. Talmage's illness, hundreds of telegrams and letters of inquiry were received at his home in AA'ashington from all parts of the countr}^, and some even from distant lands. These messages of kindly interest poured in upon Mrs. Talmage in such numbers that to reply to all became impossible. They showed how deep, widespread and genuine was the love that glowed in countless hearts for the famous preacher, for whose recovery fervent petitions were being offered everywhere, but which God in his providence saw fit not to grant.

The great preacher's last rational words were uttered the day preceding the marriage of his daughter Llaud, on Wednesday, when in reply to a ques-

36 THE DEATH OF T ALU AGE,

tion he weakly said: ''Of course I know you, Maud." The attending physicians gave up hope Thursday evening, abandoned all efforts to save the life of their patient and waited for the end, which was known to be merely a matter of hours. Dr. Talmage had shown an astonishing amount of vitality and but for his superb physique would have succumbed to the disease much sooner.

WORKED HIMSELF TO DEATH.

Dr. G. L. Magruder, the family physician, paid frequent visits to the Talmage home, but on a call Saturday morning he decided that it w^ould be not only useless but cruel to make further efforts to prolong the patient's life. The disease had advanced to such a point that it was plain that death w^as certain and that nothing could be done to relieve him. Consequently the devoted wife, daughters, sons and others gathered about to watch for the end.

Said Dr. Magruder, in discussing Dr. Talmage's case: "Nothing but the patient's wonderfully vigorous condition has been keeping him alive. We stopped treatment, as nothing can benefit him, and it would be cruel to attempt experiments. His condition is due to congestiooi brought about by excessive mental work under unfavorable conditions. In recent years Dr. Talmage has suffered greatly from insomnia, but in spite of this he did not relax his intellectual labors. He was an indefatigable worker and never spared his brain. The result was it gave in to the strain and became congested.

"Dr. Talmage literally worked himself to death. Only his splendid physique and remarkable constitution enabled him to keep up his literary work while in constant suffering from insomnia. Almost any other man would have collapsed long before. There has never been any doubt in the diagnosis of his case, and the treatment has been uniform from the first."

LAST DAYS OF TALMAGE.

The last day of Dr. Talmage's life passed as the two days which preceded it. The patient was simply dying. His vital force was ebbing slowly away. As complications became more serious, Dr. Magruder called in advice.

THE DEATH OF T ALU AGE,

The congestion of the brain grew out of an effusion, or accumulation of fluid, the pressure of which caused a deadening of sensibilities and gradual death. The exact cause of death was the pressure of this fluid on the brain, as in the case of apoplexy, when the rupture of a blood vessel permits a great flow of blood to bear down upon the vital organs.

Several days ago Dr. Magruder called for assistance upon Dr. A. B. Richardson, the superintendent of the Government Hospital for Insane. Dr. Richardson is a specialist in brain troubles, and it was hoped he might be able to administer treatment which would bring relief. All he could do, however, was to direct Dr. Magruder in methods calculated to make the patient comfortable. He saw almost immediately that there was no chance , for ultimate recovery. About the same time the services of Dr. C. W. Richardson were requested. The latter is a speciaHst in afflictions of the throat and nose. His services were sought in the hope he could relieve the troublesome conditions arising from the severe attack of catarrh. He succeeded in a measure, although his duties, for the most part, were similar to those of the other consulting physician. He endeavored to make Dr. Talmage's last hours pass with as little pain as poissible.

During the evening a great many friends of Dr. Talmage and of his family called at the home to express their sorrow at the death of one whom they loved and admired and to extend sympathy with the family.

The end came so peacefully, after days of unconsciousness, that the devoted watchers at his bedside scarcely knew when he breathed his last. The immediate cause of death was inflammation of the brain.

At Dr. Talmage's bedside, besides his wife, were the following members of his family: Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage;, Chicago; Mrs. Warren G. Smith, Brooklyn; Mrs. Daniel Mangum, Brooklyn; Mrs. Allen E. Donnan, Richmond; Mrs. Clarence Wyckoff, and Miss Talmage, of Washington. Aside from the family of the great preacher and the attending nurses, the only other person present was Dr. Talmage's old friend. Dr. T. Chalmers Easton, pastor of the Eastern Presbyterian Church, of Washington.