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