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.

REV. JOHN VAN NEST TALMAGE, D.D.

BY REV. JOHN M. FERRIS, D.D.,

[Editor of the "Christian Intelligencer" and ex-Secretary of the Board of
Foreign Missions of the American Reformed Church.]

Circumstances which tested character, ability, and attainments brought me
into intimate relations with Rev. Dr. John V. N. Talmage. The impressions
I received are these: He was eminently of a sunny disposition. A smile was
on his face and laughter in his eyes almost all day long. He was
conspicuously cheerful and hopeful. The strength of his character was
unusual and would bear victoriously very severe tests. Mental and moral
ability of a very high order marked his participation in public exercises
and his demeanor in social life. It seemed to me that in mind and heart
there were in him the elements of greatness. Greatness he never sought,
but avoided. Still, from the time succeeding the opening years of his
ministry, he was a leader among men until seized with the long illness
which terminated his useful life. Those who knew him appointed him one of
their chief counselors and guides, and in any assembly where he was
comparatively unknown he was accepted as a leading mind as soon as he had
taken part in its discussions. A wide range of knowledge was his. It was
surprising how he had maintained an acquaintance with the research and
discovery of his day while secluded in China from the life of the Western
nations. With all this his intercourse with men was marked by modesty and
the absence of ostentatious display. The deference with which he treated
the opinions of others and of his manner in presenting his knowledge and
convictions to an audience was extraordinary. He was courteousl