Forty Years in South China: The Life of Rev. John Van Nest Talmage, D.D.

by John Gerardus Fagg

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.