Connecticut western news., 1902-04-24
Fil,ieL TRIBUTE TO
 LATE DR. TALmAGE
Memorial Sermon by Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage, D. D.
GREAT DIVINE AS HIS SON SAW HIM

Why the Famous Pulpit Orator wns
 Different From Other Ministers-A
 Hnrdw OrkinE. Cheerful, Corsecrat-
 ed Genius Was His.
 Chicago, April 20.-This morning in the Jefferson Park Presbyterian church the Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage. D. D., delivered a sermon, in which he paid touching and timely tribute to his late distinguished father. The text was I Kings xix. 20, "Let me. pray thee. kiss my father
 Afection's most sacred form of salu- tation is kiss. We bow to an ac- Quaintance, we shake hands with q friend. but we press the lip against the lip of one whom we love- This state nent Is especially true when applied to Elisha. the son of Shaphat, who was about to leave home and go forth into the great wide world. Elisha was sum- moned to carry on the work of Elijah. Already the horses were being harness ed to the chariot of fire for the old prophets famous journey from earthly struggle to heavenly triumph. His sue cessor, starting out on his arduous task. desires first to imprint on his fla ther's face the kiss of farewell.
 The salutation of the kiss is even more sacred when used by one who is standing by the open casket of father whose eloquent tongue has so often spoken the golden words of the gospel to countless throngs-who, with a pen guided by a Spirit sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb, has every week pro claimed the divine message to millions upon millions of readers who were wearied with sin and heavy with trou- ble. My fathers work for nearly twen- ty years has been the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to guide great multitudes through the dark wilderness of earth toward the brightness of the promised land.
 Many pens are writing eulogies upon the lifework of Rev. T. De Witt Tal- mage. Perhaps few words may be welcome from his son. I speak as one having authority. For over twenty years I was his constant companion. When he was at home. I rarely left his study until after the midnight hour. Twice with him visited the European cities. Once we circled the globe. To gether we sailed forth from the Golden Gate of the Pacific. Side by side we have seen the light at the entrance of New York harbor beckon us into the NarrOws. welcome to us as was the star of Bethlehem to the three astrolo- gers wandering oyer the sea of sand. But no more shall we have sweet com panionship. The world becomes in- stantly changed to the son who is com- pelled to let his parent sleep among the flowers and who hears summons to more strenuous service. Before 1 start forth anew for my life's work I would, with filial emotion, asF a mo- ment for the tribute of personal af lection, as Elisha spake to Elijah in reference to Shaphat: Let me, l pray thee, kiss my father. Then I will fol low thee"
 An Original and Natural Man.
 My father was the most original and yet the most natural man I ever knew. original in the sense that he always did everything in way different from any one else. He wrote differently, he lectured differently. he preached differ ently. If two persons stood before him at the nuptial altar. his marriage cere- mony was unique It was impossible to compare him to any one else. The mold used for the formation of his character was a special one. There has never been made another like unto it since he lay in his humble cradle in the Bound Brook farmhouse
 Yet my father was natural in the sense that he never strove to be origi- nal and different from every one else. It was in his personality that he was different. He was the same in the home as In the pulpit on the street as upon the lecture platform. He was the same original and yet natural charac- ter when writing to one Of his children as he was when penning an article for the press. He uttered the message which was given to him as naturally and yet with the dissimilarity that characterizes the notes of the birds of the forest. As the brown winged thrush lifts his treble note when he is awaken ed by the rising sun, as a goldfincb chirrups when hopping between the garden rows, as Baltimore oriole sings when he swings backward and forward upon the tree branch which Overhangs the brook, each bird is melo- dious in its own way, yet each singing a different song. He was so natural that he could not recognize his peculiar traits One day he turned to me and said: Frank, people say am different from other minister's; that am differ ent even in giving out my notices and the reading of Scripture. Show me how l am different" When I attempted to show him the difference, he innocently remarked, "Why, do not see anything peculiar about that" He was so differ ent from other men that for many years the American pulpit could not understand him. Under the scrutiniZ- ing eye of the theological critic there could be found no heretical flaw in his sermons When he arose to preach, a solemn stiffness like the expectant hush of the coming judgment day silenced his auditors. Every eye was focused upon that tall, straight form and broad. massive brow. Each ear was alert to catch the first word which fell from those wonderful lips. But though the buildings in which he preached in our own and other lands were always crowded to hear him, though great null titudes were brought to decision for Christ under his preaching in the Brooklyn tabernacle, where he passed the most active years of his life's min istry, yet for years he was @ misunder- stood man.
 Swept Away All Pulpit Cobwebs.
 With one wave of his hand he swept away all the cobwebs which had accu- mulated around the traditional meth ods of sermOnic oratory. With his mighty original personality he broke the shackles of ecclesiastical slavery He proved to the world that the minis fora of tha twentieth century oouId