Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1902-04-21

nounced, Mr.. Talmage will now ad-
dress us on the influence of the moon
upon vegetation l felt as though I
had been struck with a baseball bat.
But l rose, pulled up my collar and
made a speech. l don't remember
what 1 said, but it was as full Of seri-
Gus, fine spun resounding phrases as
though l had been a scientific professor
fresh from the study of the subject,
and it passed muster. After that ex-
perience," he added, laughing, 81 felt
quite equal to speaking offhand on
anything"
"TALMAGIsMs."
AS an editorial writer DR.. Talmage
was versatile and prolific, and his
weekly contributions on an immense
variety of topics would fill many vol
umes. His writing was as entertaining
and pungent as his preaching and
full Of brilliant eccentricities-"Tal.
magisms," as they were called. He
coined new words and invented new
phrases. If the topic was to his liking,
the pen raced to keep time with the
| thought. 1t was the same with his SER
mons. Once conceived in the busy
brain, the committing to paper was
swift and exciting. Still, with all this
haste, nothing could exceed the scru-
pulous care he took with his finished
manuscript. He once wired from Gin
cinnati to his publisher in New York
instructions to change a comma in his
current sermon to semicolon. He had
detected the error while reading proof
on the train.
His phenomenal memory was never
at loss. He had spoken or written on
thousands of topics, and he remember
ed almost everything he had ever
preached. In preparing his twenty
volume series Of sermons he used only
500, or less than half the total number
he had preached. In addition to at
least a thousand sermons Of 1000
words each, each sermon different
from the other, this vast pulpit roper
tory aggregating probably 100000
words, he was the author of a number
of lectures, the most popular being
"The New Life of the Nation" "Grum-
blers," "Our New Home" big Blum
ders'' and "The Bright Side of Things"
Originality in all things was perhaps
the most pronounced trait Of DR.. Tai
IMAGES character. In his literary work
he scorned to borrow, though his own
unique phrases and ideas were the
prey of many petty plagiarists. AL
though his fame will rest chiefly upon
his sermonic writings, his treatment of
lighter topics was brilliant and clever
But his finest work was not among the
shadows. His pen could go deeply into
the secrets Of the heart and soul, and
such was his rare gift that with sin
gle sentence he could move multitude
Some of his volumes written in the
, early part of his career show rare vi
, vacity and wit and give clew to his
wonderful success as an entertaining
, lecturer in maturer years. Among the
, periodicals to which he contributed a
various times were the New Yorl
, Weekly, Hearth and Home, The indie
pendent and The Christian at Work
, About thirty volumes of his sermons
have been published, twenty volumes
7 appearing in a single series in 1900
7 His other works besides those alread,
mentioned include Crumbs Swept Up,
y Around the Tea Table," 'Sparks From
q My Anvil, "a Thousand Gems" "Fron
q Manager to Throne" "Sports That Kill.
p "The Wedding Ring" might Sides o
City Life" 1.-THE Poetry of Life" col
r Wells Dug Out" denominations o
q Modern Society" and "The Earth Gil
died." For many years his revenue
from his editorial and other literar
e work, his book royalties and his lee
q lures netted him the princely income Q
+ $4,000 q year, these figures by n
/ means representing the maximum.
= PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
a In person DR.. Talmage was abov
! the medium height and well propol
n toned. His head was Of average siz
8 with marked evidence of intellectus
power. His eyes were light and b
= complexion fresh and indicative of r.
bust health. His face shone with ami,
. bility and cheerfulness. His convers;
= ton was animated, his manner gent
. and cordial in the extreme. Self rel
= ance, calmness and judgment were al
parent, and his bearing indicated di
> nifty and self possession, yet he was n
wise ostentatious or affected, and b
q hearty manner and genial flow of CO.
- versation placed even a stranger 9
= agreeable terms with him at once. E
was a most fascinating conversations
= list. His language was marked by mob
sentiment, poetry and humor, and
a talked with fine originality, never b
= ing afraid to show his feelings. Whs
: in the glee and enthusiasm Of the m
- ment at church festival he exclaimt
that he felt like a morning STAR"
was not that his taste induced him
- take his illustration from negro mi
b. strelsy; but, acting on the impulse
q the moment, he seized upon popul