g the Kingdom
of God upon the earth. The consequences have been most happy. The
missionaries of the Presbyterian Church have cordially co-operated in
renouncing all denominational interests and giving all diligence to the
forming of what might be called a Chinese Christian Church, freed from any
external bond and at liberty to shape its own character and course under
the guidance of the Divine Spirit. The experiment has been entirely
successful, and stands conspicuous as a testimony to the true policy of
carrying on missionary work in countries where there is already an antique
civilization and certain social habits which need to be taken account of.

Dr. Talmage always kept himself in touch with the Church at home by
correspondence or by personal intercourse. His visits to America were in
every case utilized to the fullest extent, save when hindered by impaired
health.

It is matter of joyful congratulation that he was permitted to finish the
usual term of man's years in the missionary field. Others of our eminent
men, such as Abeel, Thompson, Doty, and Pohlman, were cut off in the midst
of their days. But he spent a full lifetime, dying not by violence or
accident, but only when the bodily frame had been worn out in the natural
course of events. Our Church has been signally favored of God in the gifts
and character and work of the men she has sent into the foreign field--and
this not merely in the partial judgment of their denominational brethren,
but in the deliberate opinion of such competent and experienced observers
as the late Dr. Anderson, of the American Board, and the late S. Wells
Williams, the famous Chinese scholar; [One remark of Dr. S. Wells Williams
is worth reproducing: "I think, myself, after more than forty years'
personal acquaintance with hundreds of missionaries in China, that David
Abeel was facile princeps among them all."--Presb. Review, II. 49.] but I
think that none of them, neither Abeel nor Thompson, surpassed Dr. Talmage
in any of the qualities, natural or acquired, which go to make an
accomplished missionary of the cross. I enjoyed the personal acquaintance
of them all, having been familiar with the progress of the work from the
time when (October, 1832) our Board of Foreign Missions was established,
and therefore am able to form an intelligent opinion. Our departed brother
can no more raise his voice, either at home or abroad, but his work
remains, and his memory will never die. For long