river fed by constant streams, and running on wider and deeper till it
reaches the sea. It might be said of this pair, as truly as of the parents
of John the Baptist, 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in
all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' Hand in hand
they pursued their pilgrimage through this world, presenting an example of
intelligent piety such as is not often seen. 'Lovely and pleasant in their
lives, in their death they were not (long) divided.' Exactly three years
from the day of Mrs. Talmage's death her husband received the summons to
rejoin her on high.

"These parents were unusually careful and diligent in discharging their
Christian obligations to their children. The promise of the covenant was
importunately implored in their behalf from the moment of birth, its seal
was early applied, and the whole training was after the pattern of Abraham.
The Divine faithfulness was equally manifest, for the whole eleven were in
due time brought to the Saviour, and introduced into the full communion of
the Church. Years ago two of them were removed by death. Of the rest,
four, James, John, Goyn, and Thomas De Witt, are ministers of the Gospel,
and one is the wife of a minister (the Rev. S. L. Mershon, of East Hampton,
L.I.). Without entering into details respecting these brethren, it is
sufficient to say that, with the exception of the late Dr. John Scudder's,
no other single family has been the means of making such a valuable
contribution to the sons of Levi in the Dutch Church.

"Mr. Talmage was not only exemplary in the ordinary duties of a Christian,
but excellent as a church officer. Shrewd, patient, kind, generous
according to his means, and full of quiet zeal, he was ready for every good
work; one of those men--the delight of a pastor's heart--who can always
be relied upon to do their share, if not a little more, and that in things
both temporal and spiritual. He was a wise counselor, a true friend, a
self-sacrificing laborer for the Master."

We find the following allusion to the life and death of his mother, in a
sermon by Dr. T. De Witt Talmage:

"In these remarks upon maternal faithfulness, I have found myself
unconsciously using as a model the character of one, who, last Wednesday,
we put away for the resurrection. About sixty years ago, just before the
day of their marriage, my father and mother stood up in the old
meeting-house, at Somerville, to take the vows of a Ch