Forty Years in South China | Page 2

by those who through his instrumentality have already reached the City of Raptures. When the roll of martyrs is called before the Throne of God, the name of John Van Nest Talmage will be called. He worked himself to death in the cause of the world's evangelization. His heart, his brain, his lungs, his hands, his muscles, his nerves, all wrought for others until heart and brain, and lungs and hands, and muscles and nerves could do no more.
He sleeps in the cemetery near Somerville, New Jersey, so near father and mother that he will face them when he rises in the Resurrection of the Just, and amid a crowd of kindred now slumbering on the right of him, and on the left of him, he will feel the thrill of the Trumpet that wakes the dead.
Allelujah! Amen!
BROOKLYN, June, 1894.

PREFACE.
The accompanying resolution of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America, November 16, 1892, explains the origin of this volume:
"Resolved, That the Board of Foreign Missions, being firmly convinced that a biography of the late John V. N. Talmage, D.D., for over forty years identified with the Mission at Amoy, would be of great service to the cause of Missions, heartily recommend to the family of Dr. Talmage the selection of an appropriate person to prepare such a memoir, and in case this is done, promise to render all the aid in their power in furnishing whatever facts or records may be of service to the author of the book."
The writer raised his pen to this task with hesitancy. He had known Dr. Talmage only little more than a year; long enough, indeed, to revere and love him, but not long enough to tell the story of so rich and fruitful a life.
Dr. Talmage was a man of unconscious greatness. If he could have been consulted it is doubtful whether a public record of him would have ever seen the light. His life to him would have seemed too commonplace and unworthy. He was exceedingly careful in the use of language. He could not endure exaggeration. Nothing so commanded his admiration as honesty and accuracy of statement. That ought to be sufficient to guard any one who speaks of such a man against indiscriminate eulogy.
We have endeavored as far as possible to make this memoir an autobiography. To carry out this purpose has not been without difficulties.
Dr. Talmage did not keep a continuous diary. He did not preserve complete files of his correspondence as if anticipating the needs of some possible biographer.
The author's enforced retirement from the mission field in the midst of collecting and sifting material, has been no small drawback.
It is hoped, however, that enough has been gleaned to justify publication. Sincerest thanks are due to those brethren who contributed to the concluding chapter, "In Memoriam."
If these pages may more fully acquaint the Church of Christ with a name which it should not willingly let die, and deepen interest in and hasten by the least hair-breadth the redemption of "China's Millions," the author will feel abundantly rewarded.
JOHN G. FAGG.
ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY October 1, 1894.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Rev. John Van Nest Talmage Chinese Clan House Buddhist Temple, Amoy Pagoda near Lam-sin Chinese Bride and Groom Traveling Equipment in South China Pastor Iap and Family The Sio ke Valley Glimpse of the Sio-ke River Scene in the Hakka Region Girl's School; The Talmage Manse; Woman's School. (Kolongsu, opposite Amoy) Pastor Iap

CONTENTS
I. The Ancestral Home II. Call to China and Voyage Hence III. The City of the "Elegant Gate" Description of Amoy and Amoy Island Ancestral Worship Infanticide Is China to be won, and how? Worship of the Emperor IV. Light and Shade The Chiang-chiu Valley Breaking and Burning of Idols The Chinese Boat Race and its Origin The Chinese Beggar System Two Noble Men Summoned Hence V. At the Foot of the Bamboos Opium Romanized Colloquial Chinese Sense of Sin Primitive Lamps Zealous Converts The Term Question What it Costs a Chinese to become a Christian Persecuted for Christ's Sake "He is only a Beggar" Printing under Difficulties Carrier Pigeons VI. The "Little Knife" Insurrection How the Chinese Fight VII. The Blossoming Desert Si-boo's Zeal An Appeal for a Missionary VIII. Church Union The Memorial of the Amoy Mission IX. Church Union (continued) X. The Anti-missionary Agitation XI. The Last Two Decades Forty continuous Years in Heathenism Chinese Grandiloquence XII. In Memoriam Dr. Talmage--The Man and The Missionary By Rev. W. S. Swanson, D.D. Venerable Teacher Talmage By Pastor Iap Han Chiong Rev. John Van Nest Talmage, D.D. By Rev. S. L. Baldwin, D.D. The Rev. J. V. N. Talmage, D.D. By Rev. Talbot W. Chambers, D.D., LL.D. Rev. John Van Nest Talmage, D.D. By Rev. John M. Ferris, D.D. APPENDIX

I. THE ANCESTRAL HOME
John Van Nest Talmage was