If “Genius is infinite patience,” as a French writer said, Dr. Talmage possessed it in an eminent degree.  Every sermon he ever wrote was an output of his full energies, his whole heart and mind; and while dictating his sermons in his study, he preached them before an imaginary audience, so earnest was his desire to reach the hearts of his hearers and produce upon them a lasting influence.  His sermons were born not of the crowd, but for the crowd, in deep religious fervour and conviction.  His lectures, incisive and far-reaching as they were in their conceptions and in their moral and social effects, were not so impressive as his sermons, with their undertone of divine inspiration.

In accord with an invitation sent to us in Paris, from the Governor of Pennsylvania, we went to Harrisburg as the guests at the Executive Mansion, where a dinner and reception were given Dr. Talmage in honour of his return from abroad.  During this dinner, the Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill, then pastor of the church in Harrisburg in which Dr. Talmage preached, told us of a rare autograph letter of Lincoln, which he owned.  It was his wish that Dr. Talmage should have it in his house, where he thought more people would see it.  The next day, Dr. Hill sent this letter to us:—­

“GENTLEMEN,—­In response to your address, allow me to attest the accuracy of its historical statements; indorse the sentiments it expresses; and thank you, in the nation’s name, for the sure promise it gives.

“Nobly sustained as the government has been by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might, in the least, appear invidious against any.  Yet, without this, it may fairly be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important of all.  It, is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to Heaven than any.  God bless the Methodist Church—­bless all the churches—­and blessed be God, Who, in this our great trial, giveth us the churches.

    “A.  LINCOLN.

    “May 18th, 1864.”

[Illustration:  FACSIMILE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S LETTER.]

A great welcome was given Dr. Talmage in Brooklyn, in November, 1900, when he preached in the Central Presbyterian Church there.  It was the Doctor’s second appearance in a Brooklyn church after the burning of the Tabernacle in 1894.

It was urged in the newspapers that he might return to his old home.  The invitation was tempting, judging by the thousands who crowded that Sunday to hear him.  In my scrapbook I read of this occasion: 

“Women fainted, children were half-crushed, gowns were torn and strong men grew red in the face as they buffeted the crowds that had gathered to greet the Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage at the Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn.”