variety of topics would till many vol?
umes. His writing was as entertaining
and pungent ns his preaching and
full of brilliant eccentricities -"Tal
-ms," as they were called. Ile
coined new words ami invented new
phrases. If the topic was to his liking,
tl e pen ruci*d to keep time with the
thought. It wns the same with his ser?
mons. Once conceived lu the busy
brain, the committing to paper was
swift and exciting. Still, with nil this
haste, nothing could exceed the scru?
pulous care he ti ole with his finished
manuscript. He once wired from Cin?
cinnati to his publisher In New York
instructions to change n comma in his
current sermon to a semicolon. Ile Lad
(b tooted the error while reading proof
on the train.
His phenomenal memory was never
nt n loss. Ile hnd spoken or written on
thousands of topics, nnd he remember?
ed almost everything he had ever
preached. In preparing his twenty
volume series of sermons he used only
BOO, or less than half the toti! number
he had preached. In nddltlon to at
least a thousand sermons of 4,000
words each, each sermon different
from the other, this vast pulpit reper?
tory aggregating probably 4,000.000
words, he was the author of a number
of lectures, the most popular being
"The New Ufo of the Nation," "Grum?
blers," "Our New Home," "Big Blun?
ders" and "The Bright Side of Things."
Originality in all things was perhaps
the most pronounced trait of Dr. Tal?
mage's 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 sermonlc writings, his treatment of
lighter topics was brilliant and clever.
