TAL'MAGE, THOMAS DE Wm (1832-1902). An American clergyman and pulpit orator, born at Bound Brook, N. J. After taking a partial course at the University of the City of New York (now New York University) lie entered the theological seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church at New Brunswick, N. J., where he gradu ated in 1356. In the same year he was ordained and became pastor of the Reformed Church at Belleville, N. J. Ile filled pastorates in churches of the same denomination at Syracuse, N. Y. (1859-62), and at Philadelphia (1862-69). In 1869 he was called to the pulpit of the Central Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., which, from the new edifice erected in 1870, came to be known as 'The Tabernacle.' During his occu pancy of this pastorate, where he remained until 1S94, be became widely known as a sensational preacher. The Tabernacle Church, after being twice burned and rebuilt (in 1872 and 1889), was again burned in 1894, after which the church or ganization ceased to exist. Dr. Talmage preached for a time in the New York Academy of Music, and from 1895 to 1S99 was associate pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, D. C. His wide influence was largely increased by
frequent lecturing tours, both in America and England, and by the publication of his sermons in book form, and through syndicates in more than 3600 weekly newspapers, in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. They were also regularly translated, and published in a number of foreign languages. He was editor of The Christian at Work (1873-76) ; The Advance (1877.7S) ; Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine (1879.89) ; and The Christian Herald (1890 1902). Of the more than fifty volumes pub lished under his name, a majority were pirated or unauthorized. Among his more important works were: The Almond Tree in Blossom (1870) ; Old Wells Dug Out (1874) ; Every Day Religion (1875) : Woman: Her Powers and Friel, lcgcs ( 1886) ; From the Pyramids to the Metrop olis (1892); From Manycr to Throne (1894); The Earth Girdled (1895) ; and The Pathway of Life (1895). Dr. Talmage's sermons were writ ten in a popular vein and were eharacterizad by extravagant statements and fantastic figures of speech. For his life and work consult Adams (Chicago, 1902).