travel.  With the aid of this plaster the Doctor’s poise was perfect.  Disembarking at Southampton we did not reach London until 3 a.m., going to the hotel somewhat the worse for wear.  Temporarily we stopped at the Langham, moving later to the Metropole.  Before lunch the same day the Doctor drove to Westminster Abbey to see the grave of Gladstone.  It was his first thought, his first duty.  It had been his custom for many years to visit the graves of his friends whenever he could be near them.  It was a characteristic impulse of Dr. Talmage’s to follow to the edge of eternity those whom he had known and liked.  When he was asked in England what he had come to do there, he said: 

“I am visiting Europe with the hope of reviving old friendships and stimulating those who have helped me in the old gospel of kindness.”

His range of vision was always from the Gospel point of view, not necessarily denominational.  I remember he was asked, while in England, if there was an organisation in America akin to the Evangelical Council of Free Churches, and he said, while there was no such body, “there was a common platform in the United States upon almost every subject.”

The principal topic in England then was the Boer War, which aroused so much hostility in our country.  The Doctor’s sympathies were with the Boers, but he tactfully evaded any public expression of them in England, although he was interviewed widely on the subject.  He never believed in rumours that were current, that the United States would interfere in the Transvaal, and prophesied that the American Government would not do so—­“remembering their common origin.”

“The great need in America,” he said, “is of accurate information about the Transvaal affairs.  A great many Democratic politicians are trying to make Presidential capital out of the Boer disturbances, but it is doubtful how far these politicians will be permitted to dictate the policy of even their own party.”

I remember the candidature for President of Admiral Dewey was discussed with Dr. Talmage, who had no very emphatic views about the matter, except to declare Admiral Dewey’s tremendous popularity, and to acknowledge his support by the good Democrats of the country.  The Doctor was convinced however that Mr. McKinley would be the next President at this time.

The first service in England which Dr. Talmage conducted was in Cavendish Chapel at Manchester.  The next was at Albert Hall in Nottingham, under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A.  He was described in the Nottingham newspapers as the “most alive man in the United States.”  A great crowd filled the hall at Nottingham, and as usual he was compelled to hold an open-air meeting afterwards.  The first lecture he ever delivered in England was given in this place twenty-one years before.