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 560 TALMAGE G&dipe, he -won great applause in Chenier's Henri VIIL, and above all in Ducis's Hamlet, Othello, and Abufar ; and under the empire he frequently played before royal audiences. Du- ring the restoration some of his most popular performances were political manifestations in disguise ; especially in Jouy's Sylla, in which his striking resemblance to Napoleon made a great sensation. Since 1796 he had devoted his undivided attention to tragedy ; but in 1823 he appeared as Damvillo in Casimir Delavigne's comedy Ueeole des vieillards, in which he proved a worthy associate of Mile. Mars. He represented and may be said to have created more than 70 characters. His last and perhaps most perfect creation was the part of Charles VI. in Delavigne's tragedy, and in which he made his last public appearance in June, 1826. In 1855 a statue by David d' Angers, represent- ing Talma in his great part of Sylla, was placed in the Tuileries garden. He left an interesting pamphlet entitled Reflexions sur LeJcain et sur Vart theatral (8vo, 1815; reprinted in 1856 and 1865). His memoirs by Moreau, by Tissot, and by Duval appeared in 1826; by Laregier, by Lemercier, and by Regnault-Warin, in 1827 ; and his autobiography, edited by Alexandre Dumas, in 1849-'50 (4 vols. 8vo). His wife, originally Mile. Vanhove (born at the Hague, Sept. 10, 1771, died in Paris, April 11, 1860), was one of the most remarkable actresses of her day, but retired from the stage in 1811, nine years after her marriage. TALMAGE, Thomas De Witt, an American cler- gyman, born in Boundbrook, N. J., Jan. 7, 1832. He graduated at the New York univer- sity in 1853, and at the New Brunswick (N. J.) theological seminary in 1856, and was or- dained pastor of the Reformed Dutch church in Belleville, N. J. He was pastor of the Re- formed Dutch church in Syracuse, N. Y., from 1859 to 1862, when he was called to the sec- ond Reformed church in Philadelphia; and in 1869 he became pastor of the Central Pres- byterian church in Brooklyn, N. Y., in which office he still continues (1876). In 1870 his congregation erected a new church, semicir- cular, of wood and iron, and capable of seat- ing 3,400 persons. This building, known as the " Brooklyn Tabernacle,"- was enlarged in 1871 so as to seat 500 more, but was destroyed by fire Dec. 22, 1872. On Feb. 22, 1874, a new " Tabernacle " was dedicated, built in Gothic style, of brick, but retaining the semi- circular arrangement, and seating 5,000 per- sons. It is the largest Protestant church in America. Since the erection of the former tabernacle the church, at Mr. Talmage ? s in- stance, has been free, being maintained wholly by voluntary offerings, with no pew rents. In 1872 he organized in the building formerly occupied by the church a lay college for re- ligious training. It is open to persons of all denominations, and gives instruction in phi- losophy, logic, and general literature, and in natural and systematic theology, sacred his- TALMUD tory, the evidences of Christianity, the inter- pretation of Scripture, and sacred rhetoric. Mr. Talmage is a very popular lecturer, but has latterly seldom appeared in that capacity. His sermons are delivered extempore, but are reported, and published in several religious journals in the United States and Great Brit- ain. He has edited a religious newspaper, " The Christian at Work," since 1874, and has published four volumes of " Sermons " (New York, 1872-'5) ; " The Almond Tree in Blos- som" (Philadelphia, 1870); u Crumbs Swept Up" (1870); "Abominations of Modern So- ciety" (New York, 1872); "Around the Tea Table" (Philadelphia, 1874); "Old Wells Dug Out" (New York, 1874); "Sports that Kill" (1875); and "Every-Day Religion" (1875). TALMUD (late Heb., study), the collective name of the Mishnah and Gemara, containing the oral law and other traditions of the Jews. (See MISHNAH, and HEBREWS, vol. viii., pp. 593-'5.) In a limited sense the term is used of the Gemara alone. The Mishnah consti- tutes the earlier text of the Talmud, which the Gemara elucidates, not so much in the manner of a running commentary as by fur- nishing additional textual paragraphs with ex- planatory remarks, given in the name of re- nowned scholars. Authority is placed against authority, and discussions in the form of dia- logues are frequent. The arguments show keenness, but are often fanciful in the ex- treme. There are two Gemaras (or Talmuds), the Palestinian ( Yermhalmi, of Jerusalem) and the Babylonian (Bdbli). The former contains comments on 39, and the latter on 36 trea- tises of the Mishnah. The Babylonian, which is later, is the principal authority. The Mish- nah is in the Hebrew dialect used after the exile ; the Gemara in an Aramaic idiom, very corrupt, especially in that of Jerusalem. The rabbis cited in the Mishnah and the Gemara are the representatives of Jewish religious learn- ing during about six centuries, beginning short- ly before the time of the Maccabees. The chief commentator is Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac,- known under the abbreviation Rashi. The best compendium of Talmudical decisions is the Mishneh torah of Maimonides. The edi- tions of the Talmud, mostly in 12 folio vol- umes, including the most important commen- taries and notes, are very numerous. They are so arranged that the Mishnah and Gemara, in square Hebrew characters without vowel points, occupy the centre of the page, and the chief commentaries and notes (Rashi's, Tosa- photh, &c.), in a mediaeval style of writing, the margins all around. Other commentaries are generally added at the end of each trea- tise. One of the fullest is the Warsaw edition of the Talmud of Babylon (1859 et seq. An important essay on the Talmud was published by Emanuel Deutsch in the "Quarterly Re- view" (1869; reprinted in his "Literary Re- mains," New York, 1873), and another by M. Grunbaum some months later in the "North