Columbia (Bnit)e«ttp 
 intljfCilpoflflfttjgorb 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 
 Bequest of 
 
 Frederic Bancroft 
 
 1860-1945 
 
GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, 
 From a Photograph by Miley, 1885 
 
Life and Letters 
 
 of 
 
 Rev. George Boardman Taylor, D. D, 
 
 George Braxton Taylor 
 
 Lynchburg, Virginia 
 
 J. P. Bell Company, Printers 
 
 MCMVIll 
 
^^ 
 
 
 Copyright, 1908, 
 By George Braxton Taylor. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 About thirty years ago I spent a winter in Rome and 
 for the first time met the Rev. Dr. George B. Taylor. I 
 was sick in a strange city, and he visited me. I began 
 then to realize how rich is the incidental ministry which 
 the foreign missionary can perform to his own country- 
 men, whom he chances to find in need and pain, like ships 
 that pass in the night. From that time his life touched 
 mine at difi^erent points, and I ever learned more deeply 
 to admire his strenuous and abstemious nature. There 
 could hardly be a more perfect blending of saint, scholar 
 and gentleman. T used to attend his Sunday services, 
 and the vision of his pale but glowing features and his 
 delicate frame, protected by a gray shawl against the tomb- 
 like chilliness of the locale where his disciples met, will 
 never fade away from my remembrance. 
 
 When the English troops made their famous charge up 
 Spion Kop, attaining its summit only to be swept down 
 by the murderous cross-fire of the Boers, they had left 
 Major Ross in camp weak and unable to walk. But we 
 are told that rumors of the desperate conflict in which his 
 regiment was involved must have reached the hospital tent 
 in which the sick man lay, for at three o'clock that after- 
 noon the orderly reported that his bed was empty. How 
 his gallant spirit drove his weak body up the long climb, 
 across the lead-swept plateau, and into the firing line, 
 no man knows, for none then saw him; but at dusk his 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 body was found on the crest where his company had 
 struggled through the day. In some such way Dr. Taylor's 
 unconquerable soul pushed his frail body through all the 
 isolation and shock and strain incident to the part which 
 he took in the establishment of Protestantism in the 
 citadel of papacy, just at that interesting period when 
 the temporal power of the Pope was ended, and Rome for 
 the first time in her history flung her gates wide open to 
 the gospel. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the value of such a life. Our 
 Master does not measure our work, but weighs it. 
 Foundation laying is always slow and inconspicuous. 
 Who can tell how much, in Italian thought, the swing of 
 the pendulum from Romanism towards Atheism has been 
 retarded by such a life as Dr. Taylor's, and how far it 
 is due to his labors that Ave find the minds of the Italians 
 that throng to our shores hospitable to Protestant ideas ! 
 Success and suffering are vitally interrelated. If you 
 suffer without succeeding, it is that others may succeed 
 after you ; if you succeed without suffering, it is because 
 others suffered before you. 
 
 Edward Judson. 
 ■53 Washington Square^ New York. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Early Years 7 
 
 II. Baltimore Pastorate — Marriac+e 29 
 
 III. First Pastorate in Staunton — Civil War 41 
 
 IV. " Keconstruction Period" — Chaplain at the Univer- 
 
 sity OF Virginia — To Europe 88 
 
 V. Second Pastorate in Staunton — Departure for Rome 134 
 
 Vr. First Years IN Rome — Rome Chapel 168 
 
 VII. First Visit to America — Mrs. Taylor's Death — Sec- 
 ond Chaplaincy at the University of Virginia. . . 216 
 
 VIII. Home Life— Mission Affairs — Chapels Dedicated — 
 
 Journeys to Sicily, Sardinia and Switzerland 249 
 
 IX. Visit to America — Literary Work — Theological 
 
 School 298 
 
 X. Last Visit to America — Death 339 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1. From a Photograph by Miley, 1 885 Frontispiece 
 
 2. Staunton Church, Rotunda (University of Virginia), 
 
 Franklin Square Church, Rome Chapel Facing Qiap. Ill 
 
 3. From A Photograph BY Miley, ABOUT 1871 " IV 
 
 4. Parlour, Via Giulio Romano, Rome, about 1900 " IX 
 
 (From a Kodak) 
 
 5. Last Picture — Berne, 1903 .. " X 
 
 (From a Kodak) 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 EUirly Years 
 
 Happy those early days, when I 
 Shined in my early infancy! 
 Before I understood this place 
 Appointed for my second race, 
 Or taught my soul to fancy aught 
 But a white celeatial thought. 
 
 — Vaughan. 
 The spirit of a youth 
 That means to be of note, begins betimes. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 A FEW years ago an American clergyman and his two 
 daughters were journeying from Poland to Italy. They 
 spent a day at the beautiful twin city on the Danube, 
 Budapest, guests of the famous Hotel Hungaria. The 
 next day, on the train, they fell into conversation with a 
 fellow-countryman who had travelled in almost all lands. 
 He, too, had been a guest the night before under the 
 same roof as they. The talk turning to hotels, which 
 have so much to do with our comfort when we are journey- 
 ing, the stranger declared that in all his wanderings the 
 finest hotels he had found were the ^' Hotel Hungaria" at 
 Budapest, and 'The Jefferson" at Richmond, Virginia. 
 Upon this the clergyman announced, with no small degree 
 of pride and pleasure, that Richmond was his native city. 
 
 The clergyman was George Boardman Taylor, and he 
 was fond of adopting Paul's language and declaring that 
 he was '"a citizen of no mean city." To the very end of 
 
8 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 his life, in his far-away home in the city by the Tiber, 
 he always heard with keen delight accounts of the progress 
 and prosperity of the city on the James. Here in a house 
 on the comer of Fourth and Grace streets, where the 
 Grace Street Presbyterian Church now stands, on Decem- 
 ber 27th, 1832, he first saw the light, and was named 
 George Boardman in honor of the consecrated missionary 
 who just a little while before had laid down his life in 
 distant Burniah, and who has been called the ''Apostle to 
 the Karens." His father, James B. Taylor, though born 
 in England, had been brought to this country when still 
 an infant. He was a man of strong intellect and great 
 vigor and will power, yet withal gentle and mild in his 
 manner. He never had college and university and 
 seminary training, but he wrote and s])oke with remark- 
 able force, simplicity and clearness, and was not unfamiliar 
 with the masterpieces of English literature. In 1832 he 
 had been pastor of the Second Baptist Church some eight 
 years. His wife was of the distinguished Williams family 
 of New England, descended from a line of pious Congre- 
 gational ministers. The second child bom to these parents 
 was a son, and the name he received suggests the religious 
 atmosphere of the home into which he had come. The 
 six children who were bom into this home, three daughters 
 and three sons, all of whom lived to see their own 
 children men and women, were members of a family 
 where ''plain living and high thinking" were the order of 
 the day. During the early childhood of the oldest son, a 
 comfortable house of ten rooms with a large yard and 
 garden was purchased. This yard afforded an ample 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 9 
 
 space fur the children's games, and it was there that 
 George and his sister Jane used to amuse themselves 
 playing college, naming the school, whose patrons they 
 were, ''the College of George and Jane," in imitation of 
 a venerable institution not far away. This house is thus 
 referred to in ''Richmond in Bygone Days" : 
 
 ''An antique dwelling, half brick, half wood, with the 
 square on which it stood on the south side of Main, between 
 Second and Third streets, was the residence many years 
 ago of ^Major Andrew Dunscombe, a soldier of the Revo- 
 lution and a gentleman of the olden time. He was, I think, 
 a Master in Chancery of Judge Wythe's court, and, if I 
 mistake not, he erected GoodalTs Tavern (the liidiiiii 
 Queen), since called Washington and now Monument.'' 
 
 Good books abounded in this home. Most liberally 
 were they provided for the children, regardless of cost, 
 and this in a day when they were far more expensive than 
 they are to-day. Some parents are lavish in their expendi- 
 ture of money for clothes and food, but they star\'e the 
 minds of their children. Not so in this home. To the third 
 generation not a few handsome volumes have come down 
 to bear witness to the mental pabulum that these children 
 fed upon. For example, George, on March 15th, 1848, 
 when he was a little over fifteen years old, received from 
 his father Chambers' Encyclopsadia of English Literature, 
 in two large volumes. Notice, too, that this was at neither 
 birthday nor Christmas. Buying good books was evi- 
 dently an everyday occurrence in this home. No wonder 
 that George became as familiar with books as a stable 
 boy is with horses. At four years of age he was reading 
 
10 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the j^ew Testament, thus establishing a precedent which 
 some of his descendants have found burdensome. 
 
 When George was a child of seven summers, his father 
 was appointed chaplain to the University of Virginia, 
 he being the second Baptist to hold this position. On the 
 journey towards Charlottesville, the child saw, possibly 
 at Louisa Court House, a jail. He asked his mother 
 why that house had iron bars across the windows. His 
 mother explained that people who took things that did 
 not belong to them were put into that house. All at once 
 the child became very silent and very serious: ^'Mama, 
 will they put me in there ? The other day when you were 
 not looking I took a lump of sugar out of the sugar dish." 
 
 At the University, as in those days the parsonage 
 had not been built, the chaplain lived in the house on the 
 LawTi afterwards occupied by Dr. Basil L. Gildersleeve 
 and at present the home of Prof. A. H. Tuttle. Although 
 the chaplaincy lasted only a year, the University made a 
 deep impression upon George, though he never dreamed 
 that years afterwards he would twice occupy the position 
 his father was filling. 
 
 When his father went to see the experiments of 
 Professor Eimnett in Chemistry, George would go along 
 and the janitor would dust, and bring out for his use, an 
 insulating stool with glass legs. If George's legs were 
 scarcely long enough for the benches in the Chemistry 
 lecture room, they were long enough and strong enough 
 to enable him to accompany his father on many a tramp 
 '^over Observatory Mountain and Lewis Mountain, or 
 through the fields, plucking the honeysuckle or wild-ivy 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR^ D. D. 11 
 
 and starting the bird from her nest/' the eyes of the 
 father and child "meantime feasting on the red fields 
 inlaid with emerald forests, contrasting beautifully with 
 each other and with the blue sky and distant Blue Kidge 
 Mountains." 
 
 After the year at the University Mr. Taylor returned 
 to Richmond to become pastor of the Grace Street Baptist 
 Church, and so, until he left home to teach and to go to 
 the University as a student, George's home was Richmond. 
 Not a few of the anecdotes which come to us from this 
 period of his life breathe that love of adventure 
 and quiet courage which in later life were to help him in 
 many important and trying experiences. Preachers' sons 
 are often supposed to be effeminate and unable to defend 
 themselves as other boys do, nor did his companions make 
 a mental excej^tion in favor of George until one day he 
 kicked down a flight of steps an urchin who had presumed 
 too far ; after this, his pluck and grit were not questioned. 
 
 From time immemorial Richmond boys have been 
 famous swimmers, partly because James River just above 
 Richmond, with its falls full of treacherous rapids, offers at 
 once a place for natatorial sport and an unusual scope for 
 skill and agility in the water. The boys were allowed by 
 their school teacher to go to the river at recess, with the 
 understanding that if they were not back on time they 
 were to receive a stroke on the hand from the ferule for 
 every moment they were tardy. One day George left 
 his knife on the bank and went back for it, with the 
 result that he was almost an hour late. Before the whole 
 school he stood and took his punishment like a man, only 
 
12 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 pleading now and then to be allowed to hold out the other 
 hand for awhile. His grandfather lived five miles or so 
 out in the country, and thither the boy often went for a holi- 
 day as well as at other times. It was probably on one of 
 these trips that he was so severely bitten by a dog that the 
 scar on his leg went with him through life. 
 
 In December, 1833, Richmond College was moved from 
 the country to the place it now occupies, and when George 
 was still not fourteen years old he was already one of its 
 students. Dr. Robert Ryland was the president of the 
 College, Bennett Puryear Professor of Chemistry, and, 
 for a season, Charles L. Cocke, afterwards the founder of 
 Hollins Institute, was one of George's teachers. In 1846, 
 on a long tour he was making through the South on behalf 
 of the Foreign Mission Board, Mr. Taylor, writing home 
 to his wife and telling how he longed to see his little 
 family, made this reference to his oldest son : 
 
 ^'I would be willing to stroll out as far as the College, 
 tired as I am of travelling, for the sake of looking into 
 George's face. I 'reckon' he is as busy as he can well be. 
 Mr. Cocke says in his letter to me that George can be at 
 the head of his class, and it would not at all surprise me 
 if in peeping into the school room I should find him there." 
 
 The professor of Chemistry was in the habit of ad- 
 ministering occasionally laughing gas to his students. The 
 story goes that upon one of these occasions young Taylor, 
 always a good jumper, and now rendered abnormally active 
 by the gas, cleared the high fence behind which Professor 
 Puryear had, by way of precaution, stationed himself, 
 and gave his teacher a hot chase across the campus to 
 
REV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 13 
 
 his house. Dr. Ryland was fond of trying to trap the 
 boys with hard questions. When he asked young Taylor 
 how he pronounced a certain word, the answer he got, 
 uttered in a serious tone, was: ''Dr. Ryland, I never use 
 that word." It was at this period of his life that the 
 young collegian w^as one of a merry party of youths and 
 maidens invited to take tea at the homo of one of his 
 father's members. When the party came to the table, the 
 hostess called on him to ask the blessing. What must 
 have been the surprise and suppressed amusement when 
 they all heard him say : ''I never do such things !" 
 
 While at Richmond College George E. Taylor and 
 William D. Thomas were intimate friends. Both were 
 of a philosophical tura of mind. On their long walks 
 away out into the country, in turn they would speak at 
 the top of their voices to imaginary audiences. In the 
 Mu Sigma Rho literary society, like\vise, Taylor entered 
 the arena of debate, his whole being kindling into en- 
 thusiasm. In 1851 the third graduating class of Rich- 
 mond College went forth from their alma mater. A 
 programme of the order of exercises is still in existence 
 and gives the list of graduates and the subjects of their 
 addresses as follows : The Reformation, William S. Eland, 
 King and Queen; The Scholar, Morton B. Howell, Rich- 
 mond ; The Influence of Circumstances on Genius, George 
 W. Keesee, Henrico; The Tolerance of Reform, George 
 B. Taylor, Richmond ; The Relations of Animal and Vege- 
 table Life, William D. Thomas, Richmond. All of this 
 class have passed away, save Morton B. Howell, who is a 
 distinguished member of the l^ashville bar. 
 
14 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 After his graduation at Richmond College, Mr. Taylor, 
 then in his nineteenth year, taught for one session in 
 the ^Tork" neighborhood, Fluvanna County, what was 
 popularly known in Virginia as ''an old field school." 
 This sojourn in Fluvanna was destined to mark an epoch 
 in his life, and the memory of him and his work has not 
 yet faded among those whom he taught and ministered to 
 in other ways. With this his first protracted absence from 
 his father's roof-tree began that series of long, frequent, 
 charming letters to his loved ones which was to continue 
 through his life and to be, for the lives of many, like the 
 clear, refreshing, ever-flowing, life-giving waters from a 
 splendid mountain spring. Through his letters we catch 
 some glimpses of the teacher and his school. Under date 
 of July 18th, 1851, he wrote to one nf his brothers: 
 
 "The school house is about a mile from here. I walk over 
 in the morning with seven of my sixteen scholars. The 
 boys carry a large basket of dinner, and a jug of milk 
 which is put into the spring to keep cool till lunch time. 
 At the school house I stay till 4.30 or 5. Carry a cane 
 all the time. Occupy my armchair with equal honor to 
 my own station and terror to my scholars. My boys have 
 several times brought me peaches or apples. Hope I 
 may not have to engraft any thing of the peach on them. 
 . . . Six of my scholars are girls ! They are. I have 
 them play to themselves. A large snake frightened them 
 at play in the leaves yesterday at recess. They were 
 making houses. I sent one of the boys to kill it. Yester- 
 day after school at the earnest solicitation of my boys I 
 accompanied them to the Rivanna to bathe." 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 15 
 
 In a letter of the same date to his father he writes: 
 "I open school at 8.30 and close at 4.30; giving- ten 
 minutes recess at ten, ninety minutes at 12, and ten 
 minutes more at 3.15. DonH I have quite a siege? The 
 parents would like it better for me to keep from 7.30 to 
 5 or later. But that wouldn't be just to myself, and I 
 will not do it. As it is, the confinement and constant 
 engagement is quite enough for me, and I am satisfied 
 some of the children are having their spirits broken by 
 such continued sitting. ... I can say of the last 
 two mornings: 
 
 *I saw the glorious sun arise.' 
 
 Had to rise myself at 5.15. Secured nearly an hour be- 
 fore breakfast, which occurs from 6 to 6.15. I want to 
 try to get at least four hours of study every day — from 
 5 to 6, 7 to 8, 12.30 to 1, 5.30 to 7. Am reading a work 
 on physiology which I have long intended to become ac- 
 quainted with. Commenced law this morning." 
 
 This last statement called forth from his father in 
 reply these words : 
 
 "So you have commenced the study of the law ? Do 
 you really think you ^vill be employed in the business of 
 pleading before civil courts and on behalf of the earthly 
 interests of your fellow-men ? I do not object to the 
 occupancy of your mind in this way, but it would be a 
 matter of thankfulness to me if it was the will of the great 
 Head of the Church to employ you as a pleader with men 
 to be reconciled to Him." 
 
 It was to be as the father wished, and when one sees the 
 devout, strong religious feeling which breathed in several 
 
16 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 letters written even before his life in Fluvanna, the wonder 
 is, not that he became a preacher, but that he ever thought 
 of the law at all. 
 
 With his younger brother, James, one of his pupils, 
 he lived at the home of Silas B. Jones, whose children 
 were in his school. The only complaint Mr. Jones had 
 against the teacher was that he could not sing! Mr. 
 Taylor made himself useful elsewhere besides in his school. 
 It was a time of great temperance agitation and en- 
 thusiasm, and he was much in demand for temperance 
 addresses. Once at a temperance rally and barbecue, 
 just as he was about to conclude his address, the one in 
 charge of the arrangements pulled his coat-tail and asked 
 him if he could speak awhile longer, as the ox was not 
 yet fully roasted. He was equal to the occasion, as his 
 supply of suitable anecdotes was abundant, and his speech 
 flowed on till dinner was ready. His voice was heard in 
 the church as well. 
 
 Indeed, the brethren were so much pleased with him 
 and his exhortations — if his addresses were not to be called 
 sermons — that one day, when he was absent, the Fork 
 Church licensed him to preach. So his career as a preacher 
 may be said to have begun. Like Dr. Jeter, he used to 
 say in later years that he always planned to take a good 
 long time and deliberately decide whether he would 
 preach, but having once gone to work, he was so busy 
 preaching that he never had time to decide whether he 
 would give his life to preaching. The following extract 
 from one of his letters is not so much out of harmony with 
 the foregoing as it might seem at first blush : 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 17 
 
 '*I have been to two candy pullings within the past 
 week, and pnllings they were, too, and in a different from 
 the ordinary sense. For when the candy attains some 
 degree of whiteness everybody snatches from everybody else 
 and grab game is the order of the evening. The first 
 time I enjoyed myself considerably, but on the latter 
 occasion I left off my Christian dignity and participated 
 in the prevailing va])idity and frivolity. T have been 
 ashamed and mortified ever since. Only wish that those 
 who saw my levity could be cognizant of my remorse too." 
 
 The next three years of his life Mr. Taylor spent as 
 a student at the University of Virginia, which seat of 
 learning had then been established some twenty-seve(n 
 years. The aff(^ction which Mr. Jefferson had for this 
 school is gauged by the fact that one of the three things 
 he selected for his tombstone concerning himself was this : 
 "Father of the T^niversity of Virginia." The broad and 
 thorough scholarshi]), the honor system and the elective 
 scheme of studies are some of the features incorporated 
 by Jefferson which have hel])ed to make the Virginia 
 University a mighty force, especially in the South, but 
 also to remoter bounds. Mr. Jefferson called from Europe 
 the first professors. Among them was George Long, who 
 after several years returned to his native land to occupy 
 a chair in the new University of London. He carried with 
 him, however, as a souvenir of this land, a Virginia wife. 
 Jefferson's plan had been that the professors should 
 occupy the upper rooms of the pavilions, as the resi- 
 dences on the Lawn were first called, the students to 
 gather for class work in the rooms below ; but as the ]iro- 
 
18 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fessors would not follow his plans and remain bachelors, 
 the classes were soon driven to seek other quarters. Mr. 
 Long suggested, as his successor in the chair of Ancient 
 Languages, Gessner Harrison, one of his students, then 
 only twenty-one years old, and he was elected. ''In the 
 opinion of many, who from a long life and distinguished 
 position have had opportunities for judging, Gessner Har- 
 rison may be said to have done more than any one man, 
 with the single exception of Mr. Jefferson, in raising the 
 standard of education throughout the South." While 
 Mr. Taylor and his fellow-students were greatly influenced 
 and impressed by Gessner Harrison, there were other 
 giants in those days, such as William H. McGuffey, Albert 
 T. Bledsoe, William B. Eogers, J. L. Cabell and John B. 
 Minor. Kot only the professors but the place itself was 
 inspiring. Many have been reminded of Italj) as at 
 sunset they have stood at "Monticello" and looked towards 
 the University and the Blue Ridge beyond; then the 
 buildings, each modelled after some classical edifice, were 
 characterized by a unity and harmony scarcely found any- 
 where else on this continent at that time or for a third 
 of a century thereafter. 
 
 Here, then, Mr. Taylor spent three very busy, three 
 very helpful yeare. He had never been strong 
 physically, and the many burdens he assumed during 
 these years not only cost him his Master of Arts degree, 
 but probably sent him out to his life work handicapped. 
 One is amazed to learn from his letters what he under- 
 took and what he accomplished. Of course he gave first 
 place to his studies. Honesty, if not religion, dictated 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 19 
 
 this. Mathematics was by no means his fortr, yot an allu- 
 sion in one of his letters reveals the fact that Dr. Bledsoe 
 had given him on his report a good mark for this study. 
 In Latin we find him one of twenty-seven who passed 
 while thirty-seven failed. He tells in one of his letters 
 how Dr. Harrison called on him once, the day after he 
 had been away and missed a lecture. He says : 
 
 ''The morning after my return here, Dr. Harrison took 
 occasion to question me on the lecture before, delivered 
 during my absence. It so happened, by good luck, or 
 Providence, that I had gotten the points from a fellow- 
 student, so that with my general acquaintance with the 
 subject I was able to answer quite satisfactorily. A very 
 desirable thing, when one is so seldom questioned." 
 
 In the class of Moral Philosophy Mr. Taylor must have 
 taken particularly high rank, and he was one of a coterie 
 in the class who thoroughly enjoyed the discussion led by 
 Dr. McGuffey of the great problems which present them- 
 selves in the realm of moral and mental science. Mr. 
 Taylor was a leader in the Washington Society, taking 
 many of its honors, and upon the back door of this hall 
 can still be read, unless it has been very recently erased, 
 his name, put there not by his hand put possibly by some 
 over zealous friend. He was president of the Washington 
 Literary Society during the session of 1853-4, and on 
 February 22nd the anniversary orator. On this occasion 
 Washington's Farewell Address was read by R. M. 
 Mallory, of Brunswick County, Virginia. 
 
 He was a distinct factor in the Christian life of the 
 T^niversitv, beino^ most tactful and successful in his 
 
20 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 efforts to win his fellow-stiidents for Christ. A gentleman, 
 now living, says that when as a youth he w^as a clerk in 
 a book store in Richmond, a student of the University of 
 Virginia came in, asking for certain religious books. H( 
 had been directed to these books by George B. Taylor, his 
 fellow-student. He became a Christiau and has for many 
 years been a distinguished professor in one of our Southern 
 colleges. ^N'or were his labors for Christ confined to the 
 T^niversity. He seems to have taken an active part in 
 the church in Charlottesville, making missionary talks, 
 teaching in the Sunday school, and now and then, towards 
 the end of his course, preaching. He tells, in one of his 
 letters, as follows, how he went back to the neighborhood 
 of the Fork, some twxmty miles away, to preach : 
 
 "I feel Mondayish rather and excusably I think. Satur- 
 day, after attending lectures, I rode on horseback to the 
 Fork . . . and yesterday after preaching came back 
 through any (pumtity of rain and mud, arriving here, by 
 a most fatiguing ride, after dark. The wonder is that I 
 am not sick to-day. I was agreeably surprised to find any 
 congregation out, as the morning was so rainy and 
 threatening. We had a snug little time. T talked from 
 the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican." 
 
 Yet other calls were made upon him for work along 
 similar lines. In one letter he writes: 
 
 ^^ To-morrow a. m. we have that Sunday-school meeting, 
 and I have engaged for a funeral service of a colored 
 woman in the p. m." 
 
 In another letter he tells of sitting up with an old man 
 who was sick, saying: 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR;, D. D. 21 
 
 •'I have watched with hiin two nights — a service most 
 cheerfully rendered, except that in these days of stand- 
 ing all-day examinations, and preparing for them, one is 
 hardly able to sit u]) at night and be very vigorous during 
 the day. They thought the old gentleman was dying the 
 other day and called me in to witness his will — a thing 
 I never did before. While sitting up Sunday night I 
 took a general review of my life and found it pleasant 
 to call up many bygone scenes. I could distinctly re- 
 member much of the distant and long-forgotten past and 
 could see in their old appearance many objects which 
 have greatly changed." 
 
 In still another letter he speaks of attending the funeral 
 of a colored man. Now he is taking part in the service 
 of the Lord's Supper at the Charlottesville Church and 
 now returning from preaching in the country. During 
 at least a part of his University life he was pastor of the 
 Mountain Plain Church, and it was at the call of this 
 church that he was ordained to the gospel ministry, the 
 services taking place in the Charlottesville Baptist meet- 
 ing-house, James B. Taylor, his father, and John A. 
 Broadus, being members of the presbytery. He sat with 
 great delight under the preaching of John A. Broadus, 
 who, after being assistant in Ancient Languages at the 
 University of Virginia for a brief period, was now serving 
 as pastor, the only regular charge he ever had. At this 
 time he heard for the first time Dr. William F. Broaddus, 
 the remarkable uncle of the Charlottesville pastor. In 
 later life Mr. Taylor writes thus of these experiences: 
 
 "My first sight of Dr. William F. Broaddus was at 
 
22 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 Charlottesville in the early fifties, when he had just 
 returned from a stay, of several years, in Kentucky, and, 
 with an agency for Columbian College, was visiting his 
 nephew and helping him in a protracted meeting. I had 
 often heard Drs. Fuller and Jeter, and was at that time 
 sitting Sunday morning and night entranced under the 
 preaching of John A. Broadus, which for popular power 
 has scarcely been equalled since, even by himself. But 
 here was something quite new in style, attractive and 
 powerful. . . . Honored with an interview, I found 
 Dr. Broaddus quite accessible and genial, and then be- 
 gan a mutual friendship, which, favored also by circum- 
 stances, became more intimate than from the difference 
 in our ages would have seemed possible. 
 
 'We talked with open heart and tongue, 
 
 Affectionate and true, 
 A pair of friends, though I was young. 
 
 And Matthew seventy-two.' 
 
 But Dr. Broaddus was not then sevcmty-two by a good 
 many years, seeming still in his later prime." 
 
 Mr. Taylor found time for social life, and through his 
 letters we catch many glimpses of him ''in lighter vein" ; 
 yet there was also the deeper current of religious thought 
 and a conscientiousness, drawing near at times to morbid 
 introspection and moroseness. The danger-land was, 
 however, never entered, and long before his life had 
 turned towards its decline, his Christian courage and 
 cheerfulness had more than won the day. His letters to 
 his sisters often tell of his visits to young ladies or allude 
 to some of his lady friends in Richmond. To the end of 
 
EEV. GEOEGE BOAEDMAJST TAYLOE, D. D. 23 
 
 his life he very greatly enjoyed the society of charming 
 women, and the reply he made once to his younger son, 
 years afterwards, tallies with what may be read between 
 the lines of these letters of his student days. One day he 
 asked this son who his sweetheart was. The son answered 
 rather curtly that he did not have one. To this his father 
 replied: ^'How then can you be my son, for there was 
 never a time when I was a youth that I did not have a 
 sweetheart !" 
 
 He refers thus, to a New Year present some fair one 
 had sent him: 
 
 ^'I should not omit to tell you that I received a hand- 
 some pair of slippers from Miss . She made them 
 
 entirely herself. Says she makes her own shoes — that it's 
 quite the fashion for ladies to do that now. A wholly 
 new idea to me." 
 
 A love affair of one of his young brother ministers is 
 thus alluded to in a letter to one of his sisters: 
 
 ''If you were here, I would let you read a letter I have 
 just received from a y(jung brother minister touching 
 among other points on an expedition recently made 'in 
 search of a wife.' He did not push matters to the point 
 of popping the question. He says, not being favorably 
 impressed — others say, thinking 'twas no use." 
 
 In that day athletics did not have such prominence in 
 college life as now, but at least once Mr. Taylor went t<i 
 his supper with tingling cheeks and keen appetite. Let 
 him tell the episode himself: 
 
 "I repent all my complaints as to our rigorous climate 
 and retract all my abuse of the snow and ice. Would you 
 
24 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 know why my sentiments have undergone such a change? 
 I will tell you. Last night as I was dragging my weary 
 body home from a walk and as Luna was coming out 
 gloriously, I espied several students sliding (on ex tempore 
 sleds) down the hill leading from my room to the Rotunda. 
 The idea struck me to slide some too, so immediately I 
 seized one of said vehicles, crying out, 'I want to ride,' 
 without even saying so much as 'by your leave,' to the 
 proprietor, and had dragged it up to the summit of the hill 
 before I thought what cavalier acting that was. I apolo- 
 gized ah imo pectore — that means heartily — the good- 
 natured student said, 'Go it.' I did go it, and before reach- 
 ing the end of my row got fully into the merits of the exer- 
 cise — called out to 'chum,' with whom I was walking, not to 
 wait for me, T should slide for the next half hour — made 
 for my room and returned with a sled of my own — being 
 nothing more or less than a bottomless 'split bottom.' 
 'Split bottom' is the getnts — 'bottomless' the differentia, 
 to use technical language. The modufi operandi being to 
 turn the chair on its back, sit on the rounds — where short- 
 legged people sometimes put their feet when using the 
 chair as such, and guide with feet sticking out in front. 
 Boyishly, joyously I played a la Russian, dragging up 
 and flying down. The sport was social and I picked quite 
 a respectable acquaintance with the young men engaged, 
 w^hom I had often seen but had not gotten acquainted w^ith 
 before. The track could not have been finer, a beautiful 
 slide the length of a Richmond square and a wide pave- 
 ment — the snow beaten hard and smooth. I went into 
 my aristocratic supper with a rosebud on my cheek and 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 25 
 
 with a lighter heart. So now you know by this long 
 story why I will no more quarrel with the snow. To-day 
 has been very warm and to-night, alas, is cloudy ! I fear 
 I have taken my last ride. Th(» place is much too public 
 for day exercise." The words which follow ought not 
 to be omitted : "But here I am writing as merrily away 
 as if I hadn't been at it all day in Chemistry examination 
 and didn't feel exceedingly as Jonah did when in a half- 
 swallowed state, 'do\\'*n in the mouth.' I'll quit it — write 
 my Spanish exercise and off to bed." 
 
 The following paragraph from a letter to a brother 
 many years his junior is in quite another strain: 
 
 "T could not realize what my parents and teachers used 
 to tell me, and why should I expect you all to be any better ? 
 But, oh my dear boy, I s])eak it with feeling, do not 
 wait till you are eighteen or twenty before you begin to 
 learn: but thoroughly master your studies, now, every day, 
 and go right on improving the rich opportunities which 
 you enjoy. What I say of intellectual acquirements and 
 habits of study is emphatically applicable to Christian 
 character. Begin now and daily seek by prayer and ivatch- 
 fulness to restrain your evil passions and cultivate habits 
 of piety. I rejoice that I can write to you as a believer 
 in Jesus, for I know that even amid the temptations of 
 youth the gospel has guiding, restraining, purifying in- 
 fluence. Ever seek to live under that so blessed influence. 
 My feelings have carried me off thus and you must take 
 what I say as coming right from my heart, and not at all 
 in the light of a lecture, though I know you would take 
 even that in good part." 
 
26 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 In another letter to the same brother an incident is 
 narrated which reminds us that the country then was even 
 more sparsely settled than to-day. Mr. Taylor wrote: 
 
 '^I heard something the other day which shocked me 
 much. An old woman who lives some few miles from here, 
 in the Ragged Mountains, and who has been in this room 
 with her chestnuts to sell, was killed last week by a bear. 
 Her body was found on the road to Charlottesville, half 
 devoured and badly mangled. The bear, which it is sup- 
 posed is a sort of stranger, has been seen several times 
 prowling about. He probably attacked the old woman as 
 she was on her way to town. I told ^chum' last night we 
 ought to shut the door and lock it, or maybe he might 
 take it into his head to quarter with us." 
 
 Another incident in his life preserved in a fragment 
 of a letter may not have occurred at this period, but it 
 accords with the spirit of the story just given. Mr. 
 Taylor had gone, from the country home where he was 
 staying, to the post office. T^pon starting for the return 
 walk, it being late, he decided to try a short cut across 
 the mountain. All through life he was fond, in his walks, 
 of discovering a new way to come back and his "bump 
 of locality" was so good that he did not often lose his way. 
 Here is the story, however, of how once he was lost : 
 
 "My conductor left me ^solitary and alone.' He told 
 me something about keeping down a fence, crossing a 
 branch, ascending a hill and then striking the road. 
 Mind you, all this time I had no path even. My good man 
 told me, moreover, that if I should not succeed in finding 
 the way, there was a house not far off where I might 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 27 
 
 obtain a guide, or, in case of dire necessity, remain for the 
 night. I followed 'the fence,' forded 'the branch' and, 
 tired as I was, climbed 'the hill.' When I had pursued 
 this way as long as directed, and no road appeared, I was 
 sure I was wrong, and was most assuredly quite non- 
 plussed. I determined to make for the house as suggested. 
 'Now an old bachelor lived in this domus — he almost as 
 lonely as myself. In spite of a ferocious dog (which 
 'they' afterwards said they wondered didn't bite me) I 
 made my way to the log cabin — (^xcusc my calling it house 
 before. Here I paused at the door, which was stretched 
 most invitingly open. I looked in; all were abed, asleep, 
 and in the darkness. 'Halloa! ho! say, mister, wake up, 
 here you! I'm lost,' so I cried out. The worthy lord 
 grunted in reply: 'Come in, stop till day.' Half asleep 
 yet, he ! 'Thank ye, sir, can you send one of your darkies 
 to escort me to Mrs. Massie's ? I'm only a mile off and 
 anxious to reach there to-niiiht.' Emit grunt No. 2 : 
 'Don't know — s'pose so.' Here I passed my fingers over 
 the face of my watch (it was too dark to see my watch, 
 being very cloudy), and was surprised to find it ten 
 o'clock. This decided me to stay, so I said: 'I rather 
 guess I will stay — anywhere, chair, chest, or on the floor.' 
 Grunt No. 3 : 'There's another bed, if you can find it.' 
 'Mister, I'm so dry. Where's the spring ? Or the pail V 
 'There — here — no, behind you.' Bless me, if you could 
 have seen me, groping there like a coal-black blind negro 
 in midnight in a dark cellar, you would have (just what 
 I did in spite of my awkward fix and painful fatigue) 
 laughed. The water attained, I quickly seated myself 
 
28 lilFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in the door to cool — for I was drenched (like a drowned 
 rat) with perspiration and panting like a wounded deer. 
 Mine host with equal nonchalance recomposed himself to 
 sleep. Finally I undressed, placing my watch and other 
 valuables in my hat — and that on the table near the wide- 
 open door. ]^ever did a bed feel so acceptable to tired 
 limbs, though I went to it candleless and supperless. I 
 was too aching to sleep though, so I amused myself by 
 making ^astronomical obser\'ations,' not through the roof, 
 for there ivas a loft, but through the door, and obliquely 
 through the cracks in the sides, which were plenty and 
 plenty large. To close in a word, however, a long and 
 what I fear you have thought a tedious story, bright and 
 early next day I rose, and, without seeing anybody but 
 a darky, pursued my way to Spring Valley, arriving 
 just in time for breakfast. . . . Ever since my ad- 
 venture (which you must admit to have been sui generis) 
 I have felt like a foundered stage horse — stiff, etc. I 
 hope to recover before T try such a tramp again — must 
 have walked at least eighteen or twenty miles. I close, 
 warning all who may read this against 'short cuts' across 
 the mountains." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Baltimore Pastorate — Marriage 
 
 * 
 
 'Tis not a cause of small import 
 
 The pastor's care demands, 
 The work might fill an angel's heart — 
 
 It filled the Saviour's hands. 
 
 — Doddridge. 
 
 Neveb had man more joyfull day than this 
 
 Whom heaven would heape with bliss, 
 Make feast, therefore, now all this live-long day, 
 This day forever to me holy is. 
 
 — Spenser. 
 * 
 
 A PHYSICAL breakdown cut short Mr. Taylor's course 
 at the University. He had undertaken more work than 
 would have been wise for a strong man, and he was by 
 no means strong. No doubt his physical condition ac- 
 counts in a large measure for many seasons of mental 
 depression, approaching morbidness. It was probably at 
 such a time that he wrote for the True Union the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 *^My House ! I have no house now ; I do not know that 
 I ever shall have; /. e., of the sort w^hich men love so to 
 build and live in; though, I confess, I often, in my 
 thoughts, rear such a one. But there is a house appointed 
 for me, though I do not know in what part of the world 
 it is, or when I shall become its occupant. It is scarcely 
 so high as my head, but that matters not, since I shall 
 
30 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 never want to stand up in it. It is dark, for there are 
 no windows to admit the sun, and candles and fires are 
 never lighted. It has but one room, and that not long nor 
 wide. It has no door, for when once I go in I shall not 
 come out again. I shall occupy it alone. Alas! no, 
 solitude were a boon indeed. A thousand worms shall be 
 my fellow-lodgers. A silent house! The howling storm, 
 the pattering rain, the din of business — none of these shall 
 reach my ear. A peaceful house ! Then this head which 
 has ached so often shall ache no more. Most probably 
 my house is not alone, but is one of many tenements in 
 some great silent city. Eeader, a house like this awaits 
 thee also." 
 
 When his friend, Rev. Z. Jeter George,* read these 
 lines, he wrote to the author of them, reminding him of 
 another house which was his, whose maker and builder 
 was God; not a dark house, but made bright by the Sun 
 of Righteousness. 
 
 'Not long after he left the University, there came a call 
 to the pastorate of the Franklin Square Baptist Church, 
 of Baltimore. This church had been organized in October 
 of the preceding year and five months later had occupied, 
 for the first time, the lecture room of the meeting-house in 
 process of erection. Upon this occasion the sermon had 
 b(^en preached by the Rev. Dr. J. W. M. Williams, pastor 
 of the First Baptist Church. Mr. Taylor accepted the 
 
 *Rev. Z. Jeter George, after his university life (during which time 
 he was pastor of the Mountain Plain Church), became pastor of the 
 Manchester Church. His career of great promise was ended by an 
 early death. His funeral was preached by Rev. Dr. J. L. Burrows. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 31 
 
 call and began his work towards the fall of 1855, he being 
 the first pastor of the church and the church being his 
 first regular pastorate. At that time the Baptists were 
 not strong in Baltimore. Yet several of the pastors Avere 
 very able men, one of them being the matchless pulpit 
 orator, Richard Fuller. They did not have in those days 
 many meeting-houses, but the one in which the First 
 Church worshipped, knowTi as the ''Old Round Top," 
 was a noble edifice and served as one of the landmarks 
 of the city. 
 
 Upon going to Baltimore, Mr. Taylor became a member 
 of the family of the Rev. Dr. Franklin Wilson, whose 
 wife was Mr. Taylor's first cousin. Mr. Wilson was a 
 man of means, and had recently moved into '^Oakley," 
 an unusually handsome home which he had built on the 
 outskirts of the city. A weak throat soon after his gradu- 
 ation disqualified him for the active work of a pastor, but 
 his piety, culture and ability made him to the end of his 
 life (which, notwithstanding the early prophecy of the 
 doctors, was a long one) a most potent factor in the 
 religious well-being of his native city and of his o^vn 
 denomination. From his earliest childhood he had been 
 fond of books and study, so of course his library was 
 large and well selected, and the very atmosphere of his 
 home at once literary and religious. This, as can easily 
 be seen, was a most congenial home for the young pastor. 
 
 Mr. Wilson bought, and with Mr. Taylor edited for 
 several years. The Christian Review. This periodical was 
 established in 1836, and had had among its editors such 
 distinguished men as Dr. Bamas Sears and Dr. S. F. 
 
32 • LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 Smith. The high intellectual plane of such a publication 
 and its religious character well accorded with the ability 
 and aptitudes of Mr. Taylor's mind. He was nothing 
 if not philosophical and metaphysical, and withal fond of 
 composition as well as of public speech. Just at this 
 period of his life, too, the output of his mind found 
 natural expression not only in the pulpit but perhaps 
 even more appropriately in the ]^ages of such a review. 
 As he had not attended any theological seminary, Balti- 
 more became his self-made theological seminary. During 
 this period he thought thnnigh, as far as any man can 
 be said to do so, the great problems offered by theology 
 and philosophy. He mastered the Epistle to the Romans, 
 if any one can be said to accomplish this task, and while 
 he had many seasons of mental agony and distress, never- 
 theless he came out into a peace and trust which were to 
 go with him through life, growing stronger and stronger 
 to the end. 
 
 There was the lighter, the brighter side to his life. 
 The very fact that he was by no means strong physically — 
 a fact he could not be ignorant of, since headaches and 
 languor, if not more serious spells, were often his lot — 
 made much open-air exercise absolutely necessary. So we 
 find him taking frequent walks. In his longer rambles he 
 had very often, as his companion. Rev. John Berg, an Eng- 
 lishman, who was thoughtful and pleasant in conversation. 
 When the walk was not too extended for the short legs 
 of a small boy, his cousin, Appleton, counted it a high 
 privilege to go along, and the young preacher was so 
 gentle and kind that his habit of sermonizing as he walked 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR^ D. D. 33 
 
 did not annoy the child. Nor was it alone upon these 
 walks that Applet on enjoyed the companionship of his 
 cousin, so far his senior. The boy loved to go to "Cousin 
 George^s Koom," and here he passed many a happy hour. 
 Mr. Taylor was willing to take time and pains to amuse 
 and instruct the child, now telling him stories and now 
 suggesting ways in which Appleton could amuse himself. 
 
 The life of the household was in many ways most 
 delightful. At the table, and in the evening, the im- 
 portant events and books of the day were apt to pass 
 under discussion, and the progress of the city along 
 material as well as religious lines was always of great 
 interest to the pe<)i)le" at "Oakley.-' Frequent drives to 
 various places in the suburbs of Baltimore were taken, and 
 now and then longer trips were the order of the day. 
 Gustave Burger, an ingenious and kindly German, who 
 was the gardener and general utility man, became a 
 valuable and valued uiember of the household. With 
 his cooperation many schemes were carried through 
 which delighted Ap])leton, and were not without interest 
 for the older people. For example, a balloon was con- 
 structed, sent upon a voyage, recovered, and started out 
 upon a second flight ; then one year there was a Christmas 
 tree, which, even in Baltimore, preeminently a city of 
 Christmas trees, must have been unique and worth more 
 than passing notice. Mr. Taylor, with his Virginia 
 bringing up, was so partial to open fireplaces and wood 
 fires, and so expatiated on such a method of heating, that 
 he not only was allowed to introduce the open fire in his 
 own room, but also succeeded in persuading Mr. Wilson to 
 
34 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 have in the library, in addition to the furnace, a wood 
 fire, brass andirons and all. Even Baltimore, at that day, 
 or at least the outskirts of Baltimore, did not have some 
 of the comforts of our present city homes, however humble ; 
 Mr. Wilson provided water for the household by a cistern, 
 but this supply being inadequate for bathing, the house 
 had no bath-room. It so happened that Mr. Taylor's first 
 winter in Baltimore the weather was very severe, and, as 
 all the streets around '^Oakley" had not been paved, it 
 was often through mud and mire that the faithful trio 
 made their way with a commendable zeal to the various 
 meetings of the young church. 
 
 The work of the church went on well. It is probably 
 often, if not always, true that a preacher does not do his 
 best work in his first pastorate, or in the first years of his 
 first pastorate. It seems certain that Mr. Taylor im- 
 proved as a preacher after leaving Baltimore, but perhaps 
 this gain was in the way of a more popular style, rather 
 than in the subject matter of his sermons. He may have 
 been inclined to preach over the heads of his people, 
 and as he was studying the book of Romans and thus 
 the deep things of the gospel, it is probable that his ser- 
 mons took tinge and tone from his studies, nay, from his 
 mental anguish and agony. It has been seen already that 
 he had a fondness for children and the gift of attracting 
 and helping them. This talent was to receive large 
 development and to be used with great blessing in later 
 years. In Baltimore he began preaching to children. 
 The House of Refuge, of which institution Mr. Wilson 
 w^as a trustee, with its many young people, even more 
 
IJEV. (iEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 35 
 
 than his church, gave scope for Mr. Taylor's ability to 
 reach the heads and hearts of the young. 
 
 During his l]altiin(»re life Mr. Taylor was invited to 
 make the first alumni oration ever delivered at Richmond 
 College. The subject of his address on this occasion is 
 characteristic of the man, and preeminently so of this 
 period of his life. One who was a student at Richmond 
 College at that time, who heard the oration, and who 
 since then has risen to distinguished place, both as a public 
 speaker and a preaclicr, thus describes the occasion: 
 
 ''On entering the place for the performance I saw on 
 the platform a small figure of a man ^vith soft, mildly 
 reddish hair, a fixed stoop in his shoulders, with a face 
 which bespoke the student, and an eye which was deep 
 in its blue and seemed made for emitting kindness. He 
 did not please me as he came forward to speak and his 
 voice was not quite satisfactory, but he was young and did 
 not assume nor shiver. He was manifestly there to say 
 something. His theme was 'The Thinker,' and from his 
 first word he seized me; I had heard no man so young 
 who seemed to know things so well and could frame them 
 so wisely. With it all was an evident dissatisfaction Avith 
 himself, unexpressed and yet most evident. . . 
 I did not meet the ahimni orator on the occasicm of his 
 address, but I saw men and women shaking hands with 
 him in a pleased way and knew that he hit the nail on 
 the head." 
 
 In May, 1857, Mr. Taylor attended the Southern 
 Baptist Convention in Louisville and was elected one of 
 the recording secretaries of that body, a position to which 
 
36 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 he was reelected at four succeeding sessions. On this 
 trip he was much with his friend of college and univer- 
 sity days, Rev. Z. Jeter George, and discovered in him 
 the ability to introduce^ with tact the subject of religion. 
 Mr. Taylor says : 
 
 ''During our association together in Louisville I was 
 much impressed by his disposition to speak with uncon- 
 verted persons on personal religion, and by his happ}^ 
 manner of securing their good will, and then introducing 
 the subject. We were with a number of lively young- 
 ladies, and I remember that mv first thouoht was that 
 Jeter had entered too much into their conversation; but 
 I subsequently was led to believe that he was really 
 aiming, and not without prospect of success, to do them 
 good. A few weeks before his death, he told me of a 
 letter received from one of these young ladies, in which, 
 to some of his earnest inquiries, she rej^lied that she 
 could not be indifferent to her own soul, when he, a 
 stranger, had manifested such anxiety for its salvation." 
 
 During the latter part of his Baltimore pastorate, Mr. 
 Taylor filled one Sunday the pulpit of the Baptist 
 Church in Fredericksburg. This visit was a most event- 
 ful one for him, since here he met for the first time 
 her who was ere long to become his wife and to be for 
 the rest of his life a noble inspiration. Upon a return 
 to Fredericksburg for the express purpose of seeing the 
 lovely one who had charmed him, alas, he 
 
 "... rin»s the gateway bell 
 And learns her gone and far from home; 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 37 
 
 "He saddens, all the magic light 
 Dies off at once from bower and hall, 
 And all the place is dark, and all 
 The chambers emptied of delight." 
 
 He was not, however, easily foiled in his purpose, so 
 hearing that the family was at a certain watering place 
 in the Virginia mountains, he sets out thith(T. He is 
 just too late ! The family has gone on to yet another of 
 the many Virginia Springs. Possibly again he was too 
 late, but finally his perseverance was rewarded. Nor was 
 his suit for the fair one's hand less successful. In due 
 time the engagement was announced and on the morn- 
 ing of May 13th, 1858, the marriage took place at ^'Hazel 
 Hill," the home, on the edge of Fredericksburg, of Mr. 
 J. Warren Slaughter, his wife being a sister of the bride. 
 It would be hard to find anywhere a more beautiful home 
 than ''Hazel Hill." It is approached from the town, 
 after the stately gateway is passed, through a long avenue 
 of noble trees. In front of the house the grounds fell 
 away in terraces to ''Hazel Kuu," and in the rear a typical 
 old-fashioned Virginia garden, with vegetable beds all 
 having borders of box or flowers, sloped gradually towards 
 the broad waters of the placid Rappahannock. The house 
 itself, with its large hall, spacious rooms, broad veranda, 
 ample greenhouse, covered ways to the kitchen, quaint 
 attic and lofty belvedere was indeed the home of 
 
 "Free-Hearted Hospitality; 
 His great fires up the chimney roared, 
 The stranger feasted at his board." 
 
 It was here on a lovely morning in May that Susan 
 Spottiswoode Braxton became Mr. Taylor's bride. She 
 
38 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Avas a daughter of Carter Braxtou, her mother's maiden 
 name having been Elizabeth Teackle Mayo. She was a 
 great-granddaughter of Carter Braxton, one of the signers 
 of the Declaration of Independence, and was one of four 
 sisters famous at once for their beauty and their charm- 
 ing personality. It is said that Oncken, the famous Ger- 
 man Baptist, declared that Sallie Braxton was the most 
 beautiful woman he saw while in America. A distin- 
 guished gentleman, for many years an honored citizen of 
 Richmond, was wont to tell how, when a boy, he used to 
 watch with bated breath as Sallie and Susan Braxton 
 ])assed up the aisle at old J3ruington Church in King 
 and Queen — a vision of beauty he had never seen equalled 
 in all the years thereafter. One who came to know best 
 of all the bride of that May morning, some years ago 
 wrote these words, telliug in part the story of her earlier 
 days: 
 
 ''Mrs. Tayhjr was the second daughter of the late Carter 
 and Elizabeth Mayo Braxton, and was born at 'Hungers/ 
 the family residence, Northampton County, Virginia. 
 Most of her childhood and early youth was spent in the 
 country, where she enjoyed few formal educational ad- 
 vantages, but under the guidance of a singularly wise and 
 cultured mother, read extensively the best works of fiction, 
 poetry and history which formed her taste and were for 
 a permanent possession; while, by associating with the 
 refined and intelligent, she acquired that general informa- 
 tion and those graces which schools rarely give. When 
 she was about sixteen her father and mother died in quick 
 succession, leaving her, with five sisters and a brother, in 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 39 
 
 the care of a maiden aunt in Fredericksburg. Upon 
 Snsan and her eldest sister, the late Mrs. Slaughter, restc d 
 much of the responsibility of training the younger 
 children. From her earliest childhood she had learned to 
 love the Saviour, and now with her sister she was baptized 
 in the Rappahannock by Rev. Samuel Smith, pastor in 
 Fredericksburg. Thus they followed the exam])le of their 
 mother, who, reared an E]iisco])aHan, became from con- 
 viction a Baptist and was immersed in Xorfolk bv Dr. 
 Howell. Even those wh(» do not hold Baptist views can 
 admire the heroism of a girl, who, obedient to what she 
 felt the voice of duty, identified herself with the little 
 l^aptist Church, ])oor, and \voi-shi])))iiig iu a mean building 
 on the river-side, and in a measure cut herself off from 
 those who were her natural associates. From the Ix- 
 ginning she was an active worker in the church and full 
 of the missionary s])irit, while she was generally loved 
 and admired in the town for her piety as well as for her 
 charms of person and manner.'' 
 
 On the wedding trip Baltimore and Richmond were 
 visited. Young ])eople nowadays might think that going 
 to a prayer-meeting would be untimely on the wedding 
 journey; not so with this preacher and his bride. One 
 who was at that time a Richmond College student writes 
 thus of this occasion : 
 
 ^'Just before my graduation I was one night at the 
 Grace Street Church prayer-meeting and found this 
 young minister present with his bride, they being on a 
 visit to his parents. How modestly proud he w^as as he 
 presented that fair treasure of his soul to his old church 
 
40 LIFE AI^D LETTERS OF 
 
 friends, and was met with joyous congratulations on every 
 side !" 
 
 The wedding journey went well, the woi'se mishap 
 that befell the young cou]>le being the burning up of 
 the wedding bonnet, which caught fire from the lamp on 
 the hall steps. All were so thankful tliat the bride's 
 fair face escaped unhurt I 
 
 Some months before his uiarriagc, Mr. Taylor had 
 resigned his church in Baltimore to accept a call to be- 
 come pastor of the Baptist Church in Staunton, the chief 
 town of the beautiful and famous ""Valley of Virginia.'' 
 It was thither, therefore, that Mr. Taylor now took his 
 young bride. The story of the years spent in Staunton 
 umst be left for another chapter. 
 
.:: c 
 
 z P 
 
 •= f. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Fir^ Pailorate in Staunton — The Civil War 
 
 He taughte, but first he followed it hiinselve. 
 
 Under the sod and the dew, 
 Waiting the judgment day ; 
 
 Love and tears for the Blue, 
 Tears and love for the Gray. 
 
 — Francis Miles Finch. 
 
 Had Mr. Taylor's first pastorate been a prophecy? 
 Was he always to fill difficult positions? The soil of 
 Baltimore from the first has been peculiarly barren for 
 Baptists. Staunton in these early days was a difficult 
 field for the Baptists, though now one hears no longer the 
 old saying that Baptists and sweet potatoes will not grow 
 west of the Blue Ridge. How hard was the field to 
 which he gave the best years of his life! ''Beautiful for 
 situation," the long line' of the Blue Ridge to the east and 
 the billowy Alleghanies to the west, Staunton lies in the 
 heart of Augusta, one of the largest and one of the most 
 fertile counties in the Old Dominion. It is a mountain 
 town, though not "cabin'd, cribb'd, cunfin'd" by the 
 mountains; they are far enough away to gain the "azure 
 hue," of which the poet Campbell speaks. The surround- 
 ing country is famous for its splendid wheat, fine cattle 
 
42 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and fruit. In the town are located two admirably 
 managed state institutions, each with extensive and at- 
 tractive grounds, one for the deaf, dumb and blind, and 
 the other for the insane; and one or more schools for the 
 higher education of young women, drawing students 
 from many Southern States, have for years flourished here. 
 
 The story of the origin of the Baptist Church in 
 Staunton and of the beginning of Mr. Taylor's work there 
 is best told by his pen. At the 50th anniversary of the 
 Staunton Church, celebrated at the meeting of the General 
 Association, November 15th, 1903, Dr. Taylor in his 
 historical sermon said: 
 
 '' . . . In the wise and beautiful economy of 
 nature, seeds, even the tiniest and frailest, are not only 
 wonderfully i^reserved, but widely distributed, travelling 
 free on trains and Avains, and as unconsciously scattered 
 by all animals, and especially by the birds of the air, as 
 by the winds themselves. So it is with the realm of 
 thought and spirit, — opinions, doctrines, having wonder- 
 ful vitality and many ways for their dissemination; and 
 as with natural seed, so it is with that of the spirit, there 
 being the precious, the imperfect, the useless, and the 
 hurtful, tares and wheat competing with each other till 
 the day of separation. We are apt to think of the evangel- 
 ist or the press as almost the only agents in bearing to 
 new places the Word of God or any peculiar form of 
 doctrine, practice, or worship, losing sight of the fact 
 that a large part of this work has been done by the immi- 
 gration of individuals and peoples carrying with them to 
 their new homes the religions which were a part of their 
 
KEV. GKOEGE BOAKDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 4:3 
 
 lives. To limit ourselves only to Virginia, we see how the 
 English brought to Eastern Virginia their Episcopacy, 
 which for a time was established even as in the old 
 country; the Scotch-Irish to this beautiful valley Presby- 
 terianism, and the German Baptists the doctrine of be- 
 lievers' baptism. Let me ask, in passing, if our de- 
 nomination ought not to seek closer relations with these 
 our brethren, so near to us in doctrine and practice and so 
 honorable in the affairs of life ( In the Roanoke Times 
 the excess of taxes paid in was explained by the specially 
 honest returns made by the Dunkards, or German Baptists, 
 of the county, to whom that enterprising newspaper paid 
 a merited tribute as upright, excellent citizens. 
 
 ''In like manner individuals removing to new regions 
 have borne with them their religious principles and pro- 
 claimed them where they were not knowm. Thus came 
 into existence the church in Itome to which Paul wrote 
 his great epistle, a church composed of those who heard 
 Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, or of those who 
 received the gospel in other times and places, and who for 
 their earthly interests had removed to Rome, then the 
 world's chief centre. Thus was born our sister, the first 
 Baptist Church of Charlottesville, chiefly through the in- 
 fluence, the prayers, the labors of one or two heroic women. 
 Such also is the case of this Baptist Church in Staunton, 
 owing its origin primarily not to any minister, but to the 
 Providence of God, which led several Baptists, chiefly 
 from Albemarle County, to cross the Blue Ridge and 
 settle here — men and women who, instead of abandoning 
 their religious principles, as so many do in similar cir- 
 
44 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 cumstances, held them firmly, so that neglected New 
 Testament doctrines and practices were planted, and to-day 
 fl.ourish not alone in Staunton, but elsewhere in this 
 Valley. 
 
 ''Let this be a lesson to you, my brother, my sister, if 
 business or marriage or health should lead you to some 
 other place. Stand to your colors, hold fast, profess and 
 proclaim those truths which you have learned from the 
 Word of God,, so shall you be blessed and a blessing. 
 Yea, and what a kvsson is here for teaching our children 
 and indoctrinating our members, so that they may be 
 fully persuaded as to the system of doctrine and duty 
 and ecclesiastical march Avhich we, as Christians and 
 Baptists, hold from the Holy Scriptures, and that they 
 may be ready to give an answer to every one that asketh 
 them as to the faith that is in them. 
 
 ''But there was another coojx'ratiug cause in the forma- 
 tion of this church. In the latter ]»art of the first half of 
 the nineteenth century the Goshen Association, one of the 
 oldest in Virginia, composed of some two-score of churches 
 in the counties of Spottsylvania, Caroline, Orange, and 
 Louisa, began to carry on independent evangelizing work, 
 and, under the leadership of Littlebury W. Allen and 
 James D. Coleman, raised large sums and sent missionaries 
 to various strategic points. One of these was Staunton. 
 
 "When we think of the great work done by the State 
 Mission Board, it seems strange that places so important 
 as Harrisonburg, Winchester, and Staunton should have 
 been so long neglected. A partial explanation is found 
 in the fact that what is now West Virginia absorbed most 
 
KEV. GEOliGE BOARD.MAX TAVLOK, D. D. 45 
 
 of the means contributed for State missions. Our older 
 ministers, too, rather shrank from towns and cities, pre- 
 ferring to labor in the country. It is pleasant to me 
 that my own father, at a very early date, not only plead 
 for evangelizing this part of the Valley, but when chap- 
 lain of the Fniversity of Virginia, in the session of 
 1839-'40, came (tver in the stage and preached at least 
 once in this city. But now the set time for planting a 
 Baptist Church here had fully come, and the chosen 
 instrument was the Rev. S. B. Rice, M. D., who had been 
 ])astor of Mount [Moriah Church, in Amherst County, 
 and of Adiel, in Nelson. 
 
 '^During the meeting of the Baptist General Associa- 
 tion in Richmond, in the year 1886, I had a pleasant 
 conversation with the Rev. A. B. Brown, who said that 
 he was about to prei)are a sketch of the life and character 
 of the late Dr. Rice. It seems that the two men had 
 once been intimate. Brown, who was the younger, pre- 
 ferring, although an Episcopalian at the time, to attend 
 the ministry of Rice. It was also in part through the 
 elder man that Brown, with his eminent worth and gifts, 
 became a Baptist. The biographical notice in question 
 was never written, as in a few days after our conversation 
 he who was so wonderfully endowed for the understanding 
 and delineating of character, and who had in this case 
 the requisite knowledge and personal affection, became 
 himself the unconscious subject of the loving and mourn- 
 ful eulogies of his brethren. It is an irreparable loss, 
 but we know that Dr. Rice was a man of imposing presence, 
 and that he had the gifts and experience necessary for 
 
40 LIFE A^^D LETTERS OF 
 
 the pioneer work which he came to accomplish. Through 
 him the resident Baptists were, in October, 1853, gathered 
 together, forming this church. Thirteen members united 
 in the organization. Thenceforward the bulk of his time 
 and strength was given to raising funds for the erection 
 of the church house, which was seen to be a prime neces- 
 sity. Brains and hearts certainly mean more than bricks, 
 but as Thomas Jefferson, who was calling from the old 
 country able professors, saw the need of Iniildings before 
 opening our State Fnivorsity, so a local habitation was 
 felt to be essential to the mission of this church. After 
 the brethren and sisters here had done what they could, 
 Dr. Rice travelled all over Eastern Virginia, largely in a 
 private conveyance, visiting not only the town and city 
 churches, bul those of the coinitry as well, telling of the 
 labors and sacritices specially of one of the members 
 here, — how her skillful and busy fingers wrought ever 
 in the interest of the luiilding that was to be. At the lay- 
 ing of the corner-stone Dr. J. L. Burrows delivered an 
 address; Dr. B. M. Smith, of the Presbyterian Church, 
 offered prayer, and Rev. L. W. Allen, in his own peculiar 
 way, told the people not to despise the Baptists because 
 few and almost unknowTi in the Valley, for over the 
 mountains they o^^^led a large share of the land and the 
 negroes, too. The building rose slowly, some prophesying 
 that it would never see completion. To me in the year 
 1855, passing through the toAvn, the work seemed sus- 
 pended, but later it was reported to the Albemarle Asso- 
 ciation that the lecture room was ready for use, and in 
 it I believe a Sunday school was gathered. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 47 
 
 "In the summer of 1857, Dr. S. B. Kice having con- 
 cluded his labors, and at the close of my own pastorate 
 of two years in Baltimore, I was invited to become pastor 
 of this church. Asking the advice of Dr. Jeter, I said: 
 'There are, I believe, no leading members.' 'That does 
 not matter,' replied my counsellor, 'if they are following 
 members ; you do the leading,' and most beautifully did 
 the brethren here from the first help and cooperate with 
 their young pastor, there being then, and for nearly the 
 whole of my pastorate, no kinsman of Diotrophes. 
 
 "My pastorate of the Franklin Square Baptist Church, 
 Baltimore, had not been without blessing to others, at 
 least a few of the numerous converts being my very own 
 spiritual children. To me it was a period of great distress, 
 but of great usefulness, for the theological problems 
 which, as Sir William Hamilton says, emerge first in 
 philosophy, had begun to trouble me while still a univer- 
 sity student, and they went with me to Baltimore ; but 
 by the great mercy of God I was led during that period 
 of storm and stress and fiery temptation to a sufficiently 
 satisfactory solution of those problems, though leaving, 
 indeed, as one ever must, a certain insoluble residuum 
 for faith, certainly in this world, perhaps also in the world 
 to come, for a finite creature can never comprehend, 
 though he may apprehend, the Infinite One. 
 
 "I came, therefore, to Staunton with new courage and 
 new hope, my preaching, too, becoming less apologetic 
 and more boldly that of a herald, who, believing, therefore 
 spake. 
 
 "!Never had a youthful minister kinder or more appre- 
 
48 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 ciative members than those I found here. Few they were, 
 indeed, a mere handful, but good as gold. To speak only 
 of the departed, there w^as Simpson F. Taylor, a hard- 
 working, simple-hearted man, who had accumulated a 
 modest estate by managing farms in Albemarle County. 
 He loved the gospel, this church, and its minister with 
 an affection that held nothing back, and made me feel 
 from the first that he would share equally with me all 
 that he had, according to my need. He made little figure 
 in the community, a humble, unobtrusive man, but he was 
 a devoted Christian and a pillar in the church. What he 
 and his wife were is best told by the fine character and 
 excellent work of their sou, John H. Taylor, who, an 
 exception to the j)roverb, has b(H'n for two-score years 'a 
 prophet in his own country,' serving, among others, the 
 Laurel Hill Church, in which he was converted. William 
 H. Peyton, in his business relations, had been thrown 
 much among worldly men, and not without injury to his 
 piety, but he had the root of the matter in him, and he 
 was a generous spirit, susceptible through affection of 
 great development both as to gifts and graces. For a 
 long time he found it impossible to shape his lips to say 
 the word 'brother,' but that was acquired, and he learned 
 to pray and exhort most acceptably in the prayer-meeting 
 and became a capital Sunday-school superintendent. 
 Tender loving pressure of the truth, he came to feel the 
 inconsistency of owning the bar of the Virginia Hotel, 
 and after first restricting it, he finally, as the only way 
 recognized as possible, parted with the hotel itself, in 
 which how many ministers and others had been enter- 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 49 
 
 tained gratis ! He was ever a friend to every good minis- 
 ter and his ])astor's right hand. The last time I saw 
 Brother Peyton I recognized that he had outrun me in 
 the heavenly race, and was able to strengthen my own 
 faith by his sinij^le trust under pressure of illness and 
 face to face with the last enemy. The aged Brother And- 
 erson, a slave of Simpson F. Taylor, had for years made 
 it his prayer that a Ba]^tist Church might be planted in 
 Staunton, and, like Simeon, lived to see the answer to his 
 prayer. Two other colored persons, free born, Mrs. Laura 
 Campbell and lici" venerable mother, members of this 
 church, esteemed in the whole community, were the ex- 
 cellent of the earth, helpers of my joy, earnest listeners 
 to the preached word, ready to every good work. One 
 other name must be added, that of Alexander Pope Abell, 
 who had indeed returned to Charlottesville before I came 
 to Staunton, but whose work I found in a good Sunday 
 school. 
 
 "The sunnner of 1857 is notable and dear to me as the 
 season in which I was called to the sole remaining pastorate 
 of my life, and in which God gave me her who was destined 
 for more than a (|uarter of a century to be the greatest 
 possible blessing of my life, a blessing to this church, and 
 to our church in Rome. About the first of November 
 in that year the brethren informed me that the building 
 was finished, and begged me to come at once, and almost 
 exactly forty-six years ago, simultaneously with the com- 
 ing of the Episcopal minister, Mr. Latane, and the Pres- 
 byterian pastor, Mr. Baker, I preached the first sermon 
 in the then new church. From that day an era of pros- 
 
50 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 perity began. The Sunday school increased in numbers 
 and efficiency. Congregations were large and attentive, 
 and several stray Baptists were hunted up and gathered 
 in. Several persons who had been immersed by an 
 itinerant Campbellite minister were accepted as members, 
 the church, at my suggestion, having decided to accept 
 without rebaptism such as had been inmiersed on a pro- 
 fession of personal faith in Christ without having im- 
 bibed any of the ju'culiar views originating with Alexander 
 Campbell. This is mentioned simply as a fact in the 
 history of the church. There being still a debt on the 
 building, though not at all pressing, T made short collect- 
 ing trips, chiefly between Sundays, and secured a con- 
 siderable sum. 
 
 ''Before the po])ulai' interest due to novelty had seriously 
 waned, the cause received a new impulse through a pro- 
 tracted meeting begun with the preaching of Dr. John 
 A. Broadus and followed up with that of Dr. Cornelius 
 Tyree. It was a time of great blessing, and many who 
 proved themselves valuable members were added as one 
 of its precious fruits. Mr. and Mrs. Summerson, Mr. 
 J. B. Hoge, and the Misses Pemberton were among the 
 converts of that revival season. 
 
 "From having enjoyed a certain popularity the Baptist 
 pastor now became, with some, very unpopular. Let me 
 explain. After I had resigned the care of this church 
 in 1873, ^Ir. Latane, who had also resigned the care of 
 the Episcopal Church, said to me : 'A meeting of ministers 
 was called early in your pastorate to make you leave 
 Staunton, although I explained to them that it would be 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 51 
 
 impossible, but yon. Dr. Taylor, hearing of the call and 
 knowing nothing of the object, came to the meeting, which 
 put an end to the project.' It is certain that in this 
 instance ignorance was to me better even than bliss, for 
 it served me as no wisdom could have done, and from that 
 time fairly good and in some cases intimate relations 
 with the ministers were established, and after a while the 
 Protestant ministers of the town met every Monday night 
 at each other's houses to sup, to pray and plan for the 
 religious interests of the community. There was also for 
 a time a partial exchange of pulpits. Thus the Baptist 
 Church became an element of peace in Staunton. Before 
 its coming there had l(>ng been a notorious lack of good 
 feeling between Presbyterians and Episcopalians. This 
 was changed for the better in the presence of a common 
 adversary, and later the era of good feeling embraced all 
 the churches of the city, and has lasted until to-day. 
 
 ^'I was not yet twenty-five years old when I came to 
 Staunton, full of the audacity of youth. It was perhaps 
 that audacity alone which led nie, carrying out a sug- 
 gestion of my great master. Dr. Gessner Harrison, to 
 attempt the catechising of the church. In fact, despite 
 the protests of various sisters, I did carry the church 
 through Dr. Boyce's catechism for adults. Perhaps it 
 would have been wiser to give, instead, a course of lectures 
 on Christian doctrine. 
 
 "The young pastor had his petty embarrassments^ some 
 of which are now viewed with amusement. There was an 
 old woman who had the habit of mounting into the pulpit 
 to ask him the most trivial questions. Once, however, he 
 
52 LIFE ANT) LETTERS OF 
 
 had the better of her. On one of his visits to her house 
 she said : 'I have had a revelation, and wish you to tell me 
 whether it is from God or Satan.' 'State your revelation.' 
 ^It is revealed to me that I must preach.' 'What do you 
 mean ? Stand up in the pulpit as I do and address the 
 congregation?' 'Just that.' Laying- my hand ui)on her 
 arm I said : 'Satan, my sister.' 'Do you think so C 'I am 
 sure of it.' 'Well, then, I give it up.' Well were it if 
 many of the false s])irits of to-day were as easily laid!" 
 
 Elsewhere Dr. Taylor wrote as follows concerning the 
 first Simday of his Staunton pastorate: 
 
 ''I ])reaehed in the morning the dedication sermon 
 from the text, 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy 
 house and the place where Thine honour dwelleth,' and at 
 night, my introductory, as pastor, from the words: 'As 
 much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you 
 that are at Rome also,' little dreaming, by the way, that 
 this was afterwards to be literally fulfilled in my history." 
 
 A letter to his brother pictures his life soon after going 
 to Staunton, one of his sisters being at the time a visitor 
 in his hom(^ : 
 
 "Our life is so quiet, so utterly devoid of incident and 
 the town is so dull, that really I often feel that there is next 
 to nothing to write about. Our days pass somewhat in 
 this fashion: We all manage to get up a little before 
 breakfast, which is not early, varying from 7 to 7.30 
 o'clock. That over, we adjourn to the parlour and have 
 family worship, in which I am reading the Psalms (in 
 course — this morning's was the cvii), and a part of 
 which is singing. Mary is a great help in this exercise, 
 
KEV. GEORGE BC)AKI).^^AN TAYLOR, D. D. Oft 
 
 though I have learned never to balk at raising a tnne. 
 After worship I generally go into the garden for vege- 
 tables. This is one of the pleasures of the day. Occa- 
 sionally I run over to market, just after breakfast, for 
 butter, eggs, etc. When I want butcher's meat I have to 
 go by 5 o'clock. Such matters attended to, I spend the 
 balance of the morning in my study, which is generally 
 not less than from four to five hours. I might accomplish 
 much if I felt well and were able to study, but this re- 
 cently has not been the case. Not more than every other 
 day can I apply myself as I would like. I am hoping 
 to circulate in the mountains during September and re- 
 turn with renewed vigor of body, and elasticity of mind. 
 The ladies sit in the parlour or in one of the chambers, 
 sewing and chatting. I frequently read aloud to them. 
 Have just finished reading in this way Foster's 'Essay 
 on a Man's Writing a ]\[emoir of Himself.' I have also 
 read a good deal from Bryant, my favorite poet.* Have 
 you a copy of his works ? If so, read his 'June' over about 
 twenty times and you will then realize what a glorious 
 thing it is. . . .At night we all sit together in 
 the parlour, reading, chatting, and the like. Family 
 worship closes, as it begins, the day. So much, my dear 
 brother, for my outer life. My inner life it were hard 
 to describe. It is made up of temptations, sins and tribu- 
 lations common to man. I sometimes feel that I have 
 little to live for here and but slight hope of a happy 
 eternity, but, thank God, this is by no means a prevailing 
 
 *This was not the verdict of his later years, when Tennyson, Words- 
 worth and Browning were perhaps his favorite poets. 
 
54 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 state. From what we read in the Psahns and in the 
 biographies of great and good men I suppose such states 
 are not peculiar to me. If I can only maintain my 
 integrity. It is the fear of losing that which often is the 
 most distressing thing of all.'' 
 
 The next letter, begun at the White Sulphur Springs 
 but finished at Staunton, shows how busy he was, though 
 far from strong in body. At the first of these places his 
 brother James was with him. W. H. Peyton, referred to 
 in this letter, and his brother George L. Peyton had charge 
 at various times of the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, 
 the Rockbridge Alum Springs and the Virginia Hotel, 
 Staunton, and were liberal and hospitable to a degree: 
 
 "We walked, talked, rolled tenpins and drank sulphur 
 water to our hearts' content. ... In the evening 
 we drove to Lewisburg, where I preached to a large and 
 attentive congregation. . . . The next morning we 
 proceeded to the Blue Sulphur Springs, distant thirteen 
 miles. This is the property of which I have spoken so 
 often with reference to Baptist Male High School. It has 
 just been sold, with furniture, etc., for $26,000. . . 
 It is a lovely place, dirt cheap and perfectly adapted, and 
 I could not but feel a sentiment of disappointment that 
 it is now probably out of our power. . . . Saturday 
 morning at 6 o'clock, leaving Mr. Slaughter's party. Sue 
 and I set out for home — rode thirty miles in the stage and 
 the rest by rail, reaching home at 7 p. m., both, as you 
 may judge, sorely fatigued. . . . To-morrow morn- 
 ing I expect to leave for Mechanicsville and preach a 
 week, though it suits me very illy to do so. . . . I had 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 55 
 
 a IsLTge congregation this morning — many Episcopalians, 
 their house being closed." 
 
 The next letter, to his mother, is very cheerful and 
 calm, although he had a pin down his throat which three 
 doctors tried in vain to dislodge : 
 
 ^^Drs. Waddell and Baldwin and Fuqua have all tried 
 in vain to extract the pin, but cannot even see it. I, 
 however, feel it distinctly enough. It is very disagree- 
 able, and irritates my throat, but I suppose will not be 
 dangerous. ... I got Mr. Mason's rockaway, and 
 Sue and I spent the time till dinner visiting some of our 
 country folks. Found one lady — the head of a family — 
 rejoicing in her new-found Saviour. I hope soon to 
 baptize her. We had a charming ride and returned with 
 a fine supply of apples. . . . Sue and I are very 
 happy with our friends, but, as should be the case with 
 all married people, are very contented and happy \^heu 
 left alone. . . . T baptized two colored men Sunday 
 A. M., and owing to some mistake about the depth of the 
 water got drenched, and having no change of raiment 
 walked home wet, but didn't take cold. ... I wish 
 you had some of our nice partridges. Mr. Peyton sends 
 them over nearly every day. They are so fat, nearly as 
 much on them as chickens. They are very abundant. Mr. 
 Peyton and some friends killed sixty-six the other morn- 
 ing. ... I expect to come down at the railroad 
 meeting, when I can travel free. I am not troubled with 
 a plethora of funds." 
 
 In the early summer of 1859 Mr. Taylor and his wife 
 had their first great sorrow. Bessie, the little baby, who 
 
5 (J LIFE a:sd letters of 
 
 for several all too short months had brightened the home, 
 passed from them, Mr. Taylor, at the time of her death, 
 being absent in Charlottesville, where he made a public 
 address. A letter to his sisters tells about Bessie's death : 
 
 ''I embrace the earliest opportunity to give you some 
 particulars of that event which is of such mournful in- 
 terest to us all. Susan will probably not write to-day. 
 We have both been sweetly sustained by our 
 Heavenly Father. 
 
 ''Early last week our little darling was a little unwell. 
 . Wednesday we decided to call the doctor. 
 Dr. Waddell came and said, and evidently thought, the 
 little babe was but slightly indisposed. . . . The next 
 morning T left foi* Charlottesville. I said to Sue, 'I never 
 hated so to leave home. I have a great mind not to go. 
 I certainly would not but for feeling bound to fill my 
 ai)pointment. I will come directly back unless detained, 
 and then I will not go away again, and we three will be 
 so happy together.' . . . About 11 o'clock Friday, 
 she seemed fretful, and, after a little. Sue concluded to 
 send for the doctor. . . . He said little baby was 
 not much sick. . . . At 6 o'clock the baby was evi- 
 dently much Avorse. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Peyton and 
 Drs. Waddell and Baldwin were sent for, and in a short 
 time all came. It was then apparent that the end was 
 near, and twenty minutes before eight the darling hahj 
 sweetly fell asleep in her mother's lap. 
 
 "I made my speech in Charlottesville to a large and 
 attentive crowd. But my heart was at home, and I could 
 not forbear alluding in my remarks to my wife and child. 
 
KEV. OEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 57 
 
 I spent the ni£!;ht at Brother John A. Hroadus's. The 
 next morning at worship 1 said in my prayer: 'And now, 
 
 Lord, Thou knowest what arc the scenes through which 
 we may be called to pass this day. O may we be in all 
 things resigned to Thy holy will !' While we were on 
 «»ur knees the ser\ant left the room to answc^r the door- 
 bell, and as we rose he handed me the dispatch announc- 
 ing Bessie was 'verv sick.' At the table, to win one of 
 Mr. Broadus's little daughters, who was very shy, I had 
 told her a good deal about my little Bessie, which seemed 
 to interest all three of the children. Xow, Mr. Broadus 
 said: 'Children, Mr. Taylor has been telling you about 
 his little daughter, and now the telegraph has told him 
 she is very sick.' Little Annie went with me into the 
 study. 1 told her to o-o and ])rny for Bessie, which she 
 promised to do. 
 
 "In half an hour after, as I walked u}) to the Tniver- 
 sity, the telegraph agent called me and put into my hand 
 a dispatch for my brother: 'Little Bessie Taylor has just 
 died very suddenly, etc' I pursued my walk as one 
 stunned. I had not thought that possible, and mercifully 
 
 1 could not realize it. 
 
 ''The baby had changed a little, but not much. She 
 wore a sweet smile, and it was pleasant to stand and gaze 
 upon her darling face, and upon her hands so meekly 
 folded on her breast. To do that and to kiss her again 
 and again — to pray — to talk with Susan — to read Baxter's 
 'Converse with God,' and the Bible, these were my prin- 
 cipal employments that afternoon and night and yester- 
 
58 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 day morning. . . . How everything we see and do 
 reminds us of her ! Here is her empty carriage. We will 
 not put it away. We love to think of her even though our 
 hearts bleed and our eyes constantly fill up with tears. 
 . . . I had gotten a temporary cradle and had ordered 
 a beautiful one to be made. It was to have been brought 
 home on Saturday afternoon. At that very time the man 
 who was to have brought the cradle brought instead the 
 coffin. . . . The funeral occurred at 4 p. m., at our 
 church. . . . Brother Latane read Ps. xc and I Cor. 
 XV, and gave out the hymn, ^As vernal flowers that scent 
 the morn.' The house was crowded with a tearful, 
 sympathetic audience." 
 
 Later in a letter to his parents he writes about this 
 great sorrow: 
 
 "We have both been enabled to pass through our suffer- 
 ing with a calmness and peace that I had not dreamed 
 of. This, I would fain hope, is the Lord's doing. . . . 
 One thing I know: whatever of peace I feel is from no 
 lack of sensibility, for there is no hour when my thoughts 
 are not of our darling and 1 cannot think of her but with 
 a swelling heart." 
 
 Later in the same summer he planned to take his wife 
 with him on a trip out in the mountains of Western Vir- 
 ginia. He wrote thus of the trip : 
 
 ^'The doctor confirmed me in my plan to take her with 
 me to the Western Association. The trip is mostly by 
 stage and I have free tickets for her and myself on nearly 
 all the stage routes, so that our expense will be much 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOABDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 59 
 
 reduced. I invited Mary to accompany us, offering to 
 pay her expenses at the Blue Sulphur." 
 
 A letter later in the same summer tells, among other 
 things, of the High School, which under Mr. Taylor^s 
 fostering care was to grow into a flourishing college : 
 
 ''We both, too, enjoy having the little boys. Of course 
 their presence suggests sad thoughts. But since our little 
 Bessie came and went, I love all little children better even 
 than formerly. I feel, too, so tenderly to them. It used 
 to annoy me when a baby cried in meeting, but now it 
 only awakens feelings unutterably tender. . . . 
 You will have heard of the good prospects of the Alle- 
 ghany High School. There were over forty students 
 present the first day, and many more coming on. 
 . . . By the way, we had a pleasant little episode 
 Tuesday night in the way of a collection, according 
 to appointment, to pay for introducing gas, and altering 
 the chandelier. After some devotional exercises I men- 
 tioned the subject and laid down my 'V,' and then the 
 money — notes, checks, gold and silver — kept coming up till 
 we had $133.75 on the table, nearly the needed amount. 
 This was done in three minutes, and then we went on with 
 our praying and singing. The money we do raise here 
 is raised as easily and as pleasantly as at any place I ever 
 saw." 
 
 An extract from a letter, written at Marion, Ya., to 
 his wife shows how active and zealous he was, not only in 
 Staunton, but in the regions around, notwithstanding frail 
 health : 
 
 '' . . . I am now much better except my throat. 
 
60 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 I have not been able to preach. . . . Satur- 
 day night was devoted to colportage. I made the only 
 speech on that, talking forty minutes, and though I spoke 
 with difficulty, the people listened very attentively. I 
 raised in pledges over $130. ... I have just been 
 to the post office and taken out your kind, precious letter. 
 . . . I hope you will receive this promptly — it makes 
 my fourth to you." 
 
 In the first part of his life in Staunton, Mr. Taylor 
 and his wife kept house, renting one place after another, 
 and also boarded for a while at the Virginia Hotel. One 
 letter tells of his ]>lanning to buy a lot and build: 
 
 "I am thinking seriously of building a dwelling near 
 the meeting-house — not that it is desirable on all ac- 
 counts to build or even to buy, but it is hardly a matter 
 of choice with me. We will soon have to leave this house 
 and it seems impossible to rent. I have been looking for 
 months without success.'' 
 
 On October 31st, 1859, he writes to his brother: 
 
 ''I have bought a lot for $600 near our church. Shall 
 build at once, ready for spring." 
 
 This plan was carried out and a commodious brick 
 house was erected and occupied for several years. The 
 house was paid for in Confederate money and at the 
 end of the war, Mr. Taylor, feeling that he was morally 
 bound to pay for it again, in the severe stress of those 
 trying days had to let the property go. In the letter just 
 quoted he tells of a slight but painful accident: 
 
 '^I was walking to church yesterday a. ^i. in great 
 haste, and fell, bruising my knee and tearing my pants. 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 61 
 
 and cutting my thumb against the curbstone so as to 
 break the nail half down. I had but a minute to rush into 
 Byron's store and pin up my pants, brush off the dust, 
 soak my thumb in spirits of turpentine and bind it up with 
 a piece of the nether end of one of Byron's old shirts. 
 Managed to get through the day, but at night my thumb 
 was so inflamed and painful that I could not sleep, even 
 with the assistance of laudanum. . . . But I was 
 not prevented from marrying a couple this a. m., 
 fee only a dollar. The whole party came here, only 
 three in all. I talked so affectingly that the groom cried. 
 As the cou])le went out the old aunt lingered to say: 
 'Young, foolish.' Think I, 'twere well if there were no 
 couples old and foolish." 
 
 Before the spring of 1860 the Alleghany High School 
 had become Alleghany College, with very bright prospects 
 of success. C. R. Mason, referred to in the following 
 letter, was a successful contractor. He built a large part 
 of the Virginia Central R. R. (now the C. & O.). He was 
 with Stonewall Jackson, making himself most useful to 
 the great commander by his wonderful engineering skill, 
 and if he had had educational advantages probably would 
 have won a national fame. Allusion is also made to Dr. 
 Charles L. Cocke, the founder, and for over half a century 
 the president, of Hollins Institute, Virginia. Under date 
 of April 16th, 1860, Mr. Taylor wrote to his brother: 
 
 "Monday morning I ascertained that by leaving then 
 and in a freight train, and pushing a little, I could return 
 within the week. This I promptly decided to do. So, 
 hastily paying a couple of necessary visits and attend- 
 
(^2 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 ing to sundry items of business, I packed my valise, kissed 
 and blessed Sue and started. We stopped often and went 
 slowly, so did not reach the railroad terminus until four 
 o'clock, having gotten dinner with a family at one of 
 the depots en route. ... At the depot I presented 
 Mr. Mason's order for a conveyance, and in a few minutes 
 a fine pair of horses pranced up with a buggy. Wasn't 
 this grand ( I drove to Covington and spent the night 
 with a member of my church, who had recently moved 
 out. He insisted not only on keeping me, but paying for 
 my horses at the hotel. The next day I drove forty-four 
 miles to the Blue Sulphur. ... In the afternoon 
 the rain fell heavily and I got tolerably wet despite all 
 protection. But I did not suffer from it materially. 
 . . . The meeting of the Board occupied the whole of 
 the next day. . . . The students'^ are a noble-looking 
 body of young men. They use Baptist Chorals, and it was 
 glorious hearing them sing. We shall report ninety-four 
 matriculates, several being preachers of promise. I at- 
 tended two recitations, and was much gratified, especially 
 with the class in Demosthenes. Thursday morning I 
 addressed the students. . . . They heard me with 
 fixed attention. ... As for the grounds, I fell more 
 in love with them than ever. In the first flush of their 
 spring glory they are a paradise indeed. 
 
 "The meeting of the Board was an important one. They 
 accepted the charter and adopted the title of Alleghany 
 
 *One of these students, J. W. Carter, became a most able and 
 eloquent preacher; wis pastor of the Park ersbnrg, W. Va,, Church, and 
 of the First Baptist Church, Raleigh, N. C. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 63 
 
 College, and oraanized, electing me President of the 
 Board. They also wished me to take charge of the Insti- 
 tution, but this I declined, and they committed the whole 
 question of faculty to Brother Cocke and myself. 
 . . . We think of adopting one feature which 
 will be popular — to have a summer session, extending 
 from 1st of March to 1st of December, giving the winter 
 months as vacation. On Thursday afternoon I left, com- 
 ing to Lewisburg to supper, and after supper driving nine 
 miles to the White Sulphur. Friday morning, reached 
 the railroad, by a drive of thirty miles, in time for the 
 mail train and reached Staunton to suppc^r, finding my 
 dear Sue well and hai)py, and scarcely expecting me be- 
 fore the next evening by the freight." 
 
 In a letter to his brother at the I^niversity he writes : 
 "I think highly of your abstract, but didn't know six- 
 hour speeches were allowed in society. You say that is 
 your last appearance in society. Sue says: ^Because he 
 has said all he knows in this speech.' 'This is a joke.' 
 Last Sunday week I preached one of my best sermons, 
 'the glorious gospel of the blessed God' ; and followed it 
 with another last Sunday — not quite so good — from 'Only 
 let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel.' In 
 the last, I quoted a column from Macaulay on the Puri- 
 tans from his article on Milton, which you are familiar 
 with." 
 
 On the very eve of war he writes to his mother: 
 " . . . It was very trying, at a time so big with 
 events, to have no mail, but I just concluded to take things 
 quietly and plodded away with sermons, gardening and 
 
64 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the like. ... I am trying still to pursue the even 
 tenor of my way. But it is very hard when times are 
 so stirring in sister states, and a general civil war impends 
 over our land. ... I am indulging hope now that 
 our miserable convention will at once pass an ordinance of 
 secession, if they have not already done so. O ! if they 
 had only done this weeks ago and thus averted war. 
 
 . B is getting quite himself again. He will be 
 
 a year old in a few days. He pushes a chair around the 
 room till he is in a ])rofuse perspiration. . . . He 
 has three teeth. Bless his little heart — playing with him 
 after dinner is a sweet recreation. And when I jump 
 him to the ceiling, he fairly shrieks with pleasure. He 
 is truly one of the greatest blessings of my life." 
 A few days later he writes to his l)roth('r: 
 "... I wish you would buy and bring me a half 
 1)11 shel or so of the North Carolina potatoes, also some 
 bananas, if they happen to come in your way. Vegetables 
 are very scarce with us. . . . You will think me as 
 
 troublesome as old Brother and with my 
 
 commissions. You know the latter always watched with 
 eagle eye for any one going to Richmond, so as to send for 
 a cake of soap or a pound of nails, which were sure never 
 to suit. . . . Have been preaching miserably lately. 
 This morning by hard work and the grace of God, retrieved 
 myself." 
 
 In May 1861 the Southern Baptist Convention met in 
 Savannah, Mr. Taylor being one of the recording secre- 
 taries, and he tells of his trip, including a visit to Charles- 
 ton, about a month after Fort Sumter had been taken: 
 
KEV. GP]OU(iE BOAIID.MAN TAYEOK, D. D. 65 
 
 '' . . . I liked inany things about the South. 
 But I came back with a heightened appreciation of Old 
 Virginia. We were told we could not see Sumter. 1 
 determined to try, and addressed Governor Pickens a note, 
 which secured not only admission, but the quartermaster's 
 boat for our party. The Governor and everybody seemed 
 glad to do anything for Virginians. We all agreed the 
 day, spent in visiting the several forts, among the most 
 interesting of our lives. I brought back several souvenirs 
 — as palmetto branches, and badges, shot thrown into 
 Sumter, pictures of Beauregard and Davis. Everywhere 
 in the South the tenderest sympathy is felt for the border 
 states, and though the battle may be fought on our soil, 
 the brethren south will stand by us to the last. All are 
 anxious to fight, and that in Virginia. And already 
 nearly everybody is in arms. From Richmond to Charles- 
 ton is one camp. . . . B has learned to walk 
 
 alone and is so beautiful. T never thought him so till now. 
 I wish you could see him. Do you remember Pisistratus' 
 brave uncle in 'The Caxtons' ? I have felt so proud of you 
 and thought T would some day point you out to my boy 
 as the brave soldier. . . . Our towTi is a rendezvous 
 for troops, and companies are constantly encamped here. 
 Yesterday every church had a company that came and 
 left in file. . . . This morning I have been setting 
 out plants. My place is lovely. I have a happy home, 
 for which I trust I am thankful. But now I long to be 
 with the men who are going to fight for their country. 
 I am renewing my offer to be a chaplain. It is not 
 probable I shall succeed, as there are so many applicants 
 
66 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and so few chaplaincies — only one for each brigade. 
 I have bought Alfred's pistol — mean to teach Sue 
 to shoot." 
 
 A company of Home Guards was organized in Staunton. 
 When the time came to elect a captain — this was done 
 by the candidates standing up side by side so that the 
 men could form in line behind the man of their choice — 
 to Mr. Taylor's surprise he was nominated. He was in- 
 clined not to stand as a candidate, but, upon advice of 
 some of his members, did so, never thinking of being 
 elected over the other candidate, who was a prominent 
 judge. Once up, Mr. Taylor felt some interest as to who 
 was ahead, but had no way of knowing until he heard 
 a fellow shout out : ''The parson's a-getting 'em." He 
 was elected. He at once secured uniforms for his men, 
 bolts of grey cloth, and bushels of brass buttons coming 
 from Richmond, and being made up by the women. ISTor 
 did he fail to drill his men. In the presence of one of 
 his members some one remarked that they should never 
 have elected Mr. Taylor as captain, since he knew nothing 
 about military tactics. Quick from his loyal member 
 came this answer: ^'Mr. Taylor may not know anything 
 now about military tactics, but if there is a book on the 
 subject in town, by to-morrow he will know all about it." 
 It is this company to which reference is made in a letter 
 to his brother, which also gives other items: 
 
 "My company is much reduced. We are still in service 
 and detail daily a guard. I suppose it is now certain we 
 shall not go, as our quota of volunteers is made up. I 
 may go as chaplain, though there is plenty to do here. 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 67 
 
 Last night I preached to the soldiers at the hospital. To- 
 morrow I have three servic(\s — expect to preach to the 
 troops in the a. :Nr., and have a prayer-meeting for them 
 at our church in the afternoon. We have rumor now 
 of a battle near Rich Spring. . . . We had two 
 soldiers here to dinner to-day. ... I have married 
 three couples lately — twenty-five dollars in all. Very well, 
 as I have received no salary for ever so long. By the 
 way, I would send you some money if T knew you would 
 receive this letter — and will do it when I hear the pony 
 express is reliable." 
 
 The next extract is from a letter to his brother who 
 was in the army : 
 
 ''I ship to-day by mail train a basket for you, via Mill- 
 boro, and have written to the quartermaster there to for- 
 ward it promptly. It contains biscuits, cakes, loaf, ham, 
 dried beef, flask of whiskey, bottle of Jamaica ginger, 
 
 shoes for Lieutenant M (for which I paid $3.50 — they 
 
 are the article made here for officers), shirt, socks, paper 
 and envelopes, books and tracts. The ham is from Mrs. 
 Linda — the other things from Sue and me. . . . The 
 books I selected for their interest. In case you have to 
 throw them away, no matter. But you can probably leave 
 a bundle at some house to be kept till called for. I think 
 Arnold would entertain me more than any book of its 
 size that I know. I meet my company this p. m. to pay 
 them commutation for rations. I anticipate a rich scene." 
 
 About this time he added to all his other work that 
 of teaching, taking charge of the Staunton Academy. 
 The purpose of this was to supplement his small salary. 
 
68 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 He writes to uiic* of his brothers, under date of October 
 9th, 1861, as follows: 
 
 '* . . . I am going to try and send you some salt, 
 in a paper by ])ony express. We have not been able to 
 buy it here at all. I have sixteen scholars, and several 
 more coming. Last week I was quite discouraged, but now 
 think I shall have as many as I want. It is a worrying 
 life, but has its pleasures. With the discontent natural 
 to man, I often regret not being ^\^th you or James in the 
 army. . . . Last Friday I broke school at twelve 
 and took the girls to Natural Bridge. Preached at Lex- 
 ington Sabbath, and came home after preaching, getting 
 home by !► \\ m. Fast line. This is in school — T must 
 close." 
 
 Early in ISirl Mr. Taylor wrote to his brother: 
 
 ''B has quite recovered. He is very hearty and 
 
 eats three and one-half buckwheat cakes (with cream, 
 not butter ) for a meal : will not sleej) during the day, 
 but after supper gets his night gown and ])eains to undress. 
 He gets into bod with a chuckle, and lies there while I 
 sing 'The Hebrew Children' to him, and generally before 
 I get to 'the weeping Mary' he is fast asleep. 
 
 On that pretty day last week I took Sue and B to 
 
 ride in the rockaway. It was glorious overhead, but a 
 sea of mud beneath, till we got out of town on the macadam- 
 ized road, where it was comparatively dry. . . . Yes- 
 terday was pleasant. ... At night the house was 
 crowded. I have tried recently to preach very practically 
 and pointedly, principally to Christians. ... I have 
 lately been led to much heart-searching by ^Pilgrim's 
 
REV. GEORGK BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 69 
 
 Progress.' I can truly say: ' 'Tis a point I long to know, 
 etc' For what will all present good avail me, if I am at 
 last lost, and what difference will any earthly sorrows 
 make, if I may at last gain the celestial city ? . . . 
 By the way, there is no paper here, so if you either have a 
 supply, or can get it at reasonable prices, please send me 
 some in the bundle. . . . We were caught this morn- 
 ing nearly out of wood. I am going to haul a few sticks 
 from my school house till we can get a load." 
 
 Again he writes to his brother : 
 
 ^'I will avail myself of Brother 's going, to send 
 
 you a line; also a pair of socks, and some reading, 
 religious and entertaining. Perhaps I may get some 
 goodies, but we have nothing in the house. . . . The 
 religious Ix^oks, read if you possibly can, and lend or give 
 to others. The others, T thought, might make some weary 
 hour pass less Avearily. . . . The socks, if you don't 
 need, you can give away, or you can readily sell them for 
 fifty or seventy-five cents, in which event pocket the 
 
 change. By the way, 1 have asked to let you have 
 
 any money you need." 
 
 On May 25th, 1862, he wrote to his parents: 
 
 '^ . . . We learn that a battle is probably now 
 proceeding near Richmond, and I cannot but feel the pro- 
 foundest solicitude, mingled, however, with strong hope 
 that God will preserve our loved Richmond. ... I 
 try patiently to commit the issue to Him. This lovely 
 morning I preached from the words: ^The Lord God is a 
 sun and shield.' I enjoyed preaching and closed by a 
 reference to Richmond. O ! that God may prove a shield 
 
70 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to the city of my first and second birth. I had not felt 
 well for a few days, which I attributed to the hot weather 
 and being so much in the offensive air of the hospitals. 
 So, expecting to preach twice to-day, I took yesterday as a 
 day of rest. In consequence I feel much refreshed." 
 
 The next letter, dated Camp, near Dublin, Va., and 
 addressed to one of his brothers, tells of a battle: 
 
 ^' . . . Since we have been in service, our com- 
 pany has enjoyed some little experience in active war- 
 fare. Our first encounter with the Yanks was at Giles 
 Court House. This was a rather small affair. Our force 
 was nearly double theirs, notwithstanding which they stood 
 and fought us for an hour and theu succeeded in getting 
 away with small loss. The next morning, while we were 
 on the outposts with our gun, the Yankees brought up a 
 j)iece and drove in our pickets, and from behind a bend 
 in the road opened a twelve pounder upon us. We could 
 not see the effects of our shots, but one of our pickets, 
 who was stationed so as to see the enemy, told us that we 
 exploded two or three shells right among them. At any 
 rate the Union Lovers soon ^shut up sho]).' My hopes of 
 military renown have, however, found an early grave. 
 
 "You have perhaps read some accounts in the papers of 
 the battle of Lewisburg. I had the honor, or dishonor (as 
 you please), of being engaged in that disastrous fight. 
 It was one of the most complete, disastrous, 'bull-run' 
 defeats of the war. I have been surprised and grieved 
 beyond expression to think that we had such incompetent 
 generals and cowardly soldiers in our army. The defeat 
 was due in the first place to General Holt's ordering the 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, 1). I). 71 
 
 troops ill a position where the enemy had every advantage, 
 and secondly to the cowardice of the men who would not 
 stand till reinforcements could be sent to their aid. Our 
 rifle gun was ordered down into the town, not two hundred 
 yards from the enemy, and no sooner had we reached 
 this position than the regiment supporting us broke and 
 retreated in the greatest confusion. We had no officer with 
 us, and not wishing to retreat without orders we stood 
 by our gun till nearly every infantryman had passed us, 
 when we saw that retreat was all that remained ; but 
 being in a very narrow lane, it was only with greatest 
 difficulty we could turn the horses around. We tore down 
 the fence and reversed the limber amid a storm of bullets, 
 but had we then stopped to limber u]) the gun we would 
 certainly have taken a trip to Columbus. The Vanks 
 were not over thirty yards from us when our sergeant 
 ordered us to leave. I cannot express to you my feelings 
 when I was thus forced to turn my back upon my country's 
 foe. Men, white with terror, were seen panting as they 
 ran, and every scene of the day tended to shake our faith 
 in Southern chivalry or Yankee cowardice. Your old 
 command 'Stonewall' is indeed, if accounts are true, work- 
 ing wonders in the Valley." 
 
 The following extract from a letter, dated June ir)th, 
 to his parents, shows that Mr. Taylor was now chaplain 
 of a regiment (it was the Twenty-fifth Virginia) : 
 
 ^' . . . Yesterday p. m. we were called on by Gen- 
 eral Jackson to observe with religious exercises a season 
 of thanksgiving for our late victories. On about an hour's 
 notice I preached to the 25th and 13th regiments from 
 
i'Z LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Psalm cxxiv. T had a line crowd, who were very attentive, 
 and I enjoyed the service. ... I am on the river 
 bank, to let my horse graze, and hoping to have privacy 
 in the shade. But four other persons have been lying 
 around. They are all busy reading my tracts which I 
 have given them. Yesterday I spent some time distributing 
 tracts, etc., and getting acquainted in my regiment. 
 Monday I went to Staunton. . . . Yester- 
 day but against grain, but for conscience' sake, started 
 back to camp. En route heard the army had left. I 
 struck across the woods, and managed after dark to meet 
 them at the new camj). Supped at ten and then bivouacked 
 for the first time. To-day we came on to this place by a 
 bridle path over Jarman's Gap, the wagons coming by 
 the Rockfish. No one dreams where we are going. My 
 brigade is camped right at ^lountain Plain Church." 
 
 His letters to his wife from camp were numerous and 
 long. A few sentences from several of these letters help 
 us to see his work and ])rivations, and anxiety for his 
 wife and children. On July 7th from Camp Nameless, 
 near Charles City Court House, he wrote : 
 
 "... Sunday morning, though only half rested, 
 and against the protestations of the family, I started, my 
 
 horse having been left by Brother W , to find my 
 
 mythical regiment. O ! it was an awfully hot day ; my 
 skin was burnt sore, and my brain seemed to boil. On, 
 on over a sandy, shadeless road I pressed. . . . Late 
 in the evening ... I found our division and then 
 my brigade and regiment. The Colonel seemed glad to 
 see me, and gave me some sugarless tea (taken from the 
 
KEV. OEOKUK BOARDMAN TAYLOR, 1). I). 73 
 
 Yanks), which much refreshed nie. ... In a few 
 moments 1 was i)reaching to a large and attentive crowd, 
 and, notwithstanding my hot ride of thirty miles, I en- 
 joyed the service highly." 
 
 On July 18th from Louisa Court House he wrote to his 
 wife: 
 
 ''You see by the date of this we are again en route for 
 the upper country ; Avhether the Valley or not we cannot 
 certainly tell. This is a dismal day. . . . O for 
 seven-league boots that I might step over to Danville and 
 for an hour at least . . . hold your hand, look into 
 your eyes I . . . For the first time I felt like a ])astoi', 
 and, besides preaching, gave the men a talk. ... At 
 11 I heard William Thomas at the l-^th, and in ihe p. m. 
 John Jones preached for nic Then how joyfully did I 
 turn homeward [i. e., towards his father's home in Rich- 
 mond]. . . . Brother Prichard was expecting to leave 
 the next morning, but as T offered him a congregation and 
 a ride over one of the battle-fields, he gladly consented 
 to remain another day. So Monday a. m. I got him a 
 passport, and, failing to secure a horse, hitched mine to 
 the broken-down buggy (which even Alfred had aban- 
 doned), and started out. For a few miles I momentarily 
 expected a breakdown, but courage increased with ex- 
 perience, and we made the trip of twenty-odd miles 
 with comfort and safety. . . . We had a narrow 
 escape of life or limb. As we were proceeding on the 
 narrow road, raised in the Chickahominy swamp, a runa- 
 way team and wagon came dashing upon our rear at a 
 fearful speed. We had just time to get out and lead our 
 
74 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 horse down the embankment, when they passed, the wagon 
 passing within a few inches of our vehicle. . . . We 
 reached the camp in the p. m., a little before I designed to 
 have service, but found the troops gone. Through the 
 trees a short distance off we could see the long line in 
 motion." 
 
 On Jul^ 22nd, in camp, near Liberty Mills, Orange 
 County, he wrote to his wife : 
 
 "More constantly and more tenderly than I can convey 
 to you have I thought of you since I last wrote. 
 I hope you will remember in reading this unconnected 
 epistle the circumstances under which I write; that I 
 am sitting on the ground, and am jostled and even more 
 seriously interrupted every half minute. . . . We 
 have gone into camp here, drill grounds selected, and 
 drills ordered, as if we might remain for a few days at 
 least. Still we might move at any time." 
 
 In July he writes to his mother from Staunton, whither 
 he had gone from camp for a brief visit : 
 
 '' . . . Rested sweetly, but excited at the idea of 
 leaving for Staunton. Waked early Friday morning 
 and was soon, with numberless commissions, en route for 
 Gordonsville, where I left my mare with Brother Cow- 
 herd and came hither. I prayed that God would smile 
 on my visit, and so He has, as never were two days more 
 profitably and pleasantly spent. I have lately felt God's 
 great goodness to me. He has indeed made my cup run 
 over. I think sometimes my heart runs over too, which 
 in turn sweetens the joy of every blessing." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 75 
 
 Here is an extract of a letter from Staimton to one of 
 his brothers: 
 
 "I do not think of you now with exactly the same 
 feelings as when you first entered the service. Then, I 
 was positively unhappy as I lay down in my pleasant 
 bed. Now, I know, by experience, one can sleep very 
 
 comfortably on the ground. . . . B is very well 
 
 and full of life. He insists that his name is not James 
 but George — says he has the same name as his pa. He is 
 a very good boy. . . . Our hospitals have much 
 diminished the number of their patients, sending off large 
 numbers, to try to clear out the smallpox. Still I have 
 enough to do. I distribute a great many religious papers 
 from Virginia and the South. I also attend funerals of 
 soldiers who die. I am favored in being permitted to 
 keep my horse at the government stables. I am glad 
 your mare is better broke; I heard of her tricks at 
 several places and feared you might get hurt." 
 
 Unable to get permission, even by applying to the Secre- 
 tary of War, to go to the Virginia General Association 
 meeting in Richmond, in 1863, he writes to his brother: 
 
 "... In case I cannot attend the General Asso- 
 ciation I enclose the following contributions : Staunton 
 Church and Sunday school, $540.79. . . . George 
 rides behind very well — rode ten miles the other day on 
 a stretch. He is getting quite into the merits of the war 
 — prays for the sick soldiers, and that God will send the 
 Yankees home — says Lee is a good man and so is Jeff 
 Davis — and all I assure you in no parrot strain. He is 
 now playing soldier, with a canteen around his neck.'' 
 
76 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 On May 29th, 1862, he wrote to his wife from Win- 
 chester : 
 
 '^ . . . I left that evening. . . . Tuesday 
 morning I joined Brother Fry. and we trudged along very 
 leisurely, as I specially was heavily loaded. ... As 
 we were dining, Tom Peyton and Johnnie Hoge passed 
 in a two-horse huggy, bound for Winchester to buy goods. 
 They took my saddle-bags, and I subsequently got part 
 of my roll on a wagon. Yesterday we came over forty 
 miles. ... At Strasburg Ave saw the enemy's forti- 
 fications, where it had been supposed they would stand. 
 From that ])oint to this were strewn the evidences of 
 their precipitate flight — haversacks, camp kettles, half- 
 burnt wagons, hundreds of letters and newspapers. 
 . We stayed last night at Cedar Creek, where be- 
 gan the running fight which lasted till this place. 
 This morning we came on with a Colonel who took us 
 to and over the battle-field of Kernstown. . . . Went 
 to a store, where T 1)ought you two dresses and one for 
 
 B or Sally, with all necessary trimmings. 
 
 The running foe tried to fire the town, and burnt some 
 buildings, but we certainly got large stores, ammunition, 
 guns, wagons, horses, etc., besides all sorts of knicknacks 
 from the sutlers' establishments." 
 
 In these letters many of the marked characteristics of 
 Mr. Taylor shine out ; his deep religious nature, his 
 generosity, his sympathy with men, his energy, his in- 
 tellectual vigor. Some years later Mr. Taylor baptized 
 Mr. Mason, to whom he alludes in the next letter, the 
 ordinance being administered in Christianas Creek, as Mr. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARD MAN TAYLOR, D. D. l i 
 
 Mason desired to be ba]itized in running water rather than 
 in the church l)a])tisterv. This letter, dated December 
 7th, 1863, was to his brother Charles: 
 
 " . . . Brethren Abel, Walton, Hoge and Hughes 
 and Mr. Mason have been spending the evening with us 
 and have just left. Mr. M told me that the author- 
 ities, to-day, impressed every hog he had (about 100), but 
 had spared my four which he was keeping for me. What 
 a noble man he is ! Sometimes I almost hope he is a 
 Christian. We had to-night some conversation about 
 preparation for eternity. I feel encouraged and stimu- 
 lated to greater private eiiort, with him and with others, 
 to impart spiritual good. How prone we preachers are 
 to preach about eternity, but out of the pulpit to speak 
 only of time ! Brother Walton goes to Richmond to 
 plead for Alleghany College. His success so far is re- 
 markable. If nothing unforeseen occurs, we shall com- 
 pletely succeed. AVe have need of great patience, but I 
 look yet to see our school a fountain of good to Western 
 Virginia. I have given him a bundle, consisting of 
 blanket for Jenimie (a very fine one), oil cloth for you, 
 and mother's shoes. . . . He [the baby, George] was 
 almost as happy Saturday night, when I brought home 
 father's portrait, exclaiming, 'O my grandpa is come!' 
 It is an excellent picture ; cost me only thirty dollars, and 
 I would. not sell it for one thousand, so that I begin to 
 think that Confederate money is not so bad after all. I 
 only regret that I cannot invest ten times the amount in 
 getting similar portraits of mother and all my dear and 
 handsome relations. It is not the lack of monev that is 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in the way. . . . Brother A was going after the 
 
 corpse of a medical student, who was at his house when 
 we were, and who j)robably heard no warning but mine 
 before his death. This fact, with attending circum- 
 stances, decided me to discard my preparation for Sabbath 
 morning a. m., and preach to the unconverted. I was up 
 
 late, attending to getting passports for Mrs. K , and 
 
 other ladies, who were going down the Valley, and thtn 
 up very early Sunday morning to get them off. I laid 
 down worn out and fell asleep, waking five minutes before 
 eleven. I hurried up, . . . feeling poorly prepared. 
 Imagine my feelings at seeing the Pr(>sbyterian congre- 
 gation going almost en masse to our church. But I tried 
 to cast myself on the Lord and try to save souls — told the 
 people about my having changed my sermon and why I 
 had done so. At night I preached to a j ammed house ; 
 baptized five persons, making some remarks. I came 
 home tired and hungry ; met the new housekeeper [of the 
 
 Virginia Hotel] , Mrs. D , and, accompanying her into 
 
 the store-room, begged her for some milk. She gave me, 
 with astonished looks, mother's great big mug full of rich, 
 cold milk. How delicious the draught, especially after I 
 had added sugar (O Vicksburg!), and some of Susan's 
 whiskey. . . . ISTow why give you such minutiae? 
 Simply because I have often heard that this made a letter 
 interesting, and I want to try the experiment. Following 
 out the idea : we had turkey for breakfast this morning. 1 1 
 is indeed a novelty, but who shall say it is a bad conceit? 
 Certainly not one who enjoyed his breakfast as I did this 
 morning. They intended to have the turkey for supper last 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARD^rAN TAYLOR, D. D. 79 
 
 night, but changed. Query — Isn't turkey always good ? 
 Query again — Why shouldn't we get some fashions from 
 the Dutch, and not all from the French i I saw Schaffer 
 buy a lot of the bipeds the other day and the coop is in 
 sight of my window. \ find my own wood now, and so do 
 others, it would seem; for, painful evidence of depravity, 
 a good cord was brought on Friday and is now half gone ! 
 Schaffer will raise to $180 per month 1st of January. I 
 am positively scared. . . . But then Schaffer will 
 give us any quantity of sauer kraut, and teach us to speak 
 Dutch gratis J ^ 
 
 In the summer of 1860 the buildings of the ''Blue 
 Sulphur," where Alleghany College was located, had been 
 burned. This disaster, together with the war, ended the 
 institution, which had had such a successful beginning, 
 and which gave such promise of large growth and useful- 
 ness. How arduous and successful Mr. Taylor's efforts 
 were for the College is proved by this extract from a letter 
 to his wife describing his work for the College : 
 
 ^^ . . . I came by stage to this place, and procur- 
 ing a horse set out on a trip through the country, from 
 which I have just returned. A most fatiguing one it has 
 been, the horse a hard trotter, the country exceedingly 
 broken. ... I have also been quite successful, 
 averaging $400 per day. . . . Now I only lack about 
 $1,000 of securing Greenbrier's quota. . . . The 
 worst of my experiences this week has been my not hear- 
 ing a word from home, not being able since Tuesday to 
 mail you a letter. This has been a sore privation, but a 
 
80 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 necessary one, out of the region of post offices as I have 
 been/' 
 
 The next letter was written on June 16th, 1864, when 
 once again Mr. Taylor was keeping house. This is to his 
 brother Charles : 
 
 "... Do not be surprised at father's reticence on 
 such a subject. He was equally reserved to me when I 
 was where you are. Nay, whenever I have been in 
 similar embarrassment. He is so from principle — think- 
 ing it best for one to work out such a problem alone with 
 God. He is so from the perfect refinement of his nature, 
 which makes him shrink from intermeddling (even when 
 asked) with the finer issues of the soul, even when, nay 
 all the more when, they are those of his near relations. 
 And, after all, you will find more and more — the mourn- 
 fullest thing in life — that in almost everything we have 
 to go by ourselves. In a lesser sense we have to follow 
 Him who ^trod the wine press alone.' Specially in de- 
 ciding questions of personal duty I have found precious 
 little help from my best friends. They can pray for 
 us — be sorry for us — possibly give us some general advice, 
 but after all everyone must for himself solve the problem. 
 But the Holy Ghost, if sought, will lead us into all truth 
 and duty. . . . Last Wednesday I rose early and 
 
 went w^ith B , encountering ten fences to Brother 
 
 Summer son's, got a horse, which B rode home entirely 
 
 alone bareback, I on ^Yankee.' I spent the day in plough- 
 ing my corn and potatoes, and in hauling two loads of 
 wood. Whether it was fatigue, hollering ^Gee,' 'Haw,' or 
 cooling off too fast, I don't know, but I soon got so hoarse 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 81 
 
 I could hardly speak, and since have been used up gener- 
 ally. It was a terrible day's work. But I thought I ought 
 to work the corn. ... I have lately read a good 
 deal in Dr. Johnson. He was a great and good man. I 
 have also read much in Macaulay, Carlyle and Mackin- 
 tosh. I am surprised at my style not becoming better. 
 Send me an essay of two pages on the foundation 
 of the obligation to veracity, and I will do anything yo\i 
 tell me." 
 
 Under date of July 4th, 1804, he writes to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 " . . . The cherries are nearly gone, but they 
 have been much more delicious as they have become more 
 perfectly ripe. . . . My old Yankee rip has improved 
 finely. I have ridden him three days — one day nine 
 miles — and he bids fair to answer for my riding. It is 
 certainly much better than trudging with a sore heel on 
 a hot day. But J fear he is too high strung for the 
 buggy. ... 1 A\as trying last night to teach George 
 and Alice about the soul (s-o-u-1), but found their ideas 
 all of s-o-l-e, and desisted in despair. I said, 'George, 
 what is it in you that loves me ? Is it your hand ? Your 
 foot?' 'JSTo, Pa, it's my love.' . . . Monday, Ewell's 
 corps came and encamped all around us, Breckenridge's, 
 Rhodes' and Gordon's divisions all within half a mile, 
 and the two former within three hundred yards. Colonel 
 Winston, commanding Daniel's Brigade, a worthy Baptist, 
 had headquarters near our spring. . . . We had him, 
 and several members of his staff, two chaplains and a 
 good many soldiers, Joe Ficklin and Carter Braxton, to 
 
82 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 take meals with us, besides which Sue was giving milk 
 or bread, or sewing on buttons or something for some- 
 body all day. It was rather worrying, but we both en- 
 joyed doing something for the 'ragged soldiers,' as George 
 called them. . . . Our men were almost uniformly 
 
 well-behaved. Colonel D insisted on giving us a 
 
 guard, who, however, was hardly needed, and did little 
 but protect one cherry tree, which I reserved. The rest 
 were filled all day, well picked, and highly enjoyed by 
 the men. . . . After our men left, we got some in- 
 valuable soap grease; I bought some utensils. We could 
 have gotten hundreds of dollars' worth had we descended 
 to the grab game as many did." 
 
 Mr. Taylor had in his church more than one member 
 who was generous and kind to the pastor; the following 
 extract from a letter refers, among other things, to a 
 handsome gift from one of this number: 
 
 " . . . T have just had the present of a fine 
 cow from Mr. Peyton. I feel uncomfortably grateful. 
 I wrote you of my preaching on the Eternity of God. 
 I subsequently lighted on a subtle disquisition on that 
 theme by Addison in the Spectator." 
 
 It may be well to quote from a letter to his brother 
 Charles, v^rritten in September, 1864, in order that later 
 on the reader may see how Mr. Taylor eventually gained 
 a victory over morbidness : 
 
 "Though but yesterday I mailed you a four-page epistle, 
 I will not resist the inclination to pen a few lines more 
 to-day. I have enjoyed the summer hugely, principally 
 in the opportunities afforded for quiet study. I fear they 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 83 
 
 are over, as the weather requires a constant fire, and I 
 can't afford an extra one for myself. I think I would 
 afford it so far as the money goes, but I have great fears 
 about getting fuel in sufficiency this winter, for chamber 
 and kitchen. ... In all the brightness of yesterday 
 I was gloomy, miserable. To-day I have felt peaceful, 
 if not happy. .There is one good thing in these miserable 
 tits, they drive one to prayer — such prayer as one does 
 not offer morning and evening, when it is partly, at least, 
 from habit, or principle at best. The prayers I most 
 enjoy, or rather those whose blessed effects I feel most, 
 I put up on horseback, as I ride in solitude, after the 
 cares and temptations of a morning in tovm. 'Out of the 
 depths have 1 cried unto thee.' I am conscious there is 
 something morbid in many of my exercises. Yet I can- 
 not away with them any more than I could with head- 
 ache or dyspepsia. ... I feel my mind is what a 
 human body would be, were the skin off — it shrinks and 
 shivers at every contact. . . . For mother's sake I 
 will give you our bill of fare. Bacon, snap beans, boiled 
 corn, coffee, baked apples and milk. A very good dinner. 
 Often do I say, 'When all Thy mercies, O my God !' But 
 don't think us extravagant. Vide our butterless break- 
 fasts and suppers, often for days together. Gravy is very 
 good. ... I have just had a new illustration of 
 the line: 'Maidens, like moths, are taken with the glare.' 
 We have raised two roosters — a long-legged, brilliant game, 
 and a short-coupled, sturdy Conestoga. One had to go 
 up. I voted the game, but going into the kitchen found 
 Sue had doomed the Conestoga, and the fellow of gay 
 
84 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 plumage will be cock of the yard in future. 
 Yesterday was another of my happy days. ... I 
 spent a couple of hours foraging — found a little silver 
 quite influential. Then proceeded to hospital — then got 
 wagon and had sugar and my rations brought out — found 
 a fine quarter of mutton, bought some weeks since, had 
 preceded me. After a hearty dinner of Conestoga pie 
 . . . went to Reserve Camp hard by, and preached 
 from the words 'It is finished,' to a remarkably attentive 
 congregation. On returning home, did not lose my 
 placidity, though called on to administer quite a threshing 
 to — an apple tree, the fruit of which our ladies are now 
 peeling to dry.'' 
 
 Mr. Taylor had now for some time been living at the 
 Kinney place outside of Staunton. The letters of this 
 year show that the suffering caused by the war was in- 
 creasing. This letter was to his brother: 
 
 "... Getting leave of absence for a few days 
 gave me more trouble than one ought to have to cross the 
 Atlantic. . . . Got a half-fare ticket to Rockbridge 
 Baths of M. G. Harman, paying for the round trip 
 thirty dollars. Saturday after a rather earlier breakfast 
 of flannel cakes, accompanied by Sue, George and Sally, 
 I walked, with carpet bag in hand, to the gate and sat on 
 the bridge till presently the stage with four noble white 
 horses hove in sight — said horses trotting nimbly enough, 
 but not prancing, as the picture on the way-bills and ad- 
 vertisements represents. Took an outside seat and enjoyed 
 every inch of the ride. It turned cold, but Brosius 
 (driver) loaned me overcoat. . . . We reached 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 85 
 
 Brother D 's house by three o'clock. ... At dusk 
 
 Brother D came in from furnace, and six or seven 
 
 girls, just from Jump Mountain. . . . Sunday a. m., 
 a good deal stuffed up with cold, I started on a Morgan 
 stallion for Goshen. You know the wild beauty of the 
 scenery. I could not enjoy it, for soon it began to rain 
 and it was more than I could do to keep dry. Preached 
 to a very small congregation indeed. I wondered any one 
 was out, as it rained steadily from nine to two. . . . 
 Monday . . . rode back to Baths. Tuesday a. m. 
 took a bath before breakfast — rather imprudent. 
 A stage was brought out solely to bring me over about 
 eight miles to intercept regular stage on the Greenville 
 road. Had rather a stupid ride to Staunton, relieved by 
 Hazlitt's Table Talk — a pleasant book, though not the sort 
 you can remember. . . . Aunt Fannie goes down 
 Saturday. We shall send mother a bag of dried apples — 
 our own work and very nice. . . . She must count 
 on me for a turkey when I come. . . . You have no 
 idea how hard it is to find anything. And to my surprise, 
 at Goshen, I found butter six dollars.'' 
 
 The next letter, addressed to his mother, and dated 
 March 1st, 1865, helps one to realize that the end of the 
 war was approaching: 
 
 "... On Monday we had a grand mass meet- 
 ing, and raised 8,000 pounds bacon, 140 barrels flour, and 
 $100,000 as a contribution for the Government. Yester- 
 day news received that the Yankees are approaching in 
 heavy force. I came home and commenced hiding my 
 things, principally all the meat. I put it in half a dozen 
 
86 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 different places, and by night was about the tiredest man 
 you ever saw. . . . We think the Yankees will 
 probably come.'' 
 
 The next letter refers to the close of the war. During 
 the war Mr. Taylor was very active as a preacher and 
 took an important part in the revival of religion, which 
 swept over the Army of Northern Virginia. During one 
 of his absences in the army, his family being refugees in 
 Danville, his third child was born, lived a few weeks, and 
 died before news could reach him of events so near to 
 his heart. Of Grace, this little one who was cut off like 
 a flower, he used to say : ''Whom not having seen I love." 
 
 A few weeks after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, 
 Mr. Taylor wrote as follows to his brother from Kichmond : 
 
 " . . . Your telegram after the evacuation was 
 gratefully received. . . . Unable to hear anything 
 from father's family, and feeling a deep anxiety, besides 
 a curiosity to see the outside world, and a desire to dis- 
 cuss Hhe situation' with somebody out of Staunton, I deter- 
 mined to make my way to Richmond. . . . Three 
 weeks since I left home and came very comfortably, mak- 
 ing the interval between Mechum's River and Keswick, 
 twenty miles, on foot, and with a hand car. ... I 
 have just made a hurried trip to Baltimore, where I re- 
 ceived a most cordial welcome from my old friends, and 
 had a delightful time, though I was quite sick for two 
 days — in fact I have been ^donsy' ever since leaving home. 
 I bought a good many articles of necessity for our folks 
 here and for myself, and received one or two presents. 
 The June meetings have been unusually interesting. I 
 
REV. GEORGE BOAKDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 87 
 
 have never heard more good and less poor speaking. 
 . . . Last night I aided in the ordination of Thomas 
 Hume, Jr., who takes charge of the First Church, Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 ^^I was glad to hear that jou had so promptly gone to 
 work. It was a wise and noble step, and will be greatly 
 conducive to your happiness. In times like these, we need 
 to be actively engaged to keep from being unhappy. For 
 my part I accept the facts as indicating God's will, and 
 acquiesce with a peace of mind I had not thought possible. 
 Perhaps it is a fulfilment of the promise, 'As thy day is 
 so shall thy strength be.' Still I confess that ever and 
 anon the sad facts come over me with fresh power, and 
 almost crush and paralyze me. But it is all right, and 
 we must remember that we are chiefly connected with a 
 kingdom which is 'not of this world.' ... I am not 
 without fears for the future. The North is now as 
 clamorous for negro suffrage as they were for emanci- 
 pation. Then I fear for the negro himself, lest he be 
 crushed between the upper and nether millstone. But 
 I have faith that God will overrule all things for the 
 best interests of His cause and people. Dr. Sampson 
 spent an evening with us. He thinks the South has 
 achieved a moral and substantial victory — that slavery 
 will essentially continue, and that we will bear our full 
 part in the affairs of the country. I feel a deep solici- 
 tude for our late President, and bear very hardly the dis- 
 memberment of our old Mother State. But because a 
 Christian, I hope to be a good citizen." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The " Recon<tru<aion Period " — University Chaplaincy — Trip to Europe 
 
 Ah, happy hills, ah. pleasing shade, 
 
 Where once my careless childhood strayed. 
 
 — Gray. 
 + 
 
 If times wore hard with the ])eople of the South during 
 the war, the situation was in many respects more desperate 
 in the years which immediately followc^d. Certainly this 
 was the case with Mr. Taylor. The hardships which he 
 and his wife, neither of them very strong in body, had to 
 bear, made a serious draft «m their constitutions, yet how 
 cheerful was their spirit, how earnest their work, how 
 large and kind their hospitality I Let Mr. Taylor's letters 
 go on w^ith the story. As will be seen from this first letter, 
 the family moved, in the fall of 1865, from the country, 
 to rented rooms in town, remaining there until Mr. 
 Taylor purchased the old ^'Harraff House," which had 
 been built in 1796. To his mother he writes: 
 
 '^ . . . Thursday, busy taking down bedsteads, 
 packing books and otherwise preparing to move. 
 In the p. M. rode some thirteen miles on horseback to 
 marry a couple. Had a fine supper, and pretty pleasant 
 time, but got only five dollars. Had fully intended to 
 remain all night, but on thinking how necessary I and 
 
From a Photograph by Miley, about 1871 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 89 
 
 my horse would be the next morning, I determined to 
 brave the long, cold and lonely ride. I reached home 
 about midnight, with a fine bundle of cake, and Sue and 
 George got up and made a fire and sat with me in their 
 night gowTis, while I warmed. Such moments are among 
 the pleasant episodes of life. Friday and Saturday were 
 
 devoted to moving, our ever kind Mr. P sending his 
 
 great big wagon, and a hired one with my horse also run- 
 ning. . . . We are in the second story of the 'Old 
 National.' One immense room has been cut into four. 
 . , The main inconvenience is having but one en- 
 trance and having no store-room or closet. We have a 
 nice new cooking stove, and shall eat in the kitchen this 
 winter. The servants have a nice room, elegantly fur- 
 nished, upstairs. Brother J. B. Hoge and family occupy 
 the rest of the floor. There are, besides, perhaps a dozen 
 different families from garret to cellar . . . and the 
 provost marshal has his office and quarters down stairs. 
 I do not repine, indeed am conscious of being better oft" 
 than I deserve and have no doubt we shall be happy here, 
 but you can readily see I shall be in some respects far 
 from comfortable. . . . Now I must tell you of an 
 annoyance which would have tried the patience of Job. 
 You know I made a fine crop of oats. It, with some hay, 
 was hauled over here, and with some difficulty was stored 
 in my basement stable. The last of the four immense 
 loads was just fairly in Saturday p. m., when knock, knock 
 at the door. In walked the town sergeant! ^You will 
 have to remove all that provender at once. Against town 
 ordinance.' I got a respite till to-day, then went out and 
 
90 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 sold my provender at a sacrifice. I am so used to siicti 
 things, have scarcely been vt^orried. Have to-day sold 
 one cow and arranged temporarily to keep the other and 
 horse at a neighboring stable. I start in the a. m. for 
 Lexington, to remain several days.'^ 
 
 The next letter records the birth of a fourth daughter, 
 Mary. Keference is made to Kev. A. H. Sands, a preacher 
 and also an able lawyer and author. Sally Moore, to whom 
 reference is made, was the child who, born November 6th, 
 1863, had died of diphtheria, August 14th, 1865 : 
 
 " . . . During the past ten days I have been a 
 constant sufferer with rheumatism. I could scarcely, for 
 hours together, move myself on the bed, and in fact could 
 not be moved without suffering. I have found partial 
 relief from cupping, and the application of spirits of 
 turpentine. Yesterday a. m., a little after midnight, 
 Susan . . . became the mother of another daughter. 
 George is overflowing with happiness. / am thankful 
 for the babe, and that it is robust and perfect and pretty 
 and that Sue is so well, but uiy joy is very sober. l!iot only 
 are my thoughts constantly of my golden-haired Sally 
 Moore; but I feel how probably we will keep this little 
 one only long enough to love her and to make parting a 
 pang. This, however, should only guard me against an 
 idolatrous love. If a friend loans me a lovely flower to 
 bloom in my window, should I forbear to enjoy it simply 
 because he may some day recall it ? Specially if I knew 
 that he is a wise and good friend, and will not take the 
 flower back, unless it be for its good and my highest 
 happiness in the end. Specially if I am assured he will 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 91 
 
 one day give it to me again to keep always. What a 
 solution of difficulties could be afforded by the constant 
 remembrance — the deep conviction of the oneness of the 
 two lives, this and that side of Jordan — of the nearness 
 and narrowness of that stream ! 
 
 "Urged by J. B. T. Jr., A. H. S. and others, I came 
 home resolved to make a fair trial of writing out sermons. 
 Have written out two. Am rather pleased with result. 
 But it is still an experiment. Of this I am satisfied, it 
 is at least no more labor — I question if 'tis as much to 
 write out a sermon as to prepare it equally well without 
 writing. I shall be very glad some day to have you and 
 others, who can judge and are candid, hear me and tell 
 me how I can be most effective — by writing or by not 
 writing. . . . During my sick spells have been read- 
 ing Sterne. Uncle Toby is such a character, and the 
 quotations from the book are so general that I thought 
 it not wrong to read it. It is a book full of wit and 
 humor and eloquence and human nature, but in places 
 tiresome and often vile and impure. . . . Have lately 
 read several of Wayland's sermons. He is distinguished 
 for Doric simplicity and stateliness." 
 
 After the war, Mr. Taylor was in the habit of preach- 
 ing on Sunday afternoons in the basement of his church 
 to the colored people. In a letter to his brother he says : 
 "Last Sunday I baptized six colored persons. My colored 
 congregations large and interesting." The following 
 sentence is but one of many evidences of what a. faithful 
 pastor he was : "I have solemnly resolved to attempt sixty 
 
92 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 pastoral visits this week, preparatory to going to Scotts- 
 ville next week to help Long in a protracted meeting." 
 
 In a letter dated February 10th, 1867, he writes to his 
 brother : 
 
 '' . . . During the past week I have been reading 
 ^Ecce Homo.- I find much in it to differ from, still I 
 think it a book to do some minds great good. ... I 
 have set to work in good earnest to finish ^Coster Grew, 
 or the Young Machinist' — mean to finish it in a few 
 days. This and my sermons and my visits will absorb 
 me for a few days." 
 
 Before this time Mr. Taylor had published ""'The Oak- 
 land Stories," a series of four volumes, '"Kenny," ''Cousin 
 Guy,^' "Claiborne," "Gustave," for young people, the 
 scene of these books being laid in Baltimore. They were 
 written on the same general plan as the "Abbott Books," 
 yet with an individuality of their own. They had a wide 
 circulation and must have given much pleasure and done 
 great good. "Coster Grew," a Sunday-school story with 
 a healthy, religioTis tone, appeared in a short time, and 
 has proved so popular that it is still published. It was 
 followed by "Roger Bernard," another Sunday-school 
 story of about the same length. 
 
 In a letter to his brother Charles, under date of July 
 15th, 1867, he alludes to Dr. B. Sears, the agent of the 
 Peabody Fund: 
 
 "... Friday night, by invitation, I took tea at 
 General Echols' with Dr. Barnas Sears, and on Satur- 
 day I had him to dine with me. . . . He is very 
 affable, catholic in spirit and interesting in conversation. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 93 
 
 Yesterday I preached three times, besides con- 
 ducting Sunday school and colored people's meeting, and 
 to-day feel as much like a cabbage as a man." 
 
 In his anniversary sermon in Staunton, already quoted 
 from, Mr. Taylor thus referred to the coming to Staunton 
 of two distinguished men : 
 
 ^'The removal to Staunton, just after the war, of the 
 Rev. Dr. Barnas Sears, who had baptized Oncken, and 
 been president of Brown University, and later of Brother 
 John Hart, M. A., of the University of Virginia, was a 
 providential blessing to the Baptist cause here. For the 
 first time in its history this church had members, th(^ 
 peers in every respect of the first citizens. They were 
 both men of very high character and position, and as 
 church members their influence was the best possible." 
 
 The next letter, dated August 6th, 1867, refers to the 
 completion of the railroad to Covington. This road, now 
 known as the Chesapeake and Ohio, extends, to-day, 
 exactly as its name says, from the Chesapeake Bay to the 
 Ohio River: 
 
 ^^' . . . I also attended the picnic and speaking at 
 Covington, in honor of the railroad opening to that place. 
 . . . We spent the night at Brother Abraham's, and 
 the next day was occupied in a grand Sunday-school cele- 
 bration. I spoke an hour before dinner on ^the hand,' and 
 
 Dr. B after dinner on 'habit' . . . Sunday was 
 
 a heavy day with me ; I attended five services, besides 
 communion." 
 
 The "Lyceum" mentioned in the next letter had in it 
 the leading lawyers, the ministers and other literary people 
 
Vi LIFE A^T) LETTERS OF 
 
 • »f the xovm, and Mr. Taylor keenly enjoyed the meet- 
 ings, taking an active part. He writes to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 •* . . . In the p. M. I heard a colored brother 
 preach. I may have been prejudiced against him from 
 knowing of his trying to bite off his master's nose 
 but he did not edify me mtich. Friday night we had 
 quite a spirited debate at the Lyceum, in which I partici- 
 pated, on the morality of drinking spirits as a beverage. 
 We whipped out the liquor men. fair fight. . . . 
 Vale, vale, sed spero non longum vale, carissime frater. 
 Georgius Apis Sartor/' 
 
 At this time, in order to supplement his salary, which 
 was small and inadequate. Mr. Taylor taught, for one or 
 two sessions, a select private school. It is certain that 
 he was overburdened with work. AUusion is also made 
 to Rev. W. E. Hatcher, D. D., for many years pastor of 
 the Grace Street Baptist Church, Richmond. Va. To his 
 brother he writes : 
 
 ^^ . . . We expect Hatcher to deliver his lecture 
 here on the 26th. . . . Our choir is also in high 
 practice for a concert for benefit of our church. ... I 
 give Dwight Sears two lessons per week in Cicero and two 
 in Xenophon. He also recites four mornings a week in a 
 !N^atural Philosophy class. . . . My school jogs on. 
 Sometimes I feel that it will worry my very life out of 
 me, and perhaps involve me in difficulties with somebody. 
 . . . But I could not have lived without the pittance 
 it affords, and I trust patience is being cultivated. . . . 
 T have never known such pressure as I now feel." 
 
REV. GEOBGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 95 
 
 The next letter, also to his brother Charles, is dated 
 April 4th. 1868: 
 
 "... This week George and I have been sleep- 
 ing upstairs. . . . The new boy, alias Carter Brax- 
 ton, is pronounced by experts to be a Xo. 1, and even I 
 am impressed by his blended talent and amiability. 
 
 ''Last night, by special request of the Lyceum, I re- 
 peated my lecture. Being very unwell, I was much ex- 
 hausted and spent a wakeful, restless night, in consequence 
 of which I have been wretchedly sick to-day. ... I 
 am in receipt of a letter informing me of my appoint- 
 ment as agent and chaplain of Hollins Institute. The 
 appointment to be a permanent one. ... I have 
 little or no idea of accepting, though I may take a tour for 
 them in the summer." 
 
 In the next letter he alludes to the meeting, in May, 
 1868, of the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore. 
 and to speeches made by Rev. Drs. A. M. Poindexter and 
 J. L. M. Curry. Dr. Curry was member of Congress 
 before the Civil War: agent of the Peabody Fund, and 
 minister to Spain under President Cleveland: 
 
 "... Father, mother, .J. W. Jones, T. E. 
 Skinner and I stayed at Brother Wilson's, i. e.. night ed 
 and breakfasted there, for we dined at the church. . . 
 The meeting was as spiritual as any I have ever attended, 
 indicating wonderful vitality on the part of our people. 
 
 . . The best speeches of the meeting were by A. ^I. 
 Poindexter and Curry, both of them being very power- 
 ful. I didn't say a word during convention, nor make 
 a motion. I get more and more ditHdent every year. 
 
96 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 I teaed one evening with Sheldon at his hotel. 
 He rather urged me to write for the Galaxy J^ 
 
 In the summer of 1868 Mr. Taylor made a trip to iN^ew 
 England in the interests of Hollins Institute. He wrote 
 concerning this trip : 
 
 ^'I found Bellingham a small, quiet village made up 
 mostly of farmers owning from ten to twelve acres in the 
 neighborhood. ... I preached at 10.30 and 5.30. 
 I made a brief statement to the congregation 
 about Hollins Institute, and Mr. Massey followed, warm- 
 ly commending it ; whereupon an elderly man rose and, 
 interrupting him, inquired whether it admitted colored 
 
 girls. Mr. M evaded the question. I rose and 
 
 answered it. I was informed that it was the hahit of this 
 man thus to rise and ask questions, and that in this in- 
 stance he did not represent the public feeling. . . . 
 Called at Cousin Elisha Appleton's. . . . His wife, a 
 lovely Christian woman, as cordial and graceful in her 
 cordiality as our best Virginia ladies. William H. Apple- 
 ton, aged twenty-six, graduate of Harvard, just complet- 
 ing his law studies, and appointed Tutor of Greek at Har- 
 vard for next session — a very fine fellow. The other son, 
 graduate of Brown and Assistant Professor Chemistry 
 there, absent. ... In the main I declined, while 
 ISTorth, to answer challenges, thinking discussion useless 
 and dangerous. But on this occasion we had a very 
 spirited but entirely friendly talk, and I think I gave 
 them some new views. . . . Being a poor man I 
 deemed that economy demanded I should go to E'ewport, 
 which I did, and bathed in the surf in a pouring rain. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 97 
 
 The sensations and emotions among the most delightful 
 T ever experienced. I sang and danced and jumped and 
 hallooed and laughed. I could not help it." 
 
 The next letter, addressed to his brother Charles, tells 
 of a very different kind of trip from the one just described : 
 
 ^^ . . . Monday a. m., on one of my farm horses, 
 I started for Deerfield. I had anticipated your company 
 on that ride with peculiar interest. I had along two 
 books which I proposed we should discuss en route and at 
 
 D , ^Bishop Meade's Life' and I. Taylor's Thysical 
 
 Theory of Another Life.' The former I am disappointed 
 in. What relates to him personally is fresh and pleasant, 
 but so much about the trial of Onderdonk, etc., disgusted, 
 or at least wearied, me. The latter I have long wanted to 
 see and am now perusing with interest, H. Hatcher was 
 to have been at Deerfield, and T went, as much as any- 
 thing to have a good time; but he failed to attend, so I 
 had at once to take the laboring oar, which was the more 
 pleasa,nt, as that is a neighborhood where I am *much 
 thoughted of.' I preached five times ; four persons were 
 baptized ... I came home to-day, riding nearly all 
 the time in the rain." 
 
 On January 2nd, 1869, he writes to his brother Charles : 
 
 '^ . . . We ought to speak — I mean intimate 
 friends — more frequently on their religious experiences, 
 and when they do so it should be simply and naturally, as 
 on other themes. ... I have just put into clear 
 shape a difficulty I have often found in writing such a 
 letter as this. I have nothing but trifles, and these so 
 numerous that it is hard either to discriminate or to write 
 
98 I.IFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 them all. So I frequently in disgust don't write at all, 
 or, if I do, only in the baldest style. Would you be in- 
 terested in hearing that the shirt I was to put on to-morrow 
 was put on the stove and burned to death, and that there- 
 upon I held my peace ; that our cook has left, and for 
 two days Sue has officiated, George and I doing chores ; 
 that a beggar came here night before last purporting to 
 have been baptized by Spurgeon, and telling me a horrible 
 story of his misfoi-tunes, and that I gave him a supper 
 and then, taking him down to\Mi, paid my last half dollar 
 for his lodging; that I have finished 'Tl. B.,' and am 
 merely putting on some finishing touches (a bull!) — via, 
 can't you, Avithout trouble, send me a few selected prose 
 or poetical mottoes, to put at the beginnings of the 
 chapters? — that my text to-morrow is 'the joy of the Lord 
 
 is your strength' ; that by loss of , , etc., my 
 
 salary is not likely to be over $500 this year! that I 
 have been very good for nothing this week? — that we 
 have begun to have only two meals jyer diem ? No, I am 
 sure these things cannot interest you, so I close." 
 
 When Mr. Taylor's father was chaplain at the Uni- 
 versity of Virginia, the term of service was only one year. 
 Now it had for some time been two. Mr. Taylor's name 
 having been mentioned in connection with the place, he 
 wrote as follows to his brother Charles, then a student 
 at the University: 
 
 "I have shrunk from replying to your inquiry touch- 
 ing my acceptance of the chaplaincy. Hence my delay. 
 
 "While I could not be an applicant — much less a com- 
 petitor — for the position, I should certainly be gratified 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 99 
 
 to have the appointment conferred on me. Moreover, 
 while I think it would be discourteous to my church for 
 me to say absolutely, in advance, that I would accept the 
 office, if it were tendered me ; and while, indeed, I could 
 hardly decide positively such a question, unless it were 
 fairly before me, for decision; yet, on the other hand, my 
 estimate of the position, as offering opjx^rtunities of use- 
 fulness and of personal improvement, is such that 1 cer- 
 tainly feel as much inclined to it as one ought to feel to 
 any place which has not been offered him. This I say 
 very frankly; and add my opinion, that were I cordially 
 invited to be cha])lain of the Fniversity, and were there 
 no obstacles in the way of which I iun now ignorant, the 
 attractions which 1 have mentioned would even induce 
 me to sever a pleasant pastoral connection of twelve years' 
 standing, and assume duties, which, though pleasant, yet 
 seem to me peculiarly responsible, and from which T 
 shrink with unaffected diffidence." 
 
 The following letter, dated February 15th, 1869, and 
 addressed to his brother Charles, refers to Rev. Cornelius 
 Tyree, a noted Virginia pastor evangelist at that time : 
 
 ^^ . . . The truth is our meeting has absorbed all 
 my time and thoughts for a fortnight. . . . We have 
 
 had preaching twice daily. Brother T preached 
 
 well to large and attentive congregations. . . . He is 
 quite a study. With by no means broad mind, or great 
 originality, he has, by making preaching a specialty 
 (which every preacher should do), become a very good ser- 
 monizer. To this is added great earnestness of spirit and 
 manner. He made a fine impression here ; and Dr. Sears, 
 
100 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 who heard two or three of his best sermons, liked him very 
 
 much. . . . Brother T stayed at our house and 
 
 was very little trouble, and on the whole a pleasant and 
 profitable companion. ... At night we had the 
 largest crowd I have ever seen here. I had considerable 
 liberty — preaching very colloquially, with little gesture. 
 Of the latter I am trying to use less and less. My earlier 
 performances, in this regard, must have been very ridicu- 
 lous — as are some of them now. . . . We have had 
 one or two rather remarkable instances of Divine grace — 
 the reclaiming of a very wicked man; the subduing of a 
 proud girl, who a few days before declared nothing on 
 earth would induce her to be immersed. . . . Elder 
 
 T is very delicate and cousiderate in his treatuient 
 
 of a pastor, and I don't think my hands have been 
 weakened by the meeting, though the people wer(^ wonder- 
 fully carried away." 
 
 The next letter refers to his election to the chaplaincy 
 of the T University. Dr. Socrates Maupin was at that timc^ 
 the chairman of the faculty, and Dr. James L. Cabell 
 the distinguished professor of physiology and surgery. 
 He is writing to his brother Charles: 
 
 "I received a very kind (official) letter from Dr. 
 Maupin, and one equally kind from Dr. Cabell. I have 
 just replied to each, to the effect that I will consider and 
 decide without unnecessary delay. The fact is that while 
 I have a feeling that I will go, I must consider and pray 
 before reaching a formal, final conclusion. . . . You 
 feel a natural pleasure at the appointment; but you can 
 hardly realize the pain I suffer in even the thought of 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 101 
 
 It'aving here, specially since the last meeting, and its 
 precious results. . . . Pray for me. I feel almost 
 overwhelmed with a sense of unworthiness, weakness and 
 responsibility, and the delicacy of my position." 
 
 Before the following letter was written, which by the 
 way is illustrated, as his letters were now and then, with 
 several little thumb-nail pen sketches, he had accepted the 
 FJniversity chaplaincy. This letter also is to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 ^* . . . I have done very little this week. Have 
 been very unwell — partly my own imprudence ; and I have 
 this day resolved, in the fear of God, to be more careful 
 in obeying all the laws of health. . . . To-day T 
 have attended (unofficially) two funerals from Presby- 
 terian Church, and gone to grave both times. One, the 
 funeral of Mrs. McClung, aged eighty-eight, one of my 
 first friends in Staunton, sister of old Dr. Archibald 
 Alexander, whom she much resembled. Sue has sore 
 throat, from walking in the March wind, which is always 
 peculiarly severe on her. . . . George has been for 
 some time very anxious to be baptized. I have thought 
 some delay judicious, but I trust he is a child of Jesus, 
 and I don't mean to refuse permission to him to follow 
 the Saviour. ^Roger Bernard' was promptly accepted by 
 the A. B. P. S., and paid for, though it will not be issued 
 for some time. ... I somewhat expect to be off on 
 third Sunday, preaching and baptizing at Craigsville." 
 
 The origin of ^'Poger Bernard" is interesting. Robert 
 S. Prichard, a nephew of Mr. Taylor, while engaged in 
 nmning the blockade between the United States and the 
 
102 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 West Indies, had some very thrilling adventures. He 
 wrote out the story of these adventures, but was unable to 
 secure its purchase and publication. Whereupon Mr. 
 Taylor used the story, and wrote ^^Roger Bernard," which 
 was sold for $175.00, the nephew receiving a liberal pro- 
 portion of this amount. In all, up to this time his ^^un- 
 ])retending volumes," as Mr. Taylor called them, had 
 brought in about $1,000. The next letter refers to another 
 book, which he was working on in competition for a prize 
 offered by the American Baptist Publication Society. 
 This book, "Walter Ennis," while it did not win the prize, 
 was a most interesting and inspiring story of the early 
 struggles of Virginia Baptists for religious liberty. He 
 writes to his brother: 
 
 I am somewhat troubled in thinking of 
 my preaching at the Fni vol's ity. To use MS. will be to 
 sacrifice power as well as to involve a deal of drudgery 
 in writing. Yet, on the other hand, I tremble at venturing 
 before such an audience trusting to the inspiration of the 
 moment for my words and sentences. . . . Now \ 
 propose that you and I write jointly for at least two of 
 these prizes, dividing equally the proceeds. I am sure we 
 can get one or two of them. I will go on now and do 
 what I can reading and writing. You do what you can 
 thinking and plotting, and in July you can come over her(^ 
 and I will put the thing right through. I have finished 
 Campbell and am now on RivcV 'Madison' and 'Semple.' " 
 The next letter, to "Dear Charles," is dated March 
 19th, 1869: 
 "... John William Jones spent yesterday and 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 103 
 
 last night with us, and Elder P. C. Hoge took tea with 
 us. We all had a pleasant evening. Jones had designed 
 to deliver a pay lecture on 'Religion in the Army of 
 Northern Virginia' for the benefit of his church. . . 
 He expects to deliver it in Richmond and elsewhere. 
 Many of the people are waking up more and 
 more about my leaving, and would guarantee a good 
 salary promptly paid would T now consent to stay. This 
 is both pleasant and painful. Of course the die is cast, 
 nor do I know that I would have it otherwise. But it is 
 a characteristic of this life that every gain is bought by 
 a loss. . . . T find it difficult, if not impossible, to 
 do what you suggest, /. p., prepare sermons now to use at 
 the University. I must just go on preparing and preach- 
 ing as usual. Then T will use at the University what- 
 ever I have that will do, but working it up to suit the 
 time, etc." 
 
 Lizzie Hume, referred to in the next letter, was the wife 
 of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Hume, Sr., of Portsmouth, and 
 Mrs. Taylor's sister. She was famous for her beauty and 
 charm, and her piety was of no less high degree. Her ill- 
 ness was a shadow on the Staunton home for many months. 
 This letter, dated March 24th, 1869, is to ''Dear Charlie": 
 
 "... We greatly fear from letters to-night that 
 Lizzie Hume, who has been long sick, will not recover. 
 Tn one aspect, very sad, but she is a bright Christian and 
 heaven is better than earth." 
 
 During the following summer Mrs. Hume died at her 
 home in Portsmouth, her sister, Mrs. Taylor, being with 
 her to the end. Then in a verv brief time little Carter 
 
104 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Braxton, Mrs. Taylor's infant child, also passed away in 
 Portsmouth, and was buried in beautiful HoUy^vood, Rich- 
 mond, beside his little sister, who had been born and who 
 died in the dark days of the war. 
 
 The same summer Mr. Taylor made a trip to the 
 ^'Eastern Shore," as that district of Virginia lying between 
 the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean is called, 
 where he attended a district association, went fishing and 
 visited with romantic pleasure the birthplace of his wife. 
 The letter about this trip is dated August 19th, 1869 : 
 
 "... We left the steamer at Cheriton, vulgarly 
 called Cherrystone — but it is an Indian name, as are most 
 of the names on the Eastern Shore. We were met by 
 brethren and taken to the home of Brother Wilkins. They 
 
 gave me a specially cordial reception, ^Mrs. W having 
 
 once been an inmate of Susan's father's family. She 
 reminisced of her saving Sue from drowning, when the 
 latter, a little child, fell into the water which came up 
 to the garden wall. I sat do^^^l to a good dinner, and 
 was soon regaling myself on a gosling, which I soon found 
 to be as much an institution on "the shore,' as even fish 
 and other water gentry. . . . The n( xt day the old 
 man and I, with a negro and John More — the typical form 
 of the rac(^ of fisherman — ^went out and spent the a. m. 
 fishing, near Cobb's Island. We got a couple of bushel 
 baskets full. I had the pleasure of hauling up several 
 as long as my arm. It was quite exciting. ... I 
 was sick all the time, which impaired, though it did not 
 destroy, my enjoyment. At first, a general cold, making 
 me stupid. It then attacked my speaking organs, and I 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. I>. 105 
 
 became very hoarse. Under these circumstances I spoke 
 on missions, and almost totally lost my voice ; nor have I 
 since regained it, or indeed gotten decidedly better. This 
 was, and is, a sore trial, as preaching or much talking, 
 even in the private circle, was out of the question. A 
 great many inquiries were made for you by parties who 
 still affectionately remember you. This is not strange ; 
 but it did seem a little so to be grasped by the hand and 
 asked why I had so long delayed my return to the shore. 
 In vain my protestations that this was my first visit there 
 unless in a preexistent state. Tt would not avail. The 
 people were not to be fooled that way, and they would 
 remind me of the meeting at Red Bank, etc., and when 
 I would utter the talismanic words 'my brother,' a curious 
 expression would creep over their featurc^s. I am sure 
 had you murdered anybody I uiust have swung for it. 
 
 . . The last night 1 spent on the Eastern Shore 
 was at the home of old Mr. Nottingham. On our way to 
 take the boat, he took me to the ruins of the fine old 
 mansion where Sue was born, and which belonged to her 
 father. I gazed upon it and walked over it with deep 
 and romantic interest." 
 
 In a letter to one of the family, September 16th, 1869, 
 he writes : 
 
 "... I ran over to the University yesterday, and 
 was gratified at my reception by the professors, and at 
 my expected home. If we can have health and the Lord's 
 comforting presence, we shall be very happy there." 
 
 The move to the University was made towards the end 
 of September, 1869. Parting with the good people of 
 
106 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Staunton and the Staunton Church was painful, and it 
 was with deep sorrow^ that the church saw their dear 
 pastor leave. The reception at the University was most 
 cordial. At that time, among the members of the faculty, 
 were John B. Minor, John Staige Davis, George Fred- 
 erick Holmes, M. Scheie de \"ere, Francis H. Smith, 
 Charles S. Venable, Basil L. Gildersleeve, William H. 
 McGuffey, James L. Cabell, William E. Peters, and John 
 S. Mallet, and the faculty and Fniversity was not too large 
 to be in some ways like a large family. It was a most 
 delightful place to live, and from the very first Mr. and 
 Mrs. Taylor most thoroughly enjoyed the life in their 
 new home. They were located in "the parsonage," on 
 the edge of the University grounds. At that time the 
 present chapel had not been built, nor the splendid Madi- 
 son Hall. Keligious services were held in the chapel 
 east of the Rotunda, while the only quarters the 
 Y. M. C. A. had was a small room on East Lawn, a 
 lecture room being used for their Sunday afternoon serv- 
 ices. During th(^ first year at the University Mr. Taylor's 
 brother Charles, and Robert S. Prichard, a step-son of 
 his sister Jane, both students, were members of the par- 
 sonage household. 
 
 In speaking of his going to the University of Virginia, 
 and events just before this move, Mr. Taylor, in his 
 memorial sermon, in Staunton, said: 
 
 "It was hardly to be expected that the perfect peace of 
 church and pastor should not one day be threatened and 
 partly interrupted. A trouble, mercifully neither exten- 
 sive nor prolonged, came at last in this way: Our congre- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 107 
 
 gation of colored brethren, besides occupying a gallery at 
 the morning and night services, had a meeting of their 
 own every Sunday afternoon in the lecture room, attended 
 by me on the two Sundays of the month when I did not 
 have an appointment at one of the State institutions here. 
 It was an equal pleasure to preach to our colored congre- 
 gation, hear their characteristic exhortations, and join in 
 their tuneful songs. The two leaders — James Payne and 
 an older brother — were men respected in the community 
 and of undoubted piety. A new-comer, who joined this 
 church after the close of the war, proposed in a small 
 church meeting that the colored brethren be required to 
 pay rent for the use of the lecture^ room or go elsewhere, 
 and both then and afterwards the proposal was urged with 
 appeals to race and class prejudice. This I opposed with 
 all my might, and thenceforth I had reason to know that 
 T had an adversary in the church. The colored brethren, 
 who probably never heard of what had passed, were only 
 too willing to leave us, which they promptly did, and our 
 church had another daughter. On my part there was the 
 greatest need of self-control and patience, and by God's 
 mercy there was no rupture, no rift within the lute to 
 make the music mute. But it was a time of great trial 
 to me, and of great suffering and anxiety, and when in 
 1869 I was called to the chaplaincy of my Alma Mater, 
 the University of Virginia, it was a relief, especially as 
 I left a united and devoted church, who felt that the honor 
 offered their pastor was in some sense their own. 
 
 "This was really my first invitation to another field. 
 More than once I had been wanted elsewhere, but in- 
 
108 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fluential brethren said: 'Oh, do not call him; he is in his 
 proper place, and ought not to leave Staunton.' This 
 was wrong on their part, though Avell meant and true as to 
 fact. Dr. James W. Alexander well said: 'A call should 
 never be crushed in the egg. It is a tribute and an en- 
 couragement to a minister; and it may help him where 
 he is for the people to know he is wanted elsewhere.' Dr. 
 Robert Ryland used to say that in his long career in Rich- 
 mond he had never received a call to another field. The 
 reason in his case was patent : he could not be spared from 
 the college and the great work in the African Church. 
 After the war the colored people came into politics in our 
 Southland. T was once at the courthouse when whites 
 and blacks addressed the mixed crowd. Ah, what is that 
 I hear! Two of the colored deacons of our church were 
 speaking, and their speeches gave me a pleasant surprise. 
 There was no bitterness in their hearts or on their lips. 
 Their words were those of respect and kindness. They 
 had no complaints to make as to the past. As to their 
 religious privileges they said that they and others had had 
 all that could be desired in our church, and had been 
 lovingly cared for by its pastor. Brethren, those words 
 were music in my ears and a solace to my heart. 
 
 ^^Brother William Harrison Williams succeeded to the 
 pastorate of this church. He was a fellow-townsman of 
 mine, citizen of no mean city, a graduate of Richmond 
 College and of the Seminary, and had served the Fred- 
 ericksburg Church and the First Church in Charleston, 
 S. C. Gifted and trained both as preacher and pastor, 
 ho did here, with the aid of his excellent wife, a good 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 109 
 
 work, the Sunday school specially increasing in numbers 
 and efficiency and the gifts of new brethren being brought 
 into exercise. A career of usefulness was before him in 
 this field, where he might have grown, as he did else- 
 where, in grace, in power, and in noble service even to 
 the end. But in this almost perfectly pacific church he 
 had trouble, and chiefly through the brother already 
 referred to, who caused it elsewhere, both before and 
 after his relation with this church; nor did a protracted 
 meeting held by the noted evangelist, Mr. Earle, seem to 
 bring peace. T almost thought the contrary, although 
 there was a <:aiii in the membership." 
 
 The following letter is written from the T^niversity, 
 under date of September 2Gth, 1869: 
 
 '^Yesterday, though half sick from sleeplessness, cold 
 and morphine, I 'diked' and went to Charlottesville on 
 cars to attend to some business. . . . Called on Drs. 
 Maupin and McGuffey, and chatted a few moments with 
 Professors Smith, Venable, Mallet, Holmes and Minor. 
 I had purposed going to hear Long to-day . . . but 
 it has been a close, rainy day, and the air, though warm, 
 very damp. So I have kept very close. Susan thinks 
 it a good thing I could not go out. I read the Epistle of 
 St. James in Greek, George accompanying me with King 
 James, who was by no means a saint. . . . Aunt 
 Aire [the colored cook] came to-day, and we have a load 
 of wood, so that things are fairly going; though not so 
 fairly as when I get my cow and some butter. I say 
 with the Frenchman, 'A butterless world is no world for 
 me.' ... I do hope soon to get better. For two 
 
110 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 or three days have found it pleasant to lie down every 
 moment I was not going about.'' 
 
 Thus the life at the University began. The circle at 
 the parsonage formed a delightful partie carree, what with 
 study, books, conversation and work, very resourceful, yet 
 entering thoroughly into the social and intellectual life of 
 the college and of Charlottesville. Mr. Taylor did, 
 probably, during his University life, the best preaching 
 of his life, though he continued to suffer much from weak- 
 ness and sickness. 
 
 In the suinnier uf 1870 Mr. Taylor and his brother 
 Charles decided rather suddenly to take a trip to Europe. 
 In a financial way it was not an opportune time for Mr. 
 Taylor to take such a trip, but he did not know when 
 again he might have such a vacation, and then his thirst 
 for knowledge, and love of adventure, no less perhaps 
 than a hope for renewed physical vigor by a complete 
 change of scene, helped towards the decision which was 
 reached. When, however, the time came for Mr. Taylor 
 to leave the University to meet his brother in New York, 
 he was sick, quite sick. His wonderful spirit won the 
 day. He started with pillows, fearing that he might have 
 to turn back at New York. As was the case so very often 
 in later years, the travel on the train helped him; he 
 did not turn back at New York. J. C. Williams, to whom 
 he refers, was his cousin, a prominent broker in Richmond 
 and treasurer of the Foreign Mission Board of the 
 Southern Baptist Convention. He wrote: 
 
 ''Dear Charlie — ... I now hope to get off to- 
 night, and that you will meet me at Gordonsville, as I 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYEOR, D. D. Ill 
 
 will hardly be able to take the journey to 'New York alone. 
 In case I go, I will telegraph you, and this is only to give 
 more definite information. In case of our missing each 
 other, rendezvous at Sheldon's. If you canH come to-night 
 you can contrive a note to meet me at Gordonsville. 
 Please ascertain if I can get $300 or $400 from J. C. 
 Williams on same terms. I haven't yet made my final 
 arrangements on the subject, though will hear from F. W. 
 to-day, if he is at home, and think, too, I can certainly 
 get it in Charlottesville. I have been flat on my back and 
 able to attend to nothing." 
 
 These lines will show both the suddenness with which 
 this trip was undertaken and the indomitable spirit which 
 did not give up the trip when less than twenty-four hours 
 before starting time he was sick and without the necessary 
 money. He and his brother sailed on the ''City of 
 Brooklyn," of the Inman Line. Mr. Taylor proved a 
 most excellent sailor and keenly enjoyed the motion of the 
 vessel, the sea air and scenes. He wrote long letters 
 home, enjoyed his Bible reading and preached perhaps 
 more than once to the steerage people, besides having much 
 religious conversation with individuals. From the ''City 
 of Brooklyn," Atlantic Ocean, July 14th, 1870, he wrote 
 to his wife: 
 
 "... How you would laugh could you see me! 
 I am on the upper, fore-deck, tucked away in the top of 
 a ventilator, which just affords room for me and my ink- 
 stand and is very comfortable, except that my legs are 
 dangling. . . . But my hand I must not raise from 
 the sheet or away it would go to demoralize the porpoises 
 
112 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 with my wit, and poor Sue would be that much the loser. 
 In fifteen minutes after we started I was re- 
 minded of the dangers, of the poor sailors at least, by see- 
 ing one fall perhaps forty or fifty feet from the yardarm to 
 the dex3k. He broke his arm and was otherwise terribly 
 mangled. The only wonder was that he was not killed." 
 
 They landed at Queenstown, spent a day visiting the 
 Lakes of Killarney, and then, hurrying on, reached Lon- 
 don late Saturday night. The first thing Mr. Taylor did 
 in London was to find his way to Spurgeon's Tabernacle, 
 and the first words he heard Spurgeon speak, in his open- 
 ing })rayer, ran somewhat thus : "O Lord, we have been 
 tossed about all the week on the ocean of care and worry ; 
 may we this day rest in Thee !" 
 
 Their plan, when leaving home, was to visit Germany. 
 The first news, however, upon landing was that the Franco- 
 Prussian War had broken out. After some sight-seeing in 
 England they set out for the continent, substituting France 
 and Italy for Germany. They were in Paris at a most 
 exciting time and had several thrilling adventures. One 
 day Mr. Taylor was on the top of an omnibus, when the 
 angry crowd came down the boulevard with a German 
 whom they had caught. The traffic on the street stood 
 still. The people on the omnibuses stood up and shouted. 
 Mr. Taylor was afraid to sit still, or to stand up and 
 shout. His light complexion and reddish beard, and his 
 inability to speak French, increased his danger. As soon 
 and as quickly as he could he slipped down from the top 
 of the 'bus. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 113 
 
 From Berne, August 8th, 1870, he wrote to his wife : 
 ''My last was a hurried note written at my banker's in 
 Paris. ... I was quite heartsick at getting no letter 
 and at the idea of starting on a three weeks' tour during 
 which I could not possibly hear from you. . . . As I 
 feared, our delay prevented our leaving and spending the 
 night at Fontainebleau. . . . We decided, however, 
 to move to a hotel near our station, as the train left early. 
 This we did against the protest of host, who insisted there 
 were no hotels in that locality. At this I laughed in my 
 sleeve. . . . He also insisted on calling a cab for us, 
 saying we could not go on a 'bus with our luggage. 
 . . . Here again I knew better, and we soon were for 
 three or four sous each safely deposited at our destination. 
 Rejecting larger and more showy houses, we put up at a 
 small but neat house kept by a Swiss. It bore, however, the 
 lofty name Hotel de 1' Universe. . . . Early the next 
 morning we were u]» and got a bowl of delicious coffee, then 
 repaired to the de])()t, a few steps oif, and were soon 
 rapidly gliding through an interesting country. All the 
 time my eyes were drinking in the new and beautiful and 
 ever diversified scenery. We breakfasted and dined on 
 the train from bread and cheese and sardin(\s, supple- 
 mented by fruit, which is abundant and cheap. Nearly 
 all the way we had an entire compartment to ourselves. 
 A little after dark we broke our journey, having 
 travelled over 300 miles, at Pontarlier, the frontier town 
 between France and Switzerland. Here our passports 
 were examined and reexamined by the French officials. 
 Tt was quite funny. After examining them at the station. 
 
114 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 one of them followed us to the hotel and repeated the 
 process. As he did so I pointed to the spread eagle on 
 mine and in pantomime told him I was under its wings 
 and he dare not touch me ; whereat he was convulsed, and 
 thinks I to myself, the eagle has pecked me long enough, 
 she must protect me now. . . . Our recollections of 
 Pontarlier are not flattering. We had laid over there in 
 order to see the next few miles by daylight. Eichly were 
 we repaid. ... At four o'clock we took the train 
 and came to this place, making this our stopping place for 
 Sunday. ... I spent a peaceful, happy and I trust 
 ])rofitable Sabbath. We went to the cathedral, and to our 
 joy found it Protestant; the singing, to the fine organ, 
 congregational and devout; the preacher earnest, though 
 we could not tell what he said. Then a stroll. Then in 
 my pleasant room a season of religious service. Then 
 heard a sermon at the English service ; another stroll ; 
 dinner, table d'hote, at five; another stroll and reading 
 till bedtime. . . . The air is thick with the rumors 
 of the war, and people excited." 
 
 On August 12th, 1870, he wrote to his wife, describing 
 among other things his trip across the Alps : 
 
 " . . . Yesterday was a day long to be remembered 
 by me. We rose at four and were on the diligence till ten 
 at night; much of the time on top, nothing to obstruct 
 our view of the grand and lovely scenery. Up, up we 
 went, winding round and round, now on galleries built 
 out from the mountain side, now over stone bridges, now 
 through tunnels cut through the solid rock, till, after six 
 hours' hard climbing, the summit was reached, vegetation 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 115 
 
 and the goats and cattle being left below, while near us, 
 but still towering above, was the snow and ice which never 
 melt or disappear. The cold became quite intense, but I 
 managed with my good wrapijings to keep comfortable. 
 We were drawn most of the time by seven horses. There 
 are no reins to the leaders, they being driven by the voice 
 and a long whip. Such cracking of the whip I never 
 heard. It was like pistol cracks and unintermitting. 
 Every few miles was a 'Refuge' and at shorter intervals 
 were crucifixes and figures, large or smaller, of Christ on 
 the cross. Indeed these had been quite numerous after 
 we passed St. Maurice, the line between Protestant and 
 Catholic Switzerland." 
 
 The rest of this drive, when he had his first view of 
 Italy, is thus described by Dr. Taylor in his "Italy and 
 the Italians'^ : 
 
 ''It was in the summer of 1870 that I first saw Italy. 
 I was comparatively ignorant of her history and treasures, 
 but with a mind (>})en to impressions. My entrance was 
 over the Simplon on the top of a diligence, and on those 
 Alpine heights, despite abundant wi'aps, I suffered from 
 the intense cold : but one after another of these was thrown 
 off as we swiftly descended, and all were thrown off when 
 Italy was reached, although 'the shades of night were 
 falling fast.' Into the court of a spreading inn we sudden- 
 ly dashed, and while the horses were changed, I sallied 
 forth to use in the purchase of fruit the few Italian words 
 acquired during the day. I may say in passing that I was 
 only a summer tourist and had no more idea of spending 
 a quarter of a century in Italy than I now have of a flight 
 
116 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to the moon. AVith a fresh team we were soon bowling 
 over a road as smooth and level as a floor to the rhythmical 
 beat of the horses' hoofs and the music of their bells. 
 On one side lay the island-studded Lake Maggiore and 
 on the other rose vine-clad terraces crowned with many 
 a villa, while the moon, riding high in the heavens, shed 
 a mystical glory on the novel and lovely scene ; I seemed 
 to be in fairyland, and the feeling was only increased 
 when a few hours later I was supping at Arona in an 
 arbor illuminated by the moon and by Chinese lanterns 
 hung amid the foliage of the trees." 
 
 The travellers went as far south as Rome and then 
 turned their faces towards England and home. From 
 Paris Mr. Taylor wrote to his wife on August 28th, from 
 the little Hotel de V Universe •• 
 
 "... Our heart was made glad by receiving 
 your letter of July 81st. . . . After devouring our 
 
 letters C and I parted. . . . About 10.30 at 
 
 night I reached the Place de la Bastille, near which is 
 this hotel, and struck out boldly for it. But, lo and 
 behold ! I could not find it. I spent an hour in looking 
 for it and then had to give it up, though I knew 1 must 
 be within a quarter of a mile of it. I took an omnibus 
 and went three miles or so to an entirely different part 
 of the city to our former hotel, and spent the night. The 
 next morning as I was sitting down to breakfast in walked 
 Charlie, who, as I had expected, had felt pretty uneasy 
 about me, thinking of La Morgue, arrests, etc." 
 
 The next day (August 29th, 1870), in a letter to his 
 sister, Mrs. Fannie Ficklin, he wrote: 
 
REV. GEORGE BOAR DM AN TAYLOR, D. D. 117 
 
 '' . . . Paris is in great excitement. Many think 
 the Prussians will soon be here. All strangers are hurry- 
 ing off, fearing the railroads will be cut, even if the 
 Prussians do not get here. We see a great many people 
 going with furniture, etc., evidently gotten up in haste. 
 It reminds me so much of Confederate times." 
 
 Before sailing Mr. Taylor, leaving his brother, made a 
 little journey to Nottingham, where he found a number 
 of his kin people, and to the village of Barton-on-Humber, 
 his father's birth})lace. Two brief letters tell something 
 of this trip: 
 
 ^'Nottingham, Tuesday, <).:>() p. m. — Dear Charles: I 
 had a pleasant trip here ; put up at a good hotel and ke])t 
 close during the rain last evening. This morning sallied 
 forth and, by the blessing of God, in answer to prayer, 
 found, after diligent search, all our relations. I dined 
 and shall spend to-night at the house of father's first 
 cousin, George Gascoyne Taylor. 1 go to-morrow a. m., 
 eight o'clock, to Barton. Shall ])robably hear from you 
 before I leave here, as 1 understand the Liverpool mail 
 is open at seven a. m. If necessary and possible, I shall 
 leave Barton to-morrow evening. I have been tramping 
 about in the wet and am not well, but hope, with pru- 
 dence, by the Divine mercy, to rejoin you in good health. 
 I trust you have been favored and guided in your decisions 
 
 and arrangements. ... Be very careful in L . 
 
 It is said to be a bad place. ... I write this on the 
 Bible of our great-grandfather, George Taylor. Your 
 loving brother, G . Particulars when we meet. Be 
 
118 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 economical. I will not have over four or five pounds 
 when I reach L ." 
 
 The next day he wrote as follows : 
 
 *' 'Sheaf and Stack/ Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, 
 September Yth, 7 p. m., 1870. — Dear Charlie : Your kind 
 and eminently satisfactory letter was received by me this 
 morning as I proceeded to the station. I left Nottingham 
 at eight, accompanied by my cousin. We stayed three 
 hours at Lincoln, visiting the magnificent cathedral, 
 attending choral service, walking by the castle and over 
 the city and . . . talking, . . . mainly of Aus- 
 tralia, where he has been for years. We then came hither, 
 arriving about four o'clock. He showed me the grave of 
 our great-aunt and great-grandmother and the house where 
 our great-grandparents lived and where probably father 
 was bom ; also the house where grandfather served his 
 time and worked at his trade. We then got a good dinner 
 and he left. It has been raining heavily since, keeping 
 me indoors. T have been suffering with cold. . 
 I am not uneasy, but feel the need of great prudence. I 
 have on now a pair of my host's slippers. I am stopping 
 at the Wheat Stack — a wee inn, but very comfortable and 
 homelike. I will have a deal to tell you when we meet, 
 as you will me. . . . I go to Hull to-morrow, then 
 to some towns — don't know yet which. ..." Then 
 in pencil these words are added: '^September 8th, 8.30 
 A. M. — I write from the grave of our great-grandmother, 
 in nearly the oldest churchyard in England. I am well ; 
 have your second letter. My plan now is to spend the 
 night at Sheffield, spend a few hours in Manchester to- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. L). 119 
 
 morrow and reach L cither to-morrow night or Sat- 
 urday A. M. God bless you. . . . Am much pleased 
 with your arrangements." 
 
 During Mr. Taylor's absence his wife had with her 
 her sisters Mrs. Ficklin and Mrs. Slaughter, and their 
 children. A trip to Europe^ then being a rarer event than 
 it is to-day, no wonder that Mr. Taylor's return was a 
 great occasion and that the children were delighted be- 
 yond words at the ShclHeld knives, Paris trinkets and 
 many interesting pictures which the traveller distributed 
 with liberal hand. Better far, however, even in the opin- 
 ion of the children, were the accounts of all the fine things 
 he had seen beyond the sea. 
 
 Soon the session began, and on October 13th, 1870, Mr. 
 Taylor wrote to his brother Charles : 
 
 '^ . . . I have spent this a. m. mostly walking u]) 
 the O. and A. railroad, getting up a sermon on Ps. xxv : 7 
 for Sunday night. Have just finished a letter to J. B. T. 
 Jr. ; he is coming up here with his little cripple boy, for 
 
 Dr. C to operate on. . . . The death of General 
 
 Lee deeply affects me. His character is a reproof and 1 
 stand awed and subdued. I mean to preach (probably 
 from II Sam. iii: 38) in reference to the event. I am 
 much more free from pain and annoyance than when I 
 wrote, and have besides put myself regularly under Dr. 
 D . Morning prayers finely attended." 
 
 The next letter is headed ''Carissime Frater," under 
 date of October 24th: 
 
 '' . . . Mrs. Slaughter left this a. m. Her 
 presence has been like sunlight — like an angel's visit. 
 
120 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 She combines such matronly dignity with youthful 
 vivacity — is so pious, amiable, sympathetic, appreciative. 
 Her children, too, are very interesting. . . . To-day 
 I was invited to address the Methodist Sunday school at 
 some early day, and promised to do so." 
 
 In the next letter the Barksdale alluded to is now Judge 
 W. R. Barksdale, of Halifax County, Virginia. It bears 
 date of IS^ovember 27th: 
 
 "Dear Charles — . . . You can't imagine how 
 quietly w^e are living, we four, with but one servant, and 
 just now George is in Richmond. Sue or I make two 
 fires every morning Ix'fore breakfast. My old study is 
 occupied by a man and his wife^ the former salving my 
 wood, which I have been doing. . . . While at Hali- 
 fax I met Barksdale, who seemed as glad to see me as 
 I was to see hiia. . . . I am delighted to hear that 
 he has taken a bold and decided jxtsitioii as a Christian 
 and a Baptist; superintendent of the Sunday school, and 
 in short becoming the man of the little Baptist interest 
 there. . . . C. Read is worth his weight in gold. 
 
 . . The event of last week was a lecture before the 
 Christian Association by Dr. Armstrong on 'Dis- 
 coveries in the Great Pyramid.' He stayed with us, and 
 was very agreeable. We breakfasted at Colonel Ven- 
 able's. The lecture was a success. One- hour and twenty 
 minutes ex tempore and using a diagram with my (your) 
 cane. ... I should be through my first round of 
 visits and advanced in my studies and writing, but for 
 constant interruption, mainly by sickness. I have lately 
 had a serious throat trouble. Could not preach last 
 
REV. GEOKiiE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, T). D. 121 
 
 Sunday ; had to get two Methodist brethren, one of whom 
 preached nearly an hour and a half. For some days 
 almost lost my voice and was invalid generally. To-day 
 I have preached twice, but my throat is weak and no 
 power in my voice. . . . Having been away and 
 being so unwell, I sent George down to the stockholders' 
 meeting.'' 
 
 The next letter, addressed to his father and mother, 
 refers to the birth of a son and to other matters in the 
 life of the family. Tt is dated December 25th, 1870: 
 
 '' . . . The baby (still nameless), is — I say it 
 with gratitude, not pride — unusually well and good and 
 quiet. . . . Almost each day some delicacy has come 
 for Susan from our neighbors ; generally, tou, in sufficient 
 abundance to give us all a taste, if not a feast. 
 The Venabks and* Davises have sent the children very 
 pretty presents. Mary has said again and again: 'Oh, I 
 am so happy !' ^N'ow, ordinarily when people stop to 
 talk about their feelings, they are not so very intense, 
 but in this case the mouth s])oke out of the abundance of 
 the heart. T omitted in my meteorological introduction 
 to say that the cold has deprived us of gas and, we fear, 
 frozen our apples. The last is a misfortune, as we have 
 several barrels and well nigh live on them. . . . And 
 now I will take another half sheet mainly for the sake 
 of speaking of father's expected visit. I need not say it 
 will not be in any sense an intrusion. On the contrary, 
 it will be peculiarly pleasant, as well as perfectly con- 
 venient, to have him, and we would not have him not 
 come for anything. Susan had repeatedly spoken of his 
 
122 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 coming, and is delighted at the prospect, thinking she 
 may even see more of him and enjoy his company more 
 from being confined to her room.'' 
 
 Mr. Taylor's brother Charles was now Professor of 
 Latin at Wake Forest College, North Carolina. In a 
 letter to him he says: 
 
 '' . . . Dr. A said while in prison he read the 
 
 whole Bible through every twenty days. . . . The 
 Publishing Society offers to pay me $250 for a book on 
 England, bringing out religious and Baptist items. 
 . . . Susan is to me better and sweeter every day. I 
 often tremble at the thought of losing her, but though we 
 live in a world of death, it is not well morbidly to dwell 
 on what may come. ... I am preaching almost 
 entirely ex tempore, though trying to keep a record of 
 what I say, so as to be able to reproduce it. But I can't 
 look the people in their eyes. ^Yhat shall I doP^ 
 
 On the first Sunday in each month many of the Univer- 
 sity people go to Charlottesville, a mile away, to attend 
 their several churches, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper ; 
 this always made the chapel congregation smaller on these 
 Sundays. On January 1st, 1871, Mr. Taylor, writing to 
 his brother Charles, alludes to Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, 
 for more than half a century the pastor of the Second 
 Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va., and a most brilliant 
 preacher : 
 
 "... The Christmas has passed quietly. We 
 thought of you. . , . George dined one day at Mr. 
 J 's. . . . He also enjoyed the snow and ice. 
 
REV, GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 12o 
 
 Even I did not disdain to get in a bobsled and be sent 
 over the big pond, a la telegraph, by a fine skater. . . . 
 I preached this a. m. a new sermon, written out, from 
 Matt. XX : 28. I did not expect any congregation, the 
 day being so exquisite, and communion in town too; but 
 we had eight professors and a sprinkling of students and 
 others. To-night I preached from 'Go to, ye that say,' etc. 
 — an old sermon revamped. The chapel unusually 
 crowded, but the air was better than usual, and hence I 
 am not so utterly used up as I am sometimes. ... I 
 succeeded in inducing the proctor to get from Baltimore 
 a ventilator for the chapel. I have just written to Dr. 
 Hoge to come here and ])reach a week. . . . Pray 
 for us. . . . When you come you can see my fine 
 boy. . . . Susan is, at this moment and much of her 
 time, spending strength and fueling anxiety as only a 
 mother ever does in this world. Pray for her and the 
 child." 
 
 Not imcommonly Mr. Taylor, acting upon a suggestion 
 of his brother Charles, wrote a letter which went to his 
 brother James, then pastor at Culpep^T Court House, and 
 next to his parents and sisters in Richmond, and finally to 
 his brother Charles at Wake Forest, J^orth Carolina. 
 The following was such a ''circular" letter. The A. E. D. 
 alluded to is Rev. A. E. Dickinson, for many years editor 
 of the Religious Herald. It bears date of January 30th, 
 1871: 
 
 "... After our glorious weather, we have been 
 having some rather trying to delicate folks. . . . But 
 George has enjoyed the sliding and it has made the 
 
124 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 students young again, to the great damage of split-bottoms. 
 
 . . . Last week I read Mansil's Timits of Keligious 
 
 Thought.' It is a noble book and did nie good. 
 
 T am reading for recreation 'Tales of the Border' — ten 
 
 volumes — from library. ... I wish A. E. D. would 
 
 come and give me a week's preaching, beginning on a 
 
 Sabbath.'^ 
 
 The next h tter, dntcd F('l)niai'v Sth, is also to his 
 brother Chai'les : 
 
 "... I have been very good-for-nothing, suffer- 
 ing with weakness, indigestion, etc., and Dr. D has 
 
 prescribed ale for Sue and myself, and T have sent to 
 Ivichiiiond for a cask. Yesterday morning Harrison 
 Williams came and remained until to-day. . . . Last 
 night he and T went to Dr. McGuifey's to attend a sort of 
 theological club which meets there once a week. I en- 
 joyed it very much and got some material for sermons, 
 1 ihiiik. 1 talked a goftd deal and the young men insisted 
 T had added much to the occasion, and urged me to attend, 
 which T think I will do. . . . The memory of my 
 summer is a constant delight. T shall certainly go again, 
 if the Lord ope ns the way." 
 
 The next letter is of F(^bniary 19th, eight pages of 
 letter-size paper, and to "Dear Charles" : 
 
 "... Coming from Halifax, I had a talk with 
 Daniel Witt. He said if he were not a Christian then 
 he did not think he ever would be. 1 have something 
 of the same feeling. I am full of sin and weakness and 
 blindness ; still if I have not looked to Jesus, I don't 
 see how T ever can or shall. But what progress one might 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYIA)R, D. D. 125 
 
 make were he faithful aiul under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit! The idea has forcibly occurred to me this week, 
 as if it were a brand-new thing, that the only way to 
 resist temptation, even the grossest, is to be in a high 
 spiritual state. We generally run the mill with too low 
 a head of water. Yet we are straitened in ourselves, for 
 we may draw from a fountain that is infinite and peren- 
 nial. . . . Next Sunday John William Jones de- 
 livers here his lecture on 'Religion in the Army of Northern 
 Virginia.' . . . By the way, T have been intending 
 to tell you that when I preached on ^Bring me up Samuel' 
 I went to Dr. Cabell's to borrow a sermon of Dr. J. W. 
 Alexander's on the same words. They had mislaid the 
 
 printed copy, but ^Irs. C had the original MS. and 
 
 lent it to inc. Vou can't think with what affectionate 
 interest I regard it. 'No man that T ever saw came nearer 
 to my heart than he. . . . T believe Sue has never 
 wavered (this for J. B. T. Jr., and mother) as to calling 
 our boy James, but what else, has been the question. I 
 think lately 'Spotswood' has been in the ascendency. 
 . . . Sue reminded me of Mr. Earle yesterday, say- 
 ing each day was happier to her than any preceding. Our 
 babe is a wellspring of joy in the house. We think as 
 much of him as if he were not No. 7. By the way, did 
 you see that exquisite little piece in the Watchman and 
 Reflector on ^No. 10' ? I sent it to Professor Smith when 
 his tenth came, but he impudently suggested to me that 
 I keep a copy. I am so glad you have Dr. Poindexter 
 with you. Next to father, he is more like a father to me 
 than anybodv in the world." 
 
126 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 The next letter is to his father, imder date of February 
 22iid: 
 
 "I have been unanimously called to the pastorate of the 
 Staunton Church. . . . They propose to pay $1,200 
 salary and more, if more can be raised, besides the $100 
 for preaching at the Institution. Such men as Peyton, 
 the Hoges, Summerson, etc., are very enthusiastic. Hart 
 also is represented to have spoken most warmly in favor 
 of me and of my coming. ... So it is also said that 
 persons of other churches and of no church have expressed 
 strong desire for my return, and !^(»ine have subscribed, 
 promising to pay the amount as long as T stay. Of course 
 all this is very gratifying and I d<» feel thankful to Him 
 who has brought it to pass. The action of the church was 
 without any idea whatever as to what my decision might 
 be. Mingled with the pleasure I naturally feel at such 
 an expression from the people whom I served so long, is 
 a painful sense of the grave responsibility involved in 
 coming to a decision. The question is complicated by the 
 fact that, while no action has yet been taken, I am posi- 
 tively assured that if I will sanction, the Lexington 
 Church will call me and that I will be appointed adjunct 
 professor in "Washington and Lee University, the church 
 and college respectively assenting to my sustaining the 
 double relation. In the absence of any other intimation 
 of Providence, I suppose that to one or the other of these 
 positions I might go. But which ?" 
 
 Referring to some articles on the trip to Europe by 
 his brother Charles, in the Religious Herald, Mr. Taylor 
 writes to him: 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYT.OR, D. D. 127 
 
 *' . . . Your minute description of that day at 
 Killamey (which I couldn't have written to save my life) 
 impresses me with the value of keeping a diary in travel- 
 ling, which you were then doing and I was not, and also 
 makes me realize what my state was. The first week 
 after I landed seems a dark dream of physical pain, 
 vague apprehension and utter depression, relieved with 
 bright gleams from the novelty and beauty surrounding 
 me and from your kind sympathy. If you ever failed 
 at all it was only because one person never knows or can 
 know precisely how another feels. I was conscious of 
 trying your patience often by my unfortunate peculiarities 
 which were intensified by physical weakness and pain. 
 But I suppose it is always the case that the nearest and 
 most loving friends need to bear with each other, and T 
 believe we both have been and will ever be glad to do 
 that. But of my trip as a whole my recollections are 
 exquisitely pleasant. Some things even not perfectly 
 agreeable at the time are now only bright and pleasant 
 when remembered. T can truly say the memory of much 
 that was seen and experienced is a perpetual joy, a never- 
 failing solace and recreation. The best evidence of this 
 is that I more than ever desire to go again and fully 
 purpose it, if the way ever opens. . . . But if we 
 don't travel much more here it is refreshing to think of 
 a boundless universe and an eternity to gratify our love 
 of adventure, motion, novelty, etc. I am convinced that 
 we often make heaven too bald a thing, just as philosophy 
 exalting God makes him almost a nonentity. . . . T 
 
128 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 M'alk a great deal. My favorite walk is up the O. aud A. 
 railroad." 
 
 In a letter on March 12th, 1871, he writes to his 
 brother James: 
 
 Nothing but a sense of duty brought me 
 home, but the result proved my conviction was right. I 
 found a very ill student, whom 1 ha\e been visiting twice 
 daily. It was feared he would not live, and his father, 
 mother and sisters have been with him. It is now hoped 
 he will recover. I got several ])oints for my sermon from 
 his sick-bed. ... I have appointed prayer-meetings 
 at 7. '30 A. M., and urged the entire congregation to attend. 
 I think I see some tokens for good, and humbly trust 
 we are on the eve of a blessing. Pray for us. The morn- 
 ing meeting I owe in part, possibly entirely, to you. Al- 
 ways tell me what you think. . . . You have no idea 
 how utterly weak and good-for-nothing I w^as a few weeks 
 ago. Your gardening has quite stirred me up to begin. 
 We have turnip salad daily, either from our garden or 
 T)r. Davis's, and salsify in abundance from the former. 
 These, with jole and nice corn beef, constitute the chief 
 of our diet. We have not yet reached the luxury of fish. 
 I should not omit that in my absence Sue received a 
 present of $50 from Carter." 
 
 The next letter, bearing date of March 17th, 1871, 
 shows the esteem felt in Virginia by the white people 
 for colored people, who were really Avorthy. Laura Camp- 
 bell, referred to in this letter, was a colored woman, and 
 a member of Mr. Taylor's church. Her husband was a 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 129 
 
 barber in Staunton for years, and they were both greatly 
 respected : 
 
 "My dear Mother — . . . We have had preaching 
 each night and a prayer-meeting at 7.30 a. m., both well 
 
 attended by students and the families. Brother W 
 
 has preached acceptably, and with considerable pathos. 
 There are a few cases of avowed seriousness and 
 many are thoughtful. , . . We all dined one day at 
 Dr. Davis's. . . . Yesterday, sunniKmed by telegraph, 
 I went over to Staunton to preach the funeral of Laura 
 Campbell. Ko one could be missed more by Sue and myself 
 or be a greater loss to the church. The house was crowded, 
 the lower part with colored, the galleries by white persons, 
 including many of the most })rominent citizens of the 
 town. Six or eight gentlemen acted as pall-bearers. 
 This morning, being rainy, ... I attended 
 l)rayer-meeting alone. To my surprise and pleasure chapel 
 was nearly full. riic Smiths, Cabells, Davises, Minors, 
 Gildersleeves, and Harrisons have been quite regular 
 at these morning meetings, as well as other families. 
 Professor Peters has kindly sus])endtd his 7.30 to 8 exer- 
 cises during our meeting, stating the reason, and Mr. 
 Minor this morning postponed his examination half an 
 hour, so as not to interfere with our meeting. 
 Rev. Dr. C. H. Head, of Richmond, is expected here 
 next week to preach before Y. M. C. Association, and 
 will probably remain and labor, should the interest 
 demand.^' 
 
 On March 25th, 1871, he wrote to his mother: 
 
 '' . . . I to-day signified my acceptance of the 
 
130 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Staunton call. . . . During the day I was so urged 
 to continue the meetings and preach myself that I decided 
 it was mj duty, and announced accordingly. 
 Last evening the congregation seemed very solemn. 
 . . This A. M. we had a charming prayer-meeting 
 and well attended." 
 
 In a letter to his brother Charles, on March 29th, 1871, 
 Mr. Taylor refers t<» the series of meetings. Mr. Wilson, 
 of whom he speaks, was the Kev. N. Wilson, the brilliant 
 pastor of the Grace Street Baptist Church, Richmond, 
 Va.: 
 
 'Wilson stayed with me just a week. . . . He is 
 a fine sermonizer, giving striking, yet natural, divisions 
 with very fresh filling in. His delivery is in every respect 
 excellent, and he has much pathos and unction. I should 
 call him a born preacher. He made a very pleasing im- 
 pression, but not powerful, except by one sermon, which 
 was one of the most affecting I ever heard from any one, 
 anywhere — on the Crucifixion. He says it is his best, and 
 cost him weeks, if not months, of work. . . . Finally 
 you will ask what are the results. I answer, I cannot tell. 
 But I am sure Christians are greatly revived and stirred 
 up, students and others, and I think that spiritual and 
 active piety have been placed upon a higher and finer 
 position. Several students are expecting to join the 
 various churches." 
 
 On April 9th, 1871, he writes again to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 "... After writing my last I went on for two 
 or three nights, preaching myself. . . . Two young 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 131 
 
 men will bo baptized, two or three join Methodists, one 
 Presbyterian . . . and from fifteen to twenty will 
 be confirmed Friday by Bishop Whittle, whom I have 
 invited to preach here at the same time." 
 
 On May 14th he writes to his father and mother: 
 
 " . . . The day is transcendently glorious. 
 . . . Dr. Davis sends us lettuce and dressing daily, and 
 has this week sent sturgeon. He is too kind. IIow much 
 we shall hate to leave this sweetest of places and this dear, 
 dear people!" 
 
 On May 21st he writes to his brother Charles and teUs 
 of preaching the funeral of a colored man who was much 
 esteemed : 
 
 '' . . . Do you remember Uncle James, wh(» was 
 always in his place at chapel t He fell dead last Tuesday. 
 He had expressed the wish 1 should j)reach his funeral, 
 which I did Wednesday p. m., at the colored church (Dela- 
 van). Two colored ministers participated in the services 
 and Drs. Cabell and Minor were present, and a large 
 crowd of colored persons. . . . Suffer a suggestion 
 here. Prepare with care three or four funeral sermons, 
 ready for occasion. It is well not to say much about the 
 deceased, unless the case is remarkable, and if a pastor 
 don't begin, it will not be expected. If it is his habit, 
 he will sometimes be in an embarrassing position — a 
 conflict between conscience and what is expected. It is 
 a good plan, I have found, to write carefully what you 
 propose to say of the party. Otherwise one sometimes 
 says too much, or at least not just what he would choose. 
 Finally, except when the deceased was such that any 
 
132 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 allusion to him is very instructive and stimulating, I 
 prefer to begin with what is personal, and then preach 
 my sermon as such. What think you ? . . . At the 
 grave the colored people sang two hymns, while the grave 
 was deliberately Mlled u]). 1 have never seen the whole 
 thing more decently and solemnly and impressively done. 
 
 Drs. C and M and ^laupin, Gildersleeve, Peters 
 
 and Smith and family went to the grave." 
 
 On June lOth 1871, he wrote to his father: 
 
 ^' . . . Since my return I have been the victim 
 of dyspepsia, suffering great discomfort for hours after 
 eating what seemed to me very innocent meals. I am 
 now trying the strictest dieting as to quantity and quality. 
 I have been reading Whateley's ^lemoirs, just out, two 
 large volumes and mostly made up of his letters. Very 
 interesting. ... I am sawing my own wood.'' 
 
 During the summer of 1871 Mr. Taylor preached at 
 Staunton, his family remaining at the University of 
 \'irginia until September, when the move to Staunton 
 was made. He writes, from Staunton July 25th, to his 
 brother Charles : 
 
 ''I left University yesterday, having spent three pleasant 
 days there, talking with the family, fondling my children, 
 playing croquet, calling on Dr. Davis' family, seeing 
 Long, J. A. B., etc. ... I came over on the freight. 
 Being misinformed as to the time, I reached the depot 
 after the train had started, and had barely time to jump 
 on a flat loaded with lumber. At Ivy I was invited by 
 the engineer to take a seat with him, which I did, and 
 had a charming ride.'' 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 133 
 
 From the I^niversity of Virginia hv wi'<ttt\ on August 
 1st, 1871, to his mother: 
 
 "Father seemed so unwell Saturday morning that ho 
 decided to get off at Staunton and stay with me, which 
 I was very glad of. We were most kindly cared for at 
 Miss Mary Bledsoe's. . . . Yesterday we came on 
 together, Fannie being with us to Charlottesville. He 
 had half purposed to keej) on to Richmond, but I, feeling 
 it very desirable he should see Dr. Davis again, succeeded 
 in stopping him." 
 
 He wrote to his mothtn- about the move from the Uni- 
 versity. He alludes to the Misses Ross, who kept for years 
 at the Univc^rsity of Virginia a most popular boarding- 
 house : 
 
 '^ . . . We expect to devote to-morrow to moving 
 our goods to the car. After accomplishing this we shall 
 go to the Misses Ross', where we have been kindly invited, 
 and where we will be most kindly entertained. To-night 
 we shall sleep on pallets, but I trust will sleep soundly. 
 Thursday we hope to leave for Staunton." 
 
 Thus came to an end the two years at the University 
 of Virginia, years which were ever remembered most 
 pleasantly, not only by Mr. Taylor and his wife, but also 
 by the older children. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Second Pastorate in Staunton — Departure for Rome 
 
 Go thou to Rome — at once the Paradise, 
 The grave, the city and the wilderness, 
 
 — Shelley. 
 + 
 
 The Staunton Church, which had been so loath to have 
 Mr. Taylor leave them, gave him a royal welcome upon 
 his return. Besides the regular work of his pastorate, 
 Mr. Taylor taught some hours every week in the Staunton 
 Baptist Female Institute, which had recently been estab- 
 lished by the distinguished teacher and scholar, Prof. 
 John Hart. For one or two years after the return to 
 Staunton, Miss Annie Prichard and Mr. John L. Prich- 
 ard, children of Mr. Taylor's widowed sister, were mem- 
 bers of his family, the former being a student in Mr. 
 Hart's school and the latter at work in the oflSce of the 
 Valley Virginian. With these words of explanation, let 
 Mr. Taylor's letters continue the story. 
 
 On September 19th, 1871, he wrote from Staunton a 
 letter addressed to his two brothers: 
 
 "While I am waiting for my Moral Philosophy class 
 I will write a few lines. ... I had looked forward 
 to moving with almost dread, I mean the worry of pack- 
 ing, etc., but we passed through it with comparative 
 comfort. We reached Staunton Thursday p. m., in the 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 135 
 
 heaviest rain T ever saw, and at once went out to Brother 
 Peyton's. . . . We are mighty pleasantly fixed at 
 
 Brother P 's, faring sumptuously, and treated with 
 
 utmost kindness. Annie and G and I ride in to 
 
 school every morning, and they send for us in the p. m. 
 Yesterday I hauled my furniture into my house, which 
 it shares with carpenters, plasterers and painters. To- 
 day the ladies are fixing things, asking us to let them 
 put everything in order, and simply walk in when they 
 are done. We acquiesce. Of course they will find out 
 the nakedness of the land. ... I preached Sunday 
 A. M.^ without a scrap, a new sermon from ^My peace I 
 give unto you.' I enjoyed it, and it has helped me since. 
 I resolutely rushed through in thirty-three minutes, though 
 I could have easier and better preached fifty or sixty 
 minutes. I mean to come down to short sermons, as a 
 rule. I have engaged for the present to teach two classes 
 per day, giving forty minutes to each. . . . There's 
 dinner — I'm tired, himgry and just a little blue. But 
 this last I never mean to yield to, and dinner and rest 
 will cure the others." 
 
 On September 26th, 1871, Mr. Taylor wrote to his 
 mother : 
 
 ^'We spent all of last week at Brother Peyton's. 
 . . . We, however, kept away from our house, being 
 requested to do so by the ladies, who were meantime as 
 busy as bees fixing it and doing we knew not what. Satur- 
 day we were notified, to come in and take possession. So 
 that p. M., about five o'clock. Sue, Annie, Mary, nurse, 
 baby and I, in a large two-seated buggy, and George in 
 
136 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 cart with Oscar and Phil Jeter and our luggage, came in, 
 feeling, I assure jou, very funny. This last was much 
 increased by being met by Brother X. B. Hill a square 
 from the house, and told that Dr. Sears would make us 
 a little speech on our arrival. We found the sidewalk 
 and porch and passage and rooms pretty full, and then 
 came a kissing and handshaking, and a buzz of voices ; and 
 thru Dr. Sears made a sweet, touching, beautiful little 
 address, beginning 'Dear Pastor.' He referred to the 
 sacrifices and suiferings I had endured in my former 
 pastorate — the joy of the people to have me back, and their 
 purpose to care for my wants — said I had fixed my house 
 beautifully, and they had put some things into it, etc. ; 
 and that these were not a mere ebullition, but were only 
 the first fruits of what would continue, etc. Of course 
 T give you only the outline of what was, as I said above, 
 a beautiful, sweet, affectionate and complimentary ad- 
 dress. I said 'Thankie' in a choked word or two and 
 then we all had a crying spell. Then we were taken 
 around. Almost all the old furniture that was worth it 
 had been under the hand of the cabinet maker, and looked 
 like new. The parlour and study newly carpeted, with 
 same pattern, the former elegantly furnished with carved 
 walnut and haircloth set. Handsome curtains to all the 
 rooms and oilcloth in passage. Upstairs, one room with 
 matting and latter with new set of cottage furniture. In 
 the kitchen a new cooking stove, store-room and china 
 closet neatly shelved and weW supplied with eatables and 
 ware of all sorts. Besides, the pictures were hung, our 
 bed covered with new spread, and many nice ornaments 
 
KEV. GEORGE HOAKDMAN TAYI.OK, D. D. 137 
 
 for bureau and mantel. After taking us around, and 
 saying numberless kind things, everybody left, except two 
 or three, who stayed to supper. We had fowls variously 
 cooked, hot rolls, butter, tea, and coffee, and milk, several 
 kinds of cake. As regards the ]^ermanent arrangements, 
 1 hope you will soon come and see for yourself, but yuu 
 will be interested in hearing more details as to the pantry. 
 Barrel of flour, six sugar-cured hams, quarter of beef, 
 barrel of potatoes, pile of sweet potatoes, some cabbage, 
 packages of coffee, sugar, spices, apples, perhaps a dozen 
 or more jars of preserves, pickle, etc., three or four jars 
 of lard, a dozen fowls in the coo]). ^ly books were all 
 shelved. . . . Yesterday we had lots of (N»m])any, 
 though everybody had to cijme in the back door, the front 
 porch being newly painted. Sunday three country mem- 
 bers dined with us. . . . Our house is [)ronounced 
 by everybody handsome and convenient." 
 
 Mr. Taylor's letters to his loved ones do not leave us 
 in doubt about the fact that he was a most tireless and 
 conscientious worker, and that he usually worked under 
 the fearful handicap of very frail health, and much physi- 
 cal pain. Under date of October 12th, 1871, he writes 
 to his brothers : 
 
 '^ . . . After spending two days in bed last week, 
 I got up Saturday to go into the country to fill some 
 appointments. The brother who was to have taken 
 me couldn't go, but sent up a fine horse and buggy; so 
 after taking Annie, Mary, and Spotswood a ride of 
 a mile or two, I started with George. We went eleven 
 miles — road, air, scenery delightful. Spent the night at 
 
138 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Brother Collins^ About midnight I was taken quite ill, 
 and after suffering as long as I could bear it, wak(d 
 George, who brought up Brother Collins, who admin- 
 istered remedies and stayed with me some time, till T 
 was in a measure relieved. Sunday morning I was quite 
 unwell, but determined to try to preach. So they made 
 me a fire in the coimting room in the mill, where I could 
 be quiet and toast myself and study and pray over my 
 sermon. We had at Greenville a large and in every way 
 desirable congregation, and I have seldom felt more of the 
 afflatus or had conditions more in sympathy. . . . 
 
 After resting until four, accompanied by Brother C , 
 
 leaving George to go to a neighboring Sunday school, I 
 went some seven or eight miles to a new Baptist Church 
 right at the base of the Blue Ridge and among the pines 
 as they say. Ran into a poor but hospitable house, and 
 got a cup of coffee and then preached to a crowded and 
 attentive congregation. Every word I spoke hurt me. 
 Then we rode home [/. e., to Collins'] over the 
 rough road, and in the darkness, and I got to bed by 
 twelve. Monday was spent solidly in pastoral visiting, 
 having worship, though all cost much effort, and at night 
 T crossed over six miles, and preached at Middlebrook. 
 Tuesday, rejoiced at having done my work, I came home. 
 . . Yesterday I met my classes. ... I have 
 always had a great prejudice against teaching girls, but 
 I rather enjoy it. I have three classes. ... In all 
 three classes is a girl of sixteen, Avho is a candidate for 
 Mr. Hart's highest degree. She is lovely in person and 
 apparently so in mind and heart. . . . Dr. Eyster 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 139 
 
 is practising on me. I hope he will get me rectus in 
 jmlpito by Sunday." 
 
 On December ;>rcl, 1871, hi- wrote to his brother Charles : 
 
 " . . . I wrote yesterday the last of my four 
 promised articles for the Herald. It is an account of my 
 visit to Spurgeon. . . . They wrote asking me to 
 write for Sentinel and offering to send that and Western 
 Recorder. 1 agreed, ordering copies for self, J. B. T. Jr. 
 (who happened to be here and said he would like it), and 
 Mrs. Slaughter, who is anxious for reading matter. 
 . . . During this last week I have felt more like a 
 well man (though not perfectly well yet) than I have 
 done since moving over. T am trying to take more physi- 
 cal exercise, which I think is the life of body and soul. 
 Yesterday I walked seven or eight miles, paying pastoral 
 visits, etc. You know I have no mare. This morning I 
 was surprised to find the ground covered with snow, and 
 the snow still falling. It thinned our congregation 
 (though it was large for the day), and chilled me for 
 preaching. I have seldom felt flatter, and but for re- 
 membering my great enjoyment last Sunday night, I 
 reckon I should conclude I wasn't called. . . . Since 
 I wrote you we have had brief, pleasant visits from 
 father. Carter Braxton and J. B. T. Jr." 
 
 In a letter, dated December 10th, 1871, to his brothers, 
 Mr. Taylor speaks of a recent visit he had just made to 
 Richmond, referring to his sister Jane, Mrs. J. L. Prich- 
 ard, and to his brother-in-law, Rev. A. E. Dickinson: 
 
 "... Mother is wonderfully well and bright, 
 specially when you think what she goes through. Jane 
 
140 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 is a wonderful worker, at times sceniing stern and severe, 
 but with a world of sunshine under it all. She and I 
 had some sweet talks after all had retired. Alfred is as 
 entertaining as ever. ... I dined one day at his 
 house with Burrows, Wilson, Jeter, Bitting, Harrison, etc. 
 . . . 1 was at college twice . . . attending one 
 of H. H. Harris's New Testament Greek lectures. E 
 preached Wednesdav night for Wilson. . . . Robert 
 Prichard is very ill, at times suffering much, and I should 
 think sinking. He talked very freely to me — said he was 
 often full to overflowing with happiness, and, in reply to 
 my question, said that while he was utterly at a loss what 
 tr» think of his case, he would not be at all shocked to 
 know death was very near. . . . Most of the time 
 father was very drooping, lying down and having little 
 to say. . . . Part of the time, too, he was in pain. 
 I am not without hope that he may rally; but I cannot 
 repress the sad fear that he will not be fully himself 
 again. He said to me: 'I say to myself night and day, I 
 must shortly put off this tabernacle;' and added, 'T have 
 no fear or concern on the subject.' " 
 
 Three days later he writes again to his brothers: 
 " . . . I have just written a long letter to father. 
 My heart is always deeply aliected when I think of how 
 we have been blessed in our dear parents, and specially 
 now that they are growing old and that father seems 
 sinking under years and toils. I feel not only the ten- 
 derest love and solicitude for him and for mother in her 
 anxiety, but also as if I was called as with a trumpet to 
 ii'ird myself anew for life's battle — to trv to be a better, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 141 
 
 more self-denying, more useful man. My heart also goes 
 out most tenderly to all the others who must, some day, 
 I tremble to say 'ere long,' suffer with me a common and 
 heavy bereavement. . . . For myself I mourn that 
 I have not been to you both more like the ^elder brother' 
 of us all ; while I do thank God, not only for my parents, 
 but also that we, their sons, have ever, despite the indi- 
 vidualities of each, felt such mutual love and have so 
 clung together, and that I, for my part, have so often 
 derived great benefit from the suggestions and sympathy 
 of each of you. Let us, even more than ever, cling to each 
 other, bear with and help one another." 
 
 The great sorrow was even nearer than any one sup- 
 posed. The first break in the family circle came as the 
 Christmas-tide approached. James B. Taylor passed to his 
 reward on December 21st, 1871, with all his children at 
 his side. His death was, as his life had been, marked by 
 calm reliance on Jesus, and a strong, abiding peace. Long 
 years after this event, Mr. Taylor wrote to a friend whose 
 father had just crossed over the river, saying that life 
 had never been the same to him after his father's death. 
 A resolution passed by the Foreign Mission Board declared 
 that in their opinion George B. Taylor was emim^ntly 
 qualified to write a memoir of his father. Upon this 
 task he at once set to work with all the energy and deter- 
 mination of his being. He realized that it was important 
 to have the book appear as soon as possible and, indeed, by 
 the first week in May the MS. was finished. Yet all 
 through these months he was very far from well. Again 
 
142 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and again his letters tell of his being sick in bed. More 
 than once he was unable to preach. At one time the 
 heavy work upon him, along with the great draft upon 
 his emotional nature, almost gave him brain fever. Once 
 for a week he went off merely to rest, though this was a 
 thing he rarely ever did. His pulpit and pastoral work was 
 kept up, and he even went for a meeting to Charlottes- 
 ville, and was in another at the University until provi- 
 dentially called home. Scarcely had he completed his 
 manuscript before he was called on to carry, at the same 
 time, the responsibility as the host of the Baptist General 
 Association of Virginia, meetinc^ in its annual session 
 at his church, and the anxiety caused by the extreme ill- 
 ness of his infant son, Spotswo<^d. At this meeting of 
 the General Association the Memorial Movement, which 
 had as its object the raising of $300,000 for the endow- 
 ment of Richmond College, in which work Mr. Taylor 
 was to bear a prominent part, was set on foot. It is 
 interesting to remember that at this meeting also a reso- 
 lution was passed approving of the purpose of the Southern 
 Baptist Convention to build a chapel in Rome, Italy, and 
 calling upon Virginia Baptists to raise the $5,000 asked 
 of them for this object. How little Mr. Taylor, or any 
 one else in the meeting, dreamed that he would be the man 
 who would go and build that chapel ! 
 
 On February 4th, 1872, he writes to his brother: 
 
 " . . . The next day I was taken quite sick, and 
 
 didn't go out of my room for nearly a week — suffered a 
 
 good deal — had doctor several times — was threatened with 
 
 brain fever. ... I am at work again, but very 
 
REV. GEOR(JE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. B. 143 
 
 ^shackling', as C. E. T. would say, and will have to bear 
 very lightly on myself for a while. I hope to get on the 
 Memoir again next week." The next day, writing to his 
 mother, he says : "My wish is to avoid the Memoir on 
 Sunday, it being in a manner workJ^ 
 
 Rev. Dr. H. A. Tupper was elected corresponding secre- 
 tary of the Foreign Mission Board to succeed Dr. James 
 B. Taylor. An extract from a letter which he wrote on 
 February 21st, 1872, to Dr. George B. Taylor, gives an 
 interesting fact: 
 
 ''Last evening your letter of the l7th instant, covering 
 fifty ($50) from your people for Foreign Missions, 
 was received. That the first contribution after my en- 
 trance into office should be from the son of my beloved and 
 venerable predecessor fills mo with deep and varied 
 emotions." 
 
 Mr. Taylor, who was such a letter writer, spoke thus 
 about letters, in writing to the home circle in Richmond : 
 
 ''O what a privilege these frequent and free communings 
 are! Though not equal to face-to-face interviews, they 
 are inexpessibly sweet. It is not any given thing that is 
 written that is so important, and mightn't be dispensed 
 with, but it is the bringing of souls that are separated 
 into a sort of connection. This paper that I am now 
 touching, these lines I am tracing — you all will be hand- 
 ling and looking on to-morrow night. The thoughts and 
 feelings of my soul, at this moment, in a few hours will 
 reach your souls and cause them to vibrate in unison 
 with mine. I have a pleasing picture of you all as you 
 meet at the table or sit in that cheerful room — of mother 
 
14:4 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in her chair — of Jane in her school room — of Mary help- 
 ing mother in the pantry — ... of Greorgie bringing 
 up the mail, and Janie conning her lesson. . . . True 
 two dear ones whom I met, when last with you, are gone. 
 But we cannot sorrow for them. They had begun to be 
 sufferers. Now they are with Christ. We do not know 
 all that this means, but it has a bright, blessed meaning. 
 And though not with us in hody, the memory of them is 
 a sweet possession. In this sense they still abide with 
 me. Indeed father specially seems by my side, and his 
 dying and going away a darh dream. I don't yet realize 
 what is the case. Strange as it may seem, I do not. Only 
 now and then I get a glimpse of the truth. This is God's 
 mercyJ^ 
 
 To his brother Charles, on February 10th, 1872, he 
 writes : 
 
 '' . . . I can't say I enjoy munching my stale 
 brown bread while the rest are eating French rolls; but 
 we must eat and drink to the glory of God. . . . For 
 the most part, my plan is to preach old sermons until 
 I finish the Memoir. But last Sunday I preached one 
 new one, which I thought fresh, on a hackneyed theme 
 (Enoch). This week also I have made a new one, 'To 
 Young Men' — Text, Gen. xli : 38. Points — A man in de- 
 mand. What sort of man. The source of his qualifica- 
 tion. . . . But save yisiting I spend every available 
 hour on the Memoir. I say available, because some hours 
 I can only be still and suffer. . . . The writing part 
 of my work is easy compared with digesting, arranging 
 and selecting matter in letters and diaries. James warned 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 145 
 
 me against inserting too freely. . . . You and I 
 leaned more to the plan of letting the letters and diaries 
 just tell their own story." 
 
 In those days Staunton had no daily paper, but its 
 weekly papers were ably edited. Concerning the sermon 
 to young men alluded to above, after giving an outline 
 of it, the Valley Virginian said : 
 
 "We have neither the space nor ability to do justice 
 to the good man or the sermon, and have only given the 
 more prominent features of the discourse, without attempt- 
 ing to portray the beautiful sentiments and eloquent 
 ideas of the minister, nor could the beauty and simplicity 
 of his words be sufficiently appreciated without being 
 heard from his own lips. We hope to hear many more 
 such, and to see the good seed he is scattering among us 
 yield a harvest of an hundredfold." 
 
 The Spectator closed its notice of the sermon with 
 these words : "We fall far short of doing justice to the 
 minister or his sermon." 
 
 From Charlottesville he wrote, on March 18th, to his 
 mother : 
 
 "There was some interest in the congregation here, and 
 I received repeated calls to come over and preach, so that 
 last Thursday I was constrained to come, expecting, 
 however, to return Saturday or at farthest to-day. . . . 
 My personal preference would have been to keep on with 
 the Memoir, and carry out my programme ; but the Lord 
 seemed to direct otherwise, and I have lately felt much 
 stimulated by contemplating my father's example, to try 
 
146 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 to abound more and more in labors of usefulness at the 
 expense of pei"sonal inconvenience and sacrifice/' 
 
 Just a month later he writes to his mother about his re- 
 turn from the University, where he had gone to preach 
 for some days. Rev. Mr. Long had preached in Staunton 
 for Mr. Taylor, and upon reaching Charlottesville re- 
 ported that Mrs. Taylor was ill : 
 
 ^' . . . I met Mr. Long and received by him a 
 letter from Susan. The letter was cheerful, and urged me 
 to remain; but Mr. Long spoke in such a way about her 
 as to make me feel very unhappy, and decided me to return 
 at once, which I did, not even going to the L^niversity for 
 my trappings. I know not when my mind has received 
 such a shock. It has affected me most painfully ever 
 since. Sue says she begged Mr. Long not to make such 
 a statement, as she knew best, but he insisted on doing it. 
 I feel that T left a fine opportunity for usefulness ; but 
 
 with Mr. L 's statement and advice I, of course, had 
 
 no option. Susan has been improving rapidly for the 
 last few days, and now says she feel almost perfectly 
 well ; but is still on the bed for prudence' sake." 
 
 Five days later he wrote to his brother James. He- 
 refers to Dr. H. A. Tupper, who had succeeded James B. 
 Taylor as secretary of the Foreign Mission Board : 
 
 "... That night I was taken quite sick, with 
 burning fever, with pains in head and limbs and back, 
 and sore throat. ... I continued in bed all. Friday, 
 Saturday and Sunday. . . . Got a Methodist to 
 preach for me in the a. m., and shut the meeting-house at 
 night. Dr. Tupper is a lovely man, and said and did 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 147 
 
 everything possible to make me feel pleasantly and to 
 help me. . . . Susan is now dressed, but lying down, 
 feeling rather badly most of the time." 
 
 On May 2nd he writes to his brother Charles: 
 
 "I expect to-day and to-morrow to write the last pages 
 of the Memoir, and finish the work of revision. . . . 
 The last few weeks have been a season of great pressure. 
 I have written every available moment. Yesterday with 
 little interruption from 7.30 a. m. to a late hour at night, 
 and then after retiring could not sleep for thinking of it. 
 I couldn't stand such pressure much longer. Now my 
 heart is filled with a sense of relief and gratitude to God 
 to whom I have daily looked for guidance and strength 
 in the matter ; and I am trying to pray for direction 
 and a blessing in the matter of ])ublication." 
 
 In a letter to his brother Charles, dated June 17th, 
 1872, he tells of the session of the General Association, 
 which had just been held with his church: 
 
 '^ . . . Everyone said the June meeting was a 
 success every way. The sickness of my child and Susan's 
 anxiety interfered with my comfort and enjoyment, and 
 while I went on the principle of leaving things to the 
 committee I had, of course, a thousand and one to look 
 after myself, so that I couldn't attend very continuously 
 to the meeting. I think a good impression was made alike 
 on the entertainers and the entertained, and that an im- 
 pulse was given to our cause in Virginia. There was too 
 much bragging, etc., for my taste, and that from men I 
 could hardly have expected it from. The centennial 
 
148 LIFE A^'D LETTERS OF 
 
 meeting promises to be the occasion of a great movement 
 among our people. I hope and yet I tremble. 
 Will we raise $300,000? ... So I am divided 
 between a sort of triumphant joy and a trembling fear. 
 . . . The handsome Presbyterian Church edifice was 
 dedicated yesterday week. They had a general service 
 in the p. m., and I spoke for the town pastors, and my 
 speech gave great satisfaction. Dr. M. D. Hoge was, both 
 in public and private, very complimentary to me and the 
 Baptists. Said in his speech that he had read my letters 
 about London with eager interest, etc. The next day I 
 got an affectionate letter from William Frazier, thanking 
 me for my address, and begging me to spend as much 
 time as I could at Capon Springs. . . . Our baby is 
 convalescent of his pneumonia, but has the whooping- 
 cough, and Susan is almost broken down nursing him 
 day and night for weeks and weeks. ... I am never 
 well, but hope with rest to improve." 
 
 For some weeks Mrs. Taylor and the children were 
 the guests of C. E. Mason's family at their ''shanty,'' 
 near Jerry's Run. Mr. Mason was building the Alle- 
 ghany tunnel, almost a mile long, and his family, to be 
 with him, were sojourning for the sumjner in a house on 
 the side of the mountain. The work on the tunnel was 
 being done by convicts, and one of their number was 
 cooking for the family. On July 16th, 1872, Dr. Taylor 
 (a few weeks before this time the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Taylor by the Univer- 
 sity of Chicago and Richmond College) wrote to his 
 brother Charles: 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 149 
 
 '^ . . . 1 was suminoned to my family in Alle- 
 ghany, my child being very ill. The Lord was merciful, 
 sparing him. . . . I preached to the convicts and 
 others, 'did' the tunnel, bathed, read Walter Scott, talked 
 to the Mason girls, and should have had a very pleasant 
 time but for losing my rest, which always knocks me up. 
 . . . Father and Dr. Poindexter are daily with me. 
 Do you not experience that ?" 
 
 The next letter, to his mother, was from Philadelphia, 
 where he was attending to the publication of his father's 
 Memoir. He writes: 
 
 ''I am stopping at a cheap but excellent house, and 
 am very comfortable. Last evening went out and spent 
 the night at Upland with Dr. Pendleton. He and his 
 family treated me with great kindness and cordiality. I 
 met also Professor Osgood and liked him, and a Miss 
 Sally Crozer, granddaughter of the elder Crozer. 
 I sat in the printing office and wept this morning, read- 
 ing his last entries and letters, and the account of his 
 last days." 
 
 The ''History" alluded to in the next letter was a his- 
 tory of Virginia Baptists, left incomplete by Dr. James 
 B. Taylor, and which his son proposed to complete; this, 
 however, he never did. The date of this letter is October 
 25th, 1872: 
 
 "... Since I commenced on the History, it has 
 
 been very absorbing, engaging every available hour day 
 
 and night. . . . This brings me to the Memoir. 
 
 . , Alfred and I furnished the stereotype plates, 
 
 which cost, in round figures, $900. The society manages 
 
150 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the whole business, paying us thirty cents for each copy 
 sold. The sale of 3,000 copies will just pay for the plates. 
 If less are sold of course we lose; if more the proceeds 
 go to the Foreig-n Missions and Memorial Fund. . . . 
 Tuesday Rev. A. C. Barron came and preached, and made 
 a fine impression. But the next day it began to pour and 
 has done so ever since. It is hard not to be disheartened 
 and depressed. Brother Barron is staying with me. He 
 is a lovely Christian brother, and a man of fine talents as 
 a preacher. I like him much. Yesterday a daughter was 
 born into my house. We call her Susy Braxton. Spots- 
 wood is rather delicate, but wonderfully bright and smart, 
 and, except when under the weather, good." 
 
 To his mother, under date of ^N^ovember 26th, 1872, he 
 writes, from Covington, Va., making allusion to the move- 
 ment for raising $300,000 for Richmond College : 
 
 '^ . . . I left home last Thursday to fill a series 
 of memorial appointments. We have had to contend with 
 very unfavorable weather, cold, snow and heavy rain; 
 but nevertheless we have had a pleasant and successful 
 time. ... I think I was never more harassed and 
 pressed in my life than from the time of my getting 
 back from Fredericksburg to the time of my leaving on 
 this trip. ... I am happy and thankful that while 
 my labors have been unusual, almost excessive for me, 
 my strength has not failed, and my health has even im- 
 proved." 
 
 One of the most remarkable evangelists the Methodists 
 in Virginia ever had was the Rev. Dr. Leonidas Rosser. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 151 
 
 Reference is made to him in the next letter, which bears 
 date of December 2nd, 1872: 
 
 "... Quite a remarkable meeting is in })rogress 
 here in the Methodist congregation, under the preaching 
 of Dr. L. Rosser. I have been out two nights, have called 
 on Dr. Rosser, and invited him to tea. Every day I am 
 more and more a Baptist, yet I trust more and more dis- 
 posed to love all Christians, and rejoice in the conver- 
 sions of souls by any and all instnmientalities." 
 
 Dr. Taylor wrote on December 3rd, 1872, a facetious 
 letter, to his brother James, and was a little uncertain 
 as to how his brother would receive it. To this letter he 
 signed himself Gcorgius Honeymaker Sartor: 
 
 '' . . . Have you ever heard, my dear sir, of a 
 system known as Homeopathy (is it derived from home 
 or Homer — the former would give it the charm of 
 domesticity, the latter of antiquity) i It has won mighty 
 conquests. I am not a thorough convert, but I will men- 
 tion one fact — I brought some of the physic with me from 
 North Carolina last May, and though it has simply re- 
 mained in my desk I think I have felt better than usual. 
 Certain it is, I have had neither yellow fever, nettle rash, 
 nor Asiatic cholera (terrible diseases), and my badly 
 bruised finger is slowly recovering." 
 
 In a letter of December 7th, 1872, to his brother 
 Charles, he says: 
 
 "The best and fullest, and most eulogistic notice of 
 Father and the Memoir is in last week's Western Recorder, 
 from the pen of J. P. Boyce." 
 
152 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 In connection with the work of the Memorial cam- 
 paign, in which campaign Dr. Taylor Avas most active, 
 he prepared a series of sermons on the Baptists and 
 Virginia Baptists, first preached in Staunton and 
 later published in tract form by the American Baptist 
 Publication Society. He alludes to this series in a letter 
 written to his mother, December 14th, 1872 : 
 
 ^'I have been working intensely all the week, preparing 
 the first lecture of my series on the Baptists. ... It 
 will be followed by at least three others. Last night I 
 worked until 12.80, but usually am in bed an hour or 
 more earlier. I have been out four or five times to the 
 Methodist meeting. They always insist on my having a 
 big chair in the altar and taking some part. ... I 
 really enjoy going, and should go oftener if I had time. 
 . . . The weather has been bitter, affording fine 
 
 skating for the boys. J and G went last night, 
 
 skating by moonlight till 9 o'clock, and G has been 
 
 again to-night. . . . Some one ought to go on and 
 beg for the Memorial. I had intended to spend December 
 in Boston, and Brother Bitting had written, arranging for 
 it, but, in consequence of the fire, Dr. Fulton wrote me 
 nothing could be done. I will either go soon after New 
 Year or. give it all up. . . . This morning I had, 
 besides my own people, some Pedobaptists, including my 
 reporter friend. I took very strong ground ; hope I didn't 
 hurt anybody's feelings. ... I may stir up a 
 hornet's nest. . . . This morning when I got about 
 half way through I discovered that I had failed to bring 
 my last sheet of MS. I was mightily worried, but as I 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 153 
 
 preached on, J kept collecting up those last pages, so 
 that I believe I closed possibly even more flourishingly 
 and powerfully than I would have done with paper. I 
 make it a point to be perfectly straightforward, so I said, 
 'I find, to my discomfiture, that I've left some of my MS., 
 but I believe I can give you the sense of it.' I had left 
 it in my overcoat, and thought it was there, but con- 
 cluded not to stop, lest it might not be there, which would 
 have been awkward. I generally go over the sheets just 
 before preaching, but omitted it this time. . . . Sue 
 went out this morning for the first time for four or five 
 months." 
 
 The year 1873 was destined to be a most eventful 
 one, in some respects the most eventful, in his life. Its 
 early months found him, released by his church upon 
 request of the Memorial Committee, at work in northern 
 cities in behalf of the Memorial movement. The winter 
 of 1872-^73 was one of unusual rigor, and remembering 
 this, and Dr. Taylor's frail health, the wonder is that his 
 unceasing labors, exposure to the weather, and excessive 
 self-sacrifice, did not end his life. During much of his 
 sojourn in the North the health of his family was far 
 from good. His wife was feeble, several of the smaller 
 children seriously sick, and finally his oldest son was taken 
 ill with pneumonia. In the midst of all this Mr. Taylor 
 was called upon to decide a question on which his whole 
 life work was to hinge. About this time he wrote several 
 circular letters which went to Culpeper Court House, 
 Richmond and Wake Forest, where his brothers and sisters 
 and mother lived. These letters were written after the 
 
154 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fashion of a newspaper, those from Staunton being called 
 ^'The Bulletin," and those from other places ''The 
 Traveller." Most of these letter-papers bore some such 
 heading as this : 
 
 RICHMOND ., 
 
 ^^^'^ ^1 THE BULLETIN |^ ^^^'^^ 
 
 i o 
 
 Staunton, Jan. 1, 1873 1 § 
 
 From the first ''Bulletin," bearing the above date: 
 "... Sunday night Spotswood . . . was 
 taken quite ill, being threatened with pneumonia. 
 . . . But he is better to-day. . . . The Lord be 
 praised for sparing the dear child. . . . My Baptiatic 
 series has been an unmitigated pleasure to me. . . . 
 My topic last Sunday morning was: 'What the Baptists 
 Have Done for the World.' Dr. Sears said he wished 
 more Pedobaptists could have heard it. . . . This 
 relieved me. I did not know but my learning was dis- 
 gusting him. . . . I go to original sources for every- 
 thing. . . . How different one feels doing this from 
 what he does getting everything second or tenth hand ! 
 . . Last Monday night the letter of the Memorial 
 Committee to the church, asking my release to under- 
 take an agency in the l^orth, was taken up. I stated my 
 position thus: was willing to go if the church thought I 
 could be spared, but not so convicted of duty as to insist 
 if they declined. An animated but kind discussion oc- 
 curred, extending through several hours. Before the meet- 
 ing there had been much difference of opinion, but the 
 
KEV. GEOKGE BOAKDMAN TAYLOR, 1). D. 155 
 
 result was a cordial and unanimous agreement to comply 
 with the request of the committee. Brother Hill made 
 an eloquent speech, saying he would choose never to see 
 me out of the pulpit, etc., but that now my mother called, 
 and I ought to go ; that my honored father had 
 been summoned to a similar work, and had been released 
 by the Second Church. . . . Only one thing troubles 
 me besides leaving home — the fear of failure, and not 
 meeting expectations. But I will do my best, much or 
 little. Last night Annie, John and George were invited 
 to a party at Dr. Sears'. x\nnie and George went and had 
 a jolly good time. I religiously encourage them to go 
 into society, thinking ease of manners and knowledge of 
 life, talents a Christian may use for God, and they are 
 best acquired by going into society — good society when 
 young." 
 
 From ''The Bulletin," dated January 15th, the follow- 
 ing extracts are taken : 
 
 "It is all the rage now in Staunton to report religious 
 items. It has some advantages, but is liable to abuse. 
 Scene in G. B. T.'s study: Enter reporter. 'Can I get 
 the MS. of your yesterday's sermon V 'Would be pleased, 
 but gave it to another reporter at church.' 'I'll get it 
 of him, but I am sorry he is ahead of me.' Lately, owing 
 to my special themes, I have rather monopolized matters, 
 and it has amazed me to see the willingness of Presby- 
 terian and Methodist editors to print my Baptist utter- 
 ances. The world moves. Mauzy, a student at the Uni- 
 versity during my chaplaincy, has reported me well and 
 flatteringly every week. I have had rather to hold him 
 
156 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in check. . . . Spotswood convalescent, attenuated, 
 weak and fretful, utterly unlike himself. Scene in cham- 
 ber: I^urse holding one baby. The mother the other. 
 Sometimes both babies on same lap. First babe whim- 
 pers. Second babe yells. Trying to nerves. But, God 
 be thanked, they are still with us." 
 
 To show Dr. Taylor ^^in lighter vein," a ''Bulletin — 
 Extra," of January 21st, 11 p. m., will be given entire: 
 
 ''We had intended to pursue the old fogy, conservative, 
 even tenor of our way ; but we find that cannot be. Heavy 
 pressure is brought to bear on us, and we are forced to 
 quicken our steps. We must do this or die ignominiously. 
 ]N'ot willing to be second rate, we have determined, on 
 entering the field as competitors with the modern news- 
 paper, to out-herod Herod, and move faster than any paper 
 in existence, though Jehu himself were driving against 
 us. We, therefore, purpose the following: 
 
 ''First. In addition to our regular issue, we shall issue 
 three extras every day, and when much is occurring will 
 issue one every hour in the twenty-four. Can any con- 
 temporary beat that? 
 
 ''Second. We shall engage Mrs. John Smith to edit 
 our family de])artnient, and shall have several letters of 
 ten columns each from each of the younger members of 
 the Smith family, who, our readers know, are numerous. 
 
 "Third. We shall send a special correspondent to look 
 for Sir John Franklin — and possibly for Dr. Bennett's 
 bones. 
 
 "Fourth.. We offer the following remarkable induce- 
 ments and premiums to subscribers: (1) To any one 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 157 
 
 sending us ten subscribers with the money, a hoop skirt, 
 a chignon, a rattle, a baseball, a pastor's manual, Meander's 
 Church History, a fiddle, a sewing machine, a pair of 
 baptizing pants, an organ and a baptistery. (2) For 
 twenty subscribers without any money at all, double the 
 above. (3) For fifty subscribers, strictly dead head, a 
 farm, McCormick's reaper, six oxen, and a goad made of 
 cedar from Mt. Lebanon. (4) The above evinces our 
 desire to please all and be liberal, but we continue. Some 
 may love the fine arts. Accordingly, we shall every Mon- 
 day morning send an express messenger to China, and one 
 to Patagonia, to select for us the finest chromos. For 100 
 subscribers we will give a chromo thirty feet by forty, and 
 a house to put it in. To every old subscriber renewing, 
 we offer a panorama, a Chester hog, a church steeple, and 
 a scholarship at Oxford University." 
 
 The next "Bulletin," dated January 21st, 1873, among 
 other things contains the following: 
 
 "I saw a little newspaper item lately that touched me ; 
 ^Pillow Prayers.' I believe if I ever pray, it is when I 
 am lying awake at night. 'When I awake I am still vdth 
 Thee.' " 
 
 On February 5th, 1873, from Philadelphia, he wrote 
 to his brother Charles : 
 
 '' . . . Stayed two nights at your (Guy's) hotel, 
 but left because it was needlessly expensive. Can be about 
 as comfortable here at one-half or one-third. I have for 
 some time been fighting a bronchial trouble, w^hich was 
 much aggravated by my trip here, and running around 
 some in weather, either fearfully cold or else rainy and 
 
158 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 slushy. As the result I am almost voiceless. It is un- 
 comfortable not being able to talk much above a whisper, 
 and I may continue so for days. Fortunately it seems to 
 be the general impression that more can be done by private 
 appeals to solid men than by preaching, and I am adopt- 
 ing the former plan. Still I know it would greatly aid 
 me were I able to make myself heard, as I could do every 
 day and Sunday too. But the Lord knows best. Doubt- 
 less my physical status has been ground out by the in- 
 exorable movement of natural causes working according 
 to natural laws ; but that does not exclude God. The 
 very day I came here I went to see Bucknell, the leviathan 
 of these waters ; talked to him for two hours. He 
 promised to give $1,000. ... I have procured the 
 names of some forty of the Philadelphia Baptists, who are 
 more or less able and willing to give, and have printed a 
 little note stating all I would say in an interview, and 
 promising to call and hear the response. To-morrow morn- 
 ing I shall mail these missives, give them twenty-four 
 hours to do their work, and the next morning go to see 
 what my bait has caught, or to change my figure; how 
 my medicine has affected the involuntary patients. 
 . . . Till to-day I have felt very bright, but to-day 
 my physical feelings have somewhat affected my mental 
 feelings. But I do not surrender, and hope, with a night's 
 rest, to be better." 
 
 Five days later he wrote to his mother: 
 
 " . . . Once or twice I have gotten very blue, but 
 for the most part have not time. I generally go inces- 
 santly from early mom till dark. ... I have gotten. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 159 
 
 to-day, several subscriptions varying from $25 to $100, 
 say in all about $600, and promises more or less definite. 
 I am not elated; not discouraged. I have an idea that 
 some of the Richmond brethren expect too much from the 
 I^orth — I mean more than they will get. I am willing to 
 plod and toil on and do the best I can. If anybody else 
 will do more or better, gladly will I give way. The people, 
 specially the preachers, are very kind and cordial. 
 But for details I must refer you to the ^'Travel- 
 ler," which I spell with two I's in compliment to you." 
 
 On February 16th, 1873, he wrote to his wife, from 
 Philadelphia : 
 
 "... During the past week the weather has 
 been (as it is to-day) the winterest and the worst I ever 
 saw, and I have been, part of the time, literally and 
 metaphorically under the weather. . . . Last Wed- 
 nesday was a terribly stormy day, and I tramped the 
 streets of the city, alas ! too, to little purpose. . 
 That night I was right sick, and had some fever, and spent 
 the next half day in bed, feeling rather dreary, and fast- 
 ing for twenty-four hours, feeling no desire to eat. 
 But I am now perfectly well. Indeed, if I were not, I 
 should not refer to the above. 
 
 ^'During the past week I attended the meetings of the 
 Missionary Convention, and heard J. Wheaton Smith, 
 George D. Boardman, P. S. Henson, Secretary Gardner, 
 of Boston, and others, speak, and Dr. Fuller preach. . . 
 
 "I ran down to Crozer and called on Dr. Weston, and 
 spent a night with the Pendletons, who were very cordial 
 and kind. ........ 
 
160 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 "I have secured about $2,300 in Philadelphia, besides 
 getting a good many promises. . . . Everything has 
 been against me — the terrible weather, the dullness of the 
 season, and the two great enterprises now calling for aid 
 here, the Home and the University of Lewisburg. All 
 say 'this is the very worst time.' I say 'all times are bad 
 to get money.' 'Yes, but this is the worst,' etc. 
 
 "Yesterday, after going until dark, I crossed the Dela- 
 ware, and spent the night with Brother Chambliss in 
 Camden. They gave me an old Virginia welcome, and a 
 pleasant warm chamber, which I've not been in since I 
 left Staunton. ... In the night it snowed again, 
 and after breakfast began to pour and the track was al- 
 most unbroken, and they tried to j^ei-suade me not to 
 leave, but I had promised to preach for Brethren Peddie 
 and Henson to-day, so tramped a couple of miles through 
 snow and rain and slush. A more terrible day I never 
 saw. Congregations small and solid men not present. I 
 enjoyed preaching a gospel sermon, and have seldom 
 seen more weeping hearers. Then I said a few words, and 
 about $50 was handed me. . . . It is still pouring, 
 and the streets are almost impassable. But I shall go to 
 Henson's church and see." 
 
 From a letter of six large pages to his wife, dated New 
 York, February 24th, 1873, the following extracts are 
 taken. Allusion is made in this letter to Rev. Lansing 
 Burrows, at present pastor of the First Baptist Church, 
 Nashville, Tennessee: 
 
 "I wrote last from Bordentowoi. My day there was a 
 sort of rest after tramping wearily the Philadelphia 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, H. D. 161 
 
 Streets. Burrows and wife treated me with great kind- 
 ness. ... I showed your likeness to Mrs. B , 
 
 as I do generally to the ladies, and she and they all admire 
 it. . . . Wednesday p. m. Burrows accompanied me 
 to Trenton. . . . Thursday morning I went to State 
 House, saw Governor Parker, the battleground of the 
 great Trenton battle, the building in which the Hessians 
 quartered, etc. . . . Ere the train came the snow had 
 turned to a driving sleet and cold rain. It was com- 
 fortable enough on the cars, but what was I to do on reach- 
 ing the city ? I reached Gotham in such a storm as I hard- 
 ly ever saw, and the streets were almost impassable, while 
 the scene as vehicles and pedestrians contended at the 
 crossings beggars description. T crossed by the proper 
 ferry, yet not the one I was thinking of, so did not find 
 the hotel I was purposing to put up at. T quickly decided 
 to retreat from the pitiless storm into the first one I could 
 find, and ran into the !N'ational on Courtlandt, which 
 turned out to be comfortable, and to answer my purpose 
 well enough. For hours I sat by the stove, drying and 
 warming, and thinking of little except that I was delivered 
 from the fury of the storm. . . . Yesterday was 
 bright, but fearfully cold. Miss Susan escorted me by 
 cars to the First Church. It is a large, fashionable house, 
 
 but Dr. A gave me a warm greeting, and I felt at 
 
 home. I preached ex tempore, real protracted meeting 
 style, and have seldom had more evidences of appre- 
 ciation. After I finished, without a break, I, in a few 
 words, referred to the Memorial movement. This plan 
 was awkward, but necessary, as baptism immediately 
 
162 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 followed. ... At night I heard Mr. McArthur, 
 pastor at Calvary, and saw him baptize. I liked much, 
 but not the closing of his prayer by the choir's chanting 
 the Lord's prayer. ... I must press on for the 
 present, though 'tis peculiarly hard, being anxious about 
 a sick family, and contending, in my own delicate health, 
 with this terrible winter. . . . What would I give 
 to be at home ! And to-day I feel specially depressed, not 
 being well, and not knowing ]irecisely what to do next. 
 But the Lord will direct." 
 
 This letter evidently went the round to the various 
 branches of the family, for in the handwriting of Dr. 
 Taylor's mother at the bottom of the sheet these words 
 appear : 
 
 '^ Tuesday. This was received to-day. You can send to 
 Charlie. George was appointed for Rome last night. 
 Hope he will not accept." 
 
 The following letter to his brother Charles, dated New 
 York, March 5th, 1873, refers to the same matter: 
 
 '^ . . . I was startled yesterday morning on re- 
 ceiving a telegram from Dr. Tupper announcing my ap- 
 pointment to Rome. As yet I have hardly been able to 
 think of the matter. But I wish solemnly and prayerfully 
 to consider it. I write for two things : I want your views 
 on the subject. Of course, I don't suppose a friend can 
 advise on such a question, much less decide it, but he 
 may help another to look all around it, and so prevent 
 partial and improper views." 
 
 As early as 1850 the Foreign Mission Board of the 
 Southern Baptist Convention turned its attention to 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 163 
 
 Europe as a mission field, and thought of sending a repre- 
 sentative to Switzerland or France. Xothinii', however, 
 was done. In 1862 the Rev. Dr. Franklin Wilson be- 
 came greatly interested in Italy, and in 1870 he spoke 
 before the American Baptist Publication Society, at the 
 anniversaries in Philadelphia, urging that Baptist litera- 
 ture should be more largely provided for European 
 countries, especially, Italy, Spain and France. Rev. Dr. 
 James B. Taylor, Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board 
 of Richmond, heard this address, and was deeply im- 
 pressed by it. He soon wrote to Dr. Wilson, saying that 
 the Board was ready to begin work in Italy, if the man 
 could be found to send. Dr. Wilson recommended Dr. 
 W. N. Cote, whose father, once a priest, had subsequt ntly 
 been connected with the Grand Ligne Mission of Canada. 
 Dr. Cote, who had been the secretary of the Y. M. C. A. 
 of France, having been appointed a missionary of the 
 Southern Baptist Convention, sailed on June 22nd, being 
 instructed to establish a mission ^'in Southern Europe, to 
 be located at Marseilles or Milan or Chambery, or such 
 other point as shall, after investigation, be considered the 
 most advisable." On September 20th, 1870, Victor 
 Emmanuel entered Rome, through a breach in the walls, at 
 Porta Pia ; the temporal power of the pope was at an end, 
 and the Eternal City was open. More than one Protes- 
 tant missionary began work in Rome, Dr. Cote among the 
 number. At first great success seemed to attend the work 
 of the Southern Baptists in Rome. Many were received 
 into the church. Troubles, however, soon came. Not a 
 few had been attracted by the hope of the '^loaves and 
 
164 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fishes," aud some were rejoicing in the new political 
 freedom which had come to them, rather than in '^the 
 liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." There were 
 other complications, and the Rev. Dr. J. B. Jeter was 
 sent out as a special commissioner to meet the emergency, 
 and to purchase property for a meeting-house in Rome. 
 In the meanwhile the idea of a mission in Rom(^ aroused 
 great enthusiasm and interest in the home churches. It 
 was determined that $20,000 be raised for a chapel in 
 Rome, and Dr. George C. Lorimer was appointed as mis- 
 sionary of the Board to Rome. Dr. Lorimer, having de- 
 clined to accept the position, on March 3rd the Board ap- 
 pointed George B. Taylor. Concerning the appointment 
 the Board said in their annual report : 
 
 '^The practical sagacity, the broad cultivation, the ele- 
 vated character, and missionary spirit of this brother, 
 render him, in the opinion of the Board, eminently 
 qualified for succession to the troubled things at Rome, 
 for training native preachers, and undisciplined churches, 
 and for pressing forward the work of the Lord by the 
 pulpit and press, and by his personal consecration to the 
 holy cause." 
 
 On March 27th, Dr. Taylor wrote, from Staunton, to 
 his mother, saying in part: 
 
 "I write just a line to say that 1 reached home yester- 
 day (\Yednesday), and found George very sick with 
 pneumonia. Both physicians were in at dark (Dr. Wad- 
 delFs third visit for the day), and think the case very 
 serious. Mrs. Hill and Annie sat up last night. I can- 
 not help hoping he is a little better this morning. Sue 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 165 
 
 does not think so. God reigns. George has been delirious 
 much of the time, but is not now. He was very anxious 
 for my return, and made very happy by it, I would 
 write more, but he does not like me to leave him for a 
 minute." 
 
 [N'ot long after writing this letter Dr. Taylor decided 
 not only to accept the appointment to Rome, but also to 
 comply with the request of the Board and leave for his 
 new field at an early date. Mrs. Taylor had not been in 
 favor of going to Eome, thinking it a hazardous under- 
 taking for a man in middle life, not very strong in body^ 
 and with four young children. She was, however, most 
 loyal to her husband and to his conviction in the matter. 
 When once he had made up his mind that it was his duty 
 to go to Rome, she accepted the decision most cordially, 
 giving evidence at this critical time, and in all the years 
 that followed, by a most brave and cheerful spirit, of how 
 true and strong was her faith in her Saviour. 
 
 On April 11th, 1873, he wrote to his brother Charles: 
 
 "On some accounts leaving so soon and suddenly is a 
 trial. Still, when I have an arduous work ahead I like 
 to get at it. Everything has worked pretty well. People 
 very affectionate, and ready to help Susan. In the main 
 my feelings have been calm and peaceful. To-day I am 
 just a little depressed from physical causes. . . 
 My sale is on the 27th. I shall not be here. . . . 
 Have studied Italian. Would have made much progress, 
 but for being so busy." 
 
 After Dr. Taylor had made all his arrangements for 
 an early departure for Italy, the Board requested him 
 
166 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to postpone his going until Dr. Jeter, who had been sum- 
 moned home, should arrive. So he attended the Southern 
 Baptist Convention in Mobile and the June meeting in 
 Kichmond. On June 5th he writes to his brother Charles, 
 from Richmond: 
 
 "... You will see by the papers, and would 
 have seen still more had you been present, that I have 
 lately been made more of than ever before in my life. 
 This is, I think, in part a manifestation of affectionate 
 regard of the existence of which I had been ignorant, 
 and, of course, is in part the expression of interest in the 
 mission I have undertaken. I have been astonished and 
 overwhelmed. In part it has been painful, I do so shrink 
 from being lionized or put forward, specially as I feel 
 very small and unworthy, God is my witness; but then 
 on the other hand it is sweet to have assurance that so 
 many will invoke on me His favor, who can and who 
 alone can make me blessed, and my work a success. And 
 I trust the kindness shown me by my brethren will only 
 humble me, and cause me to seek to be more worthy of 
 that kindness. ... It comes over me sometimes, very 
 affectingly, what an undertaking it is to remove such a 
 family as mine so far. But I trust we shall be able to 
 meet all that is before us. . . . Do you know that 
 I am also to have two young ladies under my care as far 
 as the Continent — a Miss Kerfoot, and a Miss Archer of 
 Petersburg, the last going to study music in Germany 
 for two years?" 
 
 Farewell was said to the loved ones in Richmond, and, 
 as the train passed northward, they standing on the porch 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 167 
 
 of the home on West Franklin Street (in those days there 
 were no buildings between Franklin Street and the R. 
 F. & P. track) waved to the little party starting for 
 Rome. Dr. Moses D. Hoge was on the train, and a few 
 years later, at the funeral of Dr. Taylor's mother, referred 
 most tenderly to this scene. From Fredericksburg, where 
 a day was spent to say good-bye to the loved ones there, 
 Dr. Taylor, on June 14th, 1873, wrote to his mother: 
 
 "... My heart was in my throat when we waved 
 to each other, and Dr. Hoge, who was sitting by me, deli- 
 cately left me. I had some pleasant chats with him, and 
 he said some kind things of me, and of my mission. 
 . . . I find several excellent letters of introduction, 
 and one of suggestions from Brother John A. Broadus. 
 He is very kind." 
 
 On June 18th, 1873, Dr. and Mrs. Taylor with their 
 four children, the youngest an infant in arms, sailed from 
 ^NTew York on the steamship Columbia, of the "Anchor 
 Line," for Glasgow, en route for Rome. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 First Years in Rome — The Rome Chapel 
 
 I AM in Rome ! . . . . 
 
 A thousand busy thoughts 
 Rush on my mind, a thousand images, 
 And I spring up as girt to run a race. 
 
 — Rogers. 
 
 " Behold this temple to Thy praise. 
 Make it Thy very own ; 
 Here knit our waiting souls in one 
 And bind us to Thy throne." 
 
 The ^' Columbia'' proved herself a safe but a very 
 slow boat. Fourteen long days passed before Glasgow 
 was reached ; fourteen very trying days for Dr. and Mrs. 
 Taylor! She, although suffering terribly from sea-sick- 
 ness, in a very small stateroom had almost all the care 
 of the baby, since the nurse was sick and helpless. Be- 
 sides the baby there were two other little children. Much 
 of the time no small storm lay on the ship. In the next 
 stateroom there was, one night, a sudden death, and other 
 minor events calculated to depress were not wanting. As 
 for Dr. Taylor, anxiety for the whole party was upon 
 him, and he was caring now for one and now for another, 
 ever most patient, cheerful and sympathetic. 
 
 The few days in Scotland were as pleasant as the days 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 169 
 
 on the Atlantic had been the reverse. It is doubtful 
 whether any other entrance to Europe is more charming, 
 for an American, than through the gateway of the Giant's 
 Causeway, the Clyde, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Mrs. 
 Taylor, from her earliest childhood, had kno^vni and loved 
 Scott's works, and so Scotland, and her keen appreciation 
 and enjoyment of Edinburgh was inspiring to all the 
 little party. After some days in London, Dr. Taylor 
 went on to Italy to acquaint himself at once with the 
 situation there. Mrs. Taylor and the children spent the 
 six weeks of his absence in an apartment of St. John's 
 Wood Road, some five minutes' walk from Regent's 
 Park. The children found Regent's Park most delight- 
 ful, and Dr. and Mrs. Angus, at the Regent's Park 
 College, were so hospitable and so kind in many ways 
 that they and their beautiful English home will ever be 
 most gratefully remembered. 
 
 Upon Dr. Taylor's return, the family took up its 
 journey towards Italy. It was too warm to go to Rome, 
 and no place altogether satisfactory could be secured in 
 Switzerland. Tnexpectedly most pleasant quarters, at 
 very moderate figures, were found in the little French 
 city of Dijon in the famous Cote d' Or. Here, in an 
 annex of the Hotel du Jura, near the edge of the town, 
 two weeks were most delightfully spent. They were 
 almost the only folks in the new and comfortable establish- 
 ment, and the dainty French cooking was most thoroughly 
 enjoyed. Every morning study, letters, lessons, reading, 
 were the order of the day, and then in the afternoon came 
 expeditions through the quaint streets, and public gardens 
 
170 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of the town, and walks and drives out into the country, 
 then in the full glory of the vintage. What a load of 
 anxiety and care Dr. and Mrs. Taylor must have had 
 upon them, yet they kept a brave and cheerful spirit 
 and made their children very happy! With Chambery, 
 Turin, Piacenza and Florence as stopping places, finally 
 Rome was reached, October 18th. Of these months of 
 travel towards Rome only one letter has been found. 
 
 This letter from London is dated 18 North Bank, July 
 20th, 1873: 
 
 ^'I had not expected to be in London to-day. I was 
 detained sight-seeing with my party, and delivering letters 
 of introduction, and seeing persons in the interest of the 
 Italian Mission, but chiefly to hear from the Continent 
 touching a permanent residence for my family, while I 
 should go to Rome. When at last the expected letter 
 came from Geneva, it was unfavorable, and having be- 
 come in the meanwhile much pleased with present 
 quarters I decided to leave my family ... at this 
 place. . . . The girls and T were to start for Paris 
 Saturday, but on reaching home Friday p. m. I found 
 the baby so sick I decided not to go. I had called on Dr. 
 Angus, President of Regent's Park College, . . . and, 
 though failing to see him, had received a very polite note 
 inviting me to meet socially at the college a committee 
 of gentlemen on revision. So I now decided, as we re- 
 quired a physician, to get Dr. Angus to recommend one. 
 His note in reply was very sympathetic, and mentioned a 
 homoeopathist {whom he employed), and an allopathist. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. I7l 
 
 I went for the latter, Dr. Holland, Lichfield Terrace, 
 who came promptly, and has been in each day since. 
 His charge for three visits, half a guinea, made 
 low doubtless under the circumstances. Mrs. Angus 
 called yesterday to offer sympathy, and aid if required. 
 . . . You remember Mrs. Roberts urged us to go to 
 hear Dr. Vaughan, Master of the Temple. ... I 
 decided to go. . . . George and the girls went to 
 Westminster Abbey, and Mary Page and I proceeded 
 to the Temple. We took the ^letropolitan railroad to 
 King's Cross, and walked a mile from that point, down 
 Gray's Inn Road, Chanery Lane, and into Fleet Street 
 right at the building used as a palace by Henry VTII, 
 and Cardinal Wolsey. . . . The large, handsome 
 building was rapidly filling, mostly with men. I was 
 directed to take a seat in the rear, but when I told the 
 verger I was a minister from America I was told to go 
 up higher and seat Mary on the altar cushion, females 
 it seemed not being allowed in the body of the house. 
 
 ''While waiting for the service to begin, I, as usual, 
 looked over the hymn-book and found some very sweet 
 hymns, one of which I copied, and is as follows : 
 
 1. 
 
 No, not despairingly 
 
 Come I to Thee! 
 No, not distrustingly 
 
 Bend I the knee. 
 Sin hath gone over me, 
 Yet this still is my plea — 
 
 Jesus hath died. 
 
172 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 2. 
 
 Ah, mine iniquity 
 
 Crimson hath been, 
 Infinite, infinite, 
 
 Sin upon sin! 
 Sin of not loving Thee, 
 Sin of not trusting Thee, 
 
 Infinite sin. 
 
 3. 
 
 Lord, I confess to Thee 
 
 Sadly my sin ; 
 All I am, tell I Thee, 
 
 All I have been; 
 Purge Thou my sin away, 
 Wash Thou my soul this day, 
 
 Lord, make me clean. 
 
 4. 
 Faithful and just Thou art, 
 
 Forgiving all : 
 Loving and kind art Thou, 
 
 When poor ones call ; 
 Lord, let Thy cleansing blood, 
 Blood of the Lamb of Gk)d, 
 
 Pass o'er my soul. 
 
 5. 
 Then all is peace and light. 
 
 This soul within; 
 Thus shall I walk with Thee, 
 
 The loved unseen ; 
 Leaning on Thee, my God, 
 Guided along the road. 
 
 Nothing between. 
 
 I make no comment on the lines. They may be not 
 remarkable any way, but they affected me. . . . The 
 music was the best London affords, in the Westminster 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARD MA^' TAYLOR, D. D. 173 
 
 and St. Paul's style, and the service occupied one hour 
 and forty minutes before the sermon began. I confess 
 I begrudged so much from the sermon, which was but 
 thirty-five minutes in length, and to my taste might have 
 been much longer. But the audience, men though they 
 were, and of the more cultivated class, evidently came 
 mainly to hear the music, and paid, I thought, but little 
 attention to the sermon, to which I listened with eager 
 interest. Text, Luke xii: 50, 'I have a baptism to be 
 baptized with, and how am I straitened,' etc. The ser- 
 mon was an excellent one. . . . Among other good 
 things the Master of the Temple said that by baptism 
 here we must understand immersion, and quoted that 
 passage from the Psalms, 'the waters are gone over me,' 
 etc. As I emerged from the Temple court, and hailed 
 an omnibus, I saw on the top a gentleman whom I at 
 once knew to be an xlmerican, and suspected to be a 
 clergyman. We soon fell into a conversation, for Mary 
 and I climbed up, and I found he was a clergyman from 
 Detroit. He had been to hear Spurgeon. I reported 
 myself as a minister, and was about to tell my denomi- 
 nation, and ask his, when it occurred to me to preserve 
 my 'incog,' and repeat the utterance of Dr. Vaughan on 
 the act of baptism. I did so, and my acquaintance seemed 
 nonplussed and said : 'Did he say that ? It is very re- 
 markable.' 'Yes,' said I, 'he said that, and Conybeare 
 and Howson, and in fact all the scholars of England and 
 Germany say the same when they are interpreting, and 
 not in controversy.' " This letter, finished in Paris, July 
 22nd, 1873, says further: "Last evening at 8 o'clock the 
 
174 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 girls and I left London. ... I shall hasten on to 
 Italy. I hope to meet Dr. Cote in Turin, and proceed 
 to visit our stations, and evangelists in Northern Italy.'' 
 
 At various times in his life Dr. Taylor kept a diary, 
 but only one or two of these volumes survive, he having 
 burned some of them. In a letter to his brother, written 
 soon after reaching Rome, he gives a number of pages 
 from his diary. Gioja, to whom reference is made, had 
 been baptized March 21st, 1872, by Dr. Cote, in the Tiber, 
 Dr. H. H. Tucker, of Georgia, being present, and later or- 
 dained, the presbytery consisting of Dr. Cote, Dr. M. T. 
 Yates, of China, and Dr. George W. Anderson. Gioja had 
 given very serious trouble, and, before Dr. Taylor's arrival 
 in Rome, had been dismissed by the Board. 
 
 '^On October the 18th we came from Florence, where 
 we had been detained by Susy's illness, to this city. 
 . . . As we neared the Eternal City, after a pleasant 
 journey, we witnessed a resplendent sunset. We could 
 not forbear the hope that the clouded sunrise and golden 
 setting might prove a happy omen. By the setting sun 
 I read in Italian Ps. c. The station in Rome was crowded 
 with passengers, arriving by our train, and for some 
 minutes we were detained to undergo the fumigation now 
 inflicted upon travellers into Italy as a sanitary pre- 
 caution. We found it suffocating, but we had passed 
 through the same experience on our never-to-be-forgotten 
 arrival in Piacenza. ... In a few minutes we had 
 driven to the humble pension provided for us, 3rd piano, 
 68 Via Babuino, and after the usual contest with cabby 
 and porter, this time happily conducted by the landlord. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 176 
 
 we found ourselves quietly settled, for a few days at least, 
 in our apartment. 
 
 '^The 19th was the Lord's day. Dr. Cote called early 
 and summoned me to a walk. He had bad news from 
 America. I trembled. I thought it was the death of 
 my sister. It proved to be his final dismission from the 
 service of the Board. He was much distressed. 
 I felt, also, deepest sympathy for him. ... I tried 
 to comfort him and tried to stand by him. . . . On 
 going to the banker^s I received letters from Dr. Tupper, 
 
 and sister J ; the former quite depressing to my 
 
 feelings. It referred to the great financial pressure. 
 
 Being pressed for time. Dr. C and G 
 
 and I rode to the Trastevere, and attended the service in 
 our little hall. We left about sixty children eating their 
 
 macaroni soup. ... At night G and Dr. 
 
 C and I again rode to the Trastevere. While Dr. 
 
 C was preaching we were rudely interrupted by 
 
 rowdies, whom Dr. C thinks the priests sent. For a 
 
 time all was confusion, but we rallied and had a good 
 meeting. The singing specially is fine. I said a few 
 words, which were interpreted. 
 
 ^'October 20th. . . . G , Dr. C and I 
 
 walked to Trastevere. Again we were disturbed, stones 
 being thrown into the girls' school room. 
 
 ^^October 21st. ... At night at Trastevere. 
 Awake nearly all night ; mind careful and troubled about 
 many things. ... 
 
 ^'October 22nd. Physically and mentally depressed. 
 Wrote to Dr. Tupper, asking three months' notice for Dr. 
 
176 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Cote. Received a letter from Gioja. Looked at apart- 
 ments; have so far found none v^ithin mj means, the 
 lowest being 400 lire or $80 per month! ... At 
 night busy on mission accounts, and writing to Dr. Tupper. 
 
 ''October 23rd. Before breakfast, wrote the following 
 letter to Gioja: 'Dear sir: Your letter asking my advice 
 is received, and I am sorry to write an unsatisfactory 
 reply, but stranger as I am to you, and also a new-comer 
 to Italy, I do not feel competent to advise you. I can, 
 however, refer you to James i: 5. Whoever truly waits 
 on God will find direction. You also offer your services 
 as a teacher of French and Italian, but I am not at present 
 expecting to employ a teacher. Very resp'ly.' . 
 I now see very clearly what has for some time been dawn- 
 ing on me, that to live on the income assigned me, and 
 which I thought even too liberal, will require the most 
 
 stringent economy. . . . After dinner took G 
 
 and Mrs. T to Colosseum. In the evening Dr. C 
 
 came. . . . He had been apartment-hunting for me 
 all day, and desponded of getting what we need at prices 
 which we had hoped. . . . Our large trunk shipped 
 from London, per petite vitesse, about six weeks ago, 
 has not yet arrived. We need its contents and, moreover, 
 I can't help feeling uneasy about it. 
 
 "October 24th. Dr. Cote called, and we had a long, 
 important conversation upon our work in Italy. Grave 
 difficulties still exist, and embarrassing problems are yet to 
 be solved. God alone can help. To Him I must look. 
 Accompanied by Dr. Cote went to 11 Quattro 
 Fontane and engaged the 4th piano [corresponding to the 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 177 
 
 fifth floor in an American house] for eight months at 
 325 lire per month. The sum is more than I can afford, 
 but it is less than I had been told by all I must pay ; and, 
 while high up, they combine more of the advantages which 
 I esteem, such as healthfulncss, privacy, pleasant English- 
 speaking landlord, than any I have seen. . . . Imme- 
 diately after dinner called on Mr. Wall, and had a long, 
 pleasant interview with him. In 1863 he came to Italy 
 as the result of a letter in the Londan Freeman, from my 
 loved friend, now in glory, Brother John Berg. 
 
 ''October 25th. . . . We then engaged dinner to 
 be sent from restaurant, three portions at three francs each, 
 which it is hoped will suffice, with some slight supple- 
 menting, for my family. My hope is to live on 900 lire 
 per month, but it will require the greatest economy, and 
 leave little margin for books, tuition, and unforeseen 
 expenses. But I will do my best and trust the Lord. 
 After dinner I went to the bank and placed 725 lire to my 
 individual credit. This overdraws my account as agent 
 of Board. I cannot help feeling anxiety. I need my 
 salary, past due, and the evangelists will soon need theirs, 
 and there are no funds, and, so far as I know, no imme- 
 diate prospect of any. . . . We all also were initiated 
 into the mysteries of a Roman kitchen, and contrivance 
 for drawing water from the well in the court below. For 
 the present, at least, Sue and Sarah will prepare what is 
 necessary for our morning and evening meal. 
 Bought for five soldi a bundle of mere twigs, and made a 
 cheerful blast in our only fireplace. 
 
 ''Lord's Day, October 26th. Attended the Trastevere 
 
178 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 with George, going through a rain. Arriving before Dr. 
 
 C , who was detained and who I supposed to be sick, 
 
 I conducted the Bible class of youths. Of course it was 
 miserably done, and I was quite willing to resign to Dr. 
 C when he arrived. About fifty present. 
 
 ^'October 30th. Commenced regularly to hear George 
 his lessons, for the present only algebra and Italian. 
 . . . During the morning rain fell more solidly and 
 continuously than 1 have ever seen it, accompanied by 
 thunder and lightning. . . . Devoted the a. m. to 
 Italian grammar and reading Italian, 'Promessi Sposi' 
 [Manzoni's gi-eat novel], and p. m. to hearing letters from 
 evangelists, and reading Italian aloud for criticism. Also 
 went out at five and bought supplies. I buy generally 
 from Italian stores in preference. . . . We often 
 have kid for dinner. In Florence I suspected a piece of 
 meat to be that and inquired of the waiter was that mutton. 
 ^No,' he replied, proud of his English, 'dat de son of de 
 mutton' (lamb). The boarders had a merry laugh." 
 
 The picture of the early days in Rome is yet further 
 described in a letter to his brother Charles, dated IN^ovem- 
 ber 10th, 1873: 
 
 ^^ . . . I am busier than ever before, and though 
 sometimes overburdened with anxiety, I find the days 
 flying by only too swiftly. My mornings I spend in my 
 study, going over mission accounts, writing to the evange- 
 lists, reading the piles of letters from them which have 
 accumulated during the summer, working away at Italian, 
 mostly alone, but with what aid I need from Dr. Cote. 
 . . . I of course pay some attention to the grammar. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 179 
 
 but my main object now is to get a vocabulary, and catch 
 the pronunciation, which last seems to me to constitute one 
 of the chief difficulties of the language. To these ends 
 I read aloud a good deal, not only in classic Italian, but 
 in the Bible, and in 'Pilgrim's Progress.' . . . The 
 afternoon I often spend in the same way, as we have a 
 deal of dark, rainy weather, giving me the solidos dies that 
 Horace speaks of, and which are so grand for the student. 
 Sometimes I walk a little to get a general idea of localities. 
 As for sight-seeing, I reserve that until I am less pressed, 
 and feeling there will be opportunity enough for that 
 hereafter. . . . After an early tea I generally go to 
 the Trastevere. This gives me quite enough exercise, and 
 I can do more than the old line calls for, ^after supper 
 walk a mile,' as going and returning involves a walk of 
 not less than five miles, and that, too, over very rough 
 pavements, and I generally come back hardly able to 
 climb my four flights of stairs. The necessity of spend- 
 ing my evenings thus is one of the most serious sacrifices 
 of personal ease I am now called to make, as it has been 
 for some time my cherished and growing fancy to do all 
 needed work during the day, and have my quiet evenings 
 with my family at home. 
 
 "I, however, enjoy attending the school. It is strictly 
 an evangelical school, and all the more important as a 
 missionary agency, because it not only gives great promi- 
 nence to the gospel instruction, but reaches those who have 
 to work all day and have few other opportunities for 
 either secular or religious education. By the older 
 scholars the evening is spent almost exclusively in read- 
 
180 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ing and talking over a chapter in the Bible. ... At 
 the end of an hour the entire school is called together 
 and catechised and lectured, and then comes the cream of 
 the evening — the singing. . . . This singing is a 
 fine advertisement, and is a substitute for a bell ; and 
 at this stage numbers of adults, attracted by the ringing 
 voices of the children, gather in near the door, and there 
 is a chance to give them a few words of truth at the close. 
 Now all this occurs in a most repulsive and, I suppose, un- 
 healthful hall, and one that would utterly disgust many 
 of our good folks at home ; but it is nothing against the 
 school, indeed, rather to its credit, that it flourishes so 
 well under circumstances so unfavorable. Oh, what would 
 I give for a really good hall, such as T can see with my 
 mind's eye, fitted up with all needed appliances ! . . . 
 It is not altogether pleasant going to the Trastevere at 
 night. It is notoriously the worst ward in Eome, and 
 some say corresponds to the Seven Dials in London, and 
 the Five Points in l^ew York. Disorders are very common 
 there. Only a few days before I began to attend the 
 school a man was assassinated in the neighborhood, and 
 the man from w^hom we rent the hall is at this time in 
 prison awaiting trial for homicide. ... I men- 
 tioned in my last that for several successive evenings our 
 services were rudely interrupted, at the instigation, it was 
 believed, of the priests. I am happy to say we have not 
 been molested since. The police keep pretty near the 
 hall, and we are accustomed every night to stop and have 
 a few pleasant words with them. . . . 
 
 "I have heard intimations that there has not always 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 181 
 
 been in the past the most perfect accord among Protestant 
 Christians laboring in Rome. I do not know how that is. 
 At this time there seems no lack of good feeling. It is 
 certain there is room enough and work enough for all ; 
 and I thank God that while I am a most thorough-going 
 and earnest Baptist, I can and do rejoice in good done 
 anywhere by any one. Moreover, I feel, for my own 
 part, so pressed with work that I do not expect to have 
 time to quarrel, even if there should ever be any tempta- 
 tion to that, which I trust there will not be. 
 
 "For a few days there has been some excitement in the 
 city on account of the breaking out of cholera. I do 
 not feel any special apprehension. You have probably 
 heard that I had a bilious attack after reaching here. I 
 have not been very well since. In fact, all of us have been 
 rather drooping." 
 
 The next letter, to Mrs. Sally Slaughter and Mrs. 
 Eannie Ficklin, Mrs. Taylor's sisters, is made up almost 
 entirely of extracts from Mr. Taylor's diary. Several allu- 
 sions need a word of explanation. Hon. G. P. Marsh was 
 the American Minister to Italy. Rev. Mr. R. J. ^evin, a 
 few years after this, built the American Episcopal Church 
 on Via Nazionale, Rome. Mr. Franklin Simmons, an 
 American sculptor, designed the Roger Williams statue in 
 Providence and the Sailors and Soldiers Monument at the 
 west front of the Capitol, Washington. Rev. G. J. Hob- 
 day was for some years the superintendent of the Baptist 
 Orphanage of Virginia. Dr. Albert Snead was for many 
 years a leading physician in Richmond, Va., and Col. 
 John B. Baldwin a prominent lawyer in Staunton, Va. 
 
182 LIFE AND LETTERS OP^ 
 
 "... November 11th. ... In the p. m. 
 called on Hon. G. P. Marsh, two American sculptors and 
 Rev. Mr. I^evin (American Episcopal), to all of whom I 
 have letters ; but found none of them in. . . . But in 
 Mr. Simmons' studio was much interested in looking at 
 the work in progress, and was somewhat initiated into the 
 mysteries of a sculptor's studio. . . . 
 
 "November 12th. ... At night attended school 
 in Trastevere. Very interesting. I told the young people 
 through an interpreter about my conversion. They always 
 laugh furiously at my English, but on this occasion 
 seemed much impressed by my words when translated to 
 them. . . 
 
 "November 15th. . . . Replied also to letter of 
 Brother Hobday, Greenville, S. C, and wrote to Mis- 
 sionary Society of Inquiry at S. B. T. S. . . . The 
 streets to-day are thickly hung v/ith national flags, almost 
 
 every house having one. Even G and M went to 
 
 work to construct one. Wrote to Brother R. H. Graves 
 of Canton, China, who had written me a most kind letter. 
 . Rather disturbed, getting letter from Gioja ask- 
 ins: another interview. . . . Sue and the children 
 attended at the American Union Church, hearing Dr. 
 Hiscock of New York preach. . . . In p. m. enjoyed 
 a call from Rev. Mr. Birrell of Liverpool. 
 
 "November I7th. . . . At 5 p. m. Gioja came, told 
 his troubles, expressed penitence for the past, and earnest- 
 ly begged an appointment as evangelist. Of course there 
 was but one answer, but I tried to give him good counsel, 
 and prayed with him. ... At six George and I went 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 183 
 
 to Trastevere, eating our supper as we went. To-day 
 wintry. . . . 
 
 ^'November 18th. A bright, bracing, cold day. If we 
 only had good firing facilities we might be comfortable. 
 As it is ! In p. m. took S., G., M. P., and Spots- 
 wood a walk to railroad station, then to summit of Esqui- 
 line, where we had a fine view of some excavations of the 
 ancient city as well as of the Campagna and mountains, 
 and returned through the Basilica of St. Maria Maggiore, 
 almost a rival of St. Peter's. . . 
 
 "November 19th. ... At 12.30 I took Spots- 
 wood and went to the Parliament. ... I returned 
 without seeing much besides the outside of the building. 
 
 But after dinner I returned with G , and aft(^r some 
 
 delay got admission, and witnc ssed the voting for officers, 
 the ballots being dropped by the members into three 
 urns. . . . The speaker uses a bell instead of a gavel. 
 
 "iSTovember 20th. . . . Walked outside of Porta 
 Pia and saw the place at which Victor Emmanuel made a 
 breach, and entered the city September 20th, 1870. 
 . At night Sue and I went to Mr. Van Meter's. 
 Present, Mr. and Mrs. Wall, Mr. and Miss Birrell, Liver- 
 pool ; Prof. Norman Fox, of William Jewell, Mo. ; two 
 English travellers, and two or three English residents of 
 Rome. Cold turkey, beef tongue, hot biscuit and delicious 
 coifee, cake, fruit, etc. We have not seen such a Peyton- 
 like supper since we left U. S. . . . We reached home 
 about 10.30 much refreshed every way, and bringing a 
 bundle for the children. . . . 
 
 "November 22nd. Water in our well once more. We 
 
184 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 shall enjoy it. . . . Our street is still torn to pieces 
 and now we have a deep, broad sewer dug straight down 
 from our door sill, revealing to us how deep is the made 
 earth, and the character of the foundations, and we have 
 to enter over a mountain of earth, and by crossing an 
 extemporized bridge. They work at the street day and 
 night and Sunday. And all Rome is being fixed up in 
 this way. . . . Changed our restaurant. We will 
 try a cheaper dinner. Going as I am on money borrowed 
 from the bankers, and not knowing when they will decline 
 to advance, or when a remittance will come, we are buying 
 everything by the small quantity and exercising the most 
 rigid economy. I paid to-day seventy-five cents for exactly 
 two armful s of wood. At night walked through rain to 
 Trastevere. 
 
 ''November 23rd. ... To Trastevere. I read 
 Luke XV, and spoke about five minutes on Jesus Christ 
 the friend of sinners. I was much embarrassed and made, 
 in consequence, many needless mistakes, and in fact made 
 a poor out generally, but I was understood, and there 
 had to be a beginning. ... I am profoundly affected 
 by the death of our dear Dr. Snead, as I was by the 
 deaths of Colonel Baldwin, of Staunton, and of my old 
 fellow-student and associate in the Valley, F. H, Bowman, 
 who fell a victim to the fever in Memphis. I would be 
 admonished by these things, as well as by my many pains 
 and weaknesses, of my own end. No word but vile can 
 express my convictions of my ovTn character and life. 
 . . . I have made sacrifices which I deeply feel. 
 But, alas, how little purity of motive!" 
 
REV. GEOEGE BOARDMAN TAYLOK, I). D. 185 
 
 On the evening of his first Christmas day in Rome, Dr. 
 
 Taylor wrote to bis brother Charles: 
 
 "We had a dinner reminding us of home and of the 
 past — besides our usual restaurant dinner of beef, mac- 
 aroni, etc., a roast turkey, some pickle sent by the Van 
 Meters, some pepper, and a cup of Mocha coffee. So 
 you see with all our troubles we are in good spirits, and 
 doing well. And to-night Sue and I will have a sweet, 
 quiet time reading and talking together. . . ." 
 
 The next letter must be given practically without any 
 abridgment. It describes the first long missionary 
 journey among the churches, which Dr. Taylor made by 
 himself, and it is quite typical, though the novelty to 
 him of all he saw is conspicuous. This letter is to his 
 wife, and is dated Bari, January 31st, 1S74: 
 
 '' . . . In my compartment on leaving Naples I 
 had as companions three 'sisters,' who appeared to feel 
 anything but kindly to me for entering. But I preferred 
 them and their sour looks to tobacco fumes, so was un- 
 daunted and held my place. In an hour or so they left 
 the train, and from that to Foggia, say from eight to three, 
 I had the compartment all to myself. At first my promi- 
 nent feeling was of sleepiness, and that uncomfortableness 
 which comes from losing sleep, and getting up when one 
 would much prefer to lie abed. But soon I became en- 
 gaged in a desperate struggle to keep warm, or rather 
 to keep from being insufferably cold. The day was sun- 
 less and raw, and our passage was for one hundred miles 
 through a mountainous region covered with snow, while 
 occasionally the clouds would spit forth the genuine 
 
186 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 article with a vim you would hardly have supposed 
 possible in this southern genial clime. It would have been 
 amusing if it had been less pitiable to see my efforts. 
 My overcoat, you know, is very thin, and my half shawl 
 like the covering described in Scripture. I needed it to sit 
 on and to cover my shoulders and my feet. For either 
 two it was sufficient, but for all three it was quite un- 
 equal; and to see me curled into a knot, and keeping 
 perfectly still, so as not to throw off my needed covering, 
 would have excited the risibles of the most pitying, and 
 the pity of the most mirthful fellow-passenger, whom a 
 kind Providence had, by keeping him away, saved the 
 trouble of acting this double and conflicting part of the 
 laughing and crying philosopher. Happily I had also a 
 pair of cheap rag slippers along, which were large enough 
 to admit my toes and insteps, leaving only the heels 
 utterly unprotected. Coiled up as I was, reading was 
 not easy, yet I read in Italian several chapters of the Acts, 
 and I must say read them with keener zest than usual, 
 entering into Paul's missionary journeys as scarcely ever 
 before. Anon I would pace my compartment like a 
 caged lion and even stamp around generally to keep from 
 getting numb and stiff. But as the walking had to be 
 done on my own empty stomach, it was the less relished, 
 for, be it ever remembered, while hunger is the best sauce 
 for dinner, it is not for exercise. But all things have an 
 end and so had my troubles for this time, and of this 
 kind. About two o'clock we began to see the ground 
 once more, and I gave an involuntary sigh of relief, and 
 said Thank God for this.' Then, too, came some strag- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, 1). D. 187 
 
 gling beams of the sun, and I actively dodged from 
 corner to corner to catch each gleam. We also emerged 
 into a beautiful open and fertile country, in striking con- 
 trast with the dreary region through which most of our 
 journey had been made. And to crown all, at three o'clock 
 we reached Foggia, where I had a rest of an hour before 
 changing trains and where I had the opportunity to get a 
 good hot dinner, which, while it did not quite take the 
 numbness out of my fingers, certainly made my body and 
 my mind feel a thousand per cent better. But I am sure 
 had the man of the German story, ^the man who could 
 not shiver,' been with me yesterday, he could have been 
 gratified, or if he had found, owing to his peculiar con- 
 dition or constitution, any difficulty, I could gladly have 
 helped him by relieving him of any or all of his garments. 
 "At 4.30 I took another train on the great through 
 route, down the Adriatic coast to the stepping-off place for 
 the Orient. Still, strangely enough, I had a compartment 
 to myself. But about dusk, at a certain station, eight men 
 bolted for my com])artment and off we dashed. They 
 at once began to talk first of and then to me. They were 
 athletic-looking fellows and their eyes and mustaches were 
 decidedly brigandish. ^N'ow not only has Southern Italy 
 been cursed with brigandism, but we had but a little be- 
 fore passed a town which Baedeker, a most faithful guide, 
 declares is still 'noted for the brigandism of its inhabi- 
 tants.' Then these men whispered and made signs so 
 mysteriously; how could I not have vague suspicions 
 awakened ? Add several suspicious circumstances — their 
 most pertinacious and minute inquiries as to my desti- 
 
188 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 nation and whether or not I was a traveller for pleasure; 
 their drawing the curtain over the lamp in the ceiling of 
 the car, so as to render it almost perfectly dark; their 
 crowding very close to me ; and finally their producing 
 and showing for my inspection several pieces of silver, 
 and more than hinting their wish, which I took care not 
 to gratify, to see the contents of my purse ; and do you 
 wonder that with all these things I felt at least the need 
 of caution, and began to think what I would do, if per- 
 adventure (for I did not really apprehend danger) they 
 should do this or that '( And yet, after all, I presently 
 assured myself that the suspicious circumstances were 
 j)urely accidental, and portended just what the dead 
 Indian answers, that is, nothing at all. The catechism to 
 which T was put was due simply to curiosity. Probably 
 they had never seen an American before. Moreover, my 
 chief interlocutor was a lawyer. But now embarrass- 
 ment on my part succeeded any other feeling. I am sure 
 I felt as I sported my broken Italian, trying to gratify 
 them, something as a coy maiden might feel when sur- 
 rounded by her first circle of admiring and contending 
 combatants for her favor; and when they seemed lost in 
 astonishment that one so lately come should talk so well, 
 and all eyes were on me, and all tongues busy discussing 
 my revelations, really my face became hot with just such 
 blushes as might have suffused the face of the aforesaid 
 maiden. But having satisfied myself no harm was meant 
 I boldly told them all they wanted to know about myself — 
 in fact did all but produce the purse — and to my state- 
 ment, 'I am an evangelical minister,' they said, ^Bravo! 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 189 
 
 Benissimo/ in a way quite reassuring. They left the 
 train one after the other with a kind handshake ; and 
 so ended my adventure ( ?). 
 
 "In a couple of hours I was at Bari, and before I could 
 hesitate much as to my ])lan of action, I was greeted by 
 Signor Basile, and three other brethren, whose affectionate 
 kisses might even have confirmed my idea of being a 
 courted maiden, as above suggested, had I not learned 
 to know last summer that these were the holy kisses en- 
 joined by the Apostle. We walked to the excellent Albergo 
 del Risorgimento, and sat for a couple of hours talking, 
 and then I retired in my ample chamber, and, thanks to 
 my Heavenly Father, enjoyed a pretty good night's rest. 
 
 "But, alas, this morning was cold and rainy as I went 
 out to a restaurant in the rain for my cajfe. Oh, how cheer- 
 less it was ! How was I shocked and saddened to hear 
 there that this was the last day of a poor fellow con- 
 demned to be executed in this city ! It has been a pall 
 over my soul all day, and at one I thought, 'at this hour 
 he is meeting his doom' ; and then presently the people 
 came thronging back from the scene and pn sently all were 
 reading the huge placards in reference to his execution. 
 
 "Till eleven this morning I sat talking with the brethren, 
 but, oh so cold; equal to any November day I ever felt! 
 Then I said I must have a room with a fire. Alas ! no 
 such room in the house. Then I demanded a scaldino, 
 which warmed my feet, but badly affected my head. Alas, 
 winter life in Italy is often the quintessence of all un- 
 comfortableness. My brethren said, ^Oh, this weather will 
 not last many days.' 'No,' said I, 'but if by the time it 
 
190 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 gets fair and warm the bad has killed me, what good would 
 the sunshine do me ? At which all were infinitely diverted^ 
 I have been busy talking all day, I trust usefully. I have 
 tried to talk for Jesus. This letter I have dashed off for 
 recreation, and now have not time even to read it over. 
 Have just taken a look at Horace's ^stormy Adriatic' and 
 now go to sup with an evangelical family. In much 
 haste with oceans of love to each and all. Your devoted 
 Husband." 
 
 Under date of April 4th, 1874, Dr. Taylor wrote to 
 his brother Charles : 
 
 '^ Probably before receiving this you will have seen of 
 an advance step taken by our mission in the baptism of 
 several in Milan, the beginning of a Baptist Church. 
 Last evening I received a letter from Bari men- 
 tioning the baptism of four. This is encouraging. Per 
 contra there came also a long document signed by thirty- 
 two persons disaffected, who have left the church (or 
 been excluded, some of them), bitterly complaining of 
 injustice, and making grievous charges against the evange- 
 list and the rest of the church, and appealing to me for 
 redress, and also to rectify matters. ... I fear to 
 do nothing and yet do not know what to do. 
 
 '^ . . . The Board seems embarrassed, and I have 
 been keeping the mission going by borrowing constantly. 
 You can imagine the disagreeableness of this as well as 
 the anxiety I am kept in. Sometimes I am nervous at 
 the postman's ring or the entrance of a person, lest it may 
 be a demand for a payment I cannot meet. Our entire 
 band of laborers lives from hand to mouth, and our rents 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 191 
 
 have to be paid with great punctuality to avoid being 
 turned out, or at least much trouble, and consequently 
 all the time, and certainly at the beginning of the month, 
 I am in more or less trouble. When remittances come 
 they generally about pay what has been borroAved, and 
 then the story is repeated. I have just had considerable 
 trouble turning the 1st of April corner. I had borrowed 
 $700 from Mr. Van Meter, whom I paid by borrowing 
 from the bank, and, of course, look anxiously for a remit- 
 tance. . . . The Board being so pressed I have de- 
 clined two months' salary. This I do very cheerfully, 
 though it presses me. I have lived with sufficient com- 
 fort in some things, but have used and am using a very 
 strict economy, foregoing many things that T think few 
 brethren would wish or expect me to do." 
 
 From a sixteen-page letter to his brothers, dated June 
 9th, 1874, the following extracts are made: 
 
 " . . . Last Sunday I preached at the Scotch 
 Presbyterian Church, a handsome building outside the 
 walls. ... I enjoyed preaching. . . . There 
 were several pleasant episodes. . . . Who should 
 come up after the sermon but Mrs. McGuifey and the 
 Misses Howard ! . . . While I was talking to them 
 a lady sought an introduction, saying she was from Phila- 
 delphia, and that one of the recollections of her child- 
 hood was the devotion of her mother to my father. Then 
 came up two or three gentlemen, very profuse about the 
 sermon, one of them borrowing it for himself and party. 
 You remember Broadus telling you of Spurgeon's deacon 
 asking him (S ) what he would drink after preach- 
 
192 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ing, etc. Well, in the Scotch Church here they give no 
 option, but have in the preacher^s retiring-room only port 
 wine and crackers. Suppose the preacher had poor teeth 
 and needed something stronger ! . . . Among those 
 at the Scotch Church Sunday was our good, dear doctor, 
 Dr. Gason, who is really the (low) English Episcopal 
 Church in Rome, having almost single-handed kept it 
 going and built the new, beautiful house. He invited me 
 after sermon to take tea with him last evening. I went 
 and had a really pleasant time, with him, his wife and 
 the cat, who constitute the family. They are very intelli- 
 gent and cordial, and wonderfully friendly to me and 
 mine. He is a warm-hearted Irishman, a real church- 
 man, but a good Christian, and a hater of humbug. He 
 goes to the Bagni di Lucca to-morrow, where he is resident 
 physician, and is going to arrange for us, who expect to 
 follow in a few days. ... I have been very busy 
 all day, mostly answering Italian letters. Every day the 
 difficulties, complications, embarrassments of this work 
 grow on me. ... I am preparing an address to make 
 when I visit some of the churches this summer. Shall 
 prepare carefully, but probably speak ex tempore. . . . 
 God grant whatever comes I may be saved from adding 
 another to the quarrels that have been the curse of the 
 evangelical work in Italy, specially in Rome. 
 This morning, before breakfast, James probably went out 
 into his garden with Poindexter and Boyce and gathered 
 his vegetables for the day, George has no garden, but 
 he, before breakfast this morning, went out with Mary, 
 Spotswood and Susy to seek supplies for the day. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 193 
 
 Leaving the little ones in the shade watching the black 
 goats, which come in to be milked, he struck boldly across 
 the piazza through the sunshine, which even at that early 
 hour was burning, and quickly made his purchases — a 
 nice steak, some potatoes, snaps and tomatoes, and a hand- 
 ful of oxheart cherries for the children. Then he stuffed 
 a pad of butter in his pocket. They have such a nice 
 fashion here, in every store, where anything like meat or 
 butter is sold: they keep a large supply of fresh grape 
 leaves. The butter is wrapped first in the grape leaves 
 and then in paper." 
 
 From a ten-page letter, dated Bagui di Lucca, July 
 21st, the following extracts are made: 
 
 " . . . My strength is very limited. I am some- 
 times alarmed — constantly distressed — to find how little I 
 can do. . . . Spotswood enjoys playing in the gar- 
 den, a rare treat to him. I have had him and Mary a little 
 wagon made. Spotswood seems quite contented when 
 he is riding, and when he has his mouth full of figs, 
 but though these last are tolerably abundant and I have 
 so many Baptists to back me, I can't keep it full all the 
 time. What a sweet thing to be a three-year-old and to 
 have no higher wish than to have plenty of figs, and to 
 sleep with 'mudder I' . . . Mary has entered on life's 
 more serious stage. . . . She reads history and 
 writes a little. . . . George takes daily lessons in 
 Italian, and can understand the common talk of the com- 
 mon people better than I. . . . Susan fills me with 
 surprise. After so much care and watching she looks 
 to-day as young and bright as any time for the past fifteen 
 
194 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 years. Only some white hairs tell that the time is pass- 
 ing. ... I am just finishing Dr. Di Sanctis' work 
 of 150 pages on 'The Mass.' It is wonderfully erudite 
 and piquant and able. . . . When I returned from 
 Europe Brother Fife asked doubtingly, 'Are the mountains 
 of Europe more picturesque than ours?' I said, 'Add to 
 what you have terraces of vineyards and cap the summit 
 with a ruinefl castle.' I am reminded of it daily. I have 
 but to look up from my paper to gaze not only at the 
 lofty mountains and brawling river, but at the luxuriant 
 vines, and at the grey stone building which surmounts 
 the lofty peak. It is a daily joy to me." 
 
 The following extracts are from a long letter, dated 
 Bagni di Lucca, September 24th, 1874: 
 
 '' . . . The other day Spotswood said tragically 
 and with tremendous emphasis, '0 Pa, I am fairly 
 starving.' I was very much touched and hastened to 
 prepare bread and butter, when he said solemnly, 'I'm 
 not starving for that sort of thing, but I'm starving for 
 the good fruit you all have been eating.' . . . Mr. 
 Van Meter amused me by telling how he went to Fulton 
 Market, New York, and said to a man, who is famous 
 for his oyster stews: 'Now, my friend, remember that I 
 have not tasted an oyster for a year ; imagine my feelings 
 and act accordingly.' ... I brought with me from 
 Rome quite an assortment of tracts, wishing to leave my 
 testimony in this region which has afforded so delightful 
 a refuge to my family. . . . Day before yesterday 
 George and I took a donkey between us and climbed a 
 very high mountain, on the very top of which is a village 
 
REV. GEORGP: BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. I). 195 
 
 with its solid stunt' houses aud narrow paved stre(ts. 
 Providence favored me. Two or three young men, un- 
 usually intelligent looking, were standing or sitting to- 
 gether. I took my seat on a stone curbing, holding uiy 
 bridle (Gcorgt^ having gone to get some grapes, for this 
 village is surr(junded with vineyards and they were in 
 the midst of the vintage), and thus seated I commenced 
 a little chat, offering cautiously some simple gospel tracts. 
 I then said as they were accepted, 'These are about the 
 Saviour, etc. I have others which are controversial, op- 
 posing the Mass and the Confessional, but I don't wish to 
 give them to you without telling you what they are, and 
 unless you wish them.' They passed some words among 
 themselves, and I, seeing that 'Barkis was willin',' passed 
 over my other sort, insisting, as I did so, specially as young 
 men they ought to seek diligently to know the truth. 
 Others came and I soon gave away a good many with as 
 much adaptation as possible. I could see sundry persons 
 passing and looking suspiciously and scowlingly on me and 
 my work. Having finished my distribution, which had 
 been accompanied by a running fire of talk, I rose, and, 
 fronting the party, said: 'The substance of it all is that 
 God has so loved the world that He has given His only 
 begotten Son that whosoever believeth, etc. We all then 
 may be saved without money and without price and we 
 may go directly to God without any priest but Jesus. We 
 all ought to accept Him, and if we do trust Him we will 
 love Him and try to please Him, etc. I am doubly a 
 stranger. For I am a foreigner, knowing little of your 
 language, and do not know you by face. Probably I shall 
 
196 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 never see yon again till we meet at the judgment.' Then 
 I bowed and bade them good-bye, which they most respect- 
 fully reciprocated, and I took my way down the mountain. 
 To-day I made another sally. Our new apart- 
 ments in liome necessitate our furnishing linen, and as a 
 good deal is made in this region it seemed well to seek 
 it here. Or. Gason recoumiended Gallicano, a village 
 twelve miles from this, and T determined to make an 
 excursion of it, taking Sue and some of the children. 
 Accordingly at T.oO this morning Sue and 1, j\Iary and 
 Spotswood set off in a light, open buggy with a jolly little 
 black horse, and a driver whom we knew. I leave to Sue's 
 more graphic pen to describe the i-ide, the scenes, the 
 vintage, the quaint village, an«l our curious ex])eriences 
 in bargaining for and buying the linen. When it was all 
 over T commenced my col porter work. . . . Here, 
 too, I preached my three-minute sermon and left results 
 in the hand of God. . . . George and T read 'Silvio 
 Pellico' daily." 
 
 After spending the summer at the Bagni di Lucca in 
 Tuscany, the family was again in Rome, keeping house, 
 this year at 28 Via del Tritone. In a letter to his mother, 
 dated November 10th, 1874, Dr. Taylor writes: 
 
 "... I have kissed Spotswood and Susy, who 
 are in the hands of Ottavia and Libera, getting into bed, 
 and Sue is washing up the tea things while George and 
 Mary are by me preparing their lessons for to-morrow. 
 We all enjoyed our supper of bread and butter and grapes. 
 Instead of cake we have as a sort of luxury the Pied- 
 montese bread, which is white, and nicer than what we use 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 197 
 
 as nur staple. The grapes are delicious. . . . Prof. 
 Edward Judson, of Madison University (son of Adoniram 
 Judson), has resigned his professorship to spend some time 
 in Europe, and has come here with his young wife for the 
 winter. . . . The arrangement has been made for 
 Professor Judson to supply for a tinie the American Union 
 Church in Kome. ... I have .seldom seen a man 
 who pleased me mor(\ lie is bright and full of life, and 
 very intelligent, but simple-hearted as a child, and is to 
 me at once more affectionate and deferential than anybody 
 I have seen for a long time. ... I anticipate much 
 plea.sure from his society this winter. . . . Last 
 Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper, about six P]ng- 
 lish-speaking and the same number of Italians. 
 It is the first time Sue has communed since leaving 
 Fredericksburg." 
 
 On IN'ovember 18th, 1874, Dr. Taylor wrote to his 
 mother : 
 
 " . . . ]My owTi daily perplexities and anxieties 
 are very great. . . . Our family is a little world in 
 itself. . . . The children are a great solace. 
 One week ago to-night we had a little company, the Van 
 Meters, Judsons, Dr. Wassen and his little boy. Dr. and 
 Mrs. Vernon and their daughter of Mary's age, and Dr. 
 Thomson and his grown son. Dr. Thomson is the rather 
 distinguished author of ^The Land and the Book,' and for 
 many years missionary in Syria. He was very enter- 
 taining. I told him that wishing to prepare my little 
 daughter I had asked which was the land, the most inter- 
 esting land in the world, and that she had said and in- 
 
198 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 sisted it was America. He laughed and said she was 
 right." 
 
 This winter Dr. Taylor had opened a locale on Piazza 
 Monte Citorio, just across from the Parliament building, 
 and Mr. Cocorda, a Waldensian by birth, educated under 
 D'Aubigne in Geneva, baptized by Dr. Taylor, had come 
 to Rome as the pastor of the little church. Writing on 
 ]^ovember 23rd, to his brothers. Dr. Taylor said: 
 
 '' . . . I took George and Mary and Annie Craw- 
 ford and Mr. and Mrs. Judson and their brother-in-law, 
 Rev. Mr. Hanna, a grandson of Alexander Carson, and 
 now pastor in Brooklyn, to our locale at 11 a. m. . . . 
 Cocorda spoke well. . . . Gardiol from Civita Vec- 
 chia was present, and followed Cocorda. Then I said a 
 very few words and prayed. The singing was very good. 
 
 . . Cocorda, before administering the Lord's supper, 
 explained our position on that subject, which he did 
 capitally, saying among other things that persons should 
 not wish to render the social before they had rendered the 
 individual testimony. ... I proposed that as there 
 were several English communicants present we should 
 have one prayer in English, and called on Professor 
 Judson." 
 
 On February 25th, 1875, Dr. Taylor wrote to his 
 sister-in-law, Mrs. Sally M. Slaughter: 
 
 " . . . To-day two weeks ago we had a pleasant 
 surprise. I was reading my Bible before starting to the 
 locale, when Mr. and Mrs. Judson were announced. You 
 remember how we learned to love them before Christmas, 
 yow it was like meeting old friends, and besides there 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 199 
 
 was the keen pleasure and interest of hearing their ex- 
 periences in Egypt and the Holy Land. They brought 
 us a carpet-bag full of oranges from Corfu. 
 Personally it is a great cross to me not to preach regularly 
 every Sunday. I often feel it like a fire in my bones. 
 
 I attended last week two very remarkable meet- 
 ings, both at the large and fashionable church of the Gesu. 
 
 The preacher occupies a j^latform erected for 
 the occasion, and has nothing before him, and standing 
 out with his black cap and long, graceful robe the effect 
 is very striking. On each occasion there were two dis- 
 courses. The first was by a middle-aged, tall, handsome, 
 oily-mouthed Jesuit, who made very many good hits, keep- 
 ing the people on the qui vivo, and insisted with much 
 Jesuitical casuistry on the importance of the Confessional. 
 After him several monks in white gowms wormed their 
 way through the congregation, taking uj) the collection, 
 announcing the proximity to each person by a dexterous 
 jingling of the bag. This done, came a second discourse, 
 which was by a portly, aged man, with a large cross sus- 
 pended at his side. His voice was powerful, his tones 
 pathetic, his manner not unlike one of our best Virginia 
 preachers in a revival, and his sermon largely evangelical, 
 containing sundry apposite citations from the scripture. 
 . . . He closed with a fervid appeal, fell upon his 
 knees, led in ex tempore prayer the congregation who knelt 
 as one man. Then followed the pageant of the Mass, the 
 offering of incense and imposing music, the vast congre- 
 gation joining the choruses, so that I was thrilled at the 
 time and even now seem to hear the vibrating notes.'' 
 
200 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 On April 15th, 1875, Dr. Taylor wrote to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 ^' . . . I went to bed and remained there a couple 
 of days. It always troubles me that when I am sick just 
 a little, I lose all interest in everything, religion included. 
 It is a miserable experience. ... I meant to stay 
 at home with Sue and let the children accompany these 
 gentlemen to see the illumination of the Colosseum, it 
 being the 2,628 anniversary of the founding of Rome, 
 but Dr. Gason . . . asked me to accompany him and 
 I went. The crowd was immense, counted, I am sure, not 
 by ten or twenty thousands, but rather by the hundred 
 thousands, filling up every street and open place for a 
 quarter of a mile around in every direction. I was taken 
 with a sort of fainting spell, and after seeing the Colos- 
 seum in its glory for a minute was too happy to lie as best 
 I could on a ledge of the Arch of Titus, with my head in 
 Dr. Gason's arms. I think I shall never forget the anxious 
 misery of those moments. ... I lay no stress on my 
 little attack last evening, and only mention it as one of 
 the rrs gestce, as the lawyers say.'' 
 
 On May 4th, 1875, Dr. Taylor wrote to his sister 
 Fannie (Mrs. A. E. Dickinson) : 
 
 "... I had intended to start Saturday on one 
 of my trips, but Dr. Yernon begged me as a special favor 
 to fill the pulpit of the American Chapel on Sunday, and 
 I stayed over for that purpose. . . . From the dinner 
 table George, Mary, Spotswood and I hurried to the 3 
 o'clock singing meeting at our locale. ... I spoke 
 for ten minutes. ... It was all perfectly unpremedi- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, I). D. 201 
 
 tated. ... At the meeting last night there was 
 handed me a letter . . . informing me officially of a 
 meeting to be held in Brighton, nrging me at the expense 
 of the Committee to be present as the representative of 
 the American Baptists. ... I think representative 
 men from all parts of Enrope will be present. ... I 
 have decided to go." 
 
 The family went for a second summer to the Bagni di 
 Lucca, spending several weeks in September at Leghorn. 
 Dr. Taylor wrote to his brother Charles from the Bagni 
 di Lucca, July 8th, 1875 : 
 
 I see from the Dispatch that a letter from 
 U. S. to Italy will now be ^yq cents ; // it is so you will 
 have a little advantage of us, for we will have to pay 
 eight cents on those we send. Ergo you must write eight 
 letters to our five. I am amused to see that newspaper 
 postage has been reduced to two cents. Mahomet and the 
 mountain. The Italian and U. S. Government and I have 
 been trying for nearly two years to get the Biblical Re- 
 corder to put four-cent stamps on, but B. C. with true 
 N. C. conservatism and courageous steadfastness has 
 persistently declined ; and now the governments say, 
 'Well, the B. C. shall have things its own way, and Taylor 
 gets his paper without having to pay eight cents more per 
 number.' ... I came here this summer very anxious 
 to do something for the evangelization of this interesting 
 region. So far my efforts to get a place for meetings have 
 failed, those who have suitable rooms being afraid to let 
 them for such a purpose. . . . Meantime I go out 
 almost daily, talking to individuals as the opportunity 
 
202 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 offers. . . . Day before yesterday I was much 
 favored. George and I took an ass in partnership (not 
 to ride and tie, but to ride and drive), and ascended to 
 Lugliano, a lovely village on the top of a mountain. On 
 the way and in the village I had many pleasant conver- 
 sations, being enabled in every case to introduce the gospel 
 in a natural, easy manner. In the piazza I began to 
 talk, and quite a crowd gathered to hear. I, of course, 
 gave out some tracts, but rely even more on the spoken 
 word, however feeble, and when tracts are given I like 
 it to be not mechanically but discriminatingly, and in 
 connection with conversation. Yesterday 1 went again to 
 Benabbio. My companions were an ass, and Mr. Smith, 
 for many years a British officer in India. 
 Reaching the village, I found a stable and tied my ass so 
 as to be quite foot loose. We then went into the first 
 open place we saw. I was the more inclined to do so 
 
 as it was a shoe-maker's, and Mrs. W thinks they are 
 
 liberal and impressible. I was courteously received, and 
 soon began to talk, and then to read passages from my 
 Testament. But I found, presently, the coast wasn't by 
 
 any means so clear as in L the day before. The 
 
 men (there were three) listened pretty well, but one of 
 them replied warmly, though courteously; then Smith 
 put in, and I saw there was danger of a more wordy 
 controversy, and I checked it at once, and began in a 
 different strain. ]\Ieantime the village priest, whose 
 garden overlooked the shop door, had stopped to listen to 
 us, and, hearing some statement of mine, shouted out in 
 loud and ansrrv tones that it was false. I fortified and 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 203 
 
 explained what I had said, and then one of the men very 
 courteously took me up into a sort of society hall, upstairs, 
 where we went on talking. As I started to come down, 
 Smith having left me, I saw the priest with another coming 
 to the shop, with quite a number of men. I saw I was in 
 for it and determined to stand my ground. On getting 
 down I found the two priests sitting in the shop, while 
 quite a company was gathered around the door. One of 
 the priests began by saying we were not wanted there ; 
 that our doctrines were destructive, and they would burn 
 all our books and tracts, etc. I replied very calmly that 
 I had no wish to intrude anywhere, but that I had a right 
 to go where I pleased, and talk to whom I pleased, pro- 
 vided they wanted to hear me. ^Yes,' said one of the 
 priests, 'but not on religion.' 'On any subject whatever.' 
 We then got into a discussion which touched on many 
 points, salvation by faith, the Confessional, the right and 
 duty of the people to read the Bible, etc., and continued 
 for perhaps an hour or an hour and a half. The position 
 was very trying, and sometimes the priests would use 
 ridicule, and appeal to the prejudices of the people against 
 us, and it was not always easy to reply to everything in 
 the very best words, specially in a foreign tongue; but in 
 the main I held my ground pretty well, citing from my 
 Testament, and reading from one or two tracts to show 
 the doctrines we teach. God enabled me to be perfectly 
 calm throughout, and I could see that, though many of the 
 audience were to a considerable extent with the priest, I 
 had made, on the whole, a favorable impression personally, 
 while perhaps some words had not been fruitless. I 
 
204 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 parted in a friendly way with the priests, making them 
 shake hands, and inviting them to come to see me, and 
 telling them I would call on them." 
 
 On October 9th, 1875, from Frascati, Dr. Taylor wrote 
 to Kev. J. B. Taylor, his brother: 
 
 " . . . You know about our going to Leghorn. 
 We spent nearly three weeks there very pleasantly, and I 
 think the sea bathing, though after the season, was a great 
 advantage to us. T feel better than at all during the 
 summer. It is almost the first time T was ever near the 
 sea except for only a few hours together, and it was charm- 
 ing to walk right on the beach, to watch the waves — 
 specially when lashed into fury by the wind — to count the 
 vessels coming and going, to see the lighthouse with its 
 revolving light, to take an occasional row, to visit the 
 British men-of-war in the harbour, and every day, almost, 
 to take a plunge into the ocean, and to walk into the city 
 and along the wharves, seeing persons of different 
 nationalities, and now and then exchanging a few words 
 with sailors or boatmen." 
 
 In a letter, dated January 22nd, 1876, to his brother 
 James, Dr. Taylor refers to Mr. Judson, who within the 
 year had decided to enter the ministry, and had become 
 pastor of the ^orth Orange (X. J.) Baptist Church: 
 
 '' . . . Judson wrote me that his church once 
 devoted an evening to praying for our work here. Perhaps 
 yours would do the same. . . . Dr. Curry and his 
 party have been in Rome over a week. I see him daily, 
 and have talked to him very freely of the work. We now 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 205 
 
 propose to have a meeting of our evangelists here next 
 week. I was anxious for them and Currj to see each 
 other." 
 
 On May 24th, 1876, Dr. Taylor, writing to the Board, 
 said: 
 
 "Yesterday Mr. Cocorda baptized, in an excellent 
 baptistery which we have constructed in the basement of 
 our locale, five persons. ... I was reminded of the 
 baptisms of the Catacombs, but all was 'done decently 
 and in order.' . . . If we find it difficult or inex- 
 pedient to buy property, the having this baptistery makes 
 us more contented to remain in rented premises." 
 
 On June 25th, 1876, Dr. Taylor wrote to his mother: 
 
 "'I have felt grieved and sad at hearing that you are 
 not well, and that at such a time you have the worry of 
 the dear old house being moved. . . . How I wish I 
 were near you to add my part towards ministering to your 
 comfort and happiness ! . . . The only thing I can 
 do, besides writing these lines of love, is to commend you 
 to our heavenly Father, who loves us more than we love 
 each other, and who has promised to do for us all that we 
 need.'' . . . 
 
 The summer of 1876 was spent by the family near La 
 Tour in the Waldensian Valleys, Dr. Taylor himself being 
 away much of the time visiting the various stations. 
 During this summer George, the oldest child, went to 
 America to enter Richmond College. Just before his 
 departure, he had the never-to-be-forgotten privilege of 
 a little pleasure trip, first with his father to Bologna, 
 Venice and other points of interest in l^orth Italy, and 
 
206 " LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 then with both of his parents to the Italian Lakes. His 
 father accompanied him to Glasgow, where he set sail 
 for America. Both father and son had dreaded the 
 separation, but the seasick, homesick boy, alone on the 
 ocean, never knew until years later that his father, after 
 the ship had sailed, had returned to the boarding house 
 in Glasgow where they had stayed together, and sobbed 
 with sorrow for him. 
 
 The following lines are from the pen of Dr. Taylor's 
 younger son, Dr. J. Spotswood Taylor: 
 
 ''From his youth my father had a passion for physical 
 exercise and the open air. After my brother went to 
 America to go to college, I became his constant companion, 
 and the influence which he exercised upon me, and the 
 most lasting recollections I possess of my father are de- 
 rived from our association in our walks. He loved best 
 the Esquiline Hill where the city was less built up, be- 
 cause many large open spaces remained there, the sweep 
 of the eye was greater, and the air purer and freer. But 
 sometimes he would dive into the most congested quarters 
 of the city, where sidewalks were unknown, and where 
 vehicles worked their way with difiiculty through the 
 swarming pedestrians, for he loved Rome and the Romans, 
 and mankind generally, and was deeply interested in all 
 phases of human life. In these walks and in our rambles 
 in the country during the summer, he did what he could 
 to connect the great events of the histories and authors I 
 was studying with the scenes around us, and he drew my 
 attention to everything in nature, about which he could 
 contribute some fact, and set my mind to working." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 207 
 
 From 20 S. Nicola di Tolentino, Eome, Dr. Taylor 
 wrote, November 25th, 1876, to his brother Charles: 
 
 '^ . . . Dr. Fuller was one of those — so majestic, 
 so commanding, so full of life and vigor. . . . 'I 
 cannot make him dead.' . . . Presently Sue called 
 me. We two had delicious tea together. We enjoyed the 
 quiet and being alone, and talked of how old people liked 
 an occasional quiet moment." 
 
 On July 4th, 1877, Dr. Taylor wrote, from Naples, to 
 his brother Charles: 
 
 '^ . . . I wrote you of having the use of an ex- 
 cellent library at the Bagni di Lucca, where we go generally 
 every p. :m. to read a London paper and some Italian and 
 French ones, and to take out such books as we want. E 
 have been reading and am now reading, on this present 
 journey, Lockhart's Tife of Scott,' four large octavo 
 volumes. It is for me a rich treat. . . . Verily no 
 romance from his owti gifted pen is so romantic as his 
 own career, and his letters and diary, specially the latter, 
 admit us to the inner sanctuary of his soul with its trials 
 and struggles under circumstances that are unparalleled. 
 Then the book is a picture gallery in which the great men 
 and women of his time are placed before us in life size, and 
 with the color of nature. ... Of course I have al- 
 ways known the general outline of Scott's life, and the 
 general character of his genius, but that is very little com- 
 pared with what one gets from reading this memoir. By 
 it, too, the long, and otherwise lonely, hours of the present 
 journey have not seemed long or been lonely. Only I 
 have often wanted a friend to speak to of it, as I now do 
 
208 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to you. I am as jou know, when at home, blessed beyond 
 many in this regard, my wife being able to sympathize 
 with me perfectly in such things, and, in fact, more vereed 
 in a certain department of old English literature than I 
 am. I have a fancy that it is not a bad thing to range 
 in a library of standard volumes, and to read the old 
 books that are not the mode now, and that are in danger 
 of being pushed out of the way by the swelling stream of 
 current literature. I have a fancy, too, for dipping into 
 and getting an inkling of many books that I can't and 
 don't care to read." 
 
 On December 8th, 1877, Dr. Taylor wrote to his 
 brothers : 
 
 "... The past week has been signalized by the 
 visit of the Deputation of the Evangelical Alliance sent 
 to heal, and to report on, the strifes and divisions among 
 the workers in Italy, and especially in Rome. They 
 arrived Tuesday in the midst of terrible weather. Most 
 of the brethren went to meet them at the station. I did 
 not go, being sick in bed. But at 8 o'clock at night I 
 dressed and went to their hotel, where we had arranged 
 to give them a supper and a reception. About thirty were 
 present. I sat next to Dr. Donald Frazer, of London, 
 who is a tall, fine-looking man, with long, white hair, and 
 manners like those of Moses D. Hoge. Appointments were 
 made running through several days for us all to meet 
 the deputation separately, and unfold our respective 
 grievances. Mr. Cocorda and I went together. I told 
 them I had no complaints or confessions to make. But I 
 had as a Baptist to stand up very firmly against some 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 209 
 
 latitudinarian ideas that were broached. To-day we had 
 a very remarkable meeting, composed of all the workers, 
 etc., of Eome and vicinity. Addresses were made by 
 Dr. Frazer and Mr. Bligh (through interpreters), and 
 by Mr. Arthur (author of 'Tongue of Fire'), in Italian. 
 Then we had addresses by Gavazzi, Cocorda, Wall, many 
 others that you don't know, and by myself. I think I 
 had as much liberty as I almost ever had in English. My 
 talk was a plea for large-heartedness and fidelity to prin- 
 ciples and mutual forbearance, and I urged that the try- 
 ing circumstances in which we were placed in Rome, in 
 our relations to each other, was a part of our moral edu- 
 cation. I felt very deeply, and think that I had the 
 hearts of my hearers. We had some very plain talking 
 about personal difficulties. Indeed, I think I have learned, 
 more than ever before, how^ plainly and frankly people 
 can talk without getting mad. Thursday night Sue and 
 I went to a large tea party given to the deputation. It 
 has been a trying, exciting, partly pleasant, partly pain- 
 ful week to me. I have been criticized for taking some 
 ex-Pedobaptist workers, and entering some fields (Venice) 
 where others claimed a monopoly. I have calmly cor- 
 rected some gross misrepresentations, and defended my 
 right to do Avhat T have done. A Waldensian complained 
 to-day of my writing articles on Baptism. I replied you 
 may write on it every day. We must not confound the 
 discussion of principles with personal antagonism. I have 
 had two agues this week, but have been taking quinine, 
 and hope I shall not have another. Dr. Prime, of the 
 !N'ew York Observer, is here. He called on me, but I was 
 
210 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 in bed and Sue saw him. I have since called on him. He 
 is very pleasant.'' 
 
 Dr. Prime, to whom allusion is made in the last letter, 
 wrote thus concerning Dr. Taylor and his work: 
 
 '^Rev. Dr. Taylor is a man of decided character; with 
 a clear and vigorous intellect, a tender and glowing heart, 
 and such a sound judgment as secures for him the respect 
 and confidence of all who represent Protestant missions in 
 Rome. ... In another part of the to\\Ti is the Bap- 
 tist Church . . . and in at least seven other places 
 in Italy preaching stations are maintained under the 
 superintendence of Dr. Taylor. . . . These missions 
 form an important part of the great work now in progress 
 for the spread of evangelical religion in this land of Papal 
 darkness. . . . Dr. Taylor is able to extend his 
 missions, and multiply the number of laborers just as 
 fast as he has the means of supporting them. And you 
 may be certain that he is judicious, careful and wide- 
 awake." 
 
 From his arrival in Rome, Dr. Taylor had sought to 
 find property suitable for a chapel and mission purposes. 
 This was by no means easy to do. There are no vacant 
 lots in Rome. To take an old house, tear it down and build 
 a new structure may be a most costly undertaking. When 
 one desires to build in Rome, the law requires him to go 
 down to the original level of the city. Thus it may be 
 necessary to excavate twenty or even as much as fifty 
 feet. At last Dr. Taylor decided to purchase a house 
 which could be remodelled, and given the appearance and 
 form of a meeting-house. He wrote thus to the Board : 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. I). 211 
 
 '^On March iTtb, after much treating, I made a definite 
 offer of 129,000 lire ($25,800) cash for the house in Via 
 Teatro dell a Valle, which has been before us for more 
 than a year. . . . April 30. Yesterday I drew on 
 the Treasurer of the Board for $5,000 gold fifteen days 
 after sight, and for $20,000 gold three months after 
 sight. . . . By God's great mercy the affair seems 
 happily terminated. ... I trust God will continue 
 to smile upon us, giving us by the approaching autumn 
 a complete chapel." 
 
 During the summer of 1878, which the family spent 
 in the Waldensian Valleys, Dr. Taylor not only had the 
 fearful anxiety, caused by the obstacles placed in the way 
 of his completing the chapel by the Catholics, but was 
 also called upon to pass through a serious illness. The 
 summer brought one great joy — a family reunion, his 
 older son returning for the vacation from America. The 
 two letters which follow allude to these several incidents : 
 
 ''Lucerna — S. Giovanni, August 20th, 1878. My dear 
 Brother: ... I have been quite sick, and am slowly 
 recovering my strength. ]\Iy disease was inflammation 
 of the bowels, and my sufferings were at times very great. 
 I should be ashamed of crying out as I did, but I am 
 conscious of bearing ordinary pain with fortitude, and 
 Walter Scott tells in his letters how in great bodily agony 
 he roared, so that he could be heard all over the place. 
 For a short time my life was in peril, and the doctor 
 said afterwards that one day he was afraid to return. 
 . . . The doctor is our dear Brother Laura, of Turin, 
 a man of eminence in his profession, of whose baptism just 
 
212 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 two years ago I wrote the Herald. . . . For several 
 days he gave up all to come and see me, and his kindness 
 to me knew no bounds, treating me not only as a kind 
 physician, but as an own brother might have done, con- 
 stantly bringing something to promote my comfort, while 
 at each visit he prayed fervently at my bedside. How 
 tenderly I was ministered to by my dear family, and 
 specially by my wife and by George, I need not, nor can 
 I, tell you. I required constant attention, and it was never 
 wanting. George is truly womanly in his sympathy, and 
 in his gentle kindness. Mary took constant care of the 
 children. ... I felt that my sick bed would have 
 been a bad place to prepare to die. . . . It is likely 
 that this attack has been long preparing, as for more than 
 a year my system has not had its proper balance." 
 
 'Tucerna — S. Giovanni, August 20th, 1878. My dear 
 Sisters: . . . Specially have I been anxious about 
 our chapel in Rome, as I did not know what might be the 
 issue of our difficulties ; but the Lord has heard prayer, 
 and has been better to us than our fears. The refractory 
 tenant we ejected by law. From the municipality we 
 finally gained permission to make our projected improve- 
 ment, though it was given most reluctantly and un- 
 graciously, and only after our threat to appeal to the 
 Parliament and King, and if necessary to the public 
 sentiment of the world — and was at last hampered by 
 onerous conditions. When our messenger would go before 
 the city magnates they would cry out and wish that all 
 the Protestant chapels were at an end, etc. But yesterday 
 came the news of our greatest triumph. As you know, our 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 213 
 
 neighbors got an injunction against ns, and since the first 
 day of June all our work in the pulpit and of the chapel 
 has been stopped, leaving that end all exposed. I didn't 
 know how long it might stay so, and what embarrassments 
 and expenses I might encounter. Having employed two 
 lawyers — one of them, Mancini, said to be the best lawyer 
 in the civilized world — I had to wait as patiently as I could 
 for the result. A few days ago I received printed copies 
 of their argument, and it was so strong that my soul took 
 courage. Yesterday came a letter from one of the lawyers 
 saying that our victory is complete. The injunction is 
 removed, we are entirely vindicated, our work can be at 
 once resumed and pushed to completion, and our perse- 
 cutors must pay the costs of the suit, and probably some 
 damages. Thank God. There is yet a fourth trouble, 
 but it is less important and I hope can be adjusted without 
 serious difficulty.'' 
 
 Dr. Tupper, in his report to the Convention in 1879, 
 referring to the Rome Chapel said: 
 
 '^The chapel was dedicated in I^ovember. The opening- 
 exercises on the second day of that month were partici- 
 pated in by all the ministers in Rome. Our evangelists 
 continued for a week a nightly meeting in the chapel. The 
 daytime was given to business conference. The organ of 
 the Vatican referred to the dedication as the ^opening of 
 an Infernal Hall.' Brother Taylor wrote: ^The chapel 
 is beautiful, and with its furniture is exquisitely simple 
 and neat.' The building is so constructed that it furnishes 
 comfortable homes for Brother Taylor and Signor Cocorda 
 and their families. There are rooms on the ground floor, 
 
214 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 which may be either rented or used for some purposes 
 connected with the mission. The treasurer paid drafts 
 for the chapel and improvements amounting to $31,838.26 
 making the difference to be provided for $4,- 
 358.36." 
 
 In the autumn of 1878 the Staunton Baptist Church, 
 the Rev. Dr. Charles Manly being its pastor, celebrated its 
 25th anniversary. Dr. Taylor, on September I7th, wrote 
 a letter to be read on this occasion. The following are a 
 few brief extracts from this letter: 
 
 "Dear Brethren and Sisters — I can say with Paul in 
 his letter to the Colossi ans : ^Though I be absent in the 
 flesh, yet am I with you in spirit, joying and beholding 
 your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.' 
 
 . . The years that are gone seem to shrink up, and 
 your past history and mine, so long intertwined, is vividly 
 before me. ... In 1850-'51 I was teaching school in 
 the County of Fluvanna and I was sent with General 
 Cocke as a delegate to the State Temperance Convention 
 in Staunton. The journey was made in General Cocke's 
 carriage. During my stay in Staunton I was, with other 
 delegates, hospitably entertained in the family of Mr. 
 Donnaghe, and was much impressed by the gentle and 
 
 active piety of Mrs. D , and her charity for all 
 
 Christians. I thought that if she were a type of the 
 Staunton people, that would be a most pleasant field of 
 labor for a minister. 
 
 "The meeting-house was to have been dedicated the first 
 Sunday in October. But that was a stormy day. I felt 
 desolate enough. Specially had I fears for a congregation, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 215 
 
 for our own members did. not exceed, if they reached, a 
 dozen, and we had no outside adherents on whom I could 
 count. I shuddered at the thought of preaching to empty 
 benches. But God was better than my fears. On the 
 second Sunday in October we had a very successful open- 
 ing. Crowds gathered. I preached, in the morning, the 
 dedication sermon from the text, 'Lord, I have loved the 
 habitation of Thy house and the place where Thine honour 
 dwelleth' ; and at night my introductory as pastor from the 
 words, 'As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the 
 gospel to you that are at Rome also,' little dreaming, by 
 the way, that this was afterwards to be literally fulfilled 
 in my history. . . . 
 
 ''I close as I began. I am with you in spirit and will 
 be when you hear these lines. Some day, I trust, if it be 
 God's will, to greet you also in person. But I do not 
 know how that will be. ISTor is it very important. . . 
 ''Your affectionate brother in Christ, 
 
 "George B. Taylor." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 First Visit to America — Death of Mrs. Taylor — Second Chaplaincy 
 at University of Virginia 
 
 the Being Beauteous 
 Who unto my youth was given, 
 More than all things else to love me, 
 And is now a saint in heaven. 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 But thou and I have shaken hands, 
 Till growing winters lay nie low. 
 My paths are in the fields I know, 
 And thine in undiseover'd lands. 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
 * 
 
 In view of the debt on the new Rome Chapel the Board 
 requested Dr. Taylor to return to America for the purpose 
 of raising the money. He heeded the call of his brethren 
 and set out for the United States early in 1879. Besides 
 attending that year the Southern Baptist Convention, the 
 Northern anniversaries and the General Association of 
 Virginia, at which gatherings he spoke, he made, among 
 the churches, especially at the North, collections for the 
 Rome Chapel. Upon the advice of Dr. John Staige Davis, 
 who entertained Dr. Taylor at the June meeting, the 
 Board requested him, in view of his very feeble health, to 
 seek rest and not to return to Rome until the spring of 
 1880. To rest seems to have been always hard for him, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, I). D. 217 
 
 and after some vacation in the Virginia mountains during 
 the summer, the fall found him once again pleading for 
 the chapel. His work was interrupted by the death of 
 his sister, Mrs. A. E. Dickinson, who had been in frail' 
 health for some time. In the early part of 1880, with his 
 family, Dr. Taylor turned his face towards Rome. As 
 some evidence of the state of the work in Italy, notice the 
 following list of the Italian evangelists working with Dr. 
 Taylor at this time : Ferraris, Paschetto, Bellondi, Basile, 
 Martinelli, Volpi, Cossii, Cocorda, and in the summer of 
 1879 the Rev. J. H. Eager was appointed by the Board 
 for Italy. It took a correspondent of no mean order to 
 be able to write letters on a continental train, where our 
 parlor cars, with all their conveniences, were then un- 
 known. The following letter was headed: 
 
 ^Train for Turin, near Aix les Bains, France, April 
 6th, 1880. I can write only with a pencil, and not very 
 well at that, as the train dashes on through these lovely 
 valleys and grand snow-clad mountains. . . . For a 
 few days in London, Paris, and on the journey, I have been 
 busy on my annual report, which I have just finished; 
 twenty-five pages like this. The annual reports of all the 
 evangelists met me in London. I do not know how it will 
 go with me. I fear the Italian heat, which already seems 
 to smite me." 
 
 On a postal card. May 13th, 1880, from Rome, he writes 
 to his brother Charles : 
 
 " . . . I have just returned from Naples, where 
 I had rather a worrying time, but one magnificent three 
 hours' drive, which is not surpassed by anything in the 
 
218 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 world — i. e., 'not as I nose on.' . . . Some important 
 changes have to be made in our work, and thej are giving 
 me anxiety. Bnt we both know I Peter v : 7, Phil, iv : 6-7. 
 We have been, nearly ever since my reaching Kome, hold- 
 ing a grand Union Protestant meeting, which has stirred 
 up the public, certainly the little evangelical public, very 
 much, and with good results. My own heart has been 
 much encouraged. You will please write at once not a 
 miserable postal like this, but a good long letter. . . ." 
 
 On September 10th, 1880, he wrote to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 '' . . . My delicate health has kept me at home 
 this summer. I have hardly been able to go, and have felt 
 afraid, in my state, to go off alone to strange hotels. But 
 with the cooler weather I shall hope to make some more 
 trips, and when Eager comes we shall have a good time 
 going together. . . . The Waldensian Synod is now 
 holding here ... I have been praying for them, and 
 try to put myself in their place." 
 
 In a letter from Eome, March 8th, 1881, he says to his 
 brother Charles: 
 
 "... My late trip was pleasant, and I greatly 
 enjoyed preaching, especially in some relatively new 
 ground. But I suffered physically at the time, from cold, 
 with no fires, and, after my return, succumbed to an un- 
 usually severe attack from my old foe, rheumatism, which 
 latterly has played in a most uncomfortable way in the 
 regions of my heart. The London doctor consulted last 
 spring said the heart would be my weak point.'' 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 219 
 
 The next letter, to his brother Charles, is from Rome 
 and dated April 22nd, 1881: 
 
 " . . . I have just finished sending oft' forty 
 letters, so you see I am rather tired of wi'iting. I am also 
 taking an active part in the establishment of a General 
 Protestant Hospital in Rome, and this has absorbed much 
 time." 
 
 On June 28th, 1881, he wrote, from Bagni di Lucca, to 
 his older son, a student at Richmond College: 
 
 " . . . Sunday, Mary and the children went to 
 meeting (Episcopal Church), but after a long service, at 
 some interval, came out, not knowing if there would be a 
 
 sermon. We laughed at them very much. Mr. , 
 
 one of the excellent of the earth, is very hard to hear, as 
 he has some defect in his vocal organs. Dr. Gason in- 
 formed me that there are many people here very high 
 church, crossing themselves in church. He asked me to 
 hold a weekly service, which I told him I would gladly 
 do. I do not connect these two facts. . . . As it takes 
 so long for letters to go and come I wish you to think 
 early and write me about your University ticket. The 
 only thing I am certain you ought to take is Junior 
 Natural Philosophy. About that I have no doubt. Other 
 things depend a good deal on your taste and plans. 
 Greek would help you for your Seminary studies should 
 you decide to go to the Seminary. Or would you choose 
 German, which will be always a help to you on the Conti- 
 nent ? Or Junior Law as a part of a general liberal edu- 
 cation ?" 
 
 From a letter to his brother Charles, under date of Leg- 
 
220 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 horn, September 15th, 1881, the following extract is 
 taken : 
 
 '' . . . I get books from London, receiving them 
 bj post. I have bought in all twenty volumes of English 
 Men of Letters. I have read this summer Lives of Cowper, 
 Landon, Goldsmith and Hawthorne, and have now on hand 
 Chaucer, Pope and Shelley. The library at Bagni di 
 Lucca is also very good. One of the books from it read 
 by me was 'Two Years Before the Mast.' I was induced 
 to read it by the fact that the author, Mr. R. H. Dana, 
 now an elderly man, was at the Bagni, and he and we 
 exchanged calls. I have also read two of Thackeray's 
 novels. I read very few novels and they first class. 
 Thackeray's are such, and, rightly read, instructive and 
 useful. 
 
 ^'Xearly all of August I was away from home. It was 
 a delight to have Susan with me — the greater that only 
 recently has she felt able to leave the little ones. It was 
 easier this time, as we have had with us this summer a 
 very reliable young woman, member of our church in 
 Rome, whom we took, partly from kindness, though she 
 helps in many ways. Travelling alone, and in such good 
 company, I find very different. A week was spent in 
 Torre Pellice, superintending the work, and attending to 
 the business of our new chapel. Another week we were 
 at Bologna and Modena. A third was spent at Finis- 
 trelle, in the Alps. Finistrelle has a famous old fortress, 
 the scene of Picciola, pronounced, by the way, with ac- 
 cent on first syllable, and not on second, as one hears it 
 generally. We also took from there a two days' jaunt 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 221 
 
 higiiL'i- still. The air was bracing, and I found great 
 benefit from that week's trip, and jet I know that I should 
 not have taken it but for the persistency of my wife, who 
 is ever my good genius. 
 
 ''During our absence from home the startling and dis- 
 tressing news of our dear sister Sally's death reached us. 
 It was like thunder in a clear sky. My wife bears up 
 heroically, but few can understand how much her sister 
 was to her, and it is a heavy blow. It is so also to me, for 
 not only was she so lovely in herself, but she was one of 
 the few in this world to whom I felt very, very near. Her 
 letters were regular and full of sympathy — like ray 
 mother's or Sister Fannie's. Her life for years has been 
 a great struggle, but now she is at rest. . . . She took 
 me and mine — all my family — to her heart. Father 
 knew and loved her before T did. . . . I am very 
 busy, specially preparing for our expected evangelists' 
 meeting in Milan in a fortnight. I write letters till I 
 feel like a writing machine. . . . My eyes lately 
 have failed rapidly. I cannot use them at night. I have 
 lately resorted to glasses and have them over my eyes 
 and nose (bah!) at this moment. But my general health 
 is improved.'' 
 
 On October 6th, 1881. from Pinerolo, he wrote to his 
 son George: 
 
 "I am here, en route, for an hour or so, and can at least 
 begin a letter to you. . . . We all came together on 
 the 27th of September to Pisa, where we divided into three 
 parties, Leonora to Rome, the family to Bagni di Lucca 
 and I to Milano, to attend our General Reunion of Evan- 
 
222 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 gelists. Said meeting convened on the 28th of September. 
 I had arranged for all of us to lodge and eat together at 
 one hotel, viz., Hotel Varese, a small but very nice hotel 
 near the Duomo. This plan was carried into effect, except 
 that I had a nice large room in the same house in which 
 is Paschetto's new apartment. Three times a day we met 
 at the same table and to excellent meals. Morning, cajfe 
 e latte, pane e hurro ; midday, antepasto, soup, two courses 
 of meat, cheese or fruit; . . . night about the 
 same. I enjoyed my meals, being pretty hard worked all 
 the time, besides the walking to and fro. The discus- 
 sions in the meetings were lively, sometimes stormy, and 
 not always pleasant. . . . The following new com- 
 bination was made: Cocorda, to l^aples; Colombo, to 
 Milan, and Paschctto and Torre, to Rome. The latter 
 
 (T ), who met the brethren for the first time, made 
 
 a fine impression, both by his dignified and cordial 
 manners, and by his eloquent discourse. I hope the new 
 arrangement will do well, and specially that Rome may 
 be blessed in the two new brethren that go there. Brother 
 Eager took little part, but made a fine impression. To me 
 it was first a fatiguing meeting, as for several nights I 
 did not get to bed till the small hours of the night. Then 
 it was an anxious time. I came out at the end feeling as 
 if I had been in a mill. Finally, the weather was bad, a 
 steady rain with a penetrating cold, for which neither my 
 system nor my wardrobe was prepared, and, of course, with 
 so much cold around I did not fail to take some. Behold 
 my iliad of woes! I was to have gone direct to Rome, 
 but received a telegram from Messrs. Rowan and Taylor 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 223 
 
 (two Tennessee and Mississippi Baptist pastors, who have 
 been travelling in Italy and the Orient) that they would 
 meet me in Turin, and accompany me to see the Torre 
 Pellice Chapel, etc. I was very anxious for them to see 
 it, and Ferraris, believing that they would thereby be 
 induced to raise us a good purse for that object. I 
 reached the hotel in Turin last evening, and. found that 
 they (after waiting some hours) had given me up and 
 gone, leaving for Paris fifteen minutes before the arrival 
 of my train, which was forty minutes late. Phansy mi 
 felins ! Being so near I decided to run up anyhow, and 
 here I am. [This letter was finished at Torre Pellice, 
 October 7th.] There is little more to tell. I came on here, 
 yesterday, riding in the coupe. It was very cold. I got 
 off at Ferraris' house, sending on my valise and wraps. 
 Ferraris insisted I should remain with them all night, 
 which I did, and if I missed some of the ^ease of mine 
 inn,' I had other comforts in kitchen stove — a bed warmer 
 (at least three gallons hot water in a large tin can), and 
 specially the loving sympathy which I needed, and which 
 was freely extended. The chapel has made much progress 
 since your mother and I were here. The campanile is 
 done, and adds much to its beauty. The chambers over the 
 chapel are very nice, commanding fine views. I only 
 hope we shall get the money. God will provide.'' 
 
 From Rome, ^N^ovember 3rd, 1881, he wrote to his son, 
 a student at the University of Virginia: 
 
 "... When the Paschettos came we tried to do 
 a good part by them, having father, mother and three 
 children to spend the entire day with us, coming to break- 
 
224 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 fast and remaining till late at night. The same day the 
 entire Cocorda family dined with us, and then we accom- 
 panied them (your mother, Mary and I) to the depot about 
 ten at night, they (i. e., the Cocordas) leaving for their 
 Naples home. Last Sunday we had all the Paschettos to 
 dinner. Seldom for years have I heard so much children's 
 noise as on these two occasions. My children are all 
 getting to be young gentlemen and ladies. Perhaps I 
 would more regret it, but I am nervous and disturbed 
 by a great hubbub, more than when I was thirty or forty. 
 . . . You may have heard of the conversion of Conte 
 Enrico Campello to Protestantism. He was Canon of 
 St. Peter's. It has made a great stir. His autobiography 
 is sold at all the stores and stalls, and has been reviewed 
 in all the newspapers of Italy. For the last two days I 
 have been reading it. It is certainly deeply interesting, 
 giving one an inside view of Pa])al Rome. The view is 
 not flattering, though he writes with moderation." 
 
 The following is taken from a letter to the same son, and 
 is dated Rome, December 8th, 1881 : 
 
 "... Your mother holds her woman's meetings 
 now on the premises. It is very convenient, having here 
 a large spare room, which can be used for many such 
 ])urposes." . . . 
 
 Dr. Taylor was "in journeyings often," and the follow- 
 ing letter tells about one of his trips among the churches. 
 It is dated Bologna, June 3rd, 1882 : 
 
 "... I wrote to you from Torre Pellice a pretty 
 full postal card. I left there last Monday at four in the 
 A. M., and came without stopping to Modena — a hot, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 225 
 
 terribly dusty run of twelve hours. I had the great 
 pleasure of aiding in Torre Pellice in settling a difficulty 
 
 between F and E (the principal members) 
 
 which had long been a great stumbling block. I feel it 
 a blessed thing to be a peacemaker. ... At Modena 
 I made junction with Brother Eager, and we have been 
 together since and will be for ten days longer. One day 
 we were called at five, and with Martinelli went to Carpi, 
 thence in carriage to S. Possidonio (ten miles), pausing 
 half an hour for a short service at Rovereto. At S. P. 
 we visited an aged and probably dying brother, but still 
 full of energy and vim. A priest had intruded upon and 
 was worrying him, but after a short contest was soon put 
 to flight. We reached Carpi to dinner at 2 p. m. ; visited 
 a sick sister in hospital; held services from 4.30 to 6; 
 reached Modena quite tired, but happy in having done so 
 good a day's work. . . . The most disagreeable part 
 of the occasion for me was kissing quite a lot of brethren 
 not much adapted to be kissed. Save the mark. 
 
 ''On reaching Bologna, we found the walls placarded 
 concerning our coming, and we have had two fine, and I 
 trust useful, meetings. The audiences were large and 
 attentive. I have never heard Brother Eager speak be- 
 fore, but really he is beginning to speak so as to interest 
 and impress, despite mistakes and a restricted vocabulary. 
 To-day Brother Basile and wife and daughter dine with 
 us, and then at 5 p. m. we go to Venice." 
 
 In the summer of 1882 his older son returned to Italy 
 for a visit of a year, and was met in Berne by his father. 
 Together they made a pleasant tour in Switzerland, visit- 
 
226 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ing Geneva, Lausanne, Interlaken, Lucerne, Zurich, 
 Schaffhausen, and the Righi. Dr. Taylor had not been 
 well and this little outing greatly refreshed him. He was 
 a most delightful travelling companion, enthusiastic, re- 
 sourceful and liberal in his planning. Rain seriously 
 marred the views at the Righi, Lucerne and the Falls 
 of the Rhine, but solace was found in books. At a kiosk 
 in Lucerne a Tauchnitz copy of Mark Twain's ''Tramp 
 Abroad" was purchased, and many of the descriptions 
 Were all the more enjoyed because read on the spot. On 
 the fifth floor of the Righi hotel, one read while the other 
 watched the clouds, and when a rift gave the view of valley 
 and snow-clad mountains, the book was closed and the 
 fleeting panorama greedily feasted on. Dr. Taylor was 
 much interested in the numerous fishermen on the Lucerne 
 bridges, who seemed to fish unceasingly, and yet never 
 were seen to catch anything; Mark Twain^s story about 
 "The Man Who Put up at Grigsby's" was very a propos. 
 At Schaffhausen, as valises had been left in Zurich, the 
 danger of catching cold from wet feet, after the tramp 
 to the falls, was avoided — thanks to a little German shop 
 where dry socks were purchased, and to the landlord who 
 loaned big slippers while shoes were dried in the hotel 
 kitchen. 
 
 The following spring, after a winter in which all the 
 family had been together, Dr. and Mrs. Taylor celebrated 
 the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding. It was a 
 quiet but very pleasant occasion. The children united 
 in presenting to their parents some silverware, and along 
 with it twenty-five white roses. During the summer of 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 227 
 
 1883, spent at Bagni di Lucca, Dr. and Mrs. Taylor had 
 the great ])leasure of visits from their brother, the Rev. Dr. 
 J. B. Taylor ; their niece, Miss Janie T. Prichard ; and 
 Miss Maud Constant, an American friend. The circle at 
 Casa Bertini that summer was a very happy one, and little 
 did we dream that in less than a year the death angel 
 would come with its shadow. The same summer Dr. 
 Taylor, with several of the children, made a pedestrian 
 trip to see the Eagers, who were staying near Pracchia, 
 Mr. Eager returning with them for a visit to Casa Bertini. 
 On this tramp, going through the long tunnel under the 
 Apennines, with a man carrying a great torch, proved a 
 thrilling experience. Anything that had adventure and 
 romance appealed to Dr. Taylor. The following letter 
 to his brother, under date of August 15th, alludes to this 
 excursion : 
 
 *'We have had a very cool summer but it is now quite 
 warm, though we manage to keep comfortable. We have 
 plenty of vegetables, fruit, fresh butter, milk and eggs, 
 though we cannot get them from our own cow and garden 
 and poultry yard as you do. But I often feel like saying 
 that as regards worldly goods ^I have all and abound; I 
 have need of nothing.' Spiritually, I usually feel 
 straitened, but it is my own fault, since 'My God is able 
 to supply every need according to His riches in glory in 
 Christ Jesus.' I am now reading Life of MacCheyne and 
 find it a truly charming book, specially stimulating to a 
 minister, 
 
 ' 'Janie may have told you of our pedestrian excursion 
 (part of it a la Mark Twain) to see Mr. Eager, and of his 
 
228 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 return, and of the presence in our household of an Italian 
 evangelist. ... I only add that we are under the 
 shadow of George's expected departure, specially as we 
 can form no idea of when we may see him again." 
 
 The Italian Mission never left Dr. Taylor any long 
 period without some ])erplexing problem. Take for 
 example the matter alluded to in the following letter from 
 Rome. Signor Cocorda had been in Rome and then in 
 Naples : 
 
 ''To-day I had Sunday school; then the usual morn- 
 ing meeting ; baptism ; then a somewhat painful church 
 meeting. Signor Cocorda has embraced the doctrine of 
 ^Conditional Immortality,' and th(^ Board has decided 
 (as they were obliged to do) that they could not support 
 him to preach the annihilation of the unbelieving after 
 death (or the judgment). For several months the thing 
 has given me trouble and anxiety. I sent the Board the 
 correspondence on which they based their action. To- 
 day, being about to leave, I presented the Board's de- 
 cision to the church. One of the brethren specially, who 
 had partly imbibed the doctrine in question, spoke very 
 severely. But I was enabled to answer with warmth, 
 without transcending due limits, and several of the 
 brethren sustained me and the Board, and then that 
 brother retracted what he had said. I trust all may be 
 overruled for good. We have just, by the Board's per- 
 mission, appointed, as our evangelist. Brother IN'icholas 
 Papengouth, a graduate of Spurgeon's College, and 
 hitherto laboring with his father in ITaples. 
 
 "To-night I preached on counting the cost before be- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 229 
 
 ginning to build a tower, and am just up from the service, 
 dead tired.'' 
 
 For several years the family spent part of each Septem- 
 ber in Leghorn, where, for a most modest cost, delightful 
 bathing was enjoyed. Italians leave the seaside by the 
 calendar rather than according to the weather. So the 
 31st of August sees an exodus, though the bathing may 
 continue fine for weeks. Dr. Taylor wrote to his son from 
 Leghorn, September 24th, 1883 : 
 
 '' . . . For a couple of days we have been ad- 
 miring the waves breaking on the rocks, and throwing up 
 their beautiful spray, and the same time suffering the 
 inconvenience of the wind banging blinds, breaking win- 
 dows, and filling our eyes with dust. Fortunately there 
 was no rain ; on the contrary, bright sunshine all the time. 
 We lost no bath except yesterday, when we would not 
 have bathed anyhow. To-day all is calm again and the 
 bathing very pleasant. . . . Yesterday Miss Con- 
 stant, Janie, the children and I went to church, morning 
 and evening. The latter service was on Anchor Line 
 steamship ^Olympia.' I followed the sermon in a short 
 exhortation and prayer. It was quite romantic — the trip ; 
 and it was 9.30 p. m. when we reached home. I enjoyed 
 both sermons yesterday. The text at night was: ^A man 
 shall be a hiding place from the storm.' '' 
 
 The following letter to his wife gives an account of a 
 visit to Torre Pellice. It is dated Turin, October 9th, 
 1883: 
 
 "In my last I mentioned meeting Brother James in 
 this city. The next morning, i. e., Friday morning, he and 
 
230 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 I went first to Pinerolo and then to Torre Pellice. At 
 Pinerolo we remained five or six hours, and though 
 neither Ferraris nor his family was at home, we passed a 
 pleasant time walking about, and at a restaurant, talking, 
 writing, seeing. Happily it was a glorious day, with 
 bright sunshine and bracing air, so that it was a luxury 
 to be out of doors. We also found much to interest in an 
 extensive cavalry exercise in a field kept for that pur- 
 pose. All the mountains around were covered with snow 
 which glistened in the sunshine. We had taken third- 
 class tickets, but as a large number of youth from Torre 
 Pellice and vicinity had come to Pinerolo to ^draw' for 
 the army, and were returning hilarious and uproarious, 
 we fled to second class. We reached Torre Pellice about 
 dark, and got a large double-bedded room in the Orso. 
 Early the next morning T went, before breakfast, to find 
 the contractor, and let him know that I was ready to 
 settle. It was arranged that he and Signor Cocorda should 
 meet me later at the hotel. While Brother James and I 
 were enjoying our caffe e latte, fresh eggs and grissini, in 
 walked Signor Basile (!) just from Xaples. 
 After breakfast we three, and soon after with Signor 
 Cocorda also, proceeded to inspect the chapel and apart- 
 ment. . . . The enclosure is very neat and adds 
 much to the general effect. A wall is surmounted by an 
 iron railing, and there are two iron railing gates, one for 
 the chapel and the other for the apartment. We then 
 
 returned to see about a settlement. Signor C had 
 
 failed to make a contract, and between him and the con- 
 tractor there was complete contradiction. . . . But I 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 231 
 
 made the best settlement I could and had no worry, having 
 
 already had it for a month before. Signor C , Basile, 
 
 James and I dined together. One dish was chamois, for 
 which James and I agreed we should never hanker. 
 
 Afterwards we went up to Signor C 's and ate grapes. 
 
 By Sunday morning Signor Paschetto and Signor 
 Ferraris were on hand. ... I preached at the morn- 
 ing service, which was largely attended, and after opening 
 services delivered a somewhat lengthy address of explana- 
 tion as to what had occurred, the state of things, and the 
 plans for the future. I spoke in Italian and got through 
 very satisfactorily with a duty which T had much dreaded. 
 Brother Paschetto interpreted in French that all might 
 understand. 1 then introduced Basile, who said a few 
 words. Then we were going to sing and have addresses 
 from Paschetto and Ferraris, when lo ! and behold 
 Monsieur Peterval [a harmless but half-crazy man] rose 
 and began to speak. T tried to get him to cease, but he 
 became very much excited, and very rude, and seemed 
 ready to strike me ; others tried to silence him, but he had 
 his way and said his say. Afterwards, however, he begged 
 my pardon in the presence of the congregation, and at the 
 close of the meeting hugged and kissed me before all ! 
 After him, the other brethren spoke, including Signor 
 Cocorda. ... In the p. m. we had a meeting of the 
 brethren of the church in which some disagreeable things 
 were said, and a bad spirit was manifested. 
 Paschetto helped me very much. ... It was a try- 
 ing meeting and gave me much pain. ... I leave all 
 in God's hands. ... It was a mercv that we had fine 
 
232 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 weather at Torre Pellice, and Brother James was great 
 company, and a great comfort to me. We came yesterday 
 
 by the earliest train to this place, and Brother J went 
 
 directly on to Paris.'' 
 
 Miss Janie T. Prichard, Dr. Taylor's niece, returned 
 to Rome with her uncle's family to spend the winter with 
 them ; and Miss Constant, who has been mentioned already, 
 was also in Home the whole winter. 
 
 In March, very suddenly a great affliction befell Dr. 
 Taylor and his children. After an illness of only a day 
 or two Mrs. Taylor died early on the morning of March 
 7th, 1884. The same day Dr. Taylor wrote to his older 
 son, a student at the Southern Ba])tist Theological Semi- 
 nary, Louisville, Ky. : 
 
 ''0 my dear son, how can I tell you the sad, dreadful 
 truth — may God help you to bear it — your precious mother 
 left us this morning. AVe will see her no more below, 
 but above, where hearts never ache as mine does now, and 
 as yours reading these lines. My heart aches specially 
 for you. And in all my prayers in these terrible hours 
 and days I have remembered you. What you feared might 
 come has come. But it has not come without God's will- 
 ing it. I know no real comfort in such a moment save 
 that. May we both say what Jesus said in Gethsemane: 
 'Not my will. Father, but Thine be done.' This is our 
 hour of agony. An angel — ^yea, the Holy Spirit, will come 
 to sustain us. [N'ot only the event, but all its details, we 
 know that He who is infinite in wisdom and tenderness 
 has wisely and kindly ordered, however dark all now 
 seems to us. I will now try to tell you everything as 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 233 
 
 best I can. Monday p. m. I had to go to a meeting of 
 Evangelical Alliance Committee and proposed to your 
 mother to ride out and take the children; which she did, 
 and said on returning that she had enjoyed the ride so 
 much. She did not think she took cold on the ride, but 
 that night felt cold and chilly, and hastened to bed. The 
 next day she sat up in bed and sewed, partly I think on a 
 dress for Janie but principally in finishing a pair of 
 slippers which she had been making for you to send to 
 you by Janie. . . . Wednesday morning your mother 
 said she had slept badly or not at all. Difficult respira- 
 tion. ... In the meantime she had begun to suffer 
 more with her throat, and, as the doctor was slow coming, 
 I administered a mild emetic on my own responsibility, 
 which gave her decided relief. . . . Dr. Gason came 
 again at 11, i. e., Wednesday night, and for the first time, 
 as far as I know, pronounced the symptoms grave. T 
 went off to rest, being very tired, but I felt too sad to 
 sleep much. . . . They decided to call Professor 
 Mazzoni, a most eminent surgeon, who came immediately, 
 and performed the operation known as tracheotomy — cut- 
 ting the windpipe. Your mother accepted it with the 
 courage and fortitude which were so peculiarly hers — 
 indeed she said, ^Anything to relieve me and to save my 
 life.^ The operation succeeded and considerable relief 
 was secured. ... At five they called us and we went 
 with Spotswood. In half an hour or less she breathed 
 her last. The death was perfectly peaceful, which but 
 
 for the operation it could not have been. Dr. G 
 
 and Mrs. Adams said up to a few moments before that 
 
234 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 they thought she was doing well, even improving. . 
 It hurt her to speak. But often she signed . . . and 
 again and again she gave an expressive smile. The last 
 audible words were 'Pray for me/ and before the operation 
 she said, 'Jesus will help me.' . . . Our brethren 
 and sisters loved her and admired her, and she loved them. 
 I commenced this this morning and now finish 
 at 7.30 p. M. I have been interrupted scores of times 
 and have had so many things to think of and attend to. 
 Part of the day I have been overwhelmed, but part I am 
 strangely calm. I walk in a dream. ..." 
 
 Mrs. Taylor's death was tragic in its suddenness, and 
 the grief among Italian evangelicals and English and 
 Americans in Rome was deep and general. A corre- 
 spondent of the American Register, a secular paper, said : 
 
 ''Mrs. Taylor's death was quite sudden and unexpected, 
 and outside of her own family the community of English 
 and Americans and other Protestant Christians at Rome 
 will sadly miss one who was beloved by all who knew her." 
 
 With that unselfishness which characterized him, Dr. 
 Taylor wrote long and promptly to his son far away the 
 most minute details concerning these days of sorrow, and 
 his letters overflowed with the tenderest love and most 
 childlike faith in God. Pages would not suffice to give 
 all the matchless letters which Dr. Taylor wrote at this 
 time even to his son ; but space forbids, and, moreover, into 
 the sacred place of such a sorrow, perhaps none save the 
 nearest and dearest ought to go. For the children these 
 letters are "a possession forever," and to the beautiful 
 life and lovely character of their mother give a halo and a 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 235 
 
 benediction. The line from Milton on her tombstone gives 
 some idea of what she was to her husband, her children, 
 her loved ones, her friends, all who knew her: 
 
 ** Love, sweetness, goodness in her person shined." 
 
 On March 28th, 1884, Dr. Taylor wrote to his older son : 
 
 ^'It is three weeks this morning since our beloved one 
 went home. ... I can hardly tell you how I have 
 gotten on, so varied have been my experiences. The be- 
 reavement is hardly ever absent from me for any length 
 of time, but often it does not seem a real thing, but only 
 a dark, dreadful dream from which I have awakened. At 
 other moments the sense of desolation is overpowering, and 
 then again my heart simply hungers for her. 
 You are remembered by us many times a day, and I 
 believe by many others. Luther said three things make a 
 minister: prayer, temptation and affliction. And Paul, in 
 the beginning of his second letter to the Corinthians, tells 
 how we receive comfort that we may be able to comfort 
 others. I remember hearing a sermon from Dr. Reynolds 
 when I was a boy, on the text ^It is good for a man to bear 
 the yoke in his youth.' It was a beautiful and excellent 
 sermon and made an impression on me which I have not 
 yet forgotten. . . . Mary is unselfish and efiicient, 
 just like her mother. She and Janie are a great blessing." 
 
 Upon Mrs. Taylor's death Miss Janie T. Prichard gave 
 up her purpose of returning to America in order to help 
 in Dr. Taylor's home, with the children and in the house- 
 keeping. 
 
236 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 On April 18th, 1884, from Kome, Dr. Taylor wrote to 
 his son: 
 
 '^ . . . Be sure, my dear George, I mean to take 
 care of myself. I rise earlier, . . . bathe partially 
 with cold water, study and write at a high desk, and mean 
 to try to live, as far as it depends on me. And delicate 
 people sometimes do live on in spite of their frailties. 
 The great thing is to live right and to be ready to go. 
 . . . Sometimes my loneliness and depression are over- 
 powering, but I have resolved to go on bravely and do my 
 work as best I can, with God's help." 
 
 From Turin, May 10th, 1884, Dr. Taylor wrote to his 
 son. ]^o formal good was accomplished by the Florence 
 meeting described in this letter : 
 
 "... Monday, April 29th, I went to Florence 
 to attend an assembly called by our Intermissionary Com- 
 mittee to consider if the denominations could get nearer 
 together either in spirit, or form, or both (and cooperate 
 on certain works), and to promote the same. Mr. Eager 
 and I stayed at Hotel Cavour, a much finer house than I 
 had intended to patronize. However, I ate only two meals 
 there, and they were simple ones. The entire Assembly 
 dined together every day at one o'clock, some kind lady 
 having provided the means. Besides, I dined one even- 
 ing at Mr. McDougall's, where all is elegant. The meet- 
 ings were very pleasant and, I believe, useful, and that 
 steps were taken which must bring about a closer union, 
 in fact if not in form. I enjoyed much the good fellow- 
 ship, and the diversion of mind into new and less painful 
 channels of thought. . . . But I must mention one 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 237 
 
 incident of the Florence days. An American gentleman, 
 ' member of Mr. McDougall's church, was ill, and he (Mc- 
 
 D ) asked Mr. Eager and myself to go and see him, 
 
 which, of course, we gladly did and found him sitting up 
 and alone, hut in great pain and needing help. An un- 
 successful operation had been performed. We stayed some 
 little time, doing what we could. He seemed full of plans 
 and hopes, though a pious man, but the cold, cold sweat 
 on his brow made me feel that he was dying. I begged 
 
 Mr. McD to send help, and it was done, as had been 
 
 already arranged, and early in the morning he died. . . 
 ^^We had expected to install ITicholas Papengouth in 
 Milan Sunday, but he arrived too late. . . . Last 
 Monday I came to Turin. Tuesday I spent at the Exposi- 
 tion. The display is fine, but it was a sad day, many- 
 things conspiring to give me a fresh sense of my great 
 loss. Wednesday the meeting of our evangelists came off. 
 We were in session from 9.30 a. m. to nearly midnight, 
 with brief intervals of rest. The services were pleasant, 
 and I trust good was done. We agreed on a plan for 
 insuring the lives of evangelists for the benefit of their 
 widows and orphans. It was also arranged, with our 
 approval, for the appointment of a committee to cooperate 
 with Mr. Eager and myself in the management of affairs. 
 Thursday and Friday (yesterday) the Baptist Union was 
 in session, and a good spirit prevailed, and many things 
 were set on foot ; among others a periodical for the defense 
 of Baptist principles, some four hundred lire being sub- 
 scribed to start it, also a Baptist hymn-book. It was 
 
238 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 encouraging to see twenty-five Baptist ministers engaged, 
 and with so much zeal and good feeling, in planning for 
 future work. I trust that there is a better, brighter day 
 for the evangelicals — yes, and for the Baptists of Italy." 
 
 The next letter, while written from Rome, concerns a 
 visit to Torre Pellice on the same trip referred to above. 
 It is to his son : 
 
 '' . . . I spent Lord's Day in Torre Pellice. 
 I attended two services at our chapel and spoke 
 at one. . . . The congregations were very encourag- 
 ing. ... At present Signor O. C not only holds 
 
 numerous preaching services, but is trying to form a 
 church on the basis of Coyiditional Immortality and 
 Sabbatarianism. ... I have been thinking for 
 several days of to-day, the 13th of May and the twenty- 
 sixth anniversary of our wedding. One year ago, she 
 and you and all of us celebrated the silver wedding. 
 Ah! how little we dreamed what would come before 
 another year. How fresh is my vision of her as, twenty- 
 six years ago to-day, she came in her youthful, virginal 
 loveliness 'as a bride prepared for her husband.' I 
 always admired her, and to me, in her better moments, she 
 had all her girlish beauty. As I passed Pisa last night 
 at midnight, I remembered my parting with her last 
 October ; her eyes were so beautiful and tender and beam- 
 ing with love, that it deeply affected me, and I wrote 
 her of it in my first letter. I did appreciate her, yet now 
 I feel that were she back again I should appreciate her 
 even more. Alas ! mine now is to be but a maimed life, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOABDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 239 
 
 but God forbid that I should murmur. I have you and 
 the dear children. I remember so well when each was 
 born, and gather each of you afresh to my heart. And 
 Jesus is precious though I know that He might be more 
 to me than He is. Alas for my poor, sinful heart!" 
 
 His letters described not only all his own life but 
 touched with helpfulness the lives of those to whom he 
 wrote, especially his nearest and dearest. It is simply 
 impossible to give all the words of wise and loving counsel 
 he addressed to his children, but the following to his son, 
 who was preparing for the ministry, must not be left out : 
 
 ^' . . . I wish to beg you, while doing your work 
 faithfully, to avoid worry. This last does not glorify God 
 or add to one's usefulness, but the reverse, while it does 
 drain fearfully one's vital energies. May you be able to 
 combine the greatest earnestness with a heart at rest in 
 the attributes and promises of God. ... I remember 
 a prayer of your mother's, that we might so commit 
 everything to God as to feel a sweet carelessness as to 
 results. It impressed me as equally just and beautiful, 
 and though she used the expression more than a dozen 
 years ago it is fresh in my memory. . . . Do not 
 take your life hard. Preach and visit in humble depend- 
 ence on the divine guidance, and confident of His life- 
 giving blessing upon your work." 
 
 In the summer of 1884, Dr. Taylor, carrying out a plan 
 he and his wife had thought of, wrote to Dr. John A. 
 Broadus, saying that he would be willing to go for two 
 years to the University of Virginia, as chaplain, if the 
 
240 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 faculty cared to have him fill that place. The following 
 extracts, in regard to this matter, explain themselves: 
 
 "The Ui^^iveesity of Virginia, 
 
 "June 24th, 1884. 
 "Rev. G. B. Taylor, D. D., 
 
 "Dear Sir and Brother: On learning a week or two ago 
 that you would probably be willing to become our 
 University chaplain at the next term, I took the liberty 
 of consulting ^vith several of my colleagues about it and, 
 having their approval, I laid the matter before the faculty 
 at their last meeting. Although far in advance of the 
 usual time for an election, they at once embraced the 
 opportunity, and you were formally elected chaplain for 
 the ensuing term with a cordiality and a unanimity that 
 could not possibly be surpassed, and I was authorized to 
 communicate the fact to you, asking for a definite response 
 when it may suit your convenience. The prospect of 
 having you with us, and in this intimate relation, is a 
 matter of general congratulation. . . . Will you 
 allow me to add that amidst the general congratulation 
 there is a deep note of sorrow that you return alone. 
 Every one says, ^Alas that Mrs. Taylor is not to be with 
 us too!' For myself and my wife it is a special source of 
 sorrow, for we learned not only to admire but also the 
 easy lesson to love her, and our hearty sympathies are 
 with you in your great loss. You will not be less welcome 
 to our hearts and homes, and I pray God to direct and 
 bless your coming. . . . 
 
 "Truly your friend and brother, 
 
 ":N'oah K Davis." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 241 
 
 Dr. Taylor replied: 
 
 '^LucERNA — S. Giovanni, Italy, 
 
 ''July 13tli, 1884. 
 ^Trof. N. K. Davis, 
 
 ''University of Virginia. 
 "My dear Sir and Brother: I have received your kind 
 letter of June 24th, communicating the action of the 
 faculty of the University of Virginia, electing me chap- 
 lain for the next term. It will give me great pleasure to 
 accept the position, and as soon as I receive the consent of 
 the Foreign Mission Board, which I have no doubt will 
 be cheerfully given, I shall send my formal acceptance. 
 I was aware that the next term does not begin till October, 
 1885, but in writing to Dr. Broadus of my willingness 
 to have my name mentioned in connection with the chap- 
 laincy, I did not anticipate so prompt action. Besides, I 
 desired that, if elected, it might be without rivalry, as 
 my relation to Southern Baptist ministers is delicate and, 
 moreover, I wished time in order to consult the Foreign 
 Mission Board and make needed arrangements, and to 
 leave ample opportunity for selecting another chaplain 
 in case I could not go. I heartily thank the faculty for 
 the exception made in my case of an early election, and 
 also for the cordiality with which it was made. My own 
 feeling for the University of Virginia has always been 
 a blending of admiration and affection, and to be its chap- 
 lain is for me both an honor and a privilege. 
 Yes, it will be unutterably sad to return home without 
 my wife, but it is unutterably sad to remain here or 
 indeed to live at all without her. . . . One comfort 
 
242 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in going home will be that I shall be carrying out her 
 wishes in regard to our children, who in every way need 
 the change. I have no other plan than after filling my 
 term to return to Italy and end my days here. I cannot 
 sufficiently thank you for your kindness in the matter.'' 
 
 Dr. Taylor wrote to Dr. Tupper, the corresponding 
 secretary of the Foreign Mission Board: 
 
 "My dear Brother : It was the conviction of my wife 
 and myself that a prolonged visit of our family to the 
 United States was desirable, specially in view of the 
 physical, intellectual and social needs of our children. 
 We also thought that it might be a wise and desirable 
 arrangement, both as regards the Board and ourselves, 
 for me to accept, if appointed, the next Baptist chaplaincy 
 at the University of Virginia. As these needs were at 
 least not diminished by the death of my wife, I wrote in 
 the latter part of May to Dr. John A. Broadus, authorizing 
 him, if as a friend of the Foreign Mission Board and of 
 the University of Virginia he thought well of it, to mention 
 my name as next Baptist chaplain. I have now the honor 
 of enclosing a copy of Professor Davis's letter informing 
 me of my election, and a copy of my own letter expressing 
 my desire to accept the position, provided the Board 
 consent. I trust the Board will see no obstacle in the 
 way. If they do, I am quite ready heartily to renounce 
 the project. Should the way be open, my plan would 
 be to have leave of absence without salary, say for twenty 
 or twenty-four months, with the understanding that at the 
 end of the time I return to Italy, unless some grave reason 
 interpose, affecting either the Board or myself. . . . 
 
243 
 
 Confiding implicitly in the wisdom and love of the Board, 
 I submit the matter without other words." 
 
 As will be seen from what follows, the plan for the 
 return to the United States and the University of Virginia 
 was in due time carried out. The summer of 1884 was 
 spent in the Waldensian Valleys, Miss Prichard still 
 being one of the little circle. During the summer a pen- 
 written paper, called ^'The Holiday Herald," was issued 
 from week to week, and, besides other things, contained the 
 poems and essays and stories which were submitted in 
 contests for prizes offered by first one and then another. 
 Dr. Taylor entered most enthusiastically into this plan, 
 which proved profitable to the young people, and pleasant 
 for all. Early in the fall Mary, the older daughter, went 
 to Leipsic, Germany, to spend the winter in study, and 
 Dr. Taylor's niece returned with him and the family to 
 Rome, to take charge of the housekeeping and look after 
 the children. The next letters show Dr. Taylor en route 
 for the United States, and the University of Virginia. 
 During Dr. Taylor's absence in America, Dr. Eager had 
 charge of the Italian work. 
 
 On July 7th, 1885, Dr. Taylor wrote from 11 Charter- 
 house Square, London, to his brother James : 
 
 "... After a pleasant week in Leipsic, varied 
 by a day in Dresden, and a not important attack of sick- 
 ness, I came on with my trio, visiting the haunts of 
 Goethe, Schiller and Luther. A few hours were given 
 to Weimar, where the two former lived, and a couple of 
 days (one being Lord's Day) to Eisenach and the Wart- 
 burg. Then we came here by way of Frankfort, the Rhine, 
 
244 LIFE AI^D LETTERS OF 
 
 Cologne, Brussels and Antwerp. To afford this, we took 
 to Dresden, and as far as Cologne, third-class trains and 
 third-class hotels, which in Germany are very inexpensive, 
 while often we simply picnicked in the train or in third- 
 class waiting rooms on sandwiches. All this is rather to 
 my taste, though the railroading in third class is rather 
 fatiguing. We had a goodly number of heavy bundles 
 to carry and deposit, and we must often have presented 
 a queer, not to say ridiculous, a])pearance. . . . We 
 are at a very quiet little place do^vn town, within four or 
 five minutes of the roar of the metropolis, and yet as 
 secluded as if in the depths of a forest. In front is a 
 little park or square, open only to those living or stopping 
 on this square. This p. m. a policeman let us in and let 
 us out. Altogether I have found the trip thus far a 
 pleasure and a minister to health, giving, as it does, change 
 of scene and a relief from consuming care. ... I 
 met old Mr. Cook"^ to-day. He has here his American 
 pastor, as he calls him. Dr. Walker, of Philadelphia, 
 whom, with his wife, he is treating to a second trip to and 
 over Europe. ... I hope to hear Spurgeon on Sun- 
 day." 
 
 On the Anchor Line steamship ^^Anchoria," July 31st, 
 1885, he wrote to his brother Charles: 
 
 "... Spotswood and I ran to catch a train for 
 Ayr. Arrived there we found an open 'bus into which 
 the people crowded, and we followed, asking no questions. 
 After half an hour's run over a rolling, open country, with 
 
 ^Thos. Cook, originator of Cook's Tours, etc. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 245 
 
 extensive views, we were set dow^n in a spot, to me one of 
 the most interesting in the world — the more so as I had 
 just re-read the life of the poet. We were surrounded 
 bj the thatched one-story cottage where he first saw the 
 light, the school house, 'Alloway's auld haunted kirk,' the 
 banks and braes of bonnie Doon (bonny indeed it was, and 
 they are), and the Brig o' Doon over which Tarn fled for 
 his life. All of these were inspected. . . . Then we 
 got from a room added to Burns's house some scones for 
 myself and for Spotswood, and a hot mutton pie, which 
 he declared to be the best thing he had ever tasted. . . 
 My last day before leaving Loudon was given to visiting 
 Oxford according to a sometime cherished wish and plan. 
 It was a pity the time was so short — far too short to see 
 properly that quiet, splendid, historic city, but imperfect 
 as was my view enough was seen to give me a conception 
 which no book or picture could give me. . . . The 
 train to London was a fast one, and took us there without 
 stopping, a distance of seventy-five miles or thereabouts. 
 A charming episode was meeting Edward Judson, 
 who came and spent an evening with me. Few men are 
 there whom I love and admire so much.'' 
 
 Upon reaching America the little party spent a few days 
 in Baltimore ; a few days with kin folks at Newport 
 News and Wake Forest, and then arrived at the Univer- 
 sity of Virginia. 
 
 From the LTniversity, Dr. Taylor wrote, September 28th, 
 1885, to his brother Charles. He refers to Rev. Dr. J. 
 B. Turpin, for many years pastor of the First Baptist 
 Church of Charlottesville: 
 
246 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 '* . . . A week ago to-day we all landed here in 
 the rain and mud. ... It was a littFe depressing. 
 , We have a good servant. Spotswood goes to Mr. 
 Brock at Midway and Susy to a private school at Mrs. 
 Staige Davis's : many friends have called with kindest 
 words, and in a word we feel that we are launched on 
 our life here. My health and strength have improved, 
 and I hope I will get on, though I feel some 
 anxiety as to the sermons. My sermon for next Sunday 
 morning I have written out but am dissatisfied with it. 
 Text, II Cor. iv : 7. Yesterday in the absence of Turpin 
 I preached at Baptist Church, Charlottesville, and pre- 
 sided at the Lord's Supper. I also addressed the Sunday 
 school on Italian missions. In the p. m. I made pastoral 
 visits, one to Professor Wheeler, who was thrown from 
 his Kentucky horse the day after our arrival, and is laid 
 up with a dislocated shoulder, all alone, his wife being 
 in the Xorth. . . . We are greatly enjoying George's 
 presence, and regret that he must go away so soon. Alas ! 
 such is life. He has preached the last two Siuadays in 
 Staunton. My own stay there was an ovation, and I 
 greatly enjoyed meeting and preaching to my old friends 
 and brethren, though memories sad and tender thronged 
 me." 
 
 One letter refers to a barrel of Albemarle pippins he 
 had shipped to his brother Charles; another barrel went 
 to Louisville, to his son. This as an illustration of how he 
 was constantly making handsome, thoughful, loving 
 presents ! Few men ever did more for others with the 
 
EEV. GEORGE BQABDAfAX TAYI-OB, D. D. 247 
 
 same amoiint of money. He was an excellent financier 
 and it was his jov to give to others. 
 
 On October 29th, 1SS5, he wrote to his brother James: 
 
 '' ... Whv have I not written sooner? because 
 overwhelmed with work, and for five days past with 
 neuralgia pains, fever et id omne genus, which have kept 
 me in bed, and which last Stmday compelled closing the 
 chapel to my immense disgnmtlement, and I haven't been 
 out since, and almost fear for next Sunday. . . . 
 James Dickinson and Carter Jones and a Baptist stxident 
 named Cox, from Georgia, have been very kind in supply- 
 ing my place at morning prayers." 
 
 During Dr. Taylor's two years at the University he 
 was never strong, and a number of times was confined to 
 his bed by attacks more or less sharp. He felt the 
 severity of American winter weather, yet on the whole 
 the visit hel}>ed him physically. The luxury of an 
 abundance of milk and vegetables he greatly enjoyed. In 
 November 1SS5 he attended a farewell missionary meet- 
 ing which was held at the First Church, Richmond, and 
 made the principal address, speaking especially to the 
 young men who were setting out for China. 
 
 In the spring of 1SS6 Mr. Moixiy was ar the Univer- 
 sity, and made a deep impression upon the students and 
 faculty. After he left meetings were kept up, and Dr. 
 Taylor speaks of the blessed revival with which the com- 
 munity was visited. The following May he attended the 
 Southern Baptist Convention in Montgi^^mery, was elected 
 one of the vict^presidents and made an address on Italian 
 Missions which surprised inanv. who had Thouirht of him 
 
248 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 as very sober and matter of fact, by its fine play of wit 
 and humor. During the summer of 1886 a Hebrew 
 summer school was held at the University of Virginia; 
 a number of distinguished Hebrew scholars came together, 
 Dr. W. R. Harper being the most famous of them all. 
 Naturally such a gathering was greatly enjoyed by Dr. 
 Taylor, and the social features were prominent, as a 
 summer school cannot be very strenuous, since even at the 
 base of the Blue Ridge the mercury mounts uncomfortably 
 high. During his chaplaincy Dr. Taylor gave considerable 
 time and thought to the enterprise (initiated and made 
 successful by Rev. Otis T. Glazebrook), which resulted 
 in the erection of the Gothic chapel now used. 
 
 In the spring of 1887, upon Dr. Taylor's invitation, the 
 Rev. Dr. Edward Judson spent a week at the University 
 of Virginia, preaching in a series of meetings. His ser- 
 mons attracted very large crowds of students, and great 
 good was done. In the fall of 1887, according to his 
 plan and purpose. Dr. Taylor, after brief visits to Chapel 
 Hill, where his two sons were, one as pastor, the other 
 as student, and to Wake Forest, turned his face towards 
 Rome. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Home Life — Mission Affairs — Chapels Dedicated — Trips to Sicily 
 Sardinia, Switzerland 
 
 O'er all the Italian fields where still doth sway 
 The Triple Tyrant, that from these may grow 
 
 A hundredfold, who having learnt thy way 
 Early may fly the Babylonian woe. 
 
 — Milton. 
 
 * 
 
 I^ovEMBER (1887) found Dr. Taylor and his daughters 
 once more in Rome. The first years in Rome the family 
 had lived in their own hired house, a diti'eront one each 
 winter, and then for some years they had dwelt in the 
 apartment over the chapel, on Via Teatro Valle. Now 
 that apartment was occupied by Signer Paschetto, the 
 evangelist, and the Taylor trio took up their abode at 
 52 Via Giulio Romano. This is in many respects as 
 desirable a place as can be found in Rome. The windows 
 look out upon the steps of the Ara Coeli Church (where 
 Gibbon conceived the plan of writing the Decline and Fall 
 of the Roman Empire), and the square of the Capitol, 
 with its famous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. 
 The large open space all around gives every room save 
 one that wealth of sunshine, which is so necessary in 
 Rome, yet which, by reason of the narrow streets, in 
 many a house is unknown. This was to be Dr. Taylor's 
 
250 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 last earthly habitation ; in view of this fact some words, 
 in the letter which follows, addressed to his brother 
 Charles, take on a double interest : 
 
 ^'Behold my permanent address and me settled again 
 in my ^own hired house' in Rome — well, not perfectly 
 settled . . . but comfortable in the feeling that like 
 Noah's dove we have found a resting place for the sole 
 of our feet after our flight over the great waters. Per- 
 haps God does not mean for his children to be too well 
 settled in this world. ... It has always been a 
 theory of mine that every properly constituted family is 
 complete in itself and that while 'men (or women) may 
 come and men (or women) may go' and be welcome while 
 there, the home is quite able to get on of itself. 
 Our stay has been marked by a deal of rainy, dark, dismal 
 weather (now it is glorious), and by one of my attacks, 
 this time not visceral merely, but a land seasickness last- 
 ing all night, and leaving me weak and miserable for days 
 after. However, as usual, I have come uj) like a cork, and 
 am O. K. (all kork). But T know that some day I shall 
 not 'come up.' This house has some disadvantages. 
 . . . But the house is flooded with sunshine, I mean 
 by day, and when it is not raining. And who can expect 
 everything to combine in a house till he gets the one 'not 
 made with hands' ? . . . We are making some skir- 
 mishes towards getting fixed, and Mary is a treasure 
 worth her weight in gold. . . . Our reception by 
 friends here, of various nationalities, could hardly have 
 been kinder." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 251 
 
 On February 29th, 1888, he wrote to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 "Last Sunday was a clay to be marked with a white 
 stone, as it was the first day for about a fortnight that I 
 went out of the house. . . . Though I went out Sun- 
 day it was not thought best for me to go to our chapel, 
 which is cold and damp, so I walked to the Palace of the 
 Caesars, and there read your and other letters which the 
 porter handed me as I passed his den. On other days 
 there is a franc for admission to the Palatine Hill, but on 
 Sunday there is no charge. I, of course, would not go 
 there sight-seeing, but do not think it wrong to go as 1 
 would to any other green, quiet place. I have had a 
 bronchial attack, and have played the part of the man 
 in the story who could not get warm. It is a strange 
 and to me rather inexplicable as well as painful ex- 
 perience. And yet Sunday I found the sun hot, and my 
 overcoat oppressive. It was the first bright day for many 
 days. We have had a most trying winter, severe cold or 
 continual rain. 'Now comes March, dangerous from the 
 contrast between the hot sun and chilling winds. 
 
 "For two years I, too, got up early and sallied forth 
 to morning prayers, and rather enjoyed it, but for some 
 time I have been rising late. Rome is a great place for 
 sleep, and it seems hard for me to get enough. Mary and 
 Susy are very good to me, and give me all the petting I 
 will take, and I take all I can get. Our servant leaves 
 before the third meal of the day and Mary and Susy 
 prepare that, and as I am reading or writing, in walks 
 one of them with a cup of cocoa, and a slice of brown 
 
252 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 bread. Each time it is a surprise, and I feel as if I were 
 in fairyland. For some time I have not been able to 
 take my meals in the cold dining room. The Baroness 
 Bunsen well says that Rome, with its climate and with 
 the way the houses are built, is no place for a delicate 
 person. For the first time since I came here in 1873 I 
 have thought this winter of making some change. But it 
 has not been a very serious thought, nor do I know what 
 change could be made. Besides, this has been a very ex- 
 ceptionally trying winter, and, after all, one does not know 
 how much of his sufferings may be due to place and how 
 much to his own health, which would not be strong any- 
 where. Charlie, I am sensible of greatly diminished 
 force, and though I have been going dov^n hill four years, 
 this year has marked a decided decadence. However, I 
 generally rally, and hope to yet. . . . 
 
 "I have recently called to my aid here Signor Pas- 
 chetto. Well, really, he will do most of the preaching, 
 as at present he does all. He is one of our very best men, 
 firm and gentle, a student and pious. . . . The 
 Italian work in general is not making very much progress. 
 The most sanguine of the leaders here, while not dis- 
 couraged, take a more sober view than ever of the diffi- 
 culty, and feel little hopefulness, humanly speaking, of 
 the work. But surely God will not fail to answer prayer, 
 and crown His own word with His own blessing. 
 I have been for some days reading 'Life and Letters of 
 John Foster,' a strong and suggestive but somewhat 
 gloomy book, though Foster, could he reply, would say 
 the gloom is in the reality of things. I am perhaps not 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 253 
 
 quite so deaf as when you were at my house, but more 
 so than when I was at yours, and I am in consequence 
 much cut off from social life. The best I can do is to 
 talk to one person who is on my right side, and will take 
 some pains. General conversation is impossible. Last 
 Sunday Mr. and Mrs. Crawford, of Buffalo, dined with 
 us. . . . To-night we will have a number of friends 
 to meet them. I confess I dread it,^ but it seemed a 
 social duty. There is always some one in Rome to whom 
 one has to show some attention." 
 
 A few days later, on March 15th, 1888, he wrote again 
 to his brother Charles : 
 
 ^^I perhaps would not write again so soon but for three 
 reasons, viz. : because it is easier to write a second letter 
 soon after sending a first, because I can, as to myself, give 
 a much better bill of health, and finally because in the 
 meantime I have another letter from you. . . . First 
 of all I must say that the little party of ours, which I 
 was dreading when I wrote you, turned out to be not only 
 a great success, but a peculiar pleasure to me — this last, 
 I think, chiefly because I set myself as a fine art to make 
 everyone have a good time. Then, too, there are, in our 
 little circle, several exceedingly pleasant people for whom 
 I feel a warm friendship, and whose society I really en- 
 joy, though my deafness is a real hindrance. I never 
 tried so much before this year to get on the right side of 
 people or more strictly to get them on my right side. 
 
 "The day after the rout, Mary and Susy went with a 
 
 •On account of his deafness. 
 
254 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 party to Frascati, and I, too, was invited and could have 
 gone, but owing to the detention of the tram car was left 
 by the train. I had, however, a compensation for my 
 disappointment, for that was the day of the demonstrations 
 by the UnempJoyed. One of the two incidents of the day 
 occurred on the steps leading to the Campidoglio, and 
 right under my window. At first the dense mass pressed 
 back the police and the fcAV soldiers guarding the position, 
 and it seemed at one moment, which was thrilling, that 
 they would break through. But presently reenforcements 
 came, two bands placing themselves in the piazza above. 
 A third, with fixed bayonets, charged up the scalinata (or 
 inclined plane), bisecting the mass, and then turning 
 round and forcing each half down, and in different 
 directions — then the victory was won. Many stones were 
 thrown by the people and a few bayonet wounds were 
 inflicted, but it was the peculiar Italian patience and 
 God's mercy that no shots were fired. Once or twice 
 during the half hour that I watched the scene, which could 
 not have been more perfectly under my eye, my heart 
 beat painfully with excitement and anxiety. A perhaps 
 larger crowd, doing real damage, was in the piazza, where 
 Mary has her women's meetings, and almost all over the 
 city bakeries were invaded, and bread carriers were robbed 
 of their burden, so that altogether the scenes of Milan, 
 so admirably depicted by Manzoni in the 'Promessi Sposi,' 
 were reenacted. 
 
 ^^Since this episode the illness of the crown prince of 
 Germany, the illness and death of the Emperor, and all 
 the incidents accompanying, have greatly occupied our 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 255 
 
 thoughts, and we have felt indeed as if we were spectators 
 of a tragedy, and almost taking part in it. . . . My 
 prayer has been for the excellent crown prince, now 
 Emperor, such a sufferer and so sublimely patient and 
 self-contained; so heroic as a soldier and yet so devoted 
 to peace and to liberal constitutional government, and 
 especially for the cause of freedom and civilization, and 
 for the masses of the people that the Great Sovereign may 
 dominate all these events to the progress of His cause in 
 Europe, and in the world." 
 
 On the same day he wrote to his older son, alluding to 
 the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Ryland, who is at present, and 
 has been for many years, the financial secretary of Rich- 
 mond College: 
 
 " . . . Some time before T left the U. S., C. H. 
 Ryland wrote asking me for my portrait. I declined, 
 thinking it would not be delicate, but said some time I 
 would give the portrait of some other person. The thing 
 was followed up and so I said I would pay for J. A. B.'s" 
 
 About a year later a friend asked him to sit for his 
 portrait, for the Richmond College Library, and he did 
 so; writing afterwards for the Religious Herald an ar- 
 ticle entitled "On Having Your Portrait Painted,^' sug- 
 gested by his sittings in the studio of De Sanctis. In 
 this article he said, in part : 
 
 "It is decreed by those whom you wish to oblige, or 
 feel bound to obey, that you sit for your portrait, an ex- 
 perience which had not been dreamed of in your philos- 
 ophy. You feel flattered and fluttered — the latter, because 
 you are well aware that yours is not a handsome face, 
 
256 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and you are almost ashamed to ask an artist to put it upon 
 canvas. And so you delay, like the man of classic fable 
 waiting on the river bank for the water to run by that 
 he may cross, only you know that your case is even more 
 desperate, since, though you can never become better 
 looking, you may lose what little pulchritude you already 
 possess. ........ 
 
 "Let your flattered feeling at the Aristotle Club, or the 
 Pine Pole University wanting your portrait, be chastened 
 by the fact that their wanting it proves you to be no longer 
 young. Only after a man is old enough to have done some- 
 thing do people care for his portrait. Besides, then they 
 begin to fear that if not taken soon it may not be possible 
 to take it from life. This last need not be a sad, but it is 
 surely a sobering, thought and a fine counter-irritant to 
 vanity. Most portraits in public galleries are of men 
 j^ast their prime. So it is at Oxford and Cambridge. We 
 have Michael Angelo and Leonardo as elderly men. 
 Raphael, in his 'School of Athens,' represents the chief 
 characters as aged. Happily, we have his portrait as a 
 beautiful young man, painted by his own hand. Not 
 otherwise could we have it at all, as he died with the dew 
 of his youth upon him, and though so young he has 
 already made posterity his debtors and won undying fame. 
 But he was one of millions! After all, you old fellows, 
 if not handsome, may be picturesque, which is a good thing 
 in a picture. 
 
 "At last you pluck up courage and go to the artist's. 
 You have done well to choose the best. Always strike 
 high; get the best doctor to physic you, the best lawyer 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 257 
 
 to plead for you, the best preacher to preach to you — the 
 best, I mean, that circumstances permit. In marrying 
 also, according to Dr. Johnson, a man should strike high ; 
 for, he argues, a woman is none the worse for being beauti- 
 ful, and if she is well bred and ^used to the handling of 
 money, she spends it more judiciously than one who, get- 
 ting the command of it for the first time upon her mar- 
 riage, has such a gust in spending it that she throws it 
 away in great profusion.' This is wise, but only worldly 
 wise. Surely, in a better sense, one may covet earnestly 
 the best gifts in a companion for life's pilgrimage. 
 
 "Out of the brilliant Spanish Square and street of the 
 Baboon, with their wealth of photographs, engravings, 
 laces, silk stuffs, jewelry, coral, pearls (oriental and home- 
 made), mosaics, cameos, ^objects of religion' luxuriously 
 mounted, every species of bric-a-brac, golden butter whose 
 pads are stamped with the wolf and Romulus and Remus, 
 and, not least, flowers in profusion, — flowers that man has 
 made and flowers the handiwork of God, — out of this 
 street and square you turn into a back street well known 
 to travelled men who love the beautiful. When you have 
 climbed a flight of steps you are still in a sort of garden, 
 and all around you are the homes — the art homes — of 
 painters. 
 
 "Preliminaries are soon arranged, and sittings begin. 
 You were wise to leave everything to the painter. In any 
 department, get an expert, and then leave the responsibility 
 of the case to him. ^He who is his own lawyer has a 
 fool for his client' is a proverb which, mutatis mutandis, 
 applies to many other subjects. I would have made a good 
 
258 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Roman Catholic; and the Papist is all right — except in 
 his premises. 
 
 ''Half in earnest, but in a playful way, you ask the 
 artist to make the picture as good looking as is consistent 
 with its being a likeness. You have not quite the courage 
 of old Oliver, who ordered Sir Peter Leley, 'Paint me 
 as I am, wart and all.' The painter gives you a knowing 
 smile; you may be sure he has had that request before 
 — ^you are not the only ill-favored man he had tried his 
 brush on, and that, at least, is reassuring. . 
 
 "While the preliminaries were arranging, the painter 
 was beaming with smiles and effervescing with pleasant 
 small talk ; but now that work is begun, what a change ! 
 Some time is spent in getting you into the right position, 
 and then, for several long minutes, you are scrutinized 
 as if he would look through you and road the very secrets 
 of your soul. You are slightly embarrassed, and most 
 likely, in consequence, not quite natural. At length he 
 seizes the charcoal and dashes away as if for dear life, 
 looking alternately at the canvas and at you. What 
 concentration of faculties ! !N'o wonder ! Perhaps not even 
 the author requires it more. ..... 
 
 "Even the sitter is under a certain strain to preserve 
 his position and keep his eye on the painter, and once, 
 you remember, when you yielded to an irresistible desire 
 to glance at some geraniums in a window across the street, 
 he with imperative gesture recalled your eye to its proper 
 object. But before you get very tired he proposes rest, 
 and shows you some of the treasures of his studio. Here 
 is no end of tapestry, old armor, antique vases, wood carv- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOABDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 259 
 
 ings, crucifixes in iron and ivory, ^studies,' and the like, 
 but you soon turn from them to look at some of the por- 
 traits. Here is Longfellow, with his shaggy hair and 
 beard, looking like an old lion. There, also, are Cantu, 
 Italy's famous historian, several senators and members 
 of the Lower House. What an honest, bright face Cantu 
 has ! If his history is like him, it cannot much resemble 
 that of Guicciardini, to the reading of which a galley 
 prisoner's sentence was once commuted ; but, after a trial, 
 he gave up the book, preferring to expiate his crime in the 
 regular way. Here are fair maidens from over the moun- 
 tains and beyond the sea, and lovely brunettes from the 
 South. The presence of one of these last is explained. 
 It was not considered pretty enough by the original. The 
 artist prefers to paint the rougher sex, he says. At any 
 rate he has done justice, and not more than justice, to 
 Italy's peerless and royal Daisy, and by her side is the 
 honest King Humbert. One could never feel lonesome in 
 this studio, though alone. Xor would I dare to do or even 
 think bad things there, with all those eyes following me 
 about. 
 
 "At the first sitting, an outline is made with charcoal. 
 Thereafter, the brush is used. One sees in the whole 
 process a not unapt figure of sermonizing. There is first 
 the conception of the text or topic; next, the outline 
 within which to work, for correct design is the necessary 
 condition of a painting or sermon ; and, finally, the filling 
 in and coloring. Some sermons would be improved were 
 there less going about after originality and more effort 
 to simply find and present the thought of the Holy Spirit 
 
260 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 in the passage selected. In the latter, at least, there is 
 ample scope for the creative faculty. Some discourses, on 
 the other hand, fail for lack of life and color. After all, 
 if a preacher is not interesting enough to induce people to 
 listen to him, his ^best laid plans' and most logically con- 
 structed trains of thought are all in vain. 
 
 "Another analogy. We need to study again and again, 
 and with the concentration of our faculties, the character 
 of our Lord Jesus, if we wish that it may be in any good 
 measure reproduced in us. Thus 'we all, with unveiled 
 face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are 
 transformed into the same image from glory to glory.' 
 
 "The portrait progresses. As the colors are laid on, 
 the likeness comes out, and you are comforted that it is 
 not so ugly as you feared, but your eyes, you venture to 
 suggest to the painter, are deeper set than in the picture. 
 'Ah, you cannot judge,' he replies, 'until it is done.' A 
 great truth is wrapped up in those words. You see your 
 mistake, and then think of your greater folly in sometimes 
 judging of God's unfinished work. It is not merely that 
 the finite is never competent to pass judgment on the in- 
 finite, but even that partial estimate that we may make 
 must be delayed till the last touch has been given to it 
 by the Divine hand. 
 
 'With patient mind thy course of duty run, 
 God nothing does, or suffers to be done. 
 But thou wouldst do thyself, if thou couldst see 
 The end of all events as well as He.' 
 
 And even man's work, and any human life, may not be 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 261 
 
 rightly estimated until the close. As a whole it must be 
 weighed, if no injustice is to be done. 
 
 'Grow old along with me! 
 
 The best is yet to be — 
 The last of life, for which the first was made. 
 
 Our times are in His hand 
 
 Who saith, A whole I planned; 
 Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid. 
 
 For note, when evening shuts, 
 
 A certain moment cuts 
 The deed oflF, calls the glory from the gray. 
 
 A whisper from the west 
 
 Shouts, Add this to the rest: 
 Take it and try its worth; here dies another day. 
 
 So, take and use Thy work; 
 
 Amend what flaws may lurk, 
 What strain o' the stuff, what warpings past the aim! 
 
 My times be in Thy hand! 
 
 Perfect the cup as planned! 
 Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!* 
 
 ^'One day I sat by the painter and watched his work^ 
 and saw, as this and that touch was given, the likeness 
 little by little coming out. So have I seen — and surely 
 earth has no lovelier sight — some friend year after year 
 grow more and more into the likeness of the Divine Man. 
 I ventured to say to the painter that I began to see your 
 lineaments appearing. ^But no,' he replied, 'I have not 
 even begun to put in the likeness.' Thus, methinks, in 
 a man who seems to us Christlike the likeness has not 
 even begun compared to 'what he shall heJ That ^doth 
 not yet appear. . . . ' " 
 
262 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 On March 16th, 1888, he wrote to his younger son: 
 
 "... Did I mention that I am re-reading Ivan- 
 hoe ? I see that in the Century there is a lively fight going 
 on between Stevenson and Howells, the former representing 
 the ideal and romantic, and the other the realistic in 
 literature. It seems to me a useless contest, since both 
 have and ought to have their due place. I confess I 
 am enjoying Ivanhoe more than I expected. . . . 
 Never was there a more ex tempore trip than that to 
 Frascati which Susy and I took day before yesterday. 
 It was spoken of playfully at breakfast, but finding Susy 
 would like it, I at once descided to go. . . . The 
 mountains were white with snow and the fields with 
 daisies. We had a charming day, wandering through the 
 villas, climbing hills, and plucking flowers, as well as 
 drinking in deep draughts of fine air which made me 
 skip and jump like a kid. Then, too, we got a nice though 
 inexpensive dinner at the restaurant of the Sole, followed 
 by a maritozzo* each at a cafe, and a cup of black coffee 
 for me. By midday the sky was very much overcast, but 
 we cheerfully hoped it would not rain, as we had no 
 umbrella, and it did not until about 4.30, when a fine 
 sprinkle began. We felicitated ourselves much in hitting 
 the train almost exactly, for we had no watch either. We 
 were rather badly smoked in the car but reached Rome 
 safely, and then, though it was raining little, I took a cab 
 home, for I noticed that Susy's shoes were not very thick. 
 I thought during the day of other visits to F , the last, 
 
 ^A kind of bun, made with oil, and eaten during Lent. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 263 
 
 I believe, with you, and very vividly of one with your 
 mother in 1878 or '79, when being at a sort of crisis in 
 the mission we discussed plans, and your mother said at 
 any sacrifice we must stay on and work on in Rome. I 
 shall never forget it. I remembered, too, all day that it 
 was not only the King's birthday but your mother's as 
 well. She is often in my mind. Did I tell you of going 
 on the 7th, and carrying flowers to her grave? From it 
 I plucked two violets, which I enclose for you and George. 
 My son, you had a rarely noble and lovely mother. I often 
 think what you and Susy lost by her too early death. 
 . . . I must tell you of a curious thing. Some ten 
 days ago I received a long letter from a legal firm in 
 
 J , T , accompanied by others from prominent 
 
 Baptist ministers, begging me to make certain investiga- 
 tions here. It seems that there was a man calling him- 
 self , who was very injudiciously called to 
 
 the pastorate of the Baptist Church there. When he be- 
 came intolerable they got rid of him. Then he began to 
 publish all manner of accusations, till in self-defense they 
 tracked his past history and finding proof that he was a 
 first-class scoundrel, with several aliases, published the 
 same. He, thereupon, brought suit for defamation. Be- 
 fore the court he gave the name of the person whom he 
 
 claims to be his father, a certain with four 
 
 prenomens, whom he alleges to have died in Rome on 
 
 May 6th at the house of one living on the 
 
 Corso, and to have been buried May 8th in the cemetery 
 
 at . There is no record of such death or 
 
 burial, and so far no can be heard of. I have sent 
 
264 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 one telegram and one letter, the latter of which I swore 
 before the American Consul. But I am still at work." 
 
 The following letter explains itself: 
 
 "University of Virginia, 
 
 "April 5th, 1888. 
 
 "Dear Doctor Taylor — I have the honor to inform you 
 that the faculty have unanimously elected you one of the 
 delegates to represent the University of Virginia on the 
 occasion of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the 
 University of Bologna on the 11th, 12th and 13th days 
 of June next. We hope that you will find it in your 
 power to accept the appointment, and will be one of the 
 representatives of the Alma Mater on the interesting occa- 
 sion. We have appointed two delegates. Your colleague 
 is the Hon. Boyd Winchester, Minister Resident of the 
 United States at Berne, Switzerland. Minister Win- 
 chester is an alumnus of the year 1855. Hoping soon to 
 receive a favorable reply, I am, 
 
 "Your very sincerely, 
 
 "Chas. S. Venable. 
 
 "P. S. I must take this occasion to do that which I 
 should have done long ago — that is, to thank you in the 
 name of the faculty for the gift to the library of the 
 portrait of our honored colleague. Prof. IN". K. Davis." 
 
 Dr. Taylor accepted the appointment, and attended this 
 interesting and unique celebration. The same summer 
 he had a visit, which he greatly enjoyed, from two Vir- 
 ginia pastors, the Rev. Dr. William E. Hatcher, his warm 
 friend of former davs, and the Rev. Dr. L. R. Thornhill. 
 
265 
 
 Dr. Taylor was summering at Cutigliano, an out-of-the- 
 way place up in the Apennines, but guided by a postal 
 from their friend the travellers, though ignorant of Italian, 
 arrived safely, late one Sunday night. The visit is de- 
 scribed by Dr. Taylor and by Dr. Hatcher. In a letter 
 to his older son, dated September 8th, 1888, the former 
 writes : 
 
 '' ... At 10 p. M. . . . the bell rang. It 
 put me quite in a quiver, as it had never rung before at 
 night, and I feared a bad telegram. But on opening the 
 door, behold Messrs. Hatcher and Thornhill, who had 
 thought, situated as they were, the most Sunday-like 
 employment was to get to us, and they had come guided 
 by directions in one of my earlier postal cards. 
 Mary and Susy (the servant being away) got 'em a hot 
 supper, and prepared their room. . . . We talked till 
 midnight, as we did also Monday and Tuesday nights, 
 sleeping late to get even . . . and I have never en- 
 joyed a visit more. They seemed to enjoy themselves 
 royally well, and were most kindly appreciative of every- 
 thing. Dr. Hatcher was his own bright self. . . . 
 Their visit stirred me up in a very pleasant way, and I 
 needed stirring up very badly." 
 
 Dr. Hatcher, in an article about Dr. Taylor, speaks 
 thus of this visit, and other days with Dr. Taylor in 
 other parts of Italy: 
 
 *'His appointment to Italy was the decisive event of his 
 life. I fairly went into mourning over it, and yet rejoiced. 
 It was something not to forget to mark the serene serious- 
 
266 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ness with which he faced his new career. When he went, 
 it was agreed that I was to see him in his Italian home — 
 one of my fair hopes long deferred, but realized in time. 
 Being advised of my coming over in the summer of 1888 
 he notified me that he was summering in the Apennines, 
 and that I must come to him there. Not an accessible 
 point and I reached it at midnight of Sunday about 
 September the first, after a hard ride through the moun- 
 tains. He and his daughters were up, and truly I never 
 had such a welcome ! His dear face was transfigured with 
 radiance, and as he threw his arm around me and said, 
 ^O Brother William, my own dear friend, you have come 
 at last!' it seemed to me that my heart leaped to a height 
 of happiness never attained before. blessed days! 
 He told me that in our rambles among the crags of the 
 Apennines we were on the very spot where Cataline 
 used to hide and hatch his deadly plots, but the arch- 
 conspirator did not disturb us. For days our feast of joy 
 went on, and now as he sleeps in his grave my heart finds 
 food in the memory of it. 
 
 "Dr. Taylor talked much of going with me to Rome, 
 but I would not hear of it, as his health was feeble, but 
 he had his house opened and put in order for me, engaged 
 the faithful janitor of the Baptist Church to wait on my 
 wishes, and interested the pastor of the church and others 
 to make it happy for me while in the city of Rome. 
 
 "Later on Dr. Taylor met me at Bologna, and we 
 travelled extensively together through Northern Italy, visit- 
 ing a number of our missionary stations. He knew Italy 
 by heart, and of all guides he was the most instructive. 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 267 
 
 Indeed he was so refreshing that often silent tears, tokens 
 of joy, not sorrow, dimmed my eyes. 
 
 "Finally our parting came at Milan. I asked him when 
 I was to see him in America. ^^N'ever, I hope,' he said, 
 with decision, and I upbraided him to elicit an explana- 
 tion, and got it. It came in about the following words: 
 *My wife never felt called to be a missionary and really 
 preferred to live in America, but as a good wife she cheer- 
 fully came with me. And she has found a grave in Italy. 
 I feel that I must be buried beside her, and if I go to 
 America I fear that I may die while there and they may 
 bury me in that country. This would be like deserting 
 one who gave up all for me.' I had not another word to 
 say. He did come to America later, but his wish to be 
 buried in Italy was gratified." 
 
 As Dr. Taylor and his daughters returned to Rome that 
 fall, they stopped for a few days in Florence. Concerning 
 this visit, he writes in a letter to his son, dated Florence, 
 October 7th, 1888: 
 
 " . . . We have spent two mornings in the Uffizi 
 and Pitti galleries, one in each. The latter is now called 
 the 'Palatine.' When I was here in 1870 admittance was 
 free as air, whereas now, as in every museum or ancient 
 building, a franc each is the fee. But these galleries are 
 always crowded and, indeed, the sum is very small as 
 compared with prices in America, and considering the 
 richness of the collections. There are pictures in those 
 galleries which I can shut my eyes and see, and which 
 are a great joy to me. This time we have given more 
 attention than ever before to Fra Angelico and Botticelli — 
 
268 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the latter on account of an article on his works in a late 
 Harper. But your sisters have for some time been read- 
 ing up for this week, which is, as the theatre people say, 
 their ^benefit,' and which they richly deserve. I do wish 
 them to get the best of Italy so that in case of their re- 
 moval to America they may have stored in their memories 
 precious pictures in abundance of this land of art and 
 beauty. One morning was given to Santa Croce, the West- 
 minster Abbey of Italy, and yesterday morning to San 
 Marco, with the wonderful frescoes of Fra Angelico in 
 the convent there, now a government museum, and the cell 
 from which Savonarola went forth to die. It never 
 seemed so real to me before. An hour was given also to 
 the church of San Lorenzo, with its double-starred new 
 sacristy and Medici chapel. To-morrow we must go to 
 the Academy of the Belle Arti. Of course we have given 
 due attention to the Duomo and Giotto's tower and the 
 Baptistery. The Duomo is now resplendent in its fagade, 
 completed only last year. At the Baptistery we witnessed 
 an infant sprinkling (what a contradiction in that place!), 
 and at San Lorenzo witnessed a bridal procession issue as 
 we entered. There was a wealth of lovely bouquets 
 fastened to the doors of the carriages, but the bride seemed 
 neither young nor beautiful. . . . Two afternoons 
 we have sauntered on Lung Arno, looking at the pretty 
 bric-a-brac in this capital of bric-a-bracdom, and one bright, 
 clear afternoon we rode in a carriage on the famous and 
 beautiful ride over the hills of San Miniato, enjoying a 
 lovely view of the city, river and encircling hills. This 
 paper was made at Ponte di Lima, about three miles from 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 269 
 
 Cutigliano, where also all the government stamp paper 
 is made. We like it, specially considering the low price." 
 
 Apropos of this love of the beautiful in art and nature, 
 which was so strong in Dr. Taylor, are the following words 
 from his younger son: 
 
 ^'When I was but a lad my father took me to the Art 
 Gallery in Bologna and made me sit down before Kaphael's 
 immortal picture of St. Cecilia listening to heavenly 
 music. He told me we had but an hour to stay and that 
 this was the gem of the collection and deserved our whole 
 time. I was to gaze at the painting earnestly and try to 
 fix it on my visual memory until I could close my eyes 
 and see again each detail. Then he sent me through the 
 gallery, looking at other pictures, pausing now and again 
 to shut my eyes and attempt to call up the St. Cecilia, and 
 finally coming back to it to fill in such details as were 
 not clear. The same drill was carried out at a later date 
 before the wonderful ^Descent from the Cross' by 
 Rubens in the Antwerp Cathedral. These paintings have 
 remained my favorites. He taught me, too, to increase the 
 charm and delight in the contemplation of nature by the 
 same process. I was never idly to observe the beauty of 
 a scene in the outside world, but to study it carefully, look- 
 ing for the details which heightened the general effect 
 and analyzing the elements of light and shade and form 
 and color, which went to make the whole. And all this 
 was from one who could not draw a stroke. His sensitive- 
 ness to the beautiful had its counterpart in his distaste for 
 everything that savored of grossness or vulgarity. He was 
 naturally refined and abhorred impurity, but he appro- 
 
270 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ciated the facility with which one may be contaminated, 
 and as carefully avoided all the insidious avenues by which 
 evil makes entrance into the human heart, as if he were 
 really weak in that direction." 
 
 The keen, loving interest Dr. Taylor took in everything 
 which concerned his dear ones, not to speak of his genuine 
 sympathy with a very much larger circle, and his wide- 
 awake touch with the affairs of men, was beautifully 
 illustrated in December, 1888, when his oldest son was 
 married. Xot only did he offer him any financial assist- 
 ance he might need, arrange for a handsome present, and 
 give to the prospective Benedict affectionate and wise 
 advice, but with that fine sentiment which was a gracious 
 characteristic of his the wedding day, as the following 
 letter shows, was observed as a holiday in Rome, though 
 the marriage was in Virginia. Under date of December 
 20th, he wrote to his son : 
 
 ^' . . . Your wedding day was not spent by us 
 according to programme, which I hope was not the case 
 with you and a certain fair lady of the Old Dominion. 
 . . . To begin with, I passed a rather sleepless night 
 preceding the 19th. . . . Accordingly the morning 
 family prayers, in which we are very regular, did not come 
 off. On that occasion we should not only have made 
 special prayer together for you and your promessa sposa, 
 but several appropriate selections from the Bible and other- 
 wise would have been read. Susy, however, read a charm- 
 ing book, as a holiday had been proclaimed. I had an 
 extra shine put upon my gaiters, and bought five mazzetti 
 of lovely flowers, which in as many vases gave a gala 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 271 
 
 look to our house. One of the five was of white roses. 
 After tea we gathered in the parlour, Mary and all, be- 
 fore a lovely fire, and after talking awhile about your 
 wedding and mine, Mary craved the opening of the box 
 of family letters and papers, which was made up when 
 we last went to the U. S. From its loft it came, and we 
 were soon deep in its contents; various letters of your 
 mother, written before our marriage, were read. . . . 
 On the whole we were following somewhat our programme, 
 when, presto, change! Mr. Paschetto brought up various 
 mission affairs, . . . and lo ! our evening was gone. 
 . . . We knelt down together before going to bed, 
 praying with all our hearts for you two. . . . God 
 bless you, my dear son, and your wife, to whom give a 
 kiss from each of us." 
 
 While he always wrote a good hand Dr. Taylor was 
 sure to pay especial attention to his chirography when- 
 ever in note or letter a lady was his correspondent, so we 
 find the penmanship in his first letter to his new daughter 
 very faultless. It is dated January 18th, 1889: 
 
 "... First of all I wish to add another to the list 
 of Charles Lamb's popular fallacies, that ugly couplet, 
 viz., about ^a daughter being a daughter,' etc., ^but a son is 
 a son,' etc. As to the former, I cannot say, but I am 
 constantly more and more convinced of what I never 
 really doubted, that I have not lost a son, but gained a 
 true, loving daughter. I am so glad that you like Chapel 
 Hill. ... It impressed me as a pleasant place to 
 live at, as there are a sufficient number of cultured per- 
 sons to give one ample social advantages. Besides, I 
 
272 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 always like the very air of a college. ... I have 
 always held that the wife of a minister has no official 
 duties whatever. She is a wife and she is a Christian 
 woman, the last fact making it her duty to do what she 
 can for Christ and His cause ; being the wife of a pastor 
 may or may not give her special opportunities of service. 
 . . . I do not know whether you have been in the 
 habit of keeping up so active and incessant a corre- 
 spondence as the Taylors for as far back as I remember, 
 but if you have not, your letters to us show that you have 
 not only the facility generally attributed to your sex, but 
 a gift all your own. I do esteem it a real mercy that my 
 new daughter is such a good correspondent, for I have 
 known some very nice and intelligent persons who never 
 dream of writing a letter unless it is absolutely necessary, 
 and then only a few cold lines in the style of a telegram. 
 I believe I wrote you and George how provokingly . . 
 we failed to keep the 19th of December according to our 
 plan. Nevertheless T read in those days a deal of poetry, 
 and especially read and re-read the Epithalamium, or 
 marriage lay of Tennyson, found in ^In Memoriam.' 
 It is not stated whether Lushington trod on 
 Cecilia Tennyson's train — at least I did not mark that 
 item." 
 
 If this volume does not contain numerous letters from 
 Dr. Taylor's pen to his nieces, and other kin, it is not 
 because these letters were not written, but chiefly for 
 lack of space. The following extract from a letter written 
 to one of his nieces, dated December 2Yth, 1889, shows 
 several of his gracious traits of character: 
 
KEV. GEOEGE BOAKDMAN TAYLOK, D. D. 273 
 
 ^^ ... If my chirographj prove a little shaky, 
 please attribute it to Mary's sewing machine, which is on 
 the same table as this sheet, and is at this moment, under 
 her energetic hand, going like mad. We are passing a 
 very pleasant Christmas week. I sent books to several 
 poor Italian children and some little things to Mrs. 
 Eager's bairns, specially to the boy named after me. 
 . . . One evening I took little George Taylor Eager 
 to see by gaslight the pretty things in the windows. It 
 was no easy matter piloting a three-year-old child on the 
 Corso, crowded with vehicles and pedestrians, but I was 
 more than paid by his exuberant delight. I brought him 
 home in an omnibus, and having finished his cake he lay 
 down on my knees and went fast asleep. ..." 
 
 His interest in his nephews and nieces did not con- 
 fine itself to letters. He was often sending first to one and 
 then to another, pictures, or a book, or money. From one 
 of his nieces the following sentences, which might be 
 duplicated from many another such letter, is taken : 
 
 "Thank you for your kind Christmas gift which was 
 received by us on Christmas day. ... I intend to 
 expend mine in something I have long wished for, but 
 didn't feel that I ought to give myself — a riding habit, 
 and every time I wear it I shall thank you again and 
 again for it." 
 
 The next two extracts from letters to his children give 
 glimpses of several phases of Dr. Taylor's life and work 
 in superintending the Italian Mission: 
 
 "... I had over lire 10,000 to get off in eleven 
 cheques, and there is a deal of formality as to preparing 
 
274 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the money, putting it into certain form and making the 
 demand for the cheques. I had all right, except that two 
 of the cheques were to he for over 1,000, and so by the 
 rules of the bank were to be applied for in a different 
 way. So my pile of money was handed back and I sat 
 down to work out the thing. . . . There was no help 
 but to bring my money and papers back home or to throw 
 myself on the mercy of the court, i. e., of the cashier, and 
 as there was a lull at that moment in the crowd at his 
 desk, I did the last. He was very much amused, but most 
 benevolent, seeing from my golden ( !) locks that I was 
 one of the Angles or Angels, and so fixed my affairs in a 
 giffy. I was feeling badly, and so was willing to be 
 pitied and smiled at, as the price of being helped. 
 
 "We had first the meeting of the Baptist Union and 
 then that of our own evangelists. I was made president 
 of both as well as of the Executive Committee, ^o sine- 
 cure I assure you, as in some respects it would be easier 
 to preside over the S. B. C. than over these twenty-five 
 or thirty Italians. But the meetings went well and I 
 believe did good. It was a time of great anxiety to 
 me, so that I passed wakeful nights after laborious days, 
 but difficulties were surmounted in an unexpected way. 
 So, also, I did not break down or have any severe attack 
 as I feared I would. . . . Our meetings were from 
 8 or 9 A. M. till 7 p. m., and then preaching at 8.30 p. m. 
 with intermission for dinner. We had each day ^ve or 
 six to dine and some to sup. . . . Mary and Susy 
 spared no pains to entertain (materially) and surprised 
 me by their resources, while they captivated the hearts of 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 275 
 
 the evangelists with their sweet faces, bright talk and 
 winning ways." 
 
 For a number of years, in the little English-speaking, 
 evangelical circle, of which Dr. Taylor and his daughters 
 were members, an informal but interesting literary club 
 was kept up. Here is a description of one of the club's 
 meetings, from Dr. Taylor's pen: 
 
 ''Our club has been on Wordsworth for two weeks and 
 would be one or two more, only that we held yesterday 
 our last meeting for the season ; held it by the stream and 
 under the trees in the lovely Villa Doria Pampili, than 
 which Wordsworth himself never saw anything finer in 
 the Lake District. We read yesterday 'Happy Warrior' 
 and 'Ode to Duty,' and I also read while the rest were 
 eating cake a description by Wordsworth himself of that 
 country. When the sentence was reached where he exalts 
 the Cumbrian sky at the expense of the 'cerulean vacancy 
 of Italy,' we all laughed, for the sky above us was flecked 
 with fleecy clouds and was as little vacant as could be. 
 On our arrival Spotswood proposed that I should sit on 
 my large copy of Wordsworth. ''No, Spotswood, I shall 
 not sit down on Wordsworth; I got into trouble enough 
 at the last meeting by sitting down on only one of Words- 
 worth^s poems.' (Company much tickled.) That one was 
 the 'Leech, Gatherer, or Resolution and Independence,' 
 which our English friends thought a gem of the first 
 water, but Mary and I couldn't see it and expressed our- 
 selves freely (especially I) to that effect. It is hardly 
 necessary to say that for many of Wordsworth's poems we 
 have unbounded love and admiration." 
 
276 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 All his references to the mission, in his letters, cannot 
 be given, for there was scarcely ever a letter to any one 
 that did not speak of what was always upon his heart. 
 The quiet progress was seen as the years passed on. On 
 May 14th, 1890, he wrote to his brother Charles : 
 
 '^ . . . Really if I were not feeling too stupid to 
 work on an essay in Italian on ^Immersion Essential to 
 Baptism,' I would not now be penning these lines. . . 
 This reminds me to say, with gratitude, that from being 
 one of the worst sleepers, I have become a very good one, 
 usually getting from seven to ten hours of refreshing 
 slumber every night." 
 
 ]^ot very long afterwards in a letter to one of his sons 
 he says: 
 
 " . . . You ask about the mission work. Clouds 
 and sunshine mingle in our sky. Nicholas Papengouth 
 seems to be getting on better than any of our workers. 
 Never a report without baptisms. . . . Old Brother 
 Ferraris is still engaged at wayside sowing. On the 9th 
 our new chapel at Carpi will be dedicated. . . . We 
 are having just now three candidates for the ministry 
 offered to and almost pressed upon us. . . . At 
 Venezia there is a young candidate." 
 
 A paragraph from Dr. Taylor's "Italy and the Italians" 
 gives the setting of the next letter: 
 
 "In April, 1891, the ninth International Conference of 
 the Evangelical Alliance was held in Florence. Members 
 were present from twenty different countries, and one 
 hundred and fifty Italian evangelists from all over Italy, 
 and of all the different denominations. ... A very 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOAKDMAN TAYLORj D. D. 277 
 
 agreeable episode was the sending of a telegram convey- 
 ing the salutations and best wishes of the Alliance to the 
 King of Italy, and his sympathetic response." 
 The letter is dated Florence, April 7th, 1891 : 
 '' . . . I am most pleasantly situated as the guest 
 of the Evangelical Alliance. . . . This p. m., of the 
 four addresses on Italian Evangelization, I made one — in 
 English. I have no idea how I did, but it's over, that's 
 a comfort. It is pleasant meeting Italian brethren of all 
 denominations, and, in general, a good feeling prevails. 
 I have also met several English-speaking friends, includ- 
 ing Dr. Culross, president of the famous Bristol College, 
 which recalls Drs. Ryland, Hale, Foster, etc. . . . 
 This is a rambling old palace whose topography I may 
 so far master by the end of the week as not to run up the 
 wrong stairs, down the wrong passages and into the wrong 
 rooms, but which to know thoroughly would require yet 
 another week. ... I rose early this morning and 
 went to the morning prayer-meeting. It is one of the best 
 features, marked by spirituality. We had over twenty 
 short prayers in German, French, Italian and English. 
 I prayed in my native tongue. . . . Last night the 
 correspondent of the London Times asked for my address, 
 so I spent two hours writing it out for him. Mary was in 
 the French section and heard Godet. . . . The 
 prayer-meeting grew so in numbers that it is now held in 
 the theatre proper. I heard Stocker, the court preacher, 
 deliver in German his address on Socialism, and I had a 
 printed Italian translation which I read as he spoke. 
 Pastor Bauman of Berlin sits opposite to me at meals, and 
 
278 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 seems a fine, cordial fellow. ... I have liked spe- 
 cially well the addresses of Mr. !N'icholson of Dublin, 
 Donald Eraser of London, and Dr. Boardman of Phila- 
 delphia. ... I was a good deal surprised when yes- 
 terday Signor Torino, one of the older and more influential 
 Waldenses, came to me and with great cordiality said: 
 'Ella non ha mai parlato contro nessuno. Gli altri si 
 graffiano.' 'You have never talked against any one. The 
 others scratch one another.' It was a testimony which 
 may well encourage me to persevere as I have so far, with 
 God's help, in a quiet, straightforward, pacific course, hold- 
 ing and proclaiming what I believe to be the teachings of 
 God's word, but not fighting any one." 
 
 In a letter written later the same month, he apologizes 
 to one of his sons for not sending him a birthday present, 
 saying that ''certain gifts and loans, and expenses so as 
 to make an additional guest fairly comfortable without 
 making ourselves unfairly uncomfortable, made this 
 rather a tight squeeze of a trimistre, and you and I know 
 each other's hearts." Dr. Taylor was always making 
 gifts, and his generosity to his children knew no bounds; 
 he often denied himself almost the necessities of life that 
 he might be able to give presents to his loved ones and 
 friends. 
 
 In a letter to his sister he refers to a meeting of the 
 literary club, which has already been mentioned : 
 
 "... At the meeting of last Saturday each one 
 brought a slip of paper with a list of the ten English short 
 poems he would prefer to send to an International 
 Literary Exposition as best representing English poetry. 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 279 
 
 Milton's Tjcidas,' 'II Penseroso,' 'L' Allegro' ; Gray's 
 ^Elegy' ; Collins' Ode 'How Blest the Brave' ; 'The Sky- 
 lark' and 'The Cloud,' by Shelley; Wordsworth's 'Ode to 
 Duty,' his 'Ode on Intimations of Immortality' and his 
 'Lines on the Cuckoo' ; Mrs. Browning's 'Pan is Dead' ; 
 Robert Browning's 'How They Brought the News from 
 Ghent to Aix' ; Tennyson's 'Sir Galahad' ; Cowper's 
 'Lines on Receiving His Mother's Picture' ; Burns' 
 'Cotter's Saturday Night,' — these fifteen were among those 
 mentioned. How would my sister and my two brothers 
 have made the list?" 
 
 A letter dated Rome, St. John the Baptist's Day (June 
 24th, 1891), has several items and allusions of interest: 
 
 "Here is a tempting half sheet — why not fill it with 
 words to you ? 'No objection made by devil's advocate 
 or other party, and there's positive reason for doing it, 
 in my laziness, due to not having gotten sleep enough 
 last night, because we went, five of us, to the great cele- 
 bration of St. John's Eve at St. John in Lateran last 
 night, and did not get back till midnight, and then Mary 
 and I talked awhile and finally, like Charles Lamb, by 
 contraries, having gone to bed late I made up for it by 
 rising early and taking an hour before breakfast this 
 morning with my New Testament under certain deli- 
 ciously fragrant trees in front of Bunsen's old home on 
 the Capitoline. There are two sufficient reasons why I 
 do not try to picture to you that strange blending of 
 poetry and saturnalia of last night : first, I couldn't do it, 
 and, besides, it's possible Mary of Argyle may make a pen 
 picture of it all for the Atlantic Monthly. I take it for 
 
280 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 granted jou have not so neglected your education as to 
 omit her four already appeared." 
 
 In a letter almost a month later, to his daughter Jessie, 
 he wrote : 
 
 "... For one thing, the Carnival has been in 
 progress, and though till yesterday we have made no 
 attempt to see the show, many of the masqueraders and 
 several of the allegorical representations have been seen 
 incidentally, while yesterday the girls got standing room 
 on the Corso, and saw all, and in the evening we assisted 
 at the moccolette, far more brilliant than it has ever been 
 before, and continued for over an hour, from 6 to after 7. 
 Instead of simple tapers, torches giving colored lights 
 were used, and the Corso was one scene of wild fun and 
 blazing glory. "We came home dead tired — you know 
 how fatiguing it is to stand, but Mary and Susy, who had 
 let Agnese go, served tea and eggs in five minutes. It 
 seemed like magic, and then we all went to bed. I am 
 glad the Carnival is over. . . . Along with the bright, 
 poetical part is a deal of rowdyism, and worse. I got 
 caught in the throng for one block yesterday, and was 
 banged on the head with so-called bouquets till my head 
 ached. . . . Every mail, every newspaper nearly, 
 seems to bring news of friends, more or less well known 
 and loved, who have passed over to the majority. This 
 morning we hear of the decease not of a contemporary of 
 mine, but of a brilliant young man, and, thank God, as 
 good as brilliant — Harry Smith, son of Prof. Frank Smith 
 at the University of Virginia. What shadows we are, 
 what shadows we pursue !" 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 281 
 
 In the spring of 1892 the Italian Baptist churches all 
 over Italy united in holding a bazaar in Rome. Mr. S. 
 L. Clemens (Mark Twain) was in Rome at the time and 
 Dr. Taylor asked him to speak at the bazaar; Mr. 
 Clemens, not being at all well, declined the invitation. 
 Some 3,000 lire was made by the bazaar. In the follow- 
 ing letter Dr. Taylor tells of some of the gifts for the 
 bazaar which came from the various churches: 
 
 '^ . . . Soon there arrived a pacco postale from 
 Torre Pellice (similar pacchi arrive often now from our 
 various churches for the bazaar) ; it contained other things, 
 but chiefly a chamois skin, and as the letter asked to have 
 it unpacked at once Signor Paschetto and I opened the 
 bundle. The skin is a very fine specimen and very valu- 
 able, as the wild goat is becoming, at least about Torre 
 Pellice, very scarce. The horns are attached as in life. 
 Our evangelist of Miglionico has sent some old jars, just 
 as dug up. Some are small and imperfect, one or two are 
 large and with no flaw. As they come from a simple 
 out-of-the-way place, they are certainly genuine, and as 
 the region was a part of Magna Graecia, they must be very 
 ancient. Signor ISTicholas Papengouth, who considers 
 himself something of a connoisseur, has sent a Madonna 
 and child painted on copper, and framed in hard black 
 wood, carved. It is perhaps eight by ten inches. He 
 attributes it to an old Milanese painter and values it at 
 100 lire. Signor Arbanasich is going to send, besides 
 miscellaneous articles, a large collection of crystals and 
 other stones, as well as shells and flowers, prepared under 
 the direction of the professor in Cagliari, said to be of 
 
282 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 European fame. They will go far to represent three 
 kingdoms of Sardinia's natural history, though I am not 
 sure if that term includes mineralogy. Signor Fasulo has 
 sent a picture painted by himself. . . . Whether we 
 get little money or more, the movement has done good to 
 all who have worked for it, and I hope will also draw 
 nearer together all the Baptists of Rome, not to say Italy." 
 
 During this year Spotswood spent some months at 
 home and before the family left Rome for the summer 
 he took an excursion which is referred to in a letter his 
 father wrote June 19th, 1892 : 
 
 " . . . Day before yesterday Spotswood went 
 to Bracciano, as he seemed to have set his heart on it. 
 As he had to get off at 3 a. m., none of us slept much that 
 night, but when he returned delighted and enthusiastic 
 with the old castle, so admired, you remember, by Sir 
 Walter Scott, we felt amply repaid." 
 
 All through the years answering multitudinous letters 
 in Italian, and many of them disagreeable and annoying, 
 formed no small part of Dr. Taylor's work. The follow- 
 ing extract from a letter, to one of his sons, bears upon 
 this subject: 
 
 "I remember that I spoke of my habit of replying, even 
 to the most offensive letters from our evangelists, with 
 delicacy and with Christian charity, but it is quite neces- 
 sary to complete the statement by saying that this is not 
 done without a struggle. Sometimes for a day, or for 
 days, my heart is seething with hurt and indignant feel- 
 ings whenever the matter occurs to me, but I wait till all 
 this is past, and by prayer and time I can write with entire 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 283 
 
 calmness, looking at the subject from the other person's 
 point of view, and putting the most favorable construction 
 upon his words, and remembering that he may have 
 written in an access of feeling and has not expressed his 
 own habitual sentiments. Yes, I have learned to wait 
 before writing — once I used to write at once, but keep 
 the letter for a day, but as it nearly always had to be 
 rewritten, and sometimes more than once, I find that 
 it is wise every way to delay till all the grieved and 
 angry feeling of my heart has boiled over, and left a 
 calm. . . . Now do not misunderstand me; so far 
 from arrogating to myself any 'meekness of wisdom,' 
 what I mean is that when I do arrive at it, it is only after 
 a severe, and protracted struggle in which God gains the 
 victory over my evil, and, alas ! strong, impulses." 
 
 In a letter to his older son he says: 
 
 "... You refer to the death of Frank Wilson. 
 This last was a painful shock to me, and I have, of course, 
 written a letter of heartfelt sympathy to the sorely be- 
 reaved ones, feeling that the loss was a personal one to 
 me also." 
 
 On August 15th, 1892, he wrote to his older son from 
 the Bagni di Lucca. He refers to Rev. Dr. J. M. Frost, 
 Secretary of the Sunday School Board, Nashville, Tenn., 
 and to C. B. Willingham, Esq., a deacon in the First 
 Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. : 
 
 "I am sitting under the shade of the ample plane trees 
 in the plateau, called garden, of the Casa Bertini, which 
 you remember so well and pleasantly. I am feeling lan- 
 guid and perhaps lazy, and finding it a deal easier to look 
 
284 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 at the mountains bathed in purple mist, and the sea of 
 green above me, and bits of blue sky between the leaves, 
 than to write an article for Dr. Frost and his Teacher, on 
 Italy. . . . The generous promise of your noble 
 deacon rejoices my heart, and is likely to turn the scale 
 in favor of the Miglionico people. Certainly I shall write 
 to him. . . . Spotswood and Susy are to have Dr. 
 and Mrs. Curry and their niece as fellow-passengers." 
 
 Another letter bearing date of September 13th, 1892, 
 was written at Bagni di Lucca, and in the garden: 
 
 '' . . . Saturday p. m. we went on a picnic to 
 Benabbio. It was a rather serious climb for me, specially 
 as we went pretty straight up, and not in the gentle, easy 
 step I prefer for climbing. The originators were General 
 Anderson and family. He is an old East Indian, who 
 reads the Scriptures at church ; his wife is a very clever, 
 kind lady, and her sisters somewhat the same. There are 
 two very nice daughters and a niece whose father and 
 mother were killed in the Sepoy Eebellion." 
 
 A week later he wrote describing another excursion on 
 which, while waiting for the younger people of the party 
 to return from a tramp, he was able to present the gospel 
 to a crowd of people in the open air: 
 
 '^ . . . But at least an hour was spent in a far 
 different way, for followed by the poor children of the 
 place for baksheesh, and having dispensed all my small 
 change (sixty centesimi), and the crowd of children and 
 women continuing to come, moved largely by curiosity, I 
 addressed the crowd at length, in a colloquial way, on the 
 love and saving work of Jesus Christ, and got R. Lowe to 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 285 
 
 sing a child's hymn and 'Sicuro in mun di Cristo' [''Safe 
 in the Arms of Jesus"]. All seemed much impressed, 
 and one woman said, 'Your religion is better than oui-s.' 
 It was really a fine opportunity for seed-sowing; God 
 grant that it may not be all in vain! . . . One of 
 the regrets of my pastorate in Staunton is that I did not 
 pay more attention to the Jews there. The attention you 
 received on the train from a Hebrew suggests to me to 
 ask whether there is not a work for you among that people 
 in Macon. Of course if there is a synagogue, the matter 
 is different. But may not Jews often take up the cry, 
 'No man cared for my soul V The Jews are a most liberal 
 and philanthropic class, as I have found. Of course the 
 chief thing to do is to win their love and confidence, and 
 stand up for them, and some of the young men might, 
 with God's blessing, be won to Jesus. Many of them are 
 chiefly infidel and indifferent." 
 
 The news of the birth of his first grandchild called 
 forth a letter, dated I^ovember 12th, 1892: 
 
 "Never had man a surprise greater and more agreeable 
 than I had this morning in receiving yours of the 31st 
 ultimo, announcing the birth to you and Jessie of a 
 son. For months it has been my daily cry to God to give 
 you a child, to be trained for His service, and to become 
 a great comfort to you both, and a blessing to the world. 
 . . . It gives me a queer feeling to be a grandpapa. 
 I must be a better man and I'll try." 
 
 In a letter dated December 14th, 1892, he gives timely 
 advice to his son who was a preacher: 
 
 "... Before I doff my critic's cap let me ask 
 
286 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 if it were well to speak of Cleveland's election in your 
 Thanksgiving address. I trow not. It seemed very 
 natural and proper to you and the people no doubt, but 
 the like of that is just the entering wedge to bringing 
 politics in the pulpit, as they did and perhaps still do in 
 "New England. ... As a citizen, sympathize and 
 rejoice with all your heart at what you think best for the 
 South and the country, but bring it not into the house of 
 God and the pulpit." 
 
 To his younger daughter, who was at this time in the 
 United States, he wrote fully as to her plans, urging her 
 at whatever cost to seek a full reestablishment of her 
 health : 
 
 " . . . Go in August for two or three weeks to 
 the Rockbridge Baths. . . . Now I shall be very 
 much hurt and displeased at your allowing any notions 
 of economy to influence you on the subject of this letter 
 and specially in the matters of the Rockbridge Baths. 
 It would be false econojny. You need to get well. Life 
 is not worth living without health. ... I, too, am 
 a fairly good economist. I hate debt and can truly say 
 that I owe no man anything." 
 
 It may not be inappropriate to introduce at this point 
 some sentences written by Dr. Taylor's younger son, and 
 illustrating his father's careful economy, and large 
 liberality : 
 
 ^^I learned as a very small child that my father was a 
 very busy man. But he was always patient of inter- 
 ruptions, and when he could not attend to me at once he 
 always had some pleasant suggestion for passing the time 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 287 
 
 I had to wait. He would hand me a book open at a place 
 that was sure to interest me or give me a scrap of paper, 
 and tell me what to draw or write about. 
 
 ^' These scraps of paper were peculiar to his study and 
 illustrate his minute economy and good sense. Such a 
 thing as a scratch pad bought for mere scribbling or 
 memoranda was unheard of in our home. Father saved 
 every envelope to turn inside out, every unused page or 
 half page that came to him in a letter, even wrapping 
 paper that was not too soiled or coarse, and put them away 
 in a special portfolio. From this store he drew for him- 
 self and his children alike. I can see that old portfolio 
 yet, and the accounts and estimates and skeletons of ser- 
 mons and various odds and ends, written on bits of paper 
 in his clear, small characters, generally with a mere stub 
 of a pencil. Such method explains how with a large 
 family, on a moderate salary, he could accomplish what 
 he did; how he could from time to time be a patron of 
 art and letters, make donations to colleges, contribute to 
 public enterprises, and assist the countless poor that ap- 
 plied to him for clothes and food and money. If any one 
 individual of the many to whom he was a loving bene- 
 factor, full of delicacy and sympathy, could have known 
 all his good deeds, he would have seemed to that one a 
 rich man, for the privations that enabled him to be liberal, 
 as well as generous, were a secret. Our faithful old cook 
 never got over the shock to her feelings on the occasion 
 when my father interrupted her in +he act of turning off 
 from the door a shabby genteel beggar sadly in want of 
 shoes. He hurried to his room, and changing his shoes 
 
288 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 for an older pair brought out and presented the mendicant 
 with the ones he had been wearing." 
 
 From Taormina, Sicily, April 14th, 1893, he wrote to 
 his brother Charles: 
 
 ^'As Mary and I were riding the other day in the tram 
 car along the Villa Eeale in Xaples, . . . who should 
 run up but Mr. Jenks, just returned from Greece, . . . 
 Professor Jenks of Cornell. . . . He is one of the 
 brightest and most genial gentleman I know, and Mrs. 
 
 J is just as nice. His professorship is of Political 
 
 Institutions, and he has a year's vacation. . . . His 
 letters get him introductions to statesmen in every country, 
 and he knows several languages. In Pome the chief men 
 gave him interviews as long as he liked, and answered 
 freely all his questions, and so it has been at the Court of 
 St. James, etc.'' 
 
 In the spring of 1893, being far from well, upon the 
 advice of the doctor to get away from Rome he set out 
 with his daughter on a trip to Southern Italy, combining 
 recreation and sight-seeing with visits to churches and 
 evangelists. In writing to his brothers, on this trip, be- 
 sides descriptions of what he saw, there was an urgent 
 invitation that each brother would send one of his 
 daughters to be for a winter a guest in the home at 52 
 Via Giulio Romano. Before this journey was over there 
 were calls for him to come to I^orthern Italy. On this 
 trip, from Messina, he wrote to one of his sons : 
 
 "For some time I had been invited to come and baptize 
 several persons, who, from Roman Catholicism, had come 
 to the gospel through the influence and teaching of Signor 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 289 
 
 Antonio Fiori, a Baptist, and a commercial traveller. 
 Yesterday morning after our coffee, gotten at a nice cafe, 
 I left Mary to wander, and hied me to the place indicated. 
 I found a mother and her two daughters, with whom a 
 very satisfactory conversation was had ; the young ladies 
 specially impressed me with their intelligence and de- 
 cision. The brother, who was in the civil service, was sent 
 for but not found, so I left, saying I would remain in my 
 room at their disposition. Later he called on me with a 
 friend (a Brigadiere di Finanza), also a disciple, and 
 asking for baptism. We arranged for the rite at a hydro- 
 pathic at 5 p. M. At that hour and place I baptized 
 all of them. It was on the ground floor, in a lovely flower 
 garden. The people were respectful and sympathetic, 
 and all went well. Before the baptism, we had a little 
 service in the parlour. . . . Only two other persons, 
 besides the candidates and Mary and me, were present — 
 friends of the parties. We then went to the Berti home, 
 and spent an hour in singing, conversation, prayer. 
 Vermut and hiscotti were served. There is a dear 
 little girl, the youngest, perhaps ten, who, I trust, loves the 
 Saviour, and who has witnessed for Him and His truth 
 among the neighbors in a modest, simple way. Then 
 there is another son, a fine boy of sixteen or seventeen, 
 who seemed to enjoy the service, though he was not, 
 probably could not be, at the baptizing. When we left 
 for our hotel the young people proposed to accompany us. 
 Young Signor Berti explained to me that he always took 
 his sisters out in the evening, as they had few friends or 
 recreations. I treated the party to ices, six of which, not 
 
290 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 mezzi, costing thirty sous, to which I added six for the 
 waiter. After vermut and then a citron ice, I did not like 
 to eat, so went supperless to bed." 
 
 Not long after this trip to Sicily came one to the mission 
 stations in Sardinia : 
 
 ^' . . . And so, last Friday, at noon, I started, but 
 the train being detained, and lingering over five hours on 
 the road, Civita Vecchia was reached just after the 
 steamer was gone. It was very vexatious, but I made the 
 best of it and passed the twenty-four hours there not un- 
 pleasantly, reading, and walking by the sea, or looking 
 about the port. The question was as to the course of 
 duty. My steamer ticket was already bought, or I would 
 probably have returned to Rome. The other alternatives 
 were to stay forty-eight hours more at Civita Vecchia or 
 push on and spend the Sunday on the train, which last 
 I decided to do. The voyage was not bad exactly, but 
 the rain drove me below, and I passed an almost sleep- 
 less night. One episode was very gratifying, a long con- 
 versation with two ingenuous young soldiers (sergeants) 
 going to their regiments. One of them was in a peculiarly 
 tender frame of mind, having just lost his mother. I took 
 their addresses and promised to send them Testaments, 
 which yesterday I did. I wondered if I had been allowed 
 to miss the Friday night steamer in order to have this 
 interview. Pray for these two precious young men, 
 sincere Catholics, piously inclined, but till then ignorant 
 of the gospel, and withal truly interesting, such as Jesus 
 would love, as He did the young ruler. From 5.30 in 
 the morning till the same hour in the evening, I was on 
 
REV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 291 
 
 the train, in a compartment to myself (except for the 
 last few miles), and, what with my New Testament, the 
 Examiner and Milman's History of Latin Christianity, 
 and my own thoughts, and admiring the works of God, the 
 day was passed as it might have been in my own study, 
 and certainly no one was influenced by my example in 
 favor of Sunday travelling. I hated to be on the train 
 on that day, and yet I could not see that I did wrong. 
 Several brethren, including Signor Arbanasich, met me 
 at the station and I was soon under the sheltering care of 
 the Moors, and an hour or so later at the meeting. Mon- 
 day night we had another service and I spoke on I Cor. 
 XIII. To-night I expect to preach, and then to leave very 
 early to-morrow morning for Iglesias, where we shall open 
 a new locale, and I shall meet Brethren Tortonese and 
 Cossu." 
 
 During the summer of 1893, Dr. Taylor and his 
 daughter spent a season in Switzerland. Up to this time 
 expense had always prohibited such a sojourn. Xow as 
 there were only two, the cost was not such a barrier, and, 
 besides. Dr. Taylor's health called for a complete change 
 of climate. In a letter to his younger son, on August 6th, 
 from Pension Pfister, Interlaken, he wrote: 
 
 " . . . On the 25th ultimo, we came third class 
 by rail over the famous Briinig pass, and then by steamer 
 on Lake Brientz to this place. We find Interlaken charm- 
 ing. ... Of course you know, or think, at once that 
 the name Interlaken simply describes its position [here 
 is inserted a sketch, showing the two lakes, etc.]. One of 
 the beauties of this place is its shade trees, many of them 
 
292 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 the growth, one would think, of centuries, and as one 
 walks on the hills and mountains around, it is on well- 
 graded paths and through tall balsamic firs and pines, sug- 
 gesting the Black Forest, while here and there are com- 
 fortable seats, bearing the names of Byron, Goethe, 
 Shakespeare, etc. . . . One of the perfect days Mary 
 and I went by train third class to Lauterbrunnen, and 
 having seen the Staubach falls we went and visited the 
 Triimmebach falls. This last involved a walk of some 
 three hours, going and returning, and gave us a keen 
 appetite for the lunch which Fraulein Pfister had put up 
 for us, and which we ate at a quiet restaurant. 
 This function finished, we took a rack and pinion train 
 which carried us up nearly perpendicularly to a point 
 where we changed to one run by electricity that bore us to 
 Miirren. The view en route was stupendous, but clouds 
 and rain soon came up and we were glad to hurry down, 
 but feeling that, if like the King of France, we were well 
 repaid for the time and money spent. Many more people 
 wanted to come down from Miirren than there were seats 
 for, but though burly Germans pushed and struggled, some 
 of them were left behind, while we two succeeded in get- 
 ting aboard. In changing trains for the steeper part, the 
 number that could be carried was reduced one-half, but 
 again fortune or Providence combined with our own enter- 
 prise to make us of the favored few. We came back at 
 night feeling that it had been a rare day. But the next 
 was even better. We were in the act of buying railroad 
 tickets for Grindelwald when Mary suggested that we go 
 instead by carriage. I, of course, agreed, and soon out of 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 293 
 
 several applicants she had combined with a little white- 
 headed old driver with a small, comfortable carriage, and 
 a vigorous, generous horse. Going and returning we had 
 a fine time amid lovely scenery, the Jungfrau, the Wetter- 
 horn, the Eiger, the Schreiberhom, rising in majesty 
 before us on one side. From Grindelwald we walked to 
 the upper glacier of the Wetterhorn, and entered the ice 
 grotto. It all occupied some three and one-half hours, 
 and we were very tired when it was done. I suffered 
 much from the hot sun. This time we struck a very swell 
 restaurant, and under the trees, surrounded by boarders 
 and tourists like ourselves, we ate our rolls and meat and 
 raspberries that we had brought from the pension and 
 drank a pitcher of milk brought by a waiter in a dress 
 coat, who stepped and looked as if the place and all the 
 mountains and glaciers around belonged just to him. 
 When we came, all but us were either Russian, 
 
 German or Belgians. Since then a lady, Mrs. D , 
 
 from Massachusetts, has come with her three daughters, 
 one of them rather pretty and more simpatica than pretty. 
 As they seemed rather bored, we have shown them some 
 slight attentions. . . . Do not think of us as gay. 
 I have mission work every day. Mary is reading French 
 and German and picking up all she can in conversation. 
 Last Sunday she went to the Scotch Church and this 
 morning to the German. I have read at home but think 
 of going to one of the churches this p. m., for though I 
 don't hear, yet I love, or ought to, the place where the 
 saints gather to worship God. I trust I do." 
 
 The following letter from Dr. H. H. Harris, Secretary 
 
294 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 ad interim of the Foreign Mission Board, explains itself. 
 Dr. Taylor by strict economy was able to do what many 
 men would have counted impossible: 
 
 "EiCHMoxD, Va., August 11th, 1893. 
 "Kev. George. B. Taylor, D. D., 
 
 ''Rome, Italy. 
 
 ''My dear Brother — Yours of the 30th ultimo, written 
 from Interlaken, is received, and we are very much obliged 
 for the measure of relief which you are able to afford in 
 the matter of your own salary. The treasurer of another 
 mission has drawn on us, not simply for one month in ad- 
 vance as allowed, but for three months, and has put us in 
 very great embarrassment. All our banks in this city have 
 to-day suspended paying in currency any check for a 
 larger amount than $50. Fnder the circumstances they 
 cannot lend, as they have heretofore done, to the Board. 
 The outlook is very gloomy but I hope will be brighter 
 before this reaches you. . . . " 
 
 During the following winter (1893-'94) he alludes in 
 several letters to some of the books he was reading, — Mil- 
 man's Latin Christianity, Macaulay, Pepys, Life of Victor 
 Emmanuel (by a sister of the editor of The Nation), 
 History of the Council of Trent in Italian, by Paolo 
 Sarpi, La Vie de San Frangois d'Assisi, by Sabatier, 
 History of the Free Churches of Italy, and to some of the 
 people he and his daughter were meeting, among them the 
 granddaughter of George Sand, Mr. Jones, the American 
 Consul, and his sister Miss ^oble Jones, and Miss Bertha 
 Willingham "a member of George's church." 
 
 Writing to his older son, June 9th, 1894, he quotes 
 
REV. GEOEGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 295 
 
 from a letter from Professor Harris. Dr. Taylor had 
 thought of resigning, in view of his feeble health. He 
 wrote: 
 
 ^' . . . Yesterday I received a letter from Dr. 
 H. H. Harris, in the absence in Mexico of Dr. Willing- 
 ham, assuring me that a new rule of the Board against 
 which, as treasurer of the Italian Mission, I had pro- 
 tested, would not apply to me or to my mission; and 
 concluding with these words : 'Pardon me for adding that 
 the Board would not hear for a moment to the acceptance 
 of your resignation. We appreciate more than I can tell 
 the value of your services.' My heart had been divided 
 between the pain of giving up this work, and making a 
 new start so late in life, and the great pleasure of being 
 near or with you. . . . But now the question seems 
 settled. I could not abandon this work, and so it is 
 probable that here I stay till death. x\nd I shall stay 
 more content since that appreciative word from the presi- 
 dent of the Board. O that I may be approved of Christ, 
 which is the main thing!" 
 
 In a letter dated Torre Pellice, June 26th, 1894, written 
 to his older daughter, he makes references to the Misses 
 Edith and Louise Draper, two young ladies from Holyoke, 
 Mass., who had come to Rome with a letter of introduction 
 to the Taylors from the Rev. Robert Walker, of ^N'aples, 
 and with whom Dr. Taylor and his daughter spent a 
 number of weeks in the Tyrol during that summer. 
 Little did he dream that a few years later Miss Louise 
 Draper would become the wife of his son Spotswood. 
 
 In October, 1894, the chapel at Miglionico was dedi- 
 
296 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 cated. In a letter to his older daughter, Dr. Taylor 
 describes the occasion: 
 
 ^^Mr. Eager and I worked until ten preparing our ad- 
 dresses. As we moved towards the chapel we met a band 
 whose piping I supposed to be in our honor (as we had 
 been serenaded last night), and I was preparing to smile 
 on them, when, 'This is the opposition band,' explained 
 Piccinni ; but a little further on was a much larger one 
 discoursing sweet music, and it was suggested that in re- 
 turn for their homage we should pause a few moments, 
 which we did. The streets were crowded with people, who 
 eyed us curiously but not with hostility; in fact, many 
 men raised their hats. The house was crowded. After 
 a stanza sung, I made the dedicatory prayer ; then Piccinni 
 read a chapter and spoke, concluding with some well 
 chosen words of self-defence ; next I made the address 
 of circostanza and enjoyed it with so many people listen- 
 ing earnestly; finally Mr. Eager spoke and prayed; and 
 so in an hour and a quarter all was over; we thought it 
 best to make the service short. ... Of course the 
 clericals made a counter movement, having a new crucifix 
 arrive; at first the authorities forbade a procession, but 
 since, under the pressure of the priests, and in dis- 
 obedience to the laws, have conceded it. . . . ITightly 
 services will continue in the chapel all this week. I was 
 about to forget to say that the chapel is very neat and 
 satisfactory, without and within, much more ornamented 
 with frescoes, etc., than I had expected ; altogether a gem.'' 
 
 During the spring of 1895, Dr. J. L. M. Curry was in 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 297 
 
 Italy, and Dr. Taylor made with him a trip to Sicily. The 
 following letter refers to these events: 
 
 '' . . . Dr. and Mrs. Curry were in Rome several 
 weeks, and have now gone to Greece. . . . We had 
 Dr. and Mrs. Curry to dinner one night with the Rich- 
 mond sculptor, Ezekiel, Mr. Piggott, the brainiest of our 
 Rome preachers, and Miss Miriam Chittenden to meet 
 them. Ezekiel, who is one of the great toasts of Rome, 
 and both genial and a genius, made himself very agreeable, 
 and as we gentlemen lingered (not to drink or smoke) 
 after the ladies left the table, a most interesting discus- 
 sion on art ensued, which seemed to impress Dr. C 
 
 very much. . . . On Dr. C 's proposal he and 
 
 I plan to go to Sicily together in a few weeks at his cost, 
 which, being a gift to the Board, I hesitate not to accept." 
 
 In a letter to one of his sons, April 7th, 1895, he refers 
 to the death of Dr. John A. Broadus : 
 
 ^' ... It was a terrible shock, as I knew not of his 
 illness and somehow, though he was six years my senior, 
 I never thought of outliving him, and it seemed, too, that 
 one so useful could not be spared. . . . Although so 
 many others have written and will write of him, I still 
 think I shall attempt a sketch. I have a very affectionate 
 letter from Mrs. Frank Smith of the University of Vir- 
 ginia, in which, after referring to the interesting reminis- 
 cences in the Herald, she adds, 'But we feel that they will 
 not be complete until we have heard from you.' 
 Outside my own family no death has ever affected me so 
 much. . . . After all I may meet my dear and 
 revered friend sooner than if he lived. In any case he is 
 'with Christ, which is far better.' " 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Visit to America — Literar>- Work — Theological School 
 + 
 
 Spring still makes spring in the mind 
 
 \Mien sixtT years are told; 
 Love wakes anew this throbbing heart. 
 
 And we are never old. 
 
 — Ralph Waldo Emersoyi. 
 
 The day becomes more solemn and serene 
 When noon is past. 
 
 — Shelley. 
 + 
 
 I:^^ the summer of 1895 Dr. Taylor, accompanied by his 
 daughter Mary, went to the United States, expecting, after 
 a few brief months of rest and fellowship with loved ones 
 and friends, to return in the early fall. While visiting 
 his son in Appomattox Dr. Taylor was thrown from a 
 buggy, and received such serious wounds on the head that 
 his return to Italy was delayed until December. When 
 his scars were scarcely healed he attended the meeting of 
 the Baptist General Association in Petersburg, and in 
 response to the request of Dr. W. H. Whitsitt, the presi- 
 dent of the Seminary, addressed the students in Louisville. 
 The scars on his forehead and his appearance of great 
 feebleness made the touch of humor with which he began 
 his address at the former pl^ce all the more effective and 
 pleasant. During his visit to Louisville, Dr. Whitsitt 
 drove him out to "Cave Hill" to visit the grave of Dr. 
 
7\ 33 
 
 ^ 2 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 299 
 
 John A. Broadus. Dr. Whitsitt, in referring to this inci- 
 dent, said that while standing by the grave. Dr. Taylor, 
 who looked as if he might not be far from his own grave, 
 remarked with buoyancy and hope : ''Well, I am not think- 
 ing about dying, but about living and working." This 
 was a most characteristic remark ; his spirit was brave 
 and young in all his many bodily ailments, and to the 
 very end of his life. 
 
 Dr. Taylor's younger son, a physician, writes thus of 
 this accident, and of his father's interest in physicians 
 and their science: 
 
 "As the only surgeon within reach, it became my painful 
 duty to make a long incision, and let out the blood which 
 had escaped from a broken vessel, and separated the scalp 
 from the skull. I dreaded the task, and should have been 
 unable to go through with it but for my father's fortitude. 
 
 ''My father held the medical profession in high esteem 
 and always maintained to his physicians an attitude of 
 loyalty, unfortunately by no means common nowadays. 
 Even when he had, from long experience of his ovm con- 
 stitution, doubts as to the probable effects of prescription 
 and treatment employed, he obeyed to the letter the 
 directions of the doctor he had called in, as in honor 
 bound. He was deeply interested in physiology and 
 anatomy, and felt all the charm of brilliant surgery. Long 
 before I was old enough to go to college I had learned from 
 him of Lister's great work, and the names of pioneers in 
 the scientific development of modern medicine. He was 
 always hungry for new facts in science, and hailed with 
 delight each new discovery. He urged upon me the im- 
 
300 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 portance of the so-called minor ailments, and begged me 
 not to neglect them for diseases of greater interest from 
 a professional standpoint. He held that in the aggregate 
 more suffering came to humanity from the despised and 
 vulgar headache, backache, sore throat, boil, etc., than from 
 maladies of rare, and more distressing kind, and that 
 doctors were under the temptation of slighting the former 
 for the latter. He insisted on my learning to look at each 
 case from the standpoint of the patient. He early im- 
 pressed upon me the importance of hygiene and dietetics, 
 and urged me to keep in sight the idiosyncrasies of the 
 individual, rightly putting them ahead of drugs and 
 stereotyped rules in healing the sick." 
 
 From Salem, Va., on October 23rd, 1895, he wrote 
 to one of his sons: 
 
 '' . . . My railroad journey was felicitous. 
 Hardly was it begun when I met two old friends, Murray, 
 formerly pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Greenville, 
 Va., and Mcllwaine, with whom I was at the University 
 of Virginia, and who was converted during a revival there. 
 He was Corresponding Secretary of their Foreign 
 Mission Board, and is now president of Hampden- 
 Sidney. Murray is pastor of the College Church, and is 
 a singularly genial and catholic-spirited fellow — at least 
 that is the impression he has always made on me. Mc- 
 Hwaine invited me to Hampden-Sidney. . . . Matty, 
 my niece, met me at the train. . . . The table fare 
 is delicious, and my appetite fine with equivalent digestion. 
 . . . Yesterday Brethren Strouse and Hobday called, 
 and in the p. m. the latter sent his carriage, and I went to 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 301 
 
 the Orphanage and spoke three or four minutes on 
 "Hands" to the children who seem of a higher order 
 than are generally found in such institutions. ... I 
 expect to visit the College [Roanoke College] to-day or 
 to-morrow. ... At this point a long visit from 
 Professor Cocke of Hollins. ... I was glad to meet 
 him, as he is an old friend. He gave me a cordial invita- 
 tion to visit Hollins, offering to send a carriage for me. 
 . . . Much have I thought of the pleasant weeks under 
 your roof." 
 
 A few days later he writes to his brother James, from 
 Appomattox, describing his visit to the Hebron Church 
 neighborhood : 
 
 '^ . . . I found Brother Davidson waiting with an 
 open carriage. . . . The eight miles drive to Brother 
 Davidson's through the lovely forests was really refresh- 
 ing after the heat of the train. Saturday I spoke in the 
 A. M., and preached a short sermon in the p. m., and yes- 
 terday I first addressed the Sunday school on ^Boys and 
 Girls in Italy/ and then spoke for an hour on ^Italy and 
 the Italian Mission' to a crowded, attentive congregation. 
 . . . Yesterday we came to Brother Taylor's, one of 
 the Hebron members. ... I hope. Brother James, 
 you will pray for me that my every spiritual need may 
 be supplied, and that I may have all needed endov^ment 
 for the work to which God has called me." 
 
 From Richmond and the home of Dr. A. E. Dickinson, 
 where he had quite a severe illness, he wrote l^ovember 
 24th, 1895, to his daughter Susy: 
 
 "... I am feeling very weak and poorly after 
 
302 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 my attack, which dates from Tuesday last." On the same 
 day he wrote to one of his sons: " . . . When 
 Brethren Winston, A. B. Clarke, J. C. Williams and John 
 Pollard were annoimced (from the Board) I went down, 
 and after the first moment of embarrassment enjoyed 
 their somewhat prolonged call. Then came Drs. Willing- 
 ham and Landrum, both very jolly. In the evening I had 
 a deal of conversation with Professor Hovey. ... I 
 was sorry that I missed President Boatwright and William 
 Thomas, who came when I was in my feverish sleep. I 
 shall call on them when I get well. I had a very bad 
 night, coughing incessantly — a hard cough — a new ex- 
 perience for me." 
 
 On December 7th, 1895, he sailed from l^ew York, 
 with his daughter Mary, on the Kaiser Wilhelm II for 
 Naples. Soon, he was hard at work again, writing mis- 
 sion letters, preaching, making long, long journeys. From 
 Naples on May 16th, 1896, he wrote to his brother 
 Charles : 
 
 "It was pleasant indeed to receive your long, interest- 
 ing letter of the 26th ultimo, which was even the more 
 welcome as I am away from home, and though in the 
 midst of the most beautiful scenes, and busy with books 
 and pen, am at times a bit lonely. At the table there is 
 pleasant chat, but the rest of the time I read and write 
 in my room, and in the afternoons climb the hills, linger 
 by the seaside or sit outside a cafe, with a cup of black 
 coffee, and the morning's paper, ever glancing up at the 
 busy, gay scene before me. One almost doubts here 
 whether the full tide of existence which Johnson thought 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 303 
 
 flowed through Fleet Street is not to be found at certain 
 points of this city, while the sights of the Neapolitan 
 narrow, steep streets have perhaps no parallel elsewhere. 
 I have ever preferred human life to art, and love to loiter 
 along, and linger over whatever arrests the eye or im- 
 presses the mind or heart. For three nights I have at- 
 tended service and spoken in our new locale in a great 
 thoroughfare just opened. . . . From my window I 
 enjoy a magnificent view of the Bay, the slipper-shaped 
 isle of Capri, the hundreds of fishing smacks, and the 
 passing steamers, while a minute's walk brings Vesuvius 
 into range. This pension life with its dinner at night is 
 very enjoyable, but one is apt to eat too much and for a 
 constancy I prefer the 'plain living' of home ; as to 'high 
 thinking,' that, as well as books, may be carried with 
 one — i. e., if he has it in him to carry. Here all depends 
 on the personal equation. . . . Prepare the Yates 
 Memoir by all means ; we have none too many good 
 religious biographies. I like the plan of letting a man 
 tell his own story. Fer contra, I like as well, in many 
 cases, biographies done in the style of the English Men 
 of Letters. Life is short." 
 
 In a letter to his daughter Mary, from Messina, May 
 22nd, 1896, Dr. Taylor refers to the Berti family, mem- 
 bers of which had been baptized by Dr. Taylor, there being 
 no church in Messina: 
 
 "... I believe this Berti family makes a con- 
 tinual propaganda of the gospel. I was quite unwilling 
 to even seem to press the baptism of Anita .... 
 80 I simply said that if she still desired it and the mother 
 
304 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and Teresa fully approved it, to come to me this morning 
 at ten. The three did come. . . . After the rite we 
 had a short service in the parlour." 
 
 In a letter written from Rome he describes events in 
 the trip just referred to. He says : 
 
 "... I have seldom taken so long a trip, at once 
 so pleasant, with so unbroken health and so full of work 
 and of encouragement in regard to our churches. The 
 country was lovely, the weather (generally) fine, and 
 many were the interviews and conversations, interesting at 
 the time, and destined, I trust with God's blessing, to bear 
 precious fruit. I seemed to get into the spirit of travel, 
 the world seemed beautiful ; it was a sort of relaxation 
 from the desk and the pen, and altogether, though glad 
 to get back to sweet home, and my dear Mary, I feel that 
 the trip did me good, and it is remembered with pleasure. 
 I came near having a sunstroke en route and 
 suffered with my head, but bathed it in very hot water 
 as by suggestion of Dr. R. H. Graves. ... I was 
 fifteen hours on steamer, second class, to Messina. It was 
 a big thing bound for Bombay, and many of the sailors 
 and others were dark skinned, and dressed in white 
 clothes, scanty and thin, so as to reveal their lithe figures. 
 On board was a clerical party of several nationalities 
 bound for the scene of war in Abyssinia, and great was the 
 reclaim in the R. C. papers, and great the demonstration 
 on their departure from IN'aples. One of them, a Cap- 
 uchin, tried to convert me, and professed to be horror 
 struck at my state, but I routed him with a single text: 
 ^He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life.' " 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 305 
 
 While in America a publisher had asked him to prepare 
 a popular book on Italy. The next letter shows him at 
 work on it: 
 
 '^ . . . I drive the pen all the morning, save when 
 interrupted, but do not seem to make much progress. 
 I need many books to write mine. . . . It's 
 a great, and often useless, bother getting them or trying 
 to get them from the V. E. Library. . . . Yesterday 
 morning and this I produced but three pages like this, 
 which does not take me ten minutes to write, but then I 
 wrote them over two or three times, and was constantly 
 hunting up names, etc., to be sure, and there were also 
 annoying interruptions." 
 
 The next letter, written from the Hotel Barra di Ferro, 
 Cuneo, under date of June 27th, gives incidents in another 
 missionary journey: 
 
 "... Thursday night I preached to a house full 
 of serious, attentive folks. When I was about to close 
 the service, Signor C-^ — advanced with an illuminated 
 parchment, a testimonial to me from the church on the 
 occasion of my first visit. You know I am not the sort 
 of man to draw to me things of that sort, and, it being 
 my first received in Italy, I was surprised and rather 
 pleased." 
 
 In a letter to his daughter Mary, he gives other ex- 
 periences of the same trip: 
 
 "... The weather was cold and wet (my straw 
 hat seemed absurdly out of place and time, and most folks 
 turned for a second look, especially as there was no charge) 
 and I was under it. . . . Sunday morning it was still 
 
306 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 raining, with clouds like lead. But I rose at six, paddled 
 through the rain to a cafe, and then to the steam tram 
 which bore us 8 kilometers to S. Dalmazio, where we took 
 carriages and drove several miles among the mountains 
 along the great highway leading to the Thermas of Vinadio. 
 When the main road had to be left, the drivers declined to 
 go further, so we footed it over a rough mountain way, 
 through mud and water regardless, for some three-quarters 
 of an hour to Castellato, our destination. . . . The 
 congregation was small. . . . But the brethren 
 present impressed me favorably, and specially our host 
 showed himself a real gentleman as well as devout. It 
 hurt me that his tall, straight, handsome wife had to stay, 
 or did stay, in the kitchen to cook a dinner for the caravan, 
 and the smoke and smell penetrated into the room where 
 we were. The meal was very fair, and, with truest 
 courtesy, I was not urged to partake of any dish I did not 
 show a wish for. . . . The mountains have been for 
 several days partly covered with snow, and the view of 
 Mt. Viso and others, as I came hither, was really splendid." 
 
 On the same trip from Venice, writing to one of his 
 sons on July 10th, 1896, he referred to his recent visit 
 to Appomattox, and to other matters: 
 
 "... The old Virginia food of the inn was so 
 delicious — its waffles and fried chicken and milk, and so 
 many other toothsome things. It was so pleasant, too, to 
 be in that country air. . . . Your people's great 
 kindness also touched my heart, for much as I have re- 
 ceived, always and everywhere, that was something special. 
 . . . I rose at four this morning, after vain efforts 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 307 
 
 to get more sleep, but dozed a bit on the sofa after dress- 
 ing. It may seem strange to linger where there is so 
 much discomfort on the trip. This is explained : that I 
 wish not only to see the minister, but to attend a service 
 at each place, and to do this involves delay, unless a line 
 of special appointments could be made, so that I need 
 not tarry more than one night, or at most two nights, at 
 each place.'' 
 
 On another missionary journey he wrote, November 
 12th, 1896, from Genoa, to his sister Mary: 
 
 ''Waiting here half sick for my train it is a pleasure 
 to pen you a poor line. , . . Yesterday from ten in 
 the morning to dusk, I rode through an enchanted region 
 — the Western Eiviera — from Cannes, in France, to this 
 place, the sea on one side, mountains, terraced vineyards, 
 gardens with olives, palms, pines and cedars and flowers 
 everywhere on the other side, and, above, the loveliest 
 sky. But for the first part of the way I was nauseated, 
 and later weak in consequence. . . . Last night I 
 suffered, and feel little refreshed this morning, and poorly 
 fitted for a long journey. But I have learned to maintain 
 a certain tranquillity of spirit, which is restful, or at 
 least in the minimum degree exhaustive, even to the body. 
 Tw^o days ago I was in fine spirits, and being in 
 France, I concocted a French postal to Mary for her 
 amusement. I read that language with sufficient ease to 
 read aught that interests me. The landlord at Cannes 
 lent me a French book in which I became so much in- 
 terested that I am taking it along, with his permission, to 
 finish, and return by post. Cannes and Nice are charm- 
 
308 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ing cities with such a climate, sucli scenery of sky and 
 land, and the Mediterranean, that I do not wonder they 
 are crowded with rich folks, many of them sick, of every 
 land; and the same might be said of San Remo. One 
 can understand how Garibaldi could not forgive Count 
 Cavour for ceding Nice, his birthplace, to Louis Napoleon, 
 even in return for valid help versus Austria. All over Nice 
 and Cannes are comfortable benches on which wayfarers 
 may rest, as I did in the former city while munching an 
 apple from Rome. In San Remo, Sunday morning, I 
 saw such numbers of boys and girls, men and women, 
 bearing along bunches, baskets of flowers, chiefly chrysan- 
 themums of choicest kind, and many hues, but also roses 
 and other flowers, that I surmised it was Decoration Day, 
 and joined them. Every grave and monument was 
 covered — I have never seen so many and so lovely chrys- 
 anthemums before or elsewhere. Many of the graves were 
 stuck all around with lighted candles, which flickered and 
 sputtered in the wind." 
 
 It is impossible to give all the letters describing the 
 many trips Dr. Taylor made among the churches, or even 
 to mention all the trips. The next letter describes a 
 journey to Sicily and bears date, Rome, April, 1st, 1898. 
 It refers to the widow and daughter of Mr. Mudie, the 
 founder of the great circulating library in London, which 
 sends books all over England : 
 
 "... We finished up Palermo, driving through 
 the Favorita grounds, buying candied fruits for Susy and 
 a box of them for some friends who have been kind to her. 
 . . . The sail to Naples was ideally smooth and rapid. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 309 
 
 but as the stewards allow no fresh air, I did not go 
 below; but after two hours on deck, when it became quite 
 cold, I sat bolt upright the whole night in the 
 saloon. . . . Mary is at Frascati visiting the 
 Mudies. . . . Susy has been going to concerts and 
 dinings and drives, w^hich I have urged her to accept. I 
 have been very hard at work over letters, accounts and 
 several worrying problems which arose suddenly in my 
 absence from Rome. . . . The trip despite sickness 
 greatly refreshed me, giving strength for the burdens of 
 the work, for I largely laid care and pen aside for two 
 weeks, and was much in the open air. To-morrow Susy and 
 I go to Frascati for two days, after which the family life 
 will be resumed, except, indeed, that I leave for another 
 trip the last of the week. The brethren of Gravina have 
 taken themselves a new and ground floor locale, and beg 
 me to be with them at the three days' opening, May 15th, 
 16th and 17th, when also candidates, long waiting, and 
 long proved, will be baptized. A week from to-day I am 
 to be at Miglionico, where the minister has long begged, 
 as a great favor, a visit from me. . . . This next 
 trip I shall be alone, but I have notified the brethren of 
 my deafness and ... I shall, I trust, get on, if not 
 swimmingly at least sufficiently." 
 
 The next letter, dated Gravina delle Paglie, is ad- 
 dressed to his daughter Susy: 
 
 " . . . I suppose that I am the guest of the 
 church, as on a previous occasion, but I am most com- 
 fortably lodged and entertained by the Fiori family, who 
 show me every attention and kindness, and appear to the 
 
310 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 greatest advantage in their own home. ... I was 
 not in the best trim for preaching Sunday, and yesterday 
 succumbed and went to bed, and this morning they have 
 brought me quinine, honey, etc. On Sunday I baptized five 
 persons. The arrangements were excellent, and showed 
 that money and care had been used in making them. 
 . , . The new locale is very nice, and the meetings 
 were very remarkable for the crowd, the order, and the 
 attention. . . . The work at Gravina is most promis- 
 ing, and a great change has come over the people since 
 the clerical preachers exhorted: 'Say with me, O people, 
 Death to the Protestants !' " 
 
 Another stage in the same journey is described in a 
 letter to one of his sons. His courage and indomitable 
 spirit are shown : 
 
 '' . . . I arrived [at Miglionico] really ill and 
 prostrated, and went right to bed, and, as usual, when I 
 have fever, slept some fifteen hours right along. All 
 Sunday I lay in bed, better, but not up to anything. The 
 members, the plainest and roughest, but most simple- 
 hearted people, men and women, came to see me, kissing 
 my hands as they entered and left. I remained passive, 
 not trying to hear or to speak save a 'God bless you.* 
 Despite the utmost kindness of Piccinni and his wife, 
 and many favorable circumstances, I was not comfortable, 
 and longed for home; so, Monday, I insisted on leaving, 
 and with a pillow and shawls, and the whole carriage for 
 Piccinni and me, I got to the railroad . . . and in 
 fact made the journey of seven hours and over by rail to 
 ISTaples, where I arrived at 8.30 p. m. very tired and worn 
 
311 
 
 out, but apparently not otherwise the worse ; but the night 
 was not refreshing, and in the morning I hated to leave 
 my bed, but the attraction of home was so strong that 
 up I got. The compartment was crowded, and, despite the 
 kindness of two or three persons along, who felt sorry for 
 me, the journey was a martyrdom, and I took fresh cold, 
 being obliged, when I felt sinking, to put my head at the 
 open window which had been given me by those kind 
 persons. But I got home, and, after, just a week in bed, 
 watched over, cared for, and angelically ministered to by 
 your sweet sisters. . . . T rose at noon yesterday, 
 but feeling weak and depressed to-day ; however, I am al- 
 most perfectly myself again." 
 
 Yet another trip is spoken of in the next letter, which 
 is dated Torre Pellice, September 21st, 1898: 
 
 ^' . . . The fact is I had a bad time Friday night 
 and Saturday with cold, causing pain and disturbance, 
 and I lay on the sofa Saturday, my one hope and prayer 
 being that I might be able to fill my appointment at 
 Casteletto the next day, the which I did, by a tour de 
 force, and despite weakness." 
 
 As an illustration of how broad his sympathies were, 
 the following extract from a letter to his brother Charles 
 may be given. The work at home as well as that in Italy 
 rested on his heart. The date of this letter is Rome, April 
 20th, 1899: 
 
 ^'There is a matter in our mission which has been, and 
 still is, causing me constant solicitude, and calling forth 
 my best thinking and planning, and driving me to the 
 throne of grace. As there are always such matters in 
 
312 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 this work, does it not seem strange that I should bother 
 myself with affairs at home ! Yet, so it is, for the mind 
 of man has a wide sweep and the Christian heart must 
 be interested in all that relates to the cause of Christ the 
 world over, and I have pondered no little over the state 
 of our Southern Zion, it seeming to me that a grave crisis 
 is at hand, and that there is danger, no matter how the 
 Whitsitt case may be decided." 
 
 And the letter goes on to discuss the Whitsitt situation 
 at length. 
 
 On July 30th, 1899, he wrote to his sister, Mrs. James 
 B. Taylor, giving some description of Airolo, Switzer- 
 land, and the surrounding country, whither he had gone, 
 at the direction of the physician, trying to get rid of his 
 malarial trouble: 
 
 '^ . . . We have here daily and hourly before us 
 an instance of the instability of the most stable, earthly 
 things in the great landslide of last December, which 
 destroyed houses and people, and changed, perhaps for- 
 ever, the aspect of the town and its environs. Last summer 
 this place was full of tourists; now there are very few, 
 for fear, it is said, that another mountain will send down 
 rocks as big as houses, crushing everything before them. 
 I do not, however, apprehend any special danger. There 
 are so many other ways by which, without any great 
 catastrophe, people make their last journey. This morn- 
 ing, when half dressed, I went to close my window, for we 
 sleep with open windows. The first object seen was a 
 funeral procession, the coffin borne on the shoulders of 
 four men, who, as all the others, walked reverently with 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 313 
 
 imcoverod heads to the cemetery, a crowd of women, in 
 black, following. This place, though a hundred miles from 
 the Italian frontier, is largely Italian in population, and 
 ahnost all signs and notices are in the Italian tongue. 
 The mountains around are covered with grass, 
 and dark firs wuth patches of snow on the heights. Be- 
 neath, is the Ticino River, running, like mad, to Lake 
 Maggiore. A few steps away is the mouth of the great 
 St. Gotthard tunnel. We are more than 3,700 feet above 
 the level of the sea. ... I spend much time in the 
 garden, pacing the gravel paths or reading and writing 
 in the shade of the firs and beeches, sub tegmine fagi, as 
 Virgil would say, but not recuhans. ... I was very 
 unwell just before leaving Rome and suffered no little in 
 the seventeen and one-half hours' railroad journey to 
 Milan, and needed two days there to repair damages. 
 We then spent nine days at Lugano, over the lovely lake 
 of that name. Every prospect pleased, and the people 
 met were not a bit vile; on the contrary, very good and 
 pleasant, and we had all our meals in the open air; but 
 it was about as hot as Rome. We had two sails on the 
 lake, saw Luini's famous frescoes, admired the tall stone 
 tower, and the girls went by steamer and diligence over 
 Lake Como and to the city of Como, the home of Volta, 
 who invented the Voltaic Pile, and, where, in his honor, 
 an electrical exposition was held this summer till destroyed 
 by fire, and they are now trying to rebuild and renew it. 
 Early last Monday morning we left, third-class, on a slow 
 train for this place. We seemed coming thus at leisure to 
 find more beauty in the route than we had ever seen in any 
 
314 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 previous journey over it in a rushing express train, and 
 specially admired the waterfalls, and the loops of the 
 road, which winds up the mountains like a corkscrew. 
 Of course my mission correspondence is not abated, at least 
 a score of letters having come in these last days, and yes- 
 terday I arranged to send off some 12,000 francs to 
 seventeen evangelists. There arrive, besides, letters from 
 all kinds and conditions of men, wanting this, that and the 
 other of me, and I have written an article for the 
 Foreign Mission Journal, and am asked for one for 
 the Seminary Magazine. There is also reading matter 
 accessible. . . . There is also much to see, tourists 
 on foot arriving and passing, and the mountains are an 
 endless study." 
 
 Perha])s frequent enough quotations have not been made 
 in these pages from Dr. Taylor's annual reports to the 
 Board, and to the Convention. These reports he made 
 with great care, and it was often a source of regret to him 
 that the minutes of the Southern Baptist Convention, 
 containing full accounts of the work on the several fields of 
 the Convention, were not more read by the brotherhood. 
 The following extracts are from his report to the Con- 
 vention of 1900, which met at Hot Springs: 
 
 "The responsibilities of the mission, and also its oppor- 
 tunities, were enlarged by taking over the work in the 
 south, of the English Baptist Missionary Society, which 
 wished to concentrate its energies in the north of Italy. 
 This work consisted of a church of baptized believers in 
 Naples, and another at Calitri, a mountain town in the 
 Province of Avellino, with their respective places of meet- 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 315 
 
 ing. We also accepted the small body of communicants 
 and locale in Naples, Count Papengouth leaving the 
 city. To carry on the work of these three churches, two 
 additional evangelists were accepted, each of whom is an 
 acquisition to our evangelizing force. 
 
 ''The locale at Caserta, near Naples, with a small con- 
 gregation, but no communicants, was also taken over by us 
 from our English brethren. 
 
 ''Besides, by the foregoing, our mission was enlarged by 
 three new and inviting fields, into which we were provi- 
 dentially led. . . 
 
 "The entire new work assumed in 1899, with some 
 needed increase of salaries and other combinations, costs 
 $1,680 per annum, which is about ten per cent advance 
 on the amount asked for and conceded for 1899. 
 
 "I dare not refuse what God in His Providence laid 
 upon us, and I dare not cast off on account of expense. 
 He will provide for it through you, my brethren, who, led 
 of Him, originated this mission and sent me out as your 
 representative. No doubt this work will yet go forward 
 and extend itself; it must, or else contract and recede. 
 Do you ask for greater results? The results achieved are 
 perhaps more important than might at first seem. 
 
 "The gathering into one mission of the three congre- 
 gations in Naples, educated under different influences, 
 was not without friction. . . . There were other 
 questions, and I seemed at one time, in following the 
 clear line of duty, to please none of the parties concerned, 
 each thinking I leaned to one of the others, which was, of 
 course, grievous to me. . . . 
 
316 LIFE AXD LETTERS OF 
 
 ''The Italian Mission having now existed for about 
 thirty years, and my own relation with it having lasted 
 for nearly twenty-seven years, it seems proper to take a 
 rapid glance at what has been done. 
 
 ''Xot only do our statistics show twenty-four churches, 
 a membership of 624 baptized believers, but at least as 
 many more baptized believers have died in the faith, or 
 emigrated, bearing their evangelical and denominational 
 convictions to other lands. I^orth Africa, Austria, 
 Switzerland, France, and both Americas have all received 
 evangelical and Baptistic influences from our mission, as 
 it owes something to France, and almost everything to our 
 country. 
 
 "Despite deeply rooted prejudices, it is undeniable that 
 Baptist principles have to no small extent leavened Pedo- 
 baptist communities and congregations. . . . Neither 
 the Evangelical Church of Italy, nor the Episcopal Metho- 
 dists, nor the Waldensian Church would refuse immer- 
 sion to a candidate, while the first-named has retained 
 ministers essentially Baptists, who do not and would not 
 sprinkle an infant, and the Waldensian Synod has intro- 
 duced into its new formulary immersion for such as be- 
 lieve it is their privilege and duty to be buried with 
 Christ, and so exactly fulfil His last command. But it 
 has to be admitted that this general — almost universal — 
 recognition of the Scripturalness of immersion has not 
 borne its practical fruit, refuge being taken in the idea 
 that immersion is not the only baptism, or, at least, that 
 other acts are allowable. A great difficulty for us is that 
 in Italy every convert not from an evangelical family has 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 317 
 
 been sprinkled in his infancy by a Roman Catholic priest, 
 and that all the Pedobaptist denominations are agreed in 
 accepting it as valid. . . . 
 
 *^When I came to Italy in 1873, I found, both among 
 the Italians, and in the resident foreign community here, 
 a most bitter and obstinate prejudice against our restricted 
 communion. It was necessary for several years to defend 
 it in our own and in other periodicals, explaining our 
 practice, replying to objections, and not only appealing 
 to the ad hominem argument, but sustaining our position 
 on its own merits. The fight was so well fought that 
 since that time we have met with no reproach for our 
 'close' communion ; indeed, many of the more intelligent 
 of our Pedobaptist brethren regard it as, at least, the 
 necessary corollary of the doctrine of believers' baptism. 
 
 "On the whole, though much still remains to be done, 
 it must yet be admitted that, considering the mighty 
 Pedobaptist influence which comes here from England 
 and America, the work of Romanism in destroying the 
 religious sentiment, while weaving a vast network of ob- 
 servances to nourish superstition, and turn men away from 
 the Word of God and true religion, and finally the 
 tremendous and manifold power of the hierarchy to op- 
 pose and suffocate any evangelical movement, the Italian 
 Mission has not been in vain. My own relation to it 
 must soon — very soon — come to a close, but, despite 
 personal infirmities, and conscious shortcomings, when I 
 look upon the past and forward into the future, I thank 
 God, and take courage." 
 
 During the summer of 1900, Dr. Taylor, with his 
 
318 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 daughters, spent some weeks in Hungary, visiting also 
 Vienna. The following letter, dated 20 Rathhausstrasse, 
 Vienna, September 9th, describes some things seen and 
 done on this trip: 
 
 '' . . . Mary and Susy are at the English Church 
 and I have been sitting in a public garden near by, read- 
 ing and observing. . . . My favorite plan is to sit 
 and let the world unfold itself, panorama-fashion, before 
 my eyes — old women with their baskets resting, some 
 folks knitting, some embroidering, some reading, some 
 smoking, some courting, while the pigeons and the birds, 
 big and little, chirp, and hop about fearlessly on the 
 ground or in the leafy shades. I am enchanted with 
 Vienna for many other things, but specially for its lovely 
 parks and gardens, and for the comfortable seats every- 
 where. In Rome my only resort when tired, which I 
 seem always to be, is a Roman Catholic Church, but. Oh, 
 I do so much prefer the out-of-doors ! Last evening Susy 
 and I went to a big cafe near by, not for ices or coffee, 
 these being only the conditions of reading the newspapers. 
 I doubt whether there is any other city more cosmopoli- 
 tan than Vienna in this, that at the chief cafes one may 
 read the newspapers of almost every language and land 
 in the world. The waiters piled before us the latest 
 American, French and Italian journals we asked for and 
 many more of sundry tongues ; the arcade under which 
 we sat was crowded, and every one else had a supply. 
 What a treat it was to a paperless fellow, half starved for 
 news, these many days, save at Tatra Fined, where the 
 Figaro, of which I am very fond, made, with my delicious 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 319 
 
 creamed coffee and Vienna bread and butter, an exquisite 
 meal. Wherever we have been, Mary has read the Ger- 
 man sheets, and has given me nice morsels, but often has 
 found nothing worth reporting. . . . We had meant 
 to leave ere this, but Mary was sick and would miss 
 certain thing's, so our departure has been prorogued for 
 two or three days. Indeed a fortnight is little for a city 
 so rich in all that could please and instruct. We have 
 gotten pretty leisurely through the chief galleries, even 
 returning to some of them. There are some fine paintings 
 of the great Italians, but specially has the opportunity 
 been prized of studying the works of Rubens and his 
 opposite Van Dyck, of Rembrandt, Diirer, and other 
 northern masters, some of whom with unfamiliar names 
 hold me and draw me back to their creations, often at 
 once homely and beautiful. In fact I am still seeing 
 with the mind's eye fine faces with the accessories of by- 
 gone centuries, interiors, flower pieces and still life, 
 foaming rivers, and dark tarns, corniced in steep rock 
 cliffs. . . . One day we made an excursion to a lovely 
 suburb on the wooded hills with a German, a masseur, 
 who has been to America and Australia, a very intelli- 
 gent fellow. One day I had bought a cantaloupe, a fruit 
 of which I am excessively fond, and have not tasted be- 
 fore for years, and served it at the breakfast table to other 
 guests. Quoth this gentleman, Dr. Herman Roth, ^Here 
 they cost a florin each, in America half a franc, in 
 Australia two cents.' ... At Zakopane the people 
 reminded me of Virginians, shaking hands so much, but 
 mostly with each other, for ready as the gentlemen were 
 
320 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 to admit us, some of the ladies were for a time rather 
 clannish. But Marj and Susy won their way and gained 
 hearty encomiums. It seems we were the first Americans, 
 if not English also, ever seen in those parts or by those 
 people, the elite of Cracow and Warsaw, and one couple 
 wrote on a card the delightful impression received. I, on 
 account of my deafness, kept much in the background, but 
 I liked best a lovely young lady from Warsaw in Polish 
 Russia, and one day, when she was saluting others, I being 
 80 out of the way that I might have been left without 
 rudeness, she came where I was and gave me a warm 
 grasp, a sweet smile, and a graceful curtsy. What a 
 heartglow it gave me and does when I think of it ! Ah, 
 how little does a young person realize the pleasure and 
 comfort an old man or woman may get from even a slight 
 attention, a word, a smile, a simple act from those still 
 in the heyday of life! . . . We go home not by the 
 Semmering and Venice, but as we came, by Budapest, 
 Fiume and Ancona. True, there are about 550 miles of 
 railroad to Fiume, but in Hungary they have what is 
 called a ^zone tariff' (and Vienna is near the border), that 
 is the fare is counted not by miles but by tens of miles. 
 Thus the above 550 miles, and the day on the Adriatic, 
 second class for the former and first class for the latter, 
 cost only about $6.50 or $7. I have never travelled half 
 so cheaply before, and it was one of the two factors bring- 
 ing us to these lands." 
 
 Upon a resolution of Dr. G. A. Lofton, the Convention 
 at Hot Springs, in 1900, appointed a committee to report 
 the following year on the feasibility of establishing a 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOAEDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 321 
 
 theological school in Rome. The next year the committee 
 reported in favor of establishing such a school, having 
 consulted with Dr. Taylor, who approved the plan. 
 
 The following letter refers to Rev. C. J. F. Anderson 
 and Rev. D. G. Whittinghill, who had arrived under the 
 appointm'ent of the Board to work in Italy. It is dated 
 Rome, April 21st, 1901: 
 
 *^I am hoping to go to church this morning, the first 
 time this year, and I am very thankful. . . . Yes- 
 terday p. M. I walked alone some three or four hundred 
 yards, and after resting walked back. I have not before 
 done half so much, nor have I been out before alone since 
 my illness, which has been perhaps far more serious than 
 my kin at home have imagined. . . . We have now 
 in our home Dr. Whittinghill, the new missionary. I like 
 him and trust he will do an excellent work. He has come 
 out specially with reference to the Baptist Theological 
 School which we hope in a year or so to establish in Rome. 
 The thing will not be absolutely decided until the meet- 
 ing of the Southern Baptist Convention in ]N'ew Orleans 
 next May, but is already morally certain. Yesterday we 
 had to dine with him Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and Signor 
 Paschetto. We seemed quite a Baptist family. . . . 
 
 We expect every day to have some one to meet Dr. W . 
 
 To-day Mr. Piggott dines with us. . . . I have been 
 reading in the evenings 'Tourgueneff and his French 
 Circle.' It is really his letters to Flaubert, George Sand, 
 Zola, Daudet and other French literary celebrities. They 
 reveal him as having a childlike nature in his giant body. 
 
322 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 I have been very much amused in reading of 
 late 'The American Senator' by Anthony Trollope." 
 
 On June 14th, 1901, Dr. Taylor wrote from Rome to 
 his brother Charles, President of Wake Forest College, 
 North Carolina : 
 
 "On the 11th instant the collection of shells was shipped 
 from Cagliari prepaid to Naples, where Holme & Com- 
 pany bankers, well known to me, will ship it to Wake 
 Forest via Norfolk. There are 4,500 shells, representing 
 720 species and varieties, all from Sardinia. A complete 
 catalogue goes along. Signor Arbanasich could have 
 doubled the collection by including shells from the main- 
 land, but he wished it to preserve its distinctive geographic 
 character. I suppose, however, that he would make 
 another collection, not limited to his island, and still 
 another of minerals, and I would be willing to contribute 
 the one and the other to your college museum, if, after 
 seeing the shells now sent, you and Professor Poteat 
 should think it worth while. As before offered, I will 
 pay charges on them to Wake Forest. Of course they 
 need pay no duty. . . . Next week we have in Rome 
 an Evangelical Congress, and the meeting of the Com- 
 mittee of our Baptist Union, and we shall have guests to 
 stay and to partake with us. . . . Last week Dr. 
 MacDonald, Continental Secretary of the Wesleyan Mis- 
 sionary Conference, was twice with, us, and one night we 
 had a delicious dinner with him at his inn. I note it 
 because so often, generally, I don't enjoy table d'hote 
 dinners" 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 323 
 
 On June 16th, 1901, he wrote to his grandson, George 
 Cabell Taylor: 
 
 "It is a great pleasure to receive to-day your letter of 
 the 5th instant, telling that you had received a medal 
 for improvement in writing. You certainly have im- 
 proved wonderfully. ... I trust, my dear boy, you 
 will one day be a ivriter in another and higher sense. I 
 am very proud of your medal and of you, and I thank 
 God for all your gifts and advantages. I have some more 
 books for you, but will wait till you can read well. It is 
 a good thing that the school is over now, and that you 
 can spend many hours out of doors, walking, riding, 
 working. But you ought to study a little every day. I 
 want you to learn by heart some of the best hymns — your 
 father will select them for you — and some of the great 
 chapters and passages in the Bible, e. g., learn the first 
 Psalm, the nineteenth and the twenty-third; also the 
 twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, and the nineteenth 
 chapter of John. ..." 
 
 To one of his sons, on July 13th, 1901, he wrote: 
 
 "... We are hoping to open our Theological 
 School in Rome on the first of next November, but there 
 are many difficulties in the way. ... I have worked 
 and worried a deal on the subject, but have concluded to 
 let things take their course. . . . These and several 
 other matters come at a rather inopportune time for me 
 and I suppose that, though changing air and scene, I 
 shall not get rid of the cares of the mission at Yallombrosa 
 or elsewhere, this summer. But the Lord can give peace 
 even in the midst of worries if we wait on Him. Early 
 
324 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Thursday morning Signor Fiori came to beg me to go to 
 his house and comfort his wife, as their dear, beautiful, 
 first-born boy was very ill. I spent the morning there, 
 trying to comfort both of the parents. It was sweet to do 
 such pastoral work, but sad to see the poor little creature 
 suffer." 
 
 This summer was spent at Vallombrosa. Much of the 
 life there, the picturesque country, and the farm scenes, 
 greatly delighted Dr. Taylor, who, though far from well, 
 kept up his correspondence, private and official. One letter 
 tells of some of the fellow-boarders in the pension: 
 
 ''The latest arrivals, common but inoffensive, asked 
 leave to bring 'a little dog.' The landlady objected, as 
 there were too many here already. But they came with 
 a most savage canine, a cross between a mastiff and a 
 bull dog. Landlady said, 'You must keep him in your 
 room.' 'Assassin,' for that is his name, jumped out of 
 the upstairs window upon the stones and lamed himself 
 pretty badly. It seems that he belonged to a Neapolitan 
 butcher, and when the carabineers came to arrest the 
 master, the dog flew at the throat of the carabineers, and 
 could not be detached, though twice shot at. The present 
 owner agreed to remove him from the city. This last 
 calls himself an engineer, but rather betrayed himself at 
 the supper table last night when he said, with an important 
 air, that sanitary rules in Rome were now more stringent 
 and that he had himself, just before coming up here, 
 put into place 500 English bath-rooms." 
 
 The next letter is dated Rome, October 27th, and is to 
 one of his sons. Allusion is made to the marriage of 
 
REV. GEORGE BOABDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 325 
 
 Spotswood, which event took place at Yokohama, Japan, 
 at which point the groom, a surgeon in the U. S. I^avy, 
 was stationed. The hride was Miss Louise Draper, of 
 Holyoke, Mass. Mr. Wall, who is mentioned, was for 
 many years at the head of the English Baptist Mission in 
 Rome: 
 
 '' . . . I am feeling quite stupid just now and 
 would not take pen in hand, but for my wish to send a word 
 of love to you. Not only work, but worry, has beset me, 
 and it has been a fight, at times almost a losing fight, to 
 keep sweet and serene through it all. God only knows 
 how much the poor mortal body has to do with victories 
 over one, thank God, only for the time, but no doubt a 
 weak heart and a tired brain sometimes seem to yield up 
 to the foe ^the city of man soul,' when in reality he has 
 forced only the outer gate. Charles Dickens used to say 
 that for every hour a man works with his brain, indoors, 
 he should spend another walking in the open air, and he 
 was wont to practice what he preached in the matter. 
 Last night I noted in some Richmond papers 
 references to a carnival and horse fair in that city. 
 Everything about the horses interested, the rest seemed 
 a great ado about nothing. . . . Mary has doubtless 
 written of Mr. WalFs illness, his paralysis, probably 
 imminent departure and the perfect peace with which he 
 is ready to loose anchor and enter the ocean of eternity." 
 
 On December 17th, 1901, he wrote to his older son, 
 telling of the visit of Mrs. MacGrath, who was on her 
 way from Yokohama to the United States: 
 
 " . . . It was nice to have some one just from 
 
326 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 Spotswood and Louise, . . . who sent by Anna a 
 Japanese picture to me, and a perfectly splendid silk 
 dressing gown to Mary." 
 
 On December 29th, 1901, he wrote again to his son in 
 America : 
 
 "... To give a Christmas feeling, I bought the 
 Century and Harper for December. . . . Miss Mary 
 Piggott sent me roses with the sweetest of notes. . . . 
 What I gave was nothing to nobody, or about that, being 
 just able to pay out to the end of the year, which is some- 
 thing to be thankful for. Among the debts (I am glad 
 to say liquidated this morning) were 18 lire, the balance of 
 my subscription to the Trieste Mission, and 12 lire to the 
 Christmas tree of our Sunday school. . . . Mr. 
 Anderson has copied my financial report. He is quick 
 with the pen. Somehow, I trust after 1902 to be relieved 
 of the administrative work, though I love it. I believe 
 I would be useful in teaching, preaching and preparing 
 needed books and tracts, were my life spared. Or, I 
 would be willing to go home, if it seemed best to the 
 Board. Have you no idea of another visit to Rome, 
 longer than the other and this time with Susy and Cabell ? 
 I would pay two-thirds of the cost. . . . T'other day 
 I had been groaning on my bed in pain, wjaen Agnese, 
 who had been full of sympathy, came in and found me 
 in a broad, loud grin. I could not explain to her that it 
 was that delightful book Mr. Dooley which had made me 
 forget for a while my pain." 
 
 The next letter refers to the formal transfer, already 
 alluded to, of certain churches from the English to the 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 327 
 
 Southern Board and also vice versa, the Italian word 
 permuta meaning transfer: 
 
 " . . . Thursday morning I was dressed by 6.30 
 o'clock and at 7 Messrs. Shaw and Landels walked in. 
 That afternoon the latter and I were at the notary's for the 
 best part of two hours and completed the permuta so long 
 on the tapis. The Notary Colizzi, whom, you may re- 
 member, was very courteous and nice, but the bill will be 
 big. On account of my deafness I was required to read 
 the instrument aloud and then the notary did the same. 
 . . . I gave Mr. Landels dinner at noon, and then 
 drove him up to the station. He is in l^aples for several 
 days for consuromating the sale of the rest of the real 
 estate of the E. B. M. Society. ... I have finished 
 Vol. I of Huxley, 500 pages octavo, and it sent me to his 
 Tife of Hume' in the English Men of Letters." 
 
 In a letter to his older son he alludes to a visit of 
 his nephew, the Rev. James Taylor Dickinson, D. D. 
 (then pastor of the North Orange, N. J., church), and 
 wife, and speaks of his grandson, Cabell : 
 
 "... Jemmy and Stella walked in on us one 
 morning, having arrived at midnight, quartered at the 
 Minerva and left the lecture given to the party on the 
 Forum. We drove in their double carriage on the Appian 
 Way. . . . Friday night Mary gave them and the 
 Yokohama ladies a chic dinner. ... I crept out of 
 
 bed to see J and S off at the station. He was 
 
 very affectionate, and next to one of my own sons and 
 daughters it was a true joy to see him, though conver- 
 sation was impossible. I seemed also to get nearer than 
 
328 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ever before to Stella, and shall henceforth love her v^ell. 
 . . . No child — no really boyish boy — ever loved his 
 book. I was a lazy rascal till my ambition and love of 
 learning waked up. Then things rushed. But before that, 
 I had been absorbing useful knowledge in every pore, as 
 your son is doing now." 
 
 The next letter, written to his daughter Mary, from 
 Messina, April 14th, 1902, describes a mission trip taken 
 with Dr. Whittinghill to Sicily : 
 
 "After writing and mailing my letter to you yesterday 
 morning, we hurried ofp in search of our locale, 
 which we found after climbing a steep hil] and a lot of 
 stone steps. Service had begun and the house was pretty 
 well packed and Signor Destefano was about to preach; 
 but for once I waived delicacy and said I was willing 
 to speak, which I did, only tolerably well, for I felt very 
 languid and weak. ... At night the crowd was even 
 greater, and after the general congregation had left we 
 had the Circolo Cristo e Patria* composed of some forty 
 or fifty young men, several of whom spoke. . . . 
 A big old lawyer, Signor Eomeo, harangued us twice, I 
 should think for an hour. I felt as if I would faint from 
 exhaustion, as eating had been found almost impossible. 
 
 . . On the one hand I was deeply touched and im- 
 pressed, for the work has gained in every way since we 
 were at Reggio ; but on the other hand I was badly bored 
 and wearied and could only pray for patience and strength. 
 It was well after eleven, when, after innumerable hand- 
 
 •Club called "Christ and Native Land." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 329 
 
 shakings, repeated several times to each individual, 
 our room was reached; but three friends came up and 
 in, for some time longer, and it was not easy to get a bit 
 of bread and cold meat, and get to bed before half an 
 hour or more after midnight. Oh, it was a trying day, 
 though with much of encouragement and consolation! 
 We rose at 6 this morning, in my case after a worrying 
 night, and drove to the ferry boat, by which we waited 
 nearly three hours for the belated train. ... At 
 every turn, every hour of the day or night. Dr. Whitting- 
 hill seems to be doing something for me, besides keeping 
 me in touch with what is going on." 
 
 Dr. Taylor^s letters to his loved ones always gave large 
 space to the details of the life of the one to whom he 
 was writing, not being merely taken up with descriptions 
 of what he was doing, saying and thinking. Lack of 
 space forbids the introduction of these passages, numerous, 
 loving, full of wise counsel and tender interest. The next 
 letter gives some account of the little circle at their summer 
 home. It is addressed to his daughter Susy and dated 
 Le Mandriole (Modena), August 10th, 1902: 
 
 " . . . Since coming here, despite a number of 
 sick or feeble days, I have completed and sent off the 
 estimate for 1903 for this mission with many details and 
 explanations; have sent some 25,000 lire to about thirty 
 different persons, squared up the mission accounts, written 
 several mission and friendly letters, an article for II 
 Testimonio and another, really two, which you may 
 possibly see in the Religious Herald. I am also revising 
 and re-writing for the press my address on ^Religion in 
 
330 LIFE A>'D LETTERS OF 
 
 Families.' We have a pretty good supply of books and 
 every day the Rome and Florence papers. I peg away at 
 French, but like my own language, for me much better 
 than any other, even than Italian. I am hardly ever in- 
 doors, save at meals and at nights, living always al fresco, 
 which ought to be life-giving. Mary serves tea at 4 
 o'clock to Dr. Whittinghill and me, and we have just re- 
 ceived a tin box full of crackers ordered from Rome, but 
 I never touch one, three meals being enough for me. Day 
 before yesterday we began to play hoccie after tea, and 
 it is a great resource to me who can't walk much in the 
 moimtains." 
 
 Susy, Dr. Taylor's younger daughter, while on a visit 
 to her cousins, the family of J. Appleton Wilson, Esq., 
 at their summer home in the Blue Ridge Mountains, 
 during a severe illness was attended by young Dr. Buckler 
 of Baltimore. Dr. Taylor refers to this trying experience, 
 writing on August 23rd, 1902, from Le Mandriole: 
 
 '* . . . The thought of that dear child ill and 
 suffering, and so far away, would be unbearable but for 
 being able to commit her to the hands of our almighty 
 and all merciful Father. In one way I love life and cling 
 to my dear ones as well as ever, but I am conscious of a 
 heart somewhat subdued and chastened through the in- 
 creasing sense of old age, and through so many pains and 
 sicknesses, showing that little by little my Father is 
 taking down the tabernacle in which I, my true self, have 
 been dwelling now nearly seventy years, and I would fain 
 believe that these experiences have been somewhat blessed 
 to my soul. I am so grateful to cousins Virginia, Mary, 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. D. 331 
 
 Adelaide and Appleton for their loving kindness to my 
 sweet Susy. May our Father reward them for it, for I 
 never can. ... I remember Drs. John and Thomas 
 Buckler as famous all over Virginia, and the latter, who 
 afterwards married Dr. Fuller's daughter, helped me much 
 in the early fifties, as I had occasion to consult him more 
 than once. I am sure Susy could have no better physician, 
 and I, being old, can afford to say that I believe in young 
 men. . . . Mary's gentle and unwearying kindness 
 in waiting on me and nursing me, almost as one would a 
 helpless infant, in my late attacks, and her skill not 
 surpassed by any trained nurse, I can only leave you to 
 imagine; for I cannot describe it, and it has recalled her 
 and Susy's nursing me through two long spells, and in 
 sundry of my minor ailments." 
 
 The next letter, describing a visit to Trieste, is to his 
 daughter Mary and is dated, Cappello IN'ero, Venice, 
 September 29th, 1902: 
 
 '' . . . How changed the great Piazza, and how 
 circumscribed, a considerable portion being fenced off; 
 while, instead of the glorious campanile, is a mass of debris 
 a story and a half high, and the corridor of the Royal 
 Library is still open and unrepaired! . . . We gon- 
 dolaed out to the steamship (a Lloyd), passing several 
 barks brilliant with Chinese lanterns. It was now about 
 9, and till 11 we sat on deck in steamer chairs and I dozed 
 a bit despite the fascinating scene. At 11 we went below 
 and had a fairly restful night, I being just conscious when 
 the boat started. . . . We reached Trieste about 6 or 
 6.30 Sunday morning, and, not being met, as we had 
 
332 LIFE ajS'd letters of 
 
 expected, drove to the hotel of the Buon Pastore, roomy 
 but unpretending, and serving our purpose entirely. Not 
 knowing either the locality or hour of service, I found 
 out after breakfast, by long search in the city directory, 
 the street and number of the Y. M. C. A. (Christlich 
 Verein), and by several enquiries en route reached the 
 place. There was a good meeting. . . . We returned 
 to the inn for dinner, resisting the kind and hospitable 
 invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Waschitz by promising to go 
 there at night. . . . The Bora blew cold and furious 
 at night, and at last my heavy surtout was most welcome. 
 There were three guests besides us, and the party of seven 
 had six nationalities. The dinner was really delicious, 
 and, best of all, digestible and digested. It was past eleven 
 ere I got to bed . . . and we were called at 5.30 this 
 morning, the world still dark as Erebus, . . . and by 
 10.47 . . . were in Venice again, cotfeeless and with 
 only a picked-up rusk en route." 
 
 The trip, of which the visit to Trieste formed a part, was 
 some forty days in duration to a number of the churches. 
 Dr. Taylor's travelling companion being Dr. Whitting- 
 hill. Dr. Taylor was quite sick in Florence. He reached 
 home, however, and before long was off for another trip, 
 having in the meantime, as one letter tells, welcomed to 
 his home the Rev. Dr. E. C. Dargan (at that time a 
 professor in the S. B. T. Seminary at Louisville, and now 
 pastor of the First Baptist Church, Macon, Ga.) with his 
 wife and two sons. The next letter, dated I^ovember 
 9th, is from Avellino, in Southern Italy, where one of the 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 333 
 
 stations is located. Dr. Whittinghill is again his fellow- 
 traveller : 
 
 "... At noon we took second-class round-trip 
 tickets for this place. En route it rained merrily and it 
 was so doing when we arrived here. The remains of your 
 delicious lunch, with bread and a couple of apples and 
 a big bunch of grapes picked up en route, made us a very 
 sufficient repast on the train. Fruit, even fresh figs, 
 seemed abundant as we came on, and everywhere were 
 fruit trees. . . . The country, you remember, is 
 mountainous and rather picturesque, with fertile valleys 
 here and there. . . . Between the views and our 
 books the hours passed pleasantly. . . . Two or three 
 sociable, well dressed people got in and out, but much of 
 the time we were all alone. . . . We sat and read till 
 dusk, then went to stretch our legs and see a little of this 
 mountain town of 22,000 inhabitants, whose main street, 
 well built, is not less than two kilometers in length. 
 . . . We had a nice supper, such as one gets at a good 
 place off the great lines of travel. The waiters were 
 courteous and almost affectionate, one of whom had been 
 to 'New York and was anxious to talk. . . . There 
 being no fireplace, we sat over a scaldino, which was more 
 satisfactory than such things usually are.'' 
 
 The next letter gives a glimpse of the work Dr. Taylor 
 was doing in the theological school. It is of date ISTovem- 
 ber 28th, 1902, and to his son in America: 
 
 "... I am anxious to visit you next year, but 
 just when, I can't say, as I wish to complete my course 
 in Systematic Theology and in other respects go at the 
 
334 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 moment when I can be best spared from the mission. 
 . . Last session I wrote about 170 pages like this, 
 or closer, on the being and attributes of God, the Bible, 
 the Trinity, Creation, Providence, human nature, the 
 Fall, Sin, relation to Adam. This session I have begun 
 with the person of Christ, and hope to treat the Atone- 
 ment and the Last Things. I have now Hodge's three big 
 volumes and the De Civitate Dei of St. Augustine. Most 
 of my reading is theological. When up, and the weather 
 permits, I try to take a walk every day. Yesterday I 
 went out at noon after a morning of work, walked as far 
 as usual and got in a 'bus to return, as is my wont. Feel- 
 ing in my pocket, I found, to my dismay, that I did not 
 have the requisite two soldi, so jumped out at once, but, 
 as it had turned quite warm, I reached home tired out 
 and bathed with perspiration. To-day, almost as I started, 
 with only a cane, it began to rain, but not heavily, and 
 having an errand I kept on, hugging the houses, nor 
 turned back though the rain now came down fast and the 
 streets were all puddles ; but, my commission executed, I 
 shared the rear platform of the 'bus with seven others, 
 all of us dripping." 
 
 On December 10th, 1902, he wrote to his daughter 
 Susy : 
 
 "... What a blessed thing it is that every morn- 
 ing we may begin life afresh. It is hard to keep well, 
 specially when one is old, if he lives indoors and, seated 
 in a chair, works ever with his brain; and yesterday was 
 to me a day of deep discouragement, for I broke down 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 335 
 
 in writing my lecture, and it seemed so poor I felt half 
 ashamed to read it when the four students came, and it 
 looked as if my brain meant to strike work once for all. 
 But I mention this only to illustrate the blessedness of 
 beginning a new life with each new day, for this morn- 
 ing I looked from my bed out upon the fair world and 
 the bright sky, and decided not to give up, or, God help- 
 ing me, retreat, till my work be done and the long resting 
 time be reached." 
 
 In a letter to his sister, dated Rome, December 21st, 
 1902, he wrote: 
 
 ^' ... At one o'clock I drove Mary up to Ezekiel's 
 grand old studio, a part of the Terma? of Diocletian. He, 
 a Richmond man like me, has a big heart, and every Satur- 
 day gives a dinner to some children and adult friends, 
 one of whom is Mary. I dined alone on a young pigeon, 
 daintily cooked potatoes, cold bread pudding and stewed 
 apples (not dried apples)." 
 
 On January 8th, 1903, he wrote to his son George: 
 ^' . . . Tuesday p. m. I met my class here; sub- 
 ject, Christ's Intercessory Work. I have now completed 
 over 200 pages like this, but more closely written, on 
 Systematic Theology. On the work of Jesus Christ I am 
 more and more leaving aside other books and going to 
 that one which is the source of all theology worth the 
 name. That night (Befana*) we had the young people 
 of our congregation, students, etc. ; twenty-six in all. 
 
 ^Twelfth night. 
 
LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 . . . All were so well behaved; in fact, they could 
 not have been more gentle had they been raised at court." 
 
 On February 7th, 1903, after quite a sharp attack of 
 illness, he wrote to Susy : 
 
 "... Mary has doubtless written you of Mr. 
 Robert Ryland, a Kentucky Baptist, a grandson of old 
 Dr. Ryland, who won in New York, in a competitive 
 examination, a purse of $3,000, for three years' study of 
 art over here. We had him to dine last Monday night 
 and found him ever so bright and jolly. The other guests 
 were Dr. Whittinghill, his college mate and Winnie Pig- 
 gott. Mary gave us a chic dinner, and then we played 
 logomachy." 
 
 On March 29th, 1903, he wrote from Rome to his older 
 son: 
 
 "... Last Monday came the letter from Dr. 
 Willingham informing me that the Board had just 
 authorized my coming home at my own pleasure. . . . 
 Several important, difficult questions of the mission are 
 pending and I cannot leave the field till they are settled. 
 Indeed, it would be of no use, for black care would still sit 
 behind me, and rest from responsibility is needed quite 
 as much as from work. In my lectures I have reached 
 Eschatology, and if all goes well the course ought to be 
 completed by May first. ... I would like to leave as 
 early as possible in May, but think it more probable we 
 shall sail in June. ... A frail man, turned seventy, 
 must always feel on the edge of things and speak very 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 66 i 
 
 humbly about his earthly plans. ... 1 have read 
 not without emotion your well written tribute in the 
 Religious Herald to Dr. Archibald Alexander Rice. How 
 well and pleasantly I remember his visits to 'Kirklea,' and 
 ours to his, as you justly say, most hospitable home! He 
 was at once so wise and able, and yet so unpretending, 
 genial, and truly humble." 
 
 The next letter, dated April 16th, 1903, is to his older 
 son: 
 
 "... I have spent some eight days in bed since 
 my last to Susy. . . . Really it has been hard to 
 keep my courage up. . . . Yesterday, in bed, I 
 finished writing the last lecture of my course. . . . 
 As far as my knowledge goes there yet remains to be 
 written a really satisfactory Systematic Theology. . . . 
 If my labor ever makes a hook, I trust it will be readable 
 and read outside the small Italian theological student 
 body. Yesterday, with Mary's kind help, I sent off twenty- 
 two circular letters as to financial arrangements while I 
 am gone. . . . Since I began this I have delivered 
 my last lecture as above, with some farewell words, speak- 
 ing continuously for about two and one-half hours. 
 A Latin congress is now in session in Rome, 
 following close on the heels of an Agricultural. . . . 
 For a short time there was a general strike in Rome, no 
 cabs or newspapers ; bread-making and meat butchering 
 done by soldiers. It seemed queer, but it was soon over." 
 
 Miss Chittenden, a dear friend of the family, who 
 
338 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 visited at 52 Giulio Romano, wrote the following acrostic 
 on the namcj George Boardman Taylor: 
 
 SAINT GEORGE. 
 
 Glorious the legend of that wondrous knight, 
 England's great patron, who in armour dight 
 O'erthrew the dragon, and with lance in hand 
 Rescued fair innocence and saved the land. 
 Gracious and fair he stands, an old world dream, 
 Embalmed in verse, the happy poet's theme, 
 By painters praised, cathedrals show his face; 
 On wayside shrines his faded form we trace. 
 And one I know who like in deeds and name 
 Raised up the fettered truth from earth and shame, 
 Dragons pursued through long and weary years, 
 Marked by strong faith, triumphant over fears. 
 Amid the wanderings of his long crusade 
 Near San Miclicle once his footsteps strayed, 
 Towards him he looked who heard the maiden's plaint 
 And wist not he was brother to the saint. 
 Yet he belongeth to the mystic band. 
 Linked by a common purpose hand in hand, 
 On the bright page where saints are written down 
 Read twice St. George co-kin in cross and crown. 
 
 — C, Chittenden. 
 
Last Picture, Berne, 1903 
 (From a Kodak) 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Last Visit to America — Last Years, and Death 
 
 Grow old along with me! 
 
 The best is yet to be — 
 
 The last of life, for which the first was made. 
 
 Our times are in His hands 
 
 Who saith, "A whole I planned, 
 
 Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid." 
 
 — Brovming. 
 
 According to his plan, Dr. Taylor, with his daughter 
 Mary, sailed early in June for America to make what was 
 to be his last visit to his native land. After spending some 
 days with his sister, near New York, and yet other days 
 with his son Spotswood in Washington City, they went 
 to Hollins, Virginia, to make his headquarters, while in 
 America, in the home of his son George. During the 
 summer Dr. Taylor spent some days at the Greenbrier 
 White Sulphur, whose waters had in other years greatly 
 helped him. A serious and protracted illness of his 
 daughter, Susy, made his visit to America longer by 
 several months than he had intended. In November he 
 attended, in Staunton, the session of the General Asso- 
 ciation, delivering on Sunday, upon the occasion of the 
 semi-centennial of the church, which was also the dedi- 
 cation of the new meeting-house, a historical address, which 
 was afterwards published and from which extracts have 
 
340 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 been made in this volume. In the same month he went 
 to New York City to consult a specialist, hoping for re- 
 lief from his deafness. This hope was not realized. It 
 was a bitter disappointment, but he bore it with heroic 
 spirit. 
 
 It was during this visit that the incident occurred which 
 his younger son refers to in the following lines, concern- 
 ing Dr. Taylor's fondness for horses, and his horseman- 
 ship : 
 
 '^He loved horses and never saw a fine one go by without 
 a comment. . . . He was a fearless horseman. I 
 was very timid. I remember vividly my fright when in 
 Virginia in 1885 he insisted on riding a very spirited 
 colt. He had difficulty in mounting, because too feeble to 
 spring or pull himself into the saddle, but once up he was 
 at home and the steed knew it. Then he wore an expres- 
 sion of confidence and his eye twinkled with amusement 
 at my concern as he cantered off. Eighteen years later 
 he was again in Virginia and again eager to ride; and I 
 remember on one occasion that after real difficulty in 
 getting him into the saddle, we sat for an hour very 
 anxious for his safety, as the horse was young and not 
 without mettle. He came back safely, dismoimted easily, 
 and later remarked in his simple, childlike way, free from 
 any trace of boasting, that he did not think the horse quite 
 spirited enough to be ridden just for pleasure." 
 
 In the early part of April, 1904, Dr. Taylor sailed 
 with his daughters for Italy. The splendid stream of 
 letters to loved ones continues, though space forbids copious 
 extracts. His daughter Susy was quite ill upon reaching 
 
341 
 
 Rome and continued so until the bracing air of Vallom- 
 brosa, at which point the family found a satisfactory 
 summer home, helped her towards recovery. During the 
 spring and summer Dr. Taylor was far from well, suifer- 
 ing first from serious trouble with his ear and later from 
 general debility. 
 
 In September, 1905, he was in Florence and saw the 
 city disturbed by riots. In October, in a letter he 
 referred to the fact that the Board in Richmond had made 
 an appropriation for the publication of his work on 
 Systematic Theology. The book was subsequently pub- 
 lished and favorably received. 
 
 In a letter, November 15th, 1904, to his son George, he 
 described his being run over in the Corso, an accident 
 which might have cost him his life. Once before he had 
 had a similar accident, and remembering the crowded 
 streets of Rome, and his increasing deafness, his success 
 in going about the city proclaims loudly his courage 
 and undaunted spirit. A part of this letter is given: 
 
 " . . . I went out to cash a draft for my salary, 
 doing that and other errands on foot. Then I went to 
 the front of Aragno's cafe, where the 'bus stops, for it is 
 too crowded usually to get on it elsewhere. It seemed 
 unusually long in coming, and as I was very tired, having 
 taken only a cup of coffee for breakfast, and Susy having 
 begged me to come home very early, I stepped off of the 
 sidewalk, hardly into the street, to look up the Corso. 
 Oh, if I had not done it, for a cab came at full tilt and I 
 went down as if shot ! I was helped into the cafe, and I 
 knew at once that I was badly hurt in the small of my 
 
342 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 back, for I could not stand up. I, however, did not lose 
 my head, and got a wineglass of wine, but I could not 
 reply to inquiries. Then appeared the inevitable police- 
 man. I asked to be taken home; my one desire was to 
 lie dowD, and I would gladly have been placed on the 
 pavement. As I was placed in a cab I fainted, or any- 
 how lost consciousness, and when I came to I found that 
 we were headed the wrong way. In fact, we drove to the 
 Hospital of San Giacomo; the gates were unlocked and 
 relocked after we entered. In the meantime I had been 
 begging the guard, a stupid sort of fellow, to take me 
 home, but in vain. The cab was at once surrounded by 
 the hospital men and there was the table within the open 
 door on the ground floor — the table on which I was to 
 be stripped and examined, as happened to me once before, 
 to decide the nature and extent of my hurt. I continued 
 energetically to protest, admitting my state, but pleading 
 my right to go home, and urging how much better it was 
 for me. In twenty minutes or half an hour, which seemed 
 much longer to me, the delay doing me much harm, I 
 was released and drove home alone; but for the reviving 
 fresh air, I don^t know how I could have stood it. Lifted 
 into a chair I was borne by two men to my bed. Dr. 
 Brock, a Scotch physician, was called by your sisters 
 through the telephone. He prescribed opium pills and 
 whiskey; said the case was not serious, no bones being 
 broken, but declined to give any idea as to when I would 
 be relieved and able to get about. Those days seem to 
 me like a dark dream, as it was hard to move in bed, and 
 any movement of my left leg caused severe pain, reach- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 343 
 
 ing up into my reins. I was deeply depressed and 
 wickedly longed to die. I read a good deal, your sisters 
 most lovingly going here and there for books. 
 Besides the direct pains there were all the neuralgic, 
 rheumatic and sciatic emphasized, the pains in the feet 
 being as bad as any, but soothed with rubbing and bottles 
 of hot water. Two or three days ago I was partially 
 dressed and lifted to an easy chair by the bed, which was 
 a pleasant change, but was soon followed by discomfort 
 and pain. But I try it now daily, and, as the doctor said 
 all the possible movement would be useful, I have just 
 made two or three steps with great effort and pain, lean- 
 ing heavily on Agncse and one of my very kind daughters. 
 It exhausts at once, as neither back nor legs can support 
 me." 
 
 Early in December, 1904, he was at work with his class, 
 and his pen seems never to have been idle long. In the 
 spring came his appointment as a delegate to the Baptist 
 World Congress in London; the arrival of the Kev. Dr. 
 Everett Gill, with his family, as a missionary; and the 
 announcement of the engagement of his younger daughter, 
 Susy, to the Kev. Dr. D. G. Whittinghill. Upon the 
 announcement of his appointment to London he feared 
 he would not be equal to such a trip. When the time 
 came, however, with his usual pluck and energy he set 
 out, accompanied by Dr. Whittinghill, and made the 
 journey from Berne to London in a single day. In Lon- 
 don, where he met his son and grandson, he was especially 
 anxious that those with him should enjoy the convention, 
 and the sights of the great city. He and his grandson 
 
344 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 visited together more than once the Britism Museum, and 
 ever and again he was seeking to promote the pleasure of 
 those who were with him. On Sunday he preached, by 
 appointment, at Salter's Hall Baptist Church, his text 
 being Ps. ex : 4. After these London days the quartet 
 left for Berne, where on July 27th Susy Braxton, his 
 youngest child, was married, in the beautiful Protestant 
 Cathedral, to Rev. Dr. D. G. Whittinghill. Before the 
 wedding and at it, by his generosity, common sense, un- 
 selfishness, genial humor and cheerfulness. Dr. Taylor 
 helped to make the occasion beautiful and pleasant. 
 
 A letter written on October 21st, 1905, to his son George, 
 refers to the visit of various American brethren to Rome, 
 and to their desire for enlargement of the work: 
 
 "... Since the visit of a number of brethren to 
 Rome last summer, there seems to be a disposition to buy 
 ground and erect nobler buildings in Rome for our 
 
 mission, and Dr. W and I have been looking for a 
 
 good lot, but the cost is immense, one being held at $120,- 
 000, and at least as much more would be needed for a 
 building worthy of the site. I am, of course, pleased, but 
 am not hopeful that even the best house on the finest lot 
 would do all that brethren imagine — brethren who have 
 been mightily stirred by seeing the new M. E. edifice." 
 
 During this winter his work of lecturing to his theo- 
 logical students went on, though a serious trouble with his 
 eyes made it necessary for him quite often to use an 
 amanuensis, and caused him much pain. Still his letters 
 were long, and full of details from his own life, and of 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 345 
 
 interest in the smallest matters which concerned those to 
 whom he wrote. He was always in touch with the great 
 problems and events in the religious and political world. 
 On March 13th, 190G, he wrote to his son: 
 
 "... You see I have been interested in the 
 higher criticism, and we have gotten for the school library 
 Hastings's Bible Cyclopedia, and several other books for 
 and against the said criticism. ... So far, I am the 
 reverse of convinced by the reasonings, which seem in- 
 genious and far fetched, but no more. There is even a 
 sort of fascination in them; at least I can feel how they 
 would be to some, but they rather irritate and annoy me." 
 
 The following extracts from a letter, begun in Milan 
 and finished in Rome, describe the gathering of the evan- 
 gelists in the former city in April, 1906: 
 
 "If you are surprised at receiving a letter of mine hail- 
 ing from this place, and at this time, I am even more sur- 
 prised at finding myself here. True, our Baptist Con- 
 gress has been advertized for weeks to open here to-night. 
 I am one of the three appointed speakers, and in accept- 
 ing the task I fully expected and meant to come, and duly 
 prepared my address; but, on the other hand, serious in- 
 disposition, together with the return of winter, weather 
 more like January than April, led me to give up the 
 idea as imprudent, if not absolutely impossible, up to yes- 
 terday morning, and I had arranged to send my MS. by 
 Dr. Whittinghill to be read by him or some one else. 
 . . . After my last to you the pain ... in- 
 creased so much that it became almost unbearable, and the 
 
346 LIFE AND LETTERS OE 
 
 doctor had to be called in. He made my heart go down 
 into my shoes by naming uric acid in the blood as the 
 cause or a cause. ... It bothered me more, as 
 symptoms, and, in part, treatment, were like that of my 
 father in the last six months of his life, when he was much 
 with me and suffered badly. ... In any case after 
 a stunned sort of feeling, bodily and mental, God has 
 enabled me to kiss the rod and say 'Thy will be done,' 
 whether it be a deal more of pain or a cutting short of 
 this earthly pilgrimage to enter, I trust, upon a life with- 
 out pain or sin, but full of perfect peace. I hesitate to 
 write this, so deceitful is the heart — my heart — but I have 
 been greatly helped in reading Jeremy Taylor's 'Holy 
 Dying,' a book to make one feel the goodness of God even 
 in his worst moments, and the absurdity of ever murmur- 
 ing against His ever wise and blessed will, and I do think 
 after a long and comfortable life I would be an ingrate 
 to complain. . . . The meeting was interesting and 
 helpful with much of brotherly love, and of the spirit 
 of prayer." 
 
 A letter written in bed under date, Rome, May 18th, 
 1906, tells of his serious indisposition, of the birth 
 of a little granddaughter, Susy's child, and refers to a 
 copy of a Chattanooga, Tenn., paper, containing an ac- 
 count of the Southern Baptist Convention: 
 
 " . . . In reading the first number of the Chatta- 
 nooga paper, all about the Baptists, some passages seemed 
 strangely familiar, and not without a certain thrill I then 
 recognized my own sermon and published tract of nearly 
 forty years ago on What the Baptists Have Done,' etc. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 347 
 
 But though good to-day, it should have been slightly re- 
 vised. This is some encouragement to the frail old man 
 who feels himself such a back number." 
 
 In a letter dated June 16th, 1906, covering three large 
 pages, and full of interesting family and mission inci- 
 dents. Dr. Taylor says: 
 
 " . , . This morning at our church Signor Galassi 
 read the 90th Psalm, and invited me to speak, which I 
 did for fourteen minutes, as it is a psalm by me much 
 studied and meditated, and greatly loved. Though I 
 cabbed it each way, it was hard work, with much resting, 
 to climb to our landing." 
 
 The following is an extract from one of the many letters 
 Dr. Taylor wrote to his grandson: 
 
 " . . . It is a pity you could not taste some soup 
 from your turtle. Once, when a boy, I caught a big cat- 
 fish, and my grandma had a soup made of it, which I 
 found delicious, though the rest of the family had a 
 prejudice, very natural, against cat-fish, but really it 
 makes excellent soup. In Kome, and specially in the 
 Ghetto and in the Trastevere, there are restaurants which 
 oifer a famous fish soup, but whether cat-fish enters into 
 it I do not know. The ^Neapolitans make much use of all 
 sorts of small shell-fish, which they call, very poetically, 
 the 'fruit of the sea.' You write a very good letter. 
 
 "It is nice that you have so much money from your 
 generous Uncle Ivanhoe and others, and you naturally 
 think of the best way to spend it, and so learn the uses 
 of money against the time when you will earn it with 
 your own work of hands and head. . . . Yes, it is 
 
348 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 nice for a boy to have money to spend, and it may be of 
 great use to him in his practically learning what money 
 can and cannot do, but I beg you to lay to heart what I 
 now say : that is, that money in a boy's hands to use as he 
 pleases is a great danger, specially when his thought is 
 what he can buy for his own pleasure or advantage, for 
 it tends to foster that egotism and selfishness which, 
 alas, are so natural to us all. The danger is greater in 
 your case because you are an only child. When I was a 
 boy, if money ever came to me, it was never so much as 
 ten dollars, because people would give something to each 
 of us six children; or, if any came just to me, I at once 
 thought of giving some of it to Sister Jane, or Brother 
 James, or Charlie or Fannie or Mary or buying something 
 for each of them. No doubt you are as generous as I was — 
 young people usually are generous — but love of money and 
 selfishness do grow on people as they grow older, and I 
 for one do not wish ever to be a selfish or avaricious old 
 man; and every month, as soon as I get my salary, I 
 begin to give away all I can spare, and I do without 
 many things that I would like, in order to give to needy 
 and worthy persons and objects. My rule long has been, 
 of every dollar I get, to give away one tenth, but I oftener 
 give one fifth, and though it means bread to some who 
 would otherwise starve, it does me even more good, filling 
 my heart with pure joy. Thackeray was always giving, 
 now a tip to a school boy, then gloves to some girl, or 
 thousands of dollars to save a poor man from ruin. It is 
 godlike to give. God is the great giver. He has a 
 precious gift for you which I trust you will accept with 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 349 
 
 a thankful heart. May His blessing be with you. I love 
 you very much, and wish all best things for you, my dear 
 Cabell." 
 
 In a letter, dated June 25th, 1906, he writes : 
 
 ^' . . . I have since my last read Professor Orr's 
 book, 'Progress of Dogma.' . . . The Rev. Dr. 
 George L. Shearer, an old University student friend of 
 mine, fifty years ago, and now Secretary of the American 
 Tract Society, wrote me introducing his daughter, an art 
 teacher in the city of New York. Mary hunted her up, 
 and she is to dine with us to-night. Next Thursday I 
 have a final examination on the last two chapters of my 
 Manual of Systematic Theology. . . . After the 
 examination we shall flee like a bird to the mountain, as 
 soon as may be, God willing." 
 
 The summer of 1906 the family spent at Vallombrosa, 
 but not in the same quarters as the year before. From 
 this summer home. Dr. Taylor wrote, July 15th, to his 
 older son: 
 
 '' . . . Two peasants from the Casino awaited 
 us with a sled drawn by milk-white oxen for our rather 
 extensive luggage, as, besides clothing and a big carriage 
 I had just bought for Diana, we had a big basket with 
 our bed and table linen; and a big donkey with rope 
 halter for bridle, which bore me hither, not without some 
 trepidation on my part, but one of the peasants looked 
 after the donkey and me. . . . Honey we get from 
 the great Forestry establishment at Vallombrosa. 
 I give the mornings to study and pen work, preparatory 
 to next session. The views are fine and vary from day to 
 
350 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 day and from one hour to another, according to the light. 
 This estate belongs to an old and historic family 
 of Florence, the portraits of whose ancestors I have seen 
 in the Uffizi Gallery there. . . . You will rejoice in 
 Italy's new and increasing prosperity, due to the enter- 
 prise of the people, and to the superior ability of her 
 statesmen. She is now recognized as the most prosperous 
 country on the continent, and as having the brightest 
 future." 
 
 The next extracts tell of another trial, involving severe 
 pain, which Dr. Taylor was called to undergo. The first 
 is from a letter to his son, dated August 7th, and the 
 second from one to his grandson, dated August 8th. Allu- 
 sion is made to Miss Mattie L. Cocke, president of Hollins 
 Institute, Virginia : 
 
 " . . . On the afternoon of Susy's and Dr. 
 
 W 's festa ... I had occasion to come to the 
 
 house, and, needing a momentary support, I leaned against 
 a door which I believed fastened, but which, anyhow, gave 
 way and I fell heavily on my back and left hip on the 
 brick pavement. Angiolina heard my cry and came and 
 insisted on helping me up and to bed. ... I waited 
 two days and then sent for the doctor. . . . On his 
 second visit he mentioned a specialist. . . . Hope 
 the two 'meds' will come this evening. . . . Dr. 
 
 W helps me . . . but the burden of me falls 
 
 almost entirely on Mary, who does everything for me. 
 
 jN^ext to the pain and confinement, I mind most 
 
 the interruption, but as to all I wish to say 'Thy will be 
 
 done.' . . . Do not worry about me; no doubt care- 
 
351 
 
 lessness has been a fault of mine. . . . Think that 
 when this reaches jou I may be ever so much better. I 
 have often thought of a remark of Dr. Plummer's in an 
 article or essay on 'Dying,' that when the pain is long 
 it is not severe, or when severe not long. I quote it, not 
 because thinking of death, but only as a generally com- 
 forting thought about pain, even if only partly true. 
 . . . I had one splendid ride on the donkey, really 
 a fine saddle animal, with quick, easy walk and a sort 
 of lope or canter. . . . Mary has shown me to-day a 
 handsome gold pin sent by Miss Mattie for Diana, and 
 the name engraved. Naturally, dear George, the 27th 
 of July recalled you and Cabell and our dear days in 
 London and near Berne, and last night I thought of our 
 reaching Paris, and of the nice hotel, etc. Many are the 
 treasures of memory which come to us ^oft in the stilly 
 night.' " 
 
 ''Well, the two doctors came. . . . The specialist 
 on hip diseases measured my legs. ... I had to get 
 out of bed and stand, and try to walk. He said frankly 
 that I would have a tedious spell of it. I was measured 
 for crutches, which he will order from Florence, and I 
 am to walk with them daily, no matter how it hurts, and 
 I am to be carried down by the peasants, and spend my 
 days in the open air, as my general health was suifering 
 from the confinement. . . . Now, strange as it may 
 seem, I am more cheerful since knowing my fate, and 
 the pains I will try from now on just to accept as my 
 companion and friend. . . . It's all right. Praise 
 
352 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 the Lord. Alas that there are so many other sufferers! 
 There will be no pain in heaven." 
 
 The next letter tells about his crutches, which cost $5, 
 and the great affliction of Dr. Everette Gill and family. 
 It is dated August 26th, 1906: 
 
 "... The Gill family have had a hard time this 
 summer and are not yet entirely relieved. Without con- 
 sulting any of us they rented Mrs. Leftwich Dodge's 
 house at IN'ettuno, some forty miles from Rome, on the 
 sea coast, and Mrs. Gill and the children all had repeated 
 attacks of fever, despite large consumption of quinine. 
 Mrs. Gill was dangerously ill and suffered terribly. 
 . . . Just as their skies seemed brighter, the little 
 three-year-old Geraldine sickened and died in twenty-four 
 
 hours. Dr. W , telegraphed for, went to them at once 
 
 and remained to the funeral. So did Mrs. G 's sister 
 
 from Paris. . . . The G s have shown a truly 
 
 Christian spirit under their great sorrows." 
 
 From a long letter written from the same place, 
 Vallombrosa, September 8th, 1906, the following lines 
 are taken: 
 
 "... In most respects we have had an almost 
 ideal summer, something to be thankful for, whatever 
 the future may have in store for us. The baby, of course, 
 is some trouble (not to me), but I thinly far more pleasure 
 to the three who care for her, and certainly a great deal of 
 pleasure also to me. She is fat and flourishing. 
 She is four months old to-day. Dr. Whittinghill is a 
 most devoted husband and father. . . . He has 
 proved a very kind and helpful son to me. . . . !N^o, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 353 
 
 the hip was not dislocated, but the doctors said that a 
 small bone was broken or displaced. ... It has been 
 very interesting to notice the sheep and cattle here . . . 
 and the various operations of husbandry. . . . Now 
 the fall plowing, with a very large plow, is going on. 
 No horse; the oxen do it all. The sled, which is adopted 
 for all sorts of carrying, the fences, everything, is made 
 without nails, the joining being done with wooden pins 
 and by withes or twigs, which, while green, are twisted 
 into suppleness, and the fences are made hog proof with 
 bushes and brambles woven into a sort of wattling." 
 
 The next letter written September 22nd, 1906, on a 
 big half sheet, part to Cabell and part to Cabell's father, 
 was from Perugia, where the family stopped for a season, 
 on their way back to Rome: 
 
 '^ . . . We reached this at 10 p. m., I utterly worn 
 out and hardly able to stand, much less walk, though I 
 had to do both, and, despite heavy wraps, I for the last 
 few hours of the trip had shaken with the piercing even- 
 ing chills, as all along there had been heavy rains. Other- 
 wise, the journey was all we could ask, as the day was 
 bright, and I travelled like a prince, though in third class ; 
 
 as Dr. AY attended to all transfers and he and Mary 
 
 carried the hand baggage, and helped me about. Last 
 night was the first for ten days that I was warm, as, after 
 the bad weather, my feet, most of the time, were like blocks 
 of ice. I have gradually improved in walking and seldora 
 suffer pain at the hip, but from sheer weakness and lack 
 of movement I can walk only a few steps at a time, and 
 only with help or touching the walls with my hands for 
 
354 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 support. But I have abandoned the crutches, which I 
 never learned to use easily. . . . Perugia is 1,700 
 feet above the sea. 
 
 ^'I have just taken a walk . . . over this hilly, 
 picturesque town of about 30,000 inhabitants, everywhere 
 admiring the noble architecture, not confined to the great 
 public buildings, for the doorway of almost every house 
 is an artistic arch of some kind. I remember Ruskin's 
 reproving the people of Edinburgh for having all their 
 openings for doors and windows square. . . . One 
 may travel over America, aye, and England, and get little 
 idea of architectural grace and loveliness. He must come 
 to Italy for that, and even in her secondary cities, as here, 
 he will find it at every step. . . . The day before we 
 left Vallombrosa there came the agent, in the pouring 
 rain, to take the consegna, i. e., to go over the list of 
 things in the house and see what was broken or missing. 
 We had to pay for several breakages, but he was not hard 
 on us and very polite, and we gave him a cafe noir. 
 Thursday morning the sled, drawn by two immense cows, 
 bore the numerous pieces of baggage to the depot, and 
 then came back for me ; it was filled with hay, and on 
 that a pillow, on which I came safely over the steep, rough 
 path to the depot. It was very cold and the wind pierced, 
 but I heartened myself that it would be warmer at every 
 step, and, in fact, in an hour we came down some 2,000 
 feet." 
 
 On September 30th, 1906, from Perugia, Dr. Taylor 
 wrote : 
 
 "... This house, an ex-convent, is old-fashioned, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 355 
 
 with different levels, inner stairs up and down and a 
 well in one of the rooms. ... I am not well, and 
 at times suffer a depression of spirits not usual with me 
 hitherto. In fact, T am reminded of the words in Ecc. 
 XII, *The grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall 
 fail, because,' etc. These may be but passing feelings; 
 but my strength has failed, and as the outward man 
 perishes, I can only pray, as you must, that the inward 
 man may be renewed day by day, in my case. . 
 Mary and I leave to-morrow morning early, and hope to 
 reach Rome in the early afternoon, and find Agnese, and 
 the house swejit and garnished to receive us." 
 
 On October 11th, 1906, Dr. Taylor wrote to his son 
 at Hollins: 
 
 '^ . . . Yours of the 24th ultimo has arrived. I 
 am also indebted to you for its predecessor of one week 
 before, in which you tell of seeing your Aunt Fannie 
 Ficklin off after her visit so pleasant to you, and leaving 
 so agreeable an impression on the community, of the re- 
 opening of school, of Mrs. Atwood, . . . and the 
 address of William Jennings Bryan. ... I felt much 
 better after getting to Rome, but have since had some 
 return of my trouble. ... At times my vitality and 
 my vital spirits seem very low, and then both rise some- 
 what. ... I can walk now, about as well as ever, 
 and try to go a few hundred yards daily ; lack of strength 
 is the trouble. Yesterday I staggered and nearly fell on 
 the street from sheer weakness. I kept up by force of 
 will and managed, in the four or five blocks to the 'bus, to 
 sit down twice on chairs in front of cafes. I would have 
 
356 ' LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 taken a cab, but none were in sight. I have done some 
 reading in Dr. Hodge and have read the 'Life of Lever' 
 and nearly finished reading the 'Life of Charles J. 
 Matthews.' ^Next will come the 'Life of Charles James 
 Fox.' " 
 
 Nicholas Papengouth, referred to in the next letter, was 
 the son of Count Papengouth, and had been for some 
 years an evangelist of the Southern Baptist Convention. 
 This letter is dated Rome, October 21st, 1906: 
 
 " . . . This morning I received the sad news of 
 the death of dear Nicholas Papengouth. ... To me 
 it came as a shock, and I have almost exhausted my 
 capacity for emotion since the news came, for I loved him 
 dearly, and, despite some slight and annoying, and ap- 
 parently absurd, eccentricities, he was one of ten thousand, 
 good as gold and true as steel. Thus in less than one 
 year three of our ministers have been called to their 
 reward, every one, to human eye, prematurely. Nicholas 
 looked up to me as a father, and he was to me a son. I 
 have known him from a boy. He died at Ana Capri of 
 fever." 
 
 Dr. Taylor held, up to within a short time before his 
 death, the place on the Revision Committee, to which he 
 refers in a letter dated November 2nd, 1906, and then 
 resigned, when his son-in-law, Dr. Whittinghill, was ap- 
 pointed to succeed him: 
 
 "... The British and Foreign Bible Society 
 wish to revise Diodati's version of the New Testament 
 and have nominated a committee of seven for the work, 
 all Italians, save Dr. Piggott and myself. 1 am pleased 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 357 
 
 with my appointment, though conscious of lacking compe- 
 tence for the task, and dreading the meetings of the com- 
 mittee on account of my deafness. I shall probably soon 
 go to Florence for the preliminary meeting. We are to 
 begin with one gospel and one epistle. Two of the pro- 
 fessors of the Waldensian school in Florence are on the 
 committee, and on account of their position, and having 
 prepared commentaries on the New Testament, are likely 
 to lead in the work. Mr. A. Meille (who succeeded Mr. 
 Bruce, and now goes out of office), having reached the age 
 of seventy, will be the secretary of the committee. The 
 other two members you do not know, nor I, but I have 
 read their articles, and believe them learned men, Bian- 
 ciardi and Taglialatela, the latter of the M. E. Mission." 
 
 From an eight-page, closely written letter to his son 
 at Hollins, dated November 21st, 1906, the following 
 extracts are taken : 
 
 "... Mine was the direttissimo, and I had 
 plenty of room in a well warmed compartment of a corri- 
 dor car. Swiftly we fled northward and swiftly fled the 
 moments, so that ere I had time to be tired we were in 
 Florence. ... In the committee Mr. Piggott sat 
 next to me and with a pencil kept me somewhat in touch 
 with what went on. Both of my letters were read by 
 the secretary, in which I expressed my reserves in accept- 
 ing a place on the committee, and also my conviction that 
 the changes should be only such as were required by 
 fidelity to the original, and by changes in the meaning of 
 words used by Diodati, or by any of these becoming 
 obsolete. This principle was adopted. Professor Luzzi 
 
358 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 was appointed to make the revision, sending a copy to 
 each of us with wide margins for our suggestions. 
 Mr. Piggott as senior, he being seventy-five and one-half, 
 was made president and I, against my protest, vice-presi- 
 dent. It is an empty honor. We were in session over 
 two hours, and not only did the occasion pass off easily 
 for me, who had rather dreaded it on account of my deaf- 
 ness, but I was able to hold my own and contribute my 
 share to it. . . . I have been much interested in 
 examining the Gospels and Acts translated by the Jerome 
 R. C. Society, and I would write you more about it, but 
 that I think of an article for the press on that subject, 
 which would be all the more appropriate, if, as is rumored 
 persistently in Rome for ten days, but not published in 
 any journal, that the Pope has really put his veto on the 
 Society, and this after having given it his blessing, and 
 after tens of thousands of copies of the extremely attractive 
 booklet have been sold ; and although in the preface, while 
 referring kindly to the work of Protestant ^brethren/ in 
 the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, there is a formal 
 statement and defence of cardinal Roman Catholic 
 doctrines. I am now well under way with my class in 
 Systematic Theology, and find my deafness not as much 
 hindrance as I expected. Having studied the lesson care- 
 fully, I prepare blocks of questions on slips of paper and 
 each student draws a slip and goes to work to answer it as 
 in a written examination. . . . The hour is crowded 
 full. An oral quiz would have many advantages, but this 
 plan tends to secure exactness. The students come to my 
 house, which I very rarely leave. . . . Yesterday 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 359 
 
 morning came your letter of the 12th instant, telling of 
 the funeral of dear little Bettie, the child of Spotswood 
 and Louise. It was all the greater shock to us, as your 
 letter, telling of her illness, had not, and as yet has not, 
 come to hand. I weep with the bereaved parents, know- 
 ing by sad experience, several times renewed, how keen is 
 the pain, how heavy the blow when a darling, beautiful 
 babe, a part of one's own self, is snatched away. . . . 
 My own family is equally divided, the mother in heaven, 
 with Bessie and Sally and Grace and Carter, and I still 
 here, old and frail, sustained and comforted by the love 
 of my four sons and daughters, who still remain. I am 
 as thankful to-day for those who have gone as for those 
 who are with me. . . . Dear little Grace was born 
 and died when I was in Stonewall Jackson's army and 
 I never saw her, but she was, and is, loved not less tenderly 
 than the others. I remember praying all night that she 
 might be spared, and she had then already winged her 
 way to the heavenly world. Ah, I can imagine Spots- 
 wood's grief! . . . Since I began this, your belated 
 letter of the 9th and 10th has come, telling of the dear 
 Bettie's illness." 
 
 The next letter, dated December 13th, 1906, was dic- 
 tated. From this time until his death, almost all his 
 letters were dictated, Mary or Dr. Whittinghill acting as 
 amanuensis : 
 
 "... This is my twelfth day in bed, and though 
 it irks me to miss my class, and though I have not been 
 able to read or write as sometimes, yet I am suffering 
 no real pain and very little discomfort. Some of my bad 
 
360 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 symptoms seem nearly gone and I hope in a day or two to 
 get up, despite some fear of a relapse. ... I would 
 like to be in your congregation next Sunday, and to have 
 a hug and kiss from darling Barbara, whose bright 
 afFectionateness abides in my memory." 
 
 On January 2nd, 1907, Dr. Taylor dictated a letter to 
 his son at Hollins: 
 
 '' . . . You must know that the thirty-one days 
 of December I was continually confined to my bed. True, 
 I made three efforts to get about, wishing to be up Xmas 
 day, and cast no shadow on the joy of the rest, with 
 which I was in perfect sympathy, but I had each time 
 to go quickly back to bed or lie on a sofa while our dear 
 ones and the Wilsons feasted, and on my birthday I had 
 to be borne neck and heels back to bed. ... I have 
 been very peaceful and happy, almost all the time, so much 
 so in fact that I have wondered sometimes whether it is 
 due to self-deception, but really I think not. ... I 
 long to be able to work if it is God's will." 
 
 On January 16th, 1907, he dictated a letter to his son 
 at Hollins. He alludes to Prof. Frank W. Duke, for some 
 years professor of mathematics in Hollins Institute and 
 now superintendent of the Mechanics Institute, Rich- 
 mond, Va. : 
 
 " . . . I repeat my question, who has taken Mr. 
 Duke's place, and is teaching Cabell algebra ? . . . . 
 It is pleasant having our cousins in Rome. Fanny and 
 Virginia Goodenow dined with us on the 8th. I like 
 them very much. . . . Later in the afternoon, Mary, 
 who has helped me with the revision, put up and mailed 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 361 
 
 my work to Florence, together with an explanatory note, 
 which she wrote for me. ... I could not have 
 finished this first instalment without Dr. Whittinghill. 
 We have been very much excited over a pleasing fact 
 which will interest you also. Paul Paschetto, who is 
 a student in the Art School, has just taken a premium of 
 1,000 francs for the best desig-n for the new five-franc 
 bank notes. He says it was at my suggestion that he went 
 into the competition. There were thirty-four other con- 
 testants. Now Vico Paschetto has competed for a prize, 
 offered by Leo XIII, on 'Ostia.' His work makes a large 
 book, even the index taking up scores of pages. The 
 subject proved so big that other competitoi*s flagged in the 
 race, and he got his MS. in, only at 10 o'clock at night 
 of the last possible day. . . . Acute pain I do not 
 suffer more than once in four or five days, but much dis- 
 comfort the rest of the time. My head hot and con- 
 fused with an overpowering weakness. ... I have 
 some moments of deep depression, but in the main praise 
 God for His wonderful goodness to me." 
 
 On January 21st, 1907, in a letter to his grandson, 
 Cabell, Dr. Taylor, dictating to Mary, said: 
 
 '' . . . I am going to send you a booklet which, 
 though so tiny, is famous, and after two centuries is still 
 admired and considered the chief authority on fishing and 
 other field sports. . . . There is a second part of it, 
 which, however, is by another hand and not the work of 
 the famous Sir Isaak Walton. . . . My dear George 
 Cabell, your old grandfather is still very poorly, and leads 
 an amphibious kind of life between the easy chair and the 
 
362 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 bed. I hope you will pray for him, as he does for you, 
 every day. It must be a great pleasure for you to have 
 little Barbara with you, and every boy ought to have a 
 girl in the home. I hear she is very sweet; please kiss 
 her for me and give my dear love to your father and 
 Aunt Louise." 
 
 The next letter, dated January 31st, begun with his 
 own hand, was finished by Mary's: 
 
 "... Dr. Aylctt Cabell's death was a pain and 
 a shock. . . . Mary kindly offers to finish this. 
 . . . As little work as the above, if it can be called 
 work, knocks me up for the day. Mary's view is right, 
 I do not seem in any danger; my delicate but tough in- 
 herited organization would need an even heavier strain. 
 There is just this reserve to make, that after two turns 
 I have felt it were easier to slip away than to stay, the 
 heart seeming to strike work. I have no wish to speak of 
 my pains and weaknesses, for God knows them and He 
 alone does. Let me rather praise Him for hours of com- 
 parative comfort, and for mercies mixed with my worst 
 experiences. I cannot too often be thankful for my 
 home comforts, Mary's filial piety, for the affectionate 
 fidelity of Agnese. ... I always thought that with 
 the spring and ability to get out into the open air I 
 might regain my strength, but I begin to doubt it, so 
 languorous and enervating is the Roman spring ; so I must 
 adjourn such hope to the summer and the mountains. 
 I have lost most of the clinging to life, unless it were 
 with health and strength to accomplish some good work; 
 but I wish the will of God to be done, even if it means to 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 363 
 
 suffer pain and weakness, though to depart were far better. 
 Do not worry about me, as I am in the hands of an in- 
 finitely skilful and loving physician. . . . About ten 
 days ago we had three snow storms in close succession, and 
 the snow of the second remained for hours, adorning 
 especially the trees and fountains, so that all Rome was 
 thrilled with the mystic beauty of the Fata Bianca. 
 EveryAvhere in Italy the snow lying to an incredible 
 height put a stop to trains, so wonderful is the soft might 
 of snow power." 
 
 On March 4th, 1907, he began a letter with his own 
 hand, writing two pages, but several days later he finished 
 it by dictating to his daughter : 
 
 "... This may give you some idea of how 
 shaky and weak I have been. ... In general I have 
 been able to say 'Thy will be done,^ but under the stress 
 of pain, and unable to work, the battle has had to be 
 fought over and over again. With submission there is 
 even peace. . . . To-day my Inter-Exam, is going 
 on at the school. Yesterday I was mighty poorly and 
 depressed, and it was a labor to prepare the examination. 
 Dexter and Vico Paschetto will preside, as I cannot go. 
 . . . Our trio has had several pleasures, a modest 
 outing or so in the fine days, the American ambassador's 
 reception on Washington's birthday, a play in celebration 
 of the 200th anniversary of Goldoni. ... I have 
 continued to be miserable in body, but Mary's kindness 
 continues unfailing. All day yesterday she reminded me 
 vividly of your mother." 
 
364 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 On April 28th, 1907, through an amanuensis, he wrote: 
 "... This has been an uncomfortable day. 
 . . And last night there was little sleep for me, but 
 I have had two or three delicious naps. . . . The day- 
 has been marked with mercies in the form of letters from 
 Spotswood, Louise and you. . . . and a handsome 
 check to Mary from the Atlantic Monthly. . . . Day 
 before yesterday I took a half hour's drive with Mary, 
 Diana and her little maid. The Corso was crowded, and 
 the people stared at us as if they would bore into our in- 
 most thoughts. Well does Emerson say that eyes are like 
 lions, and rush in everywhere. The being carried down 
 and up our spiral stair of sixty-five steps is very un- 
 comfortable, but the men are so good and well behaved. 
 They laid me on my bed exhausted and faint, and I 
 scarcely changed my position for hours. I doubt if the 
 outing did me good. In one respect I think I have learned, 
 even quite lately, how to diminish, or do away with, one 
 of my great occasional torments. I wish never to be too 
 old to learn anything good or useful. We shall be learn- 
 ing through all eternity, though our lessons will be on a 
 higher grade and without pain or sorrow. ... I 
 suppose if we returned from the eternal world we would 
 preach as we have never yet done. I often feel that if 
 I were once more a pastor, with normal health and voice, 
 that I would make better sermons and preach them with 
 more power than I actually did, but this is probably a 
 fond delusion, although the Bible does often seem to me 
 more illuminated than of yore. In point of fact, I am doing 
 very little now. The students have come regularly twice 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 365 
 
 a week, and written out for an hour the lesson in theology, 
 but I have several times had to receive them in bed. 
 They are three dear fellows, almost reverential in their 
 respect for me, and really aifectionate. ... I have 
 just sent off to Florence a small batch of revision, and am 
 at work on another — at work in the sense that a sick and 
 bed-ridden man can be." 
 
 On May 29th, 1907, he dictated a letter, alluding to 
 the International Sunday School Convention, and to Rev. 
 Robert Walker, then a missionary of the English Baptist 
 Mission in Italy; now working in ISTew York City: 
 
 '' . . . Mr. Walker stayed with us during 
 the Sunday School Congress. . . . The Congress 
 opened with a reception and banquet at the Quirinal 
 Hotel, which your sisters and Dexter enjoyed. About 
 200 ladies and gentlemen sat down together, mostly 
 Americans. . . . The English-speaking meetings in 
 the American Methodist Church were interesting and 
 helpful. Mary was most impressed with the two sermons 
 and talk of Campbell Morgan." 
 
 In a letter dated Rome, June 16th, 1907, and dic- 
 tated, allusion is made to the departure for the summer 
 home and to the volume on Pastoral Theology, which he 
 was working on, but which he never finished : 
 
 " . . . We hope to leave Wednesday night; I in 
 the Pullman, Mary and Dexter third class, reaching 
 Pracchia at 8 in the morning. ... I do not seem 
 ever to have been weaker than in these June days, per- 
 haps on account of the warmer weather, and the journey 
 seems almost impossible ; but I have often been quite poorly 
 
366 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and seemed to gain in travelling. I am also a little 
 afraid of the sharp change, and of the high altitude, but 
 hitherto my constitution has shown great adaptability. 
 If I have been in some respects less well off, it has only 
 given fresh occasion for Mary's great kindness, and I have 
 had many mercies. ... If I could only, with her 
 and Dexter's help, complete my monograph on the 
 ministry, and publish it in English and Italian, I should 
 be glad." 
 
 The next letter, dictated to Mary and addressed to his 
 daughter-in-law, Louise, is dated June 23rd, 1907, Le 
 Rcgine, Boscolungo, this being a high point in the Apen- 
 nines, and tells of the journey from Rome to the family's 
 home that summer: 
 
 "... Wednesday night, the 19th instant, about 
 ten o'clock, I was dressed, and then carried dowm by 
 Dexter and the porter to the carriage, and, with my head 
 on Mary's breast, driven to the station, Dexter making 
 a third. Several of the students and young men of the 
 church were awaiting us, by several of whom I was borne 
 to my cabinet in the Pullman sleeper, and laid upon the 
 couch. We had only hand baggage, trunks and chairs 
 having been previously shipped. The little rooms on the 
 sleeper are like the cabins of a steamship, and a great im- 
 provement on the American ones. I was the sole occupant 
 of mine, and kept the windows open all night. The bed 
 was soft, and but for my bodily troubles the journey would 
 have been made in perfect comfort. As it was, I had 
 journeying mercies, and was vastly entertained, gazing 
 out of the window into scenery illuminated by the moon, 
 
367 
 
 and very soon bj the early morning light, which clothed 
 all in beauty. At Florence, about six in the morning, we 
 were met by the dear Walkers, who brought scones and 
 marmalade, and Mary got me a huge bowl of caffe e latte 
 from the cafe. Another hour passed pleasantly and 
 another less so, made so by the smoke of twenty-two 
 tunnels, which was, however, less than later in the day. 
 What I hated most was Mary and Dexter coming third 
 class. With the help of rapacious porters, I was carried 
 to the inn across the road, where we were soon comfort- 
 ably quartered, and at one o'clock Susy and her two little 
 girls joined us. I passed twenty-four hours mostly in 
 discomfort and pain, and my effort to sit up was un- 
 successful. The next morning, i. e., Friday, our servant 
 arrived, and by ten o'clock we were all oif in a light, four- 
 seated carriage drawn by two horses, the cook riding on 
 a trunk in the harroccino^ of luggage. The drive to this 
 place seemed to me almost impossible, but lying head and 
 shoulders in Mary's lap, and legs stretched over to the 
 front seat, supported by Dexter, it was achieved by me 
 with a relative comfort, but greatly, I'm sure, to their 
 discomfort ; but they were both perfectly sweet, and Susy 
 so patient with Diana, a little feverish and restless. The 
 road over the mountains crossed and ascended, and seemed 
 interminable, but I had at the last a delightful surprise, 
 for when we halted and the driver began to blanket his 
 horses, and I thinking we were still far from our goal 
 asked, 'Why are we stopping ?' Mary said : 'Because here 
 
 *A kind of cart. 
 
368 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 we are to live.' In fact we were in front of a low stone 
 house, plumb with the road, and I was carried up and 
 put on the bed, where I have been ever since. . . . 
 The air is fresh and the landscape fine, but the fir forest 
 less accessible for me than I had hoped. All settled them- 
 selves promptly. Provisions had been brought and others 
 awaited us here, so the family life was promptly and 
 pleasantly started. This is the beauty of furnished 
 lodgings in the mountains of Italy: you reach a strange 
 and unknown house, and by the time you have bathed 
 face and hands in spring water, a fire is burning, kettle 
 boiling and a comforting cup of tea is served you, as if 
 you had just returned home from an hour's drive; then 
 you get between cool linen sheets, coarse but clean, and are 
 soon in dreamland, the country of nod, life resumed with 
 scarcely a break ; or, if you are a careful Martha, you go 
 to work and spend the hours in unpacking and arranging 
 according to taste the furniture of different rooms." 
 
 On June 27th, 1907, he wrote from Boscolungo, ex- 
 plaining why he had written less frequently for some time : 
 
 "For months the thumb of my right hand has been 
 very sore, so that the hand has been no use, only a care: 
 which added to very extreme weakness has made writing 
 even more impossible. ... I am to-day just half way 
 between seventy-four and seventy-five. I no more count 
 years, but days. The past six months have been marked 
 with severe trials, but also with signal mercy; the next 
 six, if I live or die, are in God's hands. . . . We find 
 the house even more roomy and commodious than we ex- 
 pected. ... Of course, all is rustic and rough. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 369 
 
 Provisions seem abundant. . . . Between Dexter and 
 me we have a good supply of books. . . . The trio 
 stay in a pretty sitting room on the ground floor, sewing, 
 reading aloud or writing. ... So far I have stayed 
 in my room and bed ; but have been carried up and 
 down three times by Mary and Dexter, or by Mary and 
 Eliza, the cook. The stairs are steep and narrow. Of 
 course, 1,400 metres above sea level, it is cold ; but wrapped 
 up, like the sick baby which I am, I am now by an open 
 window with a smiling landscape. Boscolungo is a mile 
 away with its hotels ; cabs and carts move swiftly up and 
 down the great road, here nearly level. Tuscany and 
 Modena and another great division of Italy corner here. 
 I suffer a good deal . . . and Sunday when it rained 
 the torture extorted cries for mercy. ... I enjoy 
 my daily chapter in the Bible, and calling up, even re- 
 constructing, dear old hymns learned when a babe and 
 long out of mind, and am mightily stirred by the reports 
 in the Southern Baptist Convention Minutes, and en- 
 couraged about the Italian work, and ^All the days of my 
 appointed time will I wait till my change come.' Per- 
 haps later this summer I may feel better and stronger." 
 
 On July 15th, 1907, he wrote from Boscolungo, dic- 
 tating to his daughter. After discussing fully some plans 
 which concerned the welfare of his son, he referred to him- 
 self: 
 
 "... I have been kept almost constantly in bed 
 by my weakness and by the cold. . . . June and 
 July seem to have been inverted. . . . When life 
 and spirits have seemed at the lowest ebb, God has not 
 
370 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 allowed me utterly to sink, and one day when I was full 
 of fear for what might be coming I found great comfort 
 in the text, 'What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee.' 
 I am now hoping every day for some real July weather. 
 Is the moon at fault ? And if it is Mars, I wish the Con- 
 ference at La Hague would dethrone him. For a fort- 
 night I have read almost nothing. ... I have en- 
 joyed the Century Bible on I and II Corinthians; you 
 know the book ; the volumes are small with good intro- 
 ductions. ... I would like to send you a volume 
 or two. ... I, to-day, resigned my position on the 
 Revision Committee. The London Society had politely 
 asked me to associate some one with me to represent me 
 and help me when I was too unwell for the duty, but it 
 seemed wiser to lay down entirely a burden which, how- 
 ever honorable, is now too heavy for me to bear." 
 
 The next letter, dictated to his daughter, and dated 
 Boscolungo, July 28th, 1907, gave much space to the 
 affairs of the one to whom he wrote : 
 
 "... The 139th Psalm comes home to me as 
 never before and I feel the force of that verse, 'I am fear- 
 fully and wonderfully made.' My body is still a great 
 mystery to me, but how keen its susceptibilities for 
 pleasure and for pain!" 
 
 The next letter, dated Boscolungo, August 2nd, 1907, 
 was to Cabell, and was dictated to Mary: 
 
 " . . . At 11 o'clock Dexter left in the bright 
 moonlight, on a donkey, with a party of gentlemen to 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 371 
 
 make the ascension of Monte Cimone. The latter part was 
 too steep even for the donkeys, and they had to scramble 
 up on their own feet. They arrived at the Refuge, 
 and then, after a hurried breakfast, hastened to the summit 
 to see the sunrise, and the vast prospect of mountains, to 
 the Adriatic on one side and the Carrara Mountains on 
 the other. Of course they got back here quite tired, the 
 excursion having occupied just thirteen hours. . . . 
 There is ever the comfort that I am always in the hands 
 of a kind, heavenly Father. Whether I am to get better 
 and get out again remains to be seen. It will be all right 
 either way.'^ 
 
 On August 11th, Dr. Taylor, at Boscolungo, dictated 
 a letter to Spotswood and his wife Louise. He alludes 
 to Dr. Charles Euchariste de'Medici Sajous, author of 
 numerous medical books; a member of twenty-two 
 scientific bodies, and Knight of the Legion of Honor of 
 France; dean and professor in the Jefferson Medical 
 College : 
 
 ^' ... If you have seen my last to George you 
 know of the kindness of a French physician, long of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, who is visiting some rela- 
 tions a few doors from us and who volunteered to pay me 
 a visit. I count this a real Providence. . . . The 
 doctor says I have no real disease. He is very kind and 
 very clever. . . . True religion consists first of all 
 of trust, humble trust in Jesus Christ. My own ex- 
 perience is summed up in some dimly remembered lines 
 
372 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 of a hymn learned long ago, and which runs somewhat 
 
 thus: 
 
 *^Iy grief and burden long have been 
 Because I could not cease from sin; 
 The more I strove against its power, 
 I sinned and stumbled but the more, 
 Till late I heard my Saviour say: 
 Come hither, child; I am the Way. 
 So, glad I come, and thou, blest Lamb, 
 Wilt take me to Thee as I am; 
 Nothing but sin have I to give, 
 Nothing but love shall 1 receive.' 
 
 On September 3rd, 1907, the family left Boscolungo 
 and went to Maresca, a few miles distant. Here several 
 weeks were spent. 
 
 A letter from his son, who had been on a trip along 'New 
 River, recalled the scenes of his early life as the following 
 letter, dated Maresca, September 22nd, 1907, and dic- 
 tated to Mary, shows: 
 
 '^ . . . I remember so well New River. . . . 
 I recall attending the Associations when I was agent for 
 various causes, once for our State Mission Board; I went 
 on horseback and it was fine. I had a horse at Buchanan ; 
 when I got to the Association, I tied him at the best place 
 I could, but it was very steep. When I came out he was 
 down; I was scared. The brethren helped me get 
 him up. I drenched him, afraid I should have the 
 horse to pay for, but I got back all right. . . . 
 The railroad was to Jackson's River. Mr. Mason gave me 
 an order for a buggy and pair. I invited Alfred Dickin- 
 son to go with me. When we got into the carriage the 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 373 
 
 horse reared up again and again, as Mr. Mason said he 
 would, then we drove to the White Sulphur. . . . 
 At Covington there was a toll bridge; I thought to save 
 toll and forded, but had to pay toll just the same. Those 
 covered bridges ! I can see them now. ... I usually 
 lodged at the jail, the jailer being a Baptist. Once I 
 remember a negro slept in the same room. I didn't 
 mind, but I was tormented by the bowlings of a maniac 
 confined in the jail. Twice my buggy wheel broke at 
 almost the same point. I had to have the wheel mended 
 while I waited." 
 
 Dr. Taylor continued weak and suffered much. It 
 was therefore decided to return at once to Rome, where he 
 might enjoy the comforts and liberty of his own home. 
 He had rallied from so many serious attacks that even 
 the dear ones, who were with him, did not realize that 
 the end was near. His daughter wrote to one of her 
 brothers in America that he might die in six months or 
 outlive his children. The following letter from Mary 
 gives some idea of the complications which had to be 
 met when, from a village in the Apennines, near Modena, 
 she wished to go with one quite sick and frail, all the way 
 to Rome: 
 
 "... The plan now is for us to leave here Tues- 
 day morning and take the hour's drive to Pracchia, put 
 up at the hotel there and see Dexter and Susy on their 
 way to Siena. We meant to leave that night for Rome, 
 Father in the first-class wagon-lit [sleeper] and I in third, 
 with our summer's cook; but it is impossible to get the 
 sleeper before Wednesday night, so I suppose we shall 
 
374 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 wait and let Lisa go on. The procuring of this sleeper 
 proves a complicated affair from these country places. I 
 wrote to Bologna to know how to go about it and received 
 reply that I must telegraph to Vienna, paying for a reply 
 and sending the money. At the funny little low stone in- 
 terior, with the quaint kitchen in the background and the 
 baby playing on the ground, the young woman telegraph- 
 operator took about an hour for this famous telegram, 
 never having sent one 'alV estero [to a foreign coimtry] 
 before. When it was finally accomplished she said she 
 could not send a vaglia telegraphico [a telegraphic money 
 order], as this was only a post office of second ordine 
 [second class]. I must go to Bardalone or San Marcello, 
 several miles off. This I combined with a drive for 
 Father, but there the male operator, son of the pizzicagnolo 
 [butcher], was even more ignorant; was sure it could 
 not be sent to the telegraphic address given me from 
 Bologna, Schlafsivagen-Wien [Sleeping car, Vienna], as 
 he was sure Schlafswagen must be the name of the 
 town, and received the announcement that Vienna 
 is in Austria as a sensational piece of news. He refused 
 to send it to anything less than a Compagnia. So we com- 
 promised on 'Comp. Inter. Wagon-lits.' Then came the 
 mighty operation of finding out how many crowns 18 
 francs would be, which he said would be so complicated 
 that he would send the bill and receipt the next day 
 through the telegraph sposina of Maresca. I still await 
 his bill and receipt and wonder how much this blessed 
 sleeper will end by costing. We have gotten the reply 
 to the Maresca telegram, saying a sleeper will be reserved 
 
REV. GEORGE BOABDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 375 
 
 for the 25th, but omitting to give the number of the berth. 
 I hope they will connect the Maresca telegram with 
 Bardalone money order. It is like negotiating for the 
 purchase of Poland." 
 
 From Maresca Dr. Taylor sent a number of picture 
 postal cards to Cabell, and on September 23rd, a brief 
 letter, the last thing he ever wrote with his own hand. 
 The following letter of Mary to her sister describes the 
 journey to Kome. It is dated Rome, September 26th: 
 
 "... Yesterday and last night were about the 
 longest twenty-four hours I ever saw. Even at Pracchia 
 there was sirocco, and Father gave up even sitting up, 
 recognizing that his donkey ride was out of the question. 
 . . . In the afternoon Father and I both made fruit- 
 less efforts to nap, and read ^The Crime of the Boulevard,' 
 which is terrible but interesting. . . . Made several 
 efforts to find out if a telegram had come from 
 Schlafswagen ; went over and had another talk with 
 the capo stazione [station agent], engaged facchini 
 [porters] to carry Father and impedimenta; made 
 myself tea ; got the perfectly satisfactory bill and 
 paid it and tipped the servants to their satis- 
 faction. Father, very generous minded about the money, 
 gave me carte hlanche, to do my best, which was a great 
 help. I could get him to eat nothing all day save a little 
 milk, a drop of broth, a bunch of grapes. The last wing- 
 less hours dragged; it began to deluge with rain and 
 dark as ink. About 8.30 p. m. I went over and bought 
 Father's first-class and my second-class ticket. It was 
 lucky I had not taken a third-class ticket, as you will 
 
376 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 hear. I ordered hot milk for Father, but he closed his 
 teeth and left it. At last the facchini came, but were most 
 clumsy about carrying him in a straight-up chair. 
 Fortunately the rain held up. We got to the platform ten 
 minutes before the train was due. . . . The train was 
 nearly an hour late; Father got quite worn out and began 
 to groan aloud. . . . Finally . . . the train 
 rushed up ; then we had a simply dreadful time getting 
 him on. . . . When the train whirled away after the 
 one minute's stop, which the capo stazione must have pro- 
 longed, Father was somehow in a knot of blankets in a 
 berth. ... I had flung my things into a second-class 
 compartment full of priests and strangers, aidled by a 
 kind Samaritan, whom I had been hating shortly before 
 for staring. ... I fixed Father the best I could 
 and got off at the first brief stay of the train. The Lord 
 had really providentially put my second-class compartment 
 next to the Pullman. What I should have done if I had 
 taken third I don't know. ... I found my things 
 scattered over the crowded compartment, but the people 
 were really kind. The train stops only a moment at each 
 place, so I spent my time vibrating and anxiously peering 
 out. Strange to say, of Father's hat, cap, mitts, valise, my 
 dear bag George gave me, lunch basket, rug, shawl strap 
 and two pillows and mug, only the mug was left. . . . 
 At Florence all the nice people got out and a very common 
 set of people crowded the compartment. A very ordinary 
 Neapolitan family in white shoes, dusters and crimpy, 
 hatless hair, I thought were going to be trying. ... I 
 knew I was too excited to sleep myself, so I fixed my 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 377 
 
 pillow on my lap for the little girl to have a nap, and the 
 little kindness seemed to quite change the atmosphere, 
 and make the woman different. ... I fixed Father's 
 window and covered him well, explained the situation 
 concisely, forcibly and audibly; made him stretch out his 
 arm and touch the bell ; told him the porter was pining 
 to wait on him. . . . The porter kept longing for 
 his dear Austrian trains in which there is a communica- 
 tion between cars. One comfort, he was very good form, 
 and helped me in and out as if I had been the Duchess. 
 . . . The porter behaved like an angel. I went no 
 more, but at every station he hung out on his platform 
 and told me how our baby was getting on, quite peace- 
 fully. At Orte he said Father wanted me to come at last 
 station before Rome to dress him and he would come for 
 me. I got Father a hot bowl of coffee, but there was not 
 time to convey it to him, so I had to drink it, and the heat 
 of it was comforting. The second half was so black and 
 plenteous I donated it to a funny, red-headed boy who 
 had lost his hat. . . . He smiled such appreciation 
 as only a boy's stomach, and a red-headed boy at that, 
 could. At Cammini I again entered the beleaguered city, 
 found Father enthusiastic about porter's kindness; he 
 said the night had been tolerable and allowed himself 
 to be dressed. . . . The Roman campagna looked 
 lovely; all purple and brown shades with grey oxen just 
 like one of Carlandi's pictures. Ecco Roma ! The porter, 
 thoroughly my friend for two more francs, said that we 
 had better wait until the train emptied to get Father out, 
 and of course I would be met. I said: ^Of course.' 
 
378 LIFE AXD LETTEES OF 
 
 . . . I wished I had telegraphed to Paschetto or 
 Galassi. However, when I got out, no one was there, not 
 even Vincenzo. I engaged two good facchini, who con- 
 sulted with the Pullman porter, decided a chair would be 
 best, and went for it. They were gone some time and I 
 stood by the stuff. Suddenly the scene changes. Vincenzo 
 appears, smiling, looking a very respectable servant; 
 Adolfo, a howling swell in a beautiful overcoat; Lillian, 
 younger and more distinguished in a new brown hat and 
 travelling suit. They had come to fetch us with their 
 automobile. . . . The facchini reappear with a nice, 
 comfortable, padded chair into which a fairly smiling 
 ^Angelical'* is put tenderly, wrapped in rug, and a most 
 distinguished procession moves to the buffet.' ... I 
 have so often felt ourselves a shabby show; now we are a 
 really elect spectacle. . . . Adolfo quietly affection- 
 ate, but he mesmerizes the situation; the waiters in the 
 buffet feel we are very important. ... I have a 
 coffee, Father orders consomme, takes only one spoonful 
 and then orders Vincenzo to eat it for him. . . . 
 Amidst an amphitheatre of faces we all get into the motor 
 and are very gently tooted along not to shake Father. 
 I could have cried with the comfort of being 
 so lovingly, so competently cared for. . . . The 
 chauffeur brought Father up in his arms, and they left. 
 I cannot describe what their meeting me meant. It was 
 like those restful solutions in novels. Agnese, neat and 
 
 *"The Angelical" (doctor), a name bestowed upon Dr. Taylor by 
 his family circle. 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYEOR, D. D. 379 
 
 dear, awaited us ; the house nicely cleaned seems a para- 
 dise. I am so glad to be in it." 
 
 The story of the days following the return to Rome is 
 told in a letter from Mary to her brothers. She and 
 Dr. Taylor arrived in Eome Thursday morning. She 
 wrote : 
 
 "... He was so pleased that morning to be at 
 home in his own room and with his loving Agnese to 
 attend him. . . . Soon after we arrived, the servant 
 brought Dr. Sajous' card with the message that he had 
 called to hear if we had arrived. Father said at once 
 that he wished me to go and arrange a dinner of 
 gentlemen in Dr. Sajous' honor, as he was going to leave 
 the city so soon to sail ; that he would get away unless I 
 was quick. I promised as soon as my trunk came I would 
 do so. He said he felt about honoring Dr. Sajous as 
 Mary did about the precious ointment for Christ's feet. 
 Dr. Sajous' advice had been so helpful. He hoped now 
 to be much better, that he must take a drive next day. 
 He talked about wanting to help our porter in a more 
 systematic way so that the family could put something 
 into the post office savings bank for the hard summer 
 months. Asked for his letter to George but seemed per- 
 fectly satisfied when I told him I had already sent it. 
 Said he wanted the letter to Cabell, which I enclose. The 
 time passed in my unpacking his valise and attending to 
 things about the house with reference to getting in order 
 for having a dinner for Dr. Sajous. He said he would get 
 some new linen for the house. He enjoyed his broth and 
 
380 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 a peach — seemed so much interested in everything. After 
 lunch there was a young fellow came with a tale of woe, 
 no work and no money — wanted enough for a third-class 
 ticket to Ancona. Father made me usher him into his 
 room and made him write out his tale ; ordered Agnese to 
 give him something to eat, invited him to dinner next 
 day, which he said he would get up to share. In the night 
 he suffered acutely. . . . Friday he felt better in the 
 morning, but by midday began to be very feverish. How- 
 ever, he dictated two notes to help the young man get a 
 place or help, and said if he returned without either I 
 must give him the money to go to Ancona, which I did. 
 Of course he was not able to get up and seemed to feel 
 much more unwell, suffering so with his head. 
 His fever made me uneasy. At 4 Dr. Sajous and Signor 
 Giomi called, and the former went in, but Father was 
 too weary to say much. He only squeezed his hand and 
 said: 'My dear, good friend.' After they left, I sent for 
 Burroni, our own doctor, but the porter returned to say 
 he was out of town. Agnese and I were up with Father 
 all night. ... I was alarmed, and as soon as I could 
 get off I took a carriage and went to ask W. Wall what 
 doctor was in town. ... I found that one was at 
 the German hospital and went there and got him. He 
 said pulse was bad and fever nearly 104°. Said to 
 nourish him often. He had objected to food so much in 
 the last weeks I was surprised at his readiness to take 
 food and stimulants. Every time we left the room to get 
 something he would say: 'Don't go.' 'What time is it?^ 
 At 12.30 I was so alarmed at his appearance I gave him 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 381 
 
 brandy and water . . . and he passed away in one 
 moment. ... in my arms, without any struggle at 
 the last." 
 
 Dr. Taylor died Saturday morning September 28th, 
 1907. The funeral took place on Monday. A letter from 
 Mary describes the funeral and the incidents connected 
 with it. The Eoman law would not allow the body to 
 remain in the home beyond Sunday night, so it was 
 carried that night to the cemetery, where the funeral 
 took place the next afternoon. Mary wrote: 
 
 ^' . . . Several of the church people came to look 
 at his face, but with the most exquisite and loving 
 reverence. They had a memorial service at the church at 
 7, and at 8 came here for a service around the coffin, which 
 was placed in the parlour. Hannibal Fiore, who loved 
 Father like a son, conducted it very sweetly, and there 
 was a prayer in English by one of the Methodists. Some- 
 how it had none of the awfulness of a funeral. His own 
 portrait, above the illuminated parchment given by the 
 church, looked down on the casket, covered with his own 
 favorite red carnations and other flowers. With the lights, 
 it was somehow bright and lovely. Adolfo, Dexter and 
 Hannibal went with the coffin to the cemetery. . . . 
 The funeral was at 5 o'clock Monday; the air soft, the 
 sky rose-colored above the cypresses, all the brilliant 
 autumn flowers in bloom. There were many wreaths and 
 flowers and palms, and a good many present, but, of 
 course, not as it would have been in the winter. It was 
 the most beautiful funeral. . . . Lovely addresses 
 were made by Signor Galassi and Dr. Clark — Dr. Clark's 
 
382 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 address being peculiarly tender and appropriate — and 
 prayers by Signer Conti and Campbell Wall, who had 
 come on purpose from Florence; one stanza of 'Shall we 
 gather at the river?' and one of 'Su verde colle nel pcese 
 dore spunta il soV I had insisted that the funeral should 
 not be long, and before the dusk fell, we started back, 
 after seeing the grave filled and innumerable flowers cover 
 it and mother's grave." 
 
 On Sunday, September 27th, 1908 (while this book 
 was in press), a memorial tablet to the memory of Dr. 
 Taylor was unveiled in the Staunton Baptist Church. 
 Upon this occasion the Rev. Dr. Charles Manly, who im- 
 mediately succeeded Dr. Taylor in the pastorate in 
 Staunton, delivered a memorial address, and the Rev. Dr. 
 O. F. Gregory, the pastor of the church, read lines he had 
 composed. The tablet was provided through the free gifts 
 of many who knew and loved Dr. Taylor, no one giving 
 more than a dollar. Dr. Gregory's poem, entitled "A 
 Tribute of Love: In Memory of Dr. George Boardman 
 Taylor," read as follows: 
 
 A noble mission is fulfilled. 
 
 The dear, brave, loyal heart is stilled, 
 
 The faithful lips are dumb; 
 The busy hands find rest at last, 
 The work is o'er, the conflict passed. 
 
 And peace is come. 
 
 Those white, still lips beneath the sod 
 Many a soul have won for God; 
 
 And who may tell 
 How many hearts that patient pen 
 Has blessed, and cheered and soothed again 
 
 At Baca's well! 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 383 
 
 With loving seeds by the wayside sown, 
 Many an erring one he has borne 
 
 To Jesus' feet; 
 And in these homes his words of prayer 
 Have made the sorrow seem less drear, 
 
 The joys more sweet. 
 
 Then, when the Master's loving hand 
 Had led him from his native land 
 
 To preach "at Rome"— 
 With steadfast faith, and courage high 
 The cross was borne, to do and die 
 
 In his new home. 
 
 So day by day his faint feet trod 
 The path that led him nearer God 
 
 And nearer home; 
 And then his footsteps touched the brim 
 Of Jordan's waters cold and dim 
 
 With dashing foam. 
 
 "The faith" was kept; "the course" was run, 
 The final victory grandly won! 
 
 And now the King 
 Doth grace his brow, all seamed with scars, 
 With wondrous crown of "many stars," 
 
 While anthems ring. 
 
 During the last years of Dr. Taylor's life no one was 
 so constantly his companion as his daughter, Mary Argyle 
 Taylor. The following is from her pen: 
 
 ^'During the service of Good Friday, when St. Peter's 
 is thronged with people from all over the world, thirteen 
 lighted candles stand on the High Altar while the Lament- 
 ations and Penetential Psalms are chanted. One by one, 
 at intervals, these candles are put out, until only one re- 
 
384 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 mains lit, which is carried behind the altar and kept 
 there while the famous Miserere is sung. It is curiously 
 impressive, the vast, dark church with the kneeling people, 
 and that one tiny flame burning to symbolize Christ's 
 being hidden in the tomb, but not extinguished. Everyone 
 is more keenly conscious of that one concealed taper than 
 of the twelve which stand upon the altar. This abased, 
 but steadily burning, light always reminded me of my 
 father's penetrating and pervasive influence. Apparently 
 segregated from his fellow-men during the latter years of 
 his life by deafness and frail health, compelled to spend 
 three-fourths of his time in bed, having to gradually 
 relinquish his part in outside engagements, and be 
 patronised by his inferiors because they could hear and 
 walk around, while he was restrained by physical ailments, 
 his spirit was not embittered nor his spiritual force 
 abated. 
 
 ^'What impressed everyone most about him, whether 
 he spoke or kept silent, was his saintliness ; and it was 
 curious how this noiseless personality crossed the barriers 
 of language and nationality and was felt by high and low, 
 so that while the ignorant peasant of the Basilicata called 
 him a waxen Jesus, his brethren sought his counsel and 
 approval, and men like Spurgeon and Philip Schaff felt 
 in him a kinship of spirit. Valets may not recognize 
 heroes, but, according to Wesley's interpretation of 
 religion, they must know who are the genuine Christians, 
 and the middle-aged serving man who waited on us in 
 the Carrara Mountains decided that in the course of his 
 life he had only met two real saints : one was the venerable 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 385 
 
 Marchese Durazzo of Genoa, and the other was my father. 
 A like testimony was rendered hy everyone who served 
 him. A lifelong study of the gospel and a constant com- 
 munion with God, into which he took the greatest and 
 the pettiest care, had bred in him a piety as deep as it was 
 without austerity. In some, religion repels ; but with him 
 it passed through the alembic of a just mind and 'a nature 
 sloping to the Southern side,' so that even alien spirits 
 saw the beauty of holiness. A naturally quick temper 
 and incisive tongue had been reduced to control, so that 
 men who knew him as an old man thought him preemi- 
 nently meek, and though inheriting the sensitive, high- 
 strung temperament of what Holmes calls the Brahmin 
 class of ISTew England there was nothing mean or sour 
 in his temper. He used to say that he had learned much 
 from his wife in never letting things rankle, and that the 
 generous healthiness of her nature had helped correct any- 
 thing morbid in his. He had the charity which thinketh 
 no ill, and a great patience with the mistakes and sins 
 of the young, saying that men slough oif many faults 
 merely by living and that he had too many follies of his 
 own to remember, not to give others the benefit of the 
 doubt. A power of seeing the other man's side was in- 
 stanced in his favorite saying that we should not hold 
 people to what we considered the logical consequence of 
 their premises. His mind had a judicial character, and 
 before becoming a minister, he read law with keen zest, 
 and delighted in going to hear the men who made the 
 Southern bar illustrious. He loved argument as a gym- 
 nastic of the mind and revelled in discussion of abstract 
 
386 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 and concrete questions, so that one of his other children 
 said that he missed his oldest daughter the most, because 
 she disagreed with him the most. On the other hand, 
 with that keen truthfulness which can never be forgotten, 
 he used to warn the same daughter not be pugnacious and 
 always in the opposition ; and tease her by saying that he 
 had never seen her so really attractive as on one occasion 
 when too sleepy to argue she had merely fanned herself 
 and graciously agreed with all he told her. 
 
 ^'Coming to Italy when a series of mistakes and errors 
 on the part of men who knew neither the complicated 
 field nor the Italian people, he found the Baptist cause 
 a bit of burnt-off ground with an ugly scandal annexed. 
 Even the name of Baptist was in evil repute, and his 
 being a Southerner was against him, as people were full 
 of T^ncle Tom's Cabin' and deeply prejudiced against 
 foreigners who belonged to a slave-holding people. The 
 other denominations resented the advent of another divi- 
 sion in the work. His intercourse with them was such 
 that in a few years, Dr. McDougall, representing the Free 
 Church of Scotland in Florence, pronounced him the 
 godliest man in the evangelical work, and his relations 
 with all the ministers were cordial and pleasant. 
 
 "Those who heard it never forgot a little speech he 
 made when representing the Baptists at the Waldensian 
 tricentenary of their 'Glorious Return' to their Valleys. 
 He told of the Scotchman who, walking in a thick white 
 mountain-mist, saw a horrible monster approaching which, 
 when he summoned nerve to penetrate the fog, and touch, 
 proved to be his dear brother John rendered terrible by 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 387 
 
 the rolling vapor, adding: 'Let not the mists of miscon- 
 ception and prejudice part us ; let me be your brother 
 George to help and love you.' And his spirit and actions so 
 well bore out his words that several of the more prominent 
 Waldensians used to speak of him afterwards affectionate- 
 ly by the title of our brother George. An Italian minister 
 of another denomination said after his death : 'In the often 
 stormy meetings of our Evangelical Alliance, he was 
 always the dove of peace, bearing the olive branch.' 
 
 "Under his gentleness was concealed a strong sense of 
 justice and insight into character. After he became deaf 
 to all voices but those of his daughters, one wondered he 
 could so correctly size up people, but his family found 
 that in the long run his estimate of men was far more 
 just than theirs, and mingled with this clear discern- 
 ment was a saving sense of humor which smiled while it 
 perceived, and twinkled afterwards into observations 
 too acute to be reported. He could not hear, unless it was 
 repeated to him, what people said, but he watched their 
 faces, their gestures and unconscious mannerisms, and 
 proved Emerson's axiom : 'What you are speaks so loud 
 I cannot hear what you say.' 
 
 ''With his fellow-missionaries he went out of his way 
 to be friendly and generous, seeking to render every 
 courtesy and kindness possible and ready to love and 
 admire all their gifts. Sometimes his household grew 
 impatient of his discovering so many virtues in Aristides, 
 but his attitude was partly due to his anxiety that he 
 might not fall into any discord with his fellow-workers, 
 remembering petty quarrels among missionaries when his 
 
388 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 father was Secretary of the Board and desiring to live at 
 peace with all men. 
 
 "He was an ardent and firm Baptist, but no man was 
 more magnanimous in his relations to other denomina- 
 tions. He condemned such phrases as ^We Baptists are 
 not too smart to follow the Word of God' as implying a 
 discourtesy and uncharitableness to other Christians, but 
 he wrote and spoke clearly and well on the Baptist posi- 
 tion, both in Italian and English. Since his death the 
 ministers in Southern Italy have decided to republish 
 at their own expense his chapter on Baptism, from the 
 Manual of Theology, as the best statement of their views 
 which they can find. 
 
 "Anglo-Saxons have sometimes treated their Italian 
 brethren as inferiors and called them to account as they 
 would underlings. My father's feeling was that the 
 evangelists must feel responsible to God rather than to 
 him. He treated them as gentlemen, expecting the same 
 in return, having a genuine sense of the dignity of every 
 human being,, and believing that men respond to what is 
 expected of them. Generally he was justified in this ex- 
 pectation, and if in one solitary case the minister to whom 
 he had forgiven the most, from whom endured the most 
 and to whom, perhaps, loaned the most, was the one to mis- 
 represent and criticize him, and write the most insulting 
 and thorny letters, this was due rather to wrong-headed- 
 ness than to aught else. Perhaps there have to be cranks 
 to keep the world from becoming monotonous. 
 
 "Italians are suspicious and quick to attribute the most 
 ignoble motives when things displease them, so that his 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 389 
 
 thirty-odd years' administration brought him many insult- 
 ing letters, many vexing problems which made sleepless 
 nights, but he learned to take it all first to God, and never 
 to make a decision and send off a letter written in the 
 first heat, but to modify and rewrite it so that there might 
 be no acrimonious counter thrust. He used to say that 
 he had learned that he must either thicken his skin or 
 die, and that he decided to live, but those who loved him 
 felt that it was not a very tough skin even then. 
 
 '^Of course his delicate health and deafness brought 
 many disappointments, many mortifications. He had to 
 learn to be counted out among the active ones. Once 
 when a sister church was holding its annual meeting at 
 which representatives of the other denominations were 
 expected to express sympathy, he took a carriage, at some 
 inconvenience, and went, with a carefully prepared and 
 friendly address. His presence was ignored, a lesser man 
 spoke in his stead ; and, knowing what an effort his coming 
 had been, his daughter accompanied him home with a 
 lump in her throat and a little bitterness in her heart. 
 But when they got to his room, and he had been divested 
 of the carefully saved black coat which made such a 
 background for his delicately chiselled face, he said: 
 
 '' ^My precious, you must not worry. It hurt me at 
 first, but it is the discipline God sees I need. I must 
 just learn to be nothing if He wishes. You and I must 
 take these things to Him.' 
 
 "After which his spirit seemed to rebound sunnily, and 
 the only effect of the episode was increased tenderness 
 for his companion. 
 
390 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 ''With a certain buoyancy was united unusual poise 
 which enabled him to retreat to the hermitage of a quiet 
 mind when there was confusion of tongues, and the super- 
 ficial who had never tried it made dogmatic criticisms on 
 the work, and insisted on methods which he had long 
 used or discarded. 
 
 "No man could have such a field as his for the last 
 thirty-five years of his life without seasons of discourage- 
 ment and temptation, but he reasoned so: Do I think this 
 work should be abandoned ? No. Well, if I give it up 
 and go back, they will have to send out another man, who 
 will know even less than T do of the complications, and 
 he will lose some years in getting the experience I have 
 gained. My return will discourage others ; I will stick it 
 out. And this he did through isolation, vexations, trials, 
 good and evil report, and even in this world he reaped his 
 reward from the land of his adoption in the love of many, 
 and a unique trust in the crystal integrity of his heart 
 and purpose. After he had resigned the administrations 
 of the Mission the ministers and little churches vied with 
 one another to do him honor, and show him affection 
 with a truly loving grace peculiarly Italian. 
 
 ''In a meeting of the Baptist Union in Rome, when the 
 gathered ministers from all over Italy had been moved to 
 tears, and stirred to fresh resolution by his address on the 
 duties of the minister in his home, they sent out in haste 
 for a great sheaf of red roses, and the son of one of the 
 ministers was entrusted with it as an expression of their 
 love and gratitude. As the young fellow stepped up on the 
 platform towards him, and held out the flowers with their 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 391 
 
 mute language, my father threw his arms spontaneously 
 around the lad's neck and kissed him, so that the virile 
 young head and the delicate, venerable one meeting above 
 the roses made a picture which brought do\vn the house 
 in a wave of applause mingled with smiles and tears. 
 
 ^^A rigid economist in all personal things, he was gen- 
 erous in giving not only to the church, missions and the 
 poor, but delighted in sending a doll to a child, books or 
 gloves to a young girl, a picture or jewel to a bride. He 
 was fond of Oliver Wendell Holmes' saying that every 
 man is an omnibus carrying all his ancestors in himself, 
 and it was eminently true of him, for he combined the 
 lavish generosity of his paternal English grandfather with 
 the close economy of the saving, fastidious, scholarly 
 New England stock of which his mother came; but he 
 made the most beautiful division of these inherited 
 qualities. The munificent gifts and loans were for the 
 needy, but he saved a crust of bread for his own next 
 meal when travelling, and no economy was too small 
 which touched himself only. His children cannot see 
 without tenderness certain little black account books in 
 which every item was entered and the close calculations 
 made, which rendered possible the travel and books which 
 usually fall only to the rich. 
 
 '^One of his daughters was a bad sailor, and in crossing 
 to the island of Sardinia she was so sick and limp that 
 when they took the train at the Golfo degli Aranci, she 
 did not notice much when he said he would go into another 
 compartment so she could lie down. It was only after 
 some distance, she discovered that he had put her into first- 
 
392 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 class and was travelling third himself. He saved every 
 centime when travelling for the Mission and as an agent. 
 
 "While sympathizing with and helping the Italian 
 evangelists to the extent of his power, he insisted on a 
 careful economy and business accuracy, and said he was 
 not ashamed to be called, like a great English statesman, 
 'the watch dog of the treasury.' His mind was an unusual 
 combination, having a capacity for abstract philosophical 
 reasoning and an almost excessive care for practical de- 
 tails. His fellow-traveller was sometimes vexed by the 
 deliberation and attention with which he scanned every 
 item of a bill, but the waiter was always conciliated in 
 the end by a generous tip, and welcomed him next time 
 with a warm smile and a remembrance of the frugal meal 
 he ordered. 
 
 ''His gentle but very decided personality and delicate 
 waxen face with its bright blue eyes was never forgotten, 
 and it might be years before he returned to a place, but 
 he was always promptly recognized even by the most 
 casual observer. His children said they could never travel 
 unobserved because they were always identified by him. 
 A stranger struck by his appearance one day in the 
 crowded Via Calzaiuoli, gazing at the statue of St. George 
 on the Or San Michele, recognized him long afterwards 
 when they met in a mountain village, and after they had 
 become good friends wrote the acrostic on his name, given 
 above. 
 
 "Personally he cared not at all for material luxuries. 
 A small, battered valise, bought in London in 1870, con- 
 taining a Bible, a Testament, a comb and a few flannels, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 393 
 
 was all he required, but his daughters must always have 
 a trunk. 'I want you to have your white frocks and your 
 best bonnets,' he would say, and he loved to bring them 
 back from his trips a bit of filmy lace or a pair of gloves, 
 being fastidious in such things for a woman. Especially 
 after their mother's death he gave to his daughters the most 
 chivalrous love and care, seeking to take her place and 
 give them the sympathy she would have yielded in their 
 joys and sorrows. Feeling that their mother had largely 
 worn herself out in the service of others, he sought the 
 more to spare them, and paid them the delicate attentions 
 and loving homage which women usually receive only from 
 their lovers. For his oldest daughter, who from circum- 
 stances was most constantly with him in his latter years, 
 he found the prettiest compliments, improvised verses 
 and culled from literature the sweetest names, calling her 
 by turns his 'little son Eric,' his 'Lovey Mary,' 'Hilde- 
 garde,' after a fiery but favorite heroine, and many 
 another. During his last year he seemed to feel even 
 more than usual the pressing needs of our little brothers 
 and sisters, the poor, and one day as she was moving 
 about his room, he said: 'My dearest, I have been think- 
 ing I should like to give you something really beautiful, 
 a jewel or breast-pin, you could keep always — but when 
 I see the poor around us, I just cant] the money must go 
 to them.' And it did. For his hearer such precious words 
 made opals pale and diamonds dim. On her twentieth 
 birthday he sent her a small bottle of Frangipani perfume 
 with one of his charmingly penned notes in which he said 
 that he loved this scent because her mother had always 
 
394 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 used it when they were first married. His deafness 
 seemed to make his other senses more acute: nothing 
 escaped his keen, sea-blue eyes, and he had the suscepti- 
 bility of a delicate organization to the faintest fragrance. 
 We could never see lemon-verbena growing without begging 
 a sprig for him, and the friend who dubbed him *the 
 Angelical Doctor,' a name so apt that it became general, 
 said she loved to see him absent-mindedly pull out his 
 pocket handkerchief and shower around the dry aromatic 
 leaves and little drifts of rose petals which he had thrust 
 into his pocket. His youngest son remarked that his 
 sisters were spoiled for living with 'human' men, because 
 they would expect them to be like their father. It was 
 not to his own wife and daughters alone that he gave the 
 generous care American men are so prompt to render to 
 their families, but to every woman he met. He often 
 quoted Xapoleon's saying, 'Respect the burden bearer,' 
 when he made us make way for the peasants, and when 
 almost too weak to sit up he would pull himself to his 
 feet to greet a woman, fetch a foot-stool or place a chair, 
 so that to many he was the embodiment of Colonel New- 
 come. Two days before he died, when he reached the 
 Rome station, exhausted by the long night journey, he 
 was carried into the railroad buffet, and a cup of 
 hot broth ordered for his restoration. He was too sick 
 to take it. He beckoned to the needy porter, who had 
 come to fetch the luggage, and made him drink it, know- 
 ing that the fellow was always half hungry. The rest of 
 us chafed at the delay for the invalid, but he would not 
 be gainsaid. In the rushing, crowded New York streets 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 395 
 
 when he picked up a stranger's whip, and restored it with 
 a smile and doffed hat, there was in the act the fine flavour 
 of a day when men had the leisure for good manners. 
 
 "Such a physical limitation as deafness often causes 
 even good men to close in upon themselves, grow self- 
 centered, and refuse even those social joys which remain 
 to them. With him it was not so ; his sympathies of heart 
 and head seemed to grow every year keener and wider. 
 Much given to hospitality, high and low breakfasted, 
 supped and dined at his board. We slept on sofas so our 
 guests might have the beds, and there was a recollection 
 in the family of the father's going to a hotel more than 
 once to accommodate guests. To what an extent enter- 
 taining was practiced was instanced by a humorous ac- 
 count my mother used to give of returning one 
 snowy evening in Staunton with her husband, from 
 a round of pastoral calls, and finding a perfectly 
 strange old man and his wife comfortably installed 
 on each side of her bedroom fire, who, without moving, 
 benignly asked if she were cold and would like to get warm. 
 [N'either she nor my father had ever seen them before, 
 but they had come in from the country to supper and 
 spend the night. It was the minister's house ; this minister 
 was paid in Confederate notes and his wife bore him eight 
 children and much of the time had no servant. Their 
 hospitality was inspired by a double motive, a strong con- 
 viction of the duty enjoined on the bishop to show 
 hospitality and the Virginian's pleasure in entertaining. 
 I can never forget how, even after he was too deaf to hear 
 his guests, his bright, eager eyes would watch each one's 
 
396 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 mouth SO as not to interrupt, and then when he saw a 
 slight break would dash in with Rupert-like impetuosity 
 to tell an apt story or quote a bright mot. The last day 
 of his life, when worn to gossamer by sleepless nights and 
 weary days, he arranged for the employment and the feed- 
 ing at his table of a beggar, and on the same day made his 
 daughter organize a dinner party for a distinguished 
 physician who had attended him during the summer. 
 
 ^' 'I want to show him honor,' he said, ^even if I cannot 
 come to the table; it is not much, but for me it is like 
 the box of ointment which Mary poured on the feet of the 
 Saviour/ 
 
 '^He was ably seconded in his hospitality by my mother, 
 who brought to it natural graces of mind and person, 
 fostered by family traditions and a girlhood spent in the 
 lavish homes of Eastern Virginia. His had been a Puri- 
 tan training, hers that of the descendant of the Cavaliers, 
 but they were one in all the essentials of principle and 
 conduct, and he never forgot what he owed to her. The 
 aureole of his wedding day never faded, and she remained 
 to him the beau-ideal of womanhood. He used to say he 
 had rather hear her tell about it than go to the most 
 brilliant entertainment in the world. Though extremely 
 susceptible to feminine beauty and charm, he valued more 
 highly wit and mental gifts. His first question when he 
 heard of a delightful woman was: 'Is she a fine conver- 
 sationalist?' esteeming with Crashaw: 
 
 "Sydneian showers 
 Of sweet discourse, whose powers 
 Can crown old Winter's head with flowers." 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 397 
 
 And it seemed peculiarly sad that a man so social should 
 have been latterly cut off from the conversation of all 
 but one or two people. 
 
 ^'Nature is more prodigal than fiction, and fortunately 
 men often possess qualities which would seem to be contra- 
 dictory. This was the case with my father, who to a 
 sturdy common sense and practicality united much 
 romance and ideality. He never forgot the thrill of his 
 first sight of Italy when after driving all day over the 
 snowy Simplon Pass he reached Domodossola, and ate his 
 supper by moonlight under a grape trellis within sound 
 of glancing steps and tinkling mandolins. He had to the 
 end a boy's love of adventure, and was keen to try new 
 experiences. When people spoke of him as an old man 
 it gave me a shock of surprise, for he had the dew of 
 youth in his heart to the very end, and a childlike craving 
 for love and approbation united to a remarkable spring 
 of intellectual activity. Most men after they pass the 
 meridian are content to chew the cud of what they have 
 acquired, but he was always welcoming new ideas, striking 
 out new lines of reading and study, giving forth freshly 
 assimilated information. While intensely loyal to Vir- 
 ginia and his own upbringing, he was ready to enjoy and 
 recognize the beauty and goodness he found in Europe. 
 Though he had spent his youth and early manhood in a 
 milieu, where there was no artistic culture whatever, he 
 learned to love art for its own sake and keenly to enjoy 
 the best pictures so that he roamed the galleries of 
 Munich, Dresden and Vienna with true zest and never 
 omitted when in Florence to spend some hours in the Uffizi 
 
398 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 or to visit the modern exhibitions in Venice. Against the 
 dancing, theatre-going, etc., which were tabooed by his 
 pious contemporaries, he uttered no invectives or diatribes. 
 To forbid such things, he said, was like lopping off outward 
 branches. Fill the heart with the love of God and the 
 needs of humanity, set men on fire with the love of Christ, 
 and such things lost significance and ceased to interest; 
 to forbid these things often gave them a fictitious at- 
 traction. He was deeply interested in the evangelization 
 of the world and the progress of civilization, so that on 
 his bed the well-worn Bible lay cheek by jowl with the 
 oft-handled atlas, the daily and religious papers, while 
 he dearly loved a stirring novel or a good biography. An 
 omnivorous reader, and having himself a terse and clear, 
 yet graceful, mastery of good Anglo-Saxon English, and a 
 fair, forcible use of Italian, he was thoroughly alive to 
 every man, woman and child who crossed his path. 
 
 "He left America just when he was beginning to be 
 recognized as a preacher of distinction and power, and 
 had to suffer the eclipse of expressing himself in a foreign 
 language undertaken at forty years old. As a speaker he 
 had none of the tricks or graces of oratory ; his voice, far 
 stronger than his frail aspect promised, was not always 
 under control, but the carefully prepared, original matter, 
 clear concision, unction, and a deep conviction compelled 
 and rewarded attention. As he grew older, he believed 
 more and more in brevity, and his listener felt that his 
 points made, he could be trusted to stop — a rarer gift 
 than might be supposed. He paid his listeners the 
 courtesy, and his subject the respect, to think out care- 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 399 
 
 fully what he intended to say. He never learned his ad- 
 dress by heart, saying that he had no verbal memory, but 
 that he never forgot a train of thought with logical 
 sequence where each idea budded into the next. His dis- 
 course was dug out of the Bible and the human heart, but 
 it was leavened and popularized by illustrations drawn 
 from his own observation and from the broader fields of 
 literature and history. His sane taste revolted against 
 anything hysterical or merely emotional in religion, hold- 
 ing that it was apt to be followed by a drier aridity; but 
 he had a deep sense of sin and of the needs of humanity 
 coupled to a strong conviction of the importance of the 
 preacher's message, and in his delivery of it was a tender- 
 ness and sympathy which always convinced and stirred 
 the heart and sometimes rose to real eloquence. In his 
 preaching, as in his prayers, one felt the reality of that 
 divine life for which he daily strove, the preciousness of 
 the Saviour and his trust in the fatherhood of God. 
 
 "He loved life and was keenly interested in it, and he 
 had a marvellous power of recuperation which enabled 
 him, when apparently at the last ebb, to pull himself to- 
 gether and concentrate his physical and mental powers for 
 unexpected efforts as well as to project himself with boy- 
 ish buoyancy into the future. But during the last year, 
 his weakness and sufferings increased, desire failed, and 
 sleepless nights were the rule, so that it was little wonder 
 if he began to long for 'the rest which remaineth for the 
 people of God' and to almost wish that 'this old worn-out 
 stuff, which is threadbare to-day,' might 'become everlast- 
 ing to-morrow.' When on the 28th of September, 1907, 
 
400 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 his spirit slipped its 'frail covering/ those who knew him 
 best felt that he was ready to enter on a wider, more un- 
 fettered life, and that for him it was 
 
 'Say not Good Night — but in some brighter clime 
 Bid me Good Morning.' " 
 
 The Rev. Henry J. Piggott, D. D., for over thirty years 
 at the head of the Wesley an Mission in Rome, contributed 
 for II Testimonio, the Italian Ba])tist paper, a tribute to 
 Dr. Taylor. Dr. Piggott has kindly prepared the follow- 
 ing, which is in substance what appeared in the Italian 
 paper : 
 
 ^'In evoking my memories of Dr. Taylor, the first thing 
 that recurs to me is the impression he always gave of 
 serene security in his hold upon the fundamental doctrines 
 of his faith. Some Christians timidly screen their beliefs 
 from the winds of doubt and denial that agitate the air 
 round about them. Others give these free access at the 
 cost of unsettlement and painful questioning. There was 
 not the slightest evidence of either attitude in the case of 
 my friend. He did not fear to read widely in the litera- 
 ture of modern incredulity ; his was no hot-house faith ; 
 he kept eye and ear liberally open to the critical, the 
 agnostic, and the directly hostile nlovements of the reli- 
 gious thought of the day. Yet his own calm and robust 
 certainty, with regard to all that he had long ago accepted 
 as essential truth, seemed to be utterly unaffected. His 
 faith lay too deep down in the depths of his being, be- 
 longed too intimately to the indubitable facts of conscious- 
 ness and experience, for doubt to be possible. He never 
 seemed to go back upon it ; to pluck at the 'roots of it to 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 401 
 
 see if the J still held. 'He hneiv in Whom he had believed.' 
 This personal knowledge of Christ his Saviour was clearly 
 his anchorage, and kept him calm and confident what- 
 ever difficulties and questionings might be stirring around. 
 ''This confidence of Dr. Taylor's faith was not so much 
 expressed as revealed. You felt, when in contact with him, 
 especially if the conversation touched spiritual notes, the 
 sweet peacefulness in which he lived and moved. Perhaps 
 it was in his prayers that this habit of soul made itself 
 most appreciable. I have known few men to whom 
 prayer seemed to be more their natural element. The 
 poet's words, — Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, the 
 Christian's native air, — were truly exemplified in him. 
 In whatever society, after whatever preoccupation, gay or 
 serious, his spirit was always ready for the exercise. He 
 had but to bow the knee and you felt that he was face to 
 face with God. None but one who 'dwelt in the secret 
 place' could have had such immediate and constant liberty 
 of access. And the simplicity, yet appropriateness, of 
 utterance that followed showed how absolutely self was 
 forgotten, or rather absorbed, in the Presence divine. The 
 present need, the actual circumstances were thoughtfully 
 gathered up and found apt expression, yet was there no 
 distraction; the mercy-seat on which they were laid was 
 ever fully in view. And there was a pleading earnest- 
 ness, tremulous sometimes in its sympathy, which re- 
 vealed at once the loving interest in those pleaded for, and 
 the certainty of prevalence with the Ear that listened, 
 which filled the heart of the pleader. These are sacred 
 secrets of the inner life, not lightly to be unveiled, but I 
 
402 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 feel that without allusion to them my reminiscences of 
 my revered friend would lack one most essential element. 
 "It is superfluous to say that Dr. Taylor held with 
 strong conviction the special tenets of his own church, and 
 it belonged to his crystalline sincerity to be faithful to 
 them, to whatever consequences he believed them to lead. 
 I only mention this to bring out into more vivid relief 
 another quality that shines in my memory of him, namely, 
 his generous catholicity of spirit. His own strength and 
 sincerity of conviction did not detract from his conceding 
 that the convictions of others of different views were 
 equally strong and sincere. Here in this Italian evangel- 
 ical field such a quality has special value, and made my 
 friend ever a special blessing. Where so many missions 
 are working side by side, and often for reasons easy to 
 understand pressing into the same centers, it is difficult 
 to avoid attritions. Yet in all the thirty years and more 
 of our intimate relationship I have no remembrance of 
 any such attrition between Dr. Taylor and his colleagues 
 in mission administration. If any such did occur, he 
 was too jealous of the honour of the common Master to 
 make it public. And his whole influence was ever and 
 most beneficially on the side of peace and union between 
 Christian workers. In any gathering of the Evangelical 
 Churches for united counsel or cooperation, in any com- 
 memorative festivity of a particular church or mission, his 
 kindly presence and genial word might be securely counted 
 upon; and every one felt that in his case at all events 
 there was no suppression or reserve to belie the absolute 
 sincerity of the extended hand and fraternal speech. 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAX TAYLOR, D. I). 403 
 
 ^'Of Dr. Taylor's influence upon his Italian fellow- 
 workers I need not speak. His correspondence, and the 
 testimony of the workers themselves will bear witness to 
 that. We, however, from the outside could all see with 
 what filial veneration they came to regard him. We could 
 see also how long and tender was his forbearance with 
 weaknesses, how quick and helpful his appreciation of 
 qualities that gave hope and promise, hoAv absolutely the 
 superior disappeared in the father and friend, and how 
 under his gracious influence all souls anyway receptive 
 grew in vigour and fruitfnlness. And we all came to 
 share in the veneration that grew up around him from that 
 inner circle of his immediate fellow-laborers. The epithet 
 of 'saint' applied to him by certain mutual English 
 friends was but the apt expression of the halo of spiritual 
 beauty, and gracious influence which ever more and more 
 gathered round him in the eyes of all of us who enjoyed 
 the privilege of his society. 
 
 ''In this our feeling towards him there entered another 
 attraction without allusion to which this memorial of him 
 would be incomplete. Xo one can have come into contact 
 with Dr. Taylor, even casually, and not have observed his 
 sweet, spontaneous courtesy of manner. There was some- 
 thing about him of the old-fashioned gentleman, which 
 the rude hurry of these modern times seems to be rapidly 
 losing. It was nothing put on for the occasion, but 
 emanated from his innermost nature. Much was due, 
 no doubt, to the early upbringing of the South, but more 
 had been gradually wrought into him by the refining 
 influence of a close walk with Christ. There was the same 
 
404 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 courtesy, whoever the guest might be ; for like the principle 
 from which it flowed, it had 'no respect of persons.' From 
 the moment of entering the room, — at the table, in every 
 gesture, in the tone of the voice, in the eye always on the 
 alert to detect in any the slightest inconvenience or want — 
 this quality made itself felt ; simple, unaifected, sponta- 
 neous, a sort of sweet fragrance that gave itself out un- 
 consciously but made the whole atmosphere pleasanter. 
 
 "But I cannot close these reminiscences without speak- 
 ing of those sore trials under which the later years of 
 my dear friend were passed. There were indeed mysteries 
 which only 'the day' will explain. It seemed as if the 
 blows of the divine Hand fell just where the spiritual 
 nerves would be most sensitive. Of a disposition eminently 
 social. Dr. Taylor came to be almost excluded by his 
 growing deafness from taking part in the conversations 
 that went on around him. There was a time in which it 
 seemed as if blindness were about to deepen this seclu- 
 sion. Singularly fond of work and devoted to the special 
 work of the mission he superintended, there were often 
 long months during which sickness laid him entirely aside. 
 Sensitive almost to excess to any trouble or inconvenience 
 given to others, in his last years he came to be daily 
 dependent on the care, always lovingly and lavishly given, 
 of those who were dearer to him than his own life. These 
 are doubtless mysteries, yet to us who were witnesses of 
 that 'sufficient grace' which kept him ever sweet-tempered 
 and patient, ever supremely thoughtful for others, ever 
 interested in outward life, ever capable of drinking in 
 enjoyment from nature, from literature, from society, 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 405 
 
 ever keenly alive to all that touched upon the progress of 
 his Master's kingdom, in Italy or elsewhere, ever elastic 
 in all intervals, however brief and illusory, of better 
 health, it seems as if a border of the mystery were up- 
 lifted, and a purpose of holy example revealed, whose 
 blessed influence who shall limit or adequately tell ? 
 
 '^With me, at all events, remains indelible the impres- 
 sion of the last visit I paid to the sufferer. He was alone, 
 in bed, prostrate with the weakness left by a long paroxysm 
 of pain; it seemed as if he could hardly last to see 
 another morning. I had written on his tablets a few words 
 of sympathy and recalling the Infinite Father's love, 
 which we knew apportioned and mixed every cup of 
 suffering. He read slowly, word by word, what I had 
 written; then silently seemed to rally his thought, — 
 which easily fell off into imconsciousness at every interval, 
 so extreme was his weakness, — then in broken utterances 
 replied something as follows: 'Yes, He knows — He sees 
 in me that which needs such discipline — His will is good 
 — He does all things well — His will be done !' I always 
 felt myself a better man for any intercourse with Dr. 
 Taylor when in health and vigour; but that last testi- 
 mony in its sweet humility, its perfected patience and 
 submission, will remain with me, a sanctifying memory, 
 to my dying day." 
 
 Dr. J. Spotswood Taylor writes: 
 
 ''ITeither as an orator, writer or metaphysician did my 
 father attain distinction. He was perhaps not a pro- 
 found scholar. No work remains behind which will 
 preserve his name to posterity, and doubtless within a short 
 
406 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 time it will be forgotten. It is true that he was 
 an earnest, forceful speaker, persuading many. He wrote 
 so as to give consolation, courage and joy to his readers. 
 He reasoned soundly and well, making life's difficult path 
 plain and enabling not a few to face the mysteries that 
 none can fathom. What knowledge he possessed — and it 
 was wide and varied — made for the profit and pleasure 
 of a large circle. He had the culture which the pedant 
 usually lacks. But none of these things bring fame. His 
 claim to greatness lay in something rarer and more 
 difficult, in something begotten neither of native talent nor 
 the most persistent industry. He had goodness in so large 
 a measure that it made him a great man by the noblest 
 title. On the scores of men and women with whom he 
 came in contact during a long and active life in varied 
 climes he left an impression as marked as it was effort- 
 less and unconscious. All that was best of him remains 
 written in the hearts of his own generation, a vital testi- 
 mony more significant than the proudest monument of 
 brass or stone. The gentle, irresistible beneficence of good- 
 ness overflowed from a heart that loved every living being. 
 I do not mean by goodness any ordinary degree of moral 
 blamelessness, but something as positive as light radiating 
 in every direction, suffusing everything in reach with an 
 added glory, an active palpitating goodness that warmed 
 and mellowed and sweetened wherever it played; good- 
 ness that prompted the noblest deeds and was manifest in 
 every word and smile and gesture, penetrating and all 
 pervading as an aroma. It was sensible to the proudest 
 thinker and the least cultivated intelligence. Malignity 
 
EEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 407 
 
 and indifference were not proof against it. The spell of 
 his amiable, kind and gentle presence held rich and poor. 
 The potent charm of his personality drew the wise and 
 the foolish." 
 
 In harmony with the foregoing is the following 
 extract from a sermon, by a distinguished divine of our 
 day, on "Personal Influence, the Means of Propagating 
 thJ Truth": 
 
 ''The men commonly held in popular estimation are 
 greatest at a distance; they become small as they are 
 approached ; but the attraction exerted by imconscious 
 holiness is of an urgent and irresistible nature; it per- 
 suades the weak, the timid, the wavering, and the inquir- 
 ing ; it draws forth the affection and loyalty of all who arc- 
 in a measure like-minded; and over the thoughtless or 
 perverse multitude it exercises a sovereign compulsory 
 sway, bidding them fear and keep silence, on the ground 
 of its own right divine to rule them, — its hereditary 
 claim on their obedience, though they understand not the 
 principles or counsels of that spirit, which is born, not 
 of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God." 
 
INDEX 
 
 A PAGE 
 
 Alleghany College 77 
 
 Allen, L. W 44, 46 
 
 Alexander, Archibald 101 
 
 Alexander, Jaa. W. 108, 125 
 
 Angus, Joseph 169 
 
 Appleton, W. H 96 
 
 Armstrong, Dr 120, 122 
 
 Atlantic Monthly 279, 364 
 
 Appomattox 298 
 
 B 
 
 Barksdale, W. R 120 
 
 Barron, A. C 150 
 
 Barton-on-Humber 117, 118 
 
 Bastile, Place de la 116 
 
 Biblical Recorder * ., 201 
 
 Bland, Wm. S 13 
 
 Bledsoe, Albert T 18, 19 
 
 Boardman, George ' 8 
 
 Boatwright, F. W 302 
 
 Bologna, University of 264 
 
 Boyce, J. P 51, 151 
 
 Braxton, Carter 38 
 
 Broadus, Jno. A 21, 22, 50, 57, 167, 191, 242, 297 
 
 Broaddus, Wm. F 21, 22, 167 
 
 Brown, A. B 45 
 
 Buckler, Doctors 331 
 
 Burrows, J. L 30, 46 
 
 Burrows, Lansing 160 
 
 c 
 
 Cabell, James L ^ 18, 100, 106 
 
 Campello, Enrico 224 
 
 Campbell, Laura 129 
 
410 LIFE AND LETTERS OF 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cantu, C 259 
 
 Cavour, Court 308 
 
 Christian Review 31 
 
 Cocke, Chas. L 12, 61, 301 
 
 Cocke, Miss M. L 350 
 
 Cocorda, 205, 208, 228, 238 
 
 Columbia College 22 
 
 Cook, Thos 244 
 
 Cote, W. N 163 
 
 Curry, J. L. M 95, 204, 296 
 
 D 
 
 Dana, R. H 220 
 
 Davis, John Staige 106, 216 
 
 Davis, N. K 240, 264 
 
 Dickinson, A. E 123, 124, 372 
 
 Di Sanctis, Dr 194 
 
 Duke, F. W 360 
 
 Dunscombe, Major Andrew 9 
 
 E 
 
 Eager, J. H 217, 227, 243, 296 
 
 Earle, A. B 109, 125 
 
 Echols, General John 92 
 
 Emmanuel, Victor 163 
 
 Esquiline Hill 206 
 
 Evangelical Alliance 208, 276, 387 
 
 Ezekiel, Sir Moses 297, 335 
 
 F 
 
 Ferraris, 231, 276 
 
 Fluvanna Co 14 
 
 Franco-Prussian War 112 
 
 Fuller, Richard 22, 31, 207 
 
 
 
 Garibaldi, G 308 
 
 Gason, John 192, 233 
 
 George, Z. Jeter 30 
 
 Gildersleeve, Dr. Basil L 10, 106 
 
 Gill, Everette 352 
 
KEV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 411 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Gregory, 0. F 382 
 
 Guicciardini, F 259 
 
 H 
 
 Harper, W. R 248 
 
 "Harraff House" 88 
 
 Harrison, Gessner 18, 19, 51 
 
 Harris, H. H 140, 293 
 
 Hart, John 93, 134 
 
 Hatcher, W. E 94, 265 
 
 Hill, N. B 136, 155 
 
 Hoge, M. D 122, 148, 167 
 
 Hoge, P. C 103 
 
 Hollins Institute 95, 339 
 
 Holmes, Geo. Frederick 106 
 
 Hotel Jefferson 7 
 
 Howell, Morton B 13 
 
 Howell, R. B. C 39 
 
 Hume, Thos., Jr 87 
 
 Hume, Thos., Sr 103 
 
 J 
 
 Jackson, Stonewall 61, 359 
 
 James River 11 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas 17 
 
 Jeter, J. B 16, 22, 164 
 
 Jones, J. Wm 73, 95, 102, 125 
 
 Jones, Silas B 16 
 
 Judson, Edward 197, 198, 204 
 
 K 
 
 Keesee, George W 13 
 
 Kernstown. battle of 76 
 
 L 
 
 Latane, Jas. A 49, 50 
 
 Leo XIII 361 
 
 Lockhart's Scott 207 
 
 Lofton, G. A 320 
 
 Long, George I7 
 
 Long, J. C 146 
 
 Lorimer, J. C 164 
 
412 LIFE AND LETTEES OF 
 
 ]JJ PAGE 
 
 Mallet, J. W 106 
 
 Marsh, G. P 181 
 
 Mason, C. R 55, 61, 76, 77, 148, 372 
 
 Maupin, S 100 
 
 Manly, Chas 214, 382 
 
 Memorial Movement 142, 152, 154 
 
 McOuffey, Wm. H 18, 19, 106, 124 
 
 Minor, Jno. B 18, 106 
 
 "Monticello" 18 
 
 Moody, D. L 247 
 
 Mudie Library 308 
 
 N 
 
 Nevin, R. J 181 
 
 New York Observer -^ 209 
 
 
 
 Oncken, J. G 38, 93 
 
 P 
 
 Palace of the Caesars 251 
 
 Papengouth, N 237, 276, 2S1, 356 
 
 Paschetto, Enrico 231, 252 
 
 Peters, W. E 106, 129 
 
 Peyton, W. H 48, 54, 56, 135 
 
 Pickens, Gov. F. W 65 
 
 Pipgott, H 297, 321, 400 
 
 Poindexter, A. M 95, 125 
 
 Puryear, Dr. B 12 
 
 B 
 
 Ragged Mountains 26 
 
 Read, C. H 129 
 
 Rice, A. A 337 
 
 Rice, S. B 45, 47 
 
 Richmond College 12 
 
 Rogers, Wm. B 18 
 
 Rosser, Leonidas 150, 151 
 
 Ryland, Dr. Robert 12, 13, 108 
 
 Ryland, Robert 336 
 
REV. GEORGE BOARDMAN TAYLOR, D. D. 413 
 
 S PAGE 
 
 Sajous, C. E. de M 371, 379, 380 
 
 Sands, A. H 90, 91 
 
 Scheie de Vera, M 106 
 
 Sears, Bamas 31, 92, 93, 136, 154 
 
 Simmons, Franklin 181 
 
 Slaughter, J. Warren 37, 54 
 
 ■ Smith, F. H 106, 280 
 
 Smith, S. F 31 
 
 Spurgeon, C. H 112 
 
 Sumter, Fort 64 
 
 T 
 
 Taylor, J. H 48 
 
 Taylor, S. F 48, 49 
 
 Thomas, Wm. D 13, 73, 302 
 
 Thompson, VV. M 197 
 
 Tupper, H. A 143, 213 
 
 Tyree, C 50, 99 
 
 V 
 
 Vallombrosa 324 
 
 Van Meter, W. C 191, 194 
 
 Vaughan, C. J 171 
 
 Venable, C. S 106, 109, 120, 264 
 
 Vernon, Dr 197, 200 
 
 w 
 
 Wake Forest College 322 
 
 Walker, Robert 295, 365 
 
 Wall, Jas 325 
 
 Watchman and Reflector 125 
 
 Washington and Lee University 126 
 
 Whitsitt, W. H 298, 312 
 
 Williams, J. C 110, 302 
 
 Williams, J. W. M 30 
 
 Williams, W. H 108 
 
 Willingham, R. J 302 
 
 Wilson, Franklin 31, 95, 163 
 
 Wilson, N. W 130 
 
 Winchester, Boyd 264 
 
938.5 
 'i'212 
 
 BRITTLE DO NOT 
 PHOTOCOPV