kened in themselves, as they had privately meditated upon the teachings of our Saviour and his Apostles; some whose hearts were filled to overflowing with religious love and gratitude; some who were troubled with doubts as to the reality of religion; and some who had wandered far away into the dreary, arctic region of atheism, utter non-belief in God and immortality. Such were the elements which were mingled in the audiences that from time to time gathered around him. Our brother felt that he had a great, a real, and a solemn work before him, and to it he gave himself up with all the energies of his being. He felt that no formal preaching would do; that doubts and difficulties could not be ignored or slurred over, but must be met, fairly considered and resolved, or removed in a manly, Christian way. So he took up the great themes, God, Christ, immortality, sin, death, belief, unbelief, as if they had been presented to him for the first time in all their grandeur and infinite importance. Upon these themes he meditated in the silence of his room, gratefully availing himself of whatever aid the wise and good could give through the books in which they live, but not relying upon them, — relying only upon his own powers, concentrated in earnestness to the pursuit of truth, and upon the gracious aid of God. Not in vain did he rely. Great thoughts, thus mightily evoked, came majestically to him, and, being sent forth in fulness and freshness from his mind, went home with power to the minds of others. Old subjects were invested with new and living interest.

Difficulties were removed, doubts were resolved. · Men felt that a genuine man was speaking to them, and not from prescription or for form's sake, but from his own experience, and in obedience to the convictions of an honest soul.

Wonderful was the effect of this earnest study, this heroic search of truth, upon his own mind. It was enlarged, expanded in all directions, invigorated. It was elevated to a higher plane. Its aversion to Calvinism never abated; but that aversion found expression less in negation and more in affirmation, — affirmation of the blessedness, the ennobling, animating, liberalizing influence, of what he regarded as the genuine Gospel faith.

And all this while his spiritual was commensurate with his intellectual growth. Called to visit the mourner, sunk in deep sorrow, to sympathize with the long-afflicted sufferer, he realized more and more man's dependence upon God, and appreciated more and more the infinite blessedness of the religion which comes with balm from on high.

Nor was this all the effect produced. His manner in the pulpit was entirely changed. He spoke with energy, with distinction, animation, and great power. It was no longer the student of fastidious taste, quietly reading his essay, but the earnest man, longing to impart what he felt to be vital truth to his brother-man.

Mr. Taggart felt that his life at Nashville was of great service to him. He thus speaks, in his diary, at the close of the year 1852: " To me an eventful and ̧

His

also a useful year. I have read, studied, written, more than in any previous year of my life. I have labored, as I had ability, in the cause of charity and brotherhood, and what I regard as Christianity. May the coming year be less harassing and more useful." That word, "harassing," used by one never wont to murmur, reveals much. His Nashville experience was alike interesting and trying, and the contemplation of it, while it fills the mind with admiration for his noble qualities, touches the heart to sadness. A few persons appreciated him and his labors; but the number was exceedingly small. audiences ranged from eight to one hundred and fifty. For a long series of Sundays, his morning congregation did not average more than twenty persons. Nevertheless, and here we see our brother's spiritual integrity, and his stern, unfaltering fidelity to his own mind and to the work to which he had consecrated himself, he prepared his sermons, each successive week, with as much thoroughness and care as if he had known that multitudes would be present to hear and admire. Any one can labor with right good-will who is surrounded with troops of friends, and whose labors are crowned with success; but to work on in comparative solitude, and to work as well as if the eyes of a world were upon him, - it takes a man, a Christian man, to do that. But though the regular audience was never large, there were men in it of profound and active minds, and a few noble, devout women, who received impressions which cannot be effaced while their minds

are in being, and who will always hold him, who never failed to bring to the temple service pure incense and beaten oil, in grateful remembrance as a mental and spiritual benefactor. Our brother was conscious that, notwithstanding his outward success was small, he had not labored in vain; but after two years' residence, he came to the conclusion that it was not expedient for him to remain longer. His friends regretted that he felt it his duty to leave, but the reasons which presented themselves to his mind were decisive to him, and he bade them farewell.

And now the world is again before him, and he goes forth to labor wherever Providence may direct. Though disappointed as to visible results in Nashville, he is not despondent. The spirit which animates him is revealed in these words from his journal: "So closes my last evening at Nashville. Two years and one month since I came here ; — time spent laboriously, but profitably to me, and usefully to others. Some good has been done, and a future lies before me, should I live, as promising as at any period of my life."

After leaving Nashville, Mr. Taggart journeyed for a while. He passed two Sabbaths at Louisville, and two at Cincinnati, where he preached both in the Unitarian and Universalist churches. He then went down the Ohio, spent one Sabbath at Cannelton, and then went to St. Louis, where he attended, with great interest, the second session of "The Western Conference of Unitarian Churches." Thence he returned to Louisville, passed up the Ohio to Pitts

burg, where he made a brief visit, then went to Washington, D. C., and thence to Boston to attend the anniversary meetings. He spent a few weeks there, preached June 5th and 12th, and then went to Charleston, S. C., in acceptance of an urgent invitation to officiate in the Unitarian church during the illness of its esteemed pastor, Rev. Dr. Gilman. On June 19th, 1853, he commenced his services in the city which was thenceforward to be his home. In his previous visits his preaching had awakened great interest, and the interest now felt in his ministrations was so deep and so general in the congregation, that, on the 23d of October, a cordial invitation was given to him to become associate pastor. The invitation was accepted, and he entered upon his work with great earnestness. His preaching was listened to with profound attention by that intelligent and highly-cultivated congregation, and friends gathered around him who were bound to him as by hooks of steel. But alas! disease had already marked him for its own.

He had on the 24th day of November a violent hemorrhage from his lungs. On the 28th, he left home for a brief visit to Nashville and Louisville, in the latter of which cities he preached, December 4th, two powerful sermons, the one on "Retribution," the other on "Untimely Death." He then returned to Charleston, where he preached, December 18th, and where he continued to preach once every Sunday until February 12th; and even on that day he preached in the afternoon, though