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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40609 ***
+
+[Illustration: R. Badger]
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIR OF REV. JOSEPH BADGER.
+
+
+BY E. G. HOLLAND.
+
+FOURTH EDITION.
+
+NEW YORK:
+
+C. S. FRANCIS AND CO., 252 BROADWAY.
+
+BOSTON: BENJAMIN H. GREENE, 124 WASHINGTON ST.
+
+1854.
+
+
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
+MRS. ELIZA M. BADGER,
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States
+for the Western District of New York.
+
+DAMRELL & MOORE,
+PRINTERS,
+16 Devonshire Street, Boston.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The present volume is the Memoir of a man and a minister whose character
+was strikingly individual, whose services to Religion in its more
+liberal and unsectarian form were large and successful; and in the
+denomination to which he belonged, no man was more generally known, and
+none, we believe, ever acted a more prominent and effective part. The
+writer of this has endeavored to set forth the life and sentiments of
+Mr. Badger, to a large extent in his own language. Much of his journal
+must be new even to old acquaintance, as it was written many years ago,
+and no part of it has ever been published. To those who would be pleased
+to read the outlines of the greatest theological reformation among the
+masses which the nineteenth century may justly claim, we trust this
+volume will be welcome; likewise to all those who may be liberal and
+evangelical Christians. Aged men, contemporaries with him, will rejoice
+in the revival of past scenes, and the young will be taught, encouraged,
+and warned by the paternal voices of the departed.
+
+Two classes of great men figure effectively on the stage of the world.
+One class are strongest in writing. Their written words embody the
+entire elegance and power of their minds. Such were Webster and
+Channing. The other class are strongest in speech. Their personal
+presence, their spontaneous eloquence in oral discourse, alone express
+their mind and heart. Such were Clay, Henry, and Whitfield. To the
+latter classification Mr. Badger unquestionably belongs. Though the
+marks of superiority are variously apparent in his papers, it was in the
+more natural medium of oral speech that his genius shone. Having now
+completed the task demanded by my duty to the family of Mr. Badger, I
+would, in the name of the self-sacrificing, trusting faith of which he
+was no common example, send forth this volume to the world, hoping that
+in an ease-loving age, the presentation of a Lutheran force in the
+example of a son of New Hampshire may serve to awaken in others a
+kindred energy.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I. BIRTH AND ANCESTRY.
+
+II. CHILDHOOD.
+
+III. YOUTH AND EDUCATION.
+
+IV. CONVERSION.
+
+V. CALL TO AND ENTRANCE UPON THE MINISTRY.
+
+VI. PUBLIC LABORS IN THE PROVINCE.
+
+VII. TOUR TO NEW ENGLAND, AND PUBLIC LABORS.
+
+VIII. ORDINATION AND PUBLIC LABORS.
+
+IX. PUBLIC LABORS--MARRIAGE--TRAVELS.
+
+X. LABORS AND SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
+
+XI. THOUGHTS AND INCIDENTS OF 1819 AND 1820.
+
+XII. WRITINGS--MARRIAGE--TRAVELS.
+
+XIII. CORRESPONDENCE--VISITS AT ANGELICA WITH D. D. HOW, THE
+MURDERER--SERMON AT THE GALLOWS.
+
+XIV. JOURNEY AT THE SOUTH--PUBLISHED JOURNAL.
+
+XV. MINISTRY AT BOSTON.
+
+XVI. FOUR MONTHS' LABOR IN THE COUNTIES OF ONONDAGA AND CAYUGA, NEW
+YORK, IN 1828 AND 1829, WITH OTHER PARTS OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE, EXTENDING
+TO MAY, 1832.
+
+XVII. EDITORIAL LIFE.
+
+XVIII. GENERAL VIEWS.
+
+XIX. MINISTRY--PUBLISHED WRITINGS AND IMPORTANT EVENTS FROM MAY, 1839,
+TO MARCH, 1848.
+
+XX. RETIRED LIFE--READING--TRAVELS--DEPARTURE--1848 TO 1852.
+
+XXI. OUTLINES OF CHARACTER.
+
+XXII. ADDRESSES--SERMONS--REMINISCENCES--VIEWS OF CONTEMPORARIES.
+
+XXIII. REFLECTIONS.
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+BIRTH AND ANCESTRY.
+
+
+In so young a world as America, it has been held unsuitable for persons
+to spend much time in the tracing of pedigree, or to found important
+claims on family descent; nor can it accord less with the common sense
+of mankind than with the republican genius of the world, to say, that
+every genuine claim to human esteem is founded in character. In this is
+rooted every quality that can, of right, command the reverence of man.
+But, as character is not exactly isolated and independent of ancestral
+fountains, from which the innate impulses, capacity, and tendency to
+good and evil have flown, the subject of ancestry justly belongs to the
+history of every man's mind and life. Our ancestors flow in our veins.
+We retain them more or less in our characters always, so that the great
+stress which different countries have put upon this theme, rests on
+other than artificial and ostentatious reasons. In nature, below man,
+the various circuits and orders of being do nothing more than to repeat
+ancestral forms and habits, to which the sweet rose, the eagle, and the
+strong-armed oak, are perpetual witnesses; and though man, by his
+God-like faculty of will is lifted out, in a great measure, from this
+necessity, he is so far a derivation from the past, that he ought to be
+seen in his connections with it. We therefore introduce the subject of
+Mr. Badger's ancestry as the chief part of the first chapter of this
+book.
+
+Joseph Badger, the subject of this memoir, was a native of Gilmanton,
+Strafford county, New Hampshire, born August 16th, 1792. From an early
+manuscript of his I copy the following lines:--
+
+      "My father, Peaslee Badger, was born at Haverhill, Mass.,
+      1756. He was the son of General Joseph Badger, who was a
+      native of that place. When my father was nine years of age,
+      his father removed to Gilmanton, N. H., where his family
+      was settled, and where my grandsire, General Joseph, ended
+      his days in peace, in the year of our Lord 1803. The good
+      instruction I received from him, before my ninth year, will
+      never be effaced from my memory. His name will long be held
+      in remembrance as a peacemaker, and a great statesman.
+      Every recollection of him is a fulfilment of the sacred
+      passage--'The memory of the righteous is blessed.'
+
+      "In 1781, my father was married to Lydia Kelley, born in
+      Lee, N. H., 1759. She was the daughter of Philip Kelley,
+      who, in the triumphs of faith, departed this life the 11th
+      of June, 1800, at New Hampton, N. H. For the space of
+      thirty-six years my father resided at Gilmanton. In our
+      family were nine children, five sons and four daughters. I
+      was the fourth son, and the old general, of whom I have
+      already spoken, selected me as the one to bear up his name.
+      I was accordingly named for him; but alas! I fear I have
+      fallen greatly below his excellent examples."
+
+Among his ancestors, there can be no doubt, that he most resembled, in
+mind and body, the venerable man whose name he bore. The personal form
+of Gen. Joseph Badger, as described in history, in which he is
+represented as nearly six feet in stature, somewhat corpulent, light and
+fair in complexion, and of dignified manners, answers most aptly to the
+subject of this memoir; nor is the correspondence less perfect, when his
+mental qualities of foresight, order, firmness, tact, and generosity are
+considered. "As a military man," says the faithful pen of history,
+"General Badger was commanding in his person, well skilled in the
+science of military tactics, expert as an officer, and courageous and
+faithful in the performance of every trust. With him order was law,
+rights were most sacred, and the discharge of duty was never to be
+neglected."
+
+Hundreds, into whose hands this volume will fall, will never forget the
+promptness and the courageous efficiency with which Rev. Joseph Badger
+met every public duty, and every great emergency; and though his field
+was the ministry, and his soldierly skill that which referred to the
+Cross, none who ever knew him can cease to remember the ready, natural,
+and commanding generalship by which his entire action and influence in
+the world were distinguished. He did not float with the wave of
+circumstance, but carefully laid out his labors into system, always
+having a purpose and a plan; and not unfrequently did his active energy
+and position in life, amidst many difficulties, remind one of a
+campaign. No mind, acting in the same sphere, was ever more productive
+in ways and means. Though a clergyman, he was a general, and one, we
+should say, of no common tact and skill.
+
+His father, Major Peaslee Badger, with whom the writer of this memoir
+was acquainted, was a man of strong mental powers, quick perceptions,
+and of great vivacity. The quality last named, for which the subject of
+these biographical sketches was so generally distinguished, is readily
+traceable to his father; and the same remark in regard to quickness of
+perception might also apply, but for the fact that the mind of the son
+was more intuitive, and that he possessed both the qualities spoken of
+in a greater degree. Joseph Badger, though at heart deeply imbued with
+the solemnity and importance of all that belongs to the Gospel of human
+salvation, was no anchorite in spirit, no desponding meditator on man or
+his lot; he wore no formalities of a pretending sanctity. He had the
+good fortune never to have lost his naturalness; and I think I never saw
+one in whose nature was treasured a greater fulness of social life. It
+was apparent that Major Badger had a memory that was strong even in
+advanced years; that he was a general reader, and had reflected very
+independently; that, though capable of tender emotions and kindness of
+heart, the intellect had pretty full ascendency over his sympathetic
+nature; and that, in social feeling, in affection, in fineness of
+nature, and in general sympathy, his son possessed the richer
+inheritance.
+
+His mother was a Christian, and judging from her letters, was an
+affectionate woman, of good plain sense, and rich in sympathy and
+maternal care. Father, mother and son are now in the spiritual world.[1]
+
+As there are several public men wearing the family name of Badger, and
+as there are different branches of the same original family that in an
+early day exchanged their home in England for the then comparative
+wilderness of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, in obedience to the
+spirit of adventure that drew, in those times, the most earnest and
+enterprising persons to the New World, I have thought it proper briefly
+to present the lineage of Rev. Joseph Badger from the settlement of the
+first family of this name in Massachusetts; in doing which I shall not
+rely on uncertain tradition, but on the published history of Gilmanton,
+N. H., and on the Memoir of Hon. Joseph Badger, both of which are now
+before me. From these authorities it appears that the Badger family is
+of English origin, that its founder was Giles Badger,[2] who settled at
+Newbury, Mass., previous to June 30, in 1643, only twenty-three years
+after the landing of the Pilgrims. His son, John Badger, a man of much
+respectability in his day, was by his first wife, the father of four
+children, only three of whom, John, Sarah and James, lived to arrive at
+years of responsibility, the first having died in infancy. His first
+wife, Elizabeth, died April 8th, 1669. By his second wife, Hannah Swett,
+to whom he was married February 23d, 1671, he had Stephen, Hannah,
+Nathaniel, Mary, Elizabeth, Ruth, Joseph, Daniel, Abigail and Lydia.
+Both of the parents died in 1691. John Badger, Jr., a merchant in
+Newbury, married Miss Rebecca Brown, October 5, 1691; their children
+were John, James, Elizabeth, Stephen, _Joseph_, Benjamin and Dorothy.
+Joseph was born in 1698.
+
+Joseph Badger, son of John Badger, Jr., was a merchant, in Haverhill,
+Mass.,[3] and married Hannah, daughter of Col. Nathaniel Peaslee. Among
+his seven children was General Joseph Badger, whose usefulness and
+excellence of character are strongly expressed in the pages before me.
+He married Hannah Pearson, January 31st, 1740; their children were
+twelve in number, among whom was Major Peaslee Badger, the father of the
+subject of this memoir, and the Hon. Joseph Badger, Jr., the father of
+Hon. William Badger, late Governor of New Hampshire. Several of this
+name have been distinguished for ability, and have held important
+positions of public duty. Some have been active in the defence of their
+country, some in the cause of education, the administration of justice,
+and the affairs of political life; and like the distinguished men of New
+Hampshire generally, they mostly seem to have had strong natures, with
+characters marked by native vigor and original force.
+
+South of the White Mountains some fifty miles, and near the Lake and
+River Winnipiseogee, is the old town of Gilmanton. As the mind of Mr.
+Badger, during his childhood in this place, was lastingly impressed by
+the society and instruction of his uncle, I have thought best to copy
+the presentation of his character as found in the published history of
+Gilmanton.
+
+      "In the early settlement of Gilmanton," says Mr. Lancaster,
+      "no individual was more distinguished than Gen. Joseph
+      Badger. He was born in Haverhill, Mass., Jan. 11, 1722; and
+      was the eldest child of Joseph Badger, a merchant in that
+      place, who was one of the wealthiest and most influential
+      men of that town. In the time of the Revolution, he was an
+      active and efficient officer, was muster-master of the
+      troops raised in this section of the State, and was
+      employed in furnishing supplies for the army. He was a
+      member of the Provincial Congress, and a member of the
+      Convention that adopted the Constitution. He was appointed
+      Brigadier General June 27th, 1780, and Judge of Probate for
+      Strafford county, December 6th, 1784. He was also a member
+      of the State Council in 1784, 1790, and 1791.
+
+      "He was a uniform friend and supporter of the institutions
+      of learning and religion. He not only provided for the
+      education of his own children by procuring private
+      teachers, but he also took a lively interest in the early
+      establishment of common schools for the education of
+      children generally. Not content with such efforts merely,
+      he did much in founding and erecting the Academy in
+      Gilmanton, which has been already a great blessing to the
+      place and the vicinity. He was one of the most generous
+      contributors to its funds, and was one of its Trustees, and
+      the President of the Board of Trust until his death.
+      Instructed in his childhood, by pious parents, in the
+      principles of religion, he early appreciated the blessings
+      of the Christian ministry. Having become the subject of
+      divine grace, he publicly professed religion, and espoused
+      the cause of Christ. As he was a generous supporter of the
+      institutions of the Gospel, so to his hospitable mansion
+      the ministers of religion always found a most hearty
+      welcome. While the rich and great honored him, the poor
+      held him in remembrance for his generous liberality. His
+      whole life was marked by wisdom, prudence, integrity,
+      firmness, and benevolence. Great consistency was manifested
+      in all his deportment. He died April 4th, 1803, in the 82d
+      year of his age--ripe in years, ripe in character and
+      reputation, and ripe as a Christian. The text selected for
+      his funeral sermon was strikingly characteristic of the
+      man. 'And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a
+      counsellor, and he was a good man and a just.'"
+
+Rev. Joseph Badger had indeed a noble ancestry; and, in natural ability,
+in creative and executive intellect, in force of character and in
+general usefulness, he is probably unexcelled by the worthy examples
+that in past time may have shed honor upon the name. I have dwelt thus
+long on the parentage and ancestry of Mr. B., not because I regard the
+tenacity of the Jewish race on the subject of lineage, nor the general
+excess of oriental homage to departed fathers, but because we appreciate
+the law of cause and effect, as it is manifested in the course of
+hereditary descent, which forbids that any man's written history shall
+begin like the priesthood of Melchizedek, successionless and without
+descent.
+
+In approaching another chapter, the early life of Mr. Badger, perhaps
+nothing is more strikingly appropriate to the reader than the
+exclamation which stands as the first line of an old manuscript from his
+own pen, with which he begins his personal narrative, viz.: "_What a
+mystery is Life!_" Ah! who can wrestle with this wonder so as to exhaust
+it of its marvellousness? Who can explain the innate genius, and
+impulse, with the endless play of outward circumstance, that so
+constantly drive these human myriads on to their various destiny?
+Scribes can record what outwardly transpires; and even the reason can do
+nothing more than to look through the cluster of outward development we
+call man's history, to its centre in the inward life, where, though it
+may see the harmonious relationship of the facts to the soul whence they
+have flown; where, though it may perceive the combination of mental and
+moral qualities that make up the man, it is at last obliged to own the
+impenetrability of the veil that hides the _genius_ that has taken
+individual form for some end of its own; and through the whole drama of
+man it owns that life is enacted in the temple of mystery. Mr. Badger's
+written journal, among its opening paragraphs, has the following
+quotation:
+
+      "'Tis Heaven's decree, in mercy, that mankind
+      Should to their future destiny be blind;
+      Impatient man rejects his present state,
+      With eager steps to meet approaching fate,
+      Yet would the future, in perspective cast,
+      Display the exact resemblance of the past;
+      When o'er the stage of human life we range,
+      The _scenes_ continue but the _actors_ change."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CHILDHOOD.
+
+
+The town of Gilmanton, which is only forty-five miles from Portsmouth,
+sixteen from Concord, and eighty from Boston, is, to a great extent, of
+rocky and hilly surface, having within its limits a chain of eminences
+that vary in height from three hundred to one thousand feet, called the
+Suncook Range, which commences at the northern extremity, near the Lake,
+and extending in a south-easterly direction through the town, divides
+the head-springs of the Suncook and the Soucook rivers. These fruitful
+highlands, covered in their early state with various kinds of hardwood,
+interspread with ever-welcome evergreens, have some commanding
+positions; especially the one called Peaked Hill, from whose summit the
+observer discovers within the area of his extended prospect the State
+House of Concord, the Grand Monadnock,[4] in Jaffrey and Dublin, the
+Ascutney,[5] in Windsor, Vt., the Moosehillock, in Coventry,[6] Mount
+Major, the highest summit in the town of Gilmanton,[7] and Mount
+Washington,[8] which is the highest of the White Mountains. It was
+amidst scenery like this that the early unfolding of the mind of Joseph
+Badger occurred, where the spirit of beauty which everywhere finds
+mediums of influence and approach to man, found some romantic symbols of
+her presence, with which to impress the tender mind. Nature, which is
+everywhere the hundred-handed educator, is an agency not to be omitted
+even in speaking of childhood, for children see it from the heart and
+learn from it unconsciously. But entering the field of personal
+incident, let us listen to his own recorded memories.
+
+      "I cannot describe, as some have attempted to do, what
+      transpired when only two or three years of age; but when
+      four or five, I most distinctly remember going with my
+      sisters on a visit to my grandsire's, Gen. Joseph Badger.
+      It was but a few miles, and there being a school near, I
+      consented through much persuasion to remain and attend it.
+      The departure of my sisters was to me the severest trial I
+      had known, one of whom however remained to comfort me. Here
+      new and strange things, of which I had never before heard,
+      presented themselves to my mind. At evening the family and
+      servants were all called in. I was much surprised at the
+      gathering, and inquired the cause. My sister told me that
+      we were about to attend prayers. My young expectations were
+      raised to see something new, as before this I had never
+      heard of anything of the kind. Whilst we were assembled,
+      the old gentleman with the greatest solemnity leaning over
+      his chair with his face to the wall prayed some time. I
+      knew not what he said, nor to whom he spoke. His speaking
+      with his eyes shut, and all the rest standing in profound
+      silence, excited much anxiety in me for an explanation. As
+      soon as this new scene had closed and we had retired, I
+      remember having asked my sister to whom it was that my
+      grandsire had been speaking. This to me was a mystery, as I
+      saw no other standing by him. She told me that he spoke to
+      _God_. I saw at once from her description that I was wholly
+      ignorant of such a Being. She also told me that there was a
+      place of happiness and misery, that all the good people
+      went to heaven, and that the wicked must be burned up. I
+      thought my sister Mary the happiest person in the world,
+      because she knew so much about those great things; and
+      young as I was, the story she told me filled my mind with
+      solemnity; whilst the view she gave me of the certain doom
+      of the wicked caused me to weep much, for I thought that I
+      was one of that number. Impressions there made, and ideas
+      there formed never wore off my mind.
+
+      "But another scene opened to my view, which also much
+      surprised me. As there were several small children about
+      the house, they were all called up at evening to say their
+      prayers. They repeated the Lord's prayer, with some
+      additions. This made my young heart tremble, as I thought
+      they were all Christians, and I knew _I_ never prayed in my
+      life; and further, I knew not what to say. After all the
+      rest had gone through their prayers, I was called up. My
+      grandmother asked me if I ever prayed. I answered that I
+      never did. She then told me to say the words after her,
+      which I refused to do, from the feeling in my mind that the
+      name of God was so holy and so great that I could not
+      speak that word. I wept aloud as she enjoined on me this
+      practice, and was finally excused. I very much dreaded to
+      have night come again. For several nights I was excused,
+      and listened to the others; but finally she insisted on my
+      praying, telling me plainly that I should be _made_ to
+      pray. That night she prepared a large whip and applied it
+      to me severely several times before I would submit. At
+      length I repeated the prayer, and from that time adopted
+      the practice regularly. Through the influence of my sister,
+      I was afterwards induced to thank my grandmother for the
+      whipping, though I now think some milder measures had done
+      as well."
+
+In those stern Puritan days, the whip was far from being an idle
+instrument in teaching the rebellious young the _fear_ of the Lord.
+Whatever was accepted as duty in religion, had no compromise with the
+diversity of taste and inclination in the families of the faithful. The
+reader, I think, will be unable to withhold his admiration from the
+naturalness of the question which the child asked in relation to _whom_
+it was that the praying man was speaking; and he will hardly fail to see
+the difference between his first religious devotions and the free appeal
+of ancient Scripture in saying, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve,"
+as the choice was made for him, and the rod was virtuous enough to see
+it enacted. He remained at this place about two years, making
+considerable proficiency in learning, and, as he thought, some in
+religion. Among these, his childhood's musings, was the wonder that he
+never heard his father pray, and why his brothers, who were older and of
+more understanding than himself, never talked about God. "It is still a
+great cause of lamentation to me," said he in riper years, "that men of
+understanding dwell no more on the glories of the great Benefactor. In
+my opinion, a sense of religion should be early awakened, as first
+impressions are lasting, whether for good or for evil, and often appear
+in future years as the governing influence, as the foundation of future
+action. Ask the vilest man that whirls along in his career of evil, if
+he never thinks of the warnings, instructions and prayers of his fond
+parent in early days, and if he answers candidly he will say that they
+often arise to his condemnation. The destinies of different men are
+always teaching the worth of that holy wisdom which said, 'Train up a
+child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart
+from it.' In glancing back at the religion of my childhood, I find that
+I was unconsciously Pharisaical, and leaned on the virtue of my prayers
+and good works, although in the mixture there was a great degree of
+sincerity and of heartfelt repentance. Although I was wholly ignorant,
+probably, of the true love of God, I have always thought that, had I
+then departed this life, I should have been happy."
+
+I have alluded to the fact that Major Peaslee Badger was not a pietist,
+and that in his family were no religious forms. At this time, and some
+years after, his mind, revolting from the ordinary theological teaching
+of the day, was inclined to a degree of general religious unbelief. The
+minds of the children were not softened and controlled by religious
+reverence, the absence of which is usually followed by a degree of
+rudeness in regard to all religious form. But, following the child
+Joseph to his own home, now that he had learned to love the voice of
+prayer, we find him for a time determined in the way he had learned.
+
+      "On my return home," says he, "I missed my praying
+      grandfather and his religious instructions, which had been
+      frequent and impressive. I also missed my devoted
+      grandmother, by whose side, as the silence of night came
+      down, I had kneeled in prayer. Here I was lost, as our
+      family had no form of religious worship, and their minds
+      were on different subjects. For a long time I kept up my
+      form of prayer, but at last, from two reasons, fell from my
+      steadfastness, which were, that my school-mates none of
+      them ever prayed, but made much fun of me for this
+      practice; and my elder brothers, on knowing that I could
+      pray, used to coax and hire me to do so, and then subject
+      me to much laughter and derision for doing it. Here I left
+      my religious exercise, which had served to keep my mind in
+      a good moral state; and a reaction soon followed, that
+      found me a noted swearer, using the most extravagant
+      expressions that one of my age could easily command; a
+      course in which I was encouraged by my father's hired men,
+      who used to reward me with much praise and laughter. I well
+      remember, when eight years old, of being in the company of
+      several of Mr. Page's boys, who lived near my father's.
+      Amidst my swearing, they, being very steady, began to
+      rebuke me and to warn me of my danger. At first, I resisted
+      their discourse, but the force of their arguments was such
+      that I was compelled to yield. This restored me from my
+      wicked habit, brought back my former feelings, and many a
+      time did I think of it afterwards. It was also very
+      remarkable that in 1815 I should preach in the same place
+      and administer baptism to one of those young men. During
+      this dark interval of which I have spoken, there were times
+      in which I had solemn reflections; sickness and death,
+      when I heard of them, brought to my mind my former promise,
+      and my thoughts always arose to my Creator whenever I heard
+      the voice of thunder.
+
+      "When I was eight or nine years of age, I attended a
+      singing-school, in which I made rapid progress in the art,
+      sharing as I did, in common with our family, all of whom
+      were natural singers, a passionate love of music. With this
+      new employment I was greatly pleased. In the summer after I
+      was nine, I remember going to the Friends' meeting. There
+      was a small society in town, much despised by the popular.
+      Their dress and manner were new to me. It was thought in
+      those days a dreadful thing for a woman to speak in public;
+      and this was the first time that I had ever listened to a
+      female voice in meeting; and notwithstanding the prejudice
+      through which education had taught me to view them, the
+      persons who spake left on my mind the impression of their
+      sincerity. Not far from this time, I went to the
+      Congregational church to hear Mr. Smith. My father
+      inquired, on my return, if I remembered the text, to which
+      I replied in the negative. He then asked me if I could give
+      him one word the minister had spoken, to which I responded
+      that he said several times '_rambling wolves_,' a part of
+      the discourse that I could not have forgotten, as I had
+      heard stories of wolves and was afraid of them. I inquired
+      his meaning, when some of the family replied that he spoke
+      of the Freewill Baptists, who he said went about like
+      wolves, and much disturbed and deluded many good and honest
+      people. The occasion of this assault, as I afterwards
+      learned, was the great success which attended the preaching
+      of Elder Kendall and other of Christ's ministers in
+      Gilmanton and the adjoining town, where the happy effects
+      of the Gospel were being seen and felt."
+
+It is indeed an old story in history, that the powerful and established
+party in religion, medicine, science and politics becomes proscriptive
+toward the new and the weaker organizations, a fact which cannot be
+ascribed usually to the erroneousness of any one form of faith, so much
+as to the natural proclivity of human nature to lord it over the weak
+when put into possession of influence and power. Thus the persecuted
+parties turn persecutors as soon as they win the summit of command; and
+they who have tyrannized without a scruple, will at last plead for the
+sanctity of individual rights as soon as they are the subjects of the
+same oppression. But even these fierce winds of bigotry are able in some
+degree to purify. The young and proscribed sect gets humility and
+earnestness. A zeal and an enthusiasm also spring up that give them
+power over the hearts of men. They grow noble through their sacrifices
+and reliance on God.
+
+      "Not long after this several of the young people went to
+      hear the _Freewillers_, as they were at that time styled. I
+      accompanied them to the meeting, which was held in a
+      private dwelling, in a retired neighborhood, and composed
+      apparently of poor people. I thought they must be as bad as
+      I had heard them represented. They prayed, they wept, they
+      exhorted with much fervor and pathos, and notwithstanding I
+      so much hated their manners, something reached my heart
+      that robbed me for the time of all lightness and
+      irreverence. Robinson Smith was the minister who spoke at
+      this meeting, a strong, healthy man, of unusually clear and
+      commanding voice. He spoke with power. Some of our company
+      returned in solemnity of spirit, whilst others derided the
+      scene we had witnessed. Shortly after this, among my early
+      reminiscences of Gilmanton, was a weekly conference, in
+      which various persons spoke, offered prayers, and related
+      their experience in things pertaining to religion--a
+      meeting to which I was led sometimes from the examples of
+      others, sometimes from curiosity, and sometimes from an
+      inward desire to possess what Christians said they enjoyed.
+      Thus was my early nature swayed by strong emotions,
+      sometimes to good and sometimes to evil."
+
+These pages, quoted from a private journal, written more than thirty
+years ago, nearly conclude all that pertains to his early life in
+Gilmanton. I have lingered thus long on these early years, because every
+man is indicated by his earliest development--certainly that part of him
+which may inhere in the natural character. It is true that man's latest
+period contains all his previous stages, somewhat as the earth we now
+inhabit contains the marks and proofs of all its previous states; yet,
+it is not given us to see the historical succession in man from a glance
+at the matured result. We follow the steps of nature, in whose procedure
+childhood and youth are not only illustrations of the substantial
+genius, temperament, and character, but are powerful _causes_ in the
+performance of the remaining acts of life's drama. In these early years
+of Joseph Badger, a strong emotional nature is exhibited--a nature that
+could not be inactive--one that was easily reached by earnest moral and
+religious appeal, and one that overflowed in a wild excess of energy
+whenever the finer restraints of reverence were cast aside.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+YOUTH AND EDUCATION.
+
+
+About this time, 1801, Major Peaslee Badger contemplated a change in his
+plans of life, the execution of which removed the subject of this memoir
+far away from the lovely waters and the romantic hills of his native
+town in New Hampshire. It also removed him from the various advantages
+of the better social influence and culture which belong to an older form
+of society; but it also rewarded him with the freedom, hardihood, and
+self-reliance of forest life.
+
+Anxious to make farmers of his sons, Major Badger resolved to further
+this purpose by selling his farm in Gilmanton, and by making a more
+extensive purchase in a new country. At this early time, when emigration
+had not directed its course to the valley of the Mississippi, and when
+the attractions of Iowa and Minnesota lay sealed up for a future
+development, the mind of Mr. Badger was directed to the fertile woodland
+region of Lower Canada, which at that time was regarded as the best part
+of the world. To this region he accordingly made a journey, was much
+pleased with the country, and, after selling his farm in Gilmanton,
+which he sold for between four and five thousand dollars, he again
+visited this section of the king's dominions, in company with his eldest
+son, where he purchased eight hundred acres of the best of land. Only a
+few families at this time resided in the town. Leaving his son and
+several hired men to wage the war of industrious labor on the primeval
+wilderness around them, he returned home, and recruiting himself with
+new forces, and taking with him all necessary farming utensils, with
+several yoke of oxen, hastened to join the company that were already at
+work in turning the wilderness into a fruitful field. When he had
+arrived within eighteen miles of his land, a wilderness of wide extent
+spread out before him. No road was visible. Sending some of his men
+forward as surveyors, and setting others to work in cutting a road
+through the woods, he continued slowly his progress; and, finally
+receiving some assistance from the inhabitants of the town of Stanstead,
+and augmenting his company with the addition of those who had been
+laboring on his farm, he went forward with the road with great courage
+and success, building several bridges across large streams, and
+conquering every obstacle in the way till an excellent road was
+completed through the whole distance to his farm. It has since become a
+highway of great travel, and is known by the name of the Badger Road to
+this day. This brave pioneer opened the way for the settlement of the
+town. Building a small cottage for temporary convenience, they
+prosecuted their work with zeal for several weeks, when they constructed
+a house for permanent residence, the best that had, at that time, been
+built in the town. These preparations being made, Major Badger returned
+to convey his family to their new abode, in the town of Compton, Lower
+Canada, for which place they set out in February, 1802, in eight
+sleighs, laden with provisions and furniture, and after nineteen days
+of slow and expensive journeying, experiencing the alternations of good
+and evil fortune, they arrived on the 4th or 5th of March at their new
+home in the woods. Woman is ever the natural conservative, loving her
+established and long-tried home.
+
+      "My mother," says Mr. B., "was much opposed to the new
+      arrangement, which caused her to leave her kind friends and
+      neighbors; but such was her fortitude that none discovered
+      her feelings. In taking leave of our native town and near
+      relatives, the greatest solemnity filled my heart. Many
+      wept at our departure, and I could scarcely bear up under
+      the grief I felt in leaving the place of my birth. As we
+      arrived at our new habitation, and my mother viewed her
+      lonely palace, she could no longer suppress her feelings,
+      but sat down and wept, whilst my sisters were also sad, and
+      murmured somewhat at the new prospect before them. I
+      wondered that my father should think of living in the midst
+      of a forest, but thought that what others could accomplish,
+      we could certainly do."
+
+The contrast between the cheerful society and scenery of Gilmanton, and
+the solitude of this woodland region, which was swept by colder winds
+than the climate of the east had known; the isolation of the place,
+which required a journey of seventy miles to purchase the necessary
+grains for seed and family consumption, were calculated to awaken a deep
+feeling of loneliness, and at the same time to invigorate the spirit
+with new energy and promptings to personal efforts. But man's nature is
+flexible, and easily bends to every variety of condition. As soon as
+the news of their arrival had spread, nearly all the inhabitants of the
+town came in to greet them in a friendly visit; and soon spring unfolded
+in all its gayety of woodland gem and costume, whilst all the company
+became laborers to the extent of their respective abilities. Joseph, now
+ten years of age, who had known nothing of work, learned his first
+lessons in the sugar groves of the new farm. Soon they became contented
+with their situation, and the woody solitudes gave cheering proofs of
+transition, as extended acres appeared to view, ready to bear the
+verdure of the meadow, or the harvests of golden grain. On each side of
+the Coatecook river lay four hundred acres; the eastern swell was called
+Mount Pleasant, the western, Mount Independence. Here, in a few years,
+they reaped a large prosperity from the productive earth. In the journal
+of Mr. B. I find a notice of the total eclipse in 1806, the effects that
+followed it on the agricultural prospects of that country, and the
+melancholy thoughtfulness which the day inspired in his own mind. The
+effect was great, according to his statement; so much so as to be
+sensibly felt through the seasons. Fourteen acres carefully planted with
+fruit-trees and grafted with the best of scions, yielded nothing to
+reward the toil of the laborer.
+
+In the general picture here presented, the reader may see the theatre of
+action occupied by the young man who was destined in future years to
+impress great numbers with his own ideas and sentiments. Doubtless there
+are in the world some conventional minds, who, hastily deciding all
+things by local prejudice or capricious fashion, would hold it
+impossible for genius and power to hail from any but certain favored
+localities; from college routine, and the aids of walls of books and of
+titled professors. But this is not the way in which the goddess of force
+and faculty distributes her gifts and makes her highest elections. She
+is by no means afraid of mountains and woodland solitudes; nor does she
+despair of winning her ends when professors and colleges do not wait
+upon her bidding. She exults rather in natural productions; being able
+to turn the night-stars, heaven's winds, earth's flowers, and even
+common events, into teachers; and the same of all experience and inward
+faculty. She brings a universal power from Stratford to London, from
+Ayreshire to Edinburgh, from Vosges and Domremi to Orleans and to
+Rheims. All great men are educated. The only variance resides in the
+modes and teachers. We like it that a prophet should, in early life,
+hail from the woodland world, and that the vastness and tranquillity of
+landscapes should reside in his public discourse; that his words and
+manners should savor, not of dry scholastic pretension and mannerism,
+but of songsters' voices, of colossal trees, wild rose and rushing
+brooks. Mr. B., however, for his time and day, was an educated man; we
+mean even in the more restricted sense in which the world understands
+this word; and certainly he was this, in its most important meanings.
+
+"We soon had opportunity," says Mr. Badger, "for education in our new
+country. This was very pleasing to me, and I felt the necessity of
+improving every privilege of the kind." And I would say that those who
+knew him in after life could not but see in him the rare faculty
+bestowed on some of our race, that of turning a few means to a great
+account.
+
+Passing on to his fifteenth year, he speaks of a season of illness,
+occasioned by excessive ambition at manual labor, which kept him from
+school a part of the time during one summer. "My sickness," he says,
+"was of pleuritic nature, and at times my life was despaired of. A few
+Christian people had moved into the place, and during my sickness, some
+of them conversed with me on the subject of religion. At times I
+remember to have wept, and supposed that my condition was deplorable.
+The death of a Christian woman, who had often conversed with me,
+occurring at this time, made a deep impression on my mind. My
+reflections, when alone, were melancholy in the extreme. I often wished
+I had died when young; and frequently did I promise God that if my life
+was spared I would serve Him." Many paragraphs of this sort, whilst they
+may wear a tinge of the religious culture common to the age, show deep
+and unharmonized strivings of soul. To those who knew his great
+vivacity, the fact of melancholy, which he records in the journal of his
+youth, may seem strange; but it is natural. In susceptible and
+thoughtful natures, in natures of deep strivings, there is ever a
+stratum of seriousness, wearing at times the tinge of sadness. The soul,
+in such, will often say, "I am in Time an exile. The earth cannot feed
+me;" and especially will this feeling be active in the early experience,
+before the wisdom of years has given stability to life, to its aims and
+emotions.
+
+But a young man like him could not be otherwise than fond of amusement.
+With young company of his age he frequently met, and was accustomed to
+spend considerable of the time when together in the favorite pastime of
+the young--the dance.
+
+His elder brothers settling for themselves in life, threw an increased
+burden of care upon Joseph, whose health was so far restored as to act
+his part efficiently. His father about this time entered into the
+mercantile business, which turned out to his disadvantage; and soon
+after this, when seven miles from home, he had the misfortune to break
+his leg, suffering extremely for fifteen days, expecting constantly that
+amputation would have to take place. Recovering so far as to admit of
+removal home, after a long time he was restored to health. "After this,"
+says his son, "he twice met the severe misfortune to break his leg, and
+on the 5th Sept., 1814, it was amputated six inches above the knee. This
+and several such misfortunes, in part, reduced him from the high station
+in which he was born and had formerly lived."
+
+      "The first preaching that we heard was by an old gentleman
+      of the name of Huntington. He was a Universalist, a good
+      man, I think, but not a great preacher. He addressed the
+      people for the greater part of one summer generally at my
+      father's house. I do not remember to have seen anything
+      like reform among the people. The old gentleman died in a
+      few years, and I trust has gone to rest. Also Elders[9]
+      Robinson Smith and A. Moulton, of Hatley, a neighboring
+      town, favored us with their ministry. We called them
+      Free-willers, but their preaching was life-awakening, and
+      it was held in remembrance long after they were gone,
+      although they saw no immediate fruits of their labors. I
+      recollect of hearing Mr. Moulton once, the first time I
+      think I ever saw him. His voice to me was like thunder. For
+      several days after, it seemed as though I could hear the
+      sound of it."
+
+This indeed is the proof of God's presence in the mission, that the
+minister has that to say which the sinner _cannot forget_, that which
+lingers in his way like an invisible spell. The man who has God's word
+is not a mere lecturer or essayist in the holy temple. He has words of
+divine fire to speak, an undying love to utter, a warning of eternity to
+hold forth. He _commands_ the giddy and the sinful to listen to a voice
+which, if he repent not, will tingle in his ears even to his dying day.
+Smooth, elegant composition may be patiently taught, and patiently
+learned, but God's living word out of heaven to unfaithful man, is
+another thing. This word has many organs, finds its way far and near,
+and reaches the heart of the ardent young man whose footsteps are on the
+classic ground, or in the larger path of nature's wild.
+
+      "When about sixteen or seventeen," continues the journal,
+      "I heard that a young man about my age from Vermont would
+      preach in our vicinity. There was a great move to hear him,
+      and I resolved to go. The house was full. He was evidently
+      one much engaged in God's work. He looked very pale and
+      much worn out. Mr. Moulton was with him, prayed at the
+      beginning of the meeting, after which the young man,
+      Benjamin Putnam, came forward, and in a manner and address
+      that were engaging, and to me peculiarly pleasing, preached
+      a sermon from Isaiah 22:22; a text which I shall never
+      forget. 'And the key of the house of David will I lay upon
+      his shoulder: so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he
+      shall shut, and none shall open.' He described Christ as
+      the Son of God, and the power as being laid upon his
+      shoulder; he also dwelt on what he had opened both to and
+      for man, which none could shut, and finally spoke of the
+      closing of the same door, which none should be able to
+      open. I thought this discourse more glorious than anything
+      I had ever heard. I thought him the happiest young man I
+      ever saw. As soon as meeting was closed he came forward
+      through the assembly and spoke to my brother, which had a
+      solemn effect on us both. Many of his expressions I have
+      ever remembered.
+
+      "The Methodist ministers next made their way into our town,
+      and I have always thought that they came in the name and
+      spirit of the Highest. They were humble and earnest. As my
+      father's family seldom attended their meetings, I perhaps
+      did not become acquainted with the first that came. Hays
+      and Briggs were the first I heard. While listening to the
+      farewell sermon of the former I remember to have been
+      deeply affected, and one evening, while listening to Mr.
+      Briggs, I felt a strong conviction of my sin, and believed
+      that I was undone without regeneration. They first formed a
+      small class in town. Leaving the circuit the next year,
+      Joseph Dennet and David Blanchard were their successors,
+      under whose ministry many of the old and the young were
+      turned to God, whilst even children were made happy in
+      Christ. I think that the preaching of the latter was the
+      first that ever brought tears from my eyes. Also, in those
+      days, we had frequent visits from the missionaries, but I
+      do not remember that their preaching had much effect on my
+      own mind or that of any other person.
+
+      "In the conflict of good and evil tendencies in the minds
+      of young men who share largely of the passions and
+      giddiness which characterize the period of one's youth, it
+      is interesting to contemplate the skill with which these
+      influences assail each other, each winning its temporary
+      victory, and each wrestling at times with great might for
+      the doubtful mastery. Notwithstanding these solemn emotions
+      to good, I was quite wild and had several bad habits. In
+      hearing Mr. H. preach the summer I was eighteen, I was much
+      aroused to a sense of duty, and though seeing the way of my
+      life to be death, my determinations as yet were not equal
+      to the chain of habit that bound me. On the first of August
+      I looked forward to the 16th, which was my birthday, as the
+      day in which I should begin to walk in newness of life, and
+      for several days this occupied my thoughts. But the time
+      passed, and my resolution with it, whilst my feelings
+      reacted more strongly than ever toward my former ways. The
+      Spirit of God righteously strives with sinners; and many
+      have I seen on languishing beds lamenting their early
+      resistance to the holy influence, and that they had ever
+      broken their promise to Him. I had a taste for reading, and
+      spent much of my time in the perusal of novels and with
+      vain young company. A young man by the name of Richardson
+      was my most intimate friend. On the Sabbath and every other
+      opportunity we were together; we spent the time mostly in
+      reading; I thought I enjoyed happiness in his society. In
+      our assemblies for diversion we ever had a good
+      understanding. His friendship lasted until my conversion,
+      when something far more glorious opened to my view. It
+      appeared a great mystery to him, and it caused me much
+      sorrow to leave him, but the first lesson I learned from
+      the cross taught me how to relinquish and how to renounce.
+
+      "In the autumn of 1810 we had many vain assemblies for
+      dancing and other recreations. Never had I before gone so
+      far in wickedness as at this time. But, in the midst of our
+      gayety, events of Providence compelled our thoughts to
+      serious objects, as death, through the agency of a fatal
+      fever, spread over the town its sorrow and sadness, cutting
+      off the old and the young indiscriminately. On the 10th of
+      January, 1811, I commenced a journey to New Hampshire, to
+      visit my friends, whom I had not seen since 1802. When I
+      arrived at Stanstead, I passed several days with a cousin
+      of mine who was engaged in teaching the art of dancing. He
+      was an agreeable gentleman, and of great talents; but it
+      was a grief to his friends that he had taken to this
+      employment. I was much pleased with the instructions he
+      gave me, as I was anxious to attain perfection in the art.
+
+      "With several young men I proceeded on my way to New
+      Hampshire, and making the journey merry with rudeness and
+      laughter, we prosecuted it till I arrived at Gilmanton.
+      Here I found that my honored grandsire no longer occupied
+      his place on earth. His companion, who had watched over my
+      childhood for two years, and had made the voice of prayer
+      familiar to my lips, still survived. Several other
+      relatives had also gone to their long home, and though
+      these things made little impression on my heart, owing to
+      the state of my mind, I could not but solemnly reflect on
+      the hand that had so long upheld me, when I visited my
+      early home, the place of my birth, and recalled the many
+      scenes of my childhood freshly to mind. We have in life but
+      one childhood, and no hours of retrospect put us into such
+      unison with nature as when we live it over in the revival
+      of its scenes.
+
+      "I passed several weeks in Gilmanton, attending school a
+      part of the time, and freely enjoyed the company of my
+      young friends. My sister Mary, the wife of General
+      Cogswell, occasionally rebuked me for my lightness, and
+      though I made light of her admonitions at the time, they
+      made much impression on my mind. But most of all I dreaded
+      that my uncle, Mr. Smith, who had been the minister of the
+      place for thirty years, should talk to me about religion. I
+      was very loth to visit him at all, but I stayed with him
+      the last night I remained in town, and to my happy
+      disappointment escaped the drilling I had so much feared,
+      as he did not once mention the subject. In company with my
+      cousin, Joseph Smith, I set out the next day for home, and
+      by evening arrived at Judge William Badger's, a cousin of
+      mine, with whom we had an excellent visit. The next day,
+      when passing through Meredith, we saw a young man standing
+      in the door of a house with a multitude around him. The
+      building appeared to be full of people, to whom he was
+      preaching. We arrived that evening at Camptown, and though
+      I was nearly sick and my spirits depressed by some
+      influence I could not define, and my mind uninterested by
+      surrounding objects, I yielded to the persuasion of my
+      cousin to go on. Nothing was able to interest me. After
+      some time we started for the place since so much
+      celebrated, the Notch of the White Mountains.
+
+      "But nature, which to me was ever welcome, did not attract
+      me as usual. A spirit, over which I had not control, seemed
+      to work within me to the extreme of solemn conviction.
+      People, road, trees, rivers--all seemed gloomy, and I
+      appeared to myself as a monument spared to unite with them
+      in mourning. We finally passed the gloomy Notch, and as I
+      drank in its lonely influence, I felt, unavoidably, its
+      likeness to the mood of my own spirit. At Franconia, many
+      new prospects and objects appeared to view. The manufactory
+      of iron was at that time and there a great curiosity. At
+      Littleton, further on in our journey, we rode on the river,
+      as it was hardly frozen. I disguised my feelings, and as we
+      were riding along, several in number, I fell in the rear
+      that I might enjoy the meditations in which my mind was
+      absorbed. At this time, an old gentleman, whose silver
+      locks and grave appearance attracted my attention, appeared
+      near me, coming from his house to the river to draw water.
+      My eyes were fixed upon him. 'How far,' said he, 'is your
+      company journeying?' To the province of Lower Canada, I
+      answered. 'Do you live there?' said he. I answered that I
+      did. Then in a solemn tone the old patriarch inquired, 'Is
+      there any religion in that part of the world?' I was
+      surprised to hear this subject introduced by a stranger. I
+      told him there were some in our country who professed
+      religion. He then burst into a flood of tears, and exhorted
+      me with a warm-hearted pathos to seek salvation, and,
+      though I disclosed none of my feelings to him, I was most
+      deeply moved, and the image of the venerable old man was
+      continually before my eyes through the day. I could
+      scarcely refrain from weeping; and whatever others may
+      think of such apparently accidental events, I am free to
+      confess, that from that time until now, I have firmly
+      believed that this old gentleman was a God-sent prophet
+      unto me. The impressions he made continued till I enjoyed
+      the sweet religion that inspired his look and his voice. I
+      have often wished that I might see him and humble myself in
+      thankfulness before him, a thing not to be expected in this
+      life.
+
+      "When we arrived at Stewardstown, near the head of the
+      Connecticut river, I parted with my cousin, whose
+      destination was different from my own. Crossing the line,
+      I passed the night with Dr. Ladd, a friend of my father,
+      who was a Christian and a man of extended knowledge. I
+      treasured up many of his observations. I was then only
+      twenty miles from home, and heard the sad news of the
+      ravages sickness had made during my absence, which greatly
+      disturbed me with the thought that I should never again see
+      all my friends. On the 10th of March, however, I arrived,
+      and though fearful to inquire for my relatives, found, to
+      my joy, that they were all well. In company I sought to be
+      cheerful, but in solitude the keenest sensations of sadness
+      were active.
+
+      "Having business with my cousin at Stanstead, I made him a
+      visit, where I heard a missionary preach and attended as a
+      pall-bearer at a funeral, to which my feelings were much
+      averse. On my return, when I had proceeded as far as
+      Barnston, for some cause I returned a mile and a half, and
+      taking a lantern started on foot through the woods, when
+      suddenly a storm exhibited its signs of dark and angry
+      violence. When about half through the forest, the winds,
+      thunder and lightning were terrific. The rain fell in
+      torrents, my light was soon extinguished, and nothing was
+      left to guide me through the swamp except the lurid flashes
+      of the lightning that made the gloom more terrible. Several
+      trees were struck and fell near me across the road; some
+      branches fell from the tree I had chosen for my shelter, as
+      the tempest mingled with darkness, raged in madness; and
+      never was I so deeply impressed with the might of Him who
+      rules the world and sways the elements. Here I gained a
+      fresh idea of the awful power and mercy of God. I was
+      nearly induced to kneel upon the earth, and there, in the
+      storm, make a covenant with my Maker.
+
+      "At length the storm ceased and I arrived in safety at the
+      house of a friend. The next day I reached home, and though
+      met by cheerful faces, through the state of my mind, the
+      music of their tones were as mournful sounds. The company
+      in which I had found delight, could no longer entertain me;
+      my home was dressed in mourning, my pillow wet with tears,
+      and the bright prospects which had cheered me had vanished
+      from my sky. I had no heart for business, no relish for
+      pleasure. O how tiresome was every place! I read the Bible
+      in private; often left my father's table in tears; often
+      retired to the grove whose trees, more than those around
+      me, seemed to know my heart, that I might relieve my soul
+      in weeping. None knew the cause of this love of
+      solitariness. Some said 'he suffers the influence of
+      disappointment;' others, that 'he is plotting something for
+      advantage:' none supposed that within me a deep striving
+      was separating me from the world and leading me to the
+      Fountain of Salvation. This period was a severe trial.
+      Every power, it would seem, combined to test my spirit.
+      Sometimes, from the conflict within, whilst darkness held
+      its temporary victory, I was almost tempted to be angry
+      with the Powers above, and with the whole creation; and
+      once, I remember to have so far fallen under the evil
+      power, as to swear at the existing order of things. It was
+      continual trouble. I strove to labor what I could, and to
+      fulfil my station in the family, using all the fortitude I
+      could command. Here many things occurred that I shall not
+      particularize; some things between my father and myself,
+      which I once thought I should mention in every respect, but
+      which the delicacy of the subject and the tenderness of our
+      relation prevent. I can only say that my father was of
+      deistical opinions, and at that time did not possess the
+      degree of friendship and tenderness for the cause of
+      religion which I could have wished him to, and which he
+      indeed possessed some months after.
+
+      "At times, everything seemed to unite in tormenting me, in
+      causing me trouble; again, all things in nature, when my
+      clouds were partially dispersed, had a voice for the
+      Creator's praise. I alone was untuned. The very winds, as
+      they passed, spoke of His power. The stars, ever calm,
+      looked down in love, seeming faithfully to perform the will
+      of their Ordainer; and the flowers of the earth, which
+      bloomed in beauty, sending forth their fragrance to His
+      honor; and the songs of birds, whose notes were full of the
+      primeval innocence, all combined to administer reproof. The
+      following lines would then have spoken my feelings, as the
+      full-blown spring-time lay unfolded around me:
+
+        "'Ye warblers of the vernal shade
+        Whose artless music charms my ear,
+        Your loveliness my heart upbraids--
+        My languid heart, how insincere!
+      While all your little powers collected, raise
+      A tribute to your great Creator's praise.
+
+        "'Ye lovely offsprings of the ground,
+        Flowers of a thousand beauteous dyes,
+        You spread your Maker's glory round,
+        And breathe your odor to the skies:
+      Unsullied you display your lively bloom,
+      Unmingled you present your sweet perfume.
+
+        "'Ye winds that waft the fragrant spring,
+        You, whispering, spread His name abroad,
+        Or shake the air with sounding wing,
+        And speak the awful power of God:
+      His will, with swift obedience, you perform,
+      Or in the gentle gale or dreadful storm.
+
+        "'Ye radiant orbs that guide the day
+        Or deck the sable veil of night,
+        His wondrous glory you display,
+        Whose hand imparts your useful light:
+      Your constant task, unwearied, you pursue,
+      Nor deviate from the path your Maker drew.
+
+        "'O Lord! thy grace my languid heart can raise,
+        These dissipated powers unite,
+        Can bid me pay my debt of praise
+        With love sincere and true delight:
+      Oh! let thy power inspire my heart and tongue,
+      Then will I, grateful, join Creation's song.'
+
+      "Leaving company almost entirely, and not going into
+      society except on certain occasions, to please my friends
+      or escape reproach, I gave myself up to solitary meditation
+      and to the inward and undefined strivings of my being. In
+      this state of spiritual disquietude, I felt no impulse to
+      attend a church. I was most at home when alone. I heard
+      divine voices where there was no man to act as medium or
+      interpreter. At a funeral, I recollect having assisted in
+      singing, and to have heard from Elder Moulton a sermon that
+      impressed me, he being a man of considerable spiritual
+      power, and one for whom I had particular respect. I heard
+      him also a second time after this, when he most deeply
+      affected my mind. I sometimes repaired to the forest for
+      the express purpose of coming to God in prayer, but for
+      some time was restrained from speaking aloud or kneeling on
+      the earth. My heart was often eased in weeping; and though
+      I had no _form_ of prayer, I believe I prayed as really, as
+      acceptably, as ever I did. Is it not a strange doctrine, so
+      generally promulgated, that sinners, previous to
+      conversion, ought not to pray? To me it is a dark doctrine.
+      The Scriptures do not intimate it. My experience, the
+      divine command, and common sense oppose the dogma. The fact
+      that men are morally weak and sinful, is itself a
+      sufficient occasion for prayer.
+
+      "One Sunday, without the knowledge of our family, I went
+      about two miles to attend a Methodist meeting, in which
+      several spoke, and spoke well. Mrs. John Gilson, a little,
+      delicate woman, with much diffidence arose to speak. Her
+      wisdom and manner won my heart, and her message, which was
+      particularly to me, seemed to carry the evidence that it
+      was from God. I could never forget it. I knew she was my
+      friend, and believed that she spoke for my good, and I
+      would have rendered her my thanks at the close, but for the
+      restraining power of a sentiment common to me, which was,
+      an unwillingness to disclose to any one my deepest
+      emotions. We had been taught by some, that before we could
+      attain salvation, we should be willing to be damned and
+      lost. I never had this willingness. But, in candor, I must
+      say that my sense of guilt was so deep that I felt I had
+      merited the sentence to be finally uttered against the
+      impenitent."
+
+The reader will perceive that the thread of this journal is drawn from
+such portions of Mr. Badger's early life as seem most directly to
+express its various moral phases. From other points of experience, it is
+natural to suppose, much was omitted, the main purpose being that of
+tracing the moral history of his mind through the years of his youth. I
+think I never opened a journal that contained throughout a plainer
+natural impress of truth and reality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+CONVERSION.
+
+      "Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may
+      be blotted out."--ST. PETER.
+
+
+To every work there is a crisis which openly exhibits success or
+failure. To every growth there are certain perceptible changes by which
+we note the progress from incipiency to the mature state. There is a
+symbolical new birth in nature when the rose-tree blooms, when leafless
+wintry trees are green with foliage and white with blossoms. Summer is a
+regeneration in the state of the earth, and it is none the less so
+because we cannot point out the moment, hour, or day, in which the
+actual summer assumed its effective reign. None fail to see the
+difference between June and January. If in July you meet the bending
+lilac, it silently tells you of all that March, April, May and June have
+done for it. So man's moral periods are marked. The soul in its
+struggles after divine life, through penitence and faith, reaches a
+crisis of victory and development of holy purpose, principle and power,
+which the church has generally agreed to call conversion, and for which
+we know no better name.
+
+The journal of Mr. Badger, which refers to this epoch of his spiritual
+history, is headed with a poem on Christ, of which we have space for
+only a few lines:
+
+      "Oh! glorious Father, let my soul pursue
+      The wondrous labyrinth of love divine,
+      And follow my Redeemer to the cross.
+      Nailed to the cross--his hands, his feet, all torn
+      With agonizing torture!
+      Stupendous sacrifice! Mysterious love!
+      He died! The Lord of life--the Saviour died!
+      All nature sympathizing, felt the shock.
+      The sun his beams withdrew, and wrapt his face
+      In sable clouds and midnight's deepest shade,
+      To mourn the absence of a brighter sun--
+      The Sun of righteousness eclipsed in death!
+      A short eclipse. For soon he rose again,
+      All glorious, to resume his native skies!
+      Oh, love beyond conception!
+      In silent rapture all my powers adore."
+
+In the religious experience of Joseph Badger, as intimated by this poem,
+Christ with him is always the central sun, the presiding power.
+
+      "I do not think," says Mr. B., "that persons can _tell_
+      their religious experience, if their change is real and
+      they have fully felt the effects of love divine. They are
+      led to say with St. Peter, that it is 'joy unspeakable and
+      full of glory.' Human language cannot describe the fulness
+      and sweetness of the religion of Christ. Viewing the
+      invisible depth of its wealth, how faint are our
+      descriptions? How weak our best comparisons, and the
+      metaphors by which we attempt to represent it! The soul
+      which has become a partaker of the divine nature, of its
+      love, is ever ready to exclaim--'The half had never been
+      told me;' yet words, and other imperfect signs, will easily
+      indicate the presence of the reality enjoyed.
+
+      "Eighteen hundred and eleven! that memorable year will
+      never be forgotten by thousands now living, on account of
+      the victorious spread of the Gospel in North America.
+      Generations yet unborn will trace the pages of
+      ecclesiastical history with anxiety and delight, to learn
+      what transpired among their ancestors during this year. But
+      how soon, when a heavenly influence is in the ascendant,
+      some counteracting power will enter the field with ruinous
+      violence! The cruel war soon succeeded, and devastation
+      spread her vermilion garb over our happy and enlightened
+      land.
+
+      "As I have already alluded, in a former chapter, to the
+      feelings of moral conviction that wrought in my breast, I
+      will only say that they began with this year, and were of a
+      kind neither to be drowned nor driven away. Not for Adam's
+      sins, or the sins of our fathers, did I feel condemned; it
+      was only for such as belonged to me. Light had come and I
+      had chosen darkness. I therefore cast no reflections on any
+      class of persons, as the Gospel, conscience, and the
+      creation, seemed to unite in proclaiming--'Thou art the
+      man;' and under a sense of my ingratitude to Jesus, the
+      sinner's Friend, I felt to add my hearty Amen, and say,
+      'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight,
+      and am no more worthy to be called thy son.'"
+
+In the pride of philosophical speculation, there are knowing ones who
+rob the rich idea of God of personality; also, in the attempts to deify
+the sacred parchments of Palestine, others unwittingly superannuate the
+Holy Ghost, driving us all to live solely upon ancient words--words that
+were undoubtedly its breathings when spoken. But one page from the
+journal of such an experience as that of Mr. Badger is better than all
+learned theory. Every page referring to his mind's exercise abounds in
+_feeling_--earnest, real feeling. He believes in the God of action, who
+converts the repentant soul by his holy, actual agency; in Jesus he
+believes as the lone sinner's Friend and Saviour; in the Holy Spirit he
+confides, not doubting its real striving in his own heart; in the
+oracles of prophets, of Jesus, and of the apostles, he holds unwavering
+faith that they are God's real, eternal word; whilst his frequent and
+many tears in private attest his deep sincerity in seeking his soul's
+salvation. He recognizes the supernatural, the miraculous, in the
+conversion of the sinner; and whatever we may concede to the
+rationalistic statement on this subject in our severely philosophical
+moods, it is certain that the miraculous statement is the one which more
+than it concentrates the diviner charm and the more commanding energy.
+It has ever been so; the statement wearing the outward miraculous hue,
+is the strong one--the one that holds the element of triumph; and though
+we do not hold that any work of God with man violates the constitution
+and laws of the human mind, it would have struck us with diminished
+effect had St. Paul, before Agrippa, discoursed on the accordance of his
+conversion with some _a priori_ argument for an abstract Christianity,
+or of its accordance with his own nature, and with all nature. This
+intellectualizing on great vital facts, whatever may be its
+philosophical merits, can never come up to the bold and picturesque
+sublimity of the words--"At mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light
+from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me;
+and I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying, Saul, Saul, why
+persecutest thou me?" Such passages reach the soul in every clime, as
+abstraction never could; and from the reverence we have been accustomed
+to pay to universal convictions, and from the effect of such eloquence
+on our own feelings, we believe that mankind have not been fools in the
+cherishing of faith which brings Divinity into active and wonder-causing
+contact with humanity. If we have a God in our faith, let us have one
+who can _do_ something, _say_ something, and _impart_ something to them
+who ask him, and not a tender abstraction who has no thunder for
+transgressors, and who is so lenient and plausible that no lawless
+spirit shall regard him as any essential obstruction in his way.
+Characters of most energy always grow up under the faith of God's
+omnipotence, of his awful majesty, beautified by justice and love.
+
+The youth of this memoir looked around upon the dark world, and upward
+to the great God for his spirit's rest, and searched through the
+labyrinth of his own conflicting emotions to find a rock for his feet.
+Often his "eyes were rivers of waters;" and, "as I looked around for
+comfort, every place revealed some circumstance that gave to grief a
+keener edge." He is now so deeply touched by the Holy Spirit that
+nothing filled him with delight like the tender portraiture of the love
+of Christ; the profane word was now a loathed and jarring discord in his
+ear; the songs of the wicked deepened his sadness, and often did he
+repeat to himself, in tears, the well-known lines, "Alas! and did my
+Saviour bleed!" which he tells us had the power to penetrate his heart
+of hearts, whilst the most secret and hidden recesses of the wild
+witnessed his humble thank-offerings of praise and contrite confessions
+of sin. Without a minister to aid him, and without the sustaining
+sympathy of a single human creature, he continued to wage his warfare
+with the powers of darkness. A young man, alone, with resolves and
+feelings unknown to man, longing for the clouds of his being to
+disperse, and for the influx of the immortal light to crown his life!
+This spectacle, however it may strike the mere formalist and the seeker
+of material good, is one which, to us, joins with myriads of
+heart-histories in different climes, to attest the derivation of the
+soul from God, to declare its yearnings and struggles against the
+obstacles of sin and sense, that it may regain the atmosphere and light
+of its native original heaven.
+
+Contrary to the customs of his family, he went, once in a great while,
+to the Methodist meetings, a denomination whose power to reach the
+popular mind all over the world is known and honored. At one of these
+meetings, July, 1811, the persons present supposed, from his former
+reputation for rudeness, that he was there perhaps to criticise
+derisively their humble manner of worship. When Mrs. Tilden arose and
+said, "The eyes of the world are upon us, and if any came here to feast
+upon our failings, or to spy out our liberties, let us starve them to
+death, by living such lives that they can find no action of which to
+speak reproachfully"--after a few moments, he arose and said:
+
+      "I very much regret that any of my neighbors and friends
+      should, for one moment, imagine me as an enemy, or suppose
+      that I came here to ridicule what may pass before me. Far
+      be it from my mind. I believe religion is what all men need
+      to make them happy in time and eternity. With all my heart
+      I wish you well and hope you will go on your way
+      rejoicing."
+
+This was the first time he had spoken in public, and though the object
+of his remark was merely to furnish a gentlemanly apology for being
+present, it caused the religious people much joy, as they saw him sit
+down in tears; and ever after his companions regarded him differently,
+all of whom were startled with surprise, and some wept as they heard his
+words.
+
+      "One of my young friends, a respectable young man,
+      conversed with me on the subject. I stated to him all I had
+      said, and in part I manifested my feelings to him with some
+      degree of boldness. He expressed a fear that I would become
+      deluded, though, by the way, he had never manifested a fear
+      of the kind when we used to dance, play cards, and spend
+      the Sabbath together in the reading of novels. 'About the
+      things of religion,' said he, 'it is not well to be in
+      haste. It is a subject which needs the greatest
+      deliberation.' With this I agreed. He further remarked, 'If
+      a person thinks of such things, it is not best to give
+      expression to such thoughts, because people will talk about
+      it, and you,' continued he, 'are already a subject of
+      conversation. Many are concerned for you, and wish your
+      society, and you know it is a disgrace for us to go among
+      those foolish and ignorant Methodists.' By these remarks,
+      coming from a particular friend, I was embarrassed, but
+      soon learned that I must leave all, and part with my
+      dearest companions for Christ; that two masters it was
+      impossible to serve; and in my indecision I seemed to hear
+      a voice as from heaven, saying, 'Choose ye this day whom ye
+      will serve,' impressing my mind with the idea that then was
+      the time for me to secure an interest in the Great
+      Redeemer. Great things of eternity were continually resting
+      on my mind; the saints, as they had opportunity, began to
+      talk with me, of which I was glad, though to them I did
+      not say much, as I was resolved that others should not know
+      my feelings; even if I were ever so happy as to feel my
+      sins forgiven, I was determined not to say much about it to
+      others, and certainly not to make such an ado over it as
+      many did.
+
+      "I was in search for a great and sudden change. About
+      August 1st, 1811, I felt impressed to retire and unbosom
+      myself to the Eternal God, and cry once more for mercy.
+      Walking through the woods to a large valley, I there, by a
+      murmuring brook, fell on my knees and gave vent to my
+      burdened heart in prayer. For a moment my soul felt
+      delivered of all her griefs, and for a few moments I sung
+      and praised God in that delightful place with all my heart;
+      but doubts arose, and as I cast over the scene the eyes of
+      reason, my little heaven vanished, and I remained in
+      silence. I began to fear that I was walking by the light of
+      imagination, and was warming myself by sparks of my own
+      kindling.
+
+      "I began to be more familiar with the saints, sometimes
+      revealing to them in part my determinations, and always
+      gaining strength by so doing. I had not the same
+      consciousness of sin as before. At times, before I was
+      aware of it, my mind would be soaring above on heavenly
+      things; the Scriptures would beautifully open to my mind,
+      and glorious would seem the things of religion; yet I
+      scarcely dared to rejoice. I derived much benefit and
+      instruction from the conversation of the saints, and though
+      I asked their prayers, I neither united with them in
+      prayer, nor kneeled according to their custom. The narrated
+      experience of others aided me some, and as all my Christian
+      friends advised me to pray, I again kneeled in the solitude
+      of nature to invoke divine aid, when the reflection that I
+      was in the presence of an Omnipotent God sealed my lips in
+      silence. Almost fearing that my performances were but
+      mockery, I felt inclined to despair. The next day gleams of
+      hope entered my mind; and on Sunday, hearing many speak of
+      the power of God, and of trials they had passed through, in
+      a manner, some of them, that exactly expressed my feelings,
+      I took courage, because there were others in whose
+      Christianity I had confidence, who felt in some respects as
+      I did. Moved, as I think, by the Spirit of God, and from a
+      high state of mental resolve, I arose and told the assembly
+      that I was determined to seek my happiness in religion, in
+      which alone I believed it could be found. Many of the
+      saints praised God aloud, and my soul was filled with joy
+      and peace that were unspeakable. My love to the faithful
+      was far superior to anything that ever before had dilated
+      my heart. On my return home the very winds that waved the
+      trees, and the streams that flowed through the quiet
+      valley, seemed unitedly to speak my great Creator's praise.
+      The fear of man now vanished, and a holy boldness moved me
+      to speak to all around me of the beauties of my Lord. My
+      soul overflowed with love to my greatest enemies, and my
+      wonder was that the chief of sinners did not behold the
+      glory of God, and unite to exalt his name. Through the
+      night my soul was exceedingly happy, and the next morning I
+      thought the sun was never before so richly laden with the
+      glory of God. I had never known so happy, so pleasant a
+      morning.
+
+      "Though I did not then suppose myself converted, I now
+      think, from an analysis of my feelings, that I enjoyed
+      something of the converting grace of God, for the following
+      reasons:--1st. I had a witness in my own soul that God was
+      my friend. 2d. I felt a vital union with all the saints,
+      without respect to name, age, or color. I loved them, and
+      could say, They are my people. Some who were poor and
+      ignorant, whom I had formerly despised, I was able to
+      embrace as my best friends. 3d. I felt a particular regard
+      for every creature and object God had made, and a
+      tenderness even to the lowest animal forms--as nothing
+      seemed unincluded in the bond of love that united me and
+      all things to Him. 4th. For the chief of sinners I felt
+      particular love, regarding such as brethren in nature, and
+      I greatly wished them to share in the peaceful wealth of
+      the Gospel. 5th. My former ways in which I had sought
+      happiness, now seemed to me as worthless and vain. Indeed I
+      abhorred them.
+
+      "My freedom from the former oppressive gloom, the fulness
+      of the tide of joy that was rising in my breast, at times
+      startled me with the apprehension that as I was not
+      converted I ought not to feel so light and so free, and my
+      embarrassment was increased by the circulation of the
+      report among the people that I was converted. They began to
+      call me brother, which also seemed quite too much for me;
+      and as I could not feel that I had experienced the change
+      as usually described, I began to fear that I was deceived,
+      which caused me much trouble and induced me to be silent
+      for some time, as I was unwilling to discourage or to
+      deceive others. Although I never had so much confidence in
+      dreams as some, yet at this time the glory of God was
+      beautifully revealed to me in night visions, and through
+      them my mind was relieved of many doubts and fears, and
+      again partook of the inward peace which the world in its
+      greatest ability is unable to give. For several weeks,
+      however, I kept my joys to myself, saying nothing in
+      meeting and little in private, as I was determined not to
+      deceive others, as I might in case my joys should prove
+      unreal. Employing myself constantly in reading the
+      Scriptures, that I might walk understandingly, my mind for
+      several weeks was swallowed up in the interest their pages
+      revealed, which unfolded a glory and beauty I cannot
+      describe. In my retired moments, I held sweet communion
+      with God, and, notwithstanding the shadows of doubt that
+      crossed my mind in solitude, I was truly led from glory to
+      glory.
+
+      "I heard others tell the day and the hour when the change
+      was wrought in their hearts. Herein was my greatest
+      trouble. My experience was not like others, nor indeed what
+      I supposed it would be. I knew of several times when my
+      mind was relieved of all its oppressions, but as I could
+      single out no one of them and call it conversion, I
+      concluded that the whole together was conversion. Though
+      continually thirsting for new evidence, for which I was
+      much drawn out in prayer, and selecting the most retired
+      places for holy meditation, I pondered, like Mary, these
+      things in my heart. Some conversations about this time,
+      proved beneficial to me; especially was my soul refreshed
+      by the dreams and night visions that came to me, making it
+      seem ofttimes as though angels were hovering over my bed,
+      and my apartment as filled with the divine glory. I was
+      many times ready to say, I _know_ that my Redeemer liveth."
+
+In this manner Mr. B. records the operations of his youthful mind in
+seeking to solve the most serious of all problems--his soul's salvation.
+One perceives the presence of much self-distrust, much repentance; and
+an abundance of sympathetic sensibility to whatever is morally powerful
+and affecting in religion. Perhaps some have already taken it for
+granted that this youth of overflowing energy, lonely meditation,
+earnest prayer, and self-questionings, was wholly moving on the tide of
+popular instruction, or that he fell as melted lead or iron, into the
+moulds of theological teaching already prepared. This view is suddenly
+dispersed by all that is known of the man, and by the facts of the
+narrative itself. Do not sin and conscious alienation from God afford
+good cause for weeping? Are not the elements of the soul itself good
+reason for prayer, for deep desire and aspiration after a union of
+spirit with Him who is its Parent source and the glorious Perfection, of
+which it now has clear and happy glimpses? That work was unable to
+absorb his mind, that society could not get very near his heart, that
+his food even became tasteless, and his home a scene of mourning, are
+facts that hail from certain states of mind that have their deep
+significance, and which, in India and Persia, as well as in the American
+wilderness, have their numerous representatives.
+
+He speaks of a time of religious interest when his father felt the need
+of something; more than Deism as a support to his mind; also of his
+becoming deeply interested in the ministry of Mr. Farewell, a
+Universalist minister; of his reading with great zeal the writings of
+Winchester, Dr. Hunting, Ballou, and others of the same faith, often
+spending whole nights in writing and study; books which, at his father's
+request, he also studied; and though for a time embarrassed by the
+philosophical arguments of Mr. Ballou on the Atonement and other topics,
+he discarded them ere long, with an earnest decision as opposed to the
+religious experience which gave him joy and hope, and as contrary to the
+plain teachings of the Scriptures. At this early day Universalism was
+indeed a bold extreme, it being little else than Calvinism benevolently
+applied to human destiny; and its strongly controversial and
+undevotional character was poorly adapted to a welcome in hearts that
+were glowing with the sacred enthusiasm of religious love. One evening
+he offered some speculative conversation in relation to the being and
+attributes of Satan, which so hurt the minds of the converts that he
+resolved no longer to harbor these negations, the dwelling upon which so
+much discorded with the happy feelings inspired by their simple faith
+and humble worship.
+
+The Methodist denomination, at this time very spiritual and very
+prosperous in the province, was with him a favorite, though for reasons
+independent of the dictation of persons or of circumstances, he did not
+become a member of their society in his town, a fact which did not at
+all interfere with the entire freedom and cordial fellowship they
+mutually enjoyed. A Methodist Discipline is kindly offered him. He
+gladly reads, and commits it mostly to memory. But there is something in
+this young man that questions the Discipline and the ministers who
+explain it; that regards it as formal, and in many respects unlike the
+Scriptures; that quietly declines making it the groundwork of a faith
+and a sectarian position, though he does not break the happy concord
+about him by obtruding open controversy. He joined no sect.
+
+      "I wondered," said he, "that saints cannot all be one. I
+      thought it strange that the affectionate names of
+      'Brethren,' 'Disciples,' 'Christians,' 'Friends,'--golden
+      names that I found scattered through the New Testament,
+      were not sufficient without the sectarian names under which
+      the denominations were marshalled. This was a great mystery
+      to me. I knew of none at that time who adopted the name of
+      _Christian_ as their only designation; but young and
+      ignorant as I then was, I thought I beheld something more
+      glorious than anything at which either myself or others had
+      as yet arrived. My trials in pondering over these things
+      were great. There were others who agreed with me in ideas
+      of liberty, that were far greater than anything within the
+      limits of the Discipline."
+
+At a time when the righteousness of sectarianism was undisputed, when no
+voices from the pulpit were pleading for the true catholicity of the
+Christian faith, and when his associates were moved along by emotional
+ardor, was it not a strong, clear-sighted, original force of the young
+man that paused to ask, Why this formality and narrowness of creed? Why
+these many sectarian names? Why is the unity of the religion of Jesus
+broken by sects? These indeed were great questions for a young man in
+1811; and in resolving them into a principle of action without
+relinquishing an iota of the faith and piety that had inspired him with
+hope, and joy unspeakable, he has given to the world an early proof of
+the superiority of mind of which his maturer years were the exhibition.
+The multitude, yielding to the enthusiasm of great moral excitement,
+often float along as flood-wood. He so controlled the current that bore
+him, as to be his own man, free from the despotism of any sectarian
+platform.
+
+Through the spring and summer of 1812, his mind steadily poised on
+heavenly things, and anxious to do what the will of God in Christ
+required, he made the subject of baptism a topic of study.
+
+      "I searched the New Testament, as I was determined to know
+      all that it said on the subject. I first became satisfied
+      from the Scriptures, and secret prayer, that baptism was an
+      institution of the Redeemer. 2. That it was enjoined on all
+      believers in the Son of God. 3. That the mode practised in
+      primitive days was going down into the water, and coming up
+      out of the water after being buried therein. Although I was
+      so clear relative to these three ideas, I often wept and
+      cried to God in secret places in view of my unworthiness;
+      but I received a glorious answer that in this institution
+      of outward acknowledgment and obedience, I ought to follow
+      the examples of Him who is the Way, the Truth, and Life.
+      One evening when my mind was much tried on this subject, I
+      prayed to God that if it was my duty to be baptized, I
+      might dream of pleasant water. That night when locked in
+      sleep I dreamed of riding on the most beautiful stream that
+      I ever had seen; also of being immersed in the pure and
+      tranquil element, whilst the divine glory shone around as a
+      sacred enchantment. When I awoke my heart was filled with
+      love divine, and I believe that, had there been an
+      administrator present, I should hardly have waited for the
+      day-dawn. These feelings I kept to myself; and, as I could
+      not think of any administrator, or fix on time and place, I
+      continued in this way till the first of September.
+
+      "I then went to Hatley to attend a general meeting, and a
+      glorious time it was. Here I first saw Elder Benjamin Page,
+      from Vermont, who preached a very instructive and
+      refreshing discourse from Rom. 8: 21. 'Because the creature
+      itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
+      corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.'
+      Here I became acquainted with many of God's people whom I
+      had not known, and in their spirituality and freedom I saw
+      what more accorded with my existing ideas than I yet had
+      seen. Nearly two hours Mr. Page spoke again from Isa. 33:
+      2. It was a glorious time, as was also the evening meeting,
+      in which many participated. The next day we all parted with
+      tears of joy, never expecting to meet again on earth. As I
+      was about to leave, I took Elder Moulton by the hand and
+      asked him if he would come to Compton and preach, to which
+      he replied that he would whenever I desired him, inquiring
+      at the same time if there were not some in our vicinity who
+      would like to receive baptism, saying, 'I have thought for
+      some time that I should have to go there to administer this
+      ordinance'--a remark that gave to my former impressions a
+      new evidence of my present duty. We agreed upon the time; I
+      made the appointment and longed for the day to come; but
+      the morning that brought me this new responsibility was not
+      wholly without clouds, as the cross appeared great and
+      fears arose. In spirit, I said,--
+
+      "'Jesus, my Lord, my Life, my Light,
+        O come with blissful ray;
+      Break radiant through the shades of night,
+        And chase my fears away.'
+
+      In a trembling and prayerful state of mind I went to
+      church, where I found a large concourse of people in
+      attendance, to whom Elder M. preached words of life. Among
+      the many that were moved to speak in honor of the Redeemer,
+      I arose, expressed my love to God and the saints, inviting
+      my young companions to a rich and costly repast, without
+      money and without price. Here every doubt was removed. Here
+      I gained strength. The glory of God filled my heart. My
+      father being present, Elder M. asked him if he was willing
+      that his son should go forward in baptism, to which he
+      replied that he was perfectly willing that Joseph, in
+      things of religion, should act according to his own
+      conception of duty. This gave me additional joy. I had
+      chosen a pleasant stream, the Coatecook river, as the place
+      where I preferred to receive baptism, to which locality we
+      walked, two and two, in large procession, the distance of
+      half a mile, singing the praises of God as we advanced.
+      This day, Sept. 29, 1812, will be held in everlasting
+      remembrance by me. My father sat upon his horse a few rods
+      above me, in the water, so as to have a fair prospect. I
+      was informed by the spectators who stood near him, that
+      when I went into the water the tears flowed freely from his
+      eyes. Under the smile of clear skies, of a quiet
+      surrounding nature, I was baptized in the name of the
+      Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The hearts of the
+      brethren on shore appeared full of joy, and some voices of
+      acclamation were heard. It seemed, indeed, as though the
+      heavens were opened, and the Spirit was hovering on the
+      assembly. Some praised, others wept, and a sweet peace and
+      calmness filled my soul. As I ascended from the water, I
+      sung the following lines with the Spirit, and I think with
+      the understanding also:
+
+      "'But who is this that cometh forth,
+        Sweet as the blooming morning,
+      Fair as the moon, clear as the sun?
+        'Tis Jesus Christ adorning.'[10]
+
+      We returned singing; and truly, like the Ethiopian
+      worshipper, we 'went on our way rejoicing.' From this time,
+      I felt that I was newly established in God's grace. I had
+      more strength to withstand temptation, more confidence to
+      speak in the holy cause of the Redeemer. Here, with the
+      Psalmist, I could say, 'How love I thy law; it is my
+      meditation all the day.'
+
+      "'Let wonder still with love unite,
+        And gratitude and joy;
+      Be holiness my heart's delight,
+        Thy praises my employ.'"
+
+Thus reads the narrative of such outward and inward facts as belong to
+the early religious history of Joseph Badger. Its component parts are,
+deep feeling, much thought, temporary doubting and despondency,
+penitence, inward aspiration, prayerful reliance on God, and at last a
+wide Christian fellowship, untinged by sectarian preference, and a
+conscious peace and joy in God. Through the many changes of theory, each
+winning admirers and having its day; through the stormy excitements of
+the religious feeling in the world, Mr. B. always retained his
+equilibrium and his constancy. And why? Because he laid his basis not in
+dogma, not in speculation, but in _experience_. By this he held his
+course, it being an anchor in the sea-voyage of life, a pole-star to the
+otherwise doubtful wanderings of the world's night. What can we or any
+one _know_ of Divinity, except what we hold in our inward consciousness
+and experience? Nothing else. _Words_ do not reveal holy mysteries. The
+soul must have God in its own life, or He is a mere intellectual
+conception, a mere word. We admire the poetic, marvellous vein that
+enables one to linger upon a beautiful dream. The young man, already
+rich in the Spirit's baptism, saw sacred value in the outward form, in
+the pure Scripture symbol. Earlier than the dates of Christian records
+in Palestine, did the religious feeling of man, in different climes,
+select water as one of its best formal expressions; and, though not
+heretofore inattentive to what theological controversy has said on the
+subject, we should say it is as well to stake one's duty now on a
+beautiful dream, as on all the light engendered by the ablest
+controversy ever held by polemic divines. The Coatecook and the Jordan
+are, through faith, equally sacred, as it is the Spirit that sanctifies.
+What can surpass in beauty and loveliness, the idea of the grand
+baptismal scene of the sacred river of Judea? We imagine the numerous
+multitude walking silently thither through the overshadowing woods, and
+in anxious, reverent musings, standing upon its banks. We feel the
+thoughts of penitence, the gleams of hope, half shaded by melancholy, as
+they here stole into the hearts of Abraham's dejected sons; and with
+them we muse upon the expected Christ of their deliverance, whom they
+daily hoped to see. We gaze upon the form of one whose moral and
+physical beauty it had delighted the eyes of the most beautiful to have
+seen; and as the waters glide by him on either side in graceful
+loveliness,--as the yellow sunbeams here and there rest calmly upon the
+shaded current, we see him meekly bowed into the genial waters; and what
+artist shall ever picture the beauty of the ideal in our minds when we
+view the circling dove from on high hovering upon the Saviour's breast,
+and the golden stream of light through the opening heaven descending
+upon his brow? Formal baptism, thus honored and glorified, remains a
+permanent institution of religion and of the Christian Church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CALL TO AND ENTRANCE UPON THE MINISTRY.
+
+      "But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared
+      unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a
+      witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of
+      those things in the which I will appear unto thee."--Acts
+      26: 16.
+
+
+With these words of a high mission Mr. Badger's journal opens, and how
+well does it accord with the idea of divine agency in placing moral
+lights in the world, and with what to him was a common thought, the
+unequalled greatness of the minister's station. More than once or twice
+have I heard him say to the young man who was publicly receiving the
+honors of ordination, or of a conferential reception, "You are called,
+my brother, to fulfil the duties of the highest station ever occupied by
+a human being. No station on earth is so great in its nature, and so
+responsible in its duties, as that of the Christian minister;" and more
+than once, in the quiet social circle, and when alone, heard him say: "I
+would not exchange the joys and trials and honors of the Christian
+ministry, for the throne of the ablest king on earth." And this was the
+settled, serious feeling of his mind. He recognized God in the call of
+the true minister, not leaving the sacred choice at the mercy of family
+policy, of individual ambition, or the efficiency of college endowment.
+
+      "In ages past," says Mr. Badger, "God has seen fit to raise
+      up, qualify, and send forth ambassadors to the people. He
+      has frequently sent angels with celestial messages to men.
+      Men also have been employed in the same work, have received
+      the word from Him and declared it to the people. Aaron,
+      Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others, are striking
+      illustrations of the truth that God has appeared unto men
+      to make them ministers and witnesses of those things they
+      have seen, and of those which he shall reveal unto them.
+      John said, 'We speak the things we do know, and testify the
+      things we have seen.' The Gospel is not something learned
+      by human teaching, as are the mathematics and divers
+      natural sciences. St. Paul was nearer its fountain-head and
+      true attainment when he said, 'I neither received it from
+      man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus
+      Christ.' 'Wo is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.'
+      Neither reputation nor worldly recompense prompted the
+      apostolical preaching. 'We preach not ourselves, but the
+      Lord Jesus Christ.' 'Freely thou hast received, freely
+      give.' The Gospel is not an earthly product, but a divine
+      institution for divine ends. The preaching of it,
+      therefore, is the highest possible work, demanding the
+      greatest deliberation and integrity. Its effects are either
+      'a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death.' How
+      delightful also is this employment, as it brings life,
+      light and comfort to all who yield to its elevating,
+      enlightening and purifying power."
+
+These passages, written in the early years of his ministerial life, at
+once recalled the second sermon[11] that the writer of this ever heard
+him preach, founded on the heroic text of St. Paul, "I am not ashamed of
+the Gospel of Christ,"[12] in which he announced the Gospel as a divine
+science, as a refining power, as according with human nature and its
+wants; and, indeed, as "the only perfect science of human happiness
+known on earth." Such is the supremacy he unwaveringly gave to Christ,
+to his Gospel, and to its genuine ministry.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The feeling that drew the mind of Mr. Badger into the ministry, was an
+early one, having birth almost contemporaneously with the deep strivings
+of his mind already narrated in the previous chapter. It was the highest
+aspiration of his youth. Often, when at work, as early as the autumn of
+1811, then nineteen years of age, his mind scarcely within his own
+control, he was frequently in a preaching frame, and often fancied that
+he was speaking to audiences of people on the attractions of Christ; so
+thoroughly was his mind engrossed in these meditations, that he often
+spoke several words before being aware of it, and not unfrequently did
+he find himself suffused with tears. "I had at this time," says Mr. B.,
+"no idea that I should ever be a minister."
+
+      "As soon as I had myself partaken of the pardoning love of
+      Christ, I felt as though all others should be sharers in
+      eternal life. In prayer, my mind was drawn out for all men,
+      for the chief of sinners. My mind was quickly weaned from
+      earthly delights, and all my powers were devoted to
+      spiritual interests. The few good ministers I knew I
+      esteemed as the best and happiest of human beings; and, as
+      the harvest seemed great, I often prayed that the Lord
+      would send forth more laborers into the field. I thought if
+      I were in such a minister's place I would go to the ends of
+      the earth to sound the message of redeeming love. It was in
+      the midst of such meditations that, in the first of the
+      year 1812, all at once the idea broke into my mind that I
+      must leave all and preach Christ. My soul shrunk away from
+      the overpowering greatness of the thought, which I
+      immediately banished from my mind; but with its banishment
+      there came a gloomy despondency, as through the winter I
+      continued at times to be exercised with the spirit of a
+      station, which I supposed I never could fill.
+
+      "In the spring I went into the woods to make sugar, a
+      business much followed in that country. Night and day for
+      several weeks I was here confined, a scene that might once
+      have been gloomy, but now was delightsome, as I enjoyed
+      much of God's presence in my secret devotions. I kept my
+      Bible with me, had some opportunity of reading, which I
+      eagerly improved with the greatest satisfaction. Here my
+      mind was again powerfully exercised in relation to
+      preaching; these impressions always brought with them the
+      greatest solemnity. At such times I sought the most retired
+      places I could find, wishing that I might hide, as it were,
+      'in the cleft of the rock,' as the sacred vision passed
+      before me. I said, 'Lord, who is sufficient for these
+      things?' and with Jeremiah I was constrained to say, 'I
+      cannot speak, for I am a child.' While these things like
+      mountains were rolled upon my mind, I frequently spent the
+      greater part of the whole night in prayer, in which I asked
+      that I might be excused, and that these things might be
+      taken from me. Hours in the lonely woods I passed in tears,
+      and none but the angels witnessed the action and utterance
+      of my grief. Once I opened my Bible wishing to know my
+      duty, and the first words I beheld were, 'The harvest is
+      past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved;' language
+      that impressed me with the great importance of the present
+      time as an opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven; to
+      call the attention of men to their salvation, before the
+      lamentation of the prophet should become their sad and
+      unhopeful song. From the depth of my spirit I said, Oh! my
+      soul, can I be excusable for my silence, when I behold the
+      dark tide of sin on which myriads are rushing to eternal
+      wo? Hearing the voice of Heaven perpetually resounding 'Why
+      will ye die?' and beholding the crimson tide of the loving,
+      dying Christ, that ever spoke of mercy, whilst angels
+      appeared to my view as waiting and longing to rejoice over
+      one repenting sinner, I said, Can I refrain from warning
+      men of their danger, from inviting them to the Christ of
+      their deliverance? For several days the above named
+      scripture occupied my mind, and I was satisfied that God
+      was drawing me into the ministry by these impressions, and
+      soon I was willing to leave all, and suffer the loss of all
+      things for Christ.
+
+      "Late in the spring I left my retirement, with a
+      countenance wan and fallen, and a heart filled with 'wo is
+      me if I preach not the Gospel.' I was silent, no company
+      seemed agreeable, and to no one did I confide my feelings.
+      In the summer of 1812, I searched the Scriptures, and often
+      did my mind so extensively open to an understanding of what
+      I read, that I was impressed to communicate what I felt and
+      what I saw. On some particular passage my mind would rest
+      for several days at a time, and ideas of which I had never
+      before thought, would present themselves. Well do I
+      remember the great power in which the words of the
+      apostolical commission came to my mind: 'Go ye into all the
+      world and preach the Gospel to every creature;' words that
+      seemed night and day to sound as a voice of thunder through
+      my spirit. I regarded this as the divine voice; as Job
+      says, 'God thundereth marvellously with his voice.' From
+      all the scripture I read I gathered something that taught
+      me the moral situation of mankind, God's willingness and
+      ways for saving them, also my own duty to my race.
+      Remarkable dreams at this time united with other evidences
+      to confirm me in my duty, as often in the midnight slumber
+      I dreamed of speaking to large assemblies in the name and
+      spirit of the Lord. Frequently, under these exercises, I
+      spoke so loud as to awaken the people in the house, and
+      sometimes awoke in tears calling on sinners to repent and
+      embrace the Saviour. When sleep departed from my eyes, as
+      it frequently did, I would spend most of the night in
+      prayer to God. Often could I say, with the weeping Hebrew
+      prophet, 'Oh, that mine head were waters, and mine eyes a
+      fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night.' But
+      none, except those who have passed through similar trials,
+      can understand the peculiar experience touched upon in
+      these last paragraphs."
+
+The passage of men, called in any divine way, from worldly business into
+the work of reclaiming souls from sin, cannot be as smooth and easy as
+the passage one makes from a machine-shop to a counting-room. Fashion
+and custom may render it so, but these are far from being God's prime
+ministers. Is there no preparatory process by which the spirit of the
+prophet is stirred to its depth? Did not the fine nature of Jesus
+undergo temptations and trials in the wilderness for forty days before
+he entered upon his public mission? Did he not there feel the grandeur
+of his mission, when he foresaw the cost of all that the world and its
+ambition holds dear, as the result of his future procedure? He casts the
+worldly crown beneath his feet, and steadily fixes his eye on the
+immortal good of the world as his end. The coarser heart of Arabia's
+prophet also sought solitude as its home ere it gave to the East its
+lasting oracles. The question of the calculating European and New
+Englander, as to which one of his family he shall select with whom to
+stock the sacred profession, never came from the land of inspiration and
+of divine missions. He that was too dull to be a rogue, or a successful
+practitioner in law, medicine or merchandise, the old maxim thought to
+promise best for the pulpit. No such plottings had aught to do in the
+election of this young man. It was warm from his heart, was seasoned in
+prayers, baptized in tears, and cherished in sleepless night-watchings
+and lonely meditations. Preaching skilfully, learned as an art, may be
+had almost as cheaply as Parisian dancing; but the living word that
+"breaketh the rocks in pieces" never comes in it.
+
+Mr. Badger attended meetings through the summer, heard, when they had no
+minister, one of John Wesley's sermons read, as dictated by the
+discipline; mingling with others his own voice of exhortation and
+prayer. The eyes of all were soon fixed upon him, and the brethren began
+to complain of his disobedience to the heavenly vision long before he
+had intimated to any one the state of his mind. Some assured him
+confidently that they had an evidence from God that it was his duty to
+preach, and that their meetings were impoverished by his unfaithful
+withholding. "This," says he, "I could not deny." Though encouraged by
+the kindred sympathy of Mr. Gilson, who narrated to him his own trials
+before entering the ministry, though finding a response to his own
+conviction of duty in the hearts of all the spiritually minded about
+him, he did not immediately or hastily go forth in ministerial action
+and armor. He waited the call of circumstance and occasion. His journal
+narrates a most beautiful visit he had at the house of Capt. Felix Ward,
+where the conversation was wholly devoted to religion; where scripture
+inquiry, prayer and holy song united to enlighten their minds, and to
+lay the basis of a valuable lasting friendship; and though strangers to
+each other, the family spoke of him afterwards as one whom they then
+believed would be a chosen vessel to bear the honor of God before the
+Gentiles. "I thought," says Mr. B., "I scarcely ever saw a house so full
+of the glory of God."
+
+But particular occasion calls. In June or July, 1812, persecution arose
+in Ascott, which drove from the province two successful ministers,
+Messrs. Bates and Granger, because they would not swear allegiance to
+King George, which they boldly affirmed that they would never do.
+Thanking God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ, they
+meekly submitted to the persecution that seized them as prisoners in the
+midst of a happy meeting, and that drove them, after a lengthy
+arbitration, back into their own country, the State of Vermont.
+
+      "When I heard of this circumstance," says Mr. B., "my
+      heart, filled with love for the dear converts and brethren
+      who were bereaved of their pastors by the counsel of the
+      ungodly, caused me to feel my responsibility anew; as I was
+      a citizen of the country, knew the manners and customs of
+      the people, and could easily take a position from which the
+      same persecuting powers could not drive me. My heart, like
+      David's, began to burn with a holy resolve to go forth into
+      the field, and take the place of my injured brothers."
+
+Though a stranger in the town of Ascott, where these events occurred, (a
+town about twelve miles from Compton,) he started on Saturday, near
+Sept. 1st, to attend with them a general meeting of which he had
+previously heard, and as he was riding through a space of woods, it
+suddenly struck him that Mr. Moulton would be absent, and that he should
+be obliged to speak; and the hundreds who remember the simplicity and
+naturalness of the texts from which he almost invariably preached in
+after life, will see something characteristic in the passage, Heb. 13:
+1, that came at once to his mind, "Let brotherly love continue."
+Hesitating for a time whether he would proceed or return, as he was
+satisfied that he should meet this great duty if he proceeded, he went
+forward, found a large audience assembled and no minister present. As he
+entered, all eyes were attracted to him, and though many present
+regarded him as one whom the Holy Spirit had called to preach, he
+remained through the meeting in silence, except at the close he owned
+his disobedience, and received from several present warnings to be
+faithful hereafter. In personal figure Mr. B. was a noble and commanding
+man, one that could not pass among strangers without drawing to himself
+a marked attention.
+
+Saturday evening he was invited to pass at Mr. Bullard's, where they
+spent part of the evening in singing, and hours, he says, upon their
+knees in prayer,--an evening by him never forgotten, as the Holy Spirit
+consciously filled their hearts with joy. "I thought then," says our
+youth, "I never saw so happy a family. Oh, what a glorious age will it
+be when the principles of pure religion shall pervade the world!" On
+Sunday they repaired to the place of worship, where "Mr. M. most
+beautifully described from James 1: 25, the perfect law of liberty. Many
+were in spirit refreshed, and indeed we sat together in heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus." As the Lord's Supper was not then administered,
+another appointment was made, and from the happy influences of this
+meeting with saints, Mr. B. returned home "in the power of the Spirit,"
+firmly resolved to do all that duty might ever require. He again
+returned to Ascott to attend the appointment made for the communion,
+where Mr. M. gave an able discourse on having "_a sound mind_," and
+where, for the first time in his life, he partook of the symbols of
+Jesus' truth and dying love. He says:
+
+      "I trembled at the thought of attending on so sacred an
+      ordinance, and with so holy a band of brethren; but as I
+      could not feel justified in the neglect of the privilege, I
+      came forward in the worthiness of my Lord, and I believe
+      with his fear before my eyes. A deep solemnity rested on
+      the whole assembly, and our souls, at the close, were
+      seemingly on flame for the realms above. I was never
+      happier in my life at the close of a meeting.
+
+      "Mr. M., having appointments over St. Francis River, wished
+      me to take a journey with him. I complied. We crossed the
+      river, visited several families, had one meeting; then
+      passing up the river to Westbury (eight miles), through a
+      woody region mostly, we arrived in the afternoon much
+      fatigued, as we had to encounter the buffetings of a
+      violent storm. On our way, I had fallen back and rode
+      several miles alone in the most serious meditations. I
+      clearly saw the hardships of a missionary life, and felt
+      that I must enter the field. We found a loving company of
+      brethren, who received us kindly, and who appeared to be
+      steadfast in faith. We held several good meetings in the
+      place. Some were baptized. I also made the acquaintance of
+      Mr. Zenas Adams, a young minister who had just begun to
+      preach. This journey increased my confidence, as Mr.
+      Moulton was a discerning man, and qualified both from
+      knowledge and sympathy to assist young ministers. The
+      conversations with Mr. Adams were also advantageous. He was
+      but a few months my elder.
+
+      "I had now arrived at a crisis in which I must earnestly
+      dispose of every practical objection. I had said, 'I am a
+      child--I cannot speak.' I was but twenty years of age; I
+      thought my friends might be unwilling. Soon, however, my
+      father gave me my freedom; and I felt that there was much
+      meaning yet in the good scripture which saith, 'It shall be
+      given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.' I plead a
+      comparative illiteracy, as the minister is ordained to
+      teach, and ought to command the various resources of
+      knowledge. This objection also fled before that potent
+      scripture, James 1: 5, 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him
+      ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
+      not; and it shall be given him.' I was satisfied of this,
+      that if God had called me to the work, with health, youth,
+      and industry on my part, He would give me every necessary
+      qualification. As swimming is learned by swimming, and
+      agriculture is acquired by its active pursuit, it struck me
+      that fidelity in the new work would secure the only
+      effectual skill in conducting it. I thought of a kind
+      father's house, of my loving parents who had watched over
+      my childhood, of the four brothers and four sisters with
+      whom I had lived in the greatest friendship; and I did not
+      omit to think of the needful renunciation of worldly
+      prospects, and of the censures I should get from some, and
+      the various treatment I had reason to expect from the world
+      if I went out as a faithful, uncompromising ambassador of
+      Christ. To take the parting hand with my dear relatives,
+      and to live in the world as a _stranger_ and _foreigner_,
+      called up many painful emotions in my breast as I glanced
+      into the uncertain future. Still no tide of emotion could
+      carry me back in my purposes, and with much feeling I felt
+      to say:
+
+      "'Farewell, oh my parents, the joy of my childhood,
+          My brothers and sisters, I bid you adieu!
+        To wander creation, its fields and its wildwood,
+          And call upon mortals their God to pursue:
+      When driven by rain-drops, and night shades prevailing,
+      And keen piercing north-winds my thin robes assailing,
+      And stars of the twilight in lustre regaling,
+        I'll seek some repose in a cottage unknown.'
+
+      "Through all my discouragements and melancholy hours,
+      interspersed throughout nearly a year's continuance, there
+      were times when the sweet peace of God grew conscious in my
+      heart, and always did this passage bring with it a cheering
+      light, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+      world!" I felt that it was mine, that it was for me, and
+      for all true ministers through time, as well as for the
+      worthier ones who carried the Master's truth through
+      suffering and trial over the earth. Feeling now that the
+      time had come when I must venture forth, and finding that
+      nothing among the armory of Saul would suit my form or
+      answer my purpose, I concluded that no other way remained
+      for me but to rely on 'the mighty arm of the God of Jacob,'
+      under whose name I would fight the battle of life. In the
+      latter part of October, 1812, on a pleasant Sabbath
+      morning, while the people were gathering from every
+      direction for meeting, the following passage came with
+      power to my mind, and as no minister was present that day,
+      I knew I could offer no good excuse for a refusal to speak.
+      Phil. 2: 5. 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in
+      Christ Jesus.' On this text, on this very glorious theme,
+      my public life began, and doubtless in a weak, broken, and
+      trembling manner. I have often thought of my first text,
+      and have endeavored to make it my motto for life, for it is
+      on the idea here advanced that the vital merit of ministers
+      and Christians must forever depend. How important that the
+      Gospel minister should have the mind of Christ! How can he
+      otherwise preach Him to the world? How may he penetrate the
+      centre of other souls and hold up the living evidence of
+      Christianity without it? How important that all Christians
+      have His spirit and temper! For it is this that directs,
+      this that supports, this that adorns the child of God.
+
+      "But when the echo of the first effort came back from the
+      community, 'Joseph Badger has become a preacher,' a
+      sentence then in everybody's mouth, I was greatly
+      mortified, particularly when the invitations came to me
+      before the week had ended, to go and preach in different
+      parts of the town. I complied as far as practicable with
+      these requests, and our meetings were thronged with people
+      who came to hear the new minister, the young man--young,
+      indeed, in a double sense,--in years and in experience.
+      Perhaps never before did surrounding circumstances unite to
+      render me more thoroughly conscious of my weakness,
+      dependence, and inefficiency. I spent much time in secret
+      prayer, and in pensive meditation, and the cry I once
+      before had made in the anticipation now arose with
+      redoubled energy, 'Lord, who is sufficient for these
+      things?' More than ever did I begin to fell the worth of
+      souls by night and by day; and through the bodily fatigues
+      to which my labors subjected me, the sense of
+      responsibility and insufficiency that weighed upon me, my
+      mind was somewhat shaded with melancholy, and often did my
+      heart find relief in tears.
+
+      "The next Thursday evening after my first sermon, I
+      attended a Conference, where I met Mr. Gilson, a well-known
+      minister. He appeared much rejoiced at what he called 'the
+      good news,' and insisted that as there were many present, I
+      should occupy the desk as the speaker, and give the
+      introductory sermon. This, to me, was a great cross,
+      particularly so as one of my brothers was present. After
+      enduring for a time the conflict of feelings, which may be
+      easily imagined, I went forward in prayer, then arose to
+      speak from 1 John 5, 19th verse: 'And we know that we are
+      of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.' In
+      speaking, I had a good time, and both branches of the
+      subject, which run over the ground occupied by saints and
+      sinners, seemed to have a good effect; it inspired joy in
+      the one, and awakened solemnity in the other. Mr. G.
+      approbated my discourse, but I felt much mortified that I,
+      a mere lad, was called out to set my _few loaves_ and
+      _small fishes_ before the great multitude."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+PUBLIC LABORS IN THE PROVINCE.
+
+
+      "From this time, I continued to improve my gift in public
+      speaking, in this and other neighborhoods of the town.
+      Feeling much friendship and care for the brethren in
+      Ascott, I spent as much time as my business would allow
+      among them, which was to my instruction and comfort, as
+      there were in that place many faithful and experienced
+      Christians. As I had some leisure, and found it duty to
+      visit the neighboring towns, I thought it would be proper
+      to have something to show, upon my introduction to strange
+      communities, what my character and standing were at home.
+      As I felt commissioned from God's throne, I saw no
+      necessity of applying to men for license or liberty to
+      preach, and therefore only sought a confirmation of my
+      moral character. It would indeed be an absurd mission that
+      did not include the liberty of fulfilling the duty imposed.
+      Thus 'I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were
+      Apostles before me,' though I conferred much with 'flesh
+      and blood.' I submitted this question to Mr. John Gilson,
+      who as a minister was highly respected. He concurred with
+      me in opinion, gave me a letter stating that my moral and
+      Christian character was good, and that the religious
+      community believed me to be called to preach the Gospel.
+      This was singular, as I was not a Methodist, and was in no
+      way pledged to their peculiar doctrines. We always had,
+      however, a good understanding, and it was with tears that I
+      parted from them. Since then I have often met them with
+      joy, and they are still dear in my memory.[13] For one
+      year from the time I began to preach, this was all the
+      letter I had, whilst with solemn joy I went through the
+      region of Lower Canada to preach, experiencing the mingled
+      cup of joy and trial common to a missionary life, which was
+      my heart's choice.
+
+      "In the winter of 1812 I made it my home in Ascott,
+      attended school some, but, so far as scholarship is
+      concerned, to little profit, as my mind was subjected to
+      impressions that constrained me to leave school and preach
+      Christ. In the early part of the winter, I concluded to
+      visit Shipton, on a preaching tour of about sixty miles,
+      with Zenas Adams. He was a well-informed young man, who had
+      commenced preaching a few months earlier than myself. We
+      started on foot, and travelled along with mind and
+      conversation seriously imbued with the spirit of our
+      calling, to the appointments we had made, where we met
+      large assemblies, who had convened to hear what the boys
+      could say. Brother A. spoke mostly on this tour. We
+      attended meetings in Brompton, Melbourne, Shipton, and
+      other places, meeting kind receptions and gentle treatment
+      from many good Christians, and short answers from some of
+      our enemies. At Shipton we were joyfully received by Capt.
+      Ephraim Magoon, in a manner never to be forgotten by me;
+      also were we kindly greeted by many other good friends. We
+      passed several days in this place, which laid the
+      foundation for a long acquaintance, and for my subsequent
+      labors in that community."
+
+The following paragraph is so characteristic of Mr. B., that no one can
+fail to see the man as present in the youth. It was in sudden emergency
+that the energy and creativeness of his genius were always manifest.
+Though naturally diffident, no one ever saw him in an emergency that
+proved greater than his own mind. His dignity, firmness, composure and
+aptness at such times, were always striking and heroic. In a crisis,
+who ever saw him at a loss?
+
+      "On our return, at a meeting held at Mr. Hovey's, whilst
+      Adams was preaching, a British officer came in. When the
+      sermon was ended, I arose to speak by way of exhortation.
+      It was a solemn, weeping time, and I observed the officer
+      to shed tears. When the meeting was dismissed he made known
+      to us his business, informing us that Esquire Cushing had
+      sent him to arrest us, and to bring us before him for
+      examination, as it was a time of war between two nations,
+      and we were strangers. 'But as for myself,' he kindly
+      observed, 'I am not concerned about you, and if you will
+      agree to call on Esquire C. to-morrow, I will return home;'
+      to which we agreed, exhorting him to repent. The next day
+      we called at Esquire Cushing's tavern (for his were the
+      double honors of landlord and magistrate) and ordered
+      refreshment. At evening we were formally summoned into his
+      presence. I walked forward and Adams fell in the rear, in
+      order that I might act as the chief speaker. Mr. Cushing
+      then exclaimed, with all the harsh authority a British
+      tyrant could assume 'What's your business in this country?'
+      I replied, 'To preach Christ's Gospel, sir.' 'By what
+      authority?' 'By the authority of Heaven, sir.' At this the
+      old man began to look surprised and beaten, thinking that I
+      probably knew his character too well for him to succeed in
+      this sort of treatment; and my friend Adams,
+      constitutionally mild and retiring, began to take courage.
+      He then observed, 'How came you in this country?' 'My
+      father purchasing a large tract of land in the town of
+      Compton, brought me into this country when nine years old,
+      and, _sir_, I have as good a right here as you or any other
+      man.' 'Have you taken the oath of allegiance?' 'Yes, sir.'
+      'Let me see your certificate,' added he. I presented it; it
+      was read and returned. 'Are you a son of Major Badger, of
+      Compton?' 'I am, sir.' 'Well, you'd better be at home than
+      to be strolling about the country.' 'I thank you, sir, I
+      shall attend to what employment I think best, and shall
+      visit what part of the country I please.' Here I was
+      dismissed, and I conclude he thought me a saucy fellow.
+
+      "Next poor Adams had to walk up. He came forward with a
+      calm and delicate countenance, clothed in the sweet temper
+      of the Lamb. The blood which had forsaken his beardless
+      face, now returned, and adorned his cheeks with their
+      accustomed bloom, as he stood before a '_beast of the
+      deep_,' who possessed much of the spirit that prevailed in
+      his mother-country during the reign of Queen Mary, who
+      caused her own beautiful cousin, Lady Jane Grey, to ascend
+      the scaffold at the age of seventeen to suffer death for
+      her religion. Brother Adams had taken the oath of
+      allegiance, but as he could present no certificate he
+      experienced some difficulty and suffered much abuse. But
+      his soft answers served to turn away wrath. As I knew him I
+      spoke in his favor, and after a short time we were
+      dismissed. The next morning, after paying an extravagant
+      price for poor, and to us disagreeable entertainment, we
+      departed, rejoicing that we in our youthful days were
+      counted worthy to suffer for Jesus' sake.
+
+      "This journey was very beneficial to me. Here a friendship
+      was formed between brother Adams and myself which has never
+      since been destroyed. He was an excellent young man, and
+      had not at that time joined the Methodist connection. After
+      a most agreeable acquaintance for more than one year, it
+      was heart-rending to part with him. I found that he was
+      resolved to join the Society, and that he was very anxious
+      that I should. We conversed on the measure lengthily. I
+      proposed to him that we would travel at large, and not be
+      confined to sect or party, but preach a free salvation to
+      all who would hear us. He said that his confidence was so
+      small, that he thought it best to preach upon an
+      established circuit, where he should be sure of a living
+      and where he should have homes to receive him. I replied,
+      that I could not fear to trust in God for a living; that
+      the faithful minister would never starve; and that if I
+      could not get further on my way, at any time, I would go
+      home and resume my daily toil. I saw that he was set on
+      going to Conference; he also saw that I had a permanent
+      dislike to the _Bishop's power_, and that I would not
+      become subject to the Methodist _laws_. We did not longer
+      urge each other, but parted in love. I walked with him half
+      a mile, when he started, and I felt the trial of our
+      parting to be great. We kneeled in the woods with our arms
+      around each other, and when we had prayed and bathed each
+      other's bosoms in tears, we arose and parted with
+      affectionate salutation, never expecting to meet again on
+      earth. He went to unite with the American Methodists, and
+      I, more from duty than inclination, remained among enemies
+      in Lower Canada, to stem the torrent of opposition alone.
+
+      "In the month of January I left school, rode to Hatley and
+      Stanstead, on the shore of Lake Mogogue, where I spent
+      certain days, and attended several meetings. The greater
+      part of the winter, when out of school, I spent at Ascott,
+      Compton, and Westbury, where I had good times, though
+      mingled with trials and temptations. The first day of
+      January, 1813, was a very glorious time at a general
+      meeting in Ascott. Mr. Gilson, and a colored man by the
+      name of Dunbar, who was both a godly man and a faithful
+      preacher, were our principal speakers. In the month of
+      March I took a journey to Shipton alone, where I enjoyed a
+      glorious meeting, and made an engagement to return in the
+      spring.
+
+      "During this month, my eldest brother came four miles to
+      hear me preach. He requested me to make an appointment at
+      his house, which was near my father's residence; and but
+      few of our family had ever heard me speak. His house was
+      one where I had attended many balls and had met assemblies
+      for vain recreations. The audience to whom I spoke was
+      composed of my parents, brothers, sisters, neighbors, and
+      my fellow youth, who had been my old companions in
+      sin--circumstances that rendered my cross very great. My
+      father's presence made my embarrassment much greater, as I
+      knew the critical cast of his mind, the extensive reading
+      and education by which his intellect was enriched. I
+      observed that my father selected a seat with his back
+      towards me. Excessive as my cross was, I could not be
+      reconciled to this. I arose and presented him my chair, and
+      when he had again taken his seat, I read a hymn from the
+      Methodist collection, which was sweetly sung by the young
+      people, my brother serving as chorister. After prayer and
+      the second singing, I announced my text, at which every
+      countenance fell, a general surprise being visible all
+      around, and the young people appeared as solemn as if the
+      day of doom had dawned. I believe I have intimated
+      heretofore that, as a town, the people were irreligious. My
+      text was Matt. 23: 33. 'Ye serpents, ye generation of
+      vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell?' My text
+      was harsh, but my discourse was mild. I first noticed the
+      natural qualities of serpents and vipers that constituted
+      the analogy of the passage, and that furnished the reason
+      of their being so called. Second, I described what I
+      considered to be the damnation of hell. Third, I endeavored
+      to show how we might escape this, and the necessity of
+      improving a present day of grace. I then addressed myself
+      to the assembly in the following order: 1st, to my parents;
+      2d, to my brothers and sisters; 3d, to the young people;
+      4th, to the neighbors. This was indeed one of the most
+      affecting scenes I ever had witnessed. When I came to
+      address the young people in relation to our former sports
+      in that room, and to express my regard for them, and to
+      tell them of the new and better inheritance I had
+      discovered, some wept aloud, and at the close several said
+      'Pray for me.' I name this circumstance, as it was the
+      first time my parents ever heard me preach, and it being a
+      time deeply impressed on my own memory. After this I rode
+      four miles, and preached in the evening at Mr. Benjamin
+      Sleeper's, in whose house a most beautiful child lay dead,
+      and which on the following morning received its burial."
+
+I find, on another page of his journal, that the sermon here spoken of
+bears date March 23d, 1813.
+
+      "I now began to reflect on the situation of the people at
+      Shipton, and felt it my duty to return to them, as in that
+      and in several adjoining towns there was no minister. I
+      accordingly made preparations and started, April 1st, 1813.
+      On the way I spoke several times, to good assemblies;
+      arrived on the 6th, and found from multitudes a joyful
+      reception. A reformation immediately began among the youth,
+      and the spirits of the aged pilgrims revived like the
+      golden life of a second summer. This, to me, was an
+      evidence I could not doubt, that it was under a heavenly
+      guidance that I had come to Shipton. I made it my home at
+      Capt. Magoon's, where I enjoyed, with the aged people, many
+      very happy hours; they were indeed the excellent of the
+      earth, and I hope their numerous kindnesses to me may
+      receive a thousand-fold reward.
+
+      "In the month of June, I made my first visit to Ringsey, to
+      which place I was invited by Col. Bean, one of my father's
+      particular acquaintances, likewise one of the principal men
+      in this community. Though invited on a personal visit at
+      his house, which was about sixteen miles distant, I found,
+      on my arrival, a multitude assembled, to whom I spoke,
+      under the conscious aid of the higher power. Several dated
+      their conviction from this meeting, and through all the
+      town the reformation spread. After speaking to them a few
+      more times, I returned to Shipton; and in a few weeks
+      visited them again, where I found several happy converts
+      and many whose heart-cry was for mercy. Thus the work
+      spread until it was thought that upwards of one-half of the
+      grown people had experienced religion; I say experienced
+      religion, for religion is not a matter of theory but of
+      life. Its home is not in the dry speculation of the brain,
+      but in the field of experience. Religion in theory is like
+      the pictures of trees and flowers; they may win the eye and
+      the fancy; but these pictures do not blossom, nor grow, nor
+      bear fruits. The juices of life flow in the roots and
+      branches of everything that grows.
+
+      "Col. Bean, my good friend, whose house was always to me an
+      agreeable home, and some of his children, found peace in
+      Christ. He continued a shining light until his death, which
+      was about one year after. The many pleasant days and nights
+      enjoyed with him and his agreeable family afford pleasure
+      in their recollection; and though these cheerful scenes are
+      not to be recalled, I trust they may be resumed in a better
+      state of being.
+
+      "The latter part of August I was invited to attend a
+      meeting in the upper part of the town of Ringsey, a place
+      whose inhabitants were said to be remarkably hardened and
+      wicked. I thought a place like this should not be shunned
+      by a minister whose commission it is to seek the lost. At
+      the time appointed there was a general attendance. I had
+      rode a long distance, and both myself and horse were very
+      much fatigued. I had no attention whatever paid me as to
+      refreshment, nor did their sense of civility or bowels of
+      compassion disturb them with a single thought about the
+      needs of the faithful animal that had done its part in
+      helping them to a minister, and that stood very patiently
+      by the side of the fence. I stood, a stranger, in the midst
+      of _glaring_ spectators. I recollect that when walking
+      through the assembly, I felt an emotion of tenderness and
+      solicitude for them that nearly impelled me to tears. I
+      spoke to them from Zech. 9: 12, and, if ever the Being who
+      gave me my mission assisted me in fulfilling it, it was
+      then. Though very feeble in health I spoke to them over one
+      hour, and the power of God came down upon the assembly, and
+      many wept aloud. At the close I gave opportunity to any who
+      wished me to pray for them to indicate their mind by
+      rising, when the greater part of the assembly arose. The
+      cry was audible and general, 'What shall I do to be saved?'
+      In my closing prayer I could scarcely be heard. Though
+      late, I mounted my horse, and rode nine miles to Shipton,
+      where, at the house of Mr. Heath, I was kindly treated. But
+      I was so weary and exhausted that I retired without
+      refreshment, and did not visit Ringsey again for several
+      weeks, leaving them to work out their own salvation. I then
+      proceeded up the St. Francis river about seventy miles, to
+      the town of Dudswell, where I found a happy circle of
+      Christians. When I again returned to Ringsey the scene was
+      wonderfully changed. Old and young flocked into the streets
+      to meet and welcome my return. I could not pass a house
+      where I was not urged to go in. I occasionally spoke to
+      them during my stay in that country. Truly in this place
+      were the songs of the old and the young mingled together.
+
+      "In the month of August, we held at Shipton a general
+      meeting. Mr. R. Smith preached a very interesting discourse
+      on Saturday, from Gal. 3: 26: 'For ye are all the children
+      of God by faith in Christ Jesus.' Sunday morning Mr. Avery
+      Moulton spoke from Acts 3: 22: 'A prophet shall the Lord
+      your God raise up.' Mr. J. Gilson next addressed the
+      assembly from 2 Kings 5: 13. After him I endeavored to
+      speak from Zech. 9: 17: 'For how great is his goodness, how
+      great is his beauty!' Several happy converts were baptized
+      at this meeting by Elder Moulton.
+
+      "From this we appointed a general meeting to be held at
+      Ascott, on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of October. It being a
+      time of war between two powerful nations, our situation was
+      rendered very unpleasant in many respects. Our provincial
+      officers were much opposed to our travelling from town to
+      town, and our brethren in general refused to bear arms.
+      This enraged the officers. They frequently sent spies to
+      our meetings to see if we prayed for the king and if we
+      preached against the government, as we afterward learned.
+      One of the officers once accosted me in these words: 'Well,
+      Mr. Badger, I understand you do not pray for the king!'
+      'You are mistaken, sir, I do pray for the king.' 'But _how_
+      do you pray for him?' 'I pray that he may become converted,
+      and be a child of God.' 'Ah! but that won't do; you ought
+      to pray for the success of his arms.' 'I do, sir, pray for
+      his arms, that his swords may be beaten into ploughshares
+      and his spears into pruning-hooks. This is the best prayer
+      I can make in his behalf.' He did not seem to like my
+      answer, but said no more to me.
+
+      "The October meeting coming off at this time, made no small
+      stir among the people, and the wicked, as of old, 'took
+      counsel together against the Lord, and against His
+      anointed.' As they had been successful in driving two good
+      preachers out of the country, they were now emboldened to
+      make a strong attempt, first to frighten us out of the
+      country, and should they fail in that, which they did, to
+      disturb our meetings as their next best stroke of policy.
+      They issued warrants for nine of us, myself and two other
+      ministers, and six of the leading members of our churches.
+      We were arrested on the first day of our meeting, which had
+      opened under promising auspices, as enemies to the
+      Government. I had an insight into their methods before any
+      part of their plot was executed; for as I was on my way the
+      morning of the 8th, and within eight or nine miles of the
+      meeting, an officer with whom I was acquainted, hailed me
+      from his house and observed if I would wait a few moments
+      he would be my company. As we rode along I drew from him a
+      development of the whole plot, and at that time I became
+      his prisoner. The greatest fear I had was this, that the
+      meeting would be essentially disturbed. The prisoners were
+      to be delivered and have their trial at Mr. Stone's tavern,
+      one mile from the place of the meeting, _at the same time_
+      that it was in progress. When I arrived at the place where
+      the congregation was to convene, I called, found several
+      preachers present, and some brethren to whom I related the
+      whole of what was about to transpire. Some were filled with
+      fear. I advised them to discover no alarm, but to go on
+      composedly with their meeting, provided there should not be
+      more than ten persons left, after the rulers should have
+      sifted the audience in their legal network, and to pay no
+      attention whatever to us who were absent, except to
+      remember us kindly in their prayers; and away I went to
+      stand in the presence of authority. Soon, however, I was
+      favored with the company of brother Amos Bishop, a faithful
+      minister of the Gospel. He came in rejoicing that he was
+      counted worthy to suffer for Jesus' sake. Our trial
+      formally opened on Friday noon, but not much was done. At
+      evening I obtained a room in which to hold meeting,
+      thinking that inasmuch as the legal process was tardy, the
+      ministers present could make no better use of their leisure
+      time than in preaching Christ to all who would become our
+      hearers. Seats were prepared, and the neighbors flocked in.
+      I then walked into the somewhat spacious bar-room to invite
+      the honorable court to attend, a body composed of three
+      magistrates, viz.: Pennoyer, Nichols, and Hyat, who were at
+      the time _merrily passing the glass_. Making to them as
+      courteous an address as I was capable, in which I stated
+      the superlative worth of the religion of Christ in the
+      soul, I gave them an invitation to be with us. They did not
+      make much reply, but stood by the door, as we learned,
+      where they could hear the communications of the meeting.
+      Never did we enjoy a more glorious time, never did we
+      realize the divine presence more joyfully than here under
+      keepers. Many brethren came to see us, their eyes filled
+      with tears, whilst our hearts overflowed with joy.
+
+      "Saturday morning I arose very early and obtained
+      permission to visit my brethren at the general meeting on
+      condition that I would return at nine o'clock. I enjoyed my
+      visit there; but what most affected me was this. Just as
+      the sun had begun to brighten the eastern sky, after I had
+      started, I met my oldest sister and my brother's wife, who
+      had heard of my bonds, and hastened with eyes and hearts
+      full of sympathetic concern for my welfare. They had
+      arrived at the place the night previous, and were at that
+      early hour hastening to the lodgings of their poor brother
+      Joseph in afflictions. When I saw them I could not refrain
+      from tears. They brought me money and articles of clothing,
+      which were acceptable to me at that time. They tarried
+      through the meeting and returned home.
+
+      "At ten o'clock the court sat, and the whole scene together
+      was one at which the student of human nature might have sat
+      with amusement, scorn, edification, and pity. False
+      witnesses arose as in ancient days. I say false witnesses,
+      because they proved so before the court. They stated that
+      we had opposed our brethren in bearing arms, that we had
+      spoken diminutively of the British king, topics on which
+      the public speakers present had been silent. Finally, at
+      the close we were bound over for our appearance at court,
+      which sat at the Three Rivers, and only twenty-five minutes
+      were granted us in which to procure bondsmen. This we
+      utterly declined doing. I told them that I knew the
+      character of the cause in which I was called to suffer;
+      that for me the _Stone Jug_ had no terrors, and that if I
+      must occupy its walls, I should trust that the same God who
+      heard Paul's prayers and songs at midnight, would also be
+      my friend. At this a captain was ordered to take charge of
+      me. Bishop answered rather independently, and asked Esq. P.
+      to be his bondsman, but at length informed them that he
+      despised their power. At this we were companions. Many
+      present who were at first our enemies, came to me in tears,
+      and offered to be our bondsmen. A captain who had carefully
+      observed all that had transpired, came and offered to
+      pledge his farm for me. At this, sympathy became
+      contagious, and the spectators, who had thus far been
+      watchfully silent, began to damn the squires, two of whom
+      were now observed to stagger, having taken too much whiskey
+      to retain a respectable command of their persons. One of
+      them took me aside, told me that he found no cause against
+      me, that it was the others who had caused them to bind me
+      over, that he had always been _my_ friend, and would attend
+      meeting the next day. The poor fellow fell from his horse
+      on the way home, and broke his shoulder, which for weeks
+      prevented him from leaving his house. Esq. P. the following
+      day was found in the road drunk; and thus ended the suit.
+      These events were not ineffectual. Our keepers, on seeing
+      the agitation of the people, and the increase of our
+      friends, on Monday morning, by the advice of Captain Ward,
+      dismissed us, and told us to go about our business. This
+      was a day of glad news to the brethren, who in trembling
+      fear and faith, had borne us in their prayers to the
+      Invisible King; and now having a little leisure, I improved
+      it in visiting my friends at Compton. I had not seen my
+      father's house for months. I spent some time with them very
+      agreeably--relived past scenes in conversation--bade them
+      an affectionate farewell and again went to Shipton.
+
+      "In the latter part of the year 1813, when on my return
+      from Shipton, my father sent me word that unless I could
+      tarry several days, he wished me to send an appointment and
+      preach at his house. This to me was welcome tidings, as I
+      had long been waiting with hopeful anxiety for this
+      opportunity to open. I sent an appointment, which soon
+      spread over the town. No travelling minister had at this
+      time ever preached at my father's house, and a large
+      multitude assembled, probably under the impression that
+      there was something new in the circumstance. Oh, how
+      solemn, how memorable the scene! I had long been absent
+      from home among strangers, had passed through a trying
+      experience in which friendship and hatred had largely
+      commingled, and now, at the invitation of a kind father, I
+      stood amidst my relatives, brethren and old acquaintances,
+      to speak freely on whatever I felt to be dear to the hope
+      and salvation of man. I spoke from Mark 5: 19. 'Go home to
+      thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath
+      done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.' After the
+      assembly had dispersed, my father and myself spent a great
+      part of the night in conversation on the things of the
+      kingdom, in which he rather favored the doctrine of
+      Universalism. I had an agreeable visit of a few days, and
+      went rejoicing on my way. I name these circumstances as
+      they belong to the time I first preached at my father's
+      house.
+
+      "At Shipton and vicinity, we had through the fall and first
+      part of the winter, golden seasons, and many were added to
+      the church of God. Party rage seemed to die away, and
+      persecution greatly subsided. I now began to feel a
+      dismission, so far as my labors and responsibilities were
+      related to this region of country; and in casting my eye
+      over the world as my lawful field, I longed to visit other
+      lands, and carry to distant parts the unsectarian message
+      of Repentance, Faith, and Love. During the winter I made
+      several visits at Stanstead, a town lying on the eastern
+      shore of Lake Memphremagog, where I saw a few persons
+      converted, and where, with the saints of the Most High, I
+      took sweet counsel. Also had many useful meetings in my
+      father's vicinity.
+
+      "In the spring of 1814 I found my health exceedingly poor.
+      Many thought I was inclining to the consumption. As the
+      roads were exceedingly bad in the spring season throughout
+      the province, I resolved to make but one general visit in
+      each particular place where I had preached, unless
+      particular impression should otherwise direct me, and then
+      journey to the land of my nativity, to the New England
+      sea-coast, around which my feelings of friendship and
+      reverence warmly clustered, almost taking in the scenery of
+      New England as a vital part of my filial feelings.
+      Accordingly, as soon as the going became settled, I started
+      on my farewell visits through the North country. Hundreds
+      flocked together in the several towns where my
+      appointments had been sent, to hear my farewell discourses;
+      and unegotistically do I record the simple fact that my
+      audiences wept as I told them my work with them was done,
+      and that in other lands I must go and publish the same
+      salvation in which they rejoiced. Many said, from the poor
+      health I was in, they were satisfied they should never see
+      me again. This was indeed a solemn time to me. I made my
+      intended visit, and left Shipton on the 5th of June. Many
+      of the aged saints and the warm-hearted young people came
+      together at an early hour in the morning to bid me adieu.
+      When ready to leave, I sung a few verses of a missionary
+      hymn, which thus commences:
+
+      "'Farewell, my brethren in the Lord!
+        The Gospel sounds the Jubilee;
+      My stammering tongue shall sound aloud,
+        From land to land, from sea to sea.'
+
+      Some united in the song, others were prevented by the
+      fulness of their emotion. At the close, we kneeled together
+      in prayer; and it was with a heavy heart that I offered to
+      them my parting hand. Never can I forget the kindness and
+      friendship of this people. They contributed largely to my
+      necessities, welcomed me to their homes, and upheld, with
+      their prayers, my feeble hands. Returning to spend a few
+      days at my father's house, I found on parting, the strength
+      of the social and filial ties that bind the heart of man to
+      its home. When, after prayer, I gave my hand to my father,
+      he could only utter 'God bless you,' such were his
+      emotions, and a wordless silence, accompanied by tears, was
+      my mother's benediction. When I rode away, I felt myself
+      dead to every earthly prospect, to every worldly enjoyment,
+      and from the dearest friends on earth cut off. Yet there
+      was a holy sunshine falling down upon my clouds, that gave
+      to my sinking spirit its needful consolation. It is
+      usually thought that the situation of a youth cut off from
+      his friends is a trying one, especially so if called to the
+      ministry. It is not only in parting with friends and in
+      renouncing worldly prospects, that the spirit is tried; the
+      life of a missionary, who is a man of God and faithful, is
+      exposed to a thousand sufferings and dangers. Missionaries
+      often go forth as the chosen organs of different
+      denominations, whose denominational interests they plead,
+      and from whom they receive a pledged support. I had aspired
+      to be a missionary of another school, a missionary _to_ men
+      and not _from_ men, having only the Gospel of the world's
+      salvation to uphold, looking on high for the mission, and
+      to the just and careful operations of His providence for
+      all necessary support. For one so conditioned to consider
+      the awful and immense responsibility he assumes before God,
+      to think of the account he must soon render of his
+      stewardship, is enough to humble him in the dust. Yet when,
+      on the other hand, the faithful minister has a view of the
+      everlasting inheritance that appears to the eye of faith,
+      from the future compensations of His love, he can say, with
+      the great missionary of the Gentiles, 'I reckon that the
+      sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
+      compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
+      Perhaps this contemplation is not capable of a statement
+      more just than that which it finds in the olden words:
+
+      "'What contradictions meet
+        In ministers' employ;
+      It is a bitter sweet,
+        A sorrow full of joy.
+      No other post affords the place
+      For equal honor and disgrace.'"
+
+With these lines the nobly expressed narrative of Mr. B., so far as it
+relates to his early ministerial labors in the Province, closes. A few
+other documents lie before me, several letters from the hand of Mr. Z.
+Adams, his colleague for a time in the labors and trials of his early
+ministrations, several letters of commendation from churches with whom
+he had labored, and from influential ministers with whom he had
+associated. These letters from Mr. A., though wearing the sallow impress
+of time on their forms, are fresh with the ardor and devotedness of what
+never grows old, the earnest heart; and what is peculiar to all these
+letters from the churches is this, that, after the usual commendatory
+expressions relative to moral and Christian character, they invariably
+speak of the _success_ of his ministry among the people. There are also
+a few letters from him to his father and brothers, written during the
+period of his ministerial labors of 1813-14, that are unfeignedly rich
+in the spirit of self-sacrifice, firm faith in his mission, and a fine
+feeling of love and kindness to all his relatives, a quality flowing
+through all the correspondence I have seen, addressed to relatives. A
+long catalogue of names, dated Dec. 20, 1813, shows the number of
+persons in different towns who were converted under his ministry; and
+though the evidences at hand indicate for them a general stability of
+principle and aim, _one_ name, from the first column, must appear to
+great disadvantage in a future chapter, for it would be equal to a
+hunting excursion in the forests of antiquity, to find in any country a
+more unreasonable persecutor, on a limited scale, than was Capt. Moor,
+in the month of September, 1815.
+
+Joseph Badger was a man who could never endure dulness. Lifelessness
+and inactivity, in fine, all the brood of stupid demons, he had a
+magical power to disperse. They fled at his entrance. He _would_ have
+life and interest, and no man could better create them, by awakening
+readily the resources of all around him. Thus far we only see the young
+man of twenty, but the same inherent traits of his whole life are
+conspicuous. He awakens community wherever he goes. He calls out
+opposition, creates strong friends and enemies, concentrates attention,
+brings himself into trying emergencies, which call out his various
+facility of tact and successful management, his firmness and
+self-composure. Having set his mind and heart on the persuasion of men
+to repent and to seek salvation, he carries a multitude along to this
+end. But what is most rich, is the deep evangelical element, in which
+all his powers are immersed; his constant, prayerful, weeping solicitude
+for souls. I know not where to go to find these holy elements in a more
+abundant, pure, and I will add, in a more natural state, than they
+appear in Mr. Badger's early life. His enthusiasm was not rash or
+fanatical. The fire of his heart blended with the light of his brain.
+His eye was always as calm as it was penetrating. It combined the glow
+and the calmness of the night-star. Almost at the risk of presenting too
+much of a good thing, I venture to quote a mere fraction of some of
+these letters, each line of which is so fully alive with the sincerity
+and earnest faith of the writer.
+
+                                   "SHIPTON, May 11th, 1813.
+
+      "DEAR PARENTS,--I assure you it is with pleasure I once
+      more attempt to write you. I arrived on May the 6th, very
+      much fatigued. I walked twenty-one miles without
+      refreshment, which was too much for my nature. I was unable
+      to preach for some days. My greatest pain was to see the
+      inroads made by the enemy into our little church whilst I
+      was absent, and the spirit of persecution that rankles in
+      many hearts. As I view souls united to eternity, and see
+      that some are hewing out to themselves 'broken cisterns,'
+      and giving way to 'seducing spirits,' in the doctrine, 'Ye
+      shall not surely die,' I am led to mourn."
+
+      "It is surprising to view the beauties of creation, in
+      which we see how everything is formed for the use and
+      comfort of man. Yet how sadly they abuse the great
+      profusion of His blessing. 'What more could He have done
+      for His vineyard than He hath done for it?'--Isaiah 5: 4.
+      Whilst I meditate on the extent of His goodness and long
+      suffering, on the cross of Him who died for all, and then
+      think of the wickedness that abounds, I am obliged to
+      mourn. Oh my loving parents, may we be wise for both
+      worlds, for time and for eternity! I have had serious
+      thoughts of late why it was that my father did not write to
+      me. As I am here in the wilderness without any relatives or
+      connections, I thought that love for me would have led him
+      to seek my enlightenment if I am in darkness, he being
+      acquainted with the Scriptures; and if I am right, I
+      thought he would wish to give me encouragement. My love to
+      all for their kindness.
+
+                          "Your prayerful servant,
+                                    J. BADGER."
+
+
+                                   "STANSTEAD, July 16, 1814.
+
+      "DEAR FATHER,--According to my expectation when at your
+      house, I started on my journey to the southward, preaching
+      on my way; Friday at Derby, Saturday at Holland, Sunday at
+      Major Stewart's, in Morgan, where I met a large concourse
+      of people, among whom were eleven young persons from Derby,
+      who were deeply awakened to a sense of their danger whilst
+      out of Christ. To their ardent solicitation for me to
+      return to Derby, I have yielded, which makes it expedient
+      for me to tarry one week more. I do not enjoy very good
+      health, but my mind is happy. I feel that at most a few
+      more rolling suns will bring me to the fair city of Rest.
+      Each beating pulse but leaves the number less. Had I time I
+      would gladly ride to Compton to see you. But it is wholly
+      uncertain when we again shall meet. I ofttimes think of you
+      all. My love to relatives and inquiring friends.
+
+      "'From all that's mortal, all that's vain,
+        And from this earthly clod,
+      Arise, my soul, and strive to gain
+        Sweet fellowship with God.'
+
+      "I subscribe myself a Disciple of Christ, or a Friend to
+      Mankind.
+
+                                     "J. BADGER."
+
+                              "ASCOTT, July 27, 1813. (In haste.)
+
+      "DEAR BROTHER,[14]--Since I have seen you I have preached
+      in Compton, Ascott, Westbury, Oxford, Brompton, Ringsey,
+      Shipton. I am in great haste on my return. I have been
+      comfortable as to health, though much fatigued. I have felt
+      the waters of salvation to flow sweetly through my soul.
+      Give yourself no trouble if you hear I am taken up. You
+      know the animosities that war engenders. The God who
+      delivered Daniel, and who protected our fathers, has
+      promised to shield me whilst in the way of my duty. Keep
+      free from all strife, deny self, live in peace with all
+      men. I still feel it my duty to employ all my abilities in
+      holding up Christ to a dying world. My love to parents and
+      brethren."
+
+These extracts show the spirit with which his whole early life was
+imbued, and they accord well with the journal he wrote a few years
+later. One vital life pervades them all. Whilst the war was desolating
+the country, filling the minds of men with anger, jealousy, and
+irreverence to humanity, he, the heroic young soldier of the Cross, was
+successfully pouring into their hearts the great lessons of Reformation,
+Unity, and Peace. Such a ministry at such a time appears to the eye of
+history as a rainbow arching the black region of cloud and storm, or as
+life-clad rivers that flow along through the desert regions of the
+earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+TOUR TO NEW ENGLAND, AND PUBLIC LABORS.
+
+
+With good recommendations, and with the fruits of a not very ordinary
+experience for one so young, he starts for his native land. What sect
+does the young preacher hail from? From no sect. He hails from the
+church of experienced believers, whose test is religion, not theology.
+Love to God and peace with men are the cardinals of his platform, and
+such was the persuasion of his eye and presence, that his credentials
+are very seldom disputed. Nothing in the form of sectarianism hedges up
+his way or impedes his success. If difficulties at any time thicken in
+his path, he knows what to do with them.
+
+Let us pause a moment to look at the theological latitudes and
+longitudes of the self-taught young man at this time, before he leaves
+to carry his message towards the regions of sunrise in the more
+intelligent east. In theology he has acknowledged no human master, has
+sat at the feet of no Edwards, Channing, or Wesley, nor read in musty
+dogmatical lore what he shall publish as the essential doctrine. The
+following views, however, may be gathered from the various utterance of
+his mind, expressed as occasion called, without the intention of making
+a system. 1. That man bears a living relation to God; that he may now as
+of old come to him confidingly, and seek effectually for wisdom and
+salvation. 2. That the being of God is One; that his influences are
+constantly felt in the moral world, promoting the joy and life of his
+people, and subjecting the sinful to the solemn conviction of their sin
+and danger. 3. That Regeneration is the want of all men; that _all_ may,
+like the prodigal of Scripture memory, return to their Sovereign Father.
+4. That the Scriptures are the great storehouse of sacred wisdom; that
+through them the will of God is infallibly revealed. 5. That Jesus is
+"the sinner's friend," the Son of God, the centre of Christianity, and
+that his Gospel is of celestial birth and mission; "the power of God
+unto salvation to all that believe." 6. That experience is the basis of
+religion; that the only authorized test of fellowship for the church is
+Christian character. 7. That no sect in Christendom, as such, is _the_
+church of God; that _the_ church is everywhere composed of such only as
+have passed from death unto life. 8. That sectarian names do not fit the
+catholicity of the institution; that the names "disciples," "brethren,"
+"friends," "Christians," are the better designations. 9. That human
+creeds, traditions, "doctrines and commandments of men," are abolished
+in the light and authority of the Gospel. 10. That sons of God are
+freemen, owing no allegiance to Pope, Bishop, Prelate, or Council. These
+views all fairly reside in the writings which unfold this early period
+of his life; and when we consider the exceeding scarcity of liberal
+thought in the religious world at so early a day, and the isolation of
+his position from the most active and enlightened minds on the
+continent, his stand in the church and the world becomes a wonder, only
+to be solved by the recognition of the original and superior intellect
+that gave him intuitive insight into the right and wrong of whatever
+problems may have won his earnest attention. The liberality of many is
+but a mere scepticism of thought. His liberality was a part of the most
+devoted labor and unabated zeal. It was one with prayer and tears. Now,
+in this last day, (1854,) with all that learning and comprehensive
+thinking have done for us, where and what are the heights of liberality
+occupied by the theological reformers whose names have gone abroad as
+being wider than their denominational platform? As we glance along the
+sparse population of these plateaux, we observe among others, the names
+of Bushnell and Beecher, the former with certain acute philosophical
+powers, the latter with a bold dramatic energy of speech, each exposing
+himself in a degree to the censure of that large class who dread all
+innovation made upon the time-honored landmarks of the Fathers, who are
+alarmed at new roads, even though they are more direct, convenient, and
+comely. But neither of these gentlemen has gone so far as did this youth
+in the wilderness of his adopted country. Neither has altogether
+_practically_ forgotten the claims of sect and of creed; and the view
+that holiness of life and purpose is the indisputable claim to
+fraternity independent of dogma, which is their highest _idea_, was his
+constantly _practised_ principle long before the world had heard of new
+and old school in the contentions of orthodox sects. Open now his first
+letters of commendation and you will see that the fraternities that
+authorized them ignored sectarian names, simply styling themselves "The
+Church of God in this place." In liberality, I do not see that the best
+part of the Christian world now are, either in theory or practice, at
+all in advance of his position in 1813. That his peace principles did
+not allow him to pray for bloody victories, or to strengthen the king's
+arms by his influence over the people, there is pretty good evidence. He
+and his brethren drank too deeply at the wells of religion to engage in
+the destruction of their fellows.
+
+To return. The young man, now nearly twenty-two years of age, intent on
+the duties and trials of a missionary life, starts for his native New
+Hampshire, improving every opportunity on the way, where circumstances
+united with his own impressions in producing the conviction that good
+might be done. Without abating his own labor, he depends continually on
+divine assistance, believing that he enjoys the advantage of the real
+presence of the One who said, "Lo! I am with you alway;" and before
+undertaking any important cause, or plan of action, he seeks
+illumination in secret prayer, then follows the leading impressions of
+his mind. He diligently studies the Scriptures, observes nature, and
+discriminates the strong points and peculiarities of the different
+characters he meets, for which he seemed to possess an intuitive power
+that received no assistance from the later inductions of phrenology, or
+the didactic lessons of physiognomy. He could, without rules admitting
+of statement, readily discern the character of an audience, the kind of
+discourse fitted to their capacity and wants, and most easily did he
+arrive at this kind of knowledge by a brief social contact with
+individuals. No nature perhaps ever had a greater power of adaptability
+to the many-phased character of mankind and surrounding circumstances,
+than his. But for the present, indeed for the several years of his early
+ministry, the central element of his life, the one that ruled all
+others, was his earnest, hearty, prayerful devotion to the holy mission
+of saving human beings from sin, and of bringing them into living union
+with God and with Christ. Along the meanderings of this current let us
+therefore follow the course of his narrative, which at this time unfolds
+itself in a series of letters, hastily and unelaborately written to some
+friend whose name does not appear; perhaps to Z. Adams, or to some other
+young minister interested in his welfare.
+
+      "DEAR FRIEND,--I rode from Stanstead, where I had enjoyed
+      several good meetings, across the line into the State of
+      Vermont, where I had several more in Derby, Holland, and
+      Morgan, but soon returned to a little village on the line,
+      and on Stanstead Plain, where there were prospects of good
+      being done. It was here that I met Mr. Roswell Bates, who
+      became my company, as he was going to the town of
+      Woodstock. Leaving the line about July the 16th, we passed
+      through Rigah, Browning, and Wheelock, holding several
+      meetings at the last named town, in which the spirits of
+      many appeared to gather new courage and joy. I then rode to
+      Danville, and remained several days, in which time I had
+      the pleasure of seeing some who had been for months cold in
+      their affections, quickened and newly determined in the
+      cause of life. We then rode to Peacham, then to Newbury,
+      Bradford, and Corinth, where we separated, Mr. B. going to
+      Hafford and I to Strafford. Here I was greeted by a happy
+      band of brethren, with whom I held several meetings, and
+      remained several days. Crossing the Connecticut river over
+      into Lyme, thence through Dorchester to Hebron, thence to
+      Bridgewater, I arrived next morning, which was Sunday, at
+      New Hampton, and was kindly received by Wm. B. Kelley,
+      Esq., a distant relative, by whom I was politely introduced
+      to the clergyman of the place. With him I passed a half
+      hour very pleasantly; we repaired to the church together,
+      as the people began to assemble. I occupied with him a seat
+      in the desk, and listened with a degree of satisfaction to
+      what he communicated. When we returned to his house, he
+      insisted on my speaking in the afternoon, and in vain did I
+      urge the excuses of a long journey and much fatigue. He
+      gave me a Bible and a Concordance, saying that I had three
+      quarters of an hour in which to prepare, and left the
+      room. We again repaired to the church, and contrary to the
+      order of the morning, I was assigned the right-hand place
+      in the pulpit. I spoke to these strangers in the same
+      freedom to which I had ever been accustomed, and reserved
+      nothing of the divine counsel made known unto me; the word
+      seemed to have some direct effect; the people appeared to
+      hang with solicitude on the truths advanced, and many wept
+      under the exhibition of the love and pardoning grace of
+      Jesus Christ. The next day I heard a young man, Mr. John
+      Swett, who, much to my joy, was wholly engaged in the work
+      of the Lord--a work already commenced under his labors. At
+      the request of my friends, I gave out an appointment, at
+      which there were three ministers, Mr. Hillard, the aged
+      priest to whom I had been at first introduced, Mr. Daney,
+      whom I had never before seen, and Mr. Swett, my new
+      acquaintance. I scarcely ever found greater liberty in
+      speaking. Priest Hillard at the close arose and gave me his
+      approbation, inviting me again to call on him; others also
+      spoke on the goodness of God, as experienced by them.
+      Bidding them an affectionate farewell, I was, in about four
+      hours, at my native Gilmanton, whose citizens and scenes I
+      had not known for the space of four years.
+
+      "Here I had great joy, mingled with sorrow--joy to meet my
+      sister, Mrs. Cogswell, and other relatives; sorrow to learn
+      that in their plans of happiness, religion and
+      reconciliation to God were not the essential part. Capt.
+      C., who did not usually go to the Free Church, wished me to
+      permit him to make an appointment in that place, to which I
+      gave consent. Accordingly, on the next Lord's day, at
+      half-past ten o'clock, I met a large congregation at the
+      Free Church; and at five o'clock, P. M., spoke to a full
+      assembly at the house of Capt. Cogswell, each audience
+      being probably attracted in part by curiosity. At the
+      former meeting, my mind was constrained to weep over the
+      people, who also wept under the message I delivered them.
+      Many serious exhortations were given; many expressed the
+      fulness of their joy in Christ. Wishing to see men and
+      women stand upon some positive decisions in regard to their
+      salvation, and knowing the good influence which a public
+      expression of secret resolves has upon the subsequent
+      action of man, I proposed that such of the assembly as felt
+      the worth of religion, and desired to enjoy its heavenly
+      light and consolation, would signify the state of their
+      minds by rising up. Very few kept their seats; and I have
+      reason to think that many were strengthened for life. Many
+      invitations were given me for new appointments. At 5
+      o'clock at Capt. C.'s, there were many Calvinists present,
+      who with the rest, seemed to mingle with their critical
+      aspect considerable true religious feeling. Perhaps my
+      preaching called out more criticism than it would otherwise
+      have done, on account of my manner being wholly
+      extemporaneous, and my sentiments not being formed from
+      Calvin or any sectarian creed. My grandmother[15] was
+      present; she seemed much pleased, and after meeting said to
+      me, 'It is a wonder and a mystery to me how you talk as you
+      do without having any of it written. Two of my family have
+      got to be preachers, William C. and yourself. He learned to
+      preach at the institution, but who in the world ever
+      learned you up there in Canada?' I believe I told her that
+      the Being who needed ministers had much to do in making
+      them, which seemed to be a new idea in these parts.
+
+      "I then went to New Durham to visit my relatives, but spoke
+      frequently before my return. On my way back, at a very
+      good meeting about two miles from the place of my other
+      appointments in the town, a young lady whom I baptized in
+      February of the next year, was there permanently and
+      effectually impressed with the need of salvation through
+      Christ. She continued from that time to be drawn into
+      nearness and union with Jesus, whose power over the heart
+      no one can measure. After this meeting I returned to
+      Gilmanton. As my sister was somewhat out of health, and
+      travelling was recommended as her best restorative, I
+      favored her desires to visit her parents in Canada, whom
+      she had not seen for six years: and taking a carriage
+      suited to the journey, conveyed her to my father's house in
+      Compton. Our parents were overjoyed to see us. The next
+      morning early I returned to the States, rode to Glover,
+      Greensborough, and Montpelier, attended a quarterly
+      meeting, with several other appointments, and returned to
+      the Province in about seven days. Meeting my sister at
+      Stanstead, where my elder brother according to agreement
+      had brought her, I again set out for Gilmanton, where I
+      arrived after an absence of about four weeks. On my way
+      east I passed through Cabot and Danville, where I held
+      several meetings; but when passing through New Hampton I
+      met Rev. Mr. Hillard, who informed me that he intended to
+      go to Toronto to preach, and should be happy to have me
+      supply at his church during his absence. I accordingly left
+      an appointment.
+
+      "Here, my dear friend, you have a brief account of my
+      journeyings for the space of two months and a few days, in
+      which time I have travelled 770 miles. Here in good old New
+      England scenes, I at times revive the lights and shades of
+      my early days, but the work of salvation is one that
+      overlays in interest all reverie of the mind, and I shall
+      hasten to give you a further account of the work of God in
+      my next, hoping that from former friendship, my hasty
+      letters will be interesting to your delicate and studious
+      mind.
+
+                       "Yours, in the truth,
+                                    J. BADGER.
+                "Sept., 1814."
+
+Here I would observe, that the manuscript from which the events of these
+several months are chiefly known appears to be copies of letters,
+several of which were addressed to one person, whose name may have been
+upon the outer leaf of the scroll at first, but which I do not find in
+the letters themselves. As his present history is reflected in these, I
+offer them, with all the variety of incident which a man of his peculiar
+cast of character would very naturally call out. These "scratches," as
+he labelled them, appear to have been kept as a means of reënlivening
+past scenes, should he ever wish to write their history.
+
+      "After attending several meetings in Gilmanton, I went on
+      to my appointment at Newhampton, and met a very large
+      congregation who had come out to hear the new preacher. The
+      people thinking me a missionary direct from college,
+      readily swallowed the doctrine of a free, universal
+      salvation, designed for and offered unto all men, and many
+      rejoiced in the liberal view I presented. I felt at this
+      time, very much the weight of the cause, and spoke with
+      great freedom on the true mission of the Gospel to our lost
+      world. It may be thought by some that courtesy should have
+      dictated an acquiescence in the formality and doctrine that
+      reigned about me. But I felt constrained to speak from my
+      own soul and the word that burned in my own heart. I did
+      so. Many of the silent kindled anew with ardor, their
+      tongues were unloosed, and some praised God aloud. In the
+      afternoon I had a glorious time, concluding my sermon with
+      the most earnest warning to the people. This change in
+      their accustomed routine for Sunday called out many
+      remarks, some saying one thing and some another. One said,
+      'He preaches just like a damned Freewiller, and if Mr.
+      Hillard lets him preach there again, I will neither hear
+      nor pay _him_ in future.' Nevertheless, I had several
+      invitations to preach again. In the evening I spoke at Mr.
+      Kelley's, to about 200 hearers, on Monday, P. M., at Lieut.
+      Sinkter's school-house, to an audience of entire strangers.
+      In that vicinity were many Freewill Baptists, few of whom,
+      however, saw fit to attend. Priest Hillard's deacon came to
+      me at the close of meeting, with considerable emotion, and
+      said, 'I know the joyful sound of which you have spoken. I
+      am satisfied God has called you to preach the Gospel. I
+      want you to preach at my house this evening,' and
+      accordingly gave out the appointment. There are always some
+      discerning spirits among the people, who, sooner than
+      others, look into the nature and meaning of things. One of
+      the Freewill members, a lady, remarked when she got home on
+      the character of the meeting, saying, 'The deacon will get
+      joked this time with his missionary or I am deceived.' At
+      evening the house was crowded, the Freewill brotherhood
+      having waked up to an interest in what was occurring. At
+      the time I did not know as there was one anti-Calvinistic
+      mind in the house, but resolved, as a dying man, to do my
+      duty without shrinking. I arose to speak from Mal. 4: 2:
+      'Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness
+      arise with healing in his wings,' and felt, as I
+      progressed, the love of God in my soul. Many of the young
+      people wept aloud, the Freewill brethren began to assist,
+      and before the meeting broke up the power of God was so
+      strikingly displayed that the deacon, unexpectedly to all,
+      fell prostrate on the floor. A haughty young woman, whose
+      hair was wrought into a profusion of curls, came forward
+      and kneeled down, bathing her curls with tears as she cried
+      for mercy. The argument on this occasion, though no
+      doctrine was discussed, was one that the deacon was unable
+      to resist, for he fell as many as five times under the
+      power of God. The house seemed filled with divine glory.
+      The congregation broke up about one o'clock at night. The
+      next day I went from house to house praying and conversing
+      with the people. I found that many were seeking Christ, and
+      that a thoughtful solemnity was resting even on the minds
+      of children.
+
+      "The next evening our meeting was no less powerful. Not
+      less than twice did the deacon fall to the floor; one man
+      who had fallen away from the Christian profession, lay for
+      some time speechless, and the young lady spoken of before,
+      came out bright and clear in the expression of her change.
+      She then walked through the assembly, taking her mates by
+      the hand, and warning and inviting them to flee to Christ,
+      made a deep impression on the assembly. One other made
+      profession of being translated from the kingdom of darkness
+      to the kingdom of light. In this state of affairs I left
+      Newhampton to attend other appointments, which required
+      some eight or nine days, and from the good attention paid
+      to the word and its effect on the people, I began to think
+      that my mission to New England was not in vain."
+
+Passages like these will doubtless meet with a variety of tastes, and be
+subjected to different constructions. The effects of a great immediate
+power that followed the preaching of Abbot, Whitfield, and others,
+seeming for a time to irresistibly sway the subject, has been variously
+explained, or, perhaps, more properly, has never been explained to the
+full satisfaction of the thoughtful. There is something certainly in the
+nature of the _theme_; for who was ever struck speechless and nerveless
+by a political appeal, or a literary, philosophical, or financial
+address? To make the least of it, these phenomena show a wild, mighty
+vigor in the darkly oppressed religious element within, or the same
+amount of zeal on finance or the election of candidates would produce
+equal results. Whether the Holy Ghost be present or absent, the man
+whose word and personal presence palsies a beastly sinner or formal
+deacon, so that he can neither move nor speak, is himself no weak
+formalist; no wavering, half-and-half man, who lives on plausibility and
+apology. This much is certain, that he carries a conquering force, if
+the effect be _of him_; if not of him, if he is right in the declaration
+"not unto us" be the glory, a similar conclusion follows the admission
+of his instrumentality. We love harmony; and in the great harmony that
+the soul should enjoy genuine thunder will prove no essential discord.
+We enjoy quietness; but of the two, we say by all means give us the
+preaching that knocks men off their seats, to that which never moves
+them. But how comes on Newhampton?
+
+      "I continued my visits to Newhampton for the space of three
+      months. Some twenty of the youth were hopefully converted;
+      I think I never saw converts of greater strength. But oh!
+      what trials awaited some of this number! The first that
+      came forward in this reformation had much persuasion to
+      resist. Her father was an open enemy to religion, her
+      mother was very pious, but wholly bound up in Calvinism,
+      and the young woman was determined to be free and not be
+      entangled with any yoke of bondage. A number of times was
+      she threatened to be turned out of doors. She wished
+      baptism; but being unordained I could not administer; and,
+      as she was unable to join Mr. H.'s church, out of
+      preference to the church of the first-born, she had to go
+      against the current, which is never a _bad_ sign, as dead
+      fish invariably move along with the stream. Many wished to
+      be baptized, and Mr. H., thinking it a good opportunity to
+      gather additions to himself, began to raise all his forces
+      against me, spreading defamatory reports to sour the minds
+      of the people, intending to drive me out of the place. I
+      was reminded of the stanza:
+
+      'They hate the Gospel preacher,
+      And cry out, a _false_ teacher!
+      A wolf! an active creature,
+      Will pull our churches down.'
+
+      He found fault on several points of doctrine. We held
+      together several conferences, public and private. He indeed
+      stirred up the devout women and all his party to
+      opposition, and not a little to my grief we had to
+      say--Farewell to the reformation. He proselyted five young
+      converts, whose happy condition, I fear, became like that
+      of the fish which glide pleasantly down the river Jordan
+      into the Dead Sea, which is called immediate death; for
+      they soon grew formal and lifeless in the atmosphere of the
+      church. 'How is the fine gold become dim!' But what of our
+      deacon? you will say. Why this, that after falling beneath
+      the power of God so many times, after giving me a letter of
+      commendation extolling my character, and the power and
+      usefulness of my ministry, after I had labored night and
+      day, and God had visited his family in the conversion of
+      three of his children, _he_ 'lifted up his heel against
+      me.' In whom then shall the Gospel minister trust? In God,
+      and in Truth. At this declension I sorrowed with a bleeding
+      heart. You can judge of my feelings. I gave out an
+      appointment, administered as good advice as I knew how to
+      the converts, preached on Sunday, took a letter of
+      commendation signed by Elder Heart,[16] in behalf of the
+      church, and bade them adieu. December 2, 1814."
+
+It would seem that young Mr. Badger was not exactly a safe hand to trust
+with the direction of church machinery, where doctrine, devotion and
+preaching were respectably stereotyped, where all things were smoothly
+continued. His steam and individuality were rather hazardous elements in
+the temple of forms. "Priest Log" had been a safer priest.
+
+He also narrates his success in Gilmanton, where several young persons
+and some of his own relations "bowed to the mild sceptre of mercy." His
+cousin, who came out in this revival, he says was the first of his
+relatives with whom he had felt a union in the Gospel, that as he had
+been educated under the theology of Calvin, he was besieged with
+entreaty to join them. "But," says Mr. B., "he still walks in Gospel
+liberty; I pray that he may be preserved blameless, and prove a thorn to
+the clergy whilst he lives." He compares the policy of his opponents
+towards his cousin to the barbarian usage of slaying prisoners when the
+prospect of being overcome grows certain. Extracts of other letters here
+follow.
+
+      "After I left Newhampton, December 2, I went to Meredith,
+      and attended the ordination of Mr. John Swett.
+
+Here I find a page erased, but as it is legible and very characteristic,
+I venture to transcribe.
+
+      "Here I was introduced by some of the brethren present for
+      ordination. The ministers with whom I was acquainted seemed
+      willing to ordain me, provided I would 'consent to walk on
+      two legs,' taking the church of God for the one and the
+      Freewill society for the other. This statement,
+      substantially, was from Rev. E. Knowlton, of Pittsfield.
+      This saying of Solomon immediately came to my mind, 'The
+      legs of the lame are not equal;'[17] and considering the
+      Freewill society as inadequate to the church of God, I
+      concluded that, carrying out the figure, one had better go
+      through the world hopping than limping, and I asked wherein
+      one could be the loser, provided he went as fast on one
+      limb as others did on two. I said to them, that if I could
+      not have their approbation on the ground that I belonged to
+      the church of God, without the addition of their wooden
+      staff, I would much prefer to stand alone. They accused me
+      of being on the common. I answered that I was born there;
+      that I much preferred it to a barren pasture, or a pit
+      wherein is no water; that I meant, through divine grace, to
+      stand where I had received the Lord Jesus, and that if the
+      church of God, unsectarianized, is the common, I would be
+      content with it till the arrival of the time when there
+      shall be 'one fold and one shepherd.'
+
+      "Here I had to stand alone, whilst my heart bled to see the
+      superstition and bigotry of those who profess to be free;
+      and, I say it reluctantly and with sorrow, I have seen as
+      much bondage, and have met as bad treatment from those who
+      claim to be Freewillers, as ever I did from the more
+      stiff-necked and stoical of the sects. To have the clearest
+      proofs of belonging to the body of Christ, of having the
+      sanction of Him who calls men to his ministry, and to have
+      undisputed standing among good men is not enough. Party
+      must be worshipped. This more and more convinces me that it
+      is well to abandon the doctrines of men and all
+      unscriptural names, to be disciples not only in name but in
+      practice. I am also sorry to say that I have discovered the
+      same spirit among those who are called Christians. But I
+      will leave this subject, praying that God will help us so
+      to run that we may obtain."
+
+Rather difficult, was it not, to get this young man into a net? He
+stands yet erect upon his mission, prays, weeps, preaches by night and
+by day; and old men and young, mothers and maidens, acknowledge his
+right to lead them in the "new and the living way" by falling into his
+line of march, and finding words of life in his speech. This refusal to
+pledge himself to creed and sect, grew out of nothing unsocial, for his
+whole being was social and brotherly. Interest could not so have
+dictated. An innate greatness of mind it was that gave him this high
+position for a young man as early as 1814, aided no doubt by the free
+and generous impulses of the religion of Jesus, which, in his experience
+and in his Testament, alike declared the oneness of the body of Christ,
+and of whatever is essential and saving. This position seems not to
+have hindered him; the faithful still rally under the banner he bears.
+Mr. Badger was a man of great facility for carrying his points, having a
+persuasive eye, will, and speech; nor is it at all surprising that among
+his early commendatory letters, there should be some from clergymen of
+different denominations; one I remember signed by three _class leaders_,
+in the Province of Canada, and others from those who had obeyed his call
+to the new life, and to whom he became as an apostle and father.
+
+At Gilmanton, Barnstead, Stratham, Portsmouth, Rye, Northampton, he held
+forth in the name of the victorious Christ; and though there is no
+record of dogmatic speculation and "disputations of science," the fires
+of reformation were kindled, the young convert and the steadfast
+believer rejoiced together, bringing forward their golden treasures, not
+from the cold chambers of the intellect, but from the mines of the soul,
+as wrought by experience and refined by the agencies of the Holy Spirit.
+One more touching paragraph from this letter, we cannot withhold. Those
+who recollect the calmness and the pensive music of the pine-grove, its
+unison with the deeper feelings, will vividly realize the passage which
+refers to the lonely and dependent spirit which there sought relief in
+prayerful utterance.
+
+      "How many trials I have passed through during these four
+      months! I well remember the sad feelings of my heart as I
+      was riding from Rye to Portsmouth, across a pine plain,
+      whilst I meditated on my mission and present lot in the
+      world. Leaving my horse, I retired into this still grove,
+      where none but the heavenly powers could hear the
+      expression of my burdened soul. As I considered my
+      situation, a feeble youth, hundreds of miles from home,
+      among entire strangers, and bound by solemn duty to the
+      world of dying sinners, I was constrained to weep before my
+      God in this wilderness. Here I sought his aid. How oft, on
+      that journey, did I weep for miles, as I rode the streets.
+      Angels! ye are witnesses to the sleepless nights that
+      passed away as I thought of the unreconciled state of
+      mankind, and of my duty to them. Here, my loving friend,
+      you have a brief account of what I have seen the last four
+      months. I have reason to praise my Redeemer. Like Mr. Dow,
+      I can say, 'What I have seen I know, what is to come I know
+      not.' O my friend, strive to make a good improvement of
+      these memories, and if we never meet again in time, may the
+      Lord prepare us to meet in His kingdom of glory. Yours in
+      the Truth, as it is in God's dear Son,
+
+      "Jan., 1815.
+                       JOSEPH BADGER."
+
+Rightly did the poet say,--
+
+      "Who never ate his bread in sorrow,
+        Who never spent the darksome hours,
+      Weeping and watching for the morrow;
+        He knows ye not, ye heavenly Powers."
+
+The prophet, in all ages, to whom God gives the tongue of flame, must at
+some time have known the holy baptism of inward sorrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ORDINATION AND PUBLIC LABORS.
+
+
+The churches and communities in which he had given proofs of his
+ministry, began to call for the ordination of Mr. Badger. Before me this
+moment is the call of the church in Gilmanton, dated Dec. 4, 1814, which
+reads as follows:
+
+      "This certifies that Joseph Badger has been preaching
+      several months past in this and adjacent towns with much
+      success, and in this place souls have been converted to
+      God. He has the approbation of the church in this place, as
+      a Christian and a Preacher of the Gospel, and we believe it
+      would be for the glory of God for him to receive
+      Ordination.
+
+                 "Signed, in behalf of the Church,
+
+                   "JASPER ELKINS,
+
+                   "FREDERICK COGSWELL,
+
+                    "DANIEL ELKINS."
+
+Rev. N. Wilson, of Barnstead, after making strict inquiry and
+satisfactory examination, in answer to the requests from the people,
+wrote to brethren in the ministry all about, to attend on the occasion
+at his residence, Jan. 19. The call was obeyed by the presence of seven
+ministers and a multitude of people. Rev. Wm. Blaisdel delivered the
+discourse, from 2d Tim. 4: 2, who, with W. Young, J. Boody, J. Shepherd,
+N. Wilson, J. Knowles, N. Piper, were the persons by whom the different
+parts of the services were performed. It will be understood by the
+reader that this ordination demanded no sectarian acknowledgments; that
+it left the tree unbent. "I was considered by them," says Mr. B., "as
+free indeed. No discipline was urged upon me but the Scriptures, and no
+master or leader but Christ. This, to me, was a solemn day, and long to
+be remembered." He was now relieved of many embarrassments under which
+he had formerly labored in not being able to administer the ordinances.
+
+He still persevered in his labors through towns adjacent to Gilmanton,
+and "many of the youth," he tells us, "fled to the Shiloh for salvation
+and rest." On Jan. 29, he delivered a sermon on Baptism, in the Free
+Meeting-house, Gilmanton, and in the extreme cold, "under the keen eye
+of the north-west, which surveyed them critically," he baptized two
+persons, Mr. F. Cogswell and Miss Lydia Levy. Satan, he thinks, began
+about this time to exhibit himself as a persecutor, having an interest
+now, as of old, in the assemblies of the saints. Feb. 4th, he baptized
+two others in Alton, three others on the 10th at Gilmanton, and large
+congregations waited upon his ministry. By the regular clergy and their
+united influence, his movements were often opposed. Among the reports
+that clerical policy caused to arise, he records the following chapter:
+
+      "Badger is going about making and baptizing converts, and
+      leaves them on the common. He has no discipline nor
+      articles of faith. He throws away the holy Sabbath,
+      alleging that it is done away in Christ. He says that he
+      is not called to preach law, but gospel; therefore he casts
+      the law of God away. He says there is no divine authority
+      for infant sprinkling; that if we take it from
+      circumcision, it can have, like its prototype, but a
+      partial application to human beings. He also teaches that
+      it is right for sinners to pray; and has said that the
+      clergy are the greatest evil that ever happened to New
+      England, because they keep the people in gross ignorance,
+      because they do not admit to their pulpits many Gospel
+      ministers, and because they are always the first to cry out
+      against Reformation.
+
+      "'And when a soul engaged,
+      Exhorts the young or aged,
+      The clergy cry, enraged,
+      They'll pull our churches down.'"
+
+      How many such things the devil enables blind men to throw
+      into the way of truth! but such is the power of Jesus'
+      name, that no soldier of his cross is ever slain so long as
+      he battles for the right.
+
+      "What always grieved me most, was the deceitfulness of men,
+      not their frank opposition, nor even honest violence. When
+      I was present, nothing adverse would be said; but soon as I
+      was absent, all these things would be heaped on the tender
+      converts. Some, in sarcastic restlessness, said that if the
+      people loved the Lord as well as they did Badger, heaven
+      would be their surest inheritance. Others cried, 'a wolf in
+      sheep's clothing;' but as crossing and mortifying as such
+      things were, they did not move me, for I comprehended their
+      origin, and had counted the cost before I entered the
+      Gospel field. My hands were also upborne by the humble
+      prayers of faithful ones. In defiance of all these things,
+      Zion progressed, children within her gates were born, calls
+      for preaching were continual, and doors of usefulness were
+      daily opening.
+
+      "My sister at this time, wife of Capt. P. Cogswell, was
+      dangerously ill, and her thoughts turned upon her
+      everlasting welfare. She conversed with me about dying,
+      wept often when speaking of pure religion, and asked my
+      prayers. She wondered often why I tarried so brief a time
+      with her; but could she have seen my work before me as it
+      was, and known the feelings of my heart, wonder could have
+      had no place in her mind. My eldest brother, who came from
+      Vermont to visit my sister, and another brother from
+      Boston, whom I had not met for two years, who was on his
+      way to Canada, met me at Gilmanton. In parting with them,
+      the most vivid picture of past associations, my parents,
+      youthful mates and sister, whom I had not seen for eight
+      months, came before my mind; and after our separation, a
+      sad and lonely feeling, which words cannot describe,
+      lingered like a cloud upon my way as I contrasted my
+      wandering condition among strangers, and my constant
+      exposure to persecution, with the quiet homes my relatives
+      enjoyed. I said to myself, Here I am, a poor child,
+      wandering about the world among strangers, spending what
+      little property I have, my bodily strength almost worn out
+      in preaching, between two and three hundred miles from
+      home; and whilst I am thus, they are crowned with the
+      honors of this life, and no shaft of sectarian malice is
+      ever hurled at them. In these meditations, though I
+      profusely wept, my spirit gathered up its energies and
+      found solace in the following stanzas:
+
+      "But cease, my heart, no more complain,
+        For Christ has said 'tis his command;
+      Those who from pleasures here refrain,
+        'I'm with them till the world shall end.'
+
+      "Then shall I say to friends, Farewell!
+        Whilst they may heap their golden toys,
+      Christ's beauties to the world I'll tell,
+        And seek for heaven's substantial joys.
+
+      "And when the sun and moon shall fall,
+        And Nature's beauties each decay,
+      Christ's merits I will then extol,
+        When all my tears are wiped away.
+
+      "Transporting thought of joy sublime,
+        This prompts my soul to spread His fame;
+      Oh, come, my friends, unite in time,
+        And love the glorious Saviour's name.
+
+      "At Alton I preached Sunday, the 12th inst., baptized one
+      young man; on the 17th inst. (Feb.), I baptized two others
+      in the same place. Our meeting, we thought, was glorious,
+      and as we repaired to the bank and beheld the pleasant
+      stream gently pursuing its native channels, the streams of
+      life did sweetly flow to cheer our drooping souls. The 22d,
+      on a pleasant moonlit evening, I baptized another young
+      man, after making a few remarks on the ready submission to
+      this ordinance, as illustrated in the instances of the
+      eunuch and the jailer.
+
+      "March the 3d, 6th, 25th, and 27th, were seasons of
+      baptism. I then returned to Alton, found the saints
+      steadfast, again preached, and on April 4, baptized two
+      others. I then returned to Gilmanton, baptized brother John
+      Page,[18] Jr., on the 6th, and Joseph Cogswell on the 16th.
+      The glory of God seemed to shine around us. Then returning
+      to Alton, we again had happy seasons from the refreshing
+      Fountain of Life. Two more were here baptized. Oh, what
+      happy, what blissful seasons my soul has known in these
+      earthly regions!--seasons that cannot be otherwise than had
+      in everlasting remembrance by many. The trials, though
+      great, are past; but the hope of meeting the loved ones in
+      God's holy realms, fills my heart with lively joy."
+
+About this time, letters from him appeared in the Herald of Gospel
+Liberty, the first religious newspaper published on the continent of
+America, and it is believed to have been the first in the world that was
+exclusively devoted to religious ends. It was published in Portsmouth,
+N. H., by Rev. E. Smith. It was ably edited, and was devoted to
+Religious Liberty, and to the independent discussion of Religious Truth.
+
+In Vol. VII, No. 12, he says:
+
+      "With great pleasure I inform you that the God of love is
+      reviving his work in Alton. I have been laboring there for
+      several weeks past, in which time many of the backsliders
+      in heart have returned to the stronghold; also several of
+      the youth have become lovers of Jesus."
+
+After speaking in detail of various conversions and baptisms, he says:
+
+      "My heart is encouraged to spread the fame of our glorious
+      and ascended Lord. O that professed followers of the Lamb
+      would stand together. How should we then see the powers of
+      darkness give way! How would the fog and smoke of papacy be
+      dispersed. How would the adherents of Calvin be confounded,
+      as the church of the First-born should appear terrible as
+      an army with banners! O Lord, let thy kingdom come! Let thy
+      glory arise! Let the whole earth be filled with thy
+      knowledge."
+
+This is a fine specimen of his youthful enthusiasm and abandonment to
+the work of the ministry. Any one can see a full presence of heart and
+soul in all that he does, which lends to his pages the inspiration of
+honest aims, earnest effort, a most confiding and fervent piety; nor can
+we fail to see that the pure fire of religion burned quite constantly on
+the altar of his active spirit. There was much of true divine life in
+the kindling energies of his speech.
+
+In Vol. VII, No. 14, in a letter dated Gilmanton, March 7, 1815, he
+says, after speaking of the prosperity that pertained to Alton,
+Barnstead, Pittsfield and Gilmanton, towns included in the voluntary
+circuit of his labors:
+
+      "Never since my labors in the Gospel commenced have I felt
+      more like going 'forth weeping,' than for five weeks past.
+      Feb. 22d, I baptized one, March 3d, one, March 6th,
+      another. I pray the Lord may add daily to their numbers
+      such as shall be saved."
+
+                                  "GILMANTON, April 17, 1815.
+
+      (P. 682.) "The news of the prosperity of Zion is the most
+      delightful that ever saluted my ears. Therefore am I
+      desirous, as the Psalmist said, to 'make known His deeds
+      among the people,' that my brethren may share in the
+      blessing, while 'angels rejoice over one sinner that
+      repenteth.' Some who have been for weeks and months in a
+      lukewarm state, have felt a resurrection in their minds;
+      but what most delights me is that many of the once haughty
+      youth have bowed the knee to Christ, and confessed him to
+      be Lord, to the glory of God the Father. My satisfaction is
+      also greatly increased to see them advance into duty and
+      walk in Gospel order."
+
+He touches in this letter very finely on the character of Mr. Page, whom
+he baptized on the 6th, a school-mate with him, a man of excellent
+character from his youth, well-informed and influential; though strictly
+educated in the puritanical ideas of the society of Rev. J. Smith, he
+came forward before a large assembly and acknowledged the unsatisfactory
+character of the Calvinistic teachings; and the same day he submitted to
+baptism from the hand of one whose excesses in boyhood he had himself
+effectively rebuked.
+
+Returning to his own manuscript I copy from a letter belonging to the
+month of May, in which he speaks of spending the time up to the 10th at
+Barnstead and Lower Gilmanton; of going to New Durham on the 10th, where
+he met the church of God at the house of Mr. Wiley, and for the first
+time met with Elder Wm. Buzzel, whom he found alive in the cause of
+Reformation. In the afternoon he preached to them from John 10: 9. "I am
+the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
+and out, and find pasture." He says:
+
+      "The Lord's table was then set, and our hearts were solemn
+      whilst we participated of the sacred symbols. We felt the
+      holy presence of Him who is with his church to the end of
+      the world. I then returned to Alton, the 11th went to
+      Barnstead, where I was much edified in hearing aged
+      Christians bring out the stores of their spiritual
+      experience; the 12th rode to Elder Wilson's much fatigued,
+      being exposed to storms by night and by day. Thanks to Him
+      who preserves his creatures; and now that the winter is
+      past, and nature is gay with flowers, I would welcome, in a
+      spiritual sense, the sentiments of the Jewish wise man,
+      'Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the
+      flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of
+      birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our
+      land.' Oh, that 'at evening time'[19] light might increase
+      until the shades of night are dispersed from the minds of
+      the people.
+
+      "The 13th, met the church at Mr. Wilson's, where a number
+      were added; the 14th being Sunday, we met a large assembly
+      of attentive people. At noon we repaired to the water for
+      baptism; in the afternoon we administered the communion to
+      a large number of brethren in Christ. It was a solemn time.
+      Oh, that the youth who then heard might seek the Lord and
+      make his Son their friend; and in this place may the works
+      of evil, the doctrines of men, be destroyed, and a people
+      zealous of good works be raised up. But with a heart
+      overflowing with friendship to dying men, I should close
+      this letter. Attend me, Virtue, through my youthful years!
+      Oh, leave me not to the false joys of time, but to endless
+      life direct my steps! May, 1815.
+
+      "The 19th of May I attended meeting at Candia, was there
+      invited to visit Deerfield, and gladly embraced the
+      opportunity of speaking to that people. For the youth my
+      mind was much drawn out; and though I had not the least
+      idea when I came that I should tarry in Deerfield, the
+      prospect of the good that might be done, induced me to make
+      arrangements for staying in that place. On Friday evening I
+      spoke at Rev. Peter Young's, on Sunday at the Baptist
+      meeting-house, at which time many dated their particular
+      convictions. On the way to my evening appointment, I was
+      surprised by the call of a gentleman, who, very well
+      dressed and of respectable appearance, came out of his
+      house and moderately advanced toward me. I paused, and
+      setting my eyes steadfastly upon him, soon observed that
+      trembling had got hold of him. He said, 'Mr. Badger, I
+      wish you to attend meeting at my Hall. My wife is very
+      anxious to hear you,' and many other words of persuasive
+      tendency. I was satisfied that he had a death wound,[20]
+      which to me was a source of new courage; I went on to my
+      appointment, held meetings every day through the week, and
+      some were daily delivered from the reign of darkness and of
+      sin. On Saturday I returned to the gentleman's Hall, which
+      indeed has ever since been a place of public worship, and
+      met a multitude of people. This meeting will be had in
+      everlasting remembrance. The gentleman who had invited me,
+      and several others, fell on their knees some time in the
+      afternoon, and continued in prayer until about ten in the
+      evening. The 'new song' was sung by many, and from that
+      time, the gentleman, his family, and even premises, seemed
+      converted, for his house is as a sacred Bethel."
+
+The young minister, not knowing in his ardor and youth, that this human
+world is an old, a tough, a wise, and a most lasting fact, that bends
+but temporarily to the new influence which seems for the time to mould
+its form, penned the conviction that soon the Angel of the Apocalypse
+would fly through the midst of heaven proclaiming that "the kingdoms of
+this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." Rapid
+was the spread and victory of the word preached. Over one hundred were
+converted in this town of Deerfield, and not unfrequently did he baptize
+twelve and sixteen a day. One evening, as the moonlight shed its silver
+upon the flowing stream, he baptized fourteen persons, who arose from
+the pure element to walk in newness of life, in the purity of which the
+graceful currents are evermore the eloquent symbol. He speaks of a
+fashionable clergyman who honored them by his presence, and who, in
+criticism, compared their appearance to a general training. "I
+conjecture," says Mr. B., "we might have had too much fire for him;" and
+finding an analogy in the fear which forest fires cause among certain of
+its denizens, he proceeds in the same energetic narration, rejoicing
+that there is a gentle and a searching fire by which sinners here may be
+gloriously consumed. Jesus came to kindle such fire, whose vital heat is
+love, whose aspiring flames are truths that both brighten the earth and
+reflect upon the clouded canopy. He acknowledges the faithful
+coöperation and labor of Rev. Peter Young, a resident of Deerfield. The
+energy, decision and success, which belonged to the public life of Mr.
+Badger, must, in the ordinary course of things, have called out much
+opposition, particularly as he did not walk in time-hallowed routines,
+but created, through the force of his character, and his peculiar
+abilities, the popularity that attended him.
+
+      "Notwithstanding," says Mr. B., "God has so wonderfully
+      favored the people, the three characters who always
+      persecute religion continued their old employment. Whenever
+      you see persons engaged in persecuting religion, you will
+      always find them one of the following classes, viz.: the
+      superstitious, the wicked, or such of the very ignorant as
+      do not comprehend what belongs to good manners. Here the
+      superstitious cried delusion, the wicked threatened to
+      unite in violent mob parties, and the exceedingly foolish
+      were thrust forward as the instruments of the first-named
+      class. Malevolent and silly reports were spread, but every
+      attempt of this dissipated crew seemed to work against
+      them, enough so as to fulfil the saying of the Psalmist,
+      'His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his
+      violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate;'[21]
+      which leads one to think that it is unnecessary to take
+      much pains to detect the wicked, because they very soon
+      detect themselves. 'The heathen are sunk down in the pit
+      that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot
+      taken.'[22] Solomon, who closely observed the events of the
+      world, also had occasion to say, 'He that diggeth a pit
+      shall fall into it.'"[23]
+
+In Volume II, No. 14, of the Herald of Gospel Liberty, is a letter from
+his pen, dated at Deerfield, June 28, 1815, which reports the success of
+the reformation in that place, in a manner that so perfectly agrees with
+the foregoing, I find no occasion to present any of its paragraphs. Not
+to Deerfield was this reformation wholly confined, as he often visited
+Nottingham, Lee, Newmarket, Stratham, Exeter, Kensington, Candia,
+Allenstown, and other places. He says:--
+
+      "In Nottingham many were made happy in the love of Christ.
+      Here I baptized many. One afternoon, as a large assembly
+      were gathered by the water-side, where eight persons
+      received this ordinance, I observed three young men jump
+      from the shore upon a rock that lay in the midst of the
+      stream, and the spectacle of these unconverted young men
+      standing upon a rock produced an association of ideas that
+      led me to feel much for them; in praying I spoke of them,
+      and was impressed to say that something solemn awaited
+      them soon. In a few days one of the number, in much agony
+      of mind, fell beneath a fatal disease, which deeply
+      impressed the old and the young.
+
+      "On the first day of the week, I had, by the request of
+      several gentlemen, an appointment at the Square. A few
+      individuals, being such as they were, strove to effect a
+      disturbance, and in a glance you will perceive the
+      ingenuity of their plot. They hired an old man who once had
+      been a professed preacher at Dover, but who had been turned
+      out for his debaucheries, to enter the meeting-house before
+      me and to occupy the time with religious services. Although
+      it is said that the children of this world are in their
+      generation wiser than the children of light, it must be
+      owned that they sometimes get defeated. Even from eight
+      different towns the congregation was collected, the
+      appointment being quite generally circulated. As I rode to
+      the place, I heard the bell ring about ten o'clock, and
+      hastening as quickly as possible to the Square, the people,
+      who were coming from every direction, seeing me ride up,
+      thronged about me; some of them, having been in the church,
+      knew the attempted order of the day. One said, 'The devil
+      is in the pulpit;' another said, 'The devil has taken the
+      meeting-house before us, and you had best not go in.' I
+      answered that if the devil was in the house I was bound to
+      see him, and prevailed on the people to go in. As I entered
+      the door, I saw the rough clergyman standing with his hymn
+      book in his hand ready to open the meeting. As I ascended
+      the stairs he began to read the hymn. I sat contented until
+      he had finished the reading, then introducing myself to the
+      assembly, inquired concerning the time when my neighbor's
+      appointment was given out; the answers enabled me to say to
+      him kindly, 'As my appointment is previous to yours I
+      should esteem it a privilege to improve a part of the day.'
+      He roughly responded, 'You can speak after I have done;'
+      and then arose abruptly, placing himself in a position to
+      pray as soon as the singers had concluded the music. During
+      the repeat of the last line I asked of him the privilege of
+      speaking a word to the people on the circumstances of the
+      day, to which he answered, 'You must be short.' I then
+      apprised the audience, that as my appointment was
+      contravened by another, my meeting would in ten minutes
+      begin in Mr. Nealey's orchard; and bidding the gentleman of
+      the pulpit good morning, advanced to the pleasant grove
+      about fifteen rods distant, accompanied by all the assembly
+      save the clergyman and his five employers, to whom he read
+      the notes he had written. On leaving the church I began to
+      sing a popular hymn, in which I was joined by the choir who
+      accompanied me; and after a hasty but comfortable
+      arrangement of seats, with the azure heavens for my
+      sounding-board, and a large box for my pulpit, I spoke to
+      the hundreds before me from Gen. 49: 10. It was free air.
+      Between thirty and forty spoke after the sermon, so that
+      without a minute of vacation, the meeting continued five
+      hours. The opposers were put to shame, and ever since has
+      that meeting-house been free. Nottingham, therefore, by
+      many events is kept in my memory."
+
+Although there are several interesting letters written by him about this
+time to his relatives and friends, letters that abound in good feeling,
+in various incident, and in the devoted spirit of his mission, they
+cannot be introduced without sacrificing the material that represents
+his later years. Confining ourselves, therefore, to the shortest
+statement of his public life, we will follow the direct path of his own
+private journal. But in reading letters dictated in the freedom of the
+heart, and alive with the inspiration of earnest purposes, one is
+conscious of the resurrection of a former period; and with the aspect of
+the olden leaf and the evangelical words upon them written, one seems to
+drink, for the time, of the same fountain of life that supplied with
+energy the self-sacrificing and the God-trusting ones. We know that
+forms of thinking and modes of expression are greatly varied by the
+succession of time, but we have yet to learn that the pure flame of the
+spirit, through any medium and in any time, is other than one with the
+latest excellence. Naturalness, energy, courage, persevering devotion to
+the welfare of mankind, are qualities that, like gold retained, shine
+equally brilliant through all the divisions of time, the same in 1815 as
+in 1854.
+
+August 22d, of this year, he announced, through the religious newspaper
+at Portsmouth, a paper from which some extracts have been taken, his
+intention of attending a general meeting in Bradford, Vt., the first
+Sunday in September, and of going thence into the Province of Lower
+Canada to visit his relatives, and to renew the friendship of former
+times with the churches of his former care. To his father, in a letter
+dated Newmarket, August 5th, he says:--
+
+      "I am now preaching in Exeter, Stratham, Newmarket, Epping,
+      Lee, Nottingham Square, Deerfield. Often from one to two
+      thousand people attend at a meeting. I have baptized
+      towards one hundred since last January, and the call for
+      preaching is very general in this quarter."
+
+Soon we hear of him on his appointed way. But before the month of August
+is exhausted, we find him in Newmarket, Lee, Deerfield, Allenstown,
+Barnstead, Ipsom and Gilmanton, preaching, and baptizing those that
+believe. At Lee, where his congregation was gathered from different
+towns, the good-night meeting lasted till 2 o'clock in the morning, none
+wishing to depart. Through the pitiless storm he rides to Deerfield,
+hears seven relate their religious history, whom he baptizes "according
+to the usage and teaching of the New Testament;" on the next day
+(Sunday) meets a large assembly at Allenstown, to whom he speaks and
+administers baptism to a few believers; on Monday, at 3 o'clock P. M.,
+addresses the community at Gilmanton; on Tuesday preaches and baptizes
+at Mr. Proctor's, on Wednesday returns to Barnstead, and hears that
+original and peculiarly gifted speaker, Elias Smith, of Portsmouth, N.
+H.; and on Thursday starts for his northern home by the way of Vermont,
+accompanied to the Province, by a young man from Farmington, N. H.,
+whose noble history in after years has rendered his name a lasting
+fragrance in the churches. Indeed the name of John L. Peavy, to those
+who knew him, is but another word for honor, affection and faithfulness.
+
+      "The first day, I arrived at Rumney, a distance of fifty
+      miles, and attended meeting in the evening; on Friday
+      arrived at Bradford, and on Saturday and Sunday attended
+      the general meeting, which was a profitable time. Here my
+      acquaintance with ministers and others was enlarged. On
+      Monday, in company with Rev. J. Boody and brother Peavy, I
+      continued my journey to the North, arriving at Wheelock on
+      Tuesday, where I was persuaded to stop by a gentleman whose
+      wife and child had just expired, to attend their funeral
+      the next day. He had formerly been one of my hearers. We
+      met a large number of mourners and friends, who appeared
+      sincerely to mourn the loss of so virtuous a friend and
+      neighbor. As the meeting was about to commence, Squire Bean
+      presented me the text on which the afflicted husband wished
+      me to speak, which was, 'As in Adam all die, even so in
+      Christ shall all be made alive.' He was a Universalist, I
+      think, in opinion, but with the request I cheerfully
+      complied.
+
+      "On Thursday we rode into Canada, as far as to Stanstead,
+      the residence of the good minister, Avery Moulton. On
+      Friday we arrived at my father's, in Compton, where my
+      spirit was melted down by the presence of dear friends,
+      whom I had not seen in fifteen months. Our hearts were
+      mingled in thankful prayer. When I left the Province it was
+      convulsed by war. Now peace had resumed her reign. Seven
+      days I tarried in this place and enjoyed a number of good
+      meetings. On Monday we rode to Ascott, and had a happy
+      meeting with friends that clung to me with affection in my
+      early endeavors at preaching; on Tuesday we visited Oxford;
+      on Wednesday we passed through Brompton and Windsor, to
+      Shipton, where my excellent friend, J. L. Peavy, remained.
+      Leaving an appointment to preach the next Sabbath at
+      Shipton, I proceeded to Ringsey."
+
+Truly might Mr. Badger, in his friendly letter formerly quoted, say,
+"What is to come I know not." A new cloud is ready to rise upon his
+path. The fortune of some men allows them a smooth and easy way; and
+others, as by some causative genius in their being, are called to meet
+great trials, and to plan their course against strong opposing forces.
+Such was the life of the independent minister; though it flows as an
+ample river through much calm and life-like scenery, its common-place is
+frequently broken by cascades and cataracts. But let us read his own
+natural statement:--
+
+      "In the upper part of the town of Ringsey I attended a
+      funeral. After meeting I rode nine miles to attend an
+      appointment in the lower part of the town. Though the state
+      of feeling was generally low, it was a solemn, refreshing
+      time. Early on Friday morning as I was about to visit my
+      friends in that place, a military officer sent a man,
+      accompanied by a large brawny Indian, to make me a
+      prisoner, and carry me to the county seat of justice, at
+      the Three Rivers, for the offence I had committed against
+      the government, in leaving the country in time of war. This
+      was done although the Governor had issued proclamation that
+      all who had thus left might return in peace. Prisoners of
+      war in time of peace struck me as something new. I asked
+      the person who made me a prisoner what authority he had for
+      so doing; he answered, that he was an officer, and, without
+      showing any proof of his right to act for the government,
+      ordered me immediately to get into the birch canoe, and go
+      with them by water. I candidly informed him that I should
+      not start for the Rivers without authority, and that if I
+      went in the _mode_ of conveyance proposed, under a guard of
+      savages, it would be by force. Finding that I was not
+      alarmed, and that he could not proceed, he then started for
+      the residence of Capt. Moor, about one mile distant, to
+      procure a warrant, and left the savage to guard me. I soon
+      proposed to the red man that I would accompany him on my
+      horse to Capt. Moor's; but fearing that I might ride by, he
+      ran on foot with all speed. When I arrived, the captain had
+      the warrant nearly made out, but, instead of finishing it,
+      met me in a rage. He would not hear to a word of reason,
+      nor to the advice of his friends. After I saw that I must
+      go, I asked the privilege of riding my horse, at the same
+      time offering to hire some of the keepers to go with me by
+      land. The captain replied that he would not grant me the
+      least favor, and the officer said I should go in the birch
+      canoe. As I gave no assent to this method, I was seized by
+      the shoulder and violently dragged out of the door, and
+      beyond what language can paint was abused by the zealous
+      officer. He boldly threatened my life, and accompanied by
+      words of the coarsest profanity, said, 'Damn your blood, I
+      will take your life as quick as I would a rattlesnake's.'
+      After the officer had said this, I addressed the captain in
+      these words: 'Sir I am much surprised that you should thus
+      cause a prisoner to be abused, and that you should put me
+      into the hands of a person at the head of a party of
+      savages, who has threatened my life before your face.'
+      Instead of acting on any idea of propriety suggested by me,
+      he broke forth in swearing, saying that he himself would
+      take my life. At this, his wife and son, being no longer
+      able to refrain, spoke moderately in my behalf. As I had
+      not given my consent to this uncivil mode of conveyance,
+      the officer ordered a cord to be brought with which to bind
+      me. He also asked for assistance, but none of the people
+      present would lend any aid. Then uttering an Indian yell
+      for some savages, whom I supposed he had placed in ambush,
+      we soon saw them appear, some on the river and some on the
+      land. This was a display of ferocity I in nowise had
+      expected. Before they arrived, however, to do the will of
+      the angry officer, Mr. Asa Bean, son of Col. John Bean,
+      came forward in my behalf, and said I should not go with
+      the savage crew, that he would be my keeper and agree that
+      I should be at Windover that day, which was sixteen miles
+      towards the Three Rivers. We then mounted our horses for
+      the journey agreed upon, at which place we arrived about
+      three o'clock, much fatigued. We put up at an inn, and paid
+      our own charges. The mob party came in birch canoes on the
+      river."
+
+For a moment leaving the private journal of Mr. Badger, I would present
+a letter written to Mr. J. L. Peavy at this very point where he met the
+uncourteous band who had progressed by water. It will be remembered that
+he had an appointment at Shipton on Sunday, and that the nature of his
+circumstances with reference to his public engagement, as well as his
+friendship for the young man he had introduced into his former field of
+labor, required a statement of his condition. The letter is dated
+Windover, L. C., 9 o'clock Friday evening, Sept. 15, 1815. It was
+written at evening; and I would say that Mr. Badger was a man who
+generally cast himself upon his _morning_ thoughts, the clear thoughts
+that preceded the sunrise. Under any personal trouble, he would at
+evening fall easily to sleep, and in the morning plan his way like a
+Napoleon, wherever there was magnitude in the difficulties to be met.
+
+      "MY DEAR BROTHER:--Your experience, I am satisfied, teaches
+      you that persecution is the common lot of the true
+      followers of Christ. This morning, by the order of Capt.
+      Moor, of Ringsey, I was taken and ordered to march to the
+      Three Rivers, guarded by a company of Indians, with the
+      savage-like Robert McMullen at their head. But as I could
+      not be reconciled to this company, and to this manner of
+      conveyance (which was a birch canoe), I plainly told them
+      that if I went in such a manner, it would be because I was
+      obliged to do so. I was then very unhandsomely used. I was
+      not only abused by words, but violent hands were laid on
+      me. Then Mr. Asa Bean appeared in my behalf, and offered to
+      be bound to deliver me at Mr. Stewart's, in Windover, the
+      same day. I then had liberty to ride my horse, and about
+      three o'clock we arrived here. I expect on the morrow to
+      start for the Three Rivers. This is indeed a time of trial
+      to me; but I can truly say, with St. Paul, that 'None of
+      these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
+      me.' Hitherto the Lord has helped me, and Jesus says, 'Lo,
+      I am with you, even unto the end of the world.' This
+      promise to me now, whilst I am surrounded by a dozen of the
+      merciless savages, is worth more than millions of worlds. I
+      really feel that these afflictions will work for good in
+      the end. Oh Lord, may they serve to humble me down, and to
+      teach me my dependence on thee.
+
+      "Capt. Moor does not pretend to accuse me of anything but
+      of going into the States in time of war, as I have
+      understood, and I am informed that his own children have
+      done the same with approbation. But that which pains my
+      heart the most, is to think that in the reformation at
+      Ringsey only two years ago, this mad man made a profession
+      of religion. Oh how many such characters wound the cause of
+      our Master! Lord, pity them. I wish you to give yourself no
+      uneasiness on my account. God Almighty will make my
+      afflictions a blessing to somebody. It will be well for you
+      to return to Ascott as soon as Wednesday, and there remain
+      until you hear from me again. Be of good courage. I hope
+      you will never have it to regret that you came into this
+      region. Pray for your unworthy brother Joseph, that he may
+      finish his course with joy. I am, if need be, ready to be
+      offered; and, from several causes, I feel that the time of
+      my departure is not far distant. Dear brother, I bid you a
+      short farewell, hoping, if not in time, to meet you in pure
+      realms of glory.
+
+                                       "J. BADGER."
+
+      "_John Langdon Peavy._"
+
+The night passed away, and our prisoner arose on Saturday morning with a
+plan in his brain, with which he calmly confronted the tawny band and
+their leaders. Only about fifteen miles of the passage was completed,
+and the remainder was never accomplished. He told them that he should
+not go further unless they could get higher authority than what they
+then possessed, and to secure this, offered to appear before the
+officers of a military company whose tents were pitched on the other
+side of the St. Francisway river.
+
+      "Early on Saturday morning," says Mr. B., "we crossed the
+      river into Drummondsville, and appeared before Commissary
+      Morrison, where some of my company were greatly ashamed and
+      humbled; when the Commissary, after hearing the facts, said
+      unhesitatingly, 'Mr. Badger, go about your business.' It
+      soon became a question to ascertain how much Capt. Moor had
+      gained this time by his loyalty. Hiring an Indian to convey
+      me across the river, Mr. Bean and myself returned to our
+      starting-place at Ringsey, and riding fifteen miles on
+      Sunday morning, I arrived to my appointment at Shipton,
+      where I enjoyed a refreshing time from the presence of the
+      Lord."
+
+In the month of May, 1835, I remember, for the first time, to have
+passed some five days at the house of Mr. B., who then edited a popular
+and influential paper entitled "The Christian Palladium," at Union
+Mills, Fulton Co., New York. The order into which all his arrangements
+seemed naturally to fall, the business tact, that seemed with him a
+spontaneous ability, were easily observable. In the familiar
+conversation to which he was accustomed in the social circle of his own
+home, I remember to have heard him say to a gentleman who inquired of
+his daily habits, "I am a business man. I rise early, and hear the first
+notes of the robin. I would give more for one morning hour, to think in,
+than for all the rest of the day. I lay my plans in the morning; and, if
+you will believe it, I never got into a difficulty yet, from which one
+clear hour of thinking in the morning would not deliver me." And the
+foregoing passage of his early history is but one illustration among
+hundreds, showing that there was no egotism in the remark here quoted.
+Passing some days at Shipton, Ascott and Compton, he again started for
+New England, the scene of his former success, many of whose ministers
+and churches had crowned him with verbal benedictions, and with hearty
+written commendations; whose words are still alive on many carefully
+preserved documents, as legible as when they were first penned. Not in
+haste did he leave the Province, holding many meetings first; and
+whether these animosities, growing out of the suspected character of his
+British patriotism, wholly subsided or not, with the fruitless assault
+of his enemies already related, I know not. An explicit document,
+bearing date Jan. 8, 1818, signed by the citizens of Compton, shows that
+"Joseph Badger, son of Major Peaslee Badger, of Compton, has a bright
+and shining character as a Christian in the Province of Lower Canada,
+where he has been known; and that always when he came into the town to
+see his parents and friends, he came into the Province boldly and
+preached publicly wherever he had occasion to preach;" which, in the
+absence of other explanation, looks like an effort to meet the slander
+of some enemy, who might have planted himself, like Capt. Moor, on
+grounds of superabundant loyalty. Something bordering on the miraculous
+shines through the following incident, related of a youth in Ascott:
+
+      "A young man of the family of Mr. Bullard, who had been
+      confined for six years, deprived of sight, strength, and
+      the ability to speak aloud, continually bowed down, and so
+      weak that he could not be shaven, had, three years after
+      his debility, received from God a wonderful illumination,
+      and in it the evidence that he had passed from death unto
+      life; from which time his faith in the Son of God by
+      degrees increased until he believed in the resurrection or
+      restoration of the body to health by faith in Christ. A few
+      days previous to our visiting him, he called in the elders
+      of the church to pray over him, anointing him with oil, in
+      the name of the Lord (James 5: 14, 15). As they prayed, a
+      power was revealed, by which he arose, walked, and praised
+      God. We held a meeting at the house, in which he arose and
+      spoke freely, saying that his soul was troubled for the
+      scarcity of faith on the earth. As we listened to that
+      voice which had been silent for six years, we were
+      surprised and startled by the reality. As he cast his
+      languid eyes upon us, his face, like that of Moses, seemed
+      to shine so brightly that scarcely one in the assembly
+      could look upon him. This to me appeared as heavenly as
+      anything I ever had witnessed; and his language and
+      remarks, I think, exceeded anything I ever had heard from
+      mortal lips. Our interview with him filled our souls with
+      solemnity."
+
+Parting with his relatives in Compton, which from his fine affectional
+nature was unavoidably trying, he, in company with the worthy young
+minister who had accompanied him from New England, passed through
+Stanstead and several other towns, inquiring as they went of the
+prosperity of Zion, receiving also at times a cold reception from the
+sectarian who had learned to love the Church only in the form of a sect;
+he speaks most gratefully of the kind treatment they received from two
+Methodist clergymen, of good meetings held on the way, at Cabot, at
+Rumney, and other places. Leaving Mr. Peavy at the last-named town, he
+passed on to Meredith on Friday, spoke to the people on Sunday and on
+Monday evening; arrived on Tuesday at his native Gilmanton, from which
+he again laid into order a new campaign against the reigning powers of
+darkness.
+
+Without dwelling on the labors that immediately engaged his attention,
+which for the most part pertain to a field already described, I offer a
+few paragraphs for the month of December before opening the chapter for
+1816. The variety of incident that blossomed on either side of his path
+was evidently schooling the naturally sagacious mind of the young
+missionary for wider usefulness and for higher position; and as no
+scholar who has conquered a language can tell when he learned each rule
+and word, but knows that his conquest numbers uncounted hours and
+struggles, so he who arrives at the true knowledge of mankind, so as to
+command a wisdom that shall be equal to every practical demand, cannot
+say from what place or which events his ripened energy has flown; he
+knows that his kingdom, like the broad-breasted river, dated back with
+various preceding sources. These early experiences were victories
+themselves; but they were also unconsciously the seeds of other
+victories.
+
+Mr. Badger was beautifully gifted with extemporaneous powers. There was
+a charm in his voice, and a rich command of plain, apt, and elegant
+language in his speaking, that, all in all, I never saw equalled by any
+other man. His voice was soft and clear; and though not great in tone,
+was exceedingly distinct, and often thrilling. There was music in his
+discourse. Though the period of the labors here narrated is many years
+previous to the writer's acquaintance, I am told by those who heard him
+in 1816 and '17, that he possessed the same natural eloquence, the same
+ease and attractive grace in speaking then, as was characteristic of his
+public manner in later times. That such a man, both from natural
+preference and association, should adopt extemporaneous preaching as his
+favorite and only mode, is not strange; nor do we particularly wonder at
+his avowed dislike of note-preaching, when we think of the lifeless
+character of much of the sermonology that then passed for the Word of
+Life. Accordingly, he said:
+
+      "When I see men going forth avowedly to preach the Gospel
+      of the grace of God, and substituting in its place the
+      doctrines and commandments of men, I am grieved. How many
+      have I met with in my travels who would stand up and pray
+      that they might be assisted to bring something, new and
+      old, out of the treasury, that the word might come from the
+      heart, and reach the heart, and then take, not out of the
+      'treasury,' but out of their postbags or pockets,
+      spiritless notes, which they would read to the people. Oh,
+      that men felt more as the Apostle did when he said,
+      'Remember that by the space of three years, I have not
+      ceased to warn every one of you, night and day, with
+      tears;'[24] then they that bear the eternal word to men
+      would be more clearly manifest to the conscience of each
+      and all."
+
+He also narrates the following for this month:
+
+      "On Friday, the 8th, I rode to Mr. Rundle's, at Lee, where
+      I held a meeting in the evening; Saturday to Newmarket,
+      where I was comforted in visiting the saints; Sunday, held
+      meeting at Mr. N. Gilman's, rode to Exeter in the evening,
+      and spoke at Lieut. Thing's, which was a time of serious
+      thought, and of weeping among the youth. I remember the
+      kind treatment and the good spirit of this respectable
+      family. On my return the next day to Newmarket, I met a
+      young man whose appearance in every respect struck me as
+      being a gentleman until he spoke. His first remark was a
+      challenge to swap horses; and though my answers to his
+      several bold and sportive remarks left him somewhat ashamed
+      of his familiar assault upon a stranger, I felt sad to
+      think of the way in which the young men of our land, who
+      might be respectable and useful, destroy themselves, and
+      dishonor their connections, by corrupting their own hearts
+      with evil manners. The 12th inst., went to Brentwood and
+      preached to an attentive assembly; the 13th, at Esq. M.'s,
+      of Lee; the 14th, at Mr. Laton's, of Nottingham, to a full
+      audience, from Ps. 89: 15: 'Blessed are the people that
+      know the joyful sound.' Many spoke afterwards, whose words
+      were as falling showers. The meeting lasted till about 12
+      o'clock; and with the exception of a few North River
+      gentlemen, whose behavior was not so modest and civil as it
+      ought to have been, the minds of the people were seriously
+      fixed on divine things. The 15th, at Mr. Hilton's, of Lee,
+      I spoke from Luke 2: 11; the next day, as I arrived at
+      Newmarket Plains, where my appointment was for the next
+      first day, I heard that Mr. Richardson would preach in the
+      evening. I went to hear him. His text was Isa. 61: 1, 2;
+      which was so good that it was with difficulty that the
+      speaker spoiled it by causing it to speak Calvinism, which
+      seemed to have been his whole aim. After he had spoken two
+      hours, several of us addressed the people, not on doctrine,
+      but on the love of Christ in the heart, which soon caused a
+      change in the atmosphere of the meeting. Dea. Chatman
+      wished me to speak the next day, to which I consented,
+      though my invitation to preach was from three of the
+      committee. In the forenoon I spoke from Zech. 3: 9. 'Upon
+      one stone shall be seven eyes.' I spoke of the stone as
+      meaning Christ, and the seven eyes of intelligence that
+      gave a comprehensive vision on every side, I represented by
+      his character, which looks every way towards the
+      satisfaction of human wants; also, in another sense, seven
+      eyes were upon him, the eye of God, of Angels, of
+      Patriarchs, of Prophets, of the Jewish nation, of Apostles,
+      and of believers, all which disclose him as the Mediator,
+      as the fit medium of divine blessing. In the afternoon Mr.
+      R. began to speak from the words, 'I will make thee a
+      sharp thrashing instrument,' and proceeded to prove
+      election from the parable of the wheat and the tares;
+      likewise from Gen. 3: 16, the sentence against the woman;
+      but the people, in small parties of four and six, began to
+      leave the house, being tired of hearing nothing over and
+      over; even two of the committee could not stand it through.
+      At the close I offered a few words, not on the discourse,
+      but on practical things, and never did I see a meeting so
+      unsatisfactory to the people. One person after meeting
+      asked me if Mr. R. was not a deceiver. I told him that he
+      could not be so considered, for one that has neither tact
+      nor skill to deceive anybody is not entitled to so hard a
+      name, whatever may be his errors.
+
+      "The 19th, rode to Lee and baptized four happy converts;
+      the 20th, rode to Stratham to attend a meeting at Mr.
+      Brown's; the 21st, to Portsmouth; the 22d, started with
+      Elias Smith for Boston; went as far as Greenland, where we
+      parted, as I received an especial invitation to visit
+      Farmington, N. H.; on the 23d, arrived there, and received
+      a kind reception at the house of Mr. A. Peavy; held
+      meetings on the 24th; 25th, held meeting at Chestnut Hill,
+      Rochester; the 26th, at the Tenrod road, Farmington, where
+      I spoke from Amos 4: 12: 'Prepare to meet thy God.' I
+      continued in the town through the week, held meetings every
+      evening, which I trust were useful to many. The 31st, which
+      was the first day of the week, I met a large assembly, and
+      in speaking the word of life, my spirit was greatly
+      refreshed. Thus ends the year."
+
+A controversial document, in which he answers the charge of one who
+accused him of holding in too light a manner the authority of the
+Sabbath, lies before me; also a few letters from his ministerial
+coadjutors, that allude to the success of his labors in the same manner
+that they are recorded in his own journal. Said one of the ministers,
+who officiated at his ordination, under date of April 15, 1815: "I have
+often heard of you since we last met, and it has rejoiced me to hear
+that the work of God is going on in the towns where you have been
+preaching, and I have been in hopes to have received a letter from you
+before this." This is the tone of the addresses he received. One is
+reminded of the itineracy of St. Paul, as he follows the course of his
+labors, of the piety, self-sacrifice, bold energy, tender sympathy, and
+withal, the shrewd and masterly management which belonged to that
+Gentile missionary, who, unsalaried by sect, went out to preach an
+unsectarian religion, not the religion of dogma, but of the heart and
+the life. Each had to encounter the scorn of the formalist, of the vain
+boaster of worldly wisdom, and each had to plead the catholicity and the
+spirituality of the Christian religion against the stern bigot and the
+creed-loving sectary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+PUBLIC LABORS, MARRIAGE, TRAVELS.--1816.
+
+
+Renewing his zeal in the reflections of the opening year, Mr. Badger
+continued to be active in the field according to his ability,
+intellectual, moral, and physical. He acted up to his faith. He was no
+idle dreamer, but was a lover and an inspirer of lively times. The
+variety _in_ him naturally called up variety in his outward life. People
+everywhere are agreed in preferring the man who throws himself into the
+circle of human action and living interests, honoring always the
+courageous actor whose sword and helmet are bright with use; and they
+are equally unanimous in rejecting the isolated ones, who would be great
+through separation from their fellows. Having experienced the summer
+bloom of the religious sentiment in his own heart, he casts himself upon
+the same sacred fire in which his own sins were consumed, and carries
+the flame to others.
+
+This was indeed the most popular way of taking hold of the religious
+interest, for it is feeling that proves contagious, and thought immersed
+in feeling. Intellectual abstraction, even of the highest order, never
+was very popular, and never can be, unless mankind should arrive at some
+age when philosophical intellect shall be general--an age which, in all
+probability, is at least as far off as the millennium; whilst it is
+equally evident, that the man whose thoughts have an eye toward
+practical results, and toward the living heart of the active millions,
+is the one whom the people understand, and the one whom they willingly
+crown.
+
+In January of this year, Mr. Badger continued to hold meetings in
+several towns, often from one to three in number per day, and as usual
+witnessed the effects of his labors. He speaks of being present at the
+death of Dr. Gray, a man of deistical principles, and whose life had
+been wicked. He visited him on Sunday, and remained till his death on
+Monday evening; and never did he witness more earnest prayers and
+pitiful expressions of grief than here by the bedside of the dying
+unbeliever, whose "philosophical fabrics all seemed to fail him in the
+trying hour;" on the 18th he presided at his funeral, and endeavored to
+console his disconsolate widow, and his "four weeping orphans."
+"Strange," says Mr. B., "that souls will live without faith, and strange
+that they will neglect the salvation of their souls to the last earthly
+day." In the early part of this month he spoke to an assembly from the
+merciful plea of the dresser of the vineyard, Luke 13: 18: "Let it alone
+this year also;" and some eight or ten were baptized this month. At
+Rochester, N. H., one of his "small friends," as he styles him,
+attempted to draw away the audience by the alarm of fire, crying to the
+utmost of his voice; but the more sacred fire of the speaker and of the
+meeting proved the stronger attraction, so that no essential disturbance
+ensued.
+
+We might take the month of February as a sample of the manner in which
+his days and nights were used. In glancing over the dates of his
+appointments, the following figures stand out for this month: they were
+on the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th,
+13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 23d, 24th,
+25th, 26th, and the remaining two days, which were passed at Lee, the
+place of his last appointment, are the only ones in which there is no
+record either of an appointment to preach or of time spent in visiting
+the sick. On his way from Farmington to Newmarket, he speaks of stopping
+at Capt. Richardson's tavern, at Durham, where he saw many strangers,
+and heard a conversation on political topics between two distinguished
+gentlemen, a conversation that ran quite high, as it just preceded the
+election.
+
+      "I thought," says Mr. B., "that they placed Mr. Plummer on
+      a very low seat, much lower, indeed, than their
+      fellow-citizens placed him a few days after; and they
+      extolled federalism exceedingly high. Capt. T. spoke out
+      with an air of consequence, and said: 'These runabout
+      preachers, I find, are continually propagating the devilish
+      doctrines of democracy.' 'O yes,' replied Col. R., 'that is
+      their business.' I was indeed sorry for them. They little
+      supposed that I was one of the persons they had spoken of,
+      who, unlike themselves, had faith in the ability, good
+      sense and integrity of mankind. I then rode to Lee, where I
+      breathed a different atmosphere in the society of saints.
+
+      "The 1st and 2d of March I stayed at Newmarket; the 3d,
+      held meeting at Mr. Sanborn's, of Epping; the 4th, at
+      Newmarket, I was taken sick with the measles; the 5th, rode
+      to Lee and preached a funeral sermon, also baptized one;
+      the 6th, attended meeting in the evening at Nottingham;
+      the 7th, through much infirmity, arrived at Deerfield and
+      preached at the house of J. Hilton, where I received the
+      kindest attentions during my severe sickness of one week.
+      May their generosity be largely rewarded! As soon as I was
+      able to ride, I started for Farmington, where I arrived on
+      the 17th. After tarrying a few days, I went to Middleton
+      and Brookfield for the first time. At the latter place, my
+      first meeting was held on the 24th, at which time several
+      afterwards dated their convictions. The 26th, held meeting
+      at Middleton Corner. It was a solemn time. That night I
+      could not sleep, as the people of Brookfield were so much
+      in my heart and mind. The 28th, I attended the ordination
+      of J. L. Peavy, at Farmington, and heard an appropriate
+      sermon from Rev. Elias Smith, of Portsmouth. It was a
+      glorious time."
+
+A sickness like the one here narrated would in these days have made a
+greater break in the journal of a month than it did with this hardy
+young minister. His body does not rest at the mere assault of disease,
+but moves on till the heavier blows fall; then surrenders but a week--is
+up again and doing as ever. Though his command of Greek and Latin may
+have been incomparably less than those who have passed their years in
+careful study, it would terrify the mass of graduates to attempt his
+labors.
+
+The month of April was busily and successfully employed, each day being
+occupied with an appointment to preach, or with visiting from house to
+house, in which he carried a countenance of calm and cheerful light to
+all he met. Sometimes three meetings a day was his order of action. At
+Wakefield he spoke on the 28th to hundreds of attentive hearers, among
+whom was a respectable young woman, Miss Lusena Guage, and who within
+seventeen hours of the time of his public address, departed this life; a
+circumstance that impressed itself on all, from the fact that the
+speaker that day had uttered, almost in an oracular manner, that the
+whole of his assembly would never meet him again. In Brookfield, he
+ended this month in the same evangelical spirit that brightened all his
+arduous labor, thanking God for what he had seen among the people.
+
+As May unfolded its numberless gems, it found him striving to unfold the
+spiritual life that lay in his own soul, and that existed, perhaps, in a
+wintry state, in the souls of others. The sun's increasing light and
+warmth invite nature to come out; whereupon, in a million-fold dress she
+stands arrayed before the celestial King. This is so, because the sun is
+to life a friend; and is it otherwise when any mind uncommonly filled
+with the Maker's light and love sheds itself vertically on other minds?
+The effects are indeed similar. Now and then a late plant or an
+obstinate root, that seems to be indifferent to the far-sent beam, at
+last buds and sprouts afresh. In this May month, he speaks of an humble
+twenty who met at Brookfield, N. H., and "agreed to acknowledge
+themselves a little company of CHRISTIANS, or DISCIPLES, and to lay
+aside all unscriptural names, doctrines and masters for the name of
+Christ, his doctrine and laws;" which, he says, was a glad day to many.
+"The converts were happy, the saints encouraged, the mourners comforted.
+The Bible alone was their creed." He also adds:
+
+      "This day and this night were solemn to me. One young man,
+      by the name of L. Whitehouse, by reputation the wickedest
+      young man in town, one who had often wished me out of the
+      place, one who had despised the saints, came running to me,
+      his face suffused with tears, and said: 'Mr. Badger, can
+      you pray for such a man as I am?' I told him that I could.
+      He was in deep distress. After a time he returned home. At
+      midnight I was aroused from my slumbers by the message that
+      Mr. W. was dying, and that he wished to see me very much.
+      Leaving my room and walking through the darkness of night
+      to visit one who had despised both me and my counsels, I
+      heard him say as I entered the house where he lay, 'I am
+      dying; and the worst of all that troubles me is that I am
+      unprepared to meet God.' Several hours I passed with him;
+      and the more of such scenes I witness, the more I am struck
+      with the folly of men in neglecting salvation in prosperity
+      and health.
+
+      "Arriving at Farmington on the 5th, at L. Peavy's I fell in
+      company with Dr. Hammond, who soon introduced conversation
+      on the subject of religion. He stood on the old doctrine of
+      fatalism, and was what every man ought to be who honestly
+      plants himself on this ground, a Universalist. After he had
+      labored hard (for one must labor hard to support a false
+      doctrine, whilst the truth can support itself and all who
+      believe it,) to prove his theory, I said to him: 'Sir,
+      although you claim to make God a good and merciful being,
+      you make him inconsistent. You prove that he has decreed
+      one thing and commanded another. You allege that he
+      ordained all things. Of course he has ordained them right.
+      But, Sir, are you able to say that all the wars, blasphemy,
+      drunkenness, political and religious contention we have on
+      earth, proceed from your good God?' 'Certainly' responded
+      he; 'it is all for some end. Mortals must experience a
+      degree of misery, to prepare them for happiness. It is
+      best,' continued he, 'to have different beliefs and sects
+      in the world, and what you term religion is merely impulse
+      and imagination, which is good so far as it tends to good
+      among men. The fear of hell which you hold up, moves many
+      to reform, and I think it would not be so well if all men
+      were as I am.' In the last idea I acquiesced. I told him
+      that I never had known the opinions he avowed to work the
+      reformation of any man; that I had not yet met a
+      Christ-like and prayerful person of those views, and that I
+      had known them to be accompanied by much profanity,
+      professed in the grog-shop, and resorted to by the vilifier
+      of practical godliness as a shelter against the solemn
+      claims of Christ upon the heart. I said to him that truth
+      bears good fruits, and that I was sorry that he should
+      labor so hard to prove a doctrine of whose results he had
+      so poor an opinion. Here our conversation closed.
+
+      "6th, I returned to Brookfield; just before I arrived at
+      Middleton Corner I saw a funeral procession slowly moving
+      toward the grave, and being so near the funeral I had
+      attended when going down, it made a solemn impression on my
+      mind. I said, Oh, may I be prepared for a similar scene!
+      The 8th, after attending two meetings, rode to Wolfborough,
+      where I arrived in the evening, much fatigued; the 9th,
+      spoke for the first time to the people at Smith's Bridge;
+      the 10th, returned to Brookfield; the 12th, spoke to the
+      people from Job 20: 17, and though the rain, which fell
+      very fast, prevented hundreds from attending, we had a very
+      good time. At 7 o'clock I attended meeting at Wakefield,
+      and as I visited from house to house on the 13th, I
+      remember to have asked a lady whether she enjoyed the
+      religion of Jesus, to which she replied, 'I do not intend
+      to be a hypocrite;' I thought her purpose a good one,
+      though her courtesy might have been a little improved. I
+      was every where else kindly received. The 18th, 19th, 20th,
+      23d, 26th, and 28th, had good and effective meetings, the
+      last appointment being at Epping, where I found the people
+      low in the enjoyment of vital religion, and some who had by
+      experience known the life and power of God, settled down
+      upon their lees, or what, in Calvinistic phraseology, they
+      would call the doctrines of grace. Grace then became my
+      theme. I went so far as to say that not only all men, but
+      beasts, birds, and fishes, were in a state of grace or
+      favor with God, by which they are daily sustained. What oak
+      or rose-bush can grow without the Creator's kindness? The
+      30th I spoke from Ps. 117: 7, 'Return unto thy rest, oh, my
+      soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee.' Rev.
+      N. Piper was present, and with many others, spoke, whilst
+      the glory of God seemed to shine in our midst. The 31st I
+      was sick at Mr. B.'s, whose kindness I can never forget.
+      The Lord God alone can know whether I live through another
+      month. If I do, oh, help me to live it more to thy glory
+      than I have lived any month of my life."
+
+No day of the month of June passed without an appointment to preach, as
+a glance at the journal shows; and among the travels recorded, is a
+journey to Providence, Rhode Island. At Canterbury, on his way, he
+speaks for the first time of hearing Elder Mark Fernald preach, June
+10th, and on the 11th of hearing Elder Benj. Taylor, who addressed the
+meeting at Canterbury, fourteen ministers and many others being present.
+He says:
+
+      "The 16th, I spoke at the State House, Providence, R. I.,
+      and had a good time in preaching and in breaking of bread.
+      The 17th, I rode to Boston, where I also spent the greater
+      part of the 18th, visiting the Museum, which made a strong
+      impression on my mind, and conversing with Mr. Elias Smith,
+      with whom I put up. In the evening I enjoyed a very good
+      time at Salem. The 23d, I went to hear Mr. Burgus, who
+      spoke from Acts 8: 22, in which he stated that prior to
+      prayer or any other duty, men must feel the love of God;
+      also, that all who denied that Jesus Christ had come in the
+      flesh, were false teachers, as are all those who regard him
+      only as a man; for, said he, Christ is the Eternal God:
+      there is none above him. When his afternoon meeting was
+      closed, I arose and told the people I had two remarks to
+      make on the sermon delivered in the morning, one in regard
+      to prayer, the other in regard to Christ. You remember, I
+      said to them, that the love of God was enjoined as
+      preceding every acceptable prayer. I ask you to compare
+      this statement with the order of facts contained in the
+      gentleman's text, which are, 1. Repentance; 2. Prayer; 3.
+      Forgiveness. 'Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and
+      pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be
+      forgiven thee.' As none contend that the enjoyment of the
+      love of God precedes the forgiveness of sins, I am amazed
+      at so bold a contradiction of the passage on which the
+      sermon was professedly founded. I then noticed Christ,
+      informing the people that I knew not the sect who held him
+      to be merely a man, for who does not know that the most
+      ultra of the Socinian school place him above all men in the
+      divinity of his spiritual endowments? and what class, I
+      inquired, could more plainly deny Christ than he had been
+      denied a short time previous, by the statement that he is
+      the Eternal God? I stated that I believed him to be the
+      Son of God, the great Mediatorial Centre of grace to
+      mortals, and that he has received all power in heaven and
+      on earth. If he is the Father, he cannot be the Son; and if
+      the plain declarations of the New Testament are to be
+      relied on, it is certain that he was dependent on God, and
+      that he knew One greater than himself, to whom he offered
+      worship, and of whom he gave a new revelation.[25] About
+      this time the clergyman saw fit to leave without offering
+      any public remarks. I continued my address. At the close,
+      many spoke of the love of Christ; and though we were
+      deprived of the presence of the clergyman, we had, I think,
+      the presence of God, which was far preferable. The 30th,
+      met an attentive multitude at T. Burley's barn, to whom I
+      spoke in the forenoon, from Ps. 11: 12, and in the
+      afternoon from Eph. 4: 5, on baptism. Many spoke freely. We
+      then retired to a pleasant water near by, where, with great
+      satisfaction, I baptized six happy youth. Here closes one
+      month more. O God, I pray thee to prepare me for all that
+      may await me in the next."
+
+July, 1816. We read of his being at Brookfield on the 1st, of his
+attending the funeral obsequies of Mr. L. J. Hutchins, at Wakefield, on
+the 2d, and of his spending the month industriously in the several
+places of his accustomed labor. Not far from this time there was in his
+mind a temporary conviction that he would select Providence, R. I., for
+his permanent residence, as he was anxious to concentrate his labors in
+one field, and no longer extend them over so wide a surface. Bearing
+date a few weeks later is a letter from Rev. Benj. Taylor, of Taunton,
+Mass., congratulating him on the change of his condition from single to
+married life, and earnestly inviting him to make the city of Providence
+his stand, assuring him that the condition of about thirteen churches
+within an area of forty miles called for his influence, ability, and
+zeal in their midst. Though Providence had the preference in his mind
+over the several places that occupied his attention as a permanent home,
+circumstances seemed to have ordained a different lot. He never became a
+citizen of that beautiful city.
+
+July the 17th he was married to Miss Mary Jane Peavy, of Farmington, New
+Hampshire, daughter of Capt. Anthony Peavy, of that town. The lady that
+now became his companion in the cares, hopes, and sorrows of life, was
+of the tender age of eighteen; and though doubtless inexperienced in the
+trials that belong to the ministerial sphere, having been herself most
+carefully and tenderly brought up in one of the best of New England
+families, her devotion to her husband, and to the cause in which he was
+engaged, during the brief period of her life, was ever worthy of the
+noblest praise. All the letters and documents of these few years
+indicate a mutual depth of sentiment and devotional regard. So
+paramount, however, was the cause of the ministry in Mr. Badger's mind,
+that the happy and important change recorded of his social relations
+made no essential vacancy in the accustomed duties of his profession.
+The days and evenings as they passed were continually laden with his
+sermons and prayers.
+
+In a letter to his brother, dated July 17th, he writes of the gloomy
+prospects of the husbandman throughout that country, saying, "We have
+been afflicted with war and with pestilence, and now we are threatened
+with famine, which is, if possible, a greater evil. I hope the people
+may learn righteousness whilst these various judgments are abroad in the
+earth."
+
+When speaking of the funeral of Mr. Hutchins, he says, "There was indeed
+a great solemnity in this scene. The widow's heart was a fountain of
+sorrow. The sons wept much, and on the face of one of the daughters sat
+the serene impress of eternity, whilst all the connections and friends
+seemed to mourn the loss of a Christian, a patriot, and a worthy member
+of the community. Several hours before the meeting, I spent in a
+pleasant grove; my retired moments, which were very solemn, were passed
+in meditation, prayer, and weeping; at the close of the services the
+afflicted family manifested to me an uncommon degree of friendship.
+Though very unwell, I rode to Middleton that day." In speaking of his
+trials, at the close of this July journal, he says: "It is well for
+mankind that they know not what the future conceals, lest they might
+shrink before the approaching conflict. I found in all my trials God's
+grace sufficient for me. 'In me ye shall have peace,' and to God I make
+my prayer that he would save me from whatever is unlike himself. 'Make
+me even as one of thy hired servants.'" There is an inward living
+current of faith flowing through his mind; nor were there any crises in
+his life, nor were there any trying positions into which the force of
+circumstances brought him, that, carefully examined, are found to be
+unvisited and unrefreshed by this living water of life in his soul. Like
+the mystic rock the Hebrew prophet smote, his heart flows out in living
+water.
+
+      August, 1816. "From the 1st to the 20th my time was spent
+      in Brookfield, Middleton, Farmington, attending to reading,
+      writing, preaching, and visiting from house to house. The
+      20th, had a good and solemn time at Brookfield; being ready
+      to start for R. I., after having a public meeting we held a
+      conference, in which brother Joseph Gooding, in an
+      animating manner, told his religious experience, and
+      requested baptism, which I administered at evening, whilst
+      it seemed as though the heavens were opened and the Spirit
+      descended upon the assembly. We then walked for a half a
+      mile, singing the praise of God. After changing my dress, I
+      rode to the residence of John Chamberlain, Esq., where I
+      was kindly received, and where I found the company of Mr.
+      F. Cogswell, of Gilmanton, whose visits among his brethren
+      were like the coming of Titus in the days of apostolical
+      truth and religious simplicity. The 21st, we rode to
+      Farmington and enjoyed a happy meeting; the 22d, being
+      ready to start on a journey to the South, I asked my
+      affectionate companion which she would prefer me to
+      do,--enter into business, accumulate property, and be
+      respectable in the world, or do the will of the Lord in
+      going forth to preach the Gospel, leaving her at home, and
+      subjecting ourselves to be poor in this world all our days.
+      After a moment's reflection, she burst into a flood of
+      tears, and said, 'I hope you will do the Lord's will,
+      whatever else may happen.' We had a weeping time. The next
+      morning I arose early and bade all my friends an
+      affectionate farewell, not expecting to see them again for
+      several weeks. Here my trial was very great. I had known
+      what it was to forsake father and mother, brother and
+      sister, houses and homes for Christ's sake, but in leaving
+      one who was so nearly a part of my own life, I found that
+      it exceeded all other trials belonging to the separation of
+      friends. The 24th I went to Deerfield to attend a general
+      meeting. I was there also on the 25th. The 26th it was
+      continued at Candia, and a blessing seemed to attend it.
+      The 27th and 28th, attended the Ministers' Conference at
+      Candia. The 29th, after the close of conference, I heard
+      the Rev. Elias Smith preach at Deerfield, N. H. From
+      several considerations, I was induced to postpone my
+      journey to the South, and, in company with Mr. E. Plan,
+      returned to Rochester and Farmington."
+
+      Sept. 1816. "From the 1st to the 10th I passed at
+      Farmington, holding several meetings: the 11th, went to
+      Gilmanton; the 13th, in company with Mr. Cogswell, started
+      for the province of Canada, to visit our relatives, and to
+      seek the welfare of Zion. The 14th, arrived at the house of
+      my eldest brother, in Wheelock, Vt., a distance of 112
+      miles; on Tuesday following, arrived at Danville, held
+      meeting at the Court House, where, favored by the presence
+      of a good assembly and six ministers of the Gospel, I found
+      liberty in speaking the living word. Our minds were
+      mutually refreshed. On Wednesday, held meeting in the north
+      part of the town, and at Mr. Wicker's in the evening, where
+      I was amazed to find Mrs. W. happy and in health, as she
+      had been sick for three years, and had, according to the
+      testimony of herself and friends, been miraculously
+      restored a few days before my arrival. Two years previous I
+      had visited her in her illness, which served to increase my
+      surprise at her present condition, induced, as I was told,
+      by simple compliance in faith with the direction of the
+      Apostle James 5: 14, 15. On Sunday, at Compton, we enjoyed
+      an excellent meeting with old friends, relatives, and
+      acquaintances, and on Monday evening rode to Ascott to
+      visit a company of Christians who had formerly been noted
+      for piety and engagedness, but were now the subjects of
+      delusion. Abundantly had they been blessed of God; but
+      instead of learning humility, they appeared to build
+      themselves up in the spirit of self-righteousness. One whom
+      they styled Apostle and Prophet was to them the highest
+      authority, equal to anything in the Holy Scripture. _He_
+      had revelations concerning all the business to be done by
+      his followers; also his pretended illumination extended to
+      marriages and to the intercourse of the sexes, and when his
+      _ipse dixit_ was given on these points, immorality was
+      unblushingly practised. Pretending to have personal
+      interviews with angels he had six followers, who, at his
+      command, would fall upon their knees, lie prostrate upon
+      the floor, or walk in a pretended labor for souls.
+      Sometimes he kept them walking for several days and nights
+      without eating or sleeping, when they would frequently
+      faint and fall upon the floor. They often screamed, howled,
+      and barked, making various strange noises, and bending
+      themselves up into many shapes. They most tenaciously held
+      that they were the only true church on earth, and that no
+      person out of their pale was capable of giving them the
+      least instruction. Like all the fanatics I ever saw, they
+      evinced great hatred and spite when opposed, and sometimes
+      they were full of the spirit of mocking. As I had known
+      them when they were respectable young people, and had
+      enjoyed with them the best of Christian fellowship, I could
+      but deeply mourn over the delusion in which they were lost.
+      After spending eighteen hours with them, I bore the most
+      decided testimony I could against their sentiments and
+      procedure. How many are carried away by every wind of
+      doctrine, and allow the pure religion of Jesus, with which
+      they begin, to degenerate into an alloy of earth and
+      passion! Ever may I be kept in the Mediator, where I shall
+      be permanent and uncontrolled by the wild extremes of the
+      age. The week following I spent at Compton, holding
+      meetings in different parts of the town. On Sunday, the
+      29th, the assembly was large, and we had a weeping time, as
+      I bade them farewell in the name of Him in whom is our hope
+      and love; and on Monday visited from house to house. Being
+      ready to depart on the morrow, and thinking that it was the
+      last time I should repose under my father's roof, my
+      thoughts and feelings were deeply solemn, as I looked out
+      upon the world-wide field of my future labors. My very
+      heart was pained, and the night passed away in almost
+      entire sleeplessness. Here closes the month, and in
+      feelings of the greatest solemnity."
+
+      (Oct. 1816. Letter to his father. Montpelier, Vt., Oct. 12,
+      1816.) "Dear Father,--With pleasure I improve a few moments
+      in writing to you, that you may be informed of my good
+      health, and my agreeable visit at Stanstead, Wheelock and
+      Danville. I preached the next Sunday after I left home, at
+      Danville Court House, and in the evening at Major
+      Morrill's. On Monday I came to this town, and held a
+      meeting at the Hall of Esquire Snow; in this place and
+      Calace I have held meetings all through the week. Last
+      Thursday I attended the election. After the Governor was
+      chosen, the ministers of all denominations were invited to
+      his apartment, where all the choicest kinds of drinks were
+      placed before them, and a rich dinner was prepared. Gov. J.
+      Galusha was chosen by a very great majority. He is an
+      agreeable man, and apparently a real Christian. His conduct
+      through the day excited the admiration of the spectators,
+      and it manifested, I think, the spirit of true patriotism
+      and of sound Christianity. I have an appointment here
+      to-morrow and expect that some will be baptized. We intend
+      to start for N. H. on Monday. I am in great haste. Give my
+      love to Mother, Thomas, Hannah and all my friends. God
+      bless you all with life eternal. Farewell.
+
+                              "JOSEPH BADGER."
+
+      "_Maj. Peaslee Badger._"
+
+Resuming his journal we find the following on this month. After meeting
+a large assembly at Danville, on Sunday, 13th, and administering baptism
+as intimated in his letter, he returned to his home at Farmington, N.
+H., the 16th, where he resumed his ministerial labor. He speaks of his
+appointments in different places as being to his own spirit refreshing;
+and of the sickness of his wife, and of outward trials and burdens as
+being great. His fine and sensitive nature, with all its composure and
+heroism, was alive to the influence of surrounding circumstances. Great
+and trying must have been the difficulties into which his position in
+the world at times must have brought him. These, however, only proved
+the strength and competency of the man. He never bowed his manly head in
+despair. He says, "Amidst all my conflict, in my retired moments I find
+consolation in trusting in God and in hoping for better days; and before
+the year shall end, O God, may I be allowed to see great displays of thy
+power." His clouds were always colored in part with the sun's rays. In a
+letter to his wife, dated Gilmanton, Oct. 31, he states the cause which
+commanded all the faculties of his mind:--
+
+      "As I am so far on my journey I think it best to continue
+      it. Our parting at this time is no less disagreeable to me
+      than to yourself. If I were to return home, the cross and
+      the self-denial of our separation would not be diminished.
+      We must learn to forsake all for our dear Redeemer's cause.
+      It is not, dear Mary, to please myself or others that I
+      leave you. It is wholly for the benefit of mankind, and for
+      the promotion of the cause of Christ. In a few weeks, if
+      the Lord will, I shall return to your fond embraces. Be
+      composed and reconciled to my absence, and never utter a
+      murmuring sigh at the will of Heaven."
+
+The journey he was about to take through the States of New Hampshire,
+Vermont, and New York, led to the selection of the fruitful and pleasant
+region of the county of Munroe,[26] in the latter State, as his
+permanent home, a region of country which in conversation he frequently
+styled "_the heart of the world_."
+
+November, 1816, leaving Gilmanton on the 2d, and passing through the
+towns, Salisbury, New Andover, Springfield, Newport, Clairmont, N. H.;
+through Weathersfield, Cavendish, Ludlow, Middleton, Poultney and
+Clarendon, Vt.; also passing through Granville, Hartford, Kingsbury,
+Saratoga, Milton, N. Y., he arrived on the 5th at Galway, where he met a
+kind reception from many who, like himself, stood on the common faith of
+one God the Father, one Christ the Mediator, one creed and platform of
+faith and church polity, the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments, and one
+common freedom of interpretation and right of private judgment. Here he
+addressed the people on the evening of the 5th, and rode to Ballston on
+the 6th, in which place and in adjoining towns, a great reformation had
+occurred under the public improvement of a very worthy female speaker,
+by the name of Nancy Gove. He gave to this community one discourse the
+evening of his arrival. On the 7th he was greatly delighted to meet his
+old friend and father in Israel, A. Moulton, from the Province, with
+whom, in his early years, he says, "I had taken sweet counsel in a
+strange land." Now he again heard his voice in the public assembly, on
+the same themes as when, in his youthful days, he spoke with so much
+feeling to his sensitive heart. In Amsterdam, a town of some prominence,
+in old Montgomery County, he preached to the people on the 9th and 10th,
+and carried the resurrection light of Christian consolation into the
+dwelling of Mr. Green, whose guest he was, and whose companion in life
+was wasting away with consumption. He had a fine faculty to light up a
+house of sorrow and mourning with hope and cheerfulness. At Milton,
+Ballston Springs, Charleston, and Canajoharie, he gave sermons; on what
+topics his private journal does not record, but to those who know his
+sagacious skill in adapting his subjects and discussions to the
+assemblies he met, no evidence will be needed to convince them that for
+the occasion and place they were happily chosen.
+
+Parting with Mr. Thompson and family on the 18th, and passing through
+several townships, as Minden, Warren, Litchfield and Paris, he arrived
+at Clinton, Madison County, N. Y., where he spoke on the evening of the
+19th. Continuing his journey through several towns he arrived on the
+21st at Brutus, Onondaga County, N. Y., and addressed the inhabitants in
+the evening of that and of the following day. He speaks of having there
+met Rev. Elijah Shaw, a man whose labors were then and afterwards
+greatly successful in leading the people into the inward experience of
+the vital principles of the Christian religion. Parting with these
+friends, in company with Mr. Moulton, he visited what was then the
+village of Auburn, and crossing the lake on a bridge, which he describes
+as a mile and a quarter in length, came into Junius, and reposed at
+night in the "handsome village," as he terms it, of Phelps; on the 26th
+he rode to Farmington, and there saw what in those days were considered
+the "famous Sulphur Springs," which he describes as a stream running
+rapidly out of the side of a small hill, in temperature about milk-warm,
+in smell and medical quality of the nature of sulphur; the waters were
+clear, and over the current a light cloud of vapor continually arose. I
+find that Mr. Badger, whenever his eye is arrested by a scene in nature,
+is sure to group together, in few words, all the essential qualities,
+and nothing redundant or expletive ever appears in his descriptions,
+which is nearly always the reverse with persons of unsubjected
+imaginations. He saw nature quietly and truthfully. The journal of this
+month closes with the account of several meetings held in Pittsford,
+since named Henrietta,[27] which was the centre of his early labors in
+this region of country.
+
+The month of December was assiduously employed in and about the region
+last mentioned. On the 1st, which was Sunday, he addressed a large
+assembly for the space of two hours, and at evening, in another part of
+the town, he spoke an hour and thirty-five minutes to a full house, a
+considerable number of whom were members of the Presbyterian society.
+From these meetings several of the people were accustomed to follow him
+to his lodgings and spend hours in conversation. His personal influence
+had a power to charm the people; and the statements of scores who still
+survive him, agree that Mr. Badger's influence as a speaker in those
+early years was, in this region of country, without a parallel.
+Communities were carried away by it. Opposition to his doctrine availed
+little in arresting the popular tide that moved at the lead of his will
+and word. "In those years," said an aged professional man, to the writer
+of this biography, "I regarded Mr. Badger as the most popular preacher I
+ever knew, and I still think," continued he, "that all in all, I never
+heard a man of so great natural gifts." At Westown, or Henrietta, he
+ordained deacons in his society, to take a temporal oversight of its
+affairs, and filling up nearly all the days with social visits and
+public meetings, the month was one continued earnest effort at bringing
+souls under the influence of Jesus and of Christianity. A theological
+conversation between himself and Rev. Thomas Gorton, who lived on the
+Genesee river, which occurred the 17th, and one with Rev. Mr. Bliss, may
+perhaps interest the reader. I offer his own words:--
+
+      "We conversed for the space of five hours on different
+      subjects. He was indeed very firm, and all who did not
+      think as he did came generally under the name of heretics.
+      At the close he offered against me four objections, which
+      were thus stated: 1st. You believe that the sinner in the
+      reception of salvation is an active creature. 2d. You
+      believe in the possibility of falling from a state of
+      justification. 3d. You cannot reconcile all the Scripture
+      to either of the three systems of punishment for the
+      wicked, neither eternal misery, destruction, nor
+      restoration. 4th. You baptize all who give evidence of
+      their becoming new creatures, provided they are received as
+      such by a church with whom you have fellowship, without any
+      particular regard to their belief or doctrinal principles.
+      Thus ended our conversation. The next day, I understood
+      that this gentleman, in speaking of the communion, (he was
+      of the Baptist faith,) said that it was 'absurd to think of
+      feeding swine and sheep together,' which caused me to mourn
+      that he or that any should have so little charity for other
+      denominations. I preached in his neighborhood the same
+      evening, [he was prevented from attending by a bad cold]
+      and was introduced to Mr. Rich, another clergyman of the
+      Baptist denomination. Asking him to participate in the
+      meeting, I proceeded to speak from 1 Cor. 13: 13:--'And now
+      abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the
+      greatest of these is charity.' The clergyman witnessed to
+      the truth of my sermon. The 18th I spoke at Avon, the 19th
+      went to Pittsford to administer baptism, the 20th enjoyed a
+      good time in the south part of the town, the 21st had a
+      very cold, disagreeable time at the village, the 22d
+      enjoyed a happy fellowship meeting, the 23d had an
+      excellent communion season in Pittsfield. At Briton, Mr.
+      Chapin, a missionary, after I had spoken, read a sermon
+      nineteen minutes in length, in which he alleged that in
+      Christ there are two distinct natures united, the human and
+      the divine; that the divinity never suffered, that humanity
+      alone was the world's saving sacrifice. No wonder that he
+      should teach a partial and a legal salvation. The 29th I
+      attended the funeral of an excellent young man, by the name
+      of Dorous Burr, which had on the minds of many a solemn
+      effect. For the first time, I met, on the 31st, Rev. Mr.
+      Bliss, of Avon. I think he was naturally a gentleman,
+      though on this occasion, prejudice against a people with
+      whom he was not acquainted had an overwhelming influence on
+      his manners. Many questions he asked in regard to total
+      depravity, a Triune God, the eternal Godhead of Christ, and
+      many others of the kind which are unnamed in all the Holy
+      Scriptures. Not caring to detail a lengthy conversation, I
+      would say that near its close he observed to me, that my
+      system was composed of Universalism and Deism; to this I
+      replied, that the old contradictory doctrine of fate,
+      originally introduced by the Stoics, and afterwards cruelly
+      applied and industriously propagated by John Calvin and his
+      followers, was the very root and foundation of both these
+      doctrines, and that if I was to take his statement for
+      truth, all the difference to be found between us was
+      this,--that Calvinism is the body of the tree, Universalism
+      the branches, and Deism the ripe fruit, and that whilst he
+      was the body, I was the branches and fruit; and being so
+      nearly related, we should hesitate thoughtfully before we
+      consented to quarrel, reminding him that in the forest body
+      and branches never contend. After some show of clerical
+      importance and authority, enough to remind one that if the
+      world was ruled by narrow-minded ecclesiastics, blood might
+      yet be shed for opinion's sake, our interview closed. On
+      the evening of the same day, I had a good meeting at Mr.
+      Gould's, in which eight or ten feelingly spoke of the love
+      of Christ, some of whom had never spoken in public before.
+      Here the month and the year close. I thank God for what I
+      have seen, and for what my soul has felt in this month; and
+      though it has been my lot this year to pass through
+      sickness and trials of many kinds, I thank Him that at its
+      close I feel a degree of salvation within, and I can say
+      with Israel's king, 'Before I was afflicted I went astray.'
+      Through all his agencies may God aid me to live more to his
+      glory the coming year than ever I have done. Thus end the
+      reflections and incidents of 1816."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+LABORS AND SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
+
+1817-18.
+
+
+The opening of the New Year, 1817, as is customary on such occasions,
+was attended with festivities and social amusements among the young
+people. And the following incident will readily illustrate the peculiar
+power which Mr. Badger could wield over the young, as likewise the
+efficiency of the Gospel as preached by him. On the first day of January
+he spoke to a large assembly in Pittsford, from the following very
+significant passage in Ezekiel 36: 26. "A new heart also will I give
+you." The young people, many of them, called it the best New Year's they
+had ever enjoyed, and many whose conversions dated in 1816 were
+quickened and refreshed by the words of the new minister. Great
+preparations were being made for a ball in the town of Pittsford on the
+9th; but it so happened that one of the principal managers and another
+influential young man were so divinely struck with the sentiments of the
+sermon given on New Year's Day, that all trifling, gay, or mirthful
+thoughts were rendered alien to their minds. Within four days they also
+had to speak of a sweet and rapturous bliss they had found in their
+newly awakened love to Christ. Instead of attending the mirth of the
+9th, they sent the following letter to their companions:
+
+                               "PITTSFORD, January 8, 1817.
+
+      "DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,--We were members of your intended
+      party, and anticipated, we presume, as much pleasure as you
+      will enjoy in our New Year's Ball; but to the joy of our
+      hearts, within a few days God has done great things for our
+      souls, whereof we are glad, and instead of attending the
+      ball, we are prompted by our feelings to spend the same
+      afternoon in solemn prayer for the welfare of our fellow
+      youth; and whilst you are engaged in vain mirth, will you
+      remember that we, your companions, are on our knees praying
+      to God, the Friend of us all, for your eternal welfare? We
+      are, with the tenderest regards and love, your friends,
+
+                            "J. WADE,
+
+                              "NATH. SWIFT."
+
+The letter, it is said, was kindly received, and had a beneficial
+effect. Mr. B. thanks God for the happy opening of the year, and prays
+that it may be crowned with thousands of new-born souls. On the third,
+at Pittsford, Mr. Chapin, the missionary already spoken of, introduced a
+disputation on total depravity, which was very soon closed, as Mr.
+Badger demanded that he should either state his proposition in Scripture
+language, or definitely explain what he meant against human nature and
+the human race by the words he employed, alleging that neither the words
+nor the idea probably intended were contained in the Oracles of God.
+Thinking that Mr. B. was too severe in his demands, he desisted, with
+the accusation that he was unfair as a reasoner. It is but repetition to
+say that all these days were made golden by action, calm but incessant
+labor. Days and evenings his musical voice resounded on the holy themes
+of faith, reformation, charity, and peace on earth; many a time, as the
+still heavens sent down their nocturnal light and shed their holy
+influence all around, he returned from his precious victories over the
+hearts of his fellow immortals, pervaded by a love that accords with the
+silent glow of all that was above and about him. At his communion
+seasons he caused the sectary to mourn the rigidity of his creed, which
+did not allow him to come forward, to follow his heart, because of some
+dry, unvital difference in theological belief. He visits the sick,
+speaks occasionally in the private mansion of some friend, sometimes in
+the school-house, in the grove and open air, making the freest use of
+time and place, regarding them only as servants to his mission. At Avon,
+Mendon, Pittsford, Pennfield, and Lima, he continued his labors, at
+times administering baptism in the waters of the Genesee and its
+tributaries, on which occasions, as on every other where the attractions
+of an easy personal address give grace and impression to the scene, he
+was uncommonly gifted and happy. Some who had opposed him strongly, were
+so impressed by the solemnity of one baptismal scene, and by the remarks
+he there offered, as to retract, at the water's side, the hard words and
+speeches they had made. "I felt to forgive them," says Mr. B., "for all
+their unreasonable censures. At Avon I had excellent meetings the 8th,
+9th, 10th and 11th; the 12th, had an excellent time at Pennfield; the
+13th, returned to Pittsford," and omitting to notice the several
+appointments that fill up the days and evenings of the month, I would
+only transcribe from his pages, that "the last week of the month was
+spent at Lima, the 19th administered baptism, the 27th attended to the
+holy communion, whilst the glory of God cheeringly shone in our midst,
+and to the end of this month our meetings were full of interest and of
+feeling."
+
+Feb. 1817. A temperance sermon to a large assembly was given on the 2d;
+on such occasions Mr. Badger was exceedingly persuasive and appropriate.
+He was almost sure to get the sympathy and hearty interest of the most
+fallen man in the community, could easily gain from _such_ a hearing,
+and at the same time edify and entertain the most elevated men. In later
+years, in the spring of 1842, he gave a temperance sermon in a village
+of central New York, where much liquor had been sold, that secured more
+than a hundred signers to the pledge, and that, with the additional aid
+of a personal interview with those who sold, actually banished the sale
+from every store and shop in town. He found a favorite text for such an
+occasion in 1 Cor. 9: 25, where St. Paul, in contrasting the Christian
+with the Olympian races, and in speaking of the importance of temperance
+for the success of each, assigns the higher motive of the Christian
+temperance thus: "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we
+an incorruptible." He drew his temperance argument from the highest
+motive.
+
+With date of Feb. 3d, I find a remarkable letter, addressed to Deacon M.
+Sperry, of the Presbyterian Church, relating chiefly to the very
+important subject of Christian Union, which is becoming so popular a
+theme with the thinking and liberal part of the Christian world. In the
+extracts that follow, the reader will see what thoughts were common to
+Mr. Badger as early as 1817, and indeed earlier, for they appeared in
+his mind prior to his entrance upon the ministry in the autumn of 1812.
+
+                                 "PITTSFORD, February 3, 1817.
+
+      "DEAR BROTHER,--I am happy in inclosing a few lines to you,
+      which I hope will be received as the fruit of Christian
+      friendship. We have had some opportunity of acquaintance
+      for a few months past, which, on my part, has been
+      agreeable, with yourself, your family, and the church with
+      which you stand connected. It is my motive to promulgate
+      peace and extend happiness in society, and, so far as
+      possible, extend a real union among all the dear disciples
+      of Christ; and as we have become citizens of the same town,
+      let us labor for peace; as we profess to be
+      'fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of
+      God,' let us be one as the Father and the Son are one, and
+      let love for one another be to all men the proof that we
+      are his disciples.
+
+      "In my travels I can say with propriety that I have
+      experienced much sorrow from the 'divisions' that exist
+      among Christians, the party censures that are cast one upon
+      another, and the imprudent conduct that obtains among
+      public and private members of different churches. Such
+      things harm 'the oil and the wine;' by them candid friends
+      are caused to stumble in their way, and the hands of the
+      wicked are strengthened. I have concluded, Sir, that a
+      great amount of the divisions that now exist arose very
+      much from tradition and the different ways in which men
+      have been educated, though we must confess that the
+      instructors or preachers are the principal cause of the
+      divided state of the Church. The censures to which I allude
+      flow often from ignorance, from self-righteousness, from a
+      lack of the 'fear of God before their eyes;' and we may say
+      that true brotherly love will remedy all the imprudent
+      conduct by which brethren of the Christian profession annoy
+      and perplex each other. These divisions do not arise so
+      much from different parts of the doctrine of Christ as many
+      imagine; but from the doctrines and commandments of men,
+      which St. Paul, 2 Tim. 2: 23, speaks of as 'foolish and
+      unlearned questions that do gender strifes;' questions
+      which confuse the minds of thousands, which separate chief
+      friends, and in which often the mind is lost in its
+      deliberations as it turns upon subjects we cannot
+      comprehend or understand; sometimes on things of futurity
+      which do not immediately concern us. Thus we get lost, and
+      the foundation is laid for Deism; and there appears the
+      worst of fruit. It is a matter of joy to me that divisions
+      among Christians are to end at last, 'and there shall be
+      one fold and one Shepherd.' I do not make these
+      observations to cast reflections on any religious people,
+      but because these things have and do greatly occupy my
+      mind.
+
+      "It may not be amiss for me to offer a few remarks on our
+      present circumstances, although it is with great delicacy
+      and tenderness that I would mention things of this nature.
+      Our condition, and the condition of the people in this
+      vicinity at the present time, is very critical. I can truly
+      say that the thought of a division among the faithful ones
+      grieves my heart. I am unwilling that the living child
+      should be divided. I have it in contemplation to lay before
+      you a few propositions for your consideration, as we both
+      have the responsible care of others, and as it is now
+      becoming necessary that I should attend to some regulations
+      that belong to the form of a church. I think it proper to
+      make my feelings known to you, and I seek to know the
+      liberty wherein you stand more perfectly, before I proceed
+      to the organization of a church in this vicinity. I thus
+      proceed to offer my propositions in the hope that they will
+      meet your approbation:
+
+      "1. I propose that you and I labor to have all the
+      disciples in this vicinity become united in one church.
+
+      "2. I propose that we appoint a time for all who profess
+      Christ to meet and confer on this subject.
+
+      "3. We will agree not to adopt any measures, rules, or
+      doctrines, but what are clearly exhibited in the
+      Scriptures.
+
+      "4. We will not call ourselves by any name but such as the
+      New Testament gives.
+
+      "5. If there are points in the Scripture on which we cannot
+      all see alike, we will not resolve ourselves into
+      disagreement upon them, but each shall offer his light in
+      friendship on the subject, which is the only way for
+      _truth_ to shine in its various lustre. If we form a
+      society in this manner we shall be in a situation to
+      receive all preachers who may find it in their way to call
+      on us, and to receive the truth, in the love of it, from
+      every quarter. The truth will make us free. The above are
+      a few of many things I shall wish to converse upon when a
+      suitable opportunity presents. With love and respect, I am
+      your servant for Jesus' sake,
+
+                                       J. BADGER."
+
+This strikes us as a noble effort at organizing into the unity of the
+pure religion of love and experience, the existing theological
+divergences of the town; and though the idea was greatly in advance of
+the religious culture of the persons he sought to reach, it proves the
+religious elevation of Mr. Badger, and his extreme unwillingness to
+multiply unnecessarily the number of religious organizations. That mere
+doctrine, or theological opinion, is not the true basis of the church;
+that the life of God in the soul should be a bond sufficiently strong to
+inclose harmoniously the honest intellectual differences of the
+disciples of Christ, is a truth yet destined to appear in power, in the
+embrace of which, a church, more truly and influentially catholic than
+any which has, since the days of the Apostles, figured in the
+ecclesiastical history of the world, will probably exhibit itself to
+mankind. But it strikes us as a rich phenomenon, that an idea so great
+in itself and in its probable results should have lived so steadily in
+the mind of a minister, at a time when the severe doctrines of Calvin
+were so widely received, and that it should find in his discourse an
+expression so calm and various. Many smaller men, in the possession of
+so great a thought would have made much ado and noise about it, but with
+him it easily held its place along with other important principles of
+religious reformation.
+
+It would seem that Mr. Badger did not so succeed in melting down the
+opinional partitions as to unite the whole religious community into one
+body, for in the following language he speaks of acknowledging a new
+society in the town, formed no doubt of the material created by his own
+recent and successful labors:--
+
+      "On the 18th we met for the establishment of a church. The
+      persons present felt a free and a happy union. They were
+      strong in faith. Twenty-five of us took each other by the
+      hand in token of brotherhood and of our sacred union. We
+      acknowledged ourselves as a church of God. Some little
+      opposition appeared, but at the close harmony prevailed.
+      Weapons formed against Zion are never destined to prosper."
+
+As early as the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th of this month, we read of his
+visiting and preaching in the towns of Bristol and West Bloomfield;
+neither of the congregations he there met having ever before heard a
+minister preach who professedly hailed from no other creed than the
+Bible--from no other distinguishing name than that of Christian, and
+from no other test of sacred fellowship than Christian character. There
+was a commanding newness, an inspiring originality and freshness in the
+position he occupied, that, aside from the peculiar abilities of the
+man, awakened the thoughtful attention of the people. I would here
+remark, that the denomination--for indeed all great religious movements,
+however catholic in aim and spirit, do almost necessarily centralize
+themselves at last into denominational form--with which Mr. Badger stood
+connected, was the one known in the ecclesiastical history of the last
+half century as the Christian denomination; a name taken not from
+partisan pride, but from reverence to the New Testament Scriptures,
+which they declared were ignorant of the sectarian creeds and names of
+the Christian world, and which records a period in the Primitive Church
+when the disciples were called Christians, a usage which had its
+commencement under the apostolical ministry of Paul and Barnabas, in the
+city of Antioch, Acts 11: 26. It was taken in charity, not in
+exclusiveness, inasmuch as their dearest premises conceded to all who
+feared God and wrought righteousness, in every sect and nation, not only
+the name, but what is far better, the character of a Christian. I will
+here only say that though they allow a wide diversity of opinion, there
+has ever been a general unity of faith and usage among them, and that in
+the main, their leading views are sketched in the early opinions of Mr.
+Badger; opinions formed from reason, religious experience, and Scripture
+revelation, before he had known of such a people. With the first years
+of the present century this denomination came into being; and without
+any one central man to act as their founder or guide, they arose in
+different parts of the Union simultaneously, and though unknown to each
+other at first, they soon were drawn into union and concert, by the
+magnetism of common strivings and of common truths.
+
+At Bristol he speaks well of the courteous treatment of the Rev. Mr.
+Chapman, the minister of the town, whom he describes as a man of
+learning; of the full attendance of the people at his appointments, the
+last of which was principally devoted to the examination of the commonly
+received doctrine of election, and to those practical persuasions that
+grew out of his views of the individual freedom and responsibility of
+men.
+
+      "At West Bloomfield, on the 7th," says Mr. B., "I spoke in
+      the evening, at the house of Mr. French, to an audience who
+      had never before heard one of my name and sentiments
+      preach. Mr. Hudson, a school instructor, who, as I
+      understood, was about to enter upon the study of divinity,
+      came to me, desirous to converse, he said, on principles,
+      and accordingly began with a few old questions, which I
+      judge he had already learned from some clergyman, as I have
+      often met them in my conversations with that class. He
+      began in foreordination, and proceeded to the human
+      sacrifice of Christ, as he contended that what was divine
+      in Him did not in any respect suffer for men. The assembly
+      that came together that evening contained several who were
+      much prejudiced, but at the close many of them came forward
+      and manifested great satisfaction. On the 8th I returned to
+      Pittsford, spent there the 9th, 10th, and 11th; preached at
+      Avon on the 12th, at Lima the 13th, at Norton's Mills the
+      14th; the 15th returned to Pittsford; the 18th organized
+      the church, about which time the adversaries of the
+      reformation took a public stand against us, spread many
+      reports concerning the opinions and sentiments of Elias
+      Smith, of Boston, which did us but little harm, as some of
+      us knew as much as they about his sentiments, and as none
+      of us felt ourselves accountable for what an individual in
+      Boston might say or do. The 26th ordained deacons in the
+      church, and in the evening heard Mr. Moulton, who had just
+      returned from Ohio; the 27th, after listening to the
+      faithful voice of Mr. Moulton, we repaired to the pure and
+      quiet water, where I baptized seven happy converts, and on
+      the 28th enjoyed one of the best of church meetings."
+
+In this little nucleus his faithful watch-care centered, whilst in
+adjoining towns he labored like a missionary of apostolical zeal and
+self-sacrifice.
+
+Parting with Mr. Moulton, March 3d, who pursued his way to Canada across
+the lakes, Mr. Badger started for the west; paused at Murray, now
+Clarendon, Orleans County, N. Y., on the 4th, to hold an evening
+meeting; on the 5th, rode to Hartland, Niagara County, where he
+addressed the people in the evening; on the 6th, starting at four
+o'clock in the morning, and over sleighing almost wholly gone, he
+advanced through drenching rain another thirty-seven miles to reach his
+appointment at 3 P. M., which he did without eating or drinking for the
+day till his end was accomplished. He said: "I was much fatigued, but
+this was a good day to my soul. I often find it beneficial to fast and
+to pray. In the afternoon the Lord's holy presence was consciously upon
+us. About twelve here united as a church, and in the evening we ordained
+W. Young to the office of deacon. As Mrs. Young desired to be baptized,
+I found it necessary to hold meeting at sunrise the following morning,
+when we met a large company to hear the preaching and to witness the
+baptism. I found it good to hold meeting before breakfast. In the
+afternoon I rode to Ogden, and in the evening addressed a respectable
+congregation, who were mostly Presbyterians." This month, he assisted to
+organize a church at Murray, which is still united and prosperous. The
+locality of the former church was probably at Lewiston, Niagara County,
+New York.
+
+Returning to Pittsford on the 8th, he passed several days in social
+conversation and public discourse with the Christians of his community,
+who were alive in the joy, light and peace of the kingdom of God. On the
+14th he attended the funeral of Mrs. Abigail Stiles, who lacked but one
+day of completing twenty-three years of an honored pilgrimage on earth,
+and who in her sickness, as the fading world grew small and dim to her
+vision, longed in fervent earnestness to be more conformed to the Christ
+of her faith and love. For the first time since the organization of his
+society, the symbolic bread was broken among them on the 16th, to which
+many came forward who never before had honored the crucified One in the
+silent language of symbol. He preached at Avon on the 17th, in the
+residence of a leading officer in the Methodist Church, Mr. Wm. Brown;
+at Lima, the 19th; the 23d, attended the funeral of one of his intimate
+friends, Mr. J. Johnson, who had fallen instantly dead in the prime of
+life; and omitting the details of other appointments, perhaps it may
+reward the reader's glance, to consider the following lines.
+
+      "On the 28th I preached again in the town of Gates, where,
+      on my arrival, I was introduced to a young gentleman, who
+      appeared to feel that the world held at least one highly
+      important person in it. In a very consequential manner he
+      brought forward theological discussion on several subjects,
+      which might come into the following divisions: 1. That the
+      sufferings of Christ's humanity atoned for the sins of the
+      world. 2. That God had foreordained whatsoever comes to
+      pass. 3. That God is the author of sin. We conversed
+      somewhat lengthily. But as I was repelled by his manner a
+      great deal more than I could be attracted by his matter, I
+      was prompted to end the conversation with a plain
+      exhortation, in which I urged upon him humility of heart
+      and the fear of God. We parted; and both from his words and
+      actions I conclude 'the young man went away sorrowful.'
+
+      "At Parma had an agreeable meeting the same evening, and
+      bidding the family of Mr. Mathers, where I had been a
+      guest, a kind farewell, went to my appointment at Murray.
+      At Parma I was much pleased, on arising to preach, to see a
+      gentleman take his seat the other side of the table, who
+      commenced writing as soon as I began to speak. In order to
+      put the blush upon him I offered him the candle near me,
+      observing that in writing he would need its light, and that
+      I could easily preach without it. This seemed to frustrate
+      his writing, in which he did not long proceed, but before
+      the close of the sermon his head was gently bowed, and the
+      tears flowed freely from his eyes. At the close he came to
+      me, and earnestly requested that I would come again. I
+      found this gentleman to be Judge J., a man of considerable
+      weight and note in the town. On the 20th I had a joyful
+      meeting at the Four Corners in breaking bread to the
+      disciples. The 31st I devoted to the western part of the
+      town. Thus ends another month, and my soul is happy in
+      God."
+
+      Mr. Badger continues, "The 2d of April, on which day I held
+      two good meetings at Parma and Gates, I was invited by a
+      messenger from Mrs. Colby, to attend the funeral of her
+      son, the next day, who had just departed. I found it duty
+      to stay. The next morning, accompanied by Mr. Williams, I
+      repaired to her dwelling and found her to be a woman of
+      sorrow and acquainted with grief, a person of
+      respectability and good sense; through all her various
+      sorrows she had for years lived in the exercise of
+      religion. Of six children and of two kind husbands she had
+      been bereaved. The assembly was large, the scene was
+      solemn. I spoke from Jer. 9: 21: 'For death is come up into
+      our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off
+      the children from without and the young men from our
+      streets.' On the 6th, at Pittsford, which was Sunday, after
+      administering the communion in the morning, I gave a
+      farewell sermon, from Acts 20: 32, as I designed to start
+      on a long tour to the East, to meet my dearest friend, from
+      whom I had so long been absent. I spent the week in
+      visiting the places where I had preached; on the 13th, in
+      the west part of the town, I administered the communion to
+      a company of disciples, the greater part of whom I had
+      baptized; and, on the 14th, at my own house, bade adieu to
+      a company of friends who had come to give me their parting
+      words of kindness. These indeed were solemn times.
+      Returning east, very nearly in the same line as I had come,
+      and holding meetings by the way, I arrived at Farmington,
+      N. H., the last day of the month, having been absent just
+      six months to a day. I found my companion in a low state of
+      health; we mingled our tears together in thanksgiving to
+      God."
+
+We have in these preceding pages a simple narrative of six months'
+preaching, mostly located in the old counties of Ontario and Genesee, in
+the State of New York, chiefly the former; and in looking over the
+present religious aspects of that fine region of country, it is a
+remarkable fact that nearly all the churches that now flourish in these
+parts, hailing from the cardinal sentiments already spoken of, are on
+the same places and within the circle marked out by these six months'
+labors. At that time the county of Ontario extended from its present
+southern limit over all the towns between itself and the Genesee river,
+including most of the towns named in these last pages of the journal.
+In these six months, he, an entire stranger in the land of his labors,
+creates the material and organizes it, on which he is willing to rely
+for his future support and coöperation, and before leaving the people
+whom he had rallied about a common centre, which was religion based on
+experience, he decided to return in the summer and to establish his home
+in their midst. Accordingly, he made arrangements in the month of May,
+whilst in New Hampshire, to return with his family to Pittsford, N. Y.,
+which he carried into execution in the months of June and July, not
+neglecting, however, his usual industry in preaching whilst in New
+England and on his way back to his new home, which he had provided for
+himself before going to the east. He turned the country into a campaign
+wherever he went, planning out his action into order and system always.
+On his return he had appointments at the close of each day, and often in
+the afternoon. He speaks of an interesting visit at the famous springs
+of Saratoga; also of a brief interview he had with the celebrated
+Lorenzo Dow on the morning of the 15th, as follows:
+
+      "I never before had seen him, but having his engraved
+      likeness with me, I knew him at once. His countenance had
+      an expression that might be called piercing. His eyes were
+      penetrating, his mind was heavenly in its thoughts and
+      feelings, and his conversation shone with modesty and
+      sobriety. His appearance, and a few moments of
+      conversation, made the most serious impression on my mind.
+      He seemed like an inhabitant of some other region, or like
+      a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth. As I reflected on
+      his numerous sufferings and extensive usefulness, I was
+      led to mourn my own unlikeness to God. How many bear the
+      name of ministers of Christ, who do not walk as He walked."
+
+The same day he arrived at Pittsford, thus ending a lengthy journey of
+much fatigue, and to Mrs. Badger of some afflictive illness; occupied
+his new home, and resumed from that time the same industrious action
+which had before been so signally crowned with success. He found his
+friends steadfast in affection and faith, turned into falsity the
+predictions of his enemies, who had said he would never return, and in
+company with a very worthy coadjutor, Mr. John Blodget, a minister of
+the same evangelical faith, with whom he had corresponded since 1815,
+and who had accompanied him from the east, he was now prepared to supply
+the increasing demand made upon his labors.
+
+Never until now had Mr. Badger known by experience what it was for a
+minister to be involved by domestic cares, and the numerous solicitudes
+that cluster about the external well-being of a newly established home,
+which in some degree must divert the mind from study and thought; but
+which may really prove its own reward by the development of practical
+wisdom, and by rendering the experience of the minister more akin to the
+daily life of the great majority of those whom he instructs. He whose
+experience allows him the most numerous points of contact with mankind,
+can best comprehend them, and, with suitable gifts, he can most easily
+reach them by a leading, commanding influence. Mr. Badger was one of
+those men whom new circumstances and responsibilities could not
+frustrate, but which always found in him a new and a latent adequacy,
+that only waited for the outward call; and so much did his peculiar
+genius of self-mastery and adaptation have its symbol in the cat, which,
+thrown from whatever part of the building, is sure so to control the
+evolutions as to strike upon its feet, that throughout his life, which
+was bold and adventurous, it was seen that new difficulties were always
+more than paralleled by new manifestations of power in him. With a
+nature everflowingly social, and beyond most persons adapted to domestic
+life, he now aims to travel less into foreign parts, and to collect his
+energies for a field of action in which he might regard his home as the
+centre. The absence of theological sympathy in the world was nothing to
+dampen his zeal or cause him to waver, having himself so much
+self-reliance and creative power to modify and change society to his own
+views and feelings.
+
+In the month of August he attended some general meetings, as they were
+called, in different parts; one as far off as Clinton, N. Y., not less
+than a hundred miles. By a general meeting, in those times and since, is
+meant a meeting of about two days, at which ministers and people came
+from a considerable distance around, general notice and invitation being
+given. Very frequently, when the weather and season would permit, the
+people repaired to the overshadowing groves, where, in the free and open
+air, they sang hymns, offered prayers, and devoutly listened to
+successive sermons. Often, with an eloquence as natural as the trees
+whose leaved branches shaded the multitudes, has the clear musical voice
+of Mr. Badger held thousands in listening silence, enchained as by a
+resistless spell, whilst he unfolded some great theme of the Christian
+doctrine and life. No man who heard him on such occasions would be apt
+ever to forget the topic or the speaker. On the 30th and the 31st of
+August, such a meeting was holden at Pittsford, at which time Mr. John
+Blodget was by suitable services ordained to the work of an evangelist.
+Also, in accordance to the usages of the time, a ministerial conference
+succeeded it September 1--an association which acted simply as an
+advisory body, and for purposes of mutual discussion and consultation.
+Such bodies in after years exercised the right of receiving new members,
+who were ordained ministers of the gospel, or licentiates. They also
+claimed and exercised the right of preserving their own moral purity, by
+examinations of character and by expulsion.[28] In this month he
+preached much in his own town, a few times at Mendon, attended funerals
+at Pittsford and Avon, and baptized at Mendon a few young men who had in
+the freshness of life's morning consecrated themselves to pure religion.
+As the brown leaves of October were silently admonishing the world of
+human frailty, as nature was pouring out the influences of a calm and
+holy peace, Mr. B., untrammelled by creed, and with an Old Book in his
+hand, whose leaves had ever held the greatest spiritual lessons for the
+human heart, was preaching the salvation of God with a grace and
+composure that, in naturalness, would compare with the spirit and scenes
+of the creation around him; for emphatically was he a son of Nature,
+owned and blessed of her. In this October month, he says:
+
+      "I started on the 1st for Hartland, Niagara County, to
+      attend a general meeting on the 4th, a distance of about
+      eighty miles from my residence. At Murray, Genesee County,
+      we had a good meeting. On the evening of the 4th I spoke at
+      Hartland, and on the 5th the assembly was blessed with the
+      presence of our God; the conference succeeding it was also
+      very good. I returned home on the 11th, where I preached
+      and administered baptism; on the 12th, preached in two
+      parts of the town, and on the 18th rode through Caledonia
+      to attend a general meeting at Leroy,[29] which was
+      attended with signal blessing. At the close, Mr. Hubbard
+      Thompson was ordained to the Gospel ministry, and a church
+      of substantial members was there organized. During this
+      month I preached twice at Mendon, and among the people of
+      my charge, had many good social meetings. In view of the
+      fleeting character of this world's pleasures, let us draw
+      from the well of salvation, let us seek our heart's eternal
+      peace.
+
+      "In the month of November I spent the 1st, 2d, and 3d at
+      Pittsford, the 4th, 5th, and 6th at Mendon and Lima. At
+      this time the work of God in no small degree of power
+      commenced. I baptized on the 8th, Messrs. Thomas Smith,
+      Allen Crocker, Jeremiah Williams, Nathan Upton; and I now
+      found it my duty to return to Mendon and to make a stand,
+      as the minds of the people were inquiring, and their hearts
+      were moved. I began to travel from house to house, and for
+      several weeks I held several meetings a day, and in almost
+      every meeting there were some made free by the Son of God.
+      Among the incidents of the time, on the 20th it happened
+      that I met with Mr. Cook, a clergyman of Lima, who
+      presented me with this text on which to preach, 1 John 3:
+      16: 'Hereby perceive we the love of _God_, because he laid
+      down his life for us;'--a text given without doubt to serve
+      as an embarrassment, inasmuch as the word _God_, which is
+      supplied by the translators, seems to apply to Him who laid
+      down his life for us. It was easy to see that, supposing
+      the pronoun he to refer to the Son of God, who is so often
+      spoken of in the preceding part of the chapter, the only
+      inference that follows is, that his death is a display of
+      God's love, which is the doctrine of the entire New
+      Testament; or, stripping the passage of the supplied words,
+      it only teaches that Christ proved his love by laying down
+      his life for us. I had a fine time in speaking, as the text
+      was a help and not an embarrassment to my mind. He,
+      however, made some opposition, and stated that the Eternal
+      God died on the cross. This was evidently to his own hurt.
+
+      "Several of our meetings, held at sunrise, were attended
+      with good. On the 25th I baptized fifteen who had the
+      inward evidence that they had passed from death unto life.
+      This was a day of brightness; and thus, as from the giving
+      hand of God, the work continued. On the 24th eighteen
+      united as a church, and December 2d, six others were added
+      to their number; on the 4th eight were baptized, and thus
+      in Mendon and Lima the work continues to the joy of the
+      saints and to the confusion of enemies. A way also opens
+      into West Bloomfield. At Mendon, for the first time, we had
+      a blessed communion on the 28th--a communion to which all
+      who worship God, and who love the way of holiness were
+      invited, entirely without regard to their different
+      theories of religion. Many others were also added this
+      month. In peace the year closes, and I thank the Father of
+      all goodness for the trials and blessings it has brought.
+      May the next be illuminated by thy Presence!"
+
+Only observing that since the world begun, _such_ men have always seen
+and made others see the fruits of their labors, that the power to make
+the frozen soul of the world melt and run in liquid streams, is one that
+never leaves its owner friendless or without a sceptre and a helm, I
+would proceed to lay before the reader more of his truthful narrative.
+From letters received, bearing date 1817, we judge that considerable
+success attended the efforts of his fellow laborers abroad; letters from
+the Peavys, from Blodget, King, Martin and Shaw; and if space would
+permit, we might quote largely from two or three of his own
+controversial letters in which he kindly and candidly corrects the
+misrepresentations of some opposing clergymen, and with his peculiar
+faculty for making others feel the _point_ of his pen when he chose to
+do so, he reasons on the principles of his faith. We venture only a
+couple of paragraphs from nearly the close:
+
+      "That, Sir, which bore with the greatest weight on my mind,
+      was your manner of introducing this subject before the
+      people. You say that Mr. Smith, of Boston, is the founder
+      of the people called Christians, and that I get my doctrine
+      from his Bible Dictionary. But, Sir, Mr. S. was never the
+      founder of any doctrine that ever I preached; nor is his
+      dictionary any more a criterion with me than is that of Mr.
+      Wood a criterion with you and with your brethren. To me,
+      Brown's, Barclay's, Butterworth's, Parish's, Smith's, and
+      Wood's are all alike; there is valuable information, and
+      there are errors in them all, for which I am wholly
+      unaccountable. For Mr. Smith's errors I am no more
+      responsible than you are for Mr. Wood's. I am not his
+      counsellor. I am accountable, Sir, for no errors but my
+      own; for these I am willing to answer now and at the
+      Judgment. Still, I shall notice your quotation of Mr.
+      Smith's writings, for I esteem them incorrect and unfair.
+      His writings, some of them, are undoubtedly very erroneous;
+      so are some of Mr. Wesley's and Mr. Fletcher's; but can
+      this prove that there is nothing good in them, or that
+      their writings are all bad? Had I selected some things from
+      Mr. Wesley's Notes on the New Testament, or some sketches
+      from the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
+      told the people that these were the faith of all the
+      Methodists, I should certainly have been unfair, for many
+      have discovered greater light and have offered their
+      dissent from these writings. Yet these men were luminaries
+      for the day that brought them forth. I would not injure the
+      kind feelings of my numerous Methodist friends; but what
+      would Mr. R. say, should I go into a place holding in my
+      hand Mr. Wesley's sermon on Rom. 8: 21, which proves that
+      the beasts will go to heaven and share in immortality?--or
+      his sermon on the Lord's Supper, which proves it right, or
+      which admits the unconverted to the communion?--then should
+      I say that Mr. R. believes exactly thus, before I had seen
+      or heard you, would you not call it unfair? This is the
+      light in which I view your recent conduct.
+
+      "In quoting Mr. Smith, you have taken two whole sentences
+      and part of another, and have so put them together as to
+      make but one sentence. I think I can satisfy you that this
+      is wrong, incorrect and unfair. By the same method I can
+      prove that Joseph Badger should go and hang himself; yet we
+      both know that the act would be criminal. You find the
+      word Joseph in Gen. 45: 28, the word Badger you meet in
+      Ezekiel 16: 10th verse; Matt. 27: 5, affirms of Judas that
+      'he went out and hanged himself;' this is Scripture. 'Go
+      and do thou likewise,' is also Scripture. Now, Sir, were
+      you to collect these Scriptures by using boldly the
+      principle of which I complain, you have the following,
+      viz., 'And he went out and hanged himself'--'Joseph Badger,
+      go thou and do likewise.' By splitting a sentence of one of
+      David's Psalms, you have the saying, 'There is no
+      God,'--but who would dare to charge the king with atheism?
+      I hope, dear Sir, that the plain remarks I have made will
+      teach you the impropriety of your course, that you will be
+      constrained to make some handsome retraction, and that you
+      will never again descend from your high and honorable
+      station to awaken the prejudices of the ignorant against
+      those whom God delights to honor and to bless."
+
+In the present day of both genuine and of boasted liberality, we are apt
+to think of the old pioneers as more narrow than ourselves. We may be
+unjust in this. Mr. Badger and his coadjutors stood on very broad
+grounds, their liberality being the liberality of vital religion, not
+the liberality of mere intellectual speculation and of doubt. They
+_feared_ being a sect. The following lines from Rev. Elijah Shaw, dated
+Camillus, December 17, 1817, are an index of the unsectarian freedom of
+many minds:
+
+      "I will do the same about a Conference that I said I would
+      do in my recent letter. I am, and have been for many
+      months, about dead to all denominations on earth. There is
+      so much done to build up and keep up denominations that I
+      am sick of it. Many have spoken against 'our religion;' but
+      are not 'Christian brethren,' 'Christian preachers,' &c.,
+      as much 'our religion' as anything else? Those who want
+      such sectarianism may have it. I hate it and leave it
+      forever."
+
+Perhaps, indeed, it may be said, that the nearer we get to the origin of
+denominations, the more catholic we shall often find them. Methodism at
+first was not a creed, but rather a large revival of religion in the
+world, which asked no man, whether minister or layman, a solitary
+question concerning his _belief_. Age may tend to contract sects, as
+coal contracts iron and water. The denominational paths of the world are
+apt to open somewhat largely; nor in their ending would we say that they
+exactly fulfil the descriptions of a tourist, concerning our western
+roads, which, he said, opened widely and promisingly under the umbrage
+of magnificent trees, but gradually grew narrower and narrower in the
+pursuit, till they at last terminated in a squirrel track, and run up a
+tree.
+
+Opening the pages of 1818, we find Mr. B. breasting the wintry storms
+and treading the snows of January, preaching to his flock at Pittsford,
+administering the communion at Leroy, holding forth at Lima and at
+Mendon, and attending to the funeral obsequies of departed friends. He
+speaks of the funeral he attended on the 19th, of the wife of Capt.
+Dewey, at Mendon, as to him a solemn and a joyful day. In the Christian
+Herald, January 24, he said:
+
+      "It is now glorious times in different parts of this
+      country. In Mendon, Lima, Groveland, Bloomfield, Leroy,
+      Hartland, Covington, Cato, Camillus, and Livonia, the
+      Lord's work is now spreading. I intend in a few months to
+      give the names of the ministers and churches in this part
+      of New York. Within one year I have baptized about 100 in
+      this region of the country. A few of us in these parts are
+      about to adopt the mode of ordaining elders in each church
+      to 'rule well,' not merely to see to the 'widows' or
+      temporal cares of the church, but to have an oversight of
+      the flock, without being called to labor in _word_ and
+      doctrine. See 1 Timothy 9: 17; Acts 15: 6; Titus 1: 5; Acts
+      14: 23. I have learned that it is a small part of a
+      minister's duty to preach and baptize."
+
+He made a visit to Niagara County in the month of February, which was
+attended with good results, whilst his success at home, at Lima and
+Mendon was unabated. "A large number was added to the company of the
+prayerful." In the month of March, he again preached in West Bloomfield,
+a town that seemed to have in it several free and inquiring minds. At
+South Lima he baptized five persons on the 11th, the 15th preached at
+Mendon, where the prospects of his cause were growing continually
+brighter, and on the 22d preached and administered baptism at Livonia.
+He now found from a survey of the field of his success that it was best
+to change his residence, to take up his abode in the adjoining and
+flourishing town of Mendon; and never delaying the execution of purposes
+that once were thoroughly formed in his mind, he, with the coöperation
+of kind friends, was conveniently located in this town as early as the
+20th. The last days of March were devoted to the people of Hartland.
+April, May, and June witnessed additions to the fraternity he had
+gathered--a fraternity whose aim above everything else, would seem to
+have been the cultivation of the powers and the joys of the spiritual
+life. They were evidently inspired by sacred feelings, by inward joys of
+experience, and so strongly did they love religion, that theology in the
+common sense, was to them a very subordinate matter.
+
+In the month of July, in company with ministers D. Millard, E. Sharp,
+and J. Blodget, he journeyed to Niagara Falls, attending on the way
+three general meetings, one at Covington, Genesee County, N. Y., the
+others at Murray and Royalton. At the great cataract, which less at that
+time than now, drew travellers from every part of the country, we have
+not a distinct record of his impressions. At Covington, June 21st, he
+gave a discourse in the grove, from Isaiah 42: 1: "Behold my servant,
+whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my
+spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles"--a
+sermon which was reported in the religious free press of that day as one
+well adapted "to confirm the people in the truth," as one that exhibited
+Christ as the elect alluded to in this passage. "Many of the doctrines
+of men," said two reporters, "were proved absurd, and ingeniously set
+aside. The exhortation," said they, "was as arrows to the unconverted."
+August was passed chiefly at home; in September he journeyed to the East
+as far as Cooperstown, gave five discourses in Hartwick, and in
+adjoining villages preached to large and attentive assemblies. In this
+region of Otsego there still flourish societies of the Christian name
+and sentiments. In the published reports of the meeting at Hartwick, I
+find it stated that Mr. Badger, in a pleasant grove, September 27,
+preached the third discourse from James 1: 25: "But whoso looketh into
+the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
+forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
+his deed." The reporter adds, "The end of the old law was first noticed,
+and the imperfection that pertained to it. 2. The perfect law of liberty
+was then portrayed, and the manner in which people might look into it
+and continue therein. 3. The blessing promised to the doer of the work.
+This discourse was to the saints comforting, and to an attentive
+assembly enlightening. The meeting then closed with songs and prayer."
+Sunday morning the assembly again convened under the kindly shadows of
+the primeval trees. The morning passed away under the speaking of a
+somewhat popular orator, Mr. Howard; "in the afternoon," continues the
+writer, "J. Badger spoke from Rev. 7: 17; a most glorious theme. When
+speaking of the Lamb in the midst of the throne--of his feeding the
+saints--of his leading them to fountains of living water; that God, even
+the Father, should wipe away all tears from their eyes; the saints
+rejoiced in hope of the glory of God, and strangers wept, desirous to
+share in the great salvation. The meeting then closed, though the people
+seemed unwilling to depart." There is something beautiful in turning
+nature into a temple of worship, in mingling hymns with the voices of
+the breeze, in speaking and hearing truth within the innocent gaze of
+flowers. Their latent influence is a gleam of divinity to all, and
+easily mingles with every sincere note that may ever be struck from
+worshipful hearts. As I passed through that region of the State in 1850,
+there were still many to remember the golden times of the past, and to
+them the name of Joseph Badger was still a reverence and a charm.
+
+In a written address, to the Conferential Session holden at Hartwick, at
+this time, to which two other names besides his own are affixed, some
+traces of his mind are visible. In that address is the following truly
+catholic sentiment:--
+
+      "Remember that this is a free country in which we live, and
+      we ought to be as willing to let others think as to think
+      ourselves. Others' rights are as dear to them as ours are
+      to us, and if a Christian friend does not think as we do it
+      is evident that we do not think as he does. While we trace
+      the pages of ecclesiastical history, and view the
+      uncharitable conduct of priests and rulers in this respect,
+      we mourn the lack of charity, and feel in duty bound to
+      warn our brethren against such pernicious practices. 'Let
+      us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us
+      free.'"
+
+The month of October, which was passed at home and in neighboring towns,
+brought some additions to his cause; and November, which was chiefly
+employed in the same way, was distinguished by a theological debate,
+held with Rev. Mr. T., chiefly on the Trinity and on the Supreme Deity
+of Jesus Christ. The debate lasted two days; some other clergymen became
+in a degree involved in it; and from a minister then present I offer the
+following lines:--
+
+      "Under all circumstances Mr. Badger possessed a peculiar
+      command of himself. He never permitted ruffled feelings to
+      throw him into confusion or derange his clear equilibrium
+      of mind. His ideas were always clear, and his command of
+      language full and free. Thus he was always prepared on
+      every sudden emergency. Some of his best polemical efforts
+      were called out on the spur of the occasion, and seemingly
+      without any forethought. This intuitive gift always
+      rendered him ready, be the occasion what it might that
+      called him to speak, and especially if to repel the attack
+      of a religious opponent. Nor did he lack occasions of the
+      kind. In the first spread of the Christian sentiments in
+      western New York, public attacks on doctrinal subjects were
+      common, and clergymen of various orders would frequently,
+      after the close of an afternoon or evening discourse, rise
+      and ask questions about the doctrine entertained. On
+      occasions like these Mr. B. was about sure to leave his
+      opponent in the condition of defeat. In every such instance
+      he gained decided advantage and won the sympathy and
+      influence of the masses.
+
+      "In several instances he was called out by challenges for
+      public discussion. On such occasions he evinced himself a
+      cool, deliberate, shrewd manager. Often it would be said
+      among those who heard his speeches, 'What a lawyer he would
+      have made!' Whilst his opponent was speaking he usually
+      took down notes, which he could do with great rapidity. Wo
+      then to his antagonist, where he left weak points in
+      argument, as Mr. B. was sure to fasten upon them in a
+      manner that not only exposed them, but completely withered
+      their effect. He had great skill in making his own
+      arguments stand out in all their strength, and in stripping
+      those of his opponent of all their seeming worth or value.
+      Occasionally, after he had made a solid fortress by candid
+      argument, he would let loose a volley of sarcasm which was
+      perfectly scathing, and was very apt to so affect the
+      opposite party as to produce confusion of mind, one of the
+      first elements of defeat.
+
+      "The Rev. Mr. T----, an aged and able Congregationalist
+      minister, had sent a request to Mr. B. to call on him when
+      convenient. Some weeks subsequent, Mr. Badger, in company
+      with D. Millard, of West Bloomfield, called at his
+      dwelling, but learned that he was absent. Shortly, as they
+      passed on, they met Mr. T., to whom they introduced
+      themselves; Mr. B. acknowledging the receipt of Mr. T.'s
+      request. Mr. T. soon asked him if he believed the doctrine
+      of the Trinity, the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ, and
+      Total Depravity, to which Mr. B. answered, after drawing
+      him out on the meaning of the terms he employed, that he
+      could not endorse all the views which Mr. T. entertained on
+      these matters. 'I perceive,' says Mr. T., 'that you are
+      wholly off from Gospel ground.' 'Then you should be alarmed
+      at our danger and convince us of our errors,' said Mr.
+      Badger. 'Well, call on me and I will do it,' was his reply.
+      The time was agreed upon, and about ten days afterward
+      quite a congregation assembled at the time and place
+      selected, to hear Mr. T. show Messrs. Badger and Millard
+      their errors.
+
+      "The doctrine of the Trinity was first investigated, each
+      speaking twenty minutes on a side. Mr. T. led off, and
+      dwelt much on the awfulness of the doctrine to be
+      discussed, that none could be Christians without believing
+      it. He said cases had occurred, where persons impiously
+      denying the doctrine of the Trinity had been cut off by
+      fearful judgments sent immediately from Heaven. Arius, for
+      instance, whose death was sudden and awful, a fate he met
+      soon after Constantine had recalled him to Constantinople,
+      from a state of banishment, for rejecting the doctrine of
+      the Trinity. To this speech Mr. Millard replied stating
+      that he could not see that any doctrine could be awfully
+      important which is not even named in the Bible; that he
+      could see no cause for introducing the melancholy death of
+      Arius, unless it was to frighten the assembly into the
+      belief that they would be apt to experience a loss similar
+      to that of Arius if they should deny the Trinity; and that
+      Mosheim's Church History contained evidence to show that
+      Arius was secretly poisoned by his enemies.
+
+      "In his next speech, Rev. Mr. T. entered systematically on
+      the arguments usually adduced on the Trinitarian side. In
+      justice I would say he did it with ability. Mr. Badger
+      followed him in four set speeches, and Mr. Millard in
+      three. They both amply sustained their ground, but Mr.
+      Badger's adroitness and skilful management were peculiarly
+      conspicuous to all present. The way he met the proof texts
+      presented on the opposite side, his critical analysis of a
+      trio of persons in one being, together with the absurdity
+      of the two-nature scheme, made a very convincing impression
+      on the minds of many then present. I should extend this
+      article too far were I to attempt to give specimens of the
+      arguments he used. The debate closed that day with an
+      appointment to renew it one week afterward. At the next
+      meeting a crowded assembly attended. An able Presbyterian
+      minister was present, as a colleague with Mr. T. in the
+      debate. I think Mr. Badger led off on that day. In his
+      first speech he reviewed the points gained at the previous
+      meeting. He showed just where the discussion then stood and
+      challenged the opposite party to attempt a refutation of
+      the position now occupied by him and his colleague. Mr. T.
+      and his assistant did their best. They evinced much ability
+      and preparation for the contest. But Mr. Badger, in
+      particular, was upon them in every position they took and
+      every seeming fastness to which they fled. The debate
+      continued from ten in the morning, with but a brief recess,
+      till nearly sunset; the four engaged in it taking nearly
+      equal parts. When about to close for the day Mr. Badger
+      proposed that if the opposite party desired it, the debate
+      could be continued another day. Mr. T. declined, as he
+      stated, on account of ill health. Thus this animated
+      discussion closed, and I may say with confidence, it left
+      on the public mind a favorable influence for the
+      Christians."
+
+In a New England paper, he says--
+
+      "But what is the most pleasant, is to see the good union
+      that exists, and the steadfastness that appears. There are
+      now between eighty and ninety members in connection with
+      the church, and as yet there has not been to my knowledge
+      but one that has brought any reproach on the cause. Our
+      assemblies have been so large that I have preached in a
+      grove the greatest part of the summer past, but we have
+      made a beginning in constructing a meeting-house, and the
+      prospect is that we shall soon have better conveniences. In
+      West Bloomfield, a town adjoining this, the work has been
+      very glorious. Elder David Millard, who had been a few
+      months in the County, last June, had his mind drawn into
+      that town, and as the way opened he began to preach and to
+      visit the people. He immediately saw the fruits of his
+      labors--was soon joined by Elder E. Sharp, of Conn., who
+      had formerly preached in the town. The work has embraced
+      the old and the young, and has been carried on in a
+      remarkably _still_ and solemn manner. Brother Millard has
+      had several debates in public and private, on different
+      subjects; and as the public mind has been much agitated
+      concerning his opinion of _Christ_, he has written a
+      treatise of about 48 pages, 12mo, which is now in press,
+      entitled 'The True Messiah exalted,' which I think will be
+      calculated to do good. A few weeks since a church has been
+      planted at Bloomfield, and I think it consists of about
+      thirty members. Prospects are still encouraging."
+
+He now had an able coadjutor in the field, one whose written arguments
+and oral discourses have long been strong barriers to the advocates of
+the old Athanasian theology. In December, Mr. Badger visited Canandaigua
+and preached to the people; the most of the time was devoted to the town
+of his residence, and in supplying the wants of adjoining places.
+Speaking of this year in the retrospect, he says: "One year more of my
+unprofitable life is gone. In it I have enjoyed myself well, seen much
+of God's goodness, attended many funerals, solemnized many marriages,
+and at its close am seriously reminded that
+
+      "'The year rolls round and steals away
+        The breath that first it gave;
+      Whate'er we do, where'er we be,
+        We're tending to the grave.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THOUGHTS AND INCIDENTS OF 1819 AND 1820.
+
+
+Mr. Badger is now in the twenty-seventh year of his age and the seventh
+of his ministry, and occupies a position that affords him more leisure
+for reflection than the activities of his itinerant life had yielded
+him. Among the subjects that he accepted for the action of his own
+thought was Universalism, whose pillars and foundations he seemed to
+have thoroughly examined, as set forth in the systems of that day. His
+mind was led to this by the circumstance that his father, for whom his
+letters and journal only express the kindest filial feeling and
+reverence, had, after much study and thought, adopted that system as his
+favorite form of religious belief. The document which contains his views
+is entitled "An affectionate Address of a Son to his Father." We offer
+from this a few extracts, in which the reader can see the candor,
+cogency and kindness that pervade the whole address, which covers some
+twenty-three pages of letter-paper, very finely and compactly written.
+This is the opening paragraph:
+
+      "HONORED AND DEAR FATHER:--With pleasure I once more take
+      my pen to address one for whom I have the most reverential
+      regard, a regard greater than I cherish for any person on
+      earth; one who has with hopeful anxiety watched over the
+      days of my childhood and vanity, and wept at the follies of
+      my youth. My former letters have given you the state of my
+      affairs and prospects in this pleasant part of the
+      country; also, in my several letters, I have noticed the
+      extensive spread of the Gospel, the increase of light, and
+      the effect of those glorious reformations I have been
+      allowed to witness, the subjects of which are now my choice
+      society; and you cannot imagine the unspeakable joy of your
+      son, while a stranger in a strange land, to learn that his
+      aged father has been entertained and comforted by the
+      contents of his letters on those subjects. Permit me, my
+      dear father, in this short treatise, to make a few remarks
+      on the doctrine which you have for years embraced and
+      vindicated relative to the salvation of all men. If this
+      doctrine is true, it is a pleasant thing; if untrue, it is
+      dangerous to rest on the sand. As I have serious objections
+      against the system, I feel it a duty to lay them before you
+      for your consideration, wishing, if I am in error, to be
+      convinced of it; and I hope that, should you find the
+      doctrine you have esteemed as truth, cries 'peace and
+      safety' to those whom sudden destruction awaits, you will
+      be willing to exchange it for that truth which opens to the
+      sinner the worst of his case."
+
+After this kind and gentle introduction, Mr. Badger proceeds to take up
+the chief arguments which his father had, in other years, employed for
+the support of the system,--arguments from general reason and from
+Scripture. He then attempts to show the origin of the system in human
+causes, and its disagreement with the plain teachings of Revelation, and
+with the spirit and genius of the Christian experience and life. Such is
+the plan of his treatise. The period to which these arguments belong,
+was one in which there was a strong controversial clash of theories,
+each one of which was undoubtedly a fragmentary and imperfect statement
+of some essential truth in religion; and as Calvinistic reasoning was
+then generally in the ascendant, as its bold premises were the main
+foundation of the plea of its opposite extreme,--the Universalian
+statement,--the subject seemed to take a fresh interest in the hands of
+one who approached it from an intermediate region of thinking.
+
+      "One of your favorite and powerful arguments in favor of
+      this doctrine is, that in the beginning the soul of man was
+      a part of God, and therefore cannot be defiled, condemned
+      or punished, as Deity will not sentence a part of himself
+      to misery. All the Scripture I ever heard quoted in favor
+      of this view, is that 'God breathed into man the breath of
+      life and he became a living soul,' which carries a very
+      different idea from the one you derive from it. It does not
+      say that the soul is a part of God, or that God breathed
+      into man a part of himself. It means just this, that God
+      breathed into man the breath of life, and that, as a result
+      of this, he became a _living, active, intelligent
+      creature_.
+
+      "Let us further reason on this subject. Can a part of God
+      be ignorant of another part of himself? Yet are we not
+      ignorant of what passes in the breast of our neighbor? Does
+      not one drop of a fountain possess _all_ the qualities of
+      the fountain from which it was taken? But who will say that
+      mortal man has all the qualities and qualifications of his
+      Maker, God? If the soul is a part of God, where lies the
+      propriety of those Scriptures wherein he threatens to
+      punish the sinner? Would he threaten to banish a part of
+      himself from himself forever, or say to a part of himself,
+      'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity?'
+
+      "The supporters of this theory, arguing on the old
+      Calvinistic, fatal plan, say that 'God foreordains
+      whatsoever comes to pass;'--a popular and highly esteemed
+      idea, from which I must dissent for the following reasons."
+
+Mr. B. proceeds to urge half a dozen reasons for rejecting these
+theological premises, alleging, from the authority of scripture
+revelation, that many things have taken place which the Creator has
+disapproved of; that the premise assumed puts the decrees of God and his
+commandments into exactly hostile relations to each other; that it
+destroys the justice of all punishment whatever, unless it is just to
+punish human beings for doing the highest will in the universe, and for
+doing what they could not avoid.
+
+      "If all creation," says he, "moves in exact accordance with
+      the divine will, I cannot find anything in the world that
+      is sin. Where _all_ is right, there can be no wrong. Sin
+      then is rendered virtue, falsehood is truth, darkness is
+      light, Satan is man's friend and helper toward the 'new
+      heavens' and the eternal bliss. Is it not strange that God
+      should give laws to machines? For this scheme completely
+      renders men such. He does not announce laws to the trees of
+      the forest. What would we think of the goldsmith who should
+      appoint a day in which morally to judge all his watches
+      according to their works? This doctrine gives as much honor
+      to Satan as it does to Christ, as it makes him as active as
+      he is in the salvation and final happiness of men. It
+      certainly makes him the brother of Christ, for Jesus said,
+      'He that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven,
+      the same is my brother;'--as universal foreordination
+      causes the devil to do the will of God, it presents him as
+      the brother of Jesus Christ. If the two ideas, that the
+      soul is a part of God, and that God has foreordained
+      whatsoever comes to pass, are true, then Universalism is
+      correct; if they are not true, the system must fall, for
+      these are the main pillars which support the fabric, and in
+      my opinion they are as weak in their nature as were the
+      feet of the king's image in the prophet's vision, which
+      were 'part iron and part clay.'"
+
+Mr. Badger goes on to speak of the universal goodness of God, as a
+pledge and proof that the divine laws will be executed; he says, that
+the goodness of a government, the goodness of a governor and his
+subordinate officers, are the proof that the laws will be duly
+enforced--that the criminal will find no refuge from deserved
+punishment.
+
+After quoting from Mosheim on the opinions and reasoning of Origen, the
+celebrated father of the third century, whom he regards as the original
+founder of this theory, and after quoting from a late theological writer
+a statement of the system of Dr. Chauncey, and the Calvinistic theory of
+Mr. Murray, he asks which of these systems is the true and the reliable
+one; and after bringing the ideas he opposes to the subject of Christian
+experience, to the self-denial, inward love and joy produced by the
+regenerative agency of the Gospel, he pleads its incongeniality with
+those qualities of the Christian religion which cause repentance and
+reformation of life.
+
+Occasionally I have heard it stated that Mr. Badger's preaching was very
+interesting to that class of Christians who take the name of
+Universalists, that they generally were fond of hearing him, and a very
+few unguarded persons have said that he was substantially of their
+doctrine. In regard to the first part of the statement, it must have
+been true that many of this class were pleased and interested with his
+preaching, for how could they be otherwise? It is to his credit that
+they were pleased with him as a man and as a speaker. Being less rigid
+than many others in their dogmatical restrictions--being less
+conservative and proscriptive than most other sects, and having
+investigating and inquiring minds, they would often be pleased to hear
+so natural and so gifted a man as Mr. Badger. Then his mode of preaching
+was never founded in terrific appeal--was never noisy or boisterous; the
+paternity of God, the fulness of the love of Christ to all mankind, the
+simplicity and reasonableness of religion, were topics that shone with
+peculiar brightness. Men often judge by contrasts. He who preaches
+humanely and from the fulness of a brotherly heart, when it is customary
+to hear the thunders of Sinai rocking the pulpits and churches of the
+land, and especially if the speaker draws the chief motive from the
+endearing magnetism of heaven rather than from the repulsions of the
+horrible pit, there will always be some to claim him as standing upon
+their platform, as belonging to the theory which has so stoutly and
+heroically fought the vindictive theology of Calvin. But if the truth is
+looked for or abided by, it will stand as the most unquestionable
+certainty that Mr. Badger adopted _none_ of the theories of
+Universalism, whatever may be their merits or defects. He was one of
+those naturally balanced men who could see the fragmentary excellence
+residing in religious theories or in human reforms without becoming a
+partisan. Probably there is no one theological subject on which there is
+a larger amount of manuscript among the papers of Mr. B., than may be
+found on the subject of Universalism, and the whole of it may be
+appealed to in evidence that as a theory he always regarded it as human
+and erroneous. Before me lie his early writings, in which he frankly
+says, "I feel myself bound before my Eternal Judge to bear my testimony
+against it;" and plots of some controversial sermons, laid out in the
+form of a massive strength, and preached in the later years of his
+ministry, are unequivocal testifiers to the same fact. These remarks are
+not made to cast reflections on any sect, for our philosophy and
+observation have taught us to revere the great religious movements of
+the past century, believing that truth has been helped by each and by
+all of them. They are made that the original, to whom these pages refer,
+may be seen as he was. I rejoice that so many of those who hold the hope
+of the world's salvation were drawn to his ministry, and that among his
+friends throughout the country were those of different schools of
+thought, of different denominations; and it may be truthfully added, a
+large number of persons who were not in the habit of rendering their
+regards to sects by membership, nor to churches by a regular attendance.
+Many of this latter class, both of the intelligent and the very
+illiterate, would catch something from his manner and words that drew
+them about him. Sects are so much dressed in uniform, and are run so
+exactly in fixed castings, that a man whose influences go out naturally
+from the centre of an individual manhood is among the rarest
+productions. At Naples, in the State of New York, a lot of ignorant
+shingle makers, for example, some of whom drank and none of whom cared a
+groat for a church, came down at mid-day from the adjoining hills with
+but two questions in their mouth and heart, which were--"_Where is he?_"
+and "_Will he preach?_" nor were the hundreds of like instances that
+multiplied in his path anything less than the highest compliments, the
+surest evidence that a _man_ was there and that his word was a help to
+all. No _real_ man was ever yet on all sides walled by a sect; where one
+appears, men generally are made to feel that the bond which unites them
+to him is not ecclesiastical but human. Man and his brother are there.
+Here is the closing paragraph of the argumentative letter from which
+quotations have already been made:--
+
+      "For seven long years I have been deprived of the joys of a
+      father's house on account of my obedience to the great
+      commission, 'Go ye into the world and preach the Gospel to
+      every creature;' yet in distant lands I have met many dear
+      friends, and found many dear homes. But I have not lost my
+      regard for my relatives, and the silent groves are witness
+      to my tears that my father's family may all share in the
+      grace of Christ. Oh, what comfort it gives me to learn that
+      some of the family have in their experience known the
+      light, joy, and peace of religion since I saw them. Though
+      we connect with different sects of Christians, though our
+      views may be vastly different, yet if we have real virtue,
+      if we 'fear God and work righteousness,' we shall be
+      accepted of him. It is with the greatest tenderness that I
+      have penned these arguments against your theory, and it is
+      with solemnity that I look forward to a coming judgment
+      where we shall soon meet. Should you still think your
+      system true, remember that we should have something more
+      than a belief in any doctrine,--something more than a
+      profession of religion to qualify us to meet our God in
+      peace. May he crown your hopes with eternal joy. May your
+      grey hairs, when he shall call, come down unto the grave in
+      peace. With your ancestors and children may you praise the
+      Lord God and the Lamb forever. My best regards to my dear
+      mother. Ten thousand blessings crown the evening of her
+      life, and may her sun set without a cloud. My love to my
+      brothers and sisters, who to my heart are still dear. May
+      they live as children of the light. Though hundreds of
+      miles shall separate us--though hills and valleys, lakes
+      and rivers between us lie, we can pray to the same God,
+      cherish the same spirit, walk according to the same rule,
+      and, ere long, meet in the same eternal mansion of repose,
+      where sorrows, pains, and labors shall end, where tears
+      shall be wiped away from all faces."
+
+Among the permanent moral lights of New England at this time, Rev. Noah
+Worcester, of Brighton, Mass., shone with no ordinary lustre. His
+thoughts on several moral and theological subjects, embodied in tracts,
+books, and in periodical form, were known throughout the country. His
+opinions, though held as unsound by many, were commended to the reader
+by the candor, piety, learning and admirable character he possessed. Mr.
+Badger soon saw the value of his mind as a theological writer,
+instituted some friendly correspondence, and availed himself of a new
+element of power by throwing into wider circulation some of his
+argumentative writings; he also gained permission of Mr. Worcester to
+republish some of his works. His "Appeal to the Candid," and his "Bible
+News," were distinctly spoken of by Mr. B., as works deserving to be
+placed in every library, and of being read at every fireside. But the
+well of Christian life in Mr. Worcester was too full and deep to be
+exhausted on theological themes. Under date of April 30, 1819, he says
+to Mr. Badger:
+
+      "For several years I have devoted my time principally to
+      the object of abolishing the anti-Christian custom of war.
+      In this business I expect to spend the remainder of my
+      days. I very much desire that the ministers of your
+      denomination should get hold of this subject. A little
+      attention will convince them that the errors which support
+      war are the most fatal of any which ever afflicted or
+      disgraced mankind, and that to be _consistant 'Christians'_
+      they must renounce all participation in the dreadful work
+      of revenge and murder. The state of my health requires
+      brevity. The peace tracts which I send you are gratis,
+      except that I request you to examine them impartially. I
+      should be happy to see you. I had the pleasure of some
+      acquaintance with your uncle, Rev. Mr. Smith, of Gilmanton,
+      N. H., also with your noble grandsire, Gen. Badger.
+
+                               "Affectionately yours,
+
+                                 "N. WORCESTER."
+
+Other letters indicate the deep interest taken by Mr. B. in the
+productions of this author, and often in later years did he recommend
+them to the careful study of every young minister. More than this, he
+often bestowed them as gifts upon those who were engaging in the work of
+the ministry.
+
+Among the theological papers of Mr. B., written about this time, is one
+on the character of God, which furnishes an example of his concise and
+successful method of getting at the truth of an important subject when
+he became fully interested in it. He commences thus:--
+
+      "Oh with what reverence ougth we to make mention of the
+      exalted name of our Creator, and speak of his lovely
+      character! Almost all sects acknowledge there is one God,
+      though their opinions of his character may widely differ,
+      owing to their present imperfection and the darkness of
+      their minds. Truly our best discoveries are but imperfect,
+      and, as the Apostle says, 'We see in part.'"
+
+He then proceeds to state the modes by which the Deity is known, and
+offers remarks on his undivided supremacy.
+
+      "There are," says he, "three ways by which men receive the
+      knowledge of God. 1. In the works of creation. 2. By the
+      revelation of the Holy Spirit. 3. By the Holy Scriptures,
+      which is a record God gave of his Son.
+
+      "In these remarks I would show that the Eternal God is
+      alone supreme, and that he is the Father of our Lord Jesus
+      Christ. The first name given to the Creator in the
+      Scriptures is God, Gen. 1:1, which, in a peculiar manner,
+      is expressive of his power and greatness, and is applied to
+      him in a very different manner from what it is when
+      bestowed on any other beings. Yet it is an ambiguous word,
+      and in the Scripture is applied to seven different
+      characters which are, 1. The Eternal God.--Phil. 1:2. 2.
+      To Jesus Christ in prophecy.--Isa. 9:6. 'For unto us a
+      child is born, a son is given; and the government shall be
+      upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
+      Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
+      Prince of Peace.' 3. To angels.--Ps. 97:7; Heb. 1:6.
+      'Worship Him, all ye gods.' 'Let all the angels of God
+      worship him.' 4. To Moses.--Ex. 7:1. 'And the Lord God said
+      unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh.' 5. To
+      the Hebrew Rulers or Judges.--Ex. 22:28; Ps. 82:1. 6. To
+      Pagan idols.--Isa. 44:10. 7. To Satan. 'In whom the God of
+      this world hath blinded their eyes.' From these passages it
+      is evident that the word God of itself cannot teach the
+      self-existent Divinity of that to which it is given.
+
+      "God has no equal. I will show that he is greater than all
+      others. He is so,
+
+      "1. In names. 2. In works. 3. In power. 4. In knowledge.
+
+      "1. In names. The word Jehovah is employed four times in
+      the Scriptures, and in its simple, uncompounded form, is
+      alone applied to the Supreme God. Ex. 6:3.--'And I appeared
+      unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by the name of God
+      Almighty; but by my name JEHOVAH I was not known unto
+      them.' Ps. 83:18.--'That men may know that thou, whose name
+      alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.'
+      Isa. 12:2.--'For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my
+      song.' Isa. 26:4.--'In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
+      strength.' This word, it would seem, denotes the eternal
+      self-existence of God. It was among the Hebrews their most
+      sacred title for the Creator, so sacred in their regard
+      that they did not, on common occasions, pronounce it in
+      reading, or in worship, but after a significant pause of
+      reverential silence, they substituted for it the word
+      _Adonai_. Here is a sublime title, having no double
+      meaning, and is applicable to no one but to the
+      self-existent God.
+
+      "2. 'Eternal God,' is a title given to the Father, and to
+      none else. Deut. 33:27.--'The Eternal God is thy refuge.'
+
+      "3. The words 'invisible God' are equally exclusive in
+      their use. Col. 1:15.--'Who is the image of the invisible
+      God, the first-born of every creature.' 4. He is called the
+      Highest. Luke 1:32, 35. If the Deity is composed of three
+      persons who are perfectly equal, it would be very improper
+      to attach the name Highest to either of them, as it would
+      disturb the equality of the three. Was not the Angel
+      Gabriel probably ignorant of these distinctions when he
+      made the announcement to the Virgin Mary? 5. He is styled
+      the 'Most High.'--Ps. 107:11; Ps. 14:14; Acts 7:48; Heb.
+      8:1. 6. 'God of gods,' is another title given to none but
+      the Father.--Deut. 10:17. 'For the Lord your God is God of
+      gods.' 7. The Father is called the 'only wise God.' Jude
+      25.--'To the only wise God our Saviour be glory and
+      majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.' 1
+      Tim. 1:17.--'Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
+      invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever
+      and forever.' 8. He is styled the blessed and only
+      Potentate. 1 Tim. 6:15.--'Which in his times (in the days
+      of his flesh) he shall show who is the blessed and only
+      Potentate, (the Father) the King of kings and Lord of
+      lords.' These eight titles, which are alone given to the
+      Father, do, as I consider, most perfectly demonstrate this
+      part of my subject, and in part it illustrates what Jesus
+      said in John 10:29. 'MY FATHER which gave them me is
+      _greater_ than _all_.'"
+
+These indeed are strong Scripture positions, comprehensively stated,
+well fortified, and clearly expressed.
+
+In some of his published writings of this year, we find him looking into
+the subject of church polity, and endeavoring to answer the question,
+"_Where is the power of government?_" He noticed four different systems
+for answering this question, systems which have had their favorites,
+from all of which, he adds, "I am led to dissent in certain respects."
+These are: 1. The idea of submitting the power of government to the
+civil authority, as in the Church of England, as in state religion
+generally. He affirms that good government does its office when it
+defends our rights and protects our persons; that it never should
+attempt to enforce the laws of the church, or dictate in any way to the
+conscience. 2. The idea of a central man, or of a few chosen men, in
+whom the authority shall be vested. "The New Dispensation," said he,
+"establishes a kingly government; yet, as the government is on the
+Messiah's shoulder, I cannot consent that the power should be given to
+any other." He is the legislative centre. "A Diotrephes was rebuked for
+loving the preëminence." 3. The idea that in a council of ministers,
+exclusive of churches, the controlling power concentrates. 4. That in
+the churches, independent of the ministers, all power resides. In
+neither of these systems does Mr. Badger confide. He confides in the
+union of ministers and churches, in their assembled light. He refers to
+the consultation at Jerusalem as combining several elements: "apostles,
+elders and brethren," all being interested and active on the subjects
+agitated. The general state of the Christian Church called for
+something which the local action of no one society could give, and hence
+there was a general assemblage drawn together at Jerusalem by the
+magnitude of the questions to be discussed; and even their decisions
+were not sent out as _laws_. "We, in submitting to the LAWS of Christ,
+have a government among us, and each is to be esteemed for his work's
+sake. Not considering churches and ministers as two parties, but as
+one," says Mr. B., "we find them authorized with the power of
+government, but not to _make_ laws." Referring to the council at
+Jerusalem, he remarks that "it is a beautiful example for modern
+Christians, one that fulfils the saying of the wise man, 'In the
+multitude of counsellors there is safety.' Where no counsel is, the
+people go astray." In this brief article, published in 1819, is
+expressed the main view to which he always adhered in his ideas on
+church government; a view more widely expanded and qualified in a series
+of articles published in the "Christian Palladium," in 1837. He goes
+against the spirit of isolation and individualism, and contends for the
+united concentration of all the light of the church--for the active
+union of the ministers and people. Hence he was neither Episcopal, nor a
+radical Congregationalist, who boasts a church government independent of
+the ministry.
+
+In the town of Brutus, Cayuga County, N. Y., October 2, at a meeting
+where several clergymen and a large assembly were convened, Mr. Badger
+preached a sermon from Habakkuk 3:3, 4: "His glory covered the heavens,
+and the earth was full of his praise, and his brightness was as the
+light; he had horns coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of
+his power,"--a sermon that gave much good instruction, and made a strong
+impression on the people, if we may rely on the candid report of the
+meeting made by the most faithful of men, Mr. Elijah Shaw, then the
+minister of that town; it was a sublime text, and was discussed and
+illustrated in a manner worthy of its exalted sentiments.[30] Also, in
+the town of Clarence, Niagara County, N. Y., September 26, at the
+ordination of Rev. Allen Crocker, he preached an effective discourse
+from the Apostolical Commission, Mark 16:15, in which Christ, and his
+authority to command, the qualifications of his ambassadors, the
+commission given, the Gospel to be preached, the various characters to
+whom it is to be addressed, the effect produced, and the sacrifices,
+afflictions and reward of the faithful minister, were plainly and
+interestingly set forth.[31]
+
+At this time Mr. Badger held a pastoral relation with three churches;
+one at Henrietta, one at Lima, and one at Mendon; and in the midst of
+the many duties and cares that surrounded him, he found time to write
+occasionally for two religious publications, one called the "Christian
+Herald," Portsmouth, N. H., the other "The Religious Informer,"
+published at New Andover, in the same State. To this last mentioned
+periodical we have no access, and therefore can select nothing from his
+communications to that work.
+
+In January, 1820, a religious convention was held at Covington, Genesee
+County, N. Y., composed of the Freewill Baptist and the Christian
+denominations, the object of whose deliberations was to form a more
+social acquaintance with each other, to labor for a greater union, to
+strive together for the "faith once delivered to the saints," and to
+make all possible advancement towards that perfection in which the
+watchmen are to see "eye to eye." Mr. Badger was the clerk of this
+convention, a principal speaker in its discussions, and probably was one
+of the originators of the meeting.
+
+We learn that the usages and views of both denominations were plainly
+set forth, Rev. Nathaniel Brown being appointed to represent the general
+order and practice of the Freewill Baptists, and Rev. D. Millard to do
+the same in behalf of the Christian denomination. A general and friendly
+discussion, abounding in queries and answers, followed, and after much
+deliberation it was found that the main difference between the two
+denominations was this, that "the Baptists do not receive any as church
+members who have not been baptized by _immersion_, though they extend
+fellowship and communion to all who live in newness of life; and the
+Christians receive all as _church members_ who give evidence that they
+have passed from death unto life, and who live in newness of life." They
+conversed on many points of doctrine, found no particular difference
+except on the character of God and of Christ, which they considered to
+be no bar to their union and fellowship. "We think it duty," said they,
+"to discard all doctrine which has an immoral effect in society, and to
+receive and approbate all who come in the fulness of the blessing of the
+Gospel of Christ." They agreed to exchange, to labor together in
+harmony, and to acknowledge themselves "the Church of God," to the
+exclusion of all party names. In New England I judge the difference was
+more marked, as some of Mr. B.'s correspondents in the East complained
+that their ideas of catholic brotherhood had been rejected by them.
+
+His indeed was a mingled cup, into which sorrow at times copiously
+flowed. In a letter to his brother Nathaniel, dated Mendon, March 25,
+1820, we read the following:--
+
+      "My home is now in Mendon, where I have a neatly built
+      house surrounded by only three acres I call my own; yet it
+      is pleasant and convenient, it being only half a mile from
+      the meeting-house now going up. I have the care of three
+      churches. But at this time I am surrounded with great
+      afflictions. For more than one year has my dear Mary Jane
+      lain sick, and now she is in the last stage of consumption.
+      She can remain but a few days longer. I rejoice that she is
+      so calmly resigned and so well prepared to go into the
+      world of spirits. How sweet is the presence of religion in
+      these soul-trying scenes! We had a beautiful little son
+      taken from us the 30th of January last, named for our two
+      fathers 'Anthony Peaslee.' Thus with our blessings are
+      afflictions mingled, and our cup is one of mixture."
+
+In a letter to Mr. Moulton he says:
+
+      "Though my situation is very local in a land distant from
+      you, and from my friends in the Province, my mind often
+      surveys the north country, where I have travelled,
+      preached, suffered and enjoyed so much of God's holy
+      presence; and a hope still exists that I may again visit
+      the pleasant cottages that have once sheltered me from the
+      chilling blasts of winter. Since I came into this country
+      with you it has ever seemed like home, and I still feel
+      bound in spirit to abide. I find it is a small thing to
+      take the ground, and a greater to keep and cultivate it.
+      But with my joys I have sorrows. January 30th, a pleasant
+      son was taken from us, and a council of six physicians
+      decided as early as last July that Mary Jane cannot recover
+      from the consumption by which she is wasting away. She
+      enjoys much of God's presence, is resigned and patient; but
+      this is a scene of sorrow in which nothing can give comfort
+      but the grace of God. The cause of religion still
+      flourishes in this country. There is a general
+      steadfastness and a good union among the churches. Our
+      congregations are numerous. Hundreds flock together to hear
+      the word of life and the Macedonian cry is heard from every
+      quarter, 'Come over and help us.'
+
+      "'Oh, Jesus, let thy beauties be
+        My soul's eternal food;
+      And grace command my heart away
+        From all created good.'"
+
+In anxious watching at the bedside of sickness, and in pastoral labors,
+the days passed away, till the 4th of April, 1820, when the calm light
+of the morning shone on the departing spirit of the one who had deeply
+sympathized with him in all his interests. On the 5th her funeral was
+attended by a large and solemn concourse, to whom a sermon was preached
+by Rev. D. Millard, of West Bloomfield, from Phil. 1:21--"To die is
+gain;" from his pen we will select a few obituary lines.
+
+      "Mrs. Mary Jane Badger was born in Farmington, N. H.,
+      February 26th, 1798, of respectable parentage. She was the
+      third daughter of the late Col. Anthony Peavy, of that
+      town. At the age of thirteen, she made a profession of
+      religion among a people known by the name of Christians.
+      Her pious walk and modest deportment while but a youth,
+      entitled her to the highest esteem of all who knew her. At
+      the age of eighteen she became united in marriage with
+      Elder Joseph Badger, by which she became separated from her
+      dearest parents, never to see them again on earth. Her
+      constitution was naturally delicate, although for two years
+      while she resided in this country she enjoyed a comfortable
+      state of health. She conversed freely with her husband on
+      death, and gave him some directions about her two little
+      children. Previous to this time she manifested great
+      anxiety concerning them, but from this moment appeared
+      willing to give them up, and seemed to lose that fearful
+      concern for them with which she had hitherto been
+      exercised. But God had otherwise declared for the youngest
+      child. She wept at the afflicting scene, but endured it
+      with much fortitude and resignation. She said to her
+      husband, at the close of a prayer when several of her
+      Christian friends were present, 'I rejoice there is such a
+      scene as death for mortals to pass through; it is the gate
+      of endless joy.' Enriched with early religious experience,
+      she took delight in the singing of certain devotional
+      hymns, such as 'My God, the spring of all my joys,' and 'O
+      Jesus, my Saviour, to thee I submit;'--and her last words
+      were, 'I feel composed, I can put my trust in God.' 'She
+      was,' says Mr. Millard, 'a striking example of female
+      neatness and industry; very exemplary in dress and manners,
+      and particularly chaste and reserved in her conversation.
+      Though she is now no more, yet her memory will long live in
+      the hearts of the virtuous.'"
+
+A tombstone now appears in the burial-ground near the village of Honeoye
+Falls, bearing the characteristic taste and expressive simplicity of Mr.
+Badger's genius, on which is inscribed these words:
+
+      "HERE LIES THE BODY OF MARY JANE, WIFE OF JOSEPH BADGER,
+      WHO, IN MEMORY OF HER VIRTUE, HAS ERECTED THIS MONUMENT.
+      SHE DIED A CHRISTIAN, APRIL 4, 1820, AGED 22 YS. 1 M. 9 D.
+
+      "Her race was swift,
+        Her rest is sweet,
+      Her views divine,
+        Her bliss complete."
+
+It is with entire calmness Mr. Badger surveys the clouded skies that
+shut down upon his loneliness; a calmness that never ostensibly forsook
+him whenever great grief was at the door. He had a heart of great
+affections and of fine feelings. His strong nature was also extremely
+sensitive. Few could suffer so much, and few would weep so little when a
+great sorrow entered his dwelling. He is again alone in the world; his
+little daughter, Lydia Elizabeth, was all that remained of his family,
+the only tie that would seem to bind him to earth, and one indeed in
+whom his affections strongly centered. Letters of sympathy from numerous
+sources came in from different parts of the country. But sorrow, though
+it might soften and enrich, could never subdue the energies of his manly
+spirit; and in the ministry of the holy Cross he applied his force with
+a renewed consecration of every ability.
+
+Though a resident of one place, it was not his nature to be a local
+man. His sympathies went abroad, his eye caught the signs of real and of
+possible success over a large area, and the public, far and near,
+responded with a feeling of interest equally general. At ordinations,
+and consecrations of "temples made with hands," he was ever a favorite
+with the people; and very frequently he journeyed large distances to
+attend to calls of this nature. His family now being broken up, after
+securing the pastoral labors of Rev. Oliver True, he resumes the work of
+a missionary.
+
+There are indeed two classes of successful ministers, though they
+succeed in different ways. I refer to the class who have simply great
+power in preaching, who can be instrumental in the conversion of great
+numbers; who, when they have reached the moral depths of the sinful
+heart, and filled it with the new and heavenly light, have ended their
+mission. They leave no nucleus about which the new strength may organize
+itself. If such ministers belong to a denomination well organized, and
+if they labor in the spirit of such denomination, the results of their
+efforts will very likely be absorbed in the body which already contains
+the speakers. These can create material, but they have no constructive
+power to permanently unite it. There is another class, who seem to be
+natural husbandmen of the grounds they sow; they build, they gather,
+they bring everything into order and system, they fence and harvest the
+ripened fields. These last men are seldom if ever idealists; they see
+the world as it is, are men of order and of accumulative tendency.
+Perhaps George Whitfield and John Wesley may be taken as just examples
+of these two kinds of ministers. Mr. Badger was certainly a
+constructive, and also was he a gifted creator of material. He was, in
+one, both these orders of ministerial power; perhaps we should say that
+if either predominated it was that of conserving the wealth which his
+creativeness and the creativeness of others might produce. Whitfield was
+the powerful, the eloquent preacher, under whose word converts were
+multiplied "as dews of the morning;" but under his peculiar genius
+Methodism had never become an organic system, to last its centuries.
+Wesley, though not a great man in thought or language, was the master
+builder without whom the labor of men like Whitfield had been, as it
+were, "scattered unto strangers." He gave to his cause the character of
+a permanent institution. Mr. Badger was no disorganizer. He believed in
+organization, in system, though he sought to organize with simplicity
+and on large and catholic principles of Christian brotherhood.
+
+At Milo, N. Y., at a general meeting which, on Sunday, September 3,
+1820, was held in one of the pleasant groves of that rural town, Mr.
+Badger preached the ordination sermon of Benjamin Farley, James Potter
+and Stephen Lamphere, from Rom. 10: 14: "How shall they hear without a
+preacher?" The week following he spent chiefly at and in the vicinity of
+the village of Aurora, where he preached several sermons and
+administered baptism to a few believers. He then returned by way of
+Auburn, preached twice to large assemblies in the Presbyterian church at
+Brutus, visited his devoted friend Dr. Beman, and in the evening spoke
+to the assembled citizens of Elbridge. On the morning of the 11th he
+called at the bedside of Dr. Ayers, who was in the last stage of
+consumption. "After much conversation," says Mr. B., "I asked him if he
+desired us to attend prayers. He paused and said, '_Can_ you pray?'
+(What an important question!) I answered in the affirmative. Said he,
+'Does God hear you and give you answers?' I told him 'Yes.' He then
+burst into tears and said, '_Once_ he heard _me_, but does not of late.'
+Every heart present was moved. He was a man beloved. He bowed with us in
+prayer. At nine o'clock we left him and proceeded to Camillus, where I
+baptized the wife of Esquire Benedict and Mrs. McMaster, his daughter.
+At evening I spoke to a multitude of weeping auditors. On my return,
+agreeable to promise, I called on Dr. A., who again knelt with me at the
+altar of mercy, and when I gave him my parting hand he said, 'I shall
+meet you in heaven.' His countenance was as serene as a morning without
+clouds."
+
+At Charleston, Montgomery County, N. Y., on the 10th and 17th of
+September, he attended a general meeting, at which between one and two
+thousand people were present. He speaks of the Conference business that
+was done on the 18th and 19th as very important; but most of all was he
+interested in the public improvement of three female speakers, who
+occupied the time on Monday evening, Mrs. Sarah Hedges, Mrs. Abigail
+Roberts, and Miss Ann Rexford, each of whom was more than commonly
+gifted in public speaking, and proved the fitness of their mission by
+indisputable success in their respective spheres of labor. Miss Rexford,
+then but nineteen years of age, a young woman of polished manners and
+accomplished mind, had a clear knowledge of the Scriptures, a winning
+voice, a fine command of language, and withal a liberal religious
+experience. An article among Mr. Badger's papers, written a year earlier
+than this, is devoted to the gifts and sphere of woman in the church,
+which, though it does not parallel the claims made by the modern
+Conventions, proves the mind of its author to be free from the Oriental
+bigotry, and in sympathy with the nobler aspirations of woman's mind. On
+the 24th of this month, at a general meeting held at Greenville, Greene
+County, N. Y., in the presence of several ministers, of an assembly of
+about two thousand people, and under the umbrageous veiling of forest
+leaves, he spoke from Ps. 40: 1, 2, 3; "in which," says the reporter of
+the sermons given, "he noticed fifteen distinct particulars, and we
+could say the word was rightly divided and a portion given to each in
+due season. He proved himself a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."
+Speaking of this discourse, Mr. Spoor, who reported the order of the
+meeting to the public press, said that he appeared before the people
+"like a cloud full of rain;" and probably there are few men in the
+ministry anywhere whose "doctrine" dropped more "like the rain," or
+whose speech "distilled" more "like the dew," than his. His manner was
+dignified and gentle.
+
+About this time Mr. Badger related the substance of his missionary
+adventures to his intimate friend, Hon. Ezra Wate, of West Bloomfield,
+N. Y., in a series of letters, written hastily at snatches of time
+whilst on his way. From these we learn the events of the few months
+that remain of 1820. To him he says:
+
+      "I am happy in a travelling capacity, as I like the work of
+      a missionary; but I am troubled with the unsettled state of
+      what I may call my own affairs;--my home in Mendon, my dear
+      little daughter in Lima, and I, everywhere. I can now see
+      how true my friends have been to me in Ontario County, and
+      oh, that Providence had favored me with the blessing of
+      living and of dying among them! How painful the remembrance
+      of departed joys that may never be recalled! Though
+      surrounded with the best society, though often thronged
+      with company, I am constantly _alone_, and I have many
+      lonesome, disconsolate and dejected hours. No chastisement
+      for the present seems joyous."
+
+He speaks of a great meeting held at Cortright, Delaware county, at
+which he spoke twice, heard five discourses from other ministers
+present, namely, Uriah Smith, O. E. Morrill, and Jesse Thompson,--a
+meeting at which the converting power of God was signally displayed
+among the people. Under date of October 5, he says:
+
+      "My mind has often flown from the crowd of new friends and
+      acquaintances that surround me, to the enjoyment of those
+      old friends with whom I have taken sweet counsel in years
+      that are past. Was I coming into trials and conflicts, I
+      should be constrained to say of my new acquaintances, as
+      David did of Saul's armour, 'I have not proved it.' Friends
+      whom we have proved, friends who have merited our
+      confidence, are priceless in value. Solomon knew the worth
+      of this truth when he said, 'A friend loveth at all
+      times.'"
+
+Also, under date of October 16th, he writes,
+
+      "My health is much better than when I left this country,
+      and never did I enjoy my mind better than now, and never
+      did I experience greater freedom in preaching than on this
+      journey. Amidst all my misfortunes I have a world of
+      felicity in view. It is a time of reformation in this
+      county (Cayuga). I shall speak next Sabbath evening in the
+      Court House at Auburn, and the first Sabbath in November I
+      will preach at our chapel in Mendon."
+
+Letters from many quarters and from leading men in community, came in,
+soliciting him to come and preach, and not unfrequently did the leading
+members of other denominations second these requests by offering their
+chapels for his use.
+
+A plain, concise, and kindly letter to Rev. Mr. Patching, in which he
+vindicates the ordinances of the Gospel against the denials of Mr. P.,
+who had, by Mr. Badger's recommendations, been preaching to his
+congregations, belongs to this year. The main object of the letter seems
+to have been to call out investigation, and to throw some conservative
+influence around a boldly speculative mind. The following extract will
+show its spirit and its point:
+
+      "VERY DEAR AND AFFECTIONATE BROTHER,--With the warmest
+      affection and from a clear evidence of duty, I hastily pen
+      a few lines for your consideration, hoping that it may not
+      only serve as an introduction to a familiar correspondence
+      between us, but that it may lead us to discuss,
+      investigate, and harmonize our views relative to the
+      doctrine of the Gospel and the ordinances of the New
+      Dispensation.
+
+      "I was not alarmed relative to the suggestions you made in
+      my presence concerning a 'new light' you had received,
+      which led you to deny the ordinances of the Gospel, as I
+      thought your experience would soon teach you your error,
+      and the impropriety of annulling what Christ and the
+      Apostles have established--what both primitive and modern
+      Christians have rejoiced in. But when I discovered a
+      division in the peaceful flock of my charge, and at our
+      last communion, three of our once happy brethren stay away,
+      their seats vacant which have been so faithfully filled for
+      years, persons whom I have heard praise God on such
+      occasions, I cannot refrain from giving you my sentiments,
+      and from assuring you that after carefully reviewing the
+      subject, I must still 'Teach and baptize in the name of the
+      Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' (Luke
+      16:15, 16; Matt. 28:19, 20,) and shall continue 'steadfast
+      in the Apostles' doctrine and in breaking of bread and of
+      prayers,' Acts 11:41-46. Your 'new light,' as it is called
+      in this region, to me is an old error, agitated by the
+      Quakers two centuries ago, and more recently adopted and
+      taught by the Shakers.
+
+      "Water baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two main
+      ordinances of the new dispensation. I think there was no
+      such practice as either of these among the Jews previous to
+      John, who came to prepare the way for the Messiah. At
+      least, the Scriptures make no mention of any such practice
+      under the law. Baptism was first practised by John, was
+      subsequently sanctioned by the precepts and example of
+      God's holy Son; and since it is comprehended in his
+      Commission to the Apostles, it must continue to be as
+      lastingly and as extensively observed as the Gospel
+      itself. It is no more local or temporary than the mission
+      which contains it. The Supper also was first introduced by
+      the Saviour on the night in which he was betrayed, and even
+      after his resurrection he sanctioned it by appearing at the
+      head of the table. It is very evident that the custom was
+      continued among the disciples, and shall we say that the
+      Apostles and the ancient Christians generally were under
+      the delusion of the devil in coming together on the first
+      day of the week to preach and to break bread? If not, where
+      is the impropriety of our following the Apostles in this
+      thing? Are they and the holy Scriptures our example, or are
+      we to be governed by imagination? My dear brother, what can
+      be your motive in this great stir? Do you think your labor
+      on this subject essential to the conversion of souls? Or is
+      it possible that pride and vanity have joined to induce you
+      to become the author of something new, to be at the head of
+      a party? My charity forbids me to think this. I hope for
+      better things. As a gentleman of science, as a Gospel
+      minister, you have entered upon the very responsible stage
+      of public life. Your station is high, your position is
+      critical, and it becomes you to walk gently before the
+      Lord. This is a time in which we should pray fervently,
+      think soberly, and act with deliberation. We should write
+      the words of God with carefulness. Br. Millard informs me
+      that you intend to publish a work on this subject. Allow me
+      to advise you to be cautious, as an error once sent forth
+      to the reading world can only with great difficulty be
+      recalled. A blunder at the commencement of one's public
+      life may cause perpetual injury. I advise you to lay your
+      views before some enlightened council, or to correspond
+      with able ministers on the subject. If you have a _true_
+      light, others can see it; if not, you will be assisted in
+      season by the wisdom of others."
+
+Mr. P., it would appear, was a minister of the Freewill Baptist
+denomination, had associated some with Mr. Badger[32] in public life;
+but instead of adhering to the suggestions of his friend, it seems that
+he published a small volume, in which he sent baptism, the Lord's
+Supper, ordination, and the divinely inspired character of the
+Scriptures, into endless banishment, with certain broadcast allegations
+against the fraternity to which he had belonged. In 1823, Mr. Badger
+wrote six strong chapters in reply to his volume, apparently at the
+request of the denomination from which the author of the book had
+previously hailed. The title of Mr. B.'s manuscript read thus: "A Plea
+for the Innocent; and T. Patching's Writings against Baptism, Lord's
+Supper, Ordination, and the Holy Scriptures, criticised. By Joseph
+Badger, Minister of the New Testament." Among the mottoes of the
+title-page is this:
+
+      "He brushed the cobwebs from his brethren's urn,
+      Yet spared the insect that wove the web."
+
+But we judge the insect was not wholly spared. It is ably written.
+Perhaps a glance into the boldness of the speculations of Mr. P. may be
+gained in the statement that among his common-place are positions like
+these: "The Bible is the God of thousands, a stumbling-block to the
+blind, and the foundation of Priestcraft--the means by which Satan,
+through his prelates, has served himself to the best advantage;" that
+those who advocate the Bible, though less numerous than those who
+follow the Alcoran, are probably not less blind or wicked; and that the
+Scriptures "are not so much as one stone in the foundation upon which
+God has made man's salvation dependent;" and that through scripture
+medium no man derives spiritual knowledge. Why Mr. Badger's reply was
+never published, is unknown; perhaps the passing away of the excitement
+attendant on the first introduction of the work of Mr. P., led to the
+conclusion that its publication was unnecessary. "I have traced with
+care," says Mr. B., "the writings of Volney, the noted French atheist,
+and I think he treats the Scripture with more fairness and respect;
+whilst Hume and Bolingbroke are decidedly too modest to rank with him.
+But when we turn to the pages of Mr. Paine, Mr. Allen, and Voltaire, we
+find a style and manner that admit of comparison with the writings now
+under discussion."
+
+December 14, 1820, in writing to his father from West Bloomfield, he
+said:--
+
+      "The church under my care in this region is in a
+      flourishing state, and my work is in this country. I think
+      it my duty to continue here. I shall endeavor ere long to
+      visit you, as my anxiety is great to see you once more.
+      Though I ceased to keep house the day after the death of
+      Mary Jane, I think it will be my duty, at some future
+      period, to resume my home in this place--a home which is
+      now left unto me desolate."
+
+December 17, from Lima, he speaks of an important reformation, and of a
+prospering society of Christians in the town of Williamson, now Marion,
+Wayne County, New York, a town in which Mr. Badger at different times
+has labored with success, and where to this day the society of liberal
+Christians under the ministry of Rev. Amasa Staunton, is prosperous and
+strong. It was his primary intention to have journeyed to the land of
+his birth and early ministerial success in New England, when the sacred
+ties of his domestic life were broken; but a sudden misfortune, which
+deprived him of his intended method of conveyance, caused him to employ
+the time in visiting those places in eastern New York, spoken of in the
+latter pages of this chapter. On his return, whilst at Brutus, he
+received a message from Mr. Oliver True, then in Ontario county, that
+from Williamson an urgent request had arrived that he should come to
+baptize a large number of converts; and though no answer positively
+decides his compliance at that time, it is certain that he has
+frequently bestowed labor on that community, and was present and
+assisted in the organization of that church in 1820.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+WRITINGS, MARRIAGE, TRAVELS.
+
+
+A discourse on the Atonement, written the early part of 1821, vindicates
+the paternity of God, in the equal generosity of his provisions for the
+salvation of all men who will obey the truth. It is indeed a strong
+vindication, one that sifts the premises of Calvinism most thoroughly;
+and though changes that have since been wrought in the public mind
+render the present value of such arguments and discussions far less than
+their worth at the period of their formation, they are still valuable as
+evidences of the former states of theological thinking and of the force
+and clearness of mind with which the author treated the subject. His
+discourse is entitled "The Way of Salvation, or, The Nature and Effects
+of Atonement." He shows in the expressive motto of the first leaf, that
+he centres all in Christ: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
+sin of the world;" the sermon is founded on Romans 5:18: "Therefore, as
+by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even
+so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
+justification of life."
+
+In the treatment of this topic, Mr. Badger has but two simple divisions;
+the first is the offence and condemnation, the second treats of the free
+gift and its design. After alluding to Calvinism and to Universalism as
+having the same roots, and differing only in respect to _the number_
+embraced in the arbitrarily elective plan, he announces the truth as
+being free from these extremes, and as leading the mind of the hearer
+along the healing stream of God's benevolence as it widening flows
+through all nations and climes.
+
+In referring to the primeval state, he suggests that we are a distant
+posterity; that we may not presume to know all that belonged to the
+early Eden and to man's primitive condition. He asks the question--What
+is sin? What is its origin? What are its effects? He says, that the
+definition given by St. John 3: 4, is the most definite that the whole
+Scripture yields, that, in 1 John 5: 17, there is a good general view of
+it in the statement that all unrighteousness is sin, and in James 4: 17,
+the same view is confirmed in the affirmation, that "To him that knoweth
+to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
+
+      "The first sin of every man," says Mr. Badger, "is the
+      doing of wrong when he knows what is right. There must be a
+      knowledge of wrong; there must be a law in the mind of the
+      actor to render his action sin. Admitting this scriptural
+      view, how can we consider infants, and children unborn, to
+      be sinners? Are they acquainted with God's will? Do they
+      know his law? We often hear people tell of the 'sins of our
+      nature,' and of being 'sinners by nature,' and of the 'sins
+      we bring into the world with us;' but such sins are unknown
+      to the Scriptures, are unnamed in the word of God, and the
+      idea was invented in the wilderness ages of Christianity."
+
+      "Some, in speculating on the Garden of Eden, have so
+      spiritualized the transaction as to please their own
+      fancy; others have taken the garden, trees, and fruit in
+      the most literal sense, and thereby have plunged themselves
+      into darkness and difficulty. It is said that 'God planted
+      a garden eastward,' but, as none are informed of its
+      locality, its latitude and longitude on the globe, it is
+      impossible for those who take it in a literal sense to add
+      any discoveries to the scripture statements. It is evident
+      that the sin of our first parents consisted in their doing
+      a forbidden act, which was disloyalty to the true King. All
+      that I will venture to say is this, that 'God hath made man
+      upright; but they have sought out many inventions.'"
+
+      "In regard to the question, who is the author of sin, I
+      answer, the _actor_ is its author. Temptation is not sin.
+      Sin consists in submitting to the influence of tempting
+      objects. If, in the story of the garden, there are three
+      distinct sentences of condemnation pronounced, there were
+      also three distinct sinful actors. Sin originates in each
+      lustful mind. Some say, Is not God the author of all
+      things? did he not make all creatures? Yes. But sin is
+      neither a thing nor a creature. It is the act of a creature
+      who is enlightened and free. Many, failing to make God the
+      author of their sins, labor to prove that the devil
+      originates them, and thus lay to him that of which he is
+      not guilty, and that which they had better take to
+      themselves."
+
+On the second division of the subject, he dwells on Christ as the great
+mediatorial centre of light and mercy, where God will meet all mankind
+in their striving to realize the salvation of their souls. By pleading
+the eternal life revealed in Christ as a free gift, and by urging
+mankind to use their personal freedom in improving the new advantages,
+he presents a practical At-one-ment--a real harmony of man with God,
+without adopting the arbitrary notions of grace prevailing in the then
+common theology, and without implying a pacification of "the infinite
+wrath" of God to men, a sentiment which, in a world that could _realize_
+the import of words so carelessly employed in theory, would be regarded
+as the utmost profanation, as the last step in the descending grades of
+religious irreverence and unbelief.
+
+      "The heathen," says Mr. B., "who has never heard the
+      Gospel's joyful sound, is not without hope, as the gentle
+      rays of the Holy Spirit have influenced his mind to
+      reverence the Great Spirit, as Christ is 'a light that
+      lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' He may
+      arise from his darkness and misery to some bright mansion
+      in the New Jerusalem, while high-minded professors and
+      superstitious Jews may find their hopes to be those of the
+      hypocrite. Under these views, the partial atonement appears
+      in feeble colors, and the universal love of God to men
+      shines conspicuously from the holy scripture and from
+      reason."
+
+Under date of February 22, 1821, at Mendon, N. Y., Mr. Badger informs
+the readers of the Christian Herald, that he has just returned from
+Genesee and Alleghany counties; that in Covington a successful
+reformation had begun; that in Perry, Warsaw, Gainesville, Orangeville
+and Pike, he found the people attentive; that "the star which rose in
+the east shines in the west with unfading lustre." He speaks of the glad
+news of revivals that had reached him from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada,
+and different sections of the State of New York. "My health," he adds,
+"has been poor the month past, which has located my labors some; before
+that, for six months, I had as many meetings as there were days. O, how
+delightful the thought of meeting all the _elect_ around the Father's
+throne in glory, where, from every nation and sect, all will join in one
+harmonious song!"
+
+March 12, 1821, he speaks of preaching twice at Perry, to large and
+solemn assemblies, among whom he thinks the power of the Highest was
+spiritually manifest; of meeting the aged parents of Rev. W. True, who
+were happy in the hopes of immortal life. At Middlebury, he says that he
+found the attention great to "hear the word;" that at the Academy his
+assemblies were large; that, one evening, by request, he preached on the
+character of Christ, taking Isaiah 9: 6, for his text.
+
+      "One Presbyterian and several Baptist clergymen were
+      present. I first spoke on the origin, nature, character,
+      titles and dignity of Christ, in which I endeavored to
+      prove him divine, and an object of worship. 2. I noticed
+      the origin, nature, effects and supports of the doctrine of
+      the Trinity, in which I gave the reasons why I dissented
+      from that doctrine. I endeavored to show that my faith gave
+      me a divine Saviour, and that Trinitarianism is obliged to
+      rely on a human sacrifice."
+
+"I am sensible," said he, "that my visit will be remembered by the
+_shrine_-maker's," for which he assigns as a reason that in the partisan
+zeal of his opponents, there were many who seemed ready to exclaim,
+"Great is Diana!" He speaks of Mr. W. True, then pastor of the society
+at Covington, as being both "a son of thunder and of consolation;" as an
+exemplary instance of self-sacrifice and of fidelity to the truth. As
+Mr. B. did not sail under doctrinal idolatries, he says, at the
+conclusion of his address, "Love is the badge of the Christian and the
+tenet of Heaven; may holiness be our motto forever."
+
+Let us return, after this absence, to the social relations of Mr.
+Badger. We had seen his family dispersed, his home broken up by death in
+the early part of 1820. We have traced him in his subsequent travels, in
+his various public labors since that time, and found that amidst the
+sorrow and loneliness that enshrouded his spirit, his former home in
+Ontario County, the friends that there clustered about him as their
+religious teacher, formed the central attraction to which he turned with
+the deep and permanent feelings of home. The class of persons Mr. B. had
+there attached to himself, were the intelligent, the responsible and
+influential, which, added to the happy associations that still lingered
+in the bower of memory, and the presence there of the only remaining
+relic of his family, it is natural, it is reasonable, that this region
+of the State, to which he seems to have been providentially sent, should
+have attracted him more than any other place. A new period now arrives
+in his life. Not merely from a sense of duty to himself or daughter,
+but, if one may rightly judge from the sincere embodiment of the heart
+in a multitude of letters, written under various circumstances and at
+different times, in after life, from sincere, earnest and abiding
+affection, did he now form the marriage alliance which continued until
+his death, and which placed him at the head of a talented and moderately
+numerous family. March 21st, 1821, he was married to Miss Eliza Maria
+Sterling, a talented, respectable young woman of Lima, New York,
+daughter of Samuel Sterling, Esq., who was one of the early pioneers,
+and an honored citizen of that town. Again the star of his earthly
+destiny seemed to emerge from clouds, and to shine with promise on
+future years. Her parents were members of the society of which Mr.
+Badger was pastor, were acquainted with him from and before his
+settlement in the town of Mendon, and frequently had he been a guest in
+the family of Mr. Sterling. With new and respectable relations, with a
+companion whom he deeply and abidingly loved--one that frankly and
+wisely expressed the sentiments and opinions that became the responsible
+relation she had assumed; with his little daughter, Lydia Elizabeth,
+whom he now took from her boarding-house to his new home, Mr. Badger
+again felt that life to him was verdant in the promises of peace and
+happiness. Immediately is he at the head of a new and an independent
+home, where his cheerful and genial nature made the light of happiness
+to shine about him. From the particular cast of mind possessed by Mrs.
+B., in which the faculty of judgment, of clear-sightedness on matters of
+practical moment, was decidedly prominent, she became in a degree his
+counsellor in all the great and important enterprises of his life.
+
+In the duties of his pastoral and his new social relations, the months
+of April, May, June and July passed away. Among his correspondence of
+1818, 1819 and 1820, there are several requests from old acquaintances
+and friends in the Province of Canada, for him again to visit the region
+of his former labors. August 7th, 1821, he started on such a tour,
+taking passage in the steamboat at the mouth of the Genesee river for
+Ogdensburg. Leaving the river at 4 P.M., the vessel soon disappeared
+from the sight of land, but, through the violence of wind and storm, it
+was driven back sixty miles into the port of Oswego.
+
+      "On this occasion," said Mr. Badger, "I had the pleasure of
+      seeing some profane wretches, who were blasphemers in the
+      calm, cease their profanity, and grow solemn in the midst
+      of danger. We arrived at Oswego just at daylight, where we
+      spent the day. I visited several places, talked with many
+      about salvation, and had a good time in solitude and
+      prayer. We left there 12 o'clock at night, and, in seven
+      hours, arrived at Sackett's Harbor; here I had an agreeable
+      interview on shore with Judge Fields, who gave me an
+      account of a glorious reformation in that village, in which
+      a large number had found the Saviour to be precious; he
+      said they were well engaged and united. The converts had,
+      many of them, joined the Methodists and Presbyterians, and
+      some of them remained simply Christians. The judge seemed
+      to take a great interest in the work, which he said was
+      still increasing.
+
+      "The 10th inst. we arrived at Ogdensburg. I made several
+      visits on shore, and found it a wicked place; as St. Paul
+      said of Athens, 'the whole city was given to idolatry.' The
+      11th, lodged at a place called the Cedars, on the St.
+      Lawrence, a French village, and a people of strange
+      language. The 12th, we spent the Sabbath on a small island
+      in Lake St. Clair, but, at evening, we reached a small
+      village at the mouth of the Shatagee River, which of the
+      most wretched places I ever saw. A gentleman told me that
+      the inhabitants were part of them French, a part Indian,
+      and a part Devil. I had reason to believe it. Early in the
+      morning I visited the Indian town, Cogh-ne-wa-ga, and found
+      some of them willing to hear of the crucified Jesus. I have
+      just arrived in this pleasant town, Montreal, but shall
+      leave it soon for the townships east, as I intend to visit
+      my father's house, which I have not seen for five years. A
+      gentleman from England has just informed me that he has
+      discovered a general belief among all sects in England, for
+      ten years past, that God is about to work an overture in
+      Christendom, for the union of all sects of Christians.
+      Happy is every person who possesses that spirit."
+
+The English gentleman here alluded to was probably Commodore Woolsey,
+who had been his company from Sackett's Harbor to Ogdensburg, of whom in
+another letter, he says:--
+
+      "One afternoon, after a long discussion on different
+      religious societies, and on pure religion, the Commodore,
+      apparently with a feeling heart, observed, 'Sir, I am
+      sensible that our variety of belief and forms of worship
+      are principally owing to our education; but pure religion
+      is one thing wherever you find it; it is the work of God in
+      the heart, a principle of godliness implanted within.'"
+
+In a very easy and happy manner, Mr. Badger, in travelling, won the
+attention of strangers, and drew out a free expression of thought from
+the best minds; and this sentiment--that pure religion is substantially
+one thing over all the earth, was one which met the deepest response in
+the entire life and philosophy of the subject of this memoir.
+
+September 12, 1821, from Compton, L. C, in the district of the Three
+Rivers, he writes that from Montreal he took passage for Sevel, a French
+village, at the head of Lake St. Peter's; that from thence he made his
+way to the Indian village on St. Francisway River, where, eight years
+before, he had formed some acquaintance with their chief, through whose
+influence he now hoped for an opportunity to preach to those
+unsophisticated sons of the forest, children of wild and beautiful
+traditions, soul-taught worshippers of the Great Spirit. The absence of
+the chief at court frustrated his plan.
+
+      "I found the village in a flourishing situation; a large
+      meeting-house was being built; an English school had
+      already been established, and the natives were fast
+      improving in the arts and sciences. Capt. St. Francisway is
+      an interpreter of several nations, and can speak in eight
+      languages."
+
+On foot, Mr. B. continued his journey up the river through a wretched
+country, until he arrived at a settlement formed by the remnant of an
+old British army, to whom the government had given lands. Mr. B.
+considered them in nearly a state of starvation, and after almost
+exhausting himself with hunger and fatigue, he sat in lonely meditation
+beneath a sturdy pine, reflecting on the divine goodness and the dangers
+he had tempted in this new wilderness way.
+
+      "In the evening I arrived at the cottage of an old soldier.
+      They had neither meat, bread, nor milk to set before me. I
+      obtained permission to sleep on the floor, but I had some
+      reason to suspect that they were thieves and robbers; and I
+      thought that the surest way, and finally the only way for
+      my safety, was to preach salvation to them. Accordingly I
+      gave them a long discourse, which was so far attended by
+      the power of God as to enable me to make friends in this
+      instance of the mammon of unrighteousness. I was glad to
+      see the morning light, and walked eight miles before I
+      could get my breakfast."
+
+He visited his father's residence in Compton, stayed some weeks, gave
+three funeral sermons in that town, visited the old parishes where he
+had formerly preached, wept at the grave of many a fallen friend, heard
+the prayerful voice of repenting sinners, and the rejoicing songs of
+converted ones.
+
+After completing his visit in the king's dominion, Mr. Badger, about the
+middle of September, started for home, proceeding through the State of
+Vermont over the Green Mountains to Ballston and Saratoga; thence, after
+a visit at Amsterdam, where he informs us several hundred had entered
+into the enjoyment of the religious life during the past year, he
+advanced up the Mohawk to Utica; and spending the Sabbath at
+Westmoreland, with Rev. J. S. Thompson, and attending appointments on
+the way at Brutus, Camillus, Auburn and Geneva, he arrived at home
+October 5, which completed a journey of 1200 miles, "in which time,"
+said he, "I have witnessed the most stupendous displays of God's mercy
+and salvation." At the city of Rochester, he attended several meetings
+before the commencement of the next year, where he gained the attention
+of the people.
+
+The year preceding 1821, Mr. Badger became a member of the fraternity of
+Masons, an institution which he always prized for its wisdom, morality
+and benevolence, and one in which he made superior advancement.[33] Not
+given to ultra rashness, he did not extol the institution beyond its
+evident merits when glory and influence were on its side, nor did the
+temporary storm that assailed it draw from him violent resistance, or
+concessions that could be construed into disesteem for the great
+designs, general rules and customs of Masonry. He not unfrequently gave
+public addresses to the Masonic community in his own State, occasionally
+assisted in the ceremonies of initiation and of progress in the Order,
+and in other States of the Union he sometimes gave addresses.
+
+Traces of writings are left, from 1821, that embody an effort to
+systematize the facts of history, and to retain what struck him as most
+important,--history relating to Egypt, Persia, Palestine, Rome, Arabia
+and China. But usually, such was the fulness of the active life of Mr.
+Badger, and of his reliance on the resources of his natural ability and
+experience, that he was not a close, laborious student, though he was
+never at a loss, when occasion required, in showing an accurate command
+of the substantial facts of history and of science bearing on the
+subject in hand.
+
+In 1822, in addition to his local labors, Mr. Badger visited Saybrook
+and Lyme, Connecticut, attended the United States General Conference
+holden at Greenville, Green County, N. Y., besides attending to several
+calls at a distance from home. I would here remark that a United States
+General Conference,[34] though its origin was rather informal, was at
+last a body composed of ministers and delegates from different local
+Conferences, that its object was to discuss and advise in relation to
+subjects of general interest to the cause in which the promoters of a
+liberal and an evangelical Christianity were engaged. It was not
+uncommon for them to discuss abstract themes of faith and church polity,
+for the purpose of gaining greater light in the multitude of counsel.
+Such convocations dictated no articles of faith, presented no formula of
+belief except the generally conceded revelations of God. In the annual
+meeting here named, held September 5, 6, 7, the second resolution
+adopted was, that Christian fellowship arises from satisfactory evidence
+of being born of the Spirit of God, and that it properly extends to all
+who walk after "the rule of Christ." This body, though in many things it
+proved useful, especially in its free discussion, was, by mutual
+agreement, finally dissolved at Milan, Dutchess County, N. Y., October
+2, 1832, chiefly from the considerations that the wants it had met might
+now by other methods be more successfully reached, that it was
+inconvenient to assemble annually from parts so remote, and that in
+time it might outstrip its original intentions, and become a
+centralization of power to the injury of congregational sentiments. At
+the meeting which followed the Conference, Sunday, September 8, Mr.
+Badger preached the third discourse from Deut. 32: 10: "He found him in
+a waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept
+him as the apple of his eye." To a people who regarded the church as
+being still in the wilderness, as merging by slow degrees out into light
+and liberty, and as always dependent on Him who led, taught, and guarded
+the ancient Israel of his choice, such a text and sermon were suited to
+the time and the occasion.
+
+In 1823, he made a tour into Pennsylvania, accompanied by S. D. Buzzael,
+a minister of whom he speaks as being well engaged in the cause.
+Preaching on the way in several towns, in Dansville, Naples, Cohocton
+and Bath, he arrived, in the early part of the month of March, at the
+pleasant village of Lewisburg, in Union County, Pa., a village that lies
+embosomed in the wild and attractive scenery of the Susquehannah,
+between the towns of Milton and Northumberland. On the way, he held a
+quarterly meeting which he had previously appointed among the Methodists
+in the town of Cohocton, Steuben County, where he met about forty church
+members and two ministers who had thrown off the authority of bishops,
+and styled themselves Methodists, rejecting episcopacy both from their
+name and their doctrine. To them, in company with D. Millard, of West
+Bloomfield, he preached and administered the communion to a free and
+happy people, learning at the same time that in New York there were
+about six hundred members in connection with them in this their new and
+reformatory position.
+
+Crossing the Cohocton and the Canisteo rivers, in company with Mr.
+Buzzael, he followed the course of the Tioga to the town of Icoga, Pa.,
+then crossing Peter's Camp and the Block House to Lycoming by the
+Wilderness road, as it was justly called, he continued his way through
+the enveloping night and the descending rain. "We had," says Mr. B., "to
+ascend and descend dreadful mountains to obtain a lodging among
+strangers in a strange land. We were fatigued and sorrowful; but Brother
+Buzzael broke the silence of the way by singing the following lines:
+
+      "Though dark be my way, since He is my guide,
+      'Tis mine to obey, 'tis His to provide;
+      Though cisterns be broken and creatures all fail,
+      The _word He_ has spoken will _surely_ prevail."
+
+Pursuing the course of the Lycoming, he struck the west branch of the
+Susquehannah, at Williamsport, thence to Lewisburg, where he arrived on
+the evening of March 6th. On the 7th, he spoke for the first time to a
+small audience on the subject of heaven; from this time his assemblies
+began to increase and his words took effect among the people. Mr. Bacon
+had been somewhat successful in preceding years in that place. Mr.
+Badger preached several sermons in the open air, as no house would hold
+the assemblies that convened. He there received one minister into the
+fellowship of the Christian connection from the Methodists, Mr. Andrew
+Wolfe, a German of property, character, and respectable talent, who
+preached in the German language;--had three baptizing seasons, which he
+regarded as glorious, preached on the laying of the corner-stone of the
+new church, from Matt. 16: 18; a house which its builders designed to
+have in a state of completion the coming autumn, the time of Mr.
+Badger's contemplated return. In Milton, Mifflinsburg, Buffalo,
+Whitedeer, Chilisquaque and Northumberland, he also preached; and it is
+unnecessary to state that the impression he made was strong and lasting;
+particularly in Lewisburg, where he did much in establishing order in
+the society for whom he labored; where he called out the best minds in a
+free investigation of religious subjects; and where, at different times,
+he interested the community with the rich and varied resources of his
+ministerial power; his gifts and character were ever held in admiration
+and esteem. Many ministers of acknowledged ability have spoken to that
+community, but from personal knowledge I say that none, taking all
+things into consideration, have occupied so high a place, for true
+eloquence, for real power over a congregation and a community, as he.
+
+At this time, Mr. Badger became acquainted with Rev. James Kay, of
+Northumberland, a fine example of English gentility and politeness, a
+man of classical and general education, and a theologian of no ordinary
+accomplishment in the Unitarian school of English divines. From his able
+pen, the pages of the periodical which Mr. B. began to edit in 1832,
+were frequently enriched. Northumberland is a quiet town of intelligence
+and wealth, in the environs of lovely scenery, the waters of the north
+and of the west branch of the Susquehannah there joining in graceful
+amity, whilst the perpendicular walls of rock tower in calm solemnity
+before it. There indeed is the resting-place of the philosopher
+Priestley, who lived a life of study and of thought; who enriched
+science by numerous discoveries and the cause of human liberty by his
+political views; and, at the close of an arduous life, died in the light
+of the confiding piety in which he had lived; on whose tombstone is this
+inscription: "I lay me down to rest till the Resurrection!" To the
+congregation founded by him did Mr. Kay for many years preach, and to
+the same did Mr. Badger communicate on his two or three occasional
+visits to that place. From a letter of Mr. Kay, dated September 29,
+1823, I discover that Mr. Badger was in Lewisburg at that time, and that
+he contemplated a meeting at Northumberland.
+
+From Lewisburg, under date of October 7, 1823, he writes to Mrs. Badger
+as follows:
+
+      "You have doubtless heard of the fatal sickness that now
+      rages in this place. It still continues. I preached a
+      funeral sermon last Thursday, and I am informed six or
+      seven lay dead last Sabbath in the neighborhood. But I had
+      good assemblies at our newly finished meeting-house, on
+      Thursday evening, Sunday and Sunday evening. I found the
+      Church in a low state. Mr. Bacon had sowed much discord;
+      but I have nothing to do but to preach Christ and his
+      Gospel, which are calculated to make mankind love each
+      other and to live in union. God only knows the burden and
+      trials I felt in this place for the first week. I was
+      constrained day and night to ask God for wisdom, and at
+      length we are assisted by his power. Everybody who can,
+      turns out to bear the word, and very many of my hearers are
+      those whose pale faces declare the reign of disease.
+
+      "I have had two church meetings and was determined to
+      establish order in their affairs, or give them up for a
+      lost and deluded people. I succeeded far beyond my
+      expectations. 1st. I examined into the state of all who had
+      ever been received into the church, found that one had been
+      excluded, three had died, ten had removed, thirteen needed
+      to be specially visited, as they were low in spiritual
+      enjoyment and zeal, and fifty-nine were willing to serve
+      God with all their hearts. 2. I called on them to appoint
+      two persons to take the oversight of the temporalities; F.
+      L. Metzger and John Moore were appointed. 3. I got them to
+      appoint Andrew Wolf and John Dunachy, to take charge of the
+      meetings in my absence. Thus you see that they are coming
+      into order, with which they seem generally well pleased.
+      They depend much on me. I expect to visit them again in the
+      winter. I have been almost every day among the sick; some
+      days have visited more than a dozen families, but never
+      enjoyed better health. Sunday coming will make three
+      Sabbaths I have been in Lewisburg, and on Monday or
+      Tuesday, I design to visit Smithfield, Bradford County,
+      Pa."
+
+June the 20th, Mr. Badger officiated as Chairman of the New York Western
+Conference, at which time seven new churches were reported, and some
+important ideas of church polity were discussed. In August of this year,
+he described the city of Rochester, then a town of 3000 inhabitants,
+connected by water communications with Albany on the east, Quebec on the
+north, and Lake Superior on the west. He speaks of a small church, in
+that city, with whom he had labored half of the time through the summer,
+and expresses the hope that they will accumulate more strength in that
+growing town. In the early part of August, he attended a general meeting
+at Rochester, and, in the same month, another at Cato, Cayuga County, N.
+Y.
+
+Letters from different parts of the country show the inclination of the
+people to make demands on his public gifts and labors; and, could we
+institute a close comparison between the width and depth of the interest
+called out by the great public meetings of those days, and of similar
+meetings in our own times, we are satisfied that the preference would be
+greatly in favor of the past. They were more in numbers, and the
+religious interest was more general and intense. At West Bloomfield,
+1822, for instance, there were thirty-five ministers present at a
+general meeting, and, in those days, the most of such occasions seemed
+to be a centre of interest for a wide area of the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CORRESPONDENCE--VISITS AT ANGELICA WITH D. D. HOW, THE MURDERER--HIS
+SERMON AT THE GALLOWS.
+
+
+From the extensive correspondence of Mr. Badger, little at present can
+be introduced, as the interest of his published journal and things
+relating to his personal life and public labor have the paramount claim.
+Yet the freedom in which a large variety of minds addressed him evinces
+that he was _beloved_ confidingly, as well as respected and admired. As
+an example of the free expression of one class of correspondents, we may
+take the following lines, dated near 1824, from the pen of a gentleman
+of the medical profession, Troy, Pa.:
+
+      "I think I informed you I was not a professor of religion,
+      though I have a friendly regard for all such as appear to
+      worship God in a rational and consistent manner, whose
+      minds have not been circumscribed by undigested creeds and
+      by uncharitable proscription. I have read some and thought
+      much on the subject of religion, and after all I confess I
+      am rather skeptical. I have endeavored to view it
+      abstractedly by the lights of reason and philosophy; to
+      consider what it is, its origin and design. To sum up in a
+      few words, if I may be allowed the expression, I should
+      consider it indispensably necessary to those who would not
+      be good without it. Take this away, and what method would
+      be left to bring the mere child of nature to the practice
+      of virtue? You could not discover to him the excellency
+      there is in goodness, and the reward which it brings. His
+      imagination needs to be awed by the penalty annexed to
+      vice. It may seem paradoxical to say that when men become
+      good for _goodness' sake_, they have no need of religion."
+
+Bold thoughts were no alarm to Mr. Badger; and not many persons had his
+faculty for taking away effectually the objections which really stood in
+the path of the unbelieving, though in doing so his methods were his
+own, and he had no use for the logical phrases of those who have been
+styled apologists for religion or Christianity. In looking over lines
+like those first quoted, is it not impossible to repress the sentiment,
+that "he who becomes good _for goodness' sake_," instead of having no
+need of religion, already _has it_ in its highest possible form? It
+cannot be otherwise.
+
+1824 finds Mr. Badger engaged in the local sphere of pastor; and, among
+the solemn and responsible duties of his profession for this year, was
+that of hearing the confession of a murderer, of leading his mind into
+faith and penitence, of administering to the bereaved families the
+consolations of Christian views and sympathy, and of preaching the
+funeral discourse of the prisoner to the immense concourse who witnessed
+his execution. At that time, cool and deliberate murders were
+comparatively rare; generally, there was great avidity to know the
+causes and incidents involved in the crime. The surprise and dread such
+intelligence awakened corresponded somewhat justly with the awful
+nature of the guilt which caused them. David D. How, of the town of
+Angelica, Alleghany County, New York, a few miles from the place where
+the horrid murder of Mr. Othello Church was committed, December the
+29th, 1823, was a man originally from New England, and of respectable
+connexions; but, from a series of misfortunes and injuries experienced
+in life, and probably also from the peculiar organic defection which the
+organization of murderers usually exhibits, was prepared, though not
+without a violent conflict of inward emotions, to execute a murder of
+revenge on the person of Mr. Church, whom he regarded as having been
+instrumental in promoting the misfortunes that left him destitute of
+property, in the summer of 1823. Several angry disputes had occurred
+between them; and, judging from the treatment he rendered to Mr. Palmer,
+for having, as he thought, taken undue advantages of his troubles, one
+is willing to infer that revenge was his predominant tendency.
+
+      "I went," says he, "in the month of October, to
+      Hornelsville, and being detained there one day, I had
+      occasion to ride in the evening of the 23d, and about 12
+      o'clock at night came to Mr. Palmer's, near Angelica. I saw
+      his valuable mills, on which the orbs of heaven faintly
+      shone, and the sable curtains of night had mantled the
+      scenery in majestic grandeur. _Now_, I said, is the time
+      for me to have vengeance on one of my greatest enemies on
+      earth. I dismounted and surveyed the scene before me.
+      Finding the door fast, I obtained an entrance by a small
+      window which I could raise; I entered the dark cavity; all
+      was solitary and silent, and every step resounded with
+      midnight horror; the sweet stream uttered its innocent
+      murmur below, and all nature seemed combined to reprove me
+      of my sin."
+
+Though hesitating for a moment, a brief meditation on the causes of
+offence induced him to turn the mills of his neighbor into a scene of
+flames, which, to use the language of the criminal, "shone upon the
+heavens with alarming lustre" to his "guilty conscience," before he
+arrived at home. With equal determination, on the night of the 29th of
+December, after returning from the village of Angelica, between 10 and
+11 o'clock, at a season when the condition of the snow would not allow
+him to be tracked, did he proceed to execute the awful deed on which he
+had long meditated, the murder, in his own house, of Othello Church,[35]
+whom he called from his slumbers to receive the fatal shot. This
+murderer thought and reflected on his end and his means. Once before, he
+had waylaid the path of his victim, and watched at night, with rifle in
+hand, behind the great pine tree; "while I stood here," said Mr. H., "I
+had some solemn reflections. The sweet evening breeze gently pressed the
+lofty forest, and the tall pines could bend beneath the power of heaven;
+but my obdurate heart remained unmoved." Such was the character of the
+man whose depths of heart were moved by the influences of Mr. Badger.
+Though a murderer, he was far, very far, from total depravity, for he
+could sincerely mourn over his own guilt, and weep over his beautiful
+daughter with a father's love. He was tried for his offence at
+Angelica, before Judge Rochester; was, by the force of circumstantial
+evidence, declared guilty, and, on February 8th, was sentenced to be
+hung March 19th, 1824. By the request of Judge Griffin, who had
+consulted the prisoner, Mr. Badger was requested to attend on Mr. How,
+and to do what he could in preparing his mind for the awful crisis
+before him; and, as these duties are a part of his journal for this
+year, we will look a moment longer at its particulars.
+
+March the 2d, Mr. Badger took rooms at Judge Dautremont's, in Angelica,
+(a place 65 miles from his residence,) that he might every day have
+familiar access to the mind of the prisoner. The day of his arrival he
+entered the gloomy apartment, at 2 o'clock, P. M. found Mr. How reading
+the Scriptures by candle light; soon the mind of the guilty stranger
+unfolded freely and without reserve, to him who now endeavored to render
+assistance in making his peace with the eternal powers. A chain-bound
+prisoner in darkness, seeking to know how he shall whiten his spirit
+from mortal crime! A herald of the cross genially making him feel his
+brotherhood with man, and bowing with him in prayer to the Infinite
+Pacifier! A scene like this in a world of sin is a gleam of light across
+the ocean of darkness, even though the inveterate past should refuse to
+be blotted out by prayers and penance.
+
+      "In conversation," said Mr. B., "he is pleasant, familiar,
+      easy and polite, and often his countenance is lighted up by
+      an artificial smile. He is a man of quick discernment, and
+      possesses a mind of unusual strength and great composure
+      in the hour of trouble; yet he sometimes weeps at the most
+      trifling circumstances. He feels great attachment to his
+      friends, uncommon fondness for his children, and an
+      ungovernable hatred to his enemies. I found Mr. How almost
+      in a despairing state of mind. He asked my opinion of 1
+      John 3:15: 'No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.'
+      I informed him that the same verse said: 'Whosoever hateth
+      his brother is a murderer' and that no person while
+      possessed of hatred, or in the act of murder, could be in
+      possession of eternal life. He wept at my remarks, and
+      asked many questions. I informed him 'all manner of sin
+      should be forgiven except the sin against the Holy Ghost;'
+      and I endeavored to hold up the way of life to him. We
+      united in prayer several times, and after an interview of
+      six hours I left him overwhelmed in grief.
+
+      "March 3d, entered the dungeon at 8 o'clock, A. M., found
+      him very much composed. After attending prayers we sung two
+      hymns, and his heart was apparently filled with love to all
+      the creatures of God. He commenced speaking in the most
+      affecting language. He spoke of the sin of profanity and
+      drinking, described the murder of Mr. Church in the most
+      affecting manner, and mourned that he had no time to
+      prepare to meet his God. He said he could not think that
+      God would forgive him, as his sins were of such an
+      aggravated nature, and were committed against so good a
+      Being, and against such great light. I made him three
+      visits, and the dungeon became a pleasant place. He this
+      day requested me to write his journal, to preach at his
+      execution, and superintend his funeral.
+
+      "March 4. Spent four hours in my first visit, found him
+      much composed and well resigned. I entreated with the
+      sheriff for the removal of his irons, and succeeded, for
+      which he expressed much gratitude."
+
+It were indeed too long for our purpose to transcribe the half of what
+Mr. Badger has interestingly written on this topic. His duties were
+faithfully and ably done; and, what might be anticipated, he gained, and
+for a holy purpose, the entire mastery of the murderer's heart; turned
+his revengeful passions, for the time at least, into prayerful kindness
+for his enemies, and, through his free choice, became the agent of his
+most sacred trusts. On the 5th, he received and delivered to Mrs. Church
+the imploring and penitent address of Mr. How; also visited the family
+and plantation of the murderer; on the 6th, witnessed the interview
+between Mr. How and his own family, to whom he administered appropriate
+advice. Through all his doubts and fears, he accompanied the
+spirit-wanderings of the culprit, and succeeded in bringing his mind to
+a state in which he was conscious that an eternal sun shone somewhat
+brightly through the cloud openings of his dark horizon.
+
+      "On Sunday, the 14th, in the afternoon," says Mr. B., "his
+      daughter, a beautiful little girl about 19 years of age,
+      arrived. She trembled as she approached the gloomy
+      apartment of her father. They embraced each other with
+      great affection, and all the spectators wept. He called his
+      daughter and friends to view the coffin, which, he informed
+      her, was like her mother's. They wished me to pray with
+      them; and, at the close of prayer, I found the father and
+      daughter leaning upon the coffin, with their hands joined;
+      he exclaimed, 'Oh, my Harriet! must we part? You are the
+      image of your excellent mother--you have derived your good
+      disposition and all your good qualities from her. You have
+      nothing good from me.' They both wept aloud, and every
+      heart seemed to be moved with grief. On the 15th I
+      witnessed a reconciling interview between Mr. How, Mr.
+      Palmer, and Sheriff Wilson, men of business who had once
+      been great friends, but whose friendship had been broken by
+      serious difficulties.
+
+      "March the 18th. He sent for me at daybreak. I found he had
+      a restless night, and was in great distress. I made him
+      several visits; his family came to take their leave of him
+      forever. At 3 o'clock P. M., the Rev. Mr. Roach, a
+      Methodist minister, preached a short discourse in the
+      dungeon from John 3:16. Five clergymen were present, and
+      the scene was solemn. Mr. How took the lead in singing two
+      hymns, and carried his part through in a graceful manner.
+      In singing the first, he stood up and leaned partly on the
+      stove; held his little girl by one hand, who sat in the lap
+      of her mother, and with the other he took the hand of his
+      affectionate brother, who stood by his side. At the close
+      of the meeting, his wife gave him her hand for the last
+      time. He embraced her with fondness, and when he pressed
+      his little girl to his bosom (about four years of age) he
+      wept aloud. He requested that several Christian friends
+      should spend the night with him in prayer; thus his last
+      night on earth was spent in imploring God for grace and
+      mercy.
+
+      "March the 19th. I entered the prison at break of day,
+      found him much resigned. He observed, as I entered, that
+      his last night on earth was gone, which he had spent in
+      prayer. At 7 o'clock I visited him again with a company of
+      ladies who had never seen him. Mrs. Richards, of Dansville,
+      took him by the hand, both fell upon their knees, and she
+      prayed for him in the most fervent manner. He then prayed
+      for himself, for his family, for the family of Mrs. Church,
+      who were afflicted by him, for his executioner, and all
+      the world. As we came out, a gentleman remarked that he had
+      never heard a man pray like him. At 9, I entered his
+      apartment for the last time, accompanied by his beloved
+      daughter and a young man who was soon to become her
+      husband. We entered with serious hearts; he received them
+      very pleasantly, and made remarks to me on the fine
+      weather, and the lady who had prayed with him. He asked of
+      me the privilege of walking into the yard with the young
+      man. They spent a short time together. He then asked me to
+      wait on Harriet to the door. He placed her by the side of
+      the young man, and delivered her to his charge, saying that
+      she had long been deprived of the counsels of a mother,[36]
+      and would be in a few moments separated from her father
+      forever. 'I now commit her to you as a friend, protector,
+      and lover.'"
+
+For Mr. H. there was much public sympathy, owing to the belief that he
+had suffered many provoking wrongs. Passages like these have a moral,
+and even philosophical value, in showing that the human spirit is not
+exhausted of wealth, no, not even by capital offence; that great
+sentiments of manliness may temporarily occupy an invisible throne
+within, though clouded and veiled from general recognition.
+
+On the 19th, in the presence of six thousand persons, Mr. How was
+executed, to which immense throng Mr. Badger preached a sermon of thirty
+minutes, from Numbers 35: 33, which we have heard spoken of as a
+masterly effort. With all his feeling for the offending, he had no
+morbid sympathies to pour out on the injustice of his punishment; he
+spoke of the propriety and the majesty of the law; of the necessity of
+cleansing the land of murderous crimes; alleging that, while government
+exists, its principles must be faithfully carried into action; that the
+officers who, in their different official capacities, executed this
+solemn law, were as much in the way of their duty as he who tills the
+soil, and supports the government by his labor. Mr. Badger was no
+ultraist. He held that this world, on which golden sunlight is
+scattered, was not made for rascals; nor did he accuse the world of
+ignorance when the deliberate murderer died for his crime. In these
+quoted paragraphs, we see how Mr. B. passed the larger part of a month
+in the spring of 1824; and though the acrimony which attaches to
+religious sects was industrious in the misrepresentation of his
+theological sentiments, he cleared himself triumphantly of all their
+charges, and came off with the decided approbation of the judges,
+officers, and indeed of all the leading men whose acquaintance he had
+formed, for the able and faithful manner in which he had performed his
+high duties, and for the proper course he had pursued both as a
+gentleman and a minister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH.--PUBLISHED JOURNAL.
+
+
+The summer of this year, Mr. Badger seriously contemplated a voyage to
+England, chiefly for the purpose of promoting a union between a
+denomination called the "General Baptists," and the "Christian
+Connection" of this country, as that denomination had already heard of,
+and expressed an interest in, their transatlantic brethren of the New
+World; but other and urgent duties directed his energies in a different
+channel. By the Western Conference he was appointed to preside at six
+general meetings in different sections of the country, requiring him to
+travel nearly a thousand miles in all, for the completion of the task;
+and, at the meeting of the United States Annual Conference, he was, in
+accordance with the appointment made by the New York Western Conference,
+commended as an evangelist to visit the southern States, to obtain a
+history of the people there who had thrown off the authority of creeds,
+and gone to God and their Bibles for the all-sufficient light; also to
+open between them and their brethren of the northern and middle States a
+correspondence that should promote future union and coöperation in the
+spread of their common faith, a purpose which had the warmest sanction
+of the north, and which met with a generous response in the south.
+
+His evangelizing ministry through the summer was attended with good
+results; and shortly after the General Conference, held at Beekman,
+Dutchess county, N. Y., September 2, 1824, he, in company with Rev.
+Simon Clough, of Boston, started for the city of New York, passing
+through Putnam and Westchester counties, where they held many meetings.
+On the 15th, they arrived at New York. In a letter to Mr. Silsby, of
+Rochester, he says:--
+
+      "We found a Baptist and a Universalist meeting-house open
+      for us. The attention of the people was great to hear, and
+      the ministers treated us with attention and respect. We are
+      now invited to another Baptist meeting-house, and have
+      engaged to give them two sermons next Sabbath. Last Sunday
+      I preached in the State Prison to more than five hundred
+      prisoners, and it was a solemn and a weeping time. I shall
+      visit them again. In the evening I spoke to about one
+      thousand people at the Baptist Church. The young people
+      seemed to be deeply affected, and some of the aged saints
+      rejoiced and said it was truth. I enjoy myself well in this
+      city, being sensible that I am in the way of my duty. Last
+      evening I had the pleasure of seeing the renowned La
+      Fayette, who is on his way to the South. He is worthy of
+      all honor, though like others, he is a frail, dying, mortal
+      man."[37]
+
+He passed three weeks in the city, preached several sermons, baptized a
+few happy converts, and on the 8th of October, arrived at his home in
+Mendon. On this tour, Mr. Badger used his influence in favor of the
+establishment of a new monthly periodical at West Bloomfield, New York,
+which commenced January 1, 1825, under the editorial direction of Rev.
+D. Millard, and entitled the "Gospel Luminary." These sermons, from
+Messrs. Clough and Badger, were the first, I believe, ever given in that
+city under the simple name of Christian, with the exception of the
+labors of Doctor Joseph Hall, who had a few months preceded them. Soon
+after, the gifted Miss Rexford, and Mrs. Abigail Roberts, whose labors
+in many places had been successful, held meetings in that metropolis,
+and as early as January, 1825, we hear of Mr. Clough laboring to plant
+the standard of a liberal evangelical Christianity in that community.
+
+Mr. Badger's journey was deferred till the late autumnal months of 1825,
+as he chose not to venture so great a change of climate in the warmer
+seasons; home duties also prevented an immediate execution of his plan.
+On the 19th December, 1824, he preached twice in Chili, a town not far
+from Rochester, where the labors of Mr. Silsby had been effectual in the
+conversion of souls; also in Clarkson, Perinton, Gains, and Royalton, he
+preached, witnessing some cheering signs of the Sacred Presence. The
+first week after his arrival at Royalton he attended twelve meetings.
+
+      "In the second meeting," he says, "I saw two young ladies
+      who appeared much disposed to vanity and opposition, but at
+      the close one of them requested prayers, and within one
+      week both became happy converts, and have been baptized.
+      From this occurrence the work began rapidly among the
+      youth. About a dozen have been hopefully converted, and a
+      great number more are now under serious conviction.
+      Difficulties have healed by the power of God, and
+      backsliders have returned with confessions, repentance, and
+      tears. I have been surprised during this revival to find
+      popular professors of religion its worst enemies. What a
+      shocking inconsistency it is for people to pray for
+      reformation in foreign countries, and fight the work of God
+      at their own doors; to bestow their funds for the
+      conversion of the heathen, and live and act worse than
+      heathens themselves. In the present age, the opposition of
+      the infidel, drunkard and profane, is modest when compared
+      with the _wrath_ and _vengeance_ of popular professors."
+
+He speaks of Rev. Asa C. Morrison as greatly successful in Salem, Ohio;
+of Elder Blodget, as having witnessed a large revival during his three
+months' sojourn in the Province of Upper Canada. "I have found it duty
+on many accounts," he adds, "to adjourn my southern journey till next
+fall." In Royalton, he continued to remain, where, assisted for about
+three weeks by the labors of Elder Levi Hathaway, he saw many converted.
+Writing from that place, he says:--
+
+      "The first day of the present year was a precious time to
+      us at Royalton. I gave a sermon appropriate to the
+      occasion; the number and attention were great, and the
+      saints had a satisfactory evidence that the Lord was about
+      to revive his work, and many spoke in a feeling manner.
+      Several young people requested prayers, and at the close of
+      the meeting I requested all who would covenant together and
+      live anew for God the present year and pray for each other
+      fervently, to come forward and join hands; about forty came
+      with melting hearts. I then called for those who were
+      resolved to set out the present year to seek salvation, to
+      come into the circle and kneel; I think five came forward.
+      We had a solemn and glorious time in prayer, and felt the
+      sweetest influence of the Good Spirit while we sang,
+
+      "'From whence doth this union arise,
+      That hatred is conquered by love?'"
+
+      "By request of Mrs. Wiley (a woman in the last stage of
+      consumption, but recently converted), I preached two
+      sermons in her room. The season was solemn and glorious.
+      Many spoke, and she declared that she could now rely on the
+      promises, and trust in the Great Redeemer. As she drew near
+      her end, her faith grew stronger. Just before she expired
+      her husband heard her whisper; he asked her what she said,
+      to which she pleasantly replied, 'I was not speaking to
+      you; I was talking with my God.' Oh, how triumphant was the
+      death of this good woman, and with what solemn pleasure
+      could we follow her to the grave! It is far more pleasant
+      to me to preach at funerals of converts than to have them
+      live and backslide from God, and wound the precious cause.
+
+      "On the third day of February we met for the organization
+      of a religious society according to law; at the close of
+      the business, a young man who sat on the back seat sent for
+      me to come to him; he had many days been under serious
+      conviction. He said that he should like to speak if there
+      was liberty. He then arose and told what God had done for
+      his soul. February 20 was a day of the Mediator's power;
+      the congregation was large, solemn and attentive. At the
+      close we repaired to the water, which is but a short
+      distance from our meeting-house, where I baptized the
+      bodies of twelve happy souls. I led into the water at once
+      six young men; and when I had baptized ten, a young man who
+      had not come forward, passed through the crowd and proposed
+      to his wife to join him; they took each other by the hand
+      and came into the water together. This was one of the most
+      pleasant scenes I ever saw. The saints praised their God
+      aloud, and many of the congregation wept."
+
+Sometimes it has been customary among sects to measure the power of a
+religious faith by the strength and joy it imparts in the dying hour,
+which certainly is bringing the reality to a solemn test. Judging by
+this standard, and from almost innumerable instances, the faith inspired
+by the labors of Mr. B. and his associates was a strong spiritual power,
+holding the element of triumph in the last, low hour; for not
+unfrequently did the departing spirit rise to a calm and joyful
+enthusiasm as the rays of the eternal morning began to fall upon their
+inward vision.
+
+June 1825 finds Mr. Badger actively engaged in organizing a plan for an
+evangelizing ministry, an idea he had previously recommended in his
+correspondence, and in his address to the Conference, as the best means,
+at that time, for promoting the life and success of the churches. A full
+report was made on his suggestion, and with his assistance such a
+ministry was appointed for the year, of which he was, with four others,
+a member. Perhaps an extract from this address, delivered at Byron,
+Genesee County, N. Y., June 24, may more perfectly give his views.
+
+      "Furthermore, my brethren, to facilitate the union and
+      prosperity of this Conference, let every church within its
+      boundaries be advised to represent themselves by delegates
+      and form a part of the Conference. Let every church be
+      considered as under the care of individual ministers whom
+      they may elect, or under the care of a travelling ministry
+      which may be organized by this Conference. I here call your
+      attention to a subject of the first magnitude. On a
+      travelling connection, in my opinion, much is depending;
+      and indeed I see no other way for our numerous vacant
+      congregations to be supplied. Then as many preachers as
+      feel it to be their duty to devote their whole time to
+      travelling must be sanctioned by this body, and divide
+      themselves into districts or circuits, as will best commode
+      the local state of the churches. Their support must be
+      received if possible from the congregations of their care;
+      if not, a Conference Fund must supply them, that they be
+      perfectly independent and devoted to their work. By this
+      method, poor as well as wealthy congregations will have a
+      stated ministry. But be assured that the organization of a
+      Conference Fund will be the mainspring to give energy to
+      the whole plan, without which all our calculations are but
+      castles in the air."
+
+Whilst we have this excellent address in hand we cannot dismiss it
+without quoting a few more lines, particularly as they show the views
+and state of things at that time. He begins thus:--
+
+      "My Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry: I consider myself
+      highly honored to be called to speak in this meeting of
+      delegates and ministers, which I deem one of the most
+      enlightened bodies of men on earth. When I reflect on the
+      name you espouse, the sound doctrine you inculcate, the
+      Christian liberty you enjoy, and the reformations that have
+      everywhere attended you for twenty years past, I am
+      justified in the sight of God and men in congratulating you
+      as a favored and an enlightened people.
+
+      "Though you have been called to face the storm of
+      persecution in every step you have taken; though many of
+      you have sacrificed both property and health for the cause,
+      you have the pleasure of reflecting that your labors have
+      not been unsuccessful, and that the cause in which you
+      suffer is good, and will eventually triumph over everything
+      unlike to God. The persecution you experience, I consider a
+      clear evidence that you are the people of God, and are
+      useful to his cause. When the time comes that we bear no
+      decided testimony against error and sin, then there will be
+      no reformation to attend our labors, and no persecution
+      will be seen. But I pray God that such a time may never
+      come.
+
+      "You take the Holy Scriptures for your rule of faith and
+      practice. This is all sufficient, and far preferable to the
+      numerous _law-books_ which designing creed-makers have
+      imposed on the disciples of Christ. You reject all party
+      names, and take upon yourselves the name given by Christ to
+      his disciples in the New Testament. This is highly
+      commendable, and if we are Christians in _name_, _spirit_,
+      and _practice_, we are what we should be, and what all
+      denominations profess to be.
+
+      "Your church government establishes liberty and equality
+      through all the flock of God. Every church has an equal
+      right to a voice in this body. Here ministers and people
+      stand upon the level, and there is none to lord it over
+      God's heritage. We here confer on the welfare and
+      prosperity of the whole, and take sweet counsel together. I
+      consider your dissent from several popular errors as a
+      great virtue; though it exposes you to much persecution, it
+      will lay the foundation for your prosperity. In government
+      you discard all monarchy and aristocracy, which principles
+      have been the ruin and overthrow of many sects and
+      kingdoms. In theology you dissent from the cold and
+      chilling doctrines of Calvinism. You reject the mysterious
+      doctrine of the Trinity as inconsistent. This is a bold
+      step, yet your ground is tenable, and it defies the assault
+      of the most learned. The doctrine of the Trinity, which has
+      kindled such deplorable contentions throughout the
+      Christian world, is of human origin, and was brought into
+      the Church in the fourth century. There is no sentiment in
+      theology more contested than it. In Europe the controversy
+      is conducted with great ability, but the Unitarian cause is
+      fast gaining. In England, four hundred congregations have
+      rejected it; in America, several colleges and many of the
+      principal men of the Union have discarded it. I am informed
+      that the Hon. John Quincy Adams, the President of the
+      United States, is a bold Unitarian, and is valiant for the
+      truth. In this country, the alarm which Trinitarians
+      manifest, the precaution they take, and the combination of
+      different sects on this subject, are sure proof of the
+      weakness of their cause, and though we now hear the cry
+      from every Trinitarian church in the land, 'Great is
+      Diana,' 'Great is Diana,' be assured that her temple
+      totters, her pillars are shattered, and this idol must, ere
+      long, fall like Dagon before the Ark of God. It lays the
+      foundation of Deism, is the first argument of the Jew, the
+      Pagan, the Mohammedan and the Infidel against the Christian
+      religion.
+
+      "A cold, formal, spiritless worship must also be rejected.
+      A fashionable conformity to anti-Christian practices would
+      give us the applause of men, but not the approbation of God
+      and our own consciences. Let that preaching which is the
+      most spiritual receive your most cordial approbation, and
+      let the saints in all our congregations be encouraged to
+      improve their gifts.
+
+      "It will also be well to keep up a friendly correspondence
+      with other Conferences. For this purpose, let our clerk be
+      instructed to officiate as corresponding secretary, that we
+      may act in the light of the whole body. As we are more
+      nearly allied to the Eastern Conference in this State than
+      to any other, I recommend to have one delegate appointed
+      every year to sit with them, that our business may be
+      conducted in harmony. As our churches are extending to
+      Georgia on the South, to Maine on the East, and to Canada
+      on the North, it must always keep this State as the centre
+      of the connection, and we have grounds to anticipate much
+      from a correspondence between our brethren of the North and
+      the South. There are now about one hundred ministers in the
+      Eastern and Western Conferences; but when I came into this
+      country eight years ago, there was not over ten or twelve
+      free preachers in the State, and many of our present number
+      were then strangers to God. We now have nine or ten
+      convenient meeting-houses built by our own people, besides
+      many others which have become free. Three temples of
+      worship at least are being built this year within the
+      bounds of these Conferences; one in the city of New York,
+      where Simon Clough is laboring with success; one at
+      Bloomfield, one at Salem, Ohio, and several congregations
+      are preparing to build another year. Although we have
+      witnessed so much prosperity, our work is just begun. Never
+      did we witness such a time as the present. The cry, 'Come
+      over and help us,' is now heard from all parts, and did
+      you, my brethren, ever witness such throngs to attend upon
+      your ministry as now? Did you ever know such a general
+      inquiry for light and liberty? Truly the fields are all
+      white and ready to harvest. My aged brethren, as you look
+      upon the young men by your side who have devoted their
+      juvenile years to God, and have just entered upon the
+      great and arduous duties of the ministry, let every power
+      within you rejoice that you have lived to see this good
+      day, that you behold the evidence that the ranks will yet
+      be filled, when you and I shall sleep in death. And you, my
+      young brethren, look upon your fathers in the ministry, who
+      have spent their time, property, and health in publishing
+      salvation to sinners; view with reverence those venerable
+      heads which have become hoary in the way of righteousness,
+      and be stimulated by their example to end your days in
+      honor of the sacred cause you have espoused. May you have
+      many souls as the seals of your ministry, and hereafter
+      shine as stars of the firmament forever and ever!"
+
+Immediately Mr. Badger began to fulfil his part of the duties devolving
+on the newly appointed ministry. Between July 13th and August 9th, he
+travelled four hundred and sixty-five miles, preached twenty-one
+sermons, and baptized thirteen persons; between August 12th and 31st, he
+journeyed three hundred and fifty-seven miles, attended twenty-one
+meetings, preached at Covington, N. Y., at the ordination of Rev. Elisha
+Beardsley, on the 21st, from Rev. 10:10; and from this period to
+September the 24th, the time of his departure for his western and
+southern tour, the days and evenings were industriously used in his
+mission, completing in all nine hundred and sixty-six miles from July
+13th. As Mr. Badger published hasty sketches of his tour from this time,
+in the "Gospel Luminary," I shall occasionally quote his printed
+paragraphs. He heads his notes of travel with the scripture injunction,
+"_Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost_," and with a rapidity
+that neither knew nor cared for elaboration, he threw off the
+descriptions of the scenes and events that lay in his way. Also two or
+three small blank books accurately narrate every mile he travelled,
+every town he entered, every sermon he preached, and every farthing he
+expended. Such was his accustomed order. These memorandums are sometimes
+prefaced with significant mottoes; on one is the text, "_Keep thyself
+pure_;" on another, and perhaps, indicative of the rough and various
+treatment the travelling missionary is sometimes liable to receive, are
+the words of Johnson:--
+
+      "Of all the griefs that harass the distressed,
+      Sure the most bitter is the scornful jest;
+      Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart,
+      Than when the blockhead's insult points the dart."
+
+Also from Gray:--
+
+      "He gave to misery all he had, a tear,
+      He gained from heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend."
+
+            "Studious alone to learn whate'er may tend
+            To raise the genius or the heart amend."
+
+Narrating his course to the readers of the Luminary, he says:--
+
+      "I left home September 24, accompanied by my wife, Mr.
+      Chapin, and several other friends, for the general meeting
+      at Chili, where we arrived in the evening. Here I met eight
+      of my brethren in the ministry. Our interview was agreeably
+      interesting, and the parting to me uncommonly solemn. The
+      general meeting, so far as I could discern, was very
+      satisfactory. The assembly was large, solemn, and
+      attentive; the preaching was powerful and interesting, and
+      the accommodations good. We leave the event with God. On
+      our way to Royalton, I preached once in Clarkson, and once
+      in Gaines. At Royalton, I met thirteen ministers of the
+      everlasting Gospel, all of whom appeared to have the good
+      of souls at heart, and love to the great and honorable work
+      in which they were engaged. Brothers Church, Chapin,
+      Beardsley, Shaw, Hathaway, Whitcomb, Blodget and Hamilton,
+      all spoke to good satisfaction, and the multitude could
+      say, our place was no less than the house of God, and the
+      very gate of heaven. In conference, we received Francis
+      Hamilton as a fellow-laborer. He gave two appropriate
+      discourses, and I hope will be useful among us.
+
+      "October 3, our company, consisting of twelve persons,
+      visited Niagara Falls, to view the stupendous and sublime
+      works of nature. We lodged four or five miles up the river
+      from the Falls. On walking out in the evening, the scene
+      was peculiarly grand. While nature around was hushed, the
+      never-ceasing roar of the stupendous cataract brought to my
+      mind important reflections on several passages of
+      Scripture. The next day, visited Black Rock and Buffalo; at
+      twelve, the solemn, memorable hour arrived when our little
+      company must be separated. Language is too poor to describe
+      my feelings as I gave my wife, and six young people who
+      were to accompany her return, the parting hand. Every heart
+      felt more than words express; but, as all the company have
+      lively hopes of immortality, we can look forward to a world
+      where parting can never come.
+
+      'How soothing is the thought, and sweet!
+        But for a while we bid adieu;
+      With welcome smiles again to meet,
+        And all our social joys renew.'
+
+      "Our company now consists of five, L. Hathaway and wife,
+      Jesse E. Church, and Asa Chapin. The two last are valuable
+      young men, and bid fair to be useful in the great work of
+      the ministry."
+
+From Buffalo, Mr. Badger and his company proceeded along the shore of
+Lake Erie, following a lonesome road to the town of Pomfret, Chautaque
+County, N.Y., where he commenced a general meeting, October 8; nine
+clergymen were in attendance and much good influence was manifest.
+
+Writing from Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, under date of October 31,
+1825, he says:--
+
+      "In Chautaque County, I was delighted with three
+      curiosities in nature. 1. A small spring[38] is found in
+      Fredonia, which affords a sufficient quantity of gas to
+      light the whole village with very little expense. It is
+      delightful to see, in a land which, a few years ago, was a
+      wilderness, nature and art majestically united. 2. A larger
+      growth of timber is found here than I have ever seen
+      before. I saw the stump of a tree, on which I was informed
+      that sixteen men had stood at once. We measured a chestnut
+      tree which was dry, and had lost its bark; three feet from
+      the ground, it was nine feet and five inches through. 3. I
+      was made acquainted with a young lady who is remarkably
+      gifted in poetry. A few years since, Joseph Baily found her
+      in a poor log-hut, portraying her charming effusions on the
+      margins of old newspapers. On his stating the subject to
+      some Christian friends, they sent her a quire of paper,
+      which she wrote over in a short time, and returned it, to
+      their admiration and astonishment. She and her husband
+      both enjoy religion. Many a brilliant soul is now breathing
+      in soft and lively emotions in remote wildernesses, and
+      many a precious pearl is buried in the rubbish of poverty
+      and ignorance."
+
+From Pomfret he visited North East, in Pennsylvania; gave two sermons,
+and spent a day in Conference business; thence to Salem, Ohio, where
+they were joyfully received by Col. Fifield, with whom Mr. B. had been
+acquainted in Vermont, eleven years before. There they met Rev. Asa C.
+Morrison, then a vigorous and efficient preacher, now a citizen of the
+unknown spheres; there they enjoyed a large attendance, gave seven
+sermons, and Mr. Badger bestows uncommon praise on the discourse given
+by Mr. Hathaway, on "the subject of enthusiasm, fanaticism, false zeal
+and delusion." Leaving Salem on the morning of the 18th, where one of
+the young men of his company concluded to remain, (J. E. Church,) he
+proceeded on his journey through Painsville, at the mouth of Grand
+River, Cleaveland, Brunswick, Medina and Westfield to Canaan Centre,
+where he held a general meeting, in which several denominations
+united--Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and a denomination who
+styled themselves the United Brethren; at this time Mr. James Miles was
+ordained to the work of the ministry. "This to me," says Mr. Badger,
+"was an interesting case, as he was a young man whom I dearly loved, and
+one that I many years before baptized in the Province of Lower Canada;
+he is the seventh that I have baptized who have been ordained as
+ministers of the Gospel. We left Canaan on the 26th; had a pleasant
+journey through Wooster, and reached Mt. Vernon on the evening of the
+27th, and were joyfully received by Elder James Smith and family. He is
+an able minister of the New Testament and a respectable citizen." At
+this place he met several ministers from the Southern States, some of
+hoary hairs, who were giving the remnant of their days to preaching the
+Gospel. Here Mr. Badger and Mr. Hathaway gave three sermons each, to a
+people who were anxious to hear and learn more of the truth which
+belongs to the great theme of human salvation through the Crucified One.
+
+His next sketching dates at Cincinnati, Ohio, December 25, 1825:--
+
+      "The wise and prudent conquer difficulties
+      By daring to attempt them; sloth and folly
+      Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger,
+      And make the impossibility they fear."
+
+      "SIR,--On leaving our good friends at Mount Vernon, on the
+      first day of November, the parting was affecting; we had
+      been treated with great attention; we had here preached the
+      word to the crowded assembly; had seen the sinner in tears
+      trembling under the word; and the very place where we were
+      assembled appeared like holy ground. We were conducted to
+      Dublin, on the Sciota river, by our worthy friend, Elder
+      Marvin, who has two sons who are preachers of the Gospel.
+      At Sciota, met Elder Brittan and a large assembly; gave two
+      sermons; Elder M. baptized one happy convert."
+
+November 3d, he speaks of arriving at Derby Plains, where he preached
+five sermons, and saw the ruinous effects of the strange delusion into
+which a Mr. Douglas Farnum, formerly from New England, had involved
+himself and many others; a delusion that strove to ignore the common
+rules of social morality, and to find a direct revelation from Heaven in
+every impulse of the heart and mind. Though excluded from the people of
+his earlier association, he held a few deluded persons by his views,
+until self-destruction scattered them and left their names a reproach to
+virtue. Their leader, after running this singular career, died,
+confessing, however, many past errors and wrongs.
+
+      "When a people," says Mr. B., "deviate in their zeal from
+      the rules of decency, when they lay aside the Scripture,
+      substitute imagination as a foundation for their action,
+      and call every impulse of the mind an immediate revelation
+      from God, I expect they will sink their characters in
+      disgrace, and come to a miserable end. I visited the
+      vacated village where he and his followers had joined in
+      the merry dance, and felt a kind of horror, like that which
+      once seized the thinking soul of a Volney at the ruins of
+      Palmyra.
+
+      "In Clark County, at the head waters of the Little Miami,
+      we had good meetings, were kindly entertained by Charles
+      Arther, and had agreeable intercourse with Elder Isaac N.
+      Walters, a young man about twenty years of age, who bids
+      fair to be useful. At Pleasant township, Madison County, we
+      were kindly received by Fargis Graham, a man fifty-seven
+      years of age, who had just returned from a preaching tour
+      of six weeks in Indiana; he had a good journey, and felt
+      encouraged. I surveyed with admiration his gray hairs, his
+      smiles and tears, while he gave an account of his journey.
+      He visited the poor cabins in the wilderness, lay on the
+      ground in the great prairie, where the wolves were howling
+      around him, and passed through hunger and fatigue, but
+      found God to be with him. His spacious plantation at home,
+      on which he has more than one hundred head of cattle,
+      besides other stock in proportion, reminded me of the
+      ancient possessions of Abraham, Lot, and Jacob. He does
+      much for the cause, and has long been one of its ornaments
+      and faithful ministers."
+
+Messrs. Badger, Hathaway and Chapin, paused awhile at Williamsport,
+Pickaway County, where they gave seven sermons, and received the kind
+attentions of Rev. George Alkire, of whom he speaks in very respectful
+terms. Holding meetings in Platt and Highland Counties, he parted with
+Mr. H. on the 19th, who travelled to Cincinnati _via_ Kentucky, and
+passed ten days with Rev. M. Gardner, in whose congregations he attended
+sixteen meetings and preached to large and respectable assemblies. At
+Ripley, Brown County, he formed the acquaintance of Hon. E. Campbell,
+who had many years been a member of the United States Senate; of him and
+his father-in-law, Mr. Dunlap, a native of Virginia, and among the first
+settlers of Kentucky, a man who had emancipated thirty slaves and
+applied his own hands to labor, he speaks in honoring terms. "His
+colored people," says Mr. B., "still flock around him as their
+benefactor, and love him as their best friend on earth."
+
+      "On the 29th of November, I reached this pleasant city.
+      Here, and in the adjoining country, I have had glorious
+      times, an account of which you may expect in my next
+      number. I have succeeded in obtaining a history of the
+      churches and conferences in the west and south beyond my
+      expectations. The preachers appear friendly, and willing to
+      lend every possible assistance. I shall be able, in a few
+      weeks, to give your readers a general representation of the
+      state of things west of the Alleghany mountains, in which
+      vast extent of country are many thousands of happy
+      Christians who renounce all party creeds and names, and,
+      with their naked Bibles in hand, are rejoicing in the hope
+      of immortality."
+
+The next dates Ripley, 0., January 12, 1826. Our journalist says:--
+
+      "The prejudices, customs, ways, manners, and opinions of
+      men, how various! But these are not the fruit of nature or
+      grace, but the products of education. Nature and grace are
+      the same in every country, and vary only in form and
+      degree.
+
+      "Cincinnati is a beautiful city, situated on the north bank
+      of the great Ohio river, and has a population of about
+      15,000 souls. It is surrounded, on the east, north and
+      west, by hills, except the narrow but rich valley of Mill
+      Creek, which makes its way through from the north. Its
+      location is dry, healthy, and truly romantic. Its streets
+      are wide and pleasant, and its buildings elegant, in
+      eastern style. The manners of the people are a compound of
+      southern politeness and generosity, and of eastern
+      refinement, taste, and simplicity. The civility of every
+      class of people, down to the teamster and carman, exceeds
+      that of any city I ever visited. The market, for neatness
+      and variety, is equal to any in America, and its price only
+      about one-half that of Montreal, Boston, and New York. The
+      city council are making great improvements, and the city if
+      fast populating. Its climate is mild and agreeable, and, as
+      it is near the centre of American settlements, _I know not
+      what it may yet become_."
+
+Such was the Queen City in 1825. The state of religion there he
+describes as low, "if," says he, "we speak of experimental religion;
+many have profession, form and name, but we shall come short of heaven
+without something more." He speaks of Mr. Burk, a popular Methodist
+minister, as having renounced Episcopacy and taken with him a large
+congregation, as being so far illuminated as to "see men as trees
+walking;" Mr. Badger quotes the words of Franklin--"Where there is no
+contradiction there is no light," as applying well to agitations of this
+sort. Of the new reformers among the Baptists, he speaks as follows:--
+
+      "The Baptists in Cincinnati, also, have had revivals, but
+      among them exists a great commotion, and a large
+      congregation join with those in Kentucky and Virginia in
+      the general dissent from creeds. Dr. Fishback, of Kentucky,
+      and Alexander Campbell, of Virginia, are the champions in
+      this cause. They oppose sectarian bondage with considerable
+      ability and success. Mr. Campbell is truly a man of war,
+      and acts the part of a Peter with his drawn sword; but,
+      whether they will have humility, grace, and pure religion
+      enough to 'revive the ancient order of things' in the
+      original spirit and simplicity of the Gospel, or whether
+      they will be laborious architects of their own fame,
+      remains for their future conduct to prove."
+
+In Preble County, fifty miles north of Cincinnati, Mr. B. preached
+several sermons at Eaton, the county seat; the sheriff of the county was
+his chorister and host, whose house, owing to the good order of the
+country, was destitute of a prisoner; the rooms usually occupied by
+criminals being now used to keep the earth's productions. On the
+authority of two ministers and several other persons who were
+eye-witnesses, Mr. Badger relates that he spoke in the house where, in
+1821, during a great reformation, Jacob Woodard, a Deist, was struck
+dead by an unseen power while in the act of forcing his wife out of the
+meeting; that he never breathed or struggled after he fell--a phenomenon
+that belongs to many other marvellous instances of nearly inexplicable
+events we have heard of in connection with the earlier religious
+revivals in Ohio. Mr. Badger thoroughly explored that State, and with
+great satisfaction visited Kentucky. Indeed, the easy and courteous
+manners of Mr. Badger, his happy extemporaneous gifts, his love of
+society and generous sentiments, peculiarly adapted him to the
+admiration and acceptance of the South. Of Rev. B. W. Stone and lady, he
+speaks in the most exalted terms; and, whatever may have been the
+speculative differences between Mr. Stone and his brethren in later
+years, all must unite in one concession to the soundness of his
+learning, the clearness of his criticisms, and in what is eternally
+above all other things, the beauty and excellence of his Christian
+character. Mr. B. now returned home to Mendon, Ontario[39] County, New
+York, and further narrates the particulars of his adventures. He
+surveys with grateful pleasure the scenes he has witnessed, the
+kindnesses he has received, the new acquaintances and friends he had
+gained; and from experience and observation he was prepared to speak in
+the most friendly terms of his brethren in the south and west, and the
+tidings he brought when formally announced was, to use the language of
+Mr. Millard, "received with much joy." The brethren of the West were
+reported as having no creed but the Bible, and they "wear no name but
+such as the Scriptures authorize, that they uniformly believe in the
+simple doctrine that there is ONE GOD, the CREATOR, ONE JESUS, the
+Redeemer, ONE HOLY GHOST, the Sanctifier;" that they generally favor the
+preëxistence of Christ, regarding the Socinian view of him as derogatory
+to the character of the Christian religion.
+
+      "Free salvation," says Mr. B., "is sounded through all
+      their congregations, and Gospel liberty is the key-note of
+      every song. No point of doctrine is made a criterion of
+      fellowship, but Christian fellowship rests alone on the
+      true bias of _spirit_ and _practice_. They are simple,
+      unassuming, and spiritual in their preaching and worship;
+      the labor of the ministers is to make their hearers good: a
+      great share of singing and prayer is interspersed through
+      their meetings. For twenty years they have been in the way
+      of holding camp-meetings, but the practice is fast
+      declining, though in many cases good has resulted from
+      them. Our brethren in the west and south are as well
+      supplied with preachers as our churches are in the east, if
+      not better,--preachers who are acquainted with the manners
+      of the people, and are in a capacity to do much more good
+      than eastern men can do among them."
+
+Under date of April 1, 1826, Mr. Badger gives a very lengthy,
+interesting, and we should judge faithful account of his visit in Ohio
+and Kentucky, of the proceedings of a Conference in each of those
+States, convened for the purpose of receiving and answering his message
+for the east; both of which were hearty in their responses of
+friendship, and both furnished him with materials for giving their true
+history to their brethren of the east and north. He speaks of three
+denominational centres, which he thinks the future will witness, each
+having a periodical and a book-store connected with it, Cincinnati the
+centre for the west, New York for the east, and some place in one of the
+Carolinas for the south. From Rev. William Kinkade, that able,
+strong-minded and heroic divine, who had served his country in
+legislative councils, and humanity by his ministry, Mr. Badger received
+a strong letter, giving an account of the rise and growth of the
+Christian Conference on the Wabash, of one in Indiana, and touching on
+some of the larger points of primitive faith. He says:--
+
+      "While it gives me great pleasure to hear from you that
+      primitive Christianity is reviving in the east, I hope you
+      will be no less pleased to hear of its success in the west.
+      This vast country, which was lately a howling wilderness,
+      now blossoms as the rose. On the big and little Wabash,
+      which is still the haunt of savage men and wild beasts,
+      there are now large churches of happy Christians. Along the
+      Ambarrass and Bumpass, where twelve years ago little else
+      was heard but the howling of wolves, the hooting of owls,
+      the fierce screams of panthers and the fiercer screams of
+      wild Indians, painted for war and thirsting for human
+      blood, are now heard the songs of Zion, the sound of
+      prayer, and the voice of peace and pardon through a
+      Redeemer. Among us the demon intolerance has been exposed
+      in its multifarious character, and banished from the
+      congregation of the faithful. Ignorance has given way to
+      investigation; and love and union are daily triumphing over
+      prejudice and partyism. But still I see, I feel, I lament a
+      great want of that holiness and divine power which
+      characterized the followers of Jesus in the first ages of
+      Christianity."
+
+"It is the word of God alone," said these stout, honest-hearted men of
+Ohio, when assembled--"the word of God alone, on which the Church of
+Christ will finally settle, build and grow into a holy temple of the
+Lord." Mr. Badger, after taking a list of the names of ministers in
+Kentucky and Ohio, and with a characteristic orderly minuteness,
+ascertained the number of churches and of meeting-houses they erected,
+the names of such as had died in the active duties of the ministry,
+returned home, rich in the benedictions of the regions he had visited,
+and with the resolve at some other season to penetrate the south further
+than he yet had gone. Perhaps the good impressions made on his mind by
+these journeys may be plead in conjunction with the wide sympathies of
+his nature, and the well-balanced cast of his intellect, as the reason
+why in all his life he was uncontrolled by local prejudice, and it may
+be a part of the reason why, that to him, and to the cause of free and
+Apostolical Christianity which he represented, there was no east, no
+west, no north, no south, as forming any limit to his friendly regards
+and Christian fellowship. At Cincinnati he gathered the few who held to
+like faith into a convenient place of worship, made arrangements with
+ministers for their supply, and before his return a general Conference
+was agreed upon at Cincinnati the last of October, 1826.
+
+June 23d, at the Annual Session of the New York Western Christian
+Conference, he was, with Rev. A. C. Morrison, appointed a messenger to
+the United States Conference, to be holden at Windham, Ct., the first
+days of September, where among the responsible trusts committed to him,
+was that of acting as their messenger at the autumnal assemblage of
+delegates and ministers who were to convene at Cincinnati. From April to
+August of this year, Mr. Badger was constantly engaged in the vicinity
+of home; at South Lima additions were made, the assembly was large; the
+society at Royalton he consigned to the care of Rev. E. Shaw, an able
+minister of the New Testament. August 18th, he visited New York city
+where he stayed two Sabbaths, and spoke to increasing assemblies. His
+remarks on the commotion and dissent which at that time appeared among
+the Friends under the preaching of Elias Hix, his close and practical
+analysis of the state of society in New York city, though interesting,
+we must pass by; also his remarks on the general meetings he attended at
+Beekman and Milan, Dutchess County, and of one at Canaan, Columbia
+County, N. Y. Something tragical developed under his four sermons at
+Beekman. A minister of another sect, who had violently opposed the
+people and sentiments to which Mr. Badger belonged, was observed to weep
+much under his discourse, and afterwards was heard to say that it was
+the truth of God, and that none could deny it--the same night he went
+into a grove near his residence, and hung himself.
+
+In Columbia County, Mr. Badger became acquainted with the venerable old
+minister, John Leland, of whom the world has heard much, a man then
+between seventy and eighty years old, but possessing the brilliancy of
+youth. Though local at the time, he said that his travels as a minister
+would measure three times around the globe. From Rev. Mr. Gardner, a
+prominent minister in Ohio, Mr. B. received these lines of invitation:
+"A second visit from yourself in this country will be well received. Our
+hearts and our houses are open to receive you, and many are inquiring,
+'When will he return?'" Rev. Mr. Adams also writes: "The friends
+remember you with affection; they have not forgotten your sermons and
+good counsels; they are anxious to receive another visit from you, and
+think that you would do much good in this country. I am confident there
+is not a society you visited here but would unite in inviting you to
+return." Several such invitations were kindly showered upon him. He did
+return. We may ask where were _his_ idle days? It was one of his chosen
+maxims that "an idle person is the devil's playfellow." In all these
+labors we see a spirit that surveys the _general_ interest, plans for
+the general good, and leads along easily the minds of others into the
+possession of his own views and feelings. In the southern and western
+journey, narrated in this chapter, there were revivals in almost every
+place he visited, as we learn not only from his own journal, but more
+particularly from other and reliable sources.
+
+His second tour through Ohio and Kentucky, in which he renewed and
+greatly enlarged his acquaintance, gave him a still larger estimate of
+the success of liberal principles in the west and south. By the advices
+of the best informed ministers, he learned that the account he had
+published the previous spring in relation to the number of ministers and
+brethren in the west was much too small, and that, using his own
+language, "it is a safe and moderate calculation to say, that in the
+several Conferences situate in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
+Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky, there are three hundred preachers and
+fifteen thousand brethren. They all worship ONE GOD IN ONE PERSON, and
+have NO CREED BUT THEIR BIBLE." He says:
+
+      "I have again passed through the lofty forests and
+      beautiful plains of Ohio; have seen the herds of wild deer
+      sporting on the lovely prairie; have heard the screams of
+      the fierce wolf, and have turned aside from these romantic
+      beauties and terrors of nature to the wigwam of the savage
+      to hear the praises of the Redeemer. Also, I have again
+      visited the pleasant land of Kentucky; have seen the smiles
+      of the convert, the tears of mourners, and have joined in
+      worship with thousands of happy Christians in the west who
+      are rejoicing in hope of immortality.
+
+      "It is now a more general time of reformation in the west
+      than has been witnessed for many years past. At Dublin,
+      Elder Isaac N. Walters has been very successful in winning
+      souls to Christ. In Elder Alkire's vicinity the churches
+      have received large additions of late. In Elder Gardner's
+      congregations the number was increasing, and a new church
+      had been organized within a few weeks. In Elder Rogers's
+      neighborhood some sixty or seventy were hopefully
+      converted; and from Elders Simonton, Vickers, Kyle and
+      Miles I heard a good report. In Kentucky the prospect has
+      not been so good as it now is for many years. News from the
+      west part of Virginia, and east of Tennessee, by Elder
+      William Lane, was very refreshing. Sectarianism there is
+      fast falling. In Alabama the Lord is doing wonders, and the
+      knowledge of _one_ God is fast increasing; in those regions
+      he has raised up many able advocates for his pure
+      doctrines. In Kentucky, my interview with the preachers,
+      brethren and friends was very agreeable, and their kindness
+      and friendship can never be forgotten by me. A message was
+      sent to me by order of the church at Georgetown, seventy
+      miles distant, inviting me to visit them. In Ohio, my visit
+      was everywhere received with joy. At Cincinnati, the
+      congregation was large and the prospect is good. Our
+      friends there will probably build a brick meeting-house for
+      the worship of ONE GOD IN ONE PERSON, in the course of next
+      summer.
+
+      "Since July I have travelled about three thousand miles,
+      and attended about one hundred meetings. My present tour
+      has been attended with more fatigues than any journey I
+      have ever performed. My preaching has been constant; and
+      after meeting I have many times been constrained to engage
+      in debate in which I have continued until morning. I have
+      had to preach many sermons on disputed subjects, one at
+      Cincinnati of three hours' length; though I had opponents
+      present, they made no reply; one at Dublin of more than two
+      hours; eight preachers present, but no reply; one at
+      Richfield of two hours. God has stood by me in all my
+      conflicts thus far, and many instances of his mercy have I
+      witnessed of late. I have been once overturned in a stage,
+      and in Kentucky I fell from my horse; in both instances
+      narrowly escaped death."
+
+In Columbiana County, the two colleagues of Mr. Badger, L. Hathaway and
+Asa Chapin, met a great excess of enthusiasm in public worship, against
+which they directed the cooler power of reason; and it seems that a
+strong paragraph in Mr. Badger's printed journal, in which he sharply
+and most independently reproved (as he always did under such
+circumstances) disorder and fanaticism in the house of God, caused a
+lengthy, explanatory, and complaining reply, to which Mr. B. very ably
+responded. Speaking of the one who had led the way in this wild
+enthusiasm, and whom he regarded as having been egotistically unpleasant
+to his colleagues, he applies the words of Johnson:
+
+      "Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart,
+      Than when the BLOCKHEAD'S insult points the dart."
+
+At a meeting of the General Conference held at West Bloomfield,
+September 7, 1827, a resolution of hearty approval was passed in
+relation to what Mr. Badger had done for uniting the different branches
+of the Christian connection, east, west and south, and expressive of
+much gratification in the news obtained of the churches west of the
+Alleghanies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+MINISTRY AT BOSTON.
+
+
+It is evident from what has already been developed in the character and
+public life of Joseph Badger, that his sympathies were extensive, that
+the cause which he always avowed to be dearer than life was everywhere a
+sacred unit, its wants being near, though located in a distant region.
+Some men root so firmly in particular locality, that no considerations
+ever draw them to meet the emergencies of a distant post. Though strong
+in certain local attachments, though firmly persuaded of the value and
+necessity of permanent pastors, he believed in the utility of an
+evangelizing ministry for destitute places, for the breaking of new
+ground, and was ready at any time to hear the Macedonian cry, "Come over
+and help us."
+
+The Christian Church in Boston, constituted July 1st, 1804, under the
+ministry of the venerable Abner Jones, whose preaching in 1803 in the
+Baptist churches of that town was attended by one of the greatest
+revivals ever known in that community, was, in the year 1826, left
+without a stated ministry, owing to the removal of their pastor, Rev.
+Charles Morgridge, to New Bedford, for the purpose of taking the
+pastoral charge of the Purchase street church in that city. Their
+position at this time was very critical. Though they had succeeded in
+building a commodious house of worship, they were, from the nature of
+their sentiments, somewhat unpopular in a city where the Calvinistic
+theology had not as yet fully learned the lessons of becoming humility;
+and also were they embarrassed by the influence of Dr. Elias Smith,
+whose popular eloquence was at this time employed in a way to injure the
+cause, which, in other years, he had done much to promote. The society
+had been for some time destitute of a stated pastor; and by the
+information obtained of their condition in the persuasive letters he
+received from Rev. Simon Clough, of New York, and from some leading
+members of the church in Boston, Mr. Badger was induced to leave his
+pleasant field of labor in the State of New York and to take up his
+residence in that city, where he intended to remain until their
+prosperity and the voice of higher duty should render it proper for him
+to leave.
+
+Proceeding by the way of New York, where he preached four sermons to Mr.
+Clough's congregation, he arrived at Boston on September 28th, where he
+received the cordial welcome and generous hospitality of his friend
+William Gridley, a man of noble spirit, good ability, and useful
+activities in the Christian cause. On the 30th, Mr. Badger preached
+three sermons in the Summer and Sea street Chapel, having, as he states,
+congregations that numbered about 400 in the morning, 800 in the
+afternoon, and 600 in the evening. Surveying the new field before him,
+he says, though informed by his friends that it was a low time, that
+"the prospect is good." Though Mr. Badger's letters do not state the
+exact time of his residence in this city, I find in a passing notice
+from the able and truthful pen of John G. Loring--a man whose life,
+precepts, intelligence, and uniform fidelity to religion, rendered him
+one of the best citizens of Massachusetts--that the time spent there was
+about one year.
+
+In narrating the history of that society about the time that Mr.
+Morgridge left them, Mr. Himes observes--"Some time now elapsed in which
+they had no stated pastor. They procured, at length, the services of
+Elder Joseph Badger; he labored with them between one and two years.
+Much good was done. The church and society were built up, and sinners
+were converted."[40] This statement is the same that the people of
+Boston who attended his ministry have, so far as my recollections serve,
+invariably made; the common opinion is, that the church and society were
+never more uniformly prosperous, that the meetings were never better
+attended, and that the mind and heart of the audience were never more
+satisfactorily influenced and edified than they were under his ministry.
+The strong and stable men who were _then_ the pillars of strength in
+that society have been its pillars ever since;[41] and though additions
+of value at different times have been made, it is certain that there was
+a largeness and nobility to the timbers of the olden forest that it
+might be difficult to surpass in more recent growths.
+
+As a pastor, Mr. Badger was attentive to the wants of his flock, for
+whom he cherished a tender care. "Though the situation is a trying one,"
+said Mr. B., in a letter addressed to his wife, "I feel in duty bound to
+stay for the present, for this church must not perish. All my days and
+evenings are taken up by the duties of my present station." Writing from
+Ballstown, N. Y., June 8, 1828, where he was attending a general
+meeting, after he had been at Boston for more than six months, and at
+his home in Mendon about two, he said--
+
+      "This hasty note, my dear Eliza,[42] which will no doubt be
+      an unwelcome message, will inform you that I am pressingly
+      urged to return immediately to Boston. The call is
+      irresistible. And my agreeable home must for the present be
+      abandoned, as the care and conflict of the Boston church
+      are continually upon my mind."
+
+The main element of success in any calling for which one has suitable
+capacity, was his, namely, a deep interest in the station he had taken.
+
+In a letter addressed to Mrs. Badger, February 4, 1827, he narrates very
+affectingly his visit to Farmington, the sacred memories of the heart
+that revived in his mind as he visited that place, and Gilmanton, where,
+with relatives and many former friends, he enjoyed the bliss of a
+friendship to which years of time had added a new degree of sacredness.
+It is impossible to read these passages, which were the spontaneous and
+unstudied utterances of his mind thrown into his domestic
+correspondence, without seeing a sincere wealth of heart, which his
+light and buoyant manner in the world was often calculated to conceal
+rather than to express. In addressing the Luminary, May 9, 1828, he
+says:
+
+      "I intended in this number of my Journal, to have given a
+      general account of all the religious societies in Boston,
+      but other things have prevented my giving that attention to
+      the subject which would be necessary in this case; I must
+      therefore omit it till some future period. The Calvinistic
+      Baptists, the Methodists and the Unitarians, have made many
+      disciples to their several parties the year past; a number
+      of whom we hope are experimental and practical disciples of
+      Jesus Christ. Four new chapels have been opened in Boston
+      the winter past, and while other societies have been
+      favored with revivals through the goodness of God, the
+      Christian Society, which has withstood all opposition for
+      more than twenty years, has of late experienced some of the
+      rich mercy-drops. I have been laboring among them some over
+      six months, and have been enabled with divine assistance to
+      gather up the fruits of my brethren's labors who went
+      before me. The names of Clough and Morgridge were mentioned
+      by some whom I baptized, as the means, under God, of
+      calling up their attention to the concern of the soul. I
+      will name one instance: I baptized a very respectable young
+      lady who had always attended a Unitarian meeting until a
+      few months since, when she found in a pew of her chapel
+      Clough's letter to Mr. Smallfield, which excited her
+      inquiry and finally became the means of her awakening.
+      Thus a good thing may come out of a despised and persecuted
+      Nazareth.
+
+      "The 23d of March was a day of great interest to myself and
+      the Christian Society of Boston: the day was fine, and the
+      assembly large. On this memorable day twenty-four happy
+      converts presented themselves for baptism. Thousands
+      assembled at the sea-side in South Boston: and though some
+      confusion was visible amidst the thronging multitude, yet
+      God was with his children to own and bless his holy
+      ordinance. This was a day of unusual strength and comfort
+      to me; I preached three sermons, was in the water
+      forty-five minutes, and through the whole was scarcely
+      sensible of fatigue. God's strength has hitherto been
+      sufficient: in Him I put my trust. I would not wish,
+      however, by this, or any other communication of mine, to
+      carry the idea that we have had a _great_ reformation in
+      Boston, for we have only a small addition to our numbers,
+      and have been blessed only with occasional conversions; but
+      I hope that those who have professed faith in Christ are
+      converted to God and not to creeds, or to a party, or to
+      man; and that the work is so effectual that it will endure
+      in time of trials. All the New England States are
+      abundantly blessed with the outpouring of the Spirit of God
+      at the present time. A cloud of mercy is hanging over the
+      happy land. If the ministers keep humble and stand in the
+      counsel of God, if the saints live in union and stand fast
+      in the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free, the
+      pure testimony must and will prevail, and reformation
+      everywhere will abound. What we have seen will be only the
+      beginning of good days; the petty wrangles of frail mortals
+      will subside; the darkness in which the Church has long
+      been groping will be dispelled; and she will come forth
+      from the wilderness on the breast of her beloved, and will
+      fill the world with her majesty, glory and beauty."
+
+The first days of April, 1828, Mr. and Mrs. Badger improved in returning
+home to Mendon, N. Y.; in their absence, William, their youngest son,
+had died; in the region of Mendon he chiefly remained until his June
+meeting at Ballstown, already spoken of, when the united request of the
+committee, William Gridley, John G. Loring, Abner H. Bowman, in behalf
+of the society in Boston, arrived, inviting him to return as soon as
+possible to their assistance; which request, together with an invidious
+article published in Dr. Elias Smith's paper in relation to Mr. Badger's
+position in regard to him, induced his immediate return to that city,
+where he boldly and successfully vindicated his premises, whether
+theological or personal. Within the three months succeeding his arrival
+on June 21st, are several valuable letters from his pen. A few extracts
+we will here subjoin:--
+
+                                    "BOSTON, July 8, 1828.
+
+      "My dear Wife: I am this moment much refreshed in receiving
+      a letter from you, and I would now make such returns as
+      become an affectionate husband. I spent one week agreeably
+      in New York, and had a pleasant passage to this city, where
+      we arrived in good health, June 21st. The 22d, my assembly
+      was large, and all greeted me with the same joy and
+      affection as when we parted with them, at a time you must
+      well remember--the past spring. My first text was Acts 15:
+      36: 'Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city
+      where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
+      they do.' The brethren have lost much since I left them;
+      but we have already seen their strength and courage revive,
+      and several are now under awakening."
+
+
+                                    "BOSTON, July 19, 1828.
+
+      "Brother Millard: I have received yours of June 28, and was
+      glad to hear of your success in Canada and at the Central
+      Conference. The truth must prevail, and error must fall.
+      Since my return our assembly is fast coming back, and we
+      are getting many new hearers. A revival is now commencing.
+      Several are under conviction, and the saints begin to offer
+      'the pure testimony' in the house of the Lord. Elders
+      Kilton, from Eastport, and Green, from Hartford, have
+      visited me. I have visited the colleges at Cambridge, and
+      the venerable Noah Worcester, of Brighton. He is one of the
+      purest men I ever saw. His theme is peace, peace, peace! I
+      would also say, that for young men among us who should wish
+      to have a liberal education for the ministry, they can have
+      board and tuition gratis, if properly introduced at
+      Cambridge.
+
+      "I have been much out of health for a few weeks past; the
+      hot weather overcomes me very much. If I do not get better
+      I shall spend the week time in the country, though it seems
+      as if I could not be spared a day from the flock of my
+      care."
+
+
+                                     "BOSTON, August 4, 1828.
+
+      "Dear and affectionate Wife: I suppose you have some days
+      been expecting this letter, but my labors here are of that
+      arduous and oppressive kind which consume all my moments,
+      and scarcely leave me time for repose and refreshment, much
+      less to enjoy any innocent relaxation, or to bathe my weary
+      spirit in the sweet and endearing reflections of HOME. You
+      know, Maria, that home has charms for my heart this summer,
+      which I scarcely ever felt so sensibly before; and since I
+      left you, at any time would these four little letters, (H O
+      M E) pronounced aright, cause the blood to flow more
+      warmly about my heart, and a chain of endearing
+      recollections to visit my soul in a manner which, in spite
+      of all my masculine powers and native fortitude, would
+      cause the briny tear to flow; and then ashamed of my
+      childlike weakness, I have mingled with the crowd and
+      wrapped these tender scenes in smiles, to hide them from my
+      unfeeling associates, who, of course, would only mock my
+      affection if they knew it. But this Monday morning, after
+      the labors of one more holy Sabbath, I accept the pleasure
+      and the duty of communicating to you a few lines to feed
+      that sacred fire which should ever burn in your affections
+      toward your God, your duty, and me."
+
+Passages like these reveal unmistakably a serious depth of heart, almost
+wholly unindicated by the great self-control, and by the free and
+cheerful manner that shrouded his inmost life from the notice and
+perception of the world, and from the circle also of acknowledged
+friends. He adds:--
+
+      "Nothing but duty could confine me to this city the present
+      month. I am in hopes to get time to spend one day with Mr.
+      Bowman in the country, this week. I expect to receive
+      several members next Wednesday, and to baptize on the
+      coming Sabbath."
+
+Whilst in Boston, Mr. Badger became acquainted with the clergymen of
+other denominations, particularly with Dr. Ware, Gannet and Tuckerman,
+of the Unitarian faith, of whom he always spoke in exalted terms. His
+acquaintance and intercourse with Ware and Tuckerman were familiar; and
+often did he speak of the divine spirit of Henry Ware, and of the
+benevolent heart of Mr. Tuckerman. Indeed, at one time Mr. Badger
+thought of accepting a proposal to join Mr. Tuckerman in his missionary
+labors in Boston, at least, so far did he think of it as to consult his
+family on the propriety of accepting the unanimous call of the Christian
+Society[43] in Boston, for a settlement of three or five years, or
+instead of this, to join Mr. Tuckerman in his missionary labors, with a
+permanent settlement and a thousand or twelve hundred dollars per year.
+For a work like this, the gathering in, the instruction and persuasion
+to virtue and religion of the neglected and unprosperous classes, Mr. B.
+had extraordinary gifts; yet, from the weight of considerations founded
+chiefly in his relations to his home and former field of labor in the
+State of New York, neither of these positions was accepted. An anecdote
+somewhat characteristic of the man was lately given me by a friend, and
+as it relates to extemporaneous preaching, I will transcribe it.
+
+      "While he was in Boston, he occasionally associated with
+      clergymen of the Unitarian denomination, men who were
+      perhaps distinguished above the average of ministers by the
+      careful and elaborate manner in which they prepared their
+      written discourses. One day he was accosted by one of them
+      thus: 'Mr. Badger, how do you manage to prepare and preach
+      so many sermons?' 'Why, sir,' he replied, 'I never study
+      the _words_ of my sermons. I study _ideas_, and clothe them
+      in words when I want them.'"
+
+Before me lies a plain 12mo Bible, published in 1826, on whose margins,
+in delicate marks and letters, are pointed out every text (and the day
+of its use) that he spoke from during his ministry in Boston. A simple
+mark declares the passage, and at the bottom or top of the page the date
+is seen, so that, without any journal, a clue is given to every topic of
+his public discoursing, for _his_ texts very generally pointed out his
+subjects. Whoever will look over this book, could, in the character of
+the passages chosen, at once see that Mr. B. had a practical mind, good
+taste, and knew how to be to the point and purpose. His chosen passages
+are full of expression. These, of course, cannot here be quoted, but a
+list of these passages written out, as they range from Genesis to
+Revelation, would be an instruction as well as a reproof to those who
+preach from irrelevant and inexpressive passages; and they would
+likewise form a noble chain of Scripture gems. A man shows what is
+characteristic in him by his texts, taken as a whole, often as clearly
+as by what he preaches.
+
+From this Bible, which does not strike the reader as being marked up so
+as to mar at all its regular character, I learn that on March 30th,
+1828, on leaving the flock of his charge to remain for a time at Mendon,
+his three sermons were from the following texts:--Job 19: 25: "For I
+know that my Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon
+the earth." John 16: 22: "And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will
+see you again and your hearts shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh
+from you." John 17: 20, 21: "Neither pray I for these alone: but for
+them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all
+may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also
+may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
+Though from the Old Testament he drew many passages, and from Job, the
+Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah somewhat freely, it is from the Gospels and
+the Epistles that he chiefly made his selections. Some of his texts may
+be called ingenious, requiring a free play of analogy to set them forth,
+as, for instance, Prov. 30:24-5-6-7-8, preached January 20, 1828: "There
+be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding
+wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in
+the summer; the conies are but a feeble folk, yet make their houses in
+the rocks; the locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by
+bands; the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces."
+
+From the same source we learn that, on the first Sabbath of his ministry
+in Boston, September 30, 1827, he spoke from Rev. 22: 14, James 1: 17,
+and Prov. 29: 1; his valedictory sermons were given September 14, 1828,
+from Psalms 46: 4, and from Ecc. 11: 9. July 13, 1828, he spoke from
+Luke 19: 41: "And when he drew near, he beheld the city and wept over
+it." December 9, 1827, Psalms 133: 1, 2, 3: "Behold how good and how
+pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the
+precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even
+Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew
+of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
+for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore." But
+the only sermon written out at length is founded on two words found in
+James 1: 27, "Pure Religion," and was delivered February 10, 1828. From
+this I offer the following paragraphs.
+
+      "Never did I arise in this congregation under a greater
+      sense of my responsibility, than on this occasion. Never
+      did I come before you with a subject of greater magnitude.
+      Divest religion of purity, and a subject of horror, misery,
+      and disgrace is presented. Religion has been the cause of
+      wars; has divided kingdoms; has imprisoned the saints; has
+      lighted the fagots about the disciples of Jesus, and has
+      even in this favored city banished the Baptist and hung the
+      humble Quaker; but this was not the religion of my text.
+      But turn from those scenes of superstition and misery, and
+      _add_ to religion the word _pure_, and all is changed; all
+      is meekness, simplicity and heaven. The horrors of death
+      are dispelled, a world of glory and immortality is opened
+      to the reflecting soul of man. By its influence the
+      sorrowful widow receives comfort, the weeping orphan
+      smiles, circumstances of misfortune are sanctified, the
+      poor are enriched, the sick are supported, and the chamber
+      of death is illuminated with the gracious smiles of the Son
+      of God. Pure religion requires no fagot to light it, no
+      science to adorn it, no human arm to defend it, and no
+      carnal weapon to enforce it.
+
+      "The word religion, in its common acceptation, is applied
+      to the four great bodies of worshippers which divide our
+      World, Jews, Pagans, Mohammedans, and Christians. The Jews'
+      religion embraces a belief in one God in one person, with
+      the practice of those legal rites enjoined by the law of
+      Moses; but it rejects the Messiah, and hopes in one yet to
+      come. The Pagan religion embraces all that part of mankind
+      who are involved in the worship of idols. The Mohammedan
+      religion embraces a belief in one God, and in Mahomet as
+      his Apostle; whilst the word Christian is applied to all
+      who believe that Christ has come in the flesh, which
+      includes all professed Christians.
+
+      "But what saith the Holy Scriptures? In the Bible the word
+      occurs but five times, and is once used in reference to
+      'our religion,' (Acts 26: 5); twice to Jews' religion,
+      (Gal. 1: 13, 14); and once to 'vain religion,' (James 1:
+      26); and once, in the language of our text, to 'pure
+      religion.' Thus four kinds of religion are mentioned in the
+      Bible, and but one of them is good. Four kinds of religion
+      are found in the world, Jewish, Pagan, Mohammedan,
+      Christian, and but one of them is good. This accords with
+      the parable Jesus spake of the sower. The good seed fell on
+      four kinds of ground, the wayside, among thorns, on stony
+      ground, on good ground; four kinds, but only one brings
+      forth fruit. So 'our religion' 'Jews' religion' and 'vain
+      religion' bring forth no acceptable fruit to God; but 'pure
+      religion' is like the good soil which brings forth 'some
+      thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred fold.' Thus do the
+      facts of history and of Scripture correspond.
+
+      "The word religion means to _bind_, as it puts a restraint
+      upon our conduct and passions, and unites the soul to God,
+      to good people and to virtuous actions. Pure religion is
+      the soul's ornament; its fruits are the ornament of the
+      life. To illustrate this subject further, I shall explain
+      pure religion to be: first, purity of spirit; second,
+      kindness and benevolence of practice."
+
+After portraying the Christian spirit as one of meekness, as merciful,
+tender, forgiving, peaceful and patient, as valiant, as charitable, as
+contented and devout, he proceeds to show the practical fruits of the
+spirit he has portrayed in alleviating the sorrows of life. In
+describing pure religion, Mr. Badger sees fit to correct the following
+error:--
+
+      "One of the greatest errors which has ever infested the
+      church militant, is that of having our fellowship bounded
+      by a theory, opinion, or creed. While this exists,
+      division, misery and ruin are spread through all the flock
+      of God. While a party name or creed is valued higher than
+      _experience_, it is no wonder that we are divided. But
+      whenever the scene is reversed, when rectitude of spirit
+      and practice shall outweigh the poor inventions of men and
+      become the criterion of fellowship, there shall then be one
+      fold and one shepherd; watchmen shall see eye to eye, and
+      the people shall lift up their voice together.
+
+      "'We'll not bind a brother's conscience,
+        This alone to God is free;
+      Nor contend for non-essentials,
+        But in Christ united be.'"
+
+After speaking of the kind offices which Christian sympathy extends to
+the widow, he alludes to the fostering, paternal care it spreads over
+the path of the orphan, in the following strain:--
+
+      "Again, we reflect with tender sympathy upon the case of
+      the orphan who in early life is cut off from the
+      instruction and care of its fond parents, and is turned
+      into the wide world without education, without experience,
+      without friends, without bread or shelter. What a world of
+      misery, deception and sin he is left in! What snares are
+      spread for his strolling feet! What woes for his expanding
+      soul! The provision made in this city for male and female
+      orphans is not only a subject of admiration and praise to
+      the good of every class, but I have no doubt the departed
+      spirits of their ancestors and parents look down with
+      satisfaction and joy upon the benevolent founders of those
+      asylums, that are now the living monuments of Christ's
+      spirit on earth; and can we doubt that He who is the
+      orphan's Father, delights in these institutions and in the
+      kind and fostering care now extended unto them? You cannot
+      imagine the pleasure I enjoy while on my way to this house.
+      Almost every Sabbath I meet the female orphans, who, in
+      uniform, follow their instructresses to the house of
+      worship. This city, I am happy to say, not only abounds in
+      profession, but there is no city in the world, of its
+      population and ability, which abounds more in works of
+      charity and benevolence. The friendship and kindness of the
+      inhabitants of Boston are proverbial in all parts of the
+      Union, and a Bostonian is respected throughout the world."
+
+In the spring and summer of 1835, which the writer of this memoir passed
+in Boston, he well remembers the kind tone of regard in which Dr.
+Tuckerman uniformly spoke of Mr. Badger. They had been intimate friends,
+had conversed often on the present imperfect state of society, on its
+moral and temporal evils, and especially on the best ways of reaching it
+effectually with the saving principles of Christianity, for both
+concurred in the idea which may be called invariably the key-note of Mr.
+Badger's ministry, that the Gospel of Christ, properly understood and
+applied to life, is the only science of human happiness.
+
+The last published letter of Mr. Badger from the field he at this time
+occupied, is dated Boston, September 16, 1852. He says:--
+
+      "Having now completed three months' labor in this pleasant
+      city, I am about to start for my residence again. My visit
+      here has been as successful as could be expected under
+      present circumstances; each month has added some new
+      members to the Church, and every communion has been crowned
+      with the Lord's presence. 'The little opposition party' who
+      were drawn off from this church three years ago, who have
+      been much engaged to slander and revile the society, as
+      well as many useful ministers and other churches and
+      conferences in the connection, have, finally, so far lost
+      what little influence they had, that nothing now is to be
+      feared from them.
+
+      "But there is still another class of disorganizers in the
+      land, and not a few in this city, who deny that the Bible
+      is a sufficient rule of faith and practice, who ridicule
+      the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, who
+      despise church order and a preached Gospel, unless it is
+      accommodated to their poor, frail, weak, and changeable
+      imaginations. They also pretend to great revelations, which
+      fills them with self-righteousness and prepares them to
+      pass judgment on all their fellow-Christians who have the
+      misfortune to differ from their notions. How often we see
+      the basest principle of pride in the garb of _singularity_,
+      slovenly idleness, and in what the apostle calls a
+      voluntary humility. The church in all ages has been tempted
+      by conflicts from without, and unholy and unreasonable
+      persons of their own number, but happy are they who endure
+      hardness as good soldiers, and are overcomers through the
+      blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony; and it
+      is through great tribulation that we enter into Heaven.
+
+      "During my stay here I have made two visits to the State of
+      New Hampshire, both of which were interesting. My native
+      State is still favored with mercy-drops. Many of the old
+      saints are strong and valiant for the truth, and in several
+      places are prospects of revivals. My last visit, which was
+      to the town of Mason, and county of Hillsborough, was under
+      peculiar circumstances and pleasing and flattering
+      prospects. Mason has long been a stronghold of _orthodoxy_.
+      No dissenter from that doctrine had ever preached in the
+      place; but a few respectable men who had become enlightened
+      by reading the Scripture and our periodicals, were resolved
+      to hear the 'sect which is everywhere spoken against,' for
+      themselves. Accordingly, one of their number was despatched
+      to Boston, forty-eight miles, to engage me to visit them.
+      From this representation I concluded to go, as Peter did
+      among the Gentiles, not conferring with flesh and blood. I
+      found on my arrival, September 11, a decent assembly
+      convened at the Presbyterian meeting-house, who were very
+      attentive to hear the word. I gave another appointment in
+      the evening, and found the attention of the people still
+      increasing. At the intermission, and after sermon, late at
+      night, and in the morning, many strangers flocked around me
+      to make inquiry, to state their feelings, and to manifest
+      the great pleasure they had in the increasing light, and in
+      the truths proclaimed. While I saw their prospect of
+      improvement and deep attention, I almost forgot the
+      fatigues of the day and night, though they passed heavily;
+      I had journeyed fifty miles, preached at 4 P. M., one hour
+      and a half; in the evening two long hours; I had conversed
+      until twelve at night, when the mind became so full that
+      sleep departed until about three o'clock in the morning.
+      Here are gentlemen of talents and property who are
+      liberal-minded Christians. They say, when in the judgment
+      of our ministry it is prudent to make a stand there, a
+      meeting-house shall be immediately built, and some are
+      about ready to be baptized. I have written to Mr. H.
+      Plummer, on the case of the people here; and hope they will
+      be noticed by the preachers of New England."
+
+His next paragraph, which emphatically repeats sentiments not as yet
+quoted in this book, but published as early as 1817, embraces a topic of
+so much importance to the permanent power and respectability of church
+institutions, that I call to it a distinct attention. After speaking of
+the importance of introducing the new and liberal sentiments into places
+that have never heard them proclaimed, in a manner that shall make the
+best impression, that is, through the agency of able and efficient
+speakers, he proceeds to say:--
+
+      "I am decidedly opposed to the hasty constitution of
+      churches. No church, in my opinion, should be acknowledged
+      until there are numbers, talents, and strength sufficient
+      to keep a regular meeting on the Sabbath; also there should
+      be a prospect of stated preaching. I recommend that these
+      brethren at Mason be baptized and stand either in their
+      individual capacity, or be associated with the church at
+      Boston, or Haverhill. We have already taken possession of
+      more ground than we can cultivate to advantage, and I see
+      no way for our vacant congregations to be supplied but by
+      an evangelizing ministry."
+
+Mr. Badger closes this letter by saying that his numerous engagements
+would prevent him from fulfilling his appointment at Dutchess County, N.
+Y., where he had been solicited to meet again the throngs of people who
+had, in other years, listened to his voice in the calm and tranquil
+forest, where, to use his own words, they had formerly "felt and seen
+the power and influence of truth." From his notes, and some social
+parties he attended in Boston, it is perceived that he had a
+sympathizing interest in the struggles and sufferings of the noble
+Greeks, who were then aiming at freedom and self-government. During the
+year of his Boston ministry, he preached on a great variety of subjects,
+attended several funerals, baptized many believers, and solemnized many
+marriages. Like St. Paul, he was ever abundant in labors. With the
+society over which he had presided, Rev. I. C. Goff remained. September
+17, 1828, he took of the good city his final leave, of whose citizens,
+customs, literature, and general character, he always afterward spoke in
+the most respectful terms, in a manner expressive of agreeable
+memories.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+      FOUR MONTHS' LABOR IN THE COUNTIES OF ONONDAGA AND CAYUGA,
+      NEW YORK, IN 1828 AND 1829, WITH OTHER PARTS OF HIS PUBLIC
+      LIFE, EXTENDING TO MAY, 1832.
+
+
+December, 1828, Mr. Badger accepted a field of labor, for about four
+months, in the counties of Onondaga and Cayuga, New York. His peculiar
+abilities were needed to revive and strengthen the churches, whose wants
+at that time were greater than could be supplied by the ministers who
+lived in that section. In the town of Brutus (since called Sennett), in
+Camillus and other towns of that region, he had preached frequently in
+former years. In the former town, Elijah Shaw had been very successful
+in his ministerial labors; and throughout all that country generally,
+Rev. O. E. Morrill, whose happy and popular gifts always made him a
+favorite with the people, had preached much, and wielded a great
+influence in behalf of liberal sentiments. But Mr. Shaw had moved to New
+England; Mr. M. was unable to meet the many calls for assistance, and
+the greatness of the harvest seemed to demand additional laborers.
+
+His plan of action covered a somewhat extended field, though his regular
+appointments were at Sennett, Cayuga, and at Lysander and Canton,
+Onondaga. At times he spoke at Cato, Baldwinsville, Jericho, Van Buren,
+Camillus, Elbridge, Weedsport, and other places; yet he so centralized
+his labor and influence as to make them effectual at the desired points.
+Besides his Sabbath services, it is said that he generally preached
+every evening in the week except on Mondays and Saturdays. As usual, his
+congregations were generally large and attentive, and his advocacy of
+liberal and evangelical sentiments was indeed formidable to all who were
+opposed. It could not be otherwise than a result of his independent
+course, that controversy, more or less, should be awakened by his
+ministry. He boldly stated his views, and never shrunk, from the
+controversial discussion of them whenever a man of character and ability
+ventured to encounter him with the tests of Scripture and reason.
+Accordingly, these manly collisions of intellect on theological
+questions form a very observable part of his public life. In the field
+he now occupied, he had two public discussions; one with the Rev. Mr.
+Baker, at Ionia, an eloquent Methodist minister; another with Rev. Mr.
+Stowe, a learned clergyman of the Presbyterian sect, at Elbridge, though
+with the latter it was conducted through the medium of letters, of which
+Mr. S. wrote only a small part, so that perhaps it cannot be called a
+debate so properly as a discussion.
+
+Mr. Baker was confident of success, not having taken the measure of the
+man he was to encounter. The form of their controversy on the supreme
+Deity of Jesus, was to be the delivery of a sermon each to the same
+audience on the same evening; they met to settle preliminaries late in
+the afternoon. Mr. Badger, by his careless ease, his deference and
+reserve of power, managed to give his opponent an inferior opinion of
+his own capacity, whilst he studied closely the temper and quality of
+his antagonist. This he always did before he ventured upon warfare. He
+would draw out the resources of his opponent and reserve his own. He
+always held that in oral controversy, in the form of sermons, it was a
+desirable advantage to speak first, for two reasons. 1st. The attention
+of the people is then unwearied, and their minds are fresh. 2d. The
+speaker has the opportunity to anticipate the arguments of his opponent
+and to answer them, thereby depriving them of power before his adversary
+has used them. He cared not who had the last speech, provided he could
+have the first. Apparently indifferent to the result, he offered Mr.
+Baker the choice of time, who allowed Mr. Badger to speak first,
+thinking that the greater advantage belongs to the last word. No limit
+of time was set for either speaker. They appeared at early evening
+before a large assembly. Mr. Badger arose and announced for his text 1
+Cor. 1: 4: "Is Christ divided?" a text which struck at the artificial
+division of his nature and being, made by those who affirm that he is at
+the same time perfect God and perfect man. Mr. Badger spoke between two
+and three hours to the most perfectly attentive audience, in which time
+he stated and met all the strong arguments that were likely to be
+arrayed against him, and urged in clear and lucid statements the
+evidences for his own position. I find in the plots of his controversial
+sermons, that he carried on usually a double work, giving, as he
+proceeded, alternately his own view and its evidence, then examining the
+opposition and its proof, then returning to the further statement of
+his own opinions and their evidences, and again exploding the usual
+arguments of the opposite side, ending always with positive views. In
+this debate he thoroughly achieved his aim. He so broke the weapons of
+his adversary that he could not rally to his use his accustomed
+strength. During Mr. Badger's long discourse, Mr. Baker would
+occasionally look at his watch and remind him that time is short, to
+whose impatience he once replied, "Be patient, Brother Baker, I have
+much yet to say; this is only the beginning of sorrows." It is certain
+that parties are usually biased in regard to the merits of controversies
+in which their peculiar doctrines are discussed; but from such
+recollections of this debate as community possessed in 1831 and 1835, I
+unhesitatingly say that but one opinion prevailed, which was, that Mr.
+Badger was plainly victorious.
+
+His letters to Mr. Stowe, which originated in a misrepresentation of
+views made in the pulpit of Mr. S., were published in the Gospel
+Luminary of 1829. They were strong and able papers; and it is evident
+from a letter in my possession from the hand of Mr. S., that he
+carefully sought to evade any public contact of mental forces with Mr.
+B. on the subjects of difference between them.
+
+During the several months which he passed in these counties, he
+performed a large amount of labor, called out an interest which was by
+no means limited by the extent of his own denomination, and the churches
+were strengthened and refreshed. His influence was always creative. But
+even when he added no numerical strength to his cause, a thing which we
+are not sure ever happened under his active ministry, he had an
+uncommon ability to inspire the men and women already marshalled under
+free principles, with new confidence in what they could do were they to
+try; and what is kindred to, but still a little higher than this, he had
+a particular faculty to bring them to the _point of action_; could
+persuade them to begin and to prosecute enterprises that they ordinarily
+might simply talk about, delay, and neglect. At Sennett, he pursuaded
+the people to attempt the building of a church; he organized the
+society, selected the location, and put things in active course for the
+completion of the enterprise. Between the villages of Canton and Ionia
+stands a commodious chapel, which, through the generous sacrifices of a
+few men, and the cooperative action of others, was built and dedicated
+to the service of Almighty God January 26, 1830. This chapel also was
+started and went up at the time it did through the leading, managing
+influence of Mr. Badger. But events of this kind were very common in his
+ministry, as he was in the habit of studying closely the strength of the
+cause he plead, and of enlisting into decisive action the ability of his
+friends in its furtherance. January 23, 1830, he preached the dedication
+sermon of a beautiful church in Lysander, Onondaga County, New York,
+where he had regularly preached in the winter of 1829. Text was Ps. 126:
+3: "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." He
+also preached the dedication sermon of the church in Sennett. At Canton,
+the Christian Chapel was open for worship January 26, 1830. From the pen
+of Rev. David Millard, who gave the sermon on that occasion, I extract
+the following lines:--
+
+      "This is the second chapel erected in Onondaga county for
+      the use of the people called Christians. The building is
+      neat, plain, and commodious. The labors of Rev. O. E.
+      Morrill have been devoted to that region of country for
+      nine years past, and have been much owned and blessed of
+      God. About one year ago, Rev. J. Badger spent several
+      months in that section, and was much blessed in preaching
+      the word. His labors contributed largely towards the
+      building of the two chapels we have just named, (Lysander
+      and Canton,) and also of another in the town of Sennett,
+      Cayuga County, not yet completed. The cause of liberal
+      Christianity was never more prosperous in that part of the
+      country than now."[44]
+
+There was indeed ability in favor of liberal views through that country,
+ability of long standing; but we think it just to the memory of Mr.
+Badger to say that, during his labors in that region, his creative mind
+was prominent in giving to that ability the form of active, prosperous
+enterprise in the respects here spoken of.
+
+November, 1830. From the Valley of Repose,[45] he writes:
+
+      "Since my last, I have visited many places in this part of
+      the State, and am happy to find that the cause of Christian
+      liberty is gradually advancing, though opposition attends
+      every step that is taken. In Rochester, a Unitarian society
+      has been raised. Mr. W. Ware, of New York city, was the
+      first minister of that order who ever preached there. His
+      preaching was like Paul's, at Athens; it made no small
+      stir. Many were alarmed for their favorite dogmas; for his
+      three sermons gave the doctrine of the Trinity a deadly
+      blow. He was succeeded by Mr. Green, of Massachusetts, who
+      is an eloquent man, and, like Apollos, mighty in the
+      Scriptures. He left, after a stay of three months, for
+      Cincinnati. I am informed they are now supplied by two
+      young men from Boston, who have my best wishes for their
+      success. Though these men have encountered much opposition,
+      a spirit of inquiry and a love of liberal Christianity are
+      imparted from their faithful labors, which will live among
+      the citizens of Rochester in spite of the influence of
+      superstitious sectarians. Though they are a distinct sect
+      from the Christians, their labors go to promote the same
+      great principles of liberty, and their enemies and ours are
+      the same."
+
+In Cayuga County, he speaks of the labors of Morrill and Coburn as
+successful; of passing through Montgomery, Delaware, Green and Dutchess
+Counties; of standing by the grave of his worthy early associate in the
+ministry, John L. Peavy, at Milan; of thinking of his many associates
+who now sleep in the grave;--men cut off in the midst of their useful
+labors. Taking with him, from Green County, a young man by the name of
+Joseph Marsh, he returned to Mendon, October 2d.
+
+In the autumn of 1830, his visit to Lewisburg, Pa., is thus spoken of by
+Rev. J. J. Harvey, in a recent letter to Mrs. Badger:--
+
+      "His congregations were large and attentive. The sects
+      cried out against him and his doctrine. Being young, and
+      liberal in my feelings, I was induced, by the opposition
+      raised against this 'great Unitarian heretic, as his
+      enemies styled him, to go and hear for myself. From the
+      course pursued on both sides, I soon became a regular
+      hearer, and found my feelings strongly interested in favor
+      of the persecuted party. Among others, he preached one
+      discourse on the doctrine of the Trinity. This was
+      fortunate for me, because he removed from my mind the
+      infidelity into which the popular teaching among the
+      Methodists and Presbyterians had well-nigh driven me. I
+      never could understand, and therefore could not believe,
+      their irrational and unscriptural preaching on this
+      subject; I was, therefore, on the verge of rejecting the
+      Bible _in toto_. But, by clear exhibitions of truth, Mr.
+      Badger convinced me of the scriptural and the reasonable
+      doctrine of one God, and of one Mediator between God and
+      men; and on that subject I have never since had a doubt."
+
+From this place he proceeded to Milford, New Jersey, to attend the
+theological debate held in that town, December, 1830, between Rev.
+William McCalla, of Philadelphia, and Rev. Wm. Lane, of Ohio, on the
+question--"Is the man Christ Jesus the supreme and eternal God?" of
+which Mr. McCalla had the affirmative, and Mr. Lane the negative. This
+discussion, attended by a large concourse, and on the fourth day
+abandoned by the former gentleman, in the words, "I relinquish this
+debate forever," was one in which Mr. Badger took a deep interest. He
+was one of the Board of Moderators; and, with his peculiar facility at
+management, he succeeded, during the early stage of the debate, in
+getting Mr. McCalla and Rev. S. Clough into a contract for a new
+discussion of the same question, at the city of New York, at a
+subsequent time, a contract which Mr. McCalla, on the fourth day of the
+debate, took from his pocket, and tore into pieces in the presence of
+the great assembly, as significant of his intention not to carry out the
+purpose therein expressed. The coolness, foresight, and shrewdness of
+Mr. Badger on all such occasions were strong and serviceable traits.
+
+He spent the principal part of 1831 in the vicinity of his residence, in
+which time additions were made to his society, which then was in a state
+of prosperity. From special request he visited Stafford, Genesee County,
+where, fourteen years before, with the assistance of Elder Levi
+Hathaway, he had organized a small church of eleven; a reformation
+immediately began, which, in the language of Mr. D. Millard, "was one of
+the most glorious revivals ever experienced in that region of country.
+Within a few months, he baptized, in Stafford, not far from fifty,"
+about half of whom were young men of talent. Under date of October 12,
+1831, Mr. Badger writes:--
+
+      "It is now nearly twenty years since I engaged in the great
+      and responsible work of preaching the Gospel. I regret that
+      I did not engage in that work earlier, and that I have been
+      no more successful. But, with all my lack of
+      qualifications, I have every year had something to
+      encourage me; I have baptized about one thousand persons; I
+      have had the pleasure of seeing twelve of that number
+      become useful ministers of the Gospel, and many have
+      finished their pilgrimage on earth with joy. Of late, I
+      have been more than ever encouraged, and, notwithstanding
+      my embarrassment on account of ill health, my spirit is
+      alive to the good work, and my heart is warm to the
+      interests of Zion. The church at Lakeville, Livingston
+      County, has also been blessed of late. I have, within a
+      short time, baptized six persons there. In Tompkins County,
+      our brethren have been abundantly favored with revivals. In
+      Cayuga County, also, the cause is prospering. Elder Morrill
+      has had an addition to the churches of his care of about
+      eighty members, this year."
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      "Several of our brethren in this country have, the present
+      season, finished their course in this world. We have taken
+      sweet counsel with them; we have joined them in
+      commemorating the love and suffering of the lowly Jesus; we
+      have mingled with them in songs of praise and sweet
+      devotion on earth, and now look up with trembling
+      confidence and cheerful hope to the time when we shall be
+      permitted to join them with improved capacities, in an
+      immortal song of praise to God and the Lamb in heaven."
+
+On March 27th, he attended the funeral of Mrs. Thomas Pease, of
+Rochester, one in whom the Christian virtues were said to have shone
+with mild and constant brilliancy. Speaking of this event, he says:
+
+      "While I sat by the bedside of my emaciated friend, and saw
+      her health, her beauty, and relish for life gone, and the
+      strong attachment of friends presenting their last claims
+      to a heart which had always responded in emotions of
+      kindest friendship, but which could respond no longer, I
+      heard her in a low whisper say, 'Oh Lord, grant me thy
+      smiles and thy presence, and I ask no more.' Here, said I,
+      I see the end of all perfection. Oh God, 'Let me die the
+      death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.'
+
+      "After I left she appeared much revived in spirit, and made
+      choice of the text on which I should preach at her funeral,
+      which was John 14: 2: 'In my Father's house are many
+      mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to
+      prepare a place for you.' How delightful to see a child of
+      God looking up from the verge of the grave to those
+      mansions which Christ has gone to prepare for his
+      children."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+EDITORIAL LIFE.
+
+
+Believing in the power of the press as one of the strongest agents
+which, for weal or for wo, is ever brought to bear on the thoughts,
+consciences, and outward destinies of men, Mr. Badger and his associates
+resolved on the employment of this agency for the up-building of faith,
+for the free investigation of Christian theology, and for the
+furtherance of wider views of Christian brotherhood than had ever
+obtained under the reign of stern, sectarian dogma. The "Gospel
+Luminary," started at West Bloomfield, in 1825, had been, in 1827,
+removed to the city of New York, and though ably conducted in the main,
+the feeling became strong and general in the State of New York, that
+something more perfectly adapted to the wants of the people could be
+issued; accordingly the "Genesee Christian Association," composed of
+some of the most experienced ministers and competent men, was organized
+December, 1831, with a constitution and officers, for the purpose of
+publishing, purchasing, selling and distributing such books and
+publications as the wants of the Christian Connection should, in their
+judgment, require; also to assist young men in the ministry with
+libraries and such other means of improvement as might be within their
+power; and especially did they contemplate, as their first work, the
+establishment of a periodical at Rochester, N. Y., whose objects were
+announced to be the vindication and dissemination of Gospel truth, the
+development of the ability of young men in the department of writing,
+and the promotion of a faith which should be at the same time
+scriptural, liberal, rational, and evangelical. Of this new monthly
+periodical, D. Millard, O. E. Morrill and Asa Chapin, were the Executive
+Committee, and J. Badger, Editor. A prospectus for this work, called the
+"Christian Palladium," a name sacred to liberty and its defence, was
+issued by Mr. Badger, January, 1832, in which he says:--
+
+      "The prominent objects of this work will be the defence of
+      the Scripture doctrine of one God and one Mediator, the
+      vindication of free and liberal Christianity, the right of
+      private judgment in religion, and the sufficiency of the
+      Holy Scriptures as a perfect system of church polity. In
+      the dissemination of those sacred principles, it will seek
+      no alliance with proscriptive sectarianism, nor will it bow
+      to the _ipsi dixerunt_ of fallible men, or ascribe holiness
+      to any human creed whatever. While it inculcates
+      Christianity as it is, it will endeavor to show what its
+      votaries should be; and while it advocates holy truth, it
+      shall breathe the benign spirit of Him who is the way, the
+      truth, and the life. While it will urge the necessity of
+      vital piety and holiness of heart, it shall also show that
+      these sacred principles directly tend to the union of
+      Christ's spiritual body, which is the Church. In a word, it
+      is not to be a sectarian engine, but a free vehicle of
+      general Christian intelligence."
+
+On the next page, which contains his address to agents, he says, that
+"the time when the friends of religious liberty and impartial
+investigation of Gospel truth, should adopt every laudable measure to
+further those important and benevolent objects, has unquestionably
+arrived;" and May 1, 1832, witnessed the circulation of the first number
+of his monthly, a neat pamphlet of 24 pages, in goodly attire, and in
+excellence of mechanical execution far in advance, we should say, of any
+printing we have recently seen from that city. In a letter addressed to
+a meeting of pioneers, held in Rochester, October, 1848, to which he was
+invited, he claimed to have caused the publication of the first book[46]
+printed in that place, when Rochester was only a prosperous village.
+
+This new era, as we may call it, in the public life of Mr. Badger,
+though it brought great responsibilities in which he had no previous
+experience, found him an easy master of its difficulties. His
+qualifications for an editor were, an intuitive and accurate perception
+of the character of the class of readers to whom his labors belonged--a
+quick recognition of whatever might serve to enrich his pages from the
+communications of his correspondents, from publications, and books; a
+business tact rarely equalled, which gave system and order to every
+department of duty in his office; and to these I will add two other
+qualities that in him were exceedingly prominent, namely, the power to
+write pages that were full of original force, nerve, life and freshness;
+and to _call out_ the ability of other minds, which he could turn to his
+own account. He had great facility in inspiring ordinary men, obscure in
+life, with the belief that they could write, and often from such did he
+get rich and useful gems. His genius could _make_ writers, and many from
+his encouragements, and from the practice of writing for his paper, did
+become masters of a strong and pointed style, of which they need never
+be ashamed. No other man among religious editors could, we believe, get
+as much good material from uneducated and undisciplined sources as he.
+
+In his May number he addressed his readers in the following strain:--
+
+      "The present is an era of light, and a day peculiar to
+      prophetic fulfilment. Never was there a time when the
+      soldiers of the Cross could look forward to brighter
+      prospects, and never a day when victory over the powers of
+      darkness was more certain. The rapid increase of Gospel
+      light, the spread of pure religion, a submission to the
+      doctrine of the Scriptures, in preference of man-made
+      creeds, and the spirit of reciprocal love and Christian
+      forbearance among free inquirers after the word of life,
+      afford indications of the approach of a more brilliant
+      era.
+
+      "All dissenters from civil despotic governments have been
+      regarded as rebels, and all dissenters from ecclesiastical
+      tyranny and oppression have been denounced as heretics and
+      infidels. Some of the purest men that have ever honored
+      this mortal stage of existence, and some of the purest
+      sentiments that have ever elevated human thought, have been
+      sacrificed upon the unholy altar of priestcraft and
+      superstition. We should evidently be wanting in charity
+      were we to represent all as illiberal who are stationed in
+      the ranks of orthodoxy. Such are not our views; for we are
+      convinced that many, very many, thus circumstanced, know
+      and highly appreciate the value of Gospel liberty, and were
+      it not for the anxious watchings of those who 'bear rule,'
+      would have burst their chains asunder.
+
+      "We are dissenters from the corruptions the church has
+      accumulated in the wilderness. Its unscriptural creeds and
+      doctrines--its cruel and oppressive government--its unholy
+      and proscriptive spirit--its fanatical and superstitious
+      ceremonies--its worldly show and empty parade--its
+      unwarrantable pretensions and unnecessary divisions, we
+      shall endeavor to expose in a prudent manner, and show our
+      readers 'a more excellent way!' We shall endeavor to take
+      the medium between a blind fanaticism and a cold formality,
+      and in all cases the Holy Scriptures shall be the man of
+      our counsel; and we shall use every exertion in our power
+      to persuade our readers to be enlightened, rational,
+      liberal, charitable, kind, experimental and practical
+      Christians.
+
+      "Christian liberty will be a leading topic in the
+      Palladium, as genuine religion can breathe freely only in
+      the atmosphere of freedom. There cannot be imagined a
+      greater treason against heaven and earth, than for men,
+      under the pretence of a superior sanctity, to plot,
+      contrive, and provide for the control of human thoughts,
+      actions and hopes, by infusing into the minds of their
+      brethren and equals the delirium of superstitious fears of
+      God, and the poison of cringing subserviency to man. The
+      churches which have attempted this, have displayed the
+      worst effects of ambition, selfishness and sensuality; and
+      the states which have submitted to it, all the debasement
+      of servility, ignorance, and even of crime. Men should
+      dread nothing but sin, and submit to no authority not
+      delegated by themselves, except that of their parents and
+      their God. The Palladium is not designed to espouse any
+      party in politics; yet it may have occasion at times to
+      speak on the subject of Civil Government, so far as that
+      species of government has a direct bearing on Christian
+      liberty."
+
+In this bold, independent, out-spoken manner, the Editor of the
+Palladium unfurled his banner both to the friendly and the adverse
+breezes of the church and the world; and though he well knew how and
+when to be politic, his paper had no disguise of sentiments. Up to the
+mark of his own enlightenment it had a bold, free, and therefore an
+effective utterance on the errors it attempted to correct, and the
+truths it aimed to set forth.
+
+As one object of Mr. Badger's monthly was to develop the talent of young
+writers in the cause he represented, in his first number he commends to
+their observance a method of improvement, containing seven distinct
+rules, which are worthy of repetition in this volume, as many of the
+same class may still be profited by taking them into consideration. He
+says to them:--
+
+      "1st. Devote some part of each week to writing on some
+      important subject. 2d. Express your ideas in as few words
+      as possible, render the sense clear, use plain and familiar
+      language, but lively and impressive figures. 3d. Often
+      revise and improve your former compositions. 4th. Keep your
+      ideas clear and distinct, and avoid tautology. 5th.
+      Occasionally submit your best compositions to your more
+      learned and experienced brethren; and never be offended,
+      but always thankful, for any new idea or correction. 6th.
+      When you write for the press, keep a copy of your
+      communications, and when they are revised and published,
+      carefully compare your copy with the editor's improvement.
+      7th. Always keep in view the great object of all our labor,
+      which is to make men good."
+
+Let these seven rules of wisdom for young writers still be remembered,
+as those that are able to discipline and to improve their power, and
+particularly the last, which gives to writing an earnest and a truthful
+character.
+
+Assisted by a few practical writers, and by such contributions as he
+could get from others, he continued his work successfully, presenting a
+good variety of matter; essays on moral and theological themes, letters,
+extracts from the best authors, poems, news from churches, and so forth.
+This first volume presents among its writers the names of Kinkade,
+Morrill, Millard, Walters, Barr, Flemming, Miles, Jones, McKee,
+Purveyance, Henry and others, whilst on its pages are able extracts from
+the pen of Channing, from the Christian Examiner and other periodicals
+of the time; and at the close of the year, April, 1833, the editor, in
+an address headed by the impressive lines,
+
+      "'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours,
+      And ask them what report they bore to Heaven,
+      And how they might have borne more welcome news,'"
+
+was enabled to say:
+
+      "We now have associated with this establishment a greater
+      number of correspondents than there is in any other of our
+      acquaintance. Our periodical has received the approbation
+      of some of the oldest and most experienced ministers in the
+      connection. Several liberal periodicals have favorably
+      noticed us. Many young men have used their pens for the
+      first time (for the press) to adorn our pages. Our old
+      brethren who have long been dormant, have come forth as
+      from the silence of the tomb, have spoken again and
+      stretched forth their palsied hands to our assistance.
+      Kinkade's last trembling lines were for our use. In his
+      wise counsel we commenced; and in his dying moments a
+      fervent prayer was raised for our prosperity."
+
+Having completed a well-executed volume, for whose pages over one
+hundred correspondents had written, Mr. Badger regarded his periodical,
+surrounded as it was by increasing encouragements, as being established;
+and, though pledged to the vindication of sentiments some of which
+provoke the thunder of theological strife, he calmly takes the motto,
+
+      "Fear not! the good shall flourish in immortal youth,
+      Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
+      The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."
+
+May, 1833, the second volume of this publication commenced; and until
+its removal, by the united compromise of the east, the north, the south
+and the west, to the town of Broadalbin, Montgomery County, N. Y., in
+the spring of 1834, it was issued monthly from the press of Marshall &
+Dean, at Rochester; and with such ability and interest was it conducted
+that the General Convention at Milan, N. Y., October, 1833, resolved,
+under the name of the "Gospel Palladium," to establish a weekly paper,
+of which Mr. Badger was unanimously chosen editor.[47] As we glance over
+the pages of this volume, we notice the discussion of some very
+important themes, such as the natural immortality of man, the doctrine
+of the Trinity, the freedom of the human mind, the basis of
+Universalism, the derived existence of Christ, the subject of Christian
+liberty and union, the reasons for ministerial ordination, and themes of
+similar weight, with journals and letters of religious intelligence in
+large number. It were a lengthy task to present a paragraph or two from
+all the editorials; his replies to his opponents, his strictures on the
+Monroe Baptist Association, his views of ordination in reply to Mr. Kay;
+all these are accessible to those who own his monthly; we only say they
+are usually such as _he_ only could have written.
+
+In an article on the "Deformities of Sectarianism," he indulges in great
+plainness of speech, using language which at times has the sharpness of
+satire, yet the candor of honest belief. Looking at the sectarian
+phenomena, he says:
+
+      "What a compound of spite and piety! at war with all
+      dissenters, and at war with themselves! In many instances,
+
+          'They preach, and pray, and fight, and groan
+           For _public_ good, but _mean_ their _own_.'
+
+      "'How has the fine gold become dim! How has the salt lost
+      its savor! How are the mighty fallen!'"
+
+We omit the strictures given on the different systems and organizations
+of the times.
+
+In answer to a request of the committee of the Milan Convention, the
+Genesee Christian Association ordered the removal of the Palladium to
+Union Mills,[48] Montgomery County,[49] N. Y., that being the central
+position between the east and west selected by the people of New England
+as a location of compromise, and acceded to by the people of the west.
+The Genesee Association assigned to him the entire control of the paper
+and its responsibilities;[50] and in May, 1834, it took the form of a
+large octavo, with double columns, a form it has retained until now, and
+went forth in semi-monthly visits to cheer the hearts and teach the
+minds of several thousands.
+
+During the time of its publication at Rochester, Mr. Badger discharged
+jointly the duties of pastor and editor; and in the rural town of his
+after residence he did the same, being early and late in his office,
+often, as creditable testimony affirms, sixteen hours a day; and on
+Sunday, no sentence of his sermons was languid or weary. It is moderate
+to say, that his manifold resources were not exhausted by the different
+and various directions in which they were used.
+
+In the closing number of Volume II, Mr. Badger expressed the opinion
+that the ground occupied by the Christians is a medium between the wide
+extremes which several sects have assumed. It is probable, indeed, that,
+were the two general positions of doctrinal orthodoxy and rationalistic
+reformers brought into contrast, it would be found that the position of
+this denomination is midway between the two extremes, having in it the
+evangelical element of inward salvation through Christ, and the
+operation of the Holy Spirit, and with it the rigid demands of reason in
+regard to the accordancy of theological statements with themselves, and
+with all known truth within and without. They discarded Socinianism and
+the mere religion of the intellect on the one hand, and, on the other,
+the unquestioning submission of the mind to the authority of
+time-honored and creed-embalmed opinion. Whilst they rejected the
+supreme and self-existent deity of Jesus as inconsistent with the
+eternal supremacy of Him whom Jesus worshipped, they revered the
+unmeasured presence of the high divinity that dwelt in him; and, whilst
+they denied the doctrine of arbitrary grace, they affirmed the full
+dependence of man on the direct agency of God, of his illuminating word
+and sanctifying spirit, for his salvation. They seemed to unite, to a
+large extent, the light of the reason on subjects of belief, with the
+most earnest piety and zeal for the salvation of sinners, regarding, in
+all discussions of sacred themes, the Scripture testimony as final and
+supreme.
+
+The Christian Palladium, now at Union Mills, by the agreement of a
+general convention, representing different parts of the country, did
+not, as was contemplated, become a weekly paper, but a semi-monthly. In
+this form, Mr. Badger was its editor until May 1, 1839, making in all
+seven years' service in the editorial field. Though there had been and
+were several periodicals published under the auspices of the Christian
+denomination, the Christian Herald, of Portsmouth, N. H., the Gospel
+Luminary, of New York, the Christian Messenger, of Georgetown, Ky., and
+the Christian Banner, of Vermont, none ever wielded the influence, nor
+displayed the same continuous course of mental energy and interest, as
+did the Palladium, when under the control of Joseph Badger, its first
+editor; and perhaps we might, taking all things into view, add to this
+title the name creator and founder, for, though it sprung out of the
+necessities of the denomination, under the assistance of several minds,
+it was his laborious toil and managing genius that gave it permanence
+and successful progress.[51] We would not claim that Mr. Badger was free
+from editorial faults and errors; these he had; but, what is not small
+in the success of any person, he had the ability to make even his errors
+interesting and entertaining; nor were his truths ever dull or drowsy.
+His friends wanted to read what he had written from the magnetism common
+to friendship when it centres in an original man, and his opponents and
+enemies,--for he had not a few of this class,--would, from some other
+attraction, hasten to the perusal of his lines, as if they were
+impelled by a curiosity to know what would come next. I judge that
+friends and foes, on opening his newly-issued paper, were very much in
+the habit of _first_ reading what he had written.
+
+At the General Convention already spoken of, there originated, in the
+merging of many local interests into general, and especially in the
+importance ascribed to questions touching the general weal, the idea so
+often alluded to in Mr. Badger's editorials, under the name of "General
+Measures." By consent of all, his paper was the representative of the
+general interest, in contradistinction to whatever was local; and to
+overcome local prejudices was one of his determined aims. Among the
+methods he adopted to unite the east and the west in the bonds of a
+stronger amity, was that of inducing young ministers of talent in the
+west to locate in New England, and men of influence in New England to
+take western fields of labor. "I wish," said Mr. B., in May, 1835, to
+the writer of this memoir, "to get all the ministers I can in the west
+to settle in the east, and all the eastern ministers I can to settle in
+the west. In this way I can conquer the local prejudices."
+
+"Religion without bigotry, zeal without fanaticism, liberty without
+licentiousness," are the words that blaze on the flag of Mr. Badger's
+editorial ship, which, though usually accustomed to peaceful cruising,
+was by necessity, at times, a man-of-war. In exposing imposition, in
+opposing formidable ability if arrayed against what he regarded as vital
+in religion, Mr. B. was very decided; and none who had to contend with
+him much or long, ever looked with indifference on his power to achieve
+his ends. His weapons of war were various; if they were not always
+polished with the finest logic, they were such as did execution and
+brought success. Satire, humor, wit, not unfrequently lent their aid to
+his controversial labors; yet it is difficult, it is even impossible, to
+find a single article in which these abound, that does not, when
+divested of those qualities, possess a sufficiency of substantial
+argument to render his position a strong one.
+
+In glancing over these pages, of 1834-5-6, it is evident that the
+subjects discussed are those in which the feelings of the writers were
+strongly engaged. Education for all men and education for ministers was
+very independently vindicated, though the idea of the competency of
+schools to impart all the qualifications needed by a minister of
+salvation, was justly and strongly denied; instead of an entire human
+reliance, the minister was advised to remember his dependence on the
+Holy Spirit, whose office to illuminate the human mind beyond the
+teachings of man, and to purify the human heart beyond the power of
+earthly guardians, has never yet ceased on earth. Mr. Badger's writings
+show him to be a decided friend of general education, of the cultivation
+which science and literature impart. They declare him to be an active
+friend of this culture for young ministers, for it has not only the
+advocacy of his words, but of his deeds also. In June, 1839, he aided
+the introduction of a resolution at the Conferential Assemblage, held at
+Rock Stream, Yates County, N. Y., which called for the appointment of a
+number of persons to investigate the practicability and the propriety
+of establishing a literary institution in the State of New York, in
+which the common and higher branches of science should be taught, for
+the intent, as explained by the speakers who discussed the question,
+that young men who were to devote their lives to the ministry might,
+unembarrassed by the narrowness of a sectarian platform, secure to
+themselves the accomplishment of a good education; also, that the friend
+of liberal Christianity in the State and elsewhere might enjoy the same
+privilege. Beyond the benefit of the culture of science, he spoke
+cautiously, thinking it no benefit for a young man to learn and to drag
+after him through life, a dead, dogmatic system of theology. I remember
+to have heard him say on that occasion, "Let it not be thought that the
+end of this institution is to teach theology. We will make _men_, and
+let God make ministers." These were his words. It is well known that the
+movement at that time made resulted in the establishment of the Starkey
+Seminary, which, embosomed in the elegant scenery of the Seneca Lake,
+continues still to be active and prosperous. At Union Mills, he took no
+common pains to give influence and character to the Academy, which,
+under his encouragement, and the encouragement of a few others, had
+opened in that place. In 1844, he became one of the trustees and a
+member of the visiting committee of the Meadville Theological School,
+which offices he held until his death. But, perhaps, in some other place
+in this memoir, we may state more fully his ideas of ministerial
+education. It was indeed characteristic of his taste, the republication,
+in 1833, of Mason on Self-knowledge, and Blair on the Grave, which he so
+generally introduced among young ministers. Instead of giving them a
+dry bone of theology to pick, he handed them a live book to read, and
+"to place, for a season at least, next to their Bibles," in esteem,
+which was founded on the old Grecian text, "KNOW THYSELF."
+
+But reverting back to the pages of the Palladium, we find that Mr.
+Badger, as editor, not only presided over, but took part, in a
+discussion on the subject of Divine or Spiritual Influence; a subject
+which, in those years, claimed attention from the somewhat successful
+agitation of Mr. A. Campbell's system of theology, in the west. Mr. C.,
+from the commanding talents with which he advocated his positions, from
+the reputation he had gained as a controversialist,[52] and from the
+liberality of his new views in some respects and their originality in
+others, it happened that a large number of ministers and churches who
+belonged to the Christian denomination, in the west and south, together
+with a few minds so inclined in the Eastern and Middle States, began to
+look to Mr. Campbell as _the_ light of the age--as a new spiritual Moses
+sent to lead Israel through his wilderness. It is not uncommon, indeed,
+for the uneducated to magnify the powers, and to assign undue
+consequence to an originally endowed and educated mind, especially when
+such a mind is possessed of eloquence and boldness, qualities that
+always impress strongly the mass of mankind. Many churches in Kentucky,
+and some in other States, embraced his views; nor can it be questioned
+that Mr. Campbell presented many truths, and in an attractive dress, to
+the people of the west.
+
+In this system it was premised that divine influence reaches man wholly
+through the intellectual powers; that conversion is wholly from the
+force of knowledge and motive offered to the understanding; that the
+Holy Spirit which once inspired the ancients, never in these years
+directly reaches man as once it did; that God only penetrates the sinner
+by the agency of the word recorded in the Old and New Testaments; that
+it is only through these ancient words that the Eternal Spirit works
+upon the world's darkness and degradation. To these ideas we may add two
+others, which are, that there is no divine call to the ministry; that in
+or through the act of water baptism, in the form of immersion, sins are
+remitted. Whilst Mr. Badger and his associates agreed with Mr. C. in
+reverence for the Scriptures, in the free investigation of sacred
+themes, and in the rejection of human creeds as tests of fellowship,
+ideas in whose conception and utterance they were many years his seniors
+and predecessors in the field of theological reform, they took religious
+experience as their basis, affirmed the free present agency of the Holy
+Spirit in the world, man's free access to God, and the forgiveness of
+sins on the conditions of faith and repentance, previous to, and
+independent of, the outward baptismal rite. Without attempting to enter
+upon theological investigation, that being foreign to our purpose, we
+would say, that we seem to deny that God is a sun, we impair the force
+of his eternal rays, by obliging him to shine forever upon the world
+exclusively through the atmosphere of ancient Palestine. The sun pours
+out each day afresh. So is God a sun, radiating for all men, not through
+the ancient word-medium exclusively, but through _many_ media. His
+_deeds_ certainly ought to be as expressive of his spirit as his words;
+and are not creation and providence full of his deeds? God governs the
+material universe not by ancient but by _present_ agency and action. Let
+this fact stand as the type of his manner of ruling and blessing in the
+universe of moral and intellectual being; for it renders no injustice to
+the past, since the condition of both nature and spirit in this
+nineteenth century holds its lawful and inviolable connection with all
+the past eras and epochs that either nature or spirit have known. What
+is religion worth if it opens no fresh and living communication with
+Heaven? Is there nothing but a _word_-ligament to unite the living soul
+with its living God? Is the Holy Spirit a retired agent, no longer
+mindful of his ancient offices? Are his abilities lost? Are there no
+fresh inspirations of holiness and truth?
+
+Mr. Badger's remarks on the word-theory of Mr. Campbell are various;
+sometimes one or two paragraphs only, sometimes several columns are
+employed. Though these are not thrown into systematic argument, they
+were pointed and effective, and through them all, one idea is prominent,
+that religion of the inward life, that a true religious experience, are
+opposed to a system so intellectually speculative, and which tends to
+chill and discourage faith in a free access to God, and in his direct
+holy influences on the soul. This idea, based in experience, was his
+principal reliance.
+
+In 1836, he preached a sermon on Rom. 8: 26: "Likewise the Spirit also
+helpeth our infirmities," in which he set forth the idea, which
+frequently occurs in his writings, that human nature is too weak to
+resist error, to encounter temptation, and to bear life's sorrows from
+its own strength; that its imperfections demand an immediate spiritual
+aid, which he contended was promised in the system of Christianity, and
+realized by all who live by faith and walk in newness of life.
+
+The gifted and egotistical young man, William Hunter, originally from
+Ireland, who became an eloquent orator and editor in behalf of those
+views, Mr. Badger disposes of very easily. He tells him, that if he
+should live twenty years longer and happen to read one of his
+prospectuses, he will see that his youthful swells run rather high, that
+these now "are enough to make an old man's head swim." And, when
+reminded by Mr. Hunter that old sailors should not complain of swells,
+and that unless he held fast to the rigging and looked aloft, he would
+fall overboard within one year, Mr. B. calmly inquires, "Oh, friend
+William! and will ye verily have us all overboard in one year? Then,
+indeed, and ye will have us all in the water--according to thy theory,
+friend William, that is a very safe element. Shall we not be in a fair
+way for heaven?" Mr. Hunter offers to show, on one page of the
+Palladium, from the Bible, that he believes in a spiritual religion, and
+that Mr. Badger believes in a spiritless one. The latter replies, that
+the work promised is weighty, and that his doubts concerning his
+astonishing skill will be lessened if he will first exhibit some proof
+of spirituality on one of his own pages, before coming to take the mote
+from his neighbor.
+
+The allusions of Mr. Campbell, in his "Millennial Harbinger," show that
+he was by no means indifferent to Mr. Badger's antagonism to his cause.
+One allusion taken from his notes, December, 1837, on his eastern tour,
+in which he styles Mr. Badger the "redoubtable captain," will suffice.
+He says:--
+
+      "Mr. Badger has been one of the leaders in this glorious
+      struggle of walking by the Bible alone; but these brethren
+      (and I could name others with them) are determined not
+      merely to profess, but to walk in all the commandments and
+      ordinances in the Bible. We intend, in the next volume, to
+      pay some more attention to the great apostasy from the
+      Bible alone, now commanded by the redoubtable captain, who
+      sails sometimes under this flag, and sometimes under that.
+      However, the New England brethren are not ignorant of his
+      devices, and are not likely to marshal long under his
+      Palladium, inasmuch as he seems not to relish the
+      simplicity nor authority of the Nazarenes."
+
+The permanency and stability of Mr. Badger, questioned in this
+paragraph, all who know anything of him must concede to be conspicuous
+traits of his whole career in life. He was a man of no great and sudden
+changes. Perhaps a paragraph or so from his reply may serve to show his
+manner of dealing with a strong assailant.
+
+      "Mr. Campbell had succeeded in drawing away so many
+      Christians in the west, that his expectation of success
+      among the intelligent people of New York and New England
+      was very great. But he toiled all night and caught nothing.
+      The enterprise was a failure; and his disappointment and
+      chagrin were so great that since his return to the west, in
+      speaking of eastern men and measures, he gives strong
+      symptoms of insanity, and some of his articles abound in
+      cruel, unworthy invectives and misrepresentations.
+
+      "But the most diverting thing, is to see his means of
+      knowing, and his pretended knowledge of the state of things
+      at the east. He spent but a few days in New England; yet he
+      pretends to know the state of society, the manners and
+      customs of the people throughout that wide extended portion
+      of our continent. But what churches did he visit?
+      Astonishing to tell! He spent a few days in Boston; a few
+      hours at Salem and Lynn; and we have never heard of his
+      making a moment's call on any other Christian church in New
+      England. Yet he speaks in broad terms and says: 'The
+      Christians in New England need only to be taught the way of
+      the Lord more perfectly.' What does this foreigner, this
+      man of the west know about the condition of the churches in
+      Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and good old Connecticut,
+      having never entered a chapel or cottage in either of those
+      great States? But he continues: 'Much is wanting in _many
+      places_ to bring them nigh to the platform of Apostolic
+      usage and authority.' MANY PLACES! This sounds well from a
+      stranger, such as himself. Why did he not teach our
+      brethren the way of the Lord more perfectly? Why did he not
+      bring them to the Apostolic platform? Why not push his
+      inquiries further? Alas, alas! he had seen enough of New
+      England sagacity; it was not the soil for the seed he had
+      brought. Therefore, he turns upon his heel and leaves the
+      good people of Lynn to manufacture their own shoes, and
+      those of Salem to manage their own witches."
+
+The following paragraph, which succeeds what I have inserted, was
+partially quoted by Bishop Purcell in the celebrated discussion between
+himself and Mr. Campbell on the Roman Catholic religion,[53] held at
+Cincinnati, January, 1837, which, with several other quotations from the
+same paper, goes to show that the Palladium, which he introduced as the
+organ of a numerous body of Christians, had not failed to impress the
+Catholic Church as being a work of strength in Protestant literature.
+
+      "He frequently speaks of 'the Bible alone;' but this is not
+      a term generally used by the brethren in New England, and
+      is taught by few except Mr. C. We never knew our brethren
+      to boast of walking by the Bible alone. This we regard as
+      an error, let who will proclaim it. We say give us the
+      Bible, but not alone. Let us have a God, a Christ, a Holy
+      Spirit, and a ministry to accompany it. There was a law
+      given to the Jews; also, a testimony, which they were bound
+      to observe. The testimony of the inspired prophets did not
+      contradict the law, but taught and enforced the same great
+      truths. The ancients were to walk by the _law_ and the
+      testimony, which was called a _word_, (Isa. 8: 20). So the
+      New Dispensation presents the written Word and the Spirit
+      of God as the perfect law by which the saints are to be
+      governed. Thus we preach the Spirit and the Word.
+
+      "We have frequently heard," continues Mr. B., "the
+      followers of Mr. C. talk about carrying the Gospel in their
+      pockets, meaning the Bible; but such are not like Christ's
+      ministers, who have the 'treasure in earthen vessels.' The
+      Gospel is the power of God unto salvation."
+
+Referring to the charge of fluctuation he says:--
+
+      "Mr. C., we never belonged to the Presbyterians of
+      Scotland; we never united with nor dissented from the Red
+      Stone Association of Baptists. But, dear sir, has not your
+      whole life been one scene of reforms, deforms, and changes?
+      Just look at your equivocations on Calvinism and the
+      Trinity; turn to your correspondence with Mr. Grew and all
+      your opponents, and blush, while you talk about any man
+      'who sails sometimes under this flag, and sometimes under
+      that.' This, sir, comes with a very bad grace from your
+      honorable self."
+
+It is not my wish to revive the passions of past controversy, but the
+antagonism of Mr. Badger to certain features of the cause which Mr.
+Campbell represented in the west was so conspicuous a part of his
+editorial life, that the chapter here opened could not well be completed
+without some allusions to and quotations from it. No one doubts that his
+paper influenced thousands not to embrace the system of his
+distinguished opponent.
+
+In 1837 and 1838 he discussed the question at length, "THE CHURCH THE
+HIGHEST TRIBUNAL," making a distinction between _a_ church and _the_
+church, denying that the former is the highest tribunal, and qualifiedly
+conceding this honor to the latter; that is to say, a particular church
+may be incompetent to act upon questions which the large assemblage of
+ministers and particular churches might act upon with wisdom and safety.
+These articles were indeed an able vindication of the doctrine of
+associated action, of conferential organization; they called out a vast
+deal of discussion, and whatever may be thought of the justness of his
+position, none can deny that his articles produced a very strong
+impression on the public generally. The great danger of large
+associative bodies is the usurpation of power over individual rights;
+but he claimed to protect the individual and to secure his rights
+through the associative action for which he plead. Both sides were heard
+in this discussion.
+
+The Catholic question, the subject of temperance, slavery, ministerial
+education, and historical sketches of the denomination, each had a share
+of attention. Dr. Channing's letter on the Catholic question, originally
+in the Western Messenger, was published in his columns, printed in small
+pamphlets and scattered over the country. Also his letter to Mr. Badger
+on the principles and wants of the Christian denomination, which, to a
+good extent, may be called a treatise on education, was called forth by
+Mr. Badger's direct request, and, excellent as it was as a whole, it
+received from him friendly and independent strictures on points wherein
+he regarded Dr. C. as being misinformed. The Palladium, in the hands of
+Joseph Badger, was an organ of power mightier than had ever been wielded
+in the same cause before, and altogether more so than the same paper has
+ever been since. We think the editor speaks truthfully in saying, "The
+secret of its success is its adaptation to the wants of the people. It
+now has a larger subscription than any two periodicals have or ever had
+in the Christian or Unitarian societies on the globe." It is almost
+unnecessary to add the most _practical_ evidence of its success, namely,
+that through the provident management of its editor, it was financially
+the source of a very respectable income. Let us hear what impression
+this paper made on the other side of the Atlantic. Rev. John R.
+Beard,[54] of Manchester, England, under the date of June 1, 1838, wrote
+as follows:
+
+      "I have long desired to find a moment to address you a few
+      lines. I feel a deep interest in the cause to which you and
+      many other excellent men are devoted; and I do hope and
+      trust that the great Head of the Church will abundantly
+      bless your praiseworthy labors.
+
+      "In your alienation from creeds of human formation, you not
+      only have a feeling in common with the Unitarians of
+      England, but in my opinion have assumed a position at once
+      eminently Scriptural and of great and pressing need in the
+      actual state of the religious world. The New Testament
+      Scriptures ought to be the only standard of faith and
+      doctrine with followers of Christ; and aware of the
+      fallibility which must attach to every mere human
+      interpretation of Holy Writ, I feel that the great work is
+      to command allegiance to the great Protestant principle of
+      the sufficiency and paramount authority of the Bible, and
+      particularly of the writings of the Evangelists and the
+      Apostles. I cannot but look on your efforts and successes
+      with high gratification, and in the chills of a colder
+      moral atmosphere and the dissatisfactions of a necessarily
+      less productive field, I sometimes half wish myself in the
+      midst of you.
+
+      "While others contend," said Mr. B., "about the
+      supervacaneous part of religion, we will encourage the
+      enjoyment of its more exhilarating radiancy." "We are
+      reformers; we must and will be reformers. We are determined
+      never to be guilty of a cringing subserviency to the Man of
+      Sin, nor to bow to any idol of superstition which frail men
+      have imposed upon the Church of God. The Palladium will be
+      _Doctrinal, Historical, and Practical_. Much attention will
+      be bestowed on the culture of the youthful mind, and the
+      improvement of young ministers and young writers."
+
+These and similar passages may be regarded as the landmarks of his
+editorial action; and through all his seven years' course, it will
+appear that the Palladium never lost sight of its cardinal idea as taken
+from the old apostolical discussion, "That Jesus is the Christ, the Son
+of the living God." One proof of its decision and energy lies in the
+violence and depth of feeling that, in some instances, were awakened
+against it. "It is," said its editor, "the bane of the Catholic, the
+Campbellite, the disorganizer, and the proud sectarian; and it is
+generally known in the camp of the enemies of Christian liberty." When
+Mr. Badger made an assault, which he never did without believing he had
+good reason so to do, the party receiving it was at no loss to know
+_who_ it came from, _when_ it was received, and _what_ it signified. We
+like to see everything thorough after its kind; let a blow be a blow,
+let a smile be a smile.
+
+On leaving the editorial chair, May 1, 1839, he returned to his newly
+purchased and agreeable residence at West Mendon village, now called
+Honeoye Falls, in Monroe County, N. Y., where he became, in 1840, the
+pastor of a prospering church which had recently been formed in that
+place. Six months before leaving the Palladium, he had announced the
+intention of being for a few years an evangelist. Speaking of himself in
+the third person, he said:
+
+      "His circuit will be principally within the following
+      limits: From Quebec on the north, to Georgia on the south;
+      and from Maine on the east, to Arkansas and Missouri on the
+      west. To be at liberty to travel and preach the Gospel
+      again, as in the days of his youth, is the height of his
+      ambition; and this is his desire above all things of
+      Heaven."
+
+In his farewell address, April 15, 1839, he says:
+
+
+          "'And so, without more circumstance at all,
+          I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.'
+
+      "I now take up my pen to address you for the last time, as
+      Editor of the Christian Palladium, with a feeling of strong
+      attachment to each and all of you, and a fervent desire for
+      your present and future happiness. We have travelled a long
+      journey and encountered many difficulties together, and at
+      length have arrived at that point where that sacred
+      relation we have sustained to each other is to end, and our
+      connection as editor and patron is to be severed forever."
+
+In reviewing the past, he claims to have used no disguise, to have
+spoken plainly and independently on all subjects, though at times, he
+concedes, a little too severely with certain opponents, it being
+necessary to regulate controversy with reference to the opponent one has
+to combat, and to answer some persons by Solomon's celebrated rule.
+These occasional severities he candidly regards as the greatest errors
+in all his editorial labors. He justifies the cool and unimpassioned
+tone of the Palladium during the high excitements of the abolition
+agitation, and expresses a willingness that his position and procedure
+on that subject should be put to the test, that on them he is willing to
+hazard his reputation, believing that the duties of the Palladium did
+not require it to enter the arena of the new political warfare.
+
+      "On Church Government and the powers of Conference, we have
+      bestowed special attention, and occupied much room, and
+      given our opponents a fair hearing. If we thought there was
+      one single argument left unanswered on which disorganizers
+      rely, we would now, on leaving the editorial chair, give it
+      due consideration. We have opened this door wide; there has
+      not been a single argument or statement of the opposition
+      left out, which has been presented for publication. This
+      discussion was called for, and has been of utility to the
+      Christian society, as our Conferences have since put on new
+      strength and the churches taken new courage. This poor
+      worn-out slander which a few heated partisans have set on
+      foot, that our Conferences have assumed improper authority
+      and interfered with the domestic or internal affairs of the
+      churches, is proved, by long experience and common
+      observation, to be a fabrication of error, a false alarm
+      sounded for party purposes. But our opponents on this
+      question are vanquished; and though the struggle on this
+      question has been long and arduous, we shall ever look upon
+      our labors on this point with interest and satisfaction."
+
+      "We feel such a strong attachment to the great Christian
+      family for whom we have so long provided our humble repast,
+      that the task is truly painful to take leave. You have been
+      our friends and the friends of a noble cause; you have
+      sustained us and advanced truth. You have frequently prayed
+      for our success, and your prayers have been heard, and now,
+      though our relation in one respect is changed, yet we still
+      will be one in spirit, and unitedly labor for the
+      advancement of the same common cause, keep our eye on the
+      mark and meet in glory. When our toils are done, when we
+      lay low in the grave, then may the cause in which we have
+      labored exert a universal influence; liberal truth spread
+      throughout the world,--and the Palladium's humble banner
+      wave in triumph over the crumbling ruins of sectarism and
+      be the herald of Liberty, Union and Peace. Beloved patrons,
+      Farewell!"
+
+Thus ended seven years of severe editorial service, through which we
+discern the action of a shrewd, intelligent, energetic and active mind;
+all in all, the ablest and most efficient editor of whom the history of
+the Christian denomination may boast. He was, indeed, constitutionally
+kind, yet on dishonesty and imposture, especially if they came under the
+sacred garb, he was boldly severe, this being his favorite, chosen motto
+on all such occasions:
+
+      "Strip the miscreants of the robes they stain,
+      And drive them from the altars they profane."
+
+One has only to look at the character of the same periodical from the
+time he left it until now, to be convinced that his place has never been
+supplied; that the same amount of concentrated interest has never, to
+this date, been awakened; and, when we reflect on the energy, the life
+and the hope its pages inspired in the communities whose sentiments it
+faithfully pleaded, we are strikingly reminded that on earth nothing is
+so valuable as a _man_, and that no cause is ever mighty except through
+decision, through force of character and force of expression, in setting
+forth the ideas and principles which may enlighten and save.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+GENERAL VIEWS.
+
+
+ON EDUCATION.--The first time I had the pleasure of a personal
+acquaintance with Mr. Badger, was in January, 1835, at Canton, N. Y.;
+and among the several topics on which he conversed during the few days
+we were together, was the subject of education. He then said:--
+
+      "Every human being should be educated. All young men who
+      are seeking to be useful in public life should be educated.
+      But there are certain evils to be avoided in the means we
+      pursue. Every human being, to improve in a natural way,
+      requires a certain amount of physical exercise. To shut
+      one's self up among books without walking and suitable
+      activity is the certain road to weakness."
+
+He said he had been trying to mature a plan of education for young
+ministers, of which he should speak at some future time. He said that
+ministers gain no power by becoming dry scholars; that they should be
+_living, natural_ men, to be profited by science and literature. I
+noticed, in all subsequent interviews, that he never seemed to want
+scientific culture, at the expense of naturalness, spirituality, and
+sound health. It was Horace Mann, I think, who more recently said, that
+a dyspeptic stomach is an abomination to the Lord. Mr. Badger
+substantially stood upon this text, in his educational views, many years
+ago.
+
+      "June, 1835.--All, we believe, are in favor of general
+      education. This is a great principle on which all are
+      agreed. On this ground we can, and indeed it is our duty to
+      unite all our energies, until our congregations shall be an
+      enlightened and intelligent community. We do not think our
+      people now so far behind other societies as some may
+      imagine; we have also scores of ministers who are not a
+      whit behind the chiefest apostles of the sects around us,
+      in a sound knowledge of theology; and among us are some of
+      the finest natural orators in our country. We do not
+      believe that any society of equal numbers can find, among
+      their church members, an equal number of biblical critics.
+      The people called Christians have labored under many
+      embarrassments; but they have made the best use of the
+      limited means in their possession for improvement. This is
+      a proof that they are capable of still higher attainments,
+      and a reason why they should be blessed with greater
+      privileges. As the time has come for the Christian church
+      to take strong and improved ground in this enlightened age,
+      let education and all other practical subjects be
+      thoroughly discussed, that we may be sufficiently
+      enlightened to go forward in union and strength, and
+      sustain our character as Christian reformers."
+
+He recommended that there should be a vigilant committee in every
+conference, whose business it should be to look up young men whose good
+but buried talents might, with a little encouragement, be brought out to
+good advantage in the work of the ministry. He proposed, as a temporary
+aid, the establishment of suitable libraries, and of theological
+reading-rooms, where young men could repair, and find a desirable
+retreat for study and reflection.
+
+      "This," says he, "is an age of improvement, and we must
+      keep pace with the improvements of the generation in which
+      we live in order to be useful. Nothing can be more
+      degrading to a religious community, and nothing can more
+      effectually retard their usefulness and prosperity, than an
+      ignorant ministry. We are not in favor of _men-made_
+      ministers, for we believe there must be a spiritual,
+      experimental, and divine qualification. But we do believe
+      that young men whose minds are exercised on the great work
+      of preaching the Gospel should embrace every opportunity
+      for improvement, and study 'to be workmen that need not be
+      ashamed.' In old times, there were the 'sons of the
+      prophets;' in the days of the apostles, there was a Timothy
+      and a Titus under the particular instruction of
+      Paul."--_Pall._, vol. 3, p. 54. 1834.
+
+      "April 15, 1835.--THE EDUCATION OF MINISTERS.--On this
+      subject we expect to be able to present an improved method
+      of education, which will be less expensive, and will remedy
+      two great evils. The first is the destruction of health and
+      the natural energies of the man. The second is the decline
+      of grace and of spiritual exercises in the mind of the
+      student. There is a system of self-education just
+      introduced in this State, on which Mr. Southwick and other
+      scientific gentlemen are lecturing, which is highly spoken
+      of. We intend immediately to inform ourself on this
+      subject, and hope to find something in it worthy the
+      attention of our readers. A study of this kind may, to
+      great advantage, be connected with theology without the
+      burdens, the darkness and pollution of heathen mythology."
+
+February, 1837.--In his remarks on Dr. Channing's letter, he says:
+
+      "We are generally opposed to the present mode of getting up
+      sectarian theological schools. We see so many ignorant men
+      coming out of those establishments pretending to teach
+      theology, who were never designed, by nature or grace, for
+      the ministry, who are as ignorant of grace, and the first
+      principles of the Christian religion, as Nicodemus, that we
+      have become disgusted with such human institutions, and
+      regard them as sources of corruption and division rather
+      than helps to the church of God. In past ages, the schools
+      have been the channels through which error, like a mighty
+      torrent, has poured its poison into the church. Through
+      these mediums the clergy have contrived to control and take
+      away the liberty of Zion. And is it surprising that we, who
+      are reformers, should be a little cautious about entering
+      hastily into a course which has proved so fatal and
+      dangerous to thousands? It is not _education_, but the
+      _method_, which produces alarm among our friends. The
+      doctor proclaims the sentiment of our congregations in the
+      clearest manner, in the following noble strain: 'I feel
+      that a minister, scantily educated but fervent in spirit,
+      will win more souls to Christ than the most learned
+      minister whose heart is cold, whose words are frozen, whose
+      eye never kindles with feeling, whose form is never
+      expanded with the greatness of his thoughts, and the ardor
+      of his love.'"
+
+When, in his tour to New England, in the autumn of 1835, he passed the
+evening of September 8th, with Dr. Channing, at his summer residence at
+Newport, R. I., the topic of education was partially discussed; and the
+views there developed, and the interest manifested on the part of Dr. C.
+in the Christian denomination, whom he regarded as having a great
+mission to fulfil, induced Mr. B., in January, 1837, to invite a
+communication from his pen. Those who would be pleased to read that able
+document will find it in Vol. V, p. 305, of the Christian Palladium. Mr.
+Badger's interest in the cause of education grew with his years; I
+remember to have heard him express a compliment to the Roman Catholic
+Church, in 1845, to this amount; "_Their_ scholars," said he, "_are_
+scholars. There is no smattering or pretension about it,"--a sentiment
+that perfectly expressed his profound regard for thorough learning. But
+he had a contempt, which he did not always conceal, for that class of
+men in the ministry, or elsewhere, who had a systematic book-learning,
+without any knowledge of human nature, or any living force with which to
+act upon the world they were living in; at times, both in private and
+in public, he alluded to them under the name of "College _dunces_."
+
+      "August 1, 1837.--THE GOSPEL AND THE REFORMS. THE SUN AND
+      THE STARS.--The natural sun is the centre of the solar
+      system. Every planetary star is stationed at a respectful
+      distance, and is dependent on the great centre for its
+      power and influence. Every planet revolves round the sun in
+      its time, and is directed, sustained, bounded and governed
+      by its attractive power. So the Gospel is, to the moral
+      world, civil government, science, and all the systems of
+      light and improvement, what the sun is to the heavenly
+      bodies. All must revolve around, are dependent on, are
+      subordinate to, and all must be governed by the glorious
+      Gospel of the Son of God.
+
+      "If this reasoning is sound, and we think none will deny
+      it, we bring it forward as an admonition to all men, who,
+      in their zeal to promote certain objects and to carry
+      certain points, have set up some little star as the centre
+      and attempted to make it the rallying point, and are
+      pleading for all other planets to revolve around it. The
+      Pope's decree, Mohamet's revelations, the decisions of
+      councils, synods, and the creeds of men, all in their turn
+      have been substituted for the sun, or centre of operation.
+      How mean they all look in this age of light as a rule of
+      action, when compared with the testimony of the living God.
+
+      "If the Presbyterians, in the late session of their general
+      assembly, had adhered to these principles they would not
+      have been split asunder. But how plain it is to every
+      impartial spectator that they substituted a few little
+      things as the criterion of fellowship; hence they are rent
+      in twain. But their separation, which is by the most of
+      people considered as a matter of lamentation, we regard as
+      a favorable omen. They were a great, a powerful people,
+      united by human laws made by themselves. They were
+      oppressive, proud, and cruel; and their arbitrary measures,
+      party feelings, and great influence, might yet have
+      endangered our liberties. Their ranks are now broken, and
+      the work of reform is begun. They will again be more
+      cordially united when they all submit to Christ, throw by
+      their petty stars and dark planets, and acknowledge the
+      supremacy of the glorious Sun, the Gospel of our blessed
+      Lord.
+
+      "When the temperance reform was introduced it was a blessed
+      work; but many good and zealous persons placed it
+      altogether before Christianity, and represented the Gospel
+      as a feeble instrument in doing good compared with this
+      benevolent human association. We were never opposed to
+      temperance, but to intemperate measures for the promotion
+      of temperance. We are still opposed to placing the
+      temperance cause before Christianity, making it the centre,
+      and calling upon the Gospel, as an inferior orb, to revolve
+      around it.
+
+      "When the tornado of anti-masonry swept like a mighty
+      torrent through the land, rending asunder the churches of
+      God and separating the ministers of Christ, the cause of
+      Jesus bled at every pore. What a desolating mildew it left!
+      What an overheated course many a zealous and good brother
+      ran in this holy war. In those perilous times we were among
+      the cool who pleaded for the union of the churches and
+      conferences; we then deprecated all forced measures and
+      intemperate decisions, and said, Do not try to make this
+      star a sun, but let us all keep our eye upon the great
+      centre, and all be Christians. This mild doctrine
+      prevailed, and all now rejoice that we were saved from
+      disorder and ruin.
+
+      "Slavery and anti-slavery are now the exciting subjects
+      which bid fair to produce great commotion and some division
+      in the church. It is said this subject was among the causes
+      which led to the division of the Presbyterian assembly.
+      Some good brethren always have their powder dry and ready
+      to blow up by every spark that falls near them. Such have
+      no medium in which they rest, have no principles by which
+      they are bounded; but they drive ahead upon the excitement
+      of the moment, regardless of that moderation and charity
+      which the Gospel enjoins. They make their point the sun,
+      and call on the Gospel to exert its influence to accomplish
+      their favorite object. Here is the difficulty. Men will be
+      partial and limited in the view they take of subjects, and
+      will, more or less, be governed by human passions in their
+      pursuits; hence coercive measures are resorted to, and
+      division and ruin follow."
+
+THE MINISTRY.--In the views already given in this book, it is plain that
+Mr. Badger believed in a Gospel ministry, that, besides the human
+qualifications of learning and culture, had a vital, living union with
+God, with Christ, with the perpetual region of light in the heavens.
+This view, which appears in the earliest ideas cherished in his youth,
+pervaded all his ordination sermons and addresses; and he pleaded that
+such a ministry should be supported in a manner to elevate it above the
+necessity of worldly cares and of temporal privation. Though very much
+of his own ministry through life was unrewarded by adequate returns of
+temporal aid, he firmly held to the two apparently conflicting ideas,
+that he to whom God gives this spiritual mission should go forward and
+preach for life, nor be dissuaded by poverty, calumny or persecution;
+and that the people are not justly entitled to any man's services in the
+ministry any longer than they continue to render the proof of their
+appreciation in the form of earthly support, according to their ability
+and the reasonable wants of the minister. Gracefully and practically did
+he know how to develop the meaning of that apostolical saying, "The
+laborer is worthy of his hire." Though, like John Milton, he disliked to
+have the minister occupy a position in which community may justly regard
+him as a feed attorney for the cause he advocates, he also disdained to
+foster a covetous, money-worshipping community under the name of a
+Christian church. He was once heard to say, that the true minister would
+live on browse before he would abandon the cause of God.
+
+      "Three things," said he (in a letter to a young man[55] who
+      was about to begin to preach), "are essential to a
+      preacher. First, the ability to discern the condition and
+      capacity of a congregation. Second, an ability to select a
+      subject suited to their capacity and wants. Third, skill to
+      deliver it in a manner to be received to the best
+      advantage. How often you hear preachers labor on
+      inappropriate subjects, who evidently did not understand
+      the wants of their assembly; and how frequently you have
+      heard a good subject mutilated and the assembly disgusted
+      by bad delivery. The more natural, easy, simple, and
+      affectionate a truth can be told, the better and more
+      lasting effect it will have."
+
+On problems of the future state, he did not largely speculate. In reply
+to some nice questions touching his views of the details and minutiæ of
+the immortal life, he once said, "Let us wait until we get there. Who
+can answer these questions now?" He preached that virtue leads to glory
+eternal; that vice naturally proceeds to darkness and wo; that
+revelation gives hope only to those who obey. It will be almost
+invariably found, that his abilities and themes had strong practical
+bearings; that his power was never prone to assume the merely
+speculative form.
+
+On human nature he was explicit. He never admitted the doctrine of
+original inherent sin; but from the first, vindicated humanity from the
+charges of total depravity. In 1854, though the blaspheming of human
+nature, common to the olden creeds, is theoretically retained, we seldom
+hear its allegations in bold words: but in 1817 and onwards, it was
+otherwise. Then Mr. Badger took his stand in behalf of humanity with a
+defence so wise that it repelled at the same time the charges of
+Calvinism and pleaded the need of regeneration. At Royalton, about
+twenty-five years ago, he spoke on human nature against the common view,
+so strongly and so boldly, that it caused some two or three ministers
+who were with him in the desk to exhibit signs of surprise. He continued
+without the least deviation; and, a few months since, one of the same
+gentlemen who witnessed the scene at Royalton, said, that the view Mr.
+Badger then gave, was the one now hailed with joy by the large masses,
+the one which thoughtful minds are everywhere weaving into the
+philosophy of man's nature and life.
+
+Mr. Badger said, that there was partial truth in all the new things of
+the day, in Mesmerism, Phrenology, Fourierism, Abolitionism,
+Non-resistance, Adventism; but that neither of these is what its
+partisans make it. He thought there was something superficial in each
+offered remedy of modern time for the cure of human evils; that the
+Gospel, with its divine persuasions, is alone able to rectify the
+condition of man on earth. He thought there were heads in the world that
+would puzzle and confound phrenology, though in the main it might have
+the perception of a great truth. The spirit of his views would say--Why
+get infatuated with your new idea? Why make it everything? Why lose your
+balance in the circle of your Christian duty, and grow dizzy-headed on
+your one idea, your darling ultraism? He held that the world's real
+progress is plain and slow; that God's kingdom does not come in
+coruscations of lightning, or in the sport of whirlwinds. "Oh! foolish
+Galations, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?"
+was the text of a very impressive sermon delivered to a great concourse
+of people in June, 1845,[56] in which he particularized on the extremes
+of the day, on the infatuation which temporarily seizes a certain class
+of men, and causes them to substitute a fragmentary truth for the whole
+Gospel, and for the whole platform of human duty.
+
+      CHURCH POLITY. "We have noticed for more than twenty
+      years," said Mr. B., "that the first ground assumed by
+      disorganizers is, that 'the church is the highest tribunal
+      on earth.' Recently, Mr. Campbell and some others have
+      urged this doctrine in a manner and with explanations which
+      are calculated to produce the worst of consequences.
+
+      "1st. We object to the TERM tribunal, when applied to the
+      church. We not only regard it unscriptural, but in the
+      general acceptation of the term it implies too much. It
+      carries with it not only the authority to constitute a
+      judgment seat, but the power to _reward_ and _punish_; the
+      church has no such power. God is a sovereign. His
+      government is monarchical--he has given his Son all
+      authority in his church, and the whole government is upon
+      his shoulder. The church has no authority to alter one of
+      Christ's institutions, nor make the least law for the
+      government of his spiritual body. The business of the
+      church is to learn of Christ, to know his laws and
+      institutions, and to walk by them; to fear God and keep his
+      commandments is the whole duty of man. The church has no
+      power to bestow rewards nor to inflict punishments; this
+      alone is the prerogative of the Great Head of the church.
+      Christians on earth have less authority over each other
+      than some imagine. We have little to do with each other's
+      private opinions: in these matters each stands or falls, or
+      is accountable to his own master. To be sure, we are
+      authorized to form an opinion of men from the fruits they
+      bring forth--from the spirit they manifest; and we have
+      power to fellowship or disfellowship according to the
+      fruits brought forth; but we can inflict no other
+      punishment, and this should be regarded as a Christian duty
+      rather than in the light of punishment. As far as the
+      church can exert a Christian influence in reclaiming men
+      from the error of their ways, and as long as they, under
+      guidance of the spirit of Christ, can labor for each
+      other's advancement in the divine life, so long they can be
+      useful. But the moment they feel that they have authority
+      to punish, and begin to labor under that impression, they
+      do mischief in the flock of Christ. Thus we object to the
+      application of the term '_tribunal_' to the church, and the
+      anti-Christian authority it seems to impart.
+
+      "The error is not so much in the term used as in the
+      explanations, opinions, and practice connected with its
+      use. We have seen it fully carried out in practice. The
+      doctrine is this. Each little band of brethren scattered
+      abroad is the church, and are the highest tribunal on
+      earth. There is no appeal from their decisions; they have
+      power to try and exclude a minister of the Gospel, and all
+      councils or conferences composed of ministers and brethren
+      are unscriptural, arbitrary and anti-Christian. But the
+      error lies at the starting-point--in the very foundation.
+      Those little bands of brethren are only parts of the great
+      family on earth. They can attend to their own internal
+      affairs; their work is small, and in a very limited circle.
+      From such little decisions we ask no appeal. They can
+      extend fellowship to whom they please, and withdraw from
+      the disorderly; but they cannot act for other branches of
+      Zion who live fifty or a thousand miles from them. They can
+      hear, encourage, or abandon such ministers as they choose,
+      so far as their ministry with them is concerned; but it
+      would be folly for them to attempt to make or destroy
+      ministers for others. Now ministers are not the property of
+      one little branch of the church; they belong to the
+      whole--are accountable to the whole. Any branch of the
+      church has a right to present a trial or grief against a
+      minister. But the question will arise, Who shall decide on
+      a trial thus presented by a church against a minister?
+      Surely not the church who present the trial, for they are
+      the accusing party. He is a public man, all the churches
+      are interested in his prosperity and in his impeachment.
+      The common error says, the accusing party must accuse and
+      condemn, for it is the highest tribunal on earth. But
+      common sense and common justice say, Let a council of
+      ministers and brethren from other churches be called to
+      investigate and decide this matter. Let the man have a
+      hearing before a council, equal in numbers and authority to
+      that which received or ordained him, and by which he was
+      inducted into his holy work in the church. We care not
+      whether this assemblage of ministers and church members is
+      called a council or a conference; if it possesses the
+      talent, the wisdom and light of the body, if a board is
+      formed whose just, fair, and impartial decisions shall
+      receive the sanction, respect, and confidence of all the
+      churches for whom they act.
+
+      "Within three years past we have known two instances in
+      which ministers had fallen into disrepute with a part of
+      the churches of their charge. When trials were presented
+      they immediately assumed the ground that the church was the
+      highest tribunal; they would have no council, nor ministers
+      in the case, unless they could bring in some partial friend
+      of theirs who was prepared to cover up and defend their
+      iniquitous proceedings; they would be tried by the church,
+      and immediately set themselves to work to secure the
+      majority, whose first business it was to exclude the
+      minority. Those ministers, we presume, could not be induced
+      to have their conduct examined by a wise, impartial, and
+      judicious conference of elders and brethren; yet they have
+      good and clean letters of commend and justification from
+      the churches to which they belong. Such ministers as are
+      not willing to throw themselves open to the investigation
+      of all the churches and all their brethren in the ministry,
+      ought to confine their labors to the church or party who
+      has commended them, and by whom they are willing to be
+      judged.
+
+      "We do not believe there is a church in the land who shall
+      undertake to exclude their pastor, let him be ever so bad,
+      that can do it without rending their own body asunder. A
+      minister, in ever so great errors, or ever so much fallen
+      in morality, will have his adherents and his party, and
+      frequently by his management will secure the majority of
+      the church of his charge. How many churches have thus been
+      rent asunder; how many wicked ministers have thus
+      endeavored to screen themselves from justice. "Where no
+      counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of
+      counsellors there is safety." Prov. 11:14.
+
+      "Having discarded the idea that one little branch of Zion
+      possesses the whole authority, we shall now state that the
+      term Church is sometimes applied to a very small band of
+      believers, and in other cases it is applied to the whole
+      body of Christians in the world. The church, in the general
+      use of the word, embraces all the ministers, gifts, and
+      members of Christ's body. When people have separated the
+      ministers from the congregations, or the congregations from
+      the ministers, and undertaken to do business in their
+      separate capacities, independent of each other, when the
+      business transacted was of a public or general character,
+      they have both materially erred. The Gospel recognizes
+      ministers and people as _one_ body, united and coöperating
+      in one work, advancing the same interests, and promoting
+      the same cause. Their talents may be different, their
+      calling and gifts various, but no one member can say to
+      another, 'I have no need of you.' To take the church as a
+      whole, if it were proper to use the term 'tribunal,' we
+      should have no objection to saying it was the highest
+      tribunal on earth, that is, there is no earthly court that
+      has a right to control its decisions, and there is no
+      earthly court to which it can appeal. But Christ and his
+      revealed will are still higher than any decision of the
+      church; to it the whole church must bow with humble
+      reverence, and say, 'Thy will be done.'
+
+      "Nothing is plainer and more clearly taught in the word of
+      God than that it is the design of the Gospel that God's
+      people should act in union as one family, and be the light
+      of the world. Under the old dispensation, when the
+      congregations stood in the counsel of the Lord and walked
+      in his statutes, they were of one heart and of one mind;
+      all acted for the public good; the different tribes often
+      consulted together, and all marshalled under the same
+      banner. But when they departed from the Lord, each one did
+      what was right in his own eyes, and every one went to his
+      own tent. The entire history of God's people under the law,
+      shows that when they consulted and acted in union they were
+      blessed and prospered; and when they separated and acted in
+      their individual capacities, they proved the Scripture
+      true, which says, 'Where no counsel is, the people fall.'
+
+      "But in the New Testament the same principle of general
+      consultation is most clearly exhibited in the proceedings
+      of the first Christians. The very nature of the Christian
+      religion, the constitution of the Gospel church, impose the
+      duty. The Christian religion is a general system; it breaks
+      down all separations, and of Jews and Gentiles forms one
+      new church. All Christians are bound up in the same great
+      interests: they are of one heart and of one mind. In the
+      sixth chapter of Acts of the Apostles, we find a plain
+      account of the call and proceedings of a Christian
+      Conference. The brethren brought forward the candidates for
+      ordination, and the ministers laid their hands on them and
+      appointed them to their work. Here were at least twelve
+      ministers and a multitude of brethren. If this instance
+      stood alone in the Bible, we should think the Scripture
+      authority for conference clear; but it is not alone. In
+      the fifteenth chapter of Acts, we have an account of a
+      difficulty which arose about circumcision, which Paul,
+      Barnabas and the whole church at Antioch could not decide.
+      When the apostles, elders, and a multitude of brethren were
+      assembled at Jerusalem, we have an account that Peter,
+      Barnabas, Paul, and James addressed them at length on the
+      great question, which was settled to mutual satisfaction.
+      When this was done, they sent out messengers to bear their
+      decisions to all their brethren who could not be present.
+      Here is another instance of a Christian conference doing
+      business and deciding questions for the church at large. If
+      one church is the highest tribunal, why did not the church
+      at Antioch put the question to rest without making so much
+      expense and trouble? It is plain that there was none of
+      this childish independence and authority claimed by the
+      primitive churches, about which the disorganizers make so
+      much ado in the nineteenth century."
+
+      FREEDOM OF DISCUSSION. "Messrs. Editors of the
+      Telegraph;[57]--I ever with pleasure, whether at home or
+      abroad, grasp the interesting sheet which is daily sent
+      forth from your office, and with interest peruse its
+      columns.
+
+      "Under the editorial head my attention was recently
+      arrested by the performances of a writer who styles himself
+      B., who, after a tedious preamble, brings forth what he is
+      pleased to style, 'A rare collection of geniuses;' and
+      although he looks into contempt the speculations of the
+      humble Capt. Sims, tramples with impunity on the honors of
+      Gov. Morril, proclaims on the house-top the vanity and
+      folly of Gov. Clinton, Lieut. Gov. Pitcher, Gen. Root, J.
+      V. N. Yates, Dr. Beck, and the whole faculty of Hamilton
+      College, we think he leaves us proof among his
+      heterogeneous labors that he must be ranked among the rare
+      wits of our times. What he says of Capt. Sims strikes me as
+      a piece of base cowardice, as the theory of Capt. S. is
+      very unpopular. Capt. Sims, as I understand him, is
+      convinced, from long and arduous study, that further
+      northern discoveries ought to be made. This is the burden
+      of his labors. To this idea the American Congress and every
+      thinking man must consent. I heard his lectures at
+      Cincinnati, and regard him as an honest, independent man.
+      As the President has recommended northern explorations, I
+      sincerely hope that important discoveries will be made.
+      Though Mr. Sims's theory is now very unpopular, is it more
+      so than was the revolution of the earth when first
+      published by Galileo? The projects of Columbus were
+      ridiculed; the American Revolution was sneered at by our
+      proud foes of the east. Even the mission of the Saviour was
+      treated with the utmost contempt. How careful, Sirs, ought
+      we to be in opposing new views, and in guarding ourselves
+      and others against the spirit of persecution."
+
+We offer the following on the tragical fate of Lovejoy, as appropriate
+to this subject:
+
+"The riot which recently took place in Alton, Ill., in which two
+citizens lost their lives, is one of the most disgraceful events that
+ever stained the character of our country. The mayor must have been
+guilty of gross negligence, for from what had transpired he ought to
+have been fully prepared for it. Had an efficient man been in his place,
+clothed with his authority, the property and life of the innocent might
+have been protected, and a ruthless mob would have been taught a lesson
+which would have cured their propensity for that kind of diversion. The
+destruction of fifty of those lawless midnight assassins would have been
+a trifle compared with the loss of one peaceable, honorable man in the
+lawful discharge of his duty. It is said that the Attorney General of
+the State, and a clergyman, took a conspicuous part, and made speeches
+to influence and encourage the mob, and that several respectable
+citizens were among the number. Oh, shame! Has our country come to this?
+Can it be that there is a man in Illinois who makes the least pretension
+to respectability or morality, who would encourage or countenance for a
+moment such an infringement upon the laws of God and man? We think
+little, very little, of such respectability, of such officers, such
+attorneys, and such clergymen. We say--
+
+      'Strip the miscreants of the robes they stain,
+      And drive them from the altars they profane.'
+
+"What can men expect to gain by associating as mobs? No honorable object
+was ever accomplished by cruelty and oppression. No righteous cause
+requires such measures. This outrage will defeat its own object; it will
+increase and excite the sympathies of the people, and advance the cause
+it intends to destroy, TENFOLD. Funds will be raised, and valiant men
+enough will be found who will cheerfully volunteer to raise the standard
+of liberty and free discussion on the very spot where their brave
+brother has fallen a martyr. Men in such cases will not count their
+lives dear unto themselves; there are hundreds ready to be offered upon
+the same altar. Not only so, but the blood of this innocent man crieth
+from the ground for vengeance, and there is a righteous God in heaven
+who regards the condition of the oppressed, and who will not let the
+wicked go unpunished.
+
+"The people of Boston, New York, and Cincinnati, have tried the virtue
+of mobs, to put down free discussion, and what has been the result? Why,
+it has increased, strengthened and built up the persecuted party. The
+destruction of one printing-press will only raise up ten to speak and
+plead for the liberty of the press. The murder of one Morgan will raise
+up thousands to redress his injuries. In our eastern cities, where we
+have efficient and enlightened officers, mobs are immediately put down,
+but at Alton and St. Louis society must be in a deplorable state.
+
+"Mr. Lovejoy, we have ever understood, was a respectable citizen, a man
+of talent, and a zealous minister of the Gospel. He had a right to enjoy
+his opinions; he had a right to use the press, that great engine of
+liberty, in propagating his views; and none had a right to molest him.
+His zeal no doubt led him to adopt strong measures in vindicating his
+own interest and the cause to which his energies were devoted. He acted
+in his own defence upon the principle of justice as a citizen. If he had
+slain a score of his opponents under these circumstances, the laws of
+the land would have held him guiltless. But still the course was an
+unfortunate one. The New Testament and the Christian Spirit teach us, as
+children of the Prince of Peace, a more excellent way: 'Resist not
+evil'--'Put up thy sword into its sheath'--'Be patient in
+tribulation'--'If ye are persecuted, revile not.'
+
+"The friends who were leaders in the English reform, persevered over
+thirty years firm and faithful, without slander, war or bloodshed. They
+had the utmost confidence in the justice and righteousness of their
+cause; they were patient under persecutions, were meek and humble in
+every defeat, and the light at length shone and they triumphed. Here is
+a beautiful model for American reformers. LIGHT and TRUTH should be the
+only weapons used in accomplishing great moral, benevolent and religious
+objects. Christians in all laudable enterprises should be meek and
+humble, should possess much of the spirit of their holy Master, render
+good for evil, and conquer all opposition with love."
+
+"ORDINANCES.--Herein we see the benefit of _institutions_ and _images_
+by which past events are preserved by us and transmitted to posterity.
+National events, Jewish, Roman, Pagan, and Christian ordinances, are
+_speaking things_, which, as soon as they are abandoned, the events on
+which they are founded, the impressions and ideas associated with them,
+are lost."
+
+At the present time, there are a few indications that the active
+theological minds of the country may at some distant day fall under two
+general classifications, which, for the want of a better expression at
+hand, we may call the _centralizers_ and _universalizers_. The latter
+resolve religion wholly into abstract ideas and principles which freely
+range through the whole empire of spirit, as gravitation, electricity
+and light operate through all space. Such rally about no personal
+centre. The former seek the abstract principles of religion only, or
+chiefly in their personal investments, and look for their effective
+radiance in a mediator. This class, for reasons needless to be discussed
+at this time, are from necessity the great mass, the organized activity
+of the religious sentiment; and though Mr. Badger had much catholicity
+in his faith and practice, nothing is plainer than that he centralized
+all in Christ, who, to him, was the untiring sun in the solar system of
+God's impartial favor. Thus speaks the following letter:--
+
+                              "HONEOYE FALLS, August, 1845.
+
+      "Br. Ross,--I am now better in health, and am trying to go
+      ahead with what little ability I have, in the _one, single,
+      simple_ work of preaching the blessed Gospel. Am I right,
+      or should I be a political minister, and conform to the
+      practice of this corrupt age, and present to my hearers a
+      chowder compound? I follow St. Paul's old, obsolete
+      theology of knowing nothing among the people save Jesus
+      Christ and him crucified."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+MINISTRY, PUBLISHED WRITINGS AND IMPORTANT EVENTS, FROM MAY, 1839, TO
+MARCH, 1848.
+
+
+On leaving the Palladium office, in 1839, Mr. Badger repaired to his
+residence at Honeoye Falls, Monroe County, New York, where his friends
+built for themselves a new and commodious chapel, the best in the town;
+it was dedicated by Mr. Badger in 1840. He was unanimously chosen pastor
+of this society. He was now in the centre of his former field of labors,
+a field he had occupied nearly twenty years. His congregations were
+large, equal at that time, it was stated, to the other four
+congregations combined. The pastoral relation furnished him a good field
+for success, as his wise management, social spirit, attractive
+preaching, and compromising, conciliating turn of mind, gave him strong
+ability for establishing and enlarging the prosperity of a new
+congregation. He held this relation till the autumn of 1842.
+
+But the death of his second son, Joseph Badger, Jr., who died May 27,
+1839, in the sixteenth year of his age, was indeed an affliction that
+deeply shaded his spirit. He was a noble and an ingenious youth. He had
+fine abilities, was truthful and genial; and in the execution of
+business plans, so far certainly as they related to publishing, he was
+his father's main reliance. Great were the parental affections that
+centred in him; and when he departed, the gigantic spirit of his father,
+which had ever dealt easily with great adversity, now was deeply
+stirred, like the patriarch's of ancient time. Though he shed no tear
+over the death of his son, though he opposed a serene temper and
+countenance to the great bereavement, no event had ever bowed him so
+deeply, or struck so centrally into his inward composure and peace.
+Often, as night came on, refusing his accustomed slumber, he walked the
+garden in lonely meditations, and blended with the serious light of moon
+and stars the more sober workings of his own mind. Never before had
+calamity the power to bring out the evidences of a deeply disturbed and
+broken spirit; and these were now so well controlled by him, that the
+world neither saw nor dreamed of their existence. At times, he arose
+from his nightly rest to walk the grounds of his pleasant mansion, and
+for hours seemed to invite the holy and beautiful sympathy of nature to
+soften his grief. Deep, exceedingly deep was this sorrow over his worthy
+son.
+
+There were plans occupying his mind at this time, which, though
+unannounced to the world, were of large moment. Aside from ministerial
+duties, at home and abroad, he contemplated the publication of several
+works. He intended to have given the world the biography of several
+distinguished ministers whose lives were closed in the field of arduous
+labor. Among these, he had selected, for a prominent place, the life and
+writings of Joseph Thomas, of Ohio, a man of eloquence and interesting
+ability. All the materials for this book now lie in Mr. Badger's desk,
+in the order in which he arranged them. In ministerial biography, how
+capable had been his pen! His acquaintance and experience were so
+extensive that, from memory alone, he could have drawn the largest
+contributions for his object. He had also determined on editing a Church
+History which should have reflected the success of Christian principles
+preached for half a century. In this, also, how largely was he qualified
+to do justice to his undertaking! No inconsiderable quantity of material
+gathered for this purpose now remains in his library; but the hand that
+would have edited them is motionless for ever, and the son whose age and
+capacity then qualified him to second and to render effectual his
+enterprises, was taken from the earth. Notwithstanding these breaks in
+these cherished aims, his life continued active, and the churches felt
+the weight of his counsel and the worth of his influence.
+
+In June, he attended three conferences in the State; at Rock Stream,
+Yates County, where the attendance of both ministers and people was
+great, he preached, on Saturday, a sermon of marked character, full of
+the calm and harmonizing spirit of Christianity, founded on Ps. 119:
+165: "Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend
+them." It had a visible influence, it was thought, on the proceedings of
+the body, and on the tone of all the meetings. In dwelling on the peace
+of the divine law, he spoke of the trials of brethren against each other
+as wholly wrong; as unnecessary; he dwelt on the repose of spirit, on
+the fine feelings and peaceful sentiments of the true Christian,
+explaining the latter part of the passage as meaning that "nothing shall
+cause them to offend." At this time, he was appointed chairman of the
+committee on education, who met in the new chapel at Honeoye Falls,
+September, 1839, and there decided the location of the contemplated
+seminary in favor of Starkey, N. Y.
+
+This season, Mr. Badger attended several dedications of new chapels in
+western New York; one at Union Springs, on the shores of the Cayuga, one
+at Searsburg, one at York, one at Laona; whether he was present at the
+dedication of the churches at Springwater and Machias, no evidence
+informs us. At Marion, Wayne County, N. Y., September, 1840, he preached
+eleven sermons, which were followed by good effects. I here quote a
+paragraph, as it embodies his opinion on the subject of revivals:
+
+      "Some would call our meeting at Marion a protracted effort;
+      but I care not what it is called, provided God is honored
+      and souls are saved. A protracted meeting, conducted by
+      enthusiastic, proud, extravagant, and ranting leaders, is a
+      curse to any well-organized congregation. Some men think
+      it is no matter what means are employed if an effect is
+      produced; the end will justify the means. But this is a
+      dangerous sentiment. Let a meeting be conducted for days or
+      weeks, with prudence, candor and solemnity, let an appeal
+      be made to the understanding of rational men, let their
+      judgment be informed; then the experience will be sound,
+      the effect lasting, and the revival will be a blessing and
+      an honor to any congregation."
+
+It were, indeed, a lengthy task to record the history, in detail, of his
+various labors from 1840 to 1848. Justice, however, demands a condensed
+statement of facts. In 1840, his labors were very successful in
+Stafford, Genesee County, N. Y. About sixty were added to the church.
+Under his labors, the Christian society of that place merged out of many
+discouragements. In the spring of 1841, he speaks of a revival in his
+own assembly; of some sixty who had made religion a fact of inward
+experience; of the reception of about forty members into his church; of
+the baptism, at one time, April 25th, of twenty-nine persons in the
+waters of the Honeoye; of other important seasons of administering this
+symbolical rite to persons in whom had just opened the new epoch of a
+spiritual life. The first year of his retirement from editorial labor
+was spent in considerable devotion to study and reflection. This year,
+he visited Castile, Wyoming County, N. Y.; also several other places
+whose condition required his assistance. He said:
+
+      "No energy should be suffered to slumber, no rational and
+      scriptural means should be left unimproved, for the
+      conversion of sinners, and the perfection and holiness of
+      the church of God. In such exciting times as these, what a
+      steady and constant care should every Christian exercise in
+      order to 'discern between the precious and the vile,' and
+      be suitably guarded against the extravagant inventions of
+      men, which direct the mind from Christ and from that holy
+      work which devolves upon our hands as disciples. How many
+      have followed vain speculations and empty theories until
+      they have lost their Christian meekness and zeal, and have
+      become proud, haughty, heady, self-righteous sectarians,
+      the sport of the infidel, or stumbling-block to sinners,
+      and a reproach to the cause of God. In this state of
+      things, ministers should be awake, divested of the world,
+      harnessed for the holy war, and, in Christian meekness,
+      should lay the axe at the root of every evil tree, whether
+      within or without the church. In this view of things, I
+      have not dared to engage in any worldly enterprise, and now
+      feel strong, as in my youth, to go forth into the harvest
+      of the Lord. It will be thirty years next August since I
+      engaged in the work of the ministry. I mourn that I have
+      done no more good. The past year, I have preached as many
+      sermons, and labored as hard, as in any other year of my
+      life, and I trust it has not been in vain. To be useful to
+      the souls of men, to produce a healthy and saving influence
+      in the church, should be the great motive to govern all
+      good ministers of our Lord. With this object in view, every
+      man who puts forth an untiring effort will assuredly see
+      the fruit of his labor."
+
+      "When our American fathers fought for liberty, the love of
+      country inspired their bold and worthy devotion. Their
+      voluntary suffering and sacrifices were the loud clarions
+      to proclaim immortality upon their names and virtues. It is
+      so with ministers and people; where a suitable degree of
+      love to the Redeemer's cause is felt, the sacrifices will
+      be voluntary and hearty, and the blessing is sure to follow
+      as that they put forth a suitable effort from the right
+      motive. But we too often ask and receive not, because we
+      ask amiss, by asking or laboring with a wrong or impure
+      desire. Whether the minister is suitably remunerated or
+      not, he should do all he can for the cause of God, and
+      leave his hearers to answer in the judgment for their
+      treatment to him. Let us, as ministers and people, do our
+      duty, come what will. It will be a poor apology for a
+      minister in the judgment day, when asked why he was no more
+      active in God's vineyard, to say that he was poorly paid;
+      and it will be a poor apology for the miserly professor,
+      when asked why he has sustained the Gospel ministry no
+      better, to say he did not like the minister, that he never
+      signed subscriptions, or any of the thousand excuses the
+      covetous urge in this life. When we behold all the beauty
+      of nature, all the splendid works of art, and all the
+      wealth of this vast world melted down in the general
+      conflagration, how will Christians mourn over the
+      pernicious worldly spirit which has choked the good seed,
+      rendered them nearly useless in the church, and presented
+      them mere dwarfs in the presence of God. Oh, foolish
+      Christians, to be so worldly now; of what blessings do you
+      deprive yourselves in this life, and what a reward you lose
+      in heaven! Oh, precious Zion, how she bleeds and suffers,
+      and how indifferent her professed friends! Who will put
+      forth a helping hand to rebuild her waste places?"
+
+As his own congregation was now established on a good foundation,
+numbering upwards of a hundred members, he began to think of devoting
+his labors one half of the time to the churches generally, to raise in
+them a higher tone of religious feeling. In the winter of 1842 he
+visited Yates County, preached thirty-one sermons in the village of
+Dundee to large assemblies. His sermon on temperance raised one hundred
+and four signers to the pledge; his personal visits to the
+liquor-sellers took every drop from their stores, so that none of it
+could be bought. His sermon on profane swearing changed the tone of
+language among young men, and gave rise among them to an association
+whose object was the cultivation of a pure speech. Being unable this
+year to comply with the invitation of his brethren in Michigan to attend
+their Conference, he addressed them a letter, in which he offered the
+counsels he supposed adapted to their condition in a new country, among
+which was the idea, that if they would prosper as a people, they should,
+in building chapels, be careful to select the best locations, to build
+in thriving villages and in cities; for he pleaded that a village,
+however small or wicked it might be, is a far better location than can
+be gained a mile or so distant, inasmuch as it is sure to finally
+centralize the interest of the surrounding region.
+
+In the fall of 1842, Mr. Badger resigned his pastoral care of the church
+at Honeoye Falls, that he might travel among the churches, and be free
+to attend the many calls for ordination, dedication, and other services
+that were made upon his time and labor from abroad. This separation was
+in the kindest feeling, and on the part of the society was accompanied
+by a commendatory letter that expressed the highest regard for his
+services and character, a regard based on an acquaintance of twenty five
+years. The society, with the counsel and approval of their former
+pastor, engaged the labors of Rev. Oliver Barr, whose tragical death in
+the late railroad disaster at Norwalk, May 6th, 1853, has given occasion
+to many expressions of appreciation and sympathy. Under the labors of
+Mr. Badger, this society stood on a solid basis of prosperity and union;
+all in all, their position was stronger and their influence sounder
+under his pastoral care than they ever have been since they were
+organized as a church. Mr. Badger is again free to obey the
+miscellaneous calls of his brethren and of the community in general,
+December 7th, he attended the dedication of the church at Shelby; the
+8th, he preached the ordination sermon of Chester Covel, and for several
+weeks continued meetings with success. He valued this revival, because
+its subjects were persons of character, talent and influence, "who would
+do honor to any cause," and because they embraced Christianity
+understandingly, and not from excitement and fear. "Where men are
+frightened, abused and stormed into sectarian measures," said Mr. B.,
+"they may make professions, and like slaves may submit to Christian
+ordinances, but they will seldom walk worthy of their avocation. Such
+persons will generally make warm partisans and proud worldly professors,
+rather than humble, useful Christians." He also visited Ogden and Barry,
+and gave several discourses. He did not preach six sermons in any place
+during his labors in the bounds of the Western Conference, without
+seeing a revival commence. He speaks highly of that association of
+churches and ministers.
+
+The latter part of the winter, 1843, he visited the congregation of
+Rev. C. E. Morrill, at Union Springs, Cayuga County, N. Y., and
+delivered over twenty sermons to his people; under their united labors
+several were converted to God. Soon after this, he visited Lakeville,
+twelve miles south of his residence, where, twenty-five years previous,
+he had assisted to organize a church, and had, for the first nine years
+of their history, held the pastoral charge over them. Here he continued
+his efforts for three weeks, baptized twenty persons, collected and
+concentrated the scattered strength of the society, and continued with
+them one half of the time through the year. They put on strength and
+were revived. He speaks of the general complaint throughout the country
+of religion being at a low ebb, as having its primary cause in the wild
+zeal with which new theories are pursued to the neglect of prayer, the
+church, the simple Gospel and its claims. He strongly persuades
+professing Christians to return with fresh zeal to their holy devotions,
+to the simplicity of the means of grace as their only hope for securing
+the prosperity of Zion.
+
+      "What a state society has been in far two years past.[58]
+      The sun is darkened by the locusts from the bottomless pit,
+      and the Christian atmosphere in every neighborhood in the
+      land seems impregnated with some poisonous vapor to ruin
+      the soul and to paralyze the energies of the innocent child
+      of God. Never shall we see the evil remedied until
+      ministers come home to the gospel, rely on _that_, and on
+      _that alone_, for the salvation of men; know nothing among
+      the people but Jesus Christ and him crucified; leave their
+      wild speculations, encourage the improvement of all the
+      gifts in Zion, and teach and encourage practical religion
+      in every heart. Never shall we be delivered from the
+      incubus that hangs so heavily upon us until church members
+      leave their high-headed racing after new theories and come
+      home to the prayer meeting and conference, be content with
+      the simplicity of the Gospel, know their Master's will and
+      do it, and sit at the feet of Jesus clothed and in their
+      right mind."
+
+In September, 1843, the death of his son-in-law, Rev. Seth Marvin, a man
+of good ability, of fine and noble nature, of rich fountains of
+religious experience, and of an oratory peculiarly divine for the
+awakening of all the heavenward feelings of the human heart, was an
+event that called out the sympathies of his inmost life; and in the
+Palladium, vol. 12, p. 97, is a long obituary from his pen, possessing
+the grace of tender love, combined with a clear, comprehensive statement
+of the life and qualities of that lamented man.
+
+To this year also belongs his action in regard to that great excitement,
+which took a temporary hold on the different denominations, known under
+the name of Millerism. Though we would speak reverently of every form of
+human hope, regarding all that is strong in religious phenomena as being
+at least mythologically true, we cannot but honor the independent
+position Mr. Badger assumed on this subject, at a time when many others
+either embraced the doctrine, or favored it as a means of promoting
+popular revivals in their congregations. With a clear vision he
+penetrated its claims, acknowledged the degree of truth he thought it
+contained, then spoke of its defects of doctrine, logic, and temper,
+declaring its probable future results on the welfare of religion and the
+churches. He early saw the effect in the cause, and in 1842, withstood
+the tendency of the paper he had so long conducted, whose editor was
+then guiding it into the service of that system.
+
+Let it not be thought that we speak sectarianly on the subject here
+introduced, for substantially we concede all that man ever has or can
+hope for. "New heavens and new earth" were promised us in 1843; and
+though Nature did not condescend even to frown or smile at those who
+told her fortune, she knows very well that new heavens and new earth
+will ultimately come. The progress of the solar system through space
+will alone bring new heavens physically; and changes now at work in
+terrestrial nature shall yet exhibit a new earth. Be patient; myriads of
+years, which are God's seconds, will do the work. Is not the earth now
+good enough for thee, thou latter-day saint? Be patient; it is now much
+better than you are; it flowers are more fragrant than your virtues, its
+fountains are purer than your actions, its music of bird and brook is
+sweeter than your Sabbath melody, and it rolls in its orbit far more
+majestically and truthfully than you have ever pursued the circuit of
+your duties. He who has divine life in him _always_ sees a new earth and
+a new heaven. "The Lord shall come;" yes, more and more in proportion as
+man is capable of receiving him. He has come, does come, and shall come;
+and in the symbolical, higher sense, who that believes in God or man
+dares to despair of a new heaven and a new earth in the mental, moral,
+and social conditions of humanity? Who does not hope for a more perfect
+state? In the great _substance_ of these questions there is never a
+quarrel; this only fastens on the details which make up the form. Texts
+may be skilfully quoted; but we are to reverence the whole of God's
+scripture. _Creation_ is full of holy, living texts; and he who sees His
+laws in nature as an everlasting scripture will never be moved by
+alarming interpretations that men may put on the visions of Patmos and
+Palestine, or the princely dreams of old Assyria. Mr. Badger believed,
+doubtless, in the personal second coming of Christ; he held firmly to
+the law and the prophets; but there was a _certain something_ in him
+which no _proof_ texts could ever dupe into theories anti-common sense
+or anti-natural. We give a few quotations, which show earnestness,
+decision and strength.
+
+      "MR. EDITOR: SIR,[59]--Night before last the Palladium came
+      to hand, which I hastily read, and retired from the scene
+      with disgust. Last evening I read carefully the articles
+      which to me were offensive, with the hope that I might be
+      so far reconciled as to excuse myself from the task of
+      offering my dissent publicly to some opinions which you
+      have taught and endorsed. But, Sir, I retired again with
+      grief and increased dissatisfaction. I said, Is it possible
+      that I have lived to see the 'Palladium,' which was brought
+      into existence by a few choice spirits, (some of whom are
+      gone to their graves,) over whose destinies for seven long
+      years I watched with such vigilance, now become the slave
+      of a deluded party, and a channel through which error,
+      delusion and ruin shall be poured into the bosom of the
+      church of God? I have not written for the Palladium these
+      many months only when I could not avoid it; and would not
+      now if a sense of my duty to the public would allow my pen
+      longer to slumber.
+
+      "The error of which I complain is not that you and others
+      teach that the Saviour will come personally the second
+      time, to reward his saints and destroy his enemies. This
+      all Christians believe. But the great error lies in the
+      fact that Mr. Miller and his followers teach what plain
+      contradicts common sense and existing facts in relation to
+      the Ottoman dominion and the Holy Bible. They teach that
+      Christ has no kingdom on earth; of course, no laws, no
+      subjects, no institutions, and no government. Also they fix
+      the time of the Saviour's coming. In this they assume to be
+      more knowing than the angels of God, or Jesus Christ when
+      he was on earth. This looks like being wise above what is
+      written, or like the old-fashioned Calvinists divulging the
+      _secret will_ of God. They also denominate their mission
+      the '_Midnight Cry_.' This I most cordially approve, and
+      think that nothing could be more appropriate; for certainly
+      such obvious errors could never proceed from the kingdom of
+      light. The apostle represents his brethren as being the
+      children of the day, not of the night or of darkness. Those
+      who walk in darkness know not at what they stumble. Mr.
+      Miller and his disciples have thrown about themselves such
+      a cloud of absurdities that they are all enveloped in
+      midnight darkness, and thus make their midnight cry.
+      Essential pillars may fall out in their temple and they
+      know it not. The day of grace was to close in 1840, and
+      they in 1842, at the very close of the year, boast of their
+      converts, spread abroad their canvas, and declare their
+      chain is yet perfect.
+
+      "_Its motive to action is wrong._ The lever used and the
+      means employed is terror; the principle which moves to
+      action is fear. A class of orators are got up who assume
+      uncommon sanctity, have a set of arguments founded on
+      mathematical calculation upon the prophecies, which common
+      sinners are not capable of contradicting. Another class of
+      arguments drawn from history, which common men have not the
+      means at hand to contradict, are presented; then bringing
+      all to bear on the one great point that God will burn up
+      the world next year, is it strange that converts are
+      multiplied? They serve God for fear he will burn them up if
+      they do not. Take away this fear and they will hate him
+      still. Such repentance is very liable to be spurious. Men
+      are sick and afraid to die, and they repent; but I venture
+      to say, there is not one instance out of fifty in which
+      they carry out the principles and sustain the character of
+      Christians when restored to health. The love of Christ
+      should constrain men, the goodness of God should lead them
+      to repentance, and they should appreciate all his claims
+      upon their service. They should, from choice, submit to his
+      government, and love him because he first loved them. The
+      Gospel plan is the best. Light and intelligence are the
+      great influence to be applied to the noble intellect of
+      man, to move him to virtuous actions and reforms. I do not
+      see how we can say it matters not what motives we present,
+      or what means we adopt, if we only get men to repent. The
+      Mormons put on sanctity, put forth efforts and make
+      converts by wholesale; but this is no proof that their
+      doctrine is true, or that the cause of pure religion is
+      essentially benefited by their revivals.
+
+      "2. _Its spirit is wrong._ It is a peculiar trait in the
+      Christian religion that it always inspires its subjects
+      with humility, kindness, charity, whilst error is generally
+      attended with pride, egotism and cruelty. For thirty years
+      past I have seen many false prophets and false religions
+      rise and fall, and uniformly a vain, vaunting,
+      self-righteous spirit has attended them all. But I have
+      never witnessed more of it in any case than in Mr. Miller
+      and his followers. Just look at Mr. M.'s reply to Simon
+      Clough, as published in the Palladium. The egotism and
+      insult seen in that reply can scarcely be found in the
+      English language from the pen of any man who makes any
+      pretensions to Christianity. I have not conversed with one
+      of them who could hear a cogent argument against their
+      doctrine without exhibiting pride and passion. They cannot
+      bear contradiction. They are the _wise virgins_, and the
+      rest of their brethren are the slumbering and foolish who
+      will be shut out of heaven; they often refer to a passage
+      in Daniel which says 'the wise shall understand,' and have
+      no hesitation in considering themselves '_the wise_' and
+      their brethren as the 'wicked' who shall not understand.
+      They know it all, and are more confident than seven men who
+      can render a reason.
+
+      "3. _Their heads have a peculiar shape._ There are men in
+      every church, and have been in every age, who are
+      constitutionally inclined to fanaticism. They cannot stand
+      in excitement; they cannot hold still. There are two
+      classes of them, who have ever been an annoyance to the
+      church. The first are fond of the marvellous, are always
+      driving into speculative theories, are never at rest. The
+      last or new theory is always the true one, and they soon
+      ride the new hobby to death, and then seek another. It
+      matters not how absurd the doctrine. It may contradict the
+      Bible, it may rend the church asunder, it may prostrate all
+      good order in society, it must be forced and driven ahead,
+      and have its day. They are always a class of Jehus ready
+      for a new scheme. The second class are those of weak minds,
+      who are moved by passion. Any excitement takes them along
+      with the multitude. Human nature being thus constituted,
+      is it strange that converts are made? I know of several of
+      Mr. Miller's associates whose lives have been one scene of
+      changes. Should 1843 pass away and the world not be
+      destroyed, they will in no wise be discouraged. Instead of
+      repenting of their folly and mourning over the havoc and
+      disorder they have caused in the church, and the infidels
+      they have made, they will be driving ahead in some new
+      scheme, and will wonder that the poor backslidden church
+      and the poor blind ministers cannot see _their_ great
+      light, and will not appreciate _their_ astonishing
+      usefulness."
+
+In other articles he went more particularly into the discussion of the
+question, which, as the entire excitement has passed away, could not be
+of much interest to readers of the present time. These articles were
+rejected by the partial editor; only the first one was published, which
+was done by order of the committee. Had the three been printed, we are
+confident that no editorials could have effaced or marred their strong
+impression on the public mind. In justice, however, to the proper mental
+dignity of that periodical, I should say that its editorial advocacy of
+Adventism was but temporary, that through the faithful action of the
+executive committee, the Palladium was soon restored to its original
+aims. Indeed it was a luckless event to that paper, its finances, and
+its power over the community that Mr. Badger left it. Had his wise head
+and strong hand guided it through the action and reaction of excitement
+until 1845, the effect on the union, concentration, and sanity of the
+religious interest would have been great. It is folly to think that a
+weak, or a half-and-half man, whatever may be the sanctimony of his
+carriage, can ever fill the place of a bold, great man. It never was
+done, and never can be. Mr. Badger not only used his influence at an
+early day to prevent this perversion of the Palladium from its former
+high character, but when it occurred, with much toil and decision, he,
+with a few others of similar force, labored until it was effectually
+emancipated. The real value of Joseph Badger, in all great emergencies,
+his ability to conduct a cause to honor and prosperity, though seen by
+the discriminating, and in a degree acknowledged by all, is not even yet
+truthfully appreciated. There are not many who so analyze past events as
+to see the full worth of a real man; some flaming humbug, that dazzles
+the mass with words and extravagant zeal, is much more taking and
+congenial to the general stupidity. I here dismiss this part of his
+public life, with the remark, that some who read his articles will
+probably never find a class of ultraists gathered about their one idea
+without first looking to see whether "_their heads_ have not a _peculiar
+shape_."
+
+In August, 1843, Mr. Badger began to write a series of articles in the
+Christian Palladium, under the head of "Sketches," which were extended
+to 1848. In these his various labors are reflected; also his views on
+subjects particular and general, in the most frank and open manner. In
+some numbers belonging to 1844, in answer to the resolution of a New
+England Convention which declared that ministers should sustain a lay
+membership with some local church, as essential to their general good
+standing, Mr. Badger argued, that the minister, by virtue of his office
+as public teacher, by virtue of his relation as pastor, and by virtue
+of his relation to _all_ the churches, cannot be required to become a
+member of a local church, and to submit to its local authority all the
+interests of his character and ministerial position in the world. He
+pleaded that a minister of the gospel is not created officially, or
+ordained by a single church, that it is in the united wisdom of several
+churches and ministers that he is appointed to his work, and that it
+requires an authority equally general to try, acquit, or exclude him, as
+the evidence may demand. He conceded not only to each local church, but
+to any individual within or without its pale, whose candor should
+entitle him to respect, the privilege of bringing a minister to account
+for any conduct that is contrary to the ethics of the Gospel he was
+ordained to preach, but that the determining tribunal is nothing less
+than the assembled virtue and intelligence of the several churches and
+ministers who are to be, as nearly as the limits of convenience will
+permit, the whole body to which he belongs. "I only contend," said he,
+"for what the old English code of common law established as a
+fundamental principle, that 'every man shall be tried by his peers.'" In
+this protracted discussion, in which his own powers were not fully
+awakened, he penned some strong and cogent paragraphs; nor did the two
+or three opponents who answered him as he advanced, at all embarrass his
+progress or disturb the composure of his argument on the question. The
+whole bearing of his views as expressed on this and kindred topics, from
+1819 to 1845, goes against every theory which seeks to separate
+ministers from churches, or churches from ministers. Their _united_
+action was his idea of church government.
+
+In 1845, he preached mostly within the region of his early labors in
+that country, at Lakeville, South Lima, and occasionally at Greece. At
+the latter place, he was called to dedicate a new and beautiful chapel,
+January 3, 1845; Rev. F. W. Holland, the Unitarian minister of
+Rochester, N. Y., A. Crocker and L. Allen were with him. He spoke from
+Ps. 84: 1: "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!" Speaking
+of the effect of this sermon, Mr. Holland observes:--
+
+      "Many venerable faces were wet with tears, and the audience
+      listened eagerly for an hour. This excellent brother has
+      labored a third of a century in this country, erected the
+      first church west of the Genesee river,[60] and prides
+      himself on bearing his years so well as not to feel a
+      pulpit effort of several hours. I was much pleased with
+      this interview, and was strongly moved to accept his
+      invitation to add a codicil to his last words. I then made
+      the prayer of consecration, and, after the anthem, a
+      Methodist minister gave the benediction from a full and
+      gushing heart."
+
+In union with Mr. Crocker, of Parma, and Allen, of Greece, he continued
+his labors there constantly for one month. Mr. Badger gave about thirty
+sermons. At the close of his eleventh discourse, thirty-three persons
+obeyed his invitation to take a decided stand for God and his service,
+three-fourths of whom were men, and among them persons of talent,
+wealth, and influence in the community. "The good work," says Mr. B.,
+"proceeded gradually through the month, without fanaticism,
+extravagance, or disorder." Among those who were reached by redeeming
+influence was a German, who had been with Napoleon in many of his wars,
+had crossed the bridge of Lodi by his side, and been wounded at the
+battle of Agram; also another of seventy-five years, who had stood by
+Commodore Perry in the battle on Lake Erie. Two-thirds of the building
+committee, who were men of the world, were also numbered with the
+converts; and of his refreshing seasons with the people of Greece, at
+baptisms, communions, and other times, he speaks in words of pleasure.
+But he closed his labors with them near the last of 1845; likewise the
+same with the church at Lakeville, which he had planted twenty-seven
+years before. He also visited Canada in the month of August, which he
+said was invigorating both to his bodily and spiritual health. "There
+are," said he, "in Canada, some of the most pious spirits and some of
+the most valiant souls that ever adorned the church of God. They live to
+do good, and love the Saviour's cause above all things." He is now free
+from all pastoral confinement, and designs to visit the sea-shore of New
+England as soon as proper opportunity shall open, that he may there
+regain his usual health.
+
+We are now at a crisis of his life which makes us sad as we cast our
+eyes upon it. Thus far, through his long career, we have traced the
+energetic man, the man of full and overflowing resources of physical
+power. But here the scene must change, not gradually as age and as even
+disease commonly execute their mutations on human frailty, but suddenly
+as from the lightning's stroke, the oaken form receives assault. July 2,
+1845, while employed for an hour in assisting his hands at work, and
+using an uncommon amount of vigor, he paused a moment to rest, when he
+received a paralytic shock on his left side, which never after allowed
+him the enjoyment of his former health. His ancestors on his mother's
+side were subject to this fatal affliction; and whatever may be justly
+said in favor of active habits and frugal diet as preventives of a
+disaster so terrible, it is certain in this case that the fact has a
+close relation to laws of hereditary descent. Alluding to this event,
+Mr. Badger observes:--
+
+      "I have felt, during this affliction, the most perfect
+      resignation to the will of God. I have stood upon the walls
+      of Zion over thirty years; I am weary _in_ the work, but
+      not _of_ it. Many of my early associates have left their
+      stations before me. I have baptized about forty who have
+      become ministers of the Gospel, several of whom have
+      entered upon their rest. I now stand upon the isthmus
+      between two worlds, ready to depart and be with Christ, or
+      still to toil on amidst the ills of life as the great
+      Master may direct. While I do live, I am determined to
+      stand firm against what I know to be the delusions of the
+      present age, which are spreading death and devastation
+      among the flock of Christ, and to hold fast that system of
+      revealed truth on which the hopes of this lost world must
+      rest for salvation. I do as I think all ministers should in
+      such an age of speculation in theology as the present;
+      place my confidence in, and consecrate my energies to, the
+      promotion of the one blessed Gospel, which is the power of
+      God unto salvation, and declare, to a divided and excited
+      public, 'I am determined to know nothing among you save
+      Jesus Christ and him crucified.'"
+
+He continues:--
+
+      "Again, I cannot go with the tirade of persecution which
+      some of the sects are getting up against the Catholics. Let
+      us hold up truth, and scatter light to refute error. If we
+      take the sword, we shall perish of the sword. God has
+      shaken every other sect to its very centre, and the work
+      has just commenced among them. God will, in due time,
+      effect his own purposes. In Germany, and in this country,
+      the work of dissent and reform has commenced. At Rome,
+      their main temple begins to crumble, and soon a howling
+      will be heard among the merchants of Babylon. Vengeance is
+      mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Let Christians in every
+      case be careful how they grasp the sword of vengeance.
+
+      "This whole State is missionary ground; and there is no
+      part of the world where funds can be expended and labors
+      put forth to greater advantages than among ourselves. As
+      soon as the citadel is manned and ammunitioned, I say go
+      forth to conquest, and the Great West is our next field. If
+      I were in health, I would now sooner risk a support among
+      the new settlers at the west, than among three-fourths of
+      the old churches in this State. Let us all put shoulder to
+      the wheel, and strengthen the things that remain which are
+      ready to die; and extend our efforts to all the world as
+      soon as possible."
+
+Though half of him was paralyzed July 2d, these, and very many other
+paragraphs and sermons that might be quoted, indicate that the remaining
+half was adequate to all practical needs. December 8th, he started for
+Plainville, Onondaga County, N. Y., to visit the strong and prosperous
+congregation of Rev. E. J. Reynolds, to whom he preached twenty-two
+sermons. Mr. Badger, after complimentary remarks on the success of Mr.
+R., said, "Many churches suffer great loss by frequent changes in the
+ministry, and thereby keep themselves in a fluctuating state. When a
+minister is known, he has acquired an amount of influence which the
+church should regard as so much capital; this it may take another a long
+time to gain. A church should guard against the excitement which a
+change in the ministry always occasions, the consequences of which are
+frequently fatal."
+
+From this place he started for New England; visited Boston and New
+Bedford, and by invitation of the committee of Franklin-street church,
+Fall River, Mass., he went to occupy the pulpit of that society. His
+first letters from this place describe, with comprehensive exactness,
+the condition of society, the advantages and improvements of the places
+he had visited in New England. He saw a new town as he saw a new man,
+comprehensively, and in one paragraph would group together the main
+features in its temporal prosperity and in its spiritual state. Turning
+his eye back upon the field he had left, he said:--
+
+      "In the State of New York I have labored in the ministry
+      near thirty years. I have in that great and interesting
+      field of labor sacrificed the best part of my frail life. I
+      have there devoted my strength in youth and middle age,
+      have there seen great displays of God's glory in the
+      conversion of sinners and in the planting and growth of
+      many of the tender branches of Zion. But I have failed _in_
+      the work--failed amidst my labors, with the best of
+      prospects before me, when it seemed that the infant
+      churches most needed my counsel and assistance. But I can
+      do no more for them; I cannot face the storms, endure the
+      fatigues, and meet the opponents with that vigor and
+      success I did a quarter of a century ago. No; let me retire
+      in peace, with the consolation that I have fought a good
+      fight, and that my labors have not been in vain in the
+      establishment of Christianity in the State of New York.
+      Young men who will come after us in the ministry, and enter
+      into our labors, can never appreciate the toils and
+      sufferings pioneers in this cause were obliged to endure,
+      to raise and sustain the standard of Christian liberty in
+      that State."
+
+After the first six weeks of his stay in Fall River, not finding that
+strength and rally of bodily faculty he had hoped from the sea-breeze,
+he thought of going to Virginia, or to some more genial climate of the
+South. But he remained a while longer; and, realizing a moderate
+improvement, he continued his labors in that town, preaching three
+sermons every Sabbath, attending three social meetings through the week,
+visiting the sick, calling on his parishioners, reading and writing as
+much as the accustomed duties of clergymen require.
+
+His first sermon, delivered January 4, 1846, was founded on 1st Cor. 2:
+2: "For I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and
+him crucified,"--a text which was the key-note of his whole theologic
+harmony. In the plot of this sermon there are three simple divisions: 1.
+Why did St. Paul bring his labors and efforts to bear on this one point?
+Why would he know nothing else? 2. What is it to know Jesus Christ and
+him crucified? 3. The danger of mixing other things with the Gospel,
+thereby dividing and polluting the minds of the hearers. The reasons
+assigned under the first division are: 1. Christ is the only hope of a
+lost world, the only medium by which we can approach God. 2. He wished
+that his hearers should be rightly taught, that their faith might stand
+in the power of God, not in the wisdom of men. "To know Jesus Christ,"
+he said, "is to understand his history, to know his doctrine, to have
+him in our experience, to know the power of his resurrection, which is
+eternal life." It is, however, impossible to form any adequate idea of a
+sermon of his from a plot, as he was so richly extemporaneous, and never
+committed to paper anything more than the guiding points of his
+discourse; the minutiæ were wholly in his mind. If the several hundred
+plots of sermons found amongst his papers were presented to the world,
+it would soon appear that only those who have heard him in the days of
+his strength could form any just idea of the discourses he gave, for his
+spoken language was infinitely more eloquent and free than his written,
+and there was so much that made up the total interest in his manner,
+voice, and expression, that cannot, by any known skill, be transferred
+to paper. Like the speaking of Whitfield and Henry Clay, the _occasion_
+only was the true witness of his power. The written report, though it
+reads well, carries but little of the peculiar life-impress, the fine
+pathos, the delicate humor, the ready turn of thought, the quick
+imagination, and the falling tear of the listening auditor. It is only
+by _hearing_, we say, that Joseph Badger's pulpit abilities can be
+judged.
+
+Casting his eye over New England society, he pleaded the necessity of
+broader sympathy and union, of greater confidence between ministers and
+people, and for a giving up of local prejudices between the east and the
+west, as the cause of Christ is a unit over all the world. He extols the
+spirit and labors of Benjamin Taylor in the Bethel cause, at Providence,
+R. I., which served to send over the wide seas the pure principles of
+unsectarian religion; the same praise was bestowed on the efforts of
+Moses How, of New Bedford, whose labors for years in the seaman's cause,
+have been catholic in nature and efficient in result. In glancing at the
+generally low state of religious interest, whose causes he thought lay
+deeper than the lack of human science, he said:--
+
+      "These times are doubtless suffered to come upon the earth,
+      to sift the church, to purge it from its dross, to try and
+      purify the people of God and to prepare them for a greater
+      work and a holier state. Oh, merciful God! grant this may
+      be the result of all the conflicts which now surround the
+      dear people, who are pressed down, grieved, discouraged and
+      tempted. Oh! let them once more arise in their strength,
+      put on their beautiful garments, exert their influence and
+      see thy glory as they have in years that are past.
+
+      "The anxiety I feel for the Christian cause at the present
+      crisis exceeds anything I have felt in years past; and in
+      my feeble state it presses heavily upon my spirit night and
+      day. I know our doctrine, our order and our spirit are
+      right; I know our cause is good, and many have sacrificed
+      their precious lives and labored valiantly to sustain and
+      establish it. It must come up again. It must and will yet
+      live; it must be the general centre to which all sects must
+      approach, when their revolutions and reforms bring them
+      fully into the liberty of the Gospel of Christ. Oh,
+      brethren, stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel, hold
+      fast whereunto you have attained, endure to the end, and
+      salvation is sure. I may not live to see better days upon
+      the earth; but they will come. 'Why art thou cast down, Oh
+      my soul! hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him.' The
+      storms will blow over, the darkness will pass away, and
+      God's true people will come forth like gold seven times
+      tried in the fire. Courage, courage, my brethren. Remember
+      the fate of the fearful and unbelieving.
+
+      "I suppose it is the design of the great Founder of
+      religion, that all his followers should be placed in a
+      state of trial here, and that Christianity should grapple
+      with the powers of darkness, and overcome all the
+      influences which can be raised against it. We never know
+      our own strength, or the strength of other Christians,
+      until we are placed in a state of trial and affliction; and
+      the strength and virtue of Christ's religion are never
+      fully developed until tested by the sword and the fagot.
+      But in the darkest time its holy light shines, and its
+      virtue is felt and known."
+
+During his stay in Fall River, 1846 and 1847, he frequently wrote for
+the public papers, in which he took some very bold and independent
+positions. He closely criticised and answered an anonymous writer, who,
+with much ability and severity, introduced a sermon on the text, "My
+people perish for lack of knowledge;" he also conducted a somewhat
+lengthy controversy with an able anonymous writer, who styled himself
+Azro. In all these communications, the ideas which steadily hold the
+ascendant are these: that all the moral evils of society are anticipated
+by the Gospel; that its mission being the redemption of a fallen world,
+it is capable of reaching the entire depth of moral disease in every
+phase it can assume; that the church is the only moral association Jesus
+ever sanctioned; that it is through the power which inherently lives in
+Christianity, that the entire brood of social evils are to be
+vanquished--slavery, war, intemperance, and every sin known to human
+history. He pleaded that no one virtue should be singled out and made
+the whole of Christianity; that no one vice is the whole tree of evil;
+and that the only method by which human society can be made to yield
+good fruits is by making the tree good, by reform in its heart and life;
+that the coercion of law and the flaming zeal of partisans cannot reform
+the world efficiently. These are substantially his positions. No man, we
+believe, ever had a higher faith in the mission of Christ and the
+Gospel; and none ever confided more strongly than he in the certainty of
+their final victories. But the world needs, and will have, a complexity
+of agencies in the work of its deliverance: discussion, debate,
+societies, radicals, conservatives, men of one idea and men of a
+thousand, all are equally necessary, as in nature we get the soft, green
+grass and the thorny hedge, the south gale and the lightning's dart. In
+nature, we judge that no angelic reformer, had he turned naturalist
+prior to the human epoch, could have so induced the coming of the
+postponed era of land animals as to have blended it with that of the
+coralline limestone; nor can any ado of church or state pile up topmost
+strata in the moral world any faster than is granted by the eternal law
+that underlies all the eras of nature and spirit. But in doing the work
+of the world's salvation, all agencies can be overruled; John, with his
+loving divinity; Peter, with his sword; battles and prayers, all can be
+woven into service.
+
+At Fall River, though the ability of his labors was greatly impaired by
+bad health, he made a strong impression, created many friends, and has
+ever been remembered there with friendly interest. His sermon on
+temperance was highly spoken of by the papers of that place; his bold
+vindication of the rights of the over-taxed energies of the female
+laborer at the cotton mills, in reply to the lecture of an influential
+clergyman who maintained that the rules and labors of the factories are
+favorable to longevity, was characteristic of the man, and won the
+respectful attention of many who had known nothing of the stranger who
+was sojourning among them. He continued his labors in Fall River into
+the month of July, 1846, when, with health somewhat improved, he
+returned to his family at Honeoye. In glancing over the plots of sermons
+delivered in that place one is struck with their simple brevity and
+clear pointedness. For instance: all that appears under the text, Acts
+28: 26: "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," are these
+words:--"1. The Christian name. 2. The Christian doctrine. 3. The
+Christian spirit. 4. The Christian character." His farewell sermon was
+built on John 14: 18: "I will not leave you comfortless."
+
+In the spring of 1847, he visited the pleasant village of Conneaut,
+Ohio, which commands a fine prospect of land and lake, and which
+afforded him at the same time a field of usefulness and the medical
+services of Doctors Fifield and Sandborn. By the request of Mr. Fuller,
+then a student at the Meadville Theological School, the success of whose
+labors at Spring, Pa., seemed to demand his ordination to the Christian
+ministry, Mr. Badger left home April 2d, to preach the sermon on that
+occasion. Proceeding by way of Stafford, Laona, and Fairview, he arrived
+on the 9th; and on the 10th gave a very impressive and interesting
+discourse, which was happily suited to the occasion. In company with
+Elder J. E. Church he proceeded to Conneaut, where he gave three sermons
+to large assemblies--a place he had not before visited in twenty years.
+There he stood by the graves of Blodget and Spaulding, early associates,
+called away in the midst of their labors. "How dear their memory, and
+how venerable their names! how soon I shall join them in the heavenly
+world! Oh, Lord! prepare me for the holy society above."
+
+The church, which had been in a low and tried state for a long time,
+began to rally again with brighter hopes of success and prosperity. They
+came with new interest to the communion--to the social meeting--to the
+Sabbath services. Attention began to increase, and as early as June 26,
+Mr. Badger could say:--
+
+      "We have received nine, I believe good and spiritual
+      members into the church. How comforting it is to a church
+      who have long sat in sadness by the side of the river of
+      Babylon, again to see the walls and gates of Jerusalem
+      restored, and Zion's altars again smoking with the offering
+      of God. I intend to spend next month at home, and the first
+      of August to resume my labor here again, if the Lord will.
+      It is my meat and my drink to do the will of my Father who
+      is in heaven. I view my great home near, and am anxious to
+      be ready. Our chapel to-day was crowded with hearers, who
+      seemed to feel deeply the importance of religion, which
+      alone can bring salvation to the soul. In the afternoon I
+      met a multitude of solemn hearers, on the pleasant bank of
+      the Conneaut, where, after a short address, I led four
+      happy converts down to the watery grave, who all came forth
+      with joy and strength, to witness a good profession and to
+      shine as lights in the world. May God strengthen their
+      young hearts to endure to the end, that they may be saved.
+      I love the people."
+
+The month of July, which he spent at home, he improved in attending some
+meetings with his old congregations. July 4, he spoke over an hour to
+his people at Lakeville, who assembled _en masse_. The 18th, with Rev.
+Asa Chapin, he attended the ordination of Sylvester Morris, at
+Springwater; in speaking of the sermon given by his colleague, he
+said:--"One such sermon which indicates God and his authority, and
+teaches men to rely on his strong arm, is worth all the flowers of
+oratory and empty show which human art and skill can produce." He
+resumed his labors at Conneaut in August, continued them till March,
+1848. Whilst there he received about twenty additional members, baptized
+twelve, among whom was a young Unitarian clergyman, then about to
+graduate from the Meadville Theological School. Though broken in health
+and in spirits, though visited by dark and lonely hours, he exhibited
+the remains of a gigantic force, and over the social circle he still
+could throw the bright sunlight of his own spirit, which, unlike his
+bodily constitution, refused to grow old. In frequent social parties he
+was kindly greeted and cheered during the winter of his stay in
+Conneaut; and though the excitement of company often reacted upon him
+injuriously, his letters addressed to his family eulogize the cordiality
+and kindness of the people. As spring drew near, he felt that his labors
+should close; and early in March he returned home with the feeling that
+his long career in the ministry was closed. And so it was. On three or
+four occasions he again addressed the people, once at Henrietta, on a
+funeral occasion, once at Naples, and once at Honeoye Falls. Notice had
+been given at the last place, that Mr. Badger would meet all his
+friends, who might desire to hear him once more on earth. He spoke to
+them for the last time. Many came to hear. Among the remarks made
+concerning this general address, the whole of which was extemporaneous,
+was this; that the greatest amount of meaning was thrown into the most
+_concise_ form that language would permit. But his once eloquent speech
+had now become slow and thick. It no longer _flowed_. Thirty-six years
+of a most active, arduous, and often self-sacrificing ministry, thus
+ended in retirement, when nothing in his years gave signs of life's
+abating energy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RETIRED LIFE--READING--TRAVELS--DEPARTURE--1848 TO 1852.
+
+
+The mind of Mr. Badger was in reality less impaired than his ability to
+manifest it. In company, perhaps most persons judge of mind almost
+wholly from its _vocal_ manifestations. Hence a diversity of opinion and
+report that went abroad concerning his imbecility. My last interviews
+with him were in the winter and summer of 1850. I was joyfully surprised
+to perceive the error of the report that had gone abroad concerning his
+mental weakness. Honestly, there was then more in his brain than ever
+existed in the minds of those who reported him as being only a spectacle
+of sadness. Though his communication was slow and impaired, his clear
+gray eye shone with all the clearness and thoughtful penetration that it
+ever had done. I never enjoyed with him more interesting visits. He
+referred to past events with perfect accuracy of memory, related many
+incidents of his travels, spoke of argumentative discussions and of
+positions he had taken, passed judgments on men and things, which at no
+period of his life could have been more mature.
+
+But ordinarily, his self-control, his power to be unaffected by
+disturbing causes, was said to have been much diminished; and the
+clearness and vigor of his mind were also said to have varied
+essentially at different intervals. Every day, he read, or heard some
+member of his family read to him, the news of the time. He kept a clear
+knowledge of the world's great movements; and above all, he relished the
+sacred news that apprised him of the welfare of Zion. All his letters of
+1849 and '50 have the same conciseness and clearness of expression that
+always distinguished his letter-writing. In the winter of 1850 I called
+on him; it was evening, about 8 o'clock; found him wearing a most calm
+and meditative expression. There was no vivacity to cheer a visitor; but
+immediately one felt the calm and tranquillizing influence of his
+presence. In glancing over his form and features, it was readily
+apparent that his whole _character_ was there, not in activity but in
+repose.
+
+If I might be permitted the liberty of speaking further in the first
+person, and of drawing from personal reminiscence, I would state some
+remarks he then made. We conversed sometimes for hours. I chanced to
+have with me Emerson's newly issued volume, entitled Representative Men.
+The second day of my sojourn with him, he requested me to read from it.
+He called for the characters presented; after naming these, he said:
+"First read to me of Napoleon; after that, of Swedenborg." I did so. And
+invariably, as the reading passed over those striking and ingenious
+passages for which Mr. E. is so greatly distinguished, his eye and
+countenance lighted up with a smile of delight; the thoughts of the
+writer passed into his mind as easily as the rays of morning enter the
+eyes of living creatures. I only read from these two characters, and in
+the pages presented him he evinced the truest delight. His power to
+appreciate a thinker even then cost him no effort.
+
+He also alluded to the near approach of death. He said he entertained
+peculiar views on that subject. He would cheerfully die in a foreign
+land, or far away from home. "I prefer," said he, "that my wife,
+children, and near friends, would not see me as a corpse. It would suit
+me, if Providence should so order, to bid my family a cheerful good-by
+some pleasant day, and in some distant part meet the summons of my God.
+I would wish that all their remembrances of me might be associated with
+cheerfulness and life, and that not a single recollection should connect
+me with death." These utterances, of course, were only a free statement
+of feeling, but they impressed me much, and were indeed characteristic
+of the man. He was a lover of life and of the life-like.
+
+In June, 1850, the annual session of the New York Central Christian
+Conference was holden at his residence. Not wishing to partake of the
+excitement common to large assemblies, and particularly anxious to avoid
+the excitement which contact with so many old acquaintances and friends
+would necessarily create, he planned a journey to Manchester and
+Gilmanton, New Hampshire. I saw him an evening and morning before he
+left. He walked with me to the beautiful grove where the Sabbath meeting
+was to be held; on the way, he observed, "Whenever I went away to preach
+a dedication sermon, or to hold a meeting in a new grove, I always
+wanted to go upon the ground and look at the scene a day beforehand." He
+had a fine visit with relatives among his native hills of New Hampshire,
+and returned in two or three weeks.
+
+In the spring of 1851, when his power of speech was greatly enfeebled,
+so much so that he could not speak intelligibly to strangers, he
+expressed a strong desire to go about and visit once more the churches
+he had formed, and see all his brethren in the ministry. Mrs. Badger
+made arrangements to accompany him to Parma, where the New York Western
+Christian Conference was held June 23, 1851. She had accompanied him on
+two other journeys of a similar nature, and served him as interpreter,
+she being able to understand him when others could not. These trips he
+enjoyed very much; at Parma, he sat in meeting all day Saturday, Sunday
+and Monday; and, using the language of Mrs. B., "he seemed to have the
+most profound enjoyment." Taking the precaution to rest on Tuesday, Mrs.
+B., in their private conveyance, started with him on Wednesday for
+Gaines, a distance of thirty miles, where they remained for the night;
+on Thursday morning they journeyed but three miles, to the town of
+Barry, where they tarried but a night; on Friday he arose early, in his
+usual health; the sun poured down his burning rays in great power. He
+became anxious and determined to return home. Said Mrs. B.:
+
+      "Accordingly, I started with him as soon as I could
+      prepare; we had rode but about one mile when the last and
+      final shock came over him, which deprived him for the time
+      of every sense but that of intense suffering. I immediately
+      inquired for the nearest physician, and found that we were
+      in the vicinity of Dr. Eaton, an old friend, and one who
+      had prescribed for him before. He was speechless, and
+      nearly senseless when I arrived with him at the doctor's.
+      The doctor immediately took him in, and by thorough
+      rubbing, and bathing, and by administering hot medicines,
+      succeeded in restoring him to a state of consciousness.
+      From this place he was conveyed to my brother's house at
+      Barry, where he was regularly attended by Dr. E. twice a
+      day for one week, at the end of which time he was able to
+      be put into his carriage and to be conveyed home, taking
+      two days for fifty miles, which are ten miles less than he
+      was accustomed to ride when he was well, and called himself
+      a travelling minister. He continued to improve from that
+      time until he was able to walk by my going alongside of
+      him, and leading him from our house to the church. He
+      walked in that way to meeting every Sunday till October,
+      but never recovered his mental and physical faculties as he
+      had them before. He always ascribed his recovery to the
+      energetic course adopted by Dr. Eaton, when he was thrown
+      accidentally into his hands. From the first of October he
+      began visibly to decline, like a person in the consumption.
+      He grew weaker and weaker, his articulation became more
+      indistinct, until about the middle of January or first of
+      February, he ceased to pronounce any words but Yes and No.
+      All communication was now cut off, except such as could be
+      answered in that manner. Many of his old friends in that
+      space of time came to see him, Elder D. F. Ladley, of Ohio,
+      who published an account of his visit in the Gospel Herald.
+      It was always one of the greatest luxuries of his life to
+      have me sit down and read to him, which was now seemingly
+      his only remaining pleasure. This he enjoyed to the last.
+      But from the first of April to his final exit, May 12th,
+      1852, he seldom ever uttered a word.
+
+      "And thus he passed, as it were, almost imperceptibly away,
+      while his ever-penetrating eyes sparkled with the utmost
+      brilliancy till they were closed in death, which painful
+      task fell on my brother, as he was the only one I had time
+      to call in, after I was sensible that he was departing. Our
+      minister, Mr. Eli Fay, came in soon after, and our house
+      was filled with sorrowing friends and neighbors."
+
+Here are the simple facts. They confirm the view that there was a clear,
+inner light of the intellect, which shone to the last, and which we
+believe was but transiently eclipsed in death. Thus died a great and a
+good man. At his dwelling, May 14th, 1852, Mr. Chapin read the
+Scriptures, offered prayer, and made appropriate remarks. At the church,
+Rev. Eli Fay, the Christian minister of the place, delivered an
+appropriate discourse from 2 Sam. 1: 19: "How are the mighty fallen!" in
+which he discussed the elements, uses and end of human greatness. In the
+solemn procession that followed to its resting-place the mortal form,
+were those who had come from some distance around, to shed the
+reverential tear over the grave of one whose voice had been to them a
+heavenly eloquence a third of a century ago. When the country was a
+wilderness, his words had swayed them as trees are moved by the winds.
+They come, the hoary-headed band, to take a last view of his spirit's
+fallen temple. By the side of former friends they bury him, and over his
+sacred ashes rises a monument with this inscription:
+
+      "JOSEPH BADGER,
+      A MINISTER IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
+      DIED MAY 12, 1852.
+      AGED 59 YEARS.
+
+      "Here rests his mortal part. His spirit lives,
+      And guides us still in virtue's path.
+
+      HIS CHILDREN."
+
+His life strikes us as a synonyme of energy, of accomplishing force. His
+words have penetrated myriads of hearts. He had travelled many thousands
+of miles; had led to the mercy-seat hosts of penitents; to the baptismal
+waters upwards of two thousand persons, over forty of whom became
+ministers of salvation; had attended upwards of seven hundred funerals;
+and, though merit is not always to be measured by outward effects, it is
+impossible to impartially review his life as a whole, without finding in
+it a steady devotion to principles, a trusting reliance on God amid the
+changes of men and the fluctuation of time, which, as we contemplate,
+grow into the sublimity of faith. He was a hero of faith, and strongly
+impressed himself upon his time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+OUTLINES OF CHARACTER.
+
+
+Character, as distinguished from reputation, is what we are
+intrinsically in moral and mental worth. Our reputations are only the
+various verdict of society concerning us. Our characters are our fixed
+value for time and eternity. They are our worth also in word and in
+deed, for these are mighty or weak through the spiritual power that lies
+back of them, from which they receive their kindling force and
+inspiration. Character substantially is the end of life, the purpose of
+nature, Providence, revelations, trial, conscience, and temptation. The
+universe came from it, reveals it, and strives, through all its
+teachings and influences, to reproduce it in man. The worship of God,
+and the various reverence which centres in man, at once resolve
+themselves into the supreme worth for which the word character stands as
+a sign. This, then, is the true centre of all biography, that into which
+the whole life is merged, and by which it may be judged. These few
+pages, therefore, will aim to sketch, though it may be imperfectly, the
+main features in the character of Joseph Badger.
+
+When I approach this subject, I am at once struck by the originality and
+marked distinctions of what I am to examine; and, though the naturalness
+and simplicity which ever shone in his language and manner might seem to
+promise an easy task, a longer study dissipates the hope, and leaves the
+lasting impression that a mind and character like his were never
+truthfully and fully expressed in a few words, and certainly they were
+never known by mere passing acquaintance or superficial observation. He
+was a man of manifold nature, was strong in many directions. He had
+depths unseen by ordinary acquaintance or by ordinary observation; and
+to fully interpret one whose inward life was so much of it veiled from
+the world's gaze, whose power of character was in itself so complex and
+diverse, requires analytical patience and faithful study. I would not
+intimate by this that it is invested in dark and impenetrable clouds of
+mystery; for not a few of his traits are, under almost any
+circumstances, plainly discernible, those, indeed, which served to
+render the hours of sociality agreeable and entertaining to all. His
+quick and clear perception, his calm balance of power, who would not at
+once discover? But it is the quality of greatness that the manifold
+qualities involved do not admit of a thorough comprehension except at
+the cost of time and care. That Joseph Badger was by nature a great man,
+that, in the sphere of his action, he was so by effects produced, it is
+presumed that none will be at all likely to deny. Persons who could read
+God's handwriting of ability in the forms and features of men, or in the
+discourse and action by which superiority is indicated, were never
+disposed to place him in the rank of ordinary gifts and powers. A few
+may have said that no book can add to their knowledge of him; that, for
+years, they have listened to his sermons; have mingled in his society at
+their firesides; that they know him entirely. This conclusion we do not
+unqualifiedly accept. It is our impression that few persons on the
+earth, in the profoundest sense, knew Joseph Badger. Beyond what they
+had observed lay much more in unseen repose.
+
+The free and more airy moods of mind with which he usually met his
+friends and mingled in society, though combined with real dignity of
+manner, were calculated, in some degree, to give the impression of
+entire acquaintance to those who could penetrate but a small distance
+beneath the apparent. But there were sober depths underlying the
+vivacity and social joy of his presence. In company, it is true, he
+commonly avoided the introduction and discussion of weighty themes,
+those requiring continuity of thought, choosing rather to converse on
+matters of immediate care and interest. He spoke truthfully when he once
+said to a friend, "I have three moods of mind; one that may be _light_
+and _airy_, one of _common_ seriousness, and one of very _deep_
+seriousness." They who judge him only from the first do not, cannot know
+him; yet is it not more common for people to judge from the surface than
+from the deeper soul of one's life? The former is easily seen; the
+latter requires attention. Luther and Franklin were humorous men; but
+those who would know them must look to the depths over which their humor
+played.
+
+As the physical man is, by usual consent, the basis of that higher self,
+in which character, as to its greater meanings, resides, it may be
+worthy of recollection that the bodily constitution and temperament of
+Mr. Badger were well adapted to power and excellence of intellect. His
+constitution, though of fine quality, was naturally very strong and
+vigorous; the different temperaments commingled in it, the sanguine or
+arterial taking the lead. With this, there was a full degree of the
+nervous or intellectual temperament, which imparted much mental
+activity; with these, there was a measure of the bilious and lymphatic,
+which, according to the usual explanations of modern science, give
+endurance, calmness and ease, supplying the wasting activities with
+support. In early life, Mr. Badger was tall and spare in figure; about
+middle age, and after, he was more portly; and, at all times, his
+personal appearance was noble, commanding, and prepossessing. His
+likeness, facing the title-page of this volume which represents him at
+the age of forty-two, gives a very good idea of his intellectual
+expression, with the exception that his brain was of a larger cast, and,
+in after life, his features and form were more full than they appear in
+this representation.
+
+The intellect of Mr. Badger was great, especially so in the use of
+practical perception. His perceptive ability was indeed immense. In
+seeing through character, motives, and events; in looking at a new
+movement in the moral world, or at any practical enterprise, he had
+great, sudden perceptions of the reality before him, on which he formed
+his conclusions and acted. His mind was quick; his opinions were not
+usually formed in slow processes, but were very comprehensive, very
+exact, and when the final results came round, no man's former words
+sounded so much like certain prophecy in the quotation as his. His mind
+was richly intuitive in these respects. He readily and closely saw the
+strong points of every case.
+
+His reasoning intellect was strong and clear, and when awakened was full
+of power. But thought, in its most abstract form, was not his forte. He
+could appreciate it, and estimate its value accurately in others, could
+use it himself; but it was truth, having a direct bearing upon, and
+demonstrations in, the world of practice, that roused his energies and
+delightfully employed his powers. He was American. The form of his mind
+was not, perhaps, exactly philosophical, was not largely given to seek
+out the laws which pervade the facts of nature and of life, to treasure
+up universal principles; but he could rapidly work his way into the
+reality of any cause that it might interest him to know. He readily saw
+important principles. His mind was creative. He could originate and
+execute with great skill and dexterity; the former of these functions,
+however, was, in our opinion, his most favorite work. He often liked to
+produce and direct the plan for others to carry into effect. His
+acquaintance with human nature, as it appears in the thousand-fold
+diversities of the world, was his profoundest knowledge. His great
+sagacity always seemed as intuition, as a native inspiration. It was
+next to impossible to deceive him.
+
+There is that in the human mind which takes the name of no one faculty,
+but which, in the manifestation, is entitled _good sense_, and "strong
+sense." There are men in the world, who wield no scholastic terminology,
+who have no tendency to much speculative theorization, but nevertheless
+have that in them, which, on the presentation of the most carefully
+elaborated theories, can at once judge upon their worth and fallacy.
+This strong searching force which despises the artificial operations of
+logicians, and the visionary theorization of idealists, makes of them
+solid pillars amidst the general fluctuation, enables them to say of all
+the "nine days' wonders," as they arrive, that they are but nine days'
+wonders. In them it says, "The theory is learned and rendered plausible;
+but substantially there is nothing in it. It is of no actual use. It
+hails from cloud-land, and in cloud-land it will ere long dissolve." Mr.
+Badger was no ideologist; he was an actualist, a realist, who never
+alienated himself from the circle of the sympathy of mankind, but
+wrought upon themes and enterprises for which the people themselves had
+feeling and care. He could easily weigh the humbugs as they arose; and
+there was no art of proselytism by which they could be glued to him or
+he to them. Scores of wild theories sprung up in his day. He patiently
+heard the arguments therefor, mildly responded, gave his own opinion,
+and with it possibly a cheerful laugh, which was itself no insignificant
+argument, and probably announced what he believed the result would be
+when time should have ripened and tested the fruit. The friends of
+Fourier built an institution within two miles of his door, and kindly
+invited him to join; some of his old acquaintances with infatuated joy
+rushed into the new millennium. He told them there was truth in the idea
+of more fraternity than the selfish world is disposed to enjoy, but that
+the conception of society they had adopted was visionary, and that all
+would repent who had thus invested their means. "Be assured, friend G.,
+that in two or three years this whole matter will fail, and your funds
+will be lost." And so it was. Millerism, also, came along, showing large
+maps of the world's chronology, Bible symbol, and all that; some of his
+old ministerial friends rushed into the excitement, and cried aloud for
+the speedy coming of the personal Christ. He was calm. He told them it
+was idle theory, that it was theological egotism; and it mattered not
+how strongly and flippantly they quoted from Daniel and John, or what
+the array of texts and historical passages might be; he had a large,
+clear, manly brain, and _knew_ that the main fabric was woven of cobweb.
+He opposed against it strong arguments, and when knowing vanity and
+egotism on the opposite side became intolerable, he mingled with his
+argumentation the withering force of satire, which, with him, was little
+else than long pieces of strong sense, made very sharp at the points.
+
+This statement should be made for his mind and speech, that whenever he
+spoke it was to the point. It told plainly on the case in hand. His
+force was never lost by diffuseness or redundancy. He could say very
+much in few words. In coming to truth, he preferred the shortest way,
+and cherished, I judge, a cheerful contempt for artistic modes of
+reasoning, in which many strive to display so much science of method.
+The dry logician and the disputer of words he could endure, though he
+never would waste much time with them. If some one in the company was
+anxious to controvert, he usually turned to some other person and gave
+over his part of the question to him; then, in calmly witnessing their
+play of words, he derived great satisfaction from whatever was weighty,
+sharp, or well directed on either side, using the occasion chiefly as a
+scene of entertainment. In him one might see not a little of the
+ironical advice of Mephistopheles to the student, who in recommending
+the study of logic as a means of saving time, tells him that "in this
+study the mind is well broken in--is laced up as in Spanish boots,[61]
+so that it creeps circumspectly along the path of thought," minding the
+immense importance of one, two, three, four, which shall now cost him
+hours to accomplish what he before hit off at a blow. If, as
+Mephistopheles said, the actual operations of the human mind are as a
+weaver's loom, where one treadle commands a thousand threads, which are
+invisible in the rapidity of their movements, Mr. B. was more an actual
+weaver of the real garment than the philosopher who steps in to prove
+that these processes must have been so; that the first was so, and
+therefore the second came; and that since the first and second were, the
+third was inevitable.[62] In arriving at truth, be it remembered, he
+preferred the plainest, directest roads. He was emphatically a
+_thinking_ man; and the end of his thought, mostly, was practical
+result.
+
+The powers of his mind were not rigid but flexible, as, under any
+variety of scenes, he was capable of being composed and genial. He did
+not stickle on small points of theology or practice; points he desired
+to carry he could gracefully introduce; those which he found it
+necessary or expedient to abandon, he could give up with easy
+indifference. He was a man of order; and, perhaps what can be said of
+but few clergymen, he was a man of skilful business talent, a great
+tactician, a good economist and financier. "Not one in ten of mankind,"
+said he, "know how to do business."
+
+It has been common for persons to speak much about his shrewdness, tact,
+sagacity and cunning. As some of these traits often unite in unpowerful
+and secretive natures, I would say that in him they stood connected with
+much decision of character, independence and boldness. These stronger
+traits were manifest in every stage of his history. He stood erect and
+strong in youth, when answering the tyrannical British magistrate. He
+put the savages to the extremity of violence rather than acquiesce in a
+dishonorable mode of conveyance to the seat of justice at the Three
+Rivers. When about twenty-two, he met a clergyman in New England who
+confessed to him that he had preached for twelve years in an unconverted
+state, and whose prayers and sermons were then as spiritless as fallen
+leaves. Mr. Badger invited him courteously to share in the services of
+the Sabbath, but on parting he faithfully warned him to seek the
+life-giving influences of the Holy Spirit. These qualities of tact,
+shrewdness, cunning, lay under the shadow of stronger and bolder powers.
+They greatly facilitated his success, so far as this depends on
+adaptation and proper management; and probably we cannot account for a
+certain elegant aptness and fitness to the occasion and purpose, which
+gave peculiar charm to his public discourses, without implying the
+presence of these intellectual attributes.
+
+It is conceded that it required the extraordinary demand of great
+occasions, or great opposition, as in the case of controversy, to bring
+out his greatest intellectual force, though he was happily adapted to
+ordinary occasions. When obliged to use his power, it came in strong and
+impressive forms of utterance; all saw his meaning, felt the force of
+his illustrations and the victorious power of will, which, in minds like
+his, is strongly determined on the achieving of its aims. In
+controversy, Joseph Badger was indeed a difficult opponent. We have
+never heard of any who have claimed a victory against him. The event may
+possibly have occurred, but the echo thereof has never come to our
+ears. We doubt that it ever happened. He did not challenge nor seek
+controversy, nor did he shrink from it when truth and the honor of his
+cause demanded that formidable opponents should be met. The position of
+a theological reformer is liable, in the early stages of his work, to
+receive a great variety of assault; and under such circumstances the
+peaceful quietness and repose which reside in the established state of
+the public mind are not his legacy. In a degree, he is to be a moral
+hero and warrior, and if he wars for truth successfully and handsomely,
+we should hasten to render him the wreath of honor and praise. We
+believe that Joseph Badger never stood for the advocacy of views which
+he did not himself heartily believe; and this conceded, we believe also
+that he never entered a controversial field without the _determination_
+of victory, the end being, in all reason, not so much to persuade the
+wrangling antagonist as to convince the people. The calmness of his
+intellect and the composure of his feelings were always conspicuous at
+such times. Though he had high spirit and temper constitutionally,
+though his passional nature was uncommonly strong, he was, on all
+occasions where the passions of others were likely to be inflamed,
+astonishingly cool. It was the coolness of a pilot amidst the storm. At
+all times of which we have any knowledge, Mr. Badger was distinguished
+for this self-command, by which he could rise above surrounding
+excitement or present calamity. This trait gave him great advantage in
+discussion; for, from his own cool state, he was sure to learn the
+weaknesses of temper and of argument on the opposite side, which soon
+became advantageous capital to his cause. But we do not here design to
+trace him through his controversial history. The glance we have taken in
+this direction is simply to exhibit certain qualities that distinguish
+his mind.
+
+Imagination, without which there is no blue sky of starred excellence in
+our being, is a faculty which in some degree of richness operates in all
+creative minds. It was often playfully and often seriously active in the
+mind of Joseph Badger. It aided his free and happy use of language. It
+brought to his service a vast number of natural illustrations and
+figures, both for the ornament of public discourse and social
+conversation; and in the good taste and fancy, of which the clearest
+evidences exist, is also implied that something finer than the
+understanding enriched him. He held in his mind a high standard of
+poetry; therefore he never sought to approach it by creations of his
+own. He had intense feeling and delicacy of sentiment, and withal a vein
+of marvellousness that caused him at times to note in his diary the
+dreams of his midnight slumber, on which he would afterwards linger in
+sober reflection. Among his private papers there are a few instances in
+which his strong presentiments are recorded. The generous enthusiasm of
+his nature, that gave so much life to his early labors, and that always
+rendered his influence enlivening, is well balanced by the deliberate
+intellect that imparted to his action and manner the impress of
+composure. But it is as a matter-of-fact man chiefly, as a utilitarian
+in the best sense of that word, as a definite thinker, that his true
+character appears in the world. He was a great and a natural planner,
+was most in his element when standing in the centre of some enterprise
+which aimed at important practical results. In every cause he undertook,
+his power to concentrate himself upon the single end before him was
+immense.
+
+Though possessed of great suavity of manners and smoothness of speech,
+in power of _will_ and in firmness of decision he had few equals. He
+labored with great fidelity and perseverance toward the achievement of
+his main purpose. He could smile or laugh at the sharpest opposition
+that might be expressed in his presence, could speak of his plans
+without using tenacious language, but everything proved in the long run,
+the power of his will and the solidity of his purpose. His will was by
+nature and discipline strong, very strong; and he had that which took
+away the offence which strong-willed persons usually give. Instead of
+appearing at all wilful, or stubborn, he cast himself upon the
+assignation of the best reasons, and demeaned himself in a conciliatory
+bearing toward all. He knew how to give in and how to waive minor
+matters that he might compromise people of different opinions and
+prejudices, for which he possessed great tact and skill. Yet when
+opposition became decided and open, he had no great patience or
+long-suffering towards the obstacles that stood in his way. He wanted
+them out of the path, and set to work for their removal. Though he was
+always courteous, and in social greetings cordial to all, even to
+enemies and opposers who happened to meet him, he had no taste for
+rivalry and opposition. He sought to cripple the power of whatever stood
+in the way as a solid barrier to the success of his dearly cherished
+plans, an attribute this, which strong actors in the world have, we
+believe, very commonly possessed, from Napoleon of Corsica to the great
+Democrat of the Hermitage. The kindness of his nature was native and
+overflowing; but there were circumstances under which his severity was
+equally conspicuous. Nevertheless, toward the conquered party, his
+generosity naturally reacted in forms of kindness, and of such, at last,
+he often made permanent friends and co-workers.
+
+The sympathies and kindness of Mr. Badger, I have elsewhere alluded to
+as being great. He had a large power of friendship. From this phase of
+his nature, proceeded his facility for making friends and attaching them
+to himself. His friends became numerous wherever he went. We cannot
+account for so noble a fact, without conceding to him the possession of
+a heart in which the magnetism of human kindness was great, for it takes
+a power to awaken a power, and selfishness alone never became the
+radiant centre about which the hearts of the many were happily drawn.
+The power of sympathy and friendship is an attraction which, like the
+physical property in nature designated by this name, is in proportion to
+the _quantity_ of the source from which it flows; also, the proximity or
+the distance of objects, which suggests another law of this material
+energy, is likewise true in the world of friendship. For it is nearness,
+that is to say, it is kindredness of mind, feeling, and experience; it
+is the ability to furnish other hearts with the true objects of their
+own affections, that qualifies one to sit as king or queen on the throne
+of friendship and love. He who lawfully sways this sceptre over the
+multitudes, is one in whom the many are represented, who is truly
+brother to each and to all. Viewed from this sentiment, how can the
+influences of Joseph Badger be accounted for, except on the ground that
+his heart was truly great and brotherly? A community of strangers into
+which he might come soon felt the power of this attraction. Said the
+honest Barton W. Stone, of Kentucky, in a letter of welcome to his
+intended second visit to the South:--"Your name is dear to the people of
+Georgetown. Many are anxiously hoping to greet you;"--though he had but
+once visited Georgetown and other localities south and west, his name
+remained in the hearts of the people. This is but a common illustration
+of what generally occurred in places where he preached several sermons
+and freely mingled with the people. As a strong example of the lasting
+attachment he had the power to inspire in his friends, I would mention a
+circumstance recorded in his private journal while at Boston.
+
+Mr. Jonas Clark, of Dublin, Cheshire Co., N. H., a man of sound mind,
+who had not seen Mr. B. for thirteen years, but had listened to his
+early ministry, went to meet him at Boston, August 20, 1828. On coming
+into his presence he took him by the hand and said: "Can this be Joseph,
+my friend?" On being answered in the affirmative, he was unable to
+reply; but turning away his head and leaning over a desk near by, he
+wept in silence. The memories of the past that rushed into his mind were
+golden by affection, and years of time and much mingling with the world
+had not effaced or marred the sacred impress of former years. "Oh, what
+majesty," said Mr. B., "there is in such tears of love! True friendship
+is more lasting than time, and it outlives every other principle."
+Though Mr. Badger had an intellect that was strong and peculiarly
+original and self-relying, we think on the whole that his stronghold was
+far more in the hearts of the people than in their merely intellectual
+regard and admiration. His neighbors who have lived near him for twenty
+and thirty years, testify to the strict and uniform kindness of his
+feelings and acts as a neighbor.
+
+To young ministers and to feeble churches, he extended the wealth of his
+sympathy. He was both a brother in Christ and a father in Israel.
+Particularly was his sympathy deep and strong for young men just
+entering into the ministry. Many things in his own life qualified him to
+be their benefactor. He had himself passed through great trials of mind
+and of outward circumstances, when a young man of nineteen and twenty,
+as the result of his choice, or rather of his acceptance of the
+preacher's mission. No young man would be likely to stand in the midst
+of greater embarrassments than he had stood. Then his extensive
+observation of men and things, his knowledge of human nature, his own
+varied experience of years in the Gospel ministry, his tender
+sympathies, his gentle and easy manners, which took away fear and
+restraint, peculiarly fitted him for a nearness of access to their
+minds, to render them counsel to meet their doubts, and to give them
+instruction and needful encouragement. He had great skill with which to
+inspire hope in a young man. He could prune his defective habits, also,
+without giving offence; and well did he know how to set his mind upon
+new trains of thought. First of all, it was his policy to find out the
+real material of a young man's mind, to learn his real character. To
+effect this, he gradually threw off whatever in manner should serve to
+impose restraint, became familiar, perhaps in some instances greatly so,
+and turned conversation so as to hit on every side of human nature and
+of the supposed character of the person whose mental and moral
+dimensions he desired to take. In a few days, at most, he developed his
+characteristics far enough to be completely satisfied of his capacity,
+principles and promise. I do not say that this was his method in all
+cases, but I know of some instances in which it was, and have heard of
+it in others. The wisdom of this procedure appears in the fact that to
+qualify young men for the ministry, respect must be had for what in them
+is individual, as there are no uniform theological moulds into which
+human nature can be successfully fused and run; and it had the advantage
+also of enabling the counsellor to decide at the beginning, the most
+important of all questions, whether a young man is not mistaking the
+meaning of God as announced in his nature, by assuming the position of a
+spiritual leader. He gave them books to read and to keep; taught them
+the great importance of a healthy degree of physical culture; gave them
+his views of the most useful and successful methods of preaching; taught
+the supreme importance of religious experience; looked out for them
+fields of labor, took them to his own appointments, made journeys with
+them, and if any diffident young man of merit was mortified at the
+imperfection and feebleness of his own public efforts, he had the finest
+skill in restoring to him his lost confidence. Many whose conversions
+took place under his preaching, became ministers; and very many owe
+their earliest and best lessons in the ministry to his examples and
+counsels. To sum up his faculty in this direction, in few words, I
+should say, he greatly excelled in the power of calling out the minds of
+others, in developing their resources for good.
+
+He was in the habit of treating young men as if he respected their
+wisdom. He asked their advice on his own plans and enterprises. This he
+did, not so much to receive new information as to set their minds upon
+practical thinking, and to connect their sympathy and intelligence with
+that which should increase their knowledge. He was always very fond of
+young people; and nothing more readily enlisted his attention than the
+appearance of a young man of promise just entering the Gospel ministry.
+He cordially took him by the hand, welcomed him to his own fireside, and
+invariably and reverently taught him that there is no station in the
+universe, that can be occupied by a human being, which is in itself so
+truly honorable and so sacredly responsible as that of the Christian
+minister. The same genial power of development here spoken of in regard
+to young ministers, was equally manifest in relation to young writers.
+Very much of his influence was genial; therefore, like the sun's ray, it
+called out the life on which it shone.
+
+His sympathy was also cosmopolitan. He had a passion to know the
+stirring events of the world. The great enterprises and achievements in
+different countries awakened him. He was uncommonly fond of the news. A
+new school of philosophers springing up in a foreign country would not
+escape his notice; but he had far greater interest in a new series of
+events that might be unfolding, and auguring changes in the empires and
+in the social condition of man. He watched the nations. He also watched
+the various sects and political parties of his own country. He read
+every week the most widely circulated Roman Catholic paper of the new
+continent, studied the olden structure of their organization; and freely
+and respectfully visited Roman Catholic clergymen whenever he found a
+resident priest within the vicinity of his own labors. Father William
+O'Reilly, of Rochester, a very worthy man in the Catholic ministry,
+frequently received his calls and most kindly reciprocated his
+friendship. Mr. Badger had indeed no tendencies whatever toward Roman
+Catholicism, but he profoundly respected religion and human nature, and
+was pleased to see them in their various phases and manifestations.
+There were, I would opine, several elements in the Mother Church that
+had his respect. Indeed, how could it have been otherwise? Protestantism
+has not in the main been largely originative in theology. Nearly all its
+great doctrines coming under the head of dogma, are even now those that
+exist in Rome and that proceeded from Rome. Omission and modification,
+more than origination are, thus far, the distinction of what is most
+revered in Protestant faith. In the preaching of Joseph Badger, all
+seemed to feel the wide and liberal sympathy of his doctrines. Said
+General Ross, of Wilkesbarre, who went some half a dozen miles to hear
+him speak, October, 1830:--"I never heard such republican preaching as
+that before. The society who hold to these principles must prosper."
+
+Within the view here offered, mention might justly be made of the reach
+of influence he gained over the diverse grades of man. The intelligent
+and the ignorant, the believer and the sceptic, the man of inward
+holiness, and the hardest specimens of sin and unbelief, looked up when
+they heard he was in town; and, from some earnest sympathy, felt that
+they should hear him. He seemed to have a key fitted to unlock all
+hearts, so that, from murderers and drunkards, as well as from the
+penitent and faithful, he drew a tear, and won a confidence through
+which he had access to what was best in their being. It not unfrequently
+happened that he had those in his audience who would have listened to no
+one else, and some who were noted for boldness and originality of sin he
+ofttimes persuaded into a divine faith, in which they were steadfast and
+life-long in their pursuit. What signify such phenomena? At least this
+is implied, that the speaker had a wide form of sympathy, and that the
+manifold experiences of the world were comprehended by him.
+
+In meeting him often, one never felt that he met a stereotyped man. He
+was new at each period. So testify his old parishioners. They say, that,
+in every sermon, there was something fresh, something that was unsaid at
+previous times, and was new to them. Those who had been acquainted with
+him for years would see new traits of character, as the varying phase of
+circumstance and association might suggest. He was plain-spoken; yet,
+beyond that plain, bold speech, the reserved and the unspoken could
+often claim large territories their own. Indeed, no man of depths was
+ever read throughout as an alphabet is read.
+
+No man, probably, ever had a stronger individuality. He was Joseph
+Badger, and no one else. He was quite free from personal eccentricity;
+was easy and graceful. But on whom was the impress of individuality ever
+more decidedly made? Who did he imitate? Look at his language, his
+manners, his modes of treating a subject, his voice, his entire action,
+and tell us who was his pattern. What original stood on the foreground
+of his reverence, commanding even an unconscious conformity? But one
+answer can be given to these questions. He was a man of marked
+character, and original beyond what is common to men of superior
+endowments. Persons who had not seen him for many years at once
+recognized him at night, on entering a stage-coach or steamboat, merely
+from his _voice_. His shortest business letters--and very many of his
+letters are composed of but a couple of paragraphs, and some of but a
+very few sentences--are stamped with the peculiar character of his mind.
+They are so concise, so direct, so comprehensive. Character and genius
+appear in small as well as in great things. Often, in letters of one
+short paragraph, have I been reminded of Napoleon, of the clear, brief,
+pithy statements by which that commander expressed himself, both in
+vocal and in written messages. Since the world stood, we are satisfied
+there has been but _one_ Joseph Badger, and we will risk our credit at
+prophecy in the declaration that another will never appear. Not, indeed,
+that the creative resources of divinity or humanity are in the least
+abated, but the pure originalities of the Creator in human history are
+never repeated.
+
+In drawing the just outlines of his character, there is one prominent
+feature that commands our attention. I mean the strong proclivity of his
+mind to lead, to plan, to direct, to be at the centre of operations, to
+be FIRST. This proclivity cannot be denied; nor can it be affirmed that
+it was accustomed to clothe itself in assumptively offensive forms. His
+passage to the pilot's station was easy and natural, and his labor there
+appeared as a matter of course. Two reasons account for this trait. The
+first and chief is founded in nature; the second, in that discipline of
+experience which, for many years, required him to act a leader's part.
+If we examine whatever is successful in the history of events belonging
+to associated action, we shall find that action to be led on by some
+guiding mind. Everything of much import has its leader, from the passage
+of the children of Israel through the Red Sea to the founding of the
+latest literary institution. Even a revolt, a schism, must have a head.
+The God who has anticipated all human wants has not neglected this need
+of mankind, but has given them many commanding, guiding spirits, whose
+quickness of perception, concentration, foresight, courage, and
+sympathy, inspire the many with confidence in their wisdom. Such men are
+God's choice gifts. They carry their credentials in their ability. And,
+as the real man, under whatever circumstances, will tell, there is no
+good reason why society should not recognize its appropriate guides.
+Happy are they that do this. The birds that voyage many leagues to the
+south, and the flocks that roam in the freedom of the wild, never err
+in their selection of leaders. _Their_ chiefs are never stupid.
+
+Granting this, that some are made to lead and that many are born to
+follow, it is important and right that he who can serve his fellows best
+by acting a leading part should _know_ his station. It will be natural
+for him to start first, to stand at the centre of operation, and, if he
+is kind and fraternal to all, as true leaders ever are, none can justly
+feel that he is out of his place, or that they are shaded. The true
+leader in any true cause rejoices in every sign of merit in others.
+Their strength is his wealth. In the words of Festus,
+
+      "He would not shade an atom of another,
+      To make a sun his slave, or a god his brother."
+
+Yet what would we think of a pilot who on the sea should hesitate in his
+services through fear that others might regard him as too forward, or
+too high in his aspiration? When the right man leads the way, the
+reasonable are satisfied, are glad that they are provided for, and they
+are the stronger for being inspired with the hope and vigor of their
+guide. Mr. Badger was in his element, we confess, when his directing
+genius swayed the action of the day; and the _success_ of his guidance
+is the fair proof of his value. It was his element, because of his
+nature and evident mission, and not from artificial or ostentatious
+reasons. He counselled much with his brethren. He prayed to God for
+light. Indeed, he was naturally diffident, though his strength and
+boldness, as called out by demand, might have made the impression of a
+conscious and perpetual feeling of self-sufficiency. He had not, I am
+sure, a high form of self-esteem. But he was a a leader, and when so,
+the cause he espoused was alive with interest and accumulated power.
+
+It will be seen that, from the broad catholicity of his early labors,
+his action, in later years, grew apparently more denominational. But in
+this there is no contradiction. He followed the line of duty. At no time
+in his life did he plead for a sectarian denominationalism based on
+creed, or mere doctrinal platform. Always and forever was he opposed to
+this. In one of the first days of October, 1842, I remember that some
+two or three ministers were discussing the subject of Christian union in
+his parlor, with the view of stating its true basis. As usual with him,
+he avoided entering into private controversy; but after all had said
+what they thought on the subject, he added, in substance, these words:
+"Gentlemen, there seems to be something light in our conversation this
+morning. When I go into a new place and preach, and have occasion to
+organize a church, or receive members, I always ask these questions. Is
+the man who would join us a man of good influence? Is his influence on
+the side of virtue and good order in society? Will his example be a
+light to the church and to the world? If I am satisfied on these points
+I have no more questions to ask."
+
+His path in this respect was a natural one. The preaching of the early
+ministers, which ignored sectarianism, which was founded in the religion
+of experience, in spiritual communion with God, and in the fellowship of
+all saints, was exceedingly prosperous. Thousands were drawn by this
+magnetism of liberal principles into union; and the strong opposition
+they encountered from those who deified mere dogma in theology, also
+served to make them one body in the world. From the very nature of the
+social law, masses who are strongly moved by new truths or errors do
+come together into organic form. A religious community once created,
+must have its papers, associations and customs; so that in a short time
+it will happen that the freest principles in religion will appear to be
+invested with sectarian form. But sect and denomination are not
+synonymous. Br. Badger's labors were to build up the free, pure and holy
+principles of the Christian religion, without limiting them by any
+boundary of the intellect, by any limit except virtue, holiness and
+love. In the concentration of his mind in editorial life, in pastoral
+relations, in anxious concern for the spread of the principles he had
+preached in his youth, in his general services to the denomination to
+which he belonged, I see nothing that wars with the freedom of his early
+position in 1812; nothing but what appears as the proper, natural course
+of the current of life.
+
+The genesis of a new people, just born into religious being, like the
+genesis of nature, has its period of chaos, of unorganized elements.
+This was the case with the denomination called Christians; and though
+their transition to order and system was aided by many minds, it is my
+conviction, from the testimony of those who were familiar with those
+early years, that to Joseph Badger more than to any other one man they
+are indebted for the introduction of order and system into their
+Conferences and into their general modes of action. He defended order
+and organization with great success. He was, indeed, the founder of the
+regular organization of Conference, having cognizance of the moral
+standing of ministers.[63]
+
+In short, Mr. Badger was a man of a rich and many-sided nature; not of
+one idea nor of one fortress of energy. His intellect was clear and
+strong. His passions also were strong. His physical power and dignity of
+person far surpassed the average of men. His kindness was great; his
+courage and decision were also great. His social feelings and social
+power were of uncommon vigor; few indeed could entertain company with so
+much satisfaction as he. Though familiar, none could approach him
+irreverently. He had deep and abiding faith in God. He also honored
+reason, and asked her light through the darkness of life. He loved a
+denomination; yet through it he sought to impress for good the human
+family. He loved ideas, and was a strong dealer in facts. He could
+dissolve assemblies in tears, and if he chose, illumine their
+countenances with joy and mirth. He could unfold the holy meaning of
+Scripture, could draw from the deep wells of the religious life, could
+lead the repenting sinner into the inner sanctuary of spiritual rest and
+peace. He could also make the most effective speech at a railroad
+meeting, or on any enterprise in which practical sagacity and foresight
+were essential to success. He had self-care; he knew how to provide for
+his own wants, and how to extend his manly sympathies to others. He was
+keenly sensitive; and, under the greatest troubles, his eye was calm and
+his countenance unchanged. He loved a sermon; he also loved a song. He
+was, in brief, a natural man, a natural minister. No clerical tones
+could be detected in his voice. He spoke like a _man_, who had a
+definite knowledge of what he intended to say. His bearing in society
+well sustained the dignity of his calling. He was true to the main
+purpose of his life. The needle vibrates, but through all the years of
+its being the true magnet turns to the pole. In 1812 he began his
+ministry; in 1852 he bade farewell to earth. Through this long period,
+whilst his ability lasted, he adhered to the work of preaching salvation
+and of building up the holy interests of Zion. The true magnet was he,
+or we should not have witnessed this long and faithful adherence to the
+fixed star of his faith. He indeed had errors. He had faults; for he was
+only a man. Men constituted as he was, in erring, often err strongly.
+But when such persons err, there are large resources of honor and
+goodness left, by which they arise and shine. The errors of superior
+men, said Confucius, are like the eclipse of the sun and moon. All men
+observe them, and all look for their reformation. Also it happens, in
+the order of creation, that great natures have strong opponents and
+strong enemies. The lion is assailed by the wild boar; the whale is
+opposed by the sword-fish and the thrasher. Thus Washington and
+Webster, in their day, were followed by mighty assailants, in the form
+of prejudice and calumny. Though Mr. Badger's sphere of action was
+unpolitical and sacred, it was his fortune to have many strong friends
+and at times a few strong opponents. But all, we believe, who knew him
+well, regard his memory and revere his name. He was a good man.
+
+Genuinely, he was a great man, capable by nature of acting successfully
+on a wider theatre than the one he filled; but, we think he occupied the
+best position for usefulness. Admitting that he had natural powers,
+which, if trained in the widest field of the world's action, had
+equalled in policy a Talleyrand, or, in the creation of great and
+successful plans, a Napoleon or a Wellington, how much better is the
+retrospect, in the eyes of all heavenly wisdom, to survey his labors as
+being directed to the salvation of men, to the establishment in the
+church of order and prosperity, and to the dissemination of a great
+truth in Christendom, which, though it may have been a century in
+advance of the age, is destined to fill the whole earth. This truth is
+the declaration that true religion and the right bond of union among
+Christians, are a divine life, and not a mental assent, a theological
+belief. We own the hand of Providence in the gift of such men to the
+world; and whether appreciated now or not, according to the demand of
+justice, we boldly affirm that Joseph Badger has declared truths, made
+sacrifices, and exerted influences on earth as a theological reformer,
+whose effects shall not die away in centuries. They who help the world's
+progress are doubtless its first benefactors; and we have this firm
+faith, that the world is now, and ever will be, the wealthier from his
+having lived in it.
+
+      "No farther seek his merits to disclose,
+        Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
+      Where they alike in trembling hope repose,
+        The bosom of his Father and his God."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+ADDRESSES, SERMONS, REMINISCENCES, VIEWS OF CONTEMPORARIES.
+
+
+Elsewhere allusion has been made to the extreme difficulty, to the
+impossibility even, that accompanies an effort to imbody a speaker like
+Mr. Badger, entire, in written words. Yet it is due to the readers of
+his Biography that some definite attention be called to this part of his
+ministerial accomplishments. There was nothing of the trumpet-blast in
+his oratory. It was liquid. It flowed as a current from a fountain, and,
+like a current, at times was brisk and playful in movement. Simplicity,
+ease, dignity, clearness, were his graces. A power to command the entire
+attention, to deal in surprises in unfolding a subject, to keep an
+audience for hours without weariness, was, in a rare degree, his
+possession.
+
+The earliest written address I have noticed is an oration delivered July
+4, 1819, at Penfield, New York. Its text is, "Righteousness exalteth a
+nation," and its motto, the words of Barbauld,
+
+      "August she sits, and with extended hands
+      Holds forth the Book of Life to distant lands."
+
+Instead of beginning as gaseous orators usually did and do on such
+occasions, with a patriotic vaunting, he alludes to the nobleness of
+man's nature, which originally was designed for self-government.
+
+      "Man," he said, "is the noblest part of the work of God. He
+      is made capable of great good and of enjoying great
+      happiness; is formed for society, and qualified for
+      government; he is capable of enjoying God's blessings here
+      and his eternal presence hereafter. In his first state he
+      had an extensive dominion over every creature of the earth,
+      but in consequence of _sin_ the crown falls from his head,
+      guilt, misery, and slavery become his companions. Nothing
+      but righteousness can extricate mortals from this low
+      condition and restore to them that holiness and government
+      which Heaven designed them to enjoy. Reason and revelation
+      concentrate their light in the human breast, and prompt us
+      to contemplate with wonder the stupendous works of our
+      glorious Author, 'to look through Nature up to Nature's
+      God,' and to behold also the mighty changes and revolutions
+      which have occurred on the great theatre of nations."
+
+This address, which is full of historical remark and practical
+reflection, is throughout a cool and rational view of the topics
+introduced. He glances over the discovery of the Continent, the
+settlement of the Colonies, the Indian, French, and American wars, the
+memory of heroes, the effect of America on foreign nations, the origin
+of the two forms of government, monarchical and republican, locating the
+former at Egypt and the latter at Rome. After assigning five or six
+reasons showing wherein the American government is better than any
+other, he contrasts its glories with other nations, and with the savage
+state which had, not long previous, occupied the same theatre of action.
+He says:--
+
+      "Ours is the best government on the earth. 1. Because it
+      affords greater privileges than are enjoyed in any other
+      nation. In no other country do Jews and Gentiles enjoy
+      equal rights; and it is only in North America that a
+      descendant of Abraham can _own_ a foot of land. 2. Because
+      our government establishes an equality of rights among all
+      classes of citizens, unknown among other nations. 3.
+      Because we have a form of government and laws, not
+      arbitrarily imposed, but of our own choice. 4. Because we
+      have a voice in the election of all the officers who make
+      and administer the laws. 5. Because the liberties of
+      conscience are enjoyed by all. 6. Because our government
+      establishes no theory of religion in favor of any one sect.
+      Among the nations it has been thought a great honor to have
+      some established mode of religion. But how gross the error!
+      We might, with even more propriety, prescribe to our
+      subjects a system of diet, or a course of medicine. Indeed,
+      there was once a law in France which prohibited a physician
+      from giving an _emetic_ in any case; law excluded
+      _potatoes_ as an article of food, and even in Massachusetts
+      the legislature once decreed that every man's hair should
+      be cut, that none should wear it long.
+
+      "Would you see the beauties of _law_ religion? In Babylon,
+      the king set up a golden image and commanded all to
+      worship it; in consequence of a refusal, Daniel was cast
+      into the lions' den. Herod commanded all the young children
+      to be slain. This was _law_ religion. Saul of Tarsus
+      obtained letters from the priests to drag men and women to
+      prison who believed in Jesus. This was _law_ religion.
+      Paul, Silas, Peter and John, were whipped and imprisoned
+      for preaching Christ. A holy Jesus was condemned by false
+      witnesses, and by wicked hands was slain. This was _law_
+      religion. Charles IX, of France, during his reign, put to
+      death 300,000 Protestants, of which he often afterwards
+      made his boasts; Louis IV succeeded him, and in his days
+      there were put to death in England, 1,200,000. This was
+      _law_ religion. Add to these the reign of Queen Mary. From
+      such religion, gracious Lord, evermore deliver us. In good
+      old Connecticut it was once believed that the use of
+      tobacco was the great and crying sin of the world.
+      Accordingly, an edict was passed that if any man was known
+      to use it within a mile of any house, he should be
+      subjected to a heavy fine. How undignified government may
+      become when it abandons its legitimate aims! True religion
+      never needed the aid of the sword, nor the authority of
+      human law to enforce it. It is able to support itself and
+      all who embrace it.
+
+      "No country has risen to rank, power, and respectability so
+      rapidly as the United States. England has been six hundred
+      years in arriving at what she now is. France has stood
+      eight hundred years as a nation. Austria has had one
+      thousand years of advancement from her primitive barbarous
+      state. Russia, in this respect, most resembles the United
+      States, for in the space of one century, and under the
+      influence of one man, she has risen to rank and authority
+      in the civilized world. But how interesting is the
+      reflection, that two centuries ago, this land, which is
+      now ornamented with villages, highways and vineyards, was a
+      howling wilderness. It is now a fruitful field. Arts and
+      sciences here flourish, while mechanism exhibits its
+      glories on every hand. Oh, favored America! Prosperity be
+      thine forever. Be an asylum to the thousands who throng thy
+      shores to escape the rage of foreign tyrants. Over them
+      extend thy protecting banner. Thy fame is known throughout
+      the earth; thy sons are honored in every nation.
+      Righteousness has exalted us. 1. In enjoyment. 2. In
+      usefulness. 3. In honor. 4. In the favor of Heaven. With
+      all the world we are now at peace; plenty crowns our
+      cheerful toil; party rage gradually subsides as light
+      advances, and truly may every American say, 'The lines are
+      fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly
+      heritage.'
+
+      "Before me are aged veterans of the Revolution. Honored
+      fathers, your names and services are not forgotten by your
+      country. Let your hearts expand in gratitude to God, who
+      has more than crowned your sanguine hopes. Before me are
+      many who were active in the preservation of the Republic
+      during the conflicts of the late war, whose services have
+      saved our wives from the tomahawk of the savage, our
+      daughters from the power of a hostile foe, and our helpless
+      innocents from the grasp of unsparing violence. On you
+      shall rest their grateful recollections. May you imitate
+      the virtues of your ancestors, be free in deed, and long
+      enjoy the blessings of the Republic."
+
+As space, in a degree, is limited, I shall offer but one more address,
+delivered in the city of New York, May 1, 1836, at the ordination of the
+Rev. D. F. Ladley. At the house of Rev. I. N. Walter, whose cordial and
+extensive hospitality must still be remembered by hundreds who have
+been his guests, I had the pleasure to meet Mr. B., a few days previous
+to the ordination services of May 1. Having listened to the delivery of
+the charge, which was extemporaneous in its manner, it become my
+surprise afterward, that so little of the impression there made should
+have been given to the written statement. After the ordination sermon
+had been preached by Mr. Walter, Mr. Badger, who was seated in the
+altar, arose and said:--
+
+      "BROTHER LADLEY,--It becomes my duty, by the arrangements
+      of the solemn exercises of this day, in behalf of those
+      ministers who have united in your ordination--this church
+      and the whole body of Christians with which you stand
+      connected, to deliver to you on this occasion, in the name
+      of the great Head of the church, a charge to be faithful
+      and to perform all the duties now devolving upon you as an
+      administrator, with dignity and integrity. You now fill one
+      of the most important stations ever occupied by a human
+      being. A minister of the Gospel, an ambassador of the Lord
+      Jesus, you bear a message of eternal life to dying men.
+      Your work is to save perishing sinners from the miseries of
+      sin and the wrath to come; your station is responsible,
+      your work is arduous, but your reward is sure. The
+      strongest who have ever entered this important field have
+      trembled at the thought of the greatness of the work and
+      the awful responsibilities of the station, and no doubt you
+      have been ready to exclaim, 'Who is sufficient for these
+      things?' That you may be able to occupy the holy ground on
+      which you are called in the providence of God to stand,
+      with satisfaction to yourself and profit to your hearers,
+      suffer me to introduce for your solemn consideration the
+      following leading points:
+
+      "1. You should be truly pious. No man, without a genuine
+      experience and the constant influence of true piety upon
+      his heart and life, is fit for an ambassador of Jesus
+      Christ. Sin is odious in whatever form or place it exhibits
+      itself. In the profane circle, in the gambler's group, in
+      the drunkard's shop, in the vilest streets and haunts of
+      wickedness in this great city, how hateful it appears. But
+      it appears not so bad as it would in the parlors of the
+      rich, in the circle of learned and refined society, in the
+      halls of justice, the councils of the nation, or in the
+      house of religious worship. In no person does sin appear so
+      bad as in a minister of the Gospel; and in no place is it
+      so unfit as in the sacred desk. What would be considered
+      innocent in another man, in another place, would be
+      regarded as impious in you while ministering at the _altar
+      of a holy God_. Your life must be pure, your conversation
+      blameless, and your heart must cherish holy affections for
+      the people you address; it should be like the pot of
+      incense which sent forth sweet odors constantly to God.
+      Your life must be one scene of solitude, study, and
+      devotion. You must be so far crucified to this vain world,
+      that prayer, preaching, and all your sacred work shall be
+      your meat, your drink, your theme, your life. Be ye holy
+      that bear the vessels of the Lord.
+
+      "You have doubtless seen many enter the work of the
+      ministry with but poor success,--men of talents, of
+      erudition, fine orators, who never witness the conversion
+      of souls; whose labors appear to make the sinner harder,
+      and more averse to the Gospel, and to divide and separate
+      the precious flock of Christ. The reason is plain; such
+      ministers are not enough like Christ, are not in the spirit
+      of the Gospel they profess to preach. Good men are sure of
+      success, be their talents few or many; Christ is with them,
+      and the word will prove a savor of life unto life. If you
+      are and continue to be a good man,--have salt in
+      yourself,--go to your work with prayer, perform your duties
+      faithfully, come down from your pulpit on all occasions
+      with a conscience void of offence towards God and man; your
+      labors will be a blessing to the world, your peace will be
+      like a river, and your reward will be great in heaven.
+      Therefore, dear brother, suffer me to exhort you on this
+      solemn occasion, while you stand upon the threshold of your
+      great work, to study and labor, every day of your life, to
+      possess and enjoy genuine piety in the sight of God. This
+      will give life and energy to all your labors, and will be a
+      source of never-failing consolation in every hour of
+      trouble.
+
+      "2. The great object of your labors should be to make
+      others pious. Every sermon should be one persuasive oration
+      for men to be good. To win the applause of your hearers, to
+      instruct them in the theory of the Christian religion, is
+      not enough. Thousands of such superficial Christians will,
+      no doubt, sink down to hell. Gospel truth must be set home
+      in faithfulness to the sinner's heart He must be made to
+      _feel_ that unless he is born again he cannot see the
+      kingdom of God. The minister should never feel satisfied
+      with the condition of his hearers unless he is confident
+      that they are '_in Christ_'--'_are new creatures_'--that
+      with them '_old things are passed away and all things are
+      become new_.' In order to be successful in producing
+      spiritual reform, all your addresses and labors must assume
+      the tone and character of friendship, and of kind entreaty.
+      You can never frighten rational intelligences into the love
+      of God; you cannot drive men into the kingdom of heaven;
+      you cannot storm and force sinners home to the bosom of the
+      Saviour. But, Sir, you can reason with them, you can
+      persuade, entreat, and pray them in Christ's stead to be
+      reconciled to God. You must exhibit the glorious majesty
+      and bountiful dealings of the great God, the atonement, the
+      sufferings, the love and compassion of the glorious
+      Redeemer, the intelligence, doctrine, promises and claims
+      of the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
+      These truths, proclaimed in the right manner, and under the
+      direction of the right spirit, will surely produce the
+      desired effect. Remember that when you have influenced one
+      sinner to forsake the error of his ways and to embrace and
+      conform to the Saviour, you have accomplished more than
+      when you have made any number of wrangling proselytes to
+      party. To win men to Christ, and to make them good, is the
+      great object to which your energies should be devoted.
+
+      "3. It is your duty to cultivate holiness, union, and zeal
+      in the church of God. A careless way of living, a vain, a
+      licentious, a cruel and haughty spirit should never be
+      encouraged by a minister of Christ. Every disciple of Jesus
+      should be plainly taught that without holiness no man can
+      see the Lord.
+
+      "Again, look abroad in Christendom and behold the divided
+      and subdivided flock of Christ. See the infidel vulture
+      feasting upon the havoc which wicked and unskilful
+      ministers have made in Zion. While you behold this gloomy
+      picture, and listen to the holy injunction of the great
+      Head of the church for his people to be _one_; raise the
+      warning voice, lift the banner of truth, and with the
+      authority of Heaven, plead for UNION AND PEACE among all
+      that love and serve God.
+
+      "Also labor to encourage _zeal_ for the truth, and liberty
+      of the Gospel among the saints. The Catholics are zealous,
+      infidels are zealous, proud sectarians are compassing sea
+      and land to make proselytes; and saints who have no creed
+      but the Bible, and no master but Christ, should be zealous
+      to advance and promulgate the truth. Influence should be
+      exerted, talent should be employed, and a part of our
+      earthly treasures should be cheerfully dedicated to the
+      holy cause. These things you should teach and urge upon the
+      consideration of all who love the truth.
+
+      "4. I charge you to love the cause, and to consider no
+      sacrifice too great for its advancement. The nature of your
+      calling is such that you cannot with propriety enter into
+      the speculations of the world. The prospect, therefore, of
+      worldly honor and worldly treasure, must be laid aside for
+      the humble cross of the meek and lowly Jesus. You should
+      glory in nothing save the cross, by which you are crucified
+      to the world and the world unto you. Your work as
+      evangelist will separate you from many of the friends of
+      your youth, and deprive you of a thousand domestic joys
+      which are the portion of your brethren in a private circle.
+      Also your work is hard and laborious, which has caused
+      thousands of the best constitutions to sink under it. I
+      have been devoted to the ministry only twenty-four years,
+      and have seen many of my first associates, young and in the
+      prime of life, sink under their labors into premature
+      graves. I have seen the strong and robust youth, whose eye
+      was bright, whose nerve was strong, whose cheek was like
+      the rose, when he entered the work; but after a few years,
+      he falters, he fails, he dies, a holy martyr to the truth.
+      I trust, Sir, you have seriously counted the cost, and
+      received Christ at the loss of all things. How will
+      unfaithful ministers appear in the great day, who have
+      sought the applause of men, studied their own ease, and
+      made no sacrifice for the cause of God? If we suffer with
+      him on earth, we shall be glorified with him in heaven.
+
+      "5. Shun the delusion and wickedness of sectarism. This is
+      an age of party, of sectarian rage and bitterness. It is a
+      time of universal strife, excitement and war. The civil and
+      religious world are in a state of unnatural and
+      unreasonable commotion. Almost every subject is driven to
+      an alarming extreme, and the basest measures are sometimes
+      employed to advance sectarian objects. What blindness and
+      delusion mark the progress of sectarism! What cruelty and
+      wickedness follow in her train! The commands and
+      institutions of Jesus are trampled under foot, and
+      brotherly love and Christian forbearance are banished far
+      from the soul of the bigot. This, doubtless, is the time
+      spoken of in the Scriptures, when the heavens and the earth
+      are to be shaken. Now is the time for the man of God to be
+      cool and candid. Never descend from your high and holy
+      calling to the low pursuits of grovelling sectarism; never
+      forsake the great message of love and salvation you are
+      destined to proclaim, to mingle in the petty wrangles of
+      party. Never turn aside from the path of justice and
+      charity to vend the cruel slanders of the times, or to
+      censure and condemn a brother who differs from you in
+      opinion. Let justice, kindness and charity mark all your
+      proceedings, and you will be a good minister of Christ, and
+      a light in the world. Be a CHRISTIAN, A LIBERAL, GENUINE
+      CHRISTIAN; and never suffer any sectarian act of cruelty to
+      tarnish your fame, nor wound your conscience.
+
+      "6. Be patient in the sufferings, and humble in the success
+      that may attend your ministry. One of the greatest arts of
+      human happiness is to keep the mind, under all
+      circumstances, in one even, regular position, neither too
+      much elated by flattering prospects, nor too much depressed
+      by misfortunes. It requires as much strength and exertion
+      to sustain ourselves against the temptations and
+      allurements of prosperity, as it does to bear up under the
+      heavy pressure of adversity. We see but few men who are
+      raised to important stations in life, who have sufficient
+      wisdom and strength to act the part of plain, natural,
+      sensible men. See a person raised from poverty to wealth by
+      some unexpected smile of fortune; how frequently he becomes
+      a proud, haughty, intemperate novice. Some men raised to
+      important stations in State, are filled with vanity and
+      egotism; useless, hateful sycophants. As lamentable as the
+      fact is, in the church likewise this trait of human
+      weakness is sometimes discovered. But a man who is filled
+      with pride and importance on being inducted into office in
+      the Church of God, has no just views of himself or his
+      calling, and is altogether unfit for the station he fills.
+      Such vain and deceived persons will be lords over God's
+      heritage, are miserable examples to the flock of Christ;
+      their labors will be a constant source of corruption and
+      temptation to the saints, and the sooner congregations are
+      purged from such tyrants, such wells without water, the
+      better.
+
+      "My brother, when prosperity smiles all around, when your
+      labors are crowned with a rich harvest, when your praise
+      and popularity are the theme of every tongue, and
+      affectionate greetings and cheering smiles of applause are
+      seen in every countenance; then, oh! then be humble; like
+      Mary, weep at the feet of Jesus, and press the _holy cross_
+      closer and closer to your trembling heart, and bless the
+      Lamb of God, that his blood was ever applied to such a
+      sinner. On the other hand, when afflictions gather thick in
+      your path, when base envy shall prompt the tongue of
+      slander to assail you, when the storms of persecution shall
+      gather in threatening aspect on every side, and pale
+      poverty stare you in the face; then is the time to collect
+      all your energies, all your strength, and all your
+      fortitude. Then, while you repose with unshaken confidence
+      on the immutable promises of JEHOVAH, be sure to put forth
+      your efforts still for the promotion of holy truth; be the
+      same man in _spirit_ and in _life_ now, that you wore in
+      your favored days of success. Never suffer your heart to
+      indulge despair under any circumstances, and ever wear a
+      becoming cheerfulness upon your countenance. But, Sir, I
+      must close, by expressing my happiness in my short
+      acquaintance with you--my confidence in your ability and
+      integrity, and my fervent wish for your prosperity,
+      happiness and success. And when the Great Shepherd shall
+      come to gather all his faithful watchmen, and his precious
+      elect from the four winds of heaven, may you be numbered
+      among the sanctified, and meet the precious souls for whom
+      you have labored on earth, at God's right hand! AMEN."
+
+His sermons, not being written, cannot be offered to the world. They
+only live in the effects they produced, and in the memories of the
+people; and his written plots were so brief, that their presentation
+would be but the mockery of a just idea of the discourses given. I will,
+therefore, not transcribe them; these plots, however, range over every
+variety of subject. He once said to a few young ministers, that he
+disliked the plan of announcing to a congregation, at the commencement,
+the _order_ of a subject, for the reason that it gave them the
+opportunity of anticipating too readily what he would say. "Let the
+order of the subject unfold to them as newly as possible," was his usual
+motto in preaching. He also said:--"Be sure to preach so plain that the
+most ignorant person in the house will understand you; then even the
+learned will be pleased." A very conscientious man who believed in the
+annihilation of the wicked--which he called the _second death_--once
+came to him for advice in relation to its having a prominent place in
+his ministry. "I will tell you," said Mr. Badger, "what to preach.
+Preach _life_. Preach _life_, my brother; the people want _life_, not
+_death_."
+
+A sermon for moral enterprise he gave at Iona, N. Y., January, 1835,
+could it be given as he spoke it, would do more toward setting forth his
+pulpit ability than all we can publish or say on the subject. His text
+was Neh. 2: 20: "The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore let us
+arise and build." The same might be said of any of his ablest
+discourses; this is mentioned simply because it was the first sermon I
+ever heard him preach. As the plot of a sermon, then delivered on the
+excellency of the Gospel, lies before me, I will present it, it being a
+fair specimen of his usual manner of committing the points of a sermon
+to paper. Text, Rom. 1: 16: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ."
+
+      "1. To arrive at a state in which we glory in the Gospel
+      above all other institutions and systems, is the highest
+      condition of perfection on earth.
+
+      "Reasons why we should not be ashamed of the Gospel: 1. The
+      dignity of its author. 2. Its authenticity. 3. Its salutary
+      influence on society. It civilizes man; it elevates woman.
+      It enlightens, convicts, and saves sinners. It unites
+      Christians; is the bond of society. 4. Its doctrine is
+      rational and consistent. 5. Its institutions are all
+      agreeable. 6. Its worship is satisfying and delightful. 7.
+      Its end and object is immortality."
+
+In passing over his dedication services, one is oft times struck with
+the moral weight and elegance of the passages from which he spoke, as,
+for instance, at the consecration of the Christian chapel, September,
+1832, in Canandaigua, N. Y., he addressed the people from John 8: 32:
+"Ye shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall make you free." He dwelt
+on the extent, the power, and the excellence of truth, the conditions of
+knowing it, and the freedom it brings. In speaking on the last division
+of the subject, he alluded to four evils from which the truth liberates
+believers, namely, ignorance, sin, the misery of guilt, and the
+enslaving fear of death. On the last idea, he dwelt with peculiar force,
+showing how the revelation of immortality dissipates death's fears and
+glooms. Temples of worship, indeed, derive much of their sacredness from
+the consideration that they are meant to be temples of eternal,
+imperishable truth.
+
+Also at Berlin, N. Y., 1834, he spoke at the consecration of the
+Christian chapel, from Rev. 22: 1, 2: "And he showed me a pure river of
+water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and
+of the Lamb. In the midst of the street, and on either side of the
+river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,
+and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for
+the healing of the nations." Only those who have seen his ingenious
+dealing with passages of lively imagery can imagine the exhibition of
+thought this text would inspire, whilst he traced the clear Gospel river
+which flowed, not from human creeds and institutions, but from the
+eternal throne, causing life, in its large variety, to bloom in its
+course.
+
+April, 1824, he held a public debate with a liberally educated clergyman
+at Rochester, N. Y., in which, by general consent, he triumphantly
+maintained his cause. The rank of Jesus appears to have been the
+principal topic. April 7, 1825, at Royalton, N. Y., he preached two
+sermons, embracing the supreme deity of Jesus, and the doctrine of the
+Trinity in reply to Rev. Mr. Colton. Sermon first is founded on Rom. 9:
+5: "Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God
+blessed forever." Sermon second is founded on 1 Tim. 2: 5: "For there is
+one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." In
+laying out his work on the former passage, he observed the following
+plan:--
+
+      "1. Explain the text. 2. Give a general view of the
+      Christian doctrine of God and the Son. 3. Examine and
+      criticise Mr. Colton's sermon. 4. Give my reasons for
+      rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity. In explaining the
+      passage, he says, 'I regard this text as a simple
+      declaration relative to the fulfilment of the promises
+      alluded to in the preceding verse--promises made to the
+      Israelites, of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ
+      came--that is, _of_ or _through_ those Israelites his
+      lineage is traced, and to them was the promise of the
+      Messiah made.' This is the first doctrine of the text, and
+      is so self-evident that it requires no further remark.
+
+      "The second thing in this verse is, that Christ is declared
+      to be 'over all,' which represents his extensive reign, his
+      universal dominion, his superintendency over all the
+      affairs of the New Dispensation, his being head over all
+      things unto the church, which is his body. 'The head of
+      every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.' 1
+      Cor. 11: 3--which agrees with the Saviour's final address
+      to his apostles after his resurrection, 'All power is given
+      unto me in heaven and in earth,' Matt. 28: 18. A beautiful
+      description of his being first, of his having preëminence,
+      is given, Col. 1: 18, 19: 'And he is the head of the body,
+      the church: who is the _beginning_, the _first-born_ from
+      the dead, that, in all things, he might have the
+      preëminence; for it pleased the Father that in him should
+      all fulness dwell.' There are but two rational conclusions
+      that can be drawn from the words 'God blessed forever,' to
+      neither of which have I any special objection. 1. That the
+      promise is fulfilled, Christ is come, is over all,
+      therefore bless God forever, or let God be blessed for
+      ever, for his fulfilment of so great and glorious a
+      promise; which accords with another expression of St. Paul,
+      Rom. 9: 15: 'Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.'
+      According to this view, it is only an exclamation of
+      praise. 2. That he is 'blessed of God forever,' as the
+      expressions--God blessed and blessed of God signify the
+      same. He _was_ blessed of God, and he shall be blessed of
+      him forever. God promised him, God sent him, God
+      strengthened and glorified him, raised him from the dead,
+      received him at his own right hand, and has committed to
+      him judgment; and, under God, he shall reign over all till
+      the last enemy is conquered. Where is the word or the idea
+      of a Trinity in this text? I cannot find it."
+
+In the last part of the discourse, he assigns seven reasons for
+rejecting the Trinity, which are:--
+
+      "1. It is not a doctrine of Revelation, but is an invention
+      of men in a dark age. 2. It contradicts plain declarations
+      of Scripture. 3. It contradicts reason. 4. It has always
+      caused contention in the church, and now is the greatest
+      subject of controversy in Christendom. 5. It is a doctrine
+      which obliges its believers to contradict themselves in
+      _preaching_ and in _prayer_. 6. It involves the idea it
+      claims to despise--a _human_ Saviour, a _human_ atonement.
+      7. It is the foundation of deism."
+
+February, 1841, whilst conducting a series of meetings at Stafford, N.
+Y., he was challenged into a public debate at Morganville, by Rev. J.
+Whitney, an ultra Universalist, in which Mr. W. engaged to prove: 1.
+That the last judgment is confined to this life. 2. The final salvation
+of all men. 3. That ultra Universalism is better, in its moral tendency,
+than any other system of faith. The order of discussion was a sermon
+each. Mr. Badger spoke first, taking for his entire speech four hours
+and twenty minutes. The plot of his sermon is very lengthy, and laid out
+in the form of a massive strength. It was one of those masterly efforts
+to which a successful reply would seem impossible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Volumes of interesting personal reminiscences, those that would be
+characteristic of the man might be written, provided his contemporaries
+would pour out their recollections in a form that would be available for
+a writer's use. I would here narrate an incident given me on good
+authority, which illustrates his readiness for an emergency. In the
+village of his residence, some eight or ten years ago, the Episcopal
+Church, and the citizens generally, had assembled in their chapel,
+splendidly illuminated on Christmas Eve, expecting to hear a sermon for
+the occasion from an Episcopal clergyman from a distance. The clergyman
+arrived in town, but not sufficiently early to look over his papers, and
+to prepare for the service. He declined to speak. The leading man of the
+society, who felt deeply the disappointment, saw but one method by which
+to save the credit of the occasion, which was to get Mr. Badger to
+preach. No other clergyman would dare to attempt it. The people were
+assembled, expectations were high. He at once came to Mr. Badger's
+house, found that he had just returned from Lakeville, weary with labor,
+and was reclining in front of the fire. He told him the facts of the
+case, that he must go to the church and preach the sermon, that not a
+moment could be lost. Mr. Badger arose, and without waiting to find a
+text, to brush his coat, or to comb his hair, walked with him to the
+chapel, entered the desk, and without much apology, gave, what the
+citizens have ever since declared to be, a most eloquent and able
+discourse--a better than which, they had never heard him give.
+
+In the village of Springport, during his labors there, a few men of
+skeptical cast of mind thought they would embarrass him by sending him a
+text, accompanied by a respectful request that they would be glad to
+hear him preach from it. The text was Ecc. 3: 21: "Who knoweth the
+spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth
+downward to the earth?" It was handed to him one evening, and he
+preached from it the next. After speaking respectfully and thankfully of
+his indebtedness to some three or four gentlemen for the subject on
+which he should speak, he proceeded to give the import of the passage
+thus: King Solomon, he said, was an observer, a thinker, and a man of
+knowledge. He saw the two natures of man, his body and spirit: that as
+respects the former, all go to one place, man and beast; but that
+notwithstanding the plainness of these outward phenomena, an
+impenetrable mystery remains in respect to the spirit of each. "Who
+_knoweth_ the spirit of man that goeth upward?" that is, who
+_comprehends_ it, who can declare the whole mystery of its powers? Who
+comprehends the spirit of the beast?--this too is mystery. The wise man,
+said Mr. Badger, knew the _limit_ of knowledge. After giving this view
+of the passage, which cleared it of all imagined difficulty, and which
+is justified by the letter of the text, he preached a sermon on the
+immortal nature and destiny of man. Near the close, after applying the
+subject quite effectively, he called attention to the object for which
+the gentleman had given the text.
+
+      "The only purpose," said he, "why this passage was sent me
+      under these peculiar circumstances, was to establish the
+      doctrine that _man_ is a _beast_, that he has only the
+      destiny of a beast. This," said he, "is a grave position.
+      Were I to meet one of those gentlemen to-morrow, and in my
+      salutation call him a beast, would he not regard it as a
+      gross insult? Look at the origin of this request. A few
+      _men_, or _beasts_ if they are determined to have it so,
+      meet and _talk_ about the Bible, the church, religion and
+      the ministers. They say the Bible is a fable, religion is
+      imagination, and the clergy are after the people's money.
+      Now let us send the minister a text that proves there is no
+      hereafter. Is not this conversation on a pretty high order
+      of subjects for beasts? And this handwriting too (holding
+      up the note) looks very handsome and fair for a beast.
+      Animals are fast ascending."
+
+The power of this satire, as given by him, was perfectly triumphant, and
+it is needless to add that he was ever after left to choose his own
+subjects. But in this line of remark we are obliged to desist, not
+having been supplied with material for a chapter of personal
+recollections.
+
+A few remarks from two or three of his contemporaries will close this
+chapter. Rev. L. D. Fleming, of Rochester, N. Y., writes as follows:
+
+      "He is associated with all the remembrances of my early
+      Christian experience. In many respects he was an
+      extraordinary man. Few men take as deep an interest in the
+      wants and necessities of young ministers as he did. He was
+      always ready to lift them up when through discouragement
+      they were falling; and he had a most happy gift for drawing
+      them out, for developing their mental resources, for
+      inspiring them with hope when hopeless, and with that
+      necessary self-reliance which many lack, and for the want
+      of which many abandon their calling. He treated them not
+      only as babes in Christ, 'feeding them with the sincere
+      milk of the word,' but as fellows with him in the Gospel
+      mission. This was an _inspiring fellowship_, where lay much
+      of his hidden power. How often have I known him to ask the
+      advice of the young minister on important subjects, not,
+      probably, that he expected that they could unravel knotty
+      questions, or enlighten him. He intended to draw them into
+      a new field of thought, to set them in pursuit of their own
+      resources, and to kindle up the fires of mentality as no
+      other means would have done it. He had tact and talent
+      peculiarly his own. His nature overflowed with the milk of
+      human kindness; this, associated with his peculiar
+      organization, gave him that great social power which was
+      one characteristic of his life. Although I cannot hope by
+      anything I can say, to add to his fame, I feel a pleasure
+      in bearing testimony to those entrancing social qualities
+      and Christian virtues, which should be emulated by all
+      lovers of the Gospel he professed, and by which he became
+      endeared to multitudes."
+
+From Rev. O. E. Morrill, of Plainville, Onondaga County, N. Y., we take
+the following lines:
+
+      "Much has already been said, and well said by Messrs.
+      Hazein and Fay, in their obituary notices, and it would
+      seem superfluous in me to reiterate the same things. It may
+      be proper for me to observe, that, within a few past years
+      many of our worthy brethren in the ministry, with whom I
+      have battled in the Lord's war for more than a quarter of a
+      century, have retired from the battle field with an
+      honorable discharge. The name of Joseph Badger now becomes
+      classified with those of Peavy, Bailey, Clough, Morrison,
+      Shaw, Fernald, and more recently with our deeply lamented
+      brother Barr.
+
+      "I knew all these men when young, and loved them as my own
+      natural brothers. They were all pious, devoted ministers of
+      the Gospel. They were persevering, faithful pioneers, and
+      true to the spirit and doctrine of the Christian
+      reformation. Men of the first class of natural talents, but
+      of moderate literary accomplishments, they were
+      emphatically a class of self-sacrificing men, public
+      benefactors of our race. They commenced in the ministry
+      when young, labored hard, fared hard, lived upon short pay,
+      and survived to see their storm-beaten vessel under full
+      sail before a refreshing breeze, and died in peace.
+
+      "Of all these good men it may seem invidious to make a
+      distinction, but without intending the least detraction
+      from the rest of them, I may be permitted to say, that,
+      from some strong affinity of our nature, or some other
+      cause I cannot now explain, Mr. Badger was always nearer
+      and dearer to me than either of the rest of them. We loved
+      like Jonathan and David. Our souls were knit together. We
+      were raised in adjoining towns in New Hampshire, and he was
+      but a few years my senior. His whole nature was cheerful,
+      his address familiar and easy, and all his associations
+      were frank, kind, and interesting. His natural turn was
+      affable, and he enjoyed sociability with an uncommon
+      relish.
+
+      "In preaching, his voice was not heavy, but clear, soft,
+      and musical, and capable of being heard at a good distance.
+      His sermons were methodical, his ideas clear, distinct, and
+      comprehensive. He was familiar with the Scriptures, and
+      evinced a sufficient knowledge of books and of literature,
+      for all practical purposes. He had a well-disciplined mind,
+      a retentive memory, and a happy faculty of communication.
+      He was never at a loss for words to express his thoughts,
+      nor did he confuse his hearers with a redundancy of them.
+      His preaching was not loud, but soft, easy, and pleasant to
+      the hearer, yet pathetic and commanding. His manner was
+      never boisterous, but mild, quiet, and agreeable. He never
+      lost his balance of temper in debate, but always bore
+      himself through with much unaffected pleasantry and good
+      humor. He was a ready writer, a close thinker, a fair
+      debater, a good editor, an excellent preacher, and a strong
+      man. He was strictly evangelical in doctrine, according to
+      Dr. L. Beecher's definition of that term. To the honor of
+      his name be it said, he never had the least sympathy with
+      Campbellism, Millerism, Calvinism, or Universalism, but was
+      a whole-hearted Christian individually, theologically, and
+      denominationally.
+
+      "To be sure, Brother Badger had his foibles, imperfections,
+      and mortal weaknesses as well as other men; but now, having
+      gone from us, and his account sealed up to the great day,
+      let the broad mantle of Christian charity cover these
+      forever, as he can give no further explanations, make no
+      defence, nor be benefited by our limited extenuations.
+      Peace to his ashes!"
+
+Rev. J. Ross, of Charleston, N. Y., says:
+
+      "My first acquaintance with Mr. Badger was, I think, in the
+      fall of 1816. He then, in company with ministers Avery,
+      Moulton, and J. L. Peavy, called at my father's house in
+      Milton, Saratoga County, N. Y., and held a meeting. Mr.
+      Peavy preached. This was a little over two years after my
+      profession of religion, and the organization of the
+      Christian church at Ballstown. There was then a church
+      existing at Galway, ten or twelve miles distant, and
+      brethren scattered throughout various towns in the
+      vicinity. Jabez King and Philip Sandford, both young men,
+      were nearly all the help we had in that vicinity. Mr.
+      Badger and his associates called to hold a general meeting
+      of all the brethren who could assemble at Galway, for the
+      purpose of seeking out and commending to the work, such
+      persons as gave evidence of having gifts profitable for the
+      Gospel field. The meeting was held in Galway, in the first
+      chapel ever erected by our people in the State of New York.
+      A number of young and diffident brethren, who afterwards
+      became ministers, were here taken by the hand, by those
+      more experienced, and encouraged to improve their gifts,
+      whilst the churches were taught their duty to them. The
+      sympathy and union generated by that interview doubtless
+      still live in several hearts. This was our first
+      acquaintance; and the act of meeting for the encouragement
+      of young men whose eye was on the ministry, I deem
+      peculiarly characteristic of the subject of the memoir. No
+      young man in the circle of his influence was permitted to
+      hide a profitable gift in a napkin, or bury his talent in
+      the earth. He knew how to draw out the most diffident,
+      could make the most of them when drawn out, and none could
+      inspire their minds with stronger fortitude. At our first
+      conference at Hartwick, Otsego County, 1818, he was there
+      the active, moving spirit of that body. And whatever of
+      order and good arrangement we now have in our conferences
+      and conventions, may be attributed, more than to any other
+      cause, to the impetus given by him in those early times.
+
+      "There was little of Don Quixote or of Utopianism in his
+      constitution. He judged accurately of the effect of causes.
+      He was cool, calm, and self-possessed amidst exciting
+      scenes that moved the multitude; and wherever his Gospel
+      labors proved effective, society was built up and order was
+      established. He was a close observer of men and things,
+      took the gauge and dimensions of men quickly, and it was
+      usually safe to take his estimate as the true one. He saw
+      coming events in the shadows which preceded them. Seemingly
+      inspired with the sentiment that the Gospel was the
+      God-appointed lever designed to lift the world from its
+      moral degradation, he showed but little sympathy for any
+      humanly devised means of reformation. '_The Gospel!_ THE
+      GOSPEL! THE PURE GOSPEL!' was his cry for the cure of moral
+      evil. A want of confidence in the many professedly
+      reformatory measures and associations of the age was
+      calculated to affect his popularity in many quarters, but
+      he adhered unwaveringly to his motto, 'the Gospel.'
+
+      "His sermons had method peculiar to himself. They always
+      had order and arrangement; but the coherence of the parts
+      was not always apparent to the casual observer. His manner
+      in the pulpit was often playful, exciting a smile from the
+      light-hearted, and sometimes a sigh or a tear from the most
+      devout, as he rowed out into the sea of public discourse.
+      But the scene gradually changed as he advanced in his
+      labors, as his design began to be revealed, and his subject
+      was applied. The sigh and tear were oft exchanged for
+      songs, and the playful smile for prayer and tears. He
+      always closed well.
+
+      "As a writer 'he is known and read of all men.' His style
+      is his own, plain, clear, ungarnished and straight-forward.
+      For this difficult station of editor he had rare
+      accomplishments; and the denomination have cause for
+      lasting gratitude for the aid and encouragement rendered to
+      inexperienced writers, and for the impetus he gave to this
+      mode of teaching. A glimpse at those volumes of the
+      Palladium, issued under his supervision, and then at the
+      condition of the correspondents and contributors, or the
+      original copy from which it was made, at once reveals the
+      singular ability of the man. How a class of young writers
+      clustered around him! A thousand blessings rest upon him
+      here!
+
+      "He had quick perception, great decision, and
+      concentration. He habitually _thought_ at early dawn; and
+      when his purposes were laid, every energy was concentrated
+      upon that single point. In this he was a Washington, a
+      Napoleon, a Wellington. As a man of tact I have not known
+      his equal. To this quality we may ascribe much of his
+      success in conducting the Palladium. Many who could have
+      written a labored article as well, or better, could not
+      have succeeded in conducting the paper at all. Many with
+      resources would have produced a mole-hill when he formed a
+      mountain. But we will not, we dare not, say that his
+      positions and his means of sustaining them were always
+      right. He was a man; and in this utterance we plainly say
+      he was erring. The most we can say, the highest character
+      we would give our brother is, we hope, we trust, we believe
+      he was a CHRISTIAN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+REFLECTIONS.
+
+
+As the value of men historically stands in close connection with the
+ideas they represent, and with the movements in which they take part, it
+is relevant to the present subject that we glance at the character of
+the reformation in which Mr. Badger was the leading actor, and in whose
+principles he lived and preached more than a third of a century. We read
+the worth of a man in the value of the cause he aids. Mankind evidently
+are saved, not by magic, but by principles. The moral benefactor,
+therefore, is to be prized by the service he renders in making these
+perfect in the knowledge, and effective in the practice of his fellows.
+What, then, are the historical worth and characteristics of the
+Christian Reformation, in whose ministry Mr. Badger was a star of
+primary magnitude and brightness?
+
+Its historical worth can now be stated but partially, as the half
+century which has elapsed since the first declaration of principles is
+too small a space of time for their determination in results. If, in all
+reformatory movements, the conception, utterance, agitation, and
+adoption of ideas, are the natural steps of progress by which new truths
+become externized in permanent effects, we might well appropriate the
+period of time here spoken of mostly to the preparatory stages of the
+work, and look forward to the future for the final verdict which shall
+declare its entire importance. This question cannot now be answered,
+except by the ability which reads, in moral causes, the distant triumphs
+they contain. As a future forest resides in present acorns, so great
+future changes reside in present truths.
+
+The religious sentiment has its eras in the world, its triumphs and
+discouragements, as really as art and science have theirs; and between
+its present state and final victories lie many great and earnest
+revolutions. Three things may be safely premised on this subject: 1. The
+religious sentiment is mighty and eternal in man, and therefore will
+forever appear with prominence in human history. 2. There now exist all
+the TRUTHS and all the PRINCIPLES that can ever possibly appear. 3. The
+increasing _knowledge_ of truth, the _development_ of principles, the
+revolutions that are needed for their establishment in the world--these
+must continue. To truth no iota can ever be added, it being already
+infinite; but its development in human history must, like human nature,
+be progressive.
+
+In looking over the world's religious phenomena, we notice, among the
+defects, a mixture of truth with superstition, an ignorance of
+everlasting law, which flows through all departments of being, and into
+which all facts are resolved. In marking the particular line of religion
+which forms the boundary of Christendom, we perceive, in the inclosure,
+the abundance of sectarism, of intolerance and persecution, all growing
+out of the immense importance which each sect attaches to its dogmas of
+belief, to its name and organization. Prior to Protestantism, the
+church, which has always boasted of its unity, imprisoned and burned the
+heretic. The belligerent attitude of clergymen now conclusively proves
+that theology, or divine science, is not understood; for it is
+impossible that honest men should quarrel on any subject of which they
+have a full comprehension. War, therefore, is the proof of ignorance,
+and ignorance is the mother of intolerance and persecution. As these are
+the most prominent evils the history of the church presents, we are
+obliged to highly honor the principles which melt these asperities into
+charity, as they shine from the effulgent heaven of a wider love. Under
+the stern authority of creeds, a manly freedom will scarcely grow. The
+Christian reformation, which began with the masses, and not with a
+caste, in the first years of the nineteenth century, contained
+principles which liberate the spirit from narrow and oppressive bonds,
+which open comparatively a whole broad horizon over the man of faith,
+and form a larger brotherhood than mere uniformity of belief can ever
+create. In naming distinctly four elements of that reformation, the view
+here offered will be clearly verified.
+
+1. It cast aside sectarian names. To witness the power of names, whether
+political or religious, to learn their efficiency in perpetuating a
+division, one has only to look at the different parties into which men
+are separated. Often, it is the name mostly that holds a party together,
+and that forms the limit of sympathy and fraternization. But it was no
+philosophical reasons that led the people to throw off all sectarian
+names. It was reverence to the New Testament, and to the holy sympathies
+of Christian fellowship, which perpetually pass beyond the artificial
+boundaries of sect. In reverence to the New Testament, they assumed the
+Catholic name--Christian, and conceded it to all of every class who
+walked in purity of life.
+
+2. They exalted the Bible to the exclusion and rejection of human
+creeds. Creeds cannot be wiser than to men who made them; as these are
+weak, fallible creatures, it is in vain to seek the Rock of Ages among
+their products. It may be said that no one can attend to every branch of
+business; that if one man makes ploughs he should be excused from making
+coffins, and be supplied from his neighbor's shop; that the unthinking
+masses, whose toil absorbs their energy, cannot form their own belief;
+that each, out of the storehouse of creeds already made, should find
+what fits his own dimensions. This may not be the worst advice to one
+who, mentally, is ready to die, and needs wherewith to be entombed; but
+to him who is resolved to live, it is the veriest mockery. If the Bible
+is, according to the general concession, the firmament of suns and
+stars, that bends morally and religiously over mankind, why should the
+torch and taper lights of theological invention be substituted in its
+place? In the daytime is not the radiance of the sun sufficient? The
+cause which induced these reformers to reject the man-made creeds, was
+simply reverence to the Book of books, and to the individual right of
+every man to learn truth for himself, undictated by the authority of
+men.
+
+3. They claimed for each person a perfect, individual freedom. Romanism
+denies this right; and, though Protestanism has usually admitted it in
+theory, it has always Romanized in practice. Who is authorized to be the
+master of my thought? Who is commissioned from on high to tell me what I
+am to believe? Who or what is entitled to an arbitrary throne in this
+free realm? To the fish God gave an element in which they are free; to
+the birds and trees he was equally kind. Nothing grows proportionately,
+truly, except freedom. To man the High One has given the boundless
+element of TRUTH, a shoreless and fathomless ocean to swim in; and who
+shall here compel his path? There was manliness in the words of Henry,
+"Give me liberty or give me death."
+
+4. EXPERIENCE they made the basis of religion. Their bond of fellowship,
+therefore, did not say, What, sir, is your opinion? It asked the deeper
+questions, Where is your heart? How do you live? Of the Holy Spirit are
+you born? It is true that the doctrine of one God in one person, of
+Jesus as his son, became with them a general belief, probably from the
+fact that a full surrender of their minds to the Scriptures as exclusive
+authority necessitated these convictions; but no notions of Trinity or
+Unity were ever thought of as bonds of fellowship. The spirit and
+doctrine of that movement cried to men and women of all sects and of no
+sect, "If you walk by faith in the Son of God, if you love the Lord
+Jesus, if you try to live the holy life, come to our embrace, come to
+the symbolical supper of our Lord." The full history of these sentiments
+in the world, the future must write. They are already introduced; and
+from the democratic turn which thought and education are everywhere
+taking, from the liberal spirit which every new, valuable work in
+literature breathes, from the generally increasing aversion to dogmatic
+theology, we opine that they are destined, through many agencies, to
+triumph sublimely in the Christian world. These fathers, like those of
+the Mayflower, wrought from reverence and duty, and no more than they,
+foresaw the distant results of the principles they espoused. But time is
+logical, and reproduces the proper fruit of every seed. The movement was
+self-relying, but more especially was it God-relying. Human nature in
+its view is not self-illumined even in its dutiful action, as the earth
+by no majestic revolving can cause the day. This proceeds from the sun;
+and from the Eternal Sun are all spirits lighted.
+
+In the cause of education, Mr. Badger's interest and care survived his
+ability to speak or write on general questions. On the new educational
+movement, which has since resulted in the establishment of Antioch
+College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, under circumstances of much promise,
+he looked with anxious and hopeful solicitude, always inquiring of the
+success of the enterprise; and it may be justly said that his last years
+were full of the conviction that more education is the strongly
+available instrument of power. He lived to see the denomination with
+whom his lot was cast, become enthusiastically awake in behalf of
+culture. He saw it and rejoiced. Though his people, from the warm,
+intense faith through which they had early looked to the region of the
+spiritual and the supernatural for their resources of conquest, had
+allowed human accomplishment to be in a degree eclipsed, they never
+cherished substantially the least irreverence to science; for the
+reverence of truth, native in all spirits, extends to science, which is
+nothing more than truth made known. Against this precious light, which
+comes out of nature to instruct us of her hidden property and law, no
+antagonism ever appeared. Not culture, not science, but the
+objectionable narrowness of the usual theological training; this was the
+main centre of their established prejudice. The Seminary at Starkey, the
+Graham Institute of North Carolina, and the College in Ohio, are earnest
+monuments of their deep regard for the culture which belongs to
+literature and to science; the last named success being, all things
+considered, the largest movement under the guiding impulse of liberal
+faith, that has ever occurred on the continent. The genius of the
+nineteenth century is _to educate_. Even the elements are disciplined to
+do for man, to prepare his timbers, to print his thoughts, to carry him
+on his journey, to bring him tidings; and in no department of human
+interest and enterprise are raw forces ranked in value with educated
+power. From the ignorance in which life universally begins, and from the
+infinity of unconquered truth that ever remains to be learned, it
+follows, as by unyielding necessity, that the highway that leads from
+man as a savage to man as the ripened glory of the universe, is none
+other than education.
+
+Mr. Badger, in his time and way, was indeed an educator (_e-duco_, to
+_call out_), and his whole action tended to impart discipline to the
+means and forces about him. His position on this subject was one he
+never changed; and it is remarkable that through his long life there are
+no contradictions between his avowed opinions at different times. In the
+thorough retrospect, from the close to the beginning of his public
+career, one is impressed with the idea of matureness, of an
+extraordinary consistency. Each part agrees with the rest. So strikingly
+manifest is this trait, that we are not surprised at the words of Mr.
+Wellons, of Virginia, who said, "I have read his writings from my
+boyhood, and I must say he was the most consistent man I ever knew."
+
+Though science is entitled to reverence from its sacredness, and to
+regard from its ministry of uses and its utility in breaking up the dark
+empire of superstition, it was religion in its great and catholic
+elements, that won the central worship of his heart. The one God, the
+one Christ, the one Spirit, the one Gospel, the one brotherhood, the one
+salvation, freedom, and fellowship of saints; these were his themes. He
+loved these principles with a firm and steadfast affection. As long as
+he could walk, even with assistance, he urged his way to the sanctuary
+of their proclamation. These pioneers were indeed strong, invincible
+spirits, who prove that the men who make a people are greater than those
+whom the people make.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Mrs. Peaslee Badger died 1834, at Compton, Lower Canada. Major
+Peaslee Badger died at Gilmanton, N. H. M. P. Cogswell, in transmitting
+the news of his death, says--"I now have the painful duty to perform of
+giving you information of the decease of your honored father, who died
+at Gilmanton, October 13, 1846, at 12 o'clock at night, and was buried
+on this day, the 15th, in the old family burial ground, by the side of
+his father and mother. The Rev. Daniel Lancaster preached a good
+discourse at our old Smith Meeting House, from Ecc. 12: 7; he spoke well
+and feelingly of the Major; of his high order of talents, of his
+remarkably retentive memory of the Scriptures, and so forth. Thus has
+our honored father gone down to the grave, as said Mr. Lancaster, like a
+shock of corn fully ripe in its season, at the age of 92 years and six
+months, lacking ninedays. The day was beautiful for the season; Gov.
+Badger and family, as likewise all the relatives in Gilmanton and
+vicinity were present, and the whole scene was solemnly impressive."
+
+[2] The History of Gilmanton, from the first settlement to the present
+time, 1845. By Daniel Lancaster, p. 256. Also, Memoir of Hon. Joseph
+Badger, p. 1.
+
+[3] See American Quarterly Register, vol. xiii, No. 3, p. 317.
+
+[4] 3,450 ft. high.
+
+[5] 3,320 ft.
+
+[6] 4,636 ft.
+
+[7] 1000 ft.
+
+[8] 6,314 ft.
+
+[9] This title was then very commonly given to all Baptist ministers.
+For some years, however, it has been gradually growing obsolete.
+
+[10] This and its accompanying stanza.
+
+[11] At Ionia, Onondaga Co., N. Y., 1835.
+
+[12] Rom. 1: 16.
+
+[13] This part of the journal was written in 1816.
+
+[14] His brother, Peaslee Badger.
+
+[15] The one that coerced him to pray when a child.
+
+[16] This letter, and another signed by two deacons in Newhampton, are
+before me. They witness to the great power and success of his ministry;
+also to his Christian life.
+
+[17] Proverbs, 27: 7.
+
+[18] The same mentioned on page 21.
+
+[19] Zech. 14: 7.
+
+[20] In a sense that to you needs no explanation.
+
+[21] Ps. 7: 16.
+
+[22] Ps. 9: 15.
+
+[23] Ecc. 10: 8.
+
+[24] Acts 20: 31.
+
+[25] John 17: 3; John 1: 18; Matt. 11: 27.
+
+[26] Then Ontario County.
+
+[27] In 1818, this town was constituted out of the town of Pittsford.
+
+[28] It is stated that the first regularly organized Conference in the
+United States, occurred at Hartwick, Otsego County, N. Y., 1818. See
+Pall., vol. ii., p. 169.
+
+[29] Now Stafford, Genesee County, N. Y.
+
+[30] Christian Herald, Portsmouth, N. H., Vol. II, p. 61.
+
+[31] Christian Herald, Portsmouth, N. H., Vol. II, p. 63.
+
+[32] Both were active members of the Union Convention held in Covington,
+Genesee, January, 1820.
+
+[33] His degree in Masonry was the Royal Arch.
+
+[34] At first, it was a voluntary assemblage, called general because all
+denominations were invited to participate; later, delegates from local
+Conferences were appointed.
+
+[35] Mr. Church lived in the town of Friendship, six miles west from Mr.
+How.
+
+[36] Her mother, Mr. How's first wife, died 1816.
+
+[37] The La Fayette Ball given at that time, he says, cost $100,000; and
+about 12,000 persons were said to have been present.
+
+[38] This spring emits carbureted hydrogen gas. It has not only lighted
+the apartments of the citizens, but has been used in cooking.
+
+[39] Then all the towns east of the Genesee, in this section, were in
+Ontario County; Monroe County was not then formed.
+
+[40] In a later address of Mr. Loring, than the one whose statements
+were quoted by Mr. Himes, published in 1844, which was the 40th
+anniversary of the Boston Church, Mr. L. observes--"Elder Badger arrived
+in September, and commenced preaching. His labors were successful, and
+many gathered to hear the word. In the winter following, a considerable
+number professed conversion, and were received by the Church. Under date
+of Lord's day, March 23, 1828, there stands on the Church record the
+following entry:--'At the close of the afternoon service, Elder Badger,
+with the candidates for baptism, previously prepared, proceeded in ten
+carriages to South Boston, where they were followed by a large portion
+of the congregation. After solemn prayer, the ordinance was administered
+after the example of our glorious Lord.' Elder Badger remained with us
+about a year, and during his stay I believe this house was generally as
+well filled as at any period since its erection."--p. 18.
+
+[41] J. G. Loring and Wm. Gridley are deceased; the former but recently.
+
+[42] Mrs. Badger.
+
+[43] His answer to the committee, in which he declines their invitation,
+is dated at Boston, August 14, 1828.
+
+[44] Gospel Luminary, Vol. III, p. 95.
+
+[45] The name of his residence in Mendon.
+
+[46] Bible Doctrine of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Atonement and
+Faith; to which is prefixed an Essay on Natural Theology and the Truth
+of Revelation. By Wm. Kinkade. Revised by J. Badger.
+
+[47] Pall., Vol. II, p. 287. A general convention from the different
+States.
+
+[48] In the town of Broadalbin.
+
+[49] Now Fulton County.
+
+[50] Pall., Vol. II, p. 387.
+
+[51] The leading men in starting the general association and the
+publication of the Christian Palladium were O. E. Morrill, J. Badger, J.
+Bailey, B. Miles, and others. O. E. Morrill was particularly active and
+prominent in this useful movement.
+
+[52] The _debate_ with R. D. Owen, as it was called, was evidently no
+_debate_. No direct issue was formed between them, and there was no
+direct conflict of mind with mind on any essential question. It was
+mostly the rare phenomenon of two men talking alternately in the _same
+place_ on _different_ subjects.
+
+[53] Debate on the Roman Catholic religion, pages 59, 186, 172.
+
+[54] Editor of the Christian Teacher.
+
+[55] J. J. Harvey.
+
+[56] At Marion, Wayne County, N. Y.
+
+[57] 1828.
+
+[58] January, 1844.
+
+[59] To Joseph Marsh, Editor of the Palladium.
+
+[60] The Christian Church at Royalton, N. Y., was the first erected in
+the State west of the Genesee river.
+
+[61] One of the means of torture in the Spanish Inquisition.
+
+[62] Faust, p. 89.
+
+[63] The first local Conference regularly organized in the United
+States, for the transaction of general business and for the keeping of a
+pure ministry, was called by him at Hartwick, N. Y., 1818. He was the
+leading spirit of that body, and ably met the objections that were
+raised against its objects. In 1817 he wrote some letters to individual
+preachers, pleading for an association of churches and ministers, to
+which ministers should be responsible for the characters they sustain.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger, by Elihu G. Holland
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40609 ***