Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger Part 11

At evening I spoke to a mult.i.tude 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 n.o.bler 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 a.s.sembly 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 s.n.a.t.c.hes 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 chastis.e.m.e.nt 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d on such occasions, I cannot refrain from giving you my sentiments, and from a.s.suring 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sisted in season by the wisdom of others."

Mr. P., it would appear, was a minister of the Freewill Baptist denomination, had a.s.sociated 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 t.i.tle of Mr. B.'s ma.n.u.script 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 t.i.tle-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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.sing 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 a.s.sisted 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 G.o.d, 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 ent.i.tled "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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d, 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 'G.o.d planted a garden eastward,' but, as none are informed of its locality, its lat.i.tude 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 'G.o.d 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 p.r.o.nounced, there were also three distinct sinful actors. Sin originates in each l.u.s.tful mind. Some say, Is not G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, without adopting the arbitrary notions of grace prevailing in the then common theology, and without implying a pacification of "the infinite wrath" of G.o.d 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 superst.i.tious 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 G.o.d 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 l.u.s.tre." 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 a.s.semblies, 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 a.s.semblies 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, t.i.tles 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 a.s.signs 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 cl.u.s.tered about him as their religious teacher, formed the central attraction to which he turned with the deep and permanent feelings of home. The cla.s.s of persons Mr. B. had there attached to himself, were the intelligent, the responsible and influential, which, added to the happy a.s.sociations 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 mult.i.tude of letters, written under various circ.u.mstances 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 a.s.sumed; 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sage 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 sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 G.o.d 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 princ.i.p.ally owing to our education; but pure religion is one thing wherever you find it; it is the work of G.o.d in the heart, a principle of G.o.dliness 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 pa.s.sage 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 st.u.r.dy pine, reflecting on the divine goodness and the dangers he had tempted in this new wilderness way.