Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger Part 16

In Cayuga County, he speaks of the labors of Morrill and Coburn as successful; of pa.s.sing through Montgomery, Delaware, Green and Dutchess Counties; of standing by the grave of his worthy early a.s.sociate in the ministry, John L. Peavy, at Milan; of thinking of his many a.s.sociates 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 G.o.d, and of one Mediator between G.o.d 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 G.o.d?" 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 a.s.sembly, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sistance 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 embarra.s.sment 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, '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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sociates 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 a.s.sociation," composed of some of the most experienced ministers and competent men, was organized December, 1831, with a const.i.tution 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 a.s.sist 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 G.o.d 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 cla.s.s 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 superst.i.tion. 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 circ.u.mstanced, 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 acc.u.mulated in the wilderness. Its unscriptural creeds and doctrines--its cruel and oppressive government--its unholy and proscriptive spirit--its fanatical and superst.i.tious 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 sanct.i.ty, 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 superst.i.tious fears of G.o.d, 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 debas.e.m.e.nt 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 G.o.d. 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 repet.i.tion in this volume, as many of the same cla.s.s 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.

a.s.sisted 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 a.s.sociated 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 a.s.sistance.

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 a.s.sociation, 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 a.s.sociation 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 a.s.sociation a.s.signed 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 a.s.sumed. 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 G.o.d, 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 t.i.tle the name creator and founder, for, though it sprung out of the necessities of the denomination, under the a.s.sistance 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 cla.s.s,--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.