Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger Part 20

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 antic.i.p.ated 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 a.s.sume; that the church is the only moral a.s.sociation 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 gra.s.s and the th.o.r.n.y 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 a.s.semblies--a place he had not before visited in twenty years.

There he stood by the graves of Blodget and Spaulding, early a.s.sociates, 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 G.o.d. 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 mult.i.tude 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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sembled _en ma.s.se_. 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 G.o.d 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 const.i.tution, 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, pa.s.sed 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, ent.i.tled 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 pa.s.sed over those striking and ingenious pa.s.sages for which Mr. E. is so greatly distinguished, his eye and countenance lighted up with a smile of delight; the thoughts of the writer pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d.

I would wish that all their remembrances of me might be a.s.sociated 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 a.s.semblies, 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 Sat.u.r.day, 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 p.r.o.nounce 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 s.p.a.ce 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 pa.s.sed, 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 h.o.a.ry-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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sing 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 a.n.a.lytical 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 G.o.d'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 const.i.tution and temperament of Mr. Badger were well adapted to power and excellence of intellect. His const.i.tution, 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 n.o.ble, commanding, and prepossessing. His likeness, facing the t.i.tle-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 ent.i.tled _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 inst.i.tution 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 a.s.sured, 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 pa.s.sages 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 circ.u.mspectly 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.