Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger Part 5

"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 a.s.sembly, taking her mates by the hand, and warning and inviting them to flee to Christ, made a deep impression on the a.s.sembly. 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."

Pa.s.sages 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 s.p.a.ce 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 superst.i.tion 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 G.o.d 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 _cla.s.s 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 pa.s.sage which refers to the lonely and dependent spirit which there sought relief in prayerful utterance.

"How many trials I have pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d 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 mult.i.tude 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 embarra.s.sments 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 a.s.semblies 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 G.o.d away. He says there is no divine authority for infant sprinkling; that if we take it from circ.u.mcision, 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 a.s.sociations, 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 ill.u.s.trated 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d 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."