Chapter 10

"We found a Baptist and a Universalist meeting-house open for us. The attention of the people was great to hear, and the ministers treated us with attention and respect. We are now invited to another Baptist meeting-house, and have engaged to give them two sermons next Sabbath. Last Sunday I preached in the State Prison to more than five hundred prisoners, and it was a solemn and a weeping time. I shall visit them again. In the evening I spoke to about one thousand people at the Baptist Church. The young people seemed to be deeply affected, and some of the aged saints rejoiced and said it was truth. I enjoy myself well in this city, being sensible that I am in the way of my duty. Last evening I had the pleasure of seeing the renowned La Fayette, who is on his way to the South. He is worthy of all honor, though like others, he is a frail, dying, mortal man."[37]

He passed three weeks in the city, preached several sermons, baptized a few happy converts, and on the 8th of October, arrived at his home in Mendon. On this tour, Mr. Badger used his influence in favor of theestablishment of a new monthly periodical at West Bloomfield, New York, which commenced January 1, 1825, under the editorial direction of Rev. D. Millard, and entitled the "Gospel Luminary." These sermons, from Messrs. Clough and Badger, were the first, I believe, ever given in that city under the simple name of Christian, with the exception of the labors of Doctor Joseph Hall, who had a few months preceded them. Soon after, the gifted Miss Rexford, and Mrs. Abigail Roberts, whose labors in many places had been successful, held meetings in that metropolis, and as early as January, 1825, we hear of Mr. Clough laboring to plant the standard of a liberal evangelical Christianity in that community.

Mr. Badger's journey was deferred till the late autumnal months of 1825, as he chose not to venture so great a change of climate in the warmer seasons; home duties also prevented an immediate execution of his plan. On the 19th December, 1824, he preached twice in Chili, a town not far from Rochester, where the labors of Mr. Silsby had been effectual in the conversion of souls; also in Clarkson, Perinton, Gains, and Royalton, he preached, witnessing some cheering signs of the Sacred Presence. The first week after his arrival at Royalton he attended twelve meetings.

"In the second meeting," he says, "I saw two young ladies who appeared much disposed to vanity and opposition, but at the close one of them requested prayers, and within one week both became happy converts, and have been baptized. From this occurrence the work beganrapidly among the youth. About a dozen have been hopefully converted, and a great number more are now under serious conviction. Difficulties have healed by the power of God, and backsliders have returned with confessions, repentance, and tears. I have been surprised during this revival to find popular professors of religion its worst enemies. What a shocking inconsistency it is for people to pray for reformation in foreign countries, and fight the work of God at their own doors; to bestow their funds for the conversion of the heathen, and live and act worse than heathens themselves. In the present age, the opposition of the infidel, drunkard and profane, is modest when compared with thewrathandvengeanceof popular professors."

He speaks of Rev. Asa C. Morrison as greatly successful in Salem, Ohio; of Elder Blodget, as having witnessed a large revival during his three months' sojourn in the Province of Upper Canada. "I have found it duty on many accounts," he adds, "to adjourn my southern journey till next fall." In Royalton, he continued to remain, where, assisted for about three weeks by the labors of Elder Levi Hathaway, he saw many converted. Writing from that place, he says:—

"The first day of the present year was a precious time to us at Royalton. I gave a sermon appropriate to the occasion; the number and attention were great, and the saints had a satisfactory evidence that the Lord was about to revive his work, and many spoke in a feeling manner. Several young people requested prayers, and at the close of the meeting I requested all who would covenant together and live anew for God the present year and pray for eachother fervently, to come forward and join hands; about forty came with melting hearts. I then called for those who were resolved to set out the present year to seek salvation, to come into the circle and kneel; I think five came forward. We had a solemn and glorious time in prayer, and felt the sweetest influence of the Good Spirit while we sang,"'From whence doth this union arise,That hatred is conquered by love?'""By request of Mrs. Wiley (a woman in the last stage of consumption, but recently converted), I preached two sermons in her room. The season was solemn and glorious. Many spoke, and she declared that she could now rely on the promises, and trust in the Great Redeemer. As she drew near her end, her faith grew stronger. Just before she expired her husband heard her whisper; he asked her what she said, to which she pleasantly replied, 'I was not speaking to you; I was talking with my God.' Oh, how triumphant was the death of this good woman, and with what solemn pleasure could we follow her to the grave! It is far more pleasant to me to preach at funerals of converts than to have them live and backslide from God, and wound the precious cause.""On the third day of February we met for the organization of a religious society according to law; at the close of the business, a young man who sat on the back seat sent for me to come to him; he had many days been under serious conviction. He said that he should like to speak if there was liberty. He then arose and told what God had done for his soul. February 20 was a day of the Mediator's power; the congregation was large, solemn and attentive. At the close we repaired to the water, which is but a short distance from our meeting-house, where I baptized the bodies of twelve happy souls. I ledinto the water at once six young men; and when I had baptized ten, a young man who had not come forward, passed through the crowd and proposed to his wife to join him; they took each other by the hand and came into the water together. This was one of the most pleasant scenes I ever saw. The saints praised their God aloud, and many of the congregation wept."

"'From whence doth this union arise,That hatred is conquered by love?'"

"By request of Mrs. Wiley (a woman in the last stage of consumption, but recently converted), I preached two sermons in her room. The season was solemn and glorious. Many spoke, and she declared that she could now rely on the promises, and trust in the Great Redeemer. As she drew near her end, her faith grew stronger. Just before she expired her husband heard her whisper; he asked her what she said, to which she pleasantly replied, 'I was not speaking to you; I was talking with my God.' Oh, how triumphant was the death of this good woman, and with what solemn pleasure could we follow her to the grave! It is far more pleasant to me to preach at funerals of converts than to have them live and backslide from God, and wound the precious cause."

"On the third day of February we met for the organization of a religious society according to law; at the close of the business, a young man who sat on the back seat sent for me to come to him; he had many days been under serious conviction. He said that he should like to speak if there was liberty. He then arose and told what God had done for his soul. February 20 was a day of the Mediator's power; the congregation was large, solemn and attentive. At the close we repaired to the water, which is but a short distance from our meeting-house, where I baptized the bodies of twelve happy souls. I ledinto the water at once six young men; and when I had baptized ten, a young man who had not come forward, passed through the crowd and proposed to his wife to join him; they took each other by the hand and came into the water together. This was one of the most pleasant scenes I ever saw. The saints praised their God aloud, and many of the congregation wept."

Sometimes it has been customary among sects to measure the power of a religious faith by the strength and joy it imparts in the dying hour, which certainly is bringing the reality to a solemn test. Judging by this standard, and from almost innumerable instances, the faith inspired by the labors of Mr. B. and his associates was a strong spiritual power, holding the element of triumph in the last, low hour; for not unfrequently did the departing spirit rise to a calm and joyful enthusiasm as the rays of the eternal morning began to fall upon their inward vision.

June 1825 finds Mr. Badger actively engaged in organizing a plan for an evangelizing ministry, an idea he had previously recommended in his correspondence, and in his address to the Conference, as the best means, at that time, for promoting the life and success of the churches. A full report was made on his suggestion, and with his assistance such a ministry was appointed for the year, of which he was, with four others, a member. Perhaps an extract from this address, delivered at Byron, Genesee County, N. Y., June 24, may more perfectly give his views.

"Furthermore, my brethren, to facilitate the union and prosperity of this Conference, let every church within itsboundaries be advised to represent themselves by delegates and form a part of the Conference. Let every church be considered as under the care of individual ministers whom they may elect, or under the care of a travelling ministry which may be organized by this Conference. I here call your attention to a subject of the first magnitude. On a travelling connection, in my opinion, much is depending; and indeed I see no other way for our numerous vacant congregations to be supplied. Then as many preachers as feel it to be their duty to devote their whole time to travelling must be sanctioned by this body, and divide themselves into districts or circuits, as will best commode the local state of the churches. Their support must be received if possible from the congregations of their care; if not, a Conference Fund must supply them, that they be perfectly independent and devoted to their work. By this method, poor as well as wealthy congregations will have a stated ministry. But be assured that the organization of a Conference Fund will be the mainspring to give energy to the whole plan, without which all our calculations are but castles in the air."

Whilst we have this excellent address in hand we cannot dismiss it without quoting a few more lines, particularly as they show the views and state of things at that time. He begins thus:—

"My Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry: I consider myself highly honored to be called to speak in this meeting of delegates and ministers, which I deem one of the most enlightened bodies of men on earth. When I reflect on the name you espouse, the sound doctrine you inculcate, the Christian liberty you enjoy, and the reformations that have everywhere attended you for twenty yearspast, I am justified in the sight of God and men in congratulating you as a favored and an enlightened people."Though you have been called to face the storm of persecution in every step you have taken; though many of you have sacrificed both property and health for the cause, you have the pleasure of reflecting that your labors have not been unsuccessful, and that the cause in which you suffer is good, and will eventually triumph over everything unlike to God. The persecution you experience, I consider a clear evidence that you are the people of God, and are useful to his cause. When the time comes that we bear no decided testimony against error and sin, then there will be no reformation to attend our labors, and no persecution will be seen. But I pray God that such a time may never come."You take the Holy Scriptures for your rule of faith and practice. This is all sufficient, and far preferable to the numerouslaw-bookswhich designing creed-makers have imposed on the disciples of Christ. You reject all party names, and take upon yourselves the name given by Christ to his disciples in the New Testament. This is highly commendable, and if we are Christians inname,spirit, andpractice, we are what we should be, and what all denominations profess to be."Your church government establishes liberty and equality through all the flock of God. Every church has an equal right to a voice in this body. Here ministers and people stand upon the level, and there is none to lord it over God's heritage. We here confer on the welfare and prosperity of the whole, and take sweet counsel together. I consider your dissent from several popular errors as a great virtue; though it exposes you to much persecution, it will lay the foundation for your prosperity. In governmentyou discard all monarchy and aristocracy, which principles have been the ruin and overthrow of many sects and kingdoms. In theology you dissent from the cold and chilling doctrines of Calvinism. You reject the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity as inconsistent. This is a bold step, yet your ground is tenable, and it defies the assault of the most learned. The doctrine of the Trinity, which has kindled such deplorable contentions throughout the Christian world, is of human origin, and was brought into the Church in the fourth century. There is no sentiment in theology more contested than it. In Europe the controversy is conducted with great ability, but the Unitarian cause is fast gaining. In England, four hundred congregations have rejected it; in America, several colleges and many of the principal men of the Union have discarded it. I am informed that the Hon. John Quincy Adams, the President of the United States, is a bold Unitarian, and is valiant for the truth. In this country, the alarm which Trinitarians manifest, the precaution they take, and the combination of different sects on this subject, are sure proof of the weakness of their cause, and though we now hear the cry from every Trinitarian church in the land, 'Great is Diana,' 'Great is Diana,' be assured that her temple totters, her pillars are shattered, and this idol must, ere long, fall like Dagon before the Ark of God. It lays the foundation of Deism, is the first argument of the Jew, the Pagan, the Mohammedan and the Infidel against the Christian religion."A cold, formal, spiritless worship must also be rejected. A fashionable conformity to anti-Christian practices would give us the applause of men, but not the approbation of God and our own consciences. Let that preaching which is the most spiritual receive your most cordial approbation, and let the saints in all our congregations be encouraged to improve their gifts."It will also be well to keep up a friendly correspondence with other Conferences. For this purpose, let our clerk be instructed to officiate as corresponding secretary, that we may act in the light of the whole body. As we are more nearly allied to the Eastern Conference in this State than to any other, I recommend to have one delegate appointed every year to sit with them, that our business may be conducted in harmony. As our churches are extending to Georgia on the South, to Maine on the East, and to Canada on the North, it must always keep this State as the centre of the connection, and we have grounds to anticipate much from a correspondence between our brethren of the North and the South. There are now about one hundred ministers in the Eastern and Western Conferences; but when I came into this country eight years ago, there was not over ten or twelve free preachers in the State, and many of our present number were then strangers to God. We now have nine or ten convenient meeting-houses built by our own people, besides many others which have become free. Three temples of worship at least are being built this year within the bounds of these Conferences; one in the city of New York, where Simon Clough is laboring with success; one at Bloomfield, one at Salem, Ohio, and several congregations are preparing to build another year. Although we have witnessed so much prosperity, our work is just begun. Never did we witness such a time as the present. The cry, 'Come over and help us,' is now heard from all parts, and did you, my brethren, ever witness such throngs to attend upon your ministry as now? Did you ever know such a general inquiry for light and liberty? Truly the fields are all white and ready to harvest. My aged brethren, as you look upon the young men by your side who have devoted their juvenile years to God, and have justentered upon the great and arduous duties of the ministry, let every power within you rejoice that you have lived to see this good day, that you behold the evidence that the ranks will yet be filled, when you and I shall sleep in death. And you, my young brethren, look upon your fathers in the ministry, who have spent their time, property, and health in publishing salvation to sinners; view with reverence those venerable heads which have become hoary in the way of righteousness, and be stimulated by their example to end your days in honor of the sacred cause you have espoused. May you have many souls as the seals of your ministry, and hereafter shine as stars of the firmament forever and ever!"

"Though you have been called to face the storm of persecution in every step you have taken; though many of you have sacrificed both property and health for the cause, you have the pleasure of reflecting that your labors have not been unsuccessful, and that the cause in which you suffer is good, and will eventually triumph over everything unlike to God. The persecution you experience, I consider a clear evidence that you are the people of God, and are useful to his cause. When the time comes that we bear no decided testimony against error and sin, then there will be no reformation to attend our labors, and no persecution will be seen. But I pray God that such a time may never come.

"You take the Holy Scriptures for your rule of faith and practice. This is all sufficient, and far preferable to the numerouslaw-bookswhich designing creed-makers have imposed on the disciples of Christ. You reject all party names, and take upon yourselves the name given by Christ to his disciples in the New Testament. This is highly commendable, and if we are Christians inname,spirit, andpractice, we are what we should be, and what all denominations profess to be.

"Your church government establishes liberty and equality through all the flock of God. Every church has an equal right to a voice in this body. Here ministers and people stand upon the level, and there is none to lord it over God's heritage. We here confer on the welfare and prosperity of the whole, and take sweet counsel together. I consider your dissent from several popular errors as a great virtue; though it exposes you to much persecution, it will lay the foundation for your prosperity. In governmentyou discard all monarchy and aristocracy, which principles have been the ruin and overthrow of many sects and kingdoms. In theology you dissent from the cold and chilling doctrines of Calvinism. You reject the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity as inconsistent. This is a bold step, yet your ground is tenable, and it defies the assault of the most learned. The doctrine of the Trinity, which has kindled such deplorable contentions throughout the Christian world, is of human origin, and was brought into the Church in the fourth century. There is no sentiment in theology more contested than it. In Europe the controversy is conducted with great ability, but the Unitarian cause is fast gaining. In England, four hundred congregations have rejected it; in America, several colleges and many of the principal men of the Union have discarded it. I am informed that the Hon. John Quincy Adams, the President of the United States, is a bold Unitarian, and is valiant for the truth. In this country, the alarm which Trinitarians manifest, the precaution they take, and the combination of different sects on this subject, are sure proof of the weakness of their cause, and though we now hear the cry from every Trinitarian church in the land, 'Great is Diana,' 'Great is Diana,' be assured that her temple totters, her pillars are shattered, and this idol must, ere long, fall like Dagon before the Ark of God. It lays the foundation of Deism, is the first argument of the Jew, the Pagan, the Mohammedan and the Infidel against the Christian religion.

"A cold, formal, spiritless worship must also be rejected. A fashionable conformity to anti-Christian practices would give us the applause of men, but not the approbation of God and our own consciences. Let that preaching which is the most spiritual receive your most cordial approbation, and let the saints in all our congregations be encouraged to improve their gifts.

"It will also be well to keep up a friendly correspondence with other Conferences. For this purpose, let our clerk be instructed to officiate as corresponding secretary, that we may act in the light of the whole body. As we are more nearly allied to the Eastern Conference in this State than to any other, I recommend to have one delegate appointed every year to sit with them, that our business may be conducted in harmony. As our churches are extending to Georgia on the South, to Maine on the East, and to Canada on the North, it must always keep this State as the centre of the connection, and we have grounds to anticipate much from a correspondence between our brethren of the North and the South. There are now about one hundred ministers in the Eastern and Western Conferences; but when I came into this country eight years ago, there was not over ten or twelve free preachers in the State, and many of our present number were then strangers to God. We now have nine or ten convenient meeting-houses built by our own people, besides many others which have become free. Three temples of worship at least are being built this year within the bounds of these Conferences; one in the city of New York, where Simon Clough is laboring with success; one at Bloomfield, one at Salem, Ohio, and several congregations are preparing to build another year. Although we have witnessed so much prosperity, our work is just begun. Never did we witness such a time as the present. The cry, 'Come over and help us,' is now heard from all parts, and did you, my brethren, ever witness such throngs to attend upon your ministry as now? Did you ever know such a general inquiry for light and liberty? Truly the fields are all white and ready to harvest. My aged brethren, as you look upon the young men by your side who have devoted their juvenile years to God, and have justentered upon the great and arduous duties of the ministry, let every power within you rejoice that you have lived to see this good day, that you behold the evidence that the ranks will yet be filled, when you and I shall sleep in death. And you, my young brethren, look upon your fathers in the ministry, who have spent their time, property, and health in publishing salvation to sinners; view with reverence those venerable heads which have become hoary in the way of righteousness, and be stimulated by their example to end your days in honor of the sacred cause you have espoused. May you have many souls as the seals of your ministry, and hereafter shine as stars of the firmament forever and ever!"

Immediately Mr. Badger began to fulfil his part of the duties devolving on the newly appointed ministry. Between July 13th and August 9th, he travelled four hundred and sixty-five miles, preached twenty-one sermons, and baptized thirteen persons; between August 12th and 31st, he journeyed three hundred and fifty-seven miles, attended twenty-one meetings, preached at Covington, N. Y., at the ordination of Rev. Elisha Beardsley, on the 21st, from Rev. 10:10; and from this period to September the 24th, the time of his departure for his western and southern tour, the days and evenings were industriously used in his mission, completing in all nine hundred and sixty-six miles from July 13th. As Mr. Badger published hasty sketches of his tour from this time, in the "Gospel Luminary," I shall occasionally quote his printed paragraphs. He heads his notes of travel with the scripture injunction, "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost," and with a rapidity thatneither knew nor cared for elaboration, he threw off the descriptions of the scenes and events that lay in his way. Also two or three small blank books accurately narrate every mile he travelled, every town he entered, every sermon he preached, and every farthing he expended. Such was his accustomed order. These memorandums are sometimes prefaced with significant mottoes; on one is the text, "Keep thyself pure;" on another, and perhaps, indicative of the rough and various treatment the travelling missionary is sometimes liable to receive, are the words of Johnson:—

"Of all the griefs that harass the distressed,Sure the most bitter is the scornful jest;Fate never wounds more deep the generous heart,Than when the blockhead's insult points the dart."

Also from Gray:—

"He gave to misery all he had, a tear,He gained from heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend.""Studious alone to learn whate'er may tendTo raise the genius or the heart amend."

"He gave to misery all he had, a tear,He gained from heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend."

"Studious alone to learn whate'er may tendTo raise the genius or the heart amend."

Narrating his course to the readers of the Luminary, he says:—

"I left home September 24, accompanied by my wife, Mr. Chapin, and several other friends, for the general meeting at Chili, where we arrived in the evening. Here I met eight of my brethren in the ministry. Our interview was agreeably interesting, and the parting to me uncommonly solemn. The general meeting, so far as I could discern, was very satisfactory. The assembly was large, solemn, and attentive; the preaching was powerfuland interesting, and the accommodations good. We leave the event with God. On our way to Royalton, I preached once in Clarkson, and once in Gaines. At Royalton, I met thirteen ministers of the everlasting Gospel, all of whom appeared to have the good of souls at heart, and love to the great and honorable work in which they were engaged. Brothers Church, Chapin, Beardsley, Shaw, Hathaway, Whitcomb, Blodget and Hamilton, all spoke to good satisfaction, and the multitude could say, our place was no less than the house of God, and the very gate of heaven. In conference, we received Francis Hamilton as a fellow-laborer. He gave two appropriate discourses, and I hope will be useful among us."October 3, our company, consisting of twelve persons, visited Niagara Falls, to view the stupendous and sublime works of nature. We lodged four or five miles up the river from the Falls. On walking out in the evening, the scene was peculiarly grand. While nature around was hushed, the never-ceasing roar of the stupendous cataract brought to my mind important reflections on several passages of Scripture. The next day, visited Black Rock and Buffalo; at twelve, the solemn, memorable hour arrived when our little company must be separated. Language is too poor to describe my feelings as I gave my wife, and six young people who were to accompany her return, the parting hand. Every heart felt more than words express; but, as all the company have lively hopes of immortality, we can look forward to a world where parting can never come.'How soothing is the thought, and sweet!But for a while we bid adieu;With welcome smiles again to meet,And all our social joys renew.'"Our company now consists of five, L. Hathaway and wife, Jesse E. Church, and Asa Chapin. The two last are valuable young men, and bid fair to be useful in the great work of the ministry."

"October 3, our company, consisting of twelve persons, visited Niagara Falls, to view the stupendous and sublime works of nature. We lodged four or five miles up the river from the Falls. On walking out in the evening, the scene was peculiarly grand. While nature around was hushed, the never-ceasing roar of the stupendous cataract brought to my mind important reflections on several passages of Scripture. The next day, visited Black Rock and Buffalo; at twelve, the solemn, memorable hour arrived when our little company must be separated. Language is too poor to describe my feelings as I gave my wife, and six young people who were to accompany her return, the parting hand. Every heart felt more than words express; but, as all the company have lively hopes of immortality, we can look forward to a world where parting can never come.

'How soothing is the thought, and sweet!But for a while we bid adieu;With welcome smiles again to meet,And all our social joys renew.'

"Our company now consists of five, L. Hathaway and wife, Jesse E. Church, and Asa Chapin. The two last are valuable young men, and bid fair to be useful in the great work of the ministry."

From Buffalo, Mr. Badger and his company proceeded along the shore of Lake Erie, following a lonesome road to the town of Pomfret, Chautaque County, N.Y., where he commenced a general meeting, October 8; nine clergymen were in attendance and much good influence was manifest.

Writing from Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, under date of October 31, 1825, he says:—

"In Chautaque County, I was delighted with three curiosities in nature. 1. A small spring[38]is found in Fredonia, which affords a sufficient quantity of gas to light the whole village with very little expense. It is delightful to see, in a land which, a few years ago, was a wilderness, nature and art majestically united. 2. A larger growth of timber is found here than I have ever seen before. I saw the stump of a tree, on which I was informed that sixteen men had stood at once. We measured a chestnut tree which was dry, and had lost its bark; three feet from the ground, it was nine feet and five inches through. 3. I was made acquainted with a young lady who is remarkably gifted in poetry. A few years since, Joseph Baily found her in a poor log-hut, portraying her charming effusions on the margins of old newspapers. On his stating the subject to some Christian friends, they sent her a quire of paper, which she wrote over in a short time, and returned it, to their admirationand astonishment. She and her husband both enjoy religion. Many a brilliant soul is now breathing in soft and lively emotions in remote wildernesses, and many a precious pearl is buried in the rubbish of poverty and ignorance."

From Pomfret he visited North East, in Pennsylvania; gave two sermons, and spent a day in Conference business; thence to Salem, Ohio, where they were joyfully received by Col. Fifield, with whom Mr. B. had been acquainted in Vermont, eleven years before. There they met Rev. Asa C. Morrison, then a vigorous and efficient preacher, now a citizen of the unknown spheres; there they enjoyed a large attendance, gave seven sermons, and Mr. Badger bestows uncommon praise on the discourse given by Mr. Hathaway, on "the subject of enthusiasm, fanaticism, false zeal and delusion." Leaving Salem on the morning of the 18th, where one of the young men of his company concluded to remain, (J. E. Church,) he proceeded on his journey through Painsville, at the mouth of Grand River, Cleaveland, Brunswick, Medina and Westfield to Canaan Centre, where he held a general meeting, in which several denominations united—Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and a denomination who styled themselves the United Brethren; at this time Mr. James Miles was ordained to the work of the ministry. "This to me," says Mr. Badger, "was an interesting case, as he was a young man whom I dearly loved, and one that I many years before baptized in the Province of Lower Canada; he is the seventh that I have baptized who have been ordainedas ministers of the Gospel. We left Canaan on the 26th; had a pleasant journey through Wooster, and reached Mt. Vernon on the evening of the 27th, and were joyfully received by Elder James Smith and family. He is an able minister of the New Testament and a respectable citizen." At this place he met several ministers from the Southern States, some of hoary hairs, who were giving the remnant of their days to preaching the Gospel. Here Mr. Badger and Mr. Hathaway gave three sermons each, to a people who were anxious to hear and learn more of the truth which belongs to the great theme of human salvation through the Crucified One.

His next sketching dates at Cincinnati, Ohio, December 25, 1825:—

"The wise and prudent conquer difficultiesBy daring to attempt them; sloth and follyShiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger,And make the impossibility they fear."

"Sir,—On leaving our good friends at Mount Vernon, on the first day of November, the parting was affecting; we had been treated with great attention; we had here preached the word to the crowded assembly; had seen the sinner in tears trembling under the word; and the very place where we were assembled appeared like holy ground. We were conducted to Dublin, on the Sciota river, by our worthy friend, Elder Marvin, who has two sons who are preachers of the Gospel. At Sciota, met Elder Brittan and a large assembly; gave two sermons; Elder M. baptized one happy convert."

November 3d, he speaks of arriving at Derby Plains, where he preached five sermons, and saw theruinous effects of the strange delusion into which a Mr. Douglas Farnum, formerly from New England, had involved himself and many others; a delusion that strove to ignore the common rules of social morality, and to find a direct revelation from Heaven in every impulse of the heart and mind. Though excluded from the people of his earlier association, he held a few deluded persons by his views, until self-destruction scattered them and left their names a reproach to virtue. Their leader, after running this singular career, died, confessing, however, many past errors and wrongs.

"When a people," says Mr. B., "deviate in their zeal from the rules of decency, when they lay aside the Scripture, substitute imagination as a foundation for their action, and call every impulse of the mind an immediate revelation from God, I expect they will sink their characters in disgrace, and come to a miserable end. I visited the vacated village where he and his followers had joined in the merry dance, and felt a kind of horror, like that which once seized the thinking soul of a Volney at the ruins of Palmyra."In Clark County, at the head waters of the Little Miami, we had good meetings, were kindly entertained by Charles Arther, and had agreeable intercourse with Elder Isaac N. Walters, a young man about twenty years of age, who bids fair to be useful. At Pleasant township, Madison County, we were kindly received by Fargis Graham, a man fifty-seven years of age, who had just returned from a preaching tour of six weeks in Indiana; he had a good journey, and felt encouraged. I surveyed with admiration his gray hairs, his smiles and tears,while he gave an account of his journey. He visited the poor cabins in the wilderness, lay on the ground in the great prairie, where the wolves were howling around him, and passed through hunger and fatigue, but found God to be with him. His spacious plantation at home, on which he has more than one hundred head of cattle, besides other stock in proportion, reminded me of the ancient possessions of Abraham, Lot, and Jacob. He does much for the cause, and has long been one of its ornaments and faithful ministers."

"In Clark County, at the head waters of the Little Miami, we had good meetings, were kindly entertained by Charles Arther, and had agreeable intercourse with Elder Isaac N. Walters, a young man about twenty years of age, who bids fair to be useful. At Pleasant township, Madison County, we were kindly received by Fargis Graham, a man fifty-seven years of age, who had just returned from a preaching tour of six weeks in Indiana; he had a good journey, and felt encouraged. I surveyed with admiration his gray hairs, his smiles and tears,while he gave an account of his journey. He visited the poor cabins in the wilderness, lay on the ground in the great prairie, where the wolves were howling around him, and passed through hunger and fatigue, but found God to be with him. His spacious plantation at home, on which he has more than one hundred head of cattle, besides other stock in proportion, reminded me of the ancient possessions of Abraham, Lot, and Jacob. He does much for the cause, and has long been one of its ornaments and faithful ministers."

Messrs. Badger, Hathaway and Chapin, paused awhile at Williamsport, Pickaway County, where they gave seven sermons, and received the kind attentions of Rev. George Alkire, of whom he speaks in very respectful terms. Holding meetings in Platt and Highland Counties, he parted with Mr. H. on the 19th, who travelled to CincinnativiaKentucky, and passed ten days with Rev. M. Gardner, in whose congregations he attended sixteen meetings and preached to large and respectable assemblies. At Ripley, Brown County, he formed the acquaintance of Hon. E. Campbell, who had many years been a member of the United States Senate; of him and his father-in-law, Mr. Dunlap, a native of Virginia, and among the first settlers of Kentucky, a man who had emancipated thirty slaves and applied his own hands to labor, he speaks in honoring terms. "His colored people," says Mr. B., "still flock around him as their benefactor, and love him as their best friend on earth."

"On the 29th of November, I reached this pleasant city. Here, and in the adjoining country, I have hadglorious times, an account of which you may expect in my next number. I have succeeded in obtaining a history of the churches and conferences in the west and south beyond my expectations. The preachers appear friendly, and willing to lend every possible assistance. I shall be able, in a few weeks, to give your readers a general representation of the state of things west of the Alleghany mountains, in which vast extent of country are many thousands of happy Christians who renounce all party creeds and names, and, with their naked Bibles in hand, are rejoicing in the hope of immortality."

The next dates Ripley, 0., January 12, 1826. Our journalist says:—

"The prejudices, customs, ways, manners, and opinions of men, how various! But these are not the fruit of nature or grace, but the products of education. Nature and grace are the same in every country, and vary only in form and degree."Cincinnati is a beautiful city, situated on the north bank of the great Ohio river, and has a population of about 15,000 souls. It is surrounded, on the east, north and west, by hills, except the narrow but rich valley of Mill Creek, which makes its way through from the north. Its location is dry, healthy, and truly romantic. Its streets are wide and pleasant, and its buildings elegant, in eastern style. The manners of the people are a compound of southern politeness and generosity, and of eastern refinement, taste, and simplicity. The civility of every class of people, down to the teamster and carman, exceeds that of any city I ever visited. The market, for neatness and variety, is equal to any in America, and its price only about one-half that of Montreal, Boston, andNew York. The city council are making great improvements, and the city if fast populating. Its climate is mild and agreeable, and, as it is near the centre of American settlements,I know not what it may yet become."

"Cincinnati is a beautiful city, situated on the north bank of the great Ohio river, and has a population of about 15,000 souls. It is surrounded, on the east, north and west, by hills, except the narrow but rich valley of Mill Creek, which makes its way through from the north. Its location is dry, healthy, and truly romantic. Its streets are wide and pleasant, and its buildings elegant, in eastern style. The manners of the people are a compound of southern politeness and generosity, and of eastern refinement, taste, and simplicity. The civility of every class of people, down to the teamster and carman, exceeds that of any city I ever visited. The market, for neatness and variety, is equal to any in America, and its price only about one-half that of Montreal, Boston, andNew York. The city council are making great improvements, and the city if fast populating. Its climate is mild and agreeable, and, as it is near the centre of American settlements,I know not what it may yet become."

Such was the Queen City in 1825. The state of religion there he describes as low, "if," says he, "we speak of experimental religion; many have profession, form and name, but we shall come short of heaven without something more." He speaks of Mr. Burk, a popular Methodist minister, as having renounced Episcopacy and taken with him a large congregation, as being so far illuminated as to "see men as trees walking;" Mr. Badger quotes the words of Franklin—"Where there is no contradiction there is no light," as applying well to agitations of this sort. Of the new reformers among the Baptists, he speaks as follows:—

"The Baptists in Cincinnati, also, have had revivals, but among them exists a great commotion, and a large congregation join with those in Kentucky and Virginia in the general dissent from creeds. Dr. Fishback, of Kentucky, and Alexander Campbell, of Virginia, are the champions in this cause. They oppose sectarian bondage with considerable ability and success. Mr. Campbell is truly a man of war, and acts the part of a Peter with his drawn sword; but, whether they will have humility, grace, and pure religion enough to 'revive the ancient order of things' in the original spirit and simplicity of the Gospel, or whether they will be laborious architects of their own fame, remains for their future conduct to prove."

In Preble County, fifty miles north of Cincinnati, Mr. B. preached several sermons at Eaton, the county seat; the sheriff of the county was his chorister and host, whose house, owing to the good order of the country, was destitute of a prisoner; the rooms usually occupied by criminals being now used to keep the earth's productions. On the authority of two ministers and several other persons who were eye-witnesses, Mr. Badger relates that he spoke in the house where, in 1821, during a great reformation, Jacob Woodard, a Deist, was struck dead by an unseen power while in the act of forcing his wife out of the meeting; that he never breathed or struggled after he fell—a phenomenon that belongs to many other marvellous instances of nearly inexplicable events we have heard of in connection with the earlier religious revivals in Ohio. Mr. Badger thoroughly explored that State, and with great satisfaction visited Kentucky. Indeed, the easy and courteous manners of Mr. Badger, his happy extemporaneous gifts, his love of society and generous sentiments, peculiarly adapted him to the admiration and acceptance of the South. Of Rev. B. W. Stone and lady, he speaks in the most exalted terms; and, whatever may have been the speculative differences between Mr. Stone and his brethren in later years, all must unite in one concession to the soundness of his learning, the clearness of his criticisms, and in what is eternally above all other things, the beauty and excellence of his Christian character. Mr. B. now returned home to Mendon, Ontario[39]County, New York, and further narrates theparticulars of his adventures. He surveys with grateful pleasure the scenes he has witnessed, the kindnesses he has received, the new acquaintances and friends he had gained; and from experience and observation he was prepared to speak in the most friendly terms of his brethren in the south and west, and the tidings he brought when formally announced was, to use the language of Mr. Millard, "received with much joy." The brethren of the West were reported as having no creed but the Bible, and they "wear no name but such as the Scriptures authorize, that they uniformly believe in the simple doctrine that there isone God, theCreator,one Jesus, the Redeemer,one Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier;" that they generally favor the preëxistence of Christ, regarding the Socinian view of him as derogatory to the character of the Christian religion.

"Free salvation," says Mr. B., "is sounded through all their congregations, and Gospel liberty is the key-note of every song. No point of doctrine is made a criterion of fellowship, but Christian fellowship rests alone on the true bias ofspiritandpractice. They are simple, unassuming, and spiritual in their preaching and worship; the labor of the ministers is to make their hearers good: a great share of singing and prayer is interspersed through their meetings. For twenty years they have been in the way of holding camp-meetings, but the practice is fast declining, though in many cases good has resulted from them. Our brethren in the west and south are as well supplied with preachers as our churches are in the east, if not better,—preachers who are acquainted with the manners of the people, and are in a capacity to do much more good than eastern men can do among them."

Under date of April 1, 1826, Mr. Badger gives a very lengthy, interesting, and we should judge faithful account of his visit in Ohio and Kentucky, of the proceedings of a Conference in each of those States, convened for the purpose of receiving and answering his message for the east; both of which were hearty in their responses of friendship, and both furnished him with materials for giving their true history to their brethren of the east and north. He speaks of three denominational centres, which he thinks the future will witness, each having a periodical and a book-store connected with it, Cincinnati the centre for the west, New York for the east, and some place in one of the Carolinas for the south. From Rev. William Kinkade, that able, strong-minded and heroic divine, who had served his country in legislative councils, and humanity by his ministry, Mr. Badger received a strong letter, giving an account of the rise and growth of the Christian Conference on the Wabash, of one in Indiana, and touching on some of the larger points of primitive faith. He says:—

"While it gives me great pleasure to hear from you that primitive Christianity is reviving in the east, I hope you will be no less pleased to hear of its success in the west. This vast country, which was lately a howling wilderness, now blossoms as the rose. On the big and little Wabash, which is still the haunt of savage men and wild beasts, there are now large churches of happy Christians. Along the Ambarrass and Bumpass, where twelve years ago little else was heard but the howling of wolves, the hooting of owls, the fierce screams of panthers and the fiercer screams of wild Indians, painted for war and thirstingfor human blood, are now heard the songs of Zion, the sound of prayer, and the voice of peace and pardon through a Redeemer. Among us the demon intolerance has been exposed in its multifarious character, and banished from the congregation of the faithful. Ignorance has given way to investigation; and love and union are daily triumphing over prejudice and partyism. But still I see, I feel, I lament a great want of that holiness and divine power which characterized the followers of Jesus in the first ages of Christianity."

"It is the word of God alone," said these stout, honest-hearted men of Ohio, when assembled—"the word of God alone, on which the Church of Christ will finally settle, build and grow into a holy temple of the Lord." Mr. Badger, after taking a list of the names of ministers in Kentucky and Ohio, and with a characteristic orderly minuteness, ascertained the number of churches and of meeting-houses they erected, the names of such as had died in the active duties of the ministry, returned home, rich in the benedictions of the regions he had visited, and with the resolve at some other season to penetrate the south further than he yet had gone. Perhaps the good impressions made on his mind by these journeys may be plead in conjunction with the wide sympathies of his nature, and the well-balanced cast of his intellect, as the reason why in all his life he was uncontrolled by local prejudice, and it may be a part of the reason why, that to him, and to the cause of free and Apostolical Christianity which he represented, there was no east, no west, no north, no south, as forming any limit to his friendly regards and Christian fellowship. At Cincinnatihe gathered the few who held to like faith into a convenient place of worship, made arrangements with ministers for their supply, and before his return a general Conference was agreed upon at Cincinnati the last of October, 1826.

June 23d, at the Annual Session of the New York Western Christian Conference, he was, with Rev. A. C. Morrison, appointed a messenger to the United States Conference, to be holden at Windham, Ct., the first days of September, where among the responsible trusts committed to him, was that of acting as their messenger at the autumnal assemblage of delegates and ministers who were to convene at Cincinnati. From April to August of this year, Mr. Badger was constantly engaged in the vicinity of home; at South Lima additions were made, the assembly was large; the society at Royalton he consigned to the care of Rev. E. Shaw, an able minister of the New Testament. August 18th, he visited New York city where he stayed two Sabbaths, and spoke to increasing assemblies. His remarks on the commotion and dissent which at that time appeared among the Friends under the preaching of Elias Hix, his close and practical analysis of the state of society in New York city, though interesting, we must pass by; also his remarks on the general meetings he attended at Beekman and Milan, Dutchess County, and of one at Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y. Something tragical developed under his four sermons at Beekman. A minister of another sect, who had violently opposed the people and sentiments to which Mr. Badger belonged, was observed to weep much under his discourse, and afterwards was heard to saythat it was the truth of God, and that none could deny it—the same night he went into a grove near his residence, and hung himself.

In Columbia County, Mr. Badger became acquainted with the venerable old minister, John Leland, of whom the world has heard much, a man then between seventy and eighty years old, but possessing the brilliancy of youth. Though local at the time, he said that his travels as a minister would measure three times around the globe. From Rev. Mr. Gardner, a prominent minister in Ohio, Mr. B. received these lines of invitation: "A second visit from yourself in this country will be well received. Our hearts and our houses are open to receive you, and many are inquiring, 'When will he return?'" Rev. Mr. Adams also writes: "The friends remember you with affection; they have not forgotten your sermons and good counsels; they are anxious to receive another visit from you, and think that you would do much good in this country. I am confident there is not a society you visited here but would unite in inviting you to return." Several such invitations were kindly showered upon him. He did return. We may ask where werehisidle days? It was one of his chosen maxims that "an idle person is the devil's playfellow." In all these labors we see a spirit that surveys thegeneralinterest, plans for the general good, and leads along easily the minds of others into the possession of his own views and feelings. In the southern and western journey, narrated in this chapter, there were revivals in almost every place he visited, as we learn not only from his own journal, but more particularly from other and reliable sources.

His second tour through Ohio and Kentucky, in which he renewed and greatly enlarged his acquaintance, gave him a still larger estimate of the success of liberal principles in the west and south. By the advices of the best informed ministers, he learned that the account he had published the previous spring in relation to the number of ministers and brethren in the west was much too small, and that, using his own language, "it is a safe and moderate calculation to say, that in the several Conferences situate in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky, there are three hundred preachers and fifteen thousand brethren. They all worship ONE GODinONEPerson, and haveno creed but their Bible." He says:

"I have again passed through the lofty forests and beautiful plains of Ohio; have seen the herds of wild deer sporting on the lovely prairie; have heard the screams of the fierce wolf, and have turned aside from these romantic beauties and terrors of nature to the wigwam of the savage to hear the praises of the Redeemer. Also, I have again visited the pleasant land of Kentucky; have seen the smiles of the convert, the tears of mourners, and have joined in worship with thousands of happy Christians in the west who are rejoicing in hope of immortality."It is now a more general time of reformation in the west than has been witnessed for many years past. At Dublin, Elder Isaac N. Walters has been very successful in winning souls to Christ. In Elder Alkire's vicinity the churches have received large additions of late. In Elder Gardner's congregations the number was increasing, and a new church had been organized within a few weeks.In Elder Rogers's neighborhood some sixty or seventy were hopefully converted; and from Elders Simonton, Vickers, Kyle and Miles I heard a good report. In Kentucky the prospect has not been so good as it now is for many years. News from the west part of Virginia, and east of Tennessee, by Elder William Lane, was very refreshing. Sectarianism there is fast falling. In Alabama the Lord is doing wonders, and the knowledge ofoneGod is fast increasing; in those regions he has raised up many able advocates for his pure doctrines. In Kentucky, my interview with the preachers, brethren and friends was very agreeable, and their kindness and friendship can never be forgotten by me. A message was sent to me by order of the church at Georgetown, seventy miles distant, inviting me to visit them. In Ohio, my visit was everywhere received with joy. At Cincinnati, the congregation was large and the prospect is good. Our friends there will probably build a brick meeting-house for the worship ofone God in one Person, in the course of next summer."Since July I have travelled about three thousand miles, and attended about one hundred meetings. My present tour has been attended with more fatigues than any journey I have ever performed. My preaching has been constant; and after meeting I have many times been constrained to engage in debate in which I have continued until morning. I have had to preach many sermons on disputed subjects, one at Cincinnati of three hours' length; though I had opponents present, they made no reply; one at Dublin of more than two hours; eight preachers present, but no reply; one at Richfield of two hours. God has stood by me in all my conflicts thus far, and many instances of his mercy have I witnessed of late. I have been once overturned in a stage, and in Kentucky I fellfrom my horse; in both instances narrowly escaped death."

"It is now a more general time of reformation in the west than has been witnessed for many years past. At Dublin, Elder Isaac N. Walters has been very successful in winning souls to Christ. In Elder Alkire's vicinity the churches have received large additions of late. In Elder Gardner's congregations the number was increasing, and a new church had been organized within a few weeks.In Elder Rogers's neighborhood some sixty or seventy were hopefully converted; and from Elders Simonton, Vickers, Kyle and Miles I heard a good report. In Kentucky the prospect has not been so good as it now is for many years. News from the west part of Virginia, and east of Tennessee, by Elder William Lane, was very refreshing. Sectarianism there is fast falling. In Alabama the Lord is doing wonders, and the knowledge ofoneGod is fast increasing; in those regions he has raised up many able advocates for his pure doctrines. In Kentucky, my interview with the preachers, brethren and friends was very agreeable, and their kindness and friendship can never be forgotten by me. A message was sent to me by order of the church at Georgetown, seventy miles distant, inviting me to visit them. In Ohio, my visit was everywhere received with joy. At Cincinnati, the congregation was large and the prospect is good. Our friends there will probably build a brick meeting-house for the worship ofone God in one Person, in the course of next summer.

"Since July I have travelled about three thousand miles, and attended about one hundred meetings. My present tour has been attended with more fatigues than any journey I have ever performed. My preaching has been constant; and after meeting I have many times been constrained to engage in debate in which I have continued until morning. I have had to preach many sermons on disputed subjects, one at Cincinnati of three hours' length; though I had opponents present, they made no reply; one at Dublin of more than two hours; eight preachers present, but no reply; one at Richfield of two hours. God has stood by me in all my conflicts thus far, and many instances of his mercy have I witnessed of late. I have been once overturned in a stage, and in Kentucky I fellfrom my horse; in both instances narrowly escaped death."

In Columbiana County, the two colleagues of Mr. Badger, L. Hathaway and Asa Chapin, met a great excess of enthusiasm in public worship, against which they directed the cooler power of reason; and it seems that a strong paragraph in Mr. Badger's printed journal, in which he sharply and most independently reproved (as he always did under such circumstances) disorder and fanaticism in the house of God, caused a lengthy, explanatory, and complaining reply, to which Mr. B. very ably responded. Speaking of the one who had led the way in this wild enthusiasm, and whom he regarded as having been egotistically unpleasant to his colleagues, he applies the words of Johnson:

Back to Index Next