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
God. 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 God 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 multitude 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 embarrassments 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 assemblies 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 God away. He says there is no divine authority
for infant sprinkling; that if we take it from
circumcision, 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 associations, 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 illustrated 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 God 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
God'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 God 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."
After speaking in detail of various conversions and baptisms, he says:
"My heart is encouraged to spread the fame of our glorious
and ascended Lord. O that professed followers of the Lamb
would stand together. How should we then see the powers of
darkness give way! How would the fog and smoke of papacy be
dispersed. How would the adherents of Calvin be confounded,
as the church of the First-born should appear terrible as
an army with banners! O Lord, let thy kingdom come! Let thy
glory arise! Let the whole earth be filled with thy
knowledge."
This is a fine specimen of his youthful enthusiasm and abandonment to
the work of the ministry. Any one can see a full presence of heart and
soul in all that he does, which lends to his pages the inspiration of
honest aims, earnest effort, a most confiding and fervent piety; nor can
we fail to see that the pure fire of religion burned quite constantly on
the altar of his active spirit. There was much of true divine life in
the kindling energies of his speech.
In Vol. VII, No. 14, in a letter dated Gilmanton, March 7, 1815, he
says, after speaking of the prosperity that pertained to Alton,
Barnstead, Pittsfield and Gilmanton, towns included in the voluntary
circuit of his labors:
"Never since my labors in the Gospel commenced have I felt
more like going 'forth weeping,' than for five weeks past.
Feb. 22d, I baptized one, March 3d, one, March 6th,
another. I pray the Lord may add daily to their numbers
such as shall be saved."
"GILMANTON, April 17, 1815.
(P. 682.) "The news of the prosperity of Zion is the most
delightful that ever saluted my ears. Therefore am I
desirous, as the Psalmist said, to 'make known His deeds
among the people,' that my brethren may share in the
blessing, while 'angels rejoice over one sinner that
repenteth.' Some who have been for weeks and months in a
lukewarm state, have felt a resurrection in their minds;
but what most delights me is that many of the once haughty
youth have bowed the knee to Christ, and confessed him to
be Lord, to the glory of God the Father. My satisfaction is
also greatly increased to see them advance into duty and
walk in Gospel order."
He touches in this letter very finely on the character of Mr. Page, whom
he baptized on the 6th, a school-mate with him, a man of excellent
character from his youth, well-informed and influential; though strictly
educated in the puritanical ideas of the society of Rev. J. Smith, he
came forward before a large assembly and acknowledged the unsatisfactory
character of the Calvinistic teachings; and the same day he submitted to
baptism from the hand of one whose excesses in boyhood he had himself
effectively rebuked.
Returning to his own manuscript I copy from a letter belonging to the
month of May, in which he speaks of spending the time up to the 10th at
Barnstead and Lower Gilmanton; of going to New Durham on the 10th, where
he met the church of God at the house of Mr. Wiley, and for the first
time met with Elder Wm. Buzzel, whom he found alive in the cause of
Reformation. In the afternoon he preached to them from John 10: 9. "I am
the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
and out, and find pasture." He says:
"The Lord's table was then set, and our hearts were solemn
whilst we participated of the sacred symbols. We felt the
holy presence of Him who is with his church to the end of
the world. I then returned to Alton, the 11th went to
Barnstead, where I was much edified in hearing aged
Christians bring out the stores of their spiritual
experience; the 12th rode to Elder Wilson's much fatigued,
being exposed to storms by night and by day. Thanks to Him
who preserves his creatures; and now that the winter is
past, and nature is gay with flowers, I would welcome, in a
spiritual sense, the sentiments of the Jewish wise man,
'Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the
flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of
birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our
land.' Oh, that 'at evening time'[19] light might increase
until the shades of night are dispersed from the minds of
the people.
"The 13th, met the church at Mr. Wilson's, where a number
were added; the 14th being Sunday, we met a large assembly
of attentive people. At noon we repaired to the water for
baptism; in the afternoon we administered the communion to
a large number of brethren in Christ. It was a solemn time.
Oh, that the youth who then heard might seek the Lord and
make his Son their friend; and in this place may the works
of evil, the doctrines of men, be destroyed, and a people
zealous of good works be raised up. But with a heart
overflowing with friendship to dying men, I should close
this letter. Attend me, Virtue, through my youthful years!
Oh, leave me not to the false joys of time, but to endless
life direct my steps! May, 1815.
"The 19th of May I attended meeting at Candia, was there
invited to visit Deerfield, and gladly embraced the
opportunity of speaking to that people. For the youth my
mind was much drawn out; and though I had not the least
idea when I came that I should tarry in Deerfield, the
prospect of the good that might be done, induced me to make
arrangements for staying in that place. On Friday evening I
spoke at Rev. Peter Young's, on Sunday at the Baptist
meeting-house, at which time many dated their particular
convictions. On the way to my evening appointment, I was
surprised by the call of a gentleman, who, very well
dressed and of respectable appearance, came out of his
house and moderately advanced toward me. I paused, and
setting my eyes steadfastly upon him, soon observed that
trembling had got hold of him. He said, 'Mr. Badger, I
wish you to attend meeting at my Hall. My wife is very
anxious to hear you,' and many other words of persuasive
tendency. I was satisfied that he had a death wound,[20]
which to me was a source of new courage; I went on to my
appointment, held meetings every day through the week, and
some were daily delivered from the reign of darkness and of
sin. On Saturday I returned to the gentleman's Hall, which
indeed has ever since been a place of public worship, and
met a multitude of people. This meeting will be had in
everlasting remembrance. The gentleman who had invited me,
and several others, fell on their knees some time in the
afternoon, and continued in prayer until about ten in the
evening. The 'new song' was sung by many, and from that
time, the gentleman, his family, and even premises, seemed
converted, for his house is as a sacred Bethel."
The young minister, not knowing in his ardor and youth, that this human
world is an old, a tough, a wise, and a most lasting fact, that bends
but temporarily to the new influence which seems for the time to mould
its form, penned the conviction that soon the Angel of the Apocalypse
would fly through the midst of heaven proclaiming that "the kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." Rapid
was the spread and victory of the word preached. Over one hundred were
converted in this town of Deerfield, and not unfrequently did he baptize
twelve and sixteen a day. One evening, as the moonlight shed its silver
upon the flowing stream, he baptized fourteen persons, who arose from
the pure element to walk in newness of life, in the purity of which the
graceful currents are evermore the eloquent symbol. He speaks of a
fashionable clergyman who honored them by his presence, and who, in
criticism, compared their appearance to a general training. "I
conjecture," says Mr. B., "we might have had too much fire for him;" and
finding an analogy in the fear which forest fires cause among certain of
its denizens, he proceeds in the same energetic narration, rejoicing
that there is a gentle and a searching fire by which sinners here may be
gloriously consumed. Jesus came to kindle such fire, whose vital heat is
love, whose aspiring flames are truths that both brighten the earth and
reflect upon the clouded canopy. He acknowledges the faithful
coöperation and labor of Rev. Peter Young, a resident of Deerfield. The
energy, decision and success, which belonged to the public life of Mr.
Badger, must, in the ordinary course of things, have called out much
opposition, particularly as he did not walk in time-hallowed routines,
but created, through the force of his character, and his peculiar
abilities, the popularity that attended him.
"Notwithstanding," says Mr. B., "God has so wonderfully
favored the people, the three characters who always
persecute religion continued their old employment. Whenever
you see persons engaged in persecuting religion, you will
always find them one of the following classes, viz.: the
superstitious, the wicked, or such of the very ignorant as
do not comprehend what belongs to good manners. Here the
superstitious cried delusion, the wicked threatened to
unite in violent mob parties, and the exceedingly foolish
were thrust forward as the instruments of the first-named
class. Malevolent and silly reports were spread, but every
attempt of this dissipated crew seemed to work against
them, enough so as to fulfil the saying of the Psalmist,
'His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his
violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate;'[21]
which leads one to think that it is unnecessary to take
much pains to detect the wicked, because they very soon
detect themselves. 'The heathen are sunk down in the pit
that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot
taken.'[22] Solomon, who closely observed the events of the
world, also had occasion to say, 'He that diggeth a pit
shall fall into it.'"[23]
In Volume II, No. 14, of the Herald of Gospel Liberty, is a letter from
his pen, dated at Deerfield, June 28, 1815, which reports the success of
the reformation in that place, in a manner that so perfectly agrees with
the foregoing, I find no occasion to present any of its paragraphs. Not
to Deerfield was this reformation wholly confined, as he often visited
Nottingham, Lee, Newmarket, Stratham, Exeter, Kensington, Candia,
Allenstown, and other places. He says:--
"In Nottingham many were made happy in the love of Christ.
Here I baptized many. One afternoon, as a large assembly
were gathered by the water-side, where eight persons
received this ordinance, I observed three young men jump
from the shore upon a rock that lay in the midst of the
stream, and the spectacle of these unconverted young men
standing upon a rock produced an association of ideas that
led me to feel much for them; in praying I spoke of them,
and was impressed to say that something solemn awaited
them soon. In a few days one of the number, in much agony
of mind, fell beneath a fatal disease, which deeply
impressed the old and the young.
"On the first day of the week, I had, by the request of
several gentlemen, an appointment at the Square. A few
individuals, being such as they were, strove to effect a
disturbance, and in a glance you will perceive the
ingenuity of their plot. They hired an old man who once had
been a professed preacher at Dover, but who had been turned
out for his debaucheries, to enter the meeting-house before
me and to occupy the time with religious services. Although
it is said that the children of this world are in their
generation wiser than the children of light, it must be
owned that they sometimes get defeated. Even from eight
different towns the congregation was collected, the
appointment being quite generally circulated. As I rode to
the place, I heard the bell ring about ten o'clock, and
hastening as quickly as possible to the Square, the people,
who were coming from every direction, seeing me ride up,
thronged about me; some of them, having been in the church,
knew the attempted order of the day. One said, 'The devil
is in the pulpit;' another said, 'The devil has taken the
meeting-house before us, and you had best not go in.' I
answered that if the devil was in the house I was bound to
see him, and prevailed on the people to go in. As I entered
the door, I saw the rough clergyman standing with his hymn
book in his hand ready to open the meeting. As I ascended
the stairs he began to read the hymn. I sat contented until
he had finished the reading, then introducing myself to the
assembly, inquired concerning the time when my neighbor's
appointment was given out; the answers enabled me to say to
him kindly, 'As my appointment is previous to yours I
should esteem it a privilege to improve a part of the day.'
He roughly responded, 'You can speak after I have done;'
and then arose abruptly, placing himself in a position to
pray as soon as the singers had concluded the music. During
the repeat of the last line I asked of him the privilege of
speaking a word to the people on the circumstances of the
day, to which he answered, 'You must be short.' I then
apprised the audience, that as my appointment was
contravened by another, my meeting would in ten minutes
begin in Mr. Nealey's orchard; and bidding the gentleman of
the pulpit good morning, advanced to the pleasant grove
about fifteen rods distant, accompanied by all the assembly
save the clergyman and his five employers, to whom he read
the notes he had written. On leaving the church I began to
sing a popular hymn, in which I was joined by the choir who
accompanied me; and after a hasty but comfortable
arrangement of seats, with the azure heavens for my
sounding-board, and a large box for my pulpit, I spoke to
the hundreds before me from Gen. 49: 10. It was free air.
Between thirty and forty spoke after the sermon, so that
without a minute of vacation, the meeting continued five
hours. The opposers were put to shame, and ever since has
that meeting-house been free. Nottingham, therefore, by
many events is kept in my memory."
Although there are several interesting letters written by him about this
time to his relatives and friends, letters that abound in good feeling,
in various incident, and in the devoted spirit of his mission, they
cannot be introduced without sacrificing the material that represents
his later years. Confining ourselves, therefore, to the shortest
statement of his public life, we will follow the direct path of his own
private journal. But in reading letters dictated in the freedom of the
heart, and alive with the inspiration of earnest purposes, one is
conscious of the resurrection of a former period; and with the aspect of
the olden leaf and the evangelical words upon them written, one seems to
drink, for the time, of the same fountain of life that supplied with
energy the self-sacrificing and the God-trusting ones. We know that
forms of thinking and modes of expression are greatly varied by the
succession of time, but we have yet to learn that the pure flame of the
spirit, through any medium and in any time, is other than one with the
latest excellence. Naturalness, energy, courage, persevering devotion to
the welfare of mankind, are qualities that, like gold retained, shine
equally brilliant through all the divisions of time, the same in 1815 as
in 1854.
August 22d, of this year, he announced, through the religious newspaper
at Portsmouth, a paper from which some extracts have been taken, his
intention of attending a general meeting in Bradford, Vt., the first
Sunday in September, and of going thence into the Province of Lower
Canada to visit his relatives, and to renew the friendship of former
times with the churches of his former care. To his father, in a letter
dated Newmarket, August 5th, he says:--
"I am now preaching in Exeter, Stratham, Newmarket, Epping,
Lee, Nottingham Square, Deerfield. Often from one to two
thousand people attend at a meeting. I have baptized
towards one hundred since last January, and the call for
preaching is very general in this quarter."
Soon we hear of him on his appointed way. But before the month of August
is exhausted, we find him in Newmarket, Lee, Deerfield, Allenstown,
Barnstead, Ipsom and Gilmanton, preaching, and baptizing those that
believe. At Lee, where his congregation was gathered from different
towns, the good-night meeting lasted till 2 o'clock in the morning, none
wishing to depart. Through the pitiless storm he rides to Deerfield,
hears seven relate their religious history, whom he baptizes "according
to the usage and teaching of the New Testament;" on the next day
(Sunday) meets a large assembly at Allenstown, to whom he speaks and
administers baptism to a few believers; on Monday, at 3 o'clock P. M.,
addresses the community at Gilmanton; on Tuesday preaches and baptizes
at Mr. Proctor's, on Wednesday returns to Barnstead, and hears that
original and peculiarly gifted speaker, Elias Smith, of Portsmouth, N.
H.; and on Thursday starts for his northern home by the way of Vermont,
accompanied to the Province, by a young man from Farmington, N. H.,
whose noble history in after years has rendered his name a lasting
fragrance in the churches. Indeed the name of John L. Peavy, to those
who knew him, is but another word for honor, affection and faithfulness.
"The first day, I arrived at Rumney, a distance of fifty
miles, and attended meeting in the evening; on Friday
arrived at Bradford, and on Saturday and Sunday attended
the general meeting, which was a profitable time. Here my
acquaintance with ministers and others was enlarged. On
Monday, in company with Rev. J. Boody and brother Peavy, I
continued my journey to the North, arriving at Wheelock on
Tuesday, where I was persuaded to stop by a gentleman whose
wife and child had just expired, to attend their funeral
the next day. He had formerly been one of my hearers. We
met a large number of mourners and friends, who appeared
sincerely to mourn the loss of so virtuous a friend and
neighbor. As the meeting was about to commence, Squire Bean
presented me the text on which the afflicted husband wished
me to speak, which was, 'As in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive.' He was a Universalist, I
think, in opinion, but with the request I cheerfully
complied.
"On Thursday we rode into Canada, as far as to Stanstead,
the residence of the good minister, Avery Moulton. On
Friday we arrived at my father's, in Compton, where my
spirit was melted down by the presence of dear friends,
whom I had not seen in fifteen months. Our hearts were
mingled in thankful prayer. When I left the Province it was
convulsed by war. Now peace had resumed her reign. Seven
days I tarried in this place and enjoyed a number of good
meetings. On Monday we rode to Ascott, and had a happy
meeting with friends that clung to me with affection in my
early endeavors at preaching; on Tuesday we visited Oxford;
on Wednesday we passed through Brompton and Windsor, to
Shipton, where my excellent friend, J. L. Peavy, remained.
Leaving an appointment to preach the next Sabbath at
Shipton, I proceeded to Ringsey."
Truly might Mr. Badger, in his friendly letter formerly quoted, say,
"What is to come I know not." A new cloud is ready to rise upon his
path. The fortune of some men allows them a smooth and easy way; and
others, as by some causative genius in their being, are called to meet
great trials, and to plan their course against strong opposing forces.
Such was the life of the independent minister; though it flows as an
ample river through much calm and life-like scenery, its common-place is
frequently broken by cascades and cataracts. But let us read his own
natural statement:--
"In the upper part of the town of Ringsey I attended a
funeral. After meeting I rode nine miles to attend an
appointment in the lower part of the town. Though the state
of feeling was generally low, it was a solemn, refreshing
time. Early on Friday morning as I was about to visit my
friends in that place, a military officer sent a man,
accompanied by a large brawny Indian, to make me a
prisoner, and carry me to the county seat of justice, at
the Three Rivers, for the offence I had committed against
the government, in leaving the country in time of war. This
was done although the Governor had issued proclamation that
all who had thus left might return in peace. Prisoners of
war in time of peace struck me as something new. I asked
the person who made me a prisoner what authority he had for
so doing; he answered, that he was an officer, and, without
showing any proof of his right to act for the government,
ordered me immediately to get into the birch canoe, and go
with them by water. I candidly informed him that I should
not start for the Rivers without authority, and that if I
went in the _mode_ of conveyance proposed, under a guard of
savages, it would be by force. Finding that I was not
alarmed, and that he could not proceed, he then started for
the residence of Capt. Moor, about one mile distant, to
procure a warrant, and left the savage to guard me. I soon
proposed to the red man that I would accompany him on my
horse to Capt. Moor's; but fearing that I might ride by, he
ran on foot with all speed. When I arrived, the captain had
the warrant nearly made out, but, instead of finishing it,
met me in a rage. He would not hear to a word of reason,
nor to the advice of his friends. After I saw that I must
go, I asked the privilege of riding my horse, at the same
time offering to hire some of the keepers to go with me by
land. The captain replied that he would not grant me the
least favor, and the officer said I should go in the birch
canoe. As I gave no assent to this method, I was seized by
the shoulder and violently dragged out of the door, and
beyond what language can paint was abused by the zealous
officer. He boldly threatened my life, and accompanied by
words of the coarsest profanity, said, 'Damn your blood, I
will take your life as quick as I would a rattlesnake's.'
After the officer had said this, I addressed the captain in
these words: 'Sir I am much surprised that you should thus
cause a prisoner to be abused, and that you should put me
into the hands of a person at the head of a party of
savages, who has threatened my life before your face.'
Instead of acting on any idea of propriety suggested by me,
he broke forth in swearing, saying that he himself would
take my life. At this, his wife and son, being no longer
able to refrain, spoke moderately in my behalf. As I had
not given my consent to this uncivil mode of conveyance,
the officer ordered a cord to be brought with which to bind
me. He also asked for assistance, but none of the people
present would lend any aid. Then uttering an Indian yell
for some savages, whom I supposed he had placed in ambush,
we soon saw them appear, some on the river and some on the
land. This was a display of ferocity I in nowise had
expected. Before they arrived, however, to do the will of
the angry officer, Mr. Asa Bean, son of Col. John Bean,
came forward in my behalf, and said I should not go with
the savage crew, that he would be my keeper and agree that
I should be at Windover that day, which was sixteen miles
towards the Three Rivers. We then mounted our horses for
the journey agreed upon, at which place we arrived about
three o'clock, much fatigued. We put up at an inn, and paid
our own charges. The mob party came in birch canoes on the
river."
For a moment leaving the private journal of Mr. Badger, I would present
a letter written to Mr. J. L. Peavy at this very point where he met the
uncourteous band who had progressed by water. It will be remembered that
he had an appointment at Shipton on Sunday, and that the nature of his
circumstances with reference to his public engagement, as well as his
friendship for the young man he had introduced into his former field of
labor, required a statement of his condition. The letter is dated
Windover, L. C., 9 o'clock Friday evening, Sept. 15, 1815. It was
written at evening; and I would say that Mr. Badger was a man who
generally cast himself upon his _morning_ thoughts, the clear thoughts
that preceded the sunrise. Under any personal trouble, he would at
evening fall easily to sleep, and in the morning plan his way like a
Napoleon, wherever there was magnitude in the difficulties to be met.
"MY DEAR BROTHER:--Your experience, I am satisfied, teaches
you that persecution is the common lot of the true
followers of Christ. This morning, by the order of Capt.
Moor, of Ringsey, I was taken and ordered to march to the
Three Rivers, guarded by a company of Indians, with the
savage-like Robert McMullen at their head. But as I could
not be reconciled to this company, and to this manner of
conveyance (which was a birch canoe), I plainly told them
that if I went in such a manner, it would be because I was
obliged to do so. I was then very unhandsomely used. I was
not only abused by words, but violent hands were laid on
me. Then Mr. Asa Bean appeared in my behalf, and offered to
be bound to deliver me at Mr. Stewart's, in Windover, the
same day. I then had liberty to ride my horse, and about
three o'clock we arrived here. I expect on the morrow to
start for the Three Rivers. This is indeed a time of trial
to me; but I can truly say, with St. Paul, that 'None of
these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
me.' Hitherto the Lord has helped me, and Jesus says, 'Lo,
I am with you, even unto the end of the world.' This
promise to me now, whilst I am surrounded by a dozen of the
merciless savages, is worth more than millions of worlds. I
really feel that these afflictions will work for good in
the end. Oh Lord, may they serve to humble me down, and to
teach me my dependence on thee.
"Capt. Moor does not pretend to accuse me of anything but
of going into the States in time of war, as I have
understood, and I am informed that his own children have
done the same with approbation. But that which pains my
heart the most, is to think that in the reformation at
Ringsey only two years ago, this mad man made a profession
of religion. Oh how many such characters wound the cause of
our Master! Lord, pity them. I wish you to give yourself no
uneasiness on my account. God Almighty will make my
afflictions a blessing to somebody. It will be well for you
to return to Ascott as soon as Wednesday, and there remain
until you hear from me again. Be of good courage. I hope
you will never have it to regret that you came into this
region. Pray for your unworthy brother Joseph, that he may
finish his course with joy. I am, if need be, ready to be
offered; and, from several causes, I feel that the time of
my departure is not far distant. Dear brother, I bid you a
short farewell, hoping, if not in time, to meet you in pure
realms of glory.
"J. BADGER."
"_John Langdon Peavy._"
The night passed away, and our prisoner arose on Saturday morning with a
plan in his brain, with which he calmly confronted the tawny band and
their leaders. Only about fifteen miles of the passage was completed,
and the remainder was never accomplished. He told them that he should
not go further unless they could get higher authority than what they
then possessed, and to secure this, offered to appear before the
officers of a military company whose tents were pitched on the other
side of the St. Francisway river.
"Early on Saturday morning," says Mr. B., "we crossed the
river into Drummondsville, and appeared before Commissary
Morrison, where some of my company were greatly ashamed and
humbled; when the Commissary, after hearing the facts, said
unhesitatingly, 'Mr. Badger, go about your business.' It
soon became a question to ascertain how much Capt. Moor had
gained this time by his loyalty. Hiring an Indian to convey
me across the river, Mr. Bean and myself returned to our
starting-place at Ringsey, and riding fifteen miles on
Sunday morning, I arrived to my appointment at Shipton,
where I enjoyed a refreshing time from the presence of the
Lord."
In the month of May, 1835, I remember, for the first time, to have
passed some five days at the house of Mr. B., who then edited a popular
and influential paper entitled "The Christian Palladium," at Union
Mills, Fulton Co., New York. The order into which all his arrangements
seemed naturally to fall, the business tact, that seemed with him a
spontaneous ability, were easily observable. In the familiar
conversation to which he was accustomed in the social circle of his own
home, I remember to have heard him say to a gentleman who inquired of
his daily habits, "I am a business man. I rise early, and hear the first
notes of the robin. I would give more for one morning hour, to think in,
than for all the rest of the day. I lay my plans in the morning; and, if
you will believe it, I never got into a difficulty yet, from which one
clear hour of thinking in the morning would not deliver me." And the
foregoing passage of his early history is but one illustration among
hundreds, showing that there was no egotism in the remark here quoted.
Passing some days at Shipton, Ascott and Compton, he again started for
New England, the scene of his former success, many of whose ministers
and churches had crowned him with verbal benedictions, and with hearty
written commendations; whose words are still alive on many carefully
preserved documents, as legible as when they were first penned. Not in
haste did he leave the Province, holding many meetings first; and
whether these animosities, growing out of the suspected character of his
British patriotism, wholly subsided or not, with the fruitless assault
of his enemies already related, I know not. An explicit document,
bearing date Jan. 8, 1818, signed by the citizens of Compton, shows that
"Joseph Badger, son of Major Peaslee Badger, of Compton, has a bright
and shining character as a Christian in the Province of Lower Canada,
where he has been known; and that always when he came into the town to
see his parents and friends, he came into the Province boldly and
preached publicly wherever he had occasion to preach;" which, in the
absence of other explanation, looks like an effort to meet the slander
of some enemy, who might have planted himself, like Capt. Moor, on
grounds of superabundant loyalty. Something bordering on the miraculous
shines through the following incident, related of a youth in Ascott:
"A young man of the family of Mr. Bullard, who had been
confined for six years, deprived of sight, strength, and
the ability to speak aloud, continually bowed down, and so
weak that he could not be shaven, had, three years after
his debility, received from God a wonderful illumination,
and in it the evidence that he had passed from death unto
life; from which time his faith in the Son of God by
degrees increased until he believed in the resurrection or
restoration of the body to health by faith in Christ. A few
days previous to our visiting him, he called in the elders
of the church to pray over him, anointing him with oil, in
the name of the Lord (James 5: 14, 15). As they prayed, a
power was revealed, by which he arose, walked, and praised
God. We held a meeting at the house, in which he arose and
spoke freely, saying that his soul was troubled for the
scarcity of faith on the earth. As we listened to that
voice which had been silent for six years, we were
surprised and startled by the reality. As he cast his
languid eyes upon us, his face, like that of Moses, seemed
to shine so brightly that scarcely one in the assembly
could look upon him. This to me appeared as heavenly as
anything I ever had witnessed; and his language and
remarks, I think, exceeded anything I ever had heard from
mortal lips. Our interview with him filled our souls with
solemnity."
Parting with his relatives in Compton, which from his fine affectional
nature was unavoidably trying, he, in company with the worthy young
minister who had accompanied him from New England, passed through
Stanstead and several other towns, inquiring as they went of the
prosperity of Zion, receiving also at times a cold reception from the
sectarian who had learned to love the Church only in the form of a sect;
he speaks most gratefully of the kind treatment they received from two
Methodist clergymen, of good meetings held on the way, at Cabot, at
Rumney, and other places. Leaving Mr. Peavy at the last-named town, he
passed on to Meredith on Friday, spoke to the people on Sunday and on
Monday evening; arrived on Tuesday at his native Gilmanton, from which
he again laid into order a new campaign against the reigning powers of
darkness.
Without dwelling on the labors that immediately engaged his attention,
which for the most part pertain to a field already described, I offer a
few paragraphs for the month of December before opening the chapter for
1816. The variety of incident that blossomed on either side of his path
was evidently schooling the naturally sagacious mind of the young
missionary for wider usefulness and for higher position; and as no
scholar who has conquered a language can tell when he learned each rule
and word, but knows that his conquest numbers uncounted hours and
struggles, so he who arrives at the true knowledge of mankind, so as to
command a wisdom that shall be equal to every practical demand, cannot
say from what place or which events his ripened energy has flown; he
knows that his kingdom, like the broad-breasted river, dated back with
various preceding sources. These early experiences were victories
themselves; but they were also unconsciously the seeds of other
victories.
Mr. Badger was beautifully gifted with extemporaneous powers. There was
a charm in his voice, and a rich command of plain, apt, and elegant
language in his speaking, that, all in all, I never saw equalled by any
other man. His voice was soft and clear; and though not great in tone,
was exceedingly distinct, and often thrilling. There was music in his
discourse. Though the period of the labors here narrated is many years
previous to the writer's acquaintance, I am told by those who heard him
in 1816 and '17, that he possessed the same natural eloquence, the same
ease and attractive grace in speaking then, as was characteristic of his
public manner in later times. That such a man, both from natural
preference and association, should adopt extemporaneous preaching as his
favorite and only mode, is not strange; nor do we particularly wonder at
his avowed dislike of note-preaching, when we think of the lifeless
character of much of the sermonology that then passed for the Word of
Life. Accordingly, he said:
"When I see men going forth avowedly to preach the Gospel
of the grace of God, and substituting in its place the
doctrines and commandments of men, I am grieved. How many
have I met with in my travels who would stand up and pray
that they might be assisted to bring something, new and
old, out of the treasury, that the word might come from the
heart, and reach the heart, and then take, not out of the
'treasury,' but out of their postbags or pockets,
spiritless notes, which they would read to the people. Oh,
that men felt more as the Apostle did when he said,
'Remember that by the space of three years, I have not
ceased to warn every one of you, night and day, with
tears;'[24] then they that bear the eternal word to men
would be more clearly manifest to the conscience of each
and all."
He also narrates the following for this month:
"On Friday, the 8th, I rode to Mr. Rundle's, at Lee, where
I held a meeting in the evening; Saturday to Newmarket,
where I was comforted in visiting the saints; Sunday, held
meeting at Mr. N. Gilman's, rode to Exeter in the evening,
and spoke at Lieut. Thing's, which was a time of serious
thought, and of weeping among the youth. I remember the
kind treatment and the good spirit of this respectable
family. On my return the next day to Newmarket, I met a
young man whose appearance in every respect struck me as
being a gentleman until he spoke. His first remark was a
challenge to swap horses; and though my answers to his
several bold and sportive remarks left him somewhat ashamed
of his familiar assault upon a stranger, I felt sad to
think of the way in which the young men of our land, who
might be respectable and useful, destroy themselves, and
dishonor their connections, by corrupting their own hearts
with evil manners. The 12th inst., went to Brentwood and
preached to an attentive assembly; the 13th, at Esq. M.'s,
of Lee; the 14th, at Mr. Laton's, of Nottingham, to a full
audience, from Ps. 89: 15: 'Blessed are the people that
know the joyful sound.' Many spoke afterwards, whose words
were as falling showers. The meeting lasted till about 12
o'clock; and with the exception of a few North River
gentlemen, whose behavior was not so modest and civil as it
ought to have been, the minds of the people were seriously
fixed on divine things. The 15th, at Mr. Hilton's, of Lee,
I spoke from Luke 2: 11; the next day, as I arrived at
Newmarket Plains, where my appointment was for the next
first day, I heard that Mr. Richardson would preach in the
evening. I went to hear him. His text was Isa. 61: 1, 2;
which was so good that it was with difficulty that the
speaker spoiled it by causing it to speak Calvinism, which
seemed to have been his whole aim. After he had spoken two
hours, several of us addressed the people, not on doctrine,
but on the love of Christ in the heart, which soon caused a
change in the atmosphere of the meeting. Dea. Chatman
wished me to speak the next day, to which I consented,
though my invitation to preach was from three of the
committee. In the forenoon I spoke from Zech. 3: 9. 'Upon
one stone shall be seven eyes.' I spoke of the stone as
meaning Christ, and the seven eyes of intelligence that
gave a comprehensive vision on every side, I represented by
his character, which looks every way towards the
satisfaction of human wants; also, in another sense, seven
eyes were upon him, the eye of God, of Angels, of
Patriarchs, of Prophets, of the Jewish nation, of Apostles,
and of believers, all which disclose him as the Mediator,
as the fit medium of divine blessing. In the afternoon Mr.
R. began to speak from the words, 'I will make thee a
sharp thrashing instrument,' and proceeded to prove
election from the parable of the wheat and the tares;
likewise from Gen. 3: 16, the sentence against the woman;
but the people, in small parties of four and six, began to
leave the house, being tired of hearing nothing over and
over; even two of the committee could not stand it through.
At the close I offered a few words, not on the discourse,
but on practical things, and never did I see a meeting so
unsatisfactory to the people. One person after meeting
asked me if Mr. R. was not a deceiver. I told him that he
could not be so considered, for one that has neither tact
nor skill to deceive anybody is not entitled to so hard a
name, whatever may be his errors.
"The 19th, rode to Lee and baptized four happy converts;
the 20th, rode to Stratham to attend a meeting at Mr.
Brown's; the 21st, to Portsmouth; the 22d, started with
Elias Smith for Boston; went as far as Greenland, where we
parted, as I received an especial invitation to visit
Farmington, N. H.; on the 23d, arrived there, and received
a kind reception at the house of Mr. A. Peavy; held
meetings on the 24th; 25th, held meeting at Chestnut Hill,
Rochester; the 26th, at the Tenrod road, Farmington, where
I spoke from Amos 4: 12: 'Prepare to meet thy God.' I
continued in the town through the week, held meetings every
evening, which I trust were useful to many. The 31st, which
was the first day of the week, I met a large assembly, and
in speaking the word of life, my spirit was greatly
refreshed. Thus ends the year."
A controversial document, in which he answers the charge of one who
accused him of holding in too light a manner the authority of the
Sabbath, lies before me; also a few letters from his ministerial
coadjutors, that allude to the success of his labors in the same manner
that they are recorded in his own journal. Said one of the ministers,
who officiated at his ordination, under date of April 15, 1815: "I have
often heard of you since we last met, and it has rejoiced me to hear
that the work of God is going on in the towns where you have been
preaching, and I have been in hopes to have received a letter from you
before this." This is the tone of the addresses he received. One is
reminded of the itineracy of St. Paul, as he follows the course of his
labors, of the piety, self-sacrifice, bold energy, tender sympathy, and
withal, the shrewd and masterly management which belonged to that
Gentile missionary, who, unsalaried by sect, went out to preach an
unsectarian religion, not the religion of dogma, but of the heart and
the life. Each had to encounter the scorn of the formalist, of the vain
boaster of worldly wisdom, and each had to plead the catholicity and the
spirituality of the Christian religion against the stern bigot and the
creed-loving sectary.