GENERAL VIEWS.
ON EDUCATION.--The first time I had the pleasure of a personal
acquaintance with Mr. Badger, was in January, 1835, at Canton, N. Y.;
and among the several topics on which he conversed during the few days
we were together, was the subject of education. He then said:--
"Every human being should be educated. All young men who
are seeking to be useful in public life should be educated.
But there are certain evils to be avoided in the means we
pursue. Every human being, to improve in a natural way,
requires a certain amount of physical exercise. To shut
one's self up among books without walking and suitable
activity is the certain road to weakness."
He said he had been trying to mature a plan of education for young
ministers, of which he should speak at some future time. He said that
ministers gain no power by becoming dry scholars; that they should be
_living, natural_ men, to be profited by science and literature. I
noticed, in all subsequent interviews, that he never seemed to want
scientific culture, at the expense of naturalness, spirituality, and
sound health. It was Horace Mann, I think, who more recently said, that
a dyspeptic stomach is an abomination to the Lord. Mr. Badger
substantially stood upon this text, in his educational views, many years
ago.
"June, 1835.--All, we believe, are in favor of general
education. This is a great principle on which all are
agreed. On this ground we can, and indeed it is our duty to
unite all our energies, until our congregations shall be an
enlightened and intelligent community. We do not think our
people now so far behind other societies as some may
imagine; we have also scores of ministers who are not a
whit behind the chiefest apostles of the sects around us,
in a sound knowledge of theology; and among us are some of
the finest natural orators in our country. We do not
believe that any society of equal numbers can find, among
their church members, an equal number of biblical critics.
The people called Christians have labored under many
embarrassments; but they have made the best use of the
limited means in their possession for improvement. This is
a proof that they are capable of still higher attainments,
and a reason why they should be blessed with greater
privileges. As the time has come for the Christian church
to take strong and improved ground in this enlightened age,
let education and all other practical subjects be
thoroughly discussed, that we may be sufficiently
enlightened to go forward in union and strength, and
sustain our character as Christian reformers."
He recommended that there should be a vigilant committee in every
conference, whose business it should be to look up young men whose good
but buried talents might, with a little encouragement, be brought out to
good advantage in the work of the ministry. He proposed, as a temporary
aid, the establishment of suitable libraries, and of theological
reading-rooms, where young men could repair, and find a desirable
retreat for study and reflection.
"This," says he, "is an age of improvement, and we must
keep pace with the improvements of the generation in which
we live in order to be useful. Nothing can be more
degrading to a religious community, and nothing can more
effectually retard their usefulness and prosperity, than an
ignorant ministry. We are not in favor of _men-made_
ministers, for we believe there must be a spiritual,
experimental, and divine qualification. But we do believe
that young men whose minds are exercised on the great work
of preaching the Gospel should embrace every opportunity
for improvement, and study 'to be workmen that need not be
ashamed.' In old times, there were the 'sons of the
prophets;' in the days of the apostles, there was a Timothy
and a Titus under the particular instruction of
Paul."--_Pall._, vol. 3, p. 54. 1834.
"April 15, 1835.--THE EDUCATION OF MINISTERS.--On this
subject we expect to be able to present an improved method
of education, which will be less expensive, and will remedy
two great evils. The first is the destruction of health and
the natural energies of the man. The second is the decline
of grace and of spiritual exercises in the mind of the
student. There is a system of self-education just
introduced in this State, on which Mr. Southwick and other
scientific gentlemen are lecturing, which is highly spoken
of. We intend immediately to inform ourself on this
subject, and hope to find something in it worthy the
attention of our readers. A study of this kind may, to
great advantage, be connected with theology without the
burdens, the darkness and pollution of heathen mythology."
February, 1837.--In his remarks on Dr. Channing's letter, he says:
"We are generally opposed to the present mode of getting up
sectarian theological schools. We see so many ignorant men
coming out of those establishments pretending to teach
theology, who were never designed, by nature or grace, for
the ministry, who are as ignorant of grace, and the first
principles of the Christian religion, as Nicodemus, that we
have become disgusted with such human institutions, and
regard them as sources of corruption and division rather
than helps to the church of God. In past ages, the schools
have been the channels through which error, like a mighty
torrent, has poured its poison into the church. Through
these mediums the clergy have contrived to control and take
away the liberty of Zion. And is it surprising that we, who
are reformers, should be a little cautious about entering
hastily into a course which has proved so fatal and
dangerous to thousands? It is not _education_, but the
_method_, which produces alarm among our friends. The
doctor proclaims the sentiment of our congregations in the
clearest manner, in the following noble strain: 'I feel
that a minister, scantily educated but fervent in spirit,
will win more souls to Christ than the most learned
minister whose heart is cold, whose words are frozen, whose
eye never kindles with feeling, whose form is never
expanded with the greatness of his thoughts, and the ardor
of his love.'"
When, in his tour to New England, in the autumn of 1835, he passed the
evening of September 8th, with Dr. Channing, at his summer residence at
Newport, R. I., the topic of education was partially discussed; and the
views there developed, and the interest manifested on the part of Dr. C.
in the Christian denomination, whom he regarded as having a great
mission to fulfil, induced Mr. B., in January, 1837, to invite a
communication from his pen. Those who would be pleased to read that able
document will find it in Vol. V, p. 305, of the Christian Palladium. Mr.
Badger's interest in the cause of education grew with his years; I
remember to have heard him express a compliment to the Roman Catholic
Church, in 1845, to this amount; "_Their_ scholars," said he, "_are_
scholars. There is no smattering or pretension about it,"--a sentiment
that perfectly expressed his profound regard for thorough learning. But
he had a contempt, which he did not always conceal, for that class of
men in the ministry, or elsewhere, who had a systematic book-learning,
without any knowledge of human nature, or any living force with which to
act upon the world they were living in; at times, both in private and
in public, he alluded to them under the name of "College _dunces_."
"August 1, 1837.--THE GOSPEL AND THE REFORMS. THE SUN AND
THE STARS.--The natural sun is the centre of the solar
system. Every planetary star is stationed at a respectful
distance, and is dependent on the great centre for its
power and influence. Every planet revolves round the sun in
its time, and is directed, sustained, bounded and governed
by its attractive power. So the Gospel is, to the moral
world, civil government, science, and all the systems of
light and improvement, what the sun is to the heavenly
bodies. All must revolve around, are dependent on, are
subordinate to, and all must be governed by the glorious
Gospel of the Son of God.
"If this reasoning is sound, and we think none will deny
it, we bring it forward as an admonition to all men, who,
in their zeal to promote certain objects and to carry
certain points, have set up some little star as the centre
and attempted to make it the rallying point, and are
pleading for all other planets to revolve around it. The
Pope's decree, Mohamet's revelations, the decisions of
councils, synods, and the creeds of men, all in their turn
have been substituted for the sun, or centre of operation.
How mean they all look in this age of light as a rule of
action, when compared with the testimony of the living God.
"If the Presbyterians, in the late session of their general
assembly, had adhered to these principles they would not
have been split asunder. But how plain it is to every
impartial spectator that they substituted a few little
things as the criterion of fellowship; hence they are rent
in twain. But their separation, which is by the most of
people considered as a matter of lamentation, we regard as
a favorable omen. They were a great, a powerful people,
united by human laws made by themselves. They were
oppressive, proud, and cruel; and their arbitrary measures,
party feelings, and great influence, might yet have
endangered our liberties. Their ranks are now broken, and
the work of reform is begun. They will again be more
cordially united when they all submit to Christ, throw by
their petty stars and dark planets, and acknowledge the
supremacy of the glorious Sun, the Gospel of our blessed
Lord.
"When the temperance reform was introduced it was a blessed
work; but many good and zealous persons placed it
altogether before Christianity, and represented the Gospel
as a feeble instrument in doing good compared with this
benevolent human association. We were never opposed to
temperance, but to intemperate measures for the promotion
of temperance. We are still opposed to placing the
temperance cause before Christianity, making it the centre,
and calling upon the Gospel, as an inferior orb, to revolve
around it.
"When the tornado of anti-masonry swept like a mighty
torrent through the land, rending asunder the churches of
God and separating the ministers of Christ, the cause of
Jesus bled at every pore. What a desolating mildew it left!
What an overheated course many a zealous and good brother
ran in this holy war. In those perilous times we were among
the cool who pleaded for the union of the churches and
conferences; we then deprecated all forced measures and
intemperate decisions, and said, Do not try to make this
star a sun, but let us all keep our eye upon the great
centre, and all be Christians. This mild doctrine
prevailed, and all now rejoice that we were saved from
disorder and ruin.
"Slavery and anti-slavery are now the exciting subjects
which bid fair to produce great commotion and some division
in the church. It is said this subject was among the causes
which led to the division of the Presbyterian assembly.
Some good brethren always have their powder dry and ready
to blow up by every spark that falls near them. Such have
no medium in which they rest, have no principles by which
they are bounded; but they drive ahead upon the excitement
of the moment, regardless of that moderation and charity
which the Gospel enjoins. They make their point the sun,
and call on the Gospel to exert its influence to accomplish
their favorite object. Here is the difficulty. Men will be
partial and limited in the view they take of subjects, and
will, more or less, be governed by human passions in their
pursuits; hence coercive measures are resorted to, and
division and ruin follow."
THE MINISTRY.--In the views already given in this book, it is plain that
Mr. Badger believed in a Gospel ministry, that, besides the human
qualifications of learning and culture, had a vital, living union with
God, with Christ, with the perpetual region of light in the heavens.
This view, which appears in the earliest ideas cherished in his youth,
pervaded all his ordination sermons and addresses; and he pleaded that
such a ministry should be supported in a manner to elevate it above the
necessity of worldly cares and of temporal privation. Though very much
of his own ministry through life was unrewarded by adequate returns of
temporal aid, he firmly held to the two apparently conflicting ideas,
that he to whom God gives this spiritual mission should go forward and
preach for life, nor be dissuaded by poverty, calumny or persecution;
and that the people are not justly entitled to any man's services in the
ministry any longer than they continue to render the proof of their
appreciation in the form of earthly support, according to their ability
and the reasonable wants of the minister. Gracefully and practically did
he know how to develop the meaning of that apostolical saying, "The
laborer is worthy of his hire." Though, like John Milton, he disliked to
have the minister occupy a position in which community may justly regard
him as a feed attorney for the cause he advocates, he also disdained to
foster a covetous, money-worshipping community under the name of a
Christian church. He was once heard to say, that the true minister would
live on browse before he would abandon the cause of God.
"Three things," said he (in a letter to a young man[55] who
was about to begin to preach), "are essential to a
preacher. First, the ability to discern the condition and
capacity of a congregation. Second, an ability to select a
subject suited to their capacity and wants. Third, skill to
deliver it in a manner to be received to the best
advantage. How often you hear preachers labor on
inappropriate subjects, who evidently did not understand
the wants of their assembly; and how frequently you have
heard a good subject mutilated and the assembly disgusted
by bad delivery. The more natural, easy, simple, and
affectionate a truth can be told, the better and more
lasting effect it will have."
On problems of the future state, he did not largely speculate. In reply
to some nice questions touching his views of the details and minutiæ of
the immortal life, he once said, "Let us wait until we get there. Who
can answer these questions now?" He preached that virtue leads to glory
eternal; that vice naturally proceeds to darkness and wo; that
revelation gives hope only to those who obey. It will be almost
invariably found, that his abilities and themes had strong practical
bearings; that his power was never prone to assume the merely
speculative form.
On human nature he was explicit. He never admitted the doctrine of
original inherent sin; but from the first, vindicated humanity from the
charges of total depravity. In 1854, though the blaspheming of human
nature, common to the olden creeds, is theoretically retained, we seldom
hear its allegations in bold words: but in 1817 and onwards, it was
otherwise. Then Mr. Badger took his stand in behalf of humanity with a
defence so wise that it repelled at the same time the charges of
Calvinism and pleaded the need of regeneration. At Royalton, about
twenty-five years ago, he spoke on human nature against the common view,
so strongly and so boldly, that it caused some two or three ministers
who were with him in the desk to exhibit signs of surprise. He continued
without the least deviation; and, a few months since, one of the same
gentlemen who witnessed the scene at Royalton, said, that the view Mr.
Badger then gave, was the one now hailed with joy by the large masses,
the one which thoughtful minds are everywhere weaving into the
philosophy of man's nature and life.
Mr. Badger said, that there was partial truth in all the new things of
the day, in Mesmerism, Phrenology, Fourierism, Abolitionism,
Non-resistance, Adventism; but that neither of these is what its
partisans make it. He thought there was something superficial in each
offered remedy of modern time for the cure of human evils; that the
Gospel, with its divine persuasions, is alone able to rectify the
condition of man on earth. He thought there were heads in the world that
would puzzle and confound phrenology, though in the main it might have
the perception of a great truth. The spirit of his views would say--Why
get infatuated with your new idea? Why make it everything? Why lose your
balance in the circle of your Christian duty, and grow dizzy-headed on
your one idea, your darling ultraism? He held that the world's real
progress is plain and slow; that God's kingdom does not come in
coruscations of lightning, or in the sport of whirlwinds. "Oh! foolish
Galations, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?"
was the text of a very impressive sermon delivered to a great concourse
of people in June, 1845,[56] in which he particularized on the extremes
of the day, on the infatuation which temporarily seizes a certain class
of men, and causes them to substitute a fragmentary truth for the whole
Gospel, and for the whole platform of human duty.
CHURCH POLITY. "We have noticed for more than twenty
years," said Mr. B., "that the first ground assumed by
disorganizers is, that 'the church is the highest tribunal
on earth.' Recently, Mr. Campbell and some others have
urged this doctrine in a manner and with explanations which
are calculated to produce the worst of consequences.
"1st. We object to the TERM tribunal, when applied to the
church. We not only regard it unscriptural, but in the
general acceptation of the term it implies too much. It
carries with it not only the authority to constitute a
judgment seat, but the power to _reward_ and _punish_; the
church has no such power. God is a sovereign. His
government is monarchical--he has given his Son all
authority in his church, and the whole government is upon
his shoulder. The church has no authority to alter one of
Christ's institutions, nor make the least law for the
government of his spiritual body. The business of the
church is to learn of Christ, to know his laws and
institutions, and to walk by them; to fear God and keep his
commandments is the whole duty of man. The church has no
power to bestow rewards nor to inflict punishments; this
alone is the prerogative of the Great Head of the church.
Christians on earth have less authority over each other
than some imagine. We have little to do with each other's
private opinions: in these matters each stands or falls, or
is accountable to his own master. To be sure, we are
authorized to form an opinion of men from the fruits they
bring forth--from the spirit they manifest; and we have
power to fellowship or disfellowship according to the
fruits brought forth; but we can inflict no other
punishment, and this should be regarded as a Christian duty
rather than in the light of punishment. As far as the
church can exert a Christian influence in reclaiming men
from the error of their ways, and as long as they, under
guidance of the spirit of Christ, can labor for each
other's advancement in the divine life, so long they can be
useful. But the moment they feel that they have authority
to punish, and begin to labor under that impression, they
do mischief in the flock of Christ. Thus we object to the
application of the term '_tribunal_' to the church, and the
anti-Christian authority it seems to impart.
"The error is not so much in the term used as in the
explanations, opinions, and practice connected with its
use. We have seen it fully carried out in practice. The
doctrine is this. Each little band of brethren scattered
abroad is the church, and are the highest tribunal on
earth. There is no appeal from their decisions; they have
power to try and exclude a minister of the Gospel, and all
councils or conferences composed of ministers and brethren
are unscriptural, arbitrary and anti-Christian. But the
error lies at the starting-point--in the very foundation.
Those little bands of brethren are only parts of the great
family on earth. They can attend to their own internal
affairs; their work is small, and in a very limited circle.
From such little decisions we ask no appeal. They can
extend fellowship to whom they please, and withdraw from
the disorderly; but they cannot act for other branches of
Zion who live fifty or a thousand miles from them. They can
hear, encourage, or abandon such ministers as they choose,
so far as their ministry with them is concerned; but it
would be folly for them to attempt to make or destroy
ministers for others. Now ministers are not the property of
one little branch of the church; they belong to the
whole--are accountable to the whole. Any branch of the
church has a right to present a trial or grief against a
minister. But the question will arise, Who shall decide on
a trial thus presented by a church against a minister?
Surely not the church who present the trial, for they are
the accusing party. He is a public man, all the churches
are interested in his prosperity and in his impeachment.
The common error says, the accusing party must accuse and
condemn, for it is the highest tribunal on earth. But
common sense and common justice say, Let a council of
ministers and brethren from other churches be called to
investigate and decide this matter. Let the man have a
hearing before a council, equal in numbers and authority to
that which received or ordained him, and by which he was
inducted into his holy work in the church. We care not
whether this assemblage of ministers and church members is
called a council or a conference; if it possesses the
talent, the wisdom and light of the body, if a board is
formed whose just, fair, and impartial decisions shall
receive the sanction, respect, and confidence of all the
churches for whom they act.
"Within three years past we have known two instances in
which ministers had fallen into disrepute with a part of
the churches of their charge. When trials were presented
they immediately assumed the ground that the church was the
highest tribunal; they would have no council, nor ministers
in the case, unless they could bring in some partial friend
of theirs who was prepared to cover up and defend their
iniquitous proceedings; they would be tried by the church,
and immediately set themselves to work to secure the
majority, whose first business it was to exclude the
minority. Those ministers, we presume, could not be induced
to have their conduct examined by a wise, impartial, and
judicious conference of elders and brethren; yet they have
good and clean letters of commend and justification from
the churches to which they belong. Such ministers as are
not willing to throw themselves open to the investigation
of all the churches and all their brethren in the ministry,
ought to confine their labors to the church or party who
has commended them, and by whom they are willing to be
judged.
"We do not believe there is a church in the land who shall
undertake to exclude their pastor, let him be ever so bad,
that can do it without rending their own body asunder. A
minister, in ever so great errors, or ever so much fallen
in morality, will have his adherents and his party, and
frequently by his management will secure the majority of
the church of his charge. How many churches have thus been
rent asunder; how many wicked ministers have thus
endeavored to screen themselves from justice. "Where no
counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of
counsellors there is safety." Prov. 11:14.
"Having discarded the idea that one little branch of Zion
possesses the whole authority, we shall now state that the
term Church is sometimes applied to a very small band of
believers, and in other cases it is applied to the whole
body of Christians in the world. The church, in the general
use of the word, embraces all the ministers, gifts, and
members of Christ's body. When people have separated the
ministers from the congregations, or the congregations from
the ministers, and undertaken to do business in their
separate capacities, independent of each other, when the
business transacted was of a public or general character,
they have both materially erred. The Gospel recognizes
ministers and people as _one_ body, united and coöperating
in one work, advancing the same interests, and promoting
the same cause. Their talents may be different, their
calling and gifts various, but no one member can say to
another, 'I have no need of you.' To take the church as a
whole, if it were proper to use the term 'tribunal,' we
should have no objection to saying it was the highest
tribunal on earth, that is, there is no earthly court that
has a right to control its decisions, and there is no
earthly court to which it can appeal. But Christ and his
revealed will are still higher than any decision of the
church; to it the whole church must bow with humble
reverence, and say, 'Thy will be done.'
"Nothing is plainer and more clearly taught in the word of
God than that it is the design of the Gospel that God's
people should act in union as one family, and be the light
of the world. Under the old dispensation, when the
congregations stood in the counsel of the Lord and walked
in his statutes, they were of one heart and of one mind;
all acted for the public good; the different tribes often
consulted together, and all marshalled under the same
banner. But when they departed from the Lord, each one did
what was right in his own eyes, and every one went to his
own tent. The entire history of God's people under the law,
shows that when they consulted and acted in union they were
blessed and prospered; and when they separated and acted in
their individual capacities, they proved the Scripture
true, which says, 'Where no counsel is, the people fall.'
"But in the New Testament the same principle of general
consultation is most clearly exhibited in the proceedings
of the first Christians. The very nature of the Christian
religion, the constitution of the Gospel church, impose the
duty. The Christian religion is a general system; it breaks
down all separations, and of Jews and Gentiles forms one
new church. All Christians are bound up in the same great
interests: they are of one heart and of one mind. In the
sixth chapter of Acts of the Apostles, we find a plain
account of the call and proceedings of a Christian
Conference. The brethren brought forward the candidates for
ordination, and the ministers laid their hands on them and
appointed them to their work. Here were at least twelve
ministers and a multitude of brethren. If this instance
stood alone in the Bible, we should think the Scripture
authority for conference clear; but it is not alone. In
the fifteenth chapter of Acts, we have an account of a
difficulty which arose about circumcision, which Paul,
Barnabas and the whole church at Antioch could not decide.
When the apostles, elders, and a multitude of brethren were
assembled at Jerusalem, we have an account that Peter,
Barnabas, Paul, and James addressed them at length on the
great question, which was settled to mutual satisfaction.
When this was done, they sent out messengers to bear their
decisions to all their brethren who could not be present.
Here is another instance of a Christian conference doing
business and deciding questions for the church at large. If
one church is the highest tribunal, why did not the church
at Antioch put the question to rest without making so much
expense and trouble? It is plain that there was none of
this childish independence and authority claimed by the
primitive churches, about which the disorganizers make so
much ado in the nineteenth century."
FREEDOM OF DISCUSSION. "Messrs. Editors of the
Telegraph;[57]--I ever with pleasure, whether at home or
abroad, grasp the interesting sheet which is daily sent
forth from your office, and with interest peruse its
columns.
"Under the editorial head my attention was recently
arrested by the performances of a writer who styles himself
B., who, after a tedious preamble, brings forth what he is
pleased to style, 'A rare collection of geniuses;' and
although he looks into contempt the speculations of the
humble Capt. Sims, tramples with impunity on the honors of
Gov. Morril, proclaims on the house-top the vanity and
folly of Gov. Clinton, Lieut. Gov. Pitcher, Gen. Root, J.
V. N. Yates, Dr. Beck, and the whole faculty of Hamilton
College, we think he leaves us proof among his
heterogeneous labors that he must be ranked among the rare
wits of our times. What he says of Capt. Sims strikes me as
a piece of base cowardice, as the theory of Capt. S. is
very unpopular. Capt. Sims, as I understand him, is
convinced, from long and arduous study, that further
northern discoveries ought to be made. This is the burden
of his labors. To this idea the American Congress and every
thinking man must consent. I heard his lectures at
Cincinnati, and regard him as an honest, independent man.
As the President has recommended northern explorations, I
sincerely hope that important discoveries will be made.
Though Mr. Sims's theory is now very unpopular, is it more
so than was the revolution of the earth when first
published by Galileo? The projects of Columbus were
ridiculed; the American Revolution was sneered at by our
proud foes of the east. Even the mission of the Saviour was
treated with the utmost contempt. How careful, Sirs, ought
we to be in opposing new views, and in guarding ourselves
and others against the spirit of persecution."
We offer the following on the tragical fate of Lovejoy, as appropriate
to this subject:
"The riot which recently took place in Alton, Ill., in which two
citizens lost their lives, is one of the most disgraceful events that
ever stained the character of our country. The mayor must have been
guilty of gross negligence, for from what had transpired he ought to
have been fully prepared for it. Had an efficient man been in his place,
clothed with his authority, the property and life of the innocent might
have been protected, and a ruthless mob would have been taught a lesson
which would have cured their propensity for that kind of diversion. The
destruction of fifty of those lawless midnight assassins would have been
a trifle compared with the loss of one peaceable, honorable man in the
lawful discharge of his duty. It is said that the Attorney General of
the State, and a clergyman, took a conspicuous part, and made speeches
to influence and encourage the mob, and that several respectable
citizens were among the number. Oh, shame! Has our country come to this?
Can it be that there is a man in Illinois who makes the least pretension
to respectability or morality, who would encourage or countenance for a
moment such an infringement upon the laws of God and man? We think
little, very little, of such respectability, of such officers, such
attorneys, and such clergymen. We say--
'Strip the miscreants of the robes they stain,
And drive them from the altars they profane.'
"What can men expect to gain by associating as mobs? No honorable object
was ever accomplished by cruelty and oppression. No righteous cause
requires such measures. This outrage will defeat its own object; it will
increase and excite the sympathies of the people, and advance the cause
it intends to destroy, TENFOLD. Funds will be raised, and valiant men
enough will be found who will cheerfully volunteer to raise the standard
of liberty and free discussion on the very spot where their brave
brother has fallen a martyr. Men in such cases will not count their
lives dear unto themselves; there are hundreds ready to be offered upon
the same altar. Not only so, but the blood of this innocent man crieth
from the ground for vengeance, and there is a righteous God in heaven
who regards the condition of the oppressed, and who will not let the
wicked go unpunished.
"The people of Boston, New York, and Cincinnati, have tried the virtue
of mobs, to put down free discussion, and what has been the result? Why,
it has increased, strengthened and built up the persecuted party. The
destruction of one printing-press will only raise up ten to speak and
plead for the liberty of the press. The murder of one Morgan will raise
up thousands to redress his injuries. In our eastern cities, where we
have efficient and enlightened officers, mobs are immediately put down,
but at Alton and St. Louis society must be in a deplorable state.
"Mr. Lovejoy, we have ever understood, was a respectable citizen, a man
of talent, and a zealous minister of the Gospel. He had a right to enjoy
his opinions; he had a right to use the press, that great engine of
liberty, in propagating his views; and none had a right to molest him.
His zeal no doubt led him to adopt strong measures in vindicating his
own interest and the cause to which his energies were devoted. He acted
in his own defence upon the principle of justice as a citizen. If he had
slain a score of his opponents under these circumstances, the laws of
the land would have held him guiltless. But still the course was an
unfortunate one. The New Testament and the Christian Spirit teach us, as
children of the Prince of Peace, a more excellent way: 'Resist not
evil'--'Put up thy sword into its sheath'--'Be patient in
tribulation'--'If ye are persecuted, revile not.'
"The friends who were leaders in the English reform, persevered over
thirty years firm and faithful, without slander, war or bloodshed. They
had the utmost confidence in the justice and righteousness of their
cause; they were patient under persecutions, were meek and humble in
every defeat, and the light at length shone and they triumphed. Here is
a beautiful model for American reformers. LIGHT and TRUTH should be the
only weapons used in accomplishing great moral, benevolent and religious
objects. Christians in all laudable enterprises should be meek and
humble, should possess much of the spirit of their holy Master, render
good for evil, and conquer all opposition with love."
"ORDINANCES.--Herein we see the benefit of _institutions_ and _images_
by which past events are preserved by us and transmitted to posterity.
National events, Jewish, Roman, Pagan, and Christian ordinances, are
_speaking things_, which, as soon as they are abandoned, the events on
which they are founded, the impressions and ideas associated with them,
are lost."
At the present time, there are a few indications that the active
theological minds of the country may at some distant day fall under two
general classifications, which, for the want of a better expression at
hand, we may call the _centralizers_ and _universalizers_. The latter
resolve religion wholly into abstract ideas and principles which freely
range through the whole empire of spirit, as gravitation, electricity
and light operate through all space. Such rally about no personal
centre. The former seek the abstract principles of religion only, or
chiefly in their personal investments, and look for their effective
radiance in a mediator. This class, for reasons needless to be discussed
at this time, are from necessity the great mass, the organized activity
of the religious sentiment; and though Mr. Badger had much catholicity
in his faith and practice, nothing is plainer than that he centralized
all in Christ, who, to him, was the untiring sun in the solar system of
God's impartial favor. Thus speaks the following letter:--
"HONEOYE FALLS, August, 1845.
"Br. Ross,--I am now better in health, and am trying to go
ahead with what little ability I have, in the _one, single,
simple_ work of preaching the blessed Gospel. Am I right,
or should I be a political minister, and conform to the
practice of this corrupt age, and present to my hearers a
chowder compound? I follow St. Paul's old, obsolete
theology of knowing nothing among the people save Jesus
Christ and him crucified."