The opening of the New Year, 1817, as is customary on such occasions, was attended with festivities and social amusements among the young people. And the following incident will readily illustrate the peculiar power which Mr. Badger could wield over the young, as likewise the efficiency of the Gospel as preached by him. On the first day of January he spoke to a large assembly in Pittsford, from the following very significant passage in Ezekiel 36: 26. "A new heart also will I give you." The young people, many of them, called it the best New Year's they had ever enjoyed, and many whose conversions dated in 1816 were quickened and refreshed by the words of the new minister. Great preparations were being made for a ball in the town of Pittsford on the 9th; but it so happened that one of the principal managers and another influential young man were so divinely struck with the sentiments of the sermon given on New Year's Day, that all trifling, gay, or mirthful thoughts were rendered alien to their minds. Within four days they also had to speak of a sweet and rapturous bliss they had found in their newly awakened love to Christ. Instead of attending the mirth of the 9th, they sent the following letter to their companions:
"Pittsford, January 8, 1817.
"Dear Young Friends,—We were members of your intended party, and anticipated, we presume, as much pleasure as you will enjoy in our New Year's Ball; but to the joy of our hearts, within a few days God has done great things for our souls, whereof we are glad, and instead of attending the ball, we are prompted by our feelings to spend the same afternoon in solemn prayer for the welfare of our fellow youth; and whilst you are engaged in vain mirth, will you remember that we, your companions, are on our knees praying to God, the Friend of us all, for your eternal welfare? We are, with the tenderest regards and love, your friends,
"J. Wade,
"Nath. Swift."
The letter, it is said, was kindly received, and had a beneficial effect. Mr. B. thanks God for the happy opening of the year, and prays that it may be crowned with thousands of new-born souls. On the third, at Pittsford, Mr. Chapin, the missionary already spoken of, introduced a disputation on total depravity, which was very soon closed, as Mr. Badger demanded that he should either state his proposition in Scripture language, or definitely explain what he meant against human nature and the human race by the words he employed, alleging that neither the words nor the idea probably intended were contained in the Oracles of God. Thinking that Mr. B. was too severe in his demands, he desisted, with the accusation that he was unfair as a reasoner. It is but repetition to say that all these days were made golden by action, calm but incessant labor. Days and evenings his musical voice resounded on the holy themes of faith, reformation, charity, and peace on earth; many a time, as the still heavens sent down their nocturnal light and shed their holy influence all around, he returned from his precious victories over the hearts of his fellow immortals, pervaded by a love that accords with the silent glow of all that was above and about him. At his communion seasons he caused the sectary to mourn the rigidity of his creed, which did not allow him to come forward, to follow his heart, because of some dry, unvital difference in theological belief. He visits the sick, speaks occasionally in the private mansion of some friend, sometimes in the school-house, in the grove and open air, making the freest use of time and place, regarding them only as servants to his mission. At Avon, Mendon, Pittsford, Pennfield, and Lima, he continued his labors, at times administering baptism in the waters of the Genesee and its tributaries, on which occasions, as on every other where the attractions of an easy personal address give grace and impression to the scene, he was uncommonly gifted and happy. Some who had opposed him strongly, were so impressed by the solemnity of one baptismal scene, and by the remarks he there offered, as to retract, at the water's side, the hard words and speeches they had made. "I felt to forgive them," says Mr. B., "for all their unreasonable censures. At Avon I had excellent meetings the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th; the 12th, had an excellent time at Pennfield; the 13th, returned to Pittsford," and omitting to notice the several appointments that fill up the days and evenings of the month, I would only transcribe from his pages, that "the last week of the month was spent at Lima, the 19th administered baptism, the 27th attended to the holy communion, whilst the glory of God cheeringly shone in our midst, and to the end of this month our meetings were full of interest and of feeling."
Feb. 1817. A temperance sermon to a large assembly was given on the 2d; on such occasions Mr. Badger was exceedingly persuasive and appropriate. He was almost sure to get the sympathy and hearty interest of the most fallen man in the community, could easily gain from such a hearing, and at the same time edify and entertain the most elevated men. In later years, in the spring of 1842, he gave a temperance sermon in a village of central New York, where much liquor had been sold, that secured more than a hundred signers to the pledge, and that, with the additional aid of a personal interview with those who sold, actually banished the sale from every store and shop in town. He found a favorite text for such an occasion in 1 Cor. 9: 25, where St. Paul, in contrasting the Christian with the Olympian races, and in speaking of the importance of temperance for the success of each, assigns the higher motive of the Christian temperance thus: "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." He drew his temperance argument from the highest motive.
With date of Feb. 3d, I find a remarkable letter, addressed to Deacon M. Sperry, of the Presbyterian Church, relating chiefly to the very important subject of Christian Union, which is becoming so popular a theme with the thinking and liberal part of the Christian world. In the extracts that follow, the reader will see what thoughts were common to Mr. Badger as early as 1817, and indeed earlier, for they appeared in his mind prior to his entrance upon the ministry in the autumn of 1812.
"Pittsford, February 3, 1817.
"Dear Brother,—I am happy in inclosing a few lines to you, which I hope will be received as the fruit of Christian friendship. We have had some opportunity of acquaintance for a few months past, which, on my part, has been agreeable, with yourself, your family, and the church with which you stand connected. It is my motive to promulgate peace and extend happiness in society, and, so far as possible, extend a real union among all the dear disciples of Christ; and as we have become citizens of the same town, let us labor for peace; as we profess to be 'fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,' let us be one as the Father and the Son are one, and let love for one another be to all men the proof that we are his disciples.