"At Parma had an agreeable meeting the same evening, and bidding the family of Mr. Mathers, where I had been a guest, a kind farewell, went to my appointment at Murray. At Parma I was much pleased, on arising to preach, to see a gentleman take his seat the other side of the table, who commenced writing as soon as I began to speak. In order to put the blush upon him I offered him the candle near me, observing that in writing he would need its light, and that I could easily preach without it. This seemed to frustrate his writing, in which he did not long proceed, but before the close of the sermon his head was gently bowed, and the tears flowed freely from his eyes. At the close he came to me, and earnestly requested that I would come again. I found this gentleman to be Judge J., a man of considerable weight and note in the town. On the 20th I had a joyful meeting at the Four Corners in breaking bread to the disciples. The 31st I devoted to the western part of the town. Thus ends another month, and my soul is happy in God.
Mr. Badger continues, "The 2d of April, on which day I held two good meetings at Parma and Gates, I was invited by a messenger from Mrs. Colby, to attend the funeral of her son, the next day, who had just departed. I found it duty to stay. The next morning, accompanied by Mr. Williams, I repaired to her dwelling and found her to be a woman of sorrow and acquainted with grief, a person of respectability and good sense; through all her various sorrows she had for years lived in the exercise of religion. Of six children and of two kind husbands she had been bereaved. The assembly was large, the scene was solemn. I spoke from Jer. 9: 21: 'For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without and the young men from our streets.' On the 6th, at Pittsford, which was Sunday, after administering the communion in the morning, I gave a farewell sermon, from Acts 20: 32, as I designed to start on a long tour to the East, to meet my dearest friend, from whom I had so long been absent. I spent the week in visiting the places where I had preached; on the 13th, in the west part of the town, I administered the communion to a company of disciples, the greater part of whom I had baptized; and, on the 14th, at my own house, bade adieu to a company of friends who had come to give me their parting words of kindness. These indeed were solemn times. Returning east, very nearly in the same line as I had come, and holding meetings by the way, I arrived at Farmington, N. H., the last day of the month, having been absent just six months to a day. I found my companion in a low state of health; we mingled our tears together in thanksgiving to God."
We have in these preceding pages a simple narrative of six months' preaching, mostly located in the old counties of Ontario and Genesee, in the State of New York, chiefly the former; and in looking over the present religious aspects of that fine region of country, it is a remarkable fact that nearly all the churches that now flourish in these parts, hailing from the cardinal sentiments already spoken of, are on the same places and within the circle marked out by these six months' labors. At that time the county of Ontario extended from its present southern limit over all the towns between itself and the Genesee river, including most of the towns named in these last pages of the journal. In these six months, he, an entire stranger in the land of his labors, creates the material and organizes it, on which he is willing to rely for his future support and coöperation, and before leaving the people whom he had rallied about a common centre, which was religion based on experience, he decided to return in the summer and to establish his home in their midst. Accordingly, he made arrangements in the month of May, whilst in New Hampshire, to return with his family to Pittsford, N. Y., which he carried into execution in the months of June and July, not neglecting, however, his usual industry in preaching whilst in New England and on his way back to his new home, which he had provided for himself before going to the east. He turned the country into a campaign wherever he went, planning out his action into order and system always. On his return he had appointments at the close of each day, and often in the afternoon. He speaks of an interesting visit at the famous springs of Saratoga; also of a brief interview he had with the celebrated Lorenzo Dow on the morning of the 15th, as follows:
"I never before had seen him, but having his engraved likeness with me, I knew him at once. His countenance had an expression that might be called piercing. His eyes were penetrating, his mind was heavenly in its thoughts and feelings, and his conversation shone with modesty and sobriety. His appearance, and a few moments of conversation, made the most serious impression on my mind. He seemed like an inhabitant of some other region, or like a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth. As I reflected on his numerous sufferings and extensive usefulness, I was led to mourn my own unlikeness to God. How many bear the name of ministers of Christ, who do not walk as He walked."
The same day he arrived at Pittsford, thus ending a lengthy journey of much fatigue, and to Mrs. Badger of some afflictive illness; occupied his new home, and resumed from that time the same industrious action which had before been so signally crowned with success. He found his friends steadfast in affection and faith, turned into falsity the predictions of his enemies, who had said he would never return, and in company with a very worthy coadjutor, Mr. John Blodget, a minister of the same evangelical faith, with whom he had corresponded since 1815, and who had accompanied him from the east, he was now prepared to supply the increasing demand made upon his labors.
Never until now had Mr. Badger known by experience what it was for a minister to be involved by domestic cares, and the numerous solicitudes that cluster about the external well-being of a newly established home, which in some degree must divert the mind from study and thought; but which may really prove its own reward by the development of practical wisdom, and by rendering the experience of the minister more akin to the daily life of the great majority of those whom he instructs. He whose experience allows him the most numerous points of contact with mankind, can best comprehend them, and, with suitable gifts, he can most easily reach them by a leading, commanding influence. Mr. Badger was one of those men whom new circumstances and responsibilities could not frustrate, but which always found in him a new and a latent adequacy, that only waited for the outward call; and so much did his peculiar genius of self-mastery and adaptation have its symbol in the cat, which, thrown from whatever part of the building, is sure so to control the evolutions as to strike upon its feet, that throughout his life, which was bold and adventurous, it was seen that new difficulties were always more than paralleled by new manifestations of power in him. With a nature everflowingly social, and beyond most persons adapted to domestic life, he now aims to travel less into foreign parts, and to collect his energies for a field of action in which he might regard his home as the centre. The absence of theological sympathy in the world was nothing to dampen his zeal or cause him to waver, having himself so much self-reliance and creative power to modify and change society to his own views and feelings.
In the month of August he attended some general meetings, as they were called, in different parts; one as far off as Clinton, N. Y., not less than a hundred miles. By a general meeting, in those times and since, is meant a meeting of about two days, at which ministers and people came from a considerable distance around, general notice and invitation being given. Very frequently, when the weather and season would permit, the people repaired to the overshadowing groves, where, in the free and open air, they sang hymns, offered prayers, and devoutly listened to successive sermons. Often, with an eloquence as natural as the trees whose leaved branches shaded the multitudes, has the clear musical voice of Mr. Badger held thousands in listening silence, enchained as by a resistless spell, whilst he unfolded some great theme of the Christian doctrine and life. No man who heard him on such occasions would be apt ever to forget the topic or the speaker. On the 30th and the 31st of August, such a meeting was holden at Pittsford, at which time Mr. John Blodget was by suitable services ordained to the work of an evangelist. Also, in accordance to the usages of the time, a ministerial conference succeeded it September 1—an association which acted simply as an advisory body, and for purposes of mutual discussion and consultation. Such bodies in after years exercised the right of receiving new members, who were ordained ministers of the gospel, or licentiates. They also claimed and exercised the right of preserving their own moral purity, by examinations of character and by expulsion.[28] In this month he preached much in his own town, a few times at Mendon, attended funerals at Pittsford and Avon, and baptized at Mendon a few young men who had in the freshness of life's morning consecrated themselves to pure religion. As the brown leaves of October were silently admonishing the world of human frailty, as nature was pouring out the influences of a calm and holy peace, Mr. B., untrammelled by creed, and with an Old Book in his hand, whose leaves had ever held the greatest spiritual lessons for the human heart, was preaching the salvation of God with a grace and composure that, in naturalness, would compare with the spirit and scenes of the creation around him; for emphatically was he a son of Nature, owned and blessed of her. In this October month, he says:
"I started on the 1st for Hartland, Niagara County, to attend a general meeting on the 4th, a distance of about eighty miles from my residence. At Murray, Genesee County, we had a good meeting. On the evening of the 4th I spoke at Hartland, and on the 5th the assembly was blessed with the presence of our God; the conference succeeding it was also very good. I returned home on the 11th, where I preached and administered baptism; on the 12th, preached in two parts of the town, and on the 18th rode through Caledonia to attend a general meeting at Leroy,[29] which was attended with signal blessing. At the close, Mr. Hubbard Thompson was ordained to the Gospel ministry, and a church of substantial members was there organized. During this month I preached twice at Mendon, and among the people of my charge, had many good social meetings. In view of the fleeting character of this world's pleasures, let us draw from the well of salvation, let us seek our heart's eternal peace.
"In the month of November I spent the 1st, 2d, and 3d at Pittsford, the 4th, 5th, and 6th at Mendon and Lima. At this time the work of God in no small degree of power commenced. I baptized on the 8th, Messrs. Thomas Smith, Allen Crocker, Jeremiah Williams, Nathan Upton; and I now found it my duty to return to Mendon and to make a stand, as the minds of the people were inquiring, and their hearts were moved. I began to travel from house to house, and for several weeks I held several meetings a day, and in almost every meeting there were some made free by the Son of God. Among the incidents of the time, on the 20th it happened that I met with Mr. Cook, a clergyman of Lima, who presented me with this text on which to preach, 1 John 3: 16: 'Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us;'—a text given without doubt to serve as an embarrassment, inasmuch as the word God, which is supplied by the translators, seems to apply to Him who laid down his life for us. It was easy to see that, supposing the pronoun he to refer to the Son of God, who is so often spoken of in the preceding part of the chapter, the only inference that follows is, that his death is a display of God's love, which is the doctrine of the entire New Testament; or, stripping the passage of the supplied words, it only teaches that Christ proved his love by laying down his life for us. I had a fine time in speaking, as the text was a help and not an embarrassment to my mind. He, however, made some opposition, and stated that the Eternal God died on the cross. This was evidently to his own hurt.
"Several of our meetings, held at sunrise, were attended with good. On the 25th I baptized fifteen who had the inward evidence that they had passed from death unto life. This was a day of brightness; and thus, as from the giving hand of God, the work continued. On the 24th eighteen united as a church, and December 2d, six others were added to their number; on the 4th eight were baptized, and thus in Mendon and Lima the work continues to the joy of the saints and to the confusion of enemies. A way also opens into West Bloomfield. At Mendon, for the first time, we had a blessed communion on the 28th—a communion to which all who worship God, and who love the way of holiness were invited, entirely without regard to their different theories of religion. Many others were also added this month. In peace the year closes, and I thank the Father of all goodness for the trials and blessings it has brought. May the next be illuminated by thy Presence!"