At a meeting of the General Conference held at West Bloomfield, September 7, 1827, a resolution of hearty approval was passed in relation to what Mr. Badger had done for uniting the different branches of the Christian connection, east, west and south, and expressive of much gratification in the news obtained of the churches west of the Alleghanies.
[CHAPTER XV.]
MINISTRY AT BOSTON.
It is evident from what has already been developed in the character and public life of Joseph Badger, that his sympathies were extensive, that the cause which he always avowed to be dearer than life was everywhere a sacred unit, its wants being near, though located in a distant region. Some men root so firmly in particular locality, that no considerations ever draw them to meet the emergencies of a distant post. Though strong in certain local attachments, though firmly persuaded of the value and necessity of permanent pastors, he believed in the utility of an evangelizing ministry for destitute places, for the breaking of new ground, and was ready at any time to hear the Macedonian cry, "Come over and help us."
The Christian Church in Boston, constituted July 1st, 1804, under the ministry of the venerable Abner Jones, whose preaching in 1803 in the Baptist churches of that town was attended by one of the greatest revivals ever known in that community, was, in the year 1826, left without a stated ministry, owing to the removal of their pastor, Rev. Charles Morgridge, to New Bedford, for the purpose of taking the pastoral charge of the Purchase street church in that city. Their position at this time was very critical. Though they had succeeded in building a commodious house of worship, they were, from the nature of their sentiments, somewhat unpopular in a city where the Calvinistic theology had not as yet fully learned the lessons of becoming humility; and also were they embarrassed by the influence of Dr. Elias Smith, whose popular eloquence was at this time employed in a way to injure the cause, which, in other years, he had done much to promote. The society had been for some time destitute of a stated pastor; and by the information obtained of their condition in the persuasive letters he received from Rev. Simon Clough, of New York, and from some leading members of the church in Boston, Mr. Badger was induced to leave his pleasant field of labor in the State of New York and to take up his residence in that city, where he intended to remain until their prosperity and the voice of higher duty should render it proper for him to leave.
Proceeding by the way of New York, where he preached four sermons to Mr. Clough's congregation, he arrived at Boston on September 28th, where he received the cordial welcome and generous hospitality of his friend William Gridley, a man of noble spirit, good ability, and useful activities in the Christian cause. On the 30th, Mr. Badger preached three sermons in the Summer and Sea street Chapel, having, as he states, congregations that numbered about 400 in the morning, 800 in the afternoon, and 600 in the evening. Surveying the new field before him, he says, though informed by his friends that it was a low time, that "the prospect is good." Though Mr. Badger's letters do not state the exact time of his residence in this city, I find in a passing notice from the able and truthful pen of John G. Loring—a man whose life, precepts, intelligence, and uniform fidelity to religion, rendered him one of the best citizens of Massachusetts—that the time spent there was about one year.
In narrating the history of that society about the time that Mr. Morgridge left them, Mr. Himes observes—"Some time now elapsed in which they had no stated pastor. They procured, at length, the services of Elder Joseph Badger; he labored with them between one and two years. Much good was done. The church and society were built up, and sinners were converted."[40] This statement is the same that the people of Boston who attended his ministry have, so far as my recollections serve, invariably made; the common opinion is, that the church and society were never more uniformly prosperous, that the meetings were never better attended, and that the mind and heart of the audience were never more satisfactorily influenced and edified than they were under his ministry. The strong and stable men who were then the pillars of strength in that society have been its pillars ever since;[41] and though additions of value at different times have been made, it is certain that there was a largeness and nobility to the timbers of the olden forest that it might be difficult to surpass in more recent growths.
As a pastor, Mr. Badger was attentive to the wants of his flock, for whom he cherished a tender care. "Though the situation is a trying one," said Mr. B., in a letter addressed to his wife, "I feel in duty bound to stay for the present, for this church must not perish. All my days and evenings are taken up by the duties of my present station." Writing from Ballstown, N. Y., June 8, 1828, where he was attending a general meeting, after he had been at Boston for more than six months, and at his home in Mendon about two, he said—