"This hasty note, my dear Eliza,[42] which will no doubt be an unwelcome message, will inform you that I am pressingly urged to return immediately to Boston. The call is irresistible. And my agreeable home must for the present be abandoned, as the care and conflict of the Boston church are continually upon my mind."
The main element of success in any calling for which one has suitable capacity, was his, namely, a deep interest in the station he had taken.
In a letter addressed to Mrs. Badger, February 4, 1827, he narrates very affectingly his visit to Farmington, the sacred memories of the heart that revived in his mind as he visited that place, and Gilmanton, where, with relatives and many former friends, he enjoyed the bliss of a friendship to which years of time had added a new degree of sacredness. It is impossible to read these passages, which were the spontaneous and unstudied utterances of his mind thrown into his domestic correspondence, without seeing a sincere wealth of heart, which his light and buoyant manner in the world was often calculated to conceal rather than to express. In addressing the Luminary, May 9, 1828, he says:
"I intended in this number of my Journal, to have given a general account of all the religious societies in Boston, but other things have prevented my giving that attention to the subject which would be necessary in this case; I must therefore omit it till some future period. The Calvinistic Baptists, the Methodists and the Unitarians, have made many disciples to their several parties the year past; a number of whom we hope are experimental and practical disciples of Jesus Christ. Four new chapels have been opened in Boston the winter past, and while other societies have been favored with revivals through the goodness of God, the Christian Society, which has withstood all opposition for more than twenty years, has of late experienced some of the rich mercy-drops. I have been laboring among them some over six months, and have been enabled with divine assistance to gather up the fruits of my brethren's labors who went before me. The names of Clough and Morgridge were mentioned by some whom I baptized, as the means, under God, of calling up their attention to the concern of the soul. I will name one instance: I baptized a very respectable young lady who had always attended a Unitarian meeting until a few months since, when she found in a pew of her chapel Clough's letter to Mr. Smallfield, which excited her inquiry and finally became the means of her awakening. Thus a good thing may come out of a despised and persecuted Nazareth.
"The 23d of March was a day of great interest to myself and the Christian Society of Boston: the day was fine, and the assembly large. On this memorable day twenty-four happy converts presented themselves for baptism. Thousands assembled at the sea-side in South Boston: and though some confusion was visible amidst the thronging multitude, yet God was with his children to own and bless his holy ordinance. This was a day of unusual strength and comfort to me; I preached three sermons, was in the water forty-five minutes, and through the whole was scarcely sensible of fatigue. God's strength has hitherto been sufficient: in Him I put my trust. I would not wish, however, by this, or any other communication of mine, to carry the idea that we have had a great reformation in Boston, for we have only a small addition to our numbers, and have been blessed only with occasional conversions; but I hope that those who have professed faith in Christ are converted to God and not to creeds, or to a party, or to man; and that the work is so effectual that it will endure in time of trials. All the New England States are abundantly blessed with the outpouring of the Spirit of God at the present time. A cloud of mercy is hanging over the happy land. If the ministers keep humble and stand in the counsel of God, if the saints live in union and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free, the pure testimony must and will prevail, and reformation everywhere will abound. What we have seen will be only the beginning of good days; the petty wrangles of frail mortals will subside; the darkness in which the Church has long been groping will be dispelled; and she will come forth from the wilderness on the breast of her beloved, and will fill the world with her majesty, glory and beauty."
The first days of April, 1828, Mr. and Mrs. Badger improved in returning home to Mendon, N. Y.; in their absence, William, their youngest son, had died; in the region of Mendon he chiefly remained until his June meeting at Ballstown, already spoken of, when the united request of the committee, William Gridley, John G. Loring, Abner H. Bowman, in behalf of the society in Boston, arrived, inviting him to return as soon as possible to their assistance; which request, together with an invidious article published in Dr. Elias Smith's paper in relation to Mr. Badger's position in regard to him, induced his immediate return to that city, where he boldly and successfully vindicated his premises, whether theological or personal. Within the three months succeeding his arrival on June 21st, are several valuable letters from his pen. A few extracts we will here subjoin:—
"Boston, July 8, 1828.
"My dear Wife: I am this moment much refreshed in receiving a letter from you, and I would now make such returns as become an affectionate husband. I spent one week agreeably in New York, and had a pleasant passage to this city, where we arrived in good health, June 21st. The 22d, my assembly was large, and all greeted me with the same joy and affection as when we parted with them, at a time you must well remember—the past spring. My first text was Acts 15: 36: 'Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.' The brethren have lost much since I left them; but we have already seen their strength and courage revive, and several are now under awakening."