Having completed a well-executed volume, for whose pages over one hundred correspondents had written, Mr. Badger regarded his periodical, surrounded as it was by increasing encouragements, as being established; and, though pledged to the vindication of sentiments some of which provoke the thunder of theological strife, he calmly takes the motto,
"Fear not! the good shall flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."
May, 1833, the second volume of this publication commenced; and until its removal, by the united compromise of the east, the north, the south and the west, to the town of Broadalbin, Montgomery County, N. Y., in the spring of 1834, it was issued monthly from the press of Marshall & Dean, at Rochester; and with such ability and interest was it conducted that the General Convention at Milan, N. Y., October, 1833, resolved, under the name of the "Gospel Palladium," to establish a weekly paper, of which Mr. Badger was unanimously chosen editor.[47] As we glance over the pages of this volume, we notice the discussion of some very important themes, such as the natural immortality of man, the doctrine of the Trinity, the freedom of the human mind, the basis of Universalism, the derived existence of Christ, the subject of Christian liberty and union, the reasons for ministerial ordination, and themes of similar weight, with journals and letters of religious intelligence in large number. It were a lengthy task to present a paragraph or two from all the editorials; his replies to his opponents, his strictures on the Monroe Baptist Association, his views of ordination in reply to Mr. Kay; all these are accessible to those who own his monthly; we only say they are usually such as he only could have written.
In an article on the "Deformities of Sectarianism," he indulges in great plainness of speech, using language which at times has the sharpness of satire, yet the candor of honest belief. Looking at the sectarian phenomena, he says:
"What a compound of spite and piety! at war with all dissenters, and at war with themselves! In many instances,
'They preach, and pray, and fight, and groan
For public good, but mean their own.'
"'How has the fine gold become dim! How has the salt lost its savor! How are the mighty fallen!'"
We omit the strictures given on the different systems and organizations of the times.
In answer to a request of the committee of the Milan Convention, the Genesee Christian Association ordered the removal of the Palladium to Union Mills,[48] Montgomery County,[49] N. Y., that being the central position between the east and west selected by the people of New England as a location of compromise, and acceded to by the people of the west. The Genesee Association assigned to him the entire control of the paper and its responsibilities;[50] and in May, 1834, it took the form of a large octavo, with double columns, a form it has retained until now, and went forth in semi-monthly visits to cheer the hearts and teach the minds of several thousands.