Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger

The present volume is the Memoir of a man and a minister whose character was strikingly individual, whose services to Religion in its more liberal and unsectarian form were large and successful; and in the denomination to which he belonged, no man was more generally known, and none, we believe, ever acted a more prominent and effective part. The writer of this has endeavored to set forth the life and sentiments of Mr. Badger, to a large extent in his own language. Much of his journal must be new even to old acquaintance, as it was written many years ago, and no part of it has ever been published. To those who would be pleased to read the outlines of the greatest theological reformation among the masses which the nineteenth century may justly claim, we trust this volume will be welcome; likewise to all those who may be liberal and evangelical Christians. Aged men, contemporaries with him, will rejoice in the revival of past scenes, and the young will be taught, encouraged, and warned by the paternal voices of the departed.

Two classes of great men figure effectively on the stage of the world. One class are strongest in writing. Their written words embody the entire elegance and power of their minds. Such were Webster and Channing. The other class are strongest in speech. Their personal presence, their spontaneous eloquence in oral discourse, alone express their mind and heart. Such were Clay, Henry, and Whitfield. To the latter classification Mr. Badger unquestionably belongs. Though the marks of superiority are variously apparent in his papers, it was in the more natural medium of oral speech that his genius shone. Having now completed the task demanded by my duty to the family of Mr. Badger, I would, in the name of the self-sacrificing, trusting faith of which he was no common example, send forth this volume to the world, hoping that in an ease-loving age, the presentation of a Lutheran force in the example of a son of New Hampshire may serve to awaken in others a kindred energy.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. BIRTH AND ANCESTRY.

II. CHILDHOOD.

III. YOUTH AND EDUCATION.

IV. CONVERSION.

V. CALL TO AND ENTRANCE UPON THE MINISTRY.

VI. PUBLIC LABORS IN THE PROVINCE.

VII. TOUR TO NEW ENGLAND, AND PUBLIC LABORS.

VIII. ORDINATION AND PUBLIC LABORS.

IX. PUBLIC LABORS--MARRIAGE--TRAVELS.

X. LABORS AND SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN NEW YORK.

XI. THOUGHTS AND INCIDENTS OF 1819 AND 1820.

XII. WRITINGS--MARRIAGE--TRAVELS.

XIII. CORRESPONDENCE--VISITS AT ANGELICA WITH D. D. HOW, THE MURDERER--SERMON AT THE GALLOWS.

XIV. JOURNEY AT THE SOUTH--PUBLISHED JOURNAL.

XV. MINISTRY AT BOSTON.

XVI. FOUR MONTHS' LABOR IN THE COUNTIES OF ONONDAGA AND CAYUGA, NEW YORK, IN 1828 AND 1829, WITH OTHER PARTS OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE, EXTENDING TO MAY, 1832.

XVII. EDITORIAL LIFE.

XVIII. GENERAL VIEWS.

XIX. MINISTRY--PUBLISHED WRITINGS AND IMPORTANT EVENTS FROM MAY, 1839, TO MARCH, 1848.

XX. RETIRED LIFE--READING--TRAVELS--DEPARTURE--1848 TO 1852.

XXI. OUTLINES OF CHARACTER.

XXII. ADDRESSES--SERMONS--REMINISCENCES--VIEWS OF CONTEMPORARIES.

XXIII. REFLECTIONS.

MEMOIR.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH AND ANCESTRY.