Mr. Badger is now in the twenty-seventh year of his age and the seventh of his ministry, and occupies a position that affords him more leisure for reflection than the activities of his itinerant life had yielded him. Among the subjects that he accepted for the action of his own thought was Universalism, whose pillars and foundations he seemed to have thoroughly examined, as set forth in the systems of that day. His mind was led to this by the circumstance that his father, for whom his letters and journal only express the kindest filial feeling and reverence, had, after much study and thought, adopted that system as his favorite form of religious belief. The document which contains his views is entitled "An affectionate Address of a Son to his Father." We offer from this a few extracts, in which the reader can see the candor, cogency and kindness that pervade the whole address, which covers some twenty-three pages of letter-paper, very finely and compactly written. This is the opening paragraph: "HONORED AND DEAR FATHER:--With pleasure I once more take my pen to address one for whom I have the most reverential regard, a regard greater than I cherish for any person on earth; one who has with hopeful anxiety watched over the days of my childhood and vanity, and wept at the follies of my youth. My former letters have given you the state of my affairs and prospects in this pleasant part of the country; also, in my several letters, I have noticed the extensive spread of the Gospel, the increase of light, and the effect of those glorious reformations I have been allowed to witness, the subjects of which are now my choice society; and you cannot imagine the unspeakable joy of your son, while a stranger in a strange land, to learn that his aged father has been entertained and comforted by the contents of his letters on those subjects. Permit me, my dear father, in this short treatise, to make a few remarks on the doctrine which you have for years embraced and vindicated relative to the salvation of all men. If this doctrine is true, it is a pleasant thing; if untrue, it is dangerous to rest on the sand. As I have serious objections against the system, I feel it a duty to lay them before you for your consideration, wishing, if I am in error, to be convinced of it; and I hope that, should you find the doctrine you have esteemed as truth, cries 'peace and safety' to those whom sudden destruction awaits, you will be willing to exchange it for that truth which opens to the sinner the worst of his case."