Mr. P., it would appear, was a minister of the Freewill Baptist denomination, had associated some with Mr. Badger[32] in public life; but instead of adhering to the suggestions of his friend, it seems that he published a small volume, in which he sent baptism, the Lord's Supper, ordination, and the divinely inspired character of the Scriptures, into endless banishment, with certain broadcast allegations against the fraternity to which he had belonged. In 1823, Mr. Badger wrote six strong chapters in reply to his volume, apparently at the request of the denomination from which the author of the book had previously hailed. The title of Mr. B.'s manuscript read thus: "A Plea for the Innocent; and T. Patching's Writings against Baptism, Lord's Supper, Ordination, and the Holy Scriptures, criticised. By Joseph Badger, Minister of the New Testament." Among the mottoes of the title-page is this: "He brushed the cobwebs from his brethren's urn, Yet spared the insect that wove the web." But we judge the insect was not wholly spared. It is ably written. Perhaps a glance into the boldness of the speculations of Mr. P. may be gained in the statement that among his common-place are positions like these: "The Bible is the God of thousands, a stumbling-block to the blind, and the foundation of Priestcraft--the means by which Satan, through his prelates, has served himself to the best advantage;" that those who advocate the Bible, though less numerous than those who follow the Alcoran, are probably not less blind or wicked; and that the Scriptures "are not so much as one stone in the foundation upon which God has made man's salvation dependent;" and that through scripture medium no man derives spiritual knowledge. Why Mr. Badger's reply was never published, is unknown; perhaps the passing away of the excitement attendant on the first introduction of the work of Mr. P., led to the conclusion that its publication was unnecessary. "I have traced with care," says Mr. B., "the writings of Volney, the noted French atheist, and I think he treats the Scripture with more fairness and respect; whilst Hume and Bolingbroke are decidedly too modest to rank with him. But when we turn to the pages of Mr. Paine, Mr. Allen, and Voltaire, we find a style and manner that admit of comparison with the writings now under discussion." December 14, 1820, in writing to his father from West Bloomfield, he said:-- "The church under my care in this region is in a flourishing state, and my work is in this country. I think it my duty to continue here. I shall endeavor ere long to visit you, as my anxiety is great to see you once more. Though I ceased to keep house the day after the death of Mary Jane, I think it will be my duty, at some future period, to resume my home in this place--a home which is now left unto me desolate."