1824 finds Mr. Badger engaged in the local sphere of pastor; and, among the solemn and responsible duties of his profession for this year, was that of hearing the confession of a murderer, of leading his mind into faith and penitence, of administering to the bereaved families the consolations of Christian views and sympathy, and of preaching the funeral discourse of the prisoner to the immense concourse who witnessed his execution. At that time, cool and deliberate murders were comparatively rare; generally, there was great avidity to know the causes and incidents involved in the crime. The surprise and dread such intelligence awakened corresponded somewhat justly with the awful nature of the guilt which caused them. David D. How, of the town of Angelica, Alleghany County, New York, a few miles from the place where the horrid murder of Mr. Othello Church was committed, December the 29th, 1823, was a man originally from New England, and of respectable connexions; but, from a series of misfortunes and injuries experienced in life, and probably also from the peculiar organic defection which the organization of murderers usually exhibits, was prepared, though not without a violent conflict of inward emotions, to execute a murder of revenge on the person of Mr. Church, whom he regarded as having been instrumental in promoting the misfortunes that left him destitute of property, in the summer of 1823. Several angry disputes had occurred between them; and, judging from the treatment he rendered to Mr. Palmer, for having, as he thought, taken undue advantages of his troubles, one is willing to infer that revenge was his predominant tendency. "I went," says he, "in the month of October, to Hornelsville, and being detained there one day, I had occasion to ride in the evening of the 23d, and about 12 o'clock at night came to Mr. Palmer's, near Angelica. I saw his valuable mills, on which the orbs of heaven faintly shone, and the sable curtains of night had mantled the scenery in majestic grandeur. _Now_, I said, is the time for me to have vengeance on one of my greatest enemies on earth. I dismounted and surveyed the scene before me. Finding the door fast, I obtained an entrance by a small window which I could raise; I entered the dark cavity; all was solitary and silent, and every step resounded with midnight horror; the sweet stream uttered its innocent murmur below, and all nature seemed combined to reprove me of my sin."