We are now at a crisis of his life which makes us sad as we cast our eyes upon it. Thus far, through his long career, we have traced the energetic man, the man of full and overflowing resources of physical power. But here the scene must change, not gradually as age and as even disease commonly execute their mutations on human frailty, but suddenly as from the lightning's stroke, the oaken form receives assault. July 2, 1845, while employed for an hour in assisting his hands at work, and using an uncommon amount of vigor, he paused a moment to rest, when he received a paralytic shock on his left side, which never after allowed him the enjoyment of his former health. His ancestors on his mother's side were subject to this fatal affliction; and whatever may be justly said in favor of active habits and frugal diet as preventives of a disaster so terrible, it is certain in this case that the fact has a close relation to laws of hereditary descent. Alluding to this event, Mr. Badger observes:-- "I have felt, during this affliction, the most perfect resignation to the will of God. I have stood upon the walls of Zion over thirty years; I am weary _in_ the work, but not _of_ it. Many of my early associates have left their stations before me. I have baptized about forty who have become ministers of the Gospel, several of whom have entered upon their rest. I now stand upon the isthmus between two worlds, ready to depart and be with Christ, or still to toil on amidst the ills of life as the great Master may direct. While I do live, I am determined to stand firm against what I know to be the delusions of the present age, which are spreading death and devastation among the flock of Christ, and to hold fast that system of revealed truth on which the hopes of this lost world must rest for salvation. I do as I think all ministers should in such an age of speculation in theology as the present; place my confidence in, and consecrate my energies to, the promotion of the one blessed Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, and declare, to a divided and excited public, 'I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.'" He continues:--