The following letter is circulated by Mr. Newton's friends, as a correct exposition of his present views. If I know of ten copies in various places, four of which are certainly open to any one to copy, and the fifth was in the hands of one of the most active agents of these things,-and of some fifty persons who have read the same, what report would a chief copyist give of the extent of publicity given to this letter. It has been shown in proof of how very clear he is upon " Open Ministry," and how foolish it is to accuse him with having attempted to shut up ministry.
I print it upon my own responsibility without his leave. If it is not a correct copy, I am sorry for it, the fault is his. A publisher surely is responsible for his mode of publishing and for all its results. If he chooses a MS. circulation, mistakes are attributable to him, not to those to whom the copies come, and especially if he might have chosen another and a more accurate mode. To my own mind it is clear that in putting forth into circulation,-it may be through the pens of sisters,—such a paper, he has put it into the Church of God; which is the place where everything can and must be judged,—for the Spirit is in and among the saints;-and I have no scruple before God in presenting it and every similar publication before the saints for judgment, that God's children may be warned of the snare and falsehoods contained therein.
I say snare of the statement; it seems to be a vindication of open ministry; nay more, a theory "how to form open ministry." The simple are caught hereby How wrong to charge the author of such a paper with denying Open Ministry! they say. But this is merely a snare. Open Ministry formed and allowed and regulated by a Patron or Guide is one thing,-and Open Ministry formed and allowed and regulated by God the Holy Ghost is quite another thing: the one is the very opposite and in the most direct contradiction conceivable of- the other. In the former case too a man stands between me and God;-if he nods assent, or pauses, I am sanctioned;-if he dissents, or gives no pause, I am to be silent. My own weakness and responsibility and God's strength made perfect in weakness are never felt by me, and I have virtually a priest between me and God, this as to the saints so acted upon and among. As to the man who takes such a place, or fancies himself put into it of God, I will say nothing. Yet surely it is a turning back to build again the things which some of us at least have destroyed. That we began upon this ground, as asserted, is not true, as any one may see who will study the tracts " The Nature and Unity of the; Church of Christ" and " God's system" or vol. l. of " The Christian Witness;" or let them ask Mr. Hall, Darby, Jarratt, Rowe, Saunders,-who were at the beginning before Mr. Newton left Oxford; or, if they wish for other witnesses, let them ask any of the intelligent godly clergy who were in Plymouth at the time, as Mr. Hatchard, &c. &c.; or dissenting Ministers, as Mr. Nicholson, &c.; or such men as Mr. Hill, Harris, &c., who were among the first laborers.
And be it observed that a moderately careful perusal of the letter will show that not only the edification of the assembled body is thus under human control but also the whole discipline of the body. If Mr. Darby had written his tract "A Letter to the saints in London as to the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church," in refutation of the letter he could not better have answered it. See also an answer to it in the Letter of J. E. Howard to Miss——.