INTRODUCTION.
The following narrative, though constantly demanded by brethren, would have never seen the light, had the work which occasioned the separation, been confined to Plymouth, or its activity ceased. No desire of clearing up one’s own grounds of conduct has influenced me, nor would such have induced me to publish any account of what passed. The best proof is that in a lapse of a year it had not. But convinced as I am that it is a work of Satan which has developed itself here, and finding that, as Mr. Newton announced that he would seek to produce everywhere “united hostility” to the brethren who differed from him, the same system at present is carrying on elsewhere to propagate the work, and believing that many true hearted saints become unconsciously instruments of this, I have thought well that they should be apprized of what passed. The argument alleged against such an account would be the scandal of it. But that exists in the division already. The knowing the grounds of it will rather take it away. For it is a very serious thing indeed to separate from Christians, and indeed the saints have, in some sort, a right to know why it has been done. It may be very humbling to the saints concerned ; but I do not think this is an evil. The strongest motive by far; the one which weighed with me ; was the dislike of publishing evil. I never should have done it, but left it to the Lord, had the trouble occasioned by it stopped the activity of the evil. What overcame this motive with me was, that there was just as much activity as before in the evil, and the same unblushing unscrupulousness as to truth. It may
