, and experienced servant of Christ
being invited to fill the chair at such public meetings. Surely, the
Galilean fishermen, who were apostles, or our Lord Himself, who was called
the carpenter, would not have been called to this office, according to
these principles. These things ought not so to be among the disciples of
the Lord Jesus, who should not judge with reference to a person's fitness
for service in the Church of Christ by the position he fills in the world,
or by the wealth he possesses!

6. Almost all these societies contract debts, so that it is a
comparatively rare case to read a Report of any of them, without finding
that they have expended more than they have received, which, however, is
contrary both to the spirit and to the letter of the New Testament. (Rom.
xiii. 8).

Now, although brother Craik and I were ready, by the grace of God,
heartily to acknowledge that there are not only many true children of God
connected with these religious societies, but that the Lord has also
blessed their efforts in many respects, notwithstanding the existence of
these and other principles and practices which we judged to be
unscriptural, yet it appeared to us to be His will, that we should be
entirely separate from these societies, (though we should be considered as
singular persons, or though it should even appear that we despised other
persons, or would elevate ourselves above them), in order that, by the
blessing of God, we might direct the attention of the children of God in
these societies to their unscriptural practices; and we would rather be
entirely unconnected with these societies than act contrary to the Holy
Scriptures. We therefore separated entirely from them, although we
remained united in brotherly love with individual believers belonging to
them; and would by no means judge them for remaining in connexion with
them, if they do not see that such things are contrary to Scripture. But
seeing them to be so ourselves, we could not with a clear conscience
remain. After we had thus gone on for some time, we considered that it
would have an injurious tendency upon the brethren among whom we laboured,
and also be at variance with the spirit of the Gospel of Christ, if we did
nothing at all for Missionary objects, the circulation of the Holy
Scriptures, Tracts, etc.; and we were therefore led for these and other
reasons to do something for the spread of the Gospel at home and abroad,
however small the beginnin