him, by an unseen hand, into the chapel in Windmill-street, where he at once found himself at home, and he requested. the privilege of being received into the communion of the Church. This application naturally paved the way for close inquiry into his views of the gospel, and the obedience. which it requires; and his answers proving quite satisfactory, and moreover, as "he spake the language of Canaan", correctly, he was in a week or two after received into the Church, on making a public profession of the faith of Christ, and of his purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord. The circumstances now mentioned very naturally led to a closer intimacy than ordinary between Mr. Peyton C. Wyeth, for that is his name, and the editor of this journal. Finding him to be an intelligent and well-informed young. mån, of pleasant manners, and very communicative, every opportunity was seized of obtaining information respecting the state of religion in the United States. I had previously heard and read much about the "revivals" said to have lately taken place in that country, and was anxious to know his opinion of them, as well as the opinion that was generally entertained of them among his transatlantic brethren. His answers were to this effect, that there certainly had been a wonderful revival of religion within the last dozen years or so, on the continent of America; but that I must not confound it with those fits of methodistic excitement to which I alluded; for that it was not only clearly distinguishable from them, but also that no two things in nature could be more dissimilar! My friend went on to state, that the revival of religion to which he referred went under the name of "reformation," by which was meant a return to first principles, the preaching of the simple doctrine of "Christ crucified," baptising the disciples on a public profession of faith in that doctrine, gathering the believers into churches, and enjoining upon them an observance of all the ordinances, as the Apostles delivered them to the churches. of their day; which order of public worship I found to correspond as nearly as may be with that practised among the denomination of Scotch Baptists in our country. I requested to be favoured with the names of some of the leading persons, particularly such as were elders of churches, and was not a little surprised to hear the first name men tioned was that of Mr. Alexander Campbell, the antagonist of Robert Owen, Esq., whose public disputation on the evidences of Christianity, reprinted in the "World Newspaper" a few years ago, I had read, at the time, with peculiar interest, without having the slightest suspicion that his views of divine truth and gospel-worship were so congenial with my own. The information now given me concerning Mr. Campbell, his more abundant labours in spreading abroad a savour of the knowledge of Christ, both from the pulpit and the press, his intrepidity and zeal, the talents conferred upon him by the exalted Head of the Church, and his powerful advocacy of the cause of primitive Christianity, all gladdened my heart, and made me ardently long to be introduced to his acquaintance before we quitted the stage of life. I became increasingly solicitous to know what was the probable number of persons now living in America, who might be considered as having received the apostolic testimony concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and had been baptised in his name? what was the probable number of churches gathered by the apostolic doctrine, and various other matters relating to the kingdom of our Redeemer, and its advancement in that quarter of the world? And that I might obtain the fullest and most satisfactory evidence respecting these points, I requested the favour of Mr. Wyeth to write to Mr. Campbell, with whom he told me he was intimately acquainted, as Mr. Campbell's residence, which is Bethany, in the state of Virginia, is within fourteen miles of Claysville, the place of his nativity. He accordingly wrote a letter, under my own roof, and in a great measure from my dictation, to which letter the following is Mr. Campbell's answer :— "With very much pleasure, indeed, I received yesterday your favour of the 12th of Nov. 1833, from London. It gave us much pleasure to hear of your situation, health, and general circumstances; and the news from the churches in England is very acceptable indeed. The order in exchange for books is very thankfully received, and shall be promptly attended to. Address mine in return to Messrs. Joseph Stanley and Co., Broadway, New York. I was there last winter, and I visited the eastern cities with pleasure and profit. About twelve or fourteen were immersed in New York in ten days. The church in Philadelphia* has doubled; and in Baltimore, since my visit there, it has grown from thirty-five to one hundred and twenty members.† "From the best information I can gather, there are about one hundred and fifty thousand brethren in the Reformation' in the United States: but of those there may not be organised in churches more than from five to eight hundred churches. Many of them are large-from one to four hundred members-many from fifty to one hundred. But the revival has been very great. Since you left us last year, there could not be less than ten thousand immersed in the United States and Canada. "The Lord be praised for the prosperity of the good cause in this highly-favoured land! We only want one thousand Evangelists more, to make the cause triumphant in America. "The congregation in Pittsburg is, I believe, over one hundred. The Dutch Fork has received recently fourteen new members, and is now about one hundred. Those in our county of Brooke amount to about five hundred. I mention these, because you have some acquaintance with them. About two hundred Congregations of the Christian body, as they called themselves, in Kentucky and Ohio, have united with "The Disciples' [i. e. with Mr. Campbell and his friends]. "The ancient order of things without the ancient gospel will not succeed. What God has united ought not to be separated. The world would not be converted in ten thousand years by the system of operations got up by our good father M'Lean, and his co-adjutors, whose names are all familiar to me.§ "I am glad you have informed me of our brother Jones. I would wish to open a correspondence with him. One of our brothers, once an inmate in my family, has been engaged, with my assistance, in publishing an edition of his History of the Waldenses and Albigenses. I have sold for this brother many copies of it, and the work is well received by our brethren *One of the elders of this church is Mr. W. Ballantine, formerly of London.-W. J. See a letter from Mr. James Henshall, one of the elders of this church, in the present number.-W. J. This is the title by which the churches in connexion with Mr. Campbell are known.-W. J. This remark appearing to me to require explanation, I used the freedom, when I wrote to Mr. Campbell, to beg an explicit one, and in his letter to myself, under date of Nov. 17th, 1834, which the reader will find in some following pages, we have his reply at considerable length.-W. J. in all places of the land. If brother Jones will send me every thing he publishes, and will inform me of his address, I will send every thing from our press. "Brother M'Vay is my nearest neighbour-he and family are well, and doing well: they unite with my family in all Christian affection for you, and in the best wishes for your prosperity in every thing accordant to the Lord's will. "One of your brothers has been immersed and added to the Lord during the last year. The family were well a few days ago. "I am now engaged in printing a new and enlarged Selection of Hymns. I shall not have it out of the press for four weeks, but will then send one of the fourth edition with the books ordered. "Now my dear brother, let me often hear from you. I have no greater joy than to hear that all my brethren and children walk in the truth. Let the holy oracles ever be your companion. Endeavour in every place to spread abroad the sweet savour of the Saviour's name. Be faithful to death: the crown is yet before you. No man gains a crown by wishing for it, but by fighting on, and doing valiantly. Be valiant in the truth, and for it. And may the God of peace give you peace, and keep you in the way everlasting. 66 'I am, your affectionate brother, I scarcely need to say that I cheerfully accepted Mr. Campbell's invitation to a correspondence; and accordingly, on the 3d of September, 1834, wrote to him at very considerable length, giving him as much information respecting the state of the churches with which I am connected, both in England and Scotland, as I could conveniently make room for. But a considerable part of my letter was occupied with a string of questions relating to matters on which I desired further information concerning the affairs of the churches in America; for not having then seen any of their periodical publications, I thought it possible there might exist differences of sentiment, either on the doctrine of the gospel, or the laws of the kingdom of heaven, or the scriptural mode of furthering the advancement of that kingdom in the world, which would lead me into controversy for which my advanced age unfits me, and for which, to tell the truth, I have lost all relish. The length of my letter, added to my want of time and opportunity, prevented my keeping a copy of it, nor can I recollect the tenth part of its con tents; so that it is not possible for me to lay it before the readers of this journal. But it seems that it no sooner reached Mr. Campbell's hands, than he published it in a monthly work which he is now engaged in bringing out,* thus furnishing my letter with wings, and causing it to fly over a great part of the United States. One of the first fruits of this was the following letter, lately come to hand, and which, as it supplies some little information that may interest my readers, I shall here introduce : -- "Baltimore, December 8, 1834. "AGED AND RESPECTED BROTHER, "I can hardly express to you my joy when I beheld the signature of "William Jones" in the " Millennial Harbinger" of the last month. I now rejoice and thank God, our Heavenly Father, that two men in the two most enlightened, most influential, most powerful nations in the world, are corresponding with each other. With our beloved brother Campbell I am personally acquainted. I have been his correspondent some years under my own signature and that of A Reformer;' I have preached with him, and heard him many times, and consider him the ablest proclaimer of the Gospel I have heard on either side the Atlantic. With my beloved brother Jones I have not the pleasure of an acquaintance, except through the medium of his writings. I became acquainted with your writings when I was in my native land, Cheshire, Old England. I there was rendered an important assistance by the Biblical Cyclopædia,' and by the New Evangelical Magazine.' I was then beginning to think on religious subjects; and having been educated partly a Methodist and partly an Episcopalian, the great truths of the New Testament were much mystified in my mind. Many of the articles in the 'Cyclopædia' helped me to a right understanding of the holy word, particularly the article Faith.' The argumentative and clear nature of that article makes it very convincing. You have certainly done much for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have stemmed the tide of popular delusion; and almost alone, with the Bible in your hands, contended for the primitive Gospel and order of the kingdom. Since I have been here I have sent for several copies of the Cyclopædia' for the brethren here; and often wished that an opening might be made, so that an exchange of support and encouragement 6 * Under the title of the "Millennial Harbinger," from which I borrow the title of my own publication. |