Page:Neatby - A history of the Plymouth Brethren.djvu/113



his return from the Continent, Darby went straight to Plymouth. This place for a long time had been B. W. Newton’s sole residence, and the scene of his regular ministry. It had consequently become the one focus of effectual opposition to the theological and ecclesiastical views that under Darby’s powerful influence had gained a marked predominance amongst the Brethren generally.

The feud between Darby and Newton was no new thing. Within three or four years of the beginning of Brethrenism in Plymouth, Newton (if we are to trust Darby) had jealously isolated himself from the other Brethren in a spirit that Darby rather self-complacently contrasted with his own. About 1840, if not earlier, Newton circulated some manuscript letters “far and wide,” “denouncing” the party that differed from him in prophetic and dispensational matters; and when Darby stated that he “could not see that the Spirit of God had led to or guided in” these denunciatory letters, Newton not only told him that all friendship between them was at an end, but was even with difficulty persuaded to