BROOKLYN, N.Y., JANUARY 5TH, 1943
BROOKLYN, N.Y., JANUARY 5TH, 1943
Mr. F. Ide.
Beloved Brother, — I have to thank you for a cable, received in November, and a letter dated November 19th. And I have to thank you, Mr. Beattie and Mr. Ghinn for your letter of the 8th ult.
I shall write first of the last, as really covering the other two. I am very thankful in noting the free and definite way in which you all have treated this peculiar and delicate matter. I accept your letter as satisfactory and I am assured you will be helped of God in seeking to make the Depot what you wish it to be — an efficient instrument for the spread of the truth and the furnishing of food for the people of God.
I need not remind you of the value of the truth or of the glory of the ministry of it as become so extensive and varied through many vessels raised up by God in these last days. You are aware that the blessed Spirit is seeking to guide us into all the truth in preparing the assembly for her translation; and as the major part of all the written ministry is passing through your [p. 298] hands a serious responsibility rests upon you, namely, that it should not suffer damage in its passage through the Stow Hill Depot. You have taken on the trusteeship of the Depot without cost to the saints and the Lord values this service of love and He will continue to protect and bless you as committing yourselves in a sacrificing manner to further His interests. You are carried in the appreciation and prayers of the saints in view of the charge you have accepted and you will find, as always in such circumstances, that your personal affairs will gain also.
But the burdens mentioned above rest on you, especially the preservation of the truth in written form as it passes through the Depot; and I would humbly suggest that you secure the aid of a few brothers capable of detecting anything contrary to the truth in papers sent in for publication. Their services should not need to be more than cursory and in general affecting only papers specially requiring critical attention. Thus the brothers would not be seriously burdened; but their work would insure safety and also greatly relieve the Depot manager upon whom, under the trustees, the main responsibility would rest. The suggestion I am making should not interfere with your decision to return to authors for reconsideration all questionable statements in their papers.
——— sent me lately two letters in both of which he expressed sorrow for the wrongs done by him which occasioned the present distress. These letters confirm what the trustees mentioned of our brother and for which I am most thankful. I am praying much for ——— , also for myself in connection with him — that I may appraise rightly what he has humbly written and that he may in the same spirit find help from the Lord to render the services to Him and His people for which he is qualified. Our brother causes me to wonder — how could one comparatively young, possessing an energetic and clear mind, change a statement of another several times in papers sent to him for publication, which statement as changed supports a special view or doctrine of the one who made the change, and yet he cannot furnish a definite explanation of the transaction? I write thus because Mr. G——— wrote me shortly after the date of his meeting with the trustees that he had just had a long interview with ——— and that he (Mr. ——— ) has no explanation to offer as to the changes made. Mr. G——— wrote at length, manifestly impressed favourably by ———’s [p. 299] account of the whole matter. He stresses the extenuations which ——— had made in his letter and cables.
As regards your remarks about ——— , the quotation I sent from your letter was exact. I think you had imperfect information. There was an effort to make ——— responsible for the difficulty which has arisen, but in truth the Lord called attention to what was giving the enemy an advantage and we all should thank Him for this.
Affectionately yours in Christ,
James Taylor.