“There was, I believe, some light from the mind of Christ conveyed to elect vessels … some twenty-two years ago. I do not believe the Lord has allowed that light to be put out in itself, or even withdrawn from the very vessels in which it was then deposited. … I am neither to disesteem nor to overvalue it. I deeply believe there are vessels in God’s house, made for other treasure, and that such vessels fill their service in both a wide [? wider] sphere, and with a more devoted heart. I do not feel myself even under a temptation to undervalue them. … When I think of such men as Bickersteth and Hewitson, and of such labourers as the missionaries abroad, as the teachers of the ragged schools in London, or as the clergy in the West of Ireland, I am at once ashamed of myself, and desire to honour both them and their work. But I must let the Lord distribute severally as He will. …”[1]
Such language as this is surely the relic of a better age of Brethrenism than the present generation has known. But Bellett was a strange Darbyite. He caused some scandal to his fellow- Exclusives by occasionally walking arm in arm with Open Brethren along the streets of Dublin; and he was on cordial terms with the late excellent Denham Smith. No one interfered with him; indeed, Bellett’s adherence on his own terms was of some value even to Darby. He is the one great literary figure of Brethrenism. The peculiar position that he shared with the rest of his school in regard to “dispensational truth” will generally be held to discount his value, as it certainly discounts his popularity. But his little works are a valuable addition to any library. For beauty of thought matched with beauty of expression, for frequent depth of spiritual and psychological
- ↑ Whatever the effect of this letter upon Harris, he at any rate did not abandon the Brethren. But he could not walk in Bellett’s path. He ministered amongst the Open Brethren, occupying an almost unique position of esteem and confidence, until his death in 1877.
