Abraham Booth, London, to [unknown minister in Scotland], 21 December 1783.

London, 21 December, 1783

Dear Sir,

        Your friendly letter came safe to hand, & I thankfully acknowledge my obligations to you for the trouble at which you have been, in negotiating the affair for me. I am now revising my Reign of Grace; &, as Capt. Thompson is in London, I intend sending a corrected copy by him when he returns to Leith (which, I suppose, will be in about a fortnight) to Messrs. Neill & Grey [sic]. When the Book is reprinted, I shall beg your acceptance of a few Copies of it, as a small token of my gratitude.

        Whenever opportunity serves, I shall be glad to hear from you; &, meanwhile, sincerely commend you to the Great Author of grace & truth. May you, dear Sir, & may I, experience the power of reigning grace, and publish the glory of the eternal truth, to our own happiness & the edification of many. – My Wife unites in Christian respects, & in prayer for a blessing on you, your family, & congregation. I am,

                     dear Sir,

                                 your obliged Friend

                                             & unworthy Brother,

                                                         A. Booth

Text: MS. 740 Buchanan Autographs, fol. 21, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Reference above is to Booth's seminal work, The Reign of Grace, which first appeared in 1768 and was reprinted in 1771 and 1790, the latter edition by the Baptist printer/bookseller Levi Wayland a few years prior to his removal to America. The edition mentioned above has not been traced. 

The most likely recipient of the above letter is Archibald McLean (1733-1812), who served for more than forty-five years as an elder in the Scotch Baptist congregation, first with Robert Carmichael and later with William Braidwood and, for a time, with Robert Walker. The first converts to the Scotch Baptist congregation in Edinburgh were baptized by Carmichael on 25 November 1765 in the Water of Leith at Canonmills (see John S. Fisher, Impelled by Faith: A Short History of the Baptists in Scotland [Sterling: Scottish Baptist History Project, 1996], p. 5). The printer referenced by Booth is Adam Neill, who operated as Neill & Co. in the 1780s from the Old Fishmarket Close in Edinburgh. He printed numerous editions of the Universal Etymological English Dictionary by Nathan Bailey, who worshiped among the 7th-day Baptists in London in the early decades of the 18th century. The other individual mentioned is William Gray, a printer/bookseller located near the Exchange in Edinburgh. The unnamed printer for McLean’s The Nature and Import of Baptism, with its Indispensible Obligation. In a Letter to a Friend. To which is added, A Short Sketch of the Church Order and Religious Practices of the Baptists in Scotland (Edinburgh: Printed for the Author, and sold by W. Gray, front of the Exchange; J. Duncan, opposite the Guard, Glasgow; and T. Cadell, Strand, London, 1786) was most likely Neill, with the work sold by Gray. The same was probably true of McLean’s The Commission given by Jesus Christ to His Apostles Illustrated (Edinburgh: Printed for the Author, and sold by W. Gray, Edinburgh; J. Duncan, Glasgow; J. Buckland, and T. Cadell, London, 1786). McLean traveled widely and was well known to English Baptists during the last quarter of the 18th century. Most likely he knew Booth, for they had much in common, especially their defense of baptism by immersion.  R. Elliott’s Dipping not Baptizing: or, the Author’s Opinion of the Subject, Mode, and Importance of Water-Baptism, according to the Scriptures: wherein Dr. Gill’s Arguments for the Mode of immersion, and Mr. Booth’s for the Importance of it, as contained in his Apology for the Baptists, are principally considered: with a few remarks on some other Baptist Writers, namely, Mr. Martin, Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. McLean, who, in their several late Publications, seem to be strenuous Advocates both for the Mode and Importance of it (London: H. Trapp, and sold by J. Johnson, J. Marson, and M. Gurney, 1787) brought Booth and McLean together in the company of several other leading Baptist divines of that period, a pamphlet surprisingly written by a graduate of Cambridge yet published by a Moravian and sold by three Baptists (two General and one Particular Baptist). In the mid-1770s McLean entered into a disagreement with his former colleague, Robert Walker (d. 1791), over his views on the eternal sonship of Christ, which, when they became public in Walker’s A Defence of the Doctrine of the Trinity: and Eternal Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures; in Opposition to a Late Scheme of Temporal Sonship (Edinburgh: Printed for the author, and sold by J. Dickson, and W. Gray, Front of the Exchange, Edinburgh, and J. Buckland, Pater-Noster-Row, London, Edinburgh, 1786). McLean responded with A Letter on the Sonship of Christ, originally addressed to some of the Members of the Baptist Church at Edinburgh. To which is added, a Review of Dr. Walker’s Defence of the Doctrine of the Trinity and Eternal Sonship of Christ (Printed and sold by M. Gray, Edinburgh; J. Duncan, and Mrs. Orr, Glasgow; J. Buckland, Paternoster-Row, and Lackington, Chiswell-Street, Moorfields, London, 1788). Both works were sold by Gray's establishment, although by 1788 it appears that M. Gray had become William Gray’s successor. The evangelical Calvinist divine, John Erskine (1721-1803), was also known to many Baptists, both in England and America, during the last half of the 18th century, engaging in a lengthy correspondence with with John Ryland, Jr. Erskine was not a Baptist but rather the minister of the Church of Scotland, serving the congregation at Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh 1767-1803. Erskine had at least two works published by the Grays (both W. and M.) between 1780 and 1790. However, given the nature of the work and travels of McLean, he seems the most likely recipient of the above letter, although Braidwood and Erskine remain as distant possibilities.