CHRISTIAN UNITY.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Last year (October 13th) you allowed me to give a brief account of the Cheltenham Conference of Clergy and Laity and the " Findings" of the Conference upon the subject of "Practical Steps towards Unity." In view of the increasing urgency of the subject, perhaps you will again grant me a similar privilege. To avoid unnecessary travelling, the Conference was held in London this year (June 5th and 6th), and the invitations were restricted, for the most part, to those within easy reach-of London. The general subject for discussion was the Lambeth " Quadri- lateral " and Home Reunion, and a most interesting and import- ant feature of the Conference was that the Rev. Dr. A. E. Garvie attended throughout to state the Nonconformist point of view. The general sense of the Conference was again expressed in certain " Findings." Space will not permit a full quotation, but I think many of your readers will be interested and glad to know that the Conference held, as regards Episcopacy, that the acceptance of the Historic Episcopate as an order of the ministry without any theory as to its origin or character should suffice; that no pro- posals for reunion which would discredit the present ministry or status of recognized ministers of the non-Episcopal Churches should be contemplated; and that pending the consummation of reunion there should be intercommunion between members of the Church of England and those Churches which accept the first three Articles of the Quadrilateral in relation to Holy Scripture, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. It will be seen that on the vital matter of intercommunion, without provision for which all talk of unity is nothing worth, the Conference reached the only conclusion consistent, as I suggest, alike with common-sense and Christian courtesy and charity.—I am, Sir, &c., H. F. WALKER. 21 Blenheim Road, St. Albans.
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