26 CnURCII UNITY 



changes in the preamble and supplement 

 of the American Declaration. The entire 

 preamble was omitted. Consequently, the 

 Four Principles are no longer offered to 

 other communions " as inherent parts of a 

 sacred deposit of faith and order incapable 

 of compromise or surrender by those who 

 have been ordained to be its stewards and 

 trustees." To some persons this may seem 

 a very important omission. For one, I do 

 not think much would be gained or lost to 

 either party by retaining it. But inas- 

 much as the prelatic claim of trusteeship 

 is not generally admitted, it may be well 

 to have the terms of unity as much freed 

 from debatable matter as possible. In 

 place of the discarded preamble, the Quad- 

 rilateral is presented simply as supplying 

 " a basis on which approach may be 

 by God's blessing made toward Home- 

 reunion" — a phrase explained elsewhere 

 as affording " a basis for a United Church, 

 including at least the chief Christian com- 

 munions of our people," — "with large 

 freedom of variation on secondary points 

 of doctrine, worship, and discipline." 1 

 The supplement of the American Decla- 



1 Lambeth Conferences of 1833, pp. 280, 333-335. 



