44 CHURCII UNITY 



negotiating through, authorized represent- 

 atives. It is true, and a pity 'tis true, 

 that these conferences have met with a 

 temporary check and recoil. But no irrec- 

 oncilable differences have been brought 

 to light. Simply some mistakes have 

 been made, which it is easy now to under- 

 stand. With the utmost respect and def- 

 erence, I beg to state them frankly. On 

 the one side, it was a mistake when nego- 

 tiating with the Protestant Episcopal 

 Church alone, to make common cause 

 with other less ecclesiastical denomina- 

 tions on the trivial side-issue of an indis- 

 criminate exchange of pulpits. And the 

 mistake was aggravated by putting this 

 " doctrine of ministerial reciprocity " of- 

 fensively in front of other and weightier 

 questions upon "which it depended and 

 making it a seeming condition of any 

 further conferences. On the other side, 

 it was a mistake to meet that side-issue 

 in a newspaper symposium with a peace- 

 measure which was like Dr. Pusey's 

 Eirenicon, " an olive branch discharged 

 from a catapult." And afterwards, when 

 the Presbyterian Committee had explained 

 their unfortunate action and sent such a 



