GENERAL PRINCIPLES 45 



messenger of peace, 1 was it wise, if quite 

 just or necessary, to terminate the sus- 

 pended conferences? 2 Such mistakes arc; 

 mere passing shadows upon the onward 

 movement, and will do more good than 

 harm if they help us to see the real mis- 

 conceptions which still becloud the situa- 

 tion on both sides of the horizon. Let us 

 deal with them faithfully and in the spirit 

 of the most perfect Christian candor and 

 patience. 



PKESBYTERIAN MISCONCEPTIONS 



And first, the Presbyterian misconcep- 

 tions. One of them is a general misap- 

 prehension of the spirit and motive of the 

 Lambeth proposals. It is often said that 

 our Episcopal friends are "insincere," 



1 The Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Smith : " The visit was made, 

 not on the invitation of the Episcopal Commission, but 

 by appointment of the Presbyterian Committee. Ami 

 this appointment was, under the circumstances, an act of 

 such marked magnanimity that it ought to be known." 

 The Churchman, February, 1896. 



2 "Whether right or wrong," says Dr. Smith, "the 

 Episcopal Commission regarded the action of the As- 

 sembly of 1893 as an abandonment of the negotiations 

 on which we had thus far been engaged and as equiva- 

 lent to the expression of a desire on its part that all 

 negotiations between us should cease." 



