,,the ,,war ,,and ,,unity   ,,cambridge 
,,university ,,press  ,c4 ,f4 ,,clay1   
,,manager  ,,london3 ,,fetter ,,lane1   
,e4,c4 #d  ,,new ,,york3 ,g4 ,p4        
,,putnam',s ,,sons ,,bombay             
,,calcutta  ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co41    
,,ltd4 ,,madras    ,,toronto3 ,j4 ,m4   
,,dent ,,and ,,sons1 ,,ltd4 ,,tokyo3    
,,maruzen-,,kabushiki-,,kaisha  ,,all   
,,rights ,,reserved   ,,the ,,war ,,and 
,,unity  ,,being ,,lectures ,,delivered 
,,at ,,the ,,local ,,lectures ,,summer  
,,meeting ,,of ,,the ,,university ,,of  
,,cambridge1 #aiah  ,,edited ,,by ,,the 
,,rev4 ,d4 ,h4 ,s4 ,,cranage1 ,,litt4,d4
 ,,king',s ,,college  ,,cambridge ,,at  
,,the ,,university ,,press #aiai        
,,preface   ,for some time past the     
,local ,examinations and ,lectures      
,syndicate have arranged a ,summer      
,meeting in ,cambridge every other year 
in connexion with the ,local ,lectures4 
,the scheme of study has always included
 a number of theological lectures1 and  
at the last two meetings an attempt has 

been made to deal with some of the      
religious and moral problems suggested  
by the ,war4 ,in #aiaf a course of      
lectures was delivered1 and afterwards  
published by the ,university ,press1 on 
,the ,elements of ,pain and ,conflict in
 ,human ,life4 ,in #aiah the ,syndicate 
decided to arrange a course on ,unity4  
,it was at first suggested that the     
lectures should be confined to the      
subject of ,christian ,reunion1 but it  
was finally arranged to deal not only   
with ,unity between ,christian          
,denominations1 but with ,unity between 
,classes1 ,unity in the ,empire1 and    
,unity between ,nations4  ,many of those
 who attended expressed a strong wish   
that the lectures should be published1  
and the ,lecturers and the ,syndicate   
have cordially agreed to their request4 
,the central idea of the course is      
undeniably vital at the present time1   
and the book is now issued in the hope  
that it may be of some help in the      
period of reconstruction4               

,d4 ,h4 ,s4 ,,cranage1                  
,secretary of the ,cambridge ,university
                                        
,local ,lectures4 ,november #aiah4      
,,contents   ,,unity ,,between          
,,christian ,,denominations  ,i4 ,a     
,,general ,,view                        
,,page #a  ,by the ,reverend ,v4 ,h4    
,stanton1 ,d4,d41 ,fellow of ,trinity   
,college1 ,regius ,professor of         
,divinity4  ,,ii4 ,,the ,,church ,,in   
,,the ,,furnace                         
#be  ,by the ,reverend ,eric            
,milner-,white1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,s4,o41      
,fellow and ,dean of ,king's ,college1  
late ,chaplain to the ,forces4  ,,iii4  
,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,the ,,english    
,,free ,,churches         #ea  ,by the  
,reverend ,w4 ,b4 ,selbie1 ,m4,a4       
7,oxford and ,cambridge71 ,hon4 ,d4,d4  
7,glasgow71 ,principal of ,mansfield    
,college1 ,oxford4  ,,iv4 ,,the         
,,scottish ,,problem                    
#gb  ,by the ,very ,reverend ,james     
,cooper1 ,d4,d4 7,aberdeen71 ,hon4      

,litt4,d4 7,dublin71 ,hon4 ,d4,c4,l4    
7,durham71 ,v4,d41 ,professor of        
,ecclesiastical ,history in the         
,university of ,glasgow1 ex-,moderator  
of the ,church of ,scotland4   ,,unity  
,,between ,,classes  ,i4 ,by the ,right 
,reverend ,f4 ,t4 ,woods1 ,d4,d41       
,trinity ,college1 ,lord ,bishop of     
,peterborough          #hi  ,,ii4 ,by   
the ,right ,honourable ,j4 ,r4 ,clynes1 
,m4,p41 ,minister of ,food              
#aae   ,,unity ,,in ,,the ,,empire  ,by 
,f4 ,j4 ,chamberlain1 ,c4,b4,e41        
,assistant ,general ,secretary of the   
,young ,men's ,christian ,association   
#acg   ,,unity ,,between ,,nations  ,by 
the ,reverend ,j4 ,h4 ,b4 ,masterman1   
,m4,a41 ,st ,john's ,college1 ,rector of
 ,st ,mary-le-,bow ,church1 ,canon of   
,coventry1 late ,professor of ,history  
in the ,university of ,birmingham       
#aea     ,,unity ,,between ,,christian  
,,denominations     ,i4 ,a ,,general    
,,view  ,by the ,rev4 ,v4 ,h4 ,,stanton1
 ,d4,d4   ,the governing idea of this   

early morning course1 which at the      
present as at former ,summer ,meetings  
is devoted to a subject connected with  
religious belief1 is this year the power
 that ,christianity has1 or is fitted to
 have1 to unite ,christian denominations
 with one another1 and also to unite    
races and nations1 and different        
portions of that commonwealth of nations
 which we call the ,british ,empire1 and
 different classes within our own       
nation4 ,a moment's reflection will shew
 that the question of unity between     
denominations of ,christians derives    
special significance from being placed  
in connexion with all those other cases 
in regard to which the promotion of     
unity is to be considered4 ,if it       
belongs to the genius of ,christianity  
to be a uniting power1 it is above all  
in the sphere of professed and organised
 ,christianity1 where ,christians are   
grouped together as ,christians1 that   
its influence in producing union should 
be shewn4 ,if it fails in this here1    

what hope1 it may well be asked1 can    
there be that it should be effective1   
when its principles and motives cannot  
be applied with the same directness and 
force8 ,in the very assumption1 then1   
which underlies this whole course of    
lectures1 that ,christianity can unite  
men1 we have a special reason for       
considering our relations to one another
 as members of ,christian bodies1 with  
regard to this matter of unity4  ,but we
 are also all of us aware that the      
divisions among ,christians are often   
severely commented on by those who      
refuse to make any definite profession  
of the ,christian ,religion1 and are    
given by them sometimes as a ground of  
their own position of aloofness4 ,it is 
true that strictures passed on the      
,christian ,religion and its professors 
for failures in this1 as well as in     
other respects1 frequently shew little  
discernment1 and are more or less       
unjust4 ,so far as they are made to     
reflect on ,christianity itself1        

allowance is not made for the nature of 
the human material upon which and with  
which the ,christian ,faith and ,divine 
,grace have to work4 ,and when          
,christians of the present day are      
treated as if they were to blame for    
them1 sufficient account is not taken of
 the long and complex history1 and the  
working of motives1 partly good as well 
as bad1 through which ,christendom has  
been brought to its present divided     
condition4 ,still we cannot afford to   
disregard the hindrance to the progress 
of the ,christian ,faith and ,christian 
,life among men created by the existing 
divisions among ,christians4 ,harm is   
caused by them in another way of which  
we may be1 perhaps1 less conscious4     
,they bring loss to ourselves           
individually within the denominations to
 which we severally belong4 ,we should  
gain incalculably from the strengthening
 of our faith through a wider fellowship
 with those who share it1 the greater   
volume of evidence for the reality of   

spiritual things which would thus be    
brought before us2 and from the         
enrichment of our spiritual knowledge   
and life through closer acquaintance    
with a variety of types of ,christian   
character and experience2 and not least 
from that moral training which is to be 
obtained through common action1 in      
proportion to the effort that has to be 
made in order to understand the point of
 view of others1 and the suppression of 
mere egoism that is involved4  ,these   
are strong reasons for aiming at        
,christian unity4 ,but further there    
comes to all of us at this time a       
powerful incentive to reflection on the 
subject1 and to such endeavours to      
further it as we can make1 in the signs 
of a movement towards it1 the greater   
prominence which the subject has assumed
 in the thought of ,christians1 the     
evidence of more fervent aspirations    
after it1 the clearer recognition of the
 injury caused by divisions4 ,i remember
 that some #dj or more years ago1 one of

 the most eminent and justly esteemed   
preachers of the day defended the       
existence of many denominations among   
,christians on the ground that through  
their competition a larger amount of    
work for the advance of the kingdom of  
,god is accomplished4 ,we are not so    
much in love with competition and its   
effects in any sphere now4 ,and it      
should always have been perceived that1 
whatever its rightful place in the      
economic sphere might be1 it had none in
 the promotion of purely moral and      
spiritual ends4 ,the preacher to whom ,i
 have alluded did not stand alone in his
 view1 though perhaps it was not often  
so frankly expressed4 ,but at least     
acquiescence in the existence of        
separated bodies of ,christians1 as a   
thing inevitable1 was commoner than it  
is now4  ,in the new attitude to this   
question of the duty of unity that has  
appeared amongst us there lies an       
opportunity which we must beware of     
neglecting4 ,it is a movement of the    

,spirit to which it behoves us to       
respond energetically1 or it will       
subside4 ,shakespeare had no doubt a    
different kind of human enterprises     
mainly in view when he wrote3           
,there is a tide in the affairs of men1 
,which taken at the flood1 leads on to  
fortune2      ,omitted1 all the voyage  
of their life      ,is bound in shallows
 and in miseries4   ,but this           
observation is broadly true of all human
 progress4 ,an advance of some kind in  
the relations of men to one another1 or 
the remedying of some abuse1 begins to  
be urged here and there1 and for a time 
those who urge it are but little        
listened to4 ,then almost suddenly 7as  
it seems7 the minds of many1 one hardly 
knows why1 become occupied with it4 ,if 
in the generation when that happens     
desire leads to concentrated effort1 the
 good of which men have been granted the
 vision in their minds and souls will be
 attained4 ,otherwise interest in it    
will pass away1 and the hope of securing

 it1 at least for a long time1 will be  
lost4  ,before we attempt to consider   
any of the problems presented by the    
actual state of ,christendom in         
connexion with the subject now before   
us1 let us go back in thought to the    
position of believers in ,jesus ,christ 
of the first generation1 when ,his own  
brief earthly life had ended4 ,they form
 a fellowship bound together by faith in
 their common ,lord1 by the confident   
hopes with which that faith has inspired
 them1 and the new view of life and its 
duties which they have acquired4 ,soon  
indeed instances occur in which the     
bonds between different members of the  
body become strained1 owing especially  
to differences of origin and character  
in the elements of which it was         
composed4 ,we have an example at a very 
early point in the narrative of the book
 of ,acts in the dissatisfaction felt by
 believers from among ,hellenistic      
,jews1 who were visiting1 or had again  
taken up their abode at1 ,jerusalem1    

because a fair share of the alms was not
 assigned to their poor by the          
,palestinian believers1 who had the     
advantage of being more permanently     
established in the city1 and were       
probably the majority4 ,but the chiefs  
among the brethren1 the ,apostles1 take 
wise measures to remove the grievance   
and prevent a breach4  ,a few years     
later a far more serious difference     
arises4 ,jewish believers in ,jesus had 
continued to observe the ,mosaic ,law4  
,when converts from among the ,gentiles 
began to come in the question presented 
itself1 ,is observance of that ,law to  
be required of them8 ,only on condition 
that it was would many among the ,jewish
 believers associate with them4 ,in     
their eyes still all men who did not    
conform to the chief precepts of this   
,law were unclean4 ,it is possible that 
there were ,jews of liberal tendencies1 
men who had long lived among ,gentiles1 
to whom this difficulty may have seemed 
capable of settlement by some           

compromise4 ,but in the case of most    
,jews1 not merely in ,palestine1 but    
probably also in the ,jewish settlements
 scattered through the ,grco-,roman     
world1 religious scruples1 ingrained    
through the instruction they had        
received and the habits they had formed 
from child-hood1 were deeply offended by
 the very notion of joining in common   
meals with ,gentiles1 unless they had   
fulfilled the same conditions as full   
proselytes to ,judaism1 the so-called   
proselytes of righteousness4 ,on behalf1
 however1 of ,gentiles who had adopted  
the ,faith of ,christ1 it was felt that 
the demand for the fulfilment of this   
condition of fellowship must be resisted
 at once and to the uttermost4 ,so ,st  
,paul held4 ,to concede it would have   
caused intolerable interference with    
,gentile liberty1 and hindrance to the  
progress of the preaching of the ,gospel
 and its acceptance in the world4 ,and  
further--upon this consideration ,st    
,paul insisted above all--the           

requirement that ,gentiles should keep  
the ,jewish ,law might be taken to      
imply1 and would certainly encourage1 an
 entirely mistaken view of what was     
morally and spiritually of chief        
importance2 it would put the emphasis   
wrongly in regard to that which was     
essential in order that man might be in 
a right relation to ,god and in the way 
of salvation4  ,but the point in the    
history of this early controversy to    
which ,i desire in connexion with our   
present subject to draw attention is the
 fact that it is not suggested from any 
side that ,jewish ,christians and       
,gentile ,christians should form two    
separate bodies that would exist side by
 side in the many cities where both     
classes were to be found1 keeping to    
their respective spheres1 endeavouring  
to behave amicably to one another1      
agreeing to differ as the saying is4    
,this would have been the plan1 we may  
7,i think7 suppose1 which would have    
seemed the best to that worldly wisdom1 

which is so often seen to be folly when 
long and broad views of history are     
taken4 ,and we can imagine that not a   
few of the ecclesiastical leaders of    
recent centuries might have proposed it1
 if they had been there to do so4 ,for  
never1 perhaps1 have there been more    
natural reasons for separation than     
might have been found in those national 
and racial differences1 and in those    
incompatibilities due to previous       
training and associations between       
,christians of ,jewish and ,gentile     
origin4 ,yet it is assumed all through  
that they must combine4 ,and ,st ,paul  
is not only sure himself that to this   
end ,jewish prejudices must be overcome1
 but he is able to persuade the elder   
,apostles of this1 as also ,james who   
presided over the believers at          
,jerusalem1 though they had been slower 
than he to perceive what vital          
principles were at stake4 ,believers of 
both classes must join in the ,christian
 ,agap1 or love-feasts1 and must partake

 of the same ,eucharist1 because the    
many are one loaf#a1 one body4 ,they    
must grasp1 and give practical effect   
to1 the principle that there is neither 
,jew nor ,greek1 neither bond nor free1 
neither male nor female1 for all are one
 in ,christ ,jesus#b4  ,for that        
society1 or organism1 into which ,jewish
 and ,gentile believers were alike      
brought1 a name was found2 it was that  
of ,ecclesia1 translated ,church4 ,it   
will be worth our while to spend a few  
moments on the use of this name and its 
significance4 ,we find mention in the   
,new ,testament of the ,church and of   
,churches4 ,what is the relation between
 the singular term and the plural       
historically1 and what did the          
distinction import8 ,the sublime        
passages concerning the ,church as the  
,body of ,christ and the ,bride of      
,christ occur in the ,epp4 to the       
,colossians and ,ephesians#c1 which are 
not among the early ,pauline ,epistles4 
,nevertheless in comparatively early    

,epistles1 the authorship of which by   
,st ,paul himself is rarely disputed1   
there are expressions which seem plainly
 to shew that he thought of the ,church 
as a single body to which all who had   
been baptized in the ,name of ,jesus    
,christ belonged4 ,in the ,epp4 to the  
,galatians and #a ,corinthians#d he     
refers to the fact that he persecuted   
the ,church of ,god1 and his persecution
 was not confined to believers in       
,jerusalem or even in ,juda1 but        
extended to adjacent regions4 ,he might 
have spoken of the ,churches of ,syria1 
as he does elsewhere 7using the plural7 
of those of ,juda1 ,galatia1 ,asia1     
,macedonia#e4 ,but he prefers to speak  
of the ,church1 and he describes it as  
the ,church of ,god4 ,the impiety of his
 action thus appeared in its true light4
 ,he had not merely attacked certain    
local associations1 but that sacred     
body--the ,church of ,god4 ,again1 it is
 evident that he is thinking of a       
society embracing believers everywhere  

when he writes to the ,corinthians      
concerning different forms of ministry1 
,god placed some in the ,church1 first  
,apostles1 secondarily prophets and so  
forth#f4 ,again1 when he bids the       
,corinthians1 ,give no occasion of      
stumbling1 either to ,jews or to        
,greeks1 or to the ,church of ,god#g1 or
 asks them whether they despise the     
,church of ,god#h1 although it was their
 conduct to brethren among whom they    
lived that was especially in question1  
it is evident that1 as in the case of   
his own action as a persecutor1 the     
gravity of the fault can in his view    
only be truly measured when it is       
realised that each individual ,church is
 a representative of the ,church        
,universal4 ,this representative        
character of local ,churches also       
appears in the expression common in his 
,epistles1 the ,church in such and such 
a place4  ,the usage of ,st ,paul's     
,epistles does not1 therefore1 encourage
 the idea that the application of the   

term ecclesia to particular associations
 preceded its application to the whole  
body1 but the contrary1 and plainly it  
expressed for him from the first a most 
sublime conception4 ,i may add that     
there is no reason to suppose that the  
use of the term originated with him4 ,we
 find it in the ,gospel according to ,st
 ,matthew1 the ,epistle of ,st ,james   
and the ,apocalypse of ,st ,john1       
writings which shew no trace of his     
influence4  ,there is no passage of the 
,new ,testament from which it is        
possible to infer clearly the idea which
 underlay its application to believers  
in ,jesus ,christ4 ,but when it is      
considered how full of the ,old         
,testament the minds of the first       
generation of ,christians were1 it must 
appear to be in every way most probable 
that the word ecclesia suggested itself 
because it is the one most frequently   
employed in the ,greek translation of   
the ,old ,testament 7the ,septuagint7 to
 render the ,hebrew word kmacron        

ahmacron al1 the chief term used for the
 assembly of ,israel in the presence of 
,god1 gathered together in such a manner
 and for such purposes as forced them to
 realise their distinctive existence as 
a people1 and their peculiar relation to
 ,god4 ,the believers in ,jesus now     
formed the ecclesia of ,god1 the true   
,israel1 which in one sense was a       
continuation of the old and yet had     
taken its place4 ,this was the view put 
forward by ,dr ,hort in his lectures on 
the ,christian ,ecclesia#i1 and it is at
 the present time widely1 ,i believe ,i 
may say generally1 held4 ,i may mention 
that the eminent ,german ,church        
historians1 ,a4 ,harnack#aj and         
,sohm#aa1 give it without hesitation as 
the true one4  ,among the ,jews the     
thought of the people in its relation to
 ,god was associated with great         
assemblies in the courts and precincts  
of the temple at ,jerusalem1 which      
altogether overshadowed any expression  
of their covenant relation to ,god as a 

people which they could find in their   
synagogue-worship1 however greatly they 
valued the bonds with one another which 
were strengthened1 and the spiritual    
help which they obtained1 through their 
synagogues4 ,but ,christians had no     
single1 central meeting-place for their 
common worship at which their ideal     
unity was embodied4 ,it was1 therefore1 
all the more natural that the exalted   
name which described that unity should  
be transferred to the communities in    
different places which shared the life1 
the privileges1 and the responsibilities
 of the whole1 and in many ways stood to
 those who composed them severally for  
the whole4 ,the divisions between these 
communities were local only4 ,they arose
 from the limitations to intercourse and
 common action which distance imposed4  
,or1 in cases where the ,church in some 
,christian's house is referred to1 they 
were due to the necessity1 or the great 
convenience1 of meeting in small        
numbers1 owing to the want of buildings 

for ,christian worship1 or the hostility
 of the surrounding population4         
,moreover these local bodies were not   
suffered to forget the ties which bound 
them all together4 ,those in the        
,greek-speaking world were required to  
send alms to the ,churches in ,juda4    
,again an individual ,church was not    
free to disregard the judgment of the   
rest4 ,after ,st ,paul has reasoned with
 the ,corinthians on the subject of a   
practice which he deemed inexpedient1 he
 clinches the matter by declaring1 we   
have no such custom neither the         
,churches of ,god#ab4 ,lastly1 the      
,apostles1 and preeminently ,st ,paul1  
through their mission which1 if not     
world-wide1 at least extended over large
 districts1 and the care of the         
,churches which they exercised1 and the 
authority which they claimed in the name
 of ,christ1 and which was conceded to  
them1 were a unifying power4  ,thus the 
plural the ,churches has in important   
respects a different connotation in the 

,new ,testament from that which it has  
in modern times4 ,in the ,apostolic ,age
 the distinction between the ,church and
 the ,churches is connected only with   
the different degrees to which a common 
life could be realised according to     
geographical proximity4 ,by a division  
of this nature the idea of ,one         
,universal ,church was not compromised4 
,the local body of ,christians in point 
of fact rightly regarded itself as      
representative of the whole body4 ,the  
,christians in that place were the      
,church so far as it extended there4    
,the preservation of unity within the   
,church of each place where it was      
imperilled by rivalries and jealousies  
and misunderstandings1 such as are too  
apt to shew themselves when men are in  
close contact with one another1 and of  
unity between the ,churches of regions  
remote from one another1 in which case  
the sense of it is likely to be weak    
through want of knowledge and           
consequently of sympathy--these appear  

as twin-aims severally pursued in the   
manner that each required4 ,not indeed  
that it is implied that everything is to
 be sacrificed to unity4 ,but it is     
demanded that the most strenuous        
endeavours shall be made to maintain it1
 and it appears to be assumed that      
without any breach of it1 loyalty to    
every other great principle1 room for   
the rightful exercise of every          
individual gift1 recognition of every   
aspect of ,divine truth the perception  
of which may be granted to one or other 
member of the body1 can be secured1 if  
,christians cultivate right dispositions
 of mutual affection and respect4       
,there is one more point in regard to   
the idea of the ,church in the ,new     
,testament as to which we must not      
suffer ourselves to be misled1 or       
confused1 by later conceptions and our  
modern habits of thought4 ,we have      
become accustomed to a distinction      
between the ,church ,visible and the    
,church ,invisible which makes of them  

two different entities4 ,according to   
this1 one man who is a member of the    
,church ,visible may at the same time1  
if he is a truly spiritual person1 even 
while here on earth belong to the       
,church ,invisible2 but another who has 
a place in the ,church ,visible has none
 and it may be never will have one in   
the ,church ,invisible4 ,this           
conception1 though it had appeared here 
and there before the #afth century1     
first obtained wide vogue then under the
 influence of the ,protestant           
,reformation4  ,it arose through a very 
natural reaction from the mechanical    
view of membership in the ,church1 its  
conditions and privileges1 which had    
grown up in the ,middle ,ages4 ,but it  
does not correspond to the ideas of the 
,apostolic ,age4 ,according to these    
there is but one ,church1 the same as to
 its true being on earth as it is in    
heaven1 one ,body of ,christ1 composed  
of believers in ,him who had been taken 
to their rest and of those still in this

 world4 ,in the earlier part of the     
,apostolic ,age the great majority were 
in fact still in this world4 ,the ,body 
was chiefly a ,visible ,body4 ,it had   
many imperfections4 ,some of its members
 might even have no true part in it at  
all and require removal4 ,but ,christ   
,himself sanctifies and cleanses it that
 ,he may present it--that very same     
,church--to ,himself a glorious ,church1
 without spot or wrinkle or any such    
thing1 but holy and without blemish#ac4 
,now while one can understand the point 
of view from which in later times so    
deep a line of demarcation has been     
drawn between the ,visible and the      
,invisible ,church as to make of them   
two entirely separate things1 and       
although to many it may still seem hard 
to do without this distinction1 or in   
the existing condition of the nominally 
,christian world to employ that         
primitive conception of the ,church even
 as1 so to speak1 a working hypothesis1 
,i would ask whether the primitive      

conception is not a nobler and sounder  
one4 ,surely it places the ideal in its 
right relation to the actual4 ,the full 
realisation of the ideal no doubt       
belongs only to another world2 yet if we
 believe in it as an ideal we must seek 
to actualise it here4 ,there is         
something unwholesome in acknowledging  
any ideal which we do not strive so far 
as we can to actualise4 ,and plainly    
participation in the same grace1 and the
 spiritual ties arising therefrom1 ought
 to find expression in an outer life of 
fellowship1 of intercourse and common   
action1 and such common organisation as 
for human beings in this world these    
require4 ,no doubt it is always too     
possible that the outward may hinder the
 perception of the inward4 ,but if we   
can guard successfully against this     
danger1 the inward and spiritual will   
become all the more potent by having the
 external form through which to work2   
while the outward1 if it is too sharply 
dissevered in thought from the inward1  

loses its value and even becomes        
injurious4  ,again1 a view of the       
,church is more wholesome which does not
 encourage us to classify its members in
 a manner only possible to the          
,allseeing ,god2 to draw a line between 
true believers and others1 and to       
determine 7it may be7 on which side of  
the line different ones are by their    
having had spiritual experiences similar
 to our own1 and having learned to use  
the same religious language that we do2 
but which on the contrary leads us to   
think of all as under the ,heavenly     
,father's care1 and subject to the      
influences of the ,holy ,spirit1 and    
placed in that ,body of ,christ where1  
although the spiritual life in them is  
as yet of very various degrees of       
strength1 and their knowledge of things 
,divine in many cases small1 all may and
 are intended to advance to maturity in 
,christ4  ,it is necessary that the     
relation of the idea of the ,church upon
 which ,i have been dwelling to her     

subsequent history for centuries should 
be clearly apprehended4 ,its hold on the
 minds of ,christians preceded the very 
beginnings of organisation in the       
,christian communities1 and it would    
probably be no exaggeration to say that 
it governed the whole evolution of that 
organisation for many centuries4        
,particular offices were doubtless      
instituted and men appointed to them    
with specific reference to needs which  
were making themselves felt4 ,but all   
the while that idea of the ,church's    
unity and of her holiness was present in
 their thoughts4 ,and certainly as soon 
as it becomes necessary to insist upon  
the duty of loyalty to those who had    
been duly appointed to office1 and      
directly or indirectly to defend the    
institutions themselves1 appeal is made 
to the idea1 as notably by the two chief
 ,christians in the ,sub-,apostolic     
,age1 ,clement of ,rome and ,ignatius4  
,it is in itself evidence of a common   
spirit and common tendencies that       

broadly speaking the same form of       
constitution in the local ,christian    
communities1 though not introduced      
everywhere with quite equal rapidity1   
was so nearly everywhere almost on the  
confines of the ,apostolic ,age1 and    
that soon it was everywhere4 ,ere long1 
with this form of government as a basis1
 plans were adopted expressly for the   
purpose of uniting the local ,churches  
on terms of equality among themselves1  
especially in combating error4 ,and at  
length in the name still of the         
,church's unity there came1 however much
 we may regret it1 the centralisation of
 ,western ,christendom in the ,see of   
,rome4  ,all these measures of          
organisation1 from the earliest to the  
latest of them1 were means to an end2   
and we shall regard them differently4   
,but we ought not any of us to regard   
means1 however they may commend         
themselves to us1 and however sacred and
 dear their associations may be1 in the 
same way as we do the end4 ,there must  

always be the question1 which will      
present itself in a different light to  
different minds1 whether particular     
means1 even though men may have been led
 by the ,holy ,spirit to employ them1   
were intended for all time4 ,moreover   
there are points in regard to the       
earliest history of ,church organisation
 which remain obscure1 in spite of all  
the labour that has been expended in    
investigating them3 for instance the    
exact relation of different ministries1 
of the functions of different officers1 
to one another1 the exact moment when   
the orders of ministers which proved to 
be permanent appeared in this or that   
important ,church1 the part which any of
 the immediate disciples of ,christ had 
in their establishment1 the ideas which 
at first were held as to the dependence 
of the rites of the ,church for their   
validity upon being performed by a      
lawful ministry4 ,upon these matters1 or
 some of them1 it is possible for honest
 and competent inquirers to hold        

different opinions4 ,but no such doubt  
hangs over that ,end which was also the 
,beginning1 of the ,church's life1 that 
conception of what she is1 or ought to  
be1 as the society of those who confess 
the ,name of ,jesus ,christ1 and who are
 ,his ,body4 ,i insist upon this because
 ,i think that amid discussions on the  
origin of the ,christian ,ministry1 the 
significance of that more fundamental   
question1 namely1 the right conception  
of the ,christian ,church1 is apt to be 
too much lost sight of4 ,about this1    
though men still do not1 they ought to  
be able to agree1 and it should be our  
common inspiration1 both impelling us   
and guiding us in seeking our goal4  ,we
 need it to impel us4 ,the obstacles to 
the reunion of ,christendom at the      
present day are such that a motive which
 can be found is required to induce and 
sustain action in seeking it1 whenever  
and wherever the opportunity for doing  
so presents itself2 such a motive is to 
be found in a deep conviction of the    

sacredness of this object1 so that our  
eyes maybe kept fixed upon it even when 
there appears to be no opening through  
which an advance toward it can be made1 
and there is nothing to be done save to 
wait and watch and pray4 ,but in order  
also that the result of any efforts that
 are made may be satisfactory1 it is    
necessary that our minds should be under
 the guidance of a great and true idea1 
and that we should not simply be        
animated with the desire of meeting     
immediate needs4 ,these are the reasons 
which ,i think justify me for having    
detained you so long over the           
consideration of the fundamental        
conception of the ,church which is      
rooted in the ,christian ,faith itself  
as it first appeared and spread in the  
world4  ,i will now1 however1 before    
concluding make a few remarks on one    
part of the complicated problem of      
reunion facing us to-day4 ,the part of  
it on which ,i desire to speak is the   
relations between the ,church of        

,england1 and the ,churches in communion
 with her in various parts of the       
,british ,empire and in the ,united     
,states1 on the one hand1 and on the    
other ,english ,nonconformists1 the     
,presbyterians of ,scotland1 and all    
,english-speaking ,christians allied to 
or resembling these4 ,it will1 ,i think1
 be generally felt that this is a part  
of the subject which for more than one  
reason specially invites our attention4 
,there are1 indeed1 some1 both clergy   
and laity1 of the ,church of ,england1  
though they are but a very small number 
in comparison with its members as a     
whole1 whose interest in the subject of 
the reunion of ,christendom is mainly   
shewn in the desire to obtain           
recognition for the ,church of ,england1
 as a portion of the ,church ,catholic1 
from the great ,church of the ,west4    
,but in view of the attitude maintained 
by that ,church there appears to be no  
prospect of this and nothing to be      
gained by attempts at negotiation4      

,endeavours to establish intercommunion 
with the ,churches of ,eastern          
,christendom may be made with more hope 
of success4 ,indeed there is reason to  
think that in the years to come the     
,church of ,england may be in a         
specially favourable position for       
getting into touch with these ,churches 
and assisting them to recover from the  
effects of the ,war1 and to make        
progress2 and ,englishmen generally     
would1 ,i am sure1 rejoice that she     
should undertake such work4 ,but the    
question of the duty to one another of  
all those bodies of ,english ,christians
 which ,i have specified comes nearer   
home and should press upon our minds and
 hearts more strongly4 ,it is a         
practical one in every ,english town and
 every country parish1 and almost       
everywhere throughout the world where   
the ,english language is spoken4        
,moreover1 even the most loyal members  
of the ,church of ,england1 in spite of 
the points of principle on which they   

are divided from those other ,english   
,christians1 resemble them more closely 
in many respects in their modes of      
thought1 even on religion1 than they do 
the members of other portions of the    
ancient ,catholic ,church from which    
they have become separated4 ,and in     
addition to the distinctly religious    
reasons for considering the possibility 
of drawing more closely together and    
even ultimately uniting in one communion
 these different denominations of       
,british ,christians1 there is a        
patriotic motive for doing so4 ,fuller  
religious sympathy1 more cooperation1   
between the members of these different  
denominations could not fail to         
strengthen greatly the bonds between    
different classes amongst us1 and to    
increase the coherency of the whole     
nation and empire4  ,it would be unwise1
 if in proposing steps towards reunion1 
difficulties and dangers connected with 
them were ignored2 and ,i believe it to 
be my duty frankly to refer to some     

which suggest themselves to one looking 
from a ,churchman's point of view4      
,there are two chief barriers to the    
union of members of the ,church of      
,england and ,english ,nonconformists   
that must be mentioned4  7#a7 ,that     
which ,i will refer to first is the     
connexion of the ,church of ,england    
with the ,state4  ,this connexion is    
not1 ,i think1 such a hindrance to      
religious sympathy as it was1 but it    
would be untrue to say that it is none4 
,and there is of course the danger that 
if disestablishment became a political  
question1 and especially if it involved 
the deflection of endowments which have 
long been used1 and on the whole        
well-used1 for the maintenance and      
furtherance of religion to secular      
objects1 feeling between the majority of
 ,churchmen and those who in consequence
 of their views in the matter became    
opposed to them might be seriously      
embittered4 ,yet there is good ground   
for hoping that the question of the     

relations of ,church and ,state and all 
matters connected therewith will in the 
years that are coming be faced in a     
calmer spirit1 and with truer insight   
into important principles1 than too     
often they have been in the past4 ,it   
should certainly be easier for those who
 approach them from different sides to  
understand one another4 ,particular     
grievances connected with inequality of 
treatment by the ,state have been       
removed2 while a broad principle for    
which ,nonconformists stand in common   
has come to be more clearly asserted1   
through their attaching increasingly    
less significance to the grounds on     
which different bodies amongst them were
 formed1 as indicated in the names by   
which they have been severally known1   
and banding themselves together as the  
,free ,churches4 ,but in the ,church of 
,england also in recent years there has 
been a growing sense of the need of     
freedom4 ,it is better realised than at 
one time that in no circumstances could 

the ,church rightly be regarded as a    
mere department of the ,state1 or even  
as the most important aspect of the life
 of the ,state4 ,however complete the   
harmony between ,church and ,state might
 be1 the ,church ought to have a        
corporate life of her own4 ,she requires
 such independence as may enable her to 
be herself1 to do her own work1 to act  
according to the laws of her own being4 
,this is necessary even that she may    
discharge adequately her own function in
 the nation4  ,it is not part of my duty
 now to inquire in what respects the    
,church of ,england lacks this freedom1 
or whether such readjustments in her    
connexion with the ,state can be        
expected as would secure it to her1     
implying as the making of them would    
that1 although she does not now include 
among her members more than half the    
nation1 she is still for an indefinitely
 long time to continue to be the        
official representative of religion in  
the nation4 ,but ,i would urge that when

 these points are discussed the question
 should also be considered whether1 in a
 nation the great majority in which     
profess to be ,christian1 the ,state    
ought not to make profession of the     
,christian religion1 which involves its 
establishment in some form1 and whether 
there are not substantial benefits      
especially of an educative kind to be   
derived therefrom for the nation at     
large2 and if so how this can in        
existing circumstances be suitably done4
 ,it should be remembered that in many  
cases the forefathers of those who are  
now separated from the ,national ,church
 did not hold that a connexion between  
,church and ,state under any form was   
wrong2 but on the contrary their idea of
 a true and complete national life      
included one4 ,i think it is well to    
recall the view in this matter of men of
 another time4 ,it is desirable that we 
should make our consideration of the    
whole subject of ,church and ,state as  
broad as we can1 and that we should     

strive not to be carried away into      
accepting some solution which at the    
moment seems the easiest1 when with a   
little patience some better and truer   
one might be found possible4  7#b7 ,the 
other barrier to which ,i have referred 
is the claim of the ,church of ,england 
to a continuity of faith and life with  
the faith and life of the ,church       
,universal from the beginning1          
maintained in the first place through a 
,ministry the members of which have in  
due succession received their commission
 by means of the ,historic ,episcopate1 
and1 secondly1 through the              
acknowledgment of certain early and     
widely accepted creeds4 ,this continuity
 was reasserted when the ,church of     
,england started on her new career at   
the ,reformation1 though at the same    
time the necessity was then strongly    
insisted on of testing the purity and   
soundness of the ,church's faith and    
forms of worship by ,holy ,scripture4   
,these guarantees and means of          

continuity are valued in very different 
degrees by different sections of opinion
 in the ,church of ,england1 and some   
who attach comparatively little         
importance to matters of organisation   
would attach great importance to the    
formularies of belief4 ,but there can be
 no doubt that any steps which appeared 
seriously to compromise the preservation
 of the great features of the ,church of
 ,england in either of these respects   
would cause deep disturbance among her  
members4 ,on the other hand1 it will be 
readily understood by all who can       
appreciate the changes that in our own  
and recent generations have come in     
men's view of ,nature and of ,mind1 and 
in the interpretation of historical     
evidence1 that definitions of belief    
framed in the past may not in every     
point express accurately the beliefs of 
all who nevertheless with full          
conviction own ,jesus ,christ as ,lord4 
,it is obvious1 ,i think1 that1 if the  
,christian ,church is to endure1 there  

must be on the part of her members      
essential loyalty to the faith out of   
which she sprang1 and which has inspired
 her throughout the ages to this day4   
,but it is an anxious problem for the   
,church of ,england at the present      
time--and it is likely to become so     
likewise1 if it is not yet1 for all     
portions of the ,church in which ancient
 standards of belief1 or those framed in
 the #afth century1 or later1 hold an   
authoritative place--to decide wherein  
essential loyalty to the faith once     
delivered consists4  ,it may seem at    
first sight that when the ,church of    
,england has serious questions to       
grapple with affecting her internal     
unity1 and especially affecting that    
unity in variety which to some          
considerable degree she represents and  
which is the most valuable kind of      
unity1 attempts to join with other      
,christians outside her borders in      
considering a basis of union with them  
are unwise at least at the moment1 as   

tending to increase the complexity and  
the difficulties of the position within1
 and as therefore to be deprecated in   
the interests of unity itself4 ,i do not
 think so1 but believe that assistance  
may thus be obtained in reaching a      
satisfactory settlement even of internal
 difficulties4  ,for1 in the first      
place1 there has of late been among     
members of the ,church of ,england a    
change of temper which should be a      
preparation for considering her         
relations with those separated from her 
in a wiser and more liberal spirit than 
has before been possible4 ,those        
,churchmen who would insist most        
strongly on the necessity of preserving 
the ,church's ancient order do not      
usually maintain the attitude to dissent
 of the ,anglican ,high and ,dry        
,school1 which was still common in the  
middle of the #aith century4 ,the work  
which ,nonconformist bodies have done   
for the spiritual and moral life of     
,england1 and the immense debt which we 

all owe to them on that account1 are    
thankfully admitted4 ,no one indeed can 
do otherwise than admit it thankfully   
who has eyes to see1 and the sense of   
justice and generosity of mind to       
acknowledge what he sees4 ,and the      
inference must be that1 although the    
belief may be held as firmly as ever    
that the ,spirit of ,god inspired that  
,order which so early took shape in the 
,church1 and that ,he worked through it 
and continues to do so1 yet that also1  
when men have failed rightly to use the 
appointed means1 ,he has found other    
ways of working4 ,this view1 when it has
 had its due influence upon thought1 can
 hardly fail to affect profoundly the   
measures proposed for healing the       
divisions which have arisen4  ,then1    
again1 on the other side--the side of   
those separated from the ,church of     
,england--there is more appreciation of 
the point of view of ,churchmen in      
respect to their links with the past and
 their idea of ,catholicity4 ,this is   

due partly to a broader interest in the 
life of the ,church in former ages and  
the heroic and saintly characters which 
they produced than since the            
,reformation has been common among those
 ,english ,christians1 who are1 in a    
special sense1 children of the          
,reformation2 partly1 perhaps1 to a     
growing doubt1 as views of ,christian   
truth have become larger1 whether after 
all a single doctrine or opinion1 or    
reverence for the teaching of one man1  
can make a satisfactory basis for the   
permanent grouping of ,christians4 ,at  
the same time in regard to fundamental  
,christian belief1 the meaning which the
 revelation of ,god in ,christ has for  
them1 they are and are conscious of     
being at one with the ,church4          
,striking evidence of these new         
tendencies of thought on both sides is  
to be seen in the movement originated by
 the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church of  
the ,united ,states for a               
,world-,conference on ,faith and ,order1

 and in the manner in which the proposal
 for such a ,conference has been        
received in ,england1 and the steps     
already taken in preparation for it4 ,a 
body of representatives of the ,church  
of ,england and of the ,free ,churches  
has been appointed1 and a ,committee of 
this body has already published         
suggestions for a basis of union4 ,these
 have still1 ,i understand1 to come     
before the general body of ,english     
representatives1 and it is intended 7,i 
believe7 that the proposals of the      
,committee1 after being examined and    
possibly amended and supplemented by the
 larger body1 should1 with any proposals
 that may be made from similar          
joint-bodies in the ,united ,states and 
in the ,british ,dominions1 be          
considered by a body of representatives 
from the whole of this vast area4 ,any  
conclusions which are thus reached must 
then lie1 so to speak1 before all the   
denominations concerned4 ,opportunity   
must be given for their being widely    

studied and explained and reflected     
upon1 and if need be criticized4 ,for   
the ,church of ,christ is1 or ought to  
be1 in a true sense a democratic        
society1 a society in which1 subject to 
its governing principles1 the spiritual 
consciousness of all the faithful should
 make itself felt4  ,for the end of such
 a process as this we must wait a       
considerable time4 ,meanwhile there are 
obvious ways in which the cause of unity
 may be promoted2 viz4 through seeking  
for a larger amount of intercourse with 
the members of other denominations than 
our own2 for more joint study of        
religious questions and frank           
interchange of views1 and more          
cooperation in various forms of moral   
and social endeavour4 ,the way would    
thus be1 we may hope1 prepared for      
fuller intercommunion1 and it may be for
 corporate reunion4  ,,footnotes3  #a #a
 ,cor4 x4 #ag1 ,r4,v4 mg4  #b ,gal4 iii4
 #bh  #c ,col4 i4 #ah1 #bd2 ,eph4 i4    
#bb1 v4 #bc ff4  #d ,gal4 i4 #ac2 #a    

,cor4 xv4 #i4  #e #a ,cor4 xvi4 #a1 #ai2
 #b ,cor4 viii4 #a2 ,gal4 i4 #b1 #bb4   
#f #a ,cor4 xii4 #bh4  #g #a ,cor4 x4   
#cb4  #h #a ,cor4 xi4 #bb4  #i ,the     
,christian ,ecclesia1 pp4 #c ff4  #aj   
,die ,mission u4 ,ausbreitung d4        
,christentums1 p4 #bib4  #aa            
,kirchenrecht1 #a4 pp4 #af ff4  #ab #a  
,cor4 xi4 #af4  #ac ,ephes4 v4 #bf1 #bg4
     ,,unity ,,between ,,christian      
,,denominations     ,,ii4 ,,the ,,church
 ,,in ,,the ,,furnace  ,by the ,rev4 ,e4
 ,,milner-,,white1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,s4,o4    
,at last we have begun to see the       
absolute necessity of ,unity in ,christ1
 of religious reunion1 for the sake of  
both ,christianity and the world4  ,for 
several years devout ,christians in     
,england have been growing more and more
 uneasy about their acquiescence in     
religious division4 ,the reading of the 
,gospels1 and especially the eighteenth 
chapter of ,st ,john1 where ,he prays on
 the threshold of ,his agony that ,his  
disciples may be one1 even as ,he and   

the ,father are one1 has become nothing 
less than a torment to those who have   
any real passion for the doing of ,god's
 will1 or who are humbled by the        
tremendous love of our ,lord ,jesus     
,christ1 for each and for all4 ,thus far
 have we gone from the clear mind of    
,christ2 thus far have we ruined ,his   
plans for the health and happiness of   
the world2 thus far have we failed to   
imitate or display the love1 the        
humility1 the self-sacrifice1 that      
walked to ,calvary3 ,he bade us be one1 
and to love2 we1 the disciples1 have    
chosen to hate and be many4  ,english   
,christianity alone is split into       
hundreds of denominations4 ,the fact is 
its own grim condemnation4 ,we had lost 
even the sense that division mattered4  
,it is quite ridiculous to pretend that 
nothing is wrong with the religious     
ideas or state of a race1 which produces
 hundreds of bodies1 big and small1 to  
worship ,him who only asked that ,his   
worshippers should be ,,one4            

,denomination itself has become a word  
of shame which we shall not be able to  
use much longer4 ,it brings up at once  
the thought of something partial1       
little1 far less than the ,body for     
which ,christ died2 and a host of yet   
more horrid pictures of old squabbles   
and present rivalries1 of contempt and  
bitterness and controversy4 ,it does not
 suggest one ,christian idea at all4    
,these uneasy thoughts even before the  
war were brought home by the practical  
results of disunion as worked out       
inevitably in the colonies and mission  
field4 ,the language is not too strong  
that labels them monstrous4 ,here was   
the flower of our ,christian devotion   
going forth to heathen wilds1 meeting by
 ,god's grace with wide success2 and    
establishing our little local           
denominations firmly in the nations1    
tribes1 and islands of ,asia1 ,africa1  
and ,australasia2 rendering it hard for 
a native ,christian who moves from his  
home to get elsewhere the accustomed    

ministries and means of grace vital to  
his young faith2 planting seeds of      
future quarrel at the very birth of new 
tribes into the ,prince of ,peace4 ,in  
the ,dominions1 with their thin and     
widely scattered populations1 other     
phenomena1 equally deplorable1 are      
manifest--five churches in places where 
one suffices1 appalling waste of effort 
and money1 and even ugly competition for
 adherents4  ,in ,england we hardly saw 
these things4 ,the population was large 
enough and indifferent enough to ,god to
 provide room for the activities of all4
 ,the indifference indeed seemed to be  
growing4 ,we did not stop to think      
whether disgust at continuous           
controversy had not done much to cause  
that indifference--how far our divisions
 simply manufactured scepticism as to   
there being any religious truth--whether
 the obvious lovelessness of such       
conditions was likely to recommend the  
religion of ,love--whether this         
disparate chaos was likely to be a field

 in which the ,lord1 who designed and   
founded one brotherhood of believers1   
could work or give ,his grace to the    
uttermost4 ,no1 the ,christianity of our
 ,christians has tended to be a thin    
individual thing1 with interests        
scarcely extended beyond its own local  
congregation1 which is bad enough2 or   
still worse1 in our towns1 content to   
wander from congregation to             
congregation1 owning no discipline or   
loyalty at all4  ,and yet in the same   
breath as we say1 ,i believe in ,god1 we
 also say1 most of us1 ,i believe one   
,catholick and ,apostolick ,church4 ,it 
is a crowning mercy that we do say it2  
that we do bear witness so outright to  
the state of sin in which we dwell2 the 
clause does keep the mind of ,christ and
 our own duty before us1 of establishing
 as the first1 perhaps the only hope of 
this sin-stained1 war-stained earth1 the
 brotherhood of believers which shall be
 one4  ,then came the war1 and in many  
ways the war1 which has in every        

direction cleared vision1 and both      
deepened and simplified thought1 has    
brought home to every ,christian both   
the disaster of disunion1 and the       
imperative need of attempting unity4    
,you will expect me to give some account
 of the reaction of the chaplains and   
the ,church in ,france to this          
conviction4 ,perhaps ,i should make     
clear my own position4 ,folk probably   
term me an advanced ,high ,churchman4 ,i
 should call myself a ,catholic--an     
,english ,catholic1 if you like--1 at   
any rate1 one who cannot fairly be      
accused of ignorance of the details and 
depths of our divisions2 nor of         
underestimating their real importance4  
,the priests who went out as ,chaplains 
to the ,forces had an experience        
somewhat similar to that of colonial or 
missionary priests--they exercised their
 ministry under totally new conditions1 
and in a new atmosphere4 ,so did the    
,roman ,catholics1 ,nonconformists1 and 
,presbyterians1 but of course ,i do not 

speak for them in what follows4 ,but all
 the ,church of ,england padres--high1  
low1 broad--tell exactly the same tale  
of their experience2 between them there 
has been no division2 they have worked  
together in perfect harmony and         
keenness1 largely appropriating each    
other's methods4 ,in a word1 they have  
discovered how false and artificial is  
the partisan atmosphere of home         
religion2 and when they return1 will    
find it hard to tolerate any continuance
 of it4  ,the ,church of ,england is as 
a matter of fact divided roughly into   
three sections1 by no means             
corresponding to the high1 low1 and     
broad1 of the church journals4 ,most    
,church of ,england men scarcely know   
what these terms mean4 ,no1 it consists 
of a devoted inmost section1 regular    
churchgoers and communicants--and you   
will pardon me for thinking them the    
best instructed1 the freest1 and the    
sturdiest ,christians in the world4     
,they are of course in a minority1 but  

they are actually numerous enough to    
occupy the time and care of our whole   
ministry1 which is far below reasonable 
strength4 ,then comes a large fringe1   
who come to ,church occasionally1 or    
even regularly1 in the evening2 who make
 little or no use of the ,sacraments1 or
 of the more intimate devotions and     
instructions provided3 they are well    
disposed2 but are not consciously       
prepared to make sacrifices for their   
faith2 and indeed are somewhat ignorant 
of its contents and demands4 ,then      
thirdly1 there is a yet vaster          
multitude1 baptised1 married1 and       
buried1 perhaps by the ,church1 and     
therefore counting themselves ,church of
 ,england1 but who come but rarely      
within the orbit of ,church life and    
teaching2 and who1 not to mince words1  
are semi-pagan4 ,only semi-pagan because
 the ethics1 morals and traditions of   
,england are ,christian2 and these      
people1 knowing little of ,jesus        
,christ1 and understanding less1 and not

 consciously moved by ,him1 yet not     
infrequently rise to heights of love and
 sacrifice which would adorn the life of
 a saint4  ,the mass of our parishioners
 in ,france1 then1 was not made up of   
the inner circle--we were lucky if we   
found three or four in a unit--but of   
the ill-instructed fringe1 and the      
totally ignorant multitudes4 ,the horror
 and boredom of war1 the personal       
insecurity1 the difficulty of           
understanding the ways of ,god1 made all
 friendly to the parson with whom       
hitherto they had never come into       
contact2 and caused large numbers to    
think things out1 and to hunger for an  
understanding of ,god4 ,religion became 
a common topic of discussion4 ,the      
padres found themselves in a larger     
world1 where old labels and divisions   
simply had no meaning2 and where the    
first necessity and work was to preach  
,christ and teach the meaning of the    
,faith4 ,they felt also1 very quickly1  
that this interest in ultimate things   

did not mean that men became friendly to
 organised religion in any form4 ,on the
 contrary1 their hostility and distrust 
toward all religious bodies were marked4
 ,the chaplains had that common and     
dreadful experience of foreign          
missionaries1 of feeling themselves     
alone1 closed round by thick dark walls 
of unsympathy and worse4 ,they longed   
for the help and support of any genuine 
friend of ,christ1 whatever body he     
belonged to4 ,i was called upon to      
preach the ,national ,mission in a      
peculiarly hostile and irresponsive camp
 of motor lorry drivers1 who much       
resented the use of their ,y4,m4,c4,a4  
hut for such religious purposes4 ,a     
,wesleyan minister had charge of it1 and
 got far more of their blunt language   
than ,i the visitor did2 but he worked  
undismayed and unreservedly for all he  
was worth1 for the ,national ,mission   
and for me4 ,the alliance was natural1  
real1 inevitable4 ,he and ,i1 and some  
five or six men of that camp1 were      

clearly on one side1 and the rest of it 
on the other1 of an exceeding broad     
gulf4 ,with this as a daily experience1 
a man's values changed rapidly2 and it  
became quite obvious that1 even to begin
 to fight the battle of ,christianity in
 the modern world1 ,christians must be  
united4  ,this assurance was reinforced 
by the quite extraordinary scandal that 
the mere fact of religious disunion     
caused both to officers and men4 ,it was
 the big1 obvious damper on the very    
threshold of ,christianity--see how     
these ,christians hate one another4     
,officers would throw the taunt up again
 and again in the ,mess1 and the men    
lying down to talk themselves to sleep  
in their comfortless barns would begin  
to talk about religion with at heart a  
wistful longing to understand it and    
know its help and power4 ,at once1      
someone would bring up the picture of   
squabbling denominations1 and the       
wistfulness and hope would be slain by  
scorn4 ,next day and every day1 the     

glaring scandal would be laid before the
 chaplain2 who had little enough to     
answer4 ,of course1 it is quite false to
 suppose that the existence and         
continuance of division are due to the  
clergy4 ,our ,english schisms have been 
caused at least as much by over-eager   
laymen as by over-eager clergy2 and ,i  
think if it were left to the clergy     
alone the process of reuniting would be 
very rapid4 ,in our ,division1 for      
instance1 the three ,nonconformist      
,chaplains to the ,forces and ,i used to
 talk over the whole question2 one was  
an orthodox ,wesleyan1 another a        
,primitive1 and the other a ,united     
,methodist2 and they did not hesitate to
 say that ,methodist reunion had taken  
place more than ten years ago if it had 
been left to the ministers alone4 ,but  
the average ,englishman naturally blames
 the official representatives of        
religion1 their ministries1 for the     
obvious and open disgrace of division in
 the religion of love2 he is ignorant of

 the excuses that history1 and the real 
importance of the matters in dispute1   
afford2 he only sees the evil fact2 and 
it is quite enough by itself to excuse  
his closer association with so harsh a  
contradiction of the first principle of 
,christ and ,christianity4  ,then again 
in ,france1 one came up violently       
against the sheer nuisance and waste of 
division4 ,imagine upon a ,friday every 
,c4,o4 and adjutant 7and adjutants are  
always over-worked7 of every unit       
approached by three ,chaplains--,church 
of ,england1 ,roman ,catholic1 and      
,nonconformist2 and requested to make   
different arrangements at different     
times for different fractions of his    
command to attend divine service on the 
,sunday4 ,this in the midst of modern   
war1 where organisation for war purposes
 is complex and laborious enough4 ,the  
mere typing and circulating of these    
arrangements at ,brigade and ,divisional
 ,h4,q4 mean in sum total a vast        
expenditure of paper and labour4 ,the   

chaplains1 who1 ,i hope1 are at least   
gentlemen1 feel considerable shame at   
being the guiltless authors of these    
confusions4 ,and the effect is so       
deplorable4 ,just when the nation is    
one1 just when each military unit seeks 
to promote1 for mere military           
efficiency1 the esprit de corps of its  
oneness1 the religion of the one ,christ
 enters as a thing which almost flaunts 
fissure4 ,or again1 think of the mere   
waste of pastoral efficiency involved in
 this fact4 ,each infantry brigade      
consists roughly of four battalions1 and
 three or four somewhat smaller units   
7,r4,a4,m4,c1 ,m4,g4,c41 etc474 ,for    
these there are four chaplains1 normally
 two ,church of ,england 7who have #hj  
per cent4 of the men under their care71 
one ,roman ,catholic and one            
,presbyterian or ,nonconformist4 ,the   
two latter have to do the best they can 
each to get round all these scattered   
units to provide for small handfuls of  
men in each4 ,each of the ,church of    

,england chaplains has to arrange for a 
whole half brigade4 ,how much more      
efficiently and thoroughly1 with how    
much less needless labour1 had the work 
been done1 if an one ,church could have 
set one chaplain to live each with one  
battalion1 and be responsible as well   
for one smaller unit4 ,that had made it 
easy for a chaplain to know his flock   
intimately2 now it is next to           
impossible4  ,but above and beyond these
 misfortunes1 which after all are       
details1 must be ranked the big thoughts
 and truths which have swum into the    
sight and experience of everybody4 ,the 
first is this4 ,granted that the ,church
 like the world was surprised by the    
sudden outbreak of war1 and therefore   
could not stop it2 yet that she should  
have no voice at all even to denounce   
the unrighteousness and barbarities into
 which the world plunges deeper every   
day does strike men as wrong4 ,the      
,church cannot speak because she is not 
one2 even suppose all ,england be       

actually one national ,church1 if it is 
only national1 it will go the way of the
 nation1 and certainly cannot speak to  
other nations4 ,for the ,church ever to 
acquire a world-voice in the cause of   
love and right means that reunion and   
our desires for it must not stop short  
at home reunion4 ,here the witness of   
,roman ,catholicism to the necessity of 
international ,christianity is vital to 
the ideal of a reunited ,christendom4   
,men1 far removed from his obedience1   
did look wistfully to the ,pope1        
conceding that he alone could speak such
 a word to the world in the name of     
,christ2 wide and deep has been the     
disappointment that it was not spoken4  
,here again it is not the ,pope1 nor    
,roman ,catholicism1 that is to blame1  
but the whole divided state of          
,christendom which paralyses the action 
of each communion1 even the strongest   
and most widespread4  ,i will mention   
only one other of these big             
truths--there are many of them--that    

have come home to every man2 where again
 ,christian division is the first and   
fatal obstacle in the way4 ,this time it
 affects all the looking forward to the 
end of the war1 and the new world of    
peace4 ,it is unthinkable but that the  
new world must be one of brotherhood1   
not of enmity2 of love1 not of hatred4  
,otherwise every drop of blood that has 
been shed1 every tear that has fallen1  
every death that has been died1 will be 
so much utter waste4 ,that is the one   
most intolerably dark thought in the    
days of darkness4 ,there is a new policy
 open to the world which it has never   
yet tried1 to work toward the ,dominance
 of ,love4 ,every conceivable form of   
selfishness has in turn dominated the   
affairs of nations and men2 never yet   
has love been seriously tried4 ,but     
there will be no chance of              
,international ,friendship1             
,brotherhood1 ,love1 if the ,church1 the
 fellowship of ,christians1 who are     
after all set in the world by their own 

confession1 to live by love1 to be the  
exemplars and hot centre of love1 cannot
 conspicuously shew forth love4 ,how can
 the nations be friends before          
,christians be brothers8 ,we have only  
to act according to our creed2 and our  
creed does not only believe in          
brotherhood1 but in the continual help  
of ,god ,himself in our efforts to      
realise it4 ,the influence upon the     
world even of a persevering attempt to  
achieve a united ,christendom would     
surely be decisive4 ,therefore the      
reunion of ,christendom becomes now the 
imperious vocation of every ,christian1 
the one preventive of our agony and loss
 going to waste1 the one hope of a      
loveless world1 the clear next objective
 of the ,church of the living ,god4     
,before returning to the idea of the    
,dominance of ,love1 and a consideration
 of first steps towards it1 let us go   
back to ,france1 and watch the relations
 of the various communions there one to 
another after four years of war4  ,it is

 new and rather hard to describe4 ,the  
first few months1 when the ,chaplains to
 the ,forces of the various             
denominations arrived with their        
inherited home suspicions one of        
another1 presented many difficulties    
that might have increased ill-feeling4  
,an army regulation which allows the    
,church of ,england chaplain only to    
minister to ,church of ,england men1 and
 the ,roman ,catholic to ,roman         
,catholic men1 etc41 reduced the chances
 of such conflict2 and at the same time1
 the vastness and urgency of the work   
the chaplains had to do swallowed up all
 other thoughts4 ,as a writer in ,the   
,church in the ,furnace said1 ,we have  
heard with mingled irritation and       
amusement that good folk at home have   
been exercised because an undue         
proportion of men of this party or that 
have been sent out2 the question out    
here is not ',to what party does he     
belong8' but ',is he capable by         
character and life of influencing men   

for good1 and winning them for ,god and 
,his ,church8' ,again1 the extremely    
free use of the ,prayer ,book and of any
 and every sort of devotion1 at any and 
every hour of day and night1 has broken 
up all prejudiced rigidity of use4      
,methods that did not help were dropped2
 methods that helped men were welcome1  
from whatever source they came4  ,so    
arose a great harmony1 a harmony of     
energy and experiment2 and although in  
religious matters the ,roman ,catholics 
retained their aloofness1 the drawing   
together of other denominations1 as     
represented by their clergy1 has been   
constant and perfectly natural and      
unsuspicious4 ,united services have not 
been common2 each denomination has      
confined itself loyally to its own men2 
what the statements in the ,lower ,house
 of ,convocation meant to the effect    
that the amount of intercommunion going 
on at the ,front would shock members of 
that house1 no chaplain has any idea4   
,but the new1 fresh1 and delightful     

thing is1 the absolute lack of feeling  
between1 say1 the ,catholic ,anglican   
and the ,congregationalist4 ,there are  
numerous occasions on which they must or
 can work together2 on which they must  
or can do jobs for one another2 and it  
has been decisively proved that the     
existing demarcation and rivalry in     
,england is a false and needless thing2 
and that working together can be a real1
 unselfconscious and wholly profitable  
matter4 ,our ,english airs are poisoned 
by past history and old social cleavage3
 in ,france1 the past is forgotten1 and 
social barriers do not exist4 ,it is a  
matter of atmosphere1 and there it is   
clear and bracing4 ,nobody sacrifices   
conviction or principle1 but they love  
one another4  ,i do not say there may   
not be individual misunderstandings and 
frictions now and then1 but they are    
miraculously few4 ,the normal temper is 
shewn by the numerous meetings for      
conference and devotion by the various  
chaplains4 ,these are more easy to      

effect at the bases than in the line2   
but they take place everywhere4 ,typical
 is the conduct of a small base on the  
sea1 where the eight chaplains or so    
meet regularly for devotion1 and each is
 entrusted with a section of the        
proceedings each time4 ,for instance1   
the ,american ,episcopalian takes the   
,thanksgiving1 the ,presbyterian the    
,confession1 the ,wesleyan the          
,intercession1 each of the others has   
found from the same chapter of1 say1 ,st
 ,mark's ,gospel1 some seed-thought upon
 which he is allowed to dilate for four 
minutes4 ,there is no constraint or     
self-consciousness in this gathering4   
,each is perfectly happy1 and so is the 
whole4  ,it is not surprising that out  
of such an atmosphere and among such    
practices a powerful passion for unity  
has arisen1 based on something far      
stronger than sentiment1 and having in  
it some of the fire of revelation4 ,it  
has not been sought2 it has come2 it has
 grown3 nobody expected it4 ,it came1   

naturally and delightfully4 ,the fifth  
year of war will assuredly see some     
definite policy or action towards       
greater unity proceeding from ,france4  
,the quiet1 unhasty1 resolved manner in 
which the ,chaplains to the ,forces in  
,france are moving is in striking       
contrast to the hasty proposals and     
hasty actions threatening on the less   
prepared soil at home4 ,indeed in this  
last sentence ,i have touched upon the  
two actual terrors which the ,church in 
,france feels4 ,,first1 that hasty and  
purely sectional action on unimaginative
 and traditional lines by the           
home-clergy will give the old           
party-feeling a new bitter lease of     
life1 and by ruining unnecessarily the  
unity of the ,church of ,england will   
destroy the hopes that are so fair of   
yet wider reunion4 ,and ,,second1 that  
the local outlook of the lay-folk--in   
our villages especially perhaps--and    
local lines of cleavage1 not having been
 subjected to the experience and        

discipline of ,france1 will have the    
opposite effect1 prevent things moving  
as fast as they ought1 and throw away   
the fairest chance of buying up         
opportunity that ever was given to the  
,church of ,christ4 ,to these opposite  
dangers1 ,i shall recur4  ,the          
,dominance of ,love in the world6 ,let  
us see and absorb that big vision first1
 and its pathetic urgency3 its summons  
to each body of ,christians1 and to     
every individual member of ,christ4     
,acknowledge its ,,necessity for the    
world1 and therefore its immediate      
necessity for the ,church of the ,god of
 ,love4  ,and next1 before considering  
practical steps1 let us recall certain  
postulates and axioms1 which in any     
attempt to realise so magnificent a     
vision must always be borne in mind1    
lest1 in our human frailty and selfwill1
 we head straight for new               
misunderstandings and disasters#ad4  #a4
 ,the importance of unity is so great1  
and division has been found so          

calamitous1 and the words of ,christ are
 so definite on the subject1 that ,i    
think all would admit now that ,division
 is only to be prolonged for causes that
 are backed by divine command4 ,the     
larger ,christian bodies are separated  
by convictions of great importance2 but 
a severe and honest self-examination    
will probably lessen the number of      
differences which can justify the       
responsibility of so disastrous a thing 
as separation1 and then we can set afoot
 conferences to deal with what remain4  
,human temperament1 upbringing1         
tradition1 human haste and pride have   
much to do with the birth1 stabilising  
and continuance of division4 ,a rare    
self-abnegation in our ecclesiastical   
history was the partial suicide of the  
,non-juring schism1 and it has never    
been repeated2 there were many great    
saints among the ,nonjurors4 ,if they   
could not take the oath of allegiance to
 ,william ,,iii1 and therefore could not
 remain in the ,church of ,england1 the 

best of them recognised that their      
individual difficulty would not excuse  
them if they perpetuated themselves as a
 ,church4 ,in any junction of existing  
divisions1 differing customs and methods
 of worship and organisation can be and 
should be safeguarded4 ,that would only 
make the more for the health of the one 
,body4 ,but1 division itself is only to 
be prolonged for causes that are1 or    
seem to be by conscience1 backed by     
divine command1 and the first step in   
all work for reunion will be the        
isolating of these causes from lesser   
things1 and their careful and prayerful 
reconsideration4  ,a grand example of   
such process1 of course1 has been the   
,conference of the leaders of our       
,english denominations1 at the          
inspiration of the ,american ,committee 
of ,faith and ,order1 which during #aiag
 faced the question of ,episcopacy4 ,the
 findings of its second interim report  
are nothing less than a landmark in     
,church ,history4 ,you remember that    

roughly it was this3 that any corporate 
reunion can only come in the acceptance 
of the historical ,episcopate2 but that 
the conception and use of ,episcopacy in
 the ,church has been a limited one3    
there are many ways of regarding and    
using bishops besides the monarchical or
 prelatical way exemplified by the      
,church of ,england4 ,this is a first   
proof that when truths1 keenly felt and 
seemingly rival1 are discussed in       
,conference spirit1 the angularities    
that offend disappear2 and wider1 bigger
 truth comes into the possession of all4
 ,it will be so more and more4 ,by faith
 we can already see that the labour of  
understanding unto reunion is bound to  
be an immense creative period in the    
,church of ,god4  #b4 ,our second axiom 
sounds discouraging4 ,just this--that   
unity is1 humanly speaking1 impossible4 
,reunion means great changes of heart in
 great communions of men1 and we all    
know how hard it is to effect change of 
heart even in the individual4 ,we must  

not think that no price will have to be 
paid for so good a result1 both by whole
 communions1 and by the members         
composing them2 and that the whole force
 of inherited prejudice1 past history1  
and present wilfulness1 ignorance1 and  
sincere conviction will not arise in    
opposition4 ,the difficulty even of     
approaching ,rome illustrates vividly   
our task4 ,the ,unity of ,christendom is
 a meaningless expression without that  
vast international ,church1 without her 
rich stores of devotion and experience1 
without her unbending witness to the    
first things of faith1 worship and      
self-sacrifice4 ,here the impossibility 
is open and honest1 but ,i do not know  
that the difficulties will be greater   
than those1 less obvious as yet1 between
 other denominations4 ,yet with ,god all
 things are possible4 ,this is only the 
,,miracle which ,he has set the faith of
 modern ,christians to perform4  #c4    
,thirdly then1 our rule must be1 to     
hasten slowly4 ,we are not dealing with 

matters susceptible of mere arrangement1
 but with convictions1 which have deep  
roots in history1 and cling passionately
 round the individual4 ,convictions can 
only be modified or changed gradually1  
by love and deeper spiritual learning4  
,bully or outrage a conviction1 and you 
double its strength4 ,that is why       
argument seldom does aught but harm4    
,argument is an attack upon another     
man's convictions1 or semi-convictions1 
and inevitably fails to do anything but 
stiffen them4 ,inevitably therefore will
 hasty action by individuals or         
sections1 for instance in the ,church of
 ,england1 for which other sections are 
not ready1 throw these into suspicion   
and opposition4 ,i speak of my own      
,communion and say deliberately1 that if
 at the moment1 either an individual1 or
 a section--any section--of it goes     
galloping off1 be its zeal and hope     
never so pure and splendid1 on private  
roads1 the whole desire for unity1 and  
therefore the cause of unity1 will be   

gravely damaged4  ,for the whole ,church
 of ,england--,i think that can be truly
 said--has now an unutterable desire for
 the joy of ,unity2 it is1 further1     
convinced that action must be taken2 but
 it is by no means convinced that       
certain actions--to take a concrete     
example1 free interchange of pulpits    
with ,nonconformists--are as yet either 
helpful or right4 ,if one part adopt    
such a policy1 hostilely and            
sectionally1 it will simply throw others
 into convinced opposition and retard   
the whole desire for decades4 ,questions
 of deepest implication cannot be       
settled in haste4 ,before approaching at
 all1 we must find the right methods of 
approach4 ,quite rightly1 the ,american 
,world ,conference for the consideration
 of questions touching ,faith and       
,order1 paid1 from the start1 the       
utmost1 an uniquely scientific1         
attention to right method2 their        
patience has been lightning-swift in    
result4 ,it did not even go so far as to

 say1 ,we will confer1 that is the right
 method2 it said1 ,we will learn how to 
confer4 ,it was a new and by no means   
easy exercise1 but it has been learned1 
and the ,english ,conference mentioned  
above1 the landmark1 arose by its       
inspiration and worked by its methods4  
,a wrong method of approach is equally  
well illustrated by the gathering of    
,evangelical clergy at ,cheltenham#ae   
early in the ,spring4 ,they discussed to
 some purpose1 and at the end of a few  
days had drawn out a series of some     
dozen articles of principle and action4 
,some were unexceptionable1 others went 
beyond what either the ,bishops or other
 sections of the ,church are yet ready  
to do4 ,such sectional action simply    
heads for disaster and vexation4 ,and it
 is so foolish1 so great and difficult  
an end being in view4 ,why should any   
sections of the ,church meet or deal at 
all on this matter1 except to put their 
views humbly at the disposal of their   
brethren in the ,church8 ,this matter   

concerns the whole ,church2 any action  
is futile which does not carry the whole
 ,church with it1 and the whole ,church 
is keen and anxious enough over the     
problem to be able to agree upon methods
 and policies which combine depth1      
wisdom1 patience1 and order4 ,we have   
seen how titanic the labour is2         
impatience will help nothing2 here if   
anywhere is needed the love that is     
patient1 and ready for the travail of   
waiting and praying4  ,the cry of       
generous souls of course is ,something  
must be done4 ,of course it must2 but   
let anybody consider what sheer miracles
 of changed convictions on ,unity have  
been done within ten1 and even five     
years4 ,better than any such immediate  
action which would certainly cause      
division1 is the enlarging of the scope 
and sphere of this miracle1 so that the 
friendly conditions of ,france are      
naturally reproduced in ,england4  ,with
 these precautions1 then1 let us see    
what can be done with universal consent4

  7a7 ,the first thing is to turn the   
intellectual opinion that ,christian    
division is wrong1 and unity necessary1 
into a general passion4 ,that is to say1
 we want to develop among us the motive 
of love4 ,we all talk about love glibly1
 and about brotherhood and a new world1 
with very little sense of what these    
terms involve in the individual life4 ,i
 am sure that we hardly know yet what   
love means nor what it exacts1 nor guess
 into how many provinces of ordinary    
life it can and ought to operate2 how   
many heritages of past history it must  
be allowed to wipe out1 how many        
preconceived notions it must dissipate2 
into how many social1 commercial1       
municipal1 political relations it must  
begin to permeate4 ,it was for this     
reason that an article which ,i wrote   
when in billets near ,arras for the     
,church ,quarterly ,review suggested a  
new ,national ,mission of ,love in the  
,church of ,england4 ,for the space of a
 month or more the one subject dealt    

with by preachers and teachers          
throughout the ,communion would be      
,love1 in all its bearings1 and with    
special reference to religious          
differences and their healing4 ,i       
believe that this would be a splendid   
way of making the passion for new love  
and wider brotherhood general1 an act of
 pure religion of highest importance    
both to our ,christianity and national  
life1 and sure of blessing by ,god4 ,it 
would assure our ,nonconformist brothers
 that we mean business1 and mean it     
deeply4 ,perhaps they would follow suit 
in their own congregations4  ,it is the 
more important1 because there is a      
danger of the leaders and clergy of     
communions rushing ahead of the rank and
 file4 ,naturally they see the vast     
issues most clearly2 the congregation   
sees more easily its own needs and      
habits of worship1 and inclines to shut 
out of mind the needs and interests of  
the ,church as a whole4 ,a ,national    
,mission of ,love1 dealing with all     

history1 the larger duties of the       
present1 and future hopes1 would help to
 correct this1 and give a single mind to
 the whole body4  7b7 ,then1 in order   
that the ,church of ,england may go     
forward as one whole1 without the risk  
of sectional exasperation1 it does seem 
to me an urgent necessity that--,i do   
hope it is not a presumptuous           
suggestion--the ,archbishops appoint a  
,council of ,unity2 to thrash out the   
whole subject1 and decide on definite   
steps of action1 both within and without
 the ,church4  ,my vision sees it thus4 
,a small ,council of1 say1 five         
,bishops1 and a dozen other members4    
,these dozen to be nominated1 not       
elected1 and to consist of the leading  
and trusted men of each party with at   
least two of our greatest scholars4 ,it 
must be small1 so that it may truly     
confer--not drop into controversy--and  
meet regularly4 ,it should issue        
definite advice and suggestion1 all of  
which would be unanimous1 upon which the

 whole ,church could act1 and act       
immediately4 ,i am sure that the amount 
of unanimity would be surprising1 and   
the advice bold4 ,perhaps the           
,archbishops and ,bishops in accepting  
and issuing such reports would require  
them to be read in every pulpit in the  
land1 so that the whole ,communion      
understand what is going on1 and each   
congregation be spurred to do its part  
in its own locality4  ,the mere         
appointment of such a ,council would be 
a notable step towards unity and place  
the whole matter on1 so to speak1 a     
scientific footing4 ,the ,church of     
,england would then be wisely and       
consistently ordered to the one end1 and
 be thinking and acting as itself an    
unity2 the danger of sectional action   
would be reduced to a minimum1 and the  
mutual confidence of the sections be    
assured4 ,indeed it would be a hard blow
 to the bad party licence too common    
hitherto amongst us4 ,further1 the      
,nonconformist communions would have a  

definite organ to approach on all       
subjects making for friendliness1       
cooperation1 and conference1 and        
sufficient certainty that the ,church of
 ,england desired the peace of          
,jerusalem very earnestly indeed4  7c7  
,there are a number of issues on which  
all communions could begin at once to   
work together4 ,there is a real chance  
of abolishing war1 and establishing a   
more or less universal peace4 ,the idea 
of the ,league of ,nations gains ground4
 ,bishop ,gore is already summoning the 
support and labour of the ,church to it4
 ,here serious united effort of all     
,christian bodies1 of ,europe and       
,america1 is obviously fitting and might
 be decisive4  ,there are the hundred   
social problems confronting us4 ,the    
very working together upon these would  
be as valuable as the large amount of   
work that so easily might be done4      
,education6 ,word of lamentable         
memories4 ,the present ,bill1 which all 
,christian bodies have urged on1 left in

 despair the vital question of religious
 teaching until the ,churches can agree 
upon it among themselves4 ,with all the 
lessons of the war1 both to the         
appalling need of such teaching1 and of 
the necessity of bigger thinking1 can   
they not do it now8 ,here is a critical 
field for cooperation and               
self-suppression4 ,only let the younger 
men be put to the task4 ,the elder will 
be the first to admit that long         
controversy and deepening opposition    
have unfitted them for sincere          
agreement4 ,the younger men are fresh1  
and start with an eagerness to find the 
way out4  7d7 ,cooperation in these     
great matters will not only promote     
unity1 but display already the men of   
,christ as one before the world4 ,but it
 is not enough4 ,how about cooperation  
in directly religious work and worship8 
,the visible unity of the ,body of      
,christ is not adequately expressed in  
the cooperation for moral influence and 
social service1 though such cooperation 

might with advantage be carried much    
further than it is at present2 it could 
only be fully realised through community
 of worship1 faith and order1 including 
common participation in the ,lord's     
,supper#af4  ,here let us once more and 
finally insist that the all-important   
thing is the development of the desire  
for ,unity even in the most local1 or   
uneducated1 or out-of-the-way           
congregations4 ,most of the clergy now  
are revolutionaries for better1 bigger  
things2 but1 frankly1 we fear the lay   
people who hate change1 and desire      
things to remain as they are--in church 
and out of it4 ,that is why ,i should so
 like my imagined ,council to set going 
my imagined ,national ,mission of ,love4
 ,but much can be done besides4 ,those  
who seek unity will be labouring        
fruitfully for it1 if they simply devote
 themselves to developing social and    
,christian friendship between ,churchmen
 and ,nonconformists in town and        
village4 ,there might well be an        

enormous growth of meetings1 both of    
clergy and laity of different           
denominations1 for conference1 devotion1
 even retreat4 ,we want more than one   
,swanwick4 ,can we not go further1 and  
draw together by experimenting with each
 other's devotions or organisations of  
proved value8 ,for instance1 ,i wonder  
if it is suggesting too much1 to suggest
 that if ,nonconformists appropriated   
with vigour our ,christian year1 they   
would be sharers with us of a devotional
 joy and help1 which would certainly    
promote spiritual sympathy4 ,in the same
 way1 the ,church of ,england has been  
crying out for some method of using the 
spiritual gifts of her laymen in church4
 ,why not borrow notions from those who 
know how to do it8  ,these are but      
scrappy examples of ways by which right 
spirit can be developed within the      
single communion1 or between separated  
bodies4 ,the right spirit won1 the whole
 battle is won4  ,naturally there are   
many who desire already to go much      

further and faster4 ,intercommunion1 our
 goal1 is of course impossible at this  
stage owing to seriously differing      
convictions on faith and order2 and the 
plain fact that it would cause more     
cleavage than it healed4 ,but how about 
interchange of pulpits8 ,the            
,evangelicals at ,cheltenham demanded   
this as a regular practice4 ,the rest of
 the ,church feels strongly that the    
time for this has not arrived yet2 that 
haphazard invitations by individual     
vicars to ministers of convictions      
widely different are undesirable4 ,the  
time has come for conference1 but not   
yet for any facile overpassing of the   
facts and reasons for historical        
separations4 ,nor do we want to run the 
risks of indiscipline and disorderliness
 resulting from such individual action4 
,the ,church of ,england can only be of 
help to the cause of unity where she    
acts as a whole4 ,matters such as       
interchange of pulpits should be tackled
 by our suggested ,council of ,unity4 ,a

 suggestion in the ,challenge of ,july  
#ai might well be favourably considered 
by it4 ,there are ,nonconformists of    
acknowledged eminence1 learning1 and    
inspiration1 from whose books the       
,church of ,england already has received
 much4 ,we should all be glad to receive
 likewise from their lips4 ,if a        
selected number were officially invited 
by the ,church to prophesy in our midst1
 an immense and religiously fruitful    
step would have been taken1 in perfect  
order4 ,the plan might well be          
reciprocal4  ,the same leading article  
proposed that ministers of other        
denominations should be asked by such   
congregations as wished1 to come and    
explain to them frankly their           
standpoints of doctrine and order4 ,i am
 sure that all communions might be1 and 
now should be1 more brave in explaining 
themselves to each other4 ,the gain in  
preventing misunderstanding and         
destroying suspicion and unfriendliness 
would be great1 and ,i can see no loss  

anywhere about such a proceeding4  ,have
 you read the story of the ,woolwich    
,crusade1 published by the ,s4,p4,c4,k4 
7#as4 #c;d478 ,the ,crusade movement and
 method is a new thing4 ,its idea is not
 that of a mission--to increase or      
improve the membership of a particular  
denomination1 but to bring ,god and the 
meaning of ,christ into the life and    
problems of to-day4 ,it is doing the    
same sort of work which chaplains in    
,france do1 among the munitioners1      
artisans1 and labour world at home4     
,perhaps our ,nonconformist brethren    
could join us here4 ,the difficulties   
would1 ,i think1 merely be those of     
organisation4  ,thanks to the ,college  
system1 and to the ,student ,christian  
movement1 ,churchmen and ,nonconformists
 are as friendly in this ,university as 
they are in ,france2 and joint devotion 
is usual4 ,we have a great              
responsibility here amid the young and  
the enthusiastic1 and good feeling is   
both easier to achieve1 and more        

widespread in result1 at a ,university  
than anywhere else4 ,well1 we are awake 
to our chances1 and will do our best4   
7e7 ,this leaves but one more subject to
 touch on3 the old1 hard1 question of   
,church order1 and the orders of        
ministry4 ,but all looks in the best    
sense hopeful here1 very hopeful1 since 
the striking report signed by the       
thirteen members of the sub-committee   
appointed by the ,archbishops'          
,committee1 and by representatives of   
the ,english ,free ,churches'           
,commissions4 ,let me quote it4         
,looking as frankly and as widely as    
possible at the whole      situation1 we
 desire with a due sense of             
responsibility to submit      for the   
serious consideration of all the parts  
of a divided      ,christendom what seem
 to us the necessary conditions of any  
possibility of reunion3 ,that continuity
 with the historic      ,episcopate     
should be effectively preserved4 ,that1 
in order that the      rights and       

responsibilities of the whole ,christian
 community in the      government of the
 ,church may be adequately recognised1  
the      ,episcopate should reassume a  
constitutional form both as regards     
the method of the election of the       
,bishop as by clergy and people1        
and the method of government after      
election4444 ,the acceptance of      the
 fact of ,episcopacy and not any theory 
as to its character      should be all  
that is asked for4444 ,it would no doubt
 be necessary      before any           
arrangement for corporate reunion could 
be made to      discuss the exact       
functions which it may be agreed to     
recognise as      belonging to the      
,episcopate1 but we think this can be   
left to the      future4       ,the     
acceptance of ,episcopacy on these terms
 should not involve any      ,christian 
community in the necessity of disowning 
its past1 but      should enable all to 
maintain the continuity of their witness
 and      influence as heirs and        

trustees of types of ,christian thought1
      life1 and order1 not only of value
 to themselves1 but of value to      the
 ,church as a whole4444   ,it would be  
difficult to imagine a wiser1 braver1 or
 happier statement than this in the     
whole history of the ,church4 ,a        
landmark indeed6 ,the ,chaplains to the 
,forces in ,france almost shouted for   
joy4 ,at one stroke1 the first and      
greatest incompatibility of conviction  
has been cleared out of the way4        
,perhaps that is too strong--or         
prophetic--a way of putting it4 ,let us 
say rather1 that at least the question  
of ,episcopacy and ,church order has    
been raised to a new plane1 where all   
can discuss it1 and think it out1 not   
only peaceably1 but with good hope of   
new wealth of conception and polity     
pouring into the old1 rigid1 bitter1    
rival views of church government4 ,in   
,france ,i corresponded with a ,wesleyan
 chaplain on the subject of orders and  
ordination4 ,he wrote a careful letter  

affirming the historic ,nonconformist   
position about ministry4 ,but1 he ended1
 it would all be changed1 if            
re-ordination could be presented and    
accepted as a great outward ,sacrament  
of ,love which reunited us4 ,that is    
more than the ,church of ,england has   
ever asked1 for she regards ordination  
as a ,sacrament of ,order merely1 not of
 ,spiritual ,love4 ,but let us gladly   
put the higher value upon it4 ,and the  
day will surely come1 unless goodhearted
 ,christians settle down to accept the  
intolerable burden of permanent         
separation in communion and worship1    
when this ,sacrament of ,love be        
celebrated1 and the ,church of ,england 
ordains the ,free ,church ministry1 and 
the ,free ,churches commission us1 to   
work each and all in the flocks that    
have been made one ,fold4  ,,footnotes3 
#ad ,in the paragraphs which follow1 ,i 
owe much to the ,bishop of ,zanzibar's  
,the ,fulness of ,christ1 perhaps the   
deepest and ablest of all the numerous  

,anglican books on ,reunion4  #ae ,it is
 fair to state that after this lecture  
was delivered1 ,i received a note from  
one who had been at ,cheltenham1 saying 
that my references to it gave an        
inaccurate impression2 and that the     
findings were only an expression of     
opinion4 ,to those1 however1 who read   
the published account of the meeting1   
whether in the ,record or ,guardian1    
much more seemed to be intended4  #af   
,quoted from the ,second ,interim       
,report of the ,archbishops' ,committee 
and the representatives of the ,free    
,church ,commissions4     ,,unity       
,,between ,,christian ,,denominations   
,,iii4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,the       
,,english ,,free ,,churches  ,by the    
,rev4 ,w4 ,b4 ,,selbie1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4  
,while ,i think that what ,i say may be 
fairly taken to represent the general   
mind of these churches it must be       
understood that ,i do not in any way    
commit them but speak only for myself4  
,i propose first to recall the          

circumstances which gave rise to these  
churches and the conditions which still 
operate in maintaining them as separate 
,christian bodies1 and then to give some
 account of the various movements       
towards reunion in which they have taken
 part4 ,the ,baptists and               
,congregationalists you will remember   
arose at a time when membership in the  
,anglican ,church was a formal and      
perfunctory thing4 ,it was open to every
 parishioner and meant very little in   
the way of ,christian life or witness4  
,the first ,nonconformists stood for the
 principle that membership in ,christian
 churches should be confined to         
genuinely ,christian people1 and in     
order to secure this they formed        
separated churches1 on the ,new         
,testament model1 of those who were able
 to give effective witness of their     
,christian calling4 ,that such churches 
should be self-governed followed almost 
as a matter of course4 ,their meeting in
 the name of ,christ secured ,his       

presence among them and the guidance of 
,his spirit in their doings4 ,but it is 
always important to remember that their 
essential characteristic is not either  
democracy in church government or       
dissent from the ,establishment1 but the
 positive witness to purity of          
membership and to the sole headship of  
,jesus ,christ just described4 ,the     
,wesleyan ,church1 the parent of the    
whole great ,methodist movement1 arose  
at the end of the #ahth century from    
somewhat similar reasons4 ,there was    
never anything schismatic in the spirit 
of ,john ,wesley1 but when he found that
 the rigour and stiffness of            
,anglicanism made a free spiritual      
witness almost impossible1 he was       
driven1 like the ,nonconformists of the 
,elizabethan times1 to set up separate  
churches4 ,while it is quite true that  
the great principle for which ,english  
,nonconformity has stood is now almost  
universally accepted1 and that what may 
be called the negative witness of the   

,free ,churches is much less necessary  
than it used to be1 there is still room 
for their positive contribution to the  
religious life of the country1 for their
 witness to freedom1 spirituality1 and  
the rights of the people in the ,church4
 ,for a long time1 no doubt1 they did   
rejoice in the dissidence of their      
dissent1 and they suffered1 and still   
suffer1 to some degree1 from a          
,pharisaic feeling of superiority to    
those whom they regard as bound by      
tradition and ,state rule4 ,the great   
majority among them1 however1 have long 
since come to feel that they have more  
in common with one another and with many
 in the ,anglican ,church than they have
 been hitherto prepared to admit1 and   
that existence in isolation from the    
rest of ,christendom is neither good for
 them nor helpful to the cause of       
,christ and ,his ,kingdom4 ,this feeling
 first took definite shape about the    
year #ahij in connexion with what are   
now known as the ,grindelwald           

,conferences4 ,for three successive     
years informal parties of clergy and    
ministers were arranged by ,sir ,henry  
,lunn1 at ,grindelwald and ,lucerne1    
with the object of getting              
representatives of the different        
churches together in order to exchange  
views on the subject of union1 and to   
create an atmosphere of mutual          
knowledge1 sympathy1 and friendliness4  
,although no practical steps directly   
followed them1 these conferences        
undoubtedly did good by removing        
misunderstandings and paving a way for  
further intercourse4 ,to many of the    
,free ,churchmen who attended them they 
seem to have suggested for the first    
time the evils of our unhappy divisions1
 and they certainly created a desire for
 better relations4 ,it became obvious   
that one of the necessary first steps in
 this direction would be the setting up 
of a closer cooperation among the ,free 
,churches themselves1 and of breaking   
down the denominational isolation in    

which they too often lived4 ,further    
conferences were held in ,england at    
,manchester1 ,bradford1 ,london and     
other centres1 the ultimate issue of    
which was the foundation of the         
,national ,federation of the            
,evangelical ,free ,churches under the  
guidance of the ,rev4 ,hugh ,price      
,hughes1 ,dr ,berry of ,wolverhampton1  
,dr ,mackennal of ,bowdon1 and ,dr      
,munro ,gibson of ,london1 along with   
laymen like ,sir ,percy ,bunting and ,mr
 ,george ,cadbury4 ,the aim of the      
,federation was to bring all the        
evangelical ,nonconformist churches into
 closer association in order that they  
might in various localities take        
concerted action on questions affecting 
their common faith and interests and the
 social1 moral1 and religious welfare of
 the community4 ,since that time the    
work of the ,federation has gradually   
covered the whole country through local 
councils working on a ,free ,church     
parish system1 and engaging in various  

forms of social and evangelistic effort4
 ,the representative central council has
 become a powerful instrument for       
furthering the cause of the ,free       
,churches and for bringing their        
influence to bear on social and         
political matters4 ,it must be freely   
admitted that this council has sometimes
 gone further in political action than  
some of the churches have been          
altogether prepared for4 ,from the      
first1 so representative a              
,nonconformist as the late ,dr ,dale of 
,birmingham stood aloof from it1 on the 
ground that it tended to divert the     
energy of the churches from the proper  
channels and to involve them too deeply 
in political controversy4 ,in this      
action he was supported by many of the  
more conservative elements in the       
churches themselves1 particularly as the
 circumstances of the time compelled the
 council to engage in a good deal of    
political agitation4 ,in spite of this1 
however1 there is no doubt that the     

,free ,church ,council movement as a    
whole has had the effect its first      
promoters intended and desired1 and has 
brought all the ,free ,churches into    
much closer relations with one another1 
and has established them in a position  
of mutual understanding and sympathy4   
,its chief weakness has been that it has
 depended for support on individual     
churches rather than on the             
denominations they represented4 ,it is  
the consciousness of this which has led 
the way to a later movement in the      
direction of still closer federation4   
,the lead has been taken by the ,rev4   
,j4 ,h4 ,shakespeare1 who1 as ,president
 of the ,free ,church ,council in #aiaf1
 propounded an elaborate scheme for the 
federation of the ,free ,church         
denominations4 ,in his first            
presidential address under the title    
,the ,free ,churches at the ,cross-roads
 he put forward an unanswerable case for
 the union of the whole of the ,free    
,churches of ,england4 ,he pointed to   

the fact that for many years past these 
churches have suffered a serious decline
 in the number of their members and of  
their ,sunday school scholars and       
teachers2 and he found one of the chief 
causes of this in their excessive       
denominationalism1 which led to         
over-lapping and rivalry4 ,he pleaded   
that the old sectarian distinctions had 
now ceased to represent vital issues1   
and to appeal to the best elements both 
in the churches and in the nation       
outside2 and he urged that the          
maintenance of these distinctions now   
tended to destroy the collective witness
 of the ,free ,churches and involved an 
immense waste of men1 money and energy4 
,for the sake of efficiency1 as well as 
in order to maintain a proper ,christian
 comity1 he argued that it was          
absolutely necessary to put an end to   
this condition of things4 ,as long as   
the ,free ,churches were thus divided1  
they could not expect either to do their
 own work well or to exercise their     

proper influence in the life of the     
nation4 ,there is no doubt that this    
estimate of the situation represented a 
growing feeling among those who were    
best acquainted with the facts4 ,but it 
is probable that ,mr ,shakespeare       
under-estimated the strength of the     
conservative spirit in many of the ,free
 ,churches4 ,and there is no doubt that 
a considerable educational process will 
have to be gone through before his      
proposals take practical shape4 ,this   
process1 however1 has already begun and 
has made considerable way4 ,mr          
,shakespeare's challenge led almost     
immediately to the formation of a large 
conference of representatives appointed 
by the ,free ,church ,council along with
 the ,baptist1 ,congregational1         
,presbyterian1 ,primitive ,methodist1   
,independent ,methodist1 ,wesleyan      
,methodist1 ,wesleyan ,reform1 ,united  
,methodist1 ,moravian1 ,countess of     
,huntingdon1 and ,disciples of ,christ  
,churches4 ,this ,conference first met  

at ,mansfield ,college1 ,oxford1 in     
,september1 #aiaf1 and later at the     
,leys ,school1 ,cambridge1 in #aiag1 and
 again in ,london in the early part of  
this year4 ,it appointed ,committees on 
,faith1 ,constitution1 ,evangelization  
and the ,ministry1 all of which have    
held many meetings in addition to those 
of the whole ,conference4 ,the          
,committee on ,faith was able to frame a
 declaratory statement on doctrine which
 was afterwards unanimously adopted as  
follows3                                
,i       ,there is ,one ,living and     
,true ,god1 ,who is revealed to us as   
,father1      ,son and ,holy ,spirit2   
,him alone we worship and adore4        
,,ii       ,we believe that ,god so     
loved the world as to give ,his ,son to 
be the      ,revealer of the ,father and
 the ,redeemer of mankind2 that the ,son
 of      ,god1 for us men and for our   
salvation1 became man in ,jesus ,christ1
      ,who1 having lived on earth the   
perfect human life1 died for our        

sins1 rose again from the dead1 and now 
is exalted ,lord over all2      and that
 the ,holy ,spirit1 ,who witnesses to us
 of ,christ1 makes the      salvation   
which is in ,him to be effective in our 
hearts and lives4                       
,,iii       ,we acknowledge that all men
 are sinful1 and unable to deliver      
themselves from either the guilt or     
power of their sin2 but we have         
received and rejoice in the ,gospel of  
the grace of the ,holy ,god1            
wherein all who truly turn from sin are 
freely forgiven through      faith in   
our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and are called
 and enabled1 through      the ,spirit  
dwelling and working within them1 to    
live in fellowship      with ,god and   
for ,his service2 and in this new life1 
which is to be      nurtured by the     
right use of the means of grace1 we are 
to grow1      daily dying unto sin and  
living unto ,him ,who in ,his mercy has 
redeemed us4                            
,,iv       ,we believe that the         

,catholic or ,universal ,church is the  
whole      company of the redeemed in   
heaven and on earth1 and we recognise as
      belonging to this holy fellowship 
all who are united to ,god through      
faith in ,christ4       ,the ,church on 
earth--which is ,one through the        
,apostolic ,gospel and      through the 
living union of all its true members    
with its one ,head1      even ,christ1  
and which is ,holy through the          
indwelling ,holy ,spirit      ,who      
sanctifies the ,body and its members--is
 ordained to be the      visible ,body  
of ,christ1 to worship ,god through     
,him1 to promote the      fellowship of 
,his people and the ends of ,his        
,kingdom1 and to go      into all the   
world and proclaim ,his ,gospel for the 
salvation of men      and the           
brotherhood of all mankind4 ,of this    
visible ,church1 and      every branch  
thereof1 the only ,head is the ,lord    
,jesus ,christ2 and      in its faith1  
order1 discipline and duty1 it must be  

free to obey      ,him alone as it      
interprets ,his holy will4              
,v       ,we receive1 as given by the   
,lord to ,his ,church on earth1 the     
,holy      ,scriptures1 the ,sacraments 
of the ,gospel1 and the ,christian      
,ministry4       ,the ,scriptures1      
delivered through men moved by the ,holy
 ,ghost1      record and interpret the  
revelation of redemption1 and contain   
the      sure ,word of ,god concerning  
our salvation and all things necessary  
thereto4 ,of this we are convinced by   
the witness of the ,holy ,spirit      in
 the hearts of men to and with the      
,word2 and this ,spirit1 thus           
speaking from the ,scriptures to        
believers and to the ,church1 is the    
supreme ,authority by which all opinions
 in religion are finally to      be     
judged4       ,the ,sacraments--,baptism
 and the ,lord's ,supper--are instituted
 by      ,christ1 ,who is ,himself      
certainly and really present in ,his own
      ordinances 7though not bodily in  

the elements thereof71 and are          
signs and seals of ,his ,gospel not to  
be separated therefrom4 ,they           
confirm the promises and gifts of       
salvation1 and1 when rightly used       
by believers with faith and prayer1 are1
 through the operation of      the ,holy
 ,spirit1 true means of grace4          
,the ,ministry is an office within the  
,church--not a sacerdotal               
order--instituted for the preaching of  
the ,word1 the ministration      of the 
,sacraments and the care of souls4 ,it  
is a vocation from ,god1      upon which
 therefore no one is qualified to enter 
save through the      call of the ,holy 
,spirit in the heart2 and this inward   
call is to be      authenticated by the 
call of the ,church1 which is followed  
by      ordination to the work of the   
,ministry in the name of the ,church4   
,while thus maintaining the ,ministry as
 an office1 we do not limit      the    
ministries of the ,new ,testament to    
those who are thus ordained1      but   

affirm the priesthood of all believers  
and the obligation      resting upon    
them to fulfil their vocation according 
to the gift      bestowed upon them by  
the ,holy ,spirit4                      
,,vi       ,we affirm the sovereign     
authority of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ   
over      every department of human     
life1 and we hold that individuals and  
peoples are responsible to ,him in their
 several spheres and are      bound to  
render ,him obedience and to seek always
 the furtherance of      ,his ,kingdom  
upon earth1 not1 however1 in any way    
constraining      belief1 imposing      
religious disabilities1 or denying the  
rights of      conscience4              
,,vii       ,in the assurance1 given us 
in the ,gospel1 of the love of ,god our 
,father to each of us and to all men1   
and in the faith that ,jesus            
,christ1 ,who died1 overcame death and  
has passed into the heavens1      the   
first-fruits of them that sleep1 we are 
made confident of the      hope of      

,immortality1 and trust to ,god our     
souls and the souls of      the         
departed4 ,we believe that the whole    
world must stand before the      final  
,judgment of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4  
,and1 with glad and solemn      hearts1 
we look for the consummation and bliss  
of the life      everlasting1 wherein   
the people of ,god1 freed for ever from 
sorrow      and from sin1 shall serve   
,him and see ,his face in the perfected 
communion of all saints in the ,church  
triumphant4   ,the ,committee on        
,constitution recommended a definite    
union of the ,free ,church denominations
 on the basis of a federation which     
should express their essential unity1   
promote evangelization1 maintain their  
liberties and take action where         
authorised in all matters affecting the 
interests1 duties1 rights1 and          
privileges of the federating churches1  
and to enter into communion and united  
action where possible with other        
branches of the church of ,christ       

throughout the world4 ,it is proposed   
that the federation shall work through a
 council consisting of about #bjj       
representatives of the denominations in 
order to carry out their will4 ,the     
,committee on ,evangelization and the   
,ministry also suggested certain        
practical measures necessary for        
cooperation in these important branches 
of service4 ,the scheme has been        
carefully thought out and elaborated1   
but at the same time is not too cumbrous
 for action1 and if it can be carried   
out there is no doubt that it would     
secure the ends aimed at4 ,in many ways 
the doctrinal declaration is the most   
important part of it1 and shews a       
sufficient general agreement on         
essentials to ensure harmonious working4
 ,the fate of it lies of course with the
 different denominations concerned4 ,by 
this time most of them have had an      
opportunity of considering it and1      
generally speaking1 it has met with a   
favourable reception4 ,the ,baptists1   

,congregationalists1 and ,united        
,methodists have declared their         
willingness to proceed to closer union  
on this basis4 ,but the ,presbyterians  
and ,wesleyan ,methodists have referred 
it back for further consideration4      
,rightly and naturally both of these    
denominations are more concerned for the
 moment with measures for union within  
their own borders4 ,the ,presbyterians  
are looking to a reunion of the         
,established and ,free ,churches in     
,scotland1 while a great scheme for the 
reunion of all the ,methodist bodies is 
before the ,wesleyan ,conference4 ,if   
this can be carried out it should not   
prejudice but rather be in favour of any
 scheme for wider ,free ,church ,union4 
,nothing that has been done so far among
 the ,free ,churches is likely in any   
way to hinder the fulfilment of the     
desire which is now widely felt on all  
sides for better relations with the     
,anglican ,church4 ,it can easily be    
understood from the difficulties that   

have already emerged in the way of      
closer union among the ,free ,churches  
how much more difficult is the prospect 
of union with ,anglicanism4 ,there is no
 doubt that denominational feeling is   
still very strong among the rank and    
file of the churches4 ,in spite of the  
changes which have taken place in       
emphasis and conditions in modern church
 thought1 each denomination realises    
that it stands for something positive   
and is anxious to give its positive     
witness in the best possible way4 ,it   
has therefore been an essential of      
reunion that any scheme proposed shall  
not interfere with the autonomy of any  
individual denomination and shall allow 
full scope for its genius4 ,it is       
equally necessary that this should be   
preserved in any scheme contemplated for
 reunion with ,anglicanism4 ,the ,free  
,churches are not disposed to bate      
anything of their freedom or to sink    
their identity in any national church4  
,if1 however1 any scheme can be devised 

which will preserve their individuality 
and give them scope for their special   
witness and at the same time avoid the  
dissensions and divisions which have so 
marred their relations with ,anglicanism
 in the past it is likely to meet with a
 very warm welcome4 ,the war has brought
 home to all thinking men in the        
churches the imperative need that there 
is for closer union and for a more      
united testimony4 ,and they are         
conscious that if they are to face the  
increasing difficulties of the future   
all the churches must be able to stand  
together1 to cooperate in ,christian    
service1 and to speak with one voice4   
,it is therefore regarded by them as a  
welcome sign of the times that there    
should be a world-wide desire for       
,christian reunion1 and that this should
 have begun to take practical shape just
 before the outbreak of the war4 ,the   
movement was initiated by the           
,protestant ,episcopal ,church of       
,america supported by practically all   

the churches in that country4 ,it first 
took shape in proposals for a world-wide
 conference on ,faith and ,order with a 
view of promoting the visible unity of  
the body of ,christ4 ,but for the war   
this conference would have been held    
already1 but under existing             
circumstances the work has had to be    
confined to preparations for it on both 
sides of the ,atlantic4 ,in this country
 the work has been mainly done by a     
joint ,conference1 consisting of        
representatives of the ,committee       
appointed by the ,archbishops of        
,canterbury and ,york1 and of           
commissions appointed by the various    
,free ,churches1 in order to promote the
 ,faith and ,order movement4 ,this      
,conference has held repeated meetings  
in the historic ,jerusalem ,chamber at  
,westminster and elsewhere1 and has     
published two interim reports ,towards  
,christian ,unity which are of the      
utmost importance4 ,these reports       
represent the work of a sub-committee   

but have received the general sanction  
of the whole ,conference4 ,the first    
report contains the following statement 
of agreement on matters of faith1 which 
is offered not as a creed for           
subscription1 or as committing in any   
way the churches thus represented1 but  
as indicating a large measure of        
substantial agreement and also as       
affording material for further          
investigation and consideration3        
,a ,,statement ,,of ,,agreement ,,on    
,,matters ,,of ,,faith        ,we1 who  
belong to different ,christian          
,communions and are engaged in      the 
discussion of questions of ,faith and   
,order1 desire to affirm      our       
agreement upon certain foundation truths
 as the basis of a      spiritual and   
rational creed and life for all mankind4
 ,we express      them as follows3      
7#a7 ,as ,christians we believe that1   
while there is some knowledge of        
,god to be found among all races of men 
and some measure of divine      grace   

and help is present to all1 a unique1   
progressive and      redemptive         
revelation of ,himself was given by ,god
 to the ,hebrew      people through the 
agency of inspired prophets1 in many    
parts and      in many manners1 and that
 this revelation reaches its culmination
      and completeness in ,one ,who is  
more than a prophet1 ,who is the        
,incarnate ,son of ,god1 our ,saviour   
and our ,lord1 ,jesus ,christ4          
7#b7 ,this distinctive revelation1      
accepted as the word of ,god1 is        
the basis of the life of the ,christian 
,church and is intended to be      the  
formative influence upon the mind and   
character of the      individual        
believer4       7#c7 ,this word of ,god 
is contained in the ,old and ,new       
,testaments and      constitutes the    
permanent spiritual value of the ,bible4
       7#d7 ,the root and centre of this
 revelation1 as intellectually          
interpreted1 consists in a positive and 
highly distinctive doctrine      of     

,god--,his nature1 character and will4  
,from this doctrine of ,god      follows
 a certain sequence of doctrines        
concerning creation1 human      nature  
and destiny1 sin1 individual and racial1
 redemption through      the incarnation
 of the ,son of ,god and ,his atoning   
death and      resurrection1 the mission
 and operation of the ,holy ,spirit1 the
      ,holy ,trinity1 the ,church1 the  
last things1 and ,christian life and    
duty1 individual and social3 all these  
cohere with and follow from      this   
doctrine of ,god4       7#e7 ,since     
,christianity offers an historical      
revelation of ,god1 the      coherence  
and sequence of ,christian doctrine     
involve a necessary      synthesis of   
idea and fact such as is presented to us
 in the ,new      ,testament and in the 
,apostles' and ,nicene ,creeds3 and     
these ,creeds      both in their        
statements of historical fact and in    
their statements      of doctrine affirm
 essential elements of the ,christian   

faith as      contained in ,scripture1  
which the ,church could never abandon   
without abandoning its basis in the word
 of ,god4       7#f7 ,we hold that there
 is no contradiction between the        
acceptance      of the miracles recited 
in the ,creeds and the acceptance of the
      principle of order in nature as   
assumed in scientific enquiry1 and      
we hold equally that the acceptance of  
miracles is not forbidden by      the   
historical evidence candidly and        
impartially investigated by             
critical methods4   ,this was followed  
by a statement of agreement on matters  
relating to order as follows3           
,with thankfulness to the ,head of the  
,church for the spirit of unity      ,he
 has shed abroad in our hearts we go on 
to express our common      conviction on
 the following matters3       7#a7 ,that
 it is the purpose of our ,lord that    
believers in ,him should      be1 as in 
the beginning they were1 one visible    
society--,his body      with many       

members--which in every age and place   
should maintain the      communion of   
saints in the unity of the ,spirit and  
should be      capable of a common      
witness and a common activity4          
7#b7 ,that our ,lord ordained1 in       
addition to the preaching of ,his       
,gospel1 the ,sacraments of ,baptism and
 of the ,lord's ,supper1 as not         
only declaratory symbols1 but also      
effective channels of ,his grace        
and gifts for the salvation and         
sanctification of men1 and that         
these ,sacraments being essentially     
social ordinances were intended      to 
affirm the obligation of corporate      
fellowship as well as      individual   
confession of ,him4       7#c7 ,that our
 ,lord1 in addition to the bestowal of  
the ,holy ,spirit      in a variety of  
gifts and graces upon the whole ,church1
 also      conferred upon it by the     
self-same ,spirit a ,ministry of        
manifold      gifts and functions1 to   
maintain the unity and continuity of its

      witness and work4   ,in subsequent
 discussions a very considerable advance
 was made on the positions here laid    
down4 ,it was felt that if ever reunion 
was to become a reality the question of 
order must be frankly faced1 and the    
following statements were put forth for 
the consideration of the churches       
concerned1 not as a final solution1 but 
as the necessary basis for discussion in
 framing a practical scheme3        #a4 
,that continuity with the historic      
,episcopate should be      effectively  
preserved4       #b4 ,that in order that
 the rights and responsibilities of the 
whole      ,christian community in the  
government of the ,church may be        
adequately recognised1 the ,episcopate  
should re-assume a      constitutional  
form1 both as regards the method of the 
election of      the bishop as by clergy
 and people1 and the method of          
government      after election4 ,it is  
perhaps necessary that we should call to
 mind      that such was the primitive  

ideal and practice of ,episcopacy and it
      so remains in many ,episcopal     
communions to-day4       #c4 ,that      
acceptance of the fact of ,episcopacy   
and not any theory as      to its       
character should be all that is asked   
for4 ,we think that      this may be the
 more easily taken for granted as the   
acceptance of      any such theory is   
not now required of ministers of the    
,church of      ,england4 ,it would no  
doubt be necessary before any           
arrangement for      corporate reunion  
could be made to discuss the exact      
functions      which it may be agreed to
 recognise as belonging to the          
,episcopate1      but we think this can 
be left to the future4   ,the first     
point to note in regard to the work of  
this ,conference is the remarkable      
unanimity achieved in regard to         
,christian doctrine4 ,while there is no 
intention of binding any of the parties 
to the ipsissima verba of any doctrinal 
declaration1 but rather every desire to 

allow for varieties of expression1 it is
 now perfectly clear that there is among
 all the churches concerned a           
substantial agreement on the main and   
essential matters of the ,christian     
faith4 ,this supplies the most real and 
hopeful basis for the vital union of    
churches thus minded1 and makes their   
continued separation and antagonism     
intolerable4 ,the more closely this     
aspect of the situation is explored the 
more clearly does it lead to the        
conclusion that those who are so largely
 one in aim1 intention1 and desire      
should find some genuine and practical  
expression of their unity4 ,the question
 of church order is more difficult2 but 
here again much has happened of late to 
justify a reconsideration of the        
position on both sides4 ,on the one hand
 recent investigations into early church
 history have shewn that no one form of 
church government can claim exclusive   
scriptural or ,apostolic authority4     
,under the guidance of the ,spirit of   

,god the ,church has in the past adapted
 herself and her organization to the    
needs of the times in order the better  
to do the work of the ,kingdom4 ,men are
 coming now to see that the test of a   
true ,church is not conformity to type  
but effectiveness in fulfilling the will
 of her ,lord1 and that therefore       
organization need not be of a single    
uniform type4 ,so we find denominations 
like the ,baptists and                  
,congregationalists setting up          
superintendents 7overseers1 ,bishops7   
over their churches because the needs of
 the time demand such supervision4 ,and 
on the other hand we find ,anglicans    
inclining to exchange prelacy for a more
 modest and elective form of episcopacy4
 ,in this respect the two extremes are  
drawing together to an extent which     
would have been incredible twenty years 
ago1 and1 given good will1 it should be 
possible to find even here a real modus 
vivendi4  ,the same may be said with    
regard to other movements which have    

been recently set on foot in the        
direction of a better common            
understanding between ,anglicans and    
,free ,churchmen4 ,it is recognised that
 one of the greatest obstacles is still 
the so-called religious education       
controversy4 ,both sides are becoming a 
little ashamed of their attitude to this
 question in the past4 ,they realise    
that the true interests of education    
have been gravely imperilled by making  
it a bone of contention among the       
churches1 and they are beginning to look
 at the whole matter afresh from the    
point of view of the good of the child  
rather than from that of their          
denominational interests4 ,some         
important conferences have been held at 
,lambeth in the course of which the     
,bishop of ,oxford has put forth a      
scheme for relegating the conduct of    
religious teaching in the elementary    
schools to interdenominational          
committees elected ad hoc4 ,this scheme 
is still under discussion and at the    

moment is not regarded very favourably  
by extremists on either side1 but it is 
all to the good that the matter should  
have been raised in so friendly and     
conciliatory a spirit and1 whenever the 
time is ripe1 it may be hoped that the  
way to agreement will be more open than 
it has ever been yet4  ,further the rise
 and rapid growth of the ,life and      
,liberty movement within the            
,established ,church is something like a
 portent and one that ,nonconformists   
cannot but regard with the deepest      
interest and sympathy4 ,they may perhaps
 be forgiven if they see in it an       
attempt to win from within the ,church  
just those privileges and liberties for 
the sake of which their ancestors came  
out many years ago4 ,with a great price 
they bought this freedom and they       
rejoice in this new movement as a real  
vindication of the cause for which they 
have so long contended and as           
representing a body of opinion within   
the establishment the existence of      

which1 whatever may be its immediate    
result1 is sure to make a common        
understanding in the future more        
attainable4 ,they may have serious      
doubts whether the aims of the movement 
are ever to be obtained without the     
,disestablishment of the ,church1 but   
for all that they wish it well and      
rejoice in the spirit to which it       
points4  ,one more sign of the times may
 be mentioned4 ,during the last #ah     
months yet another ,conference has been 
set on foot1 this time between          
,nonconformists and ,evangelical        
,anglicans1 and has come very near to a 
common understanding on such vital      
matters as intercommunion and           
interchange of pulpits4 ,it is          
recognised that there can be no real    
,christian unity without such           
interchange1 and the fact that a growing
 number of ,anglican clergy are prepared
 to discuss the question and that there 
is no real difficulty on the            
,nonconformist side is again a ground of

 hope4 ,it should be understood however 
that on the ,nonconformist side there is
 no desire for universal and            
indiscriminate facilities in the        
directions indicated4 ,they do not want 
a kind of general post among the pulpits
 of the land1 nor do they ask that their
 people should desert their own         
ordinances for those of the ,established
 ,church4 ,their people indeed have no  
such desire4 ,they love the simplicity  
and homeliness of their own communion   
services and would not exchange them if 
they could4 ,but they do feel that to be
 debarred from communicating when there 
is no church of their own order         
available is a real hardship1 and they  
know that nothing would make for comity 
among the churches so surely as an      
occasional interchange of pulpits4 ,they
 recognise that it would all have to be 
carried out in due order and under      
conditions1 and as long as the          
conditions cast no reflexion on their   
orders1 or on the ,christian standing of

 their members1 they would loyally      
accept them4 ,under exceptional         
circumstances and given due             
authorization on both sides1 it might be
 possible to do openly what is often now
 done in a more or less clandestine way4
 ,there is a growing body of opinion on 
both sides which would be favourable to 
such a course and it is certain that    
more will be heard of it after the war4 
,this leads up to another consideration 
which our ecclesiastical authorities    
would do well to bear in mind4 ,for a   
long time past younger men and women in 
all the churches have been accustomed to
 meet together in the various           
,fellowships and the ,student movement4 
,they have learnt to work and pray      
together1 to know one another's mind and
 to realise their fundamental oneness of
 spirit and aim4 ,it must be remembered 
that these are the men and women in     
whose hands the future of the churches1 
humanly speaking1 lies1 and they will   
not tolerate an indefinite prospect of  

sectarian division and strife4 ,while   
loyal to their own denominations they   
have seen a wider and more glorious     
vision1 and they are already prepared   
for very definite steps in the direction
 of closer relations4 ,the new and      
better spirit which they represent is   
spreading rapidly among the rank and    
file in the churches1 and has been      
strongly reinforced by experiences at   
the front4 ,there1 under the rude stress
 of war1 denominational exclusiveness   
has frankly broken down and attempts to 
maintain it have excited universal      
resentment and disgust4 ,there is no    
doubt that after the war there will be a
 strong public opinion in favour of     
better relations among the churches1 and
 no church or section of a church that  
clings to the old exclusiveness will be 
able to retain any hold upon the people4
 ,in this case at least it may be       
assumed that for once vox populi is vox 
dei4  ,there is indeed every reason to  
believe that opinion outside the        

churches is more ripe for action than   
within them4 ,on both sides there is    
need for something like an educational  
campaign on the subject of reunion and  
of the duty of ,christians in regard to 
it4 ,difficulties have to be faced of a 
very serious kind4 ,on the              
,nonconformist side there are still many
 who feel very keenly the burden of the 
disabilities from which they have       
suffered1 and to some extent still      
suffer4 ,they know that in some country 
districts ,nonconformists are subjected 
to petty social persecutions1 and that  
their boys or girls who wish to become  
elementary school teachers are          
handicapped from the outset4 ,many of   
them have been brought up on bitter     
memories1 and their inherited hostility 
to the ,state establishment of religion 
does not incline them to any            
rapprochement with its representatives4 
,it is well that these facts should be  
faced1 for they shew the need there is  
for the ,free ,churches to educate their

 own people4  ,to all this we have to   
add the vis inertiae which operates in  
all the churches alike4 ,many of them   
are entirely satisfied with things as   
they are1 and are only anxious that we  
should let well alone4 ,there is too    
among certain of the denominations a    
self-satisfaction amounting almost to   
,pharisaism4 ,they are very busy with   
their own work and devoted to their     
denominational interests1 and1 so long  
as these can be maintained1 they do not 
see the use of agitations for reunion4  
,they do not believe that they have     
anything to gain from it and therefore  
they let it alone4  ,the same spirit    
shews itself too on the ,anglican side  
and there becomes a serious obstacle to 
any advance4 ,there are those who regard
 the ,church of ,england1 as by law     
established1 as the only possible       
,church for ,england1 and they cannot   
imagine why any people should want to   
change its present position4 ,dissenters
 they say are outsiders and schismatics1

 and must be left to go their own way4  
,they should be thankful for the        
toleration which has been extended to   
them and not abuse it by asking for     
more4 ,for all this kind of thing there 
is only one remedy1 and that is a wider 
vision1 and for this all ,christians of 
good will should strenuously work and   
pray4 ,it should surely be obvious that 
we can no longer treat any church or    
denomination as an end in itself4 ,all  
alike exist for the great end of the    
,kingdom of ,god and are to be judged by
 their efficiency in promoting that end 
among men4 ,so no system of church order
 can be regarded as of divine right in  
itself but only so far as it becomes a  
channel of the ,spirit of ,god and      
mediates ,his gifts to men4 ,all the    
churches as we know them to-day have    
grown up in controversy and represent a 
long process of development and         
adaptation4 ,if we are to test them it  
should not be by the more or less       
artificial standards of any one age in  

their history1 but rather by the spirit1
 and temper1 and intentions of their    
,lord and ,master ,jesus ,christ4 ,when 
this is done1 the differences between   
them fall into their proper proportions 
in view of the failure which is common  
to them all4 ,on these terms too will   
the old antagonisms become a generous   
rivalry in good works and each church be
 ready to seek the welfare of others in 
the common interests of the ,kingdom    
which they all serve4  ,so far we have  
dealt largely with the past and with the
 various movements in the direction of  
unity which have been set on foot4 ,it  
now remains to say something of the     
motives which inspire and the principles
 which underlie them4 ,first and        
foremost is the fact that it is the will
 of our ,lord that ,his people should be
 one4 ,this does not mean surely any    
mere uniformity of organization but     
unity of spirit1 heart1 and will4 ,we   
seek this chiefly because it is a right 
thing4 ,anything short of it is evil4   

,the ,christian faith rests ultimately  
on the ,fatherhood of ,god and the      
brotherhood of man1 and these can only  
be made real when all ,christians accept
 them and make them the ground and basis
 of their relations with one another4   
,here we need to appeal to the          
conscience of the churches and challenge
 them to put the first things first and 
learn in the love of the brethren the   
love and service of ,god and ,his       
,church4 ,then we are bound to recognise
 in the next place that this unity is   
the prime condition of successful work  
and witness4 ,the tasks awaiting the    
churches in the immediate future are    
gigantic and only as they stand together
 and learn to speak and act as one have 
they any chance of accomplishing them4  
,they have to evangelize the world1 and 
for this they will need above all things
 a common faith1 a common witness1 and a
 common sacrifice4 ,they have to leaven 
society with the aims and principles of 
,jesus ,christ1 to bring ,his spirit to 

bear on all social1 political1          
commercial1 and industrial undertakings1
 and for this too they will need the    
united weight of all their influence and
 the passion of a great common crusade4 
,the devil is a great master of strategy
 and knows that if he can keep our      
forces divided there is nothing in them 
that need be feared4 ,we must therefore 
close up our ranks and present a united 
front1 not merely as a measure of       
self-preservation but in order to do    
well the work that has been committed to
 us4 ,this will involve some real       
self-sacrifice on the part of us all1   
but it is the way the ,master went and  
,his followers must not shrink from it4 
,if we but keep our eyes fixed on the   
great vision of the ,kingdom which ,he  
opened before us1 we shall not faint but
 go forward steadfastly and together    
until the kingdoms of this world have   
become the ,kingdom of ,god and of ,his 
,christ4     ,,unity ,,between          
,,christian ,,denominations     ,,iv4   

,,the ,,scottish ,,problem  ,by the     
,very ,rev4 ,,james ,,cooper1 ,d4,d41   
,litt4,d41 ,d4,c4,l41 ,v4,d4   ,the very
 appearance of this subject on the      
programme of the ,,cambridge ,,summer   
,,meeting1 and still more the fact that 
it has been entrusted to ministers of   
different ,christian denominations--one 
of them1 too1 from across the           
,border--are signs of a remarkable      
change that has come over--we may       
say--the whole ,christian people of     
,great ,britain4  ,our island was1 till 
not so long ago1 emphatically a land of 
different1 and diverging churches and   
denominations1 unashamed of their       
separation2 nay1 boasting their         
exclusiveness1 or their dissidence1     
commemorating with pride their          
secessions and disruptions4 ,and even   
when they began to see something of the 
evils such tempers and such acts had    
brought in their train--the wastefulness
 of them1 in regard alike to money1 to  
men's toil1 and gifts given by ,god for 

the use of the whole ,church but        
confined in their exercise to some small
 section2--the injury to character1 the 
multiform self-righteousness engendered 
by our schisms1 the breaches of         
,christian justice and charity2--the    
treatment of that whole ,mediaeval      
,period to which we owe so much1 as if  
it had been one dark age of heathen     
blindness2--and1 again1 the hindrances  
to ,christian work at home and          
especially abroad1--when uneasiness over
 these results began to shew itself1 the
 recognition of the evil expressed      
itself at first in ways hardly          
indicative of any depth of penitence1 or
 conducive to any practical measures for
 the healing of the wrong4 ,we had in   
one quarter ,evangelical ,alliances1    
which put a new stigma on huge portions 
of the ,church of ,god1 yet left those  
who took part in their meetings         
contented in their own divisions4 ,in   
other quarters--probably in both the    
established ,churches of our            

island--there was a tendency 7and more7 
to look down on ,dissenters as such1 to 
ignore even their reasonable grievances1
 to ask more from them than either ,holy
 ,scripture or early tradition could    
warrant1 and to disparage unions that   
were possible and urgent as likely to   
put new difficulties in the way of that 
further and perfect union of all who    
believe in ,christ which alone ,he has  
promised1 and for which alone ,he tells 
us that ,he prays4  ,i should be the    
very last to deprecate either prayer or 
effort to advance this perfect end4 ,it 
ought to be the ultimate aim of all of  
us1 since it is ,christ's4 ,we must do  
nothing to hinder it3 we must do all    
that may be lawful for us to promote it4
 ,but it should be pointed out to such  
as look exclusively towards the ,east   
and ,rome1 first1 that a juster view of 
those great ,churches--great gain as it 
is--affords little excuse for ignoring  
the ,churches of the ,reformation1 and  
for leaving the large numbers of devout 

,christians in the lesser sects without 
either the hope or the means of         
supplying defects which are now1 for the
 most part1 rather inherited than       
chosen2 second1 that the divisions and  
variations among all who in ,east or    
,west1 in ,england or in ,scotland1 in  
the #aath or the #afth century1 felt    
themselves bound to repudiate the ,papal
 ,supremacy1 have supplied1 and still   
supply1 the ,papacy with a chief weapon 
against all of us alike1 and in favour  
of those extreme pretensions which have 
been a chief cause of1 and remain a     
chief obstacle to reunion2 and third1   
that nothing is more likely to bring    
about that kinder attitude toward the   
,east and us which we desiderate on the 
part of ,rome than a large and generous 
measure here and in ,america of ,home   
,reunion--effected1 of course 7as it can
 only be effected71 on the basis of the 
,catholic ,creeds1 a worship in the     
beauty of holiness1 and the ,apostolic  
,ministry4  ,anyhow1 this is what we are

 finding in ,scotland4 ,scotland1 ,i    
know1 is but a little bit of the world3 
its largest churches small in comparison
 with those of ,england and the ,united 
,states1 not to speak of the vast       
communions of ,rome and of the ,east4   
,but the experience even of a small part
 may intimate what may be looked for in 
much larger sections of what after all  
is essentially the same body4 ,for the  
,church1 the ,body of ,christ1 in all   
lands and in all ages is one in spite of
 its divisions4 ,christ is not divided4 
,it is subjective unity not objective   
which in the ,church on earth is at     
present1 through our sins1 suspended4   
,well1 in ,scotland2 where1 let me      
remind you1 the confession of ,christ   
alike as ,king of the ,nations and ,king
 in ,zion1 and of the visible ,church as
 ,his ,kingdom on earth1 was never laid 
aside1 either in the ,national ,church  
or in the churches which separated from 
it 7we laid aside much that we should   
have done well to keep1 but we stuck    

manfully to this72 we have had within   
recent times quite a number of          
incorporating unions2 including two of  
considerable note--the union in #ahdg   
which brought together in the ,united   
,presbyterian ,church the two main      
sections of our #ahth century ,seceders1
 and the union of #aijj of the ,united  
,presbyterians with the great mass of   
the ,free ,church of #ahdc--the union   
that has given us the ,united ,free     
,church4 ,i doubt if to either of these 
unions the hope of a future ,catholic   
,reunion contributed1 at the time1 much 
or anything4 ,i know there were some in 
the ,church of ,scotland who fancied1   
and alleged1 that the union of #aijj was
 engineered with no friendly purpose    
towards us4 ,but what has been the      
outcome8 ,both of these unions3--partial
 in themselves--have tended1 in the     
result1 very materially to de-,calvinize
 7if ,i may coin the word7 the general  
,presbyterianism of ,scotland1 and break
 down narrow prejudices1 to widen the   

outlook and enlarge the sympathies of   
those who took part in them4 ,the       
second1 and greater of these unions1    
that of #aijj 7suspected then1 as ,i    
have said71 proved1 within eight short  
years1 to be the very thing to pave the 
way for the opening1 between the ,church
 of ,scotland and the ,united ,free     
,church1 of those official negotiations 
for an incorporating union which promise
 now to give us ere long a ,church of   
,scotland1 not complete1 indeed--not    
embracing even all the ,presbyterians of
 ,scotland1 and greatly needing the     
,scottish ,episcopalians--but still a   
,church which will include an immense   
preponderance of the ,scottish people2  
which will be able to cover the whole   
country with not inadequate             
organizations2 which will be freer also 
than it is at present to enter into     
further unions2 which will remain--what 
it has ever been--both national and     
orthodox2 and will continue1 ,i believe1
 to go on rapidly resuming many of those

 touching1 reverent1 and churchly usages
 which in the heats of the #afth and    
#agth centuries it unwisely threw away  
or1 less excusably1 gave up in the      
coldness of the #ahth4 ,we have still   
some beautiful old usages1 as well as   
enviable liberties and powers4 ,and even
 in the #ahth century we kept the ,faith
 against ,arian and ,socinian heresy3   
even then1 our sacramental teaching     
could be high3 even then1 the doctrine  
and the practice alike of the           
,established ,church and the ,seceders  
were clear and strong on the derivation 
of the ,ministry from ,christ1 and the  
,apostolical succession of our          
ministers1 and yours1 through           
presbyters4  ,for myself1 ,i suggested  
in #aijg1 when it was proposed in our   
,general ,assembly to open these        
negotiations1 that we should attempt a  
larger duty1 and approach all the       
reformed ,churches in ,scotland4 ,i was 
over-ruled4 ,it was held wiser in the   
meantime 7they gave me this much7 to    

confine our invitation to the ,united   
,free ,church4  ,the ,scottish          
,episcopal ,church appeared to be of    
this mind also2 and those in her and    
among us who have long looked wistfully 
towards our union with her and with the 
,church of ,england are already finding 
that our present effort 7limited as it  
is7 is proving not an obstacle1 as some 
of us feared1 but a powerful impetus    
towards the larger effort4 ,the union   
seems likely to clear away hindrances to
 an extent we never dreamed of4 ,it is  
opening up the wider prospect among an  
increasing number not in the ,church of 
,scotland only1 but emphatically also in
 the ,united ,free ,church4 ,on all     
hands it is recognised in ,scotland that
 the official limitation of the ,union  
horizon is only temporary3--,i quote    
from the ,annual ,report for this year  
of the ,scottish ,church ,society3      
,no one is content to accept the        
contemplated union1 should it be        
accomplished1 as exhaustive4 ,we all    

wait for a fuller manifestation      of 
the ,grace of ,god4 ,at this season of  
,pentecost we dream our      dreams and 
see our visions of that great and       
notable day when all      who name the  
,one ,name shall be one4   ,the witness 
of the ,scottish ,church ,society may   
seem to some one-sided3 here is a       
witness from the other side1 of a date  
more recent than last ,may2 from a      
pamphlet just issued by the venerable   
,dr ,william ,mair1 the first and most  
persevering of the advocates of our     
present enterprise4 ,his words impress  
me as very touching in their transparent
 honesty3        ,it is thirteen years  
7he writes7 since ,i first spoke out in 
the      form of a pamphlet4 ,no man    
stood with me4 ,hard things were said of
      me4 ,i believed it to be the will 
of the ,,head of the ,church1 the       
,,lord ,,jesus ,,christ1 that there     
should be union of ,his ,church in      
,scotland1 and primarily that its two   
great ,churches should be one4      ,i  

have never for a single moment doubted  
that ,his will would be      fulfilled1 
or that it was the duty of these        
,churches to set      themselves1 under 
,his guidance1 with resolute purpose to 
work out      its fulfilment4   ,observe
 his primarily3 he quite recognises 7,i 
have his authority for saying so7 the   
further obligation4 ,and no wonder3 he  
is clear as to the one great and supreme
 motive that should inspire all efforts 
for ,church ,reunion--faith in the ,lord
 ,jesus ,christ1 and the obedience of   
faith which the true confession of ,his 
,deity involves4  ,the will of the ,lord
 in regard to the visible unity of ,his 
whole ,church is plain3 ,other sheep ,i 
have which are not of this fold3 them   
also ,i must lead2 and they shall hear  
,my voice1 and there shall be one flock1
 one ,shepherd4 ,no doubt there is a    
difference between a fold 7,greek3 anl7 
and a flock 7,greek3 poimn71 between the
 racial unity of the ,jewish            
,dispensation and the ,catholic and     

international character impressed from  
the beginning on the ,christian ,church4
 ,but a flock is as visible as a fold   
is4 ,we can see the one moving along the
 road under the shepherd's guidance just
 as distinctly as we see the other      
gleaming white on the hillside1 or      
raising its turf-capped walls above the 
level of the moor4 ,we can see1 of      
course1 if the walls of a fold are      
broken down2 but we can see also whether
 a flock is united1 whether it is moving
 forward as one mass1 or is broken up   
and scattered4 ,such separations might  
be well enough if the different little  
companies were all going quietly on in  
one way2 though even then their breaking
 up would argue on the one hand a       
portentous failure in that recognition  
of the shepherd's voice and the         
obedience to him which is due to his    
loving care1 and on the other hand a    
strange lack of that gregariousness     
which is an instinct in the healthy     
sheep4 ,but what if the sheep are seen  

running hither and thither in different 
directions3 if they are found labouring 
to explain the inadvisability--nay1 the 
impossibility--of their ever coming into
 line2 if we see them instead crossing  
each other's path1 starting from each   
other1 jostling and butting one another1
 continually getting into situations    
provocative of fights and injuries8  ,is
 this the kind of picture which the     
,lord ,jesus has drawn of ,his ,flock1  
,his ,church as ,he wishes1 and intends1
 that it should be3 is this what ,he    
promises that it shall be8  ,christ made
 ,his ,church one at the beginning3 the 
rulers ,he set over it were all with one
 accord in one place2 the multitude of  
them that believed were of one heart and
 of one soul4 ,and when the ,gentiles   
had been brought in1 what care did the  
,apostles take lest the new departure   
should cause a separation along a line  
made obsolete by the ,cross of ,christ2 
and with what adoring admiration does   
,st ,paul gaze at the delightful        

spectacle of ,jew and ,gentile made one 
new man in ,christ ,jesus--where1 he    
cries1 there cannot be ,greek and ,jew1 
circumcision and uncircumcision1        
barbarian1 ,scythian1 bondman1 freeman1 
but ,christ is all1 and in all4  ,in    
matters of rank and race and colour all 
our denominations retain this ,apostolic
 ,catholicity4 ,how inconsistent to     
maintain it there1 and repudiate it when
 we come to such differences as mostly  
separate us6 ,these are differences far 
more of temper than of creed1 or even of
 worship or government4 ,we say1        
sometimes1 that we are one in spirit3   
not so2 it is just in spirit that we    
have been divided4 ,in creed and        
organisation both1 and in temper as     
well1 the ,church of ,apostolic times   
was visibly one4 ,see how these         
,christians love one another was the    
comment of the heathen onlooker4 ,this  
state of things continued for a long    
time4 ,gibbon enumerates the ,church's  
unity and discipline1 which go together1

 as among the secondary causes of that  
wonderful spread of the ,gospel in the  
first three centuries4  ,the revived1   
broadened1 and more candid study1 alike 
of the ,new ,testament and of ,church   
,history throughout its entire course1  
is one of the ways in which the ,good   
,shepherd has been leading us to see    
alike the disobedience of our divisions1
 and the small foundation there is for  
many of the points over which we have   
been fighting4  ,happily too1 we do not 
now need to argue in favour of visible  
and organic unity4 ,the once popular    
apologies for separation which asserted 
the sufficiency of 'spiritual' union1   
and the stimulating virtues of rivalry  
and competition1 have become obsolete4  
,more happily still1 we have learned    
practically to appreciate the difference
 between our ,saviour's gentle ,i must  
lead 7,greek3 dei me agagein7 and our   
forefathers' various attempts to produce
 uniformity by driving4 ,the reproach of
 that sinful blunder is one that none of

 our greater ,churches--,roman1         
,anglican1 ,presbyterian1 or            
,puritan--can cast in another's teeth4  
,each of us committed it in our day of  
triumph4 ,what fruit had we then in     
those things whereof we are now ashamed8
 ,the memory--one-sided1 and carefully  
cultivated--of what each suffered in its
 turn of adversity has hitherto been a  
potent agency for keeping us apart4     
,to-day those memories are fading4 ,i   
was much struck by a remark ,i heard    
last spring from the ,bishop of         
,southwark1 that one reason why we are  
more ready nowadays to contemplate      
reunion is just that we belong to a     
generation to whom those miserable      
doings are far-off things outside alike 
our experience and our expectation4  ,in
 other ways also we discern leadings of 
,our ,saviour to the same end4  ,through
 ,whitefield and the ,wesleys1 and the  
,evangelical ,revival1 ,he re-awakened  
the peoples of ,england and ,america to 
a keen sense of the need for personal   

religion4 ,where these powerful agencies
 had the defects of their qualities1 in 
their failure to appreciate aright ,his 
gracious ordinances of ,church and      
,ministry and ,sacrament1 ,he rectified 
the balance by giving us in due course  
the ,oxford ,movement1 whose force is   
not spent1 but diffused through all our 
denominations4 ,let us be just to the   
,oxford ,movement3 without it1 humanly  
speaking1 we should not have been here  
to-day4 ,if it had its own narrownesses1
 it revived the very studies which1     
while they have revealed the inadequacy 
of certain of its postulates1 have also 
brought clear into the view of all of us
 the ,divine goal which now gleams      
glorious in front of us--the goal of the
 great ,apostle--the building up of the 
,body of ,christ3 till we all attain    
unto the unity of the ,faith1 and of the
 knowledge of the ,son of ,god1 unto a  
full-grown man1 unto the measure of the 
stature of the fulness of ,christ4  ,a  
,scotsman may be excused for referring  

to the debt which the leaders of the    
,oxford ,movement--,dr ,pusey in        
particular was always ready to admit    
it--owed to ,sir ,walter ,scott1        
particularly in re-awakening a more     
sympathetic interest in the ,mediaeval  
,church4 ,if ,sir ,walter's countrymen  
were slower to follow him in this       
matter1 they are doing so now in        
unexpected quarters4 ,we are full to-day
 of the ,american alliance3 may ,i      
remind you that ,sir ,walter ,scott was 
the first ,british man of letters to    
hail the early promise of ,american     
literature by his cordial welcome to its
 representative1 ,washington ,irving8   
,scott was a devoted subject of the     
,british ,monarchy2 but he saw1 and he  
insisted on1 the duty of ,great ,britain
 to cultivate a warm friendship with the
 ,united ,states4  ,in the same         
direction we have been led in days more 
recent by the large development1 in all 
our denominations1 of two main branches 
of ,christian work4 ,i refer to         

,missionary enterprise abroad and       
,social service at home4 ,our           
ecclesiastical divisions are a serious  
handicap to both4 ,in a matter more     
vital still1 that of the ,religious--the
 ,christian--,education in our ,schools 
and ,colleges1 our divisions have       
sometimes proved well-nigh fatal4 ,the  
one remedy is that we make up our       
differences and come together4  ,and now
 this ,war1 so dreadful in itself1 is   
helping powerfully1 and in many ways1 to
 the same end4 ,it is bringing us       
together at home1 and making us         
acquainted with1 and appreciative of1   
each other in a thousand forms of united
 service4 ,it has spread before our eyes
 the magnificent and inspiring          
spectacles of ,colonial loyalty1 of one 
military command over the ,allied       
,forces1 of the cordial and enthusiastic
 support of a fully-reconciled ,america4
 ,shall the children of this world be   
wiser than the children of light8 ,shall
 the ,church neglect the lesson read to 

her by the statesmen and the warriors8  
,then1 again1 the cause for which we are
 in arms is--most happily--not          
denominational4 ,the present ,war is not
 in the least like those hateful1 if    
necessary1 struggles which historians   
have entitled ,the ,wars of ,religion3  
but it is1 on the part of the ,entente1 
essentially and fundamentally           
,christian--more profoundly so than the 
,crusades themselves4 ,that is why it is
 bringing us so markedly together4 ,and1
 if this is its effect at home and in   
,america1 much more is it producing the 
same result among our chaplains and our 
,christian workers at the ,front4 ,they 
are finding1 on the one hand1 the       
limitations1 or faults1 of every one of 
our stereotyped methods of work and     
forms of worship2 they are seeing on the
 other hand among each other            
excellencies where they only saw        
defects4 ,they are brought together in  
admiring comradeship1 which resents the 
shackles restrictive of its play4 ,let  

me read to you a passage from a letter  
,i received a fortnight since from an   
eminent ,anglican chaplain now serving  
with our troops in ,france3        ,i   
see 7he says7 in this great war all the 
excrescences--the      non-essentials   
which up till now have masqueraded and  
misled so      many religious and       
non-religious men--drop off in the light
 of      great realities2 and ,i have   
seen in the eyes of all true lovers of  
our ,,lord1 chaplains and laity1 a      
wistful longing to unite1 and           
mobilize our spiritual forces now       
dissipated and ineffective      through 
disunion4 ,what we look for more and    
more is a man1 so      filled with the  
,,spirit of ,,god--so free from         
ambition1 covetousness1                 
denominationalism1 with a big heart and 
deep love1 to make a plunge      and    
start4 ,we may be able to start out     
here1 if we have the      good-will of  
our leaders at home4   ,i think ,i may  
safely assure my correspondent that he  

has the good-will of all the living     
leaders of all our denominations8 ,may  
,i write and tell him so from this      
present meeting8 ,yes4444 ,i think ,i   
shall remind him further of those words 
of the ,angel of the ,lord to ,gideon   
when he threshed his wheat in the       
wine-press with a vigour suggestive of  
his wish to have the ,midianites beneath
 his flail--,go in this thy might1 and  
thou shalt save ,israel from their      
marauding hands4  ,at home1 then1 as    
well as at the ,front1 the will is      
present with us2 and where there is the 
will there is pretty sure to be the way4
  ,the way 7,i believe for my part7 is  
substantially that laid down by the     
,pan-,anglican ,conference of #ahff1 in 
the ,lambeth ,quadrilateral4 ,its four  
points were3  ,i4 ,the ,holy            
,scriptures4  ,,ii4 ,the ,nicene ,creed4
  ,,iii4 ,the ,sacraments of ,baptism   
and the ,lord's ,supper ministered with 
the unfailing use of the ,words of      
,institution4  ,,iv4 ,the ,historic     

,episcopate4  ,it is fifty-two years    
since these terms were put forth4 ,have 
they ever been formally brought before  
the denominations for whom presumably   
they were intended8 ,were they even once
 commended to the nearest of these      
,churches by a deputation urging their  
consideration8 ,i doubt it4  ,yet the   
first three of these four conditions are
 already accepted by nearly all the     
,english ,nonconformists2 and certainly 
by all the ,presbyterian ,churches1 as  
fully as they are in the ,church of     
,england4 ,the ,presbyterian ,church of 
,england has set the ,nicene ,creed on  
the fore-front of its new ,confession4  
,every word of the ,nicene ,creed 7as   
the late ,principal ,denney pointed out7
 is in the ,confession of ,faith of all 
the ,scottish ,presbyterians4 ,the      
,church of ,scotland repeats it at its  
solemn ,assembly ,communion in ,st      
,giles'4 ,its crucial term1 the         
,homoousion1 is in the ,articles now    
sent down to ,presbyteries with the view

 of their transmission next ,may to the 
,united ,free ,church4  ,in regard to   
the ,sacramental services our ,directory
 is quite express in ordering the use in
 ,baptism and the ,eucharist of the     
,words of ,institution4 ,i never heard  
of a case in ,scotland where they were  
not used3 we should condemn their       
omission should it anywhere occur4      
,undoubtedly the ,fourth ,article would 
have1 till lately1 presented            
difficulties2 but1 then1 those          
difficulties were in great measure      
cleared away by the admission of the    
,lambeth ,conference of #aijh that in   
the case of proposals for union1 say of 
the ,church of ,scotland with the       
,anglican ,church1 reaching the stage of
 official action1 an approach might be  
made along the line of the ,precedents  
of #afaj4 ,i had a recent opportunity of
 stating1 in an ,address#ag ,i gave at  
,king's ,college1 ,london1 what these   
,precedents of #afaj were2 how they     
included the unanimous vote of the      

,general ,assembly of the ,church of    
,scotland in favour of the restoration  
of diocesan bishops acting in           
conjunction with her graduated series of
 ,church ,courts2 how we thereupon      
received from the ,church of ,england an
 ,episcopate which then1 and ever since1
 she has accounted valid1 though neither
 the ,scots bishops she then            
consecrated1 nor the clergy of ,scotland
 as a body1 were required to be         
re-ordained2 and how the combined system
 thus introduced among us gave us by far
 the most brilliant and fruitful period 
in our ecclesiastical annals2 and how   
,learning1 ,piety1 ,art and ,church     
extension flourished among us1 as they  
have never done since4 ,the system would
 in all probability have endured to the 
present day but for the arbitrary       
interferences--often with very good     
intentions1 and for ends in themselves  
desirable--of our ,stuart kings4 ,a     
later restoration of ,episcopal ,church 
government under ,charles ,,ii lacked   

the ecclesiastical authority which that 
of #afaj possessed1 and was still more  
hopelessly discredited by its           
association with the persecution of the 
,covenanting remnant2 but even under    
these disadvantages it was yielding not 
inconsiderable benefits to the religious
 life of ,scotland4 ,under it our       
,gaelic-speaking highlanders first      
received the entire ,bible in their     
native tongue2 the ,episcopate was      
adorned by the piety of ,leighton and   
the wisdom of ,patrick ,scougal2 while  
,henry ,scougal in his ,life of ,god in 
the ,soul of ,man produced a religious  
classic of enduring value4  ,the        
reference by the ,lambeth ,conference of
 #aijh was meant as the opening of a    
door1 and ,i understand there was some  
soreness among its supporters that more 
notice of it was not taken in ,scotland4
 ,but it was never sent to ,scotland3 it
 was never communicated to the ,general 
,assembly4 ,our ,scottish newspapers    
tell us very little of what goes on in  

,england2 and it must be admitted that  
too often1 on both sides of the ,tweed1 
things have appeared in the press not   
calculated to heal differences or make  
for peace4 ,sarcasm may be very clever3 
it is sometimes useful3 it is rarely    
helpful to good feeling1 or to the      
amendment either of him who utters it or
 of him against whom it is directed4    
,the putting forth of the finger and    
speaking vanity are among the things    
which ,isaiah declares they must put    
away who desire to be called the        
restorers of the breach1 the repairers  
of paths to dwell in4  ,now you have    
taken in ,england a further step4 ,the  
,second ,interim ,report of the         
,archbishops' ,sub-,committee in        
,connexion with the proposed ,world     
,conference on ,faith and ,order is not1
 ,i presume1 a document of the official 
character of a ,resolution of a ,lambeth
 ,conference4 ,it is nevertheless a     
paper of enormous significance and      
hopefulness1 not alone as attested by   

the signatures it bears1 but also on    
account of the exposition which it gives
 of the fourth point in the ,lambeth    
,quadrilateral--its own condition that  
continuity with the ,historic           
,episcopate should be effectively       
preserved4  ,this ,report is1 however1  
exclusively for ,england2 while my      
concern to-day is with the kindred      
question of union between the ,anglican 
,church and the ,scottish ,presbyterian 
,churches4 ,the day ,i trust is not far 
distant when we shall see a similar     
document issued over signatures from    
both sides of the ,tweed4 ,need ,i say  
that when this comes to be drawn up1 we 
of the ,north 7like ,bailie ,nicol      
,jarvie with his business correspondents
 in ,london7 will hold no communications
 with you but on a footing of absolute  
equality4 ,in none of the branches into 
which it is now divided--,presbyterian  
or ,episcopalian--does the ,church of   
,scotland forget that it is an ancient  
national ,church which never admitted   

subjection to its greater sister of the 
,south4 ,we may have too good a conceit 
of ourselves1 but we shall at least1    
like the worthy bailie1 be true and     
friendly4 ,and indeed we--or some of    
us--were already moving towards         
something of the kind4 ,the ,second     
,interim ,report--it bears the title    
,towards ,christian ,unity--is dated1 ,i
 observe1 ,march #aiah4 ,in ,scotland1  
so early as the #bith of ,january1 there
 was held at ,aberdeen 7historically the
 most natural place for such a purpose1 
for it was the city of the ,aberdeen    
,doctors and their eirenic efforts7 a   
conference--modest1 unofficial1         
tentative--yet truly representative of  
the ,church of ,scotland1 of the ,united
 ,free ,church1 and of the ,scottish    
,episcopal ,church1 which drew up1 and  
has issued1 a ,memorandum#ah suggesting 
a basis for reunion in ,scotland1 very  
much on the lines of the ,precedents of 
#afaj1 but suggesting such arrangements 
during a period of transition as shall  

secure that respect is paid to the      
conscientious convictions to be found on
 both sides4 ,we shall not repeat the   
blunders of #afcg which ruined the happy
 settlement of #afaj4  ,we have in view 
a method which shall neither deprive    
,scottish ,episcopal congregations of   
the services they love1 nor attempt to  
force a ,prayer-,book on ,presbyterian  
congregations till they wish it for     
themselves4 ,we shall do nothing either 
to discredit or disparage our existing  
,presbyterian orders2 we shall be no    
less careful not to obtrude on the      
,episcopal minority the services of a   
ministry they deem defective2 which     
shall arrange that in the course of a   
generation the ministry of both         
communions shall be acceptable to all1  
while in the meanwhile it will be       
possible for both to work together4     
,alike in ,england and in ,ireland this 
,memorandum1 where it has been seen1 has
 been favourably received4 ,in ,scotland
 it--and doubtless other plans--will    

probably be discussed in the coming     
winter by many a gathering similar to   
that which drew it up2 and thus we shall
 be ready1 by the time our union with   
the ,united ,free ,church is completed1 
to go on together to this further task4 
,by that time you in ,england will have 
made some progress towards the healing  
of your divisions4 ,the wider settlement
 of ours would be greatly facilitated by
 an overt encouragement from you4       
,england is the predominant partner in  
our happily united ,empire3 it is the   
,church of ,england that should take the
 initiative in a scheme for a ,united   
,church for the ,united ,empire4 ,she   
should take that initiative in          
,scotland4  ,could there be a more      
appropriate occasion for proposing      
conference with a view to it at         
,edinburgh1 than the day which sees the 
happy accomplishment of our present     
,scottish effort8 ,might not the ,church
 of ,england1 the ,church of ,ireland1  
and the ,scottish ,episcopal ,church    

7all of which have given tokens of a    
sympathetic interest in our union       
negotiations7 unite to send deputations 
for the purpose to our first reunited   
,general ,assembly8 ,such deputations   
would not go away empty4 ,and they would
 carry with them what would help not    
only the ,cause of ,christ throughout   
the ever-widening ,empire ,he has given 
to our hands1 but the fulfilment of ,his
 blessed will that all ,his people      
should be one4 ,auspice ,spiritu        
,sancto4 ,amen4  ,,footnotes3  #ag ,this
 ,address1 along with another delivered 
in ,st ,paul's1 has been published by   
,mr ,robert ,scott1 of ,paternoster     
,row1 under the title ,reunion1 a ,voice
 from ,scotland4  #ah ,printed in       
,reunion1 a ,voice from ,scotland1 pp4  
#aja-ajg4     ,,unity ,,between         
,,classes     ,i  ,by the ,right ,rev4  
,f4 ,t4 ,,woods1 ,d4,d4   ,,introduction
  ,he would be a dull man who did not   
respond to such a theme as the one with 
which ,i have been entrusted4  ,before  

the war1 in spite of much enlightenment 
of the social conscience1 unity between 
classes was still far to seek4 ,indeed1 
the contemplation of the state of       
,english society in those early months  
of #aiad was perhaps more calculated to 
drive the social reformer into pessimism
 than anything which has happened since4
 ,the rich were hunting for fresh       
pleasures1 the poor were hunting for    
better conditions4 ,the tendencies which
 were dragging these classes apart      
seemed stronger than those which were   
bringing them together4 ,then came the  
war1 and it has done much to convert a  
forlorn hope into a bright prospect4    
,this has happened not merely1 or even  
mainly1 owing to the fact that men of   
all classes are fighting side by side in
 the trenches1 but rather owing to the  
fact that the war has cleared our minds1
 has exposed the real dangers of        
civilisation1 and has placarded before  
the world1 in terms which cannot be     
mistaken1 the things which are most     

worth living for4  ,i propose to ask    
your attention to my subject under three
 heads4 ,first ,i shall say something of
 the basis of class distinction1 then ,i
 shall put before you some attempts     
which have been made at social unity1   
and in closing ,i shall try to estimate 
the hope of the present situation4   ,i 
,,the ,,basis ,,of ,,class ,,distinction
  ,birth and ,property have been during 
most of human history the chief points  
on which class distinction has turned4  
,behind them both1 ,i fear it must be   
confessed1 there is that which lies at  
the root of all civilisation1 namely    
force4 ,i presume that the first class  
distinction was between the group of    
people who could command and the group  
who had to obey4 ,the second group no   
doubt consisted in most cases of        
conquered enemies who were turned into  
slaves4 ,they were outsiders1 the men of
 a lower level4  ,but the master group1 
if ,i may so call it1 would have its    
descendants1 who by virtue of family    

relationships would seek to keep their  
position4 ,this1 ,i conclude1 is the    
fountain head of that stream of blue    
blood which has played so large a part  
in class distinction4 ,it is not        
difficult to make out a strong case for 
it from the point of view of human      
evolution4 ,the processes of primitive  
warfare may have led to the survival of 
the fittest or the selection of the     
best4 ,at a time when the sense of      
social responsibility was limited in the
 extreme1 it may have been a good thing 
that the management of men should have  
rested mainly in the hands of those who 
by natural endowments and force of      
character came to the top4 ,it is       
unnecessary to dwell at length on the   
immense influence both in our own       
country and elsewhere which this blood  
distinction of class has exercised4 ,it 
is writ large in the history of the word
 gentleman1 both in the ,english word   
and its ,latin ancestor4 ,the ,latin    
word generosus1 always the equivalent of

 gentleman in ,english-,latin documents1
 signifies a person of good family4 ,it 
was used no doubt in this sense by the  
,rev4 ,john ,ball1 the strike leader1 as
 we should call him in modern terms1 of 
the #adth century1 in the lines which   
formed a kind of battlecry of the       
rebels3        ,when ,adam delved and   
,eve span1      ,who was then the       
gentleman8   ,a writer of a century     
later1 ,william ,harrison1 says3        
,gentlemen be those whom their race and 
blood or at least their virtues do make 
noble and known4  ,but the distinction  
is older than this4 ,according to       
,professor ,freeman it goes back well   
nigh to the ,conquest4 ,not indeed the  
distinction of blood1 for that is much  
older1 but the formation of a separate  
class of gentlemen4 ,it has been        
maintained however by some writers that 
this is rather antedating the process1  
and that the real distinction in        
,english life up to the #adth century   
was between the nobiles1 the tenants in 

chivalry1 a very large class which      
included all between ,earls and         
,franklins2 and the ignobiles1 i4e4 the 
villeins1 the ordinary citizens and     
burgesses4 ,the widely prevalent notion 
that a gentleman was a person who had a 
right to wear coat armour is apparently 
of recent growth1 and is possibly not   
unconnected with the not unnatural      
desire of the herald's office to magnify
 its work4  ,it is evident that noble   
blood in those days was no more a       
guarantee of good character than it is  
in this1 for1 according to one of the   
writers on the subject1 the premier     
gentleman of ,england in the early days 
of the #aeth century was one who had    
served at ,agincourt1 but whose         
subsequent exploits were not perhaps the
 best advertisement for gentle birth4   
,according to the public records he was 
charged at the ,staffordshire ,assizes  
with house-breaking1 wounding with      
intent to kill1 and procuring the murder
 of one ,thomas ,page1 who was cut to   

pieces while on his knees begging for   
his life#ai4  ,the first gentleman1     
commemorated by that name on an existing
 monument1 is ,john ,daundelion who died
 in #adde4  ,in the #adth and #aeth     
centuries the chief occupation of       
gentlemen was fighting2 but later on1   
when law and order were more firmly     
established1 the younger sons of good   
families began to enter industrial life 
as apprentices in the towns1 and there  
began to grow up a new aristocracy of   
trade4 ,to ,william ,harrison1 the      
writer to whom ,i have already referred1
 merchants are still citizens1 but he   
adds3 ,they often change estate with    
gentlemen as gentlemen do with them by  
mutual conversion of the one into the   
other4  ,since those days the name has  
very properly come to be connected less 
with blue blood than--if ,i may coin the
 phrase--with blue behaviour4 ,in #agad1
 ,steele lays it down in the ,tatler    
that the appellation of gentleman is    
never to be fixed to a man's            

circumstances but to his behaviour in   
them4 ,and in this connexion we may     
recall the old story of the ,monarch1   
said by some to be ,james ,,ii1 who     
replied to a lady petitioning him to    
make her son a gentleman3 ,i could make 
him a noble1 but ,god ,almighty could   
not make him a gentleman4  ,before we   
leave the class distinctions based      
mainly on birth and blood1 it is well to
 remark that in ,england they have never
 counted for so much as elsewhere4 ,it  
is true of course that the nobility and 
gentry have been a separate class1 but  
they have been constantly recruited from
 below4 ,distinction in war or          
capability in peace was the             
qualification of scores of men upon whom
 the highest social rank was bestowed in
 reign after reign in our ,english      
history4 ,moreover1 birth distinction   
has never been recognised in law1 in    
spite of the fact that the manipulation 
of laws has not always been free from   
bias4 ,the well known words of ,macaulay

 are worth quoting in this connexion3   
,there was a strong hereditary          
aristocracy3 but it was of all          
hereditary aristocracies the least      
insolent and exclusive4 ,it had         
none of the invidious character of a    
caste4 ,it was constantly      receiving
 members from the people1 and constantly
 sending down      members to mingle    
with the people4 ,any gentleman might   
become a      peer1 the younger son of a
 peer was but a gentleman4 ,grandsons of
      peers yielded precedence to newly 
made knights4   ,the dignity of         
knighthood was not beyond the reach of  
any man who could by diligence and      
thrift realise a good estate1 or who    
could attract notice by his valour in   
battle4        444 ,good blood was      
indeed held in high respect3 but between
 good      blood and the privileges of  
peerage there was1 most fortunately for 
our country1 no necessary connection4444
 ,there was therefore here      no line 
like that which in some other countries 

divides the      patrician from the     
plebeian4 ,the yeoman was not inclined  
to murmur      at dignities to which his
 own children might rise4 ,the grandee  
was      not inclined to insult a class 
into which his own children must        
descend4444 ,thus our democracy was1    
from an early period1 the most          
aristocratic1 and our aristocracy the   
most democratic in the world2      a    
peculiarity which has lasted down to the
 present day1 and which      has        
produced many important moral and       
political effects#bj4   ,if blood       
counted for much in distinctions of     
class1 property counted for more4 ,the  
original distinction between the haves  
and the have nots has persisted         
throughout history and is with us       
to-day4  ,in the ancient village1 no    
doubt1 the distinction was of the       
simplest4 ,on the one hand was the man  
who by force or by his own energy became
 possessed of more cattle and more sheep
 than his fellows2 on the other hand was

 the man who1 in default of such        
property1 was ready and willing to give 
his services to the bigger man1 whether 
for wages1 or as a condition of living  
in the village and sharing in the rights
 of the village fields and pastures4    
,here presumably we have the origin of  
that institution of ,landlordism which  
still looms so large in our social life4
 ,in the early days it was probably more
 a matter of cattle than of land4 ,the  
possessor of cattle in the village would
 hire out a certain number of them to a 
poorer neighbour1 who would have the    
right to feed them on the common land4  
,thus1 even in primitive times1 a class 
distinction based on property began to  
grow up4  ,early in history there was   
found in most villages a chief man who  
had the largest share of the land4      
,below him there would be three or four 
landowners of moderate importance and   
property4 ,at the end of the scale were 
the ordinary labourers and villagers1   
among whom the rest of the village lands

 were divided as a rule on fairly equal 
terms4  ,closely allied to this of      
course was the organisation of the      
village from the point of view of       
military service4 ,parallel to this more
 peaceful organisation of society was   
the elaborate ,feudal ,system1 by which1
 from the ,king downwards1 lands were   
held in virtue of an obligation on the  
part of each class to the one above it  
to produce men for the wars in due      
proportion of numbers and equipment4    
,from this point of view property in    
land meant also property in men1        
labourers in peace and soldiers in war4 
,as time went on the class distinctions 
of birth and property began more and    
more to coincide4 ,it was ,dr ,johnson  
who made the remark that the ,english   
merchant is a new species of gentleman4 
,the form of property which was always  
held to be in closest connexion with    
gentle blood was land4 ,this has been so
 in a pre-eminent degree since our      
,english ,revolution at the end of the  

#agth century4 ,from that time onwards  
the smaller landowners1 yeomen and      
squires with small holdings1 begin to   
disappear and the landed gentry become  
practically supreme4 ,political power in
 a large measure rested with them1 and  
the result was that numbers of men who  
had made money in trade were eager to   
use it in the purchase of land1 for this
 meant the purchase of social and       
political influence4  ,it was no doubt  
this craze for the possession of land   
which led to the process of enclosing   
the common lands of the village1 a      
process on which no true ,englishman can
 look back in these days without shame  
and sorrow4 ,it is no doubt arguable    
that from an economic point of view the 
productive power of the land was        
increased1 that agriculture was more    
efficiently and scientifically managed  
by the comparatively few big men than it
 would have been by the many small men  
who were displaced4 ,none the less the  
price was too high1 for it meant a still

 further accentuation of class          
distinction4 ,it meant the further      
enrichment of the big man1 and the      
further impoverishment of the small man4
 ,and between the two there grew up a   
class of farmers1 separate from the     
labourers1 whose outlook on the whole   
did not make for those relations of     
neighbourliness and even kinship which  
had been among the fine characteristics 
of the ancient village4  ,nor is this   
the end of the story1 for the           
distinction between the haves and the   
have nots was still further accentuated1
 and the two classes driven still       
further apart1 by the far-reaching      
,industrial ,revolution of the late     
#ahth and early #aith century4  ,the    
alienation between the farmer and the   
labourer was exactly paralleled by the  
alienation which gradually crept in     
between the manufacturer and the        
workers4 ,the growth of the factory     
system was indeed so rapid that only the
 keenest foresight could have provided  

against these evils4 ,the same may be   
said of the amazing development of the  
towns1 particularly in ,lancashire and  
the ,west ,riding of ,yorkshire1 which  
quickly gathered round the new hives of 
industry4 ,unfortunately that foresight 
was lacking4 ,on the one hand the       
science of town-planning had hardly been
 born1 on the other hand a lightning    
accumulation of large fortunes turned   
the heads of the commercial magnates1   
dehumanised industry1 and broke up the  
fellowship which in older and simpler   
days had obtained between the employer  
and his men4  ,it is a charge which we  
frequently bring against the enemy in   
these days1 a charge only too well      
founded1 that they are expert in        
everything except understanding human   
nature4 ,the same may be said of those  
who were concerned in the ,industrial   
,revolution of the #aith century4 ,the  
growing wealth of the country which     
should have united masters and men in a 
truer comradeship1 and a richer life1   

achieved results which were precisely   
the opposite4 ,it developed a greed of  
cash which we have not yet shaken off1  
and money was accumulated in the pockets
 of men who had had neither aptitude nor
 training in the art of spending it4    
,the workers were reduced to a state not
 far removed from a salaried slavery1   
and the difference between the haves and
 the have nots was perhaps more acute   
than at any other time in our history4  
,the causes of this were many and       
complex4 ,not the least of them was the 
fact that the masters of industry were  
captured by a false theory of economics 
according to which the fund which was   
available for the remuneration of labour
 could not at any given time be greater 
or less than it was4 ,human agency could
 not increase its volume1 it could only 
vary its distribution4 ,and further1 as 
every man has the right to sell his     
labour for what he can obtain for it1   
any interference between the recipients 
was held to be unjust4  ,that theory1 as

 ,mr ,hammond has told us1 became       
supreme in economics1 and the whole     
movement for trade-union organisation   
had to fight its way against this solid 
superstition#ba4  ,the doctrine of free 
labour achieved a wonderful popularity2 
but then1 as the writer ,i have just    
quoted reminds us3 ,free labour had not 
,adam ,smith's meaning3 it meant the    
freedom of the employer to take what    
labour he wanted1 at the price he chose 
and under the conditions he thought     
proper#bb4  ,more and more therefore the
 employers and the workers drifted      
apart1 and the supreme misfortune was   
that the one power which might have     
drawn them together was itself in a     
state of semi-paralysis in regard to the
 corporate responsibility of the        
community4 ,that power was religion4    
,there were times1 as ,i shall endeavour
 to point out later1 when ,christianity 
was able to produce an atmosphere of    
comradeship stronger than the           
differences of class4 ,but to the very  

great loss of both country and ,church  
this was not one of them4  ,at the      
moment when the corporate message of the
 ,church was needed1 it was looking the 
other way1 and concentrating its thought
 on the individual4 ,the ,reformation   
was in large measure a revolt from the  
imperial to the personal conception of  
religion4 ,i do not deny that this      
revolt was necessary and beneficial4    
,but the reaction from the corporate    
aspect of ,christianity went too far4   
,when this reaction was further         
reinforced by the ,puritan movement1    
which with all its strength and its fine
 austerity fastened its attention on the
 minutiae of personal conduct1 and left 
the community as such almost out of     
sight1 it is not surprising to find that
 religion at the end of the #ahth1 and  
through a large part of the #aith       
century1 failed to produce just that    
sense of brotherhood which would have   
mitigated the whole situation and       
prevented much of the practical paganism

 which ,i have described4  ,even the    
great revival connected with the name of
 ,john ,wesley brought all its fire to  
bear on the conversion of the man1 when 
the social unit which was most in need  
of that conversion was the community4   
,the result of all this was that1 partly
 owing to ignorance1 partly owing to    
prejudice1 partly owing to the          
misreading of the ,new ,testament1 the  
messengers of religion had no message of
 corporate responsibility for nation or 
class4 ,there was no one to lift aloft  
the torch of human brotherhood over the 
dark and gloomy landscape of ,english   
life4 ,so far from that1 the people who 
figured large in religion were convinced
 quite honestly that the division of    
classes was a heaven sent order1 with   
which it would be impious to interfere1 
and further that the main message of    
religion to the people at large was an  
authoritative injunction to good        
behaviour1 and patient resignation to   
the circumstances in which ,providence  

had placed them4 ,the notion that the   
organisation of ,society1 particularly  
on its industrial side1 was wholly      
inconsistent with the ideals of the ,new
 ,testament never so much as entered    
their heads1 and any suggestion to this 
effect would have been regarded not     
merely as revolutionary but             
sacrilegious4  ,i have ventured on this 
very rough description of class         
distinctions1 before our modern days1   
because it is through the study of our  
forefathers' mistakes and a truer       
understanding of our forefathers'       
inspirations that we may hope to create 
a better world in the days that are     
coming4   ,,ii  ,,attempts ,,at ,,social
 ,,unity  ,let me ask your attention now
 to a few of the attempts which have    
been made to create a deeper social     
unity4  ,some of these were naturally   
and inevitably developed in primitive   
days by the simple fact that birds of a 
feather flock together4  ,men engaged in
 pastoral pursuits gathered themselves  

into the tribe with its strong blood    
bond4 ,the tillage of the fields led to 
the existence of the clan1 with its     
family system and its elaborate         
organisation of the land4 ,in the same  
way industrial activity produced the    
,guild1 that is the grouping of men by  
crafts1 a grouping which might well be  
revived and encouraged on a larger scale
 in the rearrangements of the future4   
,i need not remind you how large a place
 was occupied by the ,guilds in ,english
 life4 ,they were not ,trade ,unions in 
the modern sense1 for they included both
 masters and men in one organisation4   
,nor must we attribute a modern meaning 
to those two phrases1 masters and men1  
when we speak of the ancient ,guild4    
,for in a large measure every man was   
his own employer4 ,he was a member of   
the league2 he kept the rules2 but he   
was his own master4 ,the master did not 
mean the manager of the workmen1 but the
 expert in the work4 ,he was the master 
of the art in question1 and though his  

fellows might be journeymen or          
apprentices1 they all belonged to the   
same social class1 and throughout the   
,guild there was a spirit of comradeship
 which was consecrated by the sanctions 
of religion4  ,for it was the ,guilds   
which were the prime movers in          
organising those ,miracle ,plays which  
were the delight of the ,middle ,ages1  
and which formed the main outlet for    
that dramatic instinct which used to be 
so strong in ,england1 and which paved  
the way for ,shakespeare and the modern 
stage4  ,the ,guild was not concerned   
mainly with money but with work1 and    
still more with the skill and happiness 
of the worker1 and its aim was to resist
 inequality4 ,it was1 in the pointed    
words of ,mr ,chesterton1        to     
ensure1 not only that bricklaying should
 survive and succeed1      but that     
every bricklayer should survive and     
succeed4 ,it sought to      rebuild the 
ruins of any bricklayer1 and to give any
 faded      whitewasher a new white     

coat4 ,it was the whole aim of the      
,guilds to      cobble their cobblers   
like their shoes and clout their        
clothiers      with their clothes2 to   
strengthen the weakest link1 or go after
 the      hundredth sheep2 in short to  
keep the row of little shops unbroken   
like a line of battle#bc4   ,the ,guild 
in fact aimed at keeping each man free  
and happy in the possession of his      
little property1 whereas the ,trade     
,union aims at assembling into one      
company a large number of men who have  
little or no property at all1 and who   
seek to redress the balance by          
collective action4 ,the mediaeval ,guild
 therefore will certainly go down to    
history as one of the most gallant      
attempts1 and for the time being one of 
the most successful1 to create a true   
comradeship among all who work1 and to  
keep at a distance those mere class     
distinctions which1 though their        
foundations are often so flimsy1 tend to
 grip men as in an iron vice4  ,but ,i  

must not pass by another social         
organisation which looms very large in  
the old days1 and which approached      
social unity from a side wholly         
different from those ,i have mentioned1 
namely from the military side3 ,i mean  
the ,feudal ,system4 ,here there has    
been much misunderstanding4 ,its very   
name seems to breathe class distinction4
 ,we have come casually and rather      
carelessly to identify it with the      
tyranny and oppression which exalted the
 few at the expense of the many4 ,this  
point of view is however a good deal    
less than just4 ,it is quite true that  
as worked by ,william the ,norman and   
several of his successors the system    
became only too often an instrument of  
gross injustice and crass despotism2 but
 at its best1 and in its origin1 it was 
based on the twin foundations of        
protection on the one hand and duty on  
the other4 ,i will venture to quote a   
high authority in this connexion1 namely
 ,bishop ,stubbs4        ,the ,feudal   

,system1 with all its tyranny and all   
its faults and      shortcomings1 was   
based on the requirements of mutual help
 and      service1 and was maintained by
 the obligations of honour and          
fealty4 ,regular subordination1 mutual  
obligation1 social unity1      were the 
pillars of the fabric4 ,the whole state 
was one3 the king      represented the  
unity of the nation4 ,the great barons  
held their      estates from him1 the   
minor nobles of the great barons1 the   
gentry      of these vassals1 the poorer
 freemen of the gentry1 the serfs       
themselves were not without rights and  
protectors as well as duties      and   
service4 ,each gradation1 and every man 
in each1 owed service1      fixed       
definite service1 to the next above him1
 and expected and      received         
protection and security in return4 ,each
 was bound by      fealty to his        
immediate superior1 and the oath of the 
one implies      the pledged honour and 
troth of the other#bd4   ,this system   

indeed was very far from perfect1 but it
 certainly was an attempt to bind the   
nation together in one social unit1 to  
provide a measure of protection for all1
 and to demand duties from all4 ,it     
sought to lay equal stress on rights and
 duties4 ,in this respect--and ,i am    
still thinking of the system at its     
best--it was far ahead of modern #aith  
century ,industrialism1 a system which  
might be described with but little      
exaggeration as laying sole emphasis on 
rights for one class and duties for the 
other4  ,but the supreme attempt which  
so far has been made to promote unity   
between classes has approached the      
problem from a far loftier standpoint2  
not industrial1 nor military1 but       
religious4 ,and this attempt has been on
 a larger scale and on firmer           
foundations than any of the others1 for 
it has sought to unite men in spite of  
their differences4 ,it has tried1 that  
is1 to get below the varieties of race  
or family or occupation1 and create a   

unity which1 because it transcends them 
all1 may hope to last4 ,as a fact this  
attempt has so far surpassed all others1
 and has met with the greatest measure  
of success4 ,and lest ,i should be      
suspected of prejudice ,i will quote an 
outside witness3        ,a very pregnant
 saying of ,t4 ,h4 ,green was that      
during the whole      development of man
 the command1 ,thou shalt love thy      
neighbour as      thyself has never     
varied1 what has varied is the answer to
 the      question--,who is my          
neighbour8444 ,the influence upon the   
development of civilisation of the wider
 conception of duty and                 
responsibility to one's fellow-men which
 was introduced into the      world with
 the spread of ,christianity can hardly 
be overestimated4      ,the extended    
conception of the answer to the question
 ,who is my      neighbour8 which has   
resulted from the characteristic        
doctrines of      the ,christian        
religion--a conception transcending all 

the claims of      family1 group1 state1
 nation1 people or race and even all the
      interests comprised in any        
existing order of society--has been the 
most powerful evolutionary force which  
has ever acted on society4      ,it has 
tended gradually to break up the        
absolutisms inherited from      an older
 civilization and to bring into being an
 entirely new type      of social       
efficiency#be4   ,or to take another    
witness equally unprejudiced1 who puts  
the same truth more tersely still1 the  
late ,professor ,lecky4 ,the brief      
record of those three short years1      
referring to ,christ's life1 has done   
more to soften and regenerate mankind   
than all the disquisitions of           
philosophers and exhortations of        
moralists4 ,for a third witness we will 
call ,mazzini4 ,we owe to the ,church1  
he declared1 the idea of the unity of   
the human family and of the equality and
 emancipation of souls4 ,that this is   
amply borne out by the history of the   

,church in early days is not difficult  
to prove4 ,the unexceptionable evidence 
of a ,pagan writer is here very much to 
the point4 ,says ,lucian of the         
,christians3  ,their original lawgiver  
had taught them that they were all      
brethren1 one of another4444 ,they      
become incredibly alert when anything   
444 affects their common interests#bf4  
,in the same way the ancient ,christian 
writer ,tertullian observes with        
characteristic irony3 ,it is our care   
for the helpless1 our practice of       
lovingkindness1 that brands us in the   
eyes of many of our opponents4 ,only    
look1 they say1 'look how they love one 
another#bg6' ,it is not surprising that 
this was so when you look into the      
writings which form the ,new ,testament4
 ,apart from the words and example of   
the ,founder of ,christianity1 few men  
have ever lived who were more alive to  
existing social distinctions1 and also  
to the splendour of that scheme which   
transcends them all1 than ,st ,paul4 ,in

 proof of this it is sufficient to point
 to that immortal treatise on social    
unity which is commonly called the      
,epistle to the ,ephesians4 ,in this the
 fundamental secret is seen to consist1 
not in a rigid system but in a          
transforming spirit working through a   
divine ,society in which all worldly    
distinctions are of no account4         
,slavery1 for instance1 was1 in his     
view1 and was actually in process of    
time1 to be abolished not by a stroke of
 the pen but by a change of ideal4 ,nor 
is the witness lacking in writings      
subsequent to the ,new ,testament4 ,to  
instance one of the earliest4 ,in an    
official letter sent by the ,roman      
,church to the ,christians in ,corinth  
towards the end of the first century1 in
 a passage eulogising the latter        
community this suggestive sentence      
occurs3 ,you did everything without     
respect of persons4  ,needless to say   
however1 this point of view1 this new   
spirit1 only gradually permeated the    

,christian ,church itself1 let alone the
 great world outside4 ,we are not       
surprised to learn that it was a point  
of criticism among the opponents of the 
religion that among its adherents were  
still found masters and slaves4 ,an     
ancient writer in reply to critics who  
cry out ,you too have masters and       
slaves4 ,where then is your so-called   
equality8 thus makes answer3        ,our
 sole reason for giving one another the 
name of brother is      because we      
believe we are equals4 ,for since all   
human objects are      measured by us   
after the spirit and not after the body1
 although      there is a diversity of  
condition among human bodies1 yet slaves
      are not slaves to us2 we deem and 
term them brothers after the            
spirit1 and fellow-servants in          
religion#bh4   ,pointing in the same    
direction is the fact that the title    
slave never occurs on a ,christian      
tombstone4  ,it is plain from this1 and 
from similar quotations which might be  

multiplied1 that the policy of          
,christianity in face of the first      
social problem of the day1 namely       
slavery1 was not violently to undo the  
existing bonds by which ,society was    
held together1 in the hope that some new
 machinery would at once be             
forthcoming--a plan which has since been
 adopted with dire consequences in      
,russia--but to evacuate the old system 
of the spirit which sustained it2 and to
 replace it with a new spirit1 a new    
outlook on life1 which would slowly but 
inevitably lead to an entire            
reconstruction of the social framework4 
,already too1 within the ,church this   
sense of brotherhood was making itself  
felt on the industrial side as well as  
where more directly spiritual duties    
were concerned4 ,it seems to have been  
recognised in the ,christian ,society   
that every brother could claim the right
 of being maintained if he were unable  
to work4 ,equally it was emphasised that
 the duty of work was paramount on all  

who were capable of it4 ,for those able 
to work1 provide work2 to those         
incapable of work be charitable4 ,this  
aspect of the matter finds a singular   
emphasis in a second century document   
known as ,the ,teaching of the ,twelve  
,apostles1 in which this sense of       
industrial brotherhood finds very       
significant expression4 ,speaking of    
visitors from other ,churches it is     
directed that if any brother has a trade
 let him follow that trade and earn the 
bread he eats4 ,if he has no trade1     
exercise your discretion in arranging   
for him to live among you as a          
,christian1 but not in idleness4 ,if he 
will not do this1 that is to say1 to    
undertake the work which you provide for
 him1 he is trafficking with ,christ4   
,beware of men like that4  ,on this side
 of its life therefore1 the ,church came
 very near to being a vast ,guild where 
with the highest sanction rights and    
duties were intermingled in due         
proportion1 and that true social unity  

established1 which while it refuses     
privileges bestows protection4 ,on these
 foundations the organisation was       
reared1 which like some great ,cathedral
 dominated that stretch of centuries    
usually known as the ,middle ,ages4 ,we 
could all of us hold forth on its       
drawbacks and evils1 yet its benefits   
were tremendous4 ,for one thing it      
created an aristocracy wholly           
independent of any distinction of blood 
or property4 ,anyone might become an    
,archbishop if only he had the necessary
 gifts4 ,still more anyone might become 
a ,saint4 ,the charmed circle of the    
,church's nobility was constantly       
recruited from every class1 and was     
therefore a standing and effectual      
protest against the flimsier            
measurements of ,society and the more   
ephemeral gradations of rank4 ,obviously
 this process found as great a scope in 
,england as elsewhere4 ,it was the      
,church which was the most potent       
instrument in bringing together ,norman 

and ,saxon as well as master and slave4 
,for1 as ,macaulay has said with perfect
 truth1 it        creates an aristocracy
 altogether independent of race1 inverts
 the      relation between the oppressor
 and the oppressed1 and compels the     
hereditary master to kneel before the   
spiritual tribunal of the               
hereditary bondman4444 ,so successfully 
had the ,church used her      formidable
 machinery that1 before the ,reformation
 came1 she had      enfranchised almost 
all the bondmen in the kingdom except   
her own1      who1 to do her justice1   
seem to have been very tenderly         
treated#bi4   ,this makes it            
particularly deplorable that in         
consequence of the great reaction in    
religion from the corporate to the      
personal1 to which ,i have alluded1 the 
,church's power1 as far as ,britain was 
concerned1 though so splendidly         
exercised in the preceding centuries1   
should have been almost non-existent    
just at the moment when it was most     

required1 in the ,agricultural and      
,industrial ,revolution of comparatively
 modern times4   ,,iii  ,,the ,,hope    
,,of ,,the ,,present ,,situation  ,i    
fear that a large portion of this       
lecture has been taken up with the past4
 ,but even so rough and brief a review  
as ,i have attempted is a necessary     
prelude to a just estimate1 both of our 
present position and of our future      
prospects4 ,it is often supposed1       
indeed1 that the study of history       
predisposes a man's mind to a           
conservative view4 ,he studies the slow 
development of institutions1 or the     
gradual influence of movements1 and the 
trend of his thought works round to the 
very antipodes of anything that is      
revolutionary or catastrophic4 ,but     
there is another side to the matter4    
,the study of history may so expose the 
injustices of the past and their        
intrenchments that the student reaches  
the conclusion that nothing but an      
earthquake--an earthquake in men's ideas

 at the very least--can avail to set    
things right2 that the best thing that  
could happen would be an explosion so   
terrible as to make it possible to break
 completely with the past1 and start    
anew on firmer principles and better    
ways4 ,after all1 as a great ,cambridge 
scholar once said1 ,history is the best 
cordial for drooping spirits4 ,for if on
 the one hand it exposes the            
selfishnesses of men1 on the other it   
displays an exhibition of those         
,divine-human forces of justice and     
sacrifice and good will which in the    
long run cannot be denied1 and which    
encourage the brightest hopes for the   
age which is upon us4  ,the fact is1 we 
are in the midst of precisely such an   
explosion as ,i have indicated4 ,the    
immeasurable privilege has been given to
 us of being alive at a time when1 most 
literally1 an epoch is being made4      
,contemporary observers of events are   
not always the best judges of their     
significance1 yet we shall hardly be    

mistaken if we assert that without doubt
 we stand at one of the turning points  
of the world's long story1 that the     
phrase used of another epoch-making     
moment is true of this one1 ,old things 
are passing away1 all things are        
becoming new4 ,for history is presenting
 us in these days with a clean slate1   
and to the men of this generation is    
given the opportunity for making a fresh
 start such as in the centuries gone by 
has often been sought1 but seldom found4
 ,we are called to the serious and      
strenuous task of freeing our minds from
 old preconceptions--and the hold they  
have over us1 even at a moment like this
 when the world is being shaken1 is     
amazing--the task of reaching a new     
point of view from which to see our     
social problems1 and of not being       
disobedient to the heavenly vision      
wheresoever it may lead us4  ,that      
vision is ,fellowship1 and it is not    
new4 ,though the war is1 in the sense   
which ,i have suggested1 a terrific     

explosion which in the midst of ruin and
 chaos brings with it supreme           
opportunities1 it is equally true to say
 that it forms no more than a ghastly   
parenthesis in the process of fellowship
 both between nations and classes which 
had already begun to make great strides4
  ,the sense of social responsibility   
has been so deepened in our civilisation
 that it is almost impossible that one  
nation should attempt to conquer and    
subdue another after the manner of the  
ancient world4  ,these words sound      
rather ironical4 ,they come from the    
last edition of the ,encyclopaedia      
,britannica4 ,they were written about   
seven years ago in perfect good faith1  
as a sober estimate of the forces of    
fellowship which could be then          
discerned4 ,save for the ideals and     
ambitions of the central ,empires of    
,europe they were perfectly true4 ,what 
the war has done in regard to this      
fellowship is to expose in their hideous
 nakedness the dangers which threaten   

it1 and to which in pre-war days we were
 far too blind1 but also to unveil that 
strong passion for neighbourliness which
 lies deep in the hearts of men1 and an 
almost fierce determination to give it  
truer expression in the age which is    
ahead4  ,you will naturally ask what    
effect the war is likely to have on this
 problem of class distinction4 ,how far 
will it hinder or enhance the social    
unity for which we seek8  ,we must of   
course beware of being unduly           
optimistic4 ,the fact that millions of  
our men are seeing with their own eyes  
the results which can be achieved by    
naked force will not be without its     
effect on their attitude when they      
return to their homes4 ,if force is so  
necessary and so successful on the field
 of battle why not equally so in the    
industrial field8 ,if nations find it   
necessary to face each other with       
daggers drawn1 it may be that classes   
will have to do the same4  ,personally  
,i doubt whether this argument is likely

 to carry much weight4 ,it is much more 
likely in my view that our men will be  
filled with so deep a hatred of         
everything that even remotely savours of
 battle1 that a great tide of reaction  
against mere force will set in1 and a   
great impetus be given to those higher  
and more spiritual motor-powers which   
during the war we have put out of court4
  ,on the other hand it is easy to      
cherish a rather shallow hope as to the 
continuation in the future of that unity
 of classes which obtains in the        
trenches4 ,surely1 it is argued1 men who
 have stood together at the danger point
 and gone over the top together at the  
moment of assault will never be other   
than brothers in the more peaceful      
pursuits which will follow4 ,yet it is  
not easy to foretell what will happen   
when the tremendous restraint of        
military service is withdrawn1 when     
,britain no longer has her back to the  
wall1 and when the overwhelming loyalty 
which leaps forth at the hour of crisis 

falls back into its normal quiescence1  
like the ,new ,zealand geyser when its  
momentary eruption is over4 ,any        
hopefulness which we may cherish for the
 future must rest on firmer foundations 
than these4  ,such a foundation1 ,i     
believe1 has come to light1 and ,i must 
say a few words about it as ,i close4   
,broadly speaking it is this4 ,the war  
has taught us that it is possible to    
live a national family life1 in which   
private interests are subordinated in   
the main to the service of the ,state2  
and further that this new social        
organisation of the nation has called   
forth an unprecedented capacity in tens 
of thousands both of men and women1 not 
merely for self-denying service1 but for
 the utmost heights of heroism even unto
 death4  ,men have vaguely cherished    
this ideal of national life before the  
war1 but now it has been translated into
 concrete fact1 and the nation can never
 forget the deep sense of corporate     
efficiency1 even of corporate joy1 which

 has ensued from this obliteration of   
the old class distinctions1 this        
amalgamation of all and sundry in a     
common service4 ,the fact is that a new 
class distinction has in a measure taken
 the place of the old1 a distinction    
which has nothing to do with blood or   
with money1 but solely with service4    
,the nation is graded1 not in degrees of
 social importance but in degrees of    
capacity for service4 ,the only         
superiority is one of sacrifice4 ,and   
each grade takes its hat off to the     
other on the equal standing ground of an
 all pervading patriotism4 ,the only    
social competition is not in getting but
 in giving4 ,national advantage takes   
the place of personal profit1 and there 
is a sense of neighbourliness such as   
,britain has not experienced for many a 
long day1 possibly for many a long      
century4  ,the supreme problem before   
us1 ,i take it1 is how to conserve this 
relationship and carry it over from the 
day of war to the day of peace4 ,to do  

it will call for just that same spirit  
of sacrifice and service which is its   
own most predominant characteristic4    
,for one thing we must be quite         
definitely prepared in every section of 
society for a new way of life4 ,from the
 economic point of view this will mean  
that the rich will be less rich1 and the
 poor will be enabled to lead a larger  
life4 ,already the wealthy classes have 
been learning to live a simple life1 and
 to substitute the service of the       
country for their own personal          
enjoyment4 ,a serious call will come to 
them to continue in that state of life  
when the war is over4 ,in some degree at
 least the pressure of the financial    
burden which the nation will have to    
bear will compel them to do so4  ,to the
 workers too in the same way the call   
will come to a new and more worthy way  
of life4 ,i am thinking now of the      
workers at home who have been earning   
unprecedented wages1 and thereby in many
 cases are already assaying a larger    

life4 ,they will be reluctant to give   
this up1 but only a gradual             
redistribution of wealth can make it    
permanent4 ,it is not of course merely  
or mainly a matter of wages4 ,the only  
real enlargement of life is spiritual4  
,it is an affair of the mind and the    
soul4  ,the more we bring a true        
education within reach of the workers   
the more will there arise that sense of 
real kinship which only equality of     
education can adequately guarantee4     
,and speaking at ,cambridge one cannot  
refrain from remarking that the         
,university itself will have to submit  
to a considerable re-adjustment of its  
life if it is to be a pioneer in this   
intellectual comradeship of which ,i    
speak4 ,a ,university may be a nursery  
of class distinction4 ,in some measure  
it certainly has been so in the past4   
,the opportunity is now before it to    
lead the way in establishing the only   
kind of equality which is really worth  
having4  ,then too there are obvious    

steps which can be taken without delay  
in a new organisation of industry4  ,i  
am not one of those who think that the  
industrial problem can be solved in five
 minutes or even in five years4 ,none   
the less it should not be impossible in 
wise ways to give the workers a true    
share of responsibility1 particularly in
 matters which concern the conditions of
 their work and the remuneration of     
their labour4  ,if the sense of being   
driven by a taskmaster1 whether it be   
the foreman of the shop1 or the manager 
of the works1 could give place to a     
truer co-operation in the management1   
and a larger measure of responsibility  
for the worker1 we should be well on the
 road to eliminating one of the most    
persistent causes of just that kind of  
class distinction which we want to      
abolish4 ,the more men work together in 
a real comradeship1 the more mere social
 distinctions fade into the background4 
,is this not written on every page of   
the chronicles of this war8  ,but the   

supreme factor in the situation1 without
 which no mere adjustment of            
organisation will prevail1 is that new  
outlook on life which can only be       
described as a subordination of private 
advantage to the service of the country4
  ,it is this alone which can really    
abolish the almost eternal class        
distinctions which we have traced       
throughout our survey1 the distinction  
between the haves and the have nots4    
,for1 as this spirit grows1 the have    
nots tend to disappear1 and the haves   
look upon what they have not as a       
selfish possession for their own        
enjoyment1 but as a means of service for
 the common weal4 ,property1 that which 
is most proper to a man1 is seen to be  
precisely that contribution which he is 
capable of making to the welfare of his 
fellows4  ,the crux1 the very core of   
the whole problem1 is to find some means
 by which this new outlook can be       
produced1 and a new motive by which men 
can be constrained to turn the vision   

into fact4  ,here will come in that     
power which1 as ,i pointed out1 has     
sometimes been so potent and sometimes  
so impotent1 but which1 if it is allowed
 its proper scope1 can never fail4 ,i   
mean of course religion4  ,if men can be
 brought to see that this new outlook   
with its corresponding re-adjustment of 
social life is not merely a project of  
reformers but the plan of the ,most     
,high ,god1 the deliberate intention of 
the supreme ,spirit-force of the        
universe1 the ,scheme that was taught by
 the ,prince of men1 then indeed we may 
hope that the class distinction of which
 ,he spoke will at last be adopted3     
,whosoever will be great among you1     
shall be your minister3 and whosoever of
 you will be the chiefest1 shall be     
servant of all4 ,for even the ,son of   
,man came not to be ministered unto1 but
 to minister1 and to give his life a    
ransom for many#cj4  ,,footnotes3  #ai  
,encycl4 ,brit4 xi4 #fjd4  #bj          
,macaulay's ,history of ,england        

7,longman's1 #ahhe71 pp4 #ch1 #ci1 #dj4 
#ba ,the ,town ,labourer1 p4 #bje4  #bb 
,ibid41 p4 #bab4  #bc ,g4 ,k4           
,chesterton1 ,short ,history of         
,england1 p4 #ih4  #bd ,stubbs'         
,lectures on ,early ,english ,history1  
pp4 #ah1 #ai4  #be ,benjamin ,kidd1     
,encycl4 ,brit4 vol4 xxv4 p4 #cbi4  #bf 
,lucian quoted by ,harnack1 ,mission and
 expansion of ,christianity1 vol4 ,i4 p4
 #adi4  #bg ,ibid4  #bh ,lactantius     
quoted by ,harnack1 ,ibid4 p4 #afh4  #bi
 ,history of ,england 7,longman's1      
#ahhe71 vol4 ,i4 p4 #be4  #cj ,st ,mark 
x4 #dc-de4     ,,unity ,,between        
,,classes     ,,ii  ,by the ,right ,hon4
 ,j4 ,r4 ,,clynes1 ,m4,p4   ,i have not 
the advantage of knowing anything of the
 treatment of any part of this subject  
by any preceding speaker4 ,i myself     
intend to deal with it from the         
industrial and social standpoint1 for ,i
 think if we are to seek unity amongst  
classes it is most important in the     
national interest that unity should     

first be sought and secured in the      
industries of the country4 ,that there  
is disunity is suggested and admitted in
 the terms of the subject4 ,this        
disunity has grown out of conditions    
which range over a few generations4 ,i  
believe that these conditions grew      
largely out of our ignoring the human   
side of industry and the general life   
conditions of the masses of our workers4
 ,our economic doctrine ignored the     
human factor1 and measured what was     
termed national progress in terms merely
 of material wealth without due regard  
to who owned the wealth1 made mainly by 
the energy of the industrial population4
 ,religious doctrines and religious     
institutions were not the cause of that 
unhappy situation1 but they had suffered
 from it1 until now we find a very      
considerable number of the population   
engaged in a struggle for life1 in a    
struggle for the material means of      
existence1 handicapped by belief that   
their own unaided effort alone can      

assist them1 that they must not look for
 help to any other class1 or to any     
other quarter4 ,moral precepts have not 
the influence which they ought to have  
upon our industrial relations4 ,workers 
are thrown back upon their own          
resources2 and in the use of those      
resources1 during the past fifteen years
 particularly1 much has been revealed to
 us of what is now in the working class 
mind4 ,i am not suggesting that to seek 
a settlement of conditions of disunity1 
or the trouble arising from those       
conditions1 you must coddle the working 
classes1 praise them and pay them       
highly1 and try to keep them contented  
with conditions which in themselves     
cannot be defended4 ,i do not mean that 
at all4 ,what ,i mean is that if unity  
between classes in industrial and       
economic life is to be sought and       
secured1 it can be got only at a price1 
paid in a two-fold form2 that of giving 
a larger yield of the wealth of the     
nation to those who mainly by their     

energies make that wealth1 and of       
placing the producing classes upon a    
level where they will receive a higher  
measure of respect1 of thanks1 and      
regard than they previously have        
received from the nation as a whole4 ,i 
was asked among others some twelve      
months ago to share in the              
investigations then made by             
representatives of the ,government to   
discover the immediate cause of the very
 serious unrest then displayed in the   
country1 and we went for a period of    
many weeks into the main centres of the 
kingdom and brought a varied collection 
of witnesses before us in order that the
 most reliable evidence should be       
obtained1 and one who favoured us with  
his views was the ,rev4 ,canon ,green1  
whom ,i am going to quote because of his
 great experience among the working     
class populations in various            
circumstances and over many years in    
,manchester and elsewhere4 ,this is what
 ,canon ,green writes3        ,they 7the

 working classes7 do not see why their  
hours should be so      long1 and their 
wages so small1 their lives so dull and 
colourless1      and their opportunities
 of reasonable rest and recreation so   
few4      ,can we wonder that with      
growing education and intelligence the  
workers of ,england are beginning to    
contrast their lot with that of      the
 rich and to ask whether so great       
inequalities are necessary8   ,there ,i 
believe you have put in the plainest and
 gentlest terms the working of the      
working class mind as it is to-day4 ,the
 country has given them more            
opportunities of education4 ,when they  
were less educated1 or1 if ,i may say   
so1 more ignorant than they are now1    
they were naturally more submissive and 
content with conditions the cause of    
which they so little understood4 ,you   
cannot send the children of the poor to 
school1 and improve your ,state agencies
 for education1 and increase the        
millions annually which the country is  

ready to spend in teaching the masses of
 the people more than they knew before1 
and expect those masses to remain       
content with the economic and social    
conditions which even disturbed their   
more ignorant fathers4 ,in short1 the   
more you educate and train the working  
classes1 the more naturally you bring   
them to the point of revolt against     
conditions which are inhuman or unfair1 
or which cannot be brought to square    
with the higher standard of education   
which they may receive4 ,i am sure when 
the community come to understand that it
 is a natural and even a proper sense of
 revolt on the part of the masses of the
 people they will not regret their      
education4 ,out of all this feeling of  
discontent in the minds of the          
industrial population there has in the  
last thirty odd years grown very strong 
organisation4 ,the ,trade ,union        
movement1 which ,i mention first as a   
very great factor in all these matters1 
is a most powerful and important factor1

 and the country will have to pay       
greater regard to the steps which ,trade
 ,unionism may take than the country has
 been disposed previously to do4 ,the   
,trade ,union movement was stimulated   
and developed by the conditions which it
 was brought into being to remedy4 ,the 
,trade ,union was not the growth of mere
 agitation4 ,the average ,briton must be
 convinced that there is something      
really wrong before he will try to      
remedy it at all1 and you cannot by     
lectures1 and by telling the people that
 they have been and are being oppressed1
 stir the people of this country to any 
resistance4 ,particularly you cannot get
 them to pay a contribution for it4 ,it 
was because of the experience of the    
mass of the workers1 their low wages and
 long hours and the bad conditions of   
employment1 that they organised and used
 the might that comes from numbers1 and 
paid contributions which in the sum     
total now amount to many millions of    
pounds in the way of reserve funds4 ,no 

apology was needed for the working      
classes and no defence is required for  
this step taken by the workers to unite 
themselves in ,trade ,unions1 and       
thereby secure by the unity of numbers  
the power which1 acting singly1 it was  
impossible for them to exercise4 ,this  
,trade ,union movement is quite alive to
 the division which exists among our    
classes1 and ,i am going to suggest that
 the movement might be used1 might be   
properly employed1 in obtaining that    
unity of classes which we are here to   
consider4  ,well1 then1 we may1 whilst  
not overlooking other helpful activities
 of a large number of people in this    
country1 seek this unity among three    
main divisions of our people1 viz4 7a7  
in industries1 7b7 in agriculture1 and  
7c7 in businesses4 ,given unity of      
interest and oneness of purpose and aim 
in those three broad divisions of the   
nation1 the rest must be attracted and  
brought into harmony by mere force of   
example1 if nothing else1 with the unity

 which might be secured in the three    
broad divisions to which ,i have        
referred4 ,one of the hopeful things1   
the significant things1 recently uttered
 in other quarters from which ,i am     
going to quote1 is clearly seeking this 
tendency to unity instead of the        
different interests and classes being   
driven by the waste and folly of the    
disuniting lines upon which so far we   
have persisted4 ,i observe that only a  
few days ago ,lord ,selborne1 who is one
 of our principal mouthpieces on        
agricultural matters1 presided at a new 
body called into existence within the   
past few weeks and to be known as the   
,national ,agricultural ,council4 ,now1 
that is not a body which will consist of
 landowners1 or of farmers1 or of farm  
workers2 it is a body to consist of all 
three4 ,the landowners1 the farmers1 and
 the agricultural workers have come to  
recognise that they all have something  
in common touching agriculture1 touching
 the trade or industry in which they are

 brought into close touch day by day4 ,i
 know as a matter of fact that only a   
very few years ago the ,farmers' ,union 
would not tolerate the idea of the farm 
workers having a union1 and the land    
workers looked with real dread upon the 
farmers having a union1 and now all     
three have come to the stage when they  
agree to join in one ,council1 and1     
though it was admitted that the         
interests of those three classes were   
primarily in conflict1 it was recognised
 that by holding meetings1 by the       
representatives of all these quite      
distinct interests frequently coming    
together1 much good might be done4 ,for 
what8 ,as they say1 for agriculture4    
,so1 though none of them will forfeit   
any rightful interest anyone of them may
 have in the pursuit of a special claim1
 they will all recognise a higher sense 
of duty1 and feel there is an obligation
 upon them to make agriculture in this  
country a greater thing not only for    
themselves as the three partners1 but   

for the mass of the community at large4 
,and if it is necessary to do that in   
the farmers' interest or the landowners'
 interest1 it was at least as necessary 
to do it in the interest of the         
agricultural worker1 and ,i put his     
claim first1 not because he is the sole 
contributor to any yield that may come  
from the land1 but because he is the    
most numerous body1 and numbers in this 
as in other respects may well be the    
determining factor2 and because if he   
withholds his labour there will be none 
of the fruit of the soil for which we   
look year after year4 ,i follow up this 
statement by an authoritative one from  
another quarter4 ,lord ,lee1 who as we  
know was the ,director of the ,food     
,production ,department at the ,board of
 ,agriculture1 spoke some time ago on   
this aspect of the case1 and said3 ,take
 the agricultural labourer for example4 
,does anyone suppose1 or suggest1 that  
he should return from the               
trenches--where he has distinguished    

himself in a way unsurpassed by any     
other class in the community--to the old
 miserable conditions under which1 in   
most parts of the country1 he was       
under-paid1 wretchedly housed1 and      
denied almost any pleasure in life1     
except such as the public house could   
offer him8 ,those conditions were a     
disgrace to the country1 and ,i shall   
never be content until they are swept   
away for ever4 ,i do not say this only  
in the interest of the man himself2 it  
is necessary these conditions should go1
 in the best interests not merely of the
 labourer but of the farmer and of      
agriculture4 ,so it may be that unity   
and oneness of purpose and of action    
will be driven upon us as one of the    
bye-products of war conditions4 ,for    
your simple plain agricultural worker   
will come back feeling that as he has   
fought for the liberties of his country 
he will be entitled to enjoy a little   
more of it than ever before1 that if the
 land is to be freed from designs of the

 tyrant abroad it must be freed also    
from any wrong at home1 and that he must
 have a larger share in the fruits of   
his labour than he has enjoyed before4  
,my own view is that you will not on    
that account make the farm worker a less
 efficient harvestman1 but you will make
 him a happier father1 you will be      
making him a more contented citizen1 and
 may make him a more profitable worker  
than he has ever been4  ,various        
remedies have been tried or thought of  
to give effect to what are our common   
aspirations4 ,one ,i have seen referred 
to frequently is one ,i would like to   
see always avoided4 ,it is the remedy of
 placing before workmen as a necessity a
 greatly increased output from their    
manual labour in the future2 not that ,i
 am opposed to an increased output1 but 
,i am not going to demand it as part of 
the bargain which should itself be      
arranged and carried out1 even if it did
 not necessarily secure for us any      
greater sum total of wealth than we now 

enjoy2 for poor as we may have accounted
 ourselves we have seen in the past few 
years how vastly we can spend and lend  
in support of any high purpose to which 
the country may devote itself4 ,poverty 
can never again be claimed by the nation
 as a whole whenever there is a proper  
and reasonable demand for any social    
change or reform which may be necessary 
and proper4 ,men are asking for a       
greater yield1 for a greater output1 for
 building up our wealth higher than ever
 before1 so as to repair the ravages of 
the war1 if for no other purpose4 ,with 
all those objects ,i agree1 but we must 
not make them as terms to the worker in 
exchange for those conditions of unity  
which we are asking our workers to      
arrange with us4 ,greater output1       
increased efficiency1 a bigger and      
better return of wealth from industrial 
and agricultural energy1 can well come  
out of a better working system1 a better
 rearrangement of combined effort1 a    
more extensive use of machinery1 a more 

satisfactory sub-division of labour1 a  
wider employment of the personal        
experience and technical skill of our   
industrial classes1 a higher state of   
administrative efficiency and management
 in the workshops1 the creation of a    
better and more humane atmosphere in the
 workshops4 ,out of all of these things 
a greater yield of wealth could be      
produced1 and it is along those lines we
 must go in order not merely to convert 
but to convince the workman that he is  
not being used as a mere tool for some  
ulterior end for the benefit of some    
smaller class in the country4 ,it has   
been said by some that ,trade ,union    
restrictions and limitations must go4 ,i
 candidly admit there have been ,trade  
,union regulations and conditions which 
perhaps have stood in the way of some   
increased output1 but ,i am not here to 
apologise for ,trade ,union rules4      
,every class has its regulations and    
rules4 ,the more powerful and the more  
wealthy the class the more rigid and    

stringent those rules have been4        
,however1 the class which was most in   
need of regulations and rules1 the      
working class1 was the first to set the 
example of setting them aside as a      
general war measure when the country    
called upon the workers to take action  
of that kind during #aiae4 ,we must1    
therefore1 keep in mind the fact that   
workmen are naturally suspicious4 ,that 
suspicion is the growth of the workshop 
system1 into which ,i have not now the  
time to go1 and we must avoid causing   
the workman to suspect that our unity1  
the unity we are seeking among classes1 
is a mere device for getting him to work
 harder and produce greater wealth and  
perhaps labour even longer hours than   
ever4  ,the first great step towards    
this unity is to secure the good will of
 the ,trade ,unions4 ,having secured    
that1 the next thing is to proceed upon 
lines which will bring at once home to  
the individual workman in the workshop  
some sense of responsibility with regard

 to the response which he must make to  
the appeal which we put before him4 ,in 
short1 better relations must precede any
 first step that could effectively be   
taken to secure this greater unity1 and 
better relations are impossible in      
industry until we have given the        
individual workman a greater sense of   
responsibility of what he is in the     
workshop for4 ,let me briefly outline   
how that might be secured4 ,it was put1 
,i think1 quite eloquently if simply in 
an address to the ,trade ,union         
,congress a short time ago by the       
,president of the ,congress1 who said   
that the workman wanted a voice in the  
daily management of the employment in   
which he spends his working life1 in the
 atmosphere and in the conditions under 
which he has to work1 in the hours of   
beginning and ending work1 in the       
conditions of remuneration1 and even in 
the manners and practices of the foremen
 with whom he had to be in contact4 ,in 
all these matters1 said the ,president1 

workmen have a right to a voice--even to
 an equal voice--with the management    
itself4 ,i know that is a big1 and to   
some an extravagant claim to make1 but  
to set it aside or ignore it is to      
provoke and invite further trouble4     
,industry can no longer be run for the  
profit which it produces1 or even       
because of the wealth which collective  
energy can make4 ,that1 indeed1 was the 
mistake out of which1 as ,i said at the 
beginning1 this disunion1 and this      
suspicion1 and this selfishness1 have   
grown4 ,we have had greatly to modify   
our doctrines of political economy      
during the course of the war1 and all   
the things which many teachers told us  
never could be done have come as natural
 to us under war conditions which we    
could not resist1 and of which we were  
the creatures4 ,where now is the law of 
supply and demand8 ,indeed1 if the law  
of supply and demand were operating at  
this moment1 there are few workmen in   
the country who would not be receiving  

many1 many pounds more a week than they 
are4 ,the workman is not paid to-day    
according to the demand for his labour4 
,a very much higher obligation decides  
for him what his remuneration is to be4 
,i have in mind1 of course1 the fact    
that a considerable number of workers1  
who are employed upon munition services 
and so on1 are enjoying very high wages1
 but that is not at all true of the     
masses of the industrial population1 and
 we ought not to be deceived by these   
rare instances which are quoted of men  
coming out of the workshop with #bj or  
#cj4 ,speaking of the industrial        
population in the main1 what was the    
outstanding economic doctrine8--the     
doctrine that the demand for labour and 
the volume for supplying that demand    
determined the remuneration4 ,that      
doctrine has had to go by the board like
 so many other things that could not    
exist under war pressure4  ,then1 how   
are we to give effect to this general   
workshop aspiration for bringing the    

workman into closer unity with the      
conditions which determine that part of 
his life which is the bread-winning     
part1 for which he has to turn out in   
the morning early and often return home 
late in the evening8 ,there was         
established some time ago what can be   
described as a quite responsible        
committee to report upon how better     
relations not only between employers and
 employed through their associations1   
but in regard to employers and employed 
in the workshops1 might be established4 
,that committee issued the report       
commonly known to us now as the ,whitley
 ,report1 of which ,i am quite sure more
 will be heard in a few years4 ,the men 
who had to frame that report were drawn 
from the two extremes of the employers  
and trade unions4 ,we had men with very 
advanced views1 like ,mr ,smillie1 on   
the one hand1 and we had quite powerful 
employers of labour1 like ,sir ,gilbert 
,claughton and ,sir ,william ,carter1 on
 the other4 ,i had the privilege of     

sitting on that committee1 and for some 
months we laboured to frame some        
definite terms which might be accepted  
by those who were concerned in our      
recommendations4 ,i very often hear the 
suggestion that people will have little 
of it because it is not ideal1 not grand
 or great enough1 but we have to come   
down to the earth upon these matters1   
and we have to recommend only what we   
feel is likely to be accepted lest our  
labour should be wasted4 ,we must avoid1
 therefore1 throwing our aims too high1 
and we must suggest only what practical 
business men and workmen are likely     
seriously to consider4 ,having decided  
to reach that conclusion1 and feeling   
the sense of responsibility which1      
opposed as so many of us were to each   
other1 drove us to reach a conclusion1  
we expressed ourselves in these terms3  
,we are convinced that a permanent      
improvement in the relations between    
employers and employed must be founded  
upon something other than a cash basis4 

,what is wanted is that the workpeople  
should have a greater opportunity of    
participating in the discussion upon an 
adjustment of those parts of industry by
 which they are most affected4 ,for     
securing improvement in the relations   
between employers and employed1 it is   
essential that any proposals put forward
 should offer to workpeople the means of
 attaining improved conditions of       
employment and a higher standard of     
comfort generally1 and involve the      
enlistment of their active and          
continuous co-operation in the promotion
 of industry4 ,previously1 the view was 
that the workman had nothing whatever to
 do with this phase of the management of
 business1 and that is a phrase still   
very much used4 ,we make no claim in    
this report that workmen should have the
 right to interfere in the higher realms
 of business management1 in1 say1       
finance1 in the general higher details  
of organisation1 in the extension of    
works1 in all those more important and  

urgent matters which must come before   
the board of managers or the manager    
himself4 ,these are things which belong 
properly and exclusively to those who   
have the responsibility of managing our 
great industries1 but in all the other  
things affecting the conditions of the  
workman1 the manner in which he is to be
 treated1 hours1 wages1 conditions of   
employment1 relations between section   
and section1 and working division and   
working division1 all those things which
 were regarded previously as the private
 monopoly of the foreman or manager must
 in future become the common concern of 
the workmen collectively1 and they must 
have some voice in how these things are 
to be settled4 ,the country and its     
industries1 of course1 may refuse to    
hear that voice1 but really we have to  
choose between reconciling workmen to a 
given system of industry or finding     
workmen in perpetual revolt against     
their conditions4 ,and it will pay the  
country to concede a great deal1 not    

only for peace in the workshop but for a
 higher standard of peace generally in  
the whole community4 ,the appeal that   
must be made to the workman must be     
followed up by asking him to receive it 
in a very different spirit from the     
spirit sometimes shewn in certain       
workshops4 ,i am not here by any means  
to pour praise altogether upon the      
working classes1 and ,i am conscious of 
the mistakes and wrongs which have      
sometimes been done in their names1 and 
,i am therefore anxious that the spirit 
of the workshop should be so tempered   
and altered as to be fit to receive and 
make the best use of the approaches     
which are to be made to it to           
participate in workshop management upon 
the lines which ,i have indicated4  ,so 
this appeal which has been made by the  
,whitley committee1 and which has been  
followed up by some other departments of
 government1 is put as an appeal to the 
common-sense and reason of the men in   
the workshop1 and does not rest upon any

 of the many agencies which have been   
employed previously in the pursuit of   
definite trade union ends4 ,this spirit 
can be fostered only when the masses of 
workmen are reached by the consciousness
 that they themselves are being called  
upon to share in the undertakings of    
which they are so important a part4 ,the
 importance of workmen has been revealed
 in a most startling way during the     
period of the war1 and the war has shewn
 in many trades that recurring          
differences between capital and labour  
can be adjusted without strikes and     
without lock-outs if methods are        
provided in the workshop which are      
acceptable to both sides1 and are made  
to operate fairly and satisfactorily    
between the different interests4 ,think 
how important the workman has become    
because of the war4 ,consider how much  
the workman is now pressed and drawn    
into all manner of services which       
previously he could either remain in or 
leave at his will4 ,the war has made    

such a demand upon national industrial  
energy that there is no service now for 
which there is not a demand4 ,indeed1   
you have seen the effect in that        
services in the workshop include men who
 previously would have been ashamed to  
have had it known that they had ever    
soiled their hands at any toil at all1  
but who have been glad to get a place in
 the workshop because it was work of    
national importance4 ,war experience has
 shewn us how high manual service stands
 in the grades of service which can be  
rendered for community interest4 ,this  
new spirit does not appeal to force as a
 means of settling differences1 nor to  
compulsory arbitration1 nor to the      
authority of the ,state1 nor to the     
power of organisation on either side4   
,it is an appeal to reason1 an approach 
to both sides to act in association on  
lines which will give freedom1          
self-respect1 and security to both      
sides1 whilst enabling each of them to  
submit to the other what it feels is    

best for the joint advancement of the   
trade and those engaged in it4 ,in      
short1 ,i would like to see inside the  
gates of every workshop the cultivation 
of the same spirit in ,british industry 
as has been hinted at already as the    
first essential for the future          
development of agriculture in ,england4 
,those processes of calling in the      
individual workman through committees1  
to which ,i will refer briefly in a     
moment1 are not intended to take the    
place of the great organisations4 ,they 
are to be supplementary to the ,trade   
,unions1 and are not intended to        
supplant them4  ,trades ,union          
leadership has changed hands to a great 
extent during the past year or two1 and 
the virtual leaders of the men are now  
men themselves employed at the bench and
 in the mine4 ,they are exercising very 
great authority and influence over      
masses of their fellow workmen1 and     
often the authority1 and decisions1 and 
advice of executives and leaders are set

 aside and the advice of the men        
employed in the workshop1 given to their
 fellow workmen as mates1 is followed4  
,so with this change1 due to conditions 
into which we have not time to go1 there
 must be recognised the need for        
applying new remedies in considering    
this question of improving the relations
 between employer and employed4 ,it will
 not do now merely to have discussions  
between association and association4 ,we
 might improve upon that and supplement 
it as ,i have said by having discussions
 direct in the workshop with the workmen
 themselves1 who would be brought into  
touch at once with persons who were     
responsible for what action must be     
taken4 ,so leadership having been to    
some extent transferred from the ,trade 
,union to the workshop1 the workman must
 be followed there and must be shewn how
 essential it is to recruit his good    
will and his aid in improving workshop  
conditions1 not for the betterment of   
the management1 but as much1 if not     

more1 for his own betterment as a       
workman in the shop4 ,this may not touch
 certain industries in the country that 
are non-organised4 ,some of those       
trades1 much to our shame1 in former    
years were known as sweated industries1 
but even there it is found that the     
workers1 men and women alike1 are coming
 gradually into the trades unions1 and  
should they not be in the trades unions 
to any great extent they are to be      
reached by other ways and means which   
this committee has developed4 ,it is    
intended to apply to them1 so as to     
establish the necessary machinery for   
better relations1 the personnel of the  
,trades ,boards ,acts1 those boards     
which1 in the absence of trades unions1 
deal with the sweated conditions of     
thousands of workers employed in those  
sweated trades4 ,so ,i have no fear     
myself of the non-organised trades being
 left altogether out of the range of the
 spirit to which ,i have referred4 ,in  
addition to the committees there is to  

be in every district1 it is proposed1 a 
representative council1 drawn from the  
employers and employed of the particular
 industry1 and some scores of these     
councils are now being set up4 ,in      
addition1 there is to be in relation to 
every principal industry a national     
council1 and many of us are now engaged 
in the creation of those several bodies4
 ,the public may not hear much about    
them1 but they are the foundation upon  
which this structure of better relations
 is to rest1 and1 so far as we can spare
 some small margin of our time for those
 duties1 considerable headway has been  
made in establishing these different    
organisations4  ,but ,i attach most     
importance to the workshop committees1  
and so ,i want to pursue this idea a    
little further4 ,what are those         
committees to be8 ,they would have to be
 free representative bodies1 chosen by  
the men themselves4 ,they could be      
empowered to meet the management1       
possessed of a sense of responsibility1 

to discuss in their own homely way      
matters which would have to be settled  
between them4 ,indeed1 we know from     
experience that many of the big trade   
disputes in this country have grown out 
of trifles1 out of small nothings       
comparatively1 which could well have    
been settled inside the workshop gates  
by bringing master and man together1    
empowered to discuss matters which both 
understand as matters of personal       
experience4 ,the committees when        
created1 in this atmosphere and spirit  
to which ,i refer1 would exist not in   
rebellion against the trade unions or   
against the trade union system1 or exist
 as being in revolt against the         
management of the works1 or the employer
 of labour4 ,the committees would be    
vested with responsibility for          
negotiations4 ,they would be able to use
 the personal knowledge derived from    
contact with the questions arising day  
by day4 ,they would develop a sense of  
independence and a sense of just        

dealing1 so that the doctrine of a fair 
day's wage for a fair day's work should 
apply not only to the wages but to the  
work to be done1 a thing which sometimes
 does not occur4 ,these committees could
 check the driving methods of some      
persons in authority1 and1 whilst       
getting the best from those who are     
above them1 they could give the best1 as
 ,i am sure they would provided the     
spirit is created1 from the workmen in  
return for the fairer treatment they    
would enjoy4 ,these committees could    
deal not only with manual service and   
ordinary work and wage questions2 they  
could develop a better use of industrial
 capacity and technical knowledge in    
matters of workshop life4 ,but the      
spirit is everything1 and the best      
desires of equitable workshop management
 could find expression through those    
committees if they were created4 ,the   
committees would give a chance to the   
many workmen who now talk a great deal  
about democracy to express that         

democracy through the persons of the    
workmen themselves4 ,i fear there are   
many of our friends in the labour       
movement1 as we term it1 who are given  
freely to talking of democracy without  
clearly understanding all that is       
covered in that term4 ,it is a term     
which1 it is a pleasure to see1 has     
recently found its way not merely into  
the phrases of statesmen1 but into the  
,king's speech itself4 ,we are now      
speaking commonly of all the sacrifices 
that are being made1 of all the blood   
and treasure that is being spilt1 in    
order to have a wholesome democratic    
system of world government4 ,well1 we   
must begin in the workshops1 for you    
cannot have peace on a large scale the  
country over1 or between nation and     
nation1 unless you have peace in our    
places of employment4 ,they are the     
starting points and there it is that    
your contented millions must first be   
found4 ,if they are not happy and if    
they are not at ease in connexion with  

their national service1 you cannot      
expect any of those larger results for  
which highminded statesmen are seeking  
the world over4  ,upon two main lines1  
in my judgment1 democracy will require  
the most sane guidance and most         
sagacious advice which its leaders are  
capable of giving to it4 ,it will not do
 for leaders merely to say that the     
future of the world must be decided1 not
 by diplomats or thrones or ,kaisers1   
but by the will of peoples4 ,the will of
 peoples can find enduring and          
beneficial expression only when that    
will seeks social change by reasonable  
and calculated instalments1 and not by  
any violent act of revolution4 ,peaceful
 voters on their way to the ballot boxes
 and properly formulated principles will
 in the end go further than fire and    
sword in the internal affairs of a      
nation4 ,i say this because of the loose
 talk we have heard from many labour    
platforms recently of revolution and its
 benefits4 ,revolution may well be in   

any country the beginning and not the   
end of internal troubles1 often         
expressed in a more painful and more    
violent form than ever4 ,we need only   
look at our former great partner1       
,russia1 to find full confirmation of   
all ,i have now implied4 ,the red flag  
marches with the machine gun and the    
black cap when a certain stage of       
physical revolt is reached4 ,the theory 
of new methods of life can only find    
rational application when democracy is  
wisely guided in taking slow but sure   
steps peacefully to turn its theories   
into an applied system1 wherein the     
people of a nation and not merely a     
section or a class shall find their     
proper place and security for service1  
and find an assured existence under     
conditions of comfort for themselves and
 advantage to the ,state4 ,democratic   
leaders must tell these things to the   
people time after time if need be4 ,they
 must repeat them so that the masses may
 understand them1 because the tendency  

in labour has been to narrow the meaning
 of democracy4 ,democracy is not1 and   
ought not to be1 limited to those who   
now constitute the industrial           
population4 ,democracy is not a sect or 
a trade union club4 ,democracy is wider 
than the confines of the manual worker4 
,democracy should strive to reach the   
highest level of morality in doctrine   
and aspiration4 ,it is not a class      
formula4 ,it is a great and elevating   
faith which may be shared by all who    
believe in it4 ,democracy stands for the
 general progress of mankind and means  
the uplifting of men1 and the liberation
 and unifying of nations4 ,it does not  
mean the dominion of one class over     
another1 nor the violent wresting of    
position or authority by some dramatic  
act of physical force1 which if used    
would still leave a nation in a state of
 unreconciled and contending factions4  
,democracy1 again1 is a spirit whereby  
vast social and economic change may be  
effected through a medium approaching   

common consent or at least by the       
application of the political power of   
the people acting through representative
 institutions and resting upon ideas    
which majorities accept and understand4 
,the spirit which has already accepted  
vast political changes can be made to   
apply to vast economic and industrial   
changes4 ,this spirit must be cultivated
 by the leaders of democracy4 ,they have
 now opportunities as great as their    
responsibilities4 ,the success of       
parties1 in the old sense of the term1  
is a trivial thing to the success of the
 great ends to be secured4 ,these ends  
will justify the use of any             
constitutional means for dethroning that
 form of power upon which privilege and 
the mere possession of wealth have      
rested4 ,but democracy must not be duped
 by phrases1 nor be swayed by any       
influence which does not lead to a      
lasting advance for the nation as a     
whole4 ,nor should its leaders think    
that fundamental and enduring changes in

 our social system can be reached by any
 short cut to which the great mass of   
the people have not been converted4     
,progress will be faster in the future  
if impatience and folly do not retard   
it4  ,having said a little with regard  
to the position of the poorer people1   
let me before ,i close respectfully     
address a few words to the richer and   
more favoured in the country4 ,should   
all rich folk in the country work8 ,that
 is a very plain and ,i dare say it will
 be regarded in some places as quite an 
impudent question4 ,but really1 rich    
people who have never had cause in any  
way to earn their living have always    
been a danger to the ,state1 just as    
they have been the greatest instance of 
wicked waste to be found in any country4
 ,there is nothing more melancholy1 and 
even degrading1 to a country than the   
sight of educated people who have       
nothing to do4 ,wealth is the fruit of  
service and endeavour4 ,work is the only
 medium by which the ravages of the war 

can be made good4 ,ignorance and        
idleness present a most pitiable        
spectacle1 but the most criminal of all 
sights is education and idleness        
combined4 ,finally1 let me say that     
whilst ,i have addressed myself mainly  
in terms of appeal to the workers1 ,i am
 not unmindful at all of the            
difficulties of the great employers of  
labour and those covered by the phrase  
our ,captains of ,industry4 ,i know that
 many of them work very hard under the  
greatest and most trying mental         
pressure1 and have duties and trials    
unknown even to the workmen1 but with   
those duties and trials come reliefs    
again unknown to the workmen--holidays1 
change1 and rest1 and the meeting of men
 of their own class whose very company  
is an intellectual joy1 so that the     
worst off your employer of labour as a  
human being may be he is far better off 
than the average workman4 ,think of the 
housing conditions of so many thousands1
 hundreds of thousands1 of workmen1 and 

how intolerable it would be for you to  
live under those conditions1 how        
discontented you would be1 how          
discontented the rich would be were it  
their fate to drag on an existence in   
some of those places which are commonly 
described by the term houses4 ,why1 the 
very waiting room of the employer's     
ordinary office is a much more cosy and 
pleasant place than the homes of many of
 the most industrious workers of        
,england4 ,i plead that the elements of 
the human order should begin to pervade 
the relations of the workshop1 that the 
workman should be less of a drudge and  
more of a human asset than he has been1 
that he should be brought into          
partnership in the undertaking and in   
the management2 that incidentally he    
should have a more secure remuneration  
and not have to bear the penalties and  
ordeals of employment as he has had     
alone to bear them during times of trade
 depression and unemployment in previous
 years4 ,the human side of the workshop 

has1 therefore1 to be built up1 and you 
cannot hope to build it up upon any     
foundation of drudgery such as the      
workmen in the main have had to live    
under1 and1 as ,i have said1 it will pay
 the country to conciliate the men on   
these terms4 ,it is a high ideal1 but it
 is attainable4 ,i believe it is        
attainable because we have seen it in   
another sphere of sacrifice where it has
 already been secured4 ,the war has     
brought all classes together4 ,in the   
trenches1 at sea1 and in all theatres of
 danger1 men of all classes are now     
labouring shoulder to shoulder4 ,there  
you have had a sinking of individual    
interests4 ,there you have had a common 
sacrifice1 a common endeavour for a     
common cause4 ,surely1 as all classes   
have been able to unite in their        
sacrifice and in their resistance of the
 aggression of a foreign foe1 it is1 ,i 
hope1 not asking too much that when they
 come back and take their places in     
peaceful pursuits again1 and become     

masters1 workmen1 managers1 and foremen 
in our enterprises and businesses1 when 
they return from danger and come back to
 take their places amongst us1--surely  
it is not too much to hope that those   
who are able to unite abroad will be    
able to unite for the ends of peace and 
joy here at home4     ,,unity ,,in ,,the
 ,,empire  ,by ,f4 ,j4 ,,chamberlain1   
,c4,b4,e4   ,the word unity in relation 
to the ,empire has a deeper meaning     
to-day than it had five years ago4 ,then
 it was a watchword1 a theme for        
,imperial conferences and for speakers  
at demonstrations4 ,the sanguine were   
sure1 the pessimists and that great body
 of ,britishers of moderate views and   
moderate faith regarded it as one of the
 things hoped for4  ,with dramatic      
suddenness the event clarified the      
situation1 ,england awoke at war4 ,there
 was no time for preliminary councils4  
,the supreme test of the ,empire had    
been reached4 ,it is no exaggeration to 
say that the whole world watched with   

eagerness for the result4 ,it was in    
that moment that the great discovery was
 made4 ,the ,british ,empire stood fast4
 ,from that day until now1 from end to  
end of the world has been seen an object
 lesson of unity that has justified the 
sanguine1 and been an inspiration to the
 ,allies4 ,that revelation has been more
 inspiring because the world is aware   
that it is in spite of the most sinister
 and subtle campaign against it1 planned
 and brilliantly executed by an enemy   
under the cloak of friendship4 ,i do not
 forget the tragic circumstances of one 
small nation within the ,empire4 ,but   
,ireland has given more evidence of her 
faithfulness to ,empire on the fields of
 ,france and ,flanders than of her      
treachery at home1 and to-day we have   
more reason to count her ours than has  
the enemy4 ,examine the position in cold
 blood1 if you can1 and you are still   
aware of a substantial1 solid1 and      
effective unity running round the       
,empire1 binding it in one as with a    

girdle of scarlet and gold4  ,the war is
 not responsible for the unity2 it has  
only discovered or uncovered it4 ,the   
storm does not establish foundations2 it
 may reveal them4 ,a century of building
 has created the structure that the     
storm has failed to destroy4  ,the      
,british ,empire is a successful        
experiment on the lines of the          
longed-for ,league of ,nations4 ,the    
race contains no more diverse elements  
than are found within its borders2      
one-third of the land surface of the    
world1 and one-fifth of the inhabitants1
 have been held together in a living    
federation and have been kept until this
 day4 ,upon our generation rests the    
awful and splendid responsibility of    
proving to a questioning world that this
 unity can be made permanent1 and of    
illustrating how a still larger unity   
may be achieved4  ,you will forgive one 
or two homely pictures of our unity that
 cannot fail to strike the imagination4 
,it has been our privilege to meet      

thousands of men from the ,overseas     
,dominions4 ,how many times have boys1  
whose forefathers emigrated from        
,england or ,scotland1 who were         
themselves born in ,australia1 or on the
 ,western plains of ,canada1 said1 ,i   
have been wanting to come home all my   
life8 ,these islands are the home of the
 ,empire1 and there is no more wonderful
 word in the language4  ,or think of    
,botha and ,smuts1 within the memory    
almost of the youngest of us1 fighting  
with all their heart and mind against   
the ,empire1 and1 to-day1 dominant      
personalities proclaiming their loyalty1
 and proving it in unrivalled service4  
,or picture1 if you can1 young ,india1  
pouring out her life-blood with pride   
and ready sacrifice1 in ,france1 in     
,egypt1 and in ,mesopotamia1 for the    
,british ,raj4 ,the most moving scene in
 the history of the ,british ,commons   
was on that evening in #aiae1 when the  
princes of ,india stood amidst the      
representatives of the people of the    

homelands and paid their homage4  ,how  
much such things mean will depend on the
 vision of those who hear them2 but they
 have in them the stuff that holds the  
future4  ,this ghastly war1 not of our  
choosing1 has transferred the seats of  
learning for young ,britain from their  
peaceful sites to the battlefield4 ,if  
the object of education is the          
cultivation of the power of thought and 
observation1 the kindling of            
imagination1 and the extension of       
knowledge2 then over there is a         
,university set in full array1 with     
ghostly as well as human tutors1 a      
curriculum without precedent1 and such a
 body of undergraduates as ,cambridge or
 ,oxford might covet4  ,it is not for   
nothing1 as regards the ,empire1 that   
your sons1 the children of the ,east    
,end1 and the boys of ,canada1          
,australasia1 and ,south ,africa1 are   
meeting and mingling with ,gurkha and   
,sikh1 and with each other4 ,they are   
sharing a common discipline1 a common   

adventure1 making sacrifice together4   
,they are seeing each other with eyes   
from which the scales are falling1 and  
knowledge and understanding are growing 
out of their contact4 ,the farthest     
reaches of ,empire have been brought    
nearer to the ,empire's heart by this   
brotherhood in arms1 and the barriers   
between classes have been lowered until 
a man can step across them without      
climbing4 ,the distance between ,east   
and ,west has been immeasurably         
shortened1 whether we are thinking in   
terms of ,london1 or of the ,empire4    
,in our consideration of this whole     
subject we are to take the ,christian   
standpoint4 ,to us1 the words ,thy      
,kingdom come on earth as it is in      
,heaven1 on ,divine lips were more than 
a pious wish4 ,they were a great        
intention1 the expression of age-long   
purpose4 ,we believe that the gains of  
the centuries--the harvest of the past  
which is worth conserving--have been    
secured by moral and spiritual conquest1

 rather than by military or political   
achievement4 ,there may be elements in  
our present forms of unity which we may 
well allow to go by the board4 ,the     
things that make for permanence will    
abide not only with an enlightened      
statesmanship1 but with a growing       
understanding1 an ever broadening       
interpretation of ,christian teaching   
about        ,the ,kingdom of ,god on   
earth1      ,the ,universal ,fatherhood 
of ,god1 and      ,the brotherhood of   
man1   leading the nation to see that   
the knowledge of ,god and of ,his       
,christ is the rightful inheritance of  
every son of the ,empire4  ,as these    
great ideals of social life have been   
interpreted in the life of either       
sovereign peoples or subject peoples1   
so1 we believe1 and only so1 have bonds 
been forged that can be trusted to stand
 the strain which time and changing     
condition and circumstances impose4     
,unity1 even the ,empire itself         
ultimately1 depends1 as we believe1 on a

 broad-based statesmanship1 carrying up 
the main principles of our ,government  
to their highest power in action1 and1  
constantly throughout the ,empire1      
mediating those doctrines to the peoples
 concerned as they are able to bear     
them1 with ever-extending inspiration   
and encouragement to growth and         
development4  ,our ,imperial aims are   
neither antagonistic to nor inconsistent
 with our ,christian programme4 ,that   
should constitute a challenge to the    
,christian ,churches1 and is in itself a
 matter for high and solemn pride4 ,the 
war has cleared the air4 ,as stated     
during this period1 the ideal of a      
federation of nations1 free1            
independent1 and at the same time       
interdependent1 each working out its    
national destiny1 each contributing1 in 
terms of opportunity1 to the well-being 
of the whole1 bringing to bear on       
,imperial matters the heart1 brain1 will
 of the whole1 gives us a picture of a  
,commonwealth in advance of any         

contemporary political programme1 with  
the one conspicuous exception of that of
 the ,united ,states of ,america1       
between whom and ourselves is being     
established a ,unity which may well be  
more valuable to the world at large and 
to ourselves than any formal ,union4    
,here1 as we see it1 is our opportunity4
 ,the ,christian forces of the ,empire  
have the onus of maintaining the        
national outlook at this high level4    
,our faith1 our audacity1 our leadership
 will be needed if lesser counsels are  
to have no chance of prevailing4 ,there 
must be no swing of the pendulum back to
 smaller views4  ,with the coming of    
,peace1 the temptation to the ,nation to
 take off its armour1 to come down from 
the pedestal1 to revert to pre-war      
conditions1 to re-act in self-indulgence
 from the strain of war1 or to let      
materialism defeat idealism1 will be    
well-nigh overwhelming4 ,to give way to 
that temptation will be to rob victory  
of any permanent values4 ,it will be a  

poor thing to have taught ,germany her  
lesson1 if we fail to learn our own4    
,we see no hope of successful resistance
 of that temptation apart from the      
mobilisation of the ,christian forces   
within the ,empire into an army         
committed to the sacred task of making  
the conscience of the ,nation           
effectively ,christian1 leading the way 
in bringing about a closer approximation
 between the politics of the ,state and 
the programme of the ,kingdom of ,god1  
and proclaiming that ,kingdom at hand4  
,if we are agreed so far it behoves us  
to look for the practical implications  
of the position4 ,these islands are     
still the heart and home of the ,empire4
 ,this was the rock whence its younger  
peoples were hewn4 ,our nation has      
produced the men and the machinery that 
govern our commonwealth4 ,the lonely    
places1 farthest removed from us1 will  
be peopled largely by and through the   
work of children of the ,old ,country4  
,there1 wherever her children go1 is    

,england4  ,england is a treasure house1
 where the very stones are eloquent4    
,her history1 her buildings1 her        
national and civic life1 her            
denominations and movements are all of  
them of vital interest to her children4 
,it is a place of pilgrimage and        
remembrance4 ,it is more4 ,they find    
here the mature growths from which their
 institutions have sprung4 ,they love   
our historic places1 they love our      
crowded cities1 they love our seashores 
and our quiet country-side1 for         
everywhere they go they find not only   
the story of our past1 but that of their
 own4 ,this is their spiritual home4    
,our art1 our literature1 our movements 
are parts of a common inheritance1 and  
it is the pride of the ,motherland that 
her children have never outgrown their  
love of the old home1 their veneration  
for its sanctions and restraints1 and   
that on their own homesteads they have  
reproduced in new settings and often in 
fresh forms so much that is native here4

  ,one would like to see a larger share 
in this priceless inheritance offered to
 our peoples oversea4 ,think for one    
moment of our great ,cathedrals1 unique 
and wonderful4 ,they can never be       
reproduced4 ,they might be copied2 but  
,canterbury and ,westminster1 ,lincoln  
and ,durham1 ,york and the rest would   
still remain all that they are to us and
 to them4 ,you cannot transplant        
history4 ,in the homeland we are but    
trustees of these treasures1 and we     
ought to make them the home and centre  
of our ,imperial ,christianity4 ,in     
every one of them the priests of the    
,church in the ,overseas lands should   
not only be seen but heard4 ,is there no
 room in ,cathedral ,chapters for       
,overseas representatives1 so that in   
our daily services in a new and living  
way we may be linked together in        
sacrament1 praise and prayer1 and in the
 proclamation of ,christian truth8 ,one 
,canonry for each historic building     
would mean more to ,unity than many     

resolutions at ,congress4 ,perhaps that 
is as far as one ought to go in         
suggestion1 but there are other splendid
 possibilities that one would love to   
discuss4 ,no one thinking of ,unity in  
the ,empire can fail to rejoice in the  
growing desire manifest among ,christian
 ,denominations for ,unity4 ,i will not 
trench on another's subject beyond      
saying that the way to ,union is ,unity1
 and that it would be tragic if in these
 momentous days any stone was left      
unturned that would lead to better      
knowledge1 deeper understanding and     
sympathy between those who name the     
,name that is above every name4 ,and our
 people overseas have much to teach us  
in this matter4 ,over great areas of    
social opportunity and service the      
,catholic ,church may act unitedly and  
must do so1 if she is to enter on       
offensive warfare and not stand for     
another generation on the defensive4    
,the war has made a difference here4    
,men1 who in the conventional days of   

peace rarely met1 have joined hands in  
service4 ,catholic and ,protestant1     
,churchman and ,free ,churchman1 have   
found joy in fellowship4 ,that does not 
mean that differences have disappeared1 
it means that1 recognising and          
estimating their differences1 it has    
been possible to establish a basis of   
co-operation1 in knowledge1             
understanding1 and sympathy1 and to     
recognise in one another the hall-mark  
of ,christian faith and character4 ,is  
this to be a war measure only8 or is it 
to be one of the great gains to be      
carried over into the days ahead8  ,one 
other question clamours for treatment3  
the problem of the evangelisation of the
 ,empire4 ,christianity must be given   
its chance in every corner of the       
,empire4 ,there may be divergent        
opinions as to the methods to be used1  
but if ,christianity contains in its    
gospel the pearl of great price1 there  
can be no two opinions as to the        
obligation that rests on us to bring to 

the nations federated with us this      
supreme gift4 ,nothing can release us   
from that responsibility4 ,to postpone  
the presentation of the ,christian      
gospel for any of the time-honoured     
excuses3  7#a7 our pre-occupation in    
matters of more urgent importance       
elsewhere1  7#b7 any fear of the effects
 of ,christianity on our political or   
commercial interests1  7#c7 the desire  
to live down prejudice and establish    
confidence1  7#d7 the preparation of a  
people's mind by education before       
introducing a new religion1  --any one  
of these is treachery to the            
,all-,father and to the family of man1  
and a vital praeparatio evangelica is   
being made4 ,let me illustrate4  ,it    
happened in a great marquee in ,france4 
,on a summer evening in #aiaf the place 
was crowded with ,indians4 ,there was a 
group playing ,indian card games1 there 
was a crowd round a gramophone with     
,indian records1 at the writing tables  
with great torment of spirit men were   

writing to their homes4 ,at the counter 
foods they loved were being provided4   
,against one of the poles of the marquee
 stood a stately ,indian of some rank4  
,he had been seen there often before4   
,he rarely spoke but seemed intensely   
interested4 ,on this particular night   
the time arrived for the closing of the 
tent4 ,the little groups gradually      
disappeared and the tent curtains were  
being replaced when the leader of the   
work found himself addressed by the     
,indian3        ,why do you serve us in 
this way8 ,you are not here by          
,government      orders4 ,you come when 
you like and you go when you like4      
,there is      only one religion on     
earth that would lead its servants to   
serve in      this way1 ,christianity4  
,i have been watching you men1 and ,i   
have      come to the conclusion that   
,christianity will fit the ,east as it  
can never fit the ,west4 ,when the war  
is over ,i want you to send one      of 
your men to my village4 ,we are all     

,hindus1 but my people will do      what
 ,i tell them4   ,one of the ghastly    
tragedies of the war is that two great  
nations nominally ,christian are at each
 other's throats4 ,in the world's eyes  
,christian civilisation has broken down4
 ,we know better1 but our explanations  
will not carry far enough to correct the
 impression4 ,our defence must be an    
offensive4  ,it is certainly within the 
truth to say that we have not yet seen  
what ,christianity can do for a         
community or a nation where1 as ,i put  
it before1 it is given a chance4 ,may it
 not be that in the ,providence of ,god 
the first great revelation of what      
,christianity can do for a nation will  
be seen in one of the lands that have   
come under the ,flag1 and among a people
 living under less complex conditions   
than ourselves8 ,if that is a           
possibility we ought to see that        
wherever the ,flag flies1 there comes1  
with the unfurling of the ,flag1 the    
,gospel of ,christ4  ,this is directly  

in the interest of unity1 and many      
problems that have so far remained      
insoluble to our statesmen might        
discover the solution in ,christian     
leadership4  ,i shall be pardoned ,i    
know for suggesting that the highest    
purposes of unity may be served by the  
extension and development throughout the
 ,empire of such international          
organisations as the ,student ,christian
 ,movement1 the ,y4,m4,c4,a41 the       
,y4,w4,c4,a41 and1 used at its highest  
values1 the ,boy ,scout ,movement4      
,there are others1 but these are        
typical4 ,they are established movements
 built up on definite principles capable
 of universal application1 and yet each 
of them able to develop its organisation
 on lines that recognise national       
psychology and character4 ,each of them 
may become and aims at becoming         
indigenous everywhere1 giving freedom of
 method and action and free play to the 
moral and intellectual activities of the
 people concerned1 while they have      

certain essential elements that are     
universally characteristic of them4 ,in 
addition1 they give large numbers of    
,christian people an opportunity of     
expressing their unity in service of the
 right kind4  ,what was said about the  
,cathedrals is equally true of our two  
ancient ,universities4 ,mr ,fisher's    
,education ,bill may well mean more for 
,imperial unity than almost any other   
single factor4 ,it will mean an ever    
increasing number of men to whom        
,cambridge and ,oxford will be magic    
words4 ,if our view of culture is broad 
enough we shall see to it that these two
 ,universities become increasingly      
places where the children of the ,empire
 who are fit to graduate in them shall  
not lack the opportunity of doing so4   
,because these ancient foundations link 
with the past1 because of all they may  
mean to the present and to the future1  
the way to them should be made broad    
enough to admit the living stream of    
,greater ,britain's children1 who by    

dint of gifts and industry have proved  
their fitness to meet their peers in    
these delectable cities1 where the very 
air breathes the romance of ,british    
culture4 ,their right of entry ought not
 to be won by the benefactions of       
private citizens1 though all who love   
knowledge are grateful enough for these1
 but should be theirs by their          
citizenship in the ,empire and their own
 tested fitness4  ,nothing again is more
 hopeful in the present situation than  
the manifest desire1 widely felt and    
expressed1 that the old                 
class-antagonisms should never be       
revived4 ,surely this is the strategic  
moment in which we may make the ,war    
once more contribute to a better state  
of things4 ,our politicians are awake to
 the need and are inventing every kind  
of machinery for bringing ,capital and  
,labour together in ,council ,chambers  
as co-partners in the ,commerce of the  
,empire4 ,but there are sinister forces 
also at work1 and this machinery can    

only run if it is controlled by men of  
resolute good will4  ,the ,war has been 
a great bridge-builder linking up in the
 fellowship of discipline and sacrifice 
people between whom chasms yawned       
before4 ,there are knowledge and        
understanding and sympathy to-day       
amongst us4 ,yet many of us are         
convinced that no purely political      
machinery can be made effective in      
achieving so great a task as the making 
permanent of this new and better        
condition4 ,we need a new and abiding   
spirit of conciliation1 a deeper        
determination than political action can 
produce1 that things shall not relapse1 
that the forces of re-action shall not  
triumph4 ,the one hope of carrying over 
into permanence this new understanding  
and appreciation lies in the nation     
becoming impregnated with those spacious
 spiritual ideals that the ,churches    
together represent4 ,nothing is         
impossible to faith1 and faith in ,god  
and man will be kept astretch in the    

discipline that will be demanded of us  
all1 in the breaking down of false      
barriers that have grown up through the 
years and the destruction of long-lived 
prejudices that will die hard4  ,the    
,empire itself is a unity4 ,it is not   
easy for ,english people to realise all 
that is implied here4 ,my great         
name-sake urged us in this country to   
think ,imperially4 ,another voice asks  
us ,what do they know of ,england who   
only ,england know8 but it is hard for  
us to think except in terms of ,england4
 ,for example1 ,i have referred to this 
country as the great treasure house of  
the ,empire's history1 and to the care  
and devotion shewn by our kinsmen from  
,overseas in their study of our country 
and its institutions4 ,all of us realise
 how right that is1 but ought we not to 
reciprocate their devotion and regard1  
by much more intense interest and study 
of their life and the developments of   
their institutions8  ,our unity demands 
this wider culture1 this reciprocity4   

,the ,motherland must not only teach1   
she must be prepared to learn4 ,she may 
lead1 but she must be prepared to       
follow4 ,we have much to contribute1 but
 in ,religion1 in political and social  
ideals1 and in commerce there is much we
 need to receive4  ,if our land is the  
great treasure house1 are not these     
other lands great laboratories where we 
might see1 if we would only look1 how   
some of our accepted ideas1 and notions1
 and watchwords are tested in a larger  
arena8  ,are we so sure of ourselves    
that we are prepared to hold on to our  
own experience as the final test of the 
truth and value of our theories8 ,or are
 we big enough in the light of ,imperial
 experience to revise our judgment1 to  
sift our theories1 and to go forward    
carrying those which stand the test of  
the wider arena1 and being prepared to  
surrender those which only seemed right 
and proper in the conventional setting  
of these small islands8  ,in conclusion1
 the ,empire has come to power and unity

 on certain great principles4 ,our      
,imperial ideals have been evolved out  
of experience all over the world1 and   
with all kinds of people1 under the     
guidance of distinguished leaders of    
many-sided gifts4 ,in an ,empire so     
diverse in its constituent parts1       
including peoples at varied stages of   
development1 it is impossible that those
 ideals should be everywhere expressed  
at their highest power4 ,in many places 
our methods of government must be       
tentative1 but everywhere they must be  
progressive1 placing upon subject       
peoples the burden of government as     
rapidly as they are able to bear it1    
providing every inspiration that can    
call them upwards and onwards4 ,our     
tentative methods must never be allowed 
to become permanent4 ,we may be tutors1 
we must never become tyrants4 ,we may   
lead1 direct1 even control1 but we may  
never be content until our people are   
free1 self-governing1 rejoicing in the  
liberty that enables them to choose     

whole-heartedly to remain in that       
,commonwealth of free peoples we call   
the ,empire4 ,along this path lie       
permanence and closer unity4 ,in our    
,imperial destiny it is the part of     
those who would be the greatest to      
become the servants of all4  ,thank ,god
 for all who have laboured in this      
spirit to build our goodly heritage4    
,,unity ,,between ,,nations  ,by the    
,rev4 ,j4 ,h4 ,b4 ,,masterman1 ,m4,a4   
,in the previous lectures of this course
 you have been considering the problem  
of home reunion4 ,my task to-day is to  
remind you of the fact that beyond the  
reunion of the ,churches at home there  
lies the larger problem of the          
realisation of the ,christian ideal of a
 universal brotherhood4 ,how can this   
ideal be realised in a world divided    
into nations8 ,i am going to treat the  
subject historically2 firstly because ,i
 find myself incapable of treating it in
 any other way1 and secondly because you
 can only build securely if you build on

 the foundation of the historic past4   
,the ,state may ignore the lessons of   
the past1 the ,church can never do so4  
,how can we deal with the apparent      
antagonism between the centrifugal force
 of nationality and the centripetal     
force of the ,catholic ideal8 ,there are
 two possible answers that we cannot    
accept4 ,it is possible for religion to 
set itself against the development of   
national life1 and claim that a         
world-religion must find expression in a
 world-state4 ,that is the mediaeval    
answer4  ,or it is possible for religion
 to become subordinate to nationality at
 the cost of losing the note of         
,catholicity1 so that the consecration  
of national life may seem a nobler task 
than the gathering of humanity into     
conscious fellowship in one great       
society4 ,this is the modern answer4    
,with neither of these solutions can we 
be satisfied4 ,the existence of nations 
as units of political self-consciousness
 within the larger life of humanity     

does1 we believe1 minister to the       
fulfilment of the purpose of ,god4      
,whatever may be the case hereafter1 the
 establishment of a world-state1 at the 
present stage in the evolution of human 
institutions1 would mean the            
impoverishment of the life of humanity4 
,yet a ,church that is merely national  
or imperial has missed the true         
significance of its mission4  ,at the   
beginning of the ,christian era1 the    
greatest attempt ever made to gather all
 peoples into a universal society was   
actually in progress4 ,the ,roman       
,empire was founded on the basis of a   
common administrative system1 and a     
common law--the jus gentium4 ,it needed 
a common religion4 ,the effort to supply
 this passes through three stages4 ,the 
earliest of these is the stage of       
universal toleration which was made     
possible by polytheism4 ,a second stage 
soon follows4 ,the various religions of 
the ,empire overflow one another's      
frontier-lines and a synthesis begins1  

leading to the ,stoic idea of the       
universal truth expressed in many forms4
 ,but the popular mind was unable to    
rise to this high conception1 and the   
third stage begins towards the end of   
the first century in the formal adoption
 of the worship of the ,emperor as the  
religious expression of the unity of the
 ,empire4 ,it was the opposition of the 
,christian ,church that did most to     
bring to naught this effort to give a   
religious foundation to the unity of the
 ,empire1 and the attempt of            
,constantine and ,theodosius to make    
,christianity an ,imperial religion came
 too late to save the ,empire from      
disintegration4  ,for the unity of the  
,christian ,church had been undermined4 
,when ,christianity shook itself free   
from the shackles of ,jewish            
nationalism1 it came under the influence
 of ,greek thought4 ,the theology and   
language of the early ,church were      
,greek4 ,even in ,rome the ,church was  
for at least two centuries a ,greek     

colony4 ,hence the growth of            
,christianity was slow in those western 
parts of the ,empire that had not come  
under the influence of ,greek           
culture--,gaul1 ,britain1 ,spain1 ,north
 ,africa4 ,latin ,christianity found its
 centre in ,north ,africa1 where ,roman 
culture had imposed itself on the hard1 
cruel ,carthaginian world4 ,it is       
,carthage1 not ,athens1 that gives to   
,tertullian his harsh intolerance and to
 ,st ,augustine his stern determinism4  
,so the way was prepared for what ,i    
regard as the supreme tragedy of        
history--the falling apart of ,eastern  
and ,western ,christianity4 ,then1 in   
the ,west1 the unity of the ,church is  
broken by the conversion of the         
,teutonic peoples to ,arianism1 so that 
the contest between the dying ,empire in
 the ,west and the tribes pressing on   
its frontiers is embittered by religious
 antagonism4 ,the sword of ,clovis      
secured the victory of orthodoxy1 but at
 what a cost6  ,when the storm subsides1

 there emerges the august conception of 
the ,holy ,roman ,empire4 ,for the      
noblest expression of the ideal of a    
universal ,christian ,empire1 read      
,dante's ,de ,monarchia4 ,the history of
 the ,holy ,roman ,empire is too large a
 subject to enter upon4 ,it is important
 to remember that the struggles between 
the ,popes and the ,emperors that fill  
so large a space of mediaeval history   
were not struggles between ,church and  
,state4 ,western ,europe was conceived  
of as one ,christian ,society--an       
attempt to realise the ,city of ,god of 
,st ,augustine's great treatise--and the
 question at issue was whether the ,pope
 or the ,emperor was to be regarded as  
the supreme head of this great society4 
,the unity of ,western ,christendom     
found a crude1 but real1 expression in  
the ,crusades1 and it is significant    
that the decline of the crusading       
impulse coincides in time with the rise 
of national feeling in the two western  
states1 ,england and ,france4 ,what was 

to be the attitude of the ,catholic     
,church towards this new national       
instinct8 ,in the #adth and #aeth       
centuries the question becomes          
increasingly urgent1 and the ,council of
 ,constance may be regarded as the last 
sincere effort to find an answer4 ,the  
answer suggested there1 to which the    
,english ,church still adheres1 was the 
recognition of a ,general ,council of   
the ,church as the supreme spiritual    
authority4 ,such a ,general ,council    
might gather the glory and honour of the
 nations into the ,city of ,god1 and    
might even1 it was hoped1 restore the   
broken unity between ,east and ,west4   
,how the ,council failed1 how           
,constantinople was left to its fate1   
how a ,papacy growing more and more     
,italian in its interests brought to a  
head the long-simmering revolt of the   
nations--all this you know4 ,the        
,reformation was1 in part1 a struggle of
 the nations to give religious          
expression to their national life4 ,the 

threefold bond that had held together   
the ,church of the ,west--the bond of   
common language1 law and ceremonial--was
 broken4  ,at the threshold of the new  
order stand the figures of ,luther and  
,machiavelli1 as champions of the       
supremacy of the ,state4 ,true1 ,luther 
thinks of the ,state as a ,christian    
society1 while ,machiavelli is the      
father of the modern ,german doctrine of
 the non-moral character of state       
action4 ,but the ,augsburg compromise1  
cujus regio1 ejus religio1 was a frank  
subordination of the ,church to secular 
authority4 ,the ,tudor sovereigns       
adopted the doctrine with alacrity1 and 
imposed on the ,church of ,england a    
subjection to secular authority from    
which it has not yet been able to       
disentangle itself4  ,while ,lutheranism
 tended to treat religion as a          
department of the ,state1 ,calvinism    
claimed for the ,church an authority    
that threatened the very existence of   
the ,state4 ,calvinism represents the   

second attempt to give practical        
expression to ,st ,augustine's ,civitas 
,dei1 as the ,holy ,roman ,empire was   
the first4 ,it failed1 in part1 because 
it lost its catholic character1 and     
became 7as1 for example1 in ,scotland7  
intensely national4 ,the disintegration 
of the ,catholic ,church in the ,west   
was helped by two influences4 ,the first
 was the return to the standards and    
ideals of the ,old ,testament4 ,the     
appeal of the reformers to ,holy        
,scripture involved the elevation of the
 ,old ,testament to the same level of   
authority as the ,new4 ,the crude       
nationalism of ,judaism obscured the    
,christian idea of a universal          
brotherhood--,st ,paul's secret hidden  
from the foundation of the world1 to be 
revealed in the fulness of time in the  
,christian gospel4 ,even now we hardly  
realise how largely our ideas of        
religion are derived from the imperfect 
moral standards of the ,old ,testament4 
,the other influence was the            

identification of the ,papacy with the  
,antichrist of the ,book of             
,revelation--the ,protestant answer to  
the ,roman excommunication of heretics4 
,the idea of a common ,christianity     
deeper than all national antagonisms    
hardly existed in the ,europe of the    
later half of the #afth century4        
,nearly a century of wars of religion   
was followed by seventy years of war in 
which the national idea played the      
leading part4 ,the internationalism of  
the #ahth century was a reaction against
 both religion and nationality4 ,the    
,napoleonic struggle1 and the ,romantic 
revival1 with its appeal to the past1   
re-awakened the national instinct4 ,in  
,france1 ,spain1 ,russia1 ,prussia1 and 
,eastern ,europe1 national              
self-consciousness was stirred into     
life4 ,in ,russia and ,spain1 and among 
the ,balkan peoples1 this national      
awakening took a definitely religious   
character4 ,but it was ,italy that      
produced the one thinker to whom the    

real significance of nationality was    
revealed4 ,mazzini recognised1 more     
clearly than any other political teacher
 of the time1 how ,nationalism founded  
on religion might lead to the           
brotherhood of nations in a world made  
safe for democracy4 ,the last century   
has been an epoch of exaggerated        
national self-consciousness4 ,against   
the aggressive tendencies of the greater
 nations1 the smaller nations strove to 
protect themselves4 ,italy1 ,poland1    
,bohemia1 ,serbia1 ,greece1 strove with 
varying degrees of success to achieve   
national self-expression4 ,nation strove
 with nation in a series of contests1 of
 which the present war is the           
culmination4  ,the influence of         
,christianity was impotent to prevent   
war2 though it was able to do something 
to restrain its worst excesses4 ,where  
the centrifugal force of nationality    
comes into opposition to the centripetal
 force of the ,christian ideal1 it is   
generally the former that wins4 ,how is 

this impotence to be accounted for8     
,four reasons at least maybe noted4 7#a7
 ,the inwardness of ,lutheranism1       
combined with the cynicism of the       
,machiavellian doctrine of the non-moral
 character of public policy led1        
especially in ,germany1 to an entire    
disregard of the principles of          
,christianity in the public policy of   
the ,state4 ,nations did not even       
profess to be guided by ,christian      
principles in their dealings with each  
other4 ,the noble declaration of        
,alexander ,i remained a piece of       
sublime nonsense to statesmen like      
,metternich and ,castlereagh1 and their 
successors4 7#b7 ,the internal life of  
the nations was1 and is1 only partially 
,christianised4 ,nations cannot regulate
 their external policy on ,christian    
principles unless those principles are  
accepted as authoritative in their      
internal affairs4 7#c7 ,the influence of
 ,christianity has been hindered1 to a  
degree difficult to exaggerate1 by the  

unhappy divisions that1 especially in   
,england and in the ,united ,states1    
have made it impossible for the ,church 
to speak with a united voice4 7#d7 ,the 
idea of the ,sovereignty of the ,state  
and its supreme claim on the life of the
 individual1 with which ,dr ,figgis has 
dealt with illuminating insight in his  
,churches in the ,modern ,state1 has    
prevented the idea of the ,churches as  
local expressions of a universal society
 from exercising the corrective         
influence that it ought to exercise on  
the over-emphasis of ,state             
independence4  ,the ,state is only one  
of the various forms in which national  
life expresses itself4 ,it is the nation
 organised for self-protection4 ,and    
wherever self-protection becomes the    
supreme need1 the ,state1 like ,aaron's 
rod1 swallows all the rest4 ,but in many
 directions1 the world has become1 or is
 becoming1 international4 ,science and  
philosophy1 and1 to a lesser degree1    
theology and art1 have become the common

 possession of all civilised nations4   
,the effort to make commerce the        
expression of international fellowship1 
with which the name of ,cobden is       
associated1 failed1 largely as the      
result of the ,german policy of high    
tariffs1 but its defeat is only         
temporary1 and the commercial           
interdependence of nations will reassert
 its influence when the present phase of
 international strife is over4 ,the     
function of the ,church is to express   
the common life and interests of        
nations1 as the ,state expresses the    
distinctive character of each4 ,so the  
,church holds to the four universal     
things--the authority of ,holy          
,scripture2 the ,creeds2 the two        
,sacraments1 and the historic           
episcopate4 ,we believe that the        
retention of the historic ,episcopate is
 essential to the maintenance of the    
,catholic ideal of the ,church4 ,for the
 bishop is the link between the local   
and the universal ,church2 the          

representative and guardian of the      
,catholic ideal in the life of the local
 community2 and the representative of   
the local community in the counsels of  
the ,catholic ,church4 ,i have often    
wished that at least one bishop from    
some other ,church than our own could be
 associated with the consecration of all
 bishops of the ,anglican ,church4 ,for 
by such association we should bring into
 clearer prominence the fact that the   
historic episcopate is more than a      
national institution4  ,so we reach the 
final question3 ,what can the ,churches 
do to promote the unity of the nations8 
,an invitation was recently issued by   
the ,archbishop of ,upsala for a        
conference of representatives of the    
,christian ,churches1 to reassert1 even 
in this day of disunion1 the essential  
unity of the ,body of ,christ4 ,for     
various reasons1 such a conference at   
the present juncture seems              
impracticable1 but the time may come    
when1 side by side with a ,congress of  

the nations1 a gathering of             
representatives of the ,churches may be 
called together to reinforce1 by its    
witness1 the idea of international      
fellowship4  ,for a ,league of ,churches
 might well prepare the way for a       
,league of ,nations4 ,such a ,league of 
,churches would naturally find          
expression in a permanent ,advisory     
,council--a kind of ecclesiastical      
,hague tribunal4 ,historical antagonisms
 seem to preclude the selection of ,rome
 or ,constantinople as the place of     
meeting of this ,council4 ,surely there 
is no other place so suited for the     
purpose as ,jerusalem4 ,here the        
appointed representatives of all the    
,churches1 living in constant           
intercourse with one another1 might draw
 together the severed parts of the ,one 
,body1 till the glory and honour of the 
nations find1 even in the earthly       
,jerusalem1 their natural centre and    
home4 ,thus1 and thus only1 can the     
spiritual foundation for a ,league of   

,nations be well and truly laid4  ,two  
things are involved in any such scheme  
for a ,league of ,churches4 ,no one     
,church must claim a paramount position 
or demand submission as the price of    
fellowship2 and all excommunications of 
one ,church by another must be swept    
away4  ,christ did not come to destroy  
the local loyalties that lift human life
 out of selfish isolation4 ,these       
loyalties only become anti-,christian   
when they become exclusive4 ,the early  
loyalty of primitive man to his family  
or clan was deemed to involve a normal  
condition of antagonism to neighbouring 
families or clans4 ,turn a page of      
history1 and tribal loyalty has become  
civic loyalty4 ,but civic loyalty1 as in
 the cities of ,greece or ,italy or     
,flanders1 involves intermittent        
hostility with neighbouring cities4     
,then civic loyalty passes into national
 loyalty1 and again patriotism expresses
 itself in distrust and antipathy to    
other nations4 ,and this will also be so

 till we see that all these local       
loyalties rest on the foundation of a   
deeper loyalty to the ,divine ideal of  
universal fellowship that found its     
supreme expression in the ,incarnation  
and its justification in the truth that 
,god so loved the world4  ,to the       
,christian man national life can never  
be an end in itself but always a means  
to an end beyond itself4 ,a nation      
exists to serve the cause of humanity2  
by what it gives1 not by what it gets1  
will its worth be estimated at the      
judgment-bar of ,god4  ,whoso loveth    
father or mother more than me is not    
worthy of me must have seemed a hard    
saying to those to whom it was first    
spoken2 and whoso loveth city or        
fatherland more than me is not worthy of
 me may seem a hard saying to us to-day2
 yet nothing less than this is involved 
in our pledge of loyalty to ,christ4    
,christian patriotism never found more  
passionate expression than in ,st       
,paul's wish that he might be anathema  

for the sake of his nation2 yet         
passionately as he loved his own people1
 he loved with a deeper passion the     
,catholic ,church within which there was
 neither ,jew nor ,greek1 ,barbarian1   
,scythian1 bond nor free4 ,it is because
 the idea of the ,catholic ,church has  
become to the majority of ,christian    
people a matter of intellectual assent  
rather than of passionate conviction    
that the ,church seems impotent in      
international affairs4  ,the last four  
centuries of ,european history have had 
as their special characteristic the     
development of nations4 ,it may be that 
after this war we shall pass into a new 
era4 ,the special feature of the period 
now closing has been the insecurity of  
national life4 ,menaced with constant   
danger1 every nation has tended to      
develop an exaggerated                  
self-consciousness that was liable to   
become inflamed and over-sensitive4 ,if 
adequate security can be provided1 by a 
,league of ,nations1 or in some other   

way1 for the free development of the    
national life of every nation1 the      
senseless over-emphasis of nationality  
from which the past has suffered will no
 longer hinder the growth of a true     
,internationalism4 ,i believe that the  
real alternative lies not between       
,nationality and ,internationalism but  
between an ,internationalism founded1   
like that of the #ahth century1 on      
non-,christian culture and materialism1 
and an ,internationalism founded on the 
consecration of all the local loyalties 
that bind a man to family1 city and     
nation1 lifting him through local       
spheres of service to the service of the
 whole human race for whom ,christ died4
 ,the tree whose leaves are for the     
healing of the nations grows only in the
 ,city of ,god4 ,the ,christian forces  
in the world are impotent to guide the  
future1 because they are entangled in   
the present4 ,yet it is in the ,holy    
,catholic ,church that the one hope for 
humanity lies4 ,it may be that that hope

 will never be realised2 that the ,holy 
,catholic ,church is destined to remain 
to the end an unachieved ideal4 ,but it 
is by unachieved ideals that men and    
nations live2 and what matters most for 
every ,christian man is that he should  
keep the ,catholic mind and heart that  
reach out through home and city and     
country to all mankind1 and rejoice that
 every man has an equal place in the    
impartial love of ,god4   ,,cambridge3  
,,printed ,,by ,j4 ,b4 ,,peace1 ,m4,a41 
,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press