NATIONAL COMMUNION.
ere THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIR,—As the Easter festival approaches, the desirability of a united communion, in which all denominations of the Christian Church may join, occurs naturally to the mind, and I should like to appeal, through your liberal columns, to all who may have it in their power to make such a reunion a praetical thing. I suggest that as many of the bishops as hold views favourable to such a mode of achieving spiritual unity should. authorize the clergy, if they so desire, to issue an open invitation to all sorts and conditions of men, con- firmed or unconfirmed, to meet for once in the year at our Lord's Table. The invitation, couched in brotherly terms, could be conveyed through every neighbouring Christian organization. The mere issue of the invitation, evincing, as it must, a sense of Christian brotherhood, would have a con- siderable spiritual effect on the mind of all concerned, and if it were widely acted upon (as one can hardly doubt that it would be) would be worth all the vague asser- tions of mutual sympathy and appreciation which are so often belied in practice; we should begin to build on the rock of deeds instead of the .sand of words. One thing the Nonconformists should bear in mind. While it is possible for them to go to communion at the church, it is' meaningless for Churchmen to partake at the chapel ; they. must, in response to the sacrifice of feeling and opinion which the clergy would make (for the sake of the common Lord), waive all idea of a quid pro quo; to do so would be thou-
flee. The one thing to be realized, at the cost of all prejudice and pride, is the actual communion. My interpretation of it does not matter to my neighbour; whether I receive the elements from priest or unordained minister concerns me alone; what is of importance is that my ne.ighbour is my brother ; that we are spiritually at one and are engaged in a common spiritual act. Who can say what new energy such conscious community may not impart to those who, 'hitherto separately, but in future unitedly, seek to establish the
universal kingdom of Christ 1?-1 am, Sir, &e., W. S. A.
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