At one of the congresses of the English Church it has been said, and well said, by Mr. B. Hope, that he and his friends of the High Church party would join as closely as they could with the members of the Romish Church who have taken common cause with Dr. Dollinger, “looking more to points where they agree, and not to points where they differ.”  Why should not the same rule be adopted towards brethren who differ from ourselves so little on points that are vital and eternal?  The principle which I would apply to the circumstances, I think, may be thus stated:  I would join with fellow-Christians in any good works or offices, either of charity or religion, where I could do so without compromise of my own principles.  On such ground I do not see why we should not realise the idea already suggested,—­viz. that of having an interchange between our pulpits and the pulpits of the Established and other Presbyterian or Independent Churches.  Such ministerial interchange need not affect the question of orders, nor need it, in fact, touch many other questions on which differences are concerned.

Of course this should be arranged under due regulation, and with full precaution taken that the questions discussed shall be confined to points where there is agreement, and that points of difference should be left quite in abeyance.  Why should we, under proper arrangements, fail to realise so graceful an exercise of Christian charity?  Why should we lose the many benefits favourable to the advancement of Christian unity amongst us?  An opportunity for practically putting this idea into a tangible form has occurred from the circumstance of the new chapel in the University of Glasgow being opened for service, to be conducted by clergymen of various churches.  I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of testifying my grateful acknowledgments for the courteous and generous conduct of Dr. Caird, in his efforts to put forward members of our Church to conduct the services of the College chapel, and also of expressing my admiration of the power and beauty of his remarks on Christian unity and on brotherly love[193].

This is with me no new idea; no crude experiment proposed for the occasion.  I have before me a paper which I wrote some years since, and which I had put into the shape of “An Address to the Bishops,” to sanction such exchange of pulpits, hoping to get some of my clerical brethren to join in the object of the address.  I feel assured much good would, under God, be the result of such spiritual union.  If congregations would only unite in exchange of such friendly offices of religious instruction with each other, how often would persons, now strangers, become better acquainted!  I wish the experiment could be tried, were it only to show how prejudices would be removed; how misunderstandings would be cleared away; how many better and kinder feelings would grow out of the closer union on religious questions!  Nay, I would go farther, and express my full conviction,