155. A Chief Bond of Union.--The relations of the United Synod with the General Council and the General Synod were of a most cordial nature, manifesting themselves in the exchange of fraternal delegates (established by Southern General Synod in 1878) and in various cooperations, especially in the preparation and use of the Common Service. Concerning the exchange of delegates the sentiment was voiced again and again: "It was the joy of the members of the United Synod to have present the brethren of those bodies, to dwell together in goodly fellowship for a little season. Every heart was glad to feel that we were one in the faith and usage of the Evangelical Lutheran Church." Also with respect to the United Synod the Merger in 1918 came as a ripe fruit of the cordial relations which had been cultivated for decades. One of the chief bonds of union during this period was the Common Service, for which the United Synod justly claimed to be entitled to special credit. The first impulse for such a unity in service came from H.M. Muhlenberg. In a letter of November 5, 1783, four years before his death, he expressed the desire "that it would be a most delightful and advantageous thing if all the Evangelical Lutheran congregations in North America were united with one another by using the same order of service." Among others who later entertained the same wish was Charles Philip Krauth. In a letter to his son, April 2, 1857, he said: "Whilst I am anxious for such an agreement in regard to a doctrinal basis as will embrace all the wings of Lutheranism in our country, I very much wish we could agree on forms of worship in accordance with the liturgical character of our Church, and erect a barrier against the Fanaticism and Methodism which so powerfully control some of our ministers and people." (Spaeth, _C.P. Krauth_, 1, 380.) _The English Liturgy_ (1860), the _Church Book_ (1868), and the _Kirchenbuch_ (1877) of the Pennsylvania Synod and the _Book of Worship_ of the General Synod, South, may be regarded as preliminary steps toward the realization of this wish.