"_An Essay towards a Proposal for Catholic Communion_; wherein above sixty of the principal controverted points, which have hitherto divided Christendom, being called over, 'tis examined how many of them may, and ought to be laid aside, and how few remain to be accommodated, for the effecting a general Peace. By a Minister of the Church of England. Sold by John Nutt, near Stationers' Hall, 1704." This _Essay_ has passed through several editions in London and Dublin: to that of 1801 is prefixed a "Dedication to the Right Hon. the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and to the Hon. the House of Commons ... and the perusal of it earnestly recommended by a Lover of Christian Peace and Union and a Loyal United Briton." It has now been in circulation for nearly a century and a half; and for want of a medium of inter-communication in olden times like "N. & Q.," its authorship has frequently been a topic of keen discussion. Mr. Oakeley, in his work, _The Subject of Tract XC. historically examined_, states that "Its publication attracted at the time the notice of the Government. A warrant appears to have been issued from the Secretary of State's office for the seizure of the author's papers, and the arrest of his person, under a suspicion apparently that he was in league with the Pretender." It is to be regretted that Mr. Oakeley has not given his authority for this statement. Mr. Goode, in his pamphlet entitled _Tract XC. historically refuted_, attributes it, on the authority of Dodd, to Thomas Dean, a Roman Catholic Fellow of University College, Oxford; whereas the author of _The Sure Hope of Reconciliation_, p. 61., thinks Mr. Goode's supposition open to exception; and as the writer styles himself "A Minister of the Church of England," he is inclined to admit his claim to the title, till stronger evidence be adduced to the contrary. The following curious colloquy between two priests of the Roman and Anglican Churches, in the Town Hall at Guildford, in 1838, respecting the authorship of this _Essay_, is also worthy a Note: "_Rev. Joseph Sidden._ The author of _A Proposal for a Catholic Communion_ says---- "_Rev. M. Hobart Seymour._ Name! name. "_Rev. J. Sidden._ I do not know his name; he appears to have been an archdeacon of the Church of England in the reign of Queen Anne. His work is on sale at Booker's. "_The Chairman._ Can you name the place of which he was archdeacon? "_Rev. J. Sidden._ No; but I give these as the words of a Protestant clergyman. "_Rev. M. H. Seymour._ You do not know that he was a Protestant at all. "_Rev. J. Sidden._ I have put the work into the hands of a Protestant clergyman, who agrees with it; and it agrees with Archbishop Bramhall. I have often tried to discover who was the author. "_Rev. M. H. Seymour._ It was written perhaps by a Roman Catholic Priest.