Episcopalians

To the Synod House adjoining the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Manhattan, went last week some three score of the 138 Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church. They were called there by Presiding Bishop John Gardner Murray (Maryland) to elect two peers. Vacancies had occurred upon the resignations of Bishop William Lawrence of Massachusetts and Missionary Bishop Theodore P. Thurston of the District of Oklahoma. Before the House of Bishops convened, a third resignation unexpectedly arrived, from Missionary Bishop Nathaniel Seymour Thomas of the District of Wyoming, who said he wanted to "articulate the theological equipment of the students with modern life" as chairman of overseers at the Philadelphia Divinity School.

The House accepted all three resignations; approved, as automatic successor to Bishop Lawrence, Bishop Coadjutor Charles Lewis Slattery; elected, to succeed Missionary Bishop Thurston, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Casady of All Saints, Omaha, Neb.; to succeed Missionary Bishop Thomas, the Rev. Dr. Horace Percy Silver of the Church of the Incarnation, Manhattan.

Newsgatherers and cameramen surprised Dr. Silver with news of his election, found him smiling but diffident. Twice before he had been elected a bishop but never yet been one. Election by the House of Bishops required ratification by a majority of all the members. In 1912, Dr. Silver was elected bishop coadjutor of Kansas only to have the whole House later veto the title, 50 to 48, because Dr. Silver is a divorced man, reputedly the only divorce ever elected Episcopal bishop. When elected coadjutor of Texas later, Dr. Silver declined sooner than risk another rebuff.

But last week he did not decline his third election. On the newsgatherers' heels came bishops from Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado. These congratulated, reassured him. Surely, they might have said, the Episcopal Church need not fear being interpreted as a champion of divorce. Dr. Silver's divorce took place a long time ago. He has never remarried and has stricken mention of an unhappy episode of his youth from public records of his life. His reputation is high and enviable, as Nebraska pastor (1894-1901), as; U. S. Army chaplain (1901-10), as mission secretary for the southwestern U. S. (1910-13), as chaplain of West Point (1913-18).

Liquor. During the deliberations of the House of Bishops, newspapers were full of headlines asserting that the Protestant Episcopal clergy is Wet, 3 to 1. Examination of this news revealed it was simple reiteration of the fact that three of every four members of the Church Temperance Society had last year voted against the 18th Amendment on a questionnaire. The Society is an unofficial adjunct of the Episcopal Church. It helped enact Prohibition, later repented, but stands for law enforcement on principle. All that last week's headlines proved was the fanaticism of the Rev. Dr. James Empringham, the Society's national superintendent. "I am a total abstainer and a fanatical Dry myself," said Dr. Empringham. "I am for law enforcement even to the extent of crushing the people into obedience by the Army and Navy, because I believe that the greater the coercion employed, the sooner the demoralizing effect of this unscriptural, sin-provoking despotism will come to an end. . . . After Prohibition has come to an end, I do not want the reformers of future ages to revive an exploded theory. . . ."

After Dr. Empringham has completed his poll of all Episcopal clergy, said critics Wet and Dry, will be time enough for him to be causing sensational headlines.