WILLIAM ANDREW LEONARD Bishop of Ohio

Observances in honor of The Fortieth Anniversary of the Consecration of   WILLIAM ANDREW LEONARD Bishop of Ohio           Held in connection with the One Hundred and Twelfth Convention of the Diocese, 1929.

WE are here to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Bishop Leonard's election and consecration as a bishop in the Church of God. He was graciously the preacher at my own twenty-fifth anniversary service. You will readily understand, then, how highly I value the privilege of being your speaker tonight.

But I shall not undertake here a history of Bishop Leonard's episcopate; that is already familiar to you. Nor an array of its impressive statistics; I leave that to others. Nor shall I discuss such impersonal subjects as

"The Office and Life of a Bishop," as I did at his twentieth anniversary service. Rather, I now intend to be quite personal in what I shall say,--with all due regard, of course, to the Bishop's presence. In short, tonight I want to speak of Bishop Leonard himself,--as a man, as a bishop, and as a friend. The occasion really calls for such an address, and also makes me--I feel--a privileged person in it. Sixty-one years of intimate personal friendship since our seminary days, and, by an exceptionally kind Providence, forty years of official service together, side by side, as brother-bishops, here in Ohio, surely give me the right tonight to pay my own heartful tribute of personal esteem and affection to him whom you also are now delighting to honor.

I. When the Pharaoh spoke of Joseph, Egypt's great Jew prime minister, as "a man--in whom the Spirit of God is"; he used, you notice, a double emphasis and so drew a very marked distinction. Even then it was seen that the noblest native manhood could [1/2] be still further idealized by a religious spirit; and that in such a combination of manliness and godliness lies one source at least of the highest and finest kind of influence.

And it is so, I am sure, that we all love to think first of Bishop Leonard: as "a man" of course,--sincere. real, positive, forthright, with the spirit and the power of leadership, intent on doing a man's real work in the world instead of playing a mere part in it,--.as a man, yes! but more than that, too,--as "a man--of God." Not in any technical sense or fulsome spirit; not as a saint. He himself would be the very first to repudiate such a name. But just in the sense of a man who, as his office expects of him, has given himself, not to things of the world but to the things of God; and, as St. Paul enjoined, has given himself "wholly" to them. Perhaps you remember Owen Wister's cowboy "Virginian" and his decided opinions on the subject of the ministry. "Well"!--he said--"there's one thing I can tell you. A middlin' lawyer is a mighty poor thing; and a middlin' doctor is a good deal worse. But Good Lord deliver us all from a middlin' man of God!" That's the way men of the world feel about the ministry; and the ministry ought never to forget it. There is no reason, of course, why a bishop should not remain perfectly human, like his Master, when facing the world or even when ministering the things of God. Bishop Henry C. Potter used to say that one of the finest titles ever given him was when some one spoke of him as "a consecrated layman." And yet, while we always naturally look for the man in the bishop, it is distinctly as "God's man,"--as a man in the world but not of it, as a man of faith and prayer and a consistent Christian Life. Here certainly has been one source of Bishop Leonard's [2/3] marked influence in so many ways--as a preacher, as a chief pastor, as a father in God. His people have believed what he said, because first of all they believed in him. And they would no doubt willingly justify their faith in the very words of the woman whom Elijah comforted: "Now know I that thou art a man of God; and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

II. But it is expected of a bishop that he shall be also a man of action, a man of deeds, as well as of faith and prayer. And it is not necessary for me to do more in this connection than point to Bishop Leonard's record. Whoso runs may read. He has, for instance, seen this stately cathedral rise under his official enterprise and guidance. He has seen Bexley Divinity School grow, under his special devotion and constant oversight, from practically nothing to steady strength and usefulness in these two dioceses. He was large enough to forego certain official claims as the Bishop of Ohio and promptly encourage the reorganization of Kenyon College, making possible its present efficiency. His faith in its future and his steady cooperation in President Peirce's fine plans and efforts have helped to provide the College with its present splendid endowments and buildings. He has seen the number of his clergy increase by nearly one-half and his communicants quadrupled under his administration. In short, we can all see this,--that while many another bishop has spent time and strength on outside and often irrelevant interests, Bishop Leonard has steadily devoted himself, in his own diocese, to what he believed are the real purposes of the episcopate; and with accordingly abundant results.

III. Again: a bishop is set to be a real guardian of the faith--in keeping it and also in teaching it. That is the true, original idea of an "apostolic succession" in [3/4] the episcopate:--not as an exclusive channel of ministerial grace--(that is a later doctrine,)--but in the plain historical fact in all the great churches of apostolic foundation of an unbroken line of unanimous official witnesses to the faith from the very beginning. No one can question for a moment that Bishop Leonard has perfectly fulfilled such an obligation. Nor, on the other hand, that he has also proved that true "grace of orders" which there is with the laying on of hands; namely, by his own God-given "spirit"--not of "fearfulness" (Whoever found him afraid to speak his mind or do his duty?) but the spirit of "power", to dare and do great things for God,--and of "love", to serve his fellowmen,--and of "discipline", to order his own life consistently.

A loyal Churchman, indeed, in every respect! A good "Catholic", in the largest sense; who, while others in their liberalism have been paring the faith down practically to the point of denial, has himself held fast the sacred trust of the faith once delivered to the saints, and then, by his own books and lectures, committed the same to trustworthy men who would be able to teach others also.

A loyal "Anglican", too! Brought up as he was at the feet of that great Gamaliel, Bishop Williams of Connecticut, and saturated by him in Anglican theology and Anglican Church history, he has ever since insisted, as he had vowed to do, on "the Doctrine, Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as this Church (Reformed but still Catholic) bath received the same."

When issues were squarely raised, no man could have been at once more personally considerate and more officially uncompromising than he. Recall the McCreary and the Bishop Brown trials;--in the one case, that of [4/5] one of his own clergy, in the other, that of a brother-bishop whom he had himself consecrated. And if at other times, in his dealings with his younger clergy and his students, he has seemed equally uncompromising, at any rate he has seen to it that the right foundation was laid for their faith, and so any later free interpretation or variation from that must be their responsibility,--not his!

IV. Again we also have here what the Scriptures call "a man full of wisdom", a "just" man,--a man of independent and sound judgment. This has been true of him as a member of the House of Bishops in all large questions of policy, as a father in God in his own diocese where his "godly counsels" have so often justified themselves, and as a bishop "so merciful that he was not too remiss; so ministering discipline that he forgot not mercy."

V. Yet withal a genial, human bishop, too! A "lover of good men"! A "lover of hospitality"! Who can ever forget the warm greetings at the Bishop's home in Gambier, where, even since so much of its glory was suddenly lost, it still maintains its cheerful, cordial spirit of welcome?

VI. No wonder, then, that altogether we have here a Bishop revered and beloved in his own diocese and honored throughout the entire Church. Honored in his own Province, as President of its Synod for so many years; honored by the whole Church as its representative "in charge of the Churches in Europe"; and now honored as one of the two bishops senior in date of consecration in our own House of Bishops and almost in the entire Anglican Communion. A special article on "Forty Year Bishops", in a recent English Church paper, referring to the present Archbishop of Wales, [5/6] says: "No other living prelate of the Anglican Communion has presided over the same diocese longer than he". But in that there is a slight mistake. For while the Archbishop of Wales, consecrated in March, 1889, is therefore by so much senior to Bishop Leonard consecrated in October, 1889, still my own consecration was in January, 1889, so making me by two months the Archbishop's senior. A small matter in general, perhaps, yet of some special interest to us here tonight. A forty years episcopate is in any case an unusual fact, and certainly such in the case of two contemporary bishops, in two sister dioceses. I take the statement of your CHURCH LIFE as correct, that only 12 or 13 bishops in our American Church have held their sees for forty years. And the same English newspaper article tells us that since the days of Edward the Confessor only ten bishops in the Church of England have presided over their dioceses for forty or more years. Of these one had an episcopate of 41 years: four of 42 years: two of 43 years: one of 44 years: one of 45 years. But Bishop Crewe, in the early 18th century, held the same see of Durham for 47 years,--and Bishop Wilson, in the later 18th century, the see of Sodor and Man for 57 years! So, in any case, it is much for any bishop to have been permitted to live and work in the same diocese, as Bishop Leonard has, for forty years, and also to have won and kept throughout the sincere reverence and warm regard to his fellow-men.

VII. And now, in these, his "latter days", in what spirit may such a man with such a record look on to the ever-nearing, inevitable end?

In much the same spirit, I believe, as did the apostle Paul. First, just in the humble spirit of thankfulness. For in one of that apostle's last letters, even from a [6/7] Roman dungeon, he could write: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who bath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." Just thankfulness, then, even at the very end! Thankfulness to the Lord who had "enabled" him,--that is, who had inspired him in his inner call to preach the Gospel and also sustained him in it through all. Thankfulness for having been "counted faithful"--trustworthy--who counted himself so unworthy. Thankfulness, above all. to his dear Lord, not vaguely for "putting me into the ministry" but, literally, for "appointing me to his own service",--actually giving me a share with him, in the closest of personal bonds, in making known the good news of his own great work of saving a lost world. Thankfulness, too, in your own Bishop's case, for the many happy years of priestly, pastoral service in parochial life. Thankfulness for the even greater opportunities in the episcopate for larger self-fulfilment and also for larger usefulness in a diocese, in the national Church. in the Church Catholic. Consciousness meanwhile, of course, of the failures, in visions not fully realized, in duties imperfectly done; yet always remembering, too, Browning's comforting thought: It is not what I have done. but what I would have done (that is--what I have tried to do)--which makes me what I am and am to be forever. Thankfulness, finally, for such manifold blessings in his episcopate;--for such a loyal, helpful clergy and people; for a diocese so united, strong and still confident in its future leadership; for an episcopate of such unbroken happiness; and, not least, for such continued powers of body--and of mind! And, in this last connection, how sincerely we could all join the good Bishop in that fervent little prayer: [7/8] "Grant, O Lord, that my own hands may (still) hold my soul until it passes into Thine".

And then, beside this spirit of thankfulness, that other spirit, too, of the aged apostle, the spirit of confident faith and hope. There was no presumption in this,--no self-deception. The record was clear and complete. He had fought the good fight for the truth: he had run the race set before him; he had kept the faith. Henceforth, if his faith as a Christian was worth anything at the last, henceforth, if God's own word of promise made sure in Christ's Resurrection, was to be trusted, henceforth, if his hope of a life to come had any real basis--then there could be no uncertainty at such a moment. "Henceforth"--he knew--there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, that Righteous Judge, would give him. A crown, notice--not a mere decoration; not a reward, but an award. A crown of achievement, the measure and the mark of work done. A crown of righteousness,--the actual meed of right faith and right living,--earned, just in the faithful doing of that which it was his duty to do.

Such a man, then, at the last, will have no need of glorying. No other credit need be claimed than that of conscientious, faithful service. Such a final Christian confidence will then be humble and thankful indeed,--and yet a confidence also abundantly justified.

DINNER AT

THE HOLLENDEN HOTEL

MAY FOURTEENTH

1929

Bishop Rogers Presiding

BISHOP LEONARD'S ANNIVERSARY

BISHOP ROGERS: Ladies and gentlemen, I would rather call you this, I think: good friends of our dear Bishop. What a lovely gathering this is. We are sorry that some of you had to go into an adjoining dining room because there was not room enough in this, I think, the largest dining hall in any hotel in Cleveland, to entertain all who came. We have been able to bring you all together here for the speeches which are to be given. The Bishop asks, "How many?" He has asked me so many times how many speeches that whenever he says, "How many" I think he is speaking of speeches. I have always told him he speaks last, so we will go home as soon as he will let us.

May I have a report as to how many are gathered here? About 775. We must admit that our convention dinner is more largely attended this year than, I think, it ever was. I doubt if the twentieth anniversary brought out any such gathering as this.

I know that the Diocese, so far as its clergy are concerned, has changed greatly in those twenty years. Bishop Vincent was here to give the sermon on that occasion. Then ten years ago we celebrated again. Many more of us were present at that time. Bishop McCormack preached the sermon. I understand that Dr. Atwater gave a very interesting paper which not only edified but amused, and I think the Bishop himself received about as much edification and amusement as anyone did from that paper.

We have on the program this evening some who, I think, can take just as active part as did those who were on the program ten years ago or even twenty--but before I introduce them, I want to read a few greetings. The Bishop has received many letter and telegrams [11/12] from all over the country. We haven't time to speak of those--I am only going to mention these few letters that I have in my hand which come from the Bishops in this Fifth Province or in some of the Dioceses near to us.

One of the loveliest letters here is from Bishop Anderson, of Chicago, who says he has been a cotemporary of Bishop Leonard for nearly thirty years, and "I have always had a great affection and admiration for him. He has been a good brother, a friend, a counsellor to me. I extend to the Bishop and to the Diocese my affectionate greetings."

Also from the Bishop of Quincy, Dr. Fawcett, who makes this interesting comment: "Not all Dioceses are to be congratulated on long episcopates; it depends on who is the episcopus. Ohio rightly gives thanks and Quincy heartily joins in because Bishop Leonard has been permitted to lead his people so long a time. 'We revere him for his scholarship, for his steadfastness, for his delightful courtesy. The Lord be praised for such an one."

Also a letter from Bishop Ferris who was not able to come and sends his greeting on this occasion. Bishop Murray, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, regrets exceedingly he cannot be here, for he is in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Kentucky, and finds it impossible to get up here, either for last night or today. Also, Bishop Griswold, of Chicago, sends his affectionate greetings to you, Bishop Leonard. Also Bishop Gray, who is the Presiding Bishop or chairman of the Synod of the Fifth Province, and he graciously mentions the fact that he personally expresses his affection for Bishop Leonard because he recalls the affection which existed between Bishop [12/13] Leonard and his own father. He says he sends greetings to you personally, Bishop Leonard. Also, from Bishop White, of the Diocese of Springfield, who sends his greeting and his congratulation and prays that you may be spared to us for many years to come, in the ways of pleasantness and peace and in the accomplishment of the future work of the Diocese. Also, Bishop Ward, of the Diocese of Erie, who regrets he cannot be here. One or two more--Bishop McCormack, of Western Michigan, sends his greeting, also Bishop Mann. of Pittsburgh.

I have also a letter here from Mr. Hopkins, the City Manager of Cleveland. I think I shall read it. It is a personal letter to Bishop Leonard, and I asked if I might read it to you here:

Cleveland, Ohio
May 13, 1929.

Rt. Rev. William A. Leonard.
Trinity Cathedral.
Cleveland, Ohio.

My dear Bishop Leonard:

I am grieved by the fact that my obligation to attend the meeting of the City Council tonight will make it impossible for me to join in the public recognition of your forty years of service as bishop. It would have been a source of great personal satisfaction to have a share in this expression of public appreciation of a unique service to the City of Cleveland and of a personal character which has deserved the pride and love of all who have known you.

Such debt can never be adequately acknowledged. Such feelings cannot be fully expressed. But I trust that you are conscious of the depth and sincerity of emotion which this occasion stirs in the heart of all who have ever known you.

If the love and good wishes of others can bring joy to a human heart, yours will be full indeed.

With much regard, believe me.

Your sincerely,

(Signed) W. R. Hopkins.

[14] We have at the speakers' table a few who have the great distinction of having been members of the convention forty years ago which met, I think, on this identical day, or tomorrow, Bishop Leonard informs me, for the election of a bishop. I take it that all of these men whom I shall mention here voted in the affirmative. At any rate, in the records there is no account of a negative vote. Some of these, I think, must have been visitors coming with their parents, sitting on the side lines watching the proceedings. I find it very difficult to imagine that a man like Mr. Robert H. Clark was of age and had a right to vote. There must have been different suffrage in that day, but according to our records, and he says his memory is good, he was at the convention representing the parish of the Good Shepherd here in Cleveland. Mr. Clark, we want to look at you a moment. He is too feeble to speak. Also Mr. Fred King was present, representing St. Paul's Church, Collamer, St. Paul's, East Cleveland, as it is known now.

There is one other in the Diocese still living who was present at that convention as a layman. I think he is not here tonight: that is Mr. James Sheffield, of Bellevue.

There are two clergymen here tonight who were present at that convention who were clergymen in this Diocese and they also claim that they voted in the affirmative. Bishop Leonard had one of them in the service this morning at the Cathedral to read the Epistle: Reverend W. J. Hawthorne, now of Philadelphia. Also, our dearly beloved Dr. Smythe, who later is going to speak to us.

We do not find a record of any of the ladies being present. Mrs. Backus is here for another reason--she [14/15] is not representing that convention. She was not old enough to know anything about it.

We want to be sure of one thing, and so, my dear Bishop, the first speaker we have tonight is one who is going to assure us that you were consecrated. We must be sure of that before we proceed with the rest of the program. I am in a great dilemma in this matter. I must have been misinformed, for the gentleman whom I am going to call upon at this time to answer to this question, when I told him I wanted him to talk on this theme, as I understood he had been in New York at the time of the consecration and attended the consecration in St. Thomas Church, replied almost instantly, "I haven't the slightest remembrance of it." He did assure me he was there: I think he was very young. I asked him to try to remember what he could --we would believe anything he said. I have the pleasure of introducing or presenting to you the representative and the only one I know of in the Diocese of Ohio who was present, or has any claim of being present, at the consecration service of Bishop Leonard in St. Thomas church, New York City, October 12, 1889. Mr. William G. Mather.

MR. MATHER: Mr. Chairman, Bishop Leonard, ladies and gentlemen, When Bishop Rogers asked me to make some remarks at this delightful gathering, he made the statement that I was the only layman here who had been present at the consecration of Bishop Leonard. I, however, have no clear recollection of attendance at that ceremony, but I have a very clear remembrance of being at the dinner given by my father at that time in honor of Bishop Leonard. It was that [15/16] dinner which left the clear and agreeable impression on my mind of the interesting event to which Bishop Rogers has made reference, and, although the remembrances of the social gathering have lodged themselves more clearly in my mind than the ecclesiastical features of the occasion, yet I have, nevertheless, certain impressions which I have jotted down of that period when Bishop Leonard was elected, although, as compared with my venerable friend, Mr. Clark, I was too young to be eligible as a delegate to the Convention.

In 1889 Wm. A. Leonard, D. D., had been for ten years in charge of the ancient Parish of St. John's. Washington, D. C. During that time he had a most effective ministry in the Capitol City; also making for himself a place in the interesting social and political environment, numbering among his friends, Senator Edmunds, President Chester A. Arthur, Judge Bancroft Davis, Genl. Watmough, Genl. Auger and many other distinguished people.

It can, therefore, be well appreciated that a change of residence to Ohio, involving the great responsibilities of the episcopate, must have had, in order to influence his decision, the appeal of a unanimous vote on the first ballot, which was the case, and a response in his own heart that this was a call of God for enlarged demands upon his ability and usefulness.

Being a man of general culture, good looking, well bred, of delightful manners, agreeable in conversation, he was sought for in secular as well as ecclesiastical circles. He was at ease as well among the exalted as the humble.

At this time there were discussions in the diocese of Ohio regarding the proper man to be selected as assistant (no Coadjutors or suffragans in that simple [16/17] era) to its venerable Bishop, Gregory Thurston Bedell, a preacher of renown, and a gentleman of what is now called the old school.

Bishop Bedell was willing to have an assistant, but he wanted one of his own kind of churchmanship, and this savored naught of colored stoles or altar vestments, to say nothing of chasubles, copes and mitres, or even vested choirs. The word archdeacon even caused the man who advocated such an officer to be regarded with suspicion, although about that time the ecclesiastical series of Anthony Trollope began to be read with delight by certain of the clergy and laity, and Archdeacon Grantley, with rural deans and prebendaries and canons associating freely, but not always amicably with the occupants of the palace of Barchester, whose churchmanship agreed with that of the occupants of Kokosing, began to cause a realization that titles were harmless, even to Ohio churchmen.

I can well remember overhearing a conversation between Dr. Bodine, then President of Kenyon, and my father, in which the former heatedly declared his indifference to stoles, he they red or green or purple. Bishop Bedell was an autocratic chairman of the Convention not unlike his predecessors; a bishop is a bishop and that in Ohio means a lot, whether high or low, and there was some excitement before Dr. Wm. A. Leonard was elected assistant bishop. Dr. Bates, rector of St. Paul's Church, had a game leg, resulting from a wound gotten in the Civil War. He was a learned and friendly man, but no quitter from his opinions; he and my father were on opposite sides in the matter of what kind of assistant bishop should be chosen. At an evening meeting in my father's house, attended by representatives of all parties, the attempt was made to [17/18] achieve harmonious action, without satisfactory results, although aided by means which in those days a gentleman was free to use in the entertainment of his friends, without violation of law.

Dr. Bates was a leader in vigorous, though gentlemanly, assertion of his views. The next morning my father complained of a sleepless night, occasioned by a troublous dream that he and Dr. Bates were in the same bed, and that the latter threw his game leg over my father in the attempt to hold him until he should yield to the low church party.

But Dr. Leonard was elected; he accepted, and my father issued a command for me to come down to the old Westminster Hotel, New York, and assist him in giving a dinner to the bishop-elect. Bishop Vincent, who had been consecrated in January of the same year, was also present, and everybody had a most enjoyable evening.

The Consecration took place on October 12, 1889, at St. Thomas Church, New York, the consecrators and assistants being: Bishops Williams, Whipple, Doane, Davies, Courtney of Nova Scotia, Paret, Coxe, Whitehead and Vincent.

Dr. Leonard came to Ohio with his charming wife and soon made friends with Bishop Bedell, with churchmen, clerical and lay, high, low and broad, and began that administration which has brought honor and prosperity to the diocese of Ohio throughout forty years. It is not for me to set forth statistics of then and now; not for me to act the part of the historian; others are better qualified for those parts. I like better to recall his frequent visits to my father, whose health began to fail at that time, and how his cheerful talk refreshed [18/19] my father's drooping spirits. Do we not remember the delightful hospitality of Bishop and Mrs. Leonard in Cleveland and Gambier so often extended to us in a manner unexcelled by any host we have ever met. And when his beloved wife was taken from him, what an example he has shown of indomitable will to continue the faithful discharge of all his duties in the face of his grief, helped doubtless by that strong and simple faith which has ever been his characteristic. What splendid bishops Ohio has had! Chase, McIlvain. Bedell, Leonard: men who could and did stand up before kings; men of power, culture, charm, men of God, men who have shown that no more honored and beloved and happy vocation can be desired by the heir of wealth or need, provided they were ambitious of prominence and use, than that of the way of the church.

Throughout these forty years I have seen no faltering, whether in sickness or sorrow, in witnessing to the necessity of the church's place on earth; to his faith and love for his Lord; to his loyalty to his friends, and that is why we gladly join tonight in not only honoring this noble youth of eighty years, but in expressing for him our inexpressible love and esteem.

BISHOP ROGERS: We are very grateful to you, Mr. Mather, for assurance of the consecration. The interesting angle to us is that we clergy are usually accused of being fond of dinner. I am glad that the laymen admit that they are. We should like very much to know what the clergy of the Diocese have felt toward Bishop Leonard in these years during which he has served so intimately with them in the various problems and activities of the Diocese and of their parishes [19/20] and missions. Now, there is only one man in this Diocese who can delightfully, accurately and worthily speak on that subject--Dr. Smythe:

DR. SMYTHE: Reverend Father in God, our Beloved Bishop, I have been asked to address you in the name of the clergy of your diocese. This great honor and privilege comes to me because among the clergymen now resident in Ohio I am the only one whose name was upon the clergy list in the year 1889. when you were chosen to be our Bishop. There are, perhaps, twelve other men living who were on that list; but they do not now belong to this diocese, and some of them are no longer in our ministry.

If in order to speak for the present body of Ohio clergy tonight it were necessary 'to be extensively acquainted among them, I could not qualify for this office. Looking over the list for this year, I find the names of many whom I do not know; while among the sixty-four names of forty years ago there are very few that do not awaken in me some recollection. So far as depends on personal acquaintance, I could represent the men of 1889 better than I can those of 1929. Certainly, sir, I think that we, the Eighty-Niners, clerical and lay, deserve both honor and gratitude; for it was we who, through our wisdom and competency in the exercise of a great responsibility, gave to this diocese the blessing which has made us glad these forty years, of having you for our Bishop. We were like the Forty-Niners: we discovered gold. The Eighty-Niners are no shadowy group as I think of them, but a body of substantial men, bringing forth the fruit of good works. The names of some of them are stamped for ever on [20/21] this diocese. Most of the clergy were diligent and beloved ministers, for each of whom there is some parish in Ohio where his name is still held in honor and affection by such of his people as survive to this day. At the head of that list stood Sherlock A. Bronson, whose mother was the first white woman that ever crossed the Cuyahoga River; which she did in a boat, carrying him, an infant, in her arms. He was a man from Bishop Chase's time, and connected that remote period with your own. From Bishop McIlvaine's time were Alanson Phelps, William C. French, Lewis Burton, Columbus S. Doolitell, Edward C. Benson, Moses Hamilton, Thomas Corlett, J. W. C. Duerr, George Bosley, Thomas Lyle, Richard L. Ganter, Albert B. Nicholas, William B. Bodine, James A. Bolles. At the names of some of these men the heart of everyone who knew them will leap up. By them was laid much of the foundation upon which we are building securely today. How venerable they seemed to me! How in labors and experience they towered above me! I was but an insignificant member of that company; yet tonight I make bold to speak for them, and bring to you from forty years ago a greeting of veneration and affection, such as they themselves in person gave you when you first came among them. And, sir, no Bishop entering upon his office ever received a more cordial and eager welcome than you did. As soon as we saw you our hearts opened to you, and you walked into them as of right. This diocese would indeed be ungrateful if it should ever forget the Bishop who preceded you, Gregory Thurston Bedell, who for thirty years labored among us with the consecration of all his powers to the service of this flock with which God had entrusted him. He was a holy, gifted, earnest man, wonderfully [21/22] generous; and he had done much for this diocese; but through a long time, because of enfeebled health, it had been impossible for him to give effective leadership to the Church in Ohio. It was for a leader, a man of authority, wisdom, and personal force, that we sought and prayed; and when you came, we knew that our prayer had been granted. Accustomed as we had so long been to venerable flowing locks, slow movements, and some uncertainty in command, you seemed to us very young, very sprightly, and somewhat positive--just as you seem to us today.

What you thought of our looks you did not tell; but shortly after you came, speaking not of us personally, but of the diocese collectively, you said that your "heart was lifted up with anticipation at what you had witnessed." And indeed, sir, in the clergy that rallied about you, you had a good corps of workers. I have named the older ones, many of whom were still active; but necessarily it was upon the younger men that you had mainly to rely for aggressive efforts; and I think that you will agree with me that among us of 1889 there were men as capable, as energetic, and as devoted as there are among us of 1929. You struck the keynote of your episcopate when, a few days after your arrival in Ohio, you spoke to an assembly of your people, held at St. Paul's Church in this city. Your text was, "We are members one of another." You said that you had come to be our associate and fellow-laborer in the Gospel and Church of our adorable Master. This address was the fit prologue to an episcopate that has been marked by unity of heart between Bishop and people.

Your words bred confidence; they called forth our loyalty. We resolved to follow where you might lead; [22/23] but we soon found out that we must step with celerity if we would keep up, and I fear that sometimes we were unequal to the pace. You astonished us by the rapidity with which you got about. Although there were in those days no automobiles, and no interurban cars or busses, you had, in six months, gone into every part of this extensive diocese, city, and village, and country, and to many places more than once. I think you must have known every railway conductor in Northern Ohio. and must have had in your mind and body a contour map of all the most notable ruts and bumps in the primitive wagon roads of that day. You speedily became acquainted with the parishes and missions and clergy, and with many persons among the laity. You remarked what had been done, and what still remained to do. You put heart into us; and for yourself you said that what you had seen was "most encouraging and satisfactory." You had found here, you said, "a substantial foundation on which to build, and there must be no delay in providing laborers and materials." And so your work and your companionship with us began, forty years ago.

Why have I told you all this? Not because I thought you had forgotten it, but simply that I might coordinate our memories, so that you and the Eighty-Niners here present might, for a few moments, live over together in our thoughts the scenes in which we together had part so long ago. But now, if I may be permitted so to do, I will, in hastily outlining some of the features of your episcopate, address myself, for a time, to this general company here present, rather than directly to yourself. I know that you can overhear what I shall say; but one feels a bit hampered in [23/24] telling a man right to his face some of the good things that truth requires shall be said of him.

And here I must speak of a certain restraint of expression under which I labor. With reference to some appreciative words that had been addressed to you, you once said to me, if I remember rightly, that you wished people would not use superlatives. Well, I suppose that superlative themes suggest superlative terms; but I shall try to observe your wish, although it will decapitate my rhetoric, cutting off the top third, and will leave me nothing more soaring than the comparative with which to speak of the incomparable. However, if I may not say that you are superlatively good, I will at least say what Falstaff said to Prince Hal, "Thou art a most comparative sweet prince."

My Friends, the memories of some of you cover this whole period of forty years. Some of you could tell its history better than I, for you have been associated with the inner workings of the diocese as I never was, and you have carried burdens of responsibility for its large and vital affairs. To such men and women I can say little. But some are later comers, familiar only with the recent state of affairs, and the present management of our business: and such can have little conception of the needs and embarrassments of the diocese which made us raise our eyebrows in a little wonder when Bishop Leonard, in his first convention address, told us that there "must be no delay" in supplying the necessary men and materials for the work he had set about doing. Men and materials were commodities of which we had but little in stock, while delay had always been our specialty. Things were at a rather low ebb. In truth, we had the men and the money, but we did not know it. Bishop Leonard knew it, and he [24/25] proposed to bring them to light and make them available. He himself soon found a way to provide the men: the money came more slowly, but at last it came. Our funds grew, and new funds were created. We are spending five-and-a-half times as much money as we spent then, and the money seems to come with very little of the distress and irritation that often marked the opening of our pocketbooks forty years ago. We had a poor financial system in those days--no such mighty suction pumps as we have now; nor yet had we that beautiful spraying apparatus with which so many branches of our diocesan tree are being vivified. The number of our charitable institutions has increased, and the quality of them has improved exceedingly. We are much more united than we were in our diocesan interests, and much more responsive.

What is Bishop Leonard's just share of the credit for this greatly improved state of our diocese? Of course, he did not do all that has been done. From the very first day to this he has constantly ascribed to his fellow-workers the success that has been attained. But it would be hard to say in what function of our life as a body he has not had a part. In the mere outward activity of hands and feet--the executive facultiestaking these forty years through, no man has done a work comparable to his. His eyes have seen, his ears have heard, more than those of any of us. His brain has perceived, and thought, and planned, surveying the field and marking out campaigns, often with an intimate knowledge, a sure instinct, such as no one else possessed. And his heart has been the heart of the whole body, perfectly sound, beating on day after day, year after year, assuring the uninterrupted flow of life into every part. His heart, so strong, so true, so warm, so [25/26] generous, has drawn the love of his people to him, and as the years have lengthened has made him dear to us beyond expression. His heart, beyond all else, is what has held us together and driven us on.

The downright genuineness of the man also has bound him to us. His manner has not always been manifestly conciliatory. He has said plainly what he meant. On the whole, this is a great excellence in a Bishop. We know that he is not thinking one thing and saying another. We know where he stands, and we know that he will stand there tomorrow also. We know what to count on: perhaps it might occasionally be said, we know what we are up against. I think that a diocese likes to have an authoritative Bishop: else, why have any at all? In dealing with Bishop Leonard we have been dealing with a whole, solid man.

Bishop Leonard has had definite ideas as to the extent of his legitimate authority; and if, on the one hand. he may have been ready to exert it to the limit in fields where he has felt entitled to use it; on the other hand, he has meant never to go beyond it. He has put up with many things that he can not have liked. In our parishes we have been spared the annoyances of interference from which less favored regions have suffered. Also, we have been free to preach, in our wisdom or in our nonsense, what we pleased, so long as we kept inside the Nicene Creed. And our Bishop has possessed another quality not less necessary to leadership than those that I have named: there has been in him a disposition to make the best of an unsatisfactory situation, and not fret about it, but wait for the favorable hour when he could gain in substance, if not in form, the thing that he desired. Probably few Bishops have, in the long run, more fully attained this end than he. [25/26] Certainly, he is not satisfied with what he has accomplished. Indeed, I am sure that a very different thought from that fills his mind tonight. But when he compares his hopes and programs as he shaped them in 1889, with what he sees about him now, he must feel that the present far surpasses what he dared to dream of forty years ago.

Two achievements I must mention in particular. This diocese is like an ellipse: it has two foci. One is here, at the cathedral and diocesan house; the other is in Gambier. What Kenyon College and Bexley Hall owe to Bishop Leonard is known only to those who are intimately acquainted with the institutions. When he first saw them they were weak and decrepit; but he perceived their possibilities, he believed in them, and both by direct effort and through the persistent influence of his deep interest in them, he has worked mightily to build them up. Bexley Hall would not have lived had it not been that he willed it to live. Kenyon College, now in the wonderful sweep of its progress and the fast recurring splendors springing up upon its campus, under the impulse of its great president's untiring leadership, has constantly felt the strong, sustaining arm of Bishop Leonard under it.

In these services to Kenyon College and Bexley Hall Bishop Leonard has had as his associate a man with whom his life has been singularly interwoven from early manhood to this day, and who, we hoped, would make perfect the felicity of this occasion by his presence here tonight. In this building up of seminary and college these two Bishops, these lifelong friends, have worked together. The clergy of Ohio hold it a most happy thing that they were last evening permitted again to see the face and listen to the voice of one so honored [27/28] and so dear as the Bishop of our sister diocese, the Right Reverend Doctor Boyd Vincent.

The other focus of our diocese, I said, is the cathedral. Both as an institution and as a building this bears witness to Bishop Leonard's inspiring leadership. We of the clergy have not had much to do with that history. There are laymen here who can tell us of that. But the strength and beauty which we see in that great Church are but the outward expression of a devotion at the heart of which he has been from the first hour to this day. In everything that it is, the cathedral speaks of him.

And now, sir, returning from these circumferences to you who are the center of our thought to-night, what shall I say?

First of all, we will thank God that He made you what you are, and by' His grace molded and fashioned your spirit, and gave you to us, to be our Bishop, our friend, our pride, and to some of us one of the chief sources of our joy. And we will thank Him that He has so long preserved you to us, binding us ever more closely together in love one to another, and in the following of Him whose we are and whom we serve. Together we have walked before Him. In His presence we stand to-night, and in the presence of a cloud of witnesses. These forty years, what have they been? Long as God has preserved us in the stations where we are, yet all that we have seen and done has been transient, in the form in which we have known it--after all, a very little while to take delight in our work and our joys as they are given us here, and then to take them up in what form He shall have shaped them for eternity. Is it not true, have we not felt it of the life that we have lived, that deep within all our experience, whether it [28/29] was joyous or grievous, its very substance has been love? What is the faith that we profess and by which we live? What is its final goal? What is the ultimate thing, the real reality? It lies in "the silence of eternity interpreted by love." God so interprets it to us through the love, human and divine, that we experience here. The memories of the past throng in upon us, full of the goodness and the beauty of God, conveyed to us through so many human streams; full also of the vision, surely though dimly seen, of the beauty and goodness and love that are treasured up in the future when all this pageantry of atoms and electrons shall dissolve into the things eternal--the thing eternal,--love. If the electric mystery makes up this solid seeming earth, and thrills the stretches of this great universe, why shall not love make up the substance of new heavens and a new earth? How sweet has been

"--the music of this mortal dream
"We shared in joy"!

How sweet shall be that "final music" when the Master no longer "improvises"!

First, then, I say, we will thank God for His love that has been over, and under, and about us, and of which His gift of you to be our Chief Pastor for forty years has been a precious manifestation.

And second, we will pray that, if it be according to God's will, this relationship between you and this diocese may be long continued. You have beside you in office one who in his four years among us has found a secure place in our hearts, and has showed us the abundant first fruits of wise, devoted, consecrated service. We have confidence in him, we love him, Sir, as you do. But you are bound to us by the cords of forty years, and these cords, that have through all that [29/30] time been spun about us more numerously and more closely, are very dear. For you have been with us in our sorrows, and our joys, and our responsibilities; your hands have been laid upon the heads of scores in ordination, upon the heads of thousands in confirmation; while through your voice and hands, and heart has flowed the grace of God, by which also you were consecrated.

But. Sir, we are guests at a dinner, a very pleasant but somewhat terrestrial occasion, to which I must now return; and like the flying airman I look down to see where I can land. It must be in an expression of thanks to you for what you have been to us. I might say that I do not know what we should have done without you; but I remember only too well what we did do before we had you. As a man whirling delightedly in his swift car, over our excellent roads, wonders how he could ever have jogged along over the ruts and "thank-you-mams" of former times, so some of us who have long memories look back with a little wonder. But we will not look back! The smooth, hard road unwinds before us, the engine hums its steady reassuring tune. We are having a beautiful ride with you at the wheel, and we are very happy, and we thank you. From the bottom of our grateful hearts, we, your clergy, all the way from 1889 to 1929, thank you.

BISHOP ROGERS: There were forty-six clergy and ninety-two laymen present at the convention which elected Dr. Leonard, Rector of St. John's Church, Washington, to be Bishop of this Diocese. Dr. Smythe has most delightfully and beautifully represented those forty-six and the many others that have come into the [30/31] Diocese since that day. I do not have before me the record of the number of clergy that have been here--it would not be difficult to find; it would be a most interesting group. As the years went on, Bishop Leonard, after his arrival here, began to make very intimate friendships. I think there is no question in anyone's mind as to this kind of statement; at least it was shown at the convention in New Orleans, and I had heard of it long before then. If you mentioned Ohio, immediately your auditor thought of Bishop Leonard and he also thought of another man, not a bishop, not a clergyman, a layman--Samuel Mather:

MR. MATHER: Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen, I feel very strongly that the rambling remarks that I am about to try to offer you on this occasion certainly will be a great anticlimax to the wonderful description, insight, vision, picture, that has just been presented to you of our great leader, our dear Bishop, who has been with us these many. many years. It leaves hardly anything to be said. To attempt to say anything, as I have remarked before, would be an anticlimax and could not be said well or put well.

The papers in speaking of this dinner tonight said that I would be one of the speakers as a warden of Trinity Cathedral. When I arrived here tonight Bishop Rogers said, as a friend. Well, I am both, but when Bishop Leonard came in 1889, it was my dear father who was the Senior Warden of Trinity Cathedral, and who died about a year after Bishop Leonard came, in 1890, in October; Bishop Leonard came in October of '89.

I remember so vividly how much my father loved [31/32] him, how much he rejoiced that we had secured such a man as he already sensed our new Bishop was going to prove to be. I told Bishop Leonard that I could not quite understand why I also might not have been at that convention that elected him instead of Robert Clark here, but he said, "Your father was in the saddle then and you did not count for much in those days; you were not elected a delegate to a convention; you were just a young man," so I suppose Robert must be an awfully old fellow.

Forty years ago! Forty years--a lifetime! a lifetime! Forty years ago I was nine years younger than my oldest son is today. And what has been accomplished in our Church during those forty years! Dr. Smythe has told you that story. And during those forty years deans have come and gone. The first that came was Mr. Morgan, Dean Morgan; then came in 1902, I think it was, Dean Williams. Dean Williams stayed with us thirteen years, and then he became a Bishop, as you know. Then came Dean DuMoulin: he also was called to the bishopric. Then Dean Abbott, and Dean Abbott has just now become a Bishop, and now Dean White, who I am sure must regret very much that he is not here with us tonight. The deans have come and gone, the Bishop has been the constant factor during all these years; he has been a strong friend and supporter of them all. Deans of different churchmanship, different character, different points of view--they all found a loyal, upholding friend in their Bishop. He required no special type of churchmanship should be developed, so long, as Dr. Smythe has said, as they all kept within bounds. He was the loyal supporter of them all. We might also call Trinity the Mother of Bishops, there have been so many that have gone from our pulpit to be Bishops.

[33] You have mentioned Bishop Murray as the Presiding Bishop and as hoping to be with you tonight. That was a great mistake. When I was in Havana I met at the hotel one day a couple of newspaper men who had been in Cleveland, and they recognized me at once. We sat down to talk about Cleveland, and without my knowing it, they pulled out a camera and took a snapshot of me. Two or three days later it appeared in the Havana paper. I suppose they looked me up in "Who's Who" to find out something about me, so they said I was a member of the firm of Pickands, Mather, I was a director of this bank and that steel company, I was in the Red Cross, I was this and that, and finally they ended up by saying, "He is also the Presiding Bishop and Counsel of the Protestant Episcopal Church!!"

I have seen Bishop Leonard in so many different places, in so many different spheres of action. I have been with him since 1892 to all the General Conventions. I began in 1892 at Baltimore, and attended all since that year, until last year, when I was ill and could not go to Washington. I have been also to the Diocesan Conventions. I always go down with him to Gambier. I have seen with my own eyes, all these forty years, how, under his guidance and support and leadership, those institutions there, Bexley Hall and Kenyon, have grown and flourished and become strong as they are now; and the difference between what they were when we first went there and what they are today is surprising.

Then to come to those more intimate relationships Bishop Rogers suggested I touch upon. I have thirteen grandchildren. I think he married all my children, I think he baptized most of their children; he has confirmed them and he has been the dear friend and [33/34] counsellor and guide of all of us--grandfather, father, and we hope will be soon of the grandchildren. And one thing that contributed very largely to his success--he was always the same. I have never known him to lose heart or his temper or fail to respond to every demand made upon him, for advice or counsel or friendship or helpfulness. He was always there, for all the forty years, with this sunlight beating upon him, finding out if there is any weak spot in him--forty years he has stood the test and today is more securely than ever enthroned in the respect and friendship and esteem and love of us all.

BISHOP ROGERS: I presume at the inaugural celebration, whatever they had, in Ohio at the time Bishop Leonard came forty years ago, there were no women present, or if they were they did not take part. I have not heard much about that gathering. Sometime I should like to learn of it. As the years have gone we have found that women have contributed more and more to the work of the church and to every good work in society. So we come to this that, whether we want to or not, we must give them a place, and we men have resigned ourselves, and are very willing to do so. One of the fine characteristics of Bishop Leonard's administration has been his hearty and whole-hearted recognition of the work of the women in the Diocese, but when we came to think of a woman who should represent us in this program tonight, there was only one--there are many of you, dear ladies, and you have your special gifts, but in this peculiar capacity I think I must use the superlative, Bishop--Mrs. Backus, who is the President of the Auxiliary for the Diocese and who knows something about traveling around the Diocese, for she [34/35] has been on tour many times. And so it is our joy to have her with us tonight and to have her speak both for herself and for the women of the Diocese of Ohio.

MRS. BACKUS: Last winter we had a lecture in the city on the joy to be had out of living, and Professor Phelps told a story of an old man who asked a boy how old he was. The boy answered, "If you go by my mother, I am ten years old; if you go by the fun I have had, I'm 'bout a hundred." So tonight we are celebrating Bishop Leonard's forty years of ministry among us, but if you go by the lame dogs he has helped over stiles, if you go by the griefs and joys he has shared, if you go by the hundreds of men and women upon whose forehead he has marked the sign of the Cross, if you go by the bruised and sorrowful hearts that he has healed and strengthened as he stood by our loved ones and repeated those beautiful words, "I am the Resurrection and the Life," if you go by the young men and women he has started out in life with his blessing ringing in their ears, then he has not only served us forty years, but he has served us about one hundred.

They tell you that youth is beautiful, youth with clear eyes, looking out into the future, undimmed by tears, and with the courage that knows nothing of defeat, but there is something more beautiful than thatit is the transfiguring peace, the undaunted courage, the triumphant faith of one who steps aside, having borne the burden and heat of the day, and gives to another who takes up that burden something of the peace, and the courage, and the faith that he has won by struggle and service and sacrifice.

It was a cold, dreary night in the city of New York, [35/36] a newsboy heard the distant music, and he was attracted by the beautiful light from the stained glass windows of the great Cathedral. He tiptoed into the vestibule, and opening the swinging doors, the light bewildered him, but he saw a figure way up in the distance clothed in white, with arms outstretched, and that figure seemed to say to him, "Let us pray." "Yes," said the boy, "let's," and he knelt down in the aisle and with that large congregation repeated the Lord's prayer. I like the sequel to this story if he found friends there that night. So when the authorities sent out word to us, "Let us get together and rejoice over these forty years of service of our beloved bishop," one and all. men and women, answered, "Oh, yes. let's"! Let's rejoice that we have this opportunity to express our appreciation and our affection for him.

Bishop Leonard, I represent tonight the women of this Diocese in whose homes you have always been a welcome and honored guest. and to whom you represent all that is beautiful, dignified and conservative in the Church's life. And I also wish in behalf of the organization, of which I am an officer, to express to you our appreciation of your continued interest and encouragement, and to her, who was your helper and companion for many years, and our strength-giver--to her and to those who have joined her in the Church Triumphant, we owe the impetus that has helped us to any success that we have been able to achieve.

Therefore, we say again, let's be happy tonight that we have had this time of rejoicing, that our Bishop has been able to hear the lovely things that we think of him, and we all answer again, "Oh, let's, let's"!

The future is but a land of dreams, the present is as [36/37] little as it seems, the past, for Bishop Leonard, shines with golden beams and fruitful deeds.

BISHOP ROGERS: Telegrams continue to pour in sending their congratulations to Bishop Leonard.

I read from one out of many that have come--

Bishop and Diocese New York in convention assembled extend to you heartiest felicitations upon the completion of forty years as Bishop of Ohio.

(Signed) Charles K. Gilpin,
Secretary of the Diocese in Convention, in New York.

A number of Diocesan conventions are convening at this time, just as we do in this Diocese: hence a number of the bishops and prominent clergy were not able to be here in person. We rejoice in the messages they send.

However, in order that we might be able to adjust things more conveniently in the whole state of Ohio, we in this part of the state, the northern half, have our convention in May, while those of our brethren in the southern half have their convention in January. That makes it possible for us to come and go to each other. It is a very convenient arrangement. I think the Diocese of Southern Ohio is the one that first arranged this program and we are indebted to them for it. Accordingly, it was possible for us to have Bishop Vincent with us last evening, and how much we enjoyed the splendid address which he gave. What a marvelous voice he has. There isn't a man among us who can use a voice the way he used his last night, and I know most of the people who were present, if they did not know him and saw him hobbling up to the pulpit, wondered what kind [37/38] of a sermon we were going to have, but they soon forgot all about the frail body when they heard that marvelous voice of his. We are grateful for the greeting he gave.

We have one other who has been in Ohio for a long time, thirty years; he was not present at the convention, so he had nothing to do with the coming of our Bishop, but he has worked here in Ohio through all these thirty years and has known Ohio pretty thoroughly. He is the President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Southern Ohio and is Rector of Christ Church, Cincinnati. You all know him--it was a joy to me when I received his letter saying he would come. I wrote him three times, I think; the first time he said "Maybe"; the second time, no, he couldn't make it; the third time--well, he is here--Dr. Nelson.

DR. NELSON: Mr. Toastmaster, Bishop Leonard, fellow-citizens of Ohio, brethren of the Northern Diocese: it seems almost an intrusion for anyone to speak tonight who is not of your own Diocese. You very courteously invited Bishop Vincent to preach the sermon last night--very fittingly, because he and Bishop Leonard. as you know, have been friends from seminary days and have been Bishops together in the state of Ohio for forty years; the two oldest Bishops in consecration in the whole Anglican Communion; Bishop Vincent by six months the elder, but almost twins in this great state. It is more than gracious of you to allow me, another representative of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, to share as we wanted to share and want to share in this very significant and great occasion. There is only one thing that has jarred me, and that is the [38/39] statement that was made that this was the 112th anniversary or convention, rather, of the Diocese of Ohio. You know, we in southern Ohio do not like to be considered a stepchild or a son-in-law or a late born infant, because we think we are about as old as you are! The only difficulty is a somewhat modern difficulty about this division of families.

A lady and gentleman in a certain neighboring city were inviting a gentleman to dinner one night who had been recently divorced from his wife, and they had a young son about seven years old who was rather notorious for his inquisitive and persistent questions. They warned this boy before the gentleman came that he must not ask him any questions, and especially any questions about his home and his wife. Of course, as soon as the gentleman came the boy placed himself in front of him and said, "Where's your wife?" He said, "She isn't with me tonight." He said, "Why isn't she with you?" He said, "Well, she is somewhere else." "Where is she?" "I don't know." "Why don't you know?" "Well, because we couldn't agree and we aren't living together any longer." He said, "Why didn't you stay at home and fight it out as Mamma and Papa do?"

As I am privileged to share in this gathering tonight I wonder why we didn't stay at home and fight it out as Mamma and Papa do, and yet perhaps it enables us to appreciate one another a little better, each to have our own Bishop and each to have him forty years old and each to love him and to love each other's bishop as we do.

I sometimes wonder at Mark Twain's ingenuity in getting a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I think he would have been still more puzzled to work [39/40] out how he could get a Connecticut Yankee into the Western Reserve. He succeeded; and you succeeded, fortunately for you, very fortunately, because you know, we elected Bishop Leonard, or Dr. Leonard as he was then, Bishop of Southern Ohio before you did! He waited "not wisely but too well," and then you were wise enough to see that we had been wise in our choice and then you elected him and he came to you. I have always wondered a little what grudge he had against the southern district of the state--I suppose it was because it did not have a 112th convention awaiting him; it had a 50th or 60th convention, and he preferred the longer time! And yet it has been a very wonderful thing for the church in the state of Ohio to have as two Bishops men who were note always like minded but who in all their differences and through all the years had been intimate friends and kept that friendship. I wonder if the church would have been so strong in the state of Ohio as it is if the two Bishops had not had that comradeship and that confidence in each other and that friendship for one another and that respect for each other that each deserves and each won from the other. There would have been difficulty without that unity in all the work of the church in the state. That same intercourse of life, thank God, is coming down to the next generation in Warren Rogers and Irving Reese; the tradition of friendship of the two Dioceses through its Bishops is being carried on to the next generation, and I hope generation after generation that that friendship and unity will go on, that the church in the state, though divided into the two Dioceses, may know its oneness and may go on from strength to strength together.

[41] I do not want to delay you because you can't go as Bishop Leonard is yet to speak. You cannot do as men in France did. Many of you know personally, and all of you know by name and reputation Henry Churchill King, the great president for many years of Oberlin College. During the latter part of the War he was at the head of the religious department of the Y. M. C. A. in France, and he was a great head of that department. He saw the needs of the men as no other man that I know of in France did and tried to preach it. He was not able to get it across to all the men who worked under him. That is another story, the thing I want to tell you is this: He couldn't somehow speak to a group of soldiers effectively, and the soldiers in France, when they were not interested in any meeting, got up and walked out without respect of any kind to anyone, and they wore hob-nailed shoes and the floor of the huts were of wood and they made no little noise in leaving. A great meeting was arranged for Churchill King in Coblenz in the spring of 1919 and the authorities there and secretaries of the Y. M. C. A. got up a great meeting, some six or seven hundred men to hear him speak. He had been speaking only for ten minutes when the men began to get bored and they got up and went out, one by one, and it disturbed Dr. King very much. Then he made the unfortunate mistake of stopping and saying, "I am not used to people walking out when I am speaking. I will now pause and if anyone else wants to leave, will he please leave now." Immediately the whole crowd, except the secretaries, got up and walked out. Unfortunately you cannot do that because Bishop Leonard is yet to speak.

There is just one word I want to say. We are in an Episcopal Church. Sometimes we don't like being [41/42] Episcopalians. We do not like being bossed by Bishops or not being bossed by Bishops, as the case and circumstance may be. Sometimes we grow very parochial and we like to work our own way and not cooperate. Each man likes to run his own church and be the rector without any interference of authority. And yet there are great values in being Episcopalians. There is the very obvious value that we are conscious of tonight, to have at our head and as our leader men like Bishop Leonard and Bishop Vincent. It gives to us a kind of leadership that is valuable beyond words, and though a man may be very great in one way or another, a great preacher, a great scholar or a great administrator, there is one quality in the bishop that is essential, and that is, that he should be a .Christian man, of integrity, of piety, of steadfastness, of sympathy and honor, and when a Diocese has as its Bishop a man like that, there may be many times when they will criticize him; there may be many times when they will forget him for a little while, but all the time the power and the influence of that kind of Christian personality at the head of our group goes out leavening the life of the whole Diocese. And the life of this Diocese is as great and strong as it is, with its many and great churches, with its fine institutions, with its loyal and devoted laymen and laywomen, with its marked spirit of cooperation with the life of the Church, with its convictions of the truth of the Christian faith, with its foundations of steadfast morality as the thing without which the Christian religion cannot be, with its saneness and with its tolerance of differences, because you have had that kind of a man at the head of this Diocese. We may not be always conscious of it, but the force of it, the leavening power of it, the spirit and [42/43] energy of it go out into the far places and into the near places and guide and strengthen us every one.

I shall not forget my first introduction to the character that is in Bishop Leonard. I came up here to Cleveland to preach at a noonday service many years ago, nearly thirty years ago, very soon after I came into the state of Ohio, and I met then Dean Williams. I had been trained in my early ministry under Dr. Rainsford of St. George's in New York. I had come into sympathy with his point of view, had made it my own. I came up here and I found Bishop Williams as radical as I in his social viewpoint and in his ecclesiastical thinking and in his theology. I knew Bishop Leonard's strength of Connecticut churchmanship, and I am a Connecticut Yankee myself, my father was trained under Bishop Williams as Bishop Leonard was. I knew that type of churchmanship; I profoundly respected it in my father and through my father I knew its greatness and its fineness. But I had come to differ with many of its conclusions and points of view, and I asked Dean Williams how it was that Bishop Leonard tolerated him, and he said, "Bishop Leonard is a Christian and a Christian Bishop, and he gives me the freedom that he :asks and claims for himself, he has strong convictions, but he doesn't try to force them upon other men: he asks each man to be as loyal to his own convictions and to be as sure of them as he is himself, and then he trusts him." That is the kind of Christian faith that is truly Christian, and the power of it and the strength of it has given to this Diocese its variety of religious opinion, yet with the steadfast and loyal conviction underneath it to Jesus Christ, which is so marked a thing in Bishop Leonard, and has made and [43/44] helped to make this Diocese the strong and loyal unit in the church that it is.

And so, with you, I thank God for Bishop Leonard, and I bring to you the very warm and friendly and cordial good wishes and congratulations and greetings of the stepchild, daughter, sister, brother, whatever it is, of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

BISHOP ROGERS: We want a closing word from Bishop Leonard but before he speaks I want to give a personal one of my own. I am not speaking as a member of the Diocese nor as a clergyman or layman in the Diocese, and I want in just a few words to let you see a little bit of the intimacy that exists in the relationship between a Bishop of the Diocese and a Coadjutor. It is an exceedingly delicate situation. It is fraught with a good many possibilities of misunderstanding or of irritation or wounded pride, of confusion in administration, and so on. I think it tests the strength of men who assume such relationship. I can quite conceive of how a Diocesan would feel when he made petition to the Diocese for the election of a Coadjutor.

Bishop Leonard did not know me. Dr. Nelson speaks about the Southern Diocese being a stepchild, or whatever it was; I am an adopted child. I think he had heard of me and possibly regarding the radio, and if I know him well, it was not a very good recommendation. I remember the first service over which Bishop Leonard gave an address or prayers with the use of the radio. I think we had to spring it on him without telling him ahead of time, but he took it in wonderfully fine spirit. I tried awfully hard to get him to give one of the addresses last fall in connection with the Nation Wide [44/45] program that we had. I think I pretty nearly won him one night in a weak moment, but the next morning you changed your mind. I still have hope, however.

Bishop Leonard had known a little about me, but he did not know me personally, and I must admit that I did not know him personally. I had met him in a casual way on two or three occasions some two or three years before I came here, but so far as we each were concerned in the intimacy of life we were not acquainted one with the other. And yet you here in convention had elected me a little over four years ago to be his Coadjutor. I shall not forget as long as I live the two days I spent with Bishop Leonard in which we tried to get acquainted each with the other. I sent word to the notification committee that I could give no answer then to their notification of my election until first I had seen and talked with Bishop Leonard. Some days went by before we could conveniently arrange for the interview. Then at his invitation I came down to enjoy that lovely and courteous hospitality that he knows how to give far better than anyone else I ever knew. Some of you have experienced that as well as I, but that was not the whole thing. I found a man who believed in his Church and who believed in the decisions that the Church rendered. to whom the convention of the Church was a sacred thing. and its decisions, after prayer, were indicative of the leading of God's spirit. What if he did not know me! It was not necessary for him to have ever seen me or heard of me before. We had good comradeship together for two days. Before I left I remember saying something like this to him: "My dear Bishop, I feel the honor of the election, I cannot easily turn it down, but unless you want me, I will not be here." We had prayers together in his study: he gave me his blessing. [45/46] I have not said much about this, but I think he knew and I knew when I left him that day that I would be here in Ohio, although the notification committee, for the sake of good form, must not be notified about it until some three weeks later.

So it is a personal relation. I think they used to speak about Bishop Vincent and Bishop Leonard in the days when they went up to Al Smith's--not the one who ran for governor of New York--but in the days when these two young men loved fishing and hunting--they used to speak of them as the "heavenly twins." In my own case it is more like father and son. All the devotion and all the loyalty and all the love I would give to an earthly father in the relationship of the home, I gladly, whole-heartedly give to this, my beloved Father in God. I am the only one here who can really say that, for my relation is different from that in which you are placed. And such a father he has been to me! I think it is an excellent thing for every man going into the episcopate to serve some time as a suffragan or as a coadjutor under a godly, wise, gracious, loving Diocesan. I hate to think of trying to tackle the problems of a Diocese if I had not had the kind of tutelage Bishop Leonard has so graciously given me. He has done it so subtly; there have been no lectures, there have been no scoldings, and yet I think he has had plenty of occasion to give them. It has always been by the kindest and the frankest comments. We do not always agree on everything, we each have our own convictions about many matters, but if we have any differences, you people never hear of them and never know them, because only those things in which we whole-heartedly agree and work out together do we make public, and we have [46/47] found so many of them that I find it difficult to remember any differences.

And so as an adopted child. my dear Bishop, as a son to you, I said this morning in my convention address, and I repeat it now, I think, I know I am the happiest coadjutor in the entire American Church. And so, when I say, may he live long, I mean it. I would like to go on together many, many more years with this dear godly man.

My dear Bishop. God bless you! I almost whisper as I say it. God bless you! May all it means to all mankind in all its wondrousness possess you, through sun, cloud, calm and wind--God bless you!

BISHOP LEONARD: Last night when Bishop Vincent was preaching so brilliantly and using me for an illustration of his theme, I found myself gradually growing embarrassed. I was hidden away in my capacious Episcopal Throne where nobody could see me. When he finished I was absolutely exhausted. I was more exhausted physically than he was, and as I approached the altar and began to offer the prayer which I had selected, I felt almost ill from this exhaustion.

How hard it is for a man to retain his intellectual status quo under what I have passed through in the last twenty-four hours, is pretty difficult to describe. I have been in a quiescent state all through the day, although I have presided at the convention; it has not given me very much trouble and has not given me an opportunity of displaying those disagreeable qualities that Dr. Smythe referred to. The convention has behaved admirably.

But I have through these quiescent hours been trying [47/48] to think what in the world I could say. What shall I say to you, my dearly beloved, my children in the faith! What can I say or ought I to say, except, in all humility and with a wondrous realness, thank God for every remembrance of you. You have heard about the development of various lines of operation in this Diocese; they could never have developed as they have except through first, the great goodness of God, second, through the splendid loyalty and the unfailing co-operation of the laymen and the laywomen who surround me.

The first note that I struck in 1889 when I came to St. Paul's Church a few days after my consecration and after my entering into the city of Cleveland and the Diocese, was simply an urgent appeal for harmony and unity. This had not been an entirely harmonious Diocese. I was a compromise Bishop; if you want to know what a compromise bishop is, you have heard all about me tonight and last night. Four or five different times this Diocese tried to elect a Bishop and they failed, and at last they compromised on me. I myself had declined to be Bishop in other places; but when this call came, and I was elected on the first ballot, I turned to my blessed wife and said, "I shall have to go." I did not want to come. I was very happy in my location and surroundings in the great city of Washington, in my important parish church, but I could not decline the Episcopate any longer, so I came because God was leading me; and I have blessed Him through all these years because it was so. I am a Calvinist in that I believe God directs our ways and overrules us, and shows us what He wants us to do; and very often if we ask Him especially He gives us grace to do it; so He led me on, and these years have been replete with happiness and with [48/49] beauty and with strength, great love, with the consciousness on my part of the kindness of the people and of their confidence in me; and the consciousness that we were one family in the Lord and that He was directing us according to His heavenly will.

And so, what can I say? It is God who has done all this. I have just been an instrument in His hand. You are also instruments in the hand of God, in the various places where He has put you. Try and find out what is His will, and when He indicates or manifests that will to you, humbly and simply determine to accomplish it so far as you may, and all the rest is just what you have had described to you tonight and last night--all the rest falls in with God's desire.

I am full of gratitude: my heart overflows with joy. What shall I say other than repeat that wonderful verse of the holy Psalm, "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and I have dwelt in the Lord's house through these generations."

I thank you, my dear ones who are here tonight, and I thank you, my beloved comrades and associates; I thank you, Bishop Rogers, for what you have said tonight.

So again, my thought is a confused thought; my expression is as confused as my thoughts, but my heart is full of profound gratitude to my Heavenly Father because He has placed my feet in such blessed and beautiful places.

Project Canterbury