New-York tribune., 1906-11-21
DR.. DOANE ON DIVORCE
Praises York of Recent Congress in
PhdadeIphia-Discusses Criticism.

Albany, Nov. 20.-The thirty-eighth annual con-
vention of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese OF AL
bany met in All Saints Cathedral. in this city. to-
day. The feature of principal public interest was
the address of Bishop william Croswell Doane.
His widely known interest in the subject of mar
riage and divorce was again displayed in his ear
nest references to that subject. in the course of
which. after alluding with approval the meeting
at Philadelphia of the congress uniform divorce
laws at which he was present he said in part:
1t was satisfaction for us feel that the call
ing or this congress on uniform divorce laws was
yania and the Presidel2 of the United States. to
& ae REPRESENTATIONS made to the PRESIDENT py mem
4qsGs o. the lnterchurcn conference IN January
lS0 Tho resolutions which ii adopted related, nat
rather than 10 the question causes, and the final
form which the action took is 10 he embodied In
states will express the opinton of the conference
duced rather than increased. this congress recon-
mends that no additional causes be recognized in
any state and in those states where causes are re-
Whatever result is to be attained in dealing with
this most important question depends upon three
be secured to correct the methods OF procedure
IN the next place. what pressure be brought
what is called society, and. in the next place. by
chnrcSs And ana aene a f 5ns
anxious that this church shall take the lead in a
any rate TO the question of the remarriage of any
divorced persons.
as possible the rernarrage of the so-caled innocent
IIs Of 70 "a GdvorGe Win mucn CONFUSION IN fne ae
made it difficult. But this is really rot dealing II
seems to me- either frankly or fairly with the de-
Weary of the discussion and content to feel that
there IS a tendency and temptation 10 let the
e T the raRs Is td that b this ba dog
ought TO be content with canon that really ex-
slur and a shadow upon a marriage which some
people think distinctly permitted by Lord, and
think otherwise. If it is right it ought not be
ought to be impossibie. Let us wash our hands Of
the whole business. Let the state which separates
definitions of discipline, let simply forbid the
clergy to give the Churchs henedction to any such
Al the while some statement is appearing. in the
of divorces somewhere and every now and then
out from the comparative obscurity of many of the
disgrace because of the social position or the
to present itself to what is called society. what
Will society do? In season and out of season. the
name until the people who hold some moral stand
ards shall recognize the wrong. and refuse to rec
world.
Bishop Doane made direct reference TO the
case of the Rev. DR.. Algernon s Crapsey. whose
suspension from the functions Of Episcopal priest
hood has been confirmed by the highest church
court of review. but the subject of the alleged
inroads modern civilization and Interpretation
on the reading of the Bible and the teachings of
the Church he said in part:
The BlOle is largely an unread and unknown book
TO children and to people of middle age The mis- .
and the misunderstanding of criticism are re-
sponsible for this in slight degree.
l suppose n might be permitted. without
confinement in jail or in madhoUSe. dig his
cellar out under the impression that it concealed
hidden thing he wished hnd and so tumble
his own house about his own ears but this is a
case where the house is not his 1t is the
common homestead Of universal Chrstendom. 1t
is the ancestral home of all the centuries of Chris
tianity. Whole humanity has vested rights in It,
II is ours all ours, by the entail of all the ages
and no man has the right to disturb destroy its
old foundations IN the pursuit of new discoveries.
The Bishop dealt at length the essentially of
the historic fact" of the virgin birth of Jesus one
of the cardinal faiths Of the Episcopal church with
the denial of which DR. Crapsey was charged.