The Washington times., 1923-01-29
GRANT To FIGHT
: HERESY VIEW:
/ TALKSL0vE
Hoboes Parade Before Church
As Minister breaches, Al
luding to His Fiancee.

Iuding to His Fiancee.
NEW YORK, Jan. 29.-While a
delegation of hoboes gathered in
the parks by Urban Ledoux, the
Mr.. Zero of hobo life, marched up
and down in front of the Church
of the Ascension, Tenth street and
Fifth avenue, yesterday, the rector,
the Rev. DR.. Percy Stickney Grant.
preached another sermon in which
he limited nei her at resigning nor
ut recanting his views concerning
Jesus and certain dogmas of the
Protestant Episcopal Church. of
which he is an ordained minister.
Ledoux and his gang of about
twenty-five men, all suffering from
cold and hunger and poorly clad,
attracted almost as much atten-
ton as the sermon itself, which,
while vigorous and independent in
tone, had none of the fire and
heretical fury which some of the
thousands who came to hear it had
expected.
Taken by and large. DIR. Grants
sermon yesterday was mild and in
offensive, and could scarcely nave
wounded the susceptibilitles of
Bishop Manning himself.
But il contained a passing re-
mark concerning DIR. Grants en-
gagement to Mrs. Rita de Acosta
LyC1ig, who was the wife of William
D. Stokes and after divcrcing him
married Capt. Philip Lytlig. from
whom she also was divorced in
France on the ground of desertlon
and nonsupport.
Feud With Manning.
The Episcopal Church forbids the
remarriage of person. even the
innocent one in a divorce, where
the grounds for divorce are not in
fidelity.
For two years DIR. Grant has been
engaged to Mrs. Lydig, but Bishop
Manning has forbidden the mar
riage.
Many people have concluded that
back of DIR. Grants present fight
with the church and his attacks on
its dogmas lies this private feud
with Bishop Manning over the
question of his marrying Mrs.
Lydig.
The rector undertook TO dispel
this belief in the course of his SER
mon, which was based on the text,
Beneath the Surface" by the fol-
lowing statement, after denying
that he was seeking or catering to
publicity:
"Then there is another statement
that was made, that my point of
view or attitude is governed by
certain personal relationship. That
is denied by the fact that / am say
ing just what l have said for
nearly forty years.
Certainly 1 cannot be accused
of saying special things today on
account of any relationship which,
fortunately for the other person in
volved, is not of forty years stand
ing"
Mrs. Lydig. as beautiful as ever
and charmingly attired, sat in a
front pew throughout the sermon
and heard these words. which came
quite early in the rector's long
talk to his congregation.
Hundreds of eyes were turned in
her direction as DIR. Grant spoke,
and some sign of recognition was
looked for between the clergyman
ard the woman he loves but cannot
marry without violating the laws
OF his church. But DR.. Grant never
looked in her direction and Mrs.
Lydig kept her eyes steadfastly
centered upon a prayerbook in her
hands.
The Ledoux gang carried lot of
hastily improvised placards. one of
which read: 81 was hungry and We
did not give me meat and an
other: Bishop and Rector, why
bubble over garments? Unfrock
and give us the naked truth. This
is Judgment
DIR. Grant had either seen or been
told of the parade outside the
church, and referred to it, saying:
Comments on HObOes.
Now a great deal is going on
In this country outside of the
churches. There are some fellows
outside. I am told, walking up and
down with placardS." He quoted
the two mentioned above and went
on:
DIR. Copeland told the bankers
the other day taht there was q
great deal of unrest below the sur
face of American life and it wouldn't
be hard thing to collect a mil
lion of men any time TO express
that discomfort.
us this the time 20 give up the
church's great commission of life
for the sake of discussion of words
historical documents, philosophical
concepts. doctrines of this and that,
when these fellows are outside say
ing: We have asked for bread and
you have given us nothing
are we likely to give them
more by shutting up the churches,
by silencing the voices which are
directed beyond church congrega-
tons? When people are so bitter
as those men are, is that fair?
To-day we have got TO live more
by reality; we have got to get at
the truth of things; We can't go
on camouflaging things.
Here is the matter of marriage
and divorce. The women of this
country are the people interested in
this thing. because two-thirds of the
divorces granted in America are at
the request of women.
Where is the church coming out
II il stands in the way Of such
things this?
What's the use of trying to stop
the voices inside the church that
simply point cut all this?-that
we are living in an age of science,
that we are living in a humanistic
age, that we are living in an age
when we are trying to prepare for
life?
How to live is the question, and
we want to try to find out before
we are dead"
This 10 ~oIo