Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/176

 "I considered Dr Gore's resignation to be the best thing that could have happened, both for him and the E.C.U. It would seem to be an exceedingly delicate and difficult position for a Bishop to be a member (and, as a Bishop, Vice- President) of a society of which he might one day have to be directly or indirectly the judge."

"But is it not a fact that the Bishop of Lincoln is still a member of the E.C.U.?"

"Yes; but, in my humble judgment, the same remark would apply to him as well as to Dr Gore. Other of our English Bishops have been members of the E.C.U., but none of them, I think, were members at the time of their consecration. I believe that Dr Gore and the Bishop of Lincoln are the only two prelates who were members of the Union when Bishoprics were offered to them, but some twenty-seven Bishops—Scottish, Colonial, Missionary and retired—are amongst our Vice-Presidents. I should like to add that I intensely admire the Bishop of Lincoln's pluck in sticking to the Union."

"Are you at liberty to tell me anything about the recent visit to America of the Duke of Newcastle, the Rev. Henry Wilson and Mr Clifton Kelway?"

"Oh, yes; but they acted as private persons, not officially. Mr Harry Wilson told me that they were very much struck with the growth of Catholicity in America, especially considering that