BISHOP TALBOT '70 AT HEAD OF CHURCH
The Rt. Rev. Ethelbert, Talbot, D. D., 70, bishop of Bethlehem, automatically succeeded to the office of presiding bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, made vacant by the death in Dallas, Tex., of the Rt. Rev. Alexander C. Garrett.
In making this announcement, the national council of the Episcopal Church explained that under the constitution of the church, as amended in 1916, Bishop Talbot will serve as .ecclesiastical head of the church in America until his successor is elected at the general convention at New Orleans in September, 1925.
The constitution provided originally that the bishop next oldest in point of consecration would succeed on the death of the presiding bishop, and hold the office for life. But experience showed that usually this brought a man of very advanced years to the chief post, and the general convention voted that this was imposing too heavy duties on men physically unable to bear them long.
As amended, the constitution provided for the election by the general convention of a presiding bishop every six years, with the oldest bishop in point of consecration succeeding for unexpired terms in the event of the death of the incumbent.
Bishop Talbot long has been a leader in his church. Born at Fayette Mo., October 9, 1848, he was graduated from Dartmouth in 1870, and the General Theological Seminary in 1873. He served until 1887 as rector of St. James Church, Macon, Mo., and as head master of St. James Military Academy, of which he was the founder.
At the 1886 general convention at Chicago he was elected the first missionary bishop of the then "missionary district" of Wyoming and Idaho. At that time the section lying in the Rocky mountains was still largely a trackless waste.
Bishop Talbot ranks among the pioneers responsible for the settlement and development of Idaho and Wyoming. From his experiences there he made a contribution to the literature of the winning of the west in his volume, "My People of the Plains." In 1898 Bishop Talbot was transferred to the see of central Pennsylvania, since changed to the diocese of Bethlehem, where he has continued to serve.
Bishop Talbot has contributed to ecclesiastical literature "A Bishop Among His Flock" and "A Bishop's Message" and to general reading, "Tim—An Autobiography of a Dog." In addition, he has had published many magazine articles, pamphlets and sermons.
The new presiding bishop is a man of broad culture and deep learning and is regarded in the church as a sturdy, militant leader. He holds the degrees of A.B. and A.M. from Dartmouth, and D.D. and LL.D. from the University of Missouri, as well as S.T.D. from the General Theological Seminary.
