e of Deputies, the
late ZeBarney Phillips, said at the opening session:

Later on we shall have the regular memorial to all members of the
Convention who have died during the triennium, but as the
Convention opens without them I cannot refrain from paying
tribute to some of those whom we loved best and best remember.
First you will all agree is Frank Nelson who was the outstanding
member of this House at Cincinnati. His genuine Christian
devotion, his courtesy, his fairness and his gentleness can never
be forgotten. Let me tell you one little thing that shows his
character. You all know his type of churchmanship, and yet, for
the sake of others he placed candles on his altar for the
corporate communion. It was a little thing but it was so like
Frank Nelson.[20]

Whether in parish, city, or the whole Episcopal Church, his work was
affected by a mighty vision of the Kingdom of God on earth which set him
apart as an unusual servant who humbly read the scroll of life as it is
unrolled to the children of men. He passed on to others the torch of
faith which lights the path to the City of God.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] Address at the Centennial of Christ Church, 1917. He spoke in this
vein at Conventions though I cannot locate exact statements in official
records.

[17] Mr. Nelson's proposal placed the Creed immediately after the
Lesson.

[18] _The Church and Truth_, p. 138, Macmillan Co. 1924. Used by
permission.

[19] Letter to the author, September 12, 1932.

[20] Letter to Mrs. Nelson from Mr. Richard Inglis of Cleveland.

_The Mystery of
Personality_

"_There is not one of us but in some measure
is in his debt._"

--_The Cincinnati Enquirer_

7

"All the hold those people have on God is me. It is terrible. It bothers
me. They love me but they don't come to church." Mr. Nelson confided in
this vein one night to his intimate friend, Jesse Halsey, into whose
study he had stopped on his way home from a call in a distant suburb.
While it was inevitable that some people should use him as a crutch or
should let him do their climbing for them, the truth of the matter is
that he was a chosen channel for the communication of the Divine Spirit
to earth-bound men. Because he was genuinely humble, he was troubled
about those people who could approach God only through him. If they
little sensed that what they loved in him was God, they nevertheless
were compelled by their lim