PART FIRST.

THE HISTORY OF THE PARLIAMENT.

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF THE PLAN FOR A PARLIAMENT
OF RELIGIONS.

DR

R. HORACE BUSHNELL, that profound and original thinker of New England, has said, that "It is only Religion, the great bond of love and duty to God, that makes any existence valuable or even tolerable."

In the Columbian Exposition of 1893, for the first time on such an occasion, Religion has had due preeminence. Since faith in a Divine Power to whom men believe they owe service and worship has been like the sun, a life-giving and fructifying potency in man's intellectual and moral development; since Religion lies back of Hindu literature with its marvelous and mystic developments; of European Art, whether in the form of Grecian statues or Gothic cathedrals; and of American liberty and the recent uprisings of men in behalf of a juster social condition; and since it is as clear as the light that the Religion of Christ has led to many of the chief and noblest developments of our modern civilization, it did not appear that Religion any more than Education, Art or Electricity should be excluded from the Columbian Exposition.

But Religion, like the white light of Heaven, has been broken into many-colored fragments by the prisms of men. One of the objects of the Parliament of Religions has been to change this many-colored radiance back into the white light of heavenly truth.

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Our little systems have their day;

They have their day and cease to be,
They are but broken lights of Thee;
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they."

It early became evident that the Columbian Exposition was to be the most comprehensive and brilliant display of man's material progress which the ages have known. More than fifty nations were soon actively enlisted in the preparations for the great Festival of Peace.

Its approach caused a stir in the studios of Paris and Munich, and on the pasture grounds of far-off Australia, among the Esquimaux of the icy north and the skilled artisans of Delhi and Damascus.

The workshops of Sheffield, Geneva and Moscow, and the marble quarries of Italy, the ostrich farms of Cape Colony and the mines of Brazil, speedily knew of its coming.

And should not man's intellectual and moral progress be adequately set forth amid these material splendors? Why should the ivory hunters in the forests of Africa and the ivory cutters in the thronged cities of Japan and China, the silk weavers of Lyons and the shawl makers of Cashmere, the designers of Kensington, the lace weavers of Brussels and the Indian tribes of South America, the cannon founders of Germany, the silver miners of Mexico, the ship makers of the Clyde and the canoe builders of the Mackenzie River be invited to a World's Exposition, and the representatives of those higher forces which had made civilization be excluded?

It was objected, by one representative of the Christian faith, that Religion is such in its nature that it cannot be exhibited. But surely, the answer was made, the great part which Religion has had in human history can be impressively told, its achievements can be narrated, its vast influence over art, ethics, education, government, can be set forth, its present condition can be indicated, its wide-reaching missionary activities can be eloquently described, and, perhaps, best of all, the spirit of mutual love, of cosmopolitan fraternity, can be disclosed and largely augmented.

The architectural nobleness of the Fair soon became known to the nations. The ample site on the shore of Lake Michigan was transformed into a scene of more than Venetian loveliness. The buildings, planned by the leading American architects, which shelter not only the riches of the soil, the sea and the mine, but also the industries and machineries and inventions of the ⚫ world, which are crowded with the jeweled and silken marvels of Europe and Asia and the floral wonders of the Amazon and of the forests of New Zealand, were made still more beautiful by the pomp of the decorator's art and the triumphs of the sculptor's genius.

But has not Religion built temples more beautiful, spacious and imposing, and far more enduring, than those gorgeous palaces of the "Dream City" which will soon fade away?

A series of Congresses covering the chief departments of knowledge was soon provided for by the wise and far-seeing managers of the World's Fair.

It became evident that multitudes would be eager to hear the representative leaders of human thought, and to meet the experts, the famous teachers and preachers, whose words had become a part of their nobler lives.

It was believed that these conventions and the world-wide fraternities of scholars, historians, physicians, reformers, artists and divines which were to be formed, would surely give an enduring luster to the Columbian Anniversary.

But the event which that anniversary celebrated carried the mind back to an era of persecution and of abysmal separations between the Christian and non-Christian peoples.

Many felt that Religion was an element of perpetual discord, which should not be thrust in amid the magnificent harmonies of a fraternal assembly of the nations. It was said that there could be no Congress of Religions without engendering the animosities which have embittered much of man's past history.

On the other hand, it was felt that the tendencies of mod

ern civilization were toward unity. Some came to feel that a Parliament of Religions was the necessity of the age.

They called attention to the fact that Europe's Eastern question, that Asiatic aggrandizement and African colonization, had brought together rival nations and rival races to divide the spoils of war.

They recalled that America, under the inspiration and guidance of a far-seeing statesman, the late Mr. Blaine, had held her Pan-American Congress and sought the commercial advantage of the conferring states. It was deemed the natural outcome of the spirit of the Prince of Peace, that his followers should seek to bring men together in a wider brotherhood than had been achieved by diplomacy, commerce or national selfishness.

In the spring of 1891 the General Committee on Religious Congresses of the World's Congress Auxiliary was appointed by President Charles C. Bonney, who had been foremost in originating and most active in promoting these world-conventions. The Rev. L. P. Mercer was a zealous and scholarly minister of the New Church (Swedenborgian). Mr. J. W. Plummer was an active member of the Society of Friends. Rev. J. Berger belonged to the German Methodist Church; Rev. John Z. Torgersen to the Norwegian Lutheran Church, and Rev. M. Ranseen to the Swedish Lutheran Church. The Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney, D.D., was one of the founders and prominent leaders of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The Rev. Jenkin Lloyd-Jones was a well-known writer and an active worker among the advanced Unitarians. Rev. Dr. A. J. Canfield was the eloquent pastor of St. Paul's Universalist Church, Chicago. Dr. E. G. Hirsch was the minister of Sinai Temple and the learned Professor of Rabbinic Literature in the University of Chicago. Rev. Dr. Frank M. Bristol was one of the most eloquent Methodists of the Northwest. Rev. William M. Lawrence, D.D., the pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Chicago, was far-famed as a successful preacher. Rev. Dr. F. A. Noble, of Union Park Congregational Church, was one of the prominent leaders of his

"WHAT MEN DEEMED IMPOSSIBLE, GOD HAS FINALLY WROUGHT. THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD HAVE ACTUALLY MET IN A GREAT AND IMPOSING ASSEMBLY; THEY HAVE CONFERRED TOGETHER ON THE VITAL QUESTIONS OF LIFE AND IMMORTALITY IN A FRANK AND FRIENDLY SPIRIT, AND NOW THEY PART IN PEACE, WITH MANY WARM EXPRESSIONS OF MUTUAL AFFECTION AND RESPECT."