World Parliament of Religions Scrapbook 003

              #003 World Parliament of Religions Scrapbook, p. 215

the church I represent was to have, whereupon
I told you that I could not consent to that ar-
rangement, and that same day I wrote you a let-
ter which I placed in the hands of your secretary
Thursday night, from which I quote:
"You ask me if I will read it (my paper) in
hall 3, designated as the scientific section of the
parliament. In what I am going to say I do not
cast any reflection on the character and im-
portance of the meetings held in that hall. They
are both interesting and important in their line
and the presiding officer is both broad-minded 
and courteous. But now I submit that in view
of all the facts as here stated—the hesitation
about admitting Mormonism to the parliament,
etc., etc.—I may be pardoned for saying that to
ask me to read my paper there and let that be
the only hearing that Mormonism has, looks
very like an attempt to sidetrack the church I
represent, while the parliament preserves a
reputation for broad-minded toleration that
could not exclude even a "Morman," while
as a matter of fact it hears of him either
not at all, or else only as in a corner.
You will see at once how impossiole it is for me
to accede to your request. Hall 3, whatever 
may be said in praise of the meetings held there,
is not the hall of the Parliament of Religions, nor 
the platform from which the great religious sects
and faiths have spoken.
A hearing such as could be obtained in hall 3 is
not the kind of hearing the Mormon church asks
for or can accept. She asks to speak through
her representative in the full parliament before
all the world, having full time (half an hour)
allotted to her in which to proclaim to it what to
her are the great truths of religion. If that
cannot be accorded she will be content with the
distinction of being the one voice in all the
world that could not be heard in such an assem-
bly."
        No Answer Received.
That letter from which the above is quoted
was handed personally by me to your secretary
last Thursday night (21st. inst.), and, by the way,
reverend sir, I have received no answer to that
letter, though I urged an immediate reply, as it
was a matter of some importance to me as
affecting my movements. Call you that Christian
courtesy? Christian etiquette it may be, for you 
are a Christian clergyman of high standing, and
I will not presume to judge of your conduct.
Now, gentlemen, I have written my page in
the history of your parliament; the world knows
of your treatment, in part at least, of the Mor- 
mon church. What will you say to justify
your conduct? Will you say that Mormonism is 
such a new arrival in the religious field 
and so small a society that you could
not give it a place? I would reply, first, that you
of the Brahmo-Somaj of India, a sect which
sprang into existence
five or six hearings given to the representatives
of the Brahmo-Somaj of India, a sect which
sprang into existence about the same time that
the Mormon church was organized, and after its 
sixty-three years of existence numbers but 6,000
or 7,000 followers, as against over 300,000 people
in the church I represent: and the Brahmo-Somas
--while I admire the ability with which its
claims have been set forth by its eloquent and
learned representatives—does not occupy so
important a position in relation to the religion of
India as Mormonism does to Christianity. Will 
you say that you fulfilled your agreement to give
me a hearing by offering me the privilege of
reading my paper in a small side hall, where I
might have from a score to a hundred hearers?
You ventured to insult me and my people with
such a proposition. Don't insult the intelligence
of the public by making such a statement, ex-
pecting that they will accept it. Will you say
that I represent a polygamous people?
I would reply what if I do?" Do
not the gentlemen who have so 
ably represented the faiths of the orient in your
parliament also so represent polygamous peo-
ples'? But I explained to you that since the
Mormon church had officially discontinued
plural marriages that subject need form no part
of the presentation of Mormonism to the parlia-
ment, except to announce the fact of its dis-
continuance. Look at the paper I prepared for
the parliament, a copy of which you hold, there
is not a word about polygamy. Were you really
afraid that I would announce the position of the
church on that subject?
Gentlemen, you should have extended a hearty
invitation to the Mormon church to participate
in your parliament, and given her representa-
tive a full and fair hearing, not in some out-of-
the-way corner, but in the general parliament.
You should have done that if for nothing else
than to have had the joyful news proclaimed
that polygamy had been discontinued by the 
Mormons. If you thought us in error, as Chris- 
tian ministers you should have been anxious to 
learn and have the world find out wherein we
were in error, that you, as lovers of human
souls, could find out where we were wrong, and
then in kindness and for our good show us our
error—and what could have been better for you
Christians than to have exposed our error from
our own statement of our faith and then re-
claimed us? But you have missed your opportu-
nity. I hold the smiling, benevolent mask of
toleration and courage behind which the parlia-
ment has been hiding in my hands, and the old
harridan of sectarian bigotry stands uncovered,
and her loathsome visage, distorted by the
wrinkles of narrow-mindedness, intolerance,
and cowardice, is to be seen once more of all
the world.
Gentlemen, where you should have been lions
you have been hares: where foxes, geese. Turn
which way you will and you will be confronted
by the facts which proclaim that you have
shrunk before the fear of public sentiment within
your churches, all unmindful of that greater
public sentiment outside of your churches which
demands generous; open, and fair treatment
even for Mormons in such a gathering as your
parliament.
Why, the political parties of the country have
outstripped your churchmen in generosity.
When plural marriages were discontinued by
official proclamation of the church the Gentiles
of Utah accepted it as a settlement of the ques-
tion that had been at issue. Mormons and non-
Mormons ceased the strife that had raged for
years in Utah; individuals dropping the local
issues stepped within the Republican or Demo-
cratic party lines and sent mixed delegations of
the Mormons and non-Mormons to the
great National party conventions, where
they were received and given seats
and votes equal with other delegates.
But you, gentlemen, who should have been the
first to welcome even the slightest chance for
the better—as you look at it—in Mormon affairs,
you have stood shivering in terror of public sen-
timent.
Gentlemen, I have taken an appeal from your
parliament to a greater one, the parliament of an
enlightened public opinion, and I challenge you
to appear before it and explain your conduct.
Very truly and respectfully yours,
Elder B. H. Roberts.
      HENSON RECEIVES ATTENTION.
  Dr. Delano Criticises the Critic of the Re-
      ligious Congresses.
Rev. Dr. H. A. Delano, of the First Bap-
tist Church, Evanston, preached yesterday
forenoon on "Lessons of the Religious Con-
gresses." In his introduction he referred 
sharply to the action of Drs. Henson and
Lawrence in withdrawing from the con-
gress and criticised Dr. Henson for publish-
ing the following paragraph in the Watch-
man, of Boston:
The world's congresses are still in full blast
—they have been in full blast for weary months.
Everything under heaven and in heaven has
been discussed, or will be, before the end comes,
by all sorts of men and women. Some
"open-minded" people, of an Athenian turn,
undertook at the beginning to "take it all
in." But some of our best people have commit-
ted suicide; some have gone mad; some are
"down with nervous prostration," but the con-
gresses still go on. The religious congresses
are now upon us. The Jews had their "inning"
last week. Now it is the Catholics. Each have
their day, like Job's children, in their feast-
ings, the whole series to be wound up by a
grand display of fireworks on the lake front,
entitled a "Parliament of All Religions."
Whether there will be anything left of it when
the performance is over but a wreath of smoke
and a bad smell of powder remains to be seen.
                                     P. S. H.
In the course of his remarks Mr. Delano
said:
This religious congress shows a disposition
on the part of the wisest thinkers to bring forth
each his fragment of divine truth and to match,
if possible, with all the rest.
Religion must yield what it has, all it has, to
men, or the people are bound to be suspicious of
it. So long as anything is kept back,
hid by priestly vestments, beneath sa-
cred robes, or stored in the glowing
sepulchers of antiquated theology, that thing
may be revered, but respected by man's intelli-
gence it cannot be. The religion that will not,
does not. give is not in harmony with nature.
Christianity only keeps its own life
by sacrificing itself to the world. If
science, philosophy or some religion
called by another name, find and demonstrate a
fact, establish a truth that rests upon eternal
laws, I must yield to it though it smite all my
rhymes and strike all my oracles into
muteness. If religion be a life, the
life of God in the soul, then it must
progress, develop and expand. Only
thus can it escape death. Paul's ideal may re-
main unfulfilled, but better understood, I trust,
when yonder art galleries are still, and
only marble statue and noble picture
keep ward and watch amid the si-
lence. It will be discovered that the
unity of religions is only possible through the
fulfillment of manhood. Then, when we are
able to comprehend with all saints the height
and depth, the length and breadth, and to know
the love of God, we shall know the meaning of
the supreme event which now is crowning these
illustrious days with spiritual majesty and
prophetic glory.
     FROM A CHICAGO STANDPOINT.
These are piping times in Chicago. The
multitudes have been pouring into the city in
such streams as the railroads never handled
before. Trains have come in sections and bat-
tallions, and stations have been packed and
jammed until men struggled for a breathing
place and women fainted. And the Parlia-
ment of Religions has gathered together the
ends of the earth. Such a collection of re-
ligions and races has never before been gotten
together since, as Bishop Arnett said, Shem,
Ham and Japheth parted. September 11, when
the Parliament held its first meeting and del-
egates of every color, costume, race, tongue
and belief responded, was a day of days. A
common remark was: "It was the greatest
day of my life." Even Mrs. Palmer, who has
seen many great days, said as much. Of the
reception to the delegates in the evening, the
daily press remarked that it was the most
brilliant function ever celebrated in the city.
It is true that many faces in the throngs
which struggled through the crowded parlors
wore a smile which had a suspicious appear-
ance of an inner feeling that it was not so
much a social function as an exhibit of relig-
ious specimens in full dress, but none the less
it was a very great occasion. Dr. J. H. Bar-
rows looked radiantly happy, as he had a
supreme right to do, after two years of un-
ceasing and successful toil to bring such an
assemblage together. Mrs. Palmer, always of
regal appearance, received the distinguished
prelates as graciously and successfully as if
entertaining church dignitaries had been part
of her childhood training. These prelates
were in full decoration for the occasion. The
high black hat worn by the Greek archbishops
and bishops is not exactly like a stovepipe
which has shot through the roof of a kitchen,
but it is, for a hat, somewhat peculiar. But
we pass it by without criticism, for who knows
but that it may be the fashionable bonnet in a
summer or two?
The white silk robes from India, worn by
swarthy but handsome priests, were very at-
tractive and were much admired by the ladies.
The simple blouse-like garb of the Japanese
and Chinese delegates looked rather plain in
the brilliant gathering, and the men them-
selves, being small in stature, if seen else-
where, would hardly have been taken for the
priests of three or four hundred thousand
gods or representatives of hundreds of mil-
lions of religious believers. Pushed into the
comers of the overcrowded parlors it was not
easy to maintain all the dignity appropriate to
a great sect.
The Parliament itself has proven immensely
popular. Vast multitudes crowd into the halls
as soon as opened, and hundreds are turned
back to the overflow meetings. Some of the
delegates from India represent religions which
have thirty-three millions of deities; had they
brought them all along, the Parliament, with
all its liberality, and Chicago, with all its
size, would have been overwhelmed. As it is,
the strain on liberality has been great. Dr.
Barrows has opened some of the meetings
with a moment of silent prayer. When a man 
prays under his breath he is in no serious dan- 
ger of offending even a worshiper of Baal. 
But the Lord's Prayer has been commonly 
used. In the speeches every man has had a 
full opportunity to give a reason for the faith 
that is in him. Timidity of statement has not 
been on the side of the heathen religions. 
Hesitating declaration, halting between two 
opinions, and rose-water treatment, have come 
from that class of religionists so well known 
in this country. On the other hand a delegate 
from Japan boldly attacked the work of mis- 
sionaries in that country, but he, as well as 
the daily papers after him, took good care not
to say that it was a plot of Catholicism which 
he was criticising. 
Lyman Abbott, in his treatment of the subject
of religion, followed the development 
theory and emphasized the element of natural- 
ism. But at the close of his address he showed 
that he had some knowledge of the Christian 
religion. Edward Everett Hale once more ex- 
ploded the doctrine of total depravity, but he 
evidently had not heard of Judge Goggin's 
conduct on the bench and of all the manipula- 
tions and meannesses of the Sunday closing
matter. We beg to suggest to Dr. Hale that 
his relegation of the doctrine of total depravity 
to the rear is a little premature. Our municipal 
government, a portion of the United States 
Senate, and the British House of Lords are ex- 
amples of something which requires a very 
profound explanation. We might also say 
that while some of the heathen are still killing 
and eating one another it will hardly be worth 
while to send them theology of the rose-water 
kind. But then, men who hold such theology 
rarely go out as missionaries.