Page:The World's Parliament of Religions Vol 1.djvu/212

 1 84 HISTORY OF THE PARLIAMENT. Turkish empire and tell the men of other faiths that Christian America is hospitable to all truth and loving to all men. Yes, tell the men of the Orient that we have no sympathy vi^ith the abominations which falsely-named Chris- tians have practiced. The Parliament shows that it is easier to do a great thing than a little one. I want you to think of Chicago not as the home of the rudest materialism, but as a temple where men cherish the loftiest ideal- ism. I wish you could stay with us and see our schools and charities, and learn more of the better side, the nobler life of this wondrous city. I thank God for the friendships which in this Parliament we have knit with men and women beyond the sea, and I thank you for your sympathy and overgenerous appreciation, and for the constant help which you have furnished in the midst of my multiplied duties. Christian America sends her greetings through you to all mankind. We cherish a broadened sympathy, a higher respect, a truer tenderness to the children of our common Father in all lands, and, as the story of this Parliament is read in the cloisters of Japan, by the rivers of Southern Asia, amid the universities of Europe, and in the isles of all the seas, it is my prayer that non-Christian readers may in some measure discover what has been the source and strength of that faith in divine fatherhood and human brotherhood which, embodied in an Asiatic Peasant who was the Son of God and made divinely potent through him, is clasping the globe with bands of heavenly light. Most that is in my heart of love and 'gratitude and happiness must go unsaid. If any honor is due for this magnificent achievement, let it be given to the spirit of Christ, which is the spirit of love, in the hearts of those of many lands and faiths who have toiled for the high ends of this great meeting. May the blessing of Him who rules the storm and holds the ocean waves in his right hand, follow you with the prayers of all God's people to your distant homes. And as Sir Joshua Reynolds closed his lectures on "The Art of Painting" with the name of Michael Angelo, so, with a deeper reverence, I desire that the last words which I speak to this Parliament shall be the name of Him to whom I owe life and truth and hope and all things, who reconciles all contradictions, pacifies all antagonisms, and who from the throne of His heavenly kingdom directs the serene and unwearied omnipotence of redeem- ing love — Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. As President Bonney arose to utter the last words to be spoken at the Parliament, the silence was impressive. For a few moments he stood as if unwilling to utter the words which were to bring the great gathering to an end. Then he began slowly and said : Worshipers of God and Lovers of Man, — The closing words of this great event must now be spoken. With inexpressible joy and gratitude I give them utterance. The wonderful success of this first actual Congress of the Religions of the world is the realization of a conviction which has held my