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Rh The Honorable Ali Bilgrami, Director General of Mines to His Highness the Nizam's Government, Deccan, India, wrote:

To my mind, the very conception of a Parliament of Religions, an assembly of the representatives of all the world's religions, to be held alongside of the greatest of World's Fairs, the bringing together at one time and in one place of the material and moral needs of mankind, is in itself a sign of the times in which we live, and is worthy of the great nation from which it emanates. The Committee discovered, to their delight and somewhat to their amazement, that the religious world and the world of scholarship were becoming more and more deeply interested in the proposed Congress of Religions. The great strength of support was doubtless given from a variety of considerations. There were those who favored it because of the aid it would bring to the study of comparative religion. Prof. Max Muller's interest was doubtless largely derived from this consideration. Many favored the Parliament from the profound conviction that it would show forth the superiority and the sufficiency of some particular form of Christianity. Others favored it from the feeling that their own religion had been misunderstood, and that they had cherished important truths which others would do well to heed.

Multitudes of the more progressive and broader-minded men championed the Parliament from the feeling that they, as Christians, might wisely and rightly show a more brotherly spirit towards the representatives of other faiths. Furthermore, the Parliament received the allegiance of many because they were assured that this conference would have a tendency to draw Christians more closely together.

On the 25th of February, 1892, the General Committee sent out their first report, which was widely copied, and which led to a large and continuous increase of general interest in the movement.

The Catholic Archbishops of America, at their meeting in New York in November, 1892, took action approving the participation of the Catholic Church i the Parliament, and