It has already given some striking proofs of the possession of this power.  We have had, once, upon this planet, a great Parliament of Religions, in which the representatives of all the great faiths now existing in the world were gathered together for comparison of beliefs and experiences.  It was, perhaps, the most important religious gathering which has ever assembled.  The presiding officer, in his opening address, thus described its import:—­

“If this congress shall faithfully execute the duties with which it has been charged, it will become a joy of the whole earth and stand in human history like a new Mount Zion crowned with glory and making the actual beginning of a new epoch of brotherhood and peace.

“In this congress the word ‘religion’ means the love and worship of God and the love and service of man.  We believe the Scripture ’Of a truth God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.’  We come together in mutual confidence and respect, without the least surrender or compromise of anything which we respectively believe to be truth or duty, with the hope that mutual acquaintance and a free and sincere interchange of views on the great questions of eternal life and human conduct will be mutually beneficial.

“The religious faiths of the world have most seriously misunderstood and misjudged each other, from the use of words in meanings radically different from those which they were intended to bear, and from a disregard of the distinctions between appearances and facts, between signs and symbols and the things signified and represented.  Such errors it is hoped that this congress will do much to correct and to render hereafter impossible.”

Such was the purpose of this parliament, such the spirit which prompted the calling of it, and found utterance in its conferences.  It was surely a notable and beautiful thing for, the adherents of these dissimilar faiths, whose ordinary attitude toward one another has always been suspicious and oppugnant, to come together in this friendly way, seeking a better understanding, and emphasizing the things that make for unity.  And whose was this parliament?  Which religion was it that conceived of it, and made provision for it, and set in motion the influences that drew these hostile bands into harmony?  It was the Christian religion which gave us this great endeavor after unity.  And it is highly improbable that such a movement would have originated in any other than a Christian country, or among the followers of any other Leader than the Man of Nazareth.  It was the natural thing for the disciples of Jesus to do; and while many men of the other faiths yielded to this gracious influence, and were thus brought under the power of the bond that unites our common humanity, it is not likely that any of them would have taken the initiative in such an undertaking.

We may hope that this is not the last parliament of religions; that in the days before us such manifestations of the unity of the race will not be uncommon.  And we are sure that the leaders of all such endeavors will be found among the followers of the Prince of Peace.