The New York herald., 1875-12-13
ORIENTAL RELIGIONS.
MoNCURE D. CONWAY ON. THE GOOD TO BE
FOUND IN ALL FAITHS.

MoNCURE d. CONWAY ON THE GOOD TO BE
FOUND IN ALL PATHS.
Mr. Moncure D. Conway delivered lecture last night
to large audience in the Masonic Temple, corner OF
Twenty third street and Sixth The subject,
chosen probably account Of the day, was Orentai
Religions" 1t may be stated generally that In the dis
cussion OF religions topics, Christianity fares worse al
the hands OF Mr. Conway than almost any other form
OF oeheL He began by saying that much specu-
ia'on mao ior years existed among antquarans as to
the proper site OF the statue Of Minerva the Par
tnenon John Stuart MIL and his niece happened TO be
walking there one day, when lady suddenly stop
ped and said 10 her uncle al feel convinced that this IL
the place where the OF Minerva stood Shortly
aiterward Uurtius and his party arrived in Greece
entered fully into the matter ana established almost
concusvey that the spot selected by the young lady
was really the place upon which the statue OF the god
dess stood When questioned as TO the reasons which
had induced her TO that spot she said that had
struck her that II 1t had been Catholic church t
there that the statue OF the Madonna would have been
placed From this the lecturer proceeded to say that
In matters OF religion the simple and obvious 10
frequently lost In tho search for tho profound Il
q matter OF astonlshment 70 him that the Chinese
could have Q religion simple and Homogeneous q
that Of Confucus and that such practical people as
the English, and the Anglo-Saxons generally, could
have religions
xNcRUsrED WITH so MUCH SUPERSTITION
y,
tcal way In which The missionaries being brought
up for their work-learning carpentering basket
got 10 the museum where all tho Eastern
idols were the minds of the young mis-
sionaries seemed 70 change utterly. They
the idols were intended to represent They
seemed not to know that an idol may be IDEAL and
represent great wants or the soul The European
notion OF idolatry was presented in the East as a
piece OF partisanship He asked II some OF do not
hold dogmas in quite as crude form, and, II our
we tod In WI
would not have quite much right TO be amazed at US
as we profess to be at him. We talk absurdtes about
Oriental religions because take the accounts Of the
missionaries, and do not consult the orientals them
selves He quoted the case Of Chinaman who, after
years residence In London went back 10 China and
stated that abe English worship God with enormous
gilded teeth called Organ " which makes loud noise
In their churches For his own part he had for years
enjoyed the intimacy OF the ablest and most intellectual
Of the orientals who now swarm In London, and he
could say something trustworthy about their various
creedA
Every religion is a soul which builds around itself
a body OF symbols The great monuments of Egypt
represented the main idea OF the Egyptian religion
endurance and perpetuityand one needed not the as
suranco OF Herodotus to know that this people the
first to believe in Immortality Egypt left but one book
written on papyrus-the book OF the dead. The Jews
left one book-the book Of the living Greece the
other hand represented
THE RELIGION OF NATURE
in her most beautiful forms-nature conquered by art
Scandinavia represented the religion OF nature uncon
querabe as seen in Stonehenge and the cromlechs Of
northern Europe
The abyss between the ancient and modern religions
Is not so great as might appear at frst sight
Whether they had devils or angels IL mma-
teria because both represented the fundamental idea
of forces acting on the human race With regard to
moral ideas the identity equally great All religions
inculcated honesty. most chastity all charity. Here
tho Lecturer descanted a. considerable length upon
the last virtue as being found at the basis
OF all religions and related two very beautiful le-
gends. the one an Indian, the other Hindoo
The moral Of both was that charity is its own best
reward Religious evolution was next dealt WITH the
lecturer saying that the long path OF religious ovou
ton has been traced IN blood. The last OF these
evolutons was seen at Plymouth Rock, when the
Pilgrims fed from persecution to persecute in
their turn every one else The three great stems
OF religion the Turanian tho Aryan, and the
Semitic. II was noted as curious fact that
new new rengon Mould irucaify unless nter%asried
mechanism, and Buddhism cited
amples The founders Of religion had
credit In tlier country, nor with the excep-
tion of Arabia did flourish in the country Of the
men who originated them. Palestine is in the hands of
the osmanli; the faith of Confucius, who was a
Hindoo, had 70 fructify in China The reason Is that
FAMILIARITY BREEDS ooETEMPT,
and that people fond Of the unknown. Thus II
for Corscan. and England sent the Stuarts adrt TO
take Dutchman. Practically speaking there can be
doubt whatever that the faith Of the Oriental Is Of
far superior and cecompeng character than that
OF tho Christian The idea OF woman
necessarily entering into every religion, dwelt
upon at great length The identity OF many points Of
the Oriental religions next handled, the sample
selected being job and Archicondra The product OF
the interminglng Of the Persian and Mohammedan
regions-viz, the great Persian poets gave TO
very eloquent outburs Buddhism defended in its
practical workings with much force.
MISSIONARIES WERE ASKED
why II was that in ITO years, among population OF
200. 600 900 they had only made 100 600 converts
OF the lowest class AS the missionaries are
at some distance from the Masonic Temple no
answer elected Various other entertaining
views brought the lecture to close. Mr. Conway Is
evidently completely master of his subject and pos
sesses the rare faculty OF riyeting the attention Of
his audience from the beginning TO the end OF his lee
tuIe.