New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS
HE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS.


Edited by the Rev John Henry Barrows. D. -.
Chairman Of the General Committee on Eeng-
Hilary. vols. svo. Pr. xiv. 1000. Chicago.
the Parliament Publishing Company.
This is a record OF unique event The Worlds
Parliament Of Religions. which held in con-
nection with the Worlds Fair, the first gath
erng OF the kind. and at no time previous In the
history OF the world would such a gathering have
been possible When compare with 1t the Chris
tan councils Of Che early Church. which called
ecumen!cal. are at once struck by the fact that
this Parliament represented at least tried to rep
resent a for more comprehensive conception OF re-
leion than did tfsese general councils. Indeed. this
has been one Of tho grounds Of criticism against
r. II has been said by conservative Christians
that any attempt on The part OF Christian people in
q nominay Christian land. to recognize even for
n.aliy the possibility that religion Is word OF
greater content than Christianity was n religious
crime And they declare that the result of the
Parliament will be to unsettle the religious belefs
of Christian people Whether this criticism is well
founded or not need not be discussed here Opin-
ions WILL perhaps. continue 10 differ In regard 10
the wisdom Of assembling the Parliament and the
s6ec, that It will have religious thought. But
sAmtting all that. the gathering well deserves to
b ehroncled. And these volumes WILL therefore
have a permanent place In the records or human
progress and aspiration
Dr. Barrows has brought to the task OF editing
them not only ability and discrimination but a
wide catholicity and sympathy. To him, indeed.
was largely due the success of the Parliament. Be
fore II met he addressed himself to the work Of
overcoming the active opposition TO the project.
which at manifested itself In nearly all the
Christian denominations. II he did not altogether
succeed In doing so. he at least aroused TOT II
widespread interest, and gained the active coop
Grafton Of representative Christian leaders In all
the denominations To do even that was under
the circumstances a conspicuous triumph. But his
work as the chairman OF the General Committee.
which was charged with the duty OF putting into
practicable shape the intricate programme OF the
Parliament UNNECESSARILY greater; and II is
only simple justice 10 him 70 say that 1t was
Drowned with success. He had no precedents TO
Ruide him: for as we have said. such gathering
has ever before been held. on the one hand, It was
his duty TO see that the Christians taking part In
the session said did nothing TO offend the sus-
capabilities OF those who represented other faiths
who were for the time being the guests Of the
Nation. On the other hand. it was his duty to
see that the nom Christian participants in the Par
lament said nothing to offend Christian sentiment
When reflect how difficult 1t would ordinarily be
to keep the peace between the representatives OF an
interdenomnational convention of Christians, the
brilliant success Of DR.. Barrows in this herculean
task will be fully appreciated. Even those who are
least In sympathy with the Parliament will not
withhold from him the need OF praise which his
success so abundantly deserves.
As 10 these volumes. their value lies not so much
ir their literary character Though many OF the ad-
dresses delivered deserve recognition on that score)
as in the fact that they will enable the general
public TO read a verbatim record OF the Parlia-
ment. and thus for themselves what It really
The first volume opens with detailed history
OF the origin Of the plan and OF the worlds re-
Spouse to the idea Then chapter IS devoted 10
the assembling of the Parliament, and graphic
sketches are given OF the men who came TO take
part in its discussions. The remainder Of the two
bulky volumes Is taken up with full report OF
the addresses delivered in the various sessions As
hox,o 81 Yheca adj
OF literary excellence; but their chief value lies IN
the fact that they give a luminous explanation OF
the tenets Of the great world religions That alone
would have made the Parliament worth while. For
It cannot be denied that many otherwise intelligent
Christians are densely ignorant Of other religions
than Christianity and that such ignorance Is not
merely dlscreditable to them but operates as bar
to the successful propagation OF their faith in for
egn lands The result Of the Parliament will be
to encourage the study Of comparative religion,
science which Is yet in its infancy And. Of
course. this official record OF its doings will do
much to promote such study. by giving TO all who
desire to do so the opportunity Of reading the ad-
dresses delivered during its sessions.
The central thought OF NJ. Ribots little treatise
on THE Diseases Of Personality" CThe Open Court
Publishing Company appears to be that personality
IL the product OF forces working from below. and
not from above. The only thorough individuality
10 that OF the cell. and the self-determinaton of
creatures made up OF living cells must be the
sultant Of all the forces exerted by the single cells
OF which they composed. Consciousness Is not
an entity, but sum OF states OF which each is a
phenomenon of particular kind bound up with
certain conditions of the activity OF the BRAIN which
exists when they exist Is lacking when they are alb
sent disappears when they disappear To the lay
man 1t must seem that such statement the
outcome OF psychology destroys the very science
which In supposed to prove II. Yet there Is vast
he phpDO of 20
The question remains whether NJ Ribot or any one
else has gone far enough In psychical nveste alton
to form a perfect hypothesis the subject. There
are those Of us who will still insist upon looking at
the whole subject from the introspectiye side
The second volume OF "Orations and Addresses OF
George William Curtis" (Harper & Brothers. con-
tans his addresses and reports upon Civil Service
Reform. 1t will hardly be said that either the
theme or the discussion OF II rivals in interest the
speeches OF Mr.. Curtis the slavery question
But the separate papers. whether addresses or
reports. are marked by the care and literary
finish that are to be seen in all OF Mr. Curtis's
writings. The volume opens with a brief preface
by the editor. Professor c. f. Norton. and there
Is a brief history Of the reform movement by Mr.
William Potts. by way OF introducing addresses
which were delivered before the Civil Service Re-
form League
William o'Brien has collected under the title Of
Irish Ideas" O4ongmans. Green & Coz a series Of
lectures and addresses delivered during the last
fifteen years. The main motive OF the book is the
National idea OF Home Rule. and II is developed in
the Gadstonian way. the argument being that az
you set up ruling caste to be aliens by profession
In their own country, the inevitable consequences
Of their ascending will be loss of sef-respect and
energy, with disaffection and decay the part of
the subjugated nation" A subordinate motive IS
the authors desire to meet the Unonist taunt that
Natonalists address meetings in Ireland in Ian
which AR 10 brin nde no
OF Englishmen. These addresses reprinted with
out alteration ana are conspicuous for temperate
language. dignity Of style and reasonabeness. The
volume Is chiefly valuable from the evidence fur