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 INTRODUCTION 
 
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 BARROWS LECTURES 
 
 1896 - 97 . 
 
 
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 CHRISTIANITY, THE WORLD-RELIGION.|% 
 
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 LECTURES DELIVERED IN INDIA 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN HENRY BARROWS, D.D., 
 
 President of the World's First Parliament oj Religions^ 
 and Haskell Lecturer on Comparative Religion 
 in the University of Chicago. 
 
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 ROBERT A. HUME D.D. 
 
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 MADRAS: 
 
 THE CHRISTIAy LITERATURE SOCIETY FOR INDIA. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE METHODIST PUBLI.SHIXG HOUSE. 
 
 1897. 
 
 
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INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 BARROWS LECTURES 
 
 1896 - 97 . 
 
 CHRISTIANITY, THE WORLD-RELIGION 
 
 LECTURES DELIVERED IN INDIA 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN HENRY BARROWS, D.D., 
 
 President of the World's First Parliainent of Religions 
 and Haskell Lecturer on Comparative Religion 
 in the University of Chicago. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT A. HUME, D.D. 
 
 MADRAS: 
 
 THE CHBISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETY FOR INDIA. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1897. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM MRS. HASKELL’S LETTER FOUNDING 
 THE BARROWS LECTURESHIP. 
 
 “‘Chicago, Oct. 12, 1894. 
 
 “‘To President William R. Harper, Ph. U., 1). I). 
 
 “ ‘ My dear Sir : — I take pleasure in offering to the University of 
 Chicago the sura of twenty thousand dollars for the founding of a 
 second Lectureship on the Relations of Christianity and the other 
 Religions. These lectures, six or more in number, are to be given 
 in Calcutta (India), and, if deemed best, in Bombay, Madras, or 
 some other point of the chief cities of Hindustan, where large num- 
 bers of educated Hindus are familiar with the English language. 
 The wish, so earnestly expressed, by Mr. P. C. Mozoomdar, that a 
 lectureship, like that which I had the privilege of founding last 
 summer, might be provided for India, has led me to consider the 
 desirability of establishing in some great collegiate center, like 
 Calcutta, a course of lectures to be given, either annually, or as may 
 seem better, biennially, by leading Christian scholars of Europe, 
 Asia and America, in which, in a friendh’, temperate, conciliatory 
 way, and in the fraternal spirit which pervaded the Parliament of 
 Religions, the great questions of the truths of Christianity, its 
 harmonies with the truths of other religions, its rightful claims, 
 and the best method of setting them forth, should be presented to 
 the scholarly and thoughtful people of India. 
 
 “ ‘ It is my purpose to identify this work, which, I believe, will 
 be a work of enlightenment and fraternity, Avith the University' 
 Extension Department of the University' of Chicago, and it is my de- 
 sire that the management of this lectureship should lie with your- 
 self, as president of all the Departments of the University, with 
 Rev. John Henry Barrows, D. D., the Professorial Lecturer on 
 Comparative Religion, with Professor George S. Goodspeed, the 
 Associate Professor of Comparative Religion, and with those who 
 shall be your and their successors in these positions. It is my 
 request that this lectureship shall bear the name of John Henry 
 BarroAvs, who has identified himself with the work of promoting 
 friendly relations between Christian America and the people of 
 India. I hope also that he may be the first lecturer. The com- 
 mittee having the management of these lectures, shall also have the 
 authority to determine whether any of the courses shall be given in 
 Asiatic or other cities outside of India. 
 
2 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 “ ‘ 111 reading the proceedings of the Parliament of Religions, I have 
 been struck with the many points of harmony between the different 
 faiths, and the possibility of so presenting Christianity to others as 
 to win their favorable interest in its truths. If the committee shall 
 decide to utilize this lectureship still fui-ther in calling forth the 
 views of scholarly representatives of the non-Christian faiths, I au- 
 thorize and shall approve such a decision. Only good will grow 
 out of such a comparison of views. 
 
 “ ‘ It is my wish that, accepting the offer which I now make, the 
 committee of the University will correspond with the leaders of 
 religious thought in India, and secure from them such helpful sug- 
 gestions as they may be ready to give. I cherish the expectation 
 that the Barrows lectures will prove, in years that shall come, a 
 new golden bond between the East and West. In the belief that 
 this foundation will be blessed by our Heavenly Father, to the ex- 
 tension of the benign influence of our great U niversity, to the pro- 
 motion of the highest interests of humanity, and to the enlargement 
 of the kingdom of Truth and Love on earth, I remain, with much 
 regard. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 “•C.\ROLINE E. HASKELL.’” 
 
DR. BARROWS IN INDIA. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 UY REV. ROBERT A. HUME, U. D. 
 
 Kvkry one knows that time is needed for the develop- 
 ment of great things in vegetation, in animal life and in 
 architecture. But every one does not understand that 
 til ere is similar need of time for the development and 
 for an adequate appreciation of great things in mind 
 and in spirit. The Parliament of Religions, which met 
 in Chicago in 1893, was a unique and great event in the 
 world of mind and spirit. Therefore, according to the 
 law of life, time is necessary for the development of its 
 results and for men to fully appreciate it. Hence, 
 though held in America^ it is not yet adequately under- 
 stood even there. IMuch less can its true significance 
 be grasped in distant Asia from the reports of compara- 
 tively few persons. But it is the nature of great things 
 that they must diffuse themselves and their fruits. It 
 is an evidence that the first Parliament of Religions 
 was great that it is yearly more and more diffusing it- 
 self. It was conceived and grew in connection with the 
 greatest International Exposition of material things, be- 
 cause its promoters believed that a colossal exhibition 
 of such things is inadequate and in some respects danger- 
 ous, unless there is with it and in it an exposition of 
 the greatest spiritual things. This conviction brought 
 forth the Parliament, the first truly ecumenical exposi- 
 tion of religions. 
 
 And, of course, if it was to be an ecumenical exposi- 
 tion of spiritual things, it could not be conducted on a 
 less courteous or less wise basis than the exposition of 
 material things. In this latter exposition every nation, 
 even the weakest and least advanced, was invited to 
 
4 
 
 DF. BARROWS IN INDIA. 
 
 send specimens of its best products, to be selected and 
 displayed by its own representatives in their own way, 
 and to be placed by the side of the products of other 
 lands, in the confidence that such an exposition woidd 
 be mutually helpful. The products displayed by the 
 United States, Great Britain, and Germany, were im- 
 mensely superior to the displays sent from Africa and 
 South America. Nevertheless the mutual exposition 
 was helpful to Europe and America, as well as to Africa 
 and South America. 
 
 It ought to have been in a similai'ly courteous S])ii-it and 
 it was in such a spirit that the inteiaiational exhibition 
 of religions was conceived and conducted. Its meaning 
 was the supremacy of the spiritual element in man. 
 This was noble in itself, and more sublime because of its 
 connection with a gigantic exhibition of the material 
 products of the world. Representatives of each religion 
 presented their faiths in their own way. All were not 
 fair or wise. But no other course would have been 
 feasible or wise. Naturally the followers of each 
 religion put a very high estimate on their own faith. 
 But it does not seem doubtful that the one crowning 
 impression of the Parliament was, in the supremacy 
 of spiritual things, the supremacy of Christ. None 
 but Christians could or would have planned or executed 
 it. 
 
 Because it was a living spiritual power the Parliament 
 of Religions led to subsequent important events. First a 
 Christian lady of America, Mrs, Caroline K. Haskell, 
 founded a lectureship on Comparative Religion in the 
 Chicago University, for attendants at that institution. 
 Then, she founded a lectureship on the same subject in 
 connection with the same University, but the lectures 
 to be delivered in India, every other year, by some 
 eminent man, Natundly Mrs Haskell and the Univer- 
 sity requested the President of the Parliament, the Rev- 
 John Henry Barrows, n. d., to bo the first lecturer to 
 India on this foundation. But he declined the appoint- 
 
INTRODrfTION. 
 
 ment. Just before that time Mr. Gladstone had retired 
 from political life and he was then formally re(|uested 
 by the University to come to India to ^ive the first 
 series of lectures on the relation of Christianity to the 
 faiths of this land. He also declined, and suggested 
 Canon Gore. That eminent man was unable to acce])t 
 the invitation. The University then again most urgently 
 requested Dr. Barrows to accept the a]ipointment. He 
 was the pastor of the First Fresbyteriau Church of 
 Chicago and laid the matter before the anthorities of 
 his Church. They felt that it was undesirable to give 
 him the prolonged leave of absence necessary for this 
 purpose. But under all the circumstances it seemed to 
 him that there was a divine call to this service. There- 
 fore he resigned his important position in Chicago and 
 went to Germany to secure the amplest preparation for 
 the first series of lectures on this new foundation. 
 
 Two influential communities in India looked forward 
 with deep interest and questioning to these Barrows-Has- 
 kell lectures, viz. the non-Christian religious reformers 
 and the Christian missionaries. The former have been 
 much influenced by the Lord Jesus Christ; they know that 
 there has been some change among Western Christians 
 in conceiving and stating the Christian faith and they 
 have thought and hoped that the Parliament of Religions 
 meant and would more and more show that none of the 
 present religions of the world is to become the final reli- 
 gion, but that each, with some modifications, is good 
 enough for its adherents, and that the final, universal 
 religion will be some mixture and outcome of them all. 
 Such persons anticipated, with much hope, yet with 
 some misgiving, the coming of Dr. Barrows. 
 
 Because the entire non-Christian community in India 
 had so interpreted the Parliament of Religions and be- 
 cause most missionaries in India have not had time to 
 see what is to be the real outcome of that unique reli- 
 gious conference, many missionaries here looked forward 
 with misa^ivinof lest the Barrows-Haskell lectures would 
 
 O O 
 
6 
 
 DH. BARROWS IN INDIA. 
 
 lead Indians to think that leaders of the West had 
 somewhat lowered the Christian standard. But there 
 were some missionaries who confidently expected a high 
 and strong presentation of their faith. 
 
 The great courtesy and kindness which Dr. Barrows 
 had shoAvn to the Indian representatives of all faiths at 
 the Chicago Conference, and his unique position both 
 as the President of that remarkable gathering, and now 
 as representative of the vigorous young University 
 of Chicago to the thinking men of India, made it 
 certain tliat he would have a most cordial reception 
 from all classes in this courteous country, whatever he 
 might say. AVhen he landed in Bombay accompanied 
 by Mrs. Barrows, on December 15th, 1896, he was very 
 heartily welcomed by representatives of the Hindu, Jain, 
 Parsi,Brahmo and Christian communities, partly through 
 delegations and partly by letters. The Bombay Mis- 
 sionary Conference had arranged a large reception for 
 him at Wilson College, where leaders of all communities 
 were to meet him. But on account of the epidemic which 
 is ravaging Bombay it was deemed best that he should 
 hurry away from that city and the reception was given 
 up. He went first to Benares and spent five da}’’s in 
 - observations of Hinduism in its capital. But his work 
 began in Calcutta, the political and intellectual capital of 
 India, Avhere he stayed from December 23rd to Januaiw 
 4th. 
 
 A noble reception, worthy of the hospitality of hos- 
 pitable India and most honorable to the leader of Hindu 
 Society in Calcutta, was given at the jialace of the Maha- 
 rajah Bahadur Sir Jotindra Mohun Tagore, k, c. s. i., 
 by representatives of the Hindu, Mohammedan, Jain, 
 Parsi, Buddhist, Brahmo and Christian communities. 
 It was a uniipie and grand occasion, the exact parallel 
 to Avhich has never occurred, when, in an orthodox Hindu 
 ])rince’s palace, i-e])resentatives of every faith met to give 
 the heai-tiest welcome to a Christian lecturei- from the 
 West. At this introduction to his special mission to 
 
INTROnrCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 India, among other fraternal messages Dr. Harrows 
 said after words of welcome had been spoken by Rev. 
 Dr. K. S. Macdonald : — 
 
 “ It is one of tlie chief privileges of my life to stand at last on the 
 soil of India and to look with wondering eyes on scenes of strange- 
 ness and of splendour, which have long been present to the eyes of 
 the mind, to bring to the ancient and thoughtful Orient loving 
 salutations from the young and vigorous Occident, and to speak, 
 however imperfectly, some words of bTOtherly affection which may 
 help to bring them into a closer union of spirit.* * I have come to 
 India, not mei'ely to inaugurate a Christian lectureship bringing 
 America into telegraphic spiritual communication with Calcutta, 
 but also to make further studies into the life of this ancient and 
 wondrous land ; I have come in order to realize still further the spir- 
 itual indebtedness of the world to Asia ; to clasp hands with those 
 of kindred purposes and of various creeds, who believing in the 
 Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, realise, as Cardin- 
 al Gibbons said to us on the opening day of the Parliament, that we 
 never perform an act so pleasing to God as when we extend the 
 right hand of fellowship and of practical love to a suffering member 
 of His earthly family.* * • I desire to be numbered among those 
 who are lovers of India. * * * Religion has achieved a gi’eat work 
 in the past — a work marred, however, by serious imperfections. Its 
 best ministry lies, not in the years behind us with their alienations, 
 their bitterness, and cruel persecutions, but belongs rather to that 
 splendid future when the worshippers of God and the lovers of men 
 shall fully realize that religion in its truest manifestations is able to 
 bind the world together into a cosmopolitan fraternity. * * * May 
 that spirit which Christians believe is the spirit of Jesus prevail 
 still more widely and pervade still more deeplj'.” 
 
 The six lectures on the Haskell foundation were de- 
 livered in the Hall of the General Assembly’s Institution 
 in the northern part of Calcutta, and half of them were 
 also given in the London Mission’s Institution in the 
 southern quarter of the city. In addition lectures, sermons 
 and addresses on such topics as “ The Spiritual World of 
 Shakespeare,” “ The Parliament of Religions,” “ Human 
 Restlessness and Christ its Quieter,” “ The Comfort of 
 Christian Theism” were delivered before associations of 
 students and other bodies. Almost every morning there 
 were personal interviews with representatives of various 
 religions. Very cordial receptions were given to Dr. and 
 Mrs. Barrows by the widow of Keshub Chandra Sen 
 
8 
 
 DR. BARROWS IN INDIA. 
 
 and her daughter the Maharani of Kuch Behar on the 
 anniversary of Mr. Sen’s last public service; by Mr. 
 hlozoomdar the present leader of the New Dispensation, 
 and by others. 
 
 In addition to the value of Dr. Barrows’ OAvn services, 
 it has been a distinct advantage to the purpose of his 
 visit that Mrs. Barrows accompanied him. After two 
 weeks of constant speaking in Calcutta, a few days of 
 rest were enjoyed at Darjeeling, in sight of the 
 Himalayas. After this Dr. Barrows visited Lucknow, 
 where two lectures were delivered ; Cawnpore, Delhi, 
 where he spoke four times ; Lahore, Avhere five address- 
 es were given ; Amritsar ; Agra, where he deliver- 
 ed five addresses ; Jeypore, Ajmere, Indore, Ahmed- 
 nagar ; Poona, Avhere he gave ten lectures and addresses ; 
 Bangalore, Vellore, and Madras. Up to the present 
 time Dr. Barrows has delivered eighty-five addresses in 
 India and has thus reached many thousands of the edu- 
 cated people of the country. In Delhi his addresses 
 Avere delivered in St. Stephen’s College of the Cambridge 
 Mission. In Lahore his first lecture Avas presided over 
 by Dr. J. Sime, the Director of Public Instruction in 
 ' the Punjab ; the second was presided over by the Bishop 
 of Lahore, and the third by Colonel Robinson, the 
 British Commissioner. In Agra he gave his addresses 
 at St. John’s College of the Church jMissionary Society 
 and at the Government Agra College. At Indore Dr. 
 and Mrs. BarroAA^s Avere the recipients of very kind 
 attentions from tlie IMaharajah Holkar and from the 
 members of the Brahmo Samaj. At Ahmednagar their 
 time AA'as largely spent in studying Missions. In Poona 
 he had a great reception from the leading gentlemen of 
 the non-Christian communities at the General Library. 
 
 In a very cordial editorial account in the Bangalore 
 Daily of Dr. Barrows’ visit to Bangalore is the 
 folloA\dng : 
 
 “ As was observed by Mr. Slater in the hall last evening, three 
 such Christian lectures, so comprehensive and erudite, so eloquent 
 
INTRODrCTlON. 
 
 9 
 
 and ornate, so uarnost and persuasive, generous and sympathetic, 
 have probably never before been delivered in Bangalore. They 
 were altogether unique of their kind. It requires a cultivated and 
 histoncal faculty, a keen literary taste and a fair acquaintance with 
 historical Christianity to intelligently follow and really appreciate 
 Dr. Barrows in his wide, deep, and masterl3" tre.atment of his many- 
 sided subject. Seldom have educated Hindus listened to such a 
 sublime, powerful and bold exposition of the truths and claims of 
 the religion of Christ.” 
 
 In Bangalore Dr. Barrows was the recipient of grace- 
 ful courtesies from the Cosmopolitan Clnh, composed of 
 Hindu gentlemen of various creeds. At his lecture in 
 Vellore, the ]\Johammedan Mayor of the city presided. 
 A great public demonstration was given in the Victoria 
 Town Hall, ^ladras, on Febrnaiy 15th. The address of 
 Avelcome was signed by a large committee representing 
 many faiths, but all united in the spirit of friendliest 
 courtesy and a])])reciation toAvard the President of the 
 Parliament of Religions. His opening lecture on Febru- 
 ary 16th croAvded the Victoria Town Hall to its utmost 
 capacity. 
 
 Dr. BarroAA's is still to visit Salem, Coimbatore, Madura, 
 Trichur, TinneA^elly, and Colombo before sailing for 
 China and Japan but already the call has become so loud 
 and general for the immediate production of an inexpen- 
 sive edition of the lectures, that Dr. BarroAvs has already 
 given them to the Christian Literature Society for India, 
 although the lectures Avill appear on his return to 
 America in ampler and completer form, Avith notes, 
 index, &c. In response to this hearty request the pres- 
 ent edition is being published. 
 
 The standpoint of the lectures is clearly indicated by 
 their general title : “ Christianity, the World-Religion.” 
 This thesis has been deA'eloped and maintained in a 
 large and kindly way, by a masterly massing of facts, 
 by forcible argument and by a most sympathetic spirit 
 toward all that is good in every faith. Some of those 
 Avho Avere not present at the Parliament of Religions 
 liaA’^e been surprised at the strong, unhesitating utter- 
 ances of Dr. BarroAvs in regard to the Christian faith as 
 
 IS 
 
10 
 
 DE. BAEROWS IK IKDIA. 
 
 sure to become the Universal religion. But the series has 
 been everywhere received with marked interest and at- 
 tention- The following are examples of what has been 
 said in various organs of different religious communities ; 
 
 TJnity and the Minister, the organ of the Church of the 
 New Dispensation, said : — 
 
 “ Dr. Barrows’s pi’esence here was imposiug and enchanting, and 
 gave an impetus to the mind of the thoughtful portion of his Chris- 
 tian and non-Cliristian hearers. * * We knew he was a Christian 
 of the orthodox school, and his recent lectures have not disappointed 
 us, but increased our admiration for him. Our admiration for Dr. 
 Barrows was the greater, because, being a Christian of what may he 
 called the orthodox school, his heart was so liberal, so world-em- 
 bracing, so many-sided.” 
 
 Tlie Indian Christian Herald, the organ of the Bengali 
 Cliristians, said ; — 
 
 “ The incidents of the visit of Dr. Barrows to Calcutta have 
 brought into demonstrative relief, the mighty hold, more or less 
 distinctly realised, of Christianity on the national conscience. The 
 Mission of Dr. Barrows, it was well understood, was solely and 
 wholly to commend to the jieople the fitness of Christianity to 
 become the world-religion. Never before had a Hindu Maharaja’s 
 palace been thrown open to celebrate the welcome of one with so 
 exclusive a message to deliver. Never before had Hindus, Moham- 
 medans, Parsees, Buddhists, Jains, and Brahmos, vied with Chris- 
 iians in wishing godspeed to so single-purposed a herald. Nor was 
 the spell broken with the development of the mission. The praj er 
 which, for the first time, went up from the palatial hall, ‘ May the 
 spirit of Jesus prevail still more widely and pervade still more deep- 
 ly,’ was abundantly answered. The Gospel lectures found among 
 their hearers, men of light and leading, Hindu, Brahmo, and Parsee, 
 who had never before listened to a distinctive, evangelical appeal. 
 Nay, some of them wexe delivered under the actpiiescing presidency 
 of Brahmo and Hindu representatives, while all elicited fi-om non- 
 Clii’i.stians and Christians alike, repeated plaudits of apjtroval. We 
 are firmly persuaded that Dr. BaiTows has been used of God to di aw 
 out, and make patent, some of the invisible tiophies of ilissions, 
 and that the outlook is bonixd to be an enthusiastic revival of the 
 missionaiy spii it in the Homes of Missions. He had taken his stand 
 on the same evangelical foundations which arc exhibited in the 
 apostolic commission of the Missionaries. Dr. Ban’ows has ilhxs- 
 ti-ated, fui'ther, that, while the lecognition of truth, wherever it was 
 found, was an impei’ative obligation on the part of every frue man, 
 such recognition, pi’operly viewed, was a source of strength, rather 
 than of weakness to Chi-istiauity.” 
 
INTKODCCTION. 
 
 'riie LmUan IVifnes.'i of Calcutta said : — 
 
 “ We very much iloubt whether India has ever been favored with 
 so worthy a presentation of the Christian faith. * * The lectures 
 are a maguiticent contribution to the Christian Evidences, well 
 worthy of a permanent place in literature. ^lany competent critics 
 have pronounced the lecture on the Universal Book the finest pre- 
 sentation of the incomparable place, in the world’s life and litera- 
 tui-e of the Christian ycriptures which they have read or heard.” 
 
 Of the closing' lecture the Iwiimt Wifnesfi remarks 
 that it 
 
 “ Was a masterly presentation of the claims of the Christian faith 
 upon all men, and in everyway worthy completion of what must be 
 regarded as the ablest course of lectures on Christian subjects to 
 which the Indian community, of the ju'esent generation at least, has 
 been pei’initted to listen.” 
 
 The Indian Ecamndical liecieiv of Calcutta said : — 
 
 “Opportunity of discussion and conti-oversy was not given on the 
 ttoor of the Parliament ; but the opportunity was given and largely 
 availed of on the larger ai’ena of the public press and on public 
 platforms, with the result that instead of the Missionaries suffering 
 in reputation or the work of foreign Missions being discredited ; it 
 is “ the picturesque fascinating orators who championed the cause” 
 of the non-Christian religions who have been discredited, as is 
 always the case when the libelled Christian has got the indictment 
 or book which his adversary has written. 
 
 But what are the net results of the Parliament of 1893 ? We 
 would answer first of all a widespread approach towards the Chris- 
 tian platform on the part of the more educated members of the 
 non-Christian Community. They are pleased with the Parliament 
 of Religions as an expression of Christian love and sympathy 
 towax’ds, and interest in, the devotees of non-Christian religions. 
 Love begets love, and sympathy begets gratitude. This love and 
 this sympathy have di’awn many towards Christ who preriouslj- 
 stood aloof In the second place, to the Parliament of Religions 
 we owe the able evangelical and apostolic lectui-es of the Rev. Dr. 
 John Heniy Barrows. And we add that different from the lectures 
 of all other temporary visitors to India, Dr. BaiTows’s lectures will 
 live and be a power, and an arsenal of munition long after we and 
 the lecturer have left behind us all earthly activities. They made 
 a deep and lasting impression upon those who heard them delivered 
 and many of these were men who never heard Christian addresses 
 before ; we believe they will be much more widely known, and 
 known for generations yet to come, as a printed volume. In the 
 thii’d place, we expect such Christian lectures to be delivered every 
 second year in perpetuity on Mrs. Haskell’s foundation, and issue 
 in the publication of works of a pennanent apologetic value, pre- 
 
12 
 
 DR. BARROWS IN INDIA. 
 
 pared sjjecially for the intelligent Engli.sh-educated young men of 
 India. The first sei'ies of the Haskell-Bairows Lectui-es, we hope, 
 will prove a true earnest and sample of those which are to follow, 
 We desire no better, none more loyal to the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 and none more faithful to the non-Christian faiths and tlieir follow- 
 ers. Another good thing Avhich Dr. Barrows has done by his 
 lectures was to correct untruths, and to supplement half truths in- 
 dustriously circulated by Christians and non-Christians. This it- 
 self is no small gain. One word more, the Calcutta Missionarj' 
 Conference which met after five out of the six lectures were deli- 
 vered, were enthusiastic and unanimous in theii' appreciation of the 
 lectures and in praise of the University of Chicago whose com- 
 missioner he is, and of Mi’s Caroline E. Haskell by whose Christian 
 liberality the Lectureship has been founded.” 
 
 The Hindu of Madras, one of the ablest of the non- 
 Christian journals of India, said : — 
 
 “ Dr. Barrows is certainly to be congratulated on the impression 
 he has produced as a lecturer. There is an unanimous feeling that 
 he possesses great powers of exposition, and a thorough knowledge 
 of his subject. More than all, he has evidently a great love for the 
 people of this country and some appreciation for their good qualities, 
 and especially for their intellectual keenness and aptitude for meta- 
 physical controversy.” 
 
 But no reference to the lectures has been more honor- 
 able to India than the noble sentiment of the Indian 
 Social Reformer, the courageous organ of the reformers 
 in Madras. Differing from Dr. Barrows in standpoint 
 and in belief, this paper spoke the following true tvords 
 about the lecturer’s utterances : — 
 
 “It ha.s, we see, been made a point against Dr. Barrows that he 
 claims a position for Christianity superior to that of any other reli- 
 gion. We are, of course, not prepared to concede that claim. But 
 we never expected that Dr. Bar r ows would condescend to waive that 
 claim for his own faith, and if he had done so, we, for one, should 
 nob have very much cared to listen to what he has to sa)'. 
 
 “ And we regard as the outcome of sheer intellectual indolence 
 and pusillarrimity, the opinion which is fashionable now-a-days that 
 one conviction, one faith, is as good as another. We regard this 
 easy-goirtg fashion of mind as fraught with the greatest danger to 
 the future of this country. For it means isolation ; it spells death. 
 The vice, wherever and in whatever form it prevails, is the child of 
 pure selfishness. 
 
 “ The religion of the futui’e will no doubt have affinities with each 
 of the existing religions, just as the human I’ace has affinities with 
 the anthropoid apes. We, therefore, welcome Dr. Bai’rows's state- 
 
IXTHOnrCTlUN. 
 
 I;l 
 
 meut of the claims of liis faith. If they are exaggerated or ima- 
 ginary, they will go to the wall of their own accoid. If they are 
 real, on the other hand, it ma}" so happen that some courageous souls 
 that have been seeking the light and not found it, may be impressed 
 with them and may be led to transform themselves into the recepta- 
 cles of a greatness such as an exalted religious idea alone can 
 bestow. We invito our friends to give their unbiassed heaiing to 
 Dr. Barrows. To be afraid of being convei ted to his views is cow- 
 ardice. No man who is afraid of having to relinquish his prepos- 
 sessions need call himself a religious man or a lover of truth. His 
 proper place is in the vegetable kingdojii, where to bo uprooted is to 
 perish. The human vegetable is the most despicable of human 
 things.” 
 
 The motto of the Parliament of Religions was ; — 
 “ Have we not all one Father ? hath not one God created 
 us ?” It is true- There is but one God, and He is the 
 Father of every one of us, and He will draw all His chil- 
 dren more and more to Himself and more and more to 
 one another. It is in love to Him and in love to India 
 that these lectures were devised and were prepared and 
 have been delivered and are now given to the Press. 
 The present Avriter counts it an honor and a privilege to 
 Avrite these words of introduction. He belieA^es that 
 many in our beloved India aauII read the lectures AA'ith 
 thoughtfulness and earnestness, and find them a help in 
 becoming intimate Avith God our Father and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. “ And this is life eternal that they might 
 know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
 Thou hast sent.” And before reading, and while read- 
 ing and after reading our brother’s message, about our 
 Father and His revelation of Himself let us humbly and 
 sincerely pray the universal prayer Avhich was daily 
 prayed at the World’s First Parliament of Religions ; — 
 “ Our Father AAdiich art in heaven, hallowed be Thy 
 name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as 
 it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And 
 forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors- And lead 
 us not into temptation, but deliA’’er us from evil. For 
 Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for 
 ever. — Amen. 
 
 Ahmednaqae : Feb. 18, 1897. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH DR. JOHN HENRY BARROWS, 
 PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF 
 RELIGIONS. 
 
 (From ocr Poona Correspondent.) 
 
 When I learnt that the pi’esence of the plague in Bombay has 
 induced Dr. Barrows to make a longer stay in Poona, a thought 
 came into my mind to interview him and get his opinions on cer- 
 tain matters, and I wrote to him and got an appointment made for 
 Wednesday. I went to him at the appointed time when he was 
 talking with a young man. I had to wait a little before he could 
 come to me. He received me very well. In the face of the fact of 
 Dr. Barrows shortly coming to Madras, I do not like to spoil your 
 pleasure of seeing him first hand, and I do not therefore describe 
 his personality. The following is the result of my interview : — 
 
 Q. How do you like India ? 
 
 A. I have every reason to like India, for I have had, during the 
 last seven weeks, the most courteous reception from the various 
 religious communities. I was welcomed at Bombay by men of 
 several faiths, and in Calcutta every kindness was shown by Hindus, 
 Moslems, Jains, Parsis, Brahmos and manj' besides. I take all this 
 as a grateful response to the American people for the welcome 
 given at the Parliament of Religions and elsewdiere to the delegates 
 from India. What has greatly pleased me during the delivery of 
 the nearly seventy addresses I have been called upon to give, has 
 been the courteous and candid attention of my hearei'S to a speaker, 
 who has striven to set forth, with clearness and vigor as well as 
 with sympathy, what he deems the rightful claims of the Christianity 
 of Christ. I have learned also to admire the keenness of the Hindu 
 mind and its quick and sympathetic appreciation of the very best 
 w'hich I had in my power to offer. But India means much more 
 than the thousands of educated youth and courteous scholai’s whom 
 I have had the privilege of addressing. It means, in part, this 
 beautiful winter climate, the noble architectural monuments be- 
 queathed by the past, the sublime and beautiful scenery which 
 inspired the early Vedic poets, and the systems of philosophy and 
 religion prevailing among this immense population. India cannot 
 be considered apart fi’om Hinduism, which 1 have long known to be 
 a mi.xture of many faiths. I did not expect to be pleased with 
 popular Hinduism as illustrated in the common forms of worship. 
 
INTERVIEWS. 
 
 16 
 
 The Hinduism which I examined, for example, in Benares filled me 
 with pity and distress. The hideous idolatries w'hich I have wit- 
 nessed in many places appear to me thoroughly debasing to the 
 people. I know what excuses and explanations are offered by the 
 pundits. I am sorry that they think the common and, to me, de- 
 grading worship, is fitted to an unenlightened population. I am 
 sorry that they do not cheinsh a loftier faith in the possibilities of 
 the common mind. Even granting, which I do not, that idolatry is 
 fitted to national infancy, three thousand years of idolatr}’ consti- 
 tute too long a period of childish enslavement. Christianity in 
 three hundred years swept away, in large measure, the degrading 
 forms of Greek and Roman polytheism. I know that there are 
 hundreds of brave-hearted reformers in India who are hoping and 
 w'orking for the spiritual uplifting of the people, and I wonder that 
 hundreds of thousands of educated Hindus do not devote them- 
 selves to a similar noble task. In Western Christendom it is 
 believed that the lowliest and most ignorant are worthy of the best 
 illumination, and the preaching of the Gospel to the poor has 
 wrought some of the chief marvels of Christian history. We have 
 found that the humblest and most ignorant can be brought to 
 worohip God who is spirit “in spirit and in truth.” Instead of 
 palliating idolatry and all its terrible accompaniments in India, 
 the educated Hindu, it seems to me, might well strive to repeat, 
 with better accompaniments and without any surrender of faith in 
 the great God, the reformatory and ethical w'ork which even Bud- 
 dhism wrought in India more than two thousand years ago. 
 
 Philosophic Hinduism is another thing, and the representatives 
 of it whom I have met are men not only of intellectual acuteness but 
 often of true devoutness of spirit. I should esteem them even more 
 highly than I now' do if their lives were devoted to lifting the pall 
 of ignorance from this poor people, and I am sorry that they are 
 not more generally willing to accept and proclaim that Christian 
 Gospel which I believe, more finnly if possible than even before, 
 is the only sufficient force for the regeneration of the individual 
 and of society. 
 
 Q. If it were given to you, would you like to live the simple life 
 of India ? 
 
 .4. I am not sure that 1 understand what is meant b}' “ the 
 simple life of India.” If it means the half-clothed distress, the 
 pitiful hunger of the many millions who, not merely in years of 
 famine, but genei'ally live in mud hovels without the comforts 
 which are enjoyed by some of the aboriginal tribes of North- 
 America, I should neither like it for myself nor for the poorest and 
 most abject people of Europe and America. What Emerson meant 
 by “ plain-living” coupled w'ith “ high-thinking” I deem a note of 
 the truest civilization. Enervating luxuries and the extravagances 
 of fast living are not wholesome in any part of the world. But I 
 
16 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 believe that the body should be cared for, deceutly clothed, com- 
 fortably housed and properly fed, so that it may be the best instru- 
 ment of a vigorous mind and a pure heart. And therefore I look 
 upon the “ simple life” of the naked mendicant and the dirty fakir 
 as neither an ornament nor a credit to religion and humanity. Of 
 course, there have been ascetic developments here and there in 
 Christian history of which I would speak in a similar way, but 
 they mostly belong to a remote period of the past. The opportu- 
 nity and the freedom which belong to the British and American 
 nationalities, a gift to them in a large measure from Christianity, 
 have delivered the vast majority of the people from the material 
 and, it seems to me, debasing conditions which prevail almost everj’- 
 where in India. I know that there are inequalities in Christendom, 
 and there is much room for improvement in the distribution of 
 wealth, but moi'e than nine-tenths of the people are advanced from 
 that state of close approximation to mere animalism in physical 
 conditions which disti esses me in my observations here. I am well 
 aware that under the just over-rule of Gi’eat Britain material 
 conditions have much iniprov'ed. With peace and justice, progress 
 has been made. But far greater progress is still demanded in 
 order that India may escape from the curse of what is now a “ simple 
 life,” a life which is utterly unfitted for a being like man, with a soul 
 capable of noble hungers, living in a world which ought to meet 
 his many material, intellectual and moral wants. So long as agri- 
 culture is the all but universal occupation of the people, their 
 material advancement will be retarded. Diversified industries and 
 the growth of manufactures ai e needed. The building up of indus- 
 trial and technical schools will doubtless be a help in these direc- 
 tions. 
 
 Q. Had Christianity ever to contend with a religion which had 
 a sound philosophy for its basis, and whose people were highly 
 civilized ? 
 
 A. With some explanations and limitations it may be truly said 
 that the Greco-Roman world was a congeries of nations in which a 
 sound philosophy was not wanting, and some of whose peoj)le were 
 in a high state of civilization. Christianity met this world and 
 finally overcame it. The eai ly Christian Fathers had many of 
 them a great liking for the Greek philosophy, which they studied 
 and which some of them regarded as a .schoolmaster leading to 
 Christ. Dr. hairbairn of Oxford has ably shown how' Christian- 
 ity, in a measure, absorbed info itself the ])hilosnphic systems of 
 classical aiiticjuity, both utilizing and tninobling them. The civili- 
 zation of the Roman Ern])ire into which Chi istianity entered, was 
 complicated, advanced, highly infcllectnal, adorned with great 
 cities, lich in luxury, starred with philo.sophic .schools, proml of a 
 lifoiatiirc, some of if iidieritcd from the golden period of Creek 
 learning, which is the world’s delight to-day, and ennobled with a 
 
INTERVIEWS. 
 
 17 
 
 sculptural art which has not since been equalled. Out of the 
 Greco-Roman world Christianity built the modern world, or rather 
 from the former the latter has grown. It appears to me that the 
 philosophy wliich Christianity found in the first and second centu- 
 ries had a sounder constitution in some respects than tlie philoso- 
 phies of the eastein thinkers. There was a more definite recogni- 
 tion of the personal God and of the responsible human personality. 
 A pantheistic blight did not cover the speculations of Socrates, Plato 
 and Aristotle. There is a certain vigor and validity to the think- 
 ing of Greece and Rome which the modern mind must highly re- 
 spect. Surely, the civilization of the Greco-Roman world was, in 
 important particulars, more advanced than any civilization which 
 Christianity has since met. 
 
 Q. Do you not see any similarity between the spread of Christi- 
 anity to-day and the spread of Buddhism^ in ancient times, when it 
 was supported by the State ? 
 
 A. There is a similarity in the progress of both religions. But 
 I see a closer similarity between the spread of Christianity to-day 
 and the spread of ancient Buddhism before it was supported by the 
 State. Early Buddhism was diffused by the preaching of bands of 
 earnest men who found the people tired of the formalism and petti- 
 ness and bondage of the Brahmanic priesthood. With its teaching 
 of brotherhood and its deliverance for all through the eight-fold 
 path, it must have met some of the needs of the human soul. Unfor- 
 tunately Gautama had no perception of man’s chief need, namely, 
 a loving God. And therefore the moral progress possible to Bud- 
 dhism was limited. Christianity with its perfect theism and its 
 perfect ethics meets all spiritual needs. Its spread to-day is owing 
 to the power of truth and love and not to any support from the 
 State. An increasing interest is felt in Christian lands for the 
 work in non-Chi'istian. Thousands of lives and many millions of 
 rupees have been given to Christian toil and effort outside the 
 bounds of Christendom. These offerings are free-will, voluntary 
 and independent of any help from the State. 
 
 Q. With the primitive means of communication was not the 
 spread of early Buddhism marvellous ? 
 
 A. The means of communication do not appear to me a very 
 important element in the early history of either Buddhism, Christi- 
 anity or Mohammedanism. Similar means wei’e open to all. The 
 early progress of Buddhism may be called “ marvellous ” in that 
 it was rapid and wide. But in reality it was not wonderful that 
 men should welcome almost anything as an escape from the fearful 
 Brahmanic tyranny. I prefer to apply the word marvellous to the 
 progress made by a faith like the Christian, which encountered 
 antagonisms immensely stronger and more relentless than anything 
 which the followers of Buddha met. A system like Christianity 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 .demandiug perfect loyalty to God and equal love to men, and per- 
 mitting no compromises like that of Buddhism when it consented 
 to be one of three religions in Cliina, makes progress by overcoming 
 the most obdurate pride and all the entrenched wickedness of man, 
 and therefore I regard its early advance as one of the chief wonders 
 of history. Its real progress to-day among non-Christian peoples 
 is owing to the special presence and power of the Holy Spirit, in- 
 spiring love, creating purity, renewing the soul. 
 
 Q. Hinduism is highly eclectic, and will Christianity make a 
 stand against such a religion ? 
 
 A. The so-called paganism of ancient Gi eece and Rome became 
 very eclectic. The neo-Platonism of Alexandria was a marvellous 
 eclecticism, and Christianity not only made a stand against it, but 
 overcame it. I prefer to call Hinduism omnivorous rather than 
 strictly eclectic. It seems to me that it does not select truths and 
 parts of systems here and there, combining them into a new and 
 more perfect whole, but it endeavors to absorb everything indis- 
 criminately with the result that it becomes more vague and less 
 distinct than evex’. Thei’e is a good deal of truth in the claims 
 of certain Hindu Scholai’s that Hinduism is a social condition in 
 which any kind of religion, theism, polytheism or pantheism may 
 have a home. If this be true then its downfall is certain and 
 possibly not very distant, for caste is being undermined by a 
 liundred foi’ces. It is being modihed or utterly thi'own away by 
 the Hindu reformers who ai’e sure to increase in numbei s and influ- 
 ence with the progress of enlightenment and humanity. Of all the 
 religions of the world Hinduism is the most unsystematic and ill- 
 defined. Those who have lived in India for yeai’s affirm that they 
 can scarcely find two Hindus who are agx’eed even as to funda- 
 mentals. In my conversations with pundits, the friend with whom 
 I arn talking always affirms that some other pundit’s Hinduism is 
 not genuine. All this is in contrast with Christianity. In spite of 
 the divisions among Christians, the various churches at work in 
 India are heartily in accoi’d as to the fundamental facts and truths 
 which arc contained in the so-called Apostles’ Creed. 
 
 Q. You believe, I suppose, that God has i-evealed Himself in 
 every connti’y and in evei’y age. 
 
 A. Certainly. The I’ealm of I'cvelatioii is world- wide. This 
 truth I assert over and over again in my lectures in various fox’ms. 
 This truth is assei'ted in the Christian Sci’iptui-es. Paul speaks of 
 “The law of God written on the heart,” and declares that God hath 
 not left Himself without witness xuiiong the nations. The Fourth 
 Gospel speaks of the Logos as “ the oi’iginal light enlightening 
 evei-y man.” These various revelations have been much dimmed, 
 distorted and intermixed with guess work, eiTor and invention, and 
 I never feel more profoundly the need of such a complete, final and 
 
INTKKVIEW8. 
 
 19 
 
 aiithoritalive revelation as has been given through .lesns Christ, 
 than when 1 read the strange combinations of truth and error which 
 ai’e found in the Sacred Books of the East. 1 look upon the Bibli- 
 cal revelation, culminating in Jesns Christ, as the fnltilment of all 
 the incomplete disclosures mi.xed with so mnch that is irrelevant 
 and misleading and uncertain, which are found in the non-Christian 
 religions. 
 
 Q. Of the accepted religions Mohammedanism is the latest faith 
 and as such has the best claim for general acceptance ? 
 
 *1. According to this logic if a religion rises in the 20th (!cntury 
 and is widely received it would have the best claim for general 
 acceptance, even if its ethical and spiritual j)lane were far lower 
 than that of Mohammedanism. No. It is manifestly absurd to 
 declare that the latest in anything is necessarily the best. On this 
 foolish supposition one might claim that every ])icture which is 
 received and admired to-day in the Salons of Paris is a better' 
 work of art than the Sistine ^ladonna, or that the latest great 
 poems which become popular in our time nurst surpass the pla 3 ’S of 
 Shakespeai'e and the Iliad of Homer. According to this logic 
 Mormonism and Sikhism are — because later — supei'ior to Pai-siism, 
 Judaism and ^lohammedanism. But the best claim to general 
 acceptance belongs, of course, to that religion whose disclosures of 
 truth ai'e the highest, complete.st, most certain and most authorita- 
 tive ; whose fundamental and central teachings in r-egard to God 
 and man are the pui’est and most life-giving, whose ethical ideas 
 and spiritual conceptions are the freest from anything ignoble or 
 merely ti'ansient ; whose spiritual dj-namics through which its 
 ideals are I'ealized are the most potent, whose best effects are the 
 loftiest and most divine ; and whose average results, through long 
 centuries of testing, have shown its ability' to give enlightenment, 
 liberty" and progress, elevation, hope, and inspiration to great 
 masses of people. Judged bj- these proper tests jMohammedanism, 
 which owes what is best in it to Judaism and Ciiristianity, does 
 not occupy the highest place, and does not deserve acceptance by 
 those who have the opportunity to receive the perfect religion in 
 the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Q. Are Americans more religious than Hindus ? 
 
 A. The answer depends upon what is meant bj' religious. If, by 
 religion, is meant religious ceremonials, performed through the force 
 of immemorial custom ; if, by religion, is meant terror before un- 
 known supernatural powers and fear in the presence of threatening 
 priests ; if, by religion j’ou mean bondage to superstitions which 
 educated Indians are rapidly casting off, then the Hindus are more 
 religious than the Americans. But if by religion is meant, with 
 the Apostle James, “ visiting the widow and the fatherless in their 
 afHiction” and keeping oneself “ unspotted from the world if by 
 
20 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 religion is meant, with Jesus Christ, supreme love to God the 
 Father and fraternal love to all men ; if by religion is meant, with 
 the Apostle Paul, the attainment of a complete manhood under the 
 insjiiration of the highest ideals, then the Americans, with all their 
 faults and shortcomings are, in my judgment, more religious than 
 the Hindus. Religious sentiment and conviction have entered into 
 our national life and institutions. With us, because we are Chris- 
 tians, ethics is an essential part of religion, and religion must be 
 realized ethically. There is a national conscience which is smiting 
 the chief evils which still afflict us. Men more and more feel their 
 obligation to show their love to God by gifts, efforts and prayers in 
 behalf of the destitute and darkened and unfortunate in our land 
 and in all lands. Emerson calls Sunday “ the core of our civiliza- 
 tion.” It is a day dedicated to the higher things of the soul. It 
 is a day for intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, and for bene- 
 volent service. Religion, with us, has its expression in the build- 
 ing of hospitals as well as churches, of Universities as well as 
 Sunday Schools, in College settlements for the advantage of the 
 poor in our great cities as well as in the scores of millions of dollars 
 which have gone to the sending of Christian Missionaries, teachers 
 and physicians into distant lands. 
 
 Q. Is material improvement an impediment to religious im- 
 provement ? 
 
 A. On the contrary it is often a help to it. In America and 
 Great Britain we strive to better the condition of the poor along 
 with our efforts to reach them with the Gospel. A man who is hun- 
 gry and sick and ill-housed needs bread and medicine and comfort 
 •and often the betterment of his physical condition is a door open 
 to a higher life. Those who live on the verge of starvation and 
 physical barbarism have not the best sm-roundings for that nobler 
 life which is worthy of the name of religion. In my own country 
 the progress which Christianity has made in the last half-century 
 has been, according to the investigations of the most careful stu- 
 dents, great. The material advancement of the people has also 
 been noteworthy. 
 
 Q. Do you think austerity will help religion V 
 
 A. 1 suppose you mean by austerity, asceticism, a life of extreme 
 physical impoveri-shment and self-denial. This sort of a.sceticism 
 may help a low and unworthy kind of religiousness. Men who are 
 delivered by Jesus Christ from bondage to fear and form, and who 
 realize that He came to give us an abundance of all the better 
 treasures of life, cannot praise asceticism. There is a self-denial 
 that is genuine and spiritual, and that is to be commended. A 
 self-sacrifice that finds expression in loving service to others is 
 Christlike and essential to the highest religion. But Christianity, 
 be it ever remembered, is not an ascetic religion. Jesus Christ, its 
 
INTERVIEWS. 
 
 21 
 
 fomulei', who gave His life for tlie world’s redemption came “eating 
 and drinking,” and moving about among men as a friendly spirit, 
 licaling the sick, feeding the hungry and shai’ing the joy of the 
 wedding feast. He was j»oor hut not abject; He was persecuted 
 by others but wa.s “ anointed with tlic oil of gladness above His 
 fellows.” Tt is enough for the Christian to be as His Master, living 
 in the world, faithful to all human relationships, blessing all men 
 and keeping himself so pure, healthful, vigorous, brave, noble and, in 
 the truest sense, prosperous that he may be a blessing to all men. As 
 one has said ; “ He is to live sueh a life and be such a man that if 
 all men were like him this world would be God’s Paradise.” 
 
 Q. Is a ^lediator an essential of religion ? 
 
 A. Men have generally thought .so, for some foini of ^lediator- 
 ship inhei’es in many religions. The priesthoods of the world 
 indicate the general human thought that men need some one or 
 something like a saciifice to stand between them and God. Christi- 
 anity puts Mediatorship in the very heart of God ; “ God was in 
 Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” Christ the ^lediator is 
 central in the Christian religion. He was appai'ently conscious of 
 perfect unity with God and man. Knowing Him we know the 
 Father. He makes God real to us by showing us the Divine heart of 
 God in Himself. Hindus have sometimes said that Jesus Christ 
 added to their knowledge of God. I believe that onl}' through the 
 medium of Christ’s life and teaching can men get their best appre- 
 hensions of the Divine nature. I think that men should appreciate 
 Christ’s mediatorship in this broad sense. While I believe that in a 
 stricter and more limited sense. He is a Mediator by whom every 
 obstacle to human salvation has been removed, I would also have 
 the world look at him as the Supreme Revealer of the Divine love, 
 that love which in Him and through Him takes from human hearts 
 the burden, the pollution and the desire of sin. I have found 
 in India intellectual and religious unrest. J^len are not satisfied 
 with their inherited creeds. They are looking around, within and 
 above foi something which heals and contents the soul, and I shall 
 be grateful and happy if my visit to India shall induce some of its 
 open-minded and lovable people to consider attentively and candid- 
 ly the peerless Christianity of Christ . — The Hindu, Feb. 8th, 1897. 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH REV. JOHN HENRY BARROWS, D.D. 
 
 IMPRESSION.S OP THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. 
 
 The following account of an interview our Poona Correspondent 
 had with Dr. Barrows will be I’ead, — if not with entire approval of 
 the views and sentiments expressed by the learned doctor, — at any 
 rate with interest ; 
 
22 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Q - — What is the difference between your standpoint and that of 
 what is called the orthodox Christianity ? 
 
 A . — ^ly standpoint is that of Comparative Religion which I 
 believe to be the demonstration of Christianit}’. The orthodox 
 cliorch in its more enlightened and progressive representatives is 
 quite ready to occupy a similar standpoint. There are some 
 orthodox Christians who do not believe in the methods of Compar- 
 ative Religion, but it seems to be the best means of advancing the 
 Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 Q. — Is Unitarianism spreading in America ? 
 
 A . — The Unitarian Church is making little, if any, progress in 
 America. I doubt if it is as strong to-day as it was at an earlier 
 period. Unitarianism embraces noble, scholarly and philanthropic 
 men, and the Unitarian movement rendered some good services in 
 modifying the spirit and teaching of the old orthodoxy. But it 
 lacks in my judgment, what is essential to a growing and sufficient 
 Christianity. According to the last census, the proportion of 
 evangelical church members in the United States to non -evangelical 
 is as one hundred and three to one. 
 
 Q . — What impression have you formed of our country and our 
 people ? 
 
 A . — I can only answer in the briefest way such comprehensive, 
 inquiries. India is a land of wonders and of anomalies. My 
 interest has been deepened and my affection quickened during these 
 two months in which I have had the pleasure of conversing with 
 many of j'our most enlightened people. My heart goes out to this 
 country in its present deep distress, and I pray that the temble 
 affliction of famine and plague ma)’ soon be I’emoved. It may take 
 very much longer to remove the darkness of superstition and ignor- 
 ance covering most of the many millions of the country. It appears 
 to me that your enlightened leaders in.stead of fostering the national, 
 exclusive spii’it which is unwilling to receive the best things from 
 whatever source they may come, would do well to direct the mind of 
 the educated youth and others towards the main sources of India’s 
 present helplessness, sorrow and distress. I am profoundly impress- 
 ed with the lack of unity prevailing in India. It is an aggregation of 
 the peoples, governments, religions and classes where the divisions 
 are woful indeed. It is perfectly evident that, if the wise, restrain- 
 ing hand of Bi’itish rule were removed, chaos would prevail and the 
 Hindus and Mahomedans in some places would be flying at each 
 other’s throats. 'I'here are few. countries where religious intolerance 
 seems so general and cruel as here. India is living in a state of 
 society which, so far as religious tolerance is concerned, appears to 
 us Americans most distressing. The alphabet of true toleration 
 has yet to be learnt by great sections of the community. I know 
 that Hinduism is willing that men should hold a variety of in- 
 
INTERVIEWS. 
 
 23 
 
 congruous creeds, but religion is not merely a creed ; it is also a 
 life where the conditions and environments ought to be in harmony 
 with the inner convictions. The religions of India have been try. 
 ing here, as at the Parliament of Religions, to make themselves as 
 Christian as possible. But when members of the Hindu commu- 
 nity convinced of the truth and rightful claim of Christianity pre- 
 pare to confess Christ and enter into fellowship with her people, 
 these Christian disciples still meet relentless and often cruel opposi- 
 tion. They are sometimes disowned, prohibited from seeing their 
 own relations, deprived of just inheritances, assailed with false- 
 hood, with blows, and now and then tortured. Some of the 
 noblest specimens of human character and some of the finest and 
 most enlightened intellects which I liave met in any laud are in the 
 Native Christian Community of India. And 1 have reason to 
 believe that there are many thou.sands of educated youths who are 
 convinced that Christianity is true but who are still held back from 
 declaring their faiths openly by reason of the cruel intolerance still 
 prevailing. 
 
 Q. If you will please allow me to ask you questions not gei mano 
 to your subject — will you tell me whether the joint-school .system 
 is a success in America ? 
 
 A. I think the joint-school system, by which I suppose you 
 mean the co-ed ucational system, is very largely successful in 
 America. Co-educational schools grew up at first partly out of 
 convenience or necessity. It was determined that all the children 
 should be educated and it was not possible or easy to have separate 
 schools. Experience has justified the system of co-education and 
 that system has been continued. 
 
 Q. Is the position of women in America higher than that of 
 those in England ? Are all professions open to them ? 
 
 A. I think the position is substantially the same. All profes- 
 sions are open to women in America. Not all the chui-ches, how- 
 ever, admit women to the Christian office of preaching. 
 
 Q. Do American people feel any interest in questions affecting 
 people in this country ? 
 
 A. They feel a deep interest especially in the social and religious 
 condition of India. The position of many classes of Indian women 
 has aroused much interest in America and my countrymen by their 
 large gifts to Christian schools and missions and by the coming of 
 hundreds of Christian educators have manifested their deep con- 
 cern for the moral welfare of India. 
 
 Q. Can you offer any suggestion as to the means that may bring 
 about closer relations between the two peoples ? 
 
 A. I should like to have some of your brightest youth trained 
 in our American technical schools. Thus they might do for India 
 
24 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 something of that service which Japanese youth educated in the 
 United States have done for their country. The visits of Indian 
 lecturers to America have widened American interest in this coun- 
 try and have increased the desire of American Christians to make 
 India acquainted with the gospel. Since becoming acquainted with 
 the spirit and results of the Parliament of Religions, some Ameri- 
 cans, as I know, have given for the first time to the work of foreign 
 missions. American Christians have not been disturbed in their 
 faith and purposes by becoming acquainted with Hindu philosophy. 
 I think that great good might come from a visit to my country of a 
 band of the educated and eloquent Native Christians of India, like 
 scores of those whom I have met, men who are able to hold their 
 own in any assembly and who would be a liriiig evidence of what 
 the gospel has wrought for the deliverance of the human mind 
 from error and the life from sin. Such educated men I have had 
 the pleasure of meeting in Bombay, Calcutta, Lahore, Agra, Ahmed- 
 nagar, Poona, and elsewhere. I believe that their visit and their 
 addresses throughout the length and breadth of America would 
 vastly increase the interest of my people in this country. 
 
 Q. Would there be any obstacles in the way of enlightened 
 Indians seeing America ? 
 
 A. The only obstacles which I know are found here. Orthodox 
 Hinduism forbids the crossing of the “ black water.” 
 
 Q. If it is possible, can you suggest what part of the country 
 would best suit them and with what advantage ? 
 
 A. I could not give any suggestion of value in answer to this 
 inquiry, except to say that the southern climate would doubtless 
 be preferable to Indians. What advantages might accrue to them 
 would depend very largely on their character, attainments, and 
 adaptability to special work. My impression is that Indians edu- 
 cated in American schools and familiar with American ways would 
 find their largest field of good service in India. My replies to your 
 questions are brief, yet are as extensive as I have had the time to 
 make them. My days are crowded with lectures, visits, receptions, 
 and literary work. I am expecting soon to go to Madras and 1 have 
 no doubt that 1 shall there have opportunities of pleasant acquaint- 
 ance with those who lead the life of Southern India . — Madras 
 Standard, February 13th, 1897. 
 
INTBKVIEWS. 
 
 25 
 
 AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. BARROWS, THE PRESI- 
 DENT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS. 
 
 From the “ Harvest Field” Mysore. 
 
 I. — Questions referring to the Indian Delegates to the 
 Parliament op Religions. 
 
 1. Did the Indian delegates at the time of the Parliament of 
 Religions excite much interest ? Since then has their influence 
 caused the knowledge of the Vedanta to be “ nearly as familiar on 
 the shores of the Michigan as on the banks of the Ganges ?” 
 
 A. — They excited much interest, as did also the Japanese, 
 Chinese and European delegates. Strange costumes and unusual 
 faces doubtless added to the interest which naturally belonged to 
 the representatives of the non-Christian faiths. I doubt if any 
 appreciable knowledge of the Vedanta has been left by them on 
 the shores of Lake Michigan. A few students in our universities 
 and a fairly good number of Christian clergymen have some ac- 
 quaintance with the Vedanta. The Indian delegates to the Par- 
 liament doubtless stimulated to a degree the study of Eastern 
 thought. But these American students seek their information 
 from the Oriental Scriptures rather than from popular speakers. 
 
 2. Do you know of any movement or organisation in America 
 for the purpose of making the Vedanta the basis of any religious 
 or philosophical system ? 
 
 A. — I do not. 
 
 3. What were the habits and manner of life of the Indian dele- 
 gates while in America ? 
 
 A. — I believe that the Jain delegate remained a vegetarian. The 
 Buddhist delegate sometimes ate fish. The other delegates con- 
 formed to the eating habits of the Americans by whom they were 
 entertained. 
 
 4. How were you impressed with the delegates as men ? and 
 what impression did the systems they expounded make upon you ? 
 
 A. — They impressed me as men of gentleness and courtesy and 
 as owing what was best in their education and ideas in large mea- 
 sure to the Christian education which most of them had received. 
 Their systems, as expounded by them, did not impress me as 
 essentially different from the systems as I had studied them before. 
 Of course very little, if anything, was said by them of the imper- 
 fect sides and phases of their philosophies ; they naturally made 
 the best showing possible. Other speakers took occasion to make 
 statements which indicated the imperfections and sometimes the 
 woful results of Hinduism. My own feeling was strong that even 
 indirect criticism was not useful during the Sessions of the Parlia- 
 ment. The best which the non-Christian faiths could show appear'- 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ed to me almost pitifully meagre beside the fulness of glory there 
 is in Christ. The claims made for Hinduism were taken up vigor- 
 ously after the Parliament by scholars like Dr. Ellinwood and 
 shown to be unfounded. 
 
 5. From what you have seen and heard in India, do you think 
 the Parliament of Religions was helpful or otherwise to the estab- 
 lishment of the Kingdom of God in India ? 
 
 A. — I have not changed my opinion as to the helpful influence 
 of the Parliament upon the Kingdom of God here. Before coming 
 to India I had received the favourable testimonies of many leading 
 missionaries who were most familiar with the spirit and outcome 
 of that gathering. Since my visit I have received many additional 
 testimonies of a similar kind. Those Indian missionaries who, 
 through misleading or imperfect information, feared that Christian- 
 ity in America had suffered from this Congress, now know 
 that they were misinformed, and those non-Christians in India, 
 who accepted the ridiculously exaggerated stories of the influ- 
 ence of their delegates in America, will not long be able to credit 
 what had no foundation in fact. The Parliament established a pre- 
 cedent of courtesy, fraternity and tolex’ance, which has met the wide 
 approval of enlightened minds. I am glad to discover that the 
 spirit of the Parliament is that in which so many of the most suc- 
 cessful missionaries of India are doing their work. I am glad, also, 
 that my connection with the Parliament has given me so wide and 
 sympathetic an access, with my Christian message, to the minds of 
 educated non-Christians in India. I have yet to learn that the 
 Kingdom of God has made less rapid progress here in the last few 
 years than in the years preceding the Parliament. Having been 
 publicly thanked by bodies of native Christians for the services 
 which, in their judgment, the Parliament of Religions rendex’ed to 
 the cause of Christ, I cannot feel that that meeting will prove a 
 hindrance to Christ’s Kingdom in this land. The non-Christian 
 mind of India has been ludicrously inflated with pride because its 
 representatives made a pleasant impression as advocates of Hindu- 
 ism. Such pride on such poor foundations “ goeth before a fall.” 
 But I hope the non-Clu'istian friends here will permanently cherish 
 the assurance that the Christian West is not blind to the elements 
 of truth discoverable in non-Christian faiths. We recognize their 
 hungerings for God. and we hope and pray for additional wisdom, 
 the wisdom of sympathy, kindness and love, enabling us to show 
 that Christ onl}'^ is the Bread of Life which can satisfytho.se hunger- 
 ings. Now that absurd speeches and unfounded reports are again 
 announcing that the Parliament was a triumph for Hinduism, I 
 hope tliat missionaries will give the widest and most emj)hatic 
 denial, and show, what well-informed j)eople in America have 
 always known, that as the President of tlie W^orld’s Congress Auxil- 
 iary, Hon. Chas. C. Bonney, has written, “ The final outcome 
 of the Parliament will be enormotisly beneficial fo the cause 
 
INTKRVIEWS. 
 
 27 
 
 of Cliristinn missions.” Ur. Jessup of Ueiriit has said that in 
 the Parliament, Cliristianity was the hostess of the nations. 
 “She did what no other religion in this age can do or would 
 dare to do. Slie challenged inspection and criticism at close range. 
 She said to all, ‘Bring your best and your wisest men, and 
 we w’ill hear them courteously and patiently.’ The moral im- 
 pression of such a scene was prodigious and it will be lasting. 
 Even the most conceited of Asiatic apostles, when proclaiming 
 in their ow'ii land that America is tired of Christ and is pining for 
 Gautama Buddha or Confucius, feel in their heart of hearts that 
 Christianity alone wears the golden crown of love to man and God. 
 The best they could say of their ow'u systems was that they w'erc 
 like Christianity, not that Christianity was in any sense inferior. 
 The Parliament has shown the weakness and impotence of the non- 
 Christian systems.” 
 
 II. — Questions REi.AxiNt; to Dr. Barrows’ present Tour. 
 
 1. What impressions have your audiences made upon you ? Were 
 they (a) large, (6) attentive, (c) sympathetic ? Did they fully giasp 
 the aim and scope of your lectures, as far as you have been able to 
 find out ? 
 
 A. — My audiences have been usually large, attentive and gene- 
 rally sympathetic. Those that had the best acquaintance with 
 English appear to have grasped the aim and scope of the lectures. 
 
 2. Were there any special circumstances that led you to adopt 
 the method you selected ? 
 
 A. — It was the natural outcome of the Parliament of Religions 
 and of my studies. The comparative method, while thought by 
 many, and especially by non-Christians, the most favourable to the 
 ethnic faiths, and while in reality the fairest, is also the most 
 searching. It can be satisfactory only to that religion which is 
 possessed of absolute truth. 
 
 3. Are your lectures to be published ? If so, w'here ? 
 
 A. — They have already been published by the Christian 
 Literature Society for India in Madras. The whole series of seven 
 lectures can be had for six annas, and the lectures separately for 
 one anna each. On my return to America I hope to publish the 
 lectures in book form with notes, additional matter, quotations from 
 the Sacred Books, index, etc. 
 
 4. Have you seen any criticisms made upon your lectures, and 
 do you intend to notice them ? 
 
 A. — I have. No. 
 
 5. Are you satisfied with the results of your lectures, as far 
 as you have been able to obtain Hindu opinions ? 
 
 A.— Yes- 
 
28 
 
 Al’PKNmX. 
 
 6. Have you been able to converse much with educated Hindu 
 gentlemen ? What do you think of their religious position? 
 
 A. — I have conversed with many. Their religious positions are 
 various. They appear to me restless and uncertain. 
 
 7. Have you seen any of the effects of philosophic Hinduism ? 
 What do you think of that philosophy ? 
 
 A. — Its effects appear to me quite limited, except that it 
 fosters a pride and self-satisfaction which keep the .soul from seeing 
 the need of Christ as a Redeemer. The philosophy is marvellously 
 acute and finespun. It treads with apparent ease through difficult 
 problems. It seems to me lacking in sturdy common-sense and 
 ethical power and spiritual efficiency. I cannot see that it has any 
 relations whatever to the common life of the people of this country. 
 
 8. Have you seen much of the x’esults of practical Hinduism ? 
 What are your impressions 'i 
 
 A. — Yes. It is a dismal swamp in which ffourish grossest 
 idolatries, hideous superstitions, fearful diabolisms. It has degra- 
 ded, and it holds in degi’adation, a great people capable of 
 infinitely better things. 
 
 9. Have you seen much mission work ? and what effect has 
 that work produced on your mind ? 
 
 A. — Yes. I have seen college work, school work of all grades, 
 hospital work, bazaar preaching, tract and Bible work, village 
 work ; my wife has seen zenana work. It is even more varied, wise, 
 faithful, effective and necessary than I had previously supposed. 
 
 '10. Have the missionaries when in America misrepresented 
 the religion and people of India to the American people ? 
 
 A. — No. And my investigations here have confirmed the re- 
 ports with regard to the abominations of popular Hinduism which 
 have sometimes been rather feebly denied. Of cour.se I do not 
 know what all missionaries have said in America. 1 have heard 
 that some do not always discriminate and that they give the 
 impression that Hinduism has no better elements, no brighter side. 
 Believing in these better elements, recognizing this brighter side, 
 I favoured and organized the Parliament of Religions. 
 
 11. What do you think of India as a sphere of mission work ? 
 
 A. — It is one of the most important and difficult, and at the 
 same time one of the most hopeful. The present interest, and I 
 may say excitement, in religious matters, although evidently partly 
 political, show that India is restless and is looking around for 
 .something to satisfy her. The time seems to me a favourable one 
 for a large reinforcement to every department of Christian work in 
 India. 
 
INTERVIEWS. 
 
 29 
 
 12. Have you any message for the missionaries at w oi k in India ? 
 
 A.— :My message is one of grateful love and profound apprecia- 
 tion. My deepe.st joy in India has been their constant testimony 
 that ray mission has been a help and an encouragement. 
 
 13. Have you been cordially welcomed and hospitably cared for ? 
 
 A. — Their welcome and hospitality have been unspeakably kind. 
 
 We have almost come to think that hospitality in its finest forms is 
 unknown out of India. We have the pleasantest and most beautiful 
 recollections of the homes of Rev. and Mrs. E. S. Hume, Bombay ; 
 Rev. and Mrs. A. Parker, Benares ; Principal and Mrs. John 
 Morrison and Dr. and Mrs. K. S. ]\Iacdonald, Calcutta ; Rev. and 
 Mrs. A. Turnbull, Darjeeling ; Rev. and Airs. W. A. Mansell, 
 Lucknow ; Rev. and Mrs. C. G. Conklin, Cawnpore ; Rev. and Mrs. 
 S. S. Thomas, Delhi ; Rev. and Mrs. H. D. Griswold and Rev. Dr. 
 J. C. R. Ewing, Lahore ; Dr. and ^Irs. H. M. Clark, Amritsar ; 
 Rev. and Mrs. J. P. Haythornthwaite, Agra ; Rev. G. Macalister, 
 Jeypore ; Dr. and Mrs. J. Husband, Ajraere ; Rev. and Mrs. A. P. 
 Ledingham and Rev. and !Mrs. J. Wilkie. Indore ; Dr. and iirs. R. 
 A. Hume, Ahmednagar ; Rev. and Mrs. J. Small, Poona; Rev. and 
 Mrs. J. A. Vanes, and Rev. and Mrs. T. E. Slater, Bangalore ; Rev. 
 and Mrs. W. J. Chamberlain, Vellore ; and Rev. and Mrs. G. 
 Pittendrigh, Madras. 
 
 III. — Questions relating to the Lectureship. 
 
 1. Are there any definite regulations as to the persons who shall 
 hold the Lectureship ? or is the selection left entirely to the 
 Trustees ? 
 
 A. — The selection of Lecturers is left with the Trustees, President 
 William R. Harper, Prof. George S. Goodspeed, of the Department 
 of Comparative Religion, and of myself, all of the University of 
 Chicago, and with our successors. The Lecturers must be men 
 able to speak sympathetically and from the standpoint of Compara- 
 tive Religion. 
 
 2. What, from your experience in India, are the subjects that 
 should engage the attention of futui’e lectures ? 
 
 A. — Such themes as the Vedanta Philosophy and Christianity, 
 Hindu Doctrines of the Incarnation and the Historic Christian 
 Doctrine, Human Need of the Atonement and the Doctrine of Sin, 
 the message of Christianity to Islam. I chose my own subjects for 
 two reasons. First, to lodge in the Hindu mind as firmly as possi- 
 ble our conviction that Christianity is essentially a universal 
 religion and not a European or an American or an Occidental faith. 
 And, secondly, for the purpose of concentrating the attention on 
 the supreme and distinctive truths which centre in Christ, thereby 
 furnishing a comprehensive and convenient summary of the evi- 
 dences of Christianity in the light of comparative study. 
 
30 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 3. How often is it intended to send persons to deliver a course 
 of lectures ? 
 
 A. — Every two, or, if it seems better, every three years. 
 
 4. Is it intended that all lectures shall be given from the Chris- 
 tian standpoint ? 
 
 A. — The platform of the Lectureship is broad. The primary pur- 
 pose is to send leading Christian scholars to India, but the Trustees 
 have the authority to arrange for lectures outside of India if they 
 deem it desirable, and also to secure the views of scholarly repre- 
 sentatives of non-Christian faiths. So long as India needs and 
 welcomes Christian lectures I have no doubt that the Lectureship 
 will be utilized for its primary purpose. 
 
 5. Is Ml’S. Haskell, to whom we are all grateful for her magni- 
 ficent gift, in any way connected with India ? 
 
 A. — No, except by Christian interest and sympathy. 
 
 6. What, do you think, are the possibilities of the Lectureship H 
 
 A. — If Christian Lectureships are useful in Oxford, Edinburgh 
 
 and New York, they are much more useful and neces.sary in a 
 land like India where the very foundations of rational Christian 
 faith must be laid. Furthermore, if any Christian lecturer on 
 Comparative Heligion falls into error while speaking in Calcutta, 
 Bombay or Madras, he is far more apt to have his mistakes 
 corrected than are those lecturers on similar themes who 
 speak in Great Britain or America. As this Lectureship was 
 
 suggested and asked for from India, it seems likely to have a 
 very useful career. I have always believed in Christian edu- 
 cation as a main factor in India’s evangelization. This Lectureship 
 comes in as a supplement to this force. It brings a fresh personal- 
 ity to the inquiring and changing Indian life, it secures for him a 
 wide, sympathetic hearing, and leaves behind, in inexpensive form, 
 the printed lectures of which this reading public seems very quick 
 and eager to avail itself. My own estimate of the possibilities of 
 the Lectureship was high from the beginning. But since coming 
 to India and realizing how large, restless, inquisitive was the edu- 
 cated Indian public that is interested in religion, and realizing also 
 how exceedingly busy the missionaries and Christian teachers all 
 are with their special work, my estimate of the possibilities of the 
 Lectureship has been much enhanced. Well-known and scholarly 
 men coming to India from Europe or America will gain a wider 
 hearing than those already resident in India, and going back to 
 their own lands, after a few months of contact with the wondrous 
 life of the East, they will be able to speak with far more interest 
 and pei’sonal knowledge in regard to the progress and the needs of 
 Christ’s Kingdom. Thus will be realized Mrs. Haskell’s idea and 
 hope, namely, that the Lectureship will prove a bond of brother- 
 hood and loving interest between East and West, as well as a use- 
 ful and important factor in the evangelization of India. 
 
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