PARKMAN, FRANCIS. 



PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS. GO? 



the optimum of his nature appears in the preface 



ti> another volume, win-re he again mentions his 

 himlranees from lark of health, lie says: 



For almiit three years, the light of day was insup- 

 portable, and cvcrv utteiiipt at reading <>r writing 

 completely debarred. Under these circumstances tlie 

 tusk of lining the materials and composing the work 

 \\:is begun ainl tinished. Tlie paper.- ere repeatedly 

 re ad aloiitl tiy an amanuensis, eupious notes utnl c.\- 

 traets were maile, ami the narrative written down 

 from my dictation. This process, though extremely 

 slow and laborious, was not without its advantangcs, 

 and I am well convinced the authorities have !> -n 

 more minutely examined, more scrupulously collated, 

 and more thoroughly digested than they would have 

 been under other circumstances. 



To tell the story of the French in North 

 America was the task he set himself; and, in 

 spite of the great obstacles, the painstaking 

 search was made which is described in the pref- 

 ace to his " Pioneers of France in the jfew 

 World." He says : 



The earlier period of New France was very prolific 

 in a class of publications which are often ot much 

 historic value, but of which many are exceedingly 

 rare. The writer has at length gained access to them 

 all. Of tlie unpublished record of the colonies, the 

 archives of France are of course the grand deposit; 

 but many documents of important bearing on the 

 subject are to be found scattered in public and pri- 

 vate libraries, chiefly in France and Canada. The 

 task of collection has proved abundantly irksome 

 and laborious. ... If at times it may seem that range 

 has been allowed to fancy, it is HO in appearance 

 only, since the minutest details of narrative or de- 

 scription rest on authentic documents or on personal 

 observation. To those who have aided him with in- 

 formation and documents the extreme slowness in 

 the progress of the work will naturally have caused 

 surprise. This slowness was unavoidable. During 

 the past eighteen years the state of his health has 

 exacted throughout an extreme caution in regard to 

 mental application, reducing it at best within narrow 

 and precarious limits, and often precluding it. In- 

 deed, for two periods, each of several years, any at- 

 tempt at bookish occupation would have been merely 

 suicidal. A condition of sight arising from kindred 

 sources has also retarded the work, since it has never 

 permitted reading or writing continuously for much 

 more than live minutes, and often has not permitted 

 them at all. 



With unflinching perseverance he set himself 

 to the task of collecting until he had copies 

 from Europe, Canada, and the United States 

 of material to the amount of 3.400 pages, as well 

 as magazines, newspapers, and books without 

 number. 



His "Oregon Trail," first appeared in the 

 " Knickerbocker Magazine," and made an im- 

 mediate reputation. His home was for many 

 years at Jamaica Plain. His love of Nature, 

 fostered from childhood, had served him as 

 health restorer and recreation. He devoted 

 himself to horticulture and gave us one new 

 flower at least a lily that bears his name. He 

 published a volume entitled " The Book of 

 Roses," and also a single novel. " Vassali Mor- 

 ton," and contributed many articles to contem- 

 porary literature. Mr. Parkman received the 

 degree of LL. I), from Magill University and 

 Harvard and Williams Colleges. He married, in 

 1859, Catherine Bigelow, who died in 1867. For 

 many years he spent his winters in Boston and 

 his summers at . Jamaica Plain, and in pur- 

 suance of his historical studies he visited France 



five times.- His completed historical works, which 

 can lie read separately or as a series, are: "The 

 California and Oregon Trail" (1H4H): "The 

 Conspiracy of Pontiac " (1851); " Pioneers of 

 France in the New World " (1865); "Jesuits in 

 North America " (1867) ; " Discovery of the Great 

 West" (1869); "The Old Regime in Canada" 

 (1874); "Count Frontenac and New France 

 under Louis XIV" (1877); "Montcalm and 

 Wolfe" (1884); and "A Half Century of Con- 

 flict " (1892). 



PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS, THE 

 WORLD'S, met in Chicago, 111., Sept. 11. The 

 object of the assemblage was the presentation 

 and discussion of the religious systems and 

 creeds of the world by representative adherents 

 thereof. The following religious systems and 

 sects, among others, were represented : The 

 Confucians; the Northern Buddhists; the 

 Buddhists of Japan (five sects) ; the Jain Asso- 

 ciation of India; the Orthodox Brahmanical So- 

 ciety of India; the Brahmo-Somaj of India: 

 the Theosophists of India; the Parsees and 

 Zoroastrians ; the Shinto, Tendai, and Shingen 

 sects of Japan; the Mohammedans; the Chris- 

 tian Churches of the Latin, Greek, and Armeni- 

 an rites; the Protestant denominations; the 

 Hebrews ; the Free Religious Association ; and 

 the Agnostics. The hymn "Praise God from 

 whom All Blessings flow" was sung, and the 

 Lord's Prayer was recited by Cardinal Gibbons 

 at the opening of the parliament, after which 

 addresses of welcome were made by President 

 C. C. Bonney, of the World's Congress Auxilia- 

 ry, and the* Rev. Dr. J. H. Barrows, Chairman 

 of the General Committee of the parliament. 

 Responses were made by foreign delegates. 



The general subject of the second day's session 

 was " The Existence and Attributes of God," and was 

 discussed in papers on "The Rational Demonstration 

 of the Being of God," by Father Augustine F. Hew - 

 itt ; " The Moral Evidences of a Divine Existence,'' 

 by the Rev. Alfred Mpmerie, D. D., of London ; " The 

 Harmonies and Distinctions in the Theistic Teach- 

 ing of the Various Historic Faiths." by Prof. W. 

 Valentine; "The Theology of Judaism," by Rabbi 

 Isaac M. Wise ; " The Ancient Religion of India and 

 Primitive Revelation," bv the Kcv. Maurice 1'liillips; 

 " Idealism, the New Religion," by Dr. Adolf Brod- 

 beck ; "The Faith of I.-lam." by Jnst'.ce Ameer AH, 

 of Calcutta; "The Religious Be'licf of the Hindus." 

 by Mainlal N. Dvivedi, of Calcutta: and "The Ar- 

 gument for the Divine Being," by the Hon. W. T. 

 Harris. On the third day, under the general head- 

 iiiL' of "Man's Place in the Universe, and the Im- 

 mortality of the Soul," the principles of the Brahmo- 

 Somaj were presented by I'rotap Chunder Mozooni- 

 dar; "The Foundation of the Orthodox Greek 

 Church," by the Most Rev. Dionysius Latas, Arch- 

 bishop of Zaute ; "Man from a Roman Catholic 

 Point of View," by the Rev. William Byrne; "Hu- 

 man Brotherhood," as taught by the Religions based 

 on the Bible," bv the Rev. 11. Kohler; "Confucian- 

 ism," by 1'ung Qpfcng Yu, of China; "Concessions 

 to the Religious Ideas of Natives." by the Rev. T. E. 

 Slater. Christian missionary in India; "Japanese 

 Buddhism" and "The Real Attitude of Japan to- 

 ward Christianity," by Zenshiro Koguchi and K. R. 

 llarai; " Sliintoism," by Shibata Reliehi; "The Su- 

 preme Knd and Office of Religion," by the Rev. 

 Father Elliott; "The Argument of Immortality," by 

 the Rev. Philip Moxom, !>.!>.: "The Soul and its 

 Future Lite." by the Kev. s. N. Warner: and "The 

 Brotherhood of Man, and Toleration for Various Re- 

 ligions," by Bishop Ariiett, of the African Methodist 



