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REV. CAXOX J. T. PARFIT, M.A., ON 



and prepared the way for the recognition of complete religious 

 liberty. This is most apparent in Mesopotamia — the last 

 stronghold of fanaticism — where a satisfactory settlement and 

 the safeguarding of the stages already reached Avill afiect the 

 whole of Eastern Christendom, the Jewish question in Palestine 

 and the peace of the Moslem world. 



The measure of rehgious liberty already obtained is producing 

 fellowship, conference, and a friendly criticism where only 

 bitterness and rehgious hatred existed before. There is therefore 

 a prospect of a League of ReHgions, with a recognition of that 

 which is fimdamental in rehgious beliefs, and a frank examina- 

 tion of the claims and evidences of Divine Revelation.* 



Discussiox. 



Mr. Theodore Roberts, in mo\dng a vote of thanks to the 

 Chairman, suggested that what we had been hearing about the oil- 

 fields in Mesopotamia might ultimately settle that which had troubled 

 us so much last week, ^-iz., the coal question. 



He pointed out that Palestine was geographically the centre of 

 the world, and that the great waterways indicated a design in their 

 arrangement for all nations to traverse them in order to come to 

 Jerusalem for worship, as he believed they would do under the reign 

 of Christ The Mediterranean Sea would give access to the inhabi- 

 tants of America, the British Isles and Western Africa, as well as 

 the countries bordering that sea, while the Red Sea appeared almost 

 like a canal made for the purpose of bringing by water the inhabitants 

 of India, China, Malaya, and Australia, as well as Eastern and 

 Southern Africa, to Palestine. 



Dr. ScHOFiELD said his first acquaintance with Mesopotamia was 

 through the Report of Sir Wm. Wilcox at a meeting of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, and he was immensely struck with the neces- 

 sity of some knowledge of that country, Avith the understanding 

 of the earlier chapters of Genesis. 



He also then gave him the first intelligible account of Xoah's 

 Deluge that he had heard. 



What he would like to ask the Canon was, whether it was true 

 that Babylon had never yet been uninhabited (according to Isaiah), 



* The Institute is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the Paper. 



