Many of the eloquent opinions here expressed already seem to be, in the light of what the Parliament was and did, truthful prophecies.
As an example of the bitter hostility which the Parliament aroused in some good men, the following letter to the Chairman, from Rev. E.J. Eitel of Hong Kong, is worth preserving:
Let me warn you not to deny the sovereignty of your Lord by any further continuance of your agitation in favor of a Parliament not sanctioned by his Word. If misled yourself, at least do not mislead others nor jeopardize, I pray you, the precious life of your soul by playing fast and loose with the truth and coquetting with false religions. I give jou credit for the best intentions, but let me warn you that you are unconsciously planning treason against Christ.
In contrast with this was the opinion of Rev. George T. Candlin of Tientsin :
I am deeply impressed with the momentous consequences of your undertaking, in its relation to Christian missions among the great and ancient faiths of the Orient, and if a thoroughly practical character can be imparted to it, I foresee as its result a great enlightenment of missionary sentiment at home and a grand reform of mission methods on the field, which, once realized, would inaugurate a new era of missionary success and restore the unlimited hope, fervor, and triumph of apostolic days.
The Chairman formed a resolution, strictly adhered to, never to notice by public reply any criticism of the Parliament, and yet it became inevitably a part of his work to explain the Christian and Scriptural grounds on which the defense of the Parliament securely rested. In many public addresses, at the International Christian Endeavor Convention (1892) in New York, before the International Missionary Union at Clifton Springs, at the Bay View Assembly in Michigan, and elsewhere, and by frequent contributions to The Missionary Review of the World, The Homiletic Review, The Independent, The Golden Rule, The Congregationalist, The Christian at Work, The Review of Reviews, or some other organ of public opinion, he endeavored to show how fully the Parliament was in accord with the Christian spirit of brotherhood. At the Christian Endeavor Convention in New York he said :
I have no doubt that this phenomenal meeting will make apparent the fact that there is a certain unity in Religion ; that is, that men not only have
