WITH ABSOLUTE RESPECT

The Swedenborgian Theology of Charles Carroll Bonney

by George F. Dole
with Two Essays by Charles Bonney

SWEDENBORG STUDIES / No.3
Monographs of the Swedenborg Foundation
West Chester, Pennsylvania
1993

Swedenborg Studies is a scholarly monograph series published by the Swedenborg Foundation.
The primary purpose of the series is to make materials available for understanding the life and thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) and the impact that his thought has had on others.
The Foundation undertakes to publish original studies and English translations of such studies, and to republish primary sources that are otherwise difficult of access.

Proposals should be sent to:
Editor, Swedenborg Studies, Swedenborg Foundation, 284 North Main Street, Sharon, Massachusetts 02067-1105

Copyright © 1993. All rights reserved.
ISBN 0-87785-182-4

Swedenborg Foundation
P.O. Box 549
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19381-0549

Printed by Science Press

ISBN-13: 978-0-87785-636-8 (electronic)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to express particular gratitude to Robert P. Moncrieff for bibliographic information from the Social Law Library, to Richard and William Baxter for tracking down the Statesman proposal in the Library of Congress, to the Chicago Historical Society for its courteous assistance, and to the D'Angelo Law Library of the University of Chicago for permission to reproduce the photograph of Charles Bonney.

In the notes and bibliography, the capitalization of the title pages of the works cited have been followed when these pages were available. Otherwise, I have followed current conventions. In the bibliography, items are included for which I do not have complete facts of publication on the assumption that partial information was preferable to none.

—GEORGE F. DOLE

WITH ABSOLUTE RESPECT

The Swedenborgian Theology of Charles Carroll Bonney

GEORGE F. DOLE

The 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago made an immense impression on American consciousness, and the Parliament of the World's Religions held in association with it attracted worldwide attention.¹ The Parliament was initiated and overseen by the Chicago Swedenborgian, Charles Carroll Bonney, who wrote, “During the organization and conduct of the World's Congresses of 1893, I was led to feel that all my life had been a preparation for this work; and that in a thousand ways provision had been made for its extraordinary needs.”² It does seem that if Bonney is known at all, it is in connection with this event, which historian Richard Seager refers to as “the dawn of religious pluralism.”³ That event, in turn, is viewed primarily in the context of the history of religious movements in America.

The original idea of the Parliament, however, arose in the context of Bonney's theology and life. Bonney himself, for example, would surely have dated “the dawn of religious pluralism” to the latter half of the eighteenth century. This was when Emanuel Swedenborg wrote and published the extensive theological corpus to which Bonney attributed “…the fundamental truths which made a World's Parliament of Religions possible; upon which rested the whole plan of the religious congresses of 1893, and which guided the execution of that plan to a success so great and far-reaching that only the coming generations can fully comprehend and estimate its influence.”⁴

The Parliament itself was for Bonney as much a climax as a dawn. He did indeed see it as a new beginning. His statement that “The supreme significance of this Congress and the others is that they herald the death of persecution throughout the world, and proclaim the coming reign of civil and religious liberty”⁵ is one of a number in the same vein. But when he writes of September 11, 1893, “The day arrived”—the shortest sentence in his essay on the Parliament's origin⁶—and when he writes, “Let us rejoice that we have lived to see this glorious day,”⁷ we may feel something of the sense of accomplishment, of completion, which must have been his. “We meet on the mountain height of absolute respect for the religious convictions of each other,” he said in his opening address.⁸ The present essay is offered as a preliminary sketch of the climb to that summit, or more prosaically, of the context in which the Parliament was conceived and took form—the life and thought of Charles Carroll Bonney.

A basic outline of his career is given concisely in one of his obituary notices. This notes his birth in Hamilton, New York, in 1831, and his education. It continues with his removal to Peoria, Illinois at the age of nineteen, where he was involved in education and “as Vice President of the State Teachers' Institute…, took a leading part in the establishment of the educational system of Illinois.” It continues:

Having commenced reading law when but seventeen he continued his interest in legal affairs, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1852, and to that of the United States Supreme Court in 1866. He was elected President of the Illinois State Bar Association, and Vice President of the American Bar Association in 1882. He removed from Peoria to Chicago in 1860, practising law and reporting cases in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, California, and the United States Supreme Court.

Bonney's zeal for the law was based upon his patriotism and his love of order and justice. He was one of the originators of the law and order movement, which was started in 1872, and later spread over other states, especially New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. He advocated, and to some extent successfully carried, a great number of reforms in constitutional politics, in the national banking system, railroad supervision by State authority, the establishment of a permanent international court of justice, now realised in The Hague, a national Civil Service Academy, a system of Civil Service pensions, State Boards for the adjustment of differences between capital and labor, etc., and developed an unusual activity as an orator in speaking for these several questions when opportunities arose.

In 1887, Mr. Bonney's name was mentioned for appointment as a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on the ground that he was a man standing in the very front rank of Western jurists, of high literary culture, and of judicial temperament and if he was not chosen, it was mainly due to his vigorous attitude in matters of reform. And perhaps the decision was just, for a judge of the United States Supreme Court should be absolutely impartial and even the zeal for improvement and for the moral elevation of the people, be it in matters of politics, temperance or social conditions, might easily become a disturbing element, in the establishment of general juridical principles.

Most remarkable of all was the realisation of a Parliament of Religions, heretofore, deemed impossible on account of the exclusive nature of the leading and most powerful Church organisations.

This Religious Parliament was the first truly ecumenical council of religion, and its realisation is due mainly to the tact of Mr. Bonney; to his impartiality toward all; his reconciliatory spirit in the clash of opposed interests, his conservatism, his circumspection, enabling every speaker to come and to go uncompromised by the general tendency of the Parliament simply as a preacher and representatve [sic] of his own faith, and finally to his choice of officers, among whom the Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, must be specially mentioned as a chairman of rare ability.⁹

These comments suggest a breadth of interest which is amply borne out by closer examination. Bonney did not propose or oversee simply a Parliament of Religions. In his initial proposal, he wrote,

The crowning glory of the World's Fair of 1892 should not be the exhibit then to be made of the material triumphs, industrial achievements, and mechanical victories of man, however magnificent that display may be. Something higher and nobler is demanded by the enlightened and progressive spirit of the present age.

In connection with that important event, the world of government, jurisprudence, finance, science, literature, education, and religion should be represented in a Congress of statesmen, jurists, financiers, scientists, literati, teachers, and theologians, greater in numbers and more widely representative of “peoples, nations, and tongues” than any assemblage which has ever yet been convened.¹⁰

The summer of 1893 did in fact see the series of congresses which this proposal envisioned. One report touches on this:

Of the various people brought into prominence in connection with the World's Fair, there are few who are more interesting in their personality than Mr. C. C. Bonney, the originator, manager, and President of the World's Fair Auxiliary, with its multitude of congresses touching upon almost every phase of intellectual development. Mr. Bonney is a man of slight build who would never attract particular attention. He has been known by a limited circle for many years as a quiet, unassuming lawyer, noted for nothing in particular, unless it be a broad catholicity which kept his interest alive in the most diverse men and opinions. A Swedenborgian by religious profession, he did not mingle greatly with men of other denominations, so that he was by no means widely known; and when it appeared that it was through his persistency, tact, and indomitable energy that such a unique enterprise had not only been conceived but actually carried through, his neighbors in Chicago were not less surprised than those from other parts of the land. His addresses of welcome and introduction have been singularly appropriate, seeming to catch the central thought of all, whether missions or evolution, education, labor, or socialism. He has been most ably seconded by those in charge of the different departments, and all have worked together to accomplish what will be far more enduring in its results than the Fair itself, beautiful and wonderful as that was.¹¹

Any impression that Bonney's interests were exclusively ecumenical, or that he saw the religious parliament alone as the harbinger of a new age, would clearly be wide of the mark. He was acutely aware of pressing social problems, and it was by his design that the Parliament of Religions came at the close of an extensive series of congresses which dealt explicitly with areas of secular concern. The literature of the period does indeed show a prevalent assumption that the striking technological and social progress of the nineteenth century was inseparably linked to Anglo-Protestant values, and the coming dawn of a new century added impetus to a belief that the age of peace, justice, and prosperity was just around the corner.¹² Bonney clearly shared in this belief, but his theology left him no room for social indifference. As one obituary suggests, he was noticeably active in reform causes. He took to heart one of the central principles of Swedenborgianism:

Some people believe that it is hard to live the life that leads to heaven, which is called a spiritual life, because they have heard that you have to renounce the world and give up the desires people associate with the body and the flesh, and “live spiritually.” All they understand by this is rejecting worldly concerns (especially concerns with money and prestige) and going around in constant devout meditation about God, salvation, and eternal life, spending one's life in prayer and in reading the Word and devotional books…. But people who renounce the world and “live by the spirit” in this way acquire a mournful life, one that is not receptive of heavenly joy…. Rather, in order to be receptive of heaven's life, we should by all means live in the world and be involved in its duties and business. In this way, through a moral and civic life we accept a spiritual life. There is no other way spiritual life can take shape in us, no other way our spirits can be prepared for heaven.¹³

A survey of the causes he espoused yields a less than rosy picture of social conditions, and offers insights into his own sense of what was needed and his determination to make a difference.

We may begin this survey with a speech he delivered in St. Louis in 1857, calling for the repeal of an act to incorporate an Illinois River corporation. The act would, in his opinion, give a private corporation a monopoly on the development of a series of dams and locks, broad powers to avail themselves of private property during the construction process, and the right in perpetuity to collect tolls on river commerce. After a decidedly flowery introduction, his speech dealt with the rapid and unpublicized passage of the act in question, and then examined one at a time what were presumably its main provisions. In each instance, Bonney's effort was to show that the wording of apparent safeguards was misleading, and that in fact the act provided a license for speculation and monopoly on a grand scale. He portrayed it as a blatant profiteering scheme and closed by observing that the United States Constitution gave Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, forbidding states from imposing duties without Congressional consent, and declaring that “vessels bound to or from one State shall not be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.”¹⁴

Some years later, he would argue for more stringent regulation of interstate commerce. In one of his better images, he says,

No individual is powerful enough, or rich enough to carry on a successful conflict with a prosperous railroad company. He could as well arrest one of its engines by his physical strength. The individual citizen is powerless to assert his rights against the mammoth corporations by which the transportation business of the country is conducted. But the people, through their law-making representatives, may provide for the appointment of agents to deal with those corporations, and require them to perform their duties, and obey the laws; and may establish tribunals to hear complaints, and give redress.¹⁵

He proposed a bill that would

leave the carrier free to manage his business in his own way within the limits of reason and justice, but [would] subject him to severe penalties for extortion, oppression, and other wrong-doing; and it also endeavors to provide a practicable way in which persons aggrieved may combine in the pursuit of substantial remedies, before tribunals independent enough and powerful enough to award and enforce redress.¹⁶

To this end, Bonney proposed a “National Court of Commerce of the United States, to be composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.” This would have an appellate jurisdiction, and in effect would specialize in suits involving interstate commerce. It would prohibit strikes, authorizing the use of military force to this end if necessary, but would give transportation workers the right to “maintain suits under this act, for an increase of compensation, or the redress of any grievance.”¹⁷

There is one explicit theological theme in this proposal for the regulation of interstate commerce. As noted, the bill would “leave the carrier free to manage his business in his own way within the limits of reason and justice [emphasis added].” Earlier in the essay, he had stated, “It is a fundamental principle of our system of government, that the citizen may act in freedom according to reason, being responsible for any abuse of his liberty [emphasis added].”¹⁸ This latter italicized phrase is undoubtedly taken directly from Swedenborg's Divine Providence. After noting that “There are hitherto unknown laws of divine providence,” Swedenborg lists as the first of these laws “that we should act from freedom according to reason [ex libero secundum rationem].”¹⁹ Any good we do under compulsion is not truly ours, and has no ameliorating effect on our character.²⁰

There can be no doubt that Bonney's Swedenborgian theology is at work here in a more general way as well. Swedenborg had seen a Swedish empire suffer severe financial and territorial loss under the adventurous absolute monarchy of Charles XII, and it must have been with some feeling that he wrote,

The king who regards the laws as above himself, consequently himself as below them, is wise; but he who regard himself as above the laws, consequently the laws as below himself, is not wise…. [This latter] places the royalty in himself, and believes himself either to be the law, or the law which is justice to be from himself; hence he arrogates to himself that which is Divine.²¹

Further,

Loving the neighbor is intending and doing good to one's fellow-citizens, friends, and good people, but also to foreigners, enemies, and evil people. Genuine compassion is practiced toward the former and the latter in different ways—toward the fellow-citizen and friend through direct benefactions, toward the enemy and the evil person through indirect benefactions, which involve various forms of encouragement, discipline, and punishment, leading to amendment. We may illustrate this as follows: the judge who punishes a malefactor on the basis of law and justice is loving the neighbor because in this way his is improving him and is caring for the welfare of the citizenry, protecting them from harm.²²

A trust in the law to remedy and ultimately to prevent injustice is a recurrent theme in Bonney's writing, but it should immediately be added that his ideal lawyer “detests unnecessary litigation.”²³ In an article of particular interest, he addresses what he sees as a major and spreading flaw in the legal profession itself. “The delay, the expense, and the uncertainty which attend the enforcement of rights and the redress of wrongs, have become such gigantic evils, that a widespread and earnest demand has arisen for reform of the methods and the results of the judicial procedure.”²⁴ He argues forcibly against “the Code”—the New York Code of Civil Procedure—on the grounds that it is cumbersome and in significant ways self-contradictory. “Compared with the present system of judicial procedure, that which preceded it was simplicity itself. The former system any lawyer could master for every-day practical purposes, with moderate ability and reasonable patience. The present system is still in a nebulous condition, and must, for many years, remain the exasperation of lawyers, the bewilderment of courts, and the affliction of suitors.”²⁵

Specifically, Bonnie proposed the extension of equity remedies. He argued that in an era when “the law courts have maintained their established reputation for ruinous delays and unsatisfactory results,” the “courts of equity in Chicago have for years past given an immediate hearing of all urgent applications to them.”²⁶ He proposed repeal of the “supposed rule, that equity ‘has no jurisdiction, where a common-law remedy exists,’”²⁷ which would enable far more cases to be decided by arbitration, under more flexible rules of procedure and evidence than in courts of law. In addressing this appeal to the Illinois Bar Association, he cited the opinion of “a learned judge” that “nearly all reforms in judicial procedure have been secured, not by the efforts of the legal profession, but in spite of the general opposition of that body,”²⁸ and hoped that his colleagues would prove exceptions to this rule.

This nonlegalistic approach is echoed in his proposal of a bill to revise bankruptcy procedures.²⁹ Here contended that while the extant laws were fair in principle, they were a failure in practice. The former law “was simply a stupendous engine of destruction. Under it the estate of the debtor disappeared, but the benefits received by creditors were, in most cases merely nominal. Its provisions were arbitrary, unreasonable, and inflexible, and almost its sole merit was, that under it a debtor could obtain a discharge and start in business again.”³⁰ He noted that

The principles of judicial procedure should be fixed and certain; but the rules for their application to human conduct should be as flexible as the circumstances of various cases are different. It is far easier for a wrong-doer to evade an arbitrary and unyielding rule, than to protect himself against one which adapts itself to the peculiar circumstances of the particular case.³¹

Bonney was acutely aware of other serious flaws in the legal system of his times. As president of the Illinois Bar Association, he used his annual address in 1883 to propose the extension of equity remedies and the reform of the jury system, and to plead for jurists of ability in the lower courts, since the poor have no resources for appeals. “What brave apostle of reform, what lover of justice and his fellow men, will lead the way to a better administration of the law, for the friendless and the poor?”³²

In a separate appeal, he had already presented a scathing denunciation of the procedure for the selection of juries.

Jurors for courts of record are selected by the County Board. At least once a year that body is required to make a jury-list of not less than one-tenth of the legal voters of each town or precinct. (Statute of Jurors, Sec. 1.) Here the iniquity begins. The members of a county board are generally politicians and partisans. They have friends to reward, enemies to punish, and arrangements to make for the future…. In selecting out one-tenth of the legal voters of a precinct, the member of the county board has the amplest opportunity to choose persons who will be friendly or hostile to a particular person interest, or party.³³

He argued cogently that this was in violation of the state constitution, since it clearly transgressed the rule of separation of powers by giving legislative bodies a powerful voice in the judicial branch. The corruption, in his view, had spread beyond the jury system to the bench itself.

[W]hy is it that the judges have not more freely exercised their power to exclude unfit persons from the jury-box? The reason is to be found in the fact that the county board and its lists of jurors can exercise such a potent influence in politics. The judge who should make open war on the system of subordinating the administration of justice to the protection and promotion of personal interests might do so at the peril of losing his office and his living at the next election.³⁴

He saw this system as so firmly entrenched that only the creation of powerful public opinion in favor of reform would turn the tide. The press had been favorable, but statewide action was required, and since the rural areas suffered “little harm,” they must therefore respond to an appeal addressed simply to their “good sense and patriotism.”³⁵

In his essay on jury reform, Bonney also calls very clearly for the engagement of the church:

It is an encouraging sign that a meeting for such a purpose is held in a church. When the churches become centres of practical reform, as well as of worship and praise, the dangerous classes will find themselves confronted by a power that will overmatch them in organization, skill, and available means. The very soul of religion is the reform of evils of life;³⁶ and hence the church is engaged in its legitimate work when it gives its aid to the enforcement of the laws for the repression of vice, and the removal of obstacles in the way of a pure administration of justice.³⁷

Bonney clearly saw the corruption of the jury system as a “vice,” and it fostered another social ill that distressed him profoundly. He founded the Law and Order League primarily to combat the nineteenth century equivalent of the drug problem. In an address at the first national convention of local leagues, held at Tremont Temple, Boston, in 1883, he observed that during Chicago's railroad riots the rioters were “largely boys in their teens, and more or less intoxicated.”³⁸ This led to an investigation, and to the discovery that “about thirty thousand boys were nightly patrons of Chicago's liquor saloons,” which had strong political influence and felt immune to prosecution because of the corruption of the jury system.³⁹ The strategy of the league was to visit saloons, document sales to minors (which were illegal), initiate prosecutions, and demand the penalties prescribed by law.

The larger task of the Law and Order movement was “to restore among the people a reverence for the just powers of the government; a wholesome fear of the penalties of disobedience, and above all a love of the great and enduring blessings that a reign of law and order throught [sic] the Republic will secure.”⁴⁰ He was quite explicit in stating that the League was neither a political party nor a total abstinence association. Rather, it was simply a group of citizens dedicated to support compliance particularly with laws of a moral character.⁴¹

His vision of the rule of law as the remedy to social injustice emerges clearly in a speech on the conflict between labor and capital. This fairly extended address was prompted by the Haymarket Massacre of May 4th, 1886, when labor unrest broke into open violence in Chicago.⁴² It was delivered on May 16th at the Union Park New Jerusalem [Swedenborgian] Church in Chicago, in what must have been an emotionally charged atmosphere.

Bonney began by observing that no effort was being made to educate the wide variety of recent immigrants. Instead, they were being exploited as cheap labor, and left unaware of the laws and principles by which they might find orderly means of redress, “we have left the new comers to the politicians, who want their votes, and the anarchist leaders who want to live upon their toil.”⁴³

He outlined a “threefold movement:

1. Immense aggregations of wealth and power

2. Despotic organizations of working people

3. Anarchist combinations, openly and defiantly proclaiming the destruction of the present order of human affairs.⁴⁴

He saw the merit of the first as the undertaking of large-scale projects, and its abuse as the formation of oppressive monopolies. He saw the merit of the second as the improvement of working conditions, and its abuse as “conspiracy, intimidation, and force.” He saw no merit whatever in the third, which directly attacked the rule of law which he himself saw as the only alternative to both despotism and anarchy. Labor, in his judgment, in turning militant, had become as despotic as capital.⁴⁵

With others in the legal community, Bonney proposed being severe with strikers. Unlike his colleagues, however, he coupled this with the proposal of the imposition of strict penalties for the exploitation of workers.⁴⁶ He advocated enlisting the churches and the business community in an active program for the education of immigrants, insisting on the establishment of orderly means for the arbitration of disputes in the courts and advising workers of their resources in this respect. He suggested that some form of profit-sharing would help workers realize that they shared an interest with capital, and offered the thought that shorter working hours and higher pay might actually increase productivity.⁴⁷

As a final note in this survey of the legal reforms Bonney espoused, we may turn to his thoughts on internationalism. In an article in The Statesman, he cited Article XII, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, “The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.” He then observed, “More swiftly than any of us can well realize, the whole world is becoming in fact one great country needing new laws for the proper protection of its vast and varied people.”⁴⁸

He proposed a “Code of International Intercourse” that would guarantee the alien not only equal access to the laws of the host country, but also the protection of such laws of the alien's country as did not contravene the former. In commenting on this provision, he noted the charm and the value of what today we would call “ethnic traditions.” The Code would need to provide for a tribunal to adjudicate disputes, and it would assume that every nation granting a citizen permission to travel would guarantee the good character and conduct of that citizen.⁴⁹

In short, the man who could believe in “the enlightened and progressive spirit of the present age”⁵⁰ and “the marvellous religious progress of the nineteenth century,”⁵¹ was also aware of the serious problems of teenage alcohol abuse and violence, political corruption, and the exploitation of immigrant labor. His consistent effort was to design and effectuate legal means for the prevention and the redress of injustice, with an emphasis on legal education as a preventive means,⁵² and on arbitration as preferable to confrontation for redress. This preference for arbitration is as clear in his advocacy of the extension of equity remedies as it is in his opposition to strikes. It is very much in the direction of Swedenborg's description of government in heaven, where “legal matters never come to court, only life-related matters of justice,” and “the less wise consult the wiser about these, and the wise consult the Lord and bring back the replies.”⁵³ There is a pervasive trust in a reservoir of genuine good will and social responsibility that can be tapped for effective response to obvious “vices.”

In one form or another, such optimism was part of the spirit of the age. The millenarian mood was potent, but for Bonney as a Swedenborgian it would have had a distinctive flavor. One of Swedenborg's more radical assertions was that his access to spiritual reality and consequent proclamation of a new Christian theology was part and parcel of the second coming of the Christ.⁵⁴ Bonney saw himself as living in a “post-millennial” world, a world in which the outward benefits of inward spiritual changes were gradually becoming manifest. The Swedenborgian church was small but growing, and included people of undoubted eminence. His own Chicago congregation included railroad magnate Jonathan Young Scammon and the architect of the White City of the Columbian Exposition, Daniel Hudson Burnham. At that point in time, from the place where Bonney stood, it must indeed have seemed that the forces of change were irresistible, and that they were aimed directly at the establishment of a just and peaceable world community.

The distinctive Swedenborgian flavor of Bonney's vision is particularly clear in the principles he drew up for the Religious Congresses. While he seems to have shared in the general assumption that Anglo-Protestant values⁵⁵ undergirded the material progress of the nineteenth century, he did not share in the common Christian missionary outlook, with its premise that the heathen were both benighted and damned. As Bonney noted in his “Genesis” article, Swedenborg had insisted that “every nation has some religion, and the foundation of all religion is an acknowledgment that there is a God; otherwise it is not called a religion; and every nation which lives according to its religion, that is, which refrains from evil because it is against its God, receives something spiritual into its natural principle.”⁵⁶ As a specific example, which must have seemed especially controversial to more evangelical Christians, Bonney cited Swedenborg's favorable evaluation of Islam as “permitted by the Divine Providence of the Lord for the extirpation of idolatries in countries where Christianity would not be received.”⁵⁷

This general principle is amply documented in the “Genesis” essay (pp. 75f.). He speaks there of his early boyhood interest in the religions of the world, and of having read and saved newspaper columns on that subject.⁵⁸ What Swedenborgianism offered him was not so much an enlargement of his horizons in this respect as a rationale for his affirmative interest, a rationale that included a way of reconciling it with a definitely Christian allegiance. The form of this reconciliation is perhaps most vividly expressed in his welcoming address to the Jewish Denominational Congress on August twenty-seventh, 1893:

But far more important and significant is the fact that this arrangement [that the Jewish Congress should be the first of the denominational congresses] has been made, and this Congress is now formally opened and welcomed, by as ultra and ardent a Christian as the world contains. We know that you are Jews, while we are Christians and would have all men so; but of all the precious liberties which free men enjoy, the highest is the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience; and this great liberty is the right, not of some men only, but of all—not of Christians, merely, but of Jews and Gentiles as well, I desire from all men respect for my religious convictions, and claim for myself and mine the right to enjoy them without molestation; and my Master has commanded me that whatsoever I would have another do to me, I should also do to him…. Through all the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament we walk side by side, revering the creation, journeying through the wilderness, chanting the psalms, and inspired by the prophecies; and if we part at the threshhold of the Gospels, it shall not be with anger, but with love, and a grateful remembrance of our long and pleasant journey from Genesis to Malachi.”⁵⁹

This “denominational congress” illustrates part of a two-pronged strategy designed to deal with religious rivalries. In the Parliament itself, presenters were required to agree in advance to a number of rules of behavior, the second and third of which were that

2. The speakers accepting the invitation of the General Committee will state their own beliefs, and the reasons for them, with the greatest frankness, without, however, employing unfriendly criticisms of other faiths.

3. The Parliament is to be made a grand international assembly for mutual conference, fellowship, and information; and not for controversy, for worship, for the counting of votes, or for the passing of resolutions.⁶⁰

In addition, Bonney attached considerable importance to the separate denominational congresses, presenting them as integral to the entire scheme. In his own words, “For these denominational Congresses were planned to anticipate and answer the charge that by taking part in the Union Congress any church had abandoned or compromised its own peculiar faith.”⁶¹

Effectively, the denominational congresses provided an ample forum for the more sectarian voices of the participating bodies, and deflected them from the Union Congress. Participation by other denominations may have varied, but certainly the Swedenborgians put a great deal of energy and devotion into their separate Congress, and looked back on it with pride.⁶²

We need not suspect Bonney of cynicism in this regard, however. Swedenborg's visions of heaven included explicit experience of “separate” Mohammedan heavens,⁶³ and in general he placed a high value on variety. “No substance, state, of thing…can ever be the same as any other…to all eternity. [For example,] not one face is the same as another…and therefore not one mind.”⁶⁴ Perfection, in fact, was enhanced by variety: “A form is the more perfect as its constituent elements are distinguishably different, and yet united.”⁶⁵

Evidently, Bonney did not feel that it was possible at that time to try to pass resolutions concerning the nature of the oneness. He mentioned it—“the church essentially consists in certain Divine things, and not in the ever varying views of men respecting the eternal verities”⁶⁶—and he had definite ideas as to its general outlines. The object of the Parliament, in the words of the Preliminary Publication, was “To unite all Religion against all irreligion; to make the Golden Rule the basis of this union; to present to the world in the Religious Congresses to be held in connection with the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the substantial unity of many religions in the good deeds of the religious life.”⁶⁷

While in one sense the participating religions agreed to this common ground by virtue of their attendance and participation, they were under no pressure to state this agreement explicitly. Bonney insisted in his opening address to the Parliament,

Let one other point be clearly stated. While the members of this Congress meet, as men, on a common ground of perfect equality, the ecclesiastical rank of each, in his own church, is at the same time gladly recognized and respected, as the just acknowledgment of his services and attainments. But no attempt is here made to treat all religions as of equal merit. Any such idea is expressly disclaimed. In this Congress, each system of religion stands by itself in its own perfect integrity, uncompromised, in any degree, by its relation to any other…. Without controversy, or any attempt to pronounce judgment upon any matter of faith or worship or religious opinion, we seek a better knowledge of the religious condition of all mankind, with an earnest desire to be useful to each other and to all others who love truth and righteousness.⁶⁸

In contemporary terms, this might be described as a determined effort to initiate “a pluralistic, nonrelativistic dialogue” looking for unity by focusing on “praxis,” specifically on engagement in “promoting human welfare.”⁶⁹ We may add to this Bonney's allusions to the two “great commandments” of Matthew 22:37–39. These allusions are particularly clear in the first words of Bonney's opening address to the Parliament, “WORSHIPPERS OF GOD AND LOVERS OF MAN,” and to the definition offered shortly thereafter: “In this Congress the word ‘religion’ means the love and worship of God and the love and service of man.”⁷⁰ This framework, including a rationale for Bonney's civic activism, is clearly stated by Swedenborg:

There are three universal loves: the love of Heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self…. By the love of heaven is meant love to the Lord and also love towards the neighbor, and, as each of these regards use as the end, it may be called the love of uses…. The reason charity has something in common with each of these three loves, is that, regarded in itself, it is the love of uses…and, from these loves, everyone regards uses as his ends; the love of Heaven, spiritual uses; the love of the world, natural uses, which may be called civil; and the love of self, corporeal uses, which may be called also domestic, being for oneself and one's own.⁷¹

Concerning Christendom's division into competing, often hostile sects, Swedenborg had written:

There are three essentials of the church—recognition of the Divine of the Lord, recognition of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. Everyone's faith depends on the life that is charity. From the Word comes an understanding of what the quality of that life should be, and from the Lord come reformation and salvation. If these three had functioned as the essentials of the church, intellectual disagreements would not have divided it. They would have been simply variations, as light varies the colors in objects of beauty, and as different gems lend beauty to a king's crown.⁷²

Underlying this attitude is a definite epistemology. It is perhaps most clearly stated in Swedenborg's Arcana Coelestia:

[I]t needs to be realized that no truths are ever pure for us or even for angels—pure meaning devoid of appearances. They are all appearances, each and every one; and yet the Lord accepts them as truths if there is something good within them. Pure truths belong to the Lord alone, because they are divine. The Lord is, so to speak, the good itself and the true itself…. there are, though, levels of appearances. Merely natural appearances are full of fallacies, but when they are held by people who are involved in good, then they are not called fallacies but appearances and even in some respects truths. The good within them, in which there is something divine, makes them essentially different. However, rational appearances of truth are deeper and deeper. The heavens are engaged with them, that is, the angels who are in the heavens.⁷³

As an example of a “natural appearance,” Swedenborg offers the following:

For example, it is an appearance that the sun travels around the earth once a day, and traces its ecliptic path once a year. As long as this is not confirmed, it is an apparent truth, and it is all right to think and talk in such terms…. However, when people make up their minds that this appearance is the actual truth, then they are thinking and speaking falsity as a result of misconception.

The same holds true for countless other appearances—not just in natural, civic, and moral matters, but even in spiritual ones.⁷⁴

It is surely this principle and probably this passage that Bonney had in mind when he described his differentiation between the “certain Divine things” that constitute the essence of the church and “the ever varying views of men respecting the eternal verities,” and his consequent kindly feeling “not only toward the various religious denominations of Christendom, but also in regard to the different religions of the world. I came to realize [he says] that it is as allowable for a devout soul to rest on an apparent truth of Scripture, as for a rational mind to rest on an apparent truth in nature.”⁷⁵

This leads to one of the more striking statements in his opening address.

The very basis of our convocation is the idea that the representatives of each religion sincerely believe that it is the truest and the best of all; and that they will, therefore, hear with perfect candor and without fear, the convictions of other sincere souls on the great questions of the immortal life [emphasis added].⁷⁶

The words “insecurity” and “defensiveness” were not available to him in this context (and if they had been, his evident concern to phrase things affirmatively would doubtless have precluded their use), but he is clearly aware of the phenomenon to which they point. In a quite different language, it is described by Swedenborg in his Arcana Coelestia:

The person whose rational is…solely concerned with truth…and who is not at the same time in the good of charity…is a morose individual, who will bear nothing, is against everyone, regards everyone as being in falsity, is ready to rebuke, to chastise, and to punish; has no pity, and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds; for he looks at everything from truth, and at nothing from good.⁷⁷

This is set in contrast to “rational good”—to the mind that is sensitive to the qualities of persons, and especially to the quality of their love:

Rational good never fights, however it is assailed; because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding; for its character is that of love and mercy. Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all, nor does it ever think about combat, or glory on account of victory; and this because it is Divine, and is safe of itself.⁷⁸

For one imbued with this attitude, attacks on the religious convictions of others would be signs not of strength of faith but of weakness, quite incompatible with a trust that one's religion was truly the best, and “safe of itself.”

To conclude this survey of Bonney's religious thought, we might mention one more principle to which he does not seem to have alluded, but which he surely exemplifies, namely that “Charity is acting with prudence to the end that good may result.”⁷⁹ Inward good intentions may make the most of deceptive appearances, but there remains a fundamental pragmatism to Swedenborg's theology. The “charitable” individual uses forethought to achieve worthwhile ends. Good intentions do not excuse carelessness or incompetence. Bonney's initial dream “In the course of a few weeks…passed through the usual stages of mental evolution,”⁸⁰ and produced a carefully designed strategy for its realization.

The Genesis of the World's Religious Congresses of 1893*

CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY

The editors of The New-Church Review have requested me to prepare an account of the First World's Parliament of Religions, its doctrinal basis in my own mind, its practical inception, and its progress to its triumphant close. Notwithstanding many demands upon my time and strength, a deep sense of duty impels me to undertake at least a partial compliance with this request. In seriously considering how I can best perform this task, I have come to the conclusion that such an article will be most useful if written from the personal standpoint, and in a familiar style. It seems not improper for me to assume that among the readers of the REVIEW will be many personal friends, to whom some explanations that others might require would be superfluous, and who will naturally be interested in details which others might not care to read. With this word of explanation and apology I will proceed to give a brief account of the Genesis of the World's Religious Congresses of 1893.

During the organization and conduct of the World's Congresses of 1893, I was led to feel that all my life had been a preparation for that work; and that in a thousand ways provision had been made for its extraordinary needs. The beginning of that preparation was in the Sunday school which I attended during my boyhood. This school was held in the public schoolhouse on Bonney Hill, near the village of Hamilton, in Madison County, New York, and was taught by theological students from the Baptist Theological Seminary of what is now Colgate University, but was for many years known as Madison University. In this schoolhouse many of those students preached their first sermons, and made their first efforts at teaching. Members of the University faculty were visitors at the house of my father, Jethro May Bonney, and I was greatly entertained and instructed by their conversations on religious and other topics. The Theological Seminary was familiarly known as “the Great Baptist Minister Factory on University Hill.” This hill then was, and still is, one of the loveliest spots ever chosen for the site of an educational institution. It overlooks the village of Hamilton from the south, and the entire landscape, framed by the surrounding hills, is worthy of reproduction in picture and in song.

While attending that Sunday school I became deeply interested in what is now known as the Science of Comparative Religious. One of the newspapers taken by my father published a long-continued series of nearly fifty articles under the title, “Religious of the World.” Some of those articles are before me while I write these words. A few of the subjects will indicate the scope of the treatment. “The Religion of the Druses,” “The Religion of the Siamese,” “The Creeds of the Negroes,” are among them. Another series of articles in the same paper, which greatly delighted me, was entitled “The World's Reformers.” This included essays on Plato, Confucius, Zoroaster, and other great leaders. These articles excited a desire for further information on the great themes which they briefly set forth, and led me to seek for further light in appropriate books.

The knowledge thus acquired was brought to the Sunday school on Sunday afternoon, and used in the class discussions. It was also made the basis of essays on “The Theology of the Age,” “Church Government,” “Original Sin,” “The True Baptism,” and kindred themes. In this way what might otherwise have proved but passing impressions, was put to the test of actual use, and thus became enduring.

This first stage of preparation was followed by another of still higher significance. At the age of nineteen I removed to Peoria, Ill., and there, for the first time, saw a New-Church Congregation and heard a New-Church sermon. My previous information of the system of Swedenborg had given me the impression that it was a religion for literary and scientific persons, and I was therefore surprised to find that this congregation had no member eminent in scholastic attainments, excepting the pastor. I soon began to read the Church writings and collateral books, and to attend, occasionally, the Sunday services and the social meetings. In the course of a few years I became satisfied that the New Church does indeed teach “the True Christian Religion”—“the Religion of Common Sense”—and avowed myself “a receiver of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.” I became convinced that the doctrines of this Church will finally prove the reconciliation and the crown of all the religions of the world. Acting “in freedom and according to reason,” I accepted its matchless creed of “The Divinity of the Lord, the Holiness of the Word, and the Life that is called Charity.”

In this Church I was taught the fundamental truths which made a World's Parliament of Religions possible; upon which rested the whole plan of the religious congresses of 1893, and which guided the execution of that plan to a success so great and far-reaching that only the coming generations can fully comprehend and estimate its influence. Among those truths are these:

There is a universal influx from God into the souls of men, teaching them that these is a God, and that He is one. [True Christian Religion, ¶ 8.]

It is of the Lord's Divine Providence that every nation has some religion, and the foundation of all religion is an acknowledgment that there is a God; otherwise it is not called a religion; and every nation which lives according to its religion, that is, which refrains from evil because it is against its God, receives something spiritual into its natural principle. [Divine Providence, ¶ 322.]

It is of the Divine Providence that every man is capable of being saved, and that those are saved who acknowledge God, and lead a good life. [Divine Providence, ¶ 325.)

These are the common essentials of all religions, by which every one may be saved; to acknowledge a God, and not to do evil because it is against God. These are the two things by virtue of which religion is religion. [Divine Providence, ¶ 326.]

It is provided by the Lord that every one who acknowledges a God, and abstains from evil because it is against God, has a place in heaven; for heaven in the complex resembles one man whose life or soul is the Lord. (Ibid.)

It is also provided that all who have lived well and acknowledged a God, should be instructed after death by the angels; and then those who have been in these two essentials of religion in this world, accept the truths of the Church, such as they are in the Word, and acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and the church. [Divine Providence, ¶ 328.]

It is alleged that those who are out of the church are not baptized; but baptism does not save any except those who are spiritually washed, that is regenerated, for baptism is a sign and memorial thereof. It is also alleged that the Lord is not known to them, and that without the Lord there is no salvation; yet no one has salvation merely by the Lord being known to him, but by living according to his precepts. [Divine Providence, ¶ 330.]

The Mahometan religion was permitted by the Divine Providence of the Lord for the extirpation of idolatries in countries where Christianity would not be received. In that religion there is something out of both Testaments of the Word; teaching that the Lord came into the world; that he was the greatest prophet, the wisest of all, and the Son of God. [Divine Providence, ¶ 255.]

Every one in the churches where faith alone is received, is taught that evils are to be shunned as sins. [Divine Providence, ¶ 258.]

It is provided that every one, in whatever heresy he may be as to his understanding, may still be reformed and saved, provided he shuns evils as sins, and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself; for by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and by the will the understanding, which then first emerges out of darkness into light. [Divine Providence, ¶ 259.]

Every infant, wheresoever born, whether within the church or out of it, whether of pious parents or impious, when it dies is received by the Lord, and is educated in heaven, and according to Divine order is taught and imbued with the affections of good, and by them with the knowledges of truth; and afterwards as perfected in intelligence and wisdom is introduced into heaven and becomes an angel. [Heaven and Hell ¶ 329.]

Turning to the Holy Word and the Apostolic Writings,⁸¹ I found abundant confirmation of these teachings of the church. A few of the passages which were found most useful and encouraging in connection with the World's Religious Congresses, are given here:

What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah vi. 8.)

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew vii. 12.)

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father, is to visit the widows and fatherless in their affliction, and to keep unspotted from the world. (James i. 27.)

That is the True Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John i. 9.)

And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

But go ye and learn what this meaneth: I will have mercy and not sacrifice; for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matthew ix. 10–13.)

Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as [myself] under the law that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that were without the law as [myself] without the law (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law; to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (I Corinthians ix. 20, 22.)

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him. (Acts of the Apostles x. 34, 35.)

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, and said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription To THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you! (Acts xvii. 23.)

God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find him, though He be not far from every one of us. (Acts xvii. 26, 27.)

One other course of preparation remains to be noticed. For many years before the World's Columbian Exposition was proposed, I enjoyed the inestimable benefits of an intimate and cordial association with members and ministers of many different denominations, and made public addresses on “Law and Order” and “Moral and Social Reforms,” in many different churches. Thus I came to know the distinguishing characteristics of various religious organizations; to respect their sincerity and zeal; to understand the reasons for their peculiar views; to learn that all creeds have meanings which only those who profess them can explain; that the church essentially consists in certain Divine things, and not in the every varying views of men respecting the eternal verities. Thus I came to feel kindly, not only toward the various religious denominations of Christendom, but also in regard to the different religions of the world. I came to realize that it is as allowable for a devout soul to rest on an apparent truth of Scripture, as for a rational mind to rest on an apparent truth in nature.

In the Baptist Church at Peoria I was the teacher of an adult Bible class, and after my removal to Chicago in 1860, I taught a similar class in St. John's Episcopal Church for some years, while living too far away from the New-Church Temple for convenient attendance there. Upon the establishment of a New-Church congregation in the neighborhood of my residence, I became an active member of that organization, and almost continuously the instructor of a similar class. Before these classes I discussed in a familiar manner and from a layman's point of view, the whole range of the religious themes which I had made subjects of study.

In similar ways it pleased the Divine Providence to provide for dealing, when the occasion should arise, with the other great departments of human progress which were embraced in the World's Congress scheme, but which are not within the scope of the present paper.

In 1889 the movement for a World's Fair in celebration of the quadri-centennial of the discovery of America by Columbus, took such a course that it appeared probable that such a Fair would be held at Chicago, and the character of the proposed exhibition naturally occupied much attention and elicited many suggestions. It was then expected that the celebration would be held in 1892, but the magnitude of the project finally caused its postponement till the following year. While thinking about the nature and proper characteristics of this great undertaking, there came into my mind the idea of a comprehensive and well-organized Intellectual and Moral Exposition of the Progress of Mankind, to be held in connection with the proposed display of material forms. In the course of a few weeks this idea passed through the usual stages of mental evolution, and became a conviction and a purpose which would not let me rest, but impelled me to action for its realization. I commenced to discuss it with intimate friends, and among them spoke of it to Mr. Walter Thomas Mills, then editor of The Statesman magazine. He at once urged me to write out my proposal, and let him print it in his periodical. In a paper dated Sept. 20, 1889, I complied with his request, and that paper was published in The Statesman for October of that year. In that first statement of the World's Congress scheme, the following paragraphs were contained:

The crowning glory of the World's Fair of 1892 should not be the exhibit then to be made of the material triumphs, industrial achievements, and mechanical victories of man, however magnificent that display may be. Something higher and nobler is demanded by the enlightened and progressive spirit of the present age.

In connection with that important event, the world of government, jurisprudence, finance, science, literature, education, and religion should be represented in a Congress of statesmen, jurists, financiers, scientists, literati, teachers, and theologians, greater in numbers and more widely representative of “peoples, nations, and tongues” than any assemblage which has ever yet been convened.

The benefits of such a Parliament of Nations would be higher and more conducive to the welfare of mankind than those which would flow from the material exposition, though it would not be easy to exaggerate the powerful impetus that will be given by the latter to commerce, and to all the arts by which toil is lightened, the fruits of labor increased, and the comforts of life augmented.

For such a congress, convened under circumstances so auspicious, would surpass all previous efforts to bring about a real fraternity of nations, and unite the enlightened people of the whole earth in a general coöperation for the attainment of the great ends for which human society is organized.

The same article also enumerated some of the great themes that would naturally be considered on the proposed occasion, and this list of subjects was the basis of the subsequent organization of the general departments of the World's Congress work.

The proposal was received with great public favor, and on Oct. 15, 1889, a general committee of organization was appointed, with the writer of this paper as chairman, to carry the project into effect. The present occasion does not require, and the time and space at command do not permit any general sketch of the World's Congress work. Only that part of it which relates to the Religious Congresses can now have more than merely incidental notice, and what relates to them must be but briefly mentioned, for told at length it would fill volumes.

Special committees were appointed to make arrangements for different congresses, and it soon became apparent that a larger and more independent organization would be required. Accordingly on Oct. 30, 1890, “the World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition” was formed, with the writer as President, and a membership composed of the members of all the working committees. These committees were appointed from time to time as required. More than two hundred such committees of organization took part in the World's Congress work. Their aggregate membership was about sixteen hundred persons. These committees were assisted by Advisory Councils of eminent persons, selected from the various participating countries, and by committees of cooperation representing participating societies and institutions. Thus the work of organizing the World's Congress of 1893 was made truly international.

The Preliminary Committee on the proposed World's Congress was composed of ten persons, one of whom was Rev. John Henry Barrows, D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. After a careful consideration of the whole subject, and a painstaking review of all available names, I appointed Dr. Barrows Chairman of the Committee of Organization on Religious Congresses. This appointment was accepted on Dec. 31, 1889. The Committee was completed by the appointment and acceptance of fifteen additional members:

The Rt. Rev. Bishop William E. McLaren, D.D., D.C.L., Protestant Episcopal Church; and Rev. Prof. David Swing, Chicago Central Church, Independent, Vice-Chairmen of the Committee; His Grace the Most Rev. P. A. Feehan, Catholic Archbishop of Chicago; Rev. Dr. F. A. Noble, Congregational Church; Rev. Dr. William M. Lawrence, Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. F. M. Bristol, Methodist Church; Rev. Dr. A. J. Can-field, Universalist Church; Rev. M. C. Ranseen, Swedish Lutheran Church; Rev. J. Berger, German Methodist Church; Rev. J. Z. Torgersen, Norwegian Lutheran Church; Rt. Rev. Bishop Charles E. Cheney, Reformed Episcopal Church; Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, Jewish Church; Rev. L. P. Mercer, New-Jerusalem Church; Jonathan W. Plummer, Friends' Church; Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Unitarian Church, Secretary of the Committee.

In addition to this General Committee on Religious Congresses, a special Committee was appointed to make arrangements for the Congress of each participating denomination. Instead of enlarging the original committee by adding a representative of each religious organization which subsequently came forward to take part in the work, it was deemed best to provide for the cooperation of the chairmen of the various denominations committees with the General Committee, in making the arrangements for the Union Congress of all Religions.

In the “Preliminary Publication” of the organization of the “Department of Religion” by the President of the World's Congress Auxiliary, the object in view was declared and the duties of the General Committee were defined in these words:

To unite all Religion against all irreligion; to make the Golden Rule the basis of this union; to present to the world in the Religious Congresses to be held in connection with the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the substantial unity of many religions in the good deeds of the religious life; to provide for a World's Parliament of Religions in which their common aims and common grounds of union may be set forth, and the marvellous religious progress of the nineteenth century be reviewed; and to facilitate separate and independent Congresses of different religious denominations and organization, under their own officers, in which their business may be transacted, their achievements presented, and their work for the future considered.

To that Committee I also mentioned the following themes to indicate the general scope of the Department of Religion, and to elicit the suggestions of the Committees, Advisory Councils, Honorary Members, and others interested, to be utilized in making the final arrangements for the proposed Religious Congresses:

a. The idea of God, its influence and consolations.

b. The evidences of the existence of God, especially those which are calculated to meet the agnosticism of the present time.

c. That evils of life are to be shunned as sins against God.⁸²

d. That the moral law should be obeyed as necessary to human happiness, and because such is the will of the Creator.

e. That the influence of Religion on family life is to make it virtuous and pure.

f. That the influence of Religion on the community is to establish justice, promote harmony, and increase the general welfare.

g. That the influence of Religion on the State is to repress evil, vice, and disorder in all their forms, and to promote the safety and happiness of the people.

h. That conscience is not a safe guide unless enlightened by Religion and guided by sound reason.⁸³

i. That of a truth God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him.

j. That throughout the world the substantial fruits of sincere religion include the following: improved personal character, better citizenship, better business methods, nearly all the works of charity, improved domestic order, greater public peace, etc.

k. That the weekly Rest Day is indispensable to religious liberty and the general welfare of the people.

l. The triumphs of Religion in all ages.

m. The present state of Religion throughout the world, including its marvellous advances during the present century.

n. The statistics of churches as an answer to the alleged prevalence of infidelity.

o. The dominance of Religion in the higher institutions of learning.

p. The actual harmony of Science and Religion, and the origin and nature of the alleged conflict between them.

q. The influence of Religious Missions on the commerce of the world.

r. The influence of Religion on literature and art.

s. The coming unity of mankind, in the service of God and of man.

t. That there is an influx from God into the mind of every man, teaching that there is a God, and that He should be worshipped and obeyed; and that as the light of the sun is differently received by different objects, so the light of Divine revelation is differently received by different minds, and hence arise varieties in the forms of religion.⁸⁴

u. That those who believe in these things may work together for the welfare of mankind, notwithstanding they may differ in the opinions they hold respecting God, His revelation and manifestation, and that such fraternity does not require a surrender of the points of difference.⁸⁵ The Christian, believing in the Supreme Divinity of Christ, may so unite with the Jew who devoutly believes in the Jehovah of Israel; the Quaker with the High Church Episcopalian; the Catholic with the Methodist, the Baptist with the Unitarian; etc.

With much anxiety I called that Committee together for an opening Conference, and explained the basis of the proposed union Congress, and the equal importance of the accompanying denominational conventions. To my great delight I found the Committee in full accord with my views, and ready to go forward in the completion and execution of the necessary plans. From that time forth the work proceeded silently and with power, as a great river sweeps onward to the sea. The movement was manifestly in the stream of the Divine Providence⁸⁶ and carried forward by its mighty tide.

Dr. Barrows very soon proved his marvellous fitness for the great task entrusted to him, and devoted himself to it with a tireless energy that assured success. He prepared a “Preliminary Address” for the Committee, announcing its purposes to the Religious world, and procured the approval of that address by each member of the Committee. That remarkable document, bearing the names of a Jewish Rabbi, a Catholic Archbishop, Protestant Bishops and Clergy, both orthodox and liberal, a Quaker, and a New-Churchman, was printed for the Committee, and thousands of copies distributed throughout the world, with many hundreds of letters written by Dr. Barrows and his associates to the religious leaders of the different countries.

From the issuance of this proclamation, the movement for the proposed religious congresses was a triumphal march. It is nevertheless true that there was opposition, but it was unavailing against the manifest will of God that a great advance in the religious unity of mankind should be accomplished in the year 1893. The responses received from every part of the world were most inspiring.

Under date of Feb. 25, 1892, Dr. Barrows submitted a report of progress which was printed and widely circulated, from which the following paragraph is taken, to indicate the good tidings which it conveyed:

The General Committee which you appointed, and whose names appear in the letter of invitation which we have sent to all parts of the earth, is, as you know, the most broadly representative that ever signed a religious manifesto. You will be glad to be informed that the Committee are in hearty sympathy with the ideas expressed by you at our opening conference. It is our expectation that the Parliament of Religious will be the most important, commanding, and influential, as surely it will be the most phenomenal fact of the Columbian Exposition. The spirit of fraternity is growing among the nations, and among the churches of Christendom. It is a common thing for Catholics and Protestants, Churchmen and Dissenters, the Orthodox and the non-Orthodox to confer and even work together along lines of moral reform. But now it is proposed to assemble, in an Ecumenical Conference, the representatives of all the great historic faiths; and you will be glad to hear that the proposed Parliament of Religious has awakened favorable responses from many of the religious leaders of mankind.

In the course of this report, extracts from numerous letters were given to show the heartiness of the cooperation assured. Mr. Gladstone sent his cordial good wishes for the Christian and philanthropic effort. The poet Whittier wrote: “The idea seems to me an inspiration.” Cardinal Gibbons wrote: “The movement is worthy of all encouragement and praise. I rejoice to learn that the project for a Religious Congress at Chicago, in 1893, has already won the sympathies and enlisted the active cooperation of those in the front rank of human thought and progress, even in other lands than ours. If conducted with moderation and good will, such a Congress may result, by the blessing of Divine Providence, in benefits more far reaching than the most sanguine could dare to hope.” Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale said: “I cannot but believe that the moral and spiritual results of the Exposition are to be its important results.” The venerable Dr. Richard S. Storrs wrote: “I am most heartily in sympathy with the plan of Religious Congresses in connection with the Columbian Exposition.” Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes sent his best wishes for the success of a forward movement in the cause of human brotherhood and sympathy. President George Washburn, of Robert College, Constantinople, wrote: “It will be something to bring together Catholics, Jews, and Protestants of different denominations, but the Congress should also include representatives of the Eastern Churches, Mohammedans, and the Indian and Chinese Religions…. The Holy Spirit leads men of the most diverse faiths to the knowledge of our common Father.” President Alexander Tison, of the Imperial Law School of Tokyo, Japan, wrote: “I shall be glad to help you all I can in getting some representative, English-speaking Buddhist to go from Japan to Chicago in 1893.” Prof. D. W. Simon, of Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote: “The idea of the Congresses commands my heartiest sympathy.” Hon. Justice Ameer Ali, of Calcutta, India, wrote: “I regard your programme as marking an epoch in the history of religious development.” President A. M. Fairbairn, of Mansfield College, Oxford, wrote: “I think the scheme of great promise and interest.” Prof. Frederick Godet, of Switzerland, Count Goblet D'Alviella, of Belgium, and Lord Egerton, of England, also severally sent their warm approval and good wishes. The report also contained similar expressions from many other leaders of human progress, including Archbishop Ireland, of Saint Paul; Archbishop Ryan, of Philadelphia; Bishop Huntington, of New York; Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota; Bishop Vincent, of Chautauqua; Bishop Keane, Rector of the Catholic University of America; President Angell, of the University of Michigan; President Northrop, of the University of Minnesota; President Bartlett, of Dartmouth College; President Gates, of Amherst College; Bishop Clark, of Rhode Island; Bishop Scarborough, of New Jersey; Bishop Sullivan, of Canada; Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott; Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden; Rev. Dr. Josiah Strong; Rev. Dr. Philip Schaff; Prof. Lazarus, of the University of Berlin; Prof. Commer, of the University of Breslau; Prof. Orelli, of the University of Basle; Prof. Bascom, of Williams College; Prof. Park, of Andover; Principal Grant, of Queen's University, Canada; Dr. William Miller, of Christian College, Madras, South India; Principal John Cairns, of Edinburgh; Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, of Manchester New College, Oxford; and Count Matteo Prochet, of the Evangelical Waldensian Church.

Thus the success of the Congresses planned for the department of Religion in the World's Congress scheme was practically assured long in advance of the time fixed for their meetings. The success of the Union Congress called the Parliament of Religions, was a sufficient guaranty that the denominational Congresses would also be satisfactory. For these denominational Congresses were planned to anticipate and answer the charge that by taking part in the Union Congress any church had abandoned or compromised its own peculiar faith.

Dr. Barrows's report in behalf of the General Committee closed with the following cheering words: “Your Committee thankfully recognize the constant assistance given them by you in the prosecution of their enormous undertaking. We believe that the hope expressed by Cardinal Gibbons will be realized; that the expectations of the most sanguine of those who gave their minds to this plan a year ago will be dwarfed by the gigantic realities; that the Congresses of Religion that shall meet in 1893 will be so noteworthy as to make an epoch in history, and be prophetic of that unity of the nations which the English laureate foresaw in singing of the golden time:

When the war-drums throb no longer, and the battle-flags are furled, In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the World.

A large Advisory Council, composed of eminent representatives of faith and morals, selected from the different countries, was appointed to aid the local Committee in making the necessary arrangements, especially in forming the programme for the great occasion.

The report also proposed certain general rules and regulations for the government of the Parliament of Religions. These were approved, and became the law under which the Congress was convened.

It was declared that—

1. Those taking part in the Parliament are to conform to the limitations and directions of the General Committee on Religious Congresses of the World's Congress Auxiliary; and they are carefully to observe the spirit and principles set forth in the Preliminary Address of this Committee.

2. The speakers accepting the invitation of the General Committee will state their own beliefs, and the reasons for them, with the greatest frankness, without, however, employing unfriendly criticisms of other Faiths.

3. The Parliament is to be made a grand international assembly for mutual conference, fellowship, and information; and not for controversy, for worship, for the counting of votes, or for the passing of resolutions.

4. The proceedings of the Parliament will be conducted in the English language.

5. Preceding the meetings of the Parliament will be daily morning conferences, purely religious and devotional, under suitable leaders, thus enabling those naturally affiliated to worship together.

6. The evening meetings will be devoted partly to the practical problems of the age, partly to the meetings of non-Christian Religionists who may desire to confer together, and partly to the sessions of a Parliament of Christendom, at which all those who recognize the moral and spiritual leadership of Jesus, shall discuss the relationship of all believers in Him to one another, and to the needs of the world.⁸⁷

The objects of the World's Parliament of Religions were also restated and more explicitly defined, in the light of the correspondence to which reference has been made. Those objects have now become of such great historic interest, that I deem it important to introduce them here. They will somewhat explain the readiness with which so many eminent representatives of the great religious of the world agreed to take an active part in the proposed Religious Congress. Dr. Barrows says:

After full consideration and conference with representative members of the Advisory Council, your Committee propose the following statement of the objects of the World's Parliament of Religions:

1. To bring together in conference, for the first time in history, the leading representatives of the great Historic Religions of the world.

2. To show men, in the most impressive way, what and now many truths the various religions hold and teach in common.

3. To promote and deepen the spirit of human brotherhood among religious men of diverse faith, through friendly conference and mutual good understanding, while not seeking to foster the temper of indifferentism, and not striving to achieve any formal and outward unity.

4. To set forth, by those most competent to speak, what are deemed the important distinctive truths held and taught by each Religion, and by the various chief branches of Christendom.

5. To indicate the impregnable foundations of Theism, and the reasons for man's faith in Immortality, and thus to unite and strengthen the forces which are adverse to a materialistic philosophy of the universe.

6. To secure from leading scholars representing the Brahman, Buddhist, Confucian, Parsee, Mohammedan, Jewish, and other Faiths, and from representatives of the various Churches of Christendom, full and accurate statements of the spiritual and other effects of the Religions which they hold, upon the Literature, Art, Commerce, and Government, and the Domestic and Social Life of the peoples among whom these Faiths have prevailed.

7. To inquire what light each Religion has afforded, or may afford to the other Religions of the world.

8. To set forth, for permanent record to be published to the world, an accurate and authoritative account of the present condition and outlook of Religion among the leading nations of the earth.

9. To discover, from competent men, what light Religion has to throw on the great problems of the present age, especially the important questions connected with Temperance, Labor, Education, Wealth, and Poverty.

10. To bring the nations of the earth into a more friendly fellowship, in the hope of securing permanent international peace.

This statement was accepted and approved, as embracing all the essential features of the great work then in course of organization, and the Parliament of Religions was accordingly convened for the execution of the definite purposes expressed in the declaration above set forth. Those who were requested to take part were thus explicitly informed of the nature and limitations of the convocation to which they were invited. When the World's Congresses of 1893 were first proposed, it was thought that the leaders of progress in all departments could be assembled in Chicago for a few weeks to hold a series of union and department sessions, but it soon became manifest that the work must be extended through the whole Exposition season, and that each general department must be assigned to a separate date from the others, except a few cases of kindred departments which could be accommodated at the same time. The first general assignment of the Congresses for the six months of the season, included in the arrangements for June, the Congresses of Religion. But it was found impracticable to bring the religious leaders of distant lands to Chicago so early in the year, and it was finally decided to hold the Congresses of that department in the month of September, and the first half of October. So many assignments for the midsummer months had previously been made, that neither July nor August was then at disposal. The General Committee of Organization now devoted all its energies, under the leadership of Dr. Barrows, to the incomparably difficult task of making a working Programme for the Parliament of Religions, by formulating specific subjects to be presented in the sessions, and making actual engagements with selected leaders to prepare papers upon the particular themes assigned to them. The marvellous success of that work will be noticed below.

In the meantime the applications from the different Religious Denominations for an opportunity to present their faith and achievements in separate Congresses, had become so numerous that it became plain that this part of the great undertaking would also be crowned with a most gratifying success. Committees were appointed to make arrangements and prepare programmes for the various organizations, including the Jewish Church, the Catholic Church, the Catholic Societies, the General Council of the United Norwegian Church, the Welsh Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Congregational Church, the Universalist Church, the Lutheran General Synod, the Disciples of Christ, the New-Jerusalem Church, the Advent Christian Church, the United Brethren Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, the Unitarian Church, the Evangelical Association Church, the Friends' Church (Orthodox), the Friends' Church (Liberal), the Christian Scientists, the Free Religious Association, the Reformed Church, the African Methodist Church, the King's Daughters and Sons, the German Evangelical Synod, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the International Board of Women's Christian Associations, the Missionary Societies, the Young Women's Christian Association, the Theosophists, the National Christian Association, the Ethical Societies, the Sunday Rest Organizations, and the Evangelical Alliance. These organizations held their Congresses for the most part in the order in which they are named. Most of them also participated in the Union Congress called the Parliament of Religions. There were also separate Congresses of Jewish Women, Lutheran Women, Congregationalist Women, and Women's Missionary Societies, besides some other sessions in which women took a leading part. By the courtesy of the General Committee on Religious Congresses, cheerfully accorded, the Congress on Evolution was held during the time allotted to that Committee.

It is but simple justice to declare that the cordial coöperation of the women of the various churches largely contributed to the great success of the Religious Congresses of 1893. Never before did woman have so large and noble a part in a series of religious assemblages; and never before did she acquit herself in a manner deserving of higher praise. There was also a Woman's General Committee on Religious Congresses, of which Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, Universalist, was Chairman.

In most cases there was also a church committee of women, corresponding to and cooperating with the committee of men in the organization of each denominational congress. In view of the fact that church membership is so largely composed of women, it was deemed highly appropriate for them to have such formal recognition and active duties in the Religious Congresses of 1893.

Committees of Organization were also appointed for the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Baptist Church, and the Christian Endeavor Societies, but these bodies did not hold separate denominational congresses. The two churches named were, however, conspicuously represented by eminent speakers in the Parliament of Religions; and the Christian Endeavor movement in the Missions Congress by the president of its chief organization.

With wonderful harmony and zeal the work of preparation went forward, and early in the World's Congress season it became manifest that the Religious Congresses would realize the expectations in regard to them, and crown the whole World's Congress scheme with a great and splendid success.

The first Religious Congress held was that of the Jewish Church, which commenced its sessions on Sunday, Aug. 27, 1893. I had the great felicity of presiding at the opening meeting, and delivering an address of welcome which was most cordially received, and which it seems to me should here be given as the best possible exemplification of the fundamental principle of the Union Congress of all Religions. I shall always remember the blessings with which my Christian greetings were acknowledged.

MASTERS AND TEACHERS OF ISRAEL: OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH DENOMINATIONAL CONGRESS OF 1893:

The providence of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who created man in His own image, and gave him from Sinai's glory-crowned summit the law of a righteous life, has so ordered the arrangements for the Religious Congresses to be held under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition, that without any special plan to that end, this Congress of the Jewish Church is the first of the series…. Thus the Mother Church from which all the Christian Denominations trace their lineage, and which stands in the history of mankind as the especial exponent of that august and triumphant theism, has been called upon to open the Religious Congresses of 1893.

But far more important and significant is the fact that this arrangement has been made, and this Congress is now formally opened and welcomed, by as ultra and ardent a Christian as the world contains. It is because I am a Christian, and the Chairman of the General Committee of Organization of the Religious Congresses is a Christian, and a large majority of that Committee are Christians, that this day deserves to stand gold-bordered in human history, as one of the signs that a new age of brotherhood and peace has truly come.

We know that you are Jews, while we are Christians and would have all men so; but of all the precious liberties which free men enjoy, the highest is the freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience; and this great liberty is the right, not of some men only, but of all—not of Christians, merely, but of Jews and Gentiles as well. I desire from all men respect for my religious convictions, and claim for myself and mine the right to enjoy them without molestation; and my Master has commanded me that whatsoever I would have another do to me, I should also do to him. What, therefore, I ask for myself, a Christian, I must give to you as Jews. Our differences of opinion and belief are between ourselves and God, the Judge and Father of us all. Through all the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament we walk side by side, revering the creation, journeying through the wilderness, chanting the psalms, and inspired by the prophecies; and if we part at the threshhold of the Gospels, it shall not be with anger, but with love, and a grateful remembrance of our long and pleasant journey from Genesis to Malachi.

The supreme significance of this Congress and the others is that they herald the death of persecution throughout the world, and proclaim the coming reign of civil and religious liberty.

Oh Religion! Religion! how many crimes have been committed in thy name! The crimes committed in the name of Liberty are but few in comparison.

Against religious persecution all the religions in the world should be united, and support each other with unfailing zeal. This is not saying that all religions are of equal worth. This is not saying that any one should yield one jot or tittle of his own peculiar faith. It is quite the contrary. For it is only when one is protected in his proper liberties, and can act from freedom according to reason,’⁸⁸ that he can properly examine his own faith or that of his fellow-men. With perfect religious liberty, with comprehensive and adequate education, and a life according to the great Commandments, mankind will come into closer and closer relations, into a better and better understanding of their social, political, and religious differences, and the living power of the truth, guided by the Sovereign Providence of God, will more and more make the whole world one in brotherhood and service, and finally one in religious faith.

Henceforth the leaders of mankind will seek, not for points of difference but for grounds of union, striving earnestly to know the truth, that the truth may make them free from the bondage of prejudice and error, and more and more efficient in advancing the enlightenment and welfare of the world.

With these sentiments I welcome the Jewish Denominational Congress of 1893.

Of the responses to this address, I will only say at this time, that I wish all Christendom could have heard them and the leading discourse of the day which followed them, and to which I would make further reference if the limits of this article would permit. The remaining space must be devoted to a brief notice of the Parliament of Religions.

The first session of this august assembly was held on Monday morning, Sept. 11, 1893. The day arrived. The programme for seventeen days had been prepared, the participants from all parts of the world had come, an intense public interest had been aroused, and a great audience filled the Memorial Art Palace, anxiously seeking for seats in the Hall of Columbus. Hundreds of trained and skillful pens have tried to describe the wonderful opening scene, but I think all who were present will agree that no description can convey an adequate idea of the inspiring majesty of the actual event. The assembling of religious leaders in the President's office and reception hall; the gracious interchange of friendly greetings; the formation of the imposing procession to the platform of Columbus Hall; the stately march through the great throng of expectant people that reverently parted to make an open way; the appropriate grouping of representatives in arranging the platform, with Cardinal Gibbons the highest in rank of the attending ecclesiastical dignitaries on the President's right, and Rev. Dr. Barrows, Chairman of the Parliament, on his left; the great audience, a living sea of eager human souls; the spontaneous outbursts of applause, softened by the solemnity of the occasion; the opening of the ceremonies at a sign from the President, by chanting the Doxology with the organ accompaniment, followed by the hymn “Before Jehovah's Awful Throne”; the announcement of a few moments of silent prayer, to be followed by the Universal Prayer, led by the American Cardinal; the grandeur and pathos of that union of hearts and voices from all parts of the world in the appeal to “our Father Who art in the Heavens”; the addresses of welcome and the addresses in reply; the quick and sympathetic responses of the audience to the noblest utterances of the orators; the moral and intellectual beauty and dignity of the heads and faces that glorified the great hall with the very bloom and fruitage of human progress—what words can adequately picture and reproduce such incomparable scenes as these?

A brief outline of the programme given is in my opening address to the Parliament, and it seems to me that I cannot write any new words which will convey so true and idea of the occasion as will those which I used in that address, which are, therefore, here reproduced.

WORSHIPPERS OF GOD AND LOVERS OF MAN:
Let us rejoice that we have lived to see this glorious day; let us give thanks to the Eternal God, Whose mercy endureth forever, that we are permitted to take part in the solemn and majestic event of a World's Congress of Religions. The importance of this event cannot be overestimated. Its influence on the future relations of the various races of men cannot be too highly esteemed.

If this Congress shall faithfully execute the duties with which it has been charged, it will become a joy of the whole earth and stand in human history like a new Mount Zion, crowned with glory and making the actual beginning of a new epoch of brotherhood and peace.

For when the religious faiths of the world recognize each other as brothers, children of one Father, whom all profess to love and serve, then, and not till then, will the nations of the earth yield to the spirit of concord and learn war no more.

It is inspiring to think that in every part of the world many of the worthiest of mankind, who would gladly join us here if that were in their power, this day lift their hearts to the Supreme Being in earnest prayer for the harmony and success of this Congress. To them our own hearts speak in love and sympathy of this impressive and prophetic scene.

In this Congress the word ‘religion’ means the love and worship of God and the love and service of man. We believe the Scripture that ‘of a truth God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.’ We come together in mutual confidence and respect, without the least surrender or compromise of anything which we respectively believe to be truth or duty, with the hope that mutual acquaintance and a free and sincere interchange of views on the great questions of eternal life and human conduct will be mutually beneficial.

♦

The religious faiths of the world have most seriously misunderstood and misjudged each other, from the use of words in meanings radically different from those which they were intended to bear, and from a disregard of the distinctions between appearances and facts, between signs and symbols and the things signified and represented. Such errors it is hoped that this Congress will do much to correct and to render hereafter impossible.

The programme for the Religious Congresses of 1893 constitutes what may, with perfect propriety, be designated as one of the most remarkable publications of the century. The programme of this General Parliament of Religions directly represents England, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Syria, India, Japan, China, Ceylon, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, and the American States, and indirectly includes many other countries. This remarkable programme presents, among other great themes to be considered in this Congress, Theism, Judaism, Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, Catholicism, the Greek Church, Protestantism in many forms, and also refers to the nature and influence of other religious systems.

This programme also announces for presentation the great subjects of revelation, immortality, the Incarnation of God, the universal elements in religion, the ethical unity of different religious systems, the relations of religion to morals, marriage, education, science, philosophy, evolution, music, labor, government, peace, and war, and many other themes of absorbing interest. The distinguished leaders of human progress by whom these great topics will be presented constitute an unparalleled galaxy of eminent names, but we may not pause to call the illustrious roll.

The third part of the general programme for the Congresses of this department consists of separate and independent congresses of the different religious denominations for the purpose of more fully setting forth their doctrines and the service they have rendered to mankind. These special congresses will be held, for the most part, in the smaller halls of this Memorial Building. A few of them have, for special reasons, already been held. It is the special object of these Denominational Congresses to afford opportunities for further information to all who may desire it. The leaders of these several churches most cordially desire the attendance of the representatives of other religions. The Denominational Congresses will each be held during the week in which the presentation of the denomination will occur.

The fourth and final part of the programme of the department of religion will consist of congresses of various kindred organizations. These congresses will be held between the close of the Parliament of Religions and Oct. 15, and will include Missions, Ethics, Sunday Rest, the Evangelical Alliance, and similar associations. The Congress on Evolution should, in regularity, have been held in the department of science, but circumstances prevented, and it has been given place in this department by the courtesy of the Committee of Organization.

Let one other point be clearly stated. While the members of this Congress meet, as men, on a common ground of perfect equality, the ecclesiastical rank of each, in his own church, is at the same time gladly recognized and respected, as the just acknowledgment of his services and attainments. But no attempt is here made to treat all religious as of equal merit. Any such idea is expressly disclaimed. In this Congress, each system of religions stands by itself in its own perfect integrity, uncompromised, in any degree, by its relation to any other. In the language of the preliminary publication in the department of religion, we seek in this Congress ‘to unite all religion against all irreligion; to make the Golden Rule the basis of this union; and to present to the world the substantial unity of many religions in the good deeds of the religious life/Without controversy, or any attempt to pronounce judgment upon any matter of faith or worship or religious opinion, we seek a better knowledge of the religious condition of all mankind, with an earnest desire to be useful to each other and to all others who love truth and righteousness.

♦

To this more than imperial feast, I bid you welcome.

We meet on the mountain height of absolute respect for the religious convictions of each other; and an earnest desire for a better knowledge of the consolations which other forms of faith than our own offer to their devotees. The very basis of our convocation is the idea that the representatives of each religion sincerely believe that it is the truest and the best of all; and that they will, therefore, hear with perfect candor and without fear, the convictions of other sincere souls on the great questions of the immortal life.

This day the sun of a new era of religious peace and progress rises over the world, dispelling the dark clouds of sectarian strife.

This day a new flower blooms in the gardens of religious thought, filling the air with its exquisite perfume.

This day a new fraternity is born into the world of human progress, to aid in the upbuilding of the kingdom of God in the hearts of men.

Era and flower and fraternity bear one name. It is a name which will gladden the hearts of those who worship God and love man in every clime. Those who hear its music, joyfully echo it back to sun and flower.

IT IS THE BROTHERHOOD OF RELIGIONS.

In this name I welcome the First Parliament of the Religions of the “World.”

Of the stupendous work of the Religious Congresses of 1893, there is not now space in which to speak. It may be said, however, that in the dignity, importance, and comprehensiveness of the themes presented; the eminence, eloquence, power, and representative character of the speakers; the decorum, sympathy, and intense interest of the great audiences; the constant increase of mutual respect, affection, and courtesy; and in convincing assurances that the whole world will be greatly benefited and uplifted by the proceedings, the World's Parliament of Religions is entitled to the very highest rank in the whole history of public assemblies. The spirit of peace and concord was so all-pervading and potent that both speakers and audiences felt and acknowledged its sovereign power.

Such was the Genesis of the World's Religious Congresses of 1893.

—CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY

* This text is from The New-Church Review (January 1894), pp. 73–100.

A World's Congress at the Worlds Fair

Mr. Bonney's Proposal*

CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY

TO EDITORS OF THE STATESMAN:

The crowning glory of the 1892 World's Fair should not be the exhibit then to be made of the material triumphs, industrial achievements and mechanical victories of man, however magnificent that display may be. Something higher and nobler is demanded by the enlightened and progressive spirit of the present age.

In connection with that important event, the world of government, jurisprudence, finance, science, literature, education and religion should be represented in a congress of statesmen, jurists, financiers, scientists, literati, teachers and theologians, greater in numbers and more widely representative of “peoples, nations and tongues,” than any assemblage which has ever yet been convened.

The benefits of such a parliament of nations would be higher and more conducive to the welfare of mankind, than those which would flow from the material exposition, though it would not be easy to exaggerate the powerful impetus that will be given by the latter to commerce, and all the arts by which toil is lightened, the fruits of labor increased, and the comforts of life augmented.

For such a congress, convened under circumstances so auspicious, would surpass all previous efforts to bring about a real fraternity of nations, and unite the enlightened people of the whole earth in a general co-operation for the attainment of the great ends for which human society is organized.

It is impossible to estimate the advantages that would result from the mere establishment of personal acquaintance and friendly relations among the leaders of the intellectual world who now, for the most part, know each other only through the interchange of publications and perhaps the formalities of correspondence.

Among the great themes that such a congress would naturally consider, are the following:

I.    The grounds of fraternal union in the language, literature, domestic life, science and art of different peoples.

II.   The practicability of a common language, for use in the commercial relations of the civilized world.

III.  Educational systems, their advantages and their defects; and the means by which they may best be adapted to the recent enormous increase in all departments of knowledge.

IV.   International copy-right and the laws of intellectual property and commerce.

V.    Immigration and naturalization laws, and the proper privileges of alien governments and their subjects or citizens.

VI.  The most efficient and advisable means of preventing or decreasing pauperism, insanity and crime; and of increasing productive ability, prosperity and virtue throughout the world.

VII. The establishment of the principles of judicial justice, as the supreme law of international relations; and the general substitution of arbitration for war, in the settlement of international controversies.

It almost seems as though the great Chicago Auditorium, one of the most complete and imposing buildings of its kind in the world, has been providentially provided for such a congress. In that superb structure the world, that lavished its sympathy and treasure on the flame-swept Chicago of 1871, might well receive the gratitude and the hospitality of the rebuilt and enlarged Chicago of 1892.

—Chicago, September 20, 1889.

[This proposal is followed by brief supportive letters from Judge L. D. Thomas, Ex-Commissioner of the Civil Service, Prof David Swing, E. Nelson Blake, Ex-President of the Chicago Board of Trade, Thos. B. Bryan, Chairman of Chicago National Agitation Committee on the World's Exposition of 1892, Rev. P. S. Henson, D. D., and Rev. John H. Barrows, D. D. The last named cites the Tennyson line that became somewhat of a watchword for the Parliament, “the parliament of man, the federation of the world.”]

* This text is from The Statesman: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Problems of Practical Politics, Co-operative Industry and Self-Help. Vol. VI, No. 1 (October 6, 1889), pp. 1–3.

NOTES

1. In an article headed “Sell the cook-stove if necessary, but come to the Fair,” in The Smithsonian, Vol. 24 (June 1993), pp. 38–51, Phil Patton states:

No world's fair before or since has captured the national imagination quite as completely…. The Exposition was one of the epochal events of its time. It is hard for us today to grasp the impact a simple world's fair could have on the nation—an impact combining the appeal of a moon launch and the bicentennial celebration. In its half-year of existence, it drew 27 million visitors—a number approaching half the American population (p. 38).

Regarding the Parliament itself, note for example, the laudatory reference to it by Vladimir Solovyov in his War, Progress, and the End of History: Three Conversations including a Short Story of the Anti-Christ (orig. pub. in 1900), trans. Alexander Bashky (Hudson, N.Y.: Lindisfarne, 1990) pp. 110f. Arguing against the assumption that the more cultured nations ought to dominate the less cultured, one of the proponents says:

Were the Americans, when they rose against the English to win independence, in any way distinguished in culture?…And yet, even Lafayette sympathized with them, and he was right, because now, for instance, in Chicago, they have managed not only to unite all the religions, but they have exhibited them into the bargain. Nobody has ever seen such a thing before. Paris wanted to gather together its religions for the coming exhibition but nothing came of it, as you doubtless know…. Then our Nepliuev also tried, and ended by becoming disappointed in every religion…. However, the Americans managed their business very well indeed. Each creed sent them a clergyman. A Catholic bishop was made chairperson. He read them the Lord's Prayer in English, and the Buddhist and Chinese priests and idolaters responded to him with complete courtesy. ‘Oh yes! All right, Sir [altered from the Bashky translation to accord with the original, which for these five words is in English]! We wish no one evil. We ask only one thing: keep your missionaries as far from our countries as you possibly can. Your religion is exceedingly good for you—and if you do not observe it, it is not our fault—but our religion is the best for us.’ The exhibition finished so well that there was not even a single fight! Everyone was astounded. Now you see how good the American have become!

2. Charles C. Bonney, “The Genesis of the World's Congresses of 1893,” in The New-Church Review, January 1894, p. 73. Hereafter cited as “Genesis…”

3. Richard H. Seager, The Dawn of Religious Pluralism (Chicago: Open Court, 1993). (See also Richard Hughes Seager, “American Religious Pluralism and 1893 World's Parliament of Religions.” in Chrysalis: Journal of the Swedenborg Foundation. Vol. VI, No. 1 (Spring 1991), pp. 2–11.

4. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 75.

5. Ibid., p. 93. In the years following the Parliament, Bonney and fellow Chicagoan Paul Cams particularly tried unsuccessfully to set up structure that would build on this beginning. The New-Church Review (January 1896), under the heading “THE NEXT PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS,” notes that one has been proposed in connection with an Exposition scheduled for Paris in 1900. The proposal was made by Abbe Charbonnel in the Revue de Paris, but the New-Church Review goes on to note a report of papal opposition. For whatever reason—perhaps primarily because of the immense labor involved in the planning process—no such sequel occurred.

In an article in The Monist, Vol. V., No. 3 (April 1895), pp. 321–44, Bonney noted: Even before the World's Parliament of Religions was closed, a movement was almost spontaneously made for an extension of its beneficent and far-reaching influences. Preliminary committees were appointed and several meetings held with that end in view, and it was decided that the attempt should be made to extend the enthusiasm and blessings of this unprecedented reunion of men of all kinds of faith who had gathered at Chicago from all quarters of the globe—an event which proved a Pentecost, and in wide circles, awakened a powerful religious revival. It was agreed that the name of the organization should be “THE WORLD'S RELIGION PARLIAMENT EXTENSION,” and as a motto the word of Isaiah i, 18 was adopted: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.”

Of the Local Committee, Dr. Frank M. Bristol, of the Methodist Church of Evanston, Ill. is the Chairman, and Dr. Paul Carus, Editor of The Monist, is the Secretary. Of the Associate Committee of women, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Herbert is Chairman, and Mrs. Frederick Hawkins, Secretary.

Bonney's article is followed by a related essay by Paul Carus on “The World's Religious Parliament Extension” (pp. 345–353).

6. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 94.

7. Ibid., p. 96.

8. Ibid., p. 99.

9. The Hamilton [N.Y.] Republican, Thursday, October 1, 1903. Reprinted there from The Open Court, identified only as “a magazine printed in Chicago.” The Open Court publishing house was founded by the Paul Carus mention in note 4, supra, with world religions as one of its principal interests.

10. Charles C. Bonney, “A World's Congress at the World's Fair:…Mr. Bonney's Proposal,” in The Statesman: A Monthly Magazine devoted to the Problems of Practical Politics, Cooperative Industry and Self-Help, Vol. VI, No. 1 (October 1889), p. 1.

11. Cited in The New Jerusalem Magazine (December 1893), pp. 749f. It is there attributed to The Independent, which is not further identified. Bonney seems in fact to have attracted more attention and “mingled” more than The Independent realized. F. B. Wilkie had written of in 1871: “As a lawyer Mr. Bonney has a wide reputation, his character as an advocate, and his legal writings, have frequently been the subject of favorable comment, in the public press of this, and of other States” (in Sketches and Notes of the Chicago Bar [Chicago: n.p., 1871], p. 35). In his “Genesis…” article, p. 78, Bonney states:

For many years before the World Columbian Exposition was proposed, I enjoyed the inestimable benefits of an intimate and cordial association with members and ministers of many different denominations, and made public addresses on ‘Law and Order' and ‘Moral and Social Reforms,’ in many different churches. Thus I came to know the distinguishing characteristics of various religious organizations; to respect their sincerity and zeal; to understand the reasons for their peculiar views; to leam that all creeds have meanings which only those who profess them can explain; that the church essential consists in certain Divine things, and not in the ever varying views of men respecting the eternal verities. Thus I came to feel kindly, not only toward the various religious denominations of Christendom, but also in regard to the different religions of the world.

12. Cf. themes e, f, and g in Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 82 for his view of the benefits of religion for the family, the community, and the state. Note also that the schedule for the Parliament, as adopted, called for “…evening meetings…devoted partly to the practical problems of the age (p. 88),” and that the objectives of the Parliament included “To discover, from competent men, what light Religion has to throw on the great problems of the present age, especially the important questions connected with Temperance, Labor, Education, Wealth, and Poverty,” and “To bring the nations of the earth into a more friendly fellowship, in the hope of securing permanent international peace (p. 89).” In his address to the Jewish Congress, Bonney express the belief that “The supreme significance of this Congress and the others is that they herald the death of persecution throughout the world, and proclaim the coming reign of civil and religious liberty (p. 93).” We have no reason to doubt either the sincerity of this belief, nor what subsequent event have shown to be its naivete.

13. Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 528. Swedenborg's theological works are kept in print by the Foundation, which policy yields a variety of publication dates for any given volume. As is customary in Swedenborgian studies, references are not to pages but to paragraph numbers, which are uniform in all editions.

14. Charles C. Bonney, Speech of Charles C. Bonney, of Peoria, against an act entitled an Act to incorporate the Illinois river improvement company. Delivered on behalf of the Common council and citizens of Peoria, at St. Louis, June 23rd, 1857 (Peoria, Illinois: A. B. Foster, 1857).

15. Charles C. Bonney, National regulation of Inter-state Commerce (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1882), p. 20.

16. Ibid., pp. 21f.

17. Ibid., pp. 29ff.

18. Ibid., pp.14.

19. Emanuel Swedenborg, Divine Providence (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 70f.

20. Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 2881.

21. Ibid., ¶ 10802f., published in 1756. Swedenborg goes on to say that public security depends on obedience to the king, but that the king who has absolute power is not a king but a tyrant.

22. Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christian Religion (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 407. Attention to Swedenborg's paranormal experience and theological corpus may obscure the fact that he was an active member of the Riddarhus, the House of Nobles, very much in touch with current issues even quite late in his life. Cf. Daniel W. Goodenough, “A Trust from God. A Survey of Swedenborg's Political Thought,” in Erland J. Brock et al., eds. Swedenborg and His Influence (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania: The Academy of the New Church, 1988), pp. 135–153.

23. Charles C. Bonney, A Great Lawyer (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1881), p. 6.

24. Charles C. Bonney, Practical law reform: the advantages of extending equity remedies. An address delivered before the Illinois State Bar Association (Springfield, Ill.: H. W. Rokker's Publishing House, 1882), p. 5.

25. Ibid., p. 10.

26. Ibid., p. 11.

27. Ibid.

28. Ibid., p. 13.

29. Charles C. Bonney, A bill for a bankrupt law, with points in its support (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1882).

30. Ibid., p. 11.

31. Ibid., p. 10.

32. Charles C. Bonney, Law reform and the future of the legal profession: Annual address to the Illinois State Bar Association by C. C. Bonney, President, 1883 (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1883), p. 20.

33. Charles C. Bonney, Jury reform: the corruption of the jury system, and the remedy. A speech delivered on behalf of the Citizens' League of Chicago, by C. C. Bonney (Chicago: Cowles and Dunkley, printers, 1882), pp. 5f.

34. Ibid., pp. 9f

35. Ibid., pp. 11.

36. This is a characteristic Swedenborgian phrase: cf, e.g., Arcana Coelestia, ¶¶ 127, 2116², 3701, 4818³, 5185e, 7795³, 8094, and 8148².

37. Bonney, Jury reform…, p. 3.

38. Charles C. Bonney, The Origin and Methods of the Law and Order Movement (n.p.: 1883), p. 57.

39. Ibid., p. 58.

40. Ibid., p. 66.

41. Ibid., p. 67f.

42. The “massacre” grew out of increasingly intense efforts to organize labor, and began with a clash between striking workers of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and strikebreaking workers. When police tried to break up a protest meeting (which included avowed anarchist elements), a bomb was thrown, killing seven policemen and injuring a good many others. The legal trial that ensued filled the news, and the convictions that were obtained were later deemed to have been secured on the basis of the circumstantial evidence.

43. Charles C. Bonney, The present conflict of labor and capital (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1886), p. 10.

44. Ibid., p. 11.

45. Ibid., p. 12.

46. Ibid., pp. 25f., 29.

47. Ibid., pp. 30f.

48. Charles C. Bonney, “International Citizenship,” The Statesman VI/4 (April 1890), p. 6.

49. Ibid., p. 8.

50. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 79.

51. Ibid., p. 82.

52. Prompted by this concern, Bonney published general summaries of the laws concerning marine, fire, and life insurance and concerning railway transport. In the former (A summary of the law of marine, fire and life insurance, with practical forms, modern cases, and computing rules; designed for the guidance of insurance companies, and the convenience of the legal profession [Chicago: E. B. Myers & Chandler, 1865], p. ixf.) he wrote, “Common litigation is a misfortune, alike to lawyer and client, and the golden age of jurisprudence will have come, when clients have the good sense to avail themselves of professional aid, to secure success, instead of blundering on till some misfortune comes, and then seeking such aid to retrieve it.” In the latter (Rules of law for the carriage and delivery of persons and property by railway. With the leading railway statutes and decisions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and the United States [Chicago: E. B. Myers & Chandler, 1864], p. ii), he wrote in a very similar vein, “…I cannot resist the conviction, that a familiarity with the subject-matter of this treatise,… would prevent many of the losses and accidents which now occur; and largely increase the efficiency of the railway system of the country.”

53. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, ¶ 214.

54. Cf., e.g., Swedenborg, True Christian Religion, ¶¶ 113, 121²

55. The general tendency to disregard black religion and culture was countered in Swedenborgianism by Swedenborg's very favorable comments on “the Africans.” In A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment (included in Miscellaneous Theological Works [New York: Swedenborg Foundation]) ¶ 76, for example, he wrote of the special receptivity of the people of central Africa to the substance of the new doctrines of the Lord, the Word, and Life, a theme to which he returned in True Christian Religion, ¶¶ 837–839. At the Swedenborgian denominational congress, two talks were given on Swedenborgianism and the Africans, and the one African in attendance at the Parliament, “Price Massaquoi of the Province of Vey,” accepted the invitation to speak on his faith at one of the Sunday morning services. Cf. L. P. Mercer, ed., The New Jerusalem in the World's Religious Congresses of 1893 (Chicago: Western New-Church Union, 1894). There is little evidence, however, that this translated into an appreciation of African-Americans.

56. Bonney, “Genesis…,” p. 75, cited from Swedenborg, Divine Providence, ¶ 322.

57. Ibid., p. 76, quoting Divine Providence, ¶ 255.

58. In “Genesis…”, p. 74, he states, “Some of those articles are before me while I write these words.” His papers were listed among the holdings of the University of Chicago library system, but were sold to a secondhand dealer, who disposed of them.

59. Ibid., pp. 92f.

60. Ibid., pp. 88.

61. Ibid., pp. 87.

62. Cf. Mercer, The New Jerusalem in the World's Religious Congresses of 1893. A brief summary of the Swedenborgian Congress is given in The New-Church Review (November 1893), pp. 699f. In the same article it is noted that

…the general parliament, including all religions, was entirely distinct from the meetings held by religious bodies within their own limits, but that a mingling of the two to a degree took place at the first meeting held by each church, called the “Presentation Meeting.” At this meeting President Bonney always gave an address of welcome, and the celebrities in attendance upon the Parliament were drawn upon to add words of friendliness (p. 698).”

Cf. also laudatory reviews of the Swedenborgian exhibit in The New-Church Review (November 1893), pp. 520f.

63. Swedenborg, Divine Providence, ¶ 255⁵.

64. Emanuel Swedenborg, Divine Love and Wisdom (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 318².

65. Divine Providence, ¶ 4⁴.

66. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 78. This may be compared with Swedenborg's statement that“…the vessels are one thing, and the Essentials which are in them are another; the vessels are natural things, the Essentials which are in them are spiritual and celestial ones.” Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 1408².

67. Ibid., p. 82.

68. Ibid., pp. 98f.

69. The particular phrases are taken from Paul F. Knitter, “Toward a Liberation Theology of Religions,” in John Hick and Paul F. Knitter, eds., The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: Toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, N. Y.: Orbis Books, 1988), pp. 178–200. The equivalent of Knitter's “nonrelativistic” may be found in the third of the “objects of the World's Parliament” formulated by the General Committee (Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 88):

3. To promote and deepen the spirit of human brotherhood among religious men of diverse faiths, through friendly conference and mutual good understanding, while not seeking to foster the temper of indifferentism, and not striving to achieve any formal and outward unity [emphasis added].

70. Bonney, “Genesis..”, p. 96.

71. Swedenborg, True Christian Religion, ¶ 394.

72. Swedenborg, Divine Providence, ¶ 259e.

73. Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 32973, 4.

74. Swedenborg, Divine Love and Wisdom, ¶ 108.

75. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 78.

76. Ibid., p. 99.

77. Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 1949.

78. Ibid., ¶ 1950.

79. Emanuel Swedenborg, The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶ 100.

80. Bonney, “Genesis…”, p. 79.

81. Swedenborg defined a canon of “the Word” which did not include Acts or the Epistles. He regarded these latter as “useful books for the church” (The Apocalypse Explained [New York: Swedenborg Foundation], ¶ 815²), however, and cited them copiously in his last published work, True Christian Religion. Cf. Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 10325 for his listing of those books which contain a coherent spiritual meaning, and are therefore set apart as “the Word” proper.

82. “To shun evils as sins” (fugere mala sicut peccata) is one of Swedenborg's favorite phrases. Cf., for example, The Doctrine of Life in The Four Doctrines (New York: Swedenborg Foundation), ¶¶ 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 31e, 32, 42, and 70.

83. This is emphasized by Swedenborg in a number of places, notably Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 1033.

84. Cf. True Christian Religion, ¶ 8, “…there is a universal influx from God into the souls of men that there is a God, and that He is one,” and Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 4272, “The light of heaven…is varied with everyone according to reception. All the thought of the angels is effected by means of the variegation of this light, as also is the thought of man, although man is not aware of this, because with him this light falls into material images or ideas which are in his external man from the light of the world.”

85. Cf. especially Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 1799⁴:

In the Christian world it is doctrinal things which distinguish Churches, and from them they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvanists, besides other names. They are so called from mere doctrine, which would never have been if they had made love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor the principal article of faith; for then these things would have been only varieties of opinions about the mysteries of faith, which true Christians would leave to everyone according to his conscience, and they would have said in their hearts that he is truly Christian who lives as a Christian, or as the Lord teaches; thus from all the different churches there would have been one, and all the dissensions which come forth from doctrine alone would have vanished, nay the hatred of one against another would have been dissipated in a moment, and there would have been the Lord's Kingdom on earth.

This again points toward the central role of praxis in Swedenborg's ecumenism, as noted supra, pp. 16, 19.

86. A favorite Swedenborgian image. Cf., for example, Arcana Coelestia, ¶ 8478⁴: “Those who are in the stream of providence and continually carried to things happy, no matter what the means seem to be….”

87. It may be worth noting the unquestioned assumption that common worship was impossible (No. 5), and that while the formal presentations were given fairly strict limits, provision was made for discussion of “the practical problems of the age” in what were apparently voluntary evening meetings.

88. Note the recurrence of this Swedenborgian theme, cf. pp. 6–7, 21, supra.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: As is customary in Swedenborgian Studies, the numbered references in citations of Swedenborg's works refer to the author's numbered paragraphs rather than to pages, since the paragraph numbers remain the same in all editions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works by Charles Carroll Bonney

Bonney, Charles C. Address (February 22, 1895) at the second triennial session of the National Council of Women of the United States (Boston: E. B. Stallings, 1895).

———. American Bar Association Committee on Commercial Law. Report of the Committee to the American Bar Association at its tenth annual meeting (Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson & Co., 1887).

———. The American Republic and the New Church. New-Jerusalem Magazine, Vol. XIII, New Series, No. 7 (July 1889), pp. 395–401.

———. Answers to questions concerning Christian Science: Remarks before the Congress of the World's Parliament of Religions ([n.p.] 1905).

———. Answers to questions concerning Christian Science: Remarks before the congress of the World's parliament of religions. Made by Hon. C. C. Bonney (Boston: Christian Science Publishing Society, 1902).

———. An Appeal for Law and Order. The Statesman, Vol. VI, No. 4 (January, 1890), pp. 193ff.

———. A bill for a bankrupt law, with points in its support (Chicago: Chicago Legal News Company, 1882).

———. Church Finance (Chicago: Western New-Church Union, 1887).

———. The Citizens' Law and Order League: A brief historic sketch of the law and order movement. An Excerpt from One Hundred Years of Temperance.

———. Depending perils: Failures of remedial justice and wrongs without remedy. Speech before the Ohio State Bar Association, Put-in Bay, July 12, 1888 (Columbus, Oh.: A. C. Berlin & Co., [1888]).

———. The doctrine of judicial supremacy. Speech by Charles C. Bonney before the American Bar Association, at Saratoga, New York, August 23, 1883 (Philadelphia: Press of G. S. Harris & Sons, 1883).

———. The executive power and the enforcement of the laws. Address of Charles Carroll Bonney, President, International Law and Order League (Pittsburgh: 1890[?]).

———. The Genesis of the World's Religious Congresses of 1893. The New-Church Review (January 1894), pp. 73–100.

———. A Great Lawyer (Chicago: Chicago Legal News Company, 1881).

———. In the Supreme Court of the United States, October term, 1884, No. 184. Chicago Life Insurance Co, plaintiff in error, vs. Thos B. Needles, auditor of public accounts of the state of Illinois, defendant in error. Brief for the plaintiff by Charles C. Bonney.

———. International citizenship. The Statesman, Vol. VII, No.1 (April 1890), pp. 5–10.

———. Jury reform: The corruption of the jury system, and the remedy, A speech delivered in behalf of the Citizens' League of Chicago, by C. C. Bonney (Chicago: Cowles & Dunkley, printers, 1882).

———. “Law and Order,” The Statesman, Vol. VI, No. 4 (January 1890), pp. 193–7.

———. The law of marine, fire, and life insurance with practical forms, modern cases, and computing rules (Chicago: n.p., 1865).

———. Law reform and the future of the legal profession, Annual address to the Illinois State Bar Association by C. C. Bonney, President, 1883 (Chicago: Chicago Legal News Company, 1883).

———. National regulation of inter-state commerce (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1882).

———. The Origin and Methods of the Law and Order Movement (1883).

———. “Naturalization laws and their enforcement,” 23 pp. New Englander, Vol. 49 (1888), p. 305.

———. Odd-fellowship: its relation to the domestic circle, the church, and the state. An address delivered in Peoria, Illinois, December 7th, 1857, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the dedication of the Odd-fellows' hall in that city (Peoria: Nason & Hill, 1858).

———. Opinions on the legality of the attempt of the governor to remove the West Chicago Park Commissioners, by Charles C. Bonney and C. B. Lawrence (Chicago: n.p).

———. Our course and our reward—The great issue of the time—Sectionalism—the West the heart of the union—Abolitionism, its origin and spirit—The remedy for sectionalism—Advocacy of great errors by great men—The indissolubility of the union—The present convention[.] Illinois national democratic state convention, Springfield, January 10, 1860 ([n.p.], 1860).

———. Practical law reform: The advantages of extending equity remedies. An address delivered before the Illinois State Bar Association (Springfield, Ill.: H. W. Rokker's Pub. House, 1882).

———. The present conflict of labor and capital (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1886).

———. The Principles of the Open Court (Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company, 1900).

———. Readings from the Bible selected for schools and to be read in unison, under the supervision of the Chicago Women's Educational Union (Chicago: Scott, Foresman, 1896).

———. Report of the Committee on Commercial Law on I. Proposed Act of Congress for the regulation of interstate commerce, submitted by C. C. Bonney…. (Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1887[?]).

———. Rules of law for the carriage and delivery of persons and property by railway. With the leading railway statutes and decisions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and the United States (Chicago: E. B. Meyers, 1864).

———. Speech of Charles C. Bonney, of Peoria, against an act entitled an Act to incorporate the Illinois river improvement company. Delivered on behalf of the Common council and citizens of Peoria, at St. Louis, June 23rd[,] 1857 (Peoria, Ill.: A. B. Foster, 1857).

———. State of Illinois, ss. in the Supreme Court, Ottawa, April term 1863 ex relatione Porteus B. Roberts v. Lorenzo Leland (Chicago: Robert V. Kennedy, 1863).

———. A summary of the law of marine, fire and life insurance, with practical forms, modern cases, and computing rules; designed for the guidance of insurance companies, and the convenience of the legal profession (Chicago: E. B. Meyers & Chandler, 1865).

———. “The Sunday Which We Most Need,” New-Jerusalem Magazine, Vol. XV, New Series, No. 3 (March 1891), pp. 129–133.

———. The true doctrine of the tariff (Chicago: Chicago legal news company, 1881).

———. World's congress addresses: delivered by the president, the Hon. Charles Carroll Bonney, LL. D., to the World's Parliament of Religions and the religious denominational congresses of 1893: with the closing addresses at the final session of the World's Congress Auxiliary (Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co., 1900).

———. “The World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition,” Appendix A of [H. N. Higinbotham] Report of the President to the Board of Directors of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1898), pp. 325–237.

———. World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition: First Report (Chicago: n.p., February 13, 1891).

———. The World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893: Department of Religion (Chicago: n.p., 1892).

———. “The World's Congresses of 1983,” in National Education Association, Journal of Proceedings and Addresses (1892), pp. 382f.

———. et. al. “A World's Congress at the World's Fair: A Symposium,” The Statesman Vol. VI, No. 1 (October 6, 1889), pp. 1–8.

———. “The World's Parliament of Religions,” The Monist, Vol. V., No. 3 (April 1895), pp. 321–344.

———. World's religious parliament extension: The World's parliament of religions, and the Religious parliament extension (Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co., 1896).

Works Relating to Charles Carroll Bonney

“Appreciation of Bonney,” cited from The Independent, in The New-Jerusalem Magazine, Vol. XVII, No. 12 (December 1893), pp. 749f.

Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago (Chicago: American Biographical Publishing Company, 1892), pp. 224–228.

Bonet-Maury, Gaston. Le Congrès des Religions a Chicago en 1893 (Paris: Librarie Hachette & Cie., 1895). References to Bonney on pp. 9, 17–19, 22, 29, 32, 34, 257, 262,321, and 331.

Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1958), Vol. I, pp. 439f.

Mercer, Louis P. “Charles Carroll Bonney, LL.D.,” New-Church Messenger, Vol. LXXV, No. 11 (Wednesday, September 16, 1903), Whole No. 2514, pp. 169–171. An obituary by Bonney's long-time pastor.

“Mr. Bonney and the Congresses of Religion,” New-Church Messenger, Vol. LXXV, No. 11 (Wednesday, September 16, 1903), Whole No. 2514, p. 174. Cited from Unity.

National Cyclopaedia of American Biography 24:251.

New-Church Independent and Monthly Review, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 7 (July 1890), p. 342. Reference to a talk by Bonney on the “Relation of the New Church to Social Reforms” at the 1890 Swedenborgian Church Convention.

“Obituary notice,” Hamilton [N.Y.] Republican, Thursday, August 27, 1903.

“Obituary notice,” Hamilton [N.Y.] Republican, Thursday, October 1, 1903.

“Obituary notice,” Report of the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association”, 1903 (Philadelphia: Dando Printing and Publishing Co., 1903), pp. 708–710.

Personal miscellany. Clippings collected by C. C. Bonney from Chicago and other newspapers, generally of a legal or religious nature; vol. 13 includes notices of the compiler's life and death. Vol 12–13 contain items relating to the World's Congress Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.

Wilkie, F. B. “Charles Carroll Bonney” in Sketches and Notes of the Chicago Bar (Chicago: 1871), pp. 34–36.

Works by Emanuel Swedenborg Cited

The Apocalypse Explained (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

Arcana Coelestia (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment in Miscellaneous Theological Works (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

Divine Providence (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

Divine Love and Wisdom (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

The Doctrine of Life in The Four Doctrines (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

Heaven and Hell (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, frequent reprints).