RELIGIONS OF THE EMPIRE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18220, 3 November 1924, Page 11

RELIGIONS OF THE EMPIRE.

A UNIQUE CONPEPNCB;

TRIBUTE TO BRITISH

IMPARTIALITY.

(nto* oua ovnr, comuwondijct.) LONDON, September Sii A conference of representatives of all the great religions has began in th© Imperial Institute. On the opening day one of the strangest tea parties ev«r hold in London took place. There vero Indiana in richly embroidered! •robes and vivid turbans; holy men of Eastern Asia in dark robes proclaiming their sects by their coloured headgear; Oriental scholars with long vrhito beards; and a number of young English! ivomon. . ..

Ono of the most picturesque figure* present was that of hia Holiness thel Klialifafc-ul-Measih, Al haj el Mirsa, Bashir ud-din Malunud Ahmad, beadl of The Ahmadiyya movement in litem* The Khabfa wore a snow-wbito turban, and his' retinue of thirteen, secretaries, who have accompanied him from India, wore headgear of bright green* Near. •the Khahfa t sat Pundit Sby.iiu §hankar, a barrister and tho official exponent of Orthodox Hinduism., , The Pundit was in straw-coloured satin! robes encrusted with gold ornaments worked into a rose-pink background and a flowing turban of deep rose-pink fell to his shoulders.

Tho.Conference, bold under thcPauspiccs of tho School of Oriental Studies, and promoted by Sir Deuison Ross, is one of the largest religious gatherings ever held. Some of the holy nien attending it have left their mosques and temples for the first time and travelled thousands of miles to hear other religions discussed by their exponents. - Sir' Francis Younghusbaud, addressing the meeting, pointed out Ithat,- 'included in tho >Empiro,< were adherents of-all the great religions,. and 'though the Government had to show strict'impartiality between'them,'4b»t did : nob mean indifference to religion'on tho part; of tJbo British people. mato basis on which-tho British-iEmpiro should etand must be.religion.j Political constitutions and trade agreements were merely the bones. The; motive Ewer must bo tho most exalted spirit. ( ven.patriotism was not enough l . - Bcligion Not .a Waning, Tore*. - In all the great religions' "men with fiery zeal were-reaching after purer religion. .In the process of regenerating ' and developing religion Ihere always had been, and there always would be, clash. , and conflict of opinion. Each.religum would have its own way of] •worship. Nevertheless, thero r was unity, as well as diversity, both of inspiration and of aspiration. In that conference' agreement was not expected.,, There waa need not for agreement but lation. They hoped that the proceed- ■ ings would stir in men and in nations < a spirit of emulation* in capturing mora successfully the divine spirit which animated tho world. - They hoped'also that the conference would prove that religion was no'waning force hi human affairs, but that it should bo a vital and determining factor in human wrrfgreeg.' Men of religious genius very em- i bodiment of the livipg spirit ( of, the world: They wefo/prone to 'assume j that those divine ynen who had appear- j ed in the pastJ<ad been a full revela- I tion of the pwer that governed' the j world. But'men of the highest" reli- J r gioiis • genius were just as likely' io ■ appear \/ the future. Such men, hnverer,<would never bo a complete festation of the spirit, because i'the spirit was infinite. The pioneering leaders seemed to be finding to religion of greater depth and wider . | scope than man had hitherto known.' '" 3 A lectuie on "Orthodox /,-'* —or Sanatan I>harma— vras Pundit Shyam Shankar* tribute to the impartiality tish' Government in gions. Hinduism, ho f sfl*tt. ? T?i %jrfflfc\$ f F l ft. outcome of one preacKr* - « pel. The seers tion did not »/*S?JKi»' ough knowledge;? vf* ?£&Z& hse/i' . power in tho admitted to be . t llW^WTk/ BBndos able, and in"*SßSf Jrf-Isnlty * ad were fw^^gT^.that of The reincarnation of *»' the iStTS >» not/necessary for a ?ffif to T*de*s «rjr faith, and he a Hindu even though out%%£&Tby his owrt community. l-'To enable porkers to build or "buy their own houses, tho London, Midland, and Scottish Railway have sot aside a sum of £1,000,000. Already several thousand enquiries regarding loans under the scheme have been made' by employees, ' -