Much has been said of the common .ground o( religious unity. I am not going j~st now to venture my Own theory. But if anyone here hopes that this unity will come by the tri~h of any one of the retigions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, "Broth.er, yours· is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian ? God forbid. The seed ia put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or.the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of it& own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hiruhi or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet ~e his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. If the Parliament of Religions baa shown anything to the world, it is this : it has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted charactei: In the face of this evidence. if anybody ~ of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of 1he others, l pity him from the bottom of my he&l't and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be 'Written in spiw of resistance : "Help and not fight/' 'Assimilation and not Destruction, "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension The Parliament of Religions is