________________
12
of the Jain community for your having achieved the consunimation of that grand idea, of convening & Parliament of religions."
Mr. Virchand Gandhi then was presented by Dr. Barrows as one whom he had come to esteem greatly as a guest in his own household. Mr. Gandhi was greeted with much applause as he came forward to speak, He said:
“Are we not all sorry that we are parting so soon? Do we not wish this Parliament would last seventeen times seventeen days ? Have we not heard with pleasure and interest the speeches of the learned representives on this platform ? Do we not see that the sublime dream of the organisers of this unique Parliament has been more than realised? If you will only permit a heathen to deliver his message of peace and love, I shall only ask you to look at the multifarious ideas presented to you in a liberal spirit, aud not with superstition and bigotry, as the seven blind men did in the elephant story.
Once upon a time in a great city an elephant was brought with a circus. The people had never seen an elephant before. There were seven blind men in the city who longed to know what kind of an animal it was, so they went together to the place where the elephant was kept. One of them placed his hand on
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org