HON. J. W. FOSTER'S ADDRESS

Under the joint auspices of the Christian Association, the Religious Union and the St. Paul's Society, Hon. John W. Foster, of Washington, ex-Secretary of State, delivered an address last night in Sanders Theatre on "What Shall America Do in the Orient?" R. H. Oveson '05 presided, and introduced the speaker of the evening and R. H. Bollard '05, who preceded him.

Mr. Foster outlined the great possibilities for action which the coming era will open to young men, and went on to show that the call to religious work here and in the East is no less urgent than that to the domain of politics and government.

The rising generation, he said, is destined to see in coming years a religious advance greater than ever before. Momentous questions are to be decided, as, for instance, that which confronts us in regard to those Oriental countries whose ignorant millions are dependent upon us. We seek an open door for commerce in the East; let us not pass by the door already open for the entrance of religion.

We sometimes ask, without any note of criticism or scepticism, whether nations so uncivilized are in a state to accept Christianity. Were it not better, perhaps, to withdraw American missionaries from China, where their presence has been so unwelcome? It is only those lacking in knowledge who do not perceive the answers to both these questions. To begin with, Christianity has nowhere entered peacefully; and missionaries were not the cause of the late troubles in China, for though they did, it is true, combat the key-note of Chinese peculiarities, it was the commercial greed of alien powers and the political influences exerted from without, which in reality created the strong feeling against all foreigners. American missionaries, in fact, have played a most important part in Chinese diplomatic questions, thus rendering invaluable services to our government.

That our missionaries should not be withdrawn on the ground that the uncivilized nations of the East are not yet ready to receive Christianity is sufficiently proved by the fact that the Christian church itself was founded on a most degraded society, it is proved by the permanent hold that Christianity has already taken in China by the ever-increasing liberal attitude of the Chinese and Japanese courts, and by the fact that no other religion has met the needs of this momentous situation.

The fight is a severe one, but we who are the beneficiaries of Christianity should not refuse it to others, and remembering the biblical command to "go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," we should make Christ's kingdom universal.

Just before Mr. Foster's address, R. H. Bollard '05 spoke naming the purposes of the Harvard Mission as follows:

(1) The uniting of all Harvard men, serving in any foreign field and under any Christian agency whatsoever, by a closer tie to one another and the University; (2) the securing of information regarding the work being done by these men; (3) the raising of money for the support of E. C. Carter '00, National Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Associations of India, and of Harvard men hereafter to be sent out and to work under the auspices of various Christian agencies; (4) the sending out of men who will bear the spirit of the University into their work and who will rejoice to feel themselves sustained by the sentiment of the University community; (5) and finally, by all these means, the fostering of the spirit of missions within the University itself.

A graduate advisory committee is being formed, of which Theodore Roosevelt '80, President of the United States, is chairman. The undergraduate membership of this committee is incomplete, but in addition to Mr. Roosevelt, other members who have consented to act are: Francis Rawle '69, of Philadelphia; Rt. Rev. William Lawrence '71, Bishop of Massachusetts; Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins '73, of Philadelphia; I. T. Burr '79, of Boston; Rt. Rev. L. H. Roots '91, Bishop of Hankou, China; J. A. Stillman '96, of New York, and G. E. Huggins '01, of New York.

Professor E. C. Moore, Rev. E. Peabody head master of Groton School, and Mr. A. S. Johnson '85, have been chosen a permanent graduate executive committee, to serve with representatives of the student body. All of the undergraduate members of the committee have not as yet been selected.

Bollard, as undergraduate secretary of the executive committee, stated that it was the belief of those inaugurating the action outlined above, that what is commonly termed foreign missions is little known and greatly misunderstood; that they believe foreign missions may be, and therefore ought to be, one of the strongest agencies for good.