NASHVILLE CONVENTION

The Harvard delegation of 32 men returned to Cambridge yesterday morning from the fifth international convention of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, at Nashville, Tenn. The convention far surpassed any of the four preceding quadrennial gatherings of this Movement in the number of delegates present, and the number of institutions represented; and was by all accounts superior to any preceding convention in the amount of information furnished about Christian missions, in impressive testimony to their usefulness and in the enthusiasm aroused for the support of missionary enterprise in all parts of the world.

The Harvard party arrived in Nashville early Wednesday morning, February 28, after a smooth trip by boat from Boston to Norfolk, Va., and a railroad trip through southern Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, broken by a stop of a few hours at Chattanooga, Tenn., to see Lookout Mountain and some of the other battlefields and monuments of the Civil War. On arrival in Nashville, the men were assigned to private houses for entertainment, and were cordially received and entertained throughout their stay.

The main sessions of the convention, held morning and evening for five days, were in the Ryman Auditorium, a hall seating between five and six thousand people. Thursday afternoon was given to simultaneous conferences on the great mission fields,--China, India, Japan, and Africa.

On Friday afternoon, various kinds of mission work were considered, and on Saturday afternoon denominational conferences were held.

One of the most impressive sessions to the Harvard delegation was that of Thursday evening, when Bishop Gailor of Tennessee spoke on the subject "Is Christianity the Only Absolute Religion," and Mr. Robert E. Speer discussed the question "Are non-Christian Religions Adequate to Meet the Needs of Men?" The meeting of greatest general interest was that of Friday evening, when the speakers were the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, Hon. John W. Foster, ex-Secretary of State, Hon. H. B. F. Macfarland, President of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and Hon. J. A. Macdonald, editor of the Toronto Globe.

The number of accredited delegates to the convention was 4188, representing 700 institutions of higher learning in America and foreign countries. About 150 student volunteers who have completed their preparation declared their intention of going to foreign posts before January 1, 1907. On Thursday evening subscriptions to the amount of about $90,000 were raised in a few minutes' time for the support of the Student Volunteer Movement.

After the Thursday evening session, the Harvard and Cornell delegations gave jointly an informal reception to the Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Pennsylvania delegates. About 150 men attended.