Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-21

9 beginning,-whenI observe that man, by th
{ instruments which his hand has formed at th
bidding of his wonderful mind, to discove
has gone into the mysterious above, and dow
into the infinite depths beneath, and scienc
, after science has been born leach being th
, handmade of ell the rest. and many n scienc
|. promising to be the parent of another) ),-whel
observe how the generations advance in civi!
ization, and the ages climb up, each on tn
shoulders of all its predecessors, and the ric
promise of limitless increase in human knowl
edge and civilization here upon the earth,-
when l look into the nature of man and dis
cover how he stands related to his OWE
conscience and to his God, how Hei is in all th,
heavens above him and of the earth beneath
him, and yet his power over both-how b.
fears God, and hates God. defies God aud fights
God, snrrenders to God and loves God, unit
he becomes like God and has promise of going
| account of the origin OF this marvellous
being at all tallies with the sublime
position of his career save this: in the i'm,
| age of God created He him. (Applause.)
WHAT'S man? Three thousand years ago
that grand specimen of the race, who possessed
| the astuteness of o statesman and a scholar.
who was one of the grandest of rulers, one of
the greatest of warriors, who had the soul Of a
| saint, the genius of poet and the vision of a
| seer, gave a dIctum on this subject which
you all remember: "When con-
slider thy heavens the work of thy fingers, the
| moon and the stars which thou hast ordained,
what is man that thou art mindful of him.
| and the son of man that thou visitest him
Thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and
honor. Thou hast put all things in dominion
under his feet" Therefore are we here to- day.
(Applause).
1t behooves me to hasten to my second in
quiry, which 1 shall more briefly consider,
namely, in view of this discussion trust some
thing approaching this exigesis of the nature
of man. What is the true philosophy of the
nature of man? What is it for? What are
men on the earth for, and what should be the
inspiring thought of every human soul?
Many theories have been advanced. Some
have taken this world to be pleasure garden
and the business of life to be happy; and
surely when you consider how you are made,
and how you are located in the world, There
are many things that at irst would seem to fa-
vor that idea. God made us to be happy, and
the earth to make us happy. Well, then, let a
man taking careless start in life resolve. II
will be happy" and what does he find? He is
certain to make himself miserable. Who hears
the songs of birds, the hnntsman or the plow-
boy? Who is happy? The man that forgets
all about happiness and goes about his duty is
the happy man. Applause.
And Sc you will find that this philosophy OF
life, which is purely utilltarian and turns on
end it has in view. IT clogs the soul, fills it
with reproach, makes the man the victim of
utter failure.
Well, then, let us get higher philosophy
of life. This world is made for work. l take
it. No man certainly could drop down here in
minnesota and hear the thunder of swiftly
flying trains and sec the marvels of its great
IL e L.
prairie of yesterday without believing that
life is for work. And then when yeu
pass from this mere tail of the hand
to that of the brain which has made the civii-
zation of America possible you will say that
life is for work When you look into yourself
and feel the great impulse of aohievment, and
find that action brings Joy you will say we
We're made for work. Man must do all be can.
That is higher philosophy Ethan the other,
but is man satisfied yith that? Byron, that
brilliant poet of England, confesses that glory,
fame, honor, and achievement in the realm intel
lectual are apples Of Sodom. ! might multi
ply citations on this line for horses, but you
know them. so We climb
one step higher. Life is not for pleasure; i t
Is not for work alone. We must rise step
higher. Man has spirit; the inspiration of
the Almighty giveth him understanding. The
spirit of man ia something above the mere in
teliectual operations; it is fact just as much
as the old red sandstone or the Roman Empire,
and you may as well ignore one as the other.
And if it be a fact, that fact bears yitally upon
the whole question of education.
The speaker then referred to what he
atyled the mundane culture prevailing
at the present day, to the philosophy of Hux-
ley and others, and by forcible illustration re-
futed the theory that mundane culture was
sufficient to meet the wants of man, and show-
ed that thegreat longing of man the world over
has ever been for something moral, religious,
and spiritual. In conclusion, he expressed the
and sterling piety, should flourish, and that
the blessing of God should rest upon the in-
stitution and its friends.