St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-08
The Graduating Students of Hamline and
the State University Hear
Wise Words.
Bishop Foss and President Northrop Re
speotively Occupy the Pulpits-
Eloquent Sermons.
The Car Accountants VIII Hold Their
Annual Meeting in N11nneap-
oils Soon.
An Address on Washington Journal
ism by Col. G. w. Johnson
City Notes.
WHAT rs EIANl

gentlemen of st. Paul and Minneapolis VINO
crowded into the chapel of Hamllne uniVer-
sity Yesterday afternoon had the rare goou
fortune of hearing one Of the finest oacca-
laureate discOurSeS ever delivered III tile
Northwest. This will be understood when
If is said if was delivered by Bishop Z. ID.
Foss of MINNEAPOLIS. who has few equals
as pulpit orator The fine weather at
tracted the friends and patrons OF the uni
yarsjtv and of its classes from both cities
until the capacity of the chapel was strained
TO contain them. The first row OF seats
was retained for the use OF the graduating
class, six in number. the platform oelng oc-
cupied by members Of the MethodiSt clergy
of the two cities. After the singing OF
HYMN, Onward Christian Soldier" ana all
eloquent prayer by the bishop, the sermon
began.
WHAT IS MAN?
There is abroad in the world, he sald
great-felt need Of manliness. The want
expresses itself in such proverbs as An
honest man is the noblest work OF God
The historian is wont TO assume that III his
heroes is the embodiment Of all the cardinal
virtues summed up under the one title. man
illness. Mare Antony said Of BrutuS: ms
is 4 man" There is something more than
personal in it, forS it is the expression OF
that sense OF longing for the embodiment OF
the very highest form of virtue. The prac-
teal outcome Of this thought to-day is the
best definition of manlhieSS, realizing the
highest ideal What is man? 1t is a good
thing for man to know himself and to take
BIZ alb extra view. Suppose an mhabltant
OF the planet Jupiter, endowed, not with
human faculties, but with intelligence and
understanding, were to come upon TINS
earth. what would he think OF man?
Suppose he should 60 from the
very lowest to the very highest
form. what would be his conclusions?
First. he would say man is an animal, dill
fering from some other animals, perhaps,
but still an animal. with MS physical pre-
negatives the same. Yet he differs from
other animals, and in his very lowest form
has dominion over them and finally Stays
them for his own uses. If the visitor were
asked in what man differed, the prompt
reply would be, he uses Instruments. The
most barbarouS types use bow and arrow
snd crooked stick for pillow. But
monkeys use cOcOanutS for missiles and
throw branches of trees at their aSsailants.
Well. then he would say man builds
houses. but so do the birds, and the beavers
and other animals. Man, then, Is cosmo-
politan. but so is the dog and the horse.
and that distinction is not sufficient. Man
kindles a fire, and no animal was ever
known to use fire. for it means chemistry
and metallurgy and electricity, and is the
foundation of many arts and sciences.
Then man talks, while the other animals
make inarticulate sounds only. Man, then,
is the talking animal.
THE CHIEF DISTINCTION.
But there are deeper differences, for man
Is more than an animal. Heis Intellectually,
morally and spiritually more. | am aware
khat modern sceptics are laboring to show
that man is only an animal-but our proof
is very easy when you have the body and
come to the mind and its treasures. Have
dogs history, literature and tradition? DO
birds build better than once they did; do
bees build better now than when their
honey was distilled beneath the caves OF
the ark? Man improves and rises on the
shoulders of the past and to-day looks down
Oh history spread like valley beneath
him. Take our Celestial visitor to Union
square in New York, and point out to him
on the bronze statues the history Of ma
toms greatness: take our observer down
the bay and show him where the great
Bartholdi statue will rear the beacon
light prOclaiming TO the world the
shore where lies haven for the oppressed
Of all nations Have dogs any statues to
their ancestors? Do horses build monu-
mentS? If not, why not? Is there not
that intellectual progress and power In the
world which segregateS man from all the
creatures beneath him? Kant said: ''There
are two things that fill me with awe: The
storm heavens above NE and the moral law
within me-" Man is ruined, but the ruins
tell of what was. The coliseum at Rome
in the majesty Of its decay, tells with I'M
erring truth Of the grandeur of its perfec-
ton, and the ruins of man, though green
with decay, show the greatness OF the be-
Ing ruined.
MANS SPIRITUAL YEARNING,
his sense of wrong and his intense longing
after God show the greatness of man. [
don't suppose dog ever uttered
a prayer Far be it from me to say
there is no truth in the present generations
teaching of development on the doctrine of
evolution. but there is a terrible hiatus be-
tween man and the lower animals. When,
however, hear men say that man is but an
improved ape feel like asking where is the
Atlantic cable that was laid by apes, where
is the history, the poesy, the science Of
apes? Where are the instruments whereby
apes read the secrets of the stellar worlds
or reveal the microcosm of the animal
cula? When 1 think of the sciences fol-
lowing fast upon each other, each the hand
maid of its predecessors and each the par
ent of others to come, and when think of
man who yearns after God, who
fears God who defes God, yea,
who even threatens God, 1 don't
know but 1 will declare and leave it
to the ages to prove it. if necessary, that
man is the greatest animal God ever Gre
ated. He made man in His own image and
the elimination of man, the just man made
perfect on high, is to partake of the Divine
being. Gods attribute is dominion and He
communicated this to man and man has
dominion over the earth. God is the creator
and to man He gave the creative genius.
The Apollo Belvidere is. creation. The
musician who gives expression to melodies
that never before stirred the soul of man is
& creator. God has made man the marvel
Of all maIvels, and | beg you to note that
is the greatest boon Christianity confers-
clear
CONVICTION OF A FUTURE LIFE.
1t enables him to stand by the mountain,
stretching its summit to pierce the clouds,
and say, Il am greater than thou" 1t en-
ables him to gaze at the star-bedecked
heavens, with star systems stretching away
into the infinite, and say, Il am greater
than thou" God treats man in manner
worthy Of the dignity He conferred on him
in creating him in His likeness and making
him partaker in His glory; and does it in
SO sincere a fashion as to justify the state
ment. We speak of the greatest achieve
ment of Christianity in showing God to
man, but only second to that was the
achievement of showing man to man. Before
Christianity, the great men, the ruler and
the king, was he who could so turn every
nerve and muscle into action that he could
triumph by brute force over man. He wore
the crown. The victorious general, whether