The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-03
ADDRESS 70 GRADUATES
PRESIDENT BRIDGEMAN, OF HAM
LINE UNIVERSITY, DELIVERS
BACCALAUREATE SERMON
MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF JESUS
This Forms Theme of Discourse to
Which the Coming Alumni Lis
tened Yesterday at Ham
line NJ e. Church.

The exercises of commencement sea-
! season at Hamline university were inau-
gurated yesterday morning, when the
president, Rev. George H. Bridgeman,
delivered his baccalaureate sermon in the
Methodist church at Hamline. The
service was held at 1920, and was well
attended, not only by the students but
others as well. There were on the plat
form, beside Dr. Bridgeman, Rev. DR..
Chaffee, of Minneapolis, president of the
board of trustees of the university; Rev.
| G. s. Innis, of the faculty; Rev. c. M.
Heard and Rev. R. N. Avison, pastor OF
the church
DR.. Bridgeman took for his text Luke
tx. "a: For whatsoever will save h s life,
shall lose it; but whosoever lose his life
for my sake, the same shall save it. 3"
He said in part:
1.-The Importance of this divine injunc-
ton is indicated in the frequency of It's
recurrence in the teachings of our Lord.
No other recorded saying Of His was SO
frequently repeated. 1t constitutes in a
single precept the moral philosophy Of
Jesus.
The adaptation Of this injunction Of
Jesus to the condition which awaited His
infant church is very manifest. But does
this admOnition belong to US also? Are
we warned here to shun the fatal delu-
sion which seeks to save the lower life
at the expense of the higher? These
questions are answered by the fact that
the nature Of the precept shows 1t to be
of universal appl cation. Had it never
been spoken by Jesus Christ at all, II
would still be universally true that who
soever makes his lower life the object of
his supreme regard thereby loses his
higher life.
T,9e 4ac Ut
turn. There is thus raised the same old
question, whether the citizen will lose
his life for Christ's sake or save 1t at
Infinitely greater loss. Happy is that
commonwealth whose voters, party lead
ess and rulers look at life and duty from
the standpoint of the text
And this law that life follows upon
dying is not confined to New Testament
theology. Its echoes are everywhere.
The whole majestic movement IN nature,
from lower to higher, is under the law
of dying to I've, and we cannot touch the
course of history at any point but we
come upon this law. In the conflict OF
nations the lower civilizatin dies that
the higher may come into power The
history Of political parties, too 'forcibly
illustrates this principle, and on every
page of church history the same lesson
is taught.
Ladies and gentlemen of the gradu-
ating class, you have already anticipated
the application Of this subject to your
selves Your supreme choice will terml-
nate either upon the seeming advantage
of saving yourself, or upon the higher,
the eternal life We encourage you to
maintain the laudable ambition to be
great; but true greatness is conditioned
upon service. 1t is to unseIfsh benefac-
tors that memory clings and monuments
are built. 1t was Stephen A. Douglas
who said: I care not cent whether
slavery goes into the territories or is
kept out Of them 1t was Abraham Lin
coin who said am sorry for the man
who cares nothing for a whipping, If
only the lash falls upon another mans
back
1.-THE great demand of the century upon
which you have entered and in which
you are to do your work, is for the ear
nest, cultured, consecrated men and
women who are willing to live unseltish
lives. My parting word to you is that the
real success Of life lies, not so much in
the goal attained, as in the character
you have acquired in your struggles 10
reach it; and the character that will be
acceptable at last is only secured by i'm
itating the example of Him who came
into this world not to be rninistered unto,
but to minister