Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-09-07
Calf''age
Sermon
BY Rev.
Prank De Witt Talmase, D. D.

Il frank De WITT eIma9e, u. D.
Los Angeles. Cal. Sept. 3.-fn this
Labor day sermon the preacher appro-
priately takes for his theme tho uust
army Of humble everyday worhev 3D.
on whoSe faithful use Of their single
talent In their particular sphere de-
pend the welfare and happiness Of q
nation. The text 10 Matthew XIV, Is
ITO auothsr one"
the Driving Of The Last Spike" 10
to me ono Of the most suggestive Vic-
lures ever painted, not because It y
the work Of Thouas HIM. one Of
AmsricHs famous artists. who In bis
lifetime has been awarded thirtystwo
first medals IN competition with other
painters; not because copies Of that
picture have been distributed broad
cast over the United States In thou.
sands Of woodcuts, not because I per.
sonally have seen the old artist In his
last days, helpless as little cbth and
therefore, on account Of the personal.
ity OF the man, have been unduly In
f1uenced by the power OF the picture.
but that picture has thrilled me
through and through because IL is an
epoch marking picture 1t ia a'picture
which shows marriage altar, where
the far east and the far wcst--where
the Union railroad and the Central Pa
cinc railroad--w united by the we'd
ding ring Of steel rail. 1t illustrates
the dramatic moment when the great
work Of Leland Stanford and O. p.
Huntington and Charles Croker and
Marx Hopkins was contaminated. In
the presence Of some OF the most
prominent men, north. south. east and
west, the golden spike was driven
which forever made the east and the
west. the metropolis Of New York and
the metropolis Of California. next door
neiyhbors.
Vast was the amount OF brain and
physical energy expended which made
the scene Of that picture possible. Over
the mountains. down into the valleys,
the leaping rivers and the ravines. has
gone the shrek OF that locomotive VIZ
see putting and painting behind Leland
Stanford as the frst president OF tho
Central Pacific drives In tho last spike
Far, far away from any human resi-
dence went the workmen. Cannot you
see the deer and the buffalo and the
prairie dogs look up In wonderment as
that strange looking creature called a
railrond train dashes by? How could
hov 40 Nd -
and tens Of thousands Of men at work
for him, as did Leland Stanford. and
not have thousands Of financial leak
ages. which would sweep away his en-
tire fortune?' asked great railroad
contractor when talking about the les
sons Of this picture. Simply by per-
feet organization" he answered. Each
man hos his allotted work to do. Each
man Is responsible for gang Of men
or for certain sections of the work
unt1l you get down to the lowest boss
and the lowest workman digging in the
ditch. The success Of Leland Stan
ford's railroad enterprises. as well AZ
Of all great enterprises depends as
much upon the men Of one talent doing
their work honestly as II does upon the
men OF Ave or ten talents doing their
work honestly and we'll Great lcsson
IL that-great In temporal life. great
IN spiritual. God has no insignificant
workmen in the purpose for which the
human race was created. The people
who nre considered ordinary folks are
Just as essential In Gods great econ.
omy as the men styled mental giants.
No Workmen Arc Useless.
No wOrkmen useless or unimportant
In Gods sight Oh. yes. we can prove
that by the value Of the old Hebrew
talent az we'll as by the conversation
Of the great railroad contractor In ref
crencc TO Thomas Hill's Driving Of the
Last Spike" Was the Hebrew talent
n small capital with which to start
life's battles? No. That talent repre-
scented about 5000 shekels of silver or
about $1,010 In American money. Then
when you furthermore estimate that
the laborer In Christs day received
only a penny q day, which in our time
would be an equivalent Of about IL
cents, you can readily understand tina:
the good man Of the parable Of my text
gave to even the humblest Of his serv-
ants an equivalent Of about $4,000 In
our money. That is no small amount
Of money to put out at interest. And
80 this Labor Sunday to tho clerk. the
servant, the iaborers in the ditch. the
common soldier and the common church
member God gives "a powerful one
talent" My object is to talk about
some Of the one talented people.
would show their vast influence upon
the great wide world. would also
show why all Of us ordinary folks
should employ well the talent God has
given us to use.
In the first place, study the influence
Of the one talented folks in the mer
camille world. Your wife some day
says to you: "Come. my dear. let US
20 ehopping. You have day of
There is no reason for your not spend
ing the day with me" In a momen,
OF mental weakness you 60 shopping
Why do I cay in moment Of menta
weakness2 I do not believe any mar
on earth can look more out OF place
and feel more uncomfortable and mis-
prable than IN an average dry goodl
Store. There the women push yol
from side to eide When you are mo-
stepping on your own feet you are al
most as,so IN e,e etapDlnQ IN anna ladv'l