Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-10-21
Calnnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, d. D.

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gratitude may he one Of the meanest
OF sins and fruitful Of the worst results
Is shown in this sermon. the preacher
taking his text from Genesis xl. %.
But forgat him."
How soon the plowman can over
take the reaper" as the ancient prophet
said! How soon after the harvest field
CLOVIS with It's crop Of rlpcnng grain.
ready for cutting and garnering. does
the plow come to tear up the rich soil
with It's ruthless share. How soon the
midnight fr0sts cover the fruits with
their cold. clammy death sweat. The IA
voritcs of fortune are sometimes rapidly
lifted 10 success. but not so quickly as
the victims of misfortune are dragged
down TO ruin. The stone drops from
the highest cliff to the bottom of the
deep canyon more swiftly than the
powerfully winged eagle soars up and
up until he dyes his feathers with the
golden pigments of the rising sun. The
kings frown and the kings smile may
follow each other even more rapidly
than the changes OF the tickle weather
Of the spring. which King Solomon de-
scrfbcd when he said. And the clouds
return after the rain"
Could any lark with broken pinlon
fall TO the ground more suddenly than
Napoleon Ill fell from his throne? In
1859 lie was considered the most pow
erful ruler of all Europe. His great
uncle's name. his brilliant coup d'etat,
which placed him upon the French
throne after he had been elected pres
ident for ten years: his fostering Of the
arts In his kingdom. his past military
record. circled halo around his per-
sonality and made him ''the man OF the
hour" When the Sucz canal was Open
participate In the marriage Of the wa
tiers of the Mediterranean with the wa
tiers of the Red sea. Many kings and
queens. princes and princesses were
there. but the royal yacht. which car
ricd on board the beautiful Empress
Eugcnic. was the center Of all eyes. At
that gathering she was the ruler of
kings and the queen of queens. No black
cloud darkcned her horizon. Yet In a
little over one year the Franco Prus-
sian war broke out. Napoleon Ill. In
Il short time was an X.cinperor. Sedan
had been fought. the Tuilcries was ex-
changed for Chiselhurst. Then the only
crown Of Eugene was u crown OF
thorns. pressed into her agonized brain.
With one mighty crash the Napoleonic
dynasty fell into II heap Of ruins.
Poor Empress Eugene" you say.
Why poor Eugene! She had no mo-
nopoly of trouble. To be hurled In n
few months from II throne into exile
was Il startling fate. but 10 how many
have misfortunes come as swiftly and
Us poignantly? They pounce upon us
as swiftly as u hawk darts for his
prey They come upon us as quickly as
they came TO Joseph and TO the chief
baker and the chief butler In the Egyp-
tian prison. But though they have
come 10 us quickly in the past. yet
many Of us are like the chief butler OF
PharaOh's court. As soon as our trou-
blcs leave Us we forget all about them
and their wounds. We forget that the
same kind of troubles may aillict us
again. Thus we 20 OH practicing the
same sins that flung us into our past
difficulties Let me draw from this
simple Bible story some plain. practi-
cal gospel lessons. May you and ! not
be like the forgetful butler. but like the
unforgctful Joseph. who in his prosper
ity remembered his old father Jacob
and his brethren and who in his beau
tiful. forgiving nature will always re-
main as one of the Old Testament's
pure and noble types Of the life OF
Jesus Christ.
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