The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-05-16
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By Rev.
Frank De Witt IalElaee. D. D.


! secret OF success ami thu c",l>r> Of
failure, moral and MATERIAL lie in the
foundations Of character is shown in
this sermon. The text is Luke xiv. 80,
''Ihis man Logan to build and was not
allie to tiniSh.''
hat Is the matter with yon,ler
block Of hOuses?' | asked one of my
church officers some time ago when
walking along the Chicago streets. Il
came to this city at least four years
ago. Then the walls We're up. The
floors in many Of the houses We're laid
The buildings then seemed almost
ready for the plasterers. Why this
vast amount Of money lying idle? 1t
must be worth at least $1O,O)O a year
as interest. 1t would have been far
better to have laid no foundation and
erected no walls and allowed the land
to be turned into a vegetable garden
than to leave those buildings In that
state.' Il know it, answered my
friend, "but the owner of those build
ings overreached himself When the
buildings were half completed his mon
ey ran out. Then, on account Of his
debts, all his properties were thrown
by litigation into the city courts. Now
| do not know what is to be the out
come. Anyway, he cannot so on unless
be gets out Of his present difficulties
His property must still lie idle in this
incompleted FORM
What is the purpose of those two
mammoth sheGs:" I asked a naval
friend some years ago while we We're
walking through the Brooklyn navy
yard. "N'hy,' said he, those are the
sheds erected over two Immense Lulls
of half completed warships. During
the civil war the navy department was
building rs many and as large ships
as it could, but as soon as the Apo
mattoX peace agreement was signed
the work was stopped upon these two
vessels. The government had at that
time no use for them. Now they are
lying there, rotting away. The wood
will be used for nothing but kintlling
as the plans upon which those kcels
were laid are already obsolete"
'Incomplete beginnings were both
the Chicago houses and the navy yard
ships. We do not have to go clear
back to Bible times to find illustrations
for my text. We can see them every
where around us in our present day
and generation
We have a right to draw new illus
trations and up to date applications
for this sermonic theme. Indeed, the
fresher and more modern the applica-
tons the better. The reason why this
smile of my text made IN overwhclm-
ing impression upon Christ's hearers
was that 1t was an object lesson near
at hand. When Christ was seated in
the fishing smack upon the waters Of
Lake Galilee and said, Behold, there
went out sower to SOW he looked
off upon the hillsides ovcrhanging the
lake and pointed to q farmer scatter
ing his seed upon the rich soil Of the
east. In the same way legend tells
that when Christ spake these words of
my text he pointed to the half con-
structed walls Of tower which PLATE,
the governor, had begun to build, over
looking one Of the Jerusalem aQue-
ducts, and had left in an incompleted
state. There it stood, a powerful OBJ
ject lesson, showing that what one
commences in life one should carry on
to its full completion. So today ]
would draw my illustrations from
every whittier. I would find them in
the home, the store, the factory, in the
church and on the street l would find
them in your life as well as in mine.
Half Built Towers Of Life.
The half built towers of life have a
modern application in the average
schoolroom education. They can be
found in the preparations with which
many Of us were sent forth to the
struggle Of life. They can especially
be found in the smattering Of French
lessons and painting and music and
aesthetic culture in which some sisters
and daughters are being dipped for a
few months a year OH the principle
that the mere outward color Of the dye
decides whether or no the garment is
closely woven and Of good wearing
quality. They are the "incompleted BE- |
ginnings" Of the schools and colleges
which often send a young man or a
young woman forth into the world |
little of everything and not
any one study perfectly. They make
heir students know little of astrono- |
ny, a little Of chemistry, a little OF !
Greek, little of mathematics, little |
If mythology, little Of architecture, a
little of mechanics, little Of electric
ty, little Of this, that and the other |
hing and yet not we'll versed in any !
one subject or along any one line Of !
work. What true education should d.
s to teach man to do at least one !
hing as we'll as any one else could do .
t and not to know many things poorly. !
Jack Of all trades is master Of none
would illustrate my thought with
reference to remarkable speech which
Charles Francis Adams delivered some
7ears ago before the Phi Beta Kappa !:
society Of the Harvard university. The
tile Of this address was "a College
Fetich." In it Mr.. Adams denounced
he absurd course of study which many
colleges demand of students in years Of