Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-06-13
Caln1aQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae. D. d.

worldly 1ame ana reputc are evaneS-
cent and that even tho greatest services
one can render to his fellow men are
apt soon to be forgotten Is the lesson
of this sermon. The text Is Exodus
l, 8, Now there arose up new king
over Egypt which knew not Joseph"
If there is any country which pre-
eminently built its monuments to en-
dure as long as the world lasts that
land is ancient Egypt. When the
Egyptians planned a monument 10 COM
menorate victory or the glories Of
their kings or national heroes they
seemed TO say, 1--WE will erect this
monument out Of such massive stones
that the foundations of the earth shall
have to be moved before they are rock
ed down" These graves, like those Of
the "tombs Of the kings" were exca-
waited from the sides of the mountains
themselves. To break them down the
iconoclast must rip open the earth and
tear down the foundations Of the hills
and destroy the unbroken rocks which
have never been disturbed since the
Divine Mason mortared them in at their
laying. Yet there is strange irony in
the fact that, although the monuments
remain. the memory of the men they
were intended to immortalize has per-
ished. Explorers can only guess at the
purpose for which some of those mon
uments We're raised The modern
Egyptian cannot tell you the meaning
of the Sphinx: he cannot tell you why
the pyramids were built, and he has
to ask tho modern German or French
man or Englishman what Is the mean
ing of the inscriptions on the walls.
The great phnraohs Of the distant past
are completely forgotten by the people
of tho country over which they ruled.
If Egypt-old Egypt-could Forget
the purpose for which the pyramids
We're built, if it could forget where was
the valley Of the west" in which the
kings Of the eighteenth dynasty were
buried, II it could forget the sites of
some Of its greatest and most popu-
lous cities. surely It &c not wonderful
to learn that there arose king and
people in old Egypt who could forget
that q great prime minister like Joseph
ever lived. There had been a time
when his name was IN every mouth,
when his power and authority had
been felt from one end of the country
to the other. but he, like the pharaohs,
was forgotten. So It Is in modern
times. The men who occupied 80 large
& space in the newspapers. who were
followed by crowds of admirers, on
whose lips great audiences hung en-
raptured, are scarcely mentioned now.
They have passed into history. and the
world goes on without them. The fact
teaches a lesson that all of us should
learn. Let us do faithfully the work
God has given us to do and not waste
our energies in building sand castles
on the beach of time which will not
immortalze us. but will be swept away
by the waves of oblivion.
Joseph Forgotten.
The name of Joseph was forgotten
by the Egyptians because, in .he first
place. the conditions which made him
prime minister of Pharaohs Kingdom
had forever passed away. Tho seven
years Of famine We're gone. The huge
Cranares in which the product Of the
seven years Of plenty were stored had
been eInptled aud pulled down. The
recolections Of those weary months.
when the great river Nile refused to
overflow its banks. had grown DINNER
and DINNER. The horses and the cattle
and the sheep and the oxen and the
men and the women and the children
were no longer In danger OF starvation.
Thus the conditions which made Jo-
seph's name the most potent in all
Egypt had gone and been forgotten,
and the great prime minister's name
had been forgotten as well. When a
mans work Is done the man as far as
the world Is concerned ceases to exist.
The world does not enjoy picnicking
in graveyard nor associatlng with the
dead. 1t has hard enough work to keen
up with its living issues without un-
wrapping the fold Of its mummied
past.
come to You today and say: Tell
me the history Of the great American
political parties What did the FEEDER
allsts stand for? What was the great
bond which held together the Demo
cratic Republican party, with Thomas
Jefferson at its head2 What was the
loading issue which made James X.
Polk president Of the United States?
Upon what ground was Texas admit
ted into the Tnionf' "Oh," you an
swer. II do not know! have never
studied those causes. Those causes
are dead issues. have hardly enough
time to keep up with the platforms
Of our present political parties. say,
rs do most men. Let the dead bury
their dead"
l ask you another question, "Who
built the Erie canal?" OF course you
know that the Erie canal was the most
famous piece of engineering ever IN
dertaken in the United States up to
that time. What was the history Of
the "pony express" one OF the most
daring mercantile enterprises ever
started and which once connected the
CALIFORNIA; with the eastern metropo-
lis. You answer: II do not know.
and since the mighty locomotive, with
Its iron rails, has spanned this CONT
nent l am more anxious to study the
future Of our modern transportation
systems than to find out the genesis OF
our Erie canal or pony express. Wher
tine staRecoach and the canalboat have