Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-02-13
C->aln,age
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt TalmaGe. d. d.

nbors of those who have gone before
y the lesson of this sermon. The text
$ Joshua ri. 10, "He left nothing I'M
lone of all that the Lord commanded
Moses"
One of the saddcst places to visit is
The study or Office of a great man who
has suddenly been called away by
death and has left his things in just
The way he was accustomed to use
hem. Some years ago visited Wash
Rlngton and Lee college in Lexington,
Va. and went into the presidents
room, where the great Confederate
general Robert L. Lee did his last
work There was the chair in which
he used to sit. There was the table at
which he used to write There was his
ol ink well and the very pcnhoder
which he had joined together with his
own hands. There were his slippers.
waiting to rest his tired feet when he
hrew off the heavy army boots he al
ways wore when out tramping. And
there was the paper all ready for his
next letter. But suddenly the death
nngrl came and touched him, and,
Though Robert Il. Lee in his time com
manded one of the greatest armies he
had to obey the sudden summons of
death. He could not delay his going
one week or one day or one hour or
one minute or one second. He could
not say: 80 death, let me complete
some unfinished business have at my
office. There are certain papers | want
20 sign and certain documents ! wish
10 correct" No; Robert L. Lee could
mot go back to complete one page. In
an instant he had to be gone. The Ia
bors of his busy life were left to be
finished hy other hands and his incom-
pletc problems to be solved by other
brains
Bertel Thorvaldsen. the great Danish
sculptor, was one Of the most rapid
workers that ever lived. What Rubens
was to Antwerp this modern phidias
was to Copenhagen. the capital OF the
north. But his works are not all
70 be found in Denmark. AS with
he "Lion of Lucnrnc," his master
pieces are to he found scattered
over Europe. But even Bertel Thor
he wantel to do. On March u. 1914
ne was at work in his studio upon a
colossal statue of Martin Luther Sud
denly there walked in an intimate
friend, baroness Won Stampc. She
wanted him to come and dine with her
family. He refused. lie said, mo; |
must finish the statue" But finally.
loverpcrsuaded, he dropped his chise
and went to her home TO dine. That
night. a short time after eating, pain
grippcd his heart, and in a few min
! utes he was dead. There today in the
| great National museum Of Copenha gen
lis the unhniscd statue Of Martin Luther
which Thorvaldsen tried to complete,
but cid not have time. He left his
work to he finished by other hands and
MS problems to be worked out by other
minds.
Lord Macaulsy's Task.
One of the most pathetic incidents in
literature is related Of Lord Macaulay,
the charming historian, who at the be-
ginning of his great work wrote. Il
purpose to write the history of Eng
ory of men still living" But he did
not live to fulfill his purpose. Death
called hin, and he laid aside his pen.
When his nephew went into the his
torian's study after his death there lay
the unfinished manuscript. The last
words he had penned We're those de-
scribing the death of one of England's
worthless, who, Macaulay said, in words
that might have stood for his own cpl
taph, died greving. as only noble
minds can grieve, that he must leave
his work only half finished" When
Charles Dickens dropped his magic
pen his novel "The Mystery Of Edwin
brood" was already three-fourths
written. but it was published as n frag-
ment, and, though many have attempt
ed to finish 1T, no man could do 1t as
Dickens would have done it. Dickens.
like other great men. lett his task I'M
finished. Had these men lived a little
while longer they would have been
nble to complete the work they had
mapped out in their minds. And what
IS true Of great men is also true of peo
pie in ordinary walks Of life When
they pass away they generally leave
some unfinished labor which they had
hoped to complete This will be true
also Of our life work.
This is true of nations as of individ-
Ials. The new generation inherits a
responsibility for the completion of
great enterprises begun by its prede-
.cssors. 1t would be degenerate gem
ration that deplored the death of the
great men dead, yet made no effort to
continue their work and carry it for
ward TO success. The torch that drops
from the deau hand must not fall to
the ground. Some hand, perhaps not
so llluetrlous nor so able must take it
up and, humbly doing its best, carry it
forward to triumph. Were it not so
The world would not grow and much of
The best and most bene(icent labor
would be lost
The Work Of Joshua.
Moses had his work to do. God gave
to him definite comm mission. lie had
TO lead the Israelites out OF Egypt,
through the wilderness and up to the
Jordan Then he was laid aside.
Joshua, the soldier, the younger man.
came in TO finish the labors of Moses.
the organizer and lawgiyer The One
completed the task of the other. "As
the Lord commanded Moses, his sery-
ant so did Moses command Joshua.