Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1908-02-15
Calnnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Taimaae, ID. ID.

Los Angeles, Cal, Feb. 9.-That hui
man life is brief and incomplete ana
that individuals as we'll as nations
have a duty to fulfill in perfecting the
labors of those who have gone before
is the lesson Of this sermon. The text
Is Joshua xi, 10, HE left nothing un-
done of all that the Lord commanded
Moses"
One OF the saddest places to visit Is
the study or Office Of great man VINO
has suddenly been called away by
death and has left his things In just
the way he was accustomed to use
them. Some years ago visited Wash
ington and Lee college in Lexington,
Va. and went into the presidents
room, where the great Confederate
general Robert q. Lee did his last
work. There was the chair In when
he used to sit. There was the table at
which he used to write. There was MS
old ink well and the very penholder
which he had Joined together with MS
own hands. There were his slippers
waiting TO rest his tired feet when he
drew off the heavy army boots ne al
WAYS wore when out tramping. And
there was the paper all ready for MS
next letter. But suddenly the death
angel came and touched him. and
though Robert Z. 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: 20 death, let me complete
some unfinished business | have at m!
office. There are certain papers want
to sign and certain documents wish
70 correct" No; Robert E. Lee could
not 90 back to complete one page. III
an instant he had to be gone. The Ia
bors OF his busy life were left TO be
finished by other hands and his incom-
plete 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
10 be found In Denmark. AS with
the Lion of Lucerne," his master
njeces are to be found scattered
over Europe. But even Bertel Ihor,
yaldsen did not complete all thai
he wanted to do. On March "a, 1914
he was at work in his studio upon o
colossal statue of Martin Luther. Sud
denly there walked IN an intimatf
friend, Baroness yon Stampe. sue
wanted him 70 come and dine With he. hel
family. He refused. he said. mos
must finish the statue" But finally.
overpersuaded. he dropped his chisel
and went to her home to dine. That
night, a short time after eating. pain
gripped his heart. and in few min
utes he was dead. There today In the
great National museum Of Copenhagen
Is the unfinised statue Of Martin Luther
which Thorvaldsen tried to complete.
but did not have time He left bis
work to be finished by other hands and
his problems to be worked out by other
minds.
Lord Macaulay'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, 81
purpose to write the history Of Eng
land down to a period within the mem
ory Of men still living" But he did
not live to fulfill his purpose. Death
called him. 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 were those de
scribing the death Of one Of Englands
worthless. who. Macaulay said. In words
that might have stood for his own cpl
taph, "died grieving, 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 frag-
ment and, though many have attempt
ed to finish 1t, no man could do 1t as
Dickens would have done 1t. Dickens
like other great men. left his task un-
finished. Had these men lived a little
while longer they would have been
able 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 he true
also Of our life work.
This Is true of nations as Of individ-
uals. The new generation inherits a
responsibility for the completion OF
great enterprises begun by Its prede-
cessors. 1t would be a degenerate gen.
Grafton that deplored the death Of the
great men dead, yet made no effort to
continue their work and carry 1t for
ward to success. The torch that drops
from the dead hand must not fall to
the ground. Some hand, perhaps not
so illustrlous nor so able, must take 1t
up and, humbly doing Its best, carry 1t
forward triumph. Were 1t not SO
the world would not grow and much OF
the best and most benefcent labor
would be lost.
The Work Of Joshua.
Moses had his work to do. God gave
to him a definite commission. He 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,
rame in to finish the labors Of Moses,
the organizer and lawgiver. The one
completed the task Of the other. "As
the Lord commanded Moses, bis sery-