Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-02-14
Calnase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. n. n.


man life Is brief aud Incomplete ami
shat Individuals as we'll as nations
have duty 60 toltil In nerrcctleg the
laborS OF those who have scNae before
Is the lesson OF this sermon, The text
is Joshua xi, iA Gle left nossing nm.
done % all that the Lord commanded
Moses"
One or the saddest places 20 visit Is
the study or office OF great man who
has suddenly been called away by
death aud 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 +. Lee did his last
work. There was the chair I'm which
he used TO sit. There was the table at
which he used to write. There was his
old Ink we'll and the very penholder
which he had Joined together with his
own hands. There were his slippers,
waiting to rest his tired feet when he
drew 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
angel came and touched him, and,
though Robert L. Lee in his time COM
mandcd one of the greatest armies, he
had TO obey the sudden summons of
death. He could not delay his going
one week OF 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 my
Office. There are certain papers want
to sign and certain documents 1 wish
TO correct" No; Robert r. Lee could
not 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 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
pieces are to be found scattered
over Europe. But even Bertel Thor
valdsen did not complete all that
he wanted to do. On March "a, 1914,
he was at work in his studio upon a
colossal statue of Martin Luther. Sud-
denly there walked In an intimate
friend. Baroness Won Stampe. She
wanted him TO come and dine with her
family. lie refused. he said, mo;
must finish the statue" But finally.
overpersuaded. he dropped his chisel
and went TO her home to dine. That
N oh
grippcd his heart, and in a 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 his
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 ut the be-
ginning OF his great work wrote. 81
purpose to write the history OF Eng
land down TO period within the men,
DRY or 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 England's
WORTHLESS, who. Macauiay said, in words
that might have stood for his own cpl
taph, died grieying. as only noble
minds can grieve, that he must leave
hol
Charles Dickens dropped his magic
pen his novel ''The Mystery Of Edwin
Drood' was already three-fourths
written. but it was published as frag-
ment. and, though many have attempt
eel TO finish 1t, no man could do ii as
Dickens would have done 1t. Dickens.
Ike other great men. left his task I'M
finished Had these men lived little
while longer they would have been
able to complete the work they had
mapped out In their minds. And what
Is true or 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-
uais. The new generation inherits q
responsibility for the completion OF
great enterprises begun by its prede-
cessors. 1t would be degenerate gen.
Grafton 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 dead hand must not fall to
the ground. Some hand, perhaps not
SO iiiustrious nor so able, must take It
up and. humbly doing its best, carry 1t
Forward to triumph. Were It not so
the world would not grow and much of
the best and most beneficent labor
would be lost.
The Work of Joshua.
Moses had his work to do God pove
10 him a definite commission. He had
TO lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
through the wilderness and I'D 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 lawgiver. The one
completed the task of the other. LAS
the Lord commanded Moses. his sery-
ant. so did Moses command Joshua
and SO did Joshua; he left nothing IN
done OF all that the Lord commanded
Moses" Now, the great question
which comes before us Is this: Are we
ready to take up and carry forward
the unfinished labors OF those who
have gone before as Joshua completed
the work OF Moses?