Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-04-11

| LII and F. z. s. Christ said in Lu -, the
| sixth chapter, that in heaven SJrDe who had
| it hard here would laugh there.
| And / think laugh OF deli e:ht and con-
| graduation will run around the n ve- V
| circles when this humble one OF whom !
spoke shall go up and take the precedence of
| many Christians who in this world felt them
selves to be of ninety-nine per cent. more
Importance. The whisper Will 60 round the
/ galleries Of the upper temple: Can it be
! possible that that was the weigher in our
/ store?' Can it be possible that that was
the car-driver on our street" Can it be
/ possible that was the sexton of our church,
''Can it be possible that is the man that
h heaEdffb aT coa 4bo int our fear never
! things. g were clear ahead of him on
. earth, but he is clear ahead of us in heaven.
( Why. we had ten times more brains
than he had, we had a thousand times more
money than he had, we had social position a
mile higher than he had. we had innumer-
able opportunities more than ne had but it
seems now that he accomplished more with
his one talent than we did with our ten"
while Solomon. standing among the thrones
overhears the whisper, and sees the wonder
nent and VIII, with benlgnant and alI-sug-
! gestive smile, say, Yes. it is as l told the
world many centuries ag0---better Is small
faculty actively used than great talent I'M
employed, better is living dog than a dead
hon
The simple fact is that the world has been,
Thev are people Of great capacity ana large
/ opportunity. doing nothing for the improve
ment Of society, nothing for the overthrow
of evil, nothing for the salvation of souls.
Some Of them are monetary hons. Ihey
have accumulated so many hundreds of thou
sands Of dollars that you can feel their tread
when they walk through any street or come
into any circle They can by one financial
move upset the money market. Instead of
the ten per cent of their income vrv
Bible lays down as the proper proportion OF
their contribution to the cause of God, they
do not give five per cent, or three per cent.
or two per cent one per cent, or a half
per cent, or a quarter per cent. That they
are lions no one doubts. When they roar,
Wall street. State street, Lombard street and
the BOurse tremble.
II a few years they will lie down and die.
They will have great funeral, and long
row of fine carriages, and mightlest requlems
will roll from the organ. and polished SHAFT
of Aberdeen granite will indicate Wnere
their dusties, but Tor all use to the world
that man might as well have never lived.
AS an experiment as to how much he can
carry with him, put ten cent piece IN the
palm of his dead hand, and five
years after open the tomb, and you
will find he has dropped even the
ten cent piece. A lion! Yes but
dead lion! He lef1 all his treasures on earth.
and has no treasures in heaven. What shall
the stone cutter put upon the obellsk over
L
then the date of his birth, then the date of
his death, then the appropriate Scripture
passage: Better is a living dog than dead
iOn.'
But I thank God that we are having just
COW an outburst of splendid benefcence lat
is to increase until the earth is girdled with
it.. 1t is spreading with the speed OF cpl
demic, but with just the opposite effect of
epidemic. Do you not notice how wealthy
men are opening free libraries and building
churches in their native village? Fave you
not seen how men of large means, instead
of leaving great philanthropies in their
wills for disappointed heirs to quarrel about
and the orphan courts to swamp, be-
coming their own executors and admins
traitors? After putting aside enough for
their families for she that provideth not for
his own, and especially those of his own
household, is worse than an infdeP0, they
are saying: "WhaG can l do not after | am
dead, but while living and in full possession
of my faculties, to properly direct the build
ing of the churches or the hospitals or the
colleges, or the libraries that [ design for the
public welfare, and while yet | have full
capacity to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing
the good Accomplished? There are bad far
ions and good fashions, and. whether good or
bad, fashions are mighty.
One of the good fashions now starting will
sweep the earth-the fashion for wealthy
men to distribute, while yet alive, their
surplus accumulation. 1t is being helped By
the fact that many large estates have i'm
mediately after the testatOrS DEATH gone
into litigation. Attorneys with large fees
are employed on both Sides and the case goes
on month after month, and year alter year,
and after one court decides it ascends to an
other court and is decided in the opposite
direction, and then new evidence is found,
and the trials are all repeated. The children,
who at the fathers funeral seemed to
have an uncomfortable grief, after the
will is read go into elaborate process to prove
that the father crazy, and therefore in
competent to make will; and there are men
on the jury who think that the fact that the
testatOr gave SO much of his money to the
Bible society, and the missionary society, or
the opening OF a free library is proof positive
that lie was insane, and that he knew not
what he was signing when he subscribed to
the words: In the name Of God amen. |,
being of sound mind do make this my last
will and testament"
The torn wills, the fraudulent wills. the
broken wills have recently been made such a
spectacle to angels and to men that all over
the land successful men are calling in archi-
tects and saying to them. How much
would it cost for me to build a picture gal
lery for our town.? or, "What Q fans can YOU
draw me out for concert hall%' or. 81 am
specially interested in the inCurables' and
how large a building would accommodate
three hundred of such patients?' or, The
church of God has been great help to me
all my lie, and | want you to draw me
plan for a church, commodious, beautiful
we'll ventilated, and with plenty Of windows
to let in the light; [ want you to get right at
work in making out plans of such a building,
for, though | am well now, life is uncertain
and before leave the world I want to see
something done that will be an appropriate
acknowledgment Of the goodness of God to
me and mine; now when can l. hear from
you?'
In our own city we have many examples of