Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-04-03

right at work in making out plans oi
such building, for, though am vel
now, life is uncertain, and before
leave the world want to see something
done that will be an appropriate &C.
knowledgement Of the goodness of God
to me and mine; now when can I heal
from your"
In our own city We have many ex.
amples of this. What q Rrandeu. oi
benefcence has our fellow citizen, Mr..
Pratt, demonstrated, building educa.
tional institutions which will put theil
hands on the nineteenth century, an6
the twentieth century, and all the cen
turiesl All honor to such q mani Dc
not say SO when he is dead, say it now
1t would be good thing If some of the
eulogies we chisel on tombstones were
written on paper in time for the philan-
thropists to read them while yet they are
alive. Less post-mortem praise, and
more ante-morteml
A poor Scotch lad came to America Of
twelve years of age, and went to Pitts.
burgh. He looked around for work,
and became an engineer in q cellar,
then rose to become q telegraph mes
senger boy, then rose to a position in Q
railroad Office, then rose to place IN 9
telegraph Office, then rose to be superin-
tendent of railroad, then rose until
he became an iron and steel manufac-
turer, then rose until he opened free
Libraries in his native land and last
month free library in Allegheny City,
and now offers two million dollars for q
free library in Pittsburgh. This exam
pie will be catching until the earth is
revolutionized.
How majestic such men in comparison
with some wot of, who amass wealth
and clutch it with both hands until
death begins to feel for their heart
strings, and then they dictate to an at
torney q last will and testament, in
which they spite some daughter because
she married against her fathers wish,
and fling few crusts to God and suffer-
ing humanity, as much as to say: Il
have kept this surplus property, through
all these severe winters, and through. all
these long years, from O needy and suf-
fering world, and would keep it longer
If could, but as must give it up, take
it, and much good may it do youl' Now
we begin to understand the text, Better
is living dog than dead lion."
Who would attempt to write the
the dead lions of law, the dead lions of
medicine, the dead lions of social in
fuence? Vast capacity had they. and
mighty range, and other men in their
presence were as powerless as the ante
lope or heifer or giraffe when from the
jungle Numidian lion springs upon its
prey. But they get through with life.
They lay down in their magnificent lair.
They have made their last sharp bar
gain. They have spoken their last hard
word. They have committed their last
mean act. When tawny inhabitant of
the desert rolls over helpless, the lion
ess and whelps fill the air with shrieks
and howls, and lash themselves into
lamentation, and it is genuine grief
for the poorthings. But when this dead
lion of monstrous uselessness expires,
there is nothing but dramatized woe,
for Better is living dog than dead
lion."
My text also means that an oppor-
tunity of the living present is better
than great opportunity passed. We
spend much of our time in saying, IF I
only had" We can all look back and
see some occasion where we might have
done a great deed, ormight have effected
an important rescue, or we might have
dealt a stroke that would have accom-
plished vast result. Through stupidity
or lack of appreciation of the crisis, or
through procrastination, we let the
chance go by. How much time We have
wasted in thinking of what we might
have said or might have donel We
spend hours and days and years in walk
ing around that dead lion. We cannot
resuscitate it. 1t will never open its
eyes again. There will never be another
spring in its paw. Dead as any feline
terror of South Africa, through whose
heart thirty years ago Gordon Cumming
sent the slug. Don't let us give any
more time TO the deploring of the dead
past. There are other great opportu-
mites remaining. They may not be as
great, but they are worth our attention.
Small quantities all around, opportuni-
ties for the saying of kind words
and doing of kind deeds. Helpless
ness to be helped. Disheartened ones
to be encouraged. Lost ones to be found.
Though the present may be insignificant
as compared with the past, Better is
living dog than dead lion"
The most useless and painful feeling
is the one of regret. Repent of lost OPP
portunities we must, and get pardon we
may, but regrets weaken, dishearten and
cripple for future work. If sea cap
tain who once had charge offs White Star
steamer across the Atlantic ocean, one
foggy night runs on rock off New
foundland, and passengers and ship
perish, shall he refuse to take command
of small boat up the North River, and
say: Twill never go on the water again
unless can run one of the White Star
line?" Shall the engineer of a light
ming express, who at the station mis-
read the telegram of the train dis
patcher and went into collision, and for
that has been put down to the
work of engineering freight
train, say: II never will again
mount an engine unless. / can run a YES
tibule express?" Take what you have
of opportunity left. Do your best with
what remains. Your shortest winter day
is worth more to you than can be the
longest day of previous summer. Your
now, as compared with pre-
vious opportunities, may be small as A.
rat terrier compared with the lion which
at Matabosa. fatally wounded by the
gun of David Livingstone, in its death
agony leaped upon the missionary ex-
plorer and with its jaws crushed the
bone OF his arm to splinters, and then
rolled over and expired, but, Better is
o living dog than dead lion"
My text also means that the condition
of the most wretched man alive is better
than that Of the most favored sinners
departed. The chance OF these last is
gone. Where they are they cannot make
Charlemagne was dead he was set in an
seDuloher on ooldan