The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-04-05

oAouhN II CAhS'S "A'h SHAS
humble one Of whom l spoke shall go
up and take the precedence of many
Christians who in this world felt them
selves to be of 90 per cent. more inn
p%ortance.
The simple fact Is that the world has
been and the world is now full of dead
lions. They are people of great capacity
and large opportunity, doing nothing
for the improvement Of society, nothing
for the overthrow of evil, nothing for
the salvation of souls. They have ac-
cumulated 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 nov upset the
money market. Instead of the ten per
cent of their income, which the Bible
lays down as the proper proportion of
their contribution to the cause of God,
they do not give Ave per cent, or three
per cent, or two per cent, or n per
cent, or q half per cent, or n quarter
per cent. That they arc lions no ono
doubts. When they roa Wall street,
State street, Lombard street and tho
bourse tremble. In n fow years they
will lie down and die. They will have
n great funeral, and q long row of fine
carriages, and mightiest requiems will
roll from tho organ, and polished shaft
Of Aberdeen granite will indicate whore
their dust lies. but for all use to tho
world that man might AZ we'll have
never lived.
But | thank God that we arc having
just now an outburst Of splendid bcnef-
cence that Is to increase until the earth
is girdled with It. 1t Is spreading with
tho speed Of an epidemic, but with just
tho opposite effect of an epidemic. Do
you not notice how wealthy mon are
opening free libraries, and building
churches In their native villages? Have
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, are becoming their W execu-
tors and administrators?
After putting aside enough for their
own families flor she that provideth
not for his own, and especially those OF
his own household, is worse than an in
fdel"), they are saying; "What can l
do, not after I am dead, but while liy-
ing, and in full possession of my facul-
ties, to properly direct the building OF
the churches, or the hospitals, or the
colleges, or the libraries that l design
for the public welfare, and while yet l
have full capacity to enjoy the satisfac-
ton of seeing the good accomplishment"
There are bad fashions and good
ku.kio-a I'D u,ha%hnr rood Ar bod
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 sur
| plus accumulation. 1t Is being helped
| by the fact that so many large estates
have, Immediately after the testator's
death, gone into ligitation. Attorneys
| with large fee are employed on both
sides, and the case goes on month after
month, and year after year, and after
| one court decides, 1t ascends to another
court and is decided in the opposite di-
rection, 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 was
crazy, and therefore incompetent to
make a will; and there are men on the
jury who think that the fact that the
testator gave 80 much Of his money to
the Bible society, and the missionary
society, or the opening Of a free library
is proof positive that he 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"
A poor Scotch lad came to America al
twelve years Of age and went to Pitts
bnrgh. He looked around for work and
became an engineer in a cellar, then
rose to become a telegraph messenger
boy, then rose to O position in a railroad
office, then rose to Q place In q telegraph
office, then rose to be superintendent o.
a railroad, then rose till he became al
iron and steel manufacturer, then rose
until he opened free libraries in his ma
tive land and last month q free library
in Allegheny City and now offers So, OOO,
900 for a free library in Pittsburgh
This example will be catching until the
earth Is revolutionized. How majesti,
such men in comparison with some
wot of, who amasses wealth and clutcl
1t with both hands until death begini
TO feel for their heart strings and theI
they dictate to an attorney q last will
aud testament in which they spite som'
daughter because she married agaiDs
her fathers wish and fling q few crust
to God and suffering humanity, rs mucl
rs to say: 81 have kept this surplu
property, through all these severe win
ters and NIL through these long year
from o needy and suffering world ant
would keep 1t longer " l could. but
must give 1t up, take 1t and much goot
may It do you'll" Now we begin 70 IN
derstand the text ''Better is q livini
dog than a lead lion"
Who would attempt to write tn
obituary Of the dead lions Of commerce
the dead lions OF law, the dead lions o
medieipe, the dead lions Of social In
iuencea Vast capacity had they, an
mighty range, and other men in the
presence we're as powerless rs the ante
lope or heifer or giraffe when from tn
Jungle . Numidian lion springs upon 1t
prey. But they get through with life
They lay down In their magnificen
lair. They have made theiy last shar
bargain. They have spoken their las
hard word. They have committed thei
last mean act When a tawny iphab
tant OF the desert rolls over helpless
the hopess and whelps fill the air wit
shrieks and bowls and lash themselve
into lamentations and 1t Is a genuin
grief for the poor things, But whe
this dead lion of monstrous ~uselessnes
expires there Is nothing but dramatize
woe. for "BetteE is . living dog than
dead lion"
MY text also means that aq oppoI
tunity Of the living present Is bette
, than a great opportunity passed. w
/ spend much of our time in saying: III
, oniy had" We can all look back an
see some occasion where we might HAY
i effected an important rescue, or "
. might have dealt Q stroke that vol
haye accomplished a yast result
Through stupidity or lack Of apprecit
q ton Of the CRISIS, or through procrast
' nation, we let the chance go by. Ho
much time we have wasted iB thinkiT
r Of what We might baye said or migl
have doneP We spend hours and da.
and years In walking around that def
y lion. We can not resuscitate It,
r The most useless and painful feelir
- is the one 81 regret. Repent Of lost o
8 p~ortunities we mnat, and get pardon v
y may, but regrets weaken, dishearte
4 and cripple for future work. fake M
you have Of opportunity left, DO yoI
. best Of what remains. Your shOrte