Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-03

tuGEClOE0 luCOtuDcICAb " q III
and there are men on the jury who think
that the tact that the testator gave so
much of his money to the Bible society
and the missionary society, or the open
ing of a free library, is proof positive
that he was insane, and that he knew
not what he was signing when he sub
scribed to the words: ''1n the name OF
God, amen. l. 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 spectacle TO angels and to men
that all over the land successful men are
calling in architects and saying to them !:
Chow much would it cost for me TO build
a picture gallery for our town. or,
''What plans can you draw me out for a
concert hall?'' or, 81 am specially in
terested in sthe incurables, and how
large building would accommodate 900
of such parients?' or, 1.-THE Church of
God has been a great help to me all my
life, and 1 want you to draw me plan
for church, commodious, beautiful,
well ventilated, and with plenty of
WINDOWS TO LET IN THE LIGHT.
want you to get right at work in
making out plans of such building, for,
IUOuRD 1 dul VIGIL no" lll0 IL uuCCi TAM
and before leave the world l want TO
see something done that will be an ap-
propriate acknowledgement of the good
ess of God to me and mine; now when
can hear from you?'
In our own city we have many exam
pies of this. What a grandeur of bene-
fcence has our fellow citizen Mr.. Pratt,
demonstrated building educational in
stitutious which will put their hands on
the Nineteenth century, and the Twen-
tieth century, and all the centuries! All
honor to such man! Do 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 philanthropists to
read them while yet they are alive. Less
post-mortem praise, and more ante
mortem!
A poor Scotch lad came to America at
- years of age, aud went to Pittsburg
He looked around for work and became
ar engineer in a cellar, then rose to be-
come a telegraph messenger boy, then
rose to position in a railroad office then
rose to place in a telegraph office, then
rose to be superintendent of a railroad,
then rose till he became an iron and
steel manufacturer, then rose until he
opened free libraries in his native land,
and last month a free library in Allie
cheney City, and now offers 81 900 900
for free library in PittRburg. This ex-
ample will be catching until the earth is
revolutiouzed. How majestic such
men in comparison with some
L wot of, who amass wealth
and clutch it with both hands until death
begins to feel for their heart-strings land
then they dictate to an attorney a last
will and testament, in which they spite
some daughter because she married
against her fathers wish, and fling few
crusts to God and suffering humanity, as
much as to say, al have kept this sur
plus property through all these severe
winters, and through all these long
years, from q needy and suffering world,
aud would keep it longer, If 1 could, but
rs / must give it up take it and much
good may it do you" Now we begin to
understand the text, "Better is living
dog than dead lion -
Who would attempt to write the obit-
uary of the dead lions of commerce, the
dead lions of law the dead lions of medi-
cine, the dead lions of social influence?
Vast capacity had they, and mighty
range, and other men in their presence
were as powerless as the antelope or
heifer or giraffe when from the jungle q
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 bargain.
They have spoken their last hard word.
They have
COMMITTED THEIR LAST MEAN ACT.
When a tawny inhabitant of the desert
rolls over helpless, the lioness and whelps
fill the air with shrIeks and bowls, and
ash themselves into lamentation, and it
is genuine grief for the poor things.
But when this dead lion of monstrOus
uselessness expires there is nothing but
dTamatiZed woe, for 'Better is living
dog than dead lion.
My text also means that an opportu-
nifty of the living present is better than
great opportunity passed. We spend
much of our time in saying: ''If / only
had - We can all look back and see
some occasion where we might have done
great deed, or might have effected an
important rescue, or we might have dealt
a stroke that would have accomplished n
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 think
ing of what we might have said or
might have done! We spend hours
and days and years in walking
around that dead lion. We cannot re-
suscitate it. 1t will never open its
eyes again. There will never be an
other 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 oppor-
tunities remaining. They may not be
as great, but they are worth our atten-
ton. Small opportunities all around,
opportunities for the saying of kind
words and doing of kind deeds. Help
lessness 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 a living dog than a dead
lion.''
The most useless and painful feeling is
the one of regret. Repent of lost oppor-
tunities we must, and get pardon we
may; but regrets weaken, dishearten,
and cripple for future work. If sea
captain who once had charge Of White
Star steamer across the Atlantic ocean,
one foggy night runs on a rock off New
foundlAnd and messengers and shin per-