The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-04-10

their dust lies, but for all usa to the woflt
that man might as well have never lived,
As an experiment as 10 how much he can
carry with him, put a ten cent p'ece IN the
palm of his dead hand, aud Ave
years after open the tomb, and you
will find he has dropped even the
ten cent piece. A lion Yes but
dead lion He left all his treasures on earth,
and hasno treasures in heaven, What shall
TIE stone cutter put tpcnf the ohelisk over
hint | suggest let il be the mans name,
then the date OF his birth, then the date OF
his death, then the appropriate Scripture
passage; Better is living dog than a dead
lion"
But thank God that We are having Just
now an outburst OF splendid benetcence that
is 10 increase until the earth is girdled with
it. 1t is spreading with the speed Of an cpl
demic, but with just the opposite effect Of an
epidemic. Do you not notice how wealthy
men are opening free libraries and building
churches in their native villageY 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 be-
cdming their own executors and admins
tratorss After putting aide enough for
their families flor ''he that provideth not for
his own, and especially those of his own
household, is worse than am infidelhI, they
are saying; "What can | 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 Tor the
public welfare, and while yet l have full
capacity to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing
the good accomplishedp There are bad fash
ions and good fashions, and, whether goou 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, IL Is being helped by
the fact that so many large estates have Inn
mediately after the testator's DEATH gore
into litigation. Attorneys with large fees
are employed on both sides, and the case goes
on month after month, and year after 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 childrenl
who at the fathers funeral seemed to
have an uncomfortable grief, after the
will is read gointo elaborate process to prove
that the father was 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 tho
Bible society, and the missionary society, or
the opening of free library is proof positive
that he was insane, and that he knew not
what he was signing when he subscribed to
the words! SIN 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 s1cn q
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 plans can you
draw me out for concert hallr' or, 81 am
specially interested in the incurables, and
how large a Building would accommodate
three hundred Of such patientsg' on, 1.-THE
church of God has been great help to me
all my life, and want you to draw me a
plan for a 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, though am well now, life is uncertain,
and before | leave the world l want to see
something done that will be an appropriate
acknowledgment of the goodness of God to
me and mine; now when eau ! hear from
you"
In our own city we have many examples OF
this. What a grandeur of beneticence has
our fellow citizen, Mr.. Pratt, demonstrated,
building educational institutions which will
put their hands on the Nineteenth century,
and the Twentieth century, and all the cen,
turtles! 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 chlse
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
twelve years of age, and went to Pittsburg.
He looked around for work, and became an
engineer in cellar, then rose to become a
telegraph messenger boy, then rose to posi-
ton in railroad Office, then rose to place in
a telegraph office, then rose to be superin-
tendent of a railroad, then rose till he became
an iron and steel manufacturer, then ross
until he opened free libraries in his native
land and last month free library in ALE
gheny City, and now offers two million dol
lars for free library in Pittsburg. This OK
ample will be catching until the earth is
revolutionized.
now 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 attorney a last will and tssta-
ment, in which they spite some daughter
because she married against her fathers
wish, and fling few crusts to Gc1 and suf-
fering humanity, as much as to say: Il
have kept this surplus property, through all
these severe winters and through all these
long years, from needy and suffering world,
and would keep it longer if | could but as |
must give it up, take it, and much good may
it do your Now we begin to understand the
text: Better is a living dog than dead
lion.n
Who would attempt to write the obituary
of the dead lions of commerce, the dead
lions of law, the dead lions of medicine, the
dead lions of social influence? Vast capacity
had they, and mighty range and other men
in their presence were as powerless as the an
teope or hejfer or giraffe when from the
jingle 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
tawny inhabitant of the desert rolls over
helpless, the lioDess and whelps fills the air
with shrieks and howls and lash themselves
into lamentation, and it is genuine grief for
the poor things. But when this dead lion Of
monstrous uselessness expires, there is moth
ing but dramatized woe, for Better is liv-
ing dog than dead lion"
My text also means that an opportunity Of
the living present is better than great OPP
portunity passed. We spend much of our
time in saying: "If l only had" We can
all look back and see some occasion where
we might have done great deed, or might
nave eIecUeQ an Important rescue. OF we
might have dealt stroke that would have
accomplished vast result. Through stupid
ity 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 done We spend hours and day,
and years in walking around that
dead lion. We cannot resuscitate it. II
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 Cum
ming sent the slug. Don't let Us give any
more time to the deploring of the dead past.
There are other great opportunities remain
ing. They may not be as great, but they are
worthy our attention Small opportunities
all around, opportunities for the saying Of
kind words and doing of kind deeds. Help
lessness to be helped. Disheartened ones t.
be encouraged. Lost ones to be found
Though the present may be Insignificant as
| compared with the past, Better is a living
dog than dead lion.
The most useless and painful feeling is the
one of regret. Repent of lost opportunities
we must, and get pardon we may, but re-
| grets weaken, dishearten and cripple for flu
ture work. If sea Captain who once had
| charge of White Star steamer across the
Atlantic Ocean, one foggy night runs on q
rock off Newfoundland, and passengers and
ship perish, shall he refuse to take command
| of small boat up the North River. and say:
| Iacc