The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1894-07-18
Death Comes To All Alike Whether
We Live In Fine Palaces
or Poor Huts.
He Is The DOorkeeper Who Ushers
Us Across the Threshold of
the Present into Eternity.
1T IS NOT THE END.


hour will come upon thee. -Revelation, ill.,, J.
The death of President Carnot furnish
es us with very serious topic fol
consideration this morning.
For our present purpose we may ignore
the fact that he was the loved and hon
ored Chief of the French Republic, and
that he was the worthy representative Of
an ancient family whose record Of
probity and courage is unbroken. These
serve to lend an added emphasis to the
incident, but the impressive truth is
that Death steals upon us unawares,
with slippered feet, and that neither
wealth nor ancestry will stay his hand
for single instant.
He comes to all alike, and it makes no
difference to him whether the person for
whom he holds a summons lives in a
palace, amid the elegant surroundings
which sometimes make life the more
desirable, or in the hovel, where the
only guests are want and hunger.
Death never yet took bride. He
always achieves his purpose without
hesitation. 1t matters nothing to him
whether the body from which he has
wrenched soul lies in state, in the
midst of a mourning populace, or is
cheaply cofiined and carried to an OBJ
scure corner of some country churchyard.
He is an memorable creature, and when
he says "come!" you instantly lay aside
your work, however important il may
seem to be, whisper few hasty farewells,
and then your fearful friends remark,
with bated breath, "He has gonew
The strange part of it all is that you
cannot reckon on year, or month, or
even day, with anything like certainty.
You must be ready for this invisible
messenger at all times. II, therefore,
there is anything in philosophy or relig-
ion which will give you quietude and
serenity of mind you must possess your
self of it at once and hold it for an emer-
gency. 1t is worth more to you than
riches, for riches have way of deserving
you in the pinch of fate. The fact that
you are worth millions does not give you
comfort when you are IN ertremis, neither
do you find consolation in the honors
you have won or in the high position
which you must vacate.
The stole of olden time ground his
teeth when Death knocked at his door.
He met the conqueror with grim def
ance, and surrendered with a shrug OF
the shoulders. lie summoned whatever
indifference he could command, and
died with a scowl on his face. 1t was
better 80 than to cringe in cowardly
fashion, and we cannot refrain from
certain degree OF admiration for the man
who believed in nothing and yet took
whatever came without groan. That
brutal bravery is worthy OF imitation, II
we can get no nobler view of the subject.
The agnostics Of to-day are the lineal
descendants OF these ancient Stoics.
They must needs cling to life, for it is
all they will ever have. To give it up is
the gravest misfortune, but still a mis-
fortune which must be met in manly
way. The future is eternal darkness, for
body and soul disintegrate and resolve
themselves into natural forces, as a tree
does when it is riven by lightning, or as
a house does when il Is consumed by
fire. There is nothing 10 look forward
to, and when Death comes he simply
takes the record of your years and throws
it into the waste basket of the universe.
The agnostic does right TO live with
all his might, and il he lives recklessly
we can scarcely blame him, for in the
last analysis we must admit that il this
life is all it is foolish TO examine too
closely into the character OF our pleas
ures. The fact that they are pleasures
ought to satisfy us, and short life that
is merry is better than long life that is
embittered A few years more or less
count for nothing, and II we can enjoy
ourselves who cares what 1t may cost
others? 1t is logical and consistent TO
get what we want without regarding too
closely the way Of getting it.
There is another way of looking at the
matter, however. You may tell us, II
you please, that Christianity is a tissue
Of fables and legends, but the reply is
that fable which makes man more
manly is better than a truth which
makes man cowardly. II the world is
50 constituted that legend or a false
hood, accepted in good faith, will enable
us to endure the ills Of life with serenity
Of temper and die with smile on our
lips, while the truth makes us cold and
hard and selfish, then by all means let us
abandon the truth and adopt the false
hood. We may possibly wonder how
the universe got into such crooked shape,
but II that is its shape we must make the
best Of things as we find them, and II
the Arabian Nights Tales are practically
worth more than the propositions OF