The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-07
DR. TALMACE'S SERMON.
BY THE REV. FRANK DE WITT rALmAeE, D. D.

1 that he will not make la, t will and 1 testament.
 "BuA MT. Talmage," answers some one. | T would do as you say, but l am very superstitious about this matter of mak- ing a will. I intend to make a will and fix up my temporal affairs when l feel that my life is drawing to an earthly close, but not now. I have always super stitiously felt that when a man makes his last will and testament he will cer- tainly die before the year is out There | fore, I want to postpone making my will as long as possible
 Although 1 am, comparatively speak ing, young man, yet have had great del of experience in sick rooms nd by deathbeds, and. my brother, l want to warn you as a friend that in all proba- bility when you come to die you will not have any time to fix up your estate and make an intelligent will and last testa- ment. In all probability you will be in such physical and mental weakness that you will not have enough strength to do anything else but lie in your bed and murmur few words of farewell until you are gone. Therefore, my brother, what you want to do in reference to set ting your temporal house in order through the influence of your last will and testa- ment you had better do right away.
 
 too feeble to plan and your fingers too trembling to hold a pen
 Furthermore, my friend, that statement of yours about being superstitious in ref erenee to making a will Is very foolish. It Is as foolish as the superstition some people have about sitting one of thirteen at a table or looking at the new moon over the wrong shoulder or carrying a newborn babe downstairs before he Is carried up stairs. It Is so foolish that I am surprised it should be anywhere en- tertained among intelligent people. You | will not die because you make your last will and testament. but you ought to make your last will and testament in ref erence to your temporal affairs because your death Is inevitable. "Set thine house in order"
 A Question Answered.
 But. MT. Talmage," says some other. what fs thu good of making last will and testament? I have nothing to leave except the few clothes In my wardrobe. and there are not many of them. I am a clerk on a comparatively small salary. live up to the last cent of my income. and cannot afford to insure my nfe for the benefit of my children a
 My brother, that is a very prove and frank statement to make You say it is useless for you to make last will and testament because you have nothing to leave and you cannot afford to even get your life insured. If you. a great, big. strong man. are having such a hard time to make living. what will your physi-, eally weak wife do with a big brood of little ones strapped to her back when you are dead? If 1t Is so hard for you to swim in the current of life and keep your head above the waters how will she do it when your strong arm is gone? Will the world be any kinder to her than it is to you9 Has the cruel world ever been any gentler or extended a more helpful hand to a wife and mother who Is left a poverty-stricken widow than it has for you?
 Mark you, for what most men foolishly squander every year, for the money they spend for cigars and luXuries. for theater tickets, fishing excursions and Daseball games. clubs and parties, they could get their lives insured for enough to support and educate their children long after they are dead Furtherwore, my brother, if you are not willing to economize in your selfish indulgences for the physical maintenance and mental development of your children by insuring your life, then your professed love for your wife and