The Washington herald., 1907-01-06
A LAY SERMON.
BY A LAYMAN.
A little old man came riding by.
said I. "0ld man. yoUr horse aih die
Says he. If he dies III tan his skin
And II he lives III ride him agin. -

said l. "Old man, your horse aii die.
Says he If he dies III tan his skin.
And if he lives IN ride him agin.'
How frequently it occurs that because
a person is little or old thoughtless and
malicious people take advantage of his
weak condition and offer him wanton in
suits. II this man had been a young.
stout, robust man, il is almost certain
that the impertinent coward who threw
his rough jokes at him would have at
least paused before speaking. Not only is
this true with men, but it is even so with
nations. The strong nations # the world
too often seek to maltreat. browbeat. and
despol the weaker and smaller ones. II
is as disreputable in d nation 80 to act
as il is i'm an individual. and il strongly
suggestive Of cowardice This little old
mans horse. we are led 70 believe, was
not a prepossessing one Ia appearance.
The horse, too was perhaps old, little, and
lean. and perhaps blind OF an eye, and
on this account the old man was mortified,
Inundated, and insulted by the bully
Nothing is better calculated to humiliate
man than for another to poke fun at
Men OF all conditions are proud Of their
fine. gay horses. and the rider not in
frequently takes 20 himself a part Of the
praise that is bestowed on his horse
Then. to say the least Of it, how mean
IL WAS ID twit this little old man on
account Of the character OF his hors,
He could not help being little He wa
born little. and as 10 being old there
can be no dishonor in that It may come
10 an, as il does 90 many; but when Il
man is both old and little he Is entitled
to respect and though his horse is in
ferior. be Is man for an that. and en-
titled TO an the rights which attach 10
the young and the strong. A man %
good sense and good heart would not
violate his sense of propriety by fInglng
shafts of ridiculc az such a person. hsw-
ever little OF old
Another lesson taught by this incident
is the good spirit manifested boy the LITTLE
old man under The insult He did not
return the insult. as De might well have
done, but passed it by without q harsh
answer His long life had taught him 70
place little store ou men who offer with
out cause to wound the feelings of their
fellOW-credtures. He manifested self
government and displayed much philoso-
ply ia his answer He showed that in all
the emergencies of life 70 is best 70 ac-
capt the situation and make The most Of
is. II is probable that this poor horse
was The only property possessed by the
little old man. His death would have been
"a calamity, as much SO as The Joss Of a
million To- some men, Besides the loss of
the horse ass property. it would put him
ora FOOT. and being old. little. and weak
hc would have been compelled 10 drudge
his way on foot the balance OF his life
until Dee reached the grave. the fnal rest
ing place 81 aIL Bur with this gloomy
prospect i' view Dee did not despair. i
came across his mind tbat q dead horse
Us better than mo- horse. that the skin
of The animal might bee tanned and trans
formed into leather. and that leather was
sflah.e commodity from which he
could derive some revenue. And. again.
il came into his mind that the man. the
propHe, oft evil VINO had passed judy
mant on his horse and predicted his death.
WiEHt he mistaken. lie might not die
'Au poor horses do not die Immediately.
Hope springs eternal iu the human
breast ] hope hs may noe die. but live
90 carry me farther ou I'm my journey 20
the ends and ii he does live I viii ride
him agia"
We should never cross bridge untn
we reach b. Never say die Do no.
give way 20 forelodiags Of evil. but when
they do come meet them and strive Il
overcome them. IF be- lives I will ride
him agiu"