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Show Had He Failed? "I have failed in almost everything I ever undertook. J hope that none of my children will have to make such a confession". Thus spoke an aged man not long before be-fore his death. In youth he wished to be a minister, butcould not get the necessary education A severe attack of pneumonia left him subject to hemorrhages, and he was thought to have consumption. But he wandered out into the fields, gathering herbs for his own use or that of his neighbors; and whether the herbs did him good or not, the outdoor life certainly cer-tainly did. He studied medicine with the local physician, and became a doctor, but he could not endure the long, cold rides inseparable in-separable from a country practise. So he set up as a druggist, in the hope of finding time to study for the ministry; but he had to give up thathope. for his business proved exacting. Still, he taught in the Sunday-school, often led religious services, and officiated at funerals. When he opened his drug-store, although al-though he abandoned medical practice, he gave his services freely to the poor. He trusted every one, often to his hurt After the Civil War he suffered from the fall in prices that culminated in the panic of 1873. Goods had first to be marked down, and then to be thrown away. He could not collect his bills; his debts accumulated. He lost his store, his business, even his home Then he met with an accident that almost al-most cost him his life. He toiled bravely on a new house, only to have it wrecked by a tornado. That night he and his family sat amid the debris in the cellar; the pitiless rain beat upon them, and the blackness was cut by blades of lightning that disclosed nothing but disaster. It seemed to him that his every hope blossomed only to be crushed. Nevertheless, Never-theless, this man, refusing any compromise, com-promise, assumed the whole burden of his debts, and dollar by dollar he began to pay them. His children not only worked their way through college, but were able to help him a little. In a measure he recovered his health, and slowly but surely he reduced the burden of his debts. But youth and hope were gone; he was an old and disappointed man. . Still, his last years were years of peace. His home was modest, but it was his, and he lived in reasonable comfort. com-fort. He owed no man, and he died free. His funeral was attended by almost every person in the community, and a-mong a-mong them all there was scarcely one who was not indebted to him for some kind deed; who was not the better for his example of honesty, steadfastness and courage. He felt that he had failed in pverv-thing, pverv-thing, but he left an lionorej name and a memory of righteousness and integrity That is not failure. |
