Ping a database handle to check its health

Changes for v1.2.5 - 2023-12-04T19:24:29Z

• Update README (Andrew Hewus Fresh)
• Pull request #4: Patch - SM-4514 - Make strict an author test (Andrew Hewus Fresh)
• Pull in updated Makefile from upstream (Andrew Hewus Fresh)
• Make strict.t an author test (Andrew Hewus Fresh)