The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1864. THE AUCKLAND LADIES' DBENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 103, 12 March 1864, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1864. THE AUCKLAND LADIES' DBENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

SPKCTEMUi; AGENDO. " Give p.rcry man llitue unr, lmt fnw tliy voleo: Take each ninn's censure, lml reserve thy judgment. Thin alxwe nil.—To tliino owiifpH'ljc true; And it must follow, us t!ie night the rt:iy, Thou canst not tiicn be false to any man."

TnF. most touching nnd delightful nspect in wliicli to view the ladies of a community who have been elevated by tin chances of fortune above the anxieties and petty everyday deuiasicls upon their tinic to which tho helpmates of the struggling tradesman or the mechanic aro exposed, is when they nre devoting their time and money to soothing tho sick beds, or tenderly alleviating the distresses of their poorer .sisters to the best of their power. To bend from tho vulgar eminence of wealth and in humble mindfulness of the e.vmr.ple and precept of tbat Divine Friend of the poor and lovvir who j ever enn-ied consolation to the sinner, health to the side, and hope to the hopeless, and ever turned to those who were " weary and heavy laden," to go from house to house amidst, the haunts of want and disease, nnd lovingly to take the hand of the sick and dejected, to Icneel by the bedside of the striken ] !.sinful sister, and pray for forgiveness of aur tresspasses, —to carry brightness and nope where the world's tro'nbles are weighing fore ! upon the unfortunate,—to talce their poor little i innocent children and love them nnd gladden their little hearts and v.ipe .way their tearssuch arc the functions of the true lovenWe woman —the angel upon cnvth, nnd to such will a man delight to bow in worship and acknowledgment of Ins infinite inferiority, ]>raying that in the time of his trouble such an one may be sent bv Providence to be hi'J soother. "That we have, amongst our ladies some 7ninistering sisters fulfilling woman's mission in its hifhck t;cnso, and carrying licoven's slaiidard of -Pftfce c'3'3 tv.-vvMll ibrvifi' ft? tssmlit of ifc*

dieting interosts that is so apt to drown the stii small voice the " lieport of the Ladies BencvolentSoeiety," which will be found elsewhere, full., testifies. There arc many desirous of doing good in their sphere who know not how io set about it. Their time is necessarily devoted to the interests of their first claimants —their family—and tin portion of their worldly goods that they would set apart for purposes of charity must be confided to the hands of those better able to administer it than themselves The way in which every appeal to the benevolence of those who have to give is responded to in Auckland, shows that the will is not wanting to raake earth's sorrow lighter to all whose path lies amongst the rocks and shallows; but the knowledge of the proper manner of doing so, with the eerfaiut;. that their efiorts will not be thrown away, i> wanting to many. To such we recommend the following extracts from the report read lasl night. From this report it appears that Ihe object for which the Society was established in 31 arch. IS-D7, as defined by the original rules, was to relieve the wants of the poor, particularly oi females and destitute children, by supplyinp them with clothes, food, and other necessaries— primary attention being paid to the hick, to extreme cases of penury, and to poor women ii their confinements—and that the carrying out■ <•■ this object was to be entrusted, from year to year, to a committee of fix teen ladies appointed at the general annual meeting of the subscribers. The City and Suburbs were divided into >.'ig' I districts, two of the ladies of the commit ii e wen to be appointed to each district, and to them wa. committed the duty of visiting the applicants to) relief in their own abodes, and administering that relief in the form they might judge to b. most advantageous, either by donations of money, payment, of rent, grants oi' fuel, food or ciotbinL'. provision for attendance and requisite sustenance in confinement or in sickness, as ihe exigencies of particular cases scon by the the ladies might suggest as most suitable. can be more suggestive of sweet pictures of charity, in ihe [idlest sense of the term, blessing those who give, and those who receive, than this programme of the purposes oi' the Society _; and that the intention of it was nol the mere "distribution of material relief, but the promotion of spiritual love and mutual sympathy creating a bond of fellowship that should render the help sweeter for the sake of the helper, and deprive poverty of its sharpest sting—that a! receiving assistance ungraciously afi'orded—lias been evinced by the manner in which for years past, the kdies'of this Society have .-ilcntly and unostentatiously, but faithfully performed the duties entrusted to them. Thit these were the objects sought in the institution of the Society let the report in its own eloquent words demonstrate. Speaking of the advantages of house to house visitation, it says,—

It widens ami deepens the salutary operations of the Society by bringing recipients mid ilibtribtitors into comm'unieotion, ;uid enable* visitors to manifest sympathy in distress, fmjttc-nt!'/ more chnrin.j than pecuniary (isustoxeo, and gives llie visitors an opportunity of imparting advice, caution, mid when needed, reproof, which coming as it doe* from persons who, •while they offer it, lire ailbrding substantial evidence of their desire practically to do good to those to whom it is so addressed "is calculated to render its moral iniluenee more effective. That the writer of these expressions of the kindest and most elevated feelings of delicacy and consideration for others is actuated bythe best of motives, and is working for a good object, must be evident to nil, and that the ladies of ilie coinmitteo have fully carried out the intention:; with which the Society was formed, the last years' report of what has been doue will convince the reader. With a total amount of funds in liand of .•C20;!, they have, niter paying expenses, distributed in the various forms of relief suggested above,the sum of £215 lijs.. having alj'orded assistance to a total number of i'K) individuals, including 29 destitute widows. 13 women lci't in poverty by husbands who had deserted them, <". ! children deserted or otherwise left destitute, and 11 poor women supplied in conlincniejit wiih :\t \ lenst a measure of the earn and comfort needed. j Having novr fully shown to those who June to j ijive. how they may wisely and we'!, by enI irnstiiifi the disposal vi' their contrilnuions. in jaid of the distressed, to the earnesfly-worked-i for experience and Kind diseiviion of' tlie Com. ! niitvee of the Ladies' J.'encvoUnt Society, in i_he J full conlidencc that their help will tlm.s be fe't i more widely, and where it is more iirientlv ! needed, exercising witli it, a holier and more j soothing iniluenee. than through, perhai;?, any I other source, it only remain? to observe that the j amount of pood eikn-twl by the Society, has been restricted this year by the limited means at ils disposal, and that the'iield of its exertions mbhi be greatly extended by the- earnest, participation in its lnbours'of tliose who, having freely received, should freely give.