UNKNOWN

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2073, 27 May 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNKNOWN

Told Charily.

“(lod helps those who help themselves, cad the tru- type of the worthy poor aliens prefers to depend mbre upon Providence and his own exertion? in this terrible arid unequal struggles against the gaunt wolf of poverty, than to accept the refrigerated, methodical charity that is if inkesl by perpetual espionage and arbitrary dictation, strained and grudging y bestowed It is true that, in a world so tainted by .'..v,;d and’imposition. certain precaution* are necessary to guard against the arllul and designing, the crafty and worthless ii.ipo-.tor ; and hence it happens that m :he provisions of ’ systemised Itouefactioiis, the innocent often suffer «ith the guilty. In the humiliating surveillance of cl. i’-Ic dtii. .:vc3, the innocent aie always compelled to partake of tne degmding and hirer draught prepared for tho by; ocvitic'd alms-seeker : and gal--1,,. • 1,. fin,os. at.- the wounds indicted upon a sensitive .--pint, in the eli-rts to hdl the bodriv ailments, that the to-. Hired recipient almost wishes lhat tho Good Samaritan, like the Pharisee, had passed by on the other side, and left him to his miserable fate.

Hi* most sacred tunple is invaded by the committee of merciful ferrets, and its privacy is exposed and ransacked in a cool and systematic manner ; the flushed brow of the unhappy being is in strange contrast with the impassable features of the phlegmatic questioner, One is placid in the possession of the good things of thia life ; and the fulness of his purse and larder draws a veil between his vision and the possibility of tho existence of sensitiveness on the part of the other, who is so humbled and wretched. The latter is lectured upon his improvidence in not having laid by something for a “ rainy day;" and his feelings are riddled by the •mall shot of advice, warnings and admonitions, till at last he stands stripped of every vestige of privacy and every rag of pride, in his mortification ; and the hot blood of resentment courses through his veins and speak? in his face what his paralyzed tongue refuses *to say : for, in their zeal, they have marked U|mii his blow the degrading word, “Mendicant." It is an egregious error to suppose that there cannot be refinement and modesty where- gn n want sometimes casts its dark shadows. It is in just such sacred places as these, v. here even angels might weep in pity, that public charity seldompenetiatcs, and to which private benevolence is a stranger. A veil of sensitiveness hides all the pain and privation from the rude gaze of the world ; they suffer in silence and obscurity. The hand of charity, that knows no other method save that of ruthlessly tearing at the heart's strings, while bestowing its crust and glass of water, w ujld hero inflict more real pain than .all t m *»od it could possibly confer to the sufferer. Char,!y -Veildnot blow a trumpet at its appro ich. nor wave its ostentations banner?; f r by thus shocking the delicacy of the modest and retiring suffere r?, it d ? Mo os own purpose, and b:-.o vaulting ambition, o’erleaps itself." Its nois, ..i..i cl.iti,,. r will wound ne.ro than they will heal. Deal ft-'nt.lv with the deserving (>oor. " Tr. jml y f m.-rcy is nat stra-n-.-d ,- It dr qip-.-th as the gentle rain from heaven l’p-a the place U :-.-ath; it is thrice blessed ; It b.ss rl, him tii.it gives and him lhat rakSo he who would confer a blessing on a fellow- m-.i-tal in distress, mart utterly fnl if hj:? motive Vie to bless only himself by tie. ml- .mo [.raise that notoriety will bring him. Cii .r:ty should begin at home. So, too, everything that is good, and noble, and p it. Hut, alas ! the love of public praise is too strong, in the average human la art, to be compensated fur by the quiet and unobtrusive act of home charity which cannot l lv ,. made known. Ti, re vealed cases of suffering which have :.tr-.iig claims u;>- >u human sympathy and i ■ -m-i oleii 'e. furnish many pitiable nisi...,. -f priia'i i ; but the unknown eases ..f untold vrei.* arc - fteti the more touching and hi . i r, nd.ug when acciden* illy i>. eight to light. The skeleton of p eirv often ent. is some happy home in .. i mn \peit.-d and mui owl able in-tiin.-r. a. ,d dlives ..ut the sunlight that cl; ered tne hearts of its unfortunate nu-ii■■■ re so | itely. The head of a household .oi but recently in prosperous cir-curn-t tire s. and gave liberally of his substan- - i.. the needy, and now he is deprived ■ f that pleasure, and is also strep;-i of the c-.tiif .rt* "f life. Littlo did ! ■ d.v-.-im, a few t.i .ntiis ago, that ho r.houi 1 ■ shortly want the gctieu.us tear he paid.” () tent-He beiiev-deute has no right to humiliate him .-dill more by its proffers of published aid. Wealth has no right to lacerate ■ still open wound by any degrading [Toce-s. Tin' lett hand is apt t" know entirely too touch about what the right hand is doing iii these matters ; and the gossiping world, to-., knows vastly more than is necesoarv about the doings of both hands. And ii.us r often happens that charity i» not "thn -e Messed," for it only pamper* self-variety on tho [.art of the giver, and brings [-am to the recipient. But. .if;, i- a’], a more lasting blessing is co it, rre-d. and more genuine gratitude arotu 1, by the simple but kindly act of restoring to the unfortunate remunerative employment. The man or woman who would shrink from the cold touch of chanty • hand, would gladly accept such assistance or direction as would enable him or her to again resume the independent tread of a self-supporting being. There is something so dark and dismal about th's atmosphere of professional charity that, to tho sensitive mind, it has a suggestion of the charnel house of his hope* and future respectability. Ho only wishes to be rehabitated in the easy dress of an active life, in which “the laborer is worthy of his reward. The Peabodys and the Coopers are extinct ; they who knew and practiced so well the true art of philanthropy, who, with their surplus wealth, smoothed the way Tor so many tired and wandering feet ; by whose wiadoro and benevolence the rounds of the ladder were so nicely graded that the average man or woman coaid climb to the level to which their talent* had filled them. Let him who trust* in his riches, and w ho, in his pomp and pride, neglects or even scorns the humble occupant of a lower plane, take hoed lest he fall. Thu foundation on which wealth builds its structure i* insecure. •'Th - ' gilded ttcro of t.-duv insv ;V ; The p’.iddi- g t..i er -.n Hm m.-it.-w re- : Ms* ebiJig ■ I*.-,trill? |t-.- ■. ."■!nI w..;: : K i.!,•«« :-n awkward a:; I -jim? ~l dlsguise.'*