Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-01-26
NEWPORT.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26, 1881.

"Through the hush'd air the whitening snow de-
scends,
AT first thin-wavering; till at last the flakes
Fall broad, and wide, and fast dimmng the day,
With continual fow.-
Earth's universal face, deep hid, and chill,
Is one Wild dazzling waste, that bures wide
The works Of man.
Ah! little think the gay lcentious proud,
Whom pleasure, power, and atlluence surround;
They who their thoughtless hours iu giddy mrth,
And wanton, often cruel, riot waste;
All! little think they, while they dance along,
How many feel, this very moment, death,
And all the sad variety of pain;
--how many drink the cup
Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread
Of misery! sore pierc'd by wintry winds
How many suffer in the tatter'd hut
OF cheerless poverty!
THE PooR.-Therc has not been in
this place for many years, SO many ca
ses of absolute suffering and distress h
mong the poorer classes of the commu-
nifty, as exist at the present moment.
The want of employment, the severity Of
the recent storms, and the intense cold
ness of the weather, have all conspired
to render the situation Of the laboring
part of our population, as well as those
who are unable to labor, such as appeals
most powerfully to the warm and chari-
table feelings of those whom Heaven has
blest with the means Of bountifully sup
plying their own wants, and those of their
own families. 1t is consoling, however,
to know that amidst all this suffering and
wretchedness to which we have alluded,
that the hand of charity has been libe-
rally engaged in ministering to the wants
of the poor and the afflicted. But still
there remains much to be done. We
feel how difficult task it is to touch this
subject properly and effectually. There
are many persons who are or affect to
be, averse to all associations of charitable
efforts; and say that they are always rea-
dy and willing to bear their equal pro-
portion of the burden of relieving the
poor, but that their rule is, not to let the
left hand know what the right hand does.
This is all very well, and is very proper
on proper occasions. But the difficulty
and improperly of forever adhering to
this maxim, is, that great proportion of
the sufferers at present, and such is most
generally the case, are unwilling or un-
able to make their situation known. ItI
too often happens, that those who are
continually besetting their neighbors and
the public for relief, are precisely of that
class of the poor who arc the least enti-
tied to assistance. Whilst we admit that
the very essence of charity consists in
the unpublished act Of doing good, it is
nevertheless equally true, that the most
unpleasant and the severest duty that
charity herself requires the benevolent
to perform, is that of publicly soliciting
the aid of others in behalfofthc INDECENT
To beg, is indeed painful service, whe-
ther we perform it on our own account,
or in favor of others; and we readily con-
e. &c fh nj Cor ouraoIvoo ua should ho n,
a loss to determine which Of the cases
would tax our feelings and sensibilitics
the heaviest
The RELIEF SOCIETY of this town, has
done much, very much, towards aleviat-
ing the sufIcrings of the poor; somo of
the members in a particular manner,
have been very active, whilst all have
done their duty, in seeking out the truly