The Columbia Democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, 1845-06-28

II
rule: as The student may, after psrusng his
book, be unable TO specify any particular
advantage he has gained, or progress made;
nevertheless The mind has been strengthen.
/, ed blythe exercise of its faculties: il has
caught The spirit of the writer, and been
lmbued with the sentiments of the author:
70 "uS s~'"-rc' ~
ment as i! counted tbe pearls that gIittered
along the pages
Blu, the manner, arising from its peculiar
Organization, in which our order difusos its
charity, commends it. on account of ils
Superiority over the usual mode of inds
Icriminate benevolence, respecling,as it does
and noruishing those gentle, tender and
finer feelings Of lhe soul, which are the
guards and the very towers Of strength Of
virtue itself. There is in our nature a spirit
|of manly independence that rebels at the
idea Of soliciting aid or accepting favor,
that prides itself on the employment of its
own energies, and this is often and the
more keenly fel! by those, whose hearts
have been deeply SCARED by the blasts of
adversely ard over whose hopes, mislor
tunes dark tide has rolled its bitter waters
TO such the needy and keenly sensitive.
wha! agony of heart and despair of mind,
what crushing of hopes and bitterness of
feeling, when lean jawed famine drives
them shiyoring to the rich mans gate.
And then, perhaps, to feel The glance
of suspicion bent upon them, to hear
the tone of despair, the Eemulous Ian
guage of want, and the tears Of agony
derlded. as mere acting, 10 work upon the
sympathles of the donor. Tell me if such
a condition that will subsist as long az
there are imposlers who deceive meu.drng
down the barries of virtue itself! For, can
a donations; under these circumstances re
Iieve the suGerings of the oppican!-pour
balm into the wounded spirit, or warm the
hear. of The givcr! Does j! leave the mind
any association of joy and pleasure, which
always fingers around the remembrance OF
good deeds performed! There is charity
and it is noble-on whose ear, tie accent
Of misery strikes, asd j. wide opens the
store house and the granary, but there is
:hari,y, and i. is the nobler-on whose ear
The note Of despair falls, and it opens wide
fhe door Of the soul, breaks up the'dephs'ot
feeling, and hrllsthe heart with the re fin
ing pleasure Of feeling for ano'hor7 wo'
This is sympathy which i'd always attended
|by gratitude, the noblest virtues that bloom
and entwine around The human heat,
exhaling delicious oders, that lull the
wave of passion, hate and prejudice, and
Induce calm and gen!lo twilight over
The SOUL The conflicts Of mind, cmi,s
a scint6la that warns aud lends a g low TO
the intellect, that spalkles in the eye and
aushes from The contenance. So these
virtues, nourished in and by their own
fragrance, warns, enlarges and adorns our
moral nature ,as the dew drop Iha! trembles
on the leaf: yields to the warmth of him
tina. bsau,ifes and gilds il. All of those
benefits, both 10 the gver and Grand
many others besides, flow from our mode
# distribution without any OF the bitter
miseries to which have referred, as re-
,ulling from indscriminale charity. Be-
cause, every member, or brother, who 70
elves the weekly sum paid to him during
his sickness, as well as the suns which
nay be applied ill defraying the funeral
expenses of himself or wife, or in educat
Iing his destitute orphans, kncws that they
are taken from fund which he himself
has augmented, that they are bu. divi
lends upon capital raised, to some extent,
10y his own agency,' he feels shat he is
not begging, and that the personal attend
ance which he may receive in his last hour
Is no more than what he has given 10 9th
lers, and what, under other circumstances
he would chserfally have accorded to those
t who await around his own bedside. TIL ese
t specific duties which each Odd Fellow 10
proves upon himself, have as we have seel
I the most happy influence upon all co ncer u
n ed. They soften &'harmonize our natu re IS.
n ninluse new elements in The tormatal Of