New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-29


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The learned and venerable Archbishop Whately
recently congratulated himself upon the fact that
in the course Of his whole life he had never given
penny to street beggar. He thought that he had
exhibited a certain degree of virtue in abstainns
from such chance donations; aud harsh AMI 10
feeling Us the conclusion may SEEM we fear that
it is only just one. Undoubtedly, when man OF
ordinary sensblty is approached ny ragged and
wretched, perhaps by as.ghtless or manned nen'
dicant the .peedest relief is found in bes'o wing
instantaDeOusly the requested copPers NOBODY
likes TO seem churlsh or avaricious even to an I'M
po.tor. Be.ides, to give is to be virtuous. by 60
doing we compound for the siOs we are inclined
10. Every sixpeDce thus bestowed adds at least
a hundred per cent to our self comPlacency. 10
give is q fascinating amusement, and some msa
will obstpately persist in the indulgence albeit
their better reason tells them that mendciv
means only mendscty and slotb. Such Sybarites
of beneyolence will not consider, they are not
muscular r. minded enough to comprehend, that they
are bestOwipg upon the unworthy that which
equitaby belongs to the neritoriOus-that to begin
to give is to continue to give, and that one
bssgar relieved is only the progenitor OF
an endless succession Of Like pensioners. The
evil of street relief is that there ia DO end Of it.
Nobody IL made really better-nobody is put in the
way Of genuine and permanent property; while
the number of those who rely upon low aria,
upon fawnipg suppIiauce, upon every unmsnly and
unwomaDly practice, 10 iWmeasuraby increased.
No shrewd man can bestow anything upon such
applicants without an uneasy feeling that he has
been cheated-nay, without certain suspicion
that the donee may after all be better of than the
donor. There is in the relief which he affords
nothing generous or beautiful; for the immortality
of thus giving taints the whole gift 1t is all thank.
less and hopeless-it accOmplishes nothing, settles
nothing il good for nothing.
New.York, compared with many cities If the Old
World, might be pronounced free from s.reet-beg-
gary; but 10 comparison with almost every other
city or town in the United States, it is not IN con-
dition b. any means fattering. We cannot 60
through Broadway without meeting with IA excel
lent specimen Of almost every description of mendi-
capt-witb men who have lot their eyes, with men
who have lost their legs or arms with men who
have been shipwrecked, with men who have been
ruined by the Laws Of Vesuvius or by the avalanches
of the Alps, with men sundered from their far-off
families BY want Of the ridiculous SUN Of $25
which it 10 positively necessary to raise by the 10Th
proYimo. All the ills that flesh is heir to encoun-
ter the pedestrian in his progress. Then, too.
there are sadder sights--simulated mothers with
II. Ill h. La rfa
ing the stern and terrible anguish of starving ma
terDity over children drugged by opium into iuseusi
bty The feelings which are thus skillfully
appealed to are of too sacred nature to be trifed
with. She who uses little child as the instru-
ment Of her receptions and the pander Of her vices
prostitutes the best gift which God has given US,
and insults the gentle heart of every kindly mother
the city.
1t is rule pretty we'll established, in political
economy well in every thing else, that nothing
can come of nothing If we give a man sixpence
merely because he has put on a ragged CT at aud
long face there il aixpence gone forever from the
world without leaving behind it any representative.
BY virtue Of il nothing has been manufactured and
nothing accomplished. 1t has been eaten up, and
that is an end Of it. This is very ignobe reverse
Of all the philosophy upon which the social life is
based. We do not growl at men, women, boys or
girls who do something for their pennies or shings
who black boots, peddle cigars, sweep the cross
ipg. or even seil Harpsr's Weekly But against
the DO-Nothinss-tbe self constituted pc isioners
who expect to be supported merely because they
need to be supported-we do with our whole force
protest. In comparison with such, the mau who
grinds Casta Diva upon q phthisical hand organ
is a benefactor Of bis race, aud the woman who
picks rags, papers aud bones from the kennel
is an honor to her sex. The simple trush is
that We cannot afford to help those who will ret
help themselves. There may be few who ara
physically incapable Of adding anything to the
worlds wealth. but the uumbec of such is very
snail. There is new work for the blind, the laae,
the deaf and the dumb. II not willing to do 80,
they must be compelled to engage in it. They will
be happier, healthier, better for the coupulsion.
A neither whe can sit all day with outstretched
hand upsn q doorstep can do good days wsrk in
an aims house. Children will be thousand times
batter of in founding hospital than if they were
roa,ting in a hot sun, sleeping of the effects Of
narcotics. There is wsrk enough in this country,
not merely for the able-bodicd, but for the feebe.
There are statutes enough if enforced, to sweep
every beggar from cur streets. Let US accomplish
the talk now, when il will be easy, and not wait
until the disease has become as chrsnic - it is in
Naples or Rene.
We have frequently had occasion to sympathize