The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1861-02-28
Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana,

Again We remark that In doing good.
f. We ought to be humble. There is
kind of doing good which may all be very
well, and yet We cannot feel tha, we hav'
that assurance of purity OF motive
which we would like to have. The benev
olence OF the concert room may be jus. a.
genuine as any other. And as the rich
mellow notes from score of voices come
rolling over us in a sea of melody, we arr
stirred and thrilled aud moved and melted
We think of heaven and the angles ano
thank God for the gift of song. God bless
you, my dear young lady. Your sweet
voice has made MS all teel happier. 1t is al
very we'll well for you. well for Us. and
we'll Tor the poor. Come down, then. from
the stage where you have been the admIra-
ton of all. and tomorrow morning put on
your bonnet and your shawl and go down
that dirty alley, where no one will see you
to praise you. and minister words OF comfort
to that dying child. Your voice will be
sweeter than it ever was before. God him.
sell will love to hear it. All, my friends. it
is not So hard to be benevolent. when the
world is looking on and clapping its hands
There may be as much pride and sel6s aess
in winning the reputation of the most be-
nevoent man or woman in the town or
neigbborhood, as in struggling for the tame
OF millionaire. And the poor are often
made the mere scaffolding on which some
ambitious man or woman may stand while
they try to build up an honorable name
1t was not SO with the great Philanthro-
pist. He labored among them; He wept
with them; His heart overflowed in sympa-
thy for them He called them his friends !;
He preached the Gospel to tbem-encour-
aged, strengthened, and blessed them. He
never had house of his own. The foxes
and the fowls had houses. but not He. He
never made feast bu, twice, and then to
feed the faint and hungry. His guests were
uninvited, His table the green grass, and
his danties loaves and fishes. What could
have been his selection had invitations been
given. We are left to infer from the drec-
tions which he gave to others "When thou
makest feast. call not thy rich neighbors.
but call the poor, the manned, the lame
and the blind" Such would have been
the least which Jesus would have made. III.
did not scorn to associate with them. He
did not hesitate to eat at their tables and
loige in their houses. He was not asham-
ed 10 call them brethren. He was present
at their marriages. He attended their fu.
erals, and wept with the mourners. He
blessed their babes, aud what no other
could. He healed their sick and raised their
dead. The poor learned to love Him while
he was yet upon earth. They followed him
from village to village, into the mountains
and deserts, and over the seas. And oh.
my brethren, if we had more of His spirit !;
1t we, like our Master, would 60 among
them, and sympathize with them, and labor
for their good, thousands OF them would be
constrained TO love Him still. As church,
we need more humble practical Christi
anity--one which is not afraid of contamin.
alton in associa,ing with the lowly. Breth-
rem. long to see the day when the Presby-
terian church. in her practical operations,
shall get down more deeply and thoroughly
into the great heart of the people when
she shall be pointed to all over the civilized
world as a church remarkable, not for the
splendor Of her church editices, the wealth
OF her membership. the learning and eio-
quence of her ministry but, most of all.
for the great mul,itudes Of poor which she
has gathered from the lanes, the highways
aud hedges. and brought into Chris,'s fold
God speed the day when we shall not be SD
much afraid of rags. and when Lazarus, if
he we're back TO earth again. should feel
himself at home in our most fashionable
churches. When +" Ephraim shall not envy
Judah. and Judah shall not vex Ephraim .
When the :. rich aud the poor may meet to-
gether,"s band OF brethren to worship the
Lord, their common Maker.