The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-12
A MORD ENn TmN rNOR.

The sharp, cold blasts OF winter are upon
us; Eolus sounds his trumpet-tones, and
drives all mankind before him. During the
ancient days OF Venice, each citizen trembled
before he turned a corner for fear a dagger
should stab him to the heart So, to-day,
every inhabitant of the Quaker City finds his
spirit sinking as h. approaches a coin de rue,
where he knows that he must battle with the
sharp winds of bleak December. The ligh.
storms of winter bear with them more robust
pleasure and more imperative duties.
While our people are pouring out of their
abundance delicacies and comforts for the
soldier in the field are we not neglecting
other duties which are nearer home? How
many OF the gallant boys, when they received
the bounteous Thanksgiving dinner provided
for them by loyal hearts through willing
hands, did not, while Blessing their donors,
pray that their wives and little ones at home
might be enjoying such a meal IL was light
ing their hearts in the tented field? Would
not they have eaten your generous gift with
renewed zest could they have known that
those who were dearer to them than them
selves were not in absolute need OF the very
necessaries of life? The wives and children,
the widows and orphans of the gallant boys
in blue" are legacies which they have left to
their country, when they went forth to aght
and die for her defense. Shall the
loyal people OF the loyal North prove
false to the trust reposed in them
shall we be obliged to say to posterity, when
asked where are tn bearers Of those names,
which are inscribed in the American Val
halIa in letters of gold,-shall we be made
to say that their offspring were allowed to
die for want of food and shelter, which their
tellOw-citizens, who stayed at home, were too
aVaricious to give unto them?
While petroleum, the wGr, and the thousand
other means of securing wealth, which the
existing condition of the country are filing
their Golfers, shall they refuse to give to the
men who are offering happiness and life to
save that land in whose preservation rest the
safety of all their quickly gotten gains?
An ordinance of Councils has declared that
to ask an aims is crime The law il just.
But shall the poor be thus deprived of their
means of subsistence, which, however dis
graceful, still enable them to live? There are
to-day thousands Of deserving poor, women
and children, relatives of soldiers and sailors,
who are actually starving for want of food,
and shivering from need of clothing. Do not
lay the flattering unction to your soul that the
trifling bounty given by the COMMITTEES who
have the management in charge, will prove sulF-
cient to save from death the widows of your
lands defenders, the orphans Of the dead who
have made the soil of the Old Dominion sacred
to every lover Of liberty. Here, then, is grand
field for charity, boundless plain for Christian
patriotism aud the poor and dcsolate, and
WhosoeVer giyeth even a cup of cold water
shall not lose his reward in the distant fu-
ture. How will your country Judge YOU
when the days of her trials are past,
if her returning veterans shall ind, in
place of loving family, desert home row
Of paupers' graves The vengeance ofthe lace
rated spirit of those brave men will be ter
rible. II they have not paused in the charge
upon Vicksburg, Fredericksburg, An,ietam,
and Gettysburg, win they hesitate to take
from the men who have coined their gold out
of their country's agony, aud left the sacred
charge bequeathed to them, to die for want Of
charity. Charityl 1t Is not charity. When
you give to the fi.endless aud the lonely, VINO,
ere this war deluged our land with strife,
were both happy and beloved, you only per-
form duty; you only fulfil an Obligation
which is as binding on your soul as though
you had sworn to take the orphan to your
arms, and shield the defenseess FROM harm.
If you have fulfilled this duty the promise OF
"well done, good and faithful servant viii