The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1870-02-01
THE POOR PARSONS TALE.

poor. whom I am almost powerless 70
assist and (knowing how empty and
cruel are words of comfort without that
help I cannot give to all the hungry
sometimes almost fear to preach to. It
il terrible to preach Of the Lamb to peo-
ple with the wolf at the door. In this
parish are many rich men, many thfiv-
ing and we'll. to do merchants and man-
ufscturers, many benevolent men, who
wish we'll to the poor and mistake that
for beneficence, many benefcient men
who willingly give Of their abundance.
-coals and flannel to . fund and com
mittee, but never know the poor, or
visit them in their afiliction men who
do good to the poor and mistake that
for charity. Men Who deceive them-
selves--nay, half fancy in every deed
they deceive the Almighty--into the be-
lief that charity means the contributing
either with sparing or liberal hand Of
our own superfuities, and not contin-
ued personal friendship and sympathy
with at least some Of His poor. Men
who, believing the poor are his legacy.
are yet satisfied to regard the punctual
payment of charitable subscriptions TO
the collectors when they call, as entitl.
ing them to q receipt in full for legacy
duty which shall pass them scot free
through his Court OF Probate. Good
men, who can love their enemies, but TO
whom the poor, and the hungry, and
the outcast are the lower classes, never
to be visited. and known, and loved, and
comforted like friends; men whose
mammon of unrighteousness brings
them many dependents, many to eat Of
the crumbs which fall from their table,
but never friend to receive them into
everlasting habitations.
have too much to do with poverty
to be surprised at crime, or to care to
gloss it over with fine words. am too
frequently with the dying, and my eyes
rest too often on the dead, to let me
trick out q story in fine dress. I will
speak what know, and testify that
which I have seen. go a@7oa
Some years ago. in . time Of great
destitution, when hundreds of the labor.
ing classes were reduced to the most alb
ject distress through q sudden failure in
a staple manufacture, the dwellings Of
| the poor became frightfully crowded.
As many as forty and fifty human beings
huddled together in single house, If
house it could indeed be called, and ate,
drank, slept, washed, aud cooked; the
sick, and the we'll, young and old, mar
ried and single, ell crowded together as
thick as vermin. It was bad sign Of
ten when q single family did have sim
gle room. There is Al instinct in birds
and beasts, which Leads them TO 20
away from their kind to suffer and to
die. And too often the single room
told Of worse straits and deeper destitu-
ton than could have been borne in q
crowd. s
At the time of this distress, one after.
noon I was visiting q little parishoner
Of mine, mere child OF twelve years
old, who, with her younger sister, makes
matchboxes at five cents per gross, and
finds glue and thin paper for the insides,
too and earns, Lizzie Dottrell and her
sister together, nearly or quite as much
as her feeble mother can make at sew.
ing. Between them the three pay the
weekly rent Of their own little room, and
just keep the wolf from coming in, n,-only
just. While there heard noise In the
street, and going out to see the cause,
some one said: "Oh, do go up into
that house, sir there's q man there beat.
ing his wife shameful ~ I went where
I was directed, up broken fight of
greasy stairs, winding round a filthy
black passage, up another fight OF bro.
ken stairs, and past many haggard faces
of men and women. Outside a broken
door paused, uncertain il it were the
right one. / heard moan that sound
ed like woman's. Then q man spoke
in . weak voice, but passionate, and
broken into pauses by sickness or weak
ness. 81 wish. my God. had killed
you, Jane - "And 1, Tom, and I
would not have cried nor groaned il you
had only kissed me first, and told me
you meant it, and would forgive me-
81 would-have done it." he gasped out,
'but II haven't got-the strength"
opened the door and walked in
"What do you want 2'' the man asked.
in husky whisper. He was living on
the bare floor, very faint, and had raised
himself UP on his elbow. He had q face
like skeleton, in which hunger and fe
yer were contending for prey. There
WAS not scrap Of furniture in the room.
neither bed or beadstead, chair nor ta-
BILE; only broken teapot with a little
water in it beside the man. In another
part OF the room, against the empty fire.
CRATE, lay his wife, also on the door, w.
ing on her back, and pale from the loss
Of blood that flowed from her head.
Near her was piece Of iron rod that
seemed once to have served for poker,
and now for q weapon. "I don't know
said, for was taken aback ; 81 wish
only to render help, II can.'' s.Go to
her." he said. / went and examined the
blows on the poor woman's head. They
were not serious, although bleeding pro-
fusely--scalp wounds and bruises only.
/ poured some Of the water from the tea
pot on my handkerchief, bathed and
bandaged them with it. s@a zo
"He didn't mean to do it, sir,'' the
woman was crying, while 1 tied up the
wounds. ''He is the kindest of hus-
bands but we've been in trouble lately.
There was no work. We've parted with
the last things a fortnight ago.
couldn't bear to see him die for want
before my eyes. And 30 sent nv
daughter-no, sir.--I can't tell you; but
We were all two days without food-It