New-York tribune., 1875-01-28
EHHRITY RAILS

panied by lnnumerabc smaller f6tes from the
glittcring puzzle of a masquerade to the sober
tea-party in til" church lecturc-r0om: tho pro-
cceds Of all laid alike on the altar of sweet
Charity. 1t is very easy to point out certain
absurdities i'll the CUSTOM or to congratulate
tho shrewd managers who seize by
the foreOck the lucky time when
the feet Of the poor ache sorest
with tue nipping Winter, and the feet of GER
tain fair ladies ache for waltz or redowa, and
who cOntrive thus to warm them both at
once. This may be shrewd policy, we ask
with righteous acerbity, but is it charityf Is
it not cloaking the red hose Of McphisOphelcs
under an angels slraperyf When wo were
commanded to feed tho hungry, were we to
do it through tho spendOr Of orr Worth
dresses or By whrling dizzily about TO the
music Of Grafulla's Band' Were it not better
for the poor to do without their cakes and
ale--yea, even their bread and bacon-thHn
that we should be less virtuOusf
Deacon Cllrke, w1o ran down to town from
Cross Creek village during the holidays, and
went to the ball at the Academy, as he told
the members of his church at the next prayer
meeting, "simrly for the alleged charitable
"objectr declares the whole business to be
one Of Satan's snarcs and delusions. Men
:" and women of the world engaging in tho
"vOluptuOu3 dance, and claiming that they
"were doing God servicc!" To much moro
Of which homily his hearers amiably listen
with mild horror, thanking God that their
own lines have been cast in more viTtuOus
places. Ii does not once occur to them that
their wholesale consignment Of the fashiOna-
bic world 10 vice and damnation can be com
parable in iniqIity with this mode Of dancing
homeless orphans into happy comfortable
lie. 1t does not once Occlr to the Deacon
that his bushing, curly-headed Mlggy, walk
ins homo before hin, with her cherry -cOlOrcd
hood close to her lovers shoulder, 10 not
whit more innocent and tender than the deli
cate littlo belle who swept past him the other
night fortune blazing III diamonds on hor
neck and arms. Nor that the other
ype Of country girl, Sgrah Polk, about
whose pcony-Gnted beauty the young
fellows gather like bees about an Over-ripe
peach, is more vulgar in manner and quite as
immOdest in soul a5 the fast New York giH over
whom he shakes his head gloOmily. He would
not credit anybody who would tell him Of the
zeal and persistence Of certain leaders of the
ten in deeds of charity Of the labor and time
and self-sacrifccs they make to keep open
hospital or to furnish an asylum for the poor
and needy. The country never credits the town
with pure religion, just az the town is apt to
deny the country its due in the matter of
brains. If the aid and energy and oversight
OF wonderland these the women whom tho
deacon calls "Of the word"-were suddenly
removed from asylums and hospitals.
there are but few of these great charities that
would not fail and fall.
1t is the same in the other large seacoast
cities The Deacon (and all of us are dca-
cons in thIs) is apt to forget that conduct, as
opinions. is very much matter of geography
after all. His wife, and the other good
women of Cross Creek, know every needy fam
ily in the village. They clOthe the widow
Sanders and her children, ply the drunken
cObblers wife with soup, and the cObbler
with tracts until life is burden to
him. They look upon everybody in
the little town as kinsman. They con-
gregate in the sick-roOm with prescriptions
handed down for generations, and at funerals
with sincere sympathy and ready tears. Now
the butterflies of fashion" in town. whom
they always picture as fluttering down tho
broad road to death, are but women like
themselves their sympathy and tears are just
as ready. But their village is large and
haunted by beggars and "dead-beats." The
widow Sanders who comes to their door car
ries o printed appeal of which there are a
thousand duplicates; tho starving Cobbler's
wife turns out to be the prosperous keeper
of sailors boarding house. Charity, to pro-
tect itself, becomes i'll cities cooperative. The
DeacOn's wealthy cousin on Murray Hill does
not nurse her neighbor in the measles but
plans cr6che or orphans home. She has no
prescriptions to give, but she has money. If
she and the Deacon's wife happen to meet on
the other side of the wide river yOnder, where
there will be no dress of velvet or tawdry
alpaca, no church dogmas. nor aesthetic sensi-
bilities to come between them. we shall SEQ
only two kind hearted, good women walking
together in iIades, after all.
The Deacon may hint that the charity would
bless them who give and them who take with
double warmth if they stood face to face;
that if the patroncss of the Charity ball held
the sick babies in the asylum on her lap once
in a while, it would be better for her sOurs
health than the purchase of fifty tickets; which
is true enough. Half the charity and kind in
tent of life falls fiat and useless because men
do not stand face to face. A canny old
Scotchman leaves a legacy to inventors
in city which he has never seen.
That is left unclaimed to increase to a
great sum rusting in idleness. The aims of
the rich too often slips into the pockets OF
their agents and the Deacon's wife and her
kinswoman on Murray Hill, each with her
heart full Of gentle Christian sympathy, look
askance and cOntcmptuous at each other
1Ia 4 IA pAf