New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-03-07
NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 1875
Communicated
- But the Greatest Of These IL Charity.' ,

" But the Greatest of These is Charity.''
| These are times which make it necessary
for the good citizen to consider well the
cause and effect Of each action performed
as me mber Of the body polite. But more
especially should the teacher of morality
and the preacher of the gospel of Christ
| abstain from doing that which is alike in
consistent with his teaching and his preach
| ing. Don't tell man that poverty is
neither sin nor shame while you slam the
door in his face when he asks you for bread.
Don't tell the shivering orphan, and chilled
widow it is a cold night, when you refuse
them that susteDance and shelter which is
nece ssary to preserve life till morning, for
their condition they realize, and it is bread
and real warmth that they want, not words
full Of commonplace pity and emptiness.
Don't preach " the poor you have always
with you" while you are active in avoiding
contributions to alleviate their wants.
Don't preach love your neighbor as your
SELF" when you refuse to set the smallest
example as an iota OF faith in the words of
Holy Writ.
Charity is patient is kind; charity enviethI
not, dealeth not perversely; is not putfed up,
is not ambitious. seeketh not her own; isl
not provoked to anger. thinketh no evil, rel
joiceth not in iniquity, but reioiceth with
the truth; beareih all things, believ-I
eth all things, hopsth all things, EN-
dureth all things" Is the pastor
the minister of the gospel-who quotes
those lines performing his pastoral and
the pulpit-the altar-he refuses, unlessI
paid five dollars, the small piece OF ground
necessary to bury the mortal remains of the
man 70 whom he preached "blessed are the
poor" Why preach "Christ crucifed',
when you refuse to perform the duties He
has, as Christians, imposed upon us, and es
pecially when one OF those duties, namely,
ITO bury the Dead" we positively refuse to
perform till paid for.
Was such the action of hackman, or o.
heart-hardened undertaken, it might 20 un-
noticed, but being the act Of a minister Of al
Christian religion it should not DO hid un
der bushel.
The faith of the deceased, his poverty,
and the poorness of his friends and rela-
tives, failed in sottening the heart of an
avaricious priest. Nothing but the pound
of flesh, as it were, would satisfy his chari
table purse. And yet such charitable and
benevolent gentlemen, because of their
charity and benevolence, have their grave.
yards exempt from taxation. Yes, their
fine houses and churches and cemeteries
pay no taxes because Of their supposed
charitable ard benevolent purposes toward
society at large, while in the mast charita4
ble ana humane acts We fud they ard
wanting. Let us tax those charitable and
benevolent institutions, and distribute ,hd
income to the poor.
If they refuse to bury the poor when
dead, let them help to keep the poor aivel
If they refuse to pay to the dead that Christ
tian and humane respect which society rel
quires, let them pay society and the iivinA
for the sustenance and protection which, al
members of the body polite, they exact
Let the State do this, and it will havb
performed an act Of charity.
FIN MCCOUL.