The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-07

Oar Charities.
She died on Thursday night, and on Friday
afternoon she was carried from the fourth story
back of cheap tenement house in stained
pine coffin. It must have been relief to die,
for after death there is at least no hunger;
and SO it would have been but for the two
children who leaned on her as on o reed that
breaks beneath the weight Naturally she
was anxious for them, and it is not strange
that, while she lay in her muslin shroud the
four strangers besides the clergyman who at
tended her funeral remarked lingering care
worn expression, as though the last sleep,
which is said to smooth out all wrinkles, had
been powerlcss to efface her solicitude It
was hard to leave those little ones to the un-
certain charity of tickle world, but doubtless
the sisters who supplied the slender wants of
the invalid will see to it that they have some
roof to cover them and clothing to keep them
from the pinching cold.
One of the most beautiful results of an adj
vanced civilization is the dispensation of
charity. A practical religion that sees q
brother OF sister in every sufferer and recog-
is one of the finest illustrations, while it is
the strongest proof, of the divine origin of
revelation. The religion which consists of
regular and punctual attendance upon
the services of the church is doubtless
valuable. The Sabbath, with its rest and
quiet its sleeping commerce and its closed
doors and barred windows, is an invaluable
IL l. D~.k xIok
other kind of religion which is the embodi-
ment of obligations and duties which, like q
loadstone draws the gold of the rich toward
the cheerless hearths and empty larders of the
poor, contains an element which works like
magic on the general health of the community.
The Christianity of creed is well, but that of
a noble life is the true evangel that charms
the dullest ear with its refrain, "Peace on
earth, good will to men,"
The story goes that she had seen better
days. She could hardly have seen worse.
Only ten years ago she was the mistress of
freestone 'front.' admired for her grace and
beauty and courted for her wealth. Her hus-
band was successful dealer in stocks. When
the war broke out he had little or nothing.
When Lee gave his sword to the victor he
counted his wealth by millions, and was gen.
erous to fault But who can tell what
changes may occur in the mercantile life of
New York in the course of few years? We
are like huge caldron Of water kept at the
bubblirg, boiling point all the time. The
hurrying drops which are at the bottom to-
day rise to the top tomorrow, while those
which to-day fon6ly dream that they are per-
manently secure at the top suddenly begin to
sink, and do not rest until they touch the bot
tom. So this mans hundreds of thousands
faded away into mere thousands, and his
thousands, as though saturated with the de.
moniac spirit of i'll luck, became paltry hun
dreds, which melted like snowfakes when
they fall on the river. He could not endure
the shock, and his end was chronicled in an
obscure corner of the daily paper, under the
heading painful Suicide
The mother was horror-struck as she folded
her babes to her bosom and stared the world
in the face. The old acquaintance? They
were as though they had never been. They
futtered past her on the December sidewalk
knew her nor cared to remember her. She
had dropped from ''the set," and that was
enough. She sewed with bleeding fingers and
broken heart, and somehow the tears un.
hidden fell on her pale cheeks as she thought
of the past and sighed at the frailty of human
friendship. She could just pay the rent of
| two dingy rooms on the fourth story back in
a dark and unwholesome alley by working
fourteen hours day. But, unfortunately, poor
people have nervous systems, and fourteen
hours work, with insufficient food and broken
rest, brought her to the edge of the grave
Just then the friendly knock of charity was
heard, the few wants of the broken-heartcd
were supplied, and, with last, long, agonized
look-a look and o prayer in one-she was
lifted out of her rags and out of the pestilence
of that dark alley into heaven. What q
change!
This is but single illustration of the
| vicissitudes and the sadnesses which are &C.
curing every day, and which are inevitably
connected with the life of great city. VINO
can doubt the value Of those manifold chart
ties which are the benedictions of the age,
and who can withhold his sympathy or his
purse from those institutions, the offspring of
every church, which are the almoners of our
good will to the poor and unfortunate9 New
York is generous in every direction. It's
people are impulsive and sympathetic. 1t
may be grasping and hard in its mercantile
life, but it is never forgetful or neglectful of
the claims Of that large class which finds it
hard to live. 1t listens to the eloquence of its
favorite preachers when they discourse of
faith and hope, but it is not unmindful of