The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-07

JUSTICE AND CHARITY
BY GAsKELL.

ooh papa, 1 do so wish the river
would rise"
"Why, my little daughter, why in
the name of wonder do you want
the river to riSe?'
"Why, you see, then, Papa, you
could get your cotton to market.
"And what has my getting my cot,
ton to market to do with you, child p
"Why, you know you told mamma
you would give her a hundred dol
lars when you got the money for
your cotton
"Well. and how will that do you
good ?"
Mamma said she'd pay aunt
Sarah the twenty five dollars she
owed her when she got it off YOU
Indeed, and what next 2"
Eyes, and aunt Sarah told brother
Tom, yesterday, if he'd go an er-
rand for her to Squire Jones', she'd
give him dollar when she got it
off mother, and Tom told me he'd
give me two bits when he got it and
D! l do so wish the river would
rise"
Such was the conversation be-
tween a southern planter and his
little daughter, in the interior of
the state of Georgia, whose cotton
crop was waiting the rise of water
in the river to float it down to a
market. The application of the
moral contained in the little story
is universal. One circumstance hin
geS upon another, one event hap
pens because another had happened
before it, one promise is often bro
ken because some one broke prom
Use before the person breaking the
promise. One CT our rich men may
think, if he owes his butcher thirty
dollars, or his gardener twenty, or
neglects to settle on a Saturday
night with the mechanic making
repairs on his property, or the lady
forgets to pay her washerwOman, or
her servant girl, when her wages be-
comes due, that it is a matter of lit
tie, or no moment; and that next
week, or next month will do Just as
well. To him, or her, it may be
trifing, for in their abundance, a
few cents, or few dollars make
comparatively little difference; but
TO the poor man, or poor woman, it
does make a very considerable diff
ference. 1t may make the difference
of a Sunday dinner, or as to wheth-
er little James has a new frock in
time for Sunday school or festival,
that mother promised her if father
got his wages; or maybe, little Joey.
down sick with a fever, cannot get
the medicine to break it up and
make him we'll again, that Sally, out
in service, told her widowed mother
she'd buy with her first money.
But though very little matter to
the debtor, it may put the poor per-
son to serious circumstance and
possibly eventually in desolation and
death. And then we know the
widows mite is as much to her as
The rich mans thousands are to
him; it is all she has and his thou
sand are no more.
Our wealth, if we are lucky enough
to get it, is apt to give US conse-
Quence, in our own eyes at least, and
in the eyes Of the worldly wise ones.
But we are no more in the eyes of the
first Ruler Of the universe, nor near
so much perhaps, as many a poor
person, who has not decent covering
to his back. But we claim more
and feel offended if our claims are
ignored, for respectability is too Of
zen in proportion to the fash
.Onable make and costliness of
5he material of which our coat
IS made, rather than the
purity of our actions, Or the earnest
ness of our desires to do good. But,
D, dear! we all preach a fine site
more than we practice, and think
The sun rises and sets for us alone,
and not for the whole world, shin
ing alike on the just and unjust.
We have all seen very promising
in our lives, who promise
fast and often, but are very slow to
perform. Such are certainly annoy
ing, to say the least; though the
promiSer may be supposed to care
very little about this. if he has no
-CSoIU LUZ Ills Wv II IlOuOI anu 1dll
reports.
When Deacon KnoWitall dis
Volubly of the beautitude Of
heaven; of the nature of the first
great cause; prayS loudly and fer
7ently for the restoration of the lost
Zen Tribes of Israel, or sets the
lines and seasons for the second
coming of Christ, our simplicity
eads us to look for honesty of deal
md kindly, charitable intercourse
md counsel for those who rank be-
ow him in the hierarchy; and, if |
hey are so unfortunate as to possess
/ rank at all, or should be so |
religiously, as not to COM
anything Of the mystery of |
,odlineSs, that he be compassionate |
md helpful still. 1t may not be /
heir fault that they cannot see the |
ruth when presented, for they may |
)e as children, cropping in the dark,
eeking safety and salvation, but |
moving not how to gain them. A |
common humanity and a common |
testiny demand this at his hands,
md finite minds cannot grasp the |
purposes Of the infinite. If he |
travis closely around him his robes
# sanctity, fearing contamination
n the contact with the ungodly; ii |