The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-02-17
Winter Cheer.

The conditions of country life are so
different from those of the city, that
fr~mers are fortunately spared the spec
tacle of misery and want so familiar to
those who dwell in populous centers.
Yet the Biblical remark that ''the poor
always We have with YOU" is as true of
every portion of the United States as it
was of Palestine. The inevitable law
cannot be escaped, nor can its penalties
be avoided 1t would be sad world,
indeed, if there was no one to be helped
and, none who stood ready with their
kindly ministrations to make good the
claim of q common kinship of humanity.
Charity is the great winter work of
thousands in our large cities, and there
is need enough of all that can be accom-
plished in the way of searching out cases
of suffering, and rendering the desired
assistance. 1t is not always crime or
vice that has plunged these unfortunates
into penury. They may have been over
mastered by sickness; employment may
have given out, and careful earch
and inquiry may have resulted only in
perpetual disappointment and discour-
agement. There are many causes that
may bring about these unhappy condi-
tons, and it is to the credit of human
nature that so many people stand ready
to assist when these pitiful emergen-
cies arise. Indeed there are those who
act upon the words of Charles Lamb,
and "when poor creature, out
wardly and visibly such, comes before
them do not inquire too vigorously into
the veritable existence of the separate
distresses that are catalogued with such
bated breath and whispering humble
ness. ''Do not rake into the bowels of
unwelcome truth to save half-penny,"
but give freely. You ''pay money to
see a comedian feign these things,
which, concerning these poor people, yoe
can not certainly tell whether they are
feigned or not" From the first frosts
or snowfall of autumn, until spring re-
leases flood and field from the chains of
winter, the claims of the poor are ever
present and ever pressing. The charity
of the city takes on something of1pre-
tension and ostentation. 1t finds eX-.
preston in balls and fairs; in monster
undertakings, where pleasure goes hand
in hand with the benefcence which has
often no better excuse for its existence,
than the fact that it has these complex
and startling surroundings. But there
are not lacking the house to house visi-
tations, which prove more effective, and
by which the individual wants of silent
sufferers are alleviated. This last
method is that which fits in with the
habit and experience of country life. 1t
is the sort of vigil which prosperity
keeps over the poverty of the neighbour
hood. 1t suffers not the fire to go
out upon the hearthstone. 1t sees that
the cupboard is not empty, and, above
all, it offers employment, and thus
spares the debasement that the honest
poor must feel when they are classed as
mere ''beggars,'' and can make no re-
turn for the kindness shown them, and
the material aid rendered. First, warm
and feed the poor man, then give him
chance to earn his bread. He is thereby
encouraged, and the giver has the double,
satisfaction of helping the needy, and of
bringing him into healthy relations with
the general system of industry. If the
man is public benefactor who makes
two blades of grass grow where there
was but one before, what shall he be
called who puts an end to the waste and
stagnahon OF ldleneSs, and gives the
impulse of fresh hands to the labor by
which men thrive and communities are
made prosperousP None understand
this better than the Woodworking rural
population, and none are more willing
to encourage the struggling or to assist
the suffering. The winter months are
not without their never-ceasing sum-
mons to labor. They afford many OPP
portunities for recreation, for amuse-
ment and for instruction. They form
pleasing part of rural'experience, and
the brightness, and crispness OF the
winter evening are recalled in the hours
of summer toll. The winter enjoyments
will be all the more pleasureable, if
words of cheer and deeds of charity are
scattered along the cold pathway Of the
season. American AgricuIturist. . p