The record-union., 1894-12-10

tons oil social nature may be excellent
IN way at present, but better are the
/ benevolence and beneticence which keep
men and women from becoming paupers.
/ Preventive benevolence is transcendently
better TO that of remedial beneficence,
which oitentimes is misdirected. Posi-
tive charity comes as physician, ready
to heal the existing evils of pauperism.
Ii enters after the injury is wrought, and
tries with its social nostrums TO remedy
! IL.
Let State and social benefactors join
hands IN all possible measures to pre-
vent both the conditions of poverty and
indigeacy, and remove, as far as possible,
the causes thereof by good, sound pre-
Ventlve philosophy.
Only is short-sighted charity allowed
10 render assistance without question or
discrimination when lOng-sigh ed charity
Is IN position TO assure us that 1t does
not increase or encourage the evils of pau-
! perlSm. The State and society by unWise
ana lHJudIclous relief Of poverty distress
! sulIefs tue same fate as does the habiLual
/ oplum-eater VINO secures temporary sat
lsiaction at the final expense OF more abb
JecI misery. The change from State
. charity toindividuai help will undergo the
travail and pain in such a transiorma-
tlon into new life as the opium-eater to
me normal; It Will be painful, but bring
relief. An ounce OF preventive is worth
a pound OF cure"
10 sum up the experiences there are
! Two extremes III the helping o. the poor.
| ore Is the pleasant theory of easy-going
philanthropy. It's practical method is
| lndiscrilnlnate alnsglving, and its resul, S
are lmproVIuence, shlitleSSneSS, ldlenees
anu professional mendicancy, and finally
| helpless pauperism. This sort is laUeied
charity. Judge ye.
The other kind, though less ostenta-
IL trt ~ 4, -
charity have been utterly crushed. IL is
/ cold, colOrless, hard, dry, severe and me-
chanical. 1t IS run like weli-regulated
machinery. This sort is deuonlna;ed the
poor law III Europe, or legislative charity
! in our country. 10 avoid either extreme
ahG reach proper foundation whose
| back bone Is seli-help, the cue must he
! taken, not given; and To reach desirable
| permanent results, at least these TWO
! golden rules must be observed: First,
! 10 help those who are willing to them
selves; second, to test all offered assist
ance by the sound commercial principle
OF paid profit. On these two rules may
not there hang all the law aud the prac-
tlce OF prudent charity?
lhe test OF all true help is this: Does it
help people TO help themselves? Does it
put them on their feet? Does it inspire
manhood and create seli-respect? such
questions can never prove impertnent
society. " hat | have said has not been
said with the intention OF causing this or
that solution of the question TO prevail
! by the skill of an advocate, but have
! rather endeavored to provoke the free
Judgment OF those that hear Inc by
placing before you the essence of my
! subject.
Indeed, the very statement of nv
| theme, closely adhered to, does not de-
| mand any definition of charity-though
the term charity has been constantly
used with the tacit understanding that il
should cover positive. active beneticence
rather than III that now popular, broader
sense OF liberal judgment where one
uses 1t to cover sentiment and thought as
| exercised toward others, though, as
say, not called upon TO define charity or
TO present remedies for any exercise of
uncharlLy. Net l cannot dismiss the SUBJ
Ject without turning aside from the
middle OF the road OF the question, which
| L nave tired TO keep thus far, into the
by-path Of a few suggestions with refer
ence TO our duty in the matter of exer-
cIsing proper charity. For it is well to
| bear IN mind Il wise saying III The Talmud
| that "he who turns away from works Of
love and charity, turEs away from God"
| Again: the works of charity have more
vaIuo than sacriices." Lest advantage
| should be taken of this last remarkable
statement the same writer goes on TO
say that the merit of charitabl works
is i'll proportion to the love with which
they are practiced."
Then, TO sum up the whole matter of
! religious DeneHcence, we are informed
That the nODlest of our charities is in
! enabling the poor 10 earn IA livelihood"
! This evidently has been Gods method
OF carrying on charitable work from the
beginning OF the paradisiacal pair unto
the present moment. TO that original
pair he furnished an abundance of fruit,
! but they were to do their own picking
The generous trees of the far-famed
garden outstripped all the looms OF the
| present day III bountiful supply of ap-
pareling fabrics, for they sewed fig
| leaves together, and made themselves
aprons" or, as in the Hebrew, things to
! grid about" them. God furnished the
leaves, Adam and Eve the stitches tor the
garments.
Later on the same self-dependence was
! taught the laborer and the master: when
ye reap the harvest of your land thou
| shall not wholly reap the corners of thy
| field, neither shalt thou gather the glean-
lngs OF thy harvest. And thou shalt not
| CLEAN thy vineyard: thou shalt leave
them for the poor and stranger. | am
! the Lord your God" Corn, wheat and
| grapes Tor the poor, but the corn in the
husk, the wheat in the chah, the grapes
Oh the vine and all in the field.
Out Of al! the miracles performed by
Jesus Christ only two, possibly but one
| there was no pretenslon to supply tenn
! poral wants-then he ordered an act OF
economy to follow the service OF the gem
! erous open-air banquet in the saving
work Of gathering up the fragments"
Look at this marvellous instance: NShen
/ the eXacting official taX-gatherer of
! Capernaum demanded OF Peter whether
! or not his master paid tribute he replied
| IN the Affirmative and Onpa raDnrtaJ
/ his answer to the question TO Ch rist. who
! Immediately sent him of with fishhook
| and line to make the necessary proyis-
] ions 1or paying tribute by saying to
| Peter, go thou TO the sea and cast an
! hook and take the fsh that first cometh
up, and when thou hast opened his
mouth thou shalt find piece of money
! that take and give them for me and theeD
! Before Christ would perform the miracle
at Cana, III Galilee, at the marriage sup
per he instructed the people to I'LL the
| waterpotS oil stone with water first then
! followed the Observation-Disclosures sooner
1t is ever thus. A modicum of sub
stances or effort or whatnot is furnished
/ by human inStrumeutality for nature to
/ lean upon, then follows superior help
/ not sooner.
Even in these instances Iof help rem
| dered by the generous and alI-poweriul
| Christ in feeding miraculously the multi
| tude, the five loaves and two fishes''
were used as all operating basis. In the
/ case OF raising the tax-money the fishiur
| tackle OF Peter was employed, and i'll the
! case OF transforming water into wine ma
| ture's universal prime liquid was required
and used as a starting point. Human
/ means or an effort first divine power
afterwards; nature for grace and help to
! lean upon. Aid was given by Christ ac-
cording to ali eternal, immutable princi-