Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-31
MODE RN CHARITY.
1t Demands That Tramps Should
Not Be Fed al the Door.
They Should Be Sent TO Some Organized
Charitable soclety-Dr. Merrman
breaches Against Promis-
cuous Giving.


of Sores
The preacher began by outlining the
story of the rich man and the beggaI
as told by st. Luke. The story does moi
teach, he said, that riches are a sin and
that poverty is a virtue, necessarily. We
/ cannot affirm that a mans sinfuiness is
/ directly proportioned to The length OF
his purse and his elegance and expense
of living; nor, on the other hand, that
! his piety and favor with God are to be
| exactly measured by the degree of his
want, and of the squalor and dirt in
which he lives The real point of the
parable is that the wretched beggar
\ presented day after day a great oppor-
/ tunity to do a splendid, generous, broth
erly act of charity and the rich man, in
his ease, his luxury, his wealth, selfish
ly and inhumanly neglected it.
Against the shining background OF
this peculiar opportunity, the careless,
il ease-loving, selfshness and inhumanity
4 Of the rich man stand out in ugly dis
tinctness. 1t is not his riches. not his
( faring sumptuously every day, not his
purple and fine linen, but this selfish
inhumanity in the face of the most alb
iect need and suffering of a brother
man, that constitutes the rich mans
damning sin.
We must, in our endeavor to apply
the parable, see that there Is not merely
a principle involved. Lazarus is here
opportunity dramatized. But opportu-
nifty giving play to sympathetic and
generous benevolence on the one hand
or setting in strong light or condemn
ing Indifferent self-absorbed comfort
loving inhumanity on the other hand
such opportunity by no means always
presents itself to people in these days in
the form of a hungry and. leprous beg
gar. We do not have such objects on
our doorsteps today. We nave an oc-
casional tramp, hungry and ragged, but
we are forbidden by common sense, by
our own sorry experience by scientific
charity, to give even some crumbs al
the back door to him. Modern organ.
ization manages these things better.
But because civilization has put Laz-
arus out of sight of the modern Dives
in hospital or poor house, has it there.
by removed the stress and judging
force of opportunity from the selfsf
and self-indulgent rich man of today
BY no means. 1t has rather increased
and sharpened that stress and judging
force. Civilization enormously enlargeS
the scope for the wise, sympathetic ant
benevolent use of wealth in the inter.
of civilization do not stop up, but erect
channels for unseltish well-doipg. More.
over, in this proportion, civilization
makes opportunity infringe with a ten
fold sharper edge of obligation thar
ever before on the conscience.
Do you say to the tramp, who come.
to your house when you are entertain
ing your friends, or are sitting at east
with your feet on the feader and tht
evening paper in your hand "No, my
friend, ] cannot help you 1t is no
right for you or for the public that
should. You must go to the Associated
Charities or to the Welcome missioner.
Deyou say that? Well that Is all right
for If you fed and clothed, or CAV
money to one tramp, a thousand AM
one would follow in his footsteps, max
ing your house a nuisance ana fosterinj
the evil you try to relieve.
No, you are right in sending then
away to those institutions, such as
have named. The hospital, the tempo
rary home and day nursery and ou
own City Missionary Society, each on,
Of which could easily, wisely and effect
lively use twice as much money as il
receives in the abatement of the igno
rance, the poverty, the vice, the help.
lessness of multitudes here in this city
| When these institutions present theil
appeal for support and sympathy from
you, then do you refuse them or turn
them off with crumb, saying that they
are no particular affair of yours? God
pity and forgive you if you do. You
are playing the part OF Dives over
again and exhibiting his condemning in
humanity, only you are DOING il in an
aggravated form, for In such institu.
tons as these, the Lazaruses not mere.
ly of hunger and poverty, but Of igno.
rance and friendlessness and tempta.
tion and folly, of the leprosy Of drunk.
enness and biasphemy and vice, or ire
ligion and unbelief, these multitudinous
Lazaruses Of want and neglected homes
ana broken hopes, are, as il were, laid
oally at the porches of your homes.
When you have turned the tramr
from your door, you have done a nart
put only part, OF your duty by him
he IS sort of shifting delegate from
THESE organized and wisely administered
charities. 1t is your further duty Il
follow him to these charities, see ant
take part in their work, and give then
nperal pecuniary support.
IN saying that one should make II q
prime duty to know and help these
agencies of missionary and charitable
reilef, l am very far from denying the
duty and advantage of giving direct
personal sympathy and assistance to the
needy and suffering. It would be goot
Tor every one Of us who has any
strength or substance to have a poor
shlftless or vicious individual or an ig.
norant improvident, foolish and neg.
lected family as an object OF our imne.
J date personal care and charity. No
always, by any means, to give money
or material aid, for this ia often onIy
injurious, but to give sympathy or re.
ouke, instruction and friendship. guild
ance and will-power so as to bring about
self-respect and self-support. These cos
more than money, bread or clothes,
our Lazarus must have these or HI
will hang about our doorsteps forever
and II, in our riches material or men
tai, in our love OF our own ambitions
. in our own enjoyments, in our owr
sumptuous fare Of good society ant
; amusements, our purple and fine liner
of agreeable surroundings and people
II In these our mean selfish hearts shu
. themselves up to the appeal O
our poor, poor in body and il
! mind we shall surely be con
demned for our inhumanity as Dive
was. For there is much inhumanit,
In our day that is emin entity respecta
BILE and cultured, that not only dresses
, well and has good things to eat bu
has soft, agreeable Voice that exhibit
delightful manners and can talk sweet
ly about literature, art morals ant
even religion, but at heart is as cold AM
as cruel as the grave.
This organization Of modern charity