Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems.Fuller, Margaret
History
Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems.
Fuller, Margaret
Essays; Literature -- History and criticism; Poetry
All men might learn from the French in these matters. That people,
whatever be their faults, are really well bred, and many acts might be
quoted from their romantic annals, where gifts were given from rich to
poor with a graceful courtesy, equally honorable and delightful to the
giver and the receiver.
In Catholic countries there is more courtesy, for charity is there a
duty, and must be done for God's sake; there is less room for a man to
give himself the pharisaical tone about it. A rich man is not so
surprised to find himself in contact with a poor one; nor is the custom
of kneeling on the open pavement, the silk robe close to the beggar's
rags, without profit. The separation by pews, even on the day when all
meet nearest, is as bad for the manners as the soul.
Blessed be he, or she, who has passed through this world, not only with
an open purse and willingness to render the aid of mere outward
benefits, but with an open eye and open heart, ready to cheer the
downcast, and enlighten the dull by words of comfort and looks of love.
The wayside charities are the most valuable both as to sustaining hope
and diffusing knowledge, and none can render them who has not an
expansive nature, a heart alive to affection, and some true notion,
however imperfectly developed, of the meaning of human brotherhood.
Such a one can never sauce the given meat with taunts, freeze the viand
by a cold glance of doubt, or plunge the man, who asked for his hand,
deeper back into the mud by any kind of rudeness.
In the little instance with which we began, no help _was_ asked, unless
by the sight of the timid little boy's old jacket. But the license which
this seemed to the well-clothed woman to give to rudeness, was so
characteristic of a deep fault now existing, that a volume of comments
might follow and a host of anecdotes be drawn from almost any one's
experience in exposition of it. These few words, perhaps, may awaken
thought in those who have drawn tears from other's eyes through an
ignorance brutal, but not hopelessly so, if they are willing to rise
above it.
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
The meeting on Monday night at the Tabernacle was to us an occasion of
deep and peculiar interest. It was deep, for the feelings there
expressed and answered bore witness to the truth of our belief, that the
sense of right is not dead, but only sleepeth in this nation. A man who
is manly enough to appeal to it, will be answered, in feeling at least,
if not in action, and while there is life there is hope. Those who so
rapturously welcomed one who had sealed his faith by deeds of devotion,
must yet acknowledge in their breasts the germs of like nobleness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account