The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872: A Monthly MagazineVarious
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872: A Monthly Magazine
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
They parted with pain, yet not unwillingly; for duty and honor yet
stood with hands clasped between to separate them. Dick Rowan’s
pale face, as they had seen it that night sinking backward into the
river, could be forgotten by neither.
When we have wronged a person, though it were unconsciously, we
can no longer take the same delight in that pleasure which has
given him pain. The pleasure may be no less dear to us, but the
thought that it is to be reached only through the sufferings of one
who has even a fancied claim on us makes renunciation seem almost
preferable to possession.
THE DUTIES OF THE RICH IN CHRISTIAN SOCIETY.
NO. III.
SOCIAL DUTIES.
Under this head we include duties toward certain classes or
individuals who are dependent on the rich for their well-being and
happiness. The rich furnish employment to those who live by labor.
By their wealth, their knowledge, their power of various kinds,
they set agoing and direct those great branches of human enterprise
and industry in which the majority of persons in civilized society
are the workmen. The welfare and happiness of the majority depend,
therefore, in a great measure upon the right discharge of their
duties by the minority, in whose hands the direction is placed.
In order that these duties may be rightly discharged according to
Christian principles, the small number who possess the largest
portion of wealth and power must be stimulated and governed by
the motive of true philanthropy, the love of their fellow-men,
Christian charity. Those who are dependent need, on their part,
the spirit of resignation to the will of God, contentment with
their lot, respect and affection toward those who are in a superior
position. Where this mutual charity, springing from Christian
principles, does not exist in great strength, binding all classes
together, sooner or later the rich will despise and oppress the
poor; and the poor will hate the rich, biding their time to revolt
against and destroy them. The rich ought, therefore, to devote all
their thoughts and energies to such an administration of the trust
committed to them as may produce the greatest possible amount of
well-being and happiness among the dependent classes in society,
and earn for themselves the respect, love, and gratitude of all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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