Lloyd Osbourne - "The Motormaniacs"

Constant - "Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, V5"

Mary Wollstonecraft - "Letters on Sweden, Norway, and Denmark"

James De Mille - "The Living Link"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The American Woman\'s Home

C >> Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe >> The American Woman\'s Home






XVIII.

GIVING IN CHARITY.


It is probable that there is no point of duty whereon conscientious
persons differ more in opinion, or where they find it more difficult
to form discriminating and decided views, than on the matter of charity.
That we are bound to give some of our time, money, and efforts, to
relieve the destitute, all allow. But, as to how much we are to give,
and on whom our charities shall be bestowed, many a reflecting mind
has been at a loss. Yet it seems very desirable that, in reference to
a duty so constantly and so strenuously urged by the Supreme Ruler,
we should be able so to fix metes and bounds, as to keep a conscience
void of offense, and to free the mind from disquieting fears of
deficiency.

The writer has found no other topic of investigation so beset with
difficulty, and so absolutely without the range of definite rules which
can apply to all, in all circumstances. But on this, as on previous
topics, there seem to be _general principles_, by the aid of which
any candid mind, sincerely desirous of obeying the commands of Christ,
however much self-denial may be involved, can arrive at definite
conclusions as to its own individual obligations; so that when these
are fulfilled, the mind may be at peace.

But for a mind that is worldly, living mainly to seek its own pleasures
instead of living to please God, no principles can be so fixed as not
to leave a ready escape from all obligation. Such minds, either by
indolence (and consequent ignorance) or by sophistry, will convince
themselves that a life of engrossing self-indulgence, with perhaps the
gift of a few dollars and a few hours of time, may suffice to fulfill
the requisitions of the Eternal Judge.

For such minds, no reasonings will avail, till the heart is so changed
that to learn the will and follow the example of Jesus Christ become
the leading objects of interest and effort. It is to aid those who
profess to possess this temper of mind that the following suggestions
are offered.

The first consideration which gives definiteness to this subject is
a correct view of the object for which we are placed in this world.
A great many, even of professed Christians, seem to be acting on the
supposition that the object of life is to secure as ranch as possible
of all the various enjoyments placed within reach. Not so teaches
reason or revelation. From these we learn that, though the happiness
of his creatures is the end for which God created and sustains them,
yet this happiness depends not on the various modes of gratification
put within our reach, but mainly on _character_. A man may possess
all the resources for enjoyment which this world can afford, and yet
feel that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit," and that he is
supremely wretched. Another may be in want of all things, and yet
possess that living spring of benevolence, faith, and hope, which will
make an Eden of the darkest prison.

In order to be perfectly happy, man must attain that character which
Christ exhibited; and the nearer he approaches it, the more will
happiness reign in his breast.

But what was the grand peculiarity of the character of Christ? It was
_self-denying benevolence_. He came not to "seek his own;" He
"went about doing good," and this was his "meat and drink;" that is,
it was this which sustained the health and life of his mind, as food
and drink sustain the health and life of the body. Now, the mind of
man is so made that it can gradually be transformed into the same
likeness. A selfish being, who, for a whole life, has been nourishing
habits of indolent self-indulgence, can, by taking Christ as his
example, by communion with him, and by daily striving to imitate his
character and conduct, form such a temper of mind that "doing good"
will become the chief and highest source of enjoyment. And this heavenly
principle will grow stronger and stronger, until self-denial loses the
more painful part of its character; and then, _living to make
happiness_ will be so delightful and absorbing a pursuit, that all
exertions, regarded as the means to this end, will be like the joyous
efforts of men when they strive for a prize or a crown, with the full
hope of success.

In this view of the subject, efforts and self-denial for the good of
others are to be regarded not merely as duties enjoined for the benefit
of others, but as the moral training indispensable to the formation
of that character on which depends our own happiness. This view exhibits
the full meaning of the Saviour's declaration, "How hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" He had before taught
that the kingdom of heaven consisted not in such enjoyments as the
worldly seek, but in the temper of self-denying benevolence, like his
own; and as the rich have far greater temptations to indolent
self-indulgence, they are far less likely to acquire this temper than
those who, by limited means, are inured to some degree of self-denial.

But on this point, one important distinction needs to be made; and
that is, between the self-denial which has no other aim than mere
self-mortification, and that which is exercised to secure greater good
to ourselves and others. The first is the foundation of monasticism,
penances, and all other forms of asceticism; the latter, only, is that
which Christianity requires.

A second consideration, which may give definiteness to this subject,
is, that the formation of a perfect character involves, not the
extermination of any principles of our nature, but rather the regulating
of them, according to the rules of reason and religion; so that the
lower propensities shall always be kept subordinate to nobler
principles. Thus we are not to aim at destroying our appetites, or at
needlessly denying them, but rather so to regulate them that they shall
best secure the objects for which they were implanted. We are not to
annihilate the love of praise and admiration; but so to control it
that the favor of God shall be regarded more than the estimation of
men. We are not to extirpate the principle of curiosity, which leads
us to acquire knowledge; but so to direct it, that all our acquisitions
shall be useful and not frivolous or injurious. And thus with all the
principles of the mind: God has implanted no desires in our constitution
which are evil and pernicious. On the contrary, all our constitutional
propensities, either of mind or body, he designed we should gratify,
whenever no evils would thence result, either to ourselves or others.
Such passions as envy, selfish ambition, contemptuous pride, revenge,
and hatred, are to be exterminated; for they are either excesses or
excrescences, not created by God, but rather the result of our own
neglect to form habits of benevolence and self-control.

In deciding the rules of our conduct, therefore, we are ever to bear
in mind that the development of the nobler principles, and the
subjugation of inferior propensities to them, is to be the main object
of effort both for ourselves and for others. And in conformity with
this, in all our plans we are to place religious and moral interests
as first in estimation, our social and intellectual interests next,
and our physical gratifications as subordinate to all.

A third consideration is that, though the means for sustaining life
and health are to be regarded as necessaries, without which no other
duties can be performed, yet a very large portion of the time spent
by most persons in easy circumstances for food, raiment, and dwellings,
is for mere _superfluities;_ which are right when they do not
involve the sacrifice of higher interests, and wrong when they do.
Life and health can be sustained in the humblest dwellings, with the
plainest dress, and the simplest food; and, after taking from our means
what is necessary for life and health, the remainder is to be so
divided, that the larger portion shall be given to supply the moral
and intellectual wants of ourselves and others, together with the
physical requirements of the destitute, and the smaller share to procure
those additional gratifications of taste and appetite which are
desirable but not indispensable. Mankind, thus far, have never made
this apportionment of their means; although, just as fast as they have
risen from a savage state, mere physical wants have been made, to an
increasing extent, subordinate to higher objects.

Another very important consideration is that, in urging the duty of
charity and the prior claims of moral and religious objects, no rule
of duty should be maintained which it would not be right and wise for
_all_ to follow. And we are to test the wisdom of any general rule by
inquiring what would be the result if all mankind should practice
according to it. In view of this, we are enabled to judge of the
correctness of those who maintain that, to be consistent, men believing
in the perils of all those of our race who are not brought under the
influence of the Christian system should give up not merely the
elegancies but all the superfluities of life, and devote the whole of
their means not indispensable to life and health to the propagation
of Christianity.

But if this is the duty of any, it is the duty of all; and we are to
inquire what would be the result, if all conscientious persons gave
up the use of all superfluities. Suppose that two millions of the
people of the United States were conscientious persons, and relinquished
the use of every thing not absolutely necessary to life and health.
Besides reducing the education of the people in all the higher walks
of intellectual, social, and even moral development, to very narrow
limits, it would instantly throw out of employment one half of the
whole community. The writers, book-makers, manufacturers, mechanics,
merchants agriculturists, and all the agencies they employ, would be
beggared, and one half of those not reduced to poverty would be obliged
to spend all their extra means in-simply supplying necessaries to the
other half. The use of superfluities, therefore, to a certain extent,
is as indispensable to promote industry, virtue, and religion, as any
direct giving of money or time; and it is owing entirely to a want of
reflection and of comprehensive views, that any men ever make so great
a mistake as is here exhibited.

Instead, then, of urging a rule of duty which is at once irrational
and impracticable, there is another course, which commends itself to
the understandings of all. For whatever may be the practice of
intelligent men, they universally concede the principle, that our
physical gratifications should always be made subordinate to social,
intellectual, and moral advantages. And all that is required for the
advancement of our whole race to the most perfect state of society is,
simply, that men should act in agreement with this principle. And if
only a very small portion of the most intelligent of our race should
act according to this rule, under the control of Christian benevolence,
the immense supplies furnished for the general good would be far beyond
what any would imagine who had never made any calculations on the
subject. In this nation alone, suppose the one million and more of
professed followers of Christ should give a larger portion of their
means for the social, intellectual, and moral wants of mankind, than
for the superfluities that minister to their own taste, convenience,
and appetite; it would be enough to furnish all the schools, colleges,
Bibles, ministers, and missionaries, that the whole world could demand;
or, at least, it would be far more than properly qualified agents to
administer it could employ.

But it may be objected that, though this view in the abstract looks
plausible and rational, not one in a thousand can practically adopt
it. How few keep any account, at all, of their current expenses! How
impossible it is to determine, exactly, what are necessaries and what
are superfluities! And in regard to women, how few have the control
of an income, so as not to be bound by the wishes of a parent or a
husband!

In reference to these difficulties, the first remark is, that we are
never under obligations to do what is entirely out of our power; so
that those persons who can not regulate their expenses or their
charities are under no sort of obligation to attempt it. The second
remark is that, when a rule of duty is discovered, if we can not fully
attain to it, we are bound to _aim_ at it, and to fulfill it just
so far as we can. We have no right to throw it aside because we shall
find some difficult cases when we come to apply it. The third remark
is, that no person can tell how much can be done, till a faithful trial
has been made. If a woman has never kept any accounts, nor attempted
to regulate her expenditures by the right rule, nor used her influence
with those that control her plans, to secure this object, she has no
right to say how much she can or can not do, till after a fair trial
has been made.

In attempting such a trial, the following method can be taken. Let a
woman, keep an account of all she spends, for herself and her family,
for a year, arranging the items under three general heads. Under the
first, put all articles of food, raiment, rent, wages, and all
conveniences. Under the second, place all sums paid in securing an
education, and books, and other intellectual advantages. Under the
third head, place all that is spent for benevolence and religion. At
the end of the year, the first and largest account will show the mixed
items of necessaries and superfluities, which can be arranged so as
to gain some sort of idea how much has been spent for superfluities
and how much for necessaries. Then, by comparing what is spent for
superfluities, with what is spent for intellectual and moral advantages,
data will be gained for judging of the past and regulating the future.

Does a woman say she can not do this? let her think whether the offer
of a thousand dollars, as a reward-for attempting it one year, would
not make her undertake to do it; and if so, let her decide, in her own
mind, which is most valuable, a clear conscience, and the approbation
of God, in this effort to do his will, or one thousand dollars. And
let her do it, with this warning of the Saviour before her eyes--"No
man can serve two masters." "Ye can not serve God and Mammon."

Is it objected, How can we decide between superfluities and necessities,
in this list? It is replied, that we are not required to judge exactly,
in all cases. Our duty is, to use the means in our power to assist us
in forming a correct judgment; to seek the divine aid in freeing our
minds from indolence and selfishness; and then to judge, as well as
we can, in our endeavors rightly to apportion and regulate our expenses.
Many persons seem to feel that they are bound to do better than they
know how. But God is not so hard a master; and after we have used all
proper means to learn the right way, if we then follow it according
to our ability, we do wrong to feel misgivings, or to blame ourselves,
if results come out differently from what seems desirable.

The results of our actions, alone, can never prove as deserving of
blame. For men are often so placed that, owing to lack of intellect
or means, it is impossible for them to decide correctly. To use all
the means of knowledge within our reach, and then to judge, with a
candid and conscientious spirit, is all that God requires; and when
we have done this, and the event seems to come out wrong, we should
never wish that we had decided otherwise. For this would be the same
as wishing that we had not followed the dictates of judgment and
conscience. As this is a world designed for discipline and trial,
untoward events are never to be construed as indications of the
obliquity of our past decisions.

But it is probable that a great portion of the women of this nation
can not secure any such systematic mode of regulating their expenses.
To such, the writer would propose one inquiry: Can not you calculate
how much _time_ and _money_ you spend for what is merely ornamental, and
not necessary, for yourself, your children, and your house? Can not you
compare this with the time and money you spend for intellectual and
benevolent purposes? and will not this show the need of some change? In
making this examination, is not this brief rule, deducible from the
principles before laid down, the one which should regulate you? Every
person does right in spending some portion of time and means in securing
the conveniences and adornments of taste; but the amount should never
exceed what is spent in securing our own moral and intellectual
improvement, nor what is spent in benevolent efforts to supply the
physical and moral wants of our fellow-men.

In making an examination on this subject, it is sometimes the case
that a woman will count among the _necessaries_ of life all the
various modes of adorning the person or house, practiced in the circle
in which she moves; and, after enumerating the many _duties_ which
demand attention, counting these as a part, she will come to the
conclusion that she has no time, and but little money, to devote to
personal improvement or to benevolent enterprises. This surely is not
in agreement with the requirements of the Saviour, who calls on us to
seek for others, as well as ourselves, _first of all_, "the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness."

In order to act in accordance with the rule here presented, it is true
that many would be obliged to give up the idea of conforming to the
notions and customs of those with whom they associate, and compelled
to adopt the maxim, "Be not conformed to this world." In many cases
it would involve an entire change in the style of living. And the
writer has the happiness of knowing more cases than one, where persons
who have come to similar views on this subject, have given up large
and expensive establishments, disposed of their carriages, dismissed
a portion of their domestics, and modified all their expenditures,
that they might keep a pure conscience, and regulate their charities
more according to the requirements of Christianity. And there are
persons, well known in the religious world, who save themselves all
labor of minute calculation, by devoting so large a portion of their
time and means to benevolent objects, that they find no difficulty in
knowing that they give more for religious, benevolent, and intellectual
purposes than for superfluities.

In deciding what particular objects shall receive our benefactions,
there are also general principles to guide us. The first is that
presented by our Saviour, when, after urging the great law of
benevolence, he was asked, "And who is my neighbor?" His reply, in the
parable of "the Good Samaritan," teaches us that any human being whose
wants are brought to our knowledge is our neighbor. The wounded man
in that parable was not only a stranger, but he belonged to a foreign
nation, peculiarly hated; and he had no claim, except that his wants
were brought to the knowledge of the wayfaring man. From this we learn
that the destitute of all nations become our neighbors, as soon as
their wants are brought to our knowledge.

Another general principle is this, that those who are most in need
must be relieved in preference to those who are less destitute. On
this principle it is, that we think the followers of Christ should
give more to supply those who are suffering for want of the bread of
eternal life, than for those who are deprived of physical enjoyments.
And another reason for this preference is the fact that many who give
in charity have made such imperfect advances in civilization and
Christianity that the intellectual and moral wants of our race make
but a feeble impression on the mind. Relate a pitiful tale of a family
reduced to live for weeks on potatoes only, and many a mind would awake
to deep sympathy and stretch forth the hand of charity. But describe
cases where the immortal mind is pining in stupidity and ignorance,
or racked with the fever of baleful passions, and how small the number
so elevated in sentiment and so enlarged in their views as to appreciate
and sympathize in these far greater misfortunes! The intellectual and
moral wants of our fellow-men, therefore, should claim the first place
in general Christian attention, both because they are most important,
and because they are most neglected; while it should not be forgotten,
in giving personal attention to the wants of the poor, that the relief
of immediate physical distress, is often the easiest way of touching
the moral sensibilities of the destitute.

Another consideration to be borne in mind is that, in this country,
there is much less real need of charity in supplying physical
necessities than is generally supposed by those who have not learned
the more excellent way. This land is so abundant in supplies, and labor
is in such demand, that every healthy person can earn a comfortable
support. And if all the poor were instantly made virtuous, it is
probable that there would be few physical wants which could not readily
be supplied by the immediate friends of each sufferer. The sick, the
aged, and the orphan would be the only objects of charity. In this
view of the case, the primary effort in relieving the poor should be
to furnish them the means of earning their own support, and to supply
them with those moral influences which are most effectual in securing
virtue and industry.

Another point to be attended to is the importance of maintaining a
system of _associated_ charities. There is no point in which the economy
of charity has more improved than in the present mode of combining many
small contributions, for sustaining enlarged and systematic plans of
charity. If all the half-dollars which are now contributed to aid in
organized systems of charity were returned to the donors, to be applied
by the agency and discretion of each, thousands and thousands of the
treasures, now employed to promote the moral and intellectual wants of
mankind, would become entirely useless in a democracy like ours, where
few are very rich and the majority are in comfortable circumstances,
this collecting and dispensing of drops and rills is the mode by which,
in imitation of nature, the dews and showers are to distill on parched
and desert lands. And every person, while earning a pittance to unite
with many more, may be cheered with the consciousness of sustaining a
grand system of operations which must have the most decided influence in
raising all mankind to that perfect state of society which Christianity
is designed to bring about.

Another consideration relates to the indiscriminate bestowal of charity.
Persons who have taken pains to inform themselves, and who devote their
whole time to dispensing charities, unite in declaring that this is
one of the most fruitful sources of indolence, vice, and poverty. From
several of these the writer has learned that, by their own personal
investigations, they have ascertained that there are large
establishments of idle and wicked persons in most of our cities, who
associate together to support themselves by every species of imposition.
They hire large houses, and live in constant rioting on the means thus
obtained. Among them are women who have or who hire the use of infant
children; others, who are blind, or maimed, or deformed, or who can
adroitly feign such infirmities; and, by these means of exciting pity,
and by artful tales of woe, they collect alms, both in city and country,
to spend in all manner of gross and guilty indulgences. Meantime many
persons, finding themselves often duped by impostors, refuse to give
at all; and thus many benefactions are withdrawn, which a wise economy
in charity would have secured. For this and other reasons, it is wise
and merciful to adopt the general rule, never to give alms till we
have had some opportunity of knowing how they will be spent. There are
exceptions to this, as to every general rule, which a person of
discretion can determine. But the practice so common among benevolent
persons, of giving at least a trifle to all who ask, lest perchance
they may turn away some who are really sufferers, is one which causes
more sin and misery than it cures.

The writer has never known any system for dispensing charity so
successful as the one by which a town or city is divided into districts;
and each district is committed to the care of two ladies, whose duty
it is, to call on each family and leave a book for a child, or do some
other deed of neighborly kindness, and make that the occasion for
entering into conversation, and learning the situation of all residents
in the district. By this method, the ignorant, the vicious, and the
poor are discovered, and their physical, intellectual, and moral wants
are investigated. In some places where the writer has known this mode
pursued, each person retained the same district, year after year, so
that every poor family in the place was under the watch and care of
some intelligent and benevolent lady, who used all her influence to
secure a proper education for the children, to furnish them with
suitable reading, to encourage habits of industry and economy, and to
secure regular attendance on public religious instruction. Thus, the
rich and the poor were brought in contact, in a way advantageous to
both parties; and if such a system could be universally adopted, more
would be done for the prevention of poverty and vice than all the
wealth of the nation could avail for their relief. But this plan can
not be successfully carried out, in this manner, unless there is a
large proportion of intelligent, benevolent, and self-denying persons,
who unite in a systematic plan.