"About My Father's Business": Work Amidst the Sick, the Sad, and the Sorrowing

The Project Gutenberg eBook, About My Father's Business , by Thomas Archer
About my Father's Business.
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WORK AMIDST THE SICK, THE SAD, AND THE SORROWING
BY THOMAS ARCHER
AUTHOR OF STRANGE WORK, A FOOL'S PARADISE, THE TERRIBLE SIGHTS OF LONDON, THE PAUPER, THE THIEF, AND THE CONVICT, ETC., ETC.
Henry S. King & Co. 1876

ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS.
Would it not be useful to ask ourselves the question whether we are forgetting the true meaning of charity in the constant endeavour to take advantage of organized benevolent institutions, about the actual working of which we concern ourselves very little? As the years go on, and what we call civilisation advances, are we or are we not losing sight of our neighbour in a long vista of vicarious benefactions, bestowed through the medium of a subscription list, or casual contributions at an anniversary festival?
At the speeches that are made on such occasions, when the banquet is over, and the reading of the amounts subscribed is accompanied by the cracking of nuts and a crescendo or decrescendo of applause, in proportion to the liberality of the donors, we are so frequently reminded of the good Samaritan, that we begin to feel that we may claim some kind of relationship to him; and may shake our heads with solemn sorrow at the inexcusable conduct of the priest and the Levite. It would be worth while, however, to ask ourselves whether we quite come up to the mark of him who, finding the man wounded and helpless by the wayside, dismounted that he might convey the sufferer to the nearest inn; poured out oil for his wounds and wine for his cheer; left him with money in hand for the supply of his immediate needs; and did not scruple—with a robust and secure honesty—even to get into debt on his behalf: since the crown of good-will would be the coming again to learn of the patient's welfare. The debt was a pledge of the intention.