No bread. No light. No fire. No cover. They lie strewn upon the
floor--two whole families in one room. They shiver in the darkness.
They have had no food to-day. You say: "Why don't they beg?" They did
beg, but got nothing. You say: "Hand them over to the almshouse."
Ah! they had rather die than go to the almshouse. Have you never heard
the bitter cry of the man or of the child when told that he must go to
the almshouse?
You say that these are vicious poor, and have brought their own
misfortune on themselves.
So much the more to be pitied. The Christian poor--God helps them!
Through their night there twinkles the round, merry star of hope, and
through the cracked window-pane of their hovel they see the crystals
of heaven. But the vicious are the more to be pitied. They have no
hope. They are in hell now. They have put out their last light. People
excuse themselves from charity by saying they do not deserve to be
helped. If I have ten prayers for the innocent, I shall have twenty
for the guilty.
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