Charity: Begging and Old English Means Essay

The article charity, by derivation and in old English elbow room love. But in ordinary modern English it means almsgiving, and in this short essay we must(prenominal)(prenominal) confine ourselves to the later and narrower meaning of the word. good-will in this sense is a virtue extensively practiced and extremely esteemed in the East. In India, prior to Independence, it was a common practice for kings and full-bodied men to weigh themselves against gold and silver and to distribute the return key among the unfortunate.This was through with(p) by Shivaji, and legion(predicate) early(a)s before and after his time. We have in most of our large cities fine monuments of munificent charity in the university buildings, colleges, hospitals, recovering homes and water-fountains, built wholly or partially at the expense of rich citizens, who chose this practical way of showing their love for their native city.But it must be remembered that it is net only the rich that have the po wer of beingness charitable. The Mahabharata tells us thatJust Heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts,Offered in hope of emerging recompense,As with the merest trifle set apart,From just gains and sanctified by faith,and that the man who is not rich but save can give, will be exalted above the heavens. Very practically the munificent gifts of rich men atomic number 18 made for purposes of ostentation or as a means of gaining favour with Government.The best charity is that which is done in secret, so that, in the expressive words of the Gospel, the left sight does not know what the right hand does.It is very necessary to achievement discrimination in the giving of alms. The great object of charity is to relieve misery, and indiscriminate charity, by encouraging the trade of begging, actually adds to the misery of the world.If it were not for the reckless charity of well meaning men, who think it a avocation to give a small alms to every beggar they come across, many a nother(prenominal) who now lead a miserable existence as beggars would load d make to honest work, and become profitable members of society. As Monier Williams Indian Wisdom.Things are, they prefer to eff an idle life of degradation, and some of them, by begging and imposture, make more(prenominal) money than an honest poor man can earn by hard labour. Such being the case, it is no wonder that so many beggars infest the streets of Bombay and other rich cities.A rich man who is truly determined to do good with his money, should either find out for himself what poor men really deserve help, or, if he has not time to do so, he should give his alms through some charitable society, that has officers appointed for the finicky purpose of distinguishing between the deserving poor and impudent impostors.There are also some who require to be reminded that charity begins at home, and that they must not deprive themselves of the means of supporting their own family by abundant charity to strangers who have less claims upon them.These, then, are the two principal limits to chance in the duty of almsgiving. We must recognize the prior obligation of providing for the necessities of our own family, and we must take care lest by ill-judged distribution of alms we get along beggary and improvidence with its attendant miseries.Charity would seem to be least exposed to the second danger, when a subscription is made for unfortunate persons suddenly trim back to ruin by an earthquake, or a storm, or any other calamity against which no foresight could have defended them.For in such cases thither is very great distress to be relieved in the present, and there is little fear of the help given leading in the future to ruinous improvidence or extravagance.