One or two men started up as
if to reply, but the Father went on again. His voice was thin and
incisive, with a vibrating quality when it was raised which affected
the nerves. It was easy to dislike his tones, but it was not easy to
resist their influence. He passed to another point, and his words had a
keener emphasis.
"Neither have we escaped the accusation that we use the poor simply as
a means of self-improvement. An old Irish woman in a tumble-down
tenement house once said to me: 'Ye'll have no chance to work out your
salvation doing for me.' I believe that there are many of the poor who
more or less consciously have the same idea. They think that we make
visiting them a sort of penance, and they resent it. I am not sure that
I can find it in my heart to blame them."
"He is either sacrificing himself completely, or making one of those
bold strokes that are irresistible," Ashe whispered to Mrs. Fenton; and
she nodded assent.
"What should be," the speaker proceeded, amid a deep hush which showed
the keen interest which his words had aroused, "is that we should dare
to be consistent. As individuals and as churchmen we should exercise
the virtue of charity, but both as individuals and as churchmen we are
bound to see to it that we make our charity effective for the glory of
God and the salvation of men.
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