NATIONAL rAUPERISM AND TAXATION 87 



institutions out of the multitudes that are in existence, and 

 leaviuLT out of calcuhition all those that — 



(1) devote their funds to spiritual aid to the poor; 



(2) are partially self-supporting by payment from inmates ; 



(3) are in any way connected with trades or professions, 



it will be found that the aggregate annual income amounts to 

 the colossal sum of £1,533,821. 



Capitalise this in the same way as the income from 

 Hospitals, and there is the enormous sum of £38,455,525 as 

 a further contribution from our well-to-do countrymen, in aid 

 of the poor, the needy and the destitute, the outcast women, 

 the poor little waifs and strays, the afflicted and the suffering, 

 and all that human flotsam and jetsam cast up on the shores 

 of our land by the turbulent waves of human Ufe. 



The Greatest of our many Charities 



Now we come to the greatest of all these prodigious chari- 

 ties, the Kke of which cannot be found elsewhere in any 

 civilised country in the world, not so much because our foreign 

 friends are lacking in the quality of mercy and benevolence, 

 but because there is no necefidty for it in other countries. 



These far-reaching private charities ramify through all 

 classes of society, and yet show no sign of their presence. This 

 is the charity that " vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up " ; it 

 does its work silently yet surely, and it seeketh no reward. 



This form of charity is practically universal in our land, 

 and its power is potent and far-reaching. It commences where 

 the great organised charities stop ; it takes up the work they 

 are unable to do, and enormously supplements, in a quiet, un- 

 obtrusive, unseen manner, that work in the broad field of 

 philanthropy which the visible charity organisations are not 

 destined to touch. This form of charity is as widespread as the 

 ocean and as all-embracing as the sun's light and warmth ; it 

 extends to all sections of the community, and none are neg- 

 lected or forgotten. Its donors are to be found in their 

 millions, for all classes are engaged in the good work. From 

 the small shop-keeper or the needy clerk, the poorly-paid shop- 

 assistant, from the artisan and working-classes themselves up 

 to the King in his palace, and even from the little children who 

 are encouraged to give their pence, docs tiiis constant stream 

 of charity flow, and it may be truly said that one-half of the 

 people of this country is engaged in helping the other half. 



