The devil is kind compared with God."
"I believe you are right," Lilian Rosenberg said, "I never thought the
devil was half as bad as he was painted. The Park to-night gives the
lie direct to the ethics of all religions, and to the boasted efforts
of all governments, churches, chapels, hospitals, police, progress and
civilization. There is no misery, I am sure, to vie with it in any
pagan land, either now or at any other period in the world's history."
"True," Kelson replied, "and why is it? It is because civilization has
killed charity. Giving--in its true sense--if it exists at all--is
rarely to be met with--giving in exchange--that is, in order to
gain--flourishes everywhere. People will subscribe for the erection of
monuments to kings and statesmen, or to well-known and, often,
richly-endowed charitable institutes, in exchange for the pleasure of
seeing, in the newspapers, a list of the subscribers' names, and
themselves included amongst those whom they consider a peg above them
socially; or in exchange for votes, or notoriety, they will give
liberally to the brutal strikers, or outings for poor."
"I suppose, by the poor, you mean the pampered, ill-mannered and
detestably conceited County Council children," Lilian Rosenberg chimed
in. "I wouldn't give a farthing to such a miscalled charity, no--not
if I were rolling in riches."
"And I think you would be right," Kelson replied. "But for these
really poor Park refugees it is a different matter.
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