Shut not thy purse-strings always against painted distress.

Shut not thy purse-strings always against painted distress.

His house was known to all the vagrant train,
He chid their wanderings but reliev'd their pain;
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His house was known to all the vagrant train,
He chid their wanderings but reliev'd their pain;
The long remembered beggar was his guest,
Whose beard descending swept his aged breast.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth:
That thine read more

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth:
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in
secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
His pity gave ere charity began.

Careless their merits or their faults to scan,
His pity gave ere charity began.

I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

Scatter plenty o'er a smiling land.

Scatter plenty o'er a smiling land.

Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence, of this
virtue.

Gifts and alms are the expressions, not the essence, of this
virtue.

Pity the sorrow of a poor old man,
Whose trembling limbs have brought him to your door.

Pity the sorrow of a poor old man,
Whose trembling limbs have brought him to your door.

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.