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.

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.

A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he read more

A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad
When he put on his clothes.

Shut not thy purse-strings always against painted distress.

Shut not thy purse-strings always against painted distress.

Scatter plenty o'er a smiling land.

Scatter plenty o'er a smiling land.

Help thi kynne, Crist bit (biddeth), for ther bygynneth charitie.

Help thi kynne, Crist bit (biddeth), for ther bygynneth charitie.

In every sorrowing soul I pour'd delight,
And poverty stood smiling in my sight.

In every sorrowing soul I pour'd delight,
And poverty stood smiling in my sight.

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.

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

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