Page:Advice to the Indian Aristocracy.djvu/277

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GENERAL HINTS.

WHOM HAVE WE TO HELP?

As we Zamindars are men of wealth and position, all sorts of people, mostly beggars, come to us for some kind of help or other. In my lecture on Charity I told you almost everything I had to say on the subject and to whom you should extend your charity. Some applicants pretend that they are going on a pilgrimage, and that they have been robbed of their property on the way. Others, respectable and once wealthy, also ask our help. If the changed condition of such persons is owing to an "act of God" or to unavoidable causes, they deserve help from us. If their condition, on the other hand, is due to their own folly, such as extravagance, drinking, gambling and other bad habits, we must not give them a single pie.