Sugaring poverty's pill
From Mr Ivan Hewett Sir: It's a shame Paul Johnson, in his col- umn on the 'Tsar of the homeless' (And another thing, 14 October), didn't quote Dr Johnson's magnificent defence of charity. When someone said to Johnson that charity to beggars was wasted because 'they only lay it out in gin or tobacco', Johnson replied: And why should they be denied such sweeten- ers of their existence? It is surely very savage to refuse them every possible avenue to plea- sure, reckoned too coarse for our own accep- tance. Life is a pill which none of us can bear to swallow without gilding; yet for the poor we delight in stripping it still barer, and are not afraid to shew even visible displeasure, if ever the bitter taste is taken from their mouths.
Ivan Hewett
ivan@hewettia.demon.co.uk
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