~Kyrle Society.~--So named after the character alluded to by Pope in his
"Moral Essays":
"Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise?
'The Man of Ross,' each lisping babe replies."
John Kyrle, who died Nov. 11, 1724, though not a native, resided at Ross
nearly the whole of his long and loyal life of close on 90 years, and
Pope, who often visited the neighbourhood, there became acquainted with
him and his good works, and embalmed his memory in undying verse as an
example to future generations. A more benevolent lover of his fellowman
than Kyrle cannot be named, and a society for cultivating purity of
taste, and a delight in aiding the well-being of others, is rightly
called after him. The Birmingham Kyrle Society was established in 1880,
and frequent paragraphs in the local papers tell us of their doings, at
one time cheering the inmates of the institutions where the sick and
unfortunate lie, with music and song, and at another distributing books,
pictures, and flowers, where they are prized by those who are too poor
to purchase. The officers of the society will be pleased to hear from
donors, as let contributions of flowers or pictures be ever so many, the
recipients are far more numerous.
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