3. The third rule is, whilst dispensing our liberalities, to proportion them to merit; to consider the morals of him who is their object, the attachment he shows us, the different relations he may have with us; lastly, the services he may have rendered us. It were desirable he had all these titles to our benevolence; but if he has them not all, the greatest and largest in numbers should weigh most in the scales.
=71. Self-devotion--Self-abnegation--Sacrifice.=--When charity reaches the highest degree; when it requires we should give to others what we hold most dear--as, for instance, life, fortune, etc.--it takes another name and is called _devotion_, _self-abnegation_, _sacrifice_. These three words, with various shadings, express the idea of a precious gift of which one deprives himself to benefit others. One may devote one's self to others in various ways, in choosing for one's object either the life, or welfare, or liberty, or the morality and intelligence of others. Let us examine these various forms of devotion.
=72. The nature of the benefit.--Diverse forms of self-devotion.--The life, the welfare, the morality of others, etc.=--_Sacrificing one's life for others._--Justice requires we should not attack the life of others; charity requires more: it demands that we make every effort to save the life of our fellow-beings, even sometimes at the cost of our own.
This duty, which is a duty of charity for men in general, is a duty of justice for the physician and all those who have care of the sick. The physician owes his devotion to the patient, as the soldier owes his to his country. In both these cases _medical duty_, _military duty_, devotion is a strict duty. It is at the same time a duty towards men and a duty towards the profession. It is in both cases what may be called the _honor of the flag_. Thus do we every year see a certain number of young hospital physicians die, like soldiers on the field of honor.
The duty of attending the sick and being thereby exposed to contagion, falls alike on all who have chosen this profession: sisters of charity, the nurses, the male and female attendants in infirmaries. It is also a duty in the family; the parents owe themselves to their children; the servants themselves should assume in a certain measure the same responsibility, although it is the duty of the masters to spare them as much as possible. Moreover, it is known how common this devotion is, especially with mothers, and how many of them die of the illness they have contracted at the bedside of their children. In all these circumstances, it is of course not forbidden to be cautious, and wisdom requires one should not go beyond the strictly necessary; but the necessary is obligatory; and on whom should it fall more naturally than on the parents?