Merit

From a history of Henry II. of England in a Gutenberg project:

[A]s king and chancellor [Beckett] were riding together through the streets of London one bitter winter's day, they saw a poor old man clad in rags. Turning to his friend the king said, "Would it not be a meritorious act to give that poor old man a warm cloak?" The chancellor agreeing that it would indeed, Henry exclaimed, "You shall have the merit of this worthy act!" and seizing Becket's magnificent fur-lined cloak, after a short struggle secured it and flung it to the beggar.

In other news, eight Democratic Senators were assisted in performing a worthy act in agreeing to unfreeze SNAP benefits, after a short struggle.

It reminds me of a report a few years ago of some Marines assisting an obstreperous fellow to regain his composure.