The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1855-12-11
By MRS. 8. O. HALL.

n
By MRS. s. 9. HALL.
'sWell,. exclaimed Geraldine, with an i'm
patient toss Of her pretty head-"Well, |
was never before taxed with want of gener
osity. | am sure give away every thing |
have in the world"
excuse me---you do not
'Indeed. amt, | give up every thing
Again excuse Inc: there is one thing YOU
never give up
''What, aunty 4"
''iour temper"
Geraldine pulled ut the fingers of her
/ gloves one by one, and tossed them on the
/ table, while her cheeks flushed and her eyes
| grew bright. but not with pleasure.
II am sure give away all my money is
not that being generous I"
| .eYou give away the thing, of all others.
you want the least, and which it gives You the
/ least trouble To part with. All your wants
and wishes are supplied toyou without MON
ev.''
| II give away my books and my toys"
| "They arc constantly replaced by others
not at your own cost, but by the liberality Of
! those whose love is perhaps in ludlcious-'
Il even give away my pets
! ''When YOU are tired Of Them
Geraldine burst into tears.
II am sure she said. .obbing. II am
sure people seem TO think they have done
their duty when they give money, and gave
all-mine--ye Yesterday and uncle Richard
said was so-good II should plenty
more to dav.'
"Howeyer necessary money is to ALL OBJ
served aunt Jane, grayely, II often consider
| giving it but a small evidence Of generosity,
| particularly when certain OF having il replac-
ed. Let us look at this matter steadily, with
| gentle yet inquiring spirit. You gave shil-
| ling TO Dame Godfrey, the other morning !;
| YOU did not want the shilling. 10 voa re-
member what she said -
''ies, aunt
''She said, s1hank you my dear young la
| DIV; hut, oh, how thankful | should be if
you would read me just one chapter Of the
New TESTAMENT
81 don't like reading to old women pout-
! ed out Geraldine.
.'Your generosity did NOT extend 10 the
sacrifice Of doing what YOU disliked, but Ma
nv Golfers did
'tMary Collier repeated the little girl
dsdanfully; ,.poor little Mary Collier, how
can she be generous z"
s'Mary Golfers chest is weak, and heayes
and pants when she reads aloud, and yet |
often find her sitting beside Dame Godfrev's
bed and doing what you refused TO do
though you can read and sing without pant
ing. Your shilling gift robbed YOU neither
of ease or comfort; Mary Collier sacrificed
both--that is generosity. And there is that
poor, aged woman. Alice Grey; Alice is one
Of the most truly generous women ever
Knew
s1Alicep' exclaimed Geraldine. .Why,
Alice would not have had dinner mt Christ
mas but for your kindness-how can she be
generous"
'.There is one great gift amongst many
which God gives Us ut our birth, Geraldine,
and which remains with us from the cradle
10 the grave--our time. We work ii or
waste tive sell it, exchange it but still it
| is our ownit IL the only treasure the work
ing man or working woman can possess; We
have no right to squander or abuse it, or
lead others to do so. Now, Alice lives by
her time--mni YOU, she lives by it-so she
| understands and appreciates its value. If
she leaves her daily labor, even for an hour,
she knows that she is depriying herself Of a
quantity Of food, or FIRE, or abridging the
size or quality of her poor dress. miserably
scanty as il is; and yet, Alice Gray gives
that hour, aye, many hours, TO comfort the
fatherlesssan and the widow; she works for 9th
ers, she depriyes herself Of what to her il
necessary, to serve others. That is generos
itv.o
II saw a little boy the other day 20 into
bakers shop; he was really hungry, and he
was very fond of buns, all little boys are.
but the great matter was, he was hungry he
bought large two penny bun; he was SO
hungry that he turned all the marbles and
bits Of strings out Of his pockets, hoping to
find another penny, to add a small bun to the
large one, but he had not even a farthing
so he took great hungry bite out of his
bun, and looked with pleasure at the piece III
his hand, spotted all over with little black
currants. what nice bum said the little
GOV, sand am so hungry When he looked
mp from the bun. he saw pair Of large,
blue eyes, staring from amid shock of wild
hair. Alas the nose and lips, the very
cheeks Of the child who gazed SO eagerly ut
his bun, were pinched and yellow with star
vltion. Nv little friend saw it in moment,
and not a moment did he hesitate, but with
out d word. he walked up to the starving
child and placed the remainder of his bun
IN his thin hand. That was generosity
The boy who had the bun was hungry and
poor, Yet he remained hungry rather than
suffer one poorer and more hungry
than himself 10 starve. Now, it is not
enough for YOU to say, well done, fine fell
low. but want YOU TO 20 and do likewise
Il i not enough for the heart to beat and the
eyes 10 swim in tears, when generous ac-
lion is recorded. If it makes a proper i'm
preston you will not be happy until you
have done likewise
Geraldine looked straight on. She hard
ened her heart sometimes, and when she did