Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1860-01-07
A RESPONSE.

Deen out many minutes De1Ore tue boys lhOu
/ bless them!) in the Lottery establishment Of
Messrs. France, Broadbcnts 4 TO. made up a
purse of six dollars for the destitute widow, on
whose behalf we made an appeal in our lead
cr upon "our Lords Birth Day. They de-
puNed one of their number to convey it to our
Office, and he came in, in hurry, will, his
face flushed with joy at being the bearer Of so
precious Christmas gift to the poor mother,
and tears stood in his bright eyes rs
he told the clerk to give their contributions to
the Editor. This was an exhibition of genu-
inc Christian love though we doubt if those
tendcr-hcartcd boys knew ii by that NAME
| The Holy Spirit leads His children to do good,
without stopping to reason with them about it.
| Hardly had that dear boy disappeared, when
II venerable whte-haired gentleman stepped
into the office, and laid down half eagle, with
instructions to hand it to the Editor. When
asked his name, he made no reply, but turned
and went out. lie has the blessing of the
the grateful widow upon his venerable head
1t has gone up to the recording Angel, and it
will meet him in the day of account, ii gem in
his crown of good deeds.
One of the gentlemen of the establishment,
in the absence IF the Editor, at once took
charge of these gifts and hurried to the cold
and cheerless chamber of the sufferer, and
gladdened her almost crushed out and despair
iring heart, by placing the donation right into
her own hand. He did not wait to do good,
but proceeded on the principle that the doing
of good thing quickly is like doing it twice.
Bis dat, gui cito dat.
The sun had not gone down before another
donation of $50 was handed in by the giver,
with a request that If acknowledged, it should
be as cash. That amount was handed to us
on Sunday afternoon, by one of the Proprie-
tors. Forthwith we sailed out 10 hand it in
person to the poor widow. If thedonor could
have seen how gratefully il was received by
that meek and suffering mother, it would have
more than repaid his compassion. We shall
not harrow up the feelings of the reader by
taking him into that chamber of pov rty.-
Well draw veil just here, and leave him to
the more pleasant re Election upon the joy that
these timely gifts brought to that mothers al
most frozen heart We can all realize how
the warm blood of gratitude melted her into
tears, as she thanked her bencflctors over and
over again.
1t would give us pleasure to accede to the
last giyer's request, but we do not think we
should he justified in doing so. When the
Healer Of the sick and the Feeder of the poor
did good action, He almost always bid the
recipients of His favors not to bruit it abroad,
but they invariably did so the more. Their
gratitude knew no bounds, and they spake the
louder Of the Royal Donor In the same spirit
we cannot refrain from making known the name
l,n In oaptns l.Kttn lNa Il NOT s,.,lxt
from sense of gratitude to him on the part
of the poor widow and her five helpless chill
dren, but also from sense of justice to much
maligncd and misunderstood gentleman. 1t
was STEPHEN BR0ADBENT, of the firm of France,
Broadbents & Co., Lottery dealers He will
pardon us, we are sure, for the liberty we have
taken with his name.
Mr.. Broadbent's charities in hard money, we
are credibly informed, amount to many thous-
and dollars year. Already thus far in the
season, he has distributed twenty tons of coal
to the poor of this city. On Christmas morn
ing, as he came to the gate of his beautiful
country seat on Charles Street Avenue he found
the poor of his neighborhood assembled to
participate in his bounties and he turned none
away, besides distributing literally to the poor
along the road. As he remarked to us one
occasion, when speaking of this thing, he had
his reward in this life now for following out
the precepts of the Gospel Prince, and that
was in the unalloyed love and affection of n
devoted family. God never forgets cheerful
and generous giver because He is a Royal
Giver Himself, and loves those who seek to be
like unto Him in action. Many and many are
the poor and the orphan of this city, who owe
their evening meal to the bounty of Mr.. Broad
bent, and know not whence it came.
And just here it occurs to US, that there are
those who have not hard words enough for the
lottery dealer, ana no man in the busnessper-
haps, has been moro evil spoken of til IN Mr..
Stephen Broadbent but is he the only sinner
in society? We are not the defenders of Lot
teries, nor hundred other pursuits in life all
around us, but we really do not think dealing
in lotteries is worse than gambling in stocks or
trading in endorsements, than speculations in
the nccessaries of life, or in retailing ardent
spirits, whether in fashionable saloons or in
low grog shops, than in monopolizng building
lots in cities or INDUCING in the hard-hearted-
ness that renting houses to the poor always be-
gets. Who forgets the almost royal bounties
of the Lutte noble-hearted John w. Maury, of
Washington cty,who owed his fortune to deal
ing in lotteries
In commanding therefore, the charities of our
fellow-citzens, we are not called on to pro-
nounce an opinion upon their calling in life,
nor should we have referred to Mr.. Broad
DENTS, but Tor the iashion just now OF singing
out lottery office dealers as the greatest enc
mics of society, and that too by many of those
who in past years have made fortunes in this
business,an are now living in luxury thereon.
Even if they were as generous and as chari-
table as Mr.. Broadbent, and they may be for
aught we know can they, with clear con-
science, turf round and kick the ladder from
under them? We should all remember the hole
of the pit whence we were dug, and seek to be
humble.
But coming back to the poor widow,we trust
that the charitable will continue with open
hand to send in their contributions so as to
put this family beyond the possibility of want
this winter Bed-covering and clothing, as
as well as money, will be faithfully applied, if
left at our office for the Editor, and duly ac-
knowledged baltimore Patriot.