Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-12-28
Of Generosltr and ThrIft.

il Is easy to win reputation for
generosity. YCg have only to give
walters, railway pOrters, cabmen and
crossing-sweepers a shilling where any
body else would give sixpenee; to
make a good many presents Of trihing
value, and chiefly to persons from
whom you hope to set something IN re-
turn, and to take care the fame of these
magnanimous actions shall be we'll
bruited abroad-and your character as
a generous, whole-sOuled being Is estab-
hshed.
1t is very noble to be liberal. lut not
at other peoples expense. The old
cOpy-bOOk maxim Is a very sound one:
BE just before you are generous. If
your hberality binders you from paying
what you owe to your butcher or your
tailor, you are not just to him; nor, it
may be added, are you really generous,
but only lavish.
But avoid meanneSS and SunglnesS.
Give away as much as you please, the
more the better, always provided that
nobody but yourself suffers by your
giving, and the person benefited by it
Is worthy, and that it is done without
Ostentation.
The truly generous man is he who
deuies himself some luxury, or, better
still, some necessary, in order that he
may have wherewith to give to those
who are in need. The millionaire with
his 100000 a year often gets great
praise for his gifts 1000, e, 900,
IL, 900, or even 100000; aud when his
donations reach a quarter of a million,
statues are erected to his memory, and
paGns are sung in as praise. But IN
all probability the signing of his big
checE does not entail the sacrifice Of
the smallest pleasure or the slightest
qualification. Unless he CANDLES on
the turf or the Stock Exchange, he
cannot spend on himself more than a
certain not very large annual amount /;
and there is. therefore, no very marvel
Gus generosity in handing over the
surplus to one or half a dozen chart
table organizations.
DR.. Bloomfield, afterward Bishop of
London, began life with a determi-
nation to give if possible, One-fitth of
of his annual income in charity. When
he became rich, he gave away One-third
of his income for charitable purposes.
During his tenure of the See of Lon
don he gave away not much less than
el5O, coo. 1t IS an open secret that Mr..
Ruskin has stripped himself of the bulk
of his fortune that he may teach En-
glish artisans to love what Is beautiful.
These are examles of true generosity.
There is a close relationship be-
tween generosity and thrift. The thrifty
man has always a reserve upon which
to draw for charitable purposes. In
benevOlence, as in business, A, without
being in the least degree stingy, can
make a shilling go further than BIS
half-crown. Some men have the knack,
By careful adaptation of means to
ends, of getting, or seeming to get, a
far greater return for their money than
others. This is a science we'll worth
cultiyating.
What a picture of thrift does good
old Hugh Latimer give in one OF
his sermons! MY father" he said,
chad no land of his own, but only a
farm of three or four pounds wear at
the utmost; and hereon he titled so
much as kept half a dozen men. He
had a walk for 100 sheep, and my
mother MIXED thirty kline. He kept
his son at school till he went to the
university, aud maintained him there.
He married his daughters with e5 or
twenty mobiles apiece. He kept hospi-
tality with his neighbOrs, and some
aims he gave to the poor; and all this
he did out of the said farm. Notes
for Boys.