Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-03

will derive the benefit. and the work
thus inaugurated will, no doubt, be car
ried on by other philosophical men who
will do their part in making Rich
mond attractive to strangers and more
desirable as Il residence to Its own popu-
latinn.
There are some forms Of charity which
encourage idleness and q spirit or de-
pendence and loss of self-respect. but
1t has not been so with the enterprises
of Major Ginter within and without the
city. He has not only furnished the
means Of self support to the deserving.
but has done much for the Improvement
of those In his employment In ways
which cannot now be enumerated. so that
II may be said that Richmond has had
no citizen who has done moro TO adj
vance its interests and to add to the
convenience and enjoyment Of Its people.
A WELL INFORMED MAN.
Beginning life, as Major Ginter did,
without the opportunity OF obtaining
liberal education. by judicious reading
and study re became a well informed
man, and those who have inspected his
library. filled with standard works OF
history, political economy, and general
literature, know how he overcame the
want Of early advantages, and those
who have conyersed with him have
often expressed surprise that he had
managed. in the midst OF the cares or
business life, to acquire the varied in
formation and accurate knowledge he
possessed.
During the first four years Of my resi-
dence in Richmond l lived at the Ex-
change Hotel, and 1t was there that my
acquaintance with Major Ginter COM
uff hAn n
moment when our friendly relations were
interrupted, and / have had the OPP
portunity Of knowing something OF his
benefactions to objects which he thought
worthy of encouragement. q am referring
now 10 private charities, not to the vast
sums he spent on enterprises from which
all the public reap the benefts.) l say
/ have known something OF his beEefac-
lions, for most Of them were bestowed
so privately that even his most intimate
friends would never have heard OF them
but for what has been voluntarily told
by those who received his bounty. During
more than fifty years of pleasant asso-
citation with him, though / never once
asked him for a contribution, even for
the objects in which L was most inte-
rested, yet, on one occasion he wrote me
a letter, enclosing a considerable sum
the letter with an emphatic request
that the matter should be strictly con-
fidential between US and that no one
should ever know the source from which
the contribution came. IL all who were
the channels through which his conside-
rate charities flowed were to recite SINH
lar instances, even his intimate ac-
qualntances might be surprised at the
number and the amount OF his bene-
factions.
HIS WEALTH WELL USED.
1t follows. therefore. that when those
who know something Of Major Ginters
unostentatious and delicate way of doing
the kindest acts choose to speak adj
miringly of them, they will escape the
unjust imputation Of praising him be-
cause he happened to be rich. No self
respecting man ever eulogiZes another |
simply because of his wealth. On the |
contrary, riches boarded up In a misery /
way or spent selfishly. degrade their |
possessor. Wealth adds nothing to any |
mans personal worth. The possessor of |
wealth deserves commentator only |
when he makes a discriminating and |
generous use of the gifts Of Gods provl- /
dence in giving aid to the unfortunate, |
the friendless, and the helpless. and In /
sustaining the great enterprises by
which the prosperity of the whole COM
munlty Is advanced
Fifty years OF friendship, without
ripple on its surface, is now ended and
as I close this tribute to his memory,
am sure l express the general feeling Of
our people when / say that Richmond
has lost one Of it's best benefactors,
whose place. for the present, at least,
L will be impossible for any one else to
ill. MOSES ID. HOGE.
New York,