Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-06-03
TRUE GENEROSITY,
Two Instances Ideally Representative OF
That Rare Ounlity.

Two INSTANCES i'AthAlN hNIrrSchtAttNe OF
That Rare Quality.
have recently run across two in
stances of generosity that seem to
me almost ideally representative Of
that much misunderstood quality. I
have always held that To be gener-
Gus, in the nice sense of the word.
demands certain spiritual temper,
not too thoughtlCSsly benevolent.
and given To just appreciation of
the value of things, and this temper
have found i'll two people nS far as
possible removed from each other
i'll all that pertains to their manner
of life and outward circumstances.
Tho first instance il that of Il girl
in II down town office. earning but
few dollars. who had been saving,
after the diShCartcuing fashion of
women, until She had enough money
to buy bicycle. She had rudi-
mentary passion for perfcctncss, and
her heart had been fixed ON high
priced machine, delicate in mCChan-
ism and beautiful to the eye, hut she
surprised her friends by getting. in
stead, one of Il cheaper grade. When
asked her reason for the change. she
said that she wanted to feel perfect
ly free to lend her wheel. and at the
eleventh hour had doubted her abil-
ity cordially to offer the one she
coveted
The second instance is perhaps of
purer essence than the first, for in
the nero act of choosing the cheap
CT wheel there was Il suggestion of
thrift. There is mono III the follow
ing:
A man, n painter, found one day
that to him, as to many of us, the
fashions and poses of civilization
had become Il WEAKNESS. In spite
of an energy and an insight that
made him closely akin to the six
tcenth century masters, his mind
tagged, and he looked about him
for green spot of unreCorde1 ma
turC in which to rest awhile He
was not easy to satisfy, and before
he found what he wanted he had
wandered very far away. When he
returned, he brought back with him
memoranda that could mover be
duplicated, and that held sugges-
tiOnS and memories of Il curious and
primitive life that soon must vanish
from the face of tho earth. These
notes of line and color he guarded us
plnSn1N- - iY,Nn,ri,,n
scripts were guarded before the day
of Gutenberg Mono but himself
had access TO them, and when they
were shown it was in his room, with
all precautions taken against injury
or loss
One day, however, the artist hap
pened to hear that the wife of one
of his friends, an invalid of many
years, whom he had never seen, had
expressed an interest in the sketches.
Possibly 1t was in part the poetry OF
1t that attracted him-thc piteous
desire of Il sensitive soul. bound to
its couch, for that freedom of eye
and thought which should carry it
across continents and seas to the lit
tie island known only to the boldcst
traveller. BE that as it may, he took
up his wonderful portfolio and put
it into the hands of his friend to
carry homo and keep so long rs it
should please his wife. There was
not n word of caution, there was not
Il moment OF hesitation. 1t was the
prinCCly surrender of treasure the
worth of which only an artist, and
only such an artist, could fully know.
His friend, who is my friend also,
and from whom l heard the story,
Is IL poor man. | know his plain
rooms, and | can imagine that upper
bedroom flooded suddenly with trop-
ical cOlors and light | can imagine
the eyes of his wife resting on the
luNuriant beauty of cocoanut palms
leaning to u SEA of unutterable blue,
on 1.-the and joyous forms full of the
vigor of life, on the dusky glow of
primeval forests, on all that was
mostrcmotc and foreign to her clois-
tered days, and il seems to me that
the word generous most perfectly
fits the act of the painter. -Contrib-