GENUIEN PHILANTHROPY.

Evening Star, Issue 4204, 17 August 1876, Page 4

GENUIEN PHILANTHROPY.

As a gentleman was passing along 4ihe Strand the other day, he was •startled by, a trernendoJUs -crash,, and on turning round he found that .a van laden with lamp-glasses had come into collision with another vehicle, and a number of. the glasses were smashed'. Lamp glasses, though expensive to buy, •re very cheaply manufactured; but, owing . to the prevailing ignorance ■of the secrets of the glass trade,; the bystanders on the pre-ent oc•oasion aeenaed cp|ite awe-struck by the damage done, and considerable; sympathy was felt with the diiver, who looked ruefully at the shuttered fragments which strewed the ground. An elderly gentleman of benevolent aspect eyed the chap-fallen van-driver for a, ptinnent compassionately, and then said, ei My poor man, I suppose you will have to make good the loss out of your

sir,” returned the van-driver, with melancholy emphasis. “ Well,” said the generous philanthropist, “ hold out your hat—here’s a shilling for you ; and I dare say some of these gentlemen will give you a helping hand too.” The van-driver held out his hat, several gentlemen dropped shillings into it, and humbler persons coppers, as tokens of sympathy. At last, when the contributions had ceased, the man emptied the contents of his hat into his pocket, and, with a knowing wink to a friend among the bystanders, pointed out the reti’eating figure of the disinterested philanthropist who had started the subscription, and said, slowly, “ Ain’t he a leary ’un 1 That’s our governor !”