The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-10-02
Friend With a Single FauIt.


/ Afriend with single fault! Hav,
you never formed one of little com
paDy all engaged in talking about jus
thst one little fault of a friend? II
! the rest of us it is so apparent. If i
Were not for the solitary flaw we say
the dear boy, the dear girl, would b
perfect Sometimes it is fretfulness
sometimes conceit; sometimes NOR
bid self-abasement; sometimes touch
of seifishness; a disposition to dwell
upon the failings Of others; q faculty
for Interference; lick of attention tC
personal appearance; procrastinatioI
t-or dear knows what. Now is it moi
i very much like nightmare-the way
we 1--we in the same house with these
people, year in and year out, and see
the petty fault growing bigger and
bigger, and can raise no voice against
it-ean do nothing but say "if, il, if'i
-"1las and alas ~
20 but We do speak ~
Yes, sometimes we do; and some
times the warning voice is enough.
But tile tragedy appears in those
cases where either tho warning can.
not be given, or where il is unheeded.
A family might be described as a sue
cession of conventicles, composed al
ways OF the same mem bers, save that
I ut each session a different member is
absent, and is by the Others appre-
heDded and discussed in a way in
which he can neither apprehend or
discuss himself.
lt has come to be considered point
OF humOr-tO be played upon as may
happen-that We can see other peO-
ple'5 faults so much better than our
own Now while this is very true, it
is also very true that We do generally
know our own faults, have had at
lesst side-glimpses of them, and that
they grow upon us because we dread
to apply the knife; because, to be
honest, we are every one of US shirks,
more or less.
In these slight etchiHgE Of eharae-
tel you know do not care to seize
upn these patent vices--or (let me
cal them fOllies-and virtues which
faint along the street, and with
which every one is familiar enough /;
butrather to look up from my desk at
the ordinary man or woman who goes
past the window or the lawn, or comes
in % dust the room, or spend an even
ing with me- with his or her ordi-
nary failings and attainments. In
other words, my gentle reader, moth
ing would please me more than to
give you the sensation of canning un-
expectedly upon mirror; I should
like you to be startled at seeing your
own face look up at you from the
page.
So my friend Phillip hardly an
sWers my purpose as an example-he
who began by being very fine in his
moral purposes, and very clean in his
person, who gradually neglected his
appearance till he became more than
untidy, and ended in complete person.
al Generalization and moral dirt. 1
saw how it all began; he shirked his
duty with regard to soap and water.
He knew he shirked his duty know
ing it he did not cease to do so,-and
ungodliness followed uneIeanIiness in
natural sequence.
One of the signs of advancing age is
our acceptance of certain foibles, Ot
which our friends have told Hs, and
which up to this year of grace we had
OCN1 IL bhO AAGsOAb vi lOOhALk 0pOl %
mere accidental and transient peeuli-
arities. 1t is a sad day for us when
we make that acceptance. There Is
some hope for us when the joke about
our prospect of being fifteen minutes
late at the door of Heaven has a GER
tain sharp freshness; but when we
settle down into the conviction that
we are likely to be lives behindhand
all Our-well, perhaps the first grey
hair has not been discovered, perhaps
the grasshopper is not yet a burden,
but we are "ageing."
The older and wiser grow the more
am / impressed with the idea of every
mans personal responsibility. Make
what allowance you will for taint in
the blood, sordid circumstance, and
all that, l believe more and more that
every soul has a chance. / doubt if
there is any well deep and dark and
smooth-walled enough to keep poor
devil down If he is determined to get
to the top of it. He will win out if he
wants to hard enough. 1t is wonder
rul how gOod-luck follows the hospit.
able mind and honest endeavor.
L wish my friend the parson would
hurry up that essay OF his on "HOw
not to go Mad !"-"The Old Cabinet, -
ScTiGner'S for October.