The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-07-28
Se2rrf Sfprp.
ONLY ONE FAULT:
Or. The DrItnI<aI.G-S wffr

IoH may see i in Kensal Green Gem
etery. \ splendid tombstone. wi-h (:
wOmau's name upon ii. Not RHii
Hoily-fhough that is the name uud-r
which you shall know her-but -
prouder name, and one you may hav
heard. Flowers grow about her toni.
and the turf lies softly over it. Yoa
would scarcely guess her life and i'S
sad end as you stand there. Rather
would you fancy that love and tender
ness surrounded one over whom such
a costly pile OF senlptuTed marble rears
itself, from her birth to her death.
1t is a story such as seldom write
this life of hers-oDe that cannot be-
ended by happy reunions and the sweet
sounds of marriage bells; but there
are too many such stories in the world
20 be quietly passed over, If haply
there be any warning in I'm IN. Th..
lives of Others are, if we read them
rightly, the best sermons ever preach
ed; and this one of Ruth Holiy's is one
only too true. Yet it began very sweet
ly, like some old pastoral poem.
She loved, and was beloved again,
and the man she loved had only one
fault. He was young, he was brave,
he was witty, he was handsome, he was
generous; his love was devotion, his
friendship no lukewarin thing of words; /;
he had great talent and great power.
His eloquence has thrilled many an
audience worth the thrilling. What
he wrote touched the soul to the very
quick He was an amateur painter
and musician, and everywhere was
loved and honored, and admired. He
had only one fault in the world-he
drank too much wine at times. When
he did so he turned, so said convivial
friends, into a very demigod. It was
wrong; but not so bad as might have
been, and he would SOW his wild oats
some day, they said, loving him as his
friends all loved him; and so Ruth
thought. Sweet, loving, beautiful
Ruth, to whom lie had plighted his
troth, and wOoed in verse and song,
and with his most eloquent eyes, long
before he put his passion into words;
but so did not think Ruth Mart6iu's
father. This one fault of Edward
Holly's oyershadowed his virtues in his
eyes; and he refused him his daughters
hand, giving him the reason why,
plainly and not kindly.
you'll be drunkard yet, Ned HoI-
ly," said the old man, shaking his lead
sternly. GIVE seen men of genius go
the same road before. I've often said
I'd rather have no talent in my family,
since it seems to lead so surely to dissi-
patton. My sons are not too brilliant
to be sober men, thank heaven; and
as for my daughter, only a sober gentle
man shall have her for wife. You'd
break her heart, Ned Holly"
So the dasling iaan OF letters felt
himself insulted, and retorted hotIy,
and the two We're enemies.
Ruth suffered bitterly; she loved her
father and she loved Edward; to dis
obey her parent or to break her lovers
heart seemed the only chance offered
her. She had other levers, she had
seen much society, and had been intro
Guced to the highest circles in France
as well as in England; but among all
the men she had known none pleased
ber as Edward Holly did. Not what
one styles ;in intellectual womau her
self, she reverenced intellect, and her
affections were intense. The struggle
in her heart was terrible.
She met her lover By stealth, and
against her fathers will; but for a long
while she resisted his entreaties to mar
ry him in defiance OF the Old mans re-
fusal. At last, angered by her persist
ence in obedience, Edward accused her
of fearing to share the fortunes of one
comparatively poor-one who must
carve his own way up life's steep hill
without assistance. The unmerited re-
proach sank deeply into her warm
heart, and in a sudden impulse of ten
derEess and sympathy she gave him
the promise which he had so long
sought in vain. They were married
accordingly, and on their way TO Lon
don, where Edward, sanguiue and con
scious of power, believed that he should
make for himself u name aud position
of which any woman might be proud.
To her father Ruth wrote long and
loving letter, imploring lis forgiveness,
but the answer crushed all hope within
her bosom.
cas- you SOW, so must you reap"
were the words the old man wrote. q
have no longer a daughter" and Ruth
knew that henceforth (for she had been
motherless for years., she had in all the
world only the husband for whom she
had sacrificed fortune, and, what is far
more, the tender protection Of a father.
In those early days Edward did his
best to make amends for all, and she
was SO proud of him, and SO fond of
him, that she soon forgot to grieve.
She heard his name uttered in praise
by all. She knew that he had but to
keep steadily on TO mount to the proud
est seat in flames high temple; and for
a year she had no fear of his faltering
Now and then n feverish something in
his voice and manner, strange light
in his eye, q greater flow of eloquence
in his talk, a more passionate demon
stration of love for her than usual,
told that he was under the influence Of
wine; but the fact only seemed to en-
hfnce his power of fascination; never
was he so brilliant, never so handsome.
Almost could Ruth have laughed at the
sermons preached by temperance folks,
of the harm sure TO follow wine drink
ing.
IL the story could end here, the true
story of Ruth Holly's life, it would ve
almost a happy one; but. alas, the
sunny slope down which it seemed so
easy to glide gaily grew darker as tie
years flew on. How they began 10 tell
her the fate before her, Ruth hardly