From Wealth to Poverty | Page 3

brought him up to his own
calling. The son, a young man of quick parts, took advantage of the
opportunities so generously offered to him and prosecuted his studies
with commendable success, and by the time he was a stripling of
sixteen was possessed of knowledge that few of his years could boast.
Richard was also an omniverous reader, and, as his father possessed a
good library, he, from a very early period had literally devoured the
contents of the books which lined its shelves, and thus became well
versed in history, both ancient and modern, in the biographies of most
of the celebrated men of all ages, and was also well acquainted with the
most eminent poets, from Chaucer to Tennyson, ever having an apt
quotation at his command to fasten home a maxim or make more
pungent a witticism. In fact he had further developed a mind naturally
broad by making his own the best thoughts of the ages, and his
sensitive nature could not, knowingly, have given pain to a worm--no
one that was worthy appealed in vain to his generosity, and it seemed to
be the endeavor of his life to gain happiness by making those with
whom he associated happy. With his genial disposition, sparkling wit,
skill at repartee, and brilliant conversational powers, it was not at all
surprising, with such a nature and such accomplishments, joined to an
exceedingly handsome person he should have been voted a good fellow
by the men and a "catch" by the young ladies who had entered that
interesting period when they are considered eligible candidates for
matrimony. And as he had, over and above his accomplishments, good
prospects for the future, the mammas of the aforementioned young
ladies should not receive severe censure if they did each exercise the
utmost skill to secure for a son-in-law the coveted prize. But these
delicate manifestations were not productive of the results which, it was
whispered by the Mrs. Grundies of the neighborhood, would have been
most agreeable to the parties interested, for his heart had long been

given to one who was in all respects worthy of its best affections. It
afforded him, however, no little amusement to find himself the object
of so much attention, and he quietly enjoyed the situation, while the
parties in question endeavored to out-manoeuvre each other, as they
strove, as they supposed without appearing to strive, to capture the
object of their ambition. There was such subtle tact exhibited and such
powers of delicate blandishment displayed that he was convinced
women were born diplomatists, and he now had some conception of
how it was that in a broader field some of the sex had wielded such an
influence over kings and statesmen as to be the powers behind the
throne which ruled empires and kingdoms for their benison or their
bane. He certainly would have possessed extraordinary attributes if his
vanity had not been flattered, by being conscious he was thought
worthy of such flattering attention; though his thoughts were tinged
with cynicism when exhibitions of selfishness were not wanting in his
fair friends, and as, sometimes, delicate hints were faintly outlined
which darkened character, and inuendoes were whispered to the
detriment of rivals, by lips that seemed moulded only to breathe
blessings or whisper love.
As we have previously stated, Richard Ashton had met his fate years
before, when, as a young man of eighteen, he attended a social party
given by a Mrs. Edmunds, whose husband was a great friend of his
father's, and a member of the same guild. He was there introduced to a
modest, unpretentious, but yet cultivated and refined country maiden,
Ruth Hamilton by name, who was a niece of his host. We will not say it
was a case of love at first sight, though they certainly were, from the
first, mutually attracted each to the other, for, when he entered into
conversation, he found her so modest and unaffected, yet with a mind
so well furnished--seeming to have an intelligent conception of every
topic upon which they touched, as they ranged at will in their
conversation, evincing such acumen of intellect and such practical
comprehension of subjects of which many of her sex, who made much
greater pretentious, were entirely ignorant, that Ashton, concluded she
was a treasure, indeed, which he would make his own, if possible.
She might not by some be called a beauty, for she could not boast of

classic regularity of feature; but no one could be long in her presence
without yielding the, tribute which, at first sight, he was chary of giving.
She was fair of complexion--not of a pallid hue, but tenderly tinted, like
a peach blossom, and so transparent that the blue veins could be plainly
discerned as they made