The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-07-05
Absence.

There are times in all our lives when personal
considerations lead US to speculate on the lntiu-
ences and effects Of absence calmly and phil0'
sophically if we note these effects upon ourselves,
less dispsssionately if we see them in others to-
wards ourselves. here is nothing that youth
full and ardent temper resents so much as the no.
ton that friendship depends on intercourse, and
must flag when that intercourse is from any cause
indefinitely suspended. There is confident, easy,
familiar sort of intimacy which, once established,
seems as il il must continue q necessity on both
sides. When college friends e. g., see one another
every day, discuss subjects together, draw each
other out, comprehend every turn Of thought or
humor or feeling in each other, swear by each
other, and view the outer world from the same
standpoint, it is a thing not to be be-
is indefinitely prolonged absence, should
knock all this on the head, and that,
when chance brings the two together again,
this absence should have made them all but un-
coDgenial. with nothing but commonplace to ex.
change from that time forth. Yet something OF
the sort is most mems experience. so much so that
friendship that stands absences is the exception.
For surely the absent must, in all reason, be
content with the second place. The mind must
be where the work lies. The truth is, we all for
get one another in absence for long spaces Of
time. To retain an image in the mind, to keep up
q presence there without aid from sense or habit,
in the thick OF claims ostling for the irstpace, is
very serious effort, and one which very moderate
amount of determination may convince any one
he ID rarely equal to. of course we all remember
our absent friends but should we like them to
know how we interpret this phase or would our
own self-love suffer no shock by an accurate ac-
count of the moments of the day or week that
our once familiar friend devotes TO u.s. We all
let one another go Ia surprising manner /; that
is the first realization of the fact is startling but
we learn to see that anything else is impossible.
Fidelity does not consist. with the majority Of
men, in keeping the mind occupied with an absent
out of-ihe-way receptacle of the memory, to be
ready wheh called for and in being able to sum
mon back the old feelings when anything hap
pens TO illuminate the obscurity. To take up a
friend in as good preservation as you laid him
dOwn-the colors as fresh, the outline as vivid
this is constancy and It'll all that can be expected
of the common run Of men immersed in varied oc.
cupstious, who are driven to be practical, and can
easier do friend service than bear him in mind
through the hours of busy day.
Friendships that fall great deal short Of per-
petuity, and that die out for want Of the inter-
course that started them, may have done both
sides infinite service while they last. And, this
admitted, we see the wisdom, which some are too
romantic or too indoent ever to ilearn, of Guilt
waiting new friends as long as we live-sn art
which, however superciliousy regarded by some
persons, is essential to q happy and honorable
old age.-ISaturday Review.