The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-11-25
Making Acquaintance.

Nothing has {. greater influence upon
the life and character of men and wo-
men than the acquaintance they make,
and yet they are generally made in the
most hap-hazard manner. Choice of
acquaintance is a common term, (which,
though frequently used, is seldom Justly
so, for it implies deliberation which is
very rarely exercised nowadays. With
the busy activity ofsmodem life and its
rapid and endless. combinations, we all
get shufiled together ike a pack of
cards, anu it is q mere chance how
people are sorted in companionship.
The good will turn up with the bad, and
the highest with the lowest, and as luck
is the only guide, one is as likely to have
in hand knaves as kings. "a a 20 "A \
Acquaintancesa are not ( necessarily
friends, and it may be said that while
the influence of the latter may be great,
that of the. former is comparatively
small. The same distinction, however,
which existed in the olden time between
the two is hardly apparent now. The
friendship of Damon and Pythias is a
forgotten romance, and we exclaim,
with AIentaigne, or Aristotle, whom he
processes to quote, "Oh, my friends!
there is no friend" There is very little
of that old intimacy of relation which
our forefathers knew rs friendship, that
receipt, as lord Bacon terms it,which
openeth the heart, and to which are i'm
parted sriefs, Joys, fears, hopes, suspi-
cions, counsels and whatsoever lieth
upon the heart to Cypress it. y We are
all too self-reliant and busy to care or
have the time to cultivate any such SYM
pathetic and elaborate relationship.
Friends are accordingly rare, but ac-
quaintances' are many, since these are
gathered, like the dust on the highway,
the more and swifter we travel.
As mere mountaineering has to n
great extent taken the place of friend
ship, so to some degree it has usurped
its dominion, and the chance. compan-
ion often assumes in a moment the al-
thority of bosom-friend. Much of
what is called public opinion is nothing
more than the common sentiment en-
gendered during the superficial inter-
course of the hasty life of modern
times, and tits surprising how greatly
people allow their conduct to be gov
erned by an influence of such frivolous
origin. The ordinary citizen is apt to
pick up the opinions that are let drop
by this or that railroad, street, shop, or
boarding house acquaintance, who, in
his turn, has gathered them from no
more authoritative source Votes are
given, fortunes risked and character
blasted upon no lsounder information
than what was learned from the talk
in the cars or at the corner of the street.
So completely has mere aequsintance
excluded friendship THAT II Is no uncom-
mon thing for man in these days to
have a host of such intimates as they
may he Asliom he-meets daily, eats and
drinks with, counsels with, and takes
bis opinions from, not one of whom has
ever crossed the threshold of3his home
or is known TO 4 Single member of his
family. Some of the most extensively
acquainted of our citizens, whose, faces
are Familiarity recognized and hands
warmly grasped- at every hour of the
day in the street. the exchange, the
shop, and bank parlor, are perfect soli-
taries within their own homes, with
never afriehd to tighten with the aid of
his genial sympathy its somber exclu-
siveness. The daysof friendship, like
those Of cliralry seem to have passed
away forever, and we know no more of
the one or of the, other than what, we
read OF in books. { We look in vain for
that alter ego, that double of ourselves,
who, as Cicero tells us, can increase the
happiness and lessen the misery of our
lives by doubling our joys and dividing
our griefs. We realize to the full the
truth of the adage quoted by Lord
Bacon, II Magma. ciUitasr magma sofs-
tudo," and find this world of modern
civilization. with all its quick welcomes
and ready greetings, but a wilderness,
for its abonnding aequaintanceship gives
US no true friends. -- 2
So little discrimination is used in re-.
gard 70 forming acquaintances that
many delegate 70 that Indefinite and ir-
responsible body termed society the
making Of them for them. Many wo-
man has no closer associates than those
whosek names are set down upon the
visiting list prescribed by fashion, the