New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-09
DAMON AND PYTNihS.

Never was civil action such an encyclopedia
of morali'ies! Every morning tho report
gives lis food for reflection, matter OF eau
ton. clearer perception of human weakness IN
all its melancholy miscellany and hints for
the wiser ordering of orr lives. Singalarly
enough, the informing idea of this moEstrous
melee Is that of friendships dead but not
buried. and anything but fragrant. All the
people now fallen out so fiercey were once
upon tho smoOthest terms. Together they
talked. dined read and walked; of each other
they borrowed to each other they protested
their affection smiles were upon their races
when they met, and sweetness was upon tneir
tongues Aud now We will sing, II you
please, 90, what is friendship bat name !"
When Damon thirsts for the blood OF Dis
Pythias; when DcciE.us Brutu5 lures Cesar
to his death; when Orcstes becomes plain
tiff and Pylades defendant, we feel that we
are already wandering upon the Piutonlan
shore, with none to speak to us save tho III
omcned birds of Chaos and the Night. Bacon,
in bis essay upon Friendship, beautifully says:
"NO receipt Openeth the heart but true
".fricnd to whom you may impart grlets, Joys
fears, hopes suspicious. consels, ana what-
"soeyer l,eth upon the heart to Cypress 1t, IN
"a kind of civil shrift or confession" Ana
lust in proportion to the richness OF our ar
cosy is the ruin of its wreck. Let us ne wise,
however, and come to no savage and brutal
conclusions. Friendship is possible simply be-
cause we do so hunger and thirst for 1t. III
the devil had made us, it would have been
different; but our Creator did not
fashion us so like each other with mock
ing intent that familiar faces should
be turned away from each other. And though
we may survive all the old companions, and hear
the gravel fail upon the coffin lids OF one and
another until none are left, yet this but intI-
mates to IL, that the business OF our LIE Is
well nigh over, since these sweet and profit
able cOpartneIships are TINS dissolved. Be-
Sides though quairels may come, aud es.range-
ments, and all may grow cold which was SO
warm. the great pain need not quite remove
the memory of days dedicated to social con-
verse, and of nights which were long con-
iidence until sunrise came. These are our pos
session forever. lie was not our friend, this
man who now grccts us so coldly with few
words or none. This is but his ghost Some
alien spirit has taken possession OF his form,
and is trying to trick us. lie il enchanted.
There are spells upon him. He would not
have been jealous, hard, suspicious; he would
not have thought us capable of ingratitude !;
he would not havo faDcied us to be mean and
base-not he! He would not so resolutely
have insisted upon weighing his love against
oura, ard thus found ours wanting. lie would
not have been irritable and peevish. lie would
have forgiven and forgotten. No; this is
somebody else lie will como back again,
may be he is not here now.
Some have an infrmity of friendship and
bestow their confidence too readily, while the
samo facility makes them, when break
comes, not wholly disconsolate, but quite ready
Tor fresh amic;,ble ventures. They have no
LOYALTY to be laccrated. 1t was Tom ycster-
day; it is Frank to-day; it will be Jack to-
morrow. They have great appetite for as
ISOLATION, and 10 cOmrade comes amiSs. There
are others who love readily and sincerely, but
VINO are too careless Of their hands and hearts,
as if these were not oar best property and so
entitled to vigilant keeping and fasIiiiOus
giving We are not nice enough in our dis
tinction between friendship and acquaintance
between a companiOnship for lie and one
for days journey. Unlucliily most OF it is
experiment, and we cannot select Our friends
for wear, as we do cloth for our coats. There
is no help for tive must try this man or
that, and be ready not to find him everything
which we thought him. Above all, we must
have something Of that moderation in our
friendship which is too wise to look for per-
lection where it cannot possibly exist; and
something also Of that self-reSpcct which will
render us superior to needless suspicion,
childish jealousy, and misery desire for
compound interest upon an investment; be-
cause true friendship keeps no profit and loss
account, posts no ledsers, strikes no daily
| balances, but takes gratitude for granted and
| regards affection rs always solvent. It has no
| clearinghouse, gives no notes OF hand, car
ries on no brokerage Of attachment, makes
no bargains in this commerce Of the affections.
With it "Yours Truly" goes great way,
and certainly, worn thrcad6are as they arc by
incessant use, no words have stouler body
of significance left in them
When we say that true friendship is among
the rarest things in this world, we by no means
intend to ignore that friendly intercourse
which is unsustaned by deep affection, and
vet tends to make life tolcrablc and pleasant
Between most men this is all which can be
ANTICIPATED. The sentiment, strong as 1t may
seem, gradually grows weaker, and finally
dies out altogether. The friendships of chill
dren are pretty, like the morning Slorics, and
wther as soon. Tho friendships of school
boys and school girls are intense while they
last and are killed by their own intensity.
The friendships of men have time, space
family ties, diverse interests, changing charac-
ter, for their enemies. The friendships OF
women are often born of whim, and perish in
| tho us;no Ga that we are almost obliged 10