The Democratic advocate., 1878-03-16
Thoughts for Digestion.

There mayst thou see to what God-like height
Energy and self reliance Lift up mortal man"
When one remembers that Montaigne
had his pet cat; that distinguished state
prisoner of the fourteenth century courted
familiarity with mouse to beguile the
weary days of his long confinement; when
we know that Kirk White wrote of his
dog as a dear friend; when we read By
rons inscription on the death of Boatswain;
when we know that Downward made friends
of chains and rings, and that Scott wrote
one Of his sweetest couplets to commemo-
rate the death of "Maida," favorite dog,
We are drawn into the belief that man may
find society, solace and friendship in other
society than that of his fellow-man. With
out affecting to be a cynic, or without in
tending to incur the charge of being a
misanthrope, it can be substantiated be-
yond refutation, l believe, that man often
finds in the lower order of animals, attach
ments which nothing but the genial warmth
Of a prosperous life can ever awaken in
the hearts Of his fellow creatures. re-
coamend to all the practice of those little
courtesies and amenities of life which win
for us all what is commonly called friend
ship-but what is known by this mis-
nomer, is nothing more nor less than the
permission of the world to go on in our
own way, it is but the purchase of mega
tive disregard and this availeth us not a
whit in the trying hour of need, andwhen
our calamities mock u.s. Fortune hunters,
may, by a sudden turn of the wheel, prove
fortunate; legacy-hunters, may, by cajol-
ling pur-blind aunt, or by heavily feeling
a lawyer, come in for the lions share of
an estate; popularity hunters may, by the
practice of all the arts known to petty
diplomatists, succeed in floating on the
stream of popular favor, but my word for
it, the friend-hunter who expects to make
his friends available in the day of need,
will certainly be sadly disappointed Of
all the notifications and vexations to
which man voluntarily lays himself liable,
there are none which exceed in intensity
those attendant upon nfriend-making. Court
a mans society and he forthwith treats
you with contempt and eontumely; humor
his passions, and you are despised as
sycophant; pay Difference to his opinions,
and he laughs at your folly, and in all he
looks upon you as the creature of his will,
the slave of his caprice. If man volun-
tarily hold out his hand to thee, suspect
that he has an axe to grind, and grasp his
hand with caution; yet, if you find
him honest take his proffered aid, and
when occasion shall offer yield to him your
own and if you find him really honest, Crap
pie him with hooks of Steel" but solicit
not his friendship, for then you immedi-
ately become an object of suspicion to him,
and you fail in your solicitation. A true
friend is indeed rarity, kind of social
black swarm, oftener read Of than seen.
Then ever be prepared to maintain de-
gree of independence that would have
shamed Hercules, when as an infant he
strangled the two serpents sent by Juno
for his own destruction. Practice that
independence which induced Robert Burns
to write :-"I am bred to the plow, and
am independent" t" Man is by his very
nature an exceedingly selfish creature, and
not even by the aid of the most exalted
philosophy can he so far overcome his na-
tural instincts as to be capable of 4 thor
oughly disinterested friendship. The sell
fishness may not be altogether of a mer-
cenary kind, but self is the great matter at
heart; private whim is to be gratified; per-
sonal pride is to be satisfied; wrongs are
to be avenged, or it may be pleasure is
to be conferred, yet the primeval motive
of the doer, Gin nine cases out of every ten
that occur) is to confer pleasure on him
self, and he but uses the person whom he
pleases as an instrument to please himself
Put not your trust in friends, for they will
deceive you. Learn to rely chiefly upon
yourself. Elbow your way through this
crowded vale, owing nothing to mans
friendship for your success, and if you
fail, 90 down with head erect, without
asking the hypocritical cry Of any mans
coincidence. Whatever observations, ex-
perience and philosophy may teach in re-
gard to the world, let it be the care of each
of us to assiduously keep alive the better
impulses of our own hearts, for it is better
even amid the busy cares of life to give
rise to our affections in loving dog or
cat, than to love no one. "Give ever man
thine ear, few thy voice." be ever wary,
but not over suspicious, and then you may
never have occasion to test the accuracy
of an experience given by Isocrates -
"The over-watchful ever hits where he
never intended" Let not thy genius
sleep; ever look upward and onward, and
let thy watch ward be utility, and if for
tune irowns upon thy view, despond never
and if misfortunes crowd around you, re-
member that life is not all clouds; its
gloomiest paths have some springing flow
ers and singing birds. So
let us be up and doing
With n heart for any fate
Still achieving. still pursuing
Learn to labor and to wait"