The Monitor-register., 1897-10-15

HAohh'P" hdu5 bloS, Aiu There Will
ba a touch Of beauty on the canvas, put
there by every good aud holy hand that
has ever been laid upon us, even iu mo-
mentary greeting or benedietio:.
1t Was a beautiful fancy of our gentle
poet thai the song he breathed Int the
air he found again, from beginning tc
end, long, long after ward, iu the heart Of
a friend. Friendship Is ever breathing
its sweet songs into the air; and go, too,
it shall fad them all again, from begin
ming to end. in the hearts into which
they fall. Nothing thai love does is
ever lost. The time We spend with
pure and good friends i'll sacred com
munlons, or in the cultivation and deep.
Jennings of noble friendships, is not lost
1t brings rs not only passing enjoy
ment, but permanent blessing.
There is special need of this lesson in
these times. The tendency of every.
thing is toward material results Time
which does not yield dollars and cents is
set down as lost. Men know no way Of
becoming rich but by accommodating golc
and silver. The basis of social life il
sadly mercepary. People even marry
for ~money,-.or at least demand the
money qualifications.
Men are too busy to have or to main.
tain friendships. Many are so absorbed
III bAsiness that they have not time, aver
for the cultivation and enjoyment oil
their home affections. Many meu see
their families only at an early and hur-
ried breakfast and a late dinner. They
spend no quiet hours with them in Quilt
waiting aud deepening the home aft @
tions. They never romp with the chill.
dren. They do not join in the home
cheer. Their voices are never heard in
the home songs. They do not share IL
the home coufidences. They may be
brilliant men in society; they may flash
and sparkle in a neighbours drawing
room; they may be all life and v~ivacity
in business circles, but at home they are
silent, unsocial, tired, and too often uu-
compaDionable and even ungentle.
No man has a right to be a boar any
where, least of all, at home. Home
should be a place If tender love, sacred
confidence, aud the interplay of holy
affection. A man should bring the best
Of everything there-his sweetest courte
sizes, his g~entlesJ kindpesses, his best
thoughts, his holiest confidence. There be
Should ever appear st his best. II he
must have dreary, sullen moods, let him
have them in his store or counting room,
where they will not cast deep shadows
sunshine. In the circle Of his own loved
ones a man should open only the Gate
Beautiful of his heart, not ouly that his
most sacred feelings and affections may
flow out, but that his dear ones may
enter into the hottest chambers of bis
soul.
Every wise man will seek TO have
frieLds. lie will take time to cultivate
friendships, aud to make them deep and
permanent. A selfish man, or a man Of
irritable temp tr, aid harsh, uDgoverned
speech, annot keep friends, for there are
no flowers 4 sensitive to frosts as human
affections are to selfisbness, bitterness
and anger. 1t costs much to have friends
and to cultivate aud maintain deep
friendships. Que must give in order to
receive, and give as much as one re-
ceives. Heart must go out to meet
heart. Life must clasp life. Soul must
be knit to soul.
But the blessings of friendship repay a
Thousand times their cost. They spring
up, perpetual fountains of comfort and
gladness in the heart. They make a
man rich when he has lost all else.
They build up a refuge for him when
the days of darkness and adversely come,
and in the feebleness and bel pIessu ess of
old age. They bold him up when Us is
in danger of falling. Tley keep him
always young in heart and in hope. They
beautity bis sonl. They begin heaven
here below for him.
How important, then, that We have
friends !! How important that We have
good and pure friends An impure
bald stains the soul on which it is laid.
Many a character carries a blot through
life which an hours companiouship left
on it. Many a life-web is marred and
spoiled by the threads which unworthy
and d'fliDg friendships weave into it
through the Years. But the friendship
Of the pure and Doble purifies, ennobles,
adorns, beautifies aud exalts.-J. r..
Miller, d D.