The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-12
THE ART OF FRIENDSHIP.
GOOD FRIENDS A MATTER OF IN
TELLIGENT SELECTION.


Friends-"A Man That Hath
Friends Must show Himself
rriendIv,,-Hcart Must BE Right
with God and Man Before One Is
CapnbIe of Being FriendIy-sOme
People Have Smiles of FaIsehoods.
Friendship Requires a Spirit oil
Sacrifice.
WASHINGTON Sept. 1.-THE obtaining Of
good friends which most look upon as a
matter OF happy accident, Dr. Taimage in
this sermon shows TO be a matter of in
teIigent selection. Text: Proverbs, 1924,
"a man that hath friends must show him
self friendly"
About the sacred and divine art Of max
ing and keeping friends I speak-a sub
ject on which I never heard of any one
preaching-and yet God thought il Of
enough importance to put it in the mid
die of the Bible, these writings of Solo
mon. bounded on one side by the popu-
lar Pslams of David and on the other
by the writings of Isaiah, the greatest of
the prophets. 1t seems all a matter Of
haphazard how many friends We have,
OF whether We have any friends at all,
but there is nothing accidental about il.
There is a law which governs the accre-
ton and dispersion of friendships They
did not just happen So any more than
the tides just happen to rise or fan, or
the sun just happens to rise or set. 1t is
a science. an art, a God-given regulation.
Tell me how friendly you are to others,
and / will tell you how friendly others
are to you. 1 do not say you will not
have enemies; indeed the best way to
get ardent friends is to have ardent enc
mics. if you get their enmity an doing the
right thing Good men and women Will
always have enemies, because their good
ness is a perpetual rebuke to evil; but
this antagonism of foes will make more
intense the love of your adherents. Your
friends viii gather closer around you be-
cause of the attacks of your assailants.
The more your enemies abuse you the
better your coadjutors will think Of you.
The best friends we have ever had APP
peared at some juncture when we were
especially bombarded. There have been
times in my life when unjust assault null
tipled my friends, as near as 1 could cal
culate, about fifty a minute. You are
pound TO some people DN many cOIhS
that neither time nor eternity can break,
and 1 will warrant that many of those
cords were twisted by hands maleYolent.
Human nature was shipwrecked about
fifty-nine centuries ago. the captain of
that craft, one Adam, and his first mate
running the famous cargo aground on
snag in the River Hiddekel; but there was
at least one good trait of human nature
that waded safely ashore from that ships
wreck, and that is the disposition to take
the part of those unfairly dealt with.
When it is thoroughly demonstrated that
some one is being prosecuted, although
at the start slanderous tongues were busy
enough, defenders finally gather around
as thick as honey bees on a trellis of
bruised honeysuckle.
If, when set upon by the furies, you
can have grace enough to keep your
mouth shut and preserve your equipoise,
and let others fight your battles you win
find yourself after awhile with whole
Gordon of allies. Had not the world given
10 Christ on his arrival at Palestine very
cold shoulder, there would not have been
one-half as many angels chanting glory
out of the hymn-books of the sky, bound
III black lids of midnight. Had it not
been for the heavy and jagged and tortu-
GUS cross, Christ would not have been
the admired and loved of more people
than any being who ever touched foot on
either the eastern or western hemisphere.
Instead therefore, of giving up in despair
because you have enemies, rejoice in the
fact that they rally for you the most help
full and enthusiastic admirers. In other
words, there is no virulence that can him
der my text from coming true: "A man
that hath friends must show himself
friendly
It is my ambition to project especially
upon the young a thought which may be-
nignly shape their destiny for the here
and the hereafter. Before you show your
self friendly you must be friendly. ! do
not recommend a dramatized geniaity.
There is such a thing as pretending to be
en- rapport with others, when we are their
dire destructants, and talk against them,
and wish them calamity. Judas covered
up his treachery by a resounding kiss,
and caresses may be demoniacal Better
the NEUROLOGICAL Cerberus, the three
headed dog of hell, barking at us, than
the wolf in sleeps clothing, it's brinded
p hide covered up by deceptive wool, and
its deathful howl cadenced into an limo
cent bleating. Disraeh writes of Lord
Manfred, who, after committing many
outrages upon the people, seemed sudden
" to become friendly, and invited them
20 a banquet. After most of the courses
of food had been served he blew horn
which was in those times a signal for the
servants to bring on the dessert. but in
this case IL was the signal for assassins to
enter and Stay the guests. His pretended
friendliness was a cruel fraud; and there
are now people whose smile is a false
hood
Before you begin to show yourself
friendly YOU must be friendly. Get your
heart right with God and man, and this
grace win become easy. You may by
your own resolution get your nature into
a sembence of this virtue, but the grace
of God can subimely lift you into it,.
Sailing on the river Thames two vessels
ran aground. The owners of one got one
hundred horses, and pulled on the ground
ed ship and pulled it TO pieces. The
owners of the other grounded vessel wait
ed till the tides came in, and easily foated
the ship out of all trouble. So we may
pun and haul at our grounded human ma
ture, and try to get il into better condi-
ton; but there is nothing like the oceanic
tides of Gods uplifting grace. IT, when
under the flash of the Holy Ghost, we
see our own folbles and defects and
depravites, we will be very lenient. aud