The age-herald., 1898-11-06

sanctorum or our social system. beyond the portals of which no worthy man would
 seek his way. nor would he dream of at l tempting to stray thither That man has lived to some purpose who has been hon ored with the sympathetic friendship Of one
 who wears the golden plume of vifehood, high-nodding over the proud crest of a stainless name, where burns the beautiful light that is not quenchable. It is very delightful to wander in the | gloaming with the only one of the many only ones you ever truly loved, and finger | at the gate after the shadows have fallen; | but it is more delightful to sit in slippered
 ease by your own ireside when the day IS done. That is what is imagined by the man
 welded to a briar-root pipe. and he Is as- sured that he is not in error. This is not meant to encourage matrimony. Nothing | ever yet written encouraged or discouraged that institution. They call 1t the holy | state" That Is nonsense. There is noth- 1 ing holy about 1t except when truth pre- vaiis, and at the altar truth is often stranger. In the house of God vows are ' too often made to be broken at the portal. Between the chancel and the world there sometimes rolls wide sea whose other shore Is perdition. But the truth will come | out one day. There is no use trying 10 I dodge. It Is Nemesis that pursues to the | bitter end and beats with rods of white l heated iron.
 l Friendship does not 'leave the wretch to | weep" as Goldsmith suggested. Every man, l you know. has fair-weather friends, but it
 is given to all deserving men to retain 1 friends, whatever betide. The other day | man of large wealth entertained strong l young business man privately at dinner. l The elder made the younger an enticing business proposition, and the latter was 0l lu sod t, 1 $1000 involved and it meant great things. {, Ahe young man dreamed reasonably Of vast wealth. Over the walnuts and the wine the two talked of various things, amongst the matters dwelt upon being the virtue and value of friendship. "I made out a list of one hundred friends" said the elder, whom thought I could call upon. After reading it over and thoughtfully consider ing It, l cut 1t down to twenty-five names. 1 More Sober reflection led me to reduce that number to four-four friends whom could call upon in any emergency. Ninety-six of my original hundred were put aside as be- Ing uncertain. The four were inherited from my father. They are the only true friends | have in the world. have been unable to | win any for myself"
 The young man listened to this extra ordinary confession of the elder with amazement. Here was a man rich in this worlds goods. honored everywhere, and yet he declared he had never formed a faithful friendship! The young man took his leave at the door, whither his host had conducted him, and in the act of saying goodbye he observed: T cannot accept your proposition"
 "Why?" asked the astonished man of wealth.
 Because of your confession that you won a friend"
 The inference is irresistible. There is something wrong about the man whose only friends a ra ha fph har fad father. The wonder is that he retains those and probable he never puts them to the test There are friendless persons in the world-millions of them, but they be- long to that vast army of unfortunates, the godchildren of that old hag we call mis- cry. Yet they not in fact friendess. for the state gives them bread and bed. The state is the benign mother of us all, and whilst she has her favored ones she tries to deal justly with rich and poor alike. The hand-clasp of friendship is blessed in every Christian land. Were you ever far away amongst strangers, an alien in a 4 l foreign land, and have one to come upon you whom you had known and loved at home? Such meeting arouses sensations that can spring from no other cause what ever. The two meet face to face, and their joy Is full. Space vanishes. the scene shifts. and you are once more at home.
 
 to say about local matters over sea. You
 revel in his companionship until the mo-
 ment of his departure comes, and then you grow infinitely homesick. however stout of heart you be. You watch his ship steam away watch until nothing is seen but lit- tie cloud of smoke upon the horizons far verge. It requires days for you to recover your wonted good spirits. Again, when you are away from home in a strange city and suddenly come face to face with some person from your own town whom you are in the habit of merely nodding to as you pass by How apt you are to rush up and claim him as long-lost friend
 
 I is a curious survival this custom of handshaking. It had its origin long ago, when 1t was presumed that the right hand of every man carried dagger for every other man. Whenever two men met who wished to show that they had fully de-
 termined to murder each other they shook hands. Nowadays many man shakes hands with many another man whom he would wish to murder, but that not being convenient, he smiles and makes himself | agreeable
 But there is the glad clasp of real friend
 ship which it is not possible to mistake. and which thrills one through and through and robes the world in glory. It cures many pain, throws sunshine upon many a sorrow; 1t Eliminates all the horizon of our view and floods the zenith with the tender radiance of the morning. It chases dull care from the weary brain. and brings the messengers of joy trooping in; it brightens all the dark places in our | thought--world. and leads us from our selves into the beautiful radiant garden of | the higher humanities!
 THE MURMURER TREAT TO THE vAssAR GIRLS hn Sun