The Washington times., 1903-08-22
BY the Rev. JOHN n. LYLE.
DAVID AND JONATHAN Sam. xx:12-2s.
Mobility of Friendship.


It. is time that we should have a re-
vival of the idea OF the nobility and
value of friendship. In a period when
the Importance of the individual has
been minimized by the development of
mechanical appliances and the combina-
tion of men and capital upon a COM
mercial basis devoted friendship has
almost become lost art, or rather it's
beauty, worth, and necessity are not in
sisted on by the teachers of the day as
they should be.
"In that old world, in which the rela-
tions between the sexes had not received
the haIlowing and refinement of Chris
tian times, much of what is now chiefly
found in them was manifested In friend
ship. such as we are now studying" 1t
is for this reason that in pagan writer's
friendship takes a much larger place
than 1t now receives. The subject buIks
largely IN the works of Plato, Aristotle.
Epictetus, Cicero. To the Stole 1t was a
blessed occasion for the display of no
bility and the native virtues of the hu-
man mind. To the Epicurean 1t rwas the
most refined of the pleasures which made
life worth living. Aristotle called friend
ship the flower of ethics and the root
OF politics"
THE annals of doubtful history hand
down the names and stories of several
remarkable pairs of friends. Among
these are the Syracusans. Damon and
Pythias. One was condemned to death,
but the other voluntarily remained as
hostage while the condemned man made
farewell visit to his friends. The time
expired, and the hostage was going
forth with great joy to meet death,
when his friend returned, equally joy
Gus that he had arrived IN time TO suf-
fer death instead of his friend Moved ty
their great devotion, Dionysius set both
free Achilles, the hero of the Iliad,
had friend, Patroclus, who put on he
hero's armor and was slain by Hector;
the exploits OF Achilles in avenging his
slain friend fill large section of the
great poem. Epaminondas and Pelopidas.
celebrated in Grecian history, locked
shields and fought together, together
conquered and no rivalry or jealousy
ever separated them. Orestes and Pyla-
des were sworn Scythian friends, whose
rivalry for the honor of suffering death
TO gain the others freedom finally won
freedom for both. But above them all
stand Jonathan and David, exhibiting
the most disinterested, self-forgetfuI
and enduring friendship, which ennobled
each, and was begun on earth only TO be
consummated in heaven In our day It
has come about that we think and say
less about friendship, more about love.
This is q result. we like to think. of a
purer notion of what love is. that "a,
coming 10 our minds and thoughts. In
the earlier times love was commonly
associated with self-interest. One loved
another for what that other could be
or do for him. Friendship was the name
given for disinterested love"
.'Our English word friend in its
Anglo Saxon form IS freond-'one who
loves Etymologically the words friend
and lover are synonymous, as are the
words love and friendship In Ian
guages older than our own the distinc-
tion between the love that Graves and
the love that goes out uncravingly is
indicated in equivalents of love and
friendship. Friendship is love for
another because OF what that other is