The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-03-18


dorf Asior member of the house OF
lords for a brlbe Of SlOOO.OOO. The
second class at Albany were the
doubtful legislators" They might be
bribed If the money offered was big
enough and they thought they would
not be found out The third class were
the men who were there TO sell their
votes TO the highest bidders. no matter
| who those bribers might Doe or how
much the iniQuitous railroad corpora.
ton might desire TO dcfraud the COM
mon people whose interests those leg
islators had taken a solemn oath TO
| protect. Likewise in everyday life
each man comes in contact with three
distinct classes Of associates. First.
there are those men and women who.
| like Caesars wife. are above suspicion.
They are true men; true 10 themselves
and true to their God You would no
more dare tell a vile story before Them
than you would dare tell such O filthy
story TO your Christian mother. Next
there are the doubtful friends" They
might or might not be- open 20 n wrong
proposition. Then there is the third
class Of men-those whom You know TO
be what they ought not to Doe and who
make boast of their SINS
Practical advice for this classified
tion. From the bad men turn away
your face with firm resolve. Nou can
not associate with scoundrcls without
you yourself becoming a party TO their
infamies. With the doubtful class OF
associates be very chary of your friend
ship. Never allow any one 10 enter the
inner chambers Of your heart until he
has proved his virtue and nobility be-
yond all doubt
The man who halls sou Tom or Jack
And proves by thumps upon your back
His sense OF your great mort
That man must Doe a friend indeed.
A treasured friend you must believe.
To pardon or 10 bear it
The third class Of your acquaintance
represents Gods noblemen. These can
be numbered among the blessed few
who are spiritually trying 10 make the
most out Of their lives. These seek.
these trust these bind TO you hy the
unbreakable ties Of affection. These
cherish all through life, mp 10 the brink
Of the grave. These are the kind of
Biblical friends to whom the apostle
John sent his gospel salutation. The
true friend corrects his brothers faults
as well as commends his virtues. lie
warns him Of a moral danger, as he
would warn his friend of q physical
danger If on a winters day he saw him
skating too near an airh0le in the ice
or If while boating upon the river he
saw him rowing too near the danger
ous dam or If he saw him bathing TOO
near the "sea puss" toward which the
treacherous undertOw was trying TO
drag him. The Ten Commandments Of
Mount Sinai which God, with his fin
ger for a pen. wrote upon leaves Of
stone are filled with chou shalt
nots." Therefore one Of the great mis-
sions of true friendship is. as Paul de-
scribed It, to "reprove, rebuke." as well
as to "exhort with all long suffering
and doctrine"
"No, no." says some one; Il do not
agree with you at all believe It is an
enemy whose mission is TO point out
faults. The true mission Of a friend is
to encourage and commend virtues.
Alas, by bitter experience l have found
out the truth Of this statement. Some
years ago three Of my friends and
entered into an agreement. They were
at that time my dearest friends. We
decided that we would meet at least
once q week, and for mutual benefit We
would tell each other an the criticisable
things we had seen or heard about each
other. We entered into this agreement
purely for the purpose Of correcting
each others faults We had just two
such proposed meetings and then broke
up In a big row. We have never been
the same TO each other since. No talk
ing TO me about a friends faults. If
my friends have faults they must be
told about them by some one else o.
my brother, you are wrong; you are en-
tirely wrong. A friend. a true friend,
should be able TO come 10 a brother as
loving mother could TO her wayward
child and tell him Of the moral mis-
takes he is making This does not
mean. as some people suppose that the
true mission Of friendship is TO gather
up all the mean and contemplate say
ings which have been spoken about one
and then retell them to his brother. No
bouquet Of fragrant beauties can be
collected from among the singing net
ties and the poisonous ivies growing
knee deep in the stenchful swamps
But though the mission Of true
friendship consists not In peddling evil
reports # does have a mission In low
ingly and tenderly correcting the
wrongdoings Of our dear ones. Johann
Goethe the most famous poet and dram.
atist Of German literature once ex-
pressed this beautiful thought: when
we are young we think we shall build
palaces for the gods. but at last we are
glad If we have dug away some Of the
rubbish at our feet" All, that state
ment is true. When we are young we
have m ambition to reform the whole
universe. but when we grow older we
have narrowed down the hope OF our
life 10 this simple desire: We hope that
we may live right ourselves. We hope
that we may be able TO remove from
our friends paths some Of the impedi- /
ments over which we ourselves have /
stumbled.
The true friend is one who rejoices /
with us in our successes as well as 1
sympathizes with us I'm our failures. |
"Oh." you say, that is a universal, |
self evident desire. There is no danger |
Of any friend not rejoicing with US /
when we succeed In life The only dan
ger is that these friends Will turn their /
backs upon us when we are defeated" /
Steady, brother, steady. l am surpris- /
ed at your answer. l am amazed, FIRST, /
that you are such a poor anayzer Of /
human character and, secondly, that /
49,, g,.~, ,.,t frrrrT oftf tho arror Of u