The Washington herald., 1907-07-31
THE OPTIMIST.

Is there anything on earth so powerful
for good as friendship? / think not. The
very well-spring OF optimism lies In ones
friends No man is so rich but that
friends are useful, for what is the use OF
riches II one has not friends upon whom
to confer benefits. And in poverty what
refuge is there ike the bosom Of our
frie9ds2 "A friend may well be reek-
oned the masterpiece Of nature says
Emerson l like Margaret Fuller dictum:
Our friends should be our incentives TO right bat
MOI only cur guiding, but our prophetic stars. To
love by right is much 10 love By faith Is more
both the entire love. without which heart mind
and soul cannot be alike satisfied. We love and
ought 10 love one another. not merely for the alb
soiute worth q each. but account Of a mutual
fitness.
The man without friends is poor In
/ deed. 1t is only In the mirror OF a true
friends soul that we may see ourselves
for what We are. Friends are not to fiat
ter US, but 10 represent to us the truth
which we ourselves may so seldom see.
One does not need a lot of friends, in
deed, who can truly count q dozen such?
True happiness
Consists not in the multitude Of friends
But in the worth and choice
says Ben Jonson. One might almost
say that a multitude Of friends Is i'm
possible. for friendship. II it gives freely.
demands much. and
The deepest hunger Of faithful heart
Is faithfulness
And one can hardly be faithful, in the
true meaning. to a dozen friends
Few of the poets speak Of friends They
mostly use the singular term, as II
friendship were between two alone. not
many. Thus Quarles;
Deliberate long before thou chOosest friend. and
when thy impartial justice concludes him worthy #
thy bosom, receive him ~yfuily and entertain him
wisely; hupart thy secrets boldly and mingle thy
thoughts Nth his: he IS tbs very self; and use
him 50; q thou firmly think him faithful. use him
So
One cannot imagine a man having one
true friend being pessimistlc in his out
look on life. The pessimist is shut in;
shuts himself in with his own vain mag
inings and dependencies, and does not.
cannot, see that all the Ills would fly
and all the world seem fair again II he
could only share his doubts and dlstrusts
with some honest friend. There can be
no real trouble when
Hand
Grasps hand. eye lights eye IN good friendship.
And great hearts expand
And grow one in the sense Of this worlds life.
Life is too short 10 exhaust the posi-
bilities Of the ideal friend. The poets
fain would have US believe that friend
ship lasts through all eternity, and this.
indeed. is a pleasurable hope for the
hopeful man.
Friendship, then, may be taken as IN
some sort a religion. The mind has 10
be prepared for it: the heart has TO be
clean and fair to receive it. But II the
glorious gift OF true friendship comes 10
man or woman. then life takes on an
aspect that is as near the ideal Of
heaven as mere mortal may ever hope TO
reach. The man who has a friend 10
walk beside him up the hills and down
the dales Of life viii find the way less
toiisome and rough, ne VIII note the
flowers that bloom by the side OF the
road, his ears viii be attuned 10 the
songs Of the birds. The skies may be
overcast yet never shall the day seem
dTeary or the nights sad With a faith
ful friend one is armed against the fates
and misfortune or 81 will only serve to
bind the holy bond more close and firm.
Thy way is short. o friend.
That reaches out before us.
Gods tender heavens abONe US bend,
His love Is smiling DER US;
a little while Is ours
For sorrow CT for laughter:
III La the hand you love in yours
On the shore q the Hereafter