The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-11-03
By Ebert Hubbard.

81
The desire for friendship isi stro ng In
panionship of those who can understand.
The nostalgia of life presses, we sigh for
''home," and long for the presence OF one
who sympathizes with our aspirations,
comprehends our hopes and Is abf6 to par
take of our joys. A thought ,is not our own
until we impart 1t to another, and the COM
fessional seems q crying need of.evefy
human soul.
One can bear grief, but it takes two to
be glad. q feii.
and By dividing g.our Joy with this one We
double it, and come In touch with the
Universal: The sky is never 30 blue, the
birds never sing 80 blithly, our acquin-
lance are never so gracious as when wei
are filled with love for some one else,
Being In harmony with one we are. In
harmony with all. The lover idealizes and
clothes the beloved with virtues that exist
only in his imagination. The beloved is
consciously or unconscio iously aware OF this
and endeavors to fulfil the high ideal; and
In the contemplation Of the transcendent
qualities that bis mind has created the low
er is raised to heights otherwise impossible
Should the beloved pass from this earth
while such condition Of exaltation exists.
the conceptonis Is indelibly Impressed upon
the soul, just as the last earthly view is
said to be photographed upon the retina OF
the dead, The highest earthly relationship
is In its very essence heeting, for men are
fallible; and living In a world where the
material wants jOstle, and time and change
play their ceaseless part gradual oblitera-
tion comes and disillusion enters. But the
memory Of sweet affinity once fully pos
sessed, and snapped by fate at Is supfs-
-.oaoot oop nouor Sfo fropo 0,,f tho, haoxA
ALI other troubles are swallowed up In this
and If the individual is of too stern q fibre
to be completely crushed into the dust;
time will come bearing healing, and the;
memory Of that once ideal condition will
chant in his heart perpetual eucharist.
~AndI hope the world has passed forever
from the nightmare Of pity for the dead:
they have ceased from their labors and are
at rest.
But for the living, when death has en-
tered and removed the best friend, fate
sounded the depths Of grief, and thereafter
nothing can inspire terror. At one fell
stroke all petty annoyances and corroding
cares are sunk into nothlngness. The me-
mory of q great love lives enshrined In
undying amber. It affords ballast 'gainst
all the storms that blow, and, although it
lends an unutterable sadness, it imparts an
unspeakable peace. Where there Is this
haunting memory of great love lost.
there is also forgiveness, charity and
sympathy that makes the man brother to
all who suffer and endure. The individual
himself is nothing; he has nothing to hope
for, nothing to lose, nothing to win, and
this constant memory Of the high exalted
friendship that was once his is nourish-
ing source Of strength; it constantly puri-
fies the mind and inspires the heart to no
bier living and diviner thinking. The man
is in communication with Elemental Con-
ditions.
To have known an ideal friendship, and
had it fade from your grasp and flee as q
shadow before it is touched with sordid
breath Of self1shness, or sullied by mis-
understanding, Is the highest good. And
the constant dwelling in sweet. sad recol-
lection on the exalted virtues Of the one
that is gone tends to crystalline those very
virtues is the heart Of him who meditates
them.