OF FRIENDSHIP.

As frost to the bud, and blight to the blossom, even such is self-interest to friendship:

For Confidence cannot dwell where Selfishness is porter at the gate

If thou see thy friend to be selfish, thou canst not be sure of his honesty; And in seeking thine own weal, thou nast wronged the reliance of thy

friend.

Flattery hideth her varnished face when Friendship sitteth at his board,
And the door is shut upon suspicion, but candour is bid glad welcome
For friendship abhorreth doubt, its life is in mutual trust,
And perisheth, when artful praise proveth it is sought for a purpose.
A man may be good to thee at times, and render thee mighty service,
Whom yet thy secret soul could not desire as a friend;

For the sum of life is in trifles, and though, in the weightier masses.
A man refuse thee not his purse, nay, his all in thine utmost need,
Yet, if thou canst not feel that his character agreeth with thine own,
Thou never wilt call him friend, though thou render him a heart full of
gratitude.

A coarse man grindeth harshly the finer feelings of his brother;

A common mind will soon depart from the dull companionship of

wisdom;

A weak soul dareth not to follow in the track of vigour and decision;
And the worldly regardeth with scorn the seeming foolishness of faith.
A mountain is made up of atoms, and friendship of little matters,
And if the atoms hold not together, the mountain is crumbled into dust.

COME, I will show thee a friend; I will paint one worthy of thy trust:

Thine heart shall not weary of him: thou shalt not secretly despise him. Thou art long in learning him, in unravelling all his worth;

And he dazzleth not thine eyes at first, to be darkened in thy sight afteṛ

ward,

But riseth from small beginnings, and reacheth the height of thy esteem. He remembereth that thou art only man; he expecteth not great things from thee;

And his forbearance toward thee silently teacheth thee to be considerate unto him.

He despiseth not courtesy of manner, nor neglecteth the decencies of life: Nor mocketh the failings of others, nor is harsh in his censures before

thee;

For so, how couldst thou tell, if he talketh not of thee in ridicule?
He withholdeth no secret from thee, and rejecteth not thine in turn;
He shareth his joys with thee, and is glad to bear part in thy sorrows.
Yet one thing, he loveth thee too well to show thee the corruptions of his
heart:

For as an ill example strengtheneth the hands of the wicked,

So to put forward thy guilt is a secret poison to thy friend :

For the evil in his nature is comforted, and he warreth more weakly

against it,

It he find that the friend whom he honoureth, is a man more sinful than

himself.

I hear the communing of friends; ye speak out the fulness of your souls, And being but men, as men, ye own to all the sympathies of man

hood: (26)

Confidence openeth the lips, indulgence beameth from the eye,

The tongue loveth not boasting, the heart is made glad with kindness:
And one standeth not as on a hill, beckoning to the other to follow,
But
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hand in hand, and carry each other's burdens. ¿
Ye commune of hopes and aspirations, the fervent breatnings of the

ye

toil up

heart,

Ye speak with pleasant interchange the treasured secrets of affection,
Ye listen to the voice of complaint, and whisper the language of comfort,
And as in a double solitude, ye think in each other's hearing.

CHOOSE thy friend discreetly, and see thou consider his station,

For the graduated scale of ranks accordeth with the ordinance of heaven: If a low companion ripen to a friend, in the full sunshine of thy confidence,

Know, that for old age thou hast heaped up sorrow:

For thou sinkest to that level, and thv kin shall scorn thee,

Yea, and the menial thou hast pampered haply snall neglect thee in thy

death:

And if thou reachest up to high estates, thinking to herd with princes, What art thou but a footstool, though so near a throne?

O rush among the lilies, be taught thou art a weed,

O briar among the cedars, hot contempt shall burn thee.
But thou, friend and scholar, select from thine own caste,

And make not an intimate of one, thy servant or thy master;

For only friendship among men is the true republic,

Where all have equality of service, and all have freedom of command.

And yet, if thou wilt take my judgment, be shy cf too much openness

with any,

Lest thou repent hereafter, should he turn and rend thee :

For many an apostate friend hath abused unguarded confidence,
And bent to selfish ends the secret of the soul.

ABSENCE strengtheneth friendship, where the last recollections were kindly ;)

But it must be good wine at the last, or absence shall weaken it daily

A rare thing is faith, and friendship is a marvel among men,

Yet strange faces call they friends, and say they believe when they doubt Those hours are not lost that are spent in cementing affection.

For a friend is above gold, precious as the stores of the mind.

Be sparing of advice by words, but teach thy lesson by example;
For the vanity of man may be wounded, and retort unkindly upon thee
There be some that never had a friend, because they were gross and

selfish :

Worldliness, and apathy, and pride, leave not many that are worthy:
But one who meriteth esteem, need never lack a friend;

For as thistledown flieth abroad, and casteth its anchor in the soil,

So philanthropy yearneth for a heart, where it may take root and blos

som.

YET I hear the child of sensibility moaning at the wintry cold,

Wherein the mists of selfishness have wrapped the society of men :

He grieveth, and hath deep reasons; for falsehood hath wronged his trust,

And the breaches in his bleeding heart have been filled with the briars of

suspicion.

For alas, how few be friends, of whom charity hath hoped well!
How few there be among men who forget themselves for other'
Each one seeketh his own, and looketh on his brethren as rivals,
Masking envy with friendship, to serve his secret ends.

And the world, that corrupteth all good, hath wronged that sacred name,
For it calleth any man friend, who is not known for an enemy;
And such be as the flies of summer, while plenty sitteth at thy board;
But who can wonder at their flight from the cold denials of want?
Such be as vultures round a carcase, assembled together for the feast:
But a sudden noise scareth them, and forthwith are they specks among the
clouds.

There be few, O child of sensibility, who deserve to have thy confidence;
Yet weep not, for there are some, and such some live for thee:

To them is the chilling world a drear and barren scene,

(And gladly seek they such as thou art,) for seldom find they the occasion. For, though no man excludeth himself from the high capability of

friendship,

Yet verily is the man a marvel whom truth can write a friend.

OF LOVE.

THERE is a fragrant blossom, that maketh glad the garden of the heart.
Its root lieth deep; it is delicate, yet lasting, as the lilac crocus of autumn⚫
Loneliness and thought are the dews that water it morn and even;
Memory and Absence cherish it, as the balmy breathings of the south:
Its sun is the brightness of affection, and it bloometh in the borders of

Hope;

Its companions are gentle flowers, and the brier withereth by its side.
I saw it budding in beauty; I felt the magic of its smile;

The violet rejoiced beneath it, the rose stooped down and kissed it;
And I thought some cherub had planted there a truant flower of Eden,
As a bird bringeth foreign seeds, that they may flourish in a kindly soil.
I saw and asked not its name; I knew no language was so wealthy,
Though every heart of every clime findeth its echo within.

And yet what shall I say?

Hath a seducer known it?

Is a sordid man capable of-Love?

Can an adulterer perceive it?

Or he that seeketh strange women, can he feel its purity?

Or he that changeth often, can he know its truth?

Longing for another's happiness, yet often destroying its own;

Chaste, and looking up to God, as the fountain of tenderness and joy:
Quiet, yet flowing deep, as the Rhine among rivers;

Lasting, and knowing not change-it walketh with Truth and Sincerity

LOVE: what a volume in a word, an ocean in a tear,
A seventh heaven in a glance, a whirlwind in a sigh,
The lightning in a touch, a millennium in a moment,
What concentrated joy or woe in blest or blighted love!