Friendship

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 135, 24 April 1886, Page 2

Friendship

Did it ever occur to you to reflect on the depths of deceit which li a still an& : dark even in the honestest minds ? : -■• Society ropo.ses on a thin crust of ik>n-- \ vention, nndernoath which lie fathomless possibilities of cviruo, and'consGquently suspicions of crime/ Friendship, however clogo and deaf, js pofc '^ free from its reserves, unspoken beliefs? * • mere or less supressed opinions, .„ The ~*. man whom you indignantly defend against any accusation brought b*r?r ■ another, so confident are you. in if*jf unshakable integrity, you may yariUr '.I. self manomtarily suspect of crimes far ~ exceeding those which you repudiate. Indeed, I have kaown sagacibua men hold that perfect frankness in expres- . sing the thoughts is a sure sign of imperfect friendship ; something- is always suppressed ; and it is not he who loves you that "tells you candidly what he thinks" of your parson; yonr pretentions, your children, or your poems. Perfect candour is dictated by envy, or some other unfriendly feeling, making friendship a stalkinghorse, under the cover of which ft A shoots the arrows which will rankle. Friendship is candid only when^ther. candour is urgent — ■ meant w'wvfenT ■ impending danger or to .rectify an error. The candour which is an impertinence never springs from friendship. Love is sympathetio.—Blackwood - - ■ ..is 4&£W