XIII

SCHOOL FRIENDSHIPS

(April 4th, 1909.)

"A faithful friend is a strong defence; and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure.

"Nothing doth countervail a faithful friend, and his excellency is invaluable

66 A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him.

Whoso feareth the Lord shall direct his friendship aright; for as he is, so shall his neighbour be also."-Ecclesiasticus vi. 14-17.

STANDING behind the King's throne, the King's son sees the shepherd-boy coming into the camp after slaying the Philistine; and "when David had made an end of speaking unto Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David; and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."

Thus began the friendship which stands as the classic instance, the friendship that was strong to meet and conquer almost insuperable difficulties, the bond of love that David's beautiful lament has made wonderful for all time. "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women."

Before and since there have been many generous friendships of men who forgot self.

Mankind has been glorified by countless silent heroisms, by unselfish service and sacrificing love. Christ, Who always took the highest ground in

His estimate of men, made the high-water mark of human friendship the standard of His own action. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Following Christ men have given themselves to others, with nothing to gain, with no self-interest to serve, with no keeping back of the price. Such have known that the glory of life is to love, not to be loved; to serve and not to be served; to give and not to get.

Such men, knowing that the important side of life is the spiritual, for from it comes the only true joy, have realized that friendship in its essence is spiritual; that he that feareth the Lord shall find the medicine of life, shall direct his friendship aright.

Some tell us that schoolboy friendships are sudden and fickle, and so quickly die. Others hold that lifelong and steadfast friendships often begin at school.

There are doubtless both kinds, but to each one of you it is open to have and to be a strong defence, to be and to give the medicine of life; to keep and to be a faithful friend, if you are sound and straight, if you keep before you the deep responsibility that, as you are, so will your friend be.

Two are

I believe in school friendships. stronger than one; but, when you choose, remember that a friendship may be strong for evil as well as for good; remember that a single good or bad companion may bring incalculable good or incalculable harm.

Therefore choose wisely. Therefore be slow to enter in until you are sure of yourself, for, as you are, so will your friend be.

I would speak of the unwisdom of unequal friendships, and, believe me, that there is a greater gap between seventeen and fourteen, between the big boy and the little boy, than between other ages, a gap that cannot be bridged without loss of dignity and without courting disaster.

In your school life choose your friends from your equals, and, when you have chosen, and deserved, and won him,

"Grapple him to thy soul with hooks of steel."

To win him, you must trust him! To keep him, you must be faithful! You must do to and for your friends, what you would have him do to and for you. Nay, more, you cannot keep him unless you look on your friendship as an opportunity of giving your best to him, of bringing out the best in yourself and in him.

Your chance will come of lifting up-never drag down!-of giving courage to fight his way up; of the right word or the right silence at the right time. Never let your chance slip through indifference or cowardice.

And what will you find? That as you make your friend, so will you be; as you give him strength, you will strengthen your own character ; as you steady, so will you be steadied; and you will find the flower of friendship in the feeling which rejoices more at your friend's success than at your own.

Even if your help is not called into action, it is much to know that if one falls the other will lift him up; that you should feel safe when he is present, and know that your honour is secure when you are absent.

"Ask no favours, nor take them-it is not always good. Hesitate to visit your friend's home. Be unwilling to enter a clique, for a clique implies folly or worse. Neither choose the one who wants to be a friend of all, for you will find he is the friend of none, for, in trying to please all, his conscience ceases to be his standard of action."1

Remember, a boy is known by his friends. In your holidays be even slower to choose your friend, for you have less chance of knowing what he is.

In friendship we open the gates of our city, and he who enters, if he is not our ally, is a treacherous foe.

But there are two to whom, with never a question, you can open wide the gates of your city, for can a boy have a more staunch ally than his father or mother? A look, a word will bridge the gap of years, and together, if you will, you can climb the mountain top.

If we have the knowledge of right and wrong in our hearts, if we leave the wrong and follow the right, we shall direct our friendships aright.

Then we shall be fit to realize the supreme joy, the love that passeth the love of woman, greater than the love of comrades, greater than all earthly love-the love of God.

"Love Him and keep Him for thy friend Who, when all go away, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee to perish at last."

Into your citadel, the innermost strong fortress, there can enter but One. Open then, and there shall come into your life The Friend who claims everything, and gives all.

1 Emerson.

XIV

THE WAY OF GOOD MEN

(July 25th, 1909.)

"Walk in the way of good men.”—Proverbs ii. 20.

"Now, Oh Merciful and Just,

Trembling lay we down the trust ;

Slender fruit of thriftless day,

Father, at Thy feet we lay."

TO-NIGHT there cannot fail to come to us the feeling of farewell, the closing of a chapter of life.

Two thoughts are in our minds. The "Nevermore" has come with its laying down of trusts, and behind it, and robbing it of its sadness, lies the thought of welcoming a bolder life, a larger scope.

66

Brothers, whom a wider life

Summons to a man's endeavour,

Bear our blessing to the strife,

Comrades once and comrades ever." "

It is well that there should come to us some soul-stirring moments, when the thoughts of the past, and the might-have-been, throng up. It is well that a flood of humility should surge in our hearts as we stand on life's great shore, reluctant to leave the known, with a prayer on our lips for forgiveness, for trust betrayed, for promise unfulfilled, for failings oft and right undone; and in our heart thoughts threaded on the golden strand which binds us to the past we loved.

1 Public Schools Hymn Book, No. 196.

2 Ibid.