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Oat^-LeaVed ©cranium. 
True Friendship. 
"Friend's, but few on earth, and therefore dear; 
Sought oft, and sought almost as oft in vain; 
Yet always sought, so native to the heart, 
So much desired and coveted by all.” 
— R. Polloh. 
^ OT all friendly people are friends. USTot many true friends come in a 
- life-time, and young persons ought to discriminate and sort carefully 
all candidates for their affection, and cherish fondly those that are thus 
judiciously chosen. 
Some can roll together like marbles, with a soft gentle touch, and roll 
away again without making any impression on one another. Friendly 
persons are a great deal pleasanter to meet than most others, but their inter¬ 
course, their acquaintance, may be very different from those of David and 
Jonathan. 
There are, on the other hand, some persons who seem made for one 
another; they exhibit such mutually sympathetic natures; their characters 
are so similar. Loyalty to such friends is a lofty virtue; treason to them 
is a crime that God in His infinite love may pardon, but man cannot easily 
forgive. 
“There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” 
This apt quotation has often been used to emphasize divine love, but 
it was originally a philosophic statement, perhaps the outcome of Solomon’s 
own experience. 
There are in this world friendships that seem even more deeply 
rooted than the delightful relationships of the family. 
“Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off,” is 
another proverb. 
