Candid and generous and just
Boys care but little whom they trust,
An error soon corrected-
For who but learns in riper years,
That man when smoothest he appears
Is most to be suspected?
But here again a danger lies,
Lest having misapply'd our eyes
And taken trash for treasure,
We should unwarily conclude
Friendship a false ideal good,
A mere Utopian pleasure.
An acquisition rather rare;
Is yet no subject of despair;
Nor is it wise complaining,
If either on forbidden ground,
Or where it was not to be found,
We sought without attaining.
No friendship will abide the test
That stands on sordid interest
Or mean self-love erected;
Nor such as may awhile subsist
Between the sot and sensualist
For vicious ends connected.
Who seeks a friend, should come dispos'd
T'exhibit in full bloom disclos'd
The graces and the beauties
That form the character he seeks;
For 'tis an union that bespeaks
Reciprocated duties.
Mutual attention is implied,
And equal truth on either side,
And constantly supported;
'Tis senseless arrogance t' accuse
Another of sinister views,
Our own as much distorted.
But will sincerity suffice?
It is indeed above all price,
And must be made the basis;
But every virtue of the soul
Must constitute the charming whole,
All shining in their places.
A fretful temper will divide
The closest knot that may be tied,
By ceaseless sharp corrosion;
A temper passionate and fierce
May suddenly your joys disperse
Át one immense explosion.
In vain the talkative unite
In hopes of permanent delight-
The secret just committed,
Forgetting its important weight,
They drop through mere desire to prate,
And by themselves outwitted.
How bright soc'er the prospect seems,
All thoughts of friendship are but dreams
If envy chance to creep in:
An envious man, if you succeed,
May prove a dang'rous foe indeed,
But not a friend worth keeping.
As Envy pines at good possess'd,
So Jealousy looks forth distress'd
On good that seems approaching,
And it success his steps attend,
Discerns a rival in a friend,
And hates him for encroaching.
Hence authors of illustrious name,
Unless belied by common fame,
Are sadly prone to quarrel,
To deem the wit a friend displays
A tax upon their own just praise,
And pluck each others laurel.
A man renown'd for repartee
Will seldom scruple to make free
With friendship's finest feeling,
Will thrust a dagger at your breast,
And
say he wounded you in jest,
By way of balm for healing.
Whoever keeps an open ear
For tatlers, will be sure to hear
The trumpet of contention:
Aspersion is the babbler's trade;
To listen is to lend him aid,
And rush into dissension.
A friendship that in frequent fits
Of controversial rage emits
The sparks of disputation,
Like hand-in-hand insurance plates,
Most unavoidably creates
The thought of conflagration.
Some fickle creatures boast a soul
True as a needle to the pole,
Their humour yet so various
They manifest their whole life through
The needle's deviations too,
Their love is so precarious.
The great and small but rarely meet
On terms of amity complete,
Plebeians must surrender
And yield so much to noble folk,
It is combining fire with smoke,
Obscurity with splendour.
Some are so placid and serene
(As Irish bogs are always green)
They sleep secure from waking;
And are indeed a bog that bears
Your unparticipated cares
Unmov'd and without quaking.
Courtier and patriot cannot mix
Their heterogeneous politics,
Without an effervescence
Like that of salts with lemon juice,
Which does not yet like that produce
A friendly coalescence.
Religion should extinguish strife,
And make a calm of human life;
But friends that chance to differ
On points which God has left at large,
How freely will they meet and charge!
No combatants are stiffer.
To prove at last my main intent
Needs no expense of argument,
No cutting and contriving-
Seeking a real friend we seem
T'adopt the chemist's golden dream,
With still less hope of thriving.
Sometimes the fault is all our own,
Some blemish in due time made known
By trespass or omission;
Sometimes occasion brings to light
Our friend's defect long hid from sight,
And even from suspicion.
Then judge yourself, and prove your man
As circumspectly as you can;
And, having made election,
Beware no negligence of yours,
Such as a friend but ill endures,
Enfeeble his affection.
That secrets are a sacred trust,
That friends should be sincere and just,
That constancy befits them,
Are observations on the case
That savour much of common place,
And all the world admits them.
But 'tis not timber, lead, and stone,
An architect requires alone
To finish a fine building-
The palace were but half complete,
If he could possibly forget
The carving and the gilding.
The man that hails you, Tom or Jack,
And proves by thumps upon your back
How he esteems your merit,
Is such a friend, that one had need
Be very much his friend indeed
To pardon or to bear it.
As similarity of mind,
Or something not to be defin'd,
First fixes our attention;
So manners decent and polite,
The same we practis'd at first sight,
Must save it from declension.
Some act upon this prudent plan,
"Say little and hear all you can-
Safe policy, but hateful-
So barren sands imbibe the show'r,
But render neither fruit nor flow'r,
Unpleasant and ungrateful.
The man I trust, if shy to me,
Shall find me as reserv'd as he,
No subterfuge or pleading
Shall win my confidence again,
I will by no means entertain
A spy on my proceeding.
These samples-for, alas! at last
These are but samples and a taste
Of evils yet unmention'd-
May prove the task a task indeed,
In which 'tis much if we succeed
However well-intention'd.
Pursue the search, and you will find
Good sense and knowledge of mankind
To be at least expedient,
And after summing all the rest,
Religion ruling in the breast
A principal ingredient.
The noblest friendship ever shown
The Saviour's history makes known,
Though some have turn'd and turn'd it,
And whether being craz'd or blind,
Or seeking with a bias'd mind,
Have not, it seems, discern'd it.
Oh Friendship! if my soul forego
Thy dear delights while here below;
To mortify and grieve me,
May I myself at last appear
Unworthy, base, and insincere,
Or may my friend deceive me!
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