Friendship | Page 2

into
training for a still larger love. The natural man may be self-absorbed
and self-centred, but in a truer sense it is natural for him to give up self
and link his life on to others. Hence the joy with which he makes the
great discovery, that he is something to another and another is
everything to him. It is the higher-natural for which he has hitherto
existed. It is a miracle, but it happens.
The cynic may speak of the now obsolete sentiment of friendship, and
he can find much to justify his cynicism. Indeed, on the first blush, if
we look at the relative place the subject holds in ancient as compared
with modern literature, we might say that friendship is a sentiment that

is rapidly becoming obsolete. In Pagan writers friendship takes a much
larger place than it now receives. The subject bulks largely in the works
of Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Cicero. And among modern writers it gets
most importance in the writings of the more Pagan-spirited, such as
Montaigne. In all the ancient systems of philosophy, friendship was
treated as an integral part of the system. To the Stoic it was a blessed
occasion for the display of nobility and the native virtues of the human
mind. To the Epicurean it was the most refined of the pleasures which
made life worth living. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes it
the culminating point, and out of ten books gives two to the discussion
of Friendship. He makes it even the link of connection between his
treatise on Ethics and his companion treatise on Politics. It is to him
both the perfection of the individual life, and the bond that holds states
together. Friendship is not only a beautiful and noble thing for a man,
but the realization of it is also the ideal for the state; for if citizens be
friends, then justice, which is the great concern of all organized
societies, is more than secured. Friendship is thus made the flower of
Ethics, and the root of Politics.
Plato also makes friendship the ideal of the state, where all have
common interests and mutual confidence. And apart from its place of
prominence in systems of thought, perhaps a finer list of beautiful
sayings about friendship could be culled from ancient writers than from
modern. Classical mythology also is full of instances of great
friendship, which almost assumed the place of a religion itself.
It is not easy to explain why its part in Christian ethics is so small in
comparison. The change is due to an enlarging of the thought and life
of man. Modern ideals are wider and more impersonal, just as the
modern conception of the state is wider. The Christian ideal of love
even for enemies has swallowed up the narrower ideal of philosophic
friendship. Then possibly also the instinct finds satisfaction elsewhere
in the modern man. For example, marriage, in more cases now than
ever before, supplies the need of friendship. Men and women are nearer
in intellectual pursuits and in common tastes than they have ever been,
and can be in a truer sense companions. And the deepest explanation of
all is that the heart of man receives a religious satisfaction impossible

before. Spiritual communion makes a man less dependent on human
intercourse. When the heaven is as brass and makes no sign, men are
thrown back on themselves to eke out their small stores of love.
At the same time friendship is not an obsolete sentiment. It is as true
now as in Aristotle's time that no one would care to live without friends,
though he had all other good things. It is still necessary to our life in its
largest sense. The danger of sneering at friendship is that it may be
discarded or neglected, not in the interests of a more spiritual affection,
but to minister to a debased cynical self-indulgence. There is possible
to-day, as ever, a generous friendship which forgets self. The history of
the heart-life of man proves this. What records we have of such in the
literature of every country! Peradventure for a good man men have
even dared to die. 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 and never once put
man's capacity for the noble on a low level, made the high-water mark
of human friendship the standard of His own great action, "Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." This
high-water mark has often been reached. Men have given themselves to
each other, with nothing to gain, with no self-interest to serve, and with
no keeping back part of the price. It is