Mutual attention is implied,
And equal truth on either side,

And constantly supported;
'Tis senseless arrogance to accuse
Another of sinister views,

Our own as much distorted.

But will sincerity suffice ?
It is indeed above all price,

It 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

At 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 soe'er the prospect seems,
All thoughts of friendship are but dreams,

N

If envy chance to creep in; An envious man, if you succeed, May prove a dangerous foe indeed,

But not a friend worth keeping.

As envy pines at good possessed.
So jealousy looks forth distressed

On good, that seems approaching; And, if 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 other's laurel.

A man renowned 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 tattlers 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 the needle to the pole,

Their humour yet so varies
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 palcid and serene
(As Irish bogs are always green)

They sleep secure from waking;
And are indeed a bog, that bears
Your unparticipated cares

Unmoved 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 calescence.
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
To adopt the chymist's golden dream,

With still less hope of thriving.
As similarity of mind,
Or something not to be defined,

First fixes our attention;
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,
And 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 would 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.
Sometimes the fault is all our own,
Some blemish in due time made know

By trespass or omission ;
So manners decent and polite,
The same we practised at first sight,

Must save it from declension.