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Article THE MODERN STATE OF FRIENDSHIP. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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The Modern State Of Friendship.
his own peace , therefore cannot be any great friend to that of any body else . As soon as Tom hears me at the bottom ofthe stairs , he meets me at the top with all the joy imaginable , and professes the utmost pleasure at my visit ; but scarce has one half hour passed away , but he grows quite tired of himself and me . As I please him in coming to him , 1 humour him no less in going from him : he is sorry when I do not come , and would be equally sorry if I did not go : I
am never from him , but he wants to see me ; and lie never sees me , but he wants to be from me again . Some evenings I spend in a company where there is an old humourist much of this turn of mind : the first time I saw him I happened to drop in when he had about finished his first bottle , and by the songs he sung , and the pleasant ta ' es he told > 1 hiok him for one ofthe best-natured old gentlemen I had ever met with . The next night I saw him at the Grecian disputing on politics
over a dish of coffee , and found him the dullest , conceited , positive old fellow that ever lived . Nothing could please him ; he found fault , snarled , and censured everything that was said . We adjourned with some friends to the tavern , and after three or four glasses of good claret , I found that gloominess began to dispel ; he grew wondrous kind and facetious , and kept up this good humour till repeated
bumpers settled him in a sound nap ; after which be awaked that dogged surly cynic we found him at the Grecian . This gentleman" ! found was never agreeable but when he was near drunk , and never disagreeable but when he was quite sober . But of all the variable creatures none can compare with Limberham , whose whole life is a strange medley of reli gion and debauchery : he
lives in a brothel-house four dayslnia week , and spends the other three in prayer and repentance ; and when he thinks he may have reconciled himself to heaven , arrd set aside his sins , he returns to them again , and makes new work for new devotion . Tims whim , wine , and affliction can make a man differ from nothing so much as he does from himself ; but let us inquire whether pride , good fortune , & c . have not the same power , and produce the same effects .
We are generally so partial to ourselves , that whatever good fortune we . have , we immediately ascribe it to our merit rather than providence , chance , or the friendship of others , and value ourselves on our worth when we should rejoice at our fortune . If you approach a man after any new acquisition of wealth or honour with that degree of freedom and familiarity you before used , his haughty behaviour will soon inform you that you are unacquainted with a new accumulation of
merit , which should command a greater deference and respect . Jack Myrtle w-as a good natured , affable , honest fellow about five months ago : I was intimate with him , and many agreeable hours have we spent with a familiarity that is necessary for friendship : I perceived indeed some time ago the seeds of grandeur and haughtiness rising in him , on his elder brother Harry being taken ill . His brother ' s disorder increased , and consequently my friend ' s pride ; but still he retained a decent respect to me till his brother died . When I came to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Modern State Of Friendship.
his own peace , therefore cannot be any great friend to that of any body else . As soon as Tom hears me at the bottom ofthe stairs , he meets me at the top with all the joy imaginable , and professes the utmost pleasure at my visit ; but scarce has one half hour passed away , but he grows quite tired of himself and me . As I please him in coming to him , 1 humour him no less in going from him : he is sorry when I do not come , and would be equally sorry if I did not go : I
am never from him , but he wants to see me ; and lie never sees me , but he wants to be from me again . Some evenings I spend in a company where there is an old humourist much of this turn of mind : the first time I saw him I happened to drop in when he had about finished his first bottle , and by the songs he sung , and the pleasant ta ' es he told > 1 hiok him for one ofthe best-natured old gentlemen I had ever met with . The next night I saw him at the Grecian disputing on politics
over a dish of coffee , and found him the dullest , conceited , positive old fellow that ever lived . Nothing could please him ; he found fault , snarled , and censured everything that was said . We adjourned with some friends to the tavern , and after three or four glasses of good claret , I found that gloominess began to dispel ; he grew wondrous kind and facetious , and kept up this good humour till repeated
bumpers settled him in a sound nap ; after which be awaked that dogged surly cynic we found him at the Grecian . This gentleman" ! found was never agreeable but when he was near drunk , and never disagreeable but when he was quite sober . But of all the variable creatures none can compare with Limberham , whose whole life is a strange medley of reli gion and debauchery : he
lives in a brothel-house four dayslnia week , and spends the other three in prayer and repentance ; and when he thinks he may have reconciled himself to heaven , arrd set aside his sins , he returns to them again , and makes new work for new devotion . Tims whim , wine , and affliction can make a man differ from nothing so much as he does from himself ; but let us inquire whether pride , good fortune , & c . have not the same power , and produce the same effects .
We are generally so partial to ourselves , that whatever good fortune we . have , we immediately ascribe it to our merit rather than providence , chance , or the friendship of others , and value ourselves on our worth when we should rejoice at our fortune . If you approach a man after any new acquisition of wealth or honour with that degree of freedom and familiarity you before used , his haughty behaviour will soon inform you that you are unacquainted with a new accumulation of
merit , which should command a greater deference and respect . Jack Myrtle w-as a good natured , affable , honest fellow about five months ago : I was intimate with him , and many agreeable hours have we spent with a familiarity that is necessary for friendship : I perceived indeed some time ago the seeds of grandeur and haughtiness rising in him , on his elder brother Harry being taken ill . His brother ' s disorder increased , and consequently my friend ' s pride ; but still he retained a decent respect to me till his brother died . When I came to