bosom said,
Through thee alone the sky is arched,
Through thee the rose is red,
All things through thee take nobler form
And look beyond the earth,
And is the mill-round of our fate,
A sun-path in thy worth.
Me too thy nobleness has taught
To master my despair;
The fountains of my hidden life
Are through thy friendship fair.

EMERSON.

The Fruits of Friendship

In our utilitarian age things are judged by their practical value. Men
ask of everything, What is its use? Nothing is held to be outside
criticism, neither the law because of its authority, nor religion
because of its sacredness. Every relationship in life also has been
questioned, and is asked to show the reason of its existence. Even
some relationships like marriage, for long held to be above question,
are put into the crucible.

On the whole it is a good spirit, though it can be abused and carried
to an absurd extreme. Criticism is inevitable, and ought to be
welcomed, provided we are careful about the true standard to apply.
When we judge a thing by its use, we must not have a narrow view of
what utility is. Usefulness to man is not confined to mere material
values. The common standards of the market-place cannot be applied to
the whole of life. The things which cannot be bought cannot be sold,
and the keenest valuator would be puzzled to put a price on some of
these unmarketable wares.

When we seek to show what are the fruits of friendship, we may be said
to put ourselves in line with the critical spirit of our age. But even
if it were proven that a man could make more of his life materially by
himself, if he gave no hostages to fortune, it would not follow that it
is well to disentangle oneself from the common human bonds; for our
_caveat_ would here apply, that utility is larger than mere material
gain.

But even from this point of view friendship justifies itself. Two are
better than one; for they have a good reward for their labor. The
principle of association in business is now accepted universally. It
is found even to pay, to share work and profit. Most of the world's
business is done by companies, or partnerships, or associated endeavor
of some kind. And the closer the intimacy between the men so engaged,
the intimacy of common desires and common purposes, and mutual respect
and confidence, and, if possible, friendship, the better chance there
is for success. Two are better than one from the poin