Produced by Al Haines FRIENDSHIP _By_ HUGH BLACK _With an Introductory Note by_ W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, D.D. Chicago--New York--Toronto FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY London--Edinburgh Copyright, 1898, 1903, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY To MY FRIEND HECTOR MUNRO FERGUSON AND TO MANY OTHER FRIENDS WHO HAVE MADE LIFE RICH _Equidem, ex omnibus rebus, quas mihi aut Fortuna aut Natura tribuit, nihil habeo quod cum amicitia Scipionis possum, comparare._ CICERO. _Intreat me not to leave thee, And to return from following after thee: For whither thou guest, I will go; And where thou lodgest, I will lodge; Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, And there will I be buried: The Lord do so to me, and more also, If aught but death part thee and me._ BOOK OF RUTH. APPRECIATION BY SIR WM. ROBERTSON NICOLL, D.D. Mr. Hugh Black's wise and charming little book on Friendship is full of good things winningly expressed, and, though very simply written, is the result of real thought and experience. Mr. Black's is the art that conceals art. For young men, especially, this volume will be a golden possession, and it can hardly fail to affect their after lives. Mr. Black says well that the subject of friendship is less thought of among us now than it was in the old world. Marriage has come to mean infinitely more. Communion with God in Christ has become to multitudes the primal fact of life. Nevertheless the need for friendship remains.--"British Weekly." _Friendship is to be valued for what there is in it, not for what can be gotten out of it. When two people appreciate each other because each has found the other convenient to have around, they are not friends, they are simply acquaintances with a business understanding. To seek friendship for its utility is as futile as to seek the end of a rainbow for its bag of gold. A true friend is always useful in the highest sense; but we should beware of thinking of our friends as brother members of a mutual-benefit association, with its periodical demands and threats of suspension for non-payment of dues._ TRUMBULL. Contents I THE MIRACLE OF FRIENDSHIP II THE CULTURE OF FRIENDSHIP III THE FRUITS OF FRIENDSHIP IV THE CHOICE OF FRIENDSHIP V THE ECLIPSE OF FRIENDSHIP VI THE WRECK OF FRIENDSHIP VII THE RENEWING OF FRIENDSHIP VIII THE LIMITS OF FRIENDSHIP IX THE HIGHER FRIENDSHIP The Miracle of Friendship But, far away from these, another sort Of lovers linked in true heart's consent; Which loved not as these for like intent, But on chaste virtue grounded their desire, Far from all fraud or feigned blandishment; Which, in their spirits kindling zealous fire, Brave thoughts and noble deeds did evermore aspire.