enough that I am forc'd for to deny so fair Request to one's Kinsmen were not only unkind but unreasonable As often therefore as I think upon Friendship this Consideration offers it self first to my thoughts whether Weakness or Necessity should be any inducements to contract a Friendship that so whereas either Party would be helpless of himself the Occasions of the one might be supply'd by the other and all kind Offices perform'd by both in a mutual reciprocation of Benefits whether I say this might properly be call'd Friendship or whether there were not some other Motive of greater worth and beauty which proceeds from Nature And certainly Love from whence the Name of Friendship is deriv'd in Latin is the first and strongest tye of our Affections Some Men shall receive a good Turn from those whom they only flatter with an outward shew of Friendship and to whom they pay a Respect suitable to their present occasions But Friendship will not admit of any Disguise or Dissimulation whatever proceeds from That must be sincere and voluntary So that methinks Friendship arises rather from Nature than Want and from a secret application of the Mind with a tender sense of Love rather than from any consideration how to make it serviceable to our Interest Experience shews us this in most Animals who for a time love their Young so entirely and are so well belov'd by them that one may easily perceive the force of Nature in these Creatures which is more eminently apparent in Man First from the mutual Love between Parents and their Children which nothing but some horrible Crime can destroy and next when there are equal grounds for Love on both sides as when we light upon one of the same Temper and Disposition with our selves in whom we have discover'd some eminent Ray of Goodness and Vertue For nothing is more amiable than Vertue nothing more attractive of our Affections We find in our selves an inclination for some Persons whom we never saw meerly upon the Report of their Vertue Who has not an honor and esteem for the Memory of C. Fabricius and M Curius tho' he never beheld them Who does not at the same time detest Tarquinius Superbus Sp. Cassius and Sp. Moelius When the two Generals Pyrrhus and Hannibal strove for the Mastery in Italy we had no great aversion to the former because of his Generosity the later Rome always hated for his Cruelty Now since the power of Vertue is so great as to render it lovely in a Stranger and which is more in an Enemy 't is no wonder if we are affected with it when we see it every day in an Acquaintance Tho' I must confess Friendship is mightily confirm'd by receiving some demonstrations of Kindness by an experience of Love and by frequent Conversation All which being added to that first Motive of Love will flame out into a wonderful Endearment of Friendship now if any one thinks this to proceed from a Weakness in our selves and a design to obtain private Ends and Interests upon others he makes the Rise of Friendship mean and ignoble by ascribing it to Necessity and Want which at that rate would best qualifie a Man for Friendship But 't is quite otherwise For he that has most assurance in himself and is endued with so much Wisdom and Vertue that he wants no Body but has every thing that is needful within himself this Man is worthiest to gain and preserve a Friend How did Africanus want me Not at all Neither did I stand in need of Him but as I lov'd him out of an Honor I had for his Vertue so He regarded me for some little Esteem he had of mine Time and Conversation increas'd our Affection And tho' many and great Conveniences on both sides did arise from thence yet we never made the hopes of them any Inducements to contract a Friendship For as we are sometimes willing to assist and oblige one another not through any hopes of Requital for that were to put a Benefit out to Use but because we are all naturally inclin'd to Humanity So methinks we should cover Friendship not for any expectation of an outward Recompence but because it is always its own Reward Some who like Brutes place all Happiness in Pleasure have a quite different Notion of Friendship but 't is no wonder if such as misplace their Affections upon so low and worthless an Object can never raise them to the contemplation of any thing that is Sublime Noble and Divine Such therefore we shall exclude from our discourse and rest satisfi'd that Nature creates in us all a propensity to Love and that the appearance of Vertue begets a true and sincere Affection This last Motive makes us place our selves as near as we can to Him we love that we may more freely enjoy the benefit of his Conversation and Manners that there may be an equality and correspondence in love and a readiness to oblige without the least expectation of a Return From this kind Contention many Benefits will arise and its Foundation will be stronger and surer than that of Weakness and Want For if Interest were the only tye of Friendship when one fails the other cannot last but because Nature cannot be chang'd therefore true Friendship which proceeds from Nature is immutable and eternal Thus have I shewn you the Rise of Friendship Would you know any thing further SCAEVOLA Good Loelius proceed for Fannius who is my Junior I dare Answer FANNIUS My Brother has spoken my Mind therefore pray Sir let us hear you on LAELIUS Hear then Gentlemen what Scipio and I have often said of Friendship He always thought that nothing was more difficult than to preserve an inviolate Friendship till Death For things may so happen that the Interests of Friends will be distinct or their Opinions in Matters of State different We find said He every day that the Humors of Men change with their Condition or their Tears An Instance of this he brought from Children who commonly lay aside their greatest Friendships with their Play-things or if they continued them till their Youth they were generally parted by some dispute for a Pleasure or Advantage that could not be obtain'd by both at the same time but if any were so constant as to preserve their Friendship under these Trials yet at last it would be violated when both were Competitors in Honor For there is no greater bane of Friendship than among most Men Avarice among the Better sort Ambition these have too often prov'd the causes of great Enmities between the greatest Friends Besides said Scipio many and sometimes just Occasions of Separation are given by some Ill Men that expect to be gratifi'd by their Friend in every unlawful Request as that he should be an Instrument of their Lust or an Assistant to their Injustice which if he refuses to do let his Refusal be never so well grounded he shall be tax'd with a breach of Friendship tho' at the
never so able to advance all his Friends and Acquaintance We see Scipio had interest enough to make P. Rutilius Consul but he could not serve his Brother Lucius upon the same occasion Nay tho' we can do never so much for a Friend yet as I said before we must consider whether he is fit for such or such an Employment There is no true Judgment to be made of our Friendships till they are confirm'd by length of time and maturity of understanding If in our Youth we had a Love for the Companions of our Recreations this does not oblige us to contract a strict Friendship with them in our riper Years for at that rate our Nurses and Tutors might justly challenge the largest share in our Affection Now tho' these are not to be slighted yet they are to esteem'd after another manner than our Friends whom otherwise we can never preserve long Different Manners create different Minds and consequently dissolve Friendship And the only Reason why Good Men can never Love those that are Bad is because there is the widest difference imaginable in their Minds and Manners 'T is a good Rule in Friendship to take care lest the Intemperance and Extravagance of our Affection should hinder the Occasions of our Friends or prejudice their Interest For to return to Story Neoptolemus had never taken Troy if he had hearken'd to his Father-in-Law Lycomedes who had the Education of Him and strove with many Tears to stop his Journy Sometimes there will fall out pressing occasions that must necessarily divide Friends which he that goes about to obstruct because he can't bear a Friend's absence shows a weak impotent and unreasonable Friendship Therefore we must always consider what we ought to ask of our Friends as well as what we ought to grant them Sometimes there falls out an unhappy necessity of a final Separation between Friends For my Discourse descends now from the Friendship of the Wiser Sort to that of the Vulgar For Instance Suppose a Friend of ours has done some great injury to a third Person and that the Infamy of it is likely to extend to all that hold any Familiarity or Correspondence with him In this case we must let our Friendship cool by degrees and discontinuance of Conversation and as Cato us'd to say rather unty it gently than break it off abruptly unless some intolerable enormity breaks out so that we cannot with any appearance of Justice or Honesty avoid an immediate Separation Where we find an alteration in the Manners and Inclinations of our Friend which often happens or a difference between their Sentiments and ours in matters of Government for as I told you I am not now speaking of a Philosophical Friendship but of that which is more ordinary There I say we must take heed lest instead of laying down our Friendship fairly we take up a mortal Enmity for nothing can be worse than to own an open Quarrel where one has formerly us'd a Familiarity You see Scipio withdrew from Q. Pompeius's Friendship upon my account and left off all Familiarity with my Collegue Metellus because he was disaffected to the State In both he us'd that Wisdom and Moderation as to discover a Resentment free from Passion Therefore it must be our first care to have no variance between our Friends and our selves and where such a misfortune happens to use that Temper in our demeanor towards them that our Friendship may rather seem to dye of it self than to suffer any Violence from us We must take heed lest of intimate Friends we become Irreconcilable Enemies For this is commonly the occasion of Quarrels Reproaches and Railings which if they are by any means tolerable must be born with and we ought to have so much regard for our former Friendship that he that does the Injury may be more to blame than he that receives it Against all these Errors and Inconveniences there is but one caution and remedy and that is not to begin our Friendship too soon nor to misplace it upon such as do not deserve it Now those are to be look'd upon as most deserving in whom we find such good Qualities as seem to command our Affection This sort of Men as every thing that is excellent is hard to be met with and 't is very difficult to find any thing that is every way Perfect in it's kind There are a great many that will allow nothing to be Good but what is Profitable and value their Friends as Grasiers do their Cattel accordingly as they think they will turn to account Such as these want that generous and most natural Friendship which is to be desir'd of it self and for it self and never understood by any experience upon themselves how great the force and efficacy of Friendship is For a Man loves himself not because he expects any reward or return of his own Affection from himself but because every one is naturally dear to himself Now he that does not find he stands thus affected towards another can never be a true Friend for a Friend is one's other Self And since 't is evident in Birds Beasts and Fishes and all Creatures Wild or Tame First how they love themselves for this affection is born with them and next how naturally they apply themselves to others of their own kind and that with a strange tenderness and emulation as it were of Human Love we must certainly conclude that these Inclinations are much more strongly imprinted in the Heart of Man and that 't is Natural for him to Love himself and to seek some other with whom he may so mingle Souls as to unite Two into One. Yet some Ill-natur'd not to say impudent Men would have their Friends be such as they can never be themselves and expect that from them which was never done by themselves 'T is therefore necessary in the first place that the Man who would be a Friend should be a Good Man and next that he should find and fix upon one of his own disposition for then it is that the Friendship I mention'd is throughly establish'd when two Men equally affected to one another have so entirely master'd those Appetites to which the greatest part of Mankind is enslaved as to find a Pleasure in Vertue and Integrity and to delight in the mutual performance of all friendly Offices neither party desiring any thing from the other but what is fair and honest and Both having a Regard as well as a Love for each other For he that would separate Modesty from Friendship will Rob it of it's greatest Ornament 'T is a great Heresy in Friendship to think that it gives any encouragement to a loose and licentious Life For certainly a Friend was design'd by Nature for an Assistant to Vertue not for a Companion in Vice that because a solitary Vertue would be helpless and unable of her self to reach that degree of Perfection which she aims at she might be enabled by the assistance of some
Musick and indulge their stay The Swans too gladly held by the late Tide Heard his delightful Strains then try'd To imitate the Voice and dy'd Daphnis was tall and graceful as the Hart That wept the skilful anger of his Dart Like our Melampus faithful like him fleet If Little things we may compare with Great Our poor Melampus wandring round the Plain Hark! with shrill Howls laments his Master slain Was there a Maid cou'd hide her conscious flame When some glad Tale was blest with Daphnis ' Name Youthful Galatea Fair When your Dorinda was not there Alcippe Nysa Chloë strove For the wish'd Triumph of his Love Each her officious Presents would prepare Fruits for his Scrip and Garlands for his Hair Each press'd with glad amazement to the Ring And when He danc'd each strove to sing Their Gifts He wou'd receive their Musick He wou'd hear Till weary'd with their Praises He Thank'd their Civility Refus'd their Love and hasten'd home to Me. There in a clasp'd embrace We lay And with sweet Talk deceiv'd the live-long day Pity'd the Wretches that in vain had woo'd Smil'd at their Passion and our own pursu'd Now left alone with hopeless Grief I moan My ill-Starr'd Friendship wrong'd my Daphnis gon LYC. 'T was in a fatal Hour When the lov'd Maid impatient of my stay Had deck'd and did forsake her Bower To chide my Sloth whilst in the treache'rous way In fair deceit a murde'rous Viper lay There as with eager hast she trod the ground There her swift Foot receiv'd the sudden wound In vain alas the wondring Maid From the following Danger fled Death proud of his fair Conquest grew And all his cruel speed imploy'd and hasten'd to pursue Now I these tributary Sorrows shed To Love deserted and Dorinda dead ALC Curs'd be the deadly Steel By whose much lamented powe'r In a black inauspicious Hour My dear unhappy Daphnis fell 'T was a sad Morn when He the lov'd He rose From my unwilling Breast and his disturb'd Repose Back to my Arms the strugling Youth I pull'd Told Him how young the Day the Air how cold Ask'd Him what was th' unwonted Cause That broke our close embrace so soon He told me I should hear of Him e're Noon Fetch'd an ill-boding Sigh and said He must be gon What was the Cause Ah Me too well I know Too soon for an ill Dream was scarcely past And waking Thoughts my sleeping Fears increas'd When Every Tongue and every Eye spoke Woe And every Maid and every Shepherd said Oh cruel Fate Oh Daphnis dead Curs'd be that Idol Honor doubly curs'd The Wretch that with its nice Exceptions first Stain'd the free Mirth of our infected Plain And taught destructive Swords To be the Judges how unfit of Words For this eve'n Me my Daphnis left Of Him and Happiness berest For this the Youth with early brave Disdain Challeng'd went forth contended and was slain For this sad I with hopeless Grief bemoan My ill Starr'd Friendship wrong'd my Daphnis gon LYC. Thy ill-Starr'd Friendship Swain lament no more I my deserted Love deplore ALC Thy Love the dying flames of loose Desire Look pale and tremble at my chaster Fire LYC. Then let just Pan our Cause's merit try Whilst mighty Love I sing ALC Whilst mightier Friendship I. LYC. I have a Pipe on which I 've often play'd To the lovely listning Maid None dislik'd my artless Lays She 'd find something out to praise On this I 'le play Ye mighty Powe'rs of Love Inspire my willing Pipe my happy Choice approve ALC I have a Pipe on which my Daphnis play'd Whilst ev'ry lovely listning Maid Would leave her Flocks to hear his artful Lays And ev'ry wondring Youth his ev'ry strain wou'd praise To this I 'le sing Kind Friendship bless my Choice Whilst to thy pow'rful Harmony I tune my willing voice LYC. Tell me what kind Power of Old Enrich'd the World and nam'd the Age from Gold When ev'ry Nymph and ev'ry Swain Lov'd and was belov'd again When Falshood and Disdain were yet unknown And Innocence and Love were One Each amo'rous Shepherd chose a willing Maid Above the cares of Honour Birth or State And in Affection richly paid The willing Maid his plain Address receiv'd His unprotested Love beleiv'd And neither vow'd yet neither was deceiv'd Then new Delight did each new Hour employ Love was their Life their Life one lasting Joy Assist Almighty Queen of Heav'n and Love Inspire my willing Pipe my happy Choice approve ALC Tell me e're all this beauteous World was fram'd Or Your fond Age from glittering Gold was nam'd When Heav'n and Earth were one rude Heap And wild Confusion fill'd the pregnant Deep What nobler Cause what Kinder Pow'r The Melancholy Mass did stirr And made the appeas'd Embryo's Friends The appeas'd Embryo's never since Have to that Friendly Knot done violence That Knot nor Chance nor Force can e're destroy Their very Being Friendship is their Friendship one long Joy Almighty Friendship bless my noble Choice Whilst to thy pow'rful Harmony I tune my willing voice LYC. Seest thou yon' Bird that in the Cypress Grove With busy flight from Tree to Tree And untaught Melody Calls his dear Mate and says I am in Love And Alcon see from yonder Bough His dear Mate flies and and answers I love too Their happy Care thro' all the Spring Is only how to Love and how to Sing Then look grave Moralist and learn from These To imitate their Flames and to improve thy Bliss Assist Almighty Queen of Heav'n and Love Inspire my willing Pipe my happy Choice approve ALC Seest thou yon' Oak which many a Year has stood Gracefully firm it self a Wood Why does it raise its lofty Head And all around diffuse a friendly shade See Lycidas a circling Ivy joyns Its mingled Root and round the glad Trunk twines Its willing Leaves Wind Cold and Age they scorn Whilst One can still defend and One adom Thus their embracing Honors each extends Both flourish Both are happy Both are Friends Hence thy gross Joys fond Amorist improve In Friendship 's purer Flames refine thy drossy Love Almighty Friendship bless my noble Choice Whilst to thy pow'rful Harmony I tune my willing Voice LYC. 'T was Love Great Love that from his awful Throne Charm'd the amo'rous Thunderer down Love made the Horned Deity At fair Europa's feet submissive lye Love taught the feather'd God to go To Leda and a Happyer Heav'n below Strange Power that rules the noblest Souls And turns Divinities to Beasts and Fowls ALC To Beasts indeed who blindly place In lawless Lust their soveraign Happiness 'T was Friendship nobler Friendship could inspire Leda's fam'd Sons with a much happyer Fire Than e're inflam'd their wanton Sire Friendship taught the Gene'rous Pair A mix'd Divinity to share And made them that they might unite Their Souls divide their Friendly Light Then boast no more thy worthless Passion when 'T is Love makes Beasts of Gods but Friendship Gods of
that These were Wise Men but they won't do that They 'll deny this to any one that is not their Wise Man Then let us speak a plain Truth in plain English They whose Life and Conversation is such that their Honesty Integrity Justice and Goodness are generally approv'd They that are neither Covetous Lustful nor Bold and have but that Principle of Honor that was in the Persons I just now mention'd they I think are and ought to be accounted Good Men Who as far as Man can go follow the Dictates of Nature the best and surest Guide For methinks 't is Natural to all Mankind to maintain a mutual Society especially where there is a Relation thus we find that our Country men are dearer to us than Foreigners and our Kinsmen than Strangers For Nature seems to have planted in us a kind of regard and tenderness for the former But these are not always sufficient tyes upon our Affections For there is this difference between Affinity and Friendship that the first may subsist without Love whereas the last cannot take away Love and the very Name of Friendship is gone tho' that of Affinity shall remain How great the power of Friendship is we may gather from hence that of all the numerous and different Societies which Nature has appointed among Men This alone is contracted into so narrow a compass that Love is always limited to Two or very few Persons Now Friendship is an unanimous consent of Opinions in all Matters relating to Religion or Civil Affairs with all Love and Kindness Which next to Wisdom I hold to be the greatest Blessing that the immortal Gods ever bestow'd upon Man Others may prefer Riches Health Power Honor and Pleasure which indeed is the highest Bliss that Beasts are capable of attaining but these are frail and fleeting Enjoyments whose possession lays not so much in our own power as in the arbitrary disposal of Fortune They that place the Supreme Good in Vertue are most in the right but in the mean time 't is this very Vertue that creates and maintains Friendship for there can be no such thing as a Friend without it Let us now measure Vertue by the common Rules of Life and Conversation not like some of our modern Virtuosi by lofty Expressions let us call them Good Men who have always been reputed so such as Paulus Cato Gallus Scipio and Philus who are the best Patterns to live by and not seek after Others who are never to be found Among these Men there were more and stronger engagements of Affection than I am able to number or express First then How can Life live as Ennius has it without an acquiescence in the mutual Love of some Friend What is happier than to have a Companion whom one may trust as one's self Where were the pleasures and enjoyments of Prosperity without a Friend who shall rejoice for them as if they were his own How hard is it to undergo the burden of Adversity without one that shall take the greatest share upon himself All other things that are desirable to Man are proper only for one end or occasion Riches serve for Vse Power for Respect Honour for Praise Pleasures for Delight Health for Ease and Business but Friendship is suitable to every occasion wherever you go it follows you it is neither to be excluded from any Place nor unseasonable or troublesom at any Time so that we have not more frequent occasion as they say for Fire Air and Water than we have for Friendship I am not now speaking of the common and ordinary Friendship tho' that too is not without it's Pleasure and Use but of that which is more refin'd and perfect That I mean which was between those few Persons I have mention'd Such Friendship as this is an Ornament to Prosperity and a Support and Comfort in Adversity But amongst all the Conveniences of Friendship which are many and great I hold this to be the greatest that in the lowest ebb of Fortune it still bears up with chearful hopes of a better condition never suffering the Mind to despond or be cast down He that looks upon his Friend sees Himself as in a Glass so that Absence cannot divide them Want impoverish them Sickness weaken them nor which is stranger Death kill them such esteem and honor for his Memory does a Man leave behind him to his surviving Friend that the Life of the One is glorious and the Death of the Other happy Take away mutual Love from among Men and you will find that neither Cities nor Families will stand nay not so much as Agriculture will last If this does not serve to convince you of the efficacy of Friendship and Concord you may learn to value it from the fatal consequences of Dissention and Discord What Family is so strongly Allied what City so well Fortifi'd that it cannot be utterly destroy'd by Factions and Animosities From hence by the Rule of Contraries we may easily gather the many benefits that arise from Friendship A certain Philosopher * Empedocles Vid. Sext. Empiric adv Mathem lib. 8. of Agrigentum is reported to say in Greek Verse That all things in Nature and in the Universe whether they be fix'd or moveable are kept together by Friendship or divided by Discord the Truth of this Sentence is evident to every Man from his own Experience What Acclamations were there in the Theatre t'other day when in my Friend Pacuvius's new Play the King not knowing which of the two Strangers was Orestes Pylades avouch'd himself to be Orestes that he might die for his Friend and Orestes protested himself to be what he really was the true Orestes Now if the bare Representation of a Story was so generally applauded by the Audience what do you think they would have done if it had been Matter of Fact Here Nature plainly shews her power when Men own that to be well done in another which they would not do themselves Thus have I as well as I could declar'd my Sentiments of Friendship If any thing more remains to be said as I believe there is much you must expect it from those who handle this Subject more at large FANNIUS But we had rather expect it from You for tho' I have frequently desired it from others and heard them with some satisfaction yet we know You have another way of Delivering your self upon all occasions SCAEVOLA You would say so indeed Fannius had you been present at the Debare which was held about the Republick in Scipio's Garden to hear how bravely he desended Justice against the subtle Objections of Philus FANNIUS 'T was easie for so Just a Person to speak for Justice SCAEVOLA Then sure it must be as easie for him to discourse of Friendship whose chief glory it is that he has with all the strictest Methods of Truth Constancy and Justice observ'd its Rules and Precepts LAELIUS Nay now ye lay a Force upon me no matter by what Arguments 't is
can escape the nicety of their Distinctions They forsooth will tell us that we must not be over-stock'd with Friends for that 's the way to involve one Man in the Cares of a Multitude who at the same time has enow and it may be too many of his own That 't is troublesom to have too great an Interest in other Mens Concerns and more convenient to have the Knot of Friendship as slight and as loose as we can that upon occasion we may streighten or slacken it as we see fit That Quiet is the readiest Means to obtain Happiness which the mind can never enjoy if it must be in continual labour for the Fortunes of so many several Men. Others they say are of a more selfish Opinion which I have hinted at already that Friendship was to be desir'd for Convenience and Interest not for Love and Affection And therefore the more helpless a Man is the more reason he has to seek a Friend from hence say they it comes to pass that Women rather than Men the Poor rather than the Rich the Distressed rather than the Happy fly to Friendship as a Sanctuary Brave Wisdom indeed They may as well rob the World of the Sun as Human Life of Friendship the best and happiest Gift of Heaven But what is that Quiet they talk of which in appearance may be pleasant but is really to be avoided in most cases Would any Man in his Wits excuse himself from undertaking an honorable Action or Employment or lay it down when he has undertaken it merely because there is some trouble in the performance of it He that would avoid all Care must by the same Rule avoid Vertue which cannot without some difficulty reject and hate it's contrary as Good does Evil Temperance Lust or Courage Cowardice Thus you see Vertuous Men have the strongest aversion for those that are Vitious the Valiant for those that are Fearful and the Sober for those that are Lewd 'T is therefore essential to a well govern'd Mind to delight in all that is Good and to be offended at all that is otherwise Now since Trouble will sometimes befal the wisest Man which it must necessarily do unless we can suppose him devested of all Humanity I see no reason why we should banish Friendship from our Life because it may give us a little trouble Take but away the Affections of the Soul and tell me what difference there is I will not say between a Beast and a Man but between a Man and a Stone a Stock or any senssess thing We must not hearken to those that will make Vertue so hard and cruel a Mistress which in all things is easy and gentle especially in Friendship where she allows us a well to share the Comforts of our Friend's Prosperity as the Sorrows of his Adversity Therefore Friendship is not to be laid aside because some trouble must be undergon for a Friend no more than Vertue is to be neglected because it is attended with some difficulties Now Vertue being as I told you the very Cement of Affection when That appears so eminently in one Man as to create in another of the like disposition a desire of being joyn'd to him when I say this happens an Amity must necessarily follow And methinks 't is strange that Men should take so much Pleasure in the Vanities and Superfluities of Life as Honor Grandeur Building Dressing and Beautifying the Body and yet find no delight in a Mind enrich'd with Vertue that knows where to bestow and how to return Affection For certainly nothing can be more Charming than a Correspondence of Kindness and a mutual intercourse of friendly Offices Now if we add what we justly may that Likeness is so attractive of Friendship as nothing more 't will easily be granted that Vertuous Men love such as are Vertuous and delight to associate with them as if there were already some Alliance in Nature and Affinity in Blood For nothing is more desirous and I may say greedy of it's Like than Nature And now Fannius and Scoevola I hope I have demonstrated the necessity of a good Will between good Men which is the natural spring of Friendship But this Goodness is of a large extent For Vertue is not so selfish insociable or proud but that she is equally communicative of her Benefits to every particular and active for the publick Good which would never be had she not an universal kindness for all Therefore they that make Interest an inducement to Friendship seem to me to loosen it's most amiable Tye for 't is not so much the Advantages we receive from a Friend as the Love he has for us that ought to be valued and then it is that a good turn is most acceptable when it comes with a good will Now 't is so far from being true that Friendship proceeds from Necessity that they who abound most in the possession of Riches and Vertue which of all things has least need of any outward assistance are generally the most liberal and readiest to oblige Yet I question whether 't is always necessary that nothing should be wanting between Friends For if Scipio had never stood in need of my Service Advice or Assistance neither at home nor abroad what proofs had their been of our mutual Affection Therefore Convenience and Interest ought not to be the causes but the consequences of Friendship We must not give ear to those Worldlings who entertain such notions of Friendship as are grounded neither upon their knowledge nor their experience For God knows what Man living would purchase the greatest Wealth and Plenty in the World at so dear a rate as not to Love the rest of Mankind nor to be belov'd by them This were to live the Life of a Tyrant destitute of the least assurance of Kindness or common good Will and so full of Jealousies and Distrusts that there is no room for Friendship For who can Love that Man whom he Fears or by whom he thinks himself to be Fear'd Tyrants are flatter'd indeed for a while with an appearance of Friendship but when they fall as commonly they do then they see too plainly how few Friends they have 'T is reported of Tarquin that he should say in his Banishment that now he could discern his Friends from his Enemies when he was not in a capacity of being useful to the one or hurtful to the other Tho' I should wonder if so proud and cruel a Tyrant could find one Friend in the World Now as this Man 's ill qualities gain'd him no true Friends so commonly the affluence of Wealth indisposes some Men for a real Friendship For Fortune is not only Blind her self but she hoodwinks her Favourites so that they are generally puff'd up with Pride and self-conceit and certainly nothing is more unsufferable than a fortunate Fool. Of this we have frequent instances in some whose humor is at first not disagreeable till Honor Power and Prosperity make such an