ESSAYS READ AT THE MEETING OF THE D.L.F. LITERARY & DEBATING CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 83

ESSAYS READ AT THE MEETING OF THE D.L.F. LITERARY & DEBATING CLUB.

I.— IDEAL FRIENDSHIP. By Jessica.

" Friendship doth bind with pleasant ties The heart of man to man; and age But strengthens it: it never dies Till finished is Life's page."

— Anon,

Mr Chairman and Dear Comrades, — It is of ideal friendship — friendship in its highest, noblest, sincerest, and most elevating form — about which I wish to write. To procreate a, sincere and beneficial friendship between two persons there must be certain traits of character in each that the other admires, and, as "like draws to like," there must be also a similarity of character between them. .Some of their likings, ideas, and aspirations must be mutual. Then, the stronger to cement the tie of friendship, there must be. love — strong, enduring, unselfish love : a love that will do or dare, that will surmount all difficulties for friendship's sake; for, as the poet says :

"Love is the sacred link which binds

Hearts joined by friendship firmer still." To complete the chain of ideal friendship we must have truth. A person is unworthy of the name of friend if he smilingly wins your confidence, and as soon as your back is turned betrays it. We must have sincerity; friendship without it is less than worthless.

Happy is the man who possesses a friend who can say, with Shakespeare, "Assure thee If I do vow a friendship I'll perform it to the last article." Rich indeed is the possessor of such a friend — richer than if he owned a mine of wealth, for riches have a tantalising trick of taking unto th.emselves wings and fleeing away ; but the true friendship of a good man will last as long as life. What though Fortune frown on him ; what though the voice of Slander reaches him ; what though even disgrace — Uiimcrited though it be, but still disgrace — fall on him, he has still one friend who has confidence in him, who trusts him, who will stand by him, thus preventing him from losing his faith in God and in humanity.

To possess ths sincere friendship of a true friend is one of the greatest blessings this life can afford us. Ln life's brightest hours — when roses strew our pathways, when peace and joy and love seem to be our only portion — we like a friend to share our joys, to rejoice when we rejoice. But when the chilling waves of adversity surge across our paths, when sorrow and 'loneliness and tribulation wrap us in darksornfe gloom, and all the earth seems a weary, desolate wilderness— then we long for a friend to cheer our loneliness, to lighten our sorrow, to help us, and to love U3.

Ideal friendship is unselfish, sincere, and enduring. It will stand the strain of time, of separation, of trials, and sorrow. It makes the world brighter and fairer and rnoie blessed and life more worth Tilie living. Its power is strong and far-reaching; it keeps weary hearts from breaking, and prevents many a human shipwreck on life's troubled sea. ' In this hurrying, bustling, selfish world ideal friendships are fe wand far between. I would that they were not, for, to quote "Anon's" lines : " Friendship cheers the faint and weary, Makes the timid spirit brave, Warns the erring, lights the dreary, Smooths the passage to the grave. " Friendship— pure, unselfish friendshipAll through life's allotted span Nurtures, strengthens, widens, lengthens Man's affinity with man."

II.— SISTERS AS THEY ARE. By Darky's Brother.

One of my sisters (Darky) has asked my assistance with an essay on "Sisters," but as our ideas of a sister's merits do not seem to assimilate we have arranged to write them up, each from our own point of view. I don't intend to dwell on the aspect of what might be termed a sister's everyday household duties, which have to be performed anyhow, however unwillingly — too often, I am afraid, under hi°h pressure, and with not too good a grace. We notice this particularly when our dear sister comes back from a holiday. I don't think holidays are good for sisters, as it seems to breed a, spirit of discontent in them that takes a lot of brotherly compliments to eradicate Of course, they tell ue, how some other D.L.F. brother would have acted in given circumstances, which they don't fail to point out to us; though I notice again that the girls who come to our place for a holiday are far more sympathetic and obliging in a disinterested way than our sisters. However, I am digressing from my first intention— that is, to deal with "Sisters as they are in their home relations to brothers." You may have noticed, you brothers who have a lot of sisters, that even their best actions are ruled by interested motives. I have about six sisters altogether, and so have had chances of studying sisterly relations pretty deeply, as they have grown up and gone their different ways. Inough differnt in some respects, as the world 1S wide, Ihave learned by experience that ■when their love is most lavish— when they are dodging round looking for your boots to clean getting you drinks of water, and performing countless other little attentions that only H, girl can think of— they are invariably working a point. Unlike other fellows' sisters, they dont just do things for you for the love of beings obliging and nice. I have a little sister up here now— a regular tart, as easily seen through as a man sees through a cheap drapery sale. John," she says, one morning at breaklast, m a very sweet tone of voice (I may say parenthetically that I was late that morning and didn't expect much sympathy)— " John, do you like your eggs boiled hard or soft?" I was old in wisdom and experience of that kind, so winked at my plate, and answered just as sweetly, "Soft, Maggie, if you please." "John, will you have a slioe of toast if I make it'" "Oh, thank you, Maggie." "Wait a minute, John, and I will make you some nice frpsb. tea." And so I enjoyed a very nice little breakfast^ and prepared, to. listea to the

inevitable sequence. It came at last. "John, will you give me eighteenpen.ee to buy a D.L.F. badge? lam one of Dot's little folk now, and fo I want to have a badge to wear when lam out." The murder was out, and might have been worse. And so it is generally with sisters. They work us, and win. It is only in Sunday school books that we meet those high-souled little sisters who are continually chasing their brothers around, besetting them with fa\ours tlfey can never repay, and all oub of pure, unadulterated sisterly love.

But give me our qisters as they are! It gives us fellows a chance of being better brothers -when we aie taught to meet consideration with consideration. What selfish, degenerate brutes we would become if sisters were angels, and not the human nuisances that they are. I have before remarked that I have had expeiience of a goodly number of sisters, and I have come to the conclusion that sisters are "no class." All the same, I would not be without one of my dear, good sisters — no, not for all the tea in China.