Prepared for martyrdom, and strong to prove
A thousand ways the force of genuine love.

--_Cowper_.

A faithful friend is the true image of the Deity.

--_Napoleon_.

* * * * *

As I love nature, as I love singing birds, and gleaming stubble, and
flowing rivers, and morning, and evening, and summer, and winter, I love
thee, my friend.

--_Thoreau_.

* * * * *

A poet might sing you his sweetest of songs,
But this must the poet have known:
Of the heart whose love to you only belongs,
Whose strength would be spent to save you from wrongs
Of a soul knit to yours with the mightiest thongs,
And sing them for you alone!

An artist might paint you a picture fair;
That would equal the greatest known;
But the heart of a friend, to do and to dare,
To save you from sorrow, and trial, and care,