--_Thoreau_.

* * * * *

A man can scarce allege his own merits with modesty, much less extol
them; a man cannot sometimes brook to supplicate or beg; and a number of
the like; but all these things are graceful in a friend's mouth which
are blushing in a man's own.

--_Bacon_.

* * * * *

Come, friend, my fire is burning bright,
A fire's no longer out of place,
How clear it glows (there's frost tonight)
It looks white winter in the face.

Be mine the tree that feeds the fire,
Be mine, the sun knows when to set,
Be mine, the months when friends desire
To turn in here from cold and wet,

--_Constable_.

* * * * *

Eternal blessings crown my earliest friend,
And round his dwelling guardian saints attend;
Blest be that spot where cheerful guests retire