Page:Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia.djvu/186

182 Man is a social being, and may therefore derive much improvement, both in an intellectual and moral point of view, by a free interchange of sentiments and opinions upon a proper subject, with his associates and friends. The mere suggestion of another who has viewed the subject in a different light from ourselves, may in a moment free the mind from some difficulty that might take days and weeks of private investigation to remove. Besides, there is a refined pleasure attending this mutual flow of thought. A person travelling a journey in pursuit of something valuable, may enjoy a good degree of pleasure by anticipating the object of his desire, but how is his joy increased, when accompanied on the road by associates of congenial minds. It is thus with a circle of friends when they convene together, and employ their time in the reciprocal interchange of thought upon a suitable theme. But when persons meet together and pass away the