Page:The Dialogues of Plato v. 1.djvu/84

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The subject of friendship has a lower place in the modern than in the ancient world, partly bccam,e a higher place is assigned by us to love and marriage. The very meaning of the word has become slighter and more superficial; it seems almost to be horrowecl from the ancients, and has nearly disappeared in modern treatises on Moral Philosophy. The received examples of friendship are to be found chiefly among the Greeks and Romans. Hence the casuistical or other questions which arise ont of the relations of friends have not often hccn considered seriously in modern times. M,my of them will he found to he the same which are discussed in the Lysis. We may ask with Socrates, 1) whether friendship is 'of similars or dissimilars,' or of hoth; 2) whether such a tic exists between the good only and for the sake of the good; or 3) whether there may not be some peculiar attraction, which draws together • the neither good nor evil' for the sake of the good and hecause of the evil; 1) whether friendship is always mutual, may there not be a one sided and unrequited friendship? This question, which, like many others, is only one of a laxer or stricter use of words, seems to have greatly exercised the minds both of Aristotle and Plato.

5) Can we expect friendship to be permanent, or must we acknowledge with Cicero, 'Ni/iii difficili11s q11am amicitiam usque ad extremum m"/ae permanere'? Is not friendship, even more than love, liable to be swayed by the caprices of fancy? The person who pleased us most at first sight or upon a slight acquaint­ ance, when we have seen him again, and under different circum­ stances, may make a much less favourable impression on our minds. Young people swear 'eternal friendships,' but at these innocent perjuries their elders laugh. No one forms a friendship with the intention of renouncing it; yet in the course of a varied life it is practically certain that many changes will occur of feeling, opinion, locality, occupation, fortune, which will divide us from some persons and unite us to others. 6) There is an ancient saying, Qui amicos amicum non /iabel. But is not some less exclusive form of friendship better suited to the condition and nature of man .' And in those especially who have no family ties, may not the feeling pass beyond one or a few, and embrace all