Excerpt from The Blessed Memory of the Just One of the most precious of God's gifts is the society of affectionate and virtuous friends. To live under the same roof, to Share the same duties and pleasures, with those whom we can love with all the heart, to feel the gentle influence of their virtues, shining around them with a mild, perpetual light, to breathe the atmosphere of their lives, to enjoy the sweetness of their daily sympathy and support, to be able to go for counsel and wisdom, for cour age and patience, _to minds into which we can pour out our hopes, fears, and doubts with entire freedom and trust, - to double and prolong our enjoyments by communicating them to others, to whom we are bound, not only by ties of kindred, but by the holier and stronger bonds of affection and respect, to allay our anxieties and griefs by the thought that they are. 'at our side, that they feel for us and wit/z us, and that, whatever may betide, their counte nances will beam benignantly on our way, . To have our good purposes quickened, our good principles invigorated, and the whole inner being softened and. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.