painter, as follows: "You, as an angel of strength and consolation, have interposed between myself and my passions; when you are near me I feel better and calmer, and as long as you are with me the influences which drag us all down to earth have no power over me. Your gentle restraint and warm encouragement, which I shall never forget, always exerted a most beneficial effect upon me, shedding a ray of pure light upon my soul and dispelling the heavy clouds which darkened my mind."
6. How good a thing it is to love, while still on earth, as the blessed do in heaven; while yet in this world to hold one another dear and precious, in the same way as we shall hold each other dear and precious when we get to heaven.
-Remember the beautiful words of Holy Scripture: "Nothing can be compared to a faithful friend, and no weight of gold and silver is able to countervail the goodness of his fidelity. A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality, and they that fear the Lord shall find him" (Ecclus. vi. 15, 16). Do you therefore fear the Lord, so that you may find a faithful friend And such a friend is portrayed in the following lines .
A friend who with affection true
Holds up a mirror to your view,
Shows your conduct, scruples not
To point out ever flaw and blot;
Who chides you when you go astray
Diverging from the narrow way,
Counsels, exhorts, a friend indeed
Is he, the very friend you need.
