3294. FRIENDSHIP, Youthful.—[continued].
I find in old age that the impressions of youth are the deepest and
most indelible. Some friends, indeed, have
left me by the way, seeking by a different
political path the same object, their country's
good, which I pursued with the crowd along
the common highway. It is a satisfaction to
me that I was not the first to leave them. I
have never thought that a difference in political,
any more than in religious opinions,
should disturb the friendly intercourse of society.
There are so many other topics on
which friends may converse and be happy,
that it is wonderful they would select, of
preference, the only one on which they cannot
agree.—
To David Campbell. Washington ed. v, 499.
(M.
1810)
