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Against this string of proverbs, all running in one direction, we may set off the Scotch saying,—

They are aye gude that are far awa'

and this French one: "A little absence does much good."ssss1 Without affirming too absolutely that—

Friends agree best at a distance—

which was a proverb before Rochefoucauld wrote it down among his maxims—we may admit that "To preserve friendship a wall must be put between" (French);ssss1 and that "A hedge between keeps friendship green" (German).ssss1 "Love your neighbour, but do not pull down the hedge" (German).ssss1 "There are certain limits of sociality, and prudent reserve and absence may find a place in the management of the tenderest relations."—(Friends in Council.) This lesson the Spaniards embody in two proverbs, bidding you "Go to your aunt's (or your brother's) house, but not every day."ssss1 Friends meet with more pleasure after a short separation. "The imagination," says Montaigne, "embraces more fervently and constantly what it goes in search of than what one has at hand. Count up your daily thoughts, and you will find that you are most absent from your friend when you have him with you. His presence relaxes your attention, and gives your thoughts liberty to absent themselves at every turn and upon every occasion."