"Come with me this night, and whatever happen I 'll befriend you," said Mary.
"The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)"
Charles James Lever
But, although the maintenance of a high rate of wages is so great an object of public solicitude, it was an object which it was, in McCulloch's judgment, outside the State's province, simply because it was outside its power, to do anything directly to promote, because while authority could fix a price for labour, it could never compel employers to engage labour at that price; and consequently its interference in such a way would only end in injury to the class it sought to befriend, as well as to the trade of the country in general.
"Contemporary Socialism"
John Rae
Who has not wounded their best friends in trying to befriend them?
"The Mystery of the Locks"
Edgar Watson Howe