the filent fhade of fome fequeftered spot far removed from all connection with mankind. A PERSON may be frequently folitary without being alone. The haughty Baron, proud of his illuftrious descent,is folitary unless he is surrounded by his equals; a profound reafoner is folitary at the tables of the witty and the gay. The mind may be as abstracted amidst a numerous affembly, as much withdrawn from every surrounding object, as retired and concentrated in itself, as folitary, in fhort, as a monk in his cloister, or a hermit in his cave. Solitude, indeed, may exist amidst the tumultuous intercourfe of an agitated city, as well as in the peaceful fhades of rural retirement; at London and at Paris, as well as on the plains of Thebes and the deferts of Nitria.+ THE * And alfo, according to the well known line, "Nunquam "minus folus quàm folus," never lefs alone than when alone. + "The Solitude," fays Montaigne, which I am fond of myfelf, and recommend to others, is that which enables me to withdraw my affections and thoughts into myself so as to restrain and check my defires and cares without impeding my proceedings. To fay the truth, LOCAL SOLITUDE rather expands and fets me at large: I the more willingly embark in the affairs of state, and in the business of the world, when I am alone. At the Louvre, and in the crowd of the court, I keep within my own fphere; the throng makes me retire into myself; and I never entertain myself so wantonly, fo licentiously, and fo fingularly, as in places of refpect and ceremonious prudence. I am conftitu tionally THE mind, when withdrawn from external objects, adopts, freely and extensively, the dictates of its own ideas, and implicitly follows the taste, the temperament, the inclination, and the genius, of its poffeffor. Sauntering through the cloisters of the Magdalen Convent at Hidelsheim, I could not obferve, without a fmile, an aviary of Canary birds, which had been bred in the cell of a female devotee. A gentleman of Brabant lived five-andtwenty years without ever going out of his houfe, entertaining himself during that long period with forming a magnificent cabinet of pictures and paintings. Even unfortunate captives, who are doomed to perpetual imprisonment, may soften the rigours of their fate, by refigning themselves, as far as their fituation will permit, to the ruling paffion of their fouls. Michael Ducret, the Swiss philofopher, while he was confined in the castle of Aarburg, in the canton of Berne, in Swifferland, measured the height of the Alps: and while the mind of Baron Trenck, during his imprisonment B 2 tionally no enemy to the bustle of a court. I have spent part of my life, and am capable of behaving cheerfully in great companies, provided it bé now and then, and at my own times: but there is an effeminacy of manners, a puerility of judgment, prevailing there that attaches me by force to SOLITUDE."-Mont. Eff. B. 3. Ch. 3. And in another Effay he obferves, "True Solitude is such as may be enjoyed even in populous cities, and the courts of kings, though more commodiously apart." B. 1. imprisonment at Magdebourg, was, with inceffant anxiety, fabricating projects to effect his efcape, General Walrave, the companion of his captivity, contentedly paffed his time in feeding chickens.* THE human mind, in proportion as it is deprived of external resources, fedulously labours to find itself the means of happiness, learns to rely with confidence on its own exertions, and gains, with greater certainty, the power of being happy. A WORK, therefore, on the fubject of SOLITUDE, appeared to me likely to facilitate MAN in his fearch after true felicity. UNWORTHY, however, as the diffipation and pleasures of the world appear to me to be of the avidity with which they are pursued, I equally disapprove of the extravagant fyftem which inculcates a total direliction of fociety, which will be found, when seriously examined, to be equally romantic and impracticable. To be able to live independently of all affiftance, except from our own powers, is, I acknowledge, a noble effort of the human mind; but it is equally great and dignified to *To these instances we may add that of the celebrated Vol taire, who, while confined in the Bastille, without any hope of emancipation, compofed his poem of THE HENRIADE. to learn the art of enjoying the comforts of society with happiness to ourselves, and with utility to others. WHILE, therefore, I exhort my readers to listen to the advantages of occafional retirement, I warn them against that dangerous excess into which fome of the disciples of this philosophy have fallen; an excess equally repugnant to REASON and RELIGION.* May I happily fteer through all the dangers with which my subject is surrounded; facrifice nothing to prejudice; offer no violation to truth; and gain the approbation of the judicious and reflecting! If affliction shall feel one ray of comfort, or melancholy, released from a portion of its horrors, raise its downcast head; if I fhall convince the lover of rural life, that all the finer fprings of pleasure dry up and decay in the intense joys of crowded cities, and that the warmest emotions of the heart become there cold and torpid; if I fhall evince the fuperior pleasures of the country; how many resources rural life affords against the languors of indolence; what purity of fentiment, what peaceful repose, what exalted happiness, is B 3 infpired * "A total retreat from the world," fays a learned Divine, "is fo far from being, as the Roman Catholic Church holds, the perfection of RELIGION, that, fome particular cases excepted, it is no other than the abuse of it." Blair, Sermon IX. infpired by verdant meads, and the view of lively flocks quitting their rich pastures to feek, with the declining fun, their evening folds; how highly the romantic scenery of a wild and striking country, interspersed with cottages, the habitations of a happy, free, contented race of men, elevates the foul; how far more interesting to the heart are the joyful occupations of rural industry, than the dull and taftelefs entertainments of a diffipated city; how much more easily, in short, the most excruciating forrows are pleafingly fubdued on the fragrant border of a peaceful stream, than in the midst of those treacherous delights which occupy the courts of kings; all my wishes will be accomplished, and my happiness complete. RETIREMENT from the world may prove peculiarly beneficial at two periods of life: In YOUTH, to acquire the rudiments of useful information, to lay the foundation of the character intended to be pursued, and to obtain that train of thought which is to guide us through life: In AGE, to caft a retrofpective view on the course we have to run; to reflect on the events we have obferved, the viciffitudes we have experienced; to enjoy the flowers we have gathered on the way, and to congratulate ourselves upon the tempefts we have furvived. Lord Bolingbroke, in his "Idea of a Patriot King,” fays, there is not a more profound nor a finer ob fervation |