The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1868-07-03
Forthe -Kgts Dc Iateuigencer.
Solitude.

1t is good, sometimes, to retreat from "the
hum and shock of men," to hold eommu-
MON with the memories, the hopes, the dis
appointments of the individual mind. To
such exercises the popular judgment, which
is generally .fallaeious, has applied the name
OF "sotitude." In the popular sense affixed to
the word, no such state exists for man
as solitude. So Byron must have conclu-
ded, when he wrote that line,
at rs not solitude to be alone"
W'kile, therefore, I use the word solitude,
/ desire to warn the reader, it is not in the
ready money of FOOLS" and they use them
with no idea of their true value.
Do not then esteem me an egotist, when
I profess to find in solitude, at times, the
most delightful society. That / reckon
among the selitudes of my life, many of its
most pleasant experiences. That l have
found them, thronged with hopes, as spark
ling and evanescent as the bubbles of the
incoming wave. With visions, as glowing
as poet ever imagined, or artist sketched
with fairy castles, as magnificent and as un-
real as chat created by Aladdin's lamp
That solitude has been the entrance to
The shapes of joy and Voc
The airy crowds Of long ago;
The dreams and fances known Of yoie."
1t is melancholy fact that such society,".
if INDUCED in to eTcess, becomes wearisome.
For man is gregarious ANIMAL and soli
tude is not his normal condition. But, be-
cause vegetables are desirable for our gar
dens and tables, shall we refuse the orna-
mental beauty of flowers for our lawns g.
But, because sugar plums are not esteemed
nc or NJ rtt rlo of ohon
to acknowledge their Sweetness ,
It is, doubtless, arise arrangement oi'
Providence, which makes necessary to
mans happiness, human intercourse-hu-
man sympathy. That makes each heart
seek sympathy in another heart. That
makes, to certain degree, ''like beget
like" That makes friendship welcome to
the veriest skeptic in matters Of the heart
who finds that
at soothes-if half untrue"
But, because the fate of Robinson
Crusoe is not to be desired, shall we refuse
to confess the inexpressible delight with
which we should visit tropical island,
with its wealth of verdure, its glowing
skies, its novel sights and sounds. So,
though we desire not to live the lives of
hermits, yet we find, occasionally, to be
alone, what the world calls solitude, YER
dant oasis in the desert of life.
There are what may be termed special
solitudes into which the footsteps of even
our friends should not be audible-secret
chambers of meditation through which the
spirit Of man should be permitted to wan
der alone.
love the solitude of city church be-
fore its congregation assemblies. To sit
alone within the encircling influence of its
holy walls, q say holy walls, because be-
lieve in cultivating the bump of reverenceO
the noise of the outer world falls with
subdued and softened effect upon the ear.
1t may well seem to the imaginative, the
moan of suffering, of sinful humanity, the
cry of bruised, of breaking hearts. A
calmness steals over me at such times
Faint image ofithe peace which comes over
the tumultuous passions of the true wor-
shipper at "the mercy seat, "a peace which
passeth understanding" Many an clio.
quent sermon have the silent walls of
church preached for me. Many an inspi-
ration have they breathed into me, after
the good, the pure, the true, the lovely
No divine has eloquence so effective upon
my heart as the solitude of a city church.
I know nothing more impressive in visiting
o Roman Catholic Church, (his religious
have wisely made the senses
vehicles of religious Instruction., than the
glimpses we sometimes have of the figure
Of a woman or man kneeling in solitary
prayer. When visit the graves of those