The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-10-28
An Essay on Solitude.

VRledictOry Address Read by Miss Mary
McRetlmond of Ascension ut the Con-
vent of the Sacred Heart.
Parish Of st. James, La, July 10, 1882.
Sweet solitude! love thy shade,
love to pause as opens my career,
To view the checquered path before me LAID,
And turn to maditate-to hope-to fear.
How feR thars arasxhn love thy shade. How
few there are who find pleasures in retirement!
All! how true it is that the greater number
dread the idea of thus being alone-buried IN
seclusion. The cloister appears to them some
thing unnatural and terrible. They can not un-
derstand how the young abandon the pleasures
and enjoyments of the world and embrace life
of retirement, wherein their imagination pic
happiness, they ask, be found in life of seclu-
sion? How can man find delight in being alone?
Such are the inquiries of many. And yet, ex-
perience-what does it say? All! that solitude,
far from being burdensome, over1ows with
pleasures and delights. Here the heart, un-
shackled by earthly solicitude. soars to God.
To cultivated mind. to one seeking the good,
the beautiful and the true, it abounds with en-
joyment.
Inc lover Oh NATURE LiISAh LII tllC e4udAACoS Lie
sect subject Of admiration. He sees In the
delicate flower that freights the air with its rich
perfume living record of created wisdom. Its
symmetrical proportions, the variety OF Its
shades, the delicate penciling of its lovely CO.
rolla, its fragrance, all are pleasing to him-he
is enchanted.
Then again, the azure vault stretching above
him with its starry worlds dazzles his eyes.
When, even in depths of night, he would admire
the works OF God, this view is to him far more
sublime than it is to the common spectator who
dwells amid turmoil and strife. It expands his
heart and creates within him an instructive
longing for the beautiful world beyond.
Each Of natures marvellous works has music
all it's own which captivates hearts made only
for God and speaks to them of His goodness and
love.
All! truly, solitude has its charms.
This assertion can be proved by the testimony
of all ages. The patriarchs, the prophets, those
favorites of Heaven. lived in solitude. and
their greatest delight was to discover God In
His works. The hermits Of the Theban desert
offer us another precious testimony of the hap
piness of seclusion. We see monks and virgins
in all ages of christianity, who, flying from the
fleeting. fimsy joys Of earth, peopled solitude
and passed their lives in peace and joy, COM
muning with nature and natures God.
Since, then, SO many of the wisest and most
learned have sought solitude, how can those who
have never felt its charms declaim against it?
Besides, has not science herself emanated and
been perfected in solitude? For, does not the
record of ages point to the period when man
neglected the cultivation of the mind and igno'
rance reigned in the courts Of kings, the knight
boasting that not even his name could he write:
All! then it was that science found secure
refuge in the solitary cells of monks devoted to
mayer and the Investigation Of Gods works
She would have perished had not she found 8
home in solitude, for did they not in their re-
treats labor necessarily. day by day, translatine
manuscripts and saving precious relics from be.
ing buried in oblivion?
All! YES, it is in solitude that some holy per
sons still cultivate the noble gift of God. pre-
serving It in it's pristine splendor and after
| wards causing it to shine more brilliantly.
| Nothing that God has created in this materia
| world is unimportant. for each of nature:
works tends to raise his thoughts above thit
| vale of tears. Very many. therefore. are The
charms OF fseclusion to those who beholc
| God in His works.
| O, lovely solitude, how few understand you
How few appreciate your attractions, notwith
standing the many joys, the quiet peace ant
happiness offered by you to those who seek th'
good, the beautiful and the true. In your bosom
the mind, tired of the vanities of false world
finds quiet dwelling where it may repose, ant
the soul that desires to live in perfect unio,
with it's God finds its greatest felicity.
The young girl in her search for knowledge
seeks it in conventual seclusion, where lovin,
guides conduct her through the lahyrintkia'