But when that delightful tranquillity of mind, which an excess of social pleasure has impaired or destroyed, is not restored to its original purity by the uninterrupted quietude of seclusion, it may fairly be concluded, that there is some natural and constitutional defect, that defeats the remedy, and prevents the soul from tasting that serenity which is so essential to the enjoyment of human happiness. Under such circumstances it is dangerous to indulge the pleasures of solitude; the sufferer should fly back to society; cultivate the duties of active life, and solicit, with temperate indulgence, its more agreeable enjoyments. For, although the pleasures and occupations of the world cannot eradicate this species of intellectual disease, they may, by being judiciously followed, suspend its progress, and alleviate its pangs. That case must always be desperate, when the antidote is too weak to reach the poison, or to counteract its operation. A pious resignation to his fate can alone afford relief.
“Oh! as it pleases thee, thou Power Supreme,
To drive my bark thro’ life’s more rapid stream,
If lowering storms my destin’d course attend,
And ocean rage ’til this black voyage shall end,
Let ocean rage, and storms indignant roar,
I bow submissive and resign’d adore:
Resign’d adore, in various changes tri’d;
Thy own lov’d Son my anchor and my guide:
Resign’d adore, whate’er thy will decree;