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CONSIDERED WITH

RESPECT TO ITS INFLUENCE

ON THE

MIND AND THE HEART.

Written originally in German,
By M. ZIMMERMAN,

Aulic Counsellor and Phyfician to his Britannic Majesty at Hanover

Tranflated from the French of J. B. MERCIER.

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,

THE LIFE OF ZIMMERMAN,

SOLITUDE où je trouve une douceur fecrète
Lieux que j'aimai toujours, ne pourrai-je jamais,
Loin du monde et du bruit, gouter l'ombre et le frais?
Oh! qui m'arrêtera fous vos fombres afyles?

Quand pourront les Neuf Sweurs, loin des cours et des villes,
M'occuper tout entier.

LA FONTAINE,,

Le Songe d'un Habitant du Alogel, L. XI. Fable IV.

BOSTON:

PRINTED FOR JOSEPH BUMSTEAD,
(Printer and Bookfeller)

Sold by him at No. 20, Union-Street-and by
Bookfellers in various parts of the United States.

OF THE

French Tranflator.

THE title of this work will perhaps give

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fome alarm to delicate ears: the word "SOLITUDE” may infpire melancholy and unfavorable ideas; it is However only neceffary to read a few pages to be undeceived. The author is not one of thofe extrav agant Mifanthropes who would compel mankind, born for fociety, and connected with it by a variety of indiffoluble ties, to retire into forefts, to inhabit dens and caves, and to live only with wild beasts; he is a friend to humanity, a fenfible and virtuous individual, an honest citizen, honored by the esteem of his Prince, who endeavors to enlighten the minds. of his fellow-creatures upon a fubject the most interefting to them-the attainment of Happiness.

No writer ever appeared more completely fatisfied that man is born for fociety, or feems to have better studied all the focial duties of life, than M. Zimmerman. But what is fociety? What are the focial duties of life? Thefe are the queftions which the author examines. The important characters of Father, Hufband, Son, and Citizen, impofe on Man certain indifpenfable obligations which are ever dear to the virtuous heart; they establish between him, his country, and his family, relations too neceflary and too agreeable to be neglected. It is not, how

ever, in tumultuous joys, in the noify pleafures of public entertainments, in blindly following the chimeras of ambition, the illufions of felf.love, or the fpeculations of defire, that men must expect to feel the charms of thofe reciprocal ties which unite them to fociety; to perceive the dignity of thofe duties which nature made productive of fo many pleasures; to taste that true felicity which is accompanied by independence and content; a felicity fo feldom defired only because it is fo little known, but which every man may cultivate within his own breast.

Alas, who has not frequently experienced the. neceffity of entering into that facred afylum as a refuge from the misfortunes of life, or as a relief from the fatigues of fatiated pleafures? Yes, all men, from the fordid fchemer who daily finks under the weight of his labors, to the proud ftatefman intoxicated by the incenfe of popular applaufe, experience the defire of terminating their precarious career; every bofom feels an anxiety for repofe; every mind fondly withes to teal from the vortex of a bufy and unquiet life, to enjoy tranquillity in the folitude of retirement. Under the peaceful fhades of Solitude the mind of man regenerates, and his faculties acquire new force it is there alone that the happy can enjoy the fullness of felicity, or the miferable forget his woe; it is there that the bofom of fenfibility experiences its moft delicious emotions; that creative genius frees itself from the fhackles of fociety, and darts forth the warmest rays of imagination; all the ideas of our minds, every inclination of our hearts, lean toward this defired goal. There is indeed," (fays a fenfible Englishman) "fcarcely any writer who has not celebrated the happiness of rural privacy, and delighted himself and his readers with. the melody of birds, the whifper of groves, and the murmur of rivulets; nor any man eminent for extent of capacity, or greatnefs of exploits, that has not left behind him fome memorials of lonely wif dom and filent dignity."

The part of the work to which I am most attach

ed is particularly addreffed to the attention of Youth; it is to them that it will perhaps be molt ufeful, and I fondly flatter myfelf that to their minds it will also afford the highest pleasure. Young myfelf and fenfible of the truly beautiful, I felt myfelf led on by the charms of a work which elevated my mind, warmed my imagination, and touched my heart. May it produce the fame effects upon my young countrymen! May it, notwithstanding the weakness of this tranflation, infpire them with the fame enthufiafm! At least I may venture to exclaim in the words of M. Zimmerman, "Dear and virtuous young man, into whofe hands this book perchance may fall, receive with affection the good which it contains, and reject all that is cold and bad; all that does not touch and penetrate the heart; but if you thank me for the performance, if you bless me, if you acknow-ledge that I have enlightened your mind, corrected your manners, and tranquilized your heart, I fhall congratulate myfelf on the fincerity of my intentions, and think my labors richly rewarded. If, in purfuing it, you find yourfelf able to juftify your incli nation for a wife and active Solitude, your averfion from those focieties which only ferve to deftroy time, and your repugnance to employ vile and fhameful means in the acquifition of riches, I fhall afk no other benediction for my work.".

It will perhaps appear furprifing that, entertaining fo high a veneration for the writings of M. Zimmerman, I could permit myfelf with profane hand to retrench the greater part of his work; permit me therefore to disclose the reasons which influen ced my conduct. Four large volumes on the fubject of SOLITUDE, appeared to me to be a work too arduous for the generality of French readers, and particularly for French bookfellers to undertake; for even this fhort Effay, without the recommendation of M. L, Tourneur, could not have acquired the honor of the Prefs. Befide, though the whole work bears the marks of genius, and the two firft volumes which principally treat of monaftic Solitude, contain

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