The state of a person who quits a public station in order to be alone. Retirement is of great advantage to a wise man. To him "the hour of solitude is the hour of meditation. He communes with his own heart. He reviews the actions of his past life. He corrects what is amiss. He rejoices in what is right: and, wiser by experience, lays the plan of his future life. The great and the noble, the wise and the learned, the pious and the good, have been lovers of serious retirement. On this field the patriot forms his schemes, the philosopher pursues his discoveries, the saint improves himself in wisdom and goodness. Solitude is the hallowed ground which religion in every age has adopted as its own. There her sacred inspiration is felt, and her holy mysteries elevate the soul; there devotion lifts up the voice; there falls the tear of contrition; there the heart pours itself forth before him who made, and him who redeemed it. Apart from men, we live with nature, and converse with God." Logan's Sermons, vol. 2: ser. 2; Blair's Ser. ser. 9: vol. 1:; Bates's Rural Philosophy; Brewster's Recluse; Zimmerman on Solitude.