MISANTHROPY.

THIS peculiar trait of human nature, which leads some to withdraw themselves from a friendly association with the rest of mankind, is rare, and we are thankful for it. It is so seldom seen, that to a majority it is a thing of the past, and supposed by them to have perished with the writers who so fully described some remarkable examples of it long years ago. But in a mild form it exists at the present time, and has found its way into the sanctum of the student. We have in our little world well-marked examples of this mild misanthrope, holding himself aloof from the companionship of his classmates; forming none of those friendships which add so much to the pleasure of college life; moving within a charmed circle, the limit to which he has himself described, and inside of which he invites no one to come. Like the famed chameleon, basking in the light of his own brilliancy, but losing these bright tints and assuming one of a duller sort when any one approaches, so our recluse draws about him his mantle of chilling reserve if any one ventures to break in upon his privacy, and with some well-worded excuse is gone, leaving one to wonder how he can ever break through this coldness, which, like a coat of icy mail, repels all advances of a friendly sort. It may be that some are so inclined that to their minds this solitude is real pleasure, but we can hardly think so; to us there is no state so utterly desolate. If, as sometimes happens, any one is driven into solitude by some uncontrollable feeling of remorse, and, like that remarkable misanthrope, Timon of Athens, seek the woods, there may be enjoyment there, surrounded by all the beauties of nature, and he may make friends of these, and pass a pleasant existence. But surrounded by a crowd, as here, ready to join in adding to the comfort and pleasure of all their friends, it is an unnecessary freak, and only the outcropping of an intense egotism and vanity, adopted for the sake of attaining a notoriety, and adds nothing to him in the estimation of his classmates. The dignity of this self-sought reserve is one-sided, and viewed from another point is but a poor show, revealing only moroseness and a general appearance of ill-will.

Not only does each one of its devotees deprive himself of much pleasure, but also of a great addition to his personal knowledge; for no education, however rich in book lore, is complete without a knowledge of the world; and where can it be better studied? From his lookout all is unfavorable, and humanity assumes a dimension in perfect keeping with the diminutive measure applied by his mind, cramped from being bound within itself. How much such a result is to be dreaded by any one whose professed object is the acquisition of a liberal education, need not further be indicated; for the narrow-mindedness which prevents one from taking an extended view of the necessary conditions of a successful life, and which leads him to place a barrier between himself and his associates, ought to be strenuously guarded against by all such, and he should endeavor, by a more friendly association with his friends, to call into action those hidden springs of feeling which all possess to a greater or less degree, needing only culture to form the strong ties of friendships which are as oases along the otherwise desert path of life.

Q. A.