Christian Hermits or the Lives of Several Distinguished Solitaries from the Earliest Ages of the Christian Church until the 8th Century (1845)

With extracts, both in prose and verse, from the "Fathers of the Desert's," literary remains. The retirement of single individuals from the world, and their voluntary abandonment of every thing like social enjoyment and comfort, forms a curious, and in some points of view, an interesting feature in the early ages of Christianity. At first sight, there is certainly something unnatural and fanatic in this seclusion; but a closer inquiry into the nature of religion and the secret springs of human action may lead one to avoid any rash and unqualified censure upon such voluntary expatriations from social and civil duties and enjoyments.