NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

This work differs from its companion volume in offering something more like a continuous personal history than was necessary in the case of such a man as Voltaire, the story of whose life may be found in more than one English book of repute. Of Rousseau there is, I believe, no full biographical account in our literature, and even France has nothing more complete under this head than Musset-Pathay's Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de J.J. Rousseau (1821). This, though a meritorious piece of labour, is extremely crude and formless in composition and arrangement, and the interpreting portions are devoid of interest.

The edition of Rousseau's works to which the references have been made is that by M. Auguis, in twenty-seven volumes, published in 1825 by Dalibon. In 1865 M. Streckeisen-Moultou published from the originals, which had been deposited in the library of Neuchâtel by Du Peyrou, the letters addressed to Rousseau by various correspondents. These two interesting volumes, which are entitled Rousseau, ses Amis et ses Ennemis, are mostly referred to under the name of their editor.

February, 1873.

The second edition in 1878 was revised; some portions were considerably shortened, and a few additional footnotes inserted. No further changes have been made in the present edition.

January, 1886.

[VOLUME I.]

[VOLUME II.]

[CONTENTS] OF VOL. I.

[CHAPTER I.]

Preliminary.

PAGE
The Revolution [1]
Rousseau its most direct speculative precursor [2]
His distinction among revolutionists [4]
His personality [5]

[CHAPTER II.]

Youth.

PAGE
Birth and descent [8]
Predispositions [10]
First lessons [11]
At M. Lambercier's [15]
Early disclosure of sensitive temperament [19]
Return to Geneva [20]
Two apprenticeships [26]
Flight from Geneva [30]
Savoyard proselytisers [31]
Rousseau sent to Anncey, and thence to Turin [34]
Conversion to Catholicism [35]
Takes service with Madame de Vercellis [39]
Then with the Count de Gouvon [42]
Returns to vagabondage [43]
And to Madame de Warens [45]

[CHAPTER III.]

Savoy.

PAGE
Influence of women upon Rousseau [46]
Account of Madame de Warens [48]
Rousseau takes up his abode with her [54]
His delight in life with her [54]
The seminarists [57]
To Lyons [58]
Wanderings to Freiburg, Neuchâtel, and elsewhere [60]
Through the east of France [62]
Influence of these wanderings upon him [67]
Chambéri [69]
Household of Madame de Warens [70]
Les Charmettes [73]
Account of his feeling for nature [79]
His intellectual incapacity at this time [83]
Temperament [84]
Literary interests, and method [85]
Joyful days with his benefactress [90]
To Montpellier: end of an episode [92]
Dates [94]

[CHAPTER IV.]

Theresa Le Vasseur.

PAGE
Tutorship at Lyons [95]
Goes to Paris in search of fortune [97]
His appearance at this time [98]
Made secretary to the ambassador at Venice [100]
His journey thither and life there [103]
Return to Paris [106]
Theresa Le Vasseur [107]
Character of their union [110]
Rousseau's conduct towards her [113]
Their later estrangements [115]
Rousseau's scanty means [119]
Puts away his five children [120]
His apologies for the crime [122]
Their futility [126]
Attempts to recover the children [128]
Rousseau never married to Theresa [129]
Contrast between outer and inner life [130]

[CHAPTER V.]

The Discourses.

PAGE
Local academies in France [132]
Circumstances of the composition of the first Discourse [133]
How far the paradox was original [135]
His visions for thirteen years [136]
Summary of the first Discourse [138]-145
Obligations to Montaigne [145]
And to the Greeks [145]
Semi-Socratic manner [147]
Objections to the Discourse [148]
Ways of stating its positive side [149]
Dangers of exaggerating this positive side [151]
Its excess [152]
Second Discourse [154]
Ideas of the time upon the state of nature [155]
Their influence upon Rousseau [156]
Morelly, as his predecessor [156]
Summary of the second Discourse [159]-170
Criticism of its method [171]
Objection from its want of evidence [172]
Other objections to its account of primitive nature [173]
Takes uniformity of process for granted [176]
In what the importance of the second Discourse consisted [177]
Its protest against the mockery of civilisation [179]
The equality of man, how true, and how false [180]
This doctrine in France, and in America [182]
Rousseau's Discourses, a reaction against the historic method [183]
Mably, and socialism [184]

[CHAPTER VI.]

Paris.

PAGE
Influence of Geneva upon Rousseau [187]
Two sides of his temperament [191]
Uncongenial characteristics of Parisian society [191]
His associates [195]
Circumstances of a sudden moral reform [196]
Arising from his violent repugnance for the manners of the time [202]
His assumption of a seeming cynicism [207]
Protests against atheism [209]
The Village Soothsayer at Fontainebleau [212]
Two anedotes of his moral singularity [214]
Revisits Geneva [216]
End of Madame de Warens [217]
Rousseau's re-conversion to Protestantism [220]
The religious opinions then current in Geneva [223]
Turretini and other rationalisers [226]
Effect upon Rousseau [227]
Thinks of taking up his abode in Geneva [227]
Madame d'Epinay offers him the Hermitage [229]
Retires thither against the protests of his friends [231]

[CHAPTER VII.]

The Hermitage.

PAGE
Distinction between the old and the new anchorite [234]
Rousseau's first days at the Hermitage [235]
Rural delirium [237]
Dislike of society [242]
Meditates work on Sensitive Morality [243]
Arranges the papers of the Abbé de Saint Pierre [244]
His remarks on them [246]
Violent mental crisis [247]
First conception of the New Heloïsa [250]
A scene of high morals [254]
Madame d'Houdetot [255]
Erotic mania becomes intensified [256]
Interviews with Madame d'Houdetot [258]
Saint Lambert interposes [262]
Rousseau's letter to Saint Lambert [264]
Its profound falsity [265]
Saint Lambert's reply [267]
Final relations with him and with Madame d'Houdetot [268]
Sources of Rousseau's irritability [270]
Relations with Diderot [273]
With Madame d'Epinay [276]
With Grimm [279]
Grimm's natural want of sympathy with Rousseau [282]
Madame d'Epinay's journey to Geneva [284]
Occasion of Rousseau's breach with Grimm [285]
And with Madame d'Epinay [288]
Leaves the Hermitage [289]

[CHAPTER VIII.]

Music.

PAGE
General character of Rousseau's aim in music [291]
As composer [292]
Contest on the comparative merits of French and Italian music [293]
Rousseau's Letter on French Music [293]
His scheme of musical notation [296]
Its chief element [298]
Its practical value [299]
His mistake [300]
Two minor objections [300]

[CHAPTER IX.]

Voltaire And D'Alembert.

PAGE
Position of Voltaire [302]
General differences between him and Rousseau [303]
Rousseau not the profounder of the two [305]
But he had a spiritual element [305]
Their early relations [308]
Voltaire's poem on the Earthquake of Lisbon [309]
Rousseau's wonder that he should have written it [310]
His letter to Voltaire upon it [311]
Points to the advantages of the savage state [312]
Reproduces Pope's general position [313]
Not an answer to the position taken by Voltaire [314]
Confesses the question insoluble, but still argues [316]
Curious close of the letter [318]
Their subsequent relations [319]
D'Alembert's article on Geneva [321]
The church and the theatre [322]
Jeremy Collier: Bossuet [323]
Rousseau's contention on stage plays [324]
Rude handling of commonplace [325]
The true answer to Rousseau as to theory of dramatic morality [326]
His arguments relatively to Geneva [327]
Their meaning [328]
Criticism on the Misanthrope [328]
Rousseau's contrast between Paris and an imaginary Geneva [329]
Attack on love as a poetic theme [332]
This letter, the mark of his schism from the party of the philosophers [336]

[CONTENTS] OF VOL. II.

[VOLUME II.]

[CHAPTER I.]

Montmorency—The New Heloïsa.

Conditions preceding the composition of the New Heloïsa [1]

The Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg [2]

Rousseau and his patrician acquaintances [4]

Peaceful life at Montmorency [9]

Equivocal prudence occasionally shown by Rousseau [12]

His want of gratitude for commonplace service [13]

Bad health, and thoughts of suicide [16]

Episode of Madame Latour de Franqueville [17]

Relation of the New Heloïsa to Rousseau's general doctrine [20]

Action of the first part of the story [25]

Contrasted with contemporary literature [25]

And with contemporary manners [27]

Criticism of the language and principal actors [28], [29]

Popularity of the New Heloïsa [31]

Its reactionary intellectual direction [33]

Action of the second part [35], [36]

Its influence on Goethe and others [38]

Distinction between Rousseau and his school [40]

Singular pictures of domesticity [42]

Sumptuary details [44]

The slowness of movement in the work justified [46]

Exaltation of marriage [47]

Equalitarian tendencies [49]

Not inconsistent with social quietism [51]

Compensation in the political consequences of the triumph of sentiment [54]

Circumstances of the publication of the New Heloïsa [55]

Nature of the trade in books [57]

Malesherbes and the printing of Emilius [61]

Rousseau's suspicions [62]

The great struggle of the moment [64]

Proscription of Emilius [67]

Flight of the author [67]

[CHAPTER II.]

Persecution.

Rousseau's journey from Switzerland [69]

Absence of vindictiveness [70]

Arrival at Yverdun [72]

Repairs to Motiers [73]

Relations with Frederick the Great [74]

Life at Motiers [77]

Lord Marischal [79]

Voltaire [81]

Rousseau's letter to the Archbishop of Paris [83]

Its dialectic [86]

The ministers of Neuchâtel [90]

Rousseau's singular costume [92]

His throng of visitors [93]

Lewis, prince of Würtemberg [95]

Gibbon [96]

Boswell [98]

Corsican affairs [99]

The feud at Geneva [102]

Rousseau renounces his citizenship [105]

The Letters from the Mountain [106]

Political side [107]

Consequent persecution at Motiers [107]

Flight to the isle of St. Peter [108]

The fifth of the Rêveries [109]

Proscription by the government of Berne [116]

Rousseau's singular request [116]

His renewed flight [117]

Persuaded to seek shelter in England [118]

[CHAPTER III.]

The Social Contract.

Rousseau's reaction against perfectibility [119]

Abandonment of the position of the Discourses [121]

Doubtful idea of equality [121]

The Social Contract, a repudiation of the historic method [124]

Yet it has glimpses of relativity [127]

Influence of Greek examples [129]

And of Geneva [131]

Impression upon Robespierre and Saint Just [132]

Rousseau's scheme implied a small territory [135]

Why the Social Contract made fanatics [137]

Verbal quality of its propositions [138]

The doctrine of public safety [143]

The doctrine of the sovereignty of peoples [144]

Its early phases [144]

Its history in the sixteenth century [146]

Hooker and Grotius [148]

Locke [149]

Hobbes [151]

Central propositions of the Social Contract—
1. Origin of society in compact [154]
Different conception held by the Physiocrats [156]
2. Sovereignty of the body thus constituted [158]
Difference from Hobbes and Locke [159]
The root of socialism [160]
Republican phraseology [161]
3. Attributes of sovereignty [162]
4. The law-making power [163]
A contemporary illustration [164]
Hints of confederation [166]
5. Forms of government [168]
Criticism on the common division [169]
Rousseau's preference for elective aristocracy [172]
6. Attitude of the state to religion [173]
Rousseau's view, the climax of a reaction [176]
Its effect at the French Revolution [179]
Its futility [180]
Another method of approaching the philosophy of government—
Origin of society not a compact [183]
The true reason of the submission of a minority to a majority [184]
Rousseau fails to touch actual problems [186]
The doctrine of resistance, for instance [188]
Historical illustrations [190]
Historical effect of the Social Contract in France and Germany [193]
Socialist deductions from it [194]

[CHAPTER IV.]

Emilius.

Rousseau touched by the enthusiasm of his time [197]

Contemporary excitement as to education, part of the revival of naturalism [199]

I.—Locke, on education [202]
Difference between him and Rousseau [204]
Exhortations to mothers [205]
Importance of infantile habits [208]
Rousseau's protest against reasoning with children [209]
Criticised [209]
The opposite theory [210]
The idea of property [212]
Artificially contrived incidents [214]
Rousseau's omission of the principle of authority [215]
Connected with his neglect of the faculty of sympathy [219]
II.—Rousseau's ideal of living [221]
The training that follows from it [222]
The duty of knowing a craft [223]
Social conception involved in this moral conception [226]
III.—Three aims before the instructor [229]
Rousseau's omission of training for the social conscience [230]
No contemplation of society as a whole [232]
Personal interest, the foundation of the morality of Emilius [233]
The sphere and definition of the social conscience [235]
IV.—The study of history [237]
Rousseau's notions upon the subject [239]
V.—Ideals of life for women [241]
Rousseau's repudiation of his own principles [242]
His oriental and obscurantist position [243]
Arising from his want of faith in improvement [244]
His reactionary tendencies in this region eventually neutralised [248]
VI.—Sum of the merits of Emilius [249]
Its influence in France and Germany [251]
In England [252]

[CHAPTER V.]

The Savoyard Vicar.

Shallow hopes entertained by the dogmatic atheists [256]

The good side of the religious reaction [258]

Its preservation of some parts of Christian influence [259]

Earlier forms of deism [260]

The deism of the Savoyard Vicar [264]

The elevation of man, as well as the restoration of a divinity [265]

A divinity for fair weather [268]

Religious self-denial [269]

The Savoyard Vicar's vital omission [270]

His position towards Christianity [272]

Its effectiveness as a solvent [273]

Weakness of the subjective test [276]

The Savoyard Vicar's deism not compatible with growing intellectual conviction [276]

The true satisfaction of the religious emotion [277]

[CHAPTER VI.]

England.

Rousseau's English portrait [281]

His reception in Paris [282]

And in London [283]

Hume's account of him [284]

Settlement at Wootton [286]

The quarrel with Hume [287]

Detail of the charges against Hume [287]-291

Walpole's pretended letter from Frederick [291]

Baselessness of the whole delusion [292]

Hume's conduct in the quarrel [293]

The war of pamphlets [295]

Common theory of Rousseau's madness [296]

Preparatory conditions [297]

Extension of disorder from the affective life to the intelligence [299]

The Confessions [301]

His life at Wootton [306]

Flight from Derbyshire [306]

And from England [308]

[CHAPTER VII.]

The End.

The elder Mirabeau [309]

Shelters Rousseau at Fleury [311]

Rousseau at Trye [312]

In Dauphiny [314]

Return to Paris [314]

The Rêveries [315]

Life in Paris [316]

Bernardin de St. Pierre's account of him [317]

An Easter excursion [320]

Rousseau's unsociality [322]

Poland and Spain [324]

Withdrawal to Ermenonville [326]

His death [326]

[INDEX]