Botanical Letters from J. J. Rousseau to M. Gouan. 247 



hands, are the two following letters from Jean Jacques Rous- 

 seau. 



Whatever may have heen the faults and the foibles of this 

 otherwise eminent man, thus much is certain, that, in the cha- 

 racter of a botanist, he has always shown himself to be 

 thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the science, and 

 that in these letters, penned confidentially, and never intended 

 for the public eye, he has written with a degree of modesty, 

 and a diffidence in his own knowledge, which is seldom found 

 in persons of much inferior acquirements. They are dated 

 from Dauphine in Savoy, in the year 1 769, eight years before 

 his death, during the period when he concealed his real name 

 under that of Renon, when returning from England, disgust- 

 ed with the world, he sought for amusement and health in in- 

 vestigating and studying the vegetable creation in the beauti- 

 ful alpine district just alluded to ; and we think that they will 

 be found to strengthen the remark made by Sir J. E. Smith, 

 under his article Rousseau, in Rees 1 Cyclopaedia, that " botany 

 had spread a charm over the latter years of this distinguished 

 man, and soothed their real and imaginary evils,' 1 and that 

 " whenever he touches on this favourite subject in his writ- 

 ings, he communicates the same charm to his readers." 



The effect which was produced by the letters on botany of 

 J. J. Rousseau, in giving popularity to the Linnaean system of 

 botany in France, is well known ; and even in this country, we 

 could scarcely mention any truly elementary work which has 

 been more generally read and admired, or which appears 

 more calculated to encourage a taste for the science, especially 

 among young students. 



W. J. H. 



A Bourgoin en Dauphine, 28th May 1769. 

 Cest trop longtems, Monsieur, profitter en silence de vos 

 bonte's et de vos dons. Jc ny suis pas moins sensible, je 

 vous proteste, que si je vous en avois remercie bien frequ em- 

 inent ; mais le retard de la premiere lettre dont vous m'avez 

 honore, et qui He me parvint que plusieurs mois apres 

 sa date, a fait un premier tort involontairc que la honte et 

 Tembarras ont multiplie. Mieux vaut tard que jamais, et il 



