PLACE DE LA CROIX. 243 



a now world. Of such was Rousseau. It requires lit- 

 tle imagination to understand the disappointment that 

 such a man would meet with in the forest, and as an 

 intruder of the untractable red man. The exalted no- 

 tions of Rousseau ended in despondence, when away from 

 the pomp and influence of his church. Having lieen 

 nurtured in the " Eternal City," he had not the zeal, 

 and lacked the principle, to become an humble teacher 

 to humbler recipients of knowledge. 



Disregarding his priestly office, he finally mingled 

 in the dissipations of society, and in the year 173G, 

 started off as a military companion to D'Arteguette in 

 his expedition among the Chickasas. 



The death of D'Arteguette and his bravest troops, 

 and the dispersion of his Indian allies, left Rousseau a 

 wanderer, surrounded by implacable enemies, he being 

 one of the few who escaped the fate of battle. 



Unaccustomed to forest life, and more than a thousand 

 miles from the Canadas, he became a prey of imaginary 

 and real dangers. Unprovided with arms, his food was 

 of roots or herbs. At night the wild beasts howled 

 round his cold couch, and every stump in the daytime 

 seemed to him to conceal an Indian. 



Now it was, that Rousseau reviewed the incidents of 

 his past life with sorrow. lie discovered, when it was 

 too late, that he had lost his peace of mind, and his 

 hopes of future existence, for a momentary enjoyment. 

 Wasting with watching and hunger, ho prayed to the 



