R O U 



477 



R O U 



HOL'SAY. See OKKNKV ISLANDS, Vol. XVJ. 



KOt.'SSK.U', .Ii: \N .1 a celebrated w, 



wit bora at Genet* on the 28th of June, 171-. Hn 



lather, : watchmaker by profession, was a citizen of* 

 :icva, and had such a taste lor literature, that he 

 constantly kept in his shop copies of I'lutan I 

 and Tacitus; and it is probable that a We of Icainm : 

 was imbibed by Rousseau from the conversation and 

 pursuits of his father. Its growth, however, was im- 

 peded by early habits of idleness and vice, which pre- 

 vented him from availing himself of those means of in- 

 struction which accident had thu* put in hi* power. He 

 was first apprenticed to an attorney, who discharged 

 him for his negligence; and having been next sent to 

 learn engraving, his master is said to have di-gustcd 

 him by his harshness ; a term which was probably much 

 misapplied. The dread of punishment for his vices drove 

 him from his father's house ; he introduced himself to 

 Borney, bishop of Annecy, and no doubt gained a hos- 

 pitable reception, under the pretence of becoming a 

 convert to the Catholic faith. The bishop committed 

 the young proselyte to the charge of a Madame de War- 

 rens, a well-informed, though unprincipled woman, who 

 had, in 17~fi, sacrificed part of her fortune by becom- 

 ing a Roman Catholic. This lady placed her pupil in a 

 Catholic seminary at Turin, where, after having his 

 conversion confirmed, he was sent into the world with 

 twenty florins in his pocket. As soon as he had ex- 

 hausted this little fund, he went into the service of a 

 countess, where he stole a ribbon, and laid the blame 

 upon an amiable young woman who lived in the house. 

 On the death of the countess he became a servant in the 

 family of a nobleman, whose son instructed him in li- 

 terature, and treated him as a companion. By his 

 misconduct, however, in this situation, he was dismis- 

 sed from his place, and took refuge under the roof of 

 Madame de Warrens, who, having formerly acted to- 

 wards him the part of a mother, now discharged the du- 

 ties of a lover. Desirous, however, of seeing him set- 

 tled in life, she got him appointed secretary to a com- 

 mission, organised by the king of Sardinia for survey- 

 ing lands ; and, in this situation, which he held for two 

 years, he devoted himself to the study of geometry 

 and music. The seductions, however, of the last of 

 these studies, soon made him renounce its graver com- 

 panion, and he resolved to follow music as a profes- 

 sion. The Abbe Blanchard having failed in procuring 

 for him a place in the chapel royal, Rousseau was re- 

 duced to the necessity of teaching music at Chamberry. 

 Here he spent eight years intimately connected with 

 Madame de Warrens ; but a coolness having arisen 

 between the lovers, probably from his infidelities, the 

 lady procured for him the situation of tutor to the chil- 

 dren of M. Mably, at Lyons, a situation which he had 

 not steadiness enough long to maintain. He accord- 

 ingly went to Paris in J7H, where he spent two years 

 in obscure and penurious circumstances, till, in 17^3, 

 his friends obtained for him the appointment of secre- 

 tary to M. de Montaigne, ambassador from the court 

 of France to Vienna. He soon, however, found an 

 opportunity of quarrelling with the ambassador ; and 

 returning to Paris, he supported himself by his musical 

 talents, and devoted much of his time to the study of 

 natural philosophy and botany, in the last of which sci- 

 ence he made great proficiency. He was soon after 

 appointed deputy to M. Dupin, one of the fanners- 

 general, and, from the profits of this situation, he was 



enabled to extend some pecuniary aid to Madame 

 de Warrens, who was now in necessitous circum- 

 stances. 



In the year 1718, when he was only 'M years old. 

 Rousseau began to experience the attack* of a painful 

 disease, which afflicted him during the re*t of hi* life, 

 and which induced him to confine himself more than he 

 had hitherto done to sedentary and literary occupa- 

 tions. 



Under these circumstances, he conceived the design 

 of writing for the prize which the academy of Dijon 

 had offered in 1750, for the best essay on ;he following 

 question, Whether the revival (>/' l/te Art* ami Science! 

 has contributed to the. refinement oj Manners? Rouseeau 

 was at first disposed to support the pretensions of the 

 sciences, but his friend Diderot urged him to adopt the 

 opposite line of argument, and promised him the suc- 

 cess which generally accompanies bold and extravagant 

 opinion". Rousseau accordingly wrote an elaborate 

 and ingenious attack upon the arts and >ciences ; and 

 such was the eloquence which it displayed, and the in- 

 genuity of its reasonings, that it was crowned by the 

 Academy, :md excited great interest in the literary 

 world. It was attacked, as might have been expected, 

 by various authors, among whom was Stani>iau?, king 

 of Poland ; and Rousseau was ridiculed on the stage of 

 Nancy in the Comcdie des Philosophes, the production of 

 Palis^ot, one of the members of the Academy. The king 

 of Poland, as Duke of Lorraine, desired Palissot to 

 write H letter of apology to Rousseau, and deprived him 

 of his place in the Academy; but Rousseau had the 

 good feeling to solicit, and the influence to obtain his 

 restoration. 



In the year 1752, Rousseau began to write for the 

 stage. He composed his Narcisse ou I'Am-utl de //'- 

 meme, and the musical piece of Le XX-uiii du Pillage, or 

 the Village Conjuror, the last of which had a success- 

 ful run at Paris, and has been much admired for the 

 simplicity and gaiety of its sentiment, the elegance of 

 its diction, and the suitableness of the words to the 

 music. His Lellre stir la Miuiqut Francaite, in which 

 he attempted to show that the French never had. and 

 never could have, any thing like vocal music, in conse- 

 quence of the defects of their language, followed the 

 above piece, and involved him in attacks and lampoons 

 of every kind. 



Having thus acquired great celebrity, he returned to 

 his native city to claim the admiration of his fellow 

 citizens. For this purpose he abjured the Catholic 

 faith, and was restored to the rights of a citizen of the 

 republic. Here he composed his Discours sur lex 

 Causes de I' Inegalite panni les Homines, el sur 1'Origine 

 des Socielcti, which he dedicated to the republic of Ge- 

 neva. As he had already derived so much fame from 

 the support of an ingenious paradox, he seems to have 

 confided too much in the goodnature of the public, 

 by continuing to do violence to the feelings of man- 

 kind, by opposing their common and best founded 

 opinions. In the discourse now mentioned, he en- 

 deavours to show that mankind are equal, that they 

 are born to live in a savage state, and that every social 

 compact is a deviation from the arrangements of nature. 

 Sentiments like these, and rhapsodies however elegant, 

 on the superiority of savage life, were not even fitted for 

 the meridian of a republic, and could not fail to i. 

 the sober citizens of Geneva. Our author accordingly 

 did not reside long in that city. From Paris, in which 

 he remained some time, he retired to Montmorency, 



