158 ROUSSEAU. 



himself, or power of crossing his inclinations, to un- 

 dergo this scene, and he very indecorously as well as 

 very foolishly ran away to Paris early in the morning. 

 From the Court, however, and the musical engravers, 

 he received between two and three hundred louis, as 

 much as the c Emile ' afterwards brought him, for the 

 fruit of twenty years' labour. The piece deserved its 

 success. Nothing can be more light and gay than both 

 the simple plan, the pretty songs, and the lively, graceful 

 airs. It seems to have all the excellence that a perform- 

 ance of this inferior class can well attain. Next year 

 his * Narcissus,' a drama, was given at the * Fran^ais ;' 

 and though borne for two nights, he was himself 

 so tired of it, and so convinced of its failure, that 

 he could not remain to the end of the performance, 

 but came out, ran to a coffee-house, and announced 

 its certain fate, avowing himself at the same time 

 to be the author, a circumstance which had been 

 carefully concealed. In 1753-4 he wrote a second 

 c Essay on the Inequality of Human Conditions/ also 

 for the Dijon Academy. It had the faults of the first, 

 with more of paradox, and also better composition ; 

 but its want of novelty, and its inferior eloquence, pre- 

 vented it from succeeding. 



In the summer of 1754 he was, with Theresa, taken 

 by a friend, M. Gauffecourt, a tour to Geneva, where 

 he remained some months. He went by Chambery, to 

 see Madame de Warens, and he was received with 

 great distinction by all the families whom he had 

 known ; but as he approached Geneva he felt the an- 

 noyance to which he was subjected by having lost his 

 civic rights, in consequence of his quitting the Protes- 



