ROUSSEAU. 167 



only give her more spirit and boldness, and that if his 

 courage is equal to her own, he may come in the 

 night, when she will " acquitter ses promesses, et 

 payer d'une seule fois toutes les dettes de 1'amour." 

 She then exclaims, " Non, mon doux ami ! non ! nous 

 ne quitterons pas cette courte vie sans avoir un 

 instant goute du bonheur ;" and to leave no doubt of 

 the kind of happiness she had in her eye, she adds, 

 " Viens avouer, meme au sein des plaisirs, que c'est du 

 sein des coeurs qu'ils prirent leur plus grand charme ;" 

 of which very bold avowal the chasteness of the diction 

 is on a par with the purity of the morals : for " ame 

 de mon coeur" and " vie de ma vie" are, especially the 

 former, expressions of a moderate correctness. Then 

 follow the two very celebrated letters in consequence 

 of the lady's invitation being accepted. One is written 

 in the ante-room of Julie's bed-chamber, and is of 

 an incomparable absurdity in the design, for which no 

 felicity in the execution could ever compensate. But 

 is the execution less bad than the conception in such 

 lines as these? "O desirs ! O crainte ! O palpitations 

 cruelles ! On ouvre ! on entre ! C'est elle, c'est elle ! 

 Mon faible coeur, tu succombes ! Ah ! cherchez des 

 forces pour supporter la felicite qui t'accable."* Of 

 the other letter the following day, absolutely insulting 

 to the poor girl, little needs be said. The scheme of 

 writing it is revolting enough; but less so, perhaps, 

 than the language its execution is couched in. He 

 actually speaks of "ces baisers qu'une voluptueuse lan- 

 gueur nous faisaient lentement savourer, et ces ge- 



* Part I., Let. liv. : CEuv. ii. 127. 



