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Germany was also effected by Rousseau in literature. 
Goethe came under his influence in early life. He left us 
in “ Faust ” a study of Rousseau’s doctrine as it might be 
expected to work out if consistently applied in one human 
life. Faust, at the beginning, takes the standpoint of 
Rousseau’s first Discourse, and describes himself as being 
“ A very fool 
With useless learning cursed.” 
We see his longing for a happiness which he has never 
possessed and we have placed in sharp contrast man’s aspira- 
tions towards the infinite with the ideal of life as Rousseau 
conceived it. We know the tragic consequence which 
followed the search for pleasure described by the author 
as one who had been through it and had with difficulty escaped. 
In the charming philosophic “ Sous les Toits ” of Souvestre 
we get a glimpse of Rousseau in old age. Souvestre’s father, 
then a young man, met Rousseau and expressed to Rousseau 
envy of his genius and reputation. Rousseau however, 
replied that his reputation had been no good except to induce 
persecution. He advises his hearer not to admire or envy 
the miserable man who had written “ Emile,” “ but if you 
have a heart that can feel for another, pity him.” 
In reply to observations made during the debate, Mr. Hudson 
added that, in his opinion, Rousseau was nothing else but 
sophistry. Very few could study carefully his case as pre- 
sented by himself with all the literary skill of which he was 
a master, and think kindly of him. He (Mr. Hudson) did 
not think so highly of Rousseau’s educational theories in 
his “ Emile,” as some people did. The children of the poor 
were to have no education. According to Rousseau’s theory 
they did not need it. When Rousseau’s young man and 
young woman, educated for each other with so much skill, 
married, their marriage was a failure, which was a con- 
fession of the utter failure of his theories, so that they stood 
self-condemned by the author himself. He was not saying 
that the book was not an exceptionally great educational 
book. There was no higher testimony to the fact that its 
author was a genius than that the work — although a failure 
on its main lines — was as a sort of by product, one of the great 
educational books. He ought to say that Rousseau was not 
only the parent of modern Socialism, but also of modern 
Nihilism. Anarchism and Nihilism were the direct result 
in similar conditions of Rousseau’s teaching. There was 
