s were viewed with great
displeasure by the authorities, and he fled in 1764 to
Switzerland; and in 1766, under the auspices of David Hume, to
England. Rousseau wrote "The New Heloise" ("La Nouvelle
Heloise") in 1756-7, while residing at the Hermitage at
Montmorency--an abode where, in spite of certain quarrels and
emotional episodes, he passed some of the most placid days of
his life. This book, the title of which was founded on the
historic love of Abelard and Heloise (see Vol. IX), was
published in 1760. Rousseau's primary intention was to reveal
the effect of passion upon persons of simple but lofty nature,
unspoiled by the artificialities of society. The work may be
described as a novel because it cannot very well be described
as anything else. It is overwhelmingly long and diffuse; the
slender stream of narrative threads its way through a
wilderness of discourses on the passions, the arts, society,
rural life, religion, suicide, natural scenery, and nearly
everything else that Rousseau was interested in--and his
interests were legion. "The New Heloise" is thoroughly
characteristic of the wandering, enthusiastic,
emotional-genius of its author. Several brilliant passages in
it are ranked among the classics of French literature; and of
the work as a whole, it may be said, judicially and without
praise or censure, that there is nothing quite like it in any
literature. Rousseau died near Paris, July 2, 1778.

_I.--"The Course of True Love"_

TO JULIE

I must escape from you, mademoiselle. I must see you no more.

You know that I entered your house as tutor to yourself and your cousin,
Mademoiselle Claire, at your mother's invitation. I did not foresee the
peril; at any rate, I did not fear it. I shall not say that I am now
paying the price of my rashness, for I trust I shall never fail in the
respect due to your high birth, your beauty, and your noble character.
But I confess that you have captured my heart. How could I fail to adore
the touching union of keen sensibility and unchanging sweetness, the
tender pity, all those spiritual qualities that are worth so much more
to me than personal charms?

I have lost my reason. I promise to strive to recover it. You, and you
alone, can help me. Forbid me from appearing in your presence, show this
letter if you like to your parents; drive me away