anet; if I contemplate any
thing around me, it is only distressing, heart-rending objects;
every thing I cast my eyes on conveys some new subject either of
indignation or affliction; I will endeavor henceforward to banish
from my mind all painful ideas which unavailingly distress me.
Alone for the rest of my life, I must only look for consolation,
hope, or peace in my own breast; and neither ought nor will,
henceforward, think of any thing but myself. It is in this state
that I return to the continuation of that severe and just
examination which formerly I called my Confessions; I consecrate my
latter days to the study of myself, and to the preparation of that
account which I must shortly render up of my actions. I resign my
thoughts entirely to the pleasure of conversing with my own soul;
that being the only consolation that man cannot deprive me of. If
by dint of reflection on my internal propensities, I can attain to
putting them in better order, and correcting the evil that remains
in me, these meditations will not be utterly useless; and though I
am accounted worthless on earth, shall not cast away my latter
days. The leisure of my daily walks has frequently been filled with
charming contemplations, which I regret having forgot; but I will
write down those that occur in future; then, every time I read them
over, I shall forget my misfortunes, disgraces, and persecutors,
in recollecting and contemplating the integrity of my own heart.

Rousseau's books in general are now little read. They worked their work,
and ceased. But there are in some of them passages that continue to
live. Of these, perhaps quite the most famous is the "Savoyard Curate's
Confession of Faith," a document of some length, incorporated into the
"Emile." This, taken as a whole, is the most seductively eloquent
argument against Christianity that perhaps ever was written. It
contains, however, concessions to the sublime elevation of Scripture and
to the unique virtue and majesty of Jesus, which are often quoted, and
which will bear quoting here. The Savoyard Curate is represented
speaking to a young friend as follows:--

I will confess to you further, that the majesty of the Scriptures
strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel hath its
influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our philosophers with
all the