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LITERABY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN,

France . He was nine and twenty; his character wasformed. The love of adventure, which had firstcaused his flight from Geneva , had turned into a loveof scheming. While censuring madame de Warens for this turn of mind, he little felt how entirely heparticipated in it. His life was made up of schemes,which his ardent disposition exalted into passions. Thegenuine impulses of his soul were, his genius, developedin authorship; his passionate heart, which wasted itsfondest impulses on one (madame d’Houtetot) who lovedanother. These were not schemes; but his stoicism —his hermitism (if this word be allowed)—his independ-ence carried to an extravagant pitch, were all schemes ;and succeeded, consequently, as ill as possible. Withthis scheming head, a heart yet full of romance, and amind stored beyond his own knowledge with observationand sagacity, he left every old friend, every old asso-ciation, and plunged, poor and unknown, into a new life,in the most civilised and most profligate city in theworld.

j 7 4 j Rousseau entered Paris this time, as it appeared5?tat. to him, under good auspices. He found a friendly29. and cordial welcome from several French ladies, towhom he had letters of introduction. His system ofnoting music was examined, eulogised, and neglected bythe Academy; and Rameau detecting a radical defect,its inventor cast it aside; but he found employment assecretary to madame Dupin and M. Francenil; andbetter prospects opened themselves when he was ap-j^ 43 pointed secretary to M. de Montaigu, ambasssador tojEtat. Venice. Here the influence of an evil destiny wasmanifest. Had the ambassador been a man of honourand sense, Rousseau might have passed a happy life,fulfilling an honourable career; but M. de Montaiguwas avaricious to a degree that made him sacrifice pro-priety as well as dignity to his saving propensities.“ The character of this ambassador,” says Bernardin deSaint Pierre , “ is well known. I have heard from goodauthority several traits of his avarice. ‘ Three shoes,’ he