ABSTRACT
As the reader will remember, one of the reasons why Jean-Jacques Rousseau accepted the position of tutor in the household of Monsieur de Mably was that he hoped to make the acquaintance of that gentleman’s brothers and through them to obtain entry into literary circles. Possibly Mademoiselle Serre saw through the bluff of the young man who boasted that he could show her the way to “true felicity” and who promised to cherish her all his life that is being actually resolved to continue his journey. Jean-Jacques may have had truth on his side when he claimed that the representatives of the learned assembly behaved like donkeys in the matter, and that not one of their objections to his system was valid. Jean-Jacques was quite unmoved by the picturesque charm of the city. He had to let himself be seen, and he felt, moreover, a need of distraction which was the price he paid for his ardent labors.
