Janet Logan, youngest d. of the late Wm. L. esq. of Camlang. 31. At Raith, Wm. Ferguson of Raith, esq. Lately, Charles Moore, esq. one of the auditors of public accounts, son of the late Dr Moore, so well known for his literary talents, and brother to the late Gen. Sir John Moore. Nov.-At Newhailes, Dame Helen Fergusson, relict of the hon. Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes, bart. one of the Senators of the College of Justice. At Montrose, Mr Geo. Murray, bookseller. 1.At Dalguise, Mrs Menzies of Menzies. 2. At Edinburgh, Mrs Anne Ruddiman, widow of the late John Hutton, esq. merchant. At Wester Livilands, Miss Anne Lloyd Rind. At Livingstone-house, Miss Sarah Fleming, d. of tlie late Mr Leonard F. supervisor of excise, Dumfries. 3. At Montrose, Mrs Mary Allan, 69, relict of Capt. Ja. Hume. At Aberdeen, Mr William Duthie, manufacturer. 4. At Bushey, Mis Cappe, widow of Rich. C. esq. barrister at law, and eldest d. of the late Lord Chief Baron Ord. 16. At Auchinstewart of Coltness, Mrs Eliz. Meek, wife of Dr Wm. Cleland. 17. At Edinburgh, Jas. Stoddart esq. At Berwick, the rev. J. W. Askew, brother of Geo. Askew, esq. of Pallinsburn-house, Northumberland. At Kilmarnock, Mr Jas. Baird, writer. At Pitcairly, James Cathcart, esq. of Carbieston, late major of the 19th light dragoons. 23. At London, General Peter Craig. 26. At Edinburgh, Mr Laurence Chalmers, printer. 28. At Edinburgh, the hon. Robert Cullen, one of the Judges of the second division of the Court of Session, and one of the Lords of Justiciary. His lordship was eldest son of the celebrated Dr William Cullen. He entered advocate in 1764, and was raised to the bench in November 1796, upon the death of Lord Alva. Lord Cullen was a man of acknowledged talents, a sound lawyer, and was always conspicuous in professional argument; he had a great taste for polite literature, and his papers in the Mirror and Lounger evince the elegance of his pen. 6. At Exeter, Colonel James Brunton, military auditor-general, Madras. 8. At Kennoway, Ja. Seton, esq.surgeon. 10. Mrs Christian Menzies, relict of the late Henry Lundie, one of the ministers of Edinburgh. Rev. John Reid, minister of the Low Church, Paisley. At Edinburgh, Mr Wm. Drysdale, mail-coach contractor. At Dunbar, John Beattie Bower, esq. captain in the Edinburgh regiment of militia. At Cavers, Mr John Law Young. At Kilrie, Fife, Mr James Booth, 77. 11. At Edinburgh, Mr Tho. Harris, late grocer there, 12. At Sunnyside, Mrs Anne Mackenzie, widow of John M. esq. of Strickathro. At Greenhall, Mrs Janet Wardrop, aged 79, wife of John Muir, esq. of Greenhall. # 13. At London, J. L. Douglas, esq. admiral of the blue. At Falmouth, on her return from Cadiz, the lady of Lieut.col. Cameron, 79th regt. At Edinburgh, Mr Chas. Watson, upholsterer. At the manse of Kirkintulloch, the rev. Jas. Jack, minister of that parish. 15. At Arbroath, aged 14, Marjory, eldest d. of Alex. Hay, esq. of Letham. 10. 17. 24. THE Edinburgh MONTHLY MAGAZINE. DECEMBER 1810. An Account of the Life of J. J. ROUSSEAU, AMONG the literary characters that appeared in the course of the last century, J. J. Rousseau was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary. The history of his life and opinions is fraught with the most important lessons, and ought to reconcile persons of moderate abilities to their lot, when they behold a man of the most superlative genius rather as an object of pity than of envy, and this in a great measure owing to the very talents which he possessed. Rousseau was born at Geneva upon 28th June 1712. He was educated by his father, who possessed considerable knowledge and taste, but who, by some infatuation or other, and perhaps from an eccentricity of character which resembled that of Rousseau himself, does not seem to have been acquainted with the talents of his son. Rousseau, disgusted with his state of dependence at home, as well as the lessons which he was compelled to take in order to become an engraver, left Geneva and his parents at the age of fifteen. He had read Plutarch; and, full of the notions he had imbibed from that lively and entertaining biographer, together with what he had learned from a great number of romances, which he had read with great avidity, he easily believed in the certainty of that success which his imagination had created. But he was in a short time undeceived, and would have been compelled to return to Geneva, if Madame de Warrens had not protected him. That lady, who had abandoned her native country, her parents, and the religion in which she had been educated, received Rousseau with kindness. She wished to make him a proselyte to the Roman Catholic faith, and by this in a greater degree to attract the attention of those whom she had offended by her flight. Rousseau in a short time adopted the sentiments of, and employed himself in zealously testifying his gratitude to Madame de Warrens. The only cultivation he bestowed upon his mind at this time was by some useful reading. He applied to music, and made great progress. Nevertheless, his stay at Chambery conVol. I. tributed 4 B 2 tributed little to his instruction. We learn from authentic letters which he addressed to his father in 1735, in order to prevail upon him to forgive him, " that he had not sufficient skill in engraving to engage in it as a profession, but that he was qualified to teach music; that he wrote with elegance, and could be secretary to the grand seignior." That he might not be a burden on his mamma, (for so he called M. de Warrens,) he undertook a journey, and we find him giving lessons on music at Neufchatel and at Lausanne. His genius began to feel its strength, and urged him to action. He began to form various projects, and sent to the minister of the king of Sardinia a plan for conveying goods from France, Switzerland, Germany, Geneva, Liguria, Piedmont, &c. and expected to be made manager. This, however, did not succeed. He then became domestic tutor to M. de Mably at Lyons, but he had not address to continue in this situation. Rousseau first appeared as an author in the Mercure de France in September 1738. This memoir is, " An Answer to a Memoir entitled, Whether the World which we inhabit be a Sphere or a Speroid?" It is dated from Chambery. This was not the first work he had composed; his first attempt was "Le Verger de Madame la Baronne de Warrens," printed at London in 1739. After this first attempt, he continued occupied in study, and in providing the means of subsistence, but remained in complete obscurity till 1742, when he was made secretary to the French embassador at Venice. He returned to Paris a good musician, gained a livelihood by copying music, and relieved himself from the fatigue of so laborious an employment by studying botany and medicine. In 1748, Rousseau felt the first symptoms of a calculous complaint, which tormented him during the whole course of his life. This compelled him to bid adieu to the pleasures of society, and to court solitude. It cannot be doubted that this was an important epoch in his history. We owe to it perhaps the works which have attracted the attention of the civilized world, but it cannot be doubted that it also rendered him jealous and misanthropic. It gave a shade to all the pictures he has drawn of social life, and even made him be persuaded that virtue existed nowhere but in his own heart, and in his own writings. It was the poisoned source of all the eccentricities of his conduct, and all the misfortunes of his life. It is very remarkable to see all hermits satirize the human race, with which they have thrown off all connexion, and to take pleasure in abusing those they do not wish to know, and whom they cannot hurt. Rousseau had now acquired reputation in his solitude; and in 1749 he became associated with the gentlemen who had engaged in the Encyclopedia. They engaged him to write the article Music. At this time, also, he composed his eloquent discourse upon upon the evils which have been occasioned by the sciences. The Academy of Sciences at Dijon had the courage to pronounce it to be the best. A great number of writers attacked him, and attempted to controvert the theory which he had exposed. Among others, the king of Poland distinguished himself, to whom Rousseau returned a respectful answer. It may be proper to observe, that those who attacked the orator of Geneva do not seem to have perceived that he had only treated one part of the subject, and that when he pointed out the abuses which had accompanied the study of the sciences, he had not set aside the advantages which constantly attend the prosecution of them. Notwithstanding the paradoxes which it contains, there can be little doubt that it will be read with great pleasure. M. Palissot exhibited at Nancy his comedy of Philosophers. The King of Poland expressed the greatest dissatisfaction at the insult offered to Rousseau in that piece. He ordered M. de Tressan to communicate to Palissot the indignation which he felt, and that he had given directions that his name should be at the bottom of the list of the academicians at Nancy. Rousseau was sensible of the favour which had been shown him by the monarch, and publicly testified his gratitude. In 1752, Rousseau composed "The Conjuror of the Village," which attracted the public attention very much. The Parisian audience was delighted with it; and it must be confessed that it is much calculated to please a person of taste. It had great success during the course of 1753. But as if Rousseau had been offended at its success, he wrote his letter upon French music. The object of this letter is to prove that the French could not possess a good taste in music. He also attacked the French opera. In revenge, he was burned in effigy at the opera. When Rousseau was informed of his punishment, he exclaimed, "That he returned thanks to his judges who had at last dragged him to the inquisition." The managers of the opera believed that they had nothing more to expect from him, and acted in so very contemptible a manner as to deprive him of his ticket of admission. Gluck pointed out to them their error, and accordingly they restored it to him in April 1774. Rousseau had then the pleasure of applauding the Iphigenia of Gluck, and to be reconciled to the music of the opera. Rousseau came to Geneva in 1754, and abjured the Roman Catholic religion. He was restored to his rights of citizenship, and testified his gratitude to the republic by dedicating to it his discourse upon the inequality of ranks. This dedication has been universally esteemed, as one of the most elegant that ever was written. The most patriotic enthusiasm never produced more striking sentiments, or more lively descriptions. The same thing cannot cannot be said of the discourse which he composed at Paris. In this treatise he hazarded those paradoxes which he had only hinted at before. He first designated himself Citizen of Geneva on the title-page of this small work; a title in which he seems ever after to have taken great delight. In 1758 he addressed a letter to D'Alembert upon the pernicious consequences of public exhibitions in small villages, which still retain some appearance of morality. D'Alembert, Marmontell, and many others, attempted to answer him, and made as good a defence as the nature of the subject would admit. Rousseau had now established his reputation, which was further confirmed by the publication of his New Eloise, wherein he gives a sketch of his philosophy, and describes his quarrels and his amours. The Social Contract appeared a short time after. This is one of the greatest paradoxes in politics; and at last his Emilius was printed in 1762. Rousseau was, in consequence of this, exposed to a thousand outrages. His enemies attacked him with fury; his friends praised him extravagantly; but, in spite of his brilliant success, he afforded a new proof of the misfortunes to which men of letters are exposed. It is not surprising that Geneva should attach itself to so very popular an author; but in other places the same indulgence was not shown to him. It is sufficient to observe, that the Emile was burnt at Paris upon the 10th June 1762; but, notwithstanding the partiality of his native city, and even against popular opinion, he was burnt in effigy upon the 19th of the same month at Geneva. Rousseau was compelled to fly, and to take his residence at Yverdon, and was protected by M. Gingius de Moyri. Their excellencies of Berne intimated to him, that he ought to quit the canton. He then went to Motiers Travers, where Lord Marischall procured for him every accommodation. It was in this small city that he renounced his citizenship of Geneva. In 1764, Rousseau, under the protection of Lord Marischall, attempted to taste the pleasures of solitude and of the country, and amused himself in working lace. He was accustomed to say, that "he had become a woman, because the world was not satisfied that he should be a man." He published several letters, in particular that to Voltaire, upon his poem on the law of nature, and upon the earthquake at Lisbon. The Corsicans consulted Rousseau and Diderot, in the month of November 1764, in regard to the form of government they should adopt. Diderot refused to engage in the business, and Rousseau said that it was above his ability, but not his zeal. Rousseau lived in peace at Motiers, and would perhaps have remained there, had the clergy of Neufchatel permitted it. The consistory of that city assembled upon the 7th May 1765, in order to judge Rousseau. The government imposed silence upon the consistory; but there can be no |