Nearly contemporary with the Comtesse de Boufflers, comes on the scene a person with whom we shall hereafter have much concern, Jean Jacques Rousseau. He had been living under the protection of the Maréchal de Luxembourg, in the celebrated hermitage near the castle of Montmorency, when he published his "Emile." Highly as he was supported, the wrath of the clergy prevailed; and a writ of _prise de corps_ was issued for his apprehension. It appears that in those strange times of intolerance and infidelity, there would have been no cause of wonder, if the proceedings had ended in a capital conviction. With the aid of his friends, the Luxembourgs and Choiseuls, Rousseau fled the kingdom. On this occasion he seems to have been thoroughly frightened; and his conduct was occasioned neither by ostentation, nor perverse discontent. His first place of refuge was Neufchâtel, one of the Swiss Cantons, of which the sovereignty was in the house of Brandenburg. Rousseau was thus for a time one of the illustrious literary men under the protection of Frederick the Great, though distant from his philosophical capital. He appealed, however, to a warmer heart than ever beat in the breast of the conqueror of Prague. The exiled Earl Marischal of Scotland--a valued friend of Hume, as of all who became acquainted with him--was then Governor of Neufchâtel. Subsequently to his flight from his native country, for his concern in the rebellion of 1715, when he was a mere youth, he had suffered a long series of hardships, privations, and uncertainties; until Frederick saw his value, and purchased his services at such a rate as a friendless exile might not refuse. Adversity, which too often hardens the selfishness, and debases the propensities of an aristocracy driven from home by internal convulsions, had but taught him how much men are dependent on each other, and had opened his heart to a wider sympathy with his fellow creatures. His opinions were as tolerant as his nature was kind; and the fugitive could not have sought an asylum where he would be more sincerely welcomed. The power of the king of Prussia's representative, was, however, not sufficient to protect him from the people,--or from himself; and from the time of his flight from France, those who believed that he sincerely desired a retreat where he would be safe from all molestation, looked towards Britain. The following letters from the forfeited earl, at a few months' interval from each other, chiefly relate to Rousseau. The earl appears to have been so thoroughly imbued with foreign habits, that he wrote English with difficulty: most of his letters to Hume are in French, and when he commences in English, he generally relapses into French. Though so long employed by the Prussian court, he seems to have been ignorant of German. It may be observed, however, that French is the vernacular language of Neufchâtel. THE FORFEITED EARL MARISCHAL _to_ HUME. _April 29._