忏悔录_让·雅克·卢梭.pdf

Book on e I am undertaking a task which is without precedent, whose accomplishment will have no imita- tor . I propose to set before my fellow-mortals a man in all the truth of nature ; and this man shall be myself. I have studied mankind and know my heart; I am not made like any one I have been acquainted with , perhaps like no one in existence ; if not better, I at least claim originality, and whether Nature has acted rightly or wrongly in destroying the mold in which she cast me, can only be decided after I have been read. I will present myself, whenever the last trumpet shall sound, before the Sovereign Judge with this book in my hand, and loudly proclaim, “Thus have I acted; these were my thoughts; such was I. Power Eternal ! Assemble round your throne an innumerable throng of my fellow-mortals, let them listen to my confessions, and let each in his turn expose with equal sincerity the failings, the wander- ings of his heart, and if he dare, aver, I was better than that man . ” I was born at Geneva, in 1712 , son of Isaac Rousseau and Susannah Bernard, citizens. My fa- ther ’s share of a moderate competency, which was divided among fifteen children , being very trivial, his business of a watchmaker ( in which he had the reputation of great ingenuity) was his only de- pendence . My mother ’s circumstances were more affluent; she was daughter of a Mons. Bernard, minister, and possessed a considerable share of modesty and beauty. The affection they entertained for each other was almost as early as their existence . Still , my father found some difficulty in obtai- ning her hand. Fortunately, my mother ’s brother, Gabriel Bernard, fell in love with one of my father ’s sisters: she had no objecti