I found the residence of Yverdon so agreeable that I resolved toyield to the solicitations of M.Roguin and his family, who weredesirous of keeping me there.M.de Moiry de Gingin, bailiff of thatcity, encouraged me by his goodness to remain within his jurisdiction.
The colonel pressed me so much to accept for my habitation a littlepavilion he had in his house between the court and the garden, thatI complied with his request, and he immediately furnished it witheverything necessary for my little household establishment.
The banneret Roguin, one of the persons who showed me the mostassiduous attention, did not leave me for an instant during thewhole day.I was much flattered by his civilities, but theysometimes importuned me.The day on which I was to take possessionof my new habitation was already fixed, and I had written to Theresato come to me, when suddenly a storm was raised against me in Berne,which was attributed to the devotees, but I have never been able tolearn the cause of it.The senate, excited against me, without myknowing by whom, did not seem disposed to suffer me to remainundisturbed in my retreat.The moment the bailiff was informed ofthe new fermentation, he wrote in my favor to several of the membersof the government, reproaching them with their blind intolerance,and telling them it was shameful to refuse to a man of merit, underoppression, the asylum which such a numerous banditti found in theirstates.Sensible people were of opinion the warmth of his reproacheshad rather embittered than softened the minds of the magistrates.
However this may be, neither his influence nor eloquence could wardoff the blow.Having received an intimation of the order he was tosignify to me, he gave me a previous communication of it; and that Imight wait its arrival, I resolved to set off the next day.Thedifficulty was to know where to go, finding myself shut out fromGeneva and all France, and foreseeing that in this affair each statewould be anxious to imitate its neighbor.
Madam Boy de la Tour proposed to me to go and reside in anuninhabited but completely furnished house, which belonged to herson in the village of Motiers, in the Val-de-Travers, in the county ofNeuchatel.I had only a mountain to cross to arrive at it.The offercame the more opportunely, as in the states of the King of Prussia Ishould naturally be sheltered from all persecution, at leastreligion could not serve as a pretext for it.But a secret difficulty,improper for me at that moment to divulge, had in it that which wasvery sufficient to make me hesitate.The innate love of justice, towhich my heart was constantly subject, added to my secretinclination to France, had inspired me with an aversion to the King ofPrussia, who, by his maxims and conduct, seemed to tread under footall respect for natural law and every duty of humanity.Amongst theframed engravings, with which I had decorated my alcove atMontmorency, was a portrait of this prince, and under it a distich,the last line of which was as follows:
IL pense en philosophe, et se conduit en roi.** He thinks like a philosopher, and acts like a king.
This verse, which from any other pen would have been a fineeulogium, from mine had an unequivocal meaning, and too clearlyexplained the verse by which it was preceded.The distich had beenread by everybody who came to see me, and my visitors were numerous.
The Chevalier de Lorenzi had even written it down to give it toD'Alembert, and I had no doubt but D'Alembert had taken care to makemy court with it to the prince.I had also aggravated this first faultby a passage in Emilius, where, under the name of Adrastus, king ofthe Daunians, it was clearly seen whom I had in view, and the remarkhad not escaped critics, because Madam de Boufflers had severaltimes mentioned the subject to me.I was, therefore, certain ofbeing inscribed in red ink in the registers of the King of Prussia,and besides, supposing his majesty to have the principles I haddared to attribute to him, he, for that reason, could not but bedispleased with my writings and their author; for everybody knowsthe worthless part of mankind, and tyrants have never failed toconceive the most mortal hatred against me, solely on reading myworks, without being acquainted with my person.
However, I had presumption enough to depend upon his mercy, andwas far from thinking I ran much risk.I knew none but weak men wereslaves to the base passions, and that these had but little powerover strong minds, such as I had always thought his to be.Accordingto his art of reigning, I thought he could not but show himselfmagnanimous on this occasion, and that being so in fact was notabove his character.I thought a mean and easy vengeance would not fora moment counterbalance his love of glory, and putting myself in hisplace, his taking advantage of circumstances to overwhelm with theweight of his generosity a man who had dared to think ill of him,did not appear to me impossible.I therefore went to settle atMotiers, with a confidence of which I imagined he would feel all thevalue, and said to myself: When Jean-Jacques rises to the elevation ofCoriolanus, will Frederic sink below the General of the Volsci?
Colonel Roguin insisted on crossing the mountain with me, andinstalling me at Motiers.A sister-in-law to Madam Boy de la Tour,named Madam Girardier, to whom the house in which I was going tolive was very convenient, did not see me arrive there with pleasure;however, she with a good grace put me in possession of my lodging, andI ate with her until Theresa came, and my little establishment wasformed.
