“Henriette”

This chapter presents Jean-Jacques Rousseau's letter to “Henriette” on October 25, 1770. Rousseau begins the letter by mentioning how “the storms which have buffeted me for so many years have erased a multitude of recollections from my memory.” He then asks “Henriette” to fully explain who she is, what she wants from him, why she has not written in so long, and why she suddenly writes now. Rousseau reminds her that dire experiences have taught him to know the people he has to deal with, and the means which they use to encircle him. He declares that “if Henriette is decent, virtuous, if she loathes trickery and duplicity, if she is worthy of my listening to her, and I take an interest in her, let her give me all the information about herself that my experience and my misfortunes make necessary.”