Paul-Claude Moultou

This chapter looks at Jean-Jacques Rousseau's letter to Paul-Claude Moultou on June 7, 1762. In this letter, Rousseau addresses the rumor that the Parlement of Paris proposes to prosecute him. He claims that “to justify its zeal against the Jesuits, the Parlement of Paris also wants to persecute those who do not think as they do, and the only man in France who believes in God must be the victim of the defenders of Christianity.” Rousseau then asserts that, as a citizen of Geneva, he does not owe an explanation to the Parlement of Paris for a book that he has printed in Holland with a privilege from the Estates General. He says that they can never take away his freedom.