Marquis de Mirabeau

This chapter focuses on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's letter to Marquis de Mirabeau on January 13, 1768. Rousseau begins the letter by telling Marquis de Mirabeau that he pities him from the bottom of his heart for the troubles in which Marquis de Mirabeau finds himself. He says that “for whatever you may say of it, I see you embarked, if not on literary quarrels, at least on economic and political quarrels, which may perhaps be even worse if it were possible.” Rousseau asks Marquis de Mirabeau to permit him “not to speak of it anymore, not to think of it anymore, except for the tender interest I take in your repose and your glory.” He then talks about Marquis de Mirabeau's plan to compose an opera.