ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Autograph draft of part... Lot 106

ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Autograph draft of part of a letter to VOLTAIRE [Montmorency, August 18, 1756]. 2 1/2 pp. in-16 oblong (7,5 x 12,5 cm). POLEMICS WITH VOLTAIRE ON PROVIDENCE. IMPORTANT PASSAGE OF HIS CELEBRARY "LETTER ON PROVIDENCE" SUSCITED BY THE READING OF VOLTAIRE'S POEM ON THE DISASTER OF LISBON. if the latter criticizes there the "all is well" of Leibniz's and Pope's philosophies by arguing the presence of evil on Earth, Rousseau, on the other hand, defends the idea of Providence, and sees in the disaster of Lisbon, which occurred in 1755, the consequence of human choices (a dense settlement on the seashore). Among his arguments, he criticizes Voltaire's faith in science, underlining the limits of the human mind, and points out that the good of the whole must undoubtedly matter more to God than that of individuals. One finds these ideas in the additions of the present butterfly: - Has not the horror of the vacuum long explained most of the effects that have since been attributed to the action of the air? Other experiments have finally destroyed the horror of vacuum and vacuum itself; it has been re-established by new calculations. Who will answer me that an even more exact system will not destroy it again? - I believe, I hope to be worth more in the eyes of God than the earth of a planet, but if the planets are inhabited as is probable, why should I be worth more in his eyes than all the inhabitants of Saturn. No matter how much one ridicules these ideas, it is certain that all analogies are in favor of this population and only human pride is against it. Now this supposed population, the conservation of the universe, seems to have for God himself a morality which multiplies by the number of inhabited worlds ". Voltaire argued that he was in poor health to avoid answering Rousseau's attack, and his letter of September 12, 1756, was only a kind acknowledgement of receipt. granddaughter of Paul Moultou, Autograph Apostille signed by Amélie Streckeisen-Moultou certifying "that these few lines were written by J. J. Rousseau". She is the great-granddaughter of Paul Moultou (1731-1787), a Protestant pastor born in Geneva of a family from Montpellier, close to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Neckers and Voltaire. Paul Moultou who received some of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's manuscripts, including those of the Social Contract, the Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, or the Confessions which he edited for the first time. Amélie Streckeisen-Moultou (1797-1882) donated the vast majority of this collection to the Geneva library.