The Lettres écrites de la montagne are the last work that was
published during Rousseau’s lifetime. For the first time, the
philosopher becomes directly involved in the affairs of Geneva.
Beyond fundamental proposals, the letters contain further developed
thoughts on the spirit of the Reformation as well as a defense of
the Contrat Social. Letter VII, where this page comes from,
supports the right of representation when it comes to correcting
abuses of the Small Council, and it recommends that citizens
convened in the General Council reject all new elections of
magistrates if these should insist upon overstepping the rights
given them by the Constitution. The Lettres were censored in Geneva
as well as in Paris. This document is from the collection of Ch.
Vellay (purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1926) and contains a draft of
two passages from the Lettres. The first of these was published in
the original edition (Amsterdam, M. M. Rey, 1764), the second in
the edition of the Œuvres complètes of the Bibliothèque de la
Pléiade.
Rights
e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
