The German _Simplicissimus_ closed with a Robinsonade, in which the
hero, after long wandering, found rest and peace on an island in the
ocean of the world, alone with himself and Nature. The readers of
_Robinson Crusoe_ were in much the same position. Defoe was not only
a true artist, but a man of noble, patient character, and his romance
proved a healing medicine to many sick minds, pointing the way back
to Nature and a natural fife, and creating a longing for the lost
innocence of man.

Rousseau, who was also a zealous advocate of the English gardens, and
disgusted by the French Pigtail style, was more impressed by
_Robinson Crusoe_ than by any other book. It was the first book his
Emilia gave him, as a gospel of Nature and unspoilt taste.




CHAPTER X

THE SENSITIVENESS AND EXAGGERATION OF
THE ELEGIAC IDYLLIC FEELING


This longing to return to the lost paradise of Nature gradually
produced a state of melancholy hyper-sensitiveness, an epidemic of
world pain, quite as unnatural as the Rococo.

The heart came into its rights again and laid claim to absolute
dominion in its kingdom, and regret that it had lain so long deprived
of its own, gave rise to a tearful pensiveness, which added zest to