Souvenirs de mon dernier voyage à Paris (1795)

A lively memoir that follows a bright‑minded young pastor’s son as he arrives in Paris in the spring of 1766, eager to serve as a tutor for the daughter of a charming widow. Through his eyes we glimpse the bustling salons of the Enlightenment—conversations with Rousseau in the Jura, a warm reception from Voltaire, and evenings among the circle that gathered around Madame Necker with Buffon, Diderot and d’Alembert. The narrative captures the excitement of a newcomer quickly finding his place in the city’s literary and social life.

When his teaching duties end, the author steps into a new role, taking over a long‑running literary correspondence for the well‑connected Melchior Grimm. For fourteen years he becomes the voice that links Parisian ideas to northern princes, sharpening his own critical eye while observing the shifting currents of French thought. The memoir then turns to his first independent publications, offering early reflections on the moral and social questions that would soon erupt into revolution.