We can hardly suppose that any of these occupations will be much to Emile’s taste.  “Why,” he will exclaim, “have I forgotten the amusements of my childhood?  Have I lost the use of my arms?  Is my strength failing me?  Do I not know how to work?  What do I care about all your fine professions and all the silly prejudices of others?  I know no other pride than to be kindly and just; no other happiness than to live in independence with her I love, gaining health and a good appetite by the day’s work.  All these difficulties you speak of do not concern me.  The only property I desire is a little farm in some quiet corner.  I will devote all my efforts after wealth to making it pay, and I will live without a care.  Give me Sophy and my land, and I shall be rich.”

“Yes, my dear friend, that is all a wise man requires, a wife and land of his own; but these treasures are scarcer than you think.  The rarest you have found already; let us discuss the other.

“A field of your own, dear Emile!  Where will you find it, in what remote corner of the earth can you say, ’Here am I master of myself and of this estate which belongs to me?’ We know where a man may grow rich; who knows where he can do without riches?  Who knows where to live free and independent, without ill-treating others and without fear of being ill-treated himself!  Do you think it is so easy to find a place where you can always live like an honest man?  If there is any safe and lawful way of living without intrigues, without lawsuits, without dependence on others, it is, I admit, to live by the labour of our hands, by the cultivation of our own land; but where is the state in which a man can say, ’The earth which I dig is my own?’ Before choosing this happy spot, be sure that you will find the peace you desire; beware lest an unjust government, a persecuting religion, and evil habits should disturb you in your home.  Secure yourself against the excessive taxes which devour the fruits of your labours, and the endless lawsuits which consume your capital.  Take care that you can live rightly without having to pay court to intendents, to their deputies, to judges, to priests, to powerful neighbours, and to knaves of every kind, who are always ready to annoy you if you neglect them.  Above all, secure yourself from annoyance on the part of the rich and great; remember that their estates may anywhere adjoin your Naboth’s vineyard.  If unluckily for you some great man buys or builds a house near your cottage, make sure that he will not find a way, under some pretence or other, to encroach on your lands to round off his estate, or that you do not find him at once absorbing all your resources to make a wide highroad.  If you keep sufficient credit to ward off all these disagreeables, you might as well keep your money, for it will cost you no more to keep it.  Riches and credit lean upon each other, the one can hardly stand without the other.