One never knows what curiosity will be found in footnotes, sidenotes or endnotes. Collin and I are slogging through a tedious and tiresome Great Book. The greatest delight has been finding this astonishing quote in the endnote. Bet you won’t ever in your lifetime guess who wrote it! (Answer in the comments.)
Those who know Calvin only as a theologian much underestimate the extent of his genius. The codification of our wise edicts, in which he played a large part, does him no less honor than his Institute. Whatever revolution time may bring in our religion, so long as the spirit of patriotism and liberty still lives among us, the memory of this great man will be forever blessed.
Bet you can’t guess,
A Living Pencil 
Jean-Jacques Rousseau! Rousseau!The Social Contract, Book II, Chapter VII, endnote 3
Nope, I wouldn’t have guessed!
Nor I! How very interesting!
Never would have guessed Rousseau…..
Anatole France said, “It is rare for any master to belong to the school he has founded as firmly as his disciples do.”
You know, every once in a while I run across a good quote that came from Rousseau, and before I know it’s him, I’m tempted to copy it down. When I see his name I stop, having read too much about how evil he was and not wanting to give him any credit at all . But then I remember Oscar Wilde who was personally very depraved, yet wrote stories like The Selfish Giant with Christian themes, and who seemed to use his literary cynicism in a self-imprecatory way, almost doing penance in his writing for his personal sins. People are such conundrums, and even such wicked men are a reminder that “but for the grace of God, there go I.”
Calvin was a French Protestant..Were the Institutes first published in French?
Yes sir. Are you feeling better?