(1845) Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley (1830-1908). DEDICATION:To Monsieur P. S. B. Gavault. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote these words at the beginning of his Nouvelle Heloise: \"I have seen the morals of my time and I publish these letters.\" May I not say to you, in imitation of that great writer, \"I have studied the march of my epoch and I publish this work\"?