Their first meeting after Diderot's imprisonment has been, described by Rousseau himself, in terms at which the phlegmatic will smile--not wisely, for the manner of expressing emotion, like all else, is relative.

"After three or four centuries of impatience, I flew into the arms of my friend.

O indescribable moment! He, was not alone; D'Alembert and the treasurer of the Sainte Chapelle were with him.

As I went in, I saw no one but himself.

With a single hound and a cry, I pressed his face close to mine, I clasped him tightly in my arms, without speaking to him save by my tears and sobs; I was choking with tenderness and joy."[86] After this Rousseau used to walk over to see him two or three times a week.