laws of nature
In their travels Emile and his tutor have found only "the rule of self-interest and human passion." But eternal laws of nature do exist in one's own conscience, in all circumstances.
To be free, wherever one finds oneself, is to obey only one's own conscience and reason. One who cannot follow his own true will would be a slave (to himself) even in the free republic of Geneva; one who can follow his own will would be a free man even in the slavish society of Paris.