Lamartine and Romantic Unanimism 9780231885294

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LAMARTINE A N D R O M A N T I C UNANIMISM

LAMARTINE AND ROMANTIC UNANIMISM B Y ALBERT JOSEPH GEORGE

AMS Press, Inc. New York 1966

Copyright 1940, Columbia University Press New York

Reprinted 1966 with Permission of Columbia University Press

AMS Press, Inc. New York, N.Y. 10003

M a n u f a c t u r e d in The United States of America

To PIERRE MOREAU and JEAN-ALBERT BÉDÉ with profound respect and sincere gratitude

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IT

IS

A

PLEASURE

TO

ACKNOWLEDGE

TWO

OUTSTANDING

obligations in the planning and writing of this work: to Pierre Moreau, Doyen of the Facultés des Lettres of the University of Besançon, whose scholarship and counsel were of inestimable value to me at the beginning of my study; and to Jean-Albert Bédé, professor of French at Columbia University, who has guided me ably and generously throughout. My gratitude is extended also to George D. Chase, dean emeritus of the University of Maine, for his constant help and encouragement, to the John Hay Library of Brown University for its aid in procuring many uncommon books and periodicals, and to Westminster College for help in preparing the manuscript. The following publishers kindly gave permission to quote from copyrighted material: Félix Alcan: Joseph Bûche, L'Ecole mystique de Lyon; Librairie Boivin: Henri Guillemin, Le Jocelytt de Lamartine; Librairie Flammarion: André Cuisenier, Jules Romains et l'unanimisme; Librairie Gallimard: Jules Romains, La Vie unanime; Librairie Hachette: Jean des Cognets, La Vie intérieure de Lamartine; Simon Kra: Jules Romains, Problèmes d'aujourd'hui; and, La Société Les Belles Lettres: Henri Guillemin, Les Visions. ALBERT J . Westminster College, N e w W i l m i n g t o n , Pennsylvania September, 1 9 4 0

GEORGE

CONTENTS Introduction I.

3

The Vision of 1 8 2 1 and Lamartine's Philosophy

II.

Unanimism

12 and

Lamartine's

Metaphysics

(1821-1830) III.

Unanimism and Lamartine's Politics

30 (1830-

1843) IV.

Unanimism and Lamartine's Philosophy of History ( 1 8 4 3 - 1 8 4 8 )

V.

67

99

Unanimism in Lamartine's Late Years ( 1 8 4 8 1869)

146

Conclusion

168

Bibliography

173

Index

193

ABBREVIATIONS AM de

Annales

de

l'Académie

Mâcon.

AR

Annales

CFL

Cours

RB Romantiques. familier

de

RCC

lit-

térature. Corr.

NR

Correspondant. RF

ence of Lamartine edited

RH

by Mme Valentine de

RHL

FP

France

des Cours

Revue des Revue de Revue

parlementaire. Revue.

RLC

Grande

Mf

Muse

MF

Mercure de

NL

Les Nouvelles

Deux

Revue Revue

France. d'Histoire

France. Lit-

RP

Lit-

France.

Latine. de

Littérature

Com parée.

Française.

et

Hebdomadaire.

Revue

téraire de la RL

GR

téraires.

Bleue.

Revue

Mondes.

The Correspond-

Lamartine.

Revue

Revue.

Conférences. RDM

Le

Corresp.

Nouvelle

Revue de Paris.

LAMARTINE AND ROMANTIC UNANIMISM

INTRODUCTION WITH

THE

TERM

UNANIMISME

JULES

ROMAINS

HAS

Suc-

ceeded in labeling a hitherto unnamed concept and incorporating it into a literary technique. Subsequently this concept has become an attitude toward life which has been accepted by Romains' followers, a revolt, André Cuisenier says, against romanticism. 1 As yet, unanimisme possesses much the same vagueness of outline as romanticism. According to Jules Romains, "l'unanimisme tend . . . à être une attitude générale de tout l'être pensant . . . , " - and, as such, demands the acceptance of two articles of faith: Le premier est la croyance en une certaine réalité de nature spirituelle: l'unanime. Le second consiste à admettre que l'âme humaine, notre âme individuelle, est capable d'entrer en une communication directe, immédiate, intuitive, avec l'unanime. 3

These two premises, of course, imply a third: that there exists a nature spirituelle, and that, in general, soul and spirit are realities.4 Basically, the idea of unanimism rests on the acceptance of what Romains calls the continu psychique, a belief in a ubiquitous spiritual essence. "L'unanimisme est d'abord un antimonadisme," Romains maintains.5 Not only does unanimism affirm continuity in general, it also admits that other, limited continuities may exist within the continu psychique.6 Furthermore, 1 3 5

Jules Romains et l'unanimisme, Ibid., pp. j 61-6 i. Ibid., pp. 1 6 4 - 6 5 .

p. 7 1 .

2 Problèmes d'aujourd'hui, * Ibid. « Ibid., p. 1 Î 8 .

p. 1 J 7 .

INTRODUCTION

4

l'unanimisme est d'essence poétique, puisqu'il trouve dans la sensibilité, dans l'expérience intuitive et émue, son origine et sa nourriture. 7

This last point of view Romains has perhaps best illustrated in his Vie unanime: Or on entend déjà qu'avec de durs soupirs La vague humanité force pour être une âme. Et, plus loin que la ville et que l'humanité, L'univers, Qui ne sent presque pas ses mondes graviter, Mais que fait tressaillir en tremblements d'éther L'espoir de la vie unanime, L'univers, raidissant les tendons de sa chair, Pour que, d'abord imperceptible, goutte à goutte, La conscience y perle en sueur lumineuse; E t bousculant les astres, boules contre boules, Pour que leurs frottements deviennent de l'esprit; A la hâte, sans le savoir, dans l'infini, L'univers veut être réel comme la foule Dans le théâtre. 8

Such today is unanimism. Yet, despite the fact that the name dates from the turn of the present century, the concept itself existed in early nineteenth-century romanticism. This is not to assert that Romains found both the notion of unity and that of an infinite soul in the works of that period, but only that they appeared then as an integral part of the climate of opinion. To propose the romanticists as the only source of Romains' thought would be to contradict his own statements.9 Yet, at the same time, he has remarked on his debt to Hugo, 1 0 and since the latter rarely gave evidence of originality, it seems likely that what Romains found in him could be discovered in other romanticists. In this study, the term unanimism has been applied consistently to the entire philosophy of Lamartine, anachronistically perhaps, since, as far as can be ascertained, the ro7 9

Ibid., p. 172. Problèmes, pp. 1 i8—19.

8 10

La Vie unanime, pp. 67-68. Vie unanime, p. I J .

INTRODUCTION

5

manticists never used the word. However, we do find the expressions unanime and unanimité commonly in Lamartine. Pantheism, as it has been used to refer to Lamartine's metaphysics, and monism, both fail to encompass the underlying tenets of the political and social theories of Lamartine or his conception of history. The adoption of a neologism was abandoned when the appropriateness of an accepted word in current usage became evident, for as Romains said, unanimism covers an attitude of mind, and, thus, it can reasonably be designated in retrospect. Certainly Lamartine approximated Romains' meaning when he had Claude des Huttes say for him: Il me semble que je ne fais qu'un avec tous les hommes, monsieur, qu'ils sont un morceau de ma propre chair, et que je suis un morceau de la leur. 1 1

Unanimism, for Lamartine, was "la sympathie de la civilisation," "la vie universelle," 1 3 "le grand Tout." 14 He, too, expressed this idea poetically when he wrote in "Désir": Loi sainte et mystérieuse! Une âme mélodieuse Anime tout l'univers; Chaque être a son harmonie, Chaque étoile son génie, Chaque élément ses concerts. 1 5

Other romanticists saw the universe from a similar angle. The Baron d'Eckstein referred to what we now denominate unanimism as "quelque chose d'universel"; 1 8 Michelet, as "la grande Ame d'harmonie, l'unité du monde"; 1 7 Ballanche, as "le sentiment d'humanité." 1 8 Quinet and Hugo made use of Lamartine's phrase, "la vie universelle," 1 9 while Senancoui 11

Le Tailleur de pierres de Saint-Point, p. 78. 13 Voyage en Orient, II, 549. Lectures pour tous, pp. 4 3 0 - 3 1 . 15 " L ' O c c i d e n t , " Les Harmonies. Harmonies. 16 17 Le Catholique, February, i 8 i < , p. 1 8 1 . La Mer, p. 1 7 7 . 18 Le Vieillard et le jeune homme, p. 107. 19 Quinet, Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire de l'humanité, p. 3 8 $ ; Hugo, " C e que dit l i bouche d'ombre," Les Contemplations, p. 3 J 7 . 12

14

6

INTRODUCTION

defined the same attitude in his title "l'accord primitif des êtres." 20 II N o matter by what name they may be designated, unar.imistic principles can be said to have formed a major ingredient of the general romantic ideology. The notion of the one circulated as commonly through the early nineteenth century as that of the many, although critics have more often stressed the presence of the multiple in romantic literature. 21 Conversely, the idea of distinction, or difference, as a corollary to the Cartesian desire for classification, was as classic as thit of the one. For the sake of simplicity, perhaps, critics have ignored these facts in contrasting classicism and romanticism, the former signifying for them a belief in unity, the latter, in disparity. Unfortunately for this opposition, however, the romanticist can lay an equally just claim to a widespread concern with oneness, multiform though it may appear. In at least four ways, the romanticist sought to arrive at a conception of unity and harmony in the universe: through his emotions, through metaphysics, through occult knowledge, and through science. The first three methods resemble one another in that, fundamentally, they all spring from a longing to find traces of unanimism at any cost. The last utilized fact more than fancy. The commonest way of satisfying a taste for unity, for a continu psychique, led through the emotions. Brizeux, f i r example, was motivated by them when he wrote: O DIVINE U N I T É , F I L L E DE L ' H A R M O N I E ,

A toi ce premier chant de mon livre nouveau.22 20

Obermann, I, 14. For example, André Joussain, Romantisme et religion, p. 1 7 4 ; Pierre More:u, Le Classicisme des romantiques, p. n ; Pierre Lasserre, Le Romantisme, passin; Louis Maigron, Le Romantisme et les moeurs, pp. 1 - 3 ; Louis Reynaud, Le Ì0mantisme, p. 158. 21

22

Auguste Brizeux, Histoires

poétiques

(Oeuvres,

Vol. I I I ) , p. 207.

INTRODUCTION

7

In a like manner, Lamartine sometimes explained what his sensitivity to nature revealed: A toi, grand Tout! dont l'astre est la pâle étincelle, En qui la nuit, le jour, l'esprit, vont aboutir! Flux et reflux divin de vie universelle, Vaste océan de l'Etre où tout va s'engloutir! 25

Through philosophies and metaphysics, others reached corresponding results. Quinet and Michelet, after long research, formulated philosophies of history that concluded in a similar vein. Both advanced theories that man was progressing toward a distant goal through the "unanimous" or composite ei?orts of humanity. 24 Ballanche, with his conception of palingénésies, corroborated their findings in a metaphysical poem, La Vision d'Hébal. Balzac, Lamartine, and Hugo published peculiarly parallel philosophies in their respective works, Séraphita, La Chute d'un ange, and Les Contemplations, in which all three preached the doctrines of unanimism. From either approach, the philosophical or the occult, these books extolled unity and the continu psychique, reflecting the contemporary interest in mysticism. During the romantic period, theosophists and illuminists revived the curiosity of France about their rituals, constructing systems around a faith in an infinite spiritual essence, though with less appeal to the mind than to the imagination. Swedenborgism rose again to popularity; men like CEgger and Hingant talked of the universal totality; Mme de Krudener won an international reputation as a sibyl. In the realm of science, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire used the prevailing notion of oneness to found embryology. All his work originated from a single idea, namely, the unity of organic composition. Fundamentally a synthesist, Saint-Hilaire acted on the assumption that nature presents only one plan of construction, the same in principle, but varied in its 23 " L ' O c c i d e n t , " Harmonies. 24 See Quinet's translation of Herder, Idées sur la philosophie l'humanité, Introd., pp. j i — j j ; Jules Michelet, Bible de l'humanité,

de l'histoire p. 485.

de

INTRODUCTION

8

accessory parts. Even Georges Cuvier, Geoffroy's constant opponent, admitted the presence of "harmony" in animal organs, although, as an analytical observer, he denied SaintHilaire's contention that all animals are formed of the same elements. Unatiimism, then, penetrated even into the objectivity of natural science. Ill Though the fact is not generally stressed, unanimism also played a large part in Lamartine's life. Like Romains, he believed in the reality of a continu psychique, the great totality of which everything partakes. Also, as shown in the Harmonies, he tacitly admitted that the individual soul could communicate directly with the unanime. Certainly, he would have subscribed to the assertion that limited continua may exist within the all-encompassing whole, groups within groups, and, from his career, there can be little doubt that Lamartine would have affirmed the postulate: "l'unanimisme tend . . . à être une attitude générale de tout l'être pensant." And, finally, his works themselves prove that, for him as well as for Romains, unanimism was of poetic essence, nourishing itself from intuitive experience and from the senses. In a great many ways, the thought of Lamartine approximates that of Romains. Both transform the individual into an essential part of a collectivity, and thus into a new being. Profoundly religious, even mystic, they build their conceptions on the actuality of a collective soul and the unity of the world and the universe. "L'univers et le groupe sont le même," writes Jules Romains, 2 5 echoing unconsciously the theme of Lamartine's " H y m n e du matin": Dans l'hymne de la nature, Seigneur, chaque créature Forme à son heure en mesure U n son du concert divin. 28 25

Cuisinier, Romains et l'unanimisme, p. 4 1 .

20

Harmonies.

INTRODUCTION

9

A t least in one respect, however, the two men disagree. According to Romains, "l'unanimisme ne saurait être assimilé à un système philosophique. Il n'en a ni la structure rigide, ni les contours définis." 2 7 Lamartine, on the other hand, acquired his form of unanimism through philosophy. His views resulted from a metaphysics that furnished him with the unanimistic attitude revealed in his works. But, it must be admitted that Lamartine avoided Romains' subsequent objection, for his philosophy always remained supple, never hardening into rigid dogmatism. As in the case of Romains, unanimism left a clear impression on Lamartine's life, though little has been said of this aspect 01 his career. In 1906, Emile Faguet wrote an article entitled " L a Philosophie de Lamartine"; two years later, Christian Maréchal raised the question of the fitness of calling Lamartine a philosopher. 28 In answer, René Doumic 2 9 and J.-Roger Charbonnel 3 0 both published articles discussing phases of Lamartine's thought. In 1 9 1 3 , Henri Cochin followed their example with a treatment of " L a Pensée religieuse de Lamartine." But, although each critic discussed briefly some part of Lamartine's doctrine, all dismissed Lamartine as a heretical idealist who retained much of Catholic dogma. Of all the studies concerned with the philosophy of Lamartine, Marc Citoleux's La Poésie philosophique au XIXe siècle: Lamartine has dealt most f u l l y with the subject. But Citoleux does not consider the relationships of the various sections of Lamartine's system, nor the effect of his doctrines on his life and works. Lacking much of the material that has recently been published, principally the Vie intérieure de Lamartine of Jean des Cognets and Henri Guillemin's "Lamartine et le Catholicisme," he was, of course, unable to suspect the scope of the topic. In the light of the evidence collected by these, and other 27 29 30

28 Problèmes, p. 1 5 6 . "Lamartine, est-il philosophe?," RL, " L a Philosophie de Lamartine," RDM, March 1 5 , 1908. " L a Philosophie de Lamartine," MF, February 1, 1 9 1 2 .

1908.

IO

INTRODUCTION

men, and against the background furnished by Arthur O. Lovejoy's The Great Chain of Being, the importance of Lamartine's philosophy becomes clarified. Professor Lovejoy, although he makes no direct reference to him, indicates that a large section of the doctrine to which Lamartine adhered formed a part of a stream of ideas that rose in antiquity. Thus it appears that Lamartine borrowed from a major current of world thought much of a philosophy which greatly marked his life and works and, through him, left its imprint on French society. This study endeavors to portray these influences, to uncover the roots of Lamartine's system and the slow formation of his ideas, and to trace their cffect on his personality. It recognizes Lamartine as a thinker and, as such, attempts to see him as an individual and as a symbol of his times. Finally, this book hopes to demonstrate that the notion of unity played a large role in romanticism, and that this fact must be taken into consideration in any definition of that movement. IV When this study was first suggested by Professor JeanAlbert Bédé of Columbia University, the topic to be discussed was the romantic theory of metempsychosis. Later, Professor Pierre Moreau, Doyen of the Faculté des Lettres of Besançon, advised that the subject be at the same time extended to "Romantic Unanimism in France" and limited to, or rather centered around, a single author. The query naturally arises as to the wisdom of selecting Lamartine as the representative of the age. There exist several reasons other than those of personal taste and inclination. In the first place, Lamartine's philosophical poetry antedates that of any other romanticist. His initiation in the doctrine of unanimism came just whçn romanticism was being born, and his ideas developed along with it up to the revolution of 1848. Thus, Lamartine offered the best means of investigat-

INTRODUCTION ing one phase of the ideology common in romanticism. In the second place, he was imitative in his thinking, a more sensitive sounding-board of his times even than Hugo. And, thirdly, if the thesis herein proposed can be supported in the case of Lamartine, it can later be applied more easily to other romanticists. Lamartine belonged to no literary group, though he shared many romantic notions. If his philosophy proved, in general, to be that of Hugo, Michelet, or Balzac, then it follows that the results obtained may be true also of a large section of the romantic school. If both avowed members of the cenacle and outsiders preached the same doctrines, then these concepts must be common to the age. With this fact substantiated, a more comprehensive study of the same subject can be undertaken without fear of obtaining negative or incomplete conclusions. Lamartine's life itself dictated the outline of this book. A chronological and an ideological study of his career indicated building the chapters around the five periods into which his life naturally fell: ( i ) an explanation of Lamartine's vision and its relation to his early years; (2) a consideration of Lamartine's metaphysics from 1821 to 1830, the date of the Harmonies, his last publication before his first trip to the Orient and subsequent entrance into politics; (3) Lamartine's political life from 1830 to 1843 when he became actively interested in history and the philosophy of history; (4) the second phase of Lamartine's public career from 1843 to the revolution that sky-rocketed him to temporary power; and, (5) the last years of the deposed ruler and his return to literature. With such a plan, it was possible to follow the course of Lamartine's evolution, and, at the same time, to consider separately each of the transitions through which he passed, thereby achieving a semblance of that unity of which this work treats.

Chapter I T H E VISION OF

1821

AND

L A M A R T I N E ' S PHILOSOPHY IT H A P P E N E D

ON

JANUARY

IO,

1821,

NEAR

NAPLES,

WHILE

L a m a r t i n e w a s s t r o l l i n g d o w n the streets o f his b e l o v e d I t a l y . H e a d b o w e d , he w a s m u l l i n g o v e r p l a n s f o r a n i m m o r t a l w o r k , t h e g r e a t C h r i s t i a n e p i c t h a t t h e c e n t u r i e s h a d so f a r f a i l e d t o p r o d u c e . A s he t h o u g h t a b o u t G o d a n d t h e p u r p o s e o f

Cre-

a t i o n , his p a c e s l a c k e n e d a n d , s u d d e n l y , the d i v i n e g r a c e d e s c e n d e d o n h i m as it h a d o n D e s c a r t e s a n d P a s c a l . A

hand

s e e m e d t o b r u s h aside a c u r t a i n f r o m t h e n i g h t s k y , a n d a n intense vision t r a n s p o r t e d him b e y o n d reality: Les créations infinies et de dates immémoriales de Dieu dans les profondeurs sans mesure et de ces espaces qu'il remplit de lui seul par ses oeuvres . . . la vie sous d'autres formes que celles qui nous sont connues, et avec d'autres organes que les nôtres, . . . le monde intellectuel aussi intelligible à l'esprit que le monde de la matière est visible aux yeux; la sainteté de cette âme, parcelle détachée de l'essence divine pour lui renvoyer l'administration de l'amour de chaque atome créé; la hiérarchie de ces âmes traversant des régions ténébreuses d'abord, puis les demi-jours, puis les splendeurs, puis les éblouissements des vérités, ces soleils de l'esprit, ces âmes montant et descendant d'échelons en échelons sans base et sans fin, subissant avec mérite ou avec déchéance des milliers d'épreuves morales dans des pérégrinations de siècles et dans des transformations d'existences sans nombre . . . T o u t cela, dis-je, m'apparut, en une ou deux heures d'hallucination contemplative, avec autant de clarté et de probabilité qu'il y en avait sur les échelons flamboyants de l'échelle de J a c o b . 1 1

CFL,

xvii, pp. 360—62. R o m a i n s ' introduction to unanimism offers an interest-

ing parallel to Lamartine's revelation: " U n

soir d'octobre

1903,. Jules

Romains,

THE

VISION

OF

1821

I 3

During this moment of inspiration, the drama of existence was reënacted upon the stage of his imagination. Before his eyes matter came to life, each atom revealing itself the possessor of a soul. Following a mathematical pattern, these particles separated into two great divisions, the material and the spiritual, then spread across the sky in an infinite hierarchy. At the top of the scale stood God; at the bottom, the condemned. Between these two extremes stretched intermediary links whose relative spiritual status was indicated by the comparative darkness of their surroundings. Up and down the ladder moved the myriads of souls, perpetually undergoing tests of their fitness, continually metamorphosing into new forms. Some rose when merit earned them a reward; others fell when a transgression brought retribution. But with patient efforts each struggled to mount to the top and rejoin the Creator. Before the astounded poet, the parts of this living universe rehearsed in miniature their preordained function, demonstrating in the space of two hours the shifting relationships of progressing souls. All matter lived, he learned, all matter covered a soul, and each of these souls existed only to reach the source from whence it came. Before the vision faded, Lamartine believed that he had been granted an insight into the divine plan. Exultation swept over him when, in Les Harmonies, he recalled this revelation: O Dieu! tu m'as donné d'entendre Ce verbe, ou plutôt cet accord, Tantôt majestueux et tendre, Tantôt triste comme la mort! Depuis ce jour, Seigneur, mon âme Converse avec l'onde et la flamme, encore élève au lycée Condorcet, remontait avec Georges Chennevière la grouillante rue d'Amsterdam: il eut subitement l'intuition d'en être vaste et élémentaire, dont la rue, les voitures et les passants formaient le corps et dont lui-même, en ce moment privilégié, pouvait se dire la conscience. Il ne reste, de cette vision initiale, aucune trace écrite, et l'on ne peut que deviner le bouleversement qu'elle produisit dans l'esprit de Romains: en présence de ce monde, où tout paraissait à découvrir, il eut le sentiment d'un secret, qu'il devait d'abord cacher et mûrir au fond de lui-même, avant d'en o f f r i r la connaissance aux autres hommes." (Cuisenier, Romains et l'unanimisme, p. 1 7 . )

THE

I 4

VISION

A v e c la tempête et la nuit!

OF

1821

2

Ces choeurs étincelants que ton doigt seul conduit, Ces choeurs d'azur où leur foule s'élance, Je les comprends, Seigneur! tout chante, tout m'instruit Que l'abîme est comblé par ta magnificence, Que les cieux sont vivants, et que la providence Remplit de sa v e r t u tout ce qu'elle a produit! 3

This was the dazzling vision which furnished Lamartine with the schema of his philosophy. Later, as time and criticism disclosed gaps in his cosmology, he developed it by borrowing indiscriminately from predecessor and contemporary. In this fashion he absorbed by the end of his life a doctrine sufficiently profound to satisfy all his intellectual needs, although it had not been systematically constructed. Vague though it seems, the apparition of 1 8 2 1 reorientated his life along lines from which he never departed. In the first place, it left its mark on his literary and his political career. During his youth, when Lamartine was conceiving his system, preoccupation with it colored his verse. Les Harmonies and the Mort de Socrate revealed cautious attempts to poetize metaphysics; Jocelyn and La Chute d'un ange, bolder efforts to portray a philosophy in action. Even the Voyage en Orient, ostensibly designed as a travel book, developed into a strange mixture of metaphysical, political, and social digressions. It may well be said that, prior to 1848, most, if not all, of Lamartine's prose and poetry originated from a desire to prove to himself and to France that his vision had actually solved the enigma of life. From 1843 to the time of his retirement from public office, Lamartine attempted to apply to politics precepts deduced f r o m the philosophy he had found in Italy; then, in 1 8 5 2 , he turned back with his dream to writing. In the second place, his mystic experience swayed Lamartine f r o m his past religious life. Born and educated in the Catholic Church, a pupil of the Jesuits, and the son of an extremely de2

"Poésie," Harmonies.

3

" H y m n e de la n u i t , "

Harmonies.

THE

VISION

OF

1821

^

v o u t m o t h e r , he had h i t h e r t o accepted C a t h o l i c i s m u n c o n d i tionally. B u t a f t e r 1 8 2 1 , w i t h the m e m o r y o f his r e v e l a t i o n c o n t i n u a l l y b e f o r e h i m , he passed r a p i d l y to d o u b t , t h e n denied his f a i t h f o r a n e w religion. T o cross this R u b i c o n w a s a m o m e n t o u s step f o r L a m a r t i n e . II Interwoven

in L a m a r t i n e ' s

w o r k s lies the p h i l o s o p h y

w h i c h he o f t e n p r o u d l y spoke. Essentially it c o n c e r n e d

of the

same chain of beings he had seen i n t u i t i v e l y near N a p l e s , a n d , as such, represents the n u c l e u s o f r o m a n t i c t h o u g h t .

Con-

sciously he r e c o g n i z e d the d i s p a r i t y and f l u i d i t y o f the universe, a d m i t t e d the existence o f differences and separations, b u t at t h e same time he tried to find a h a r m o n y and a oneness b e n e a t h w h a t he considered a veneer o f c o n t r a d i c t i o n s . O n the basis o f an i n s t i n c t i v e love f o r all that s u r r o u n d e d h i m , L a m a r t i n e f o r m u l a t e d the g r o u p o f c o n c e p t s w h i c h w e l d e d into a w h o l e the a p p a r e n t l y u n r e l a t e d or opposed aspects o f the universe. Like L a m e n n a i s , M i c h e l e t , and countless others, he f e l t that this s e n t i m e n t g a v e the w o r l d coherence and purpose. It held men t o g e t h e r , t r a n s c e n d i n g a n y political b o u n d a r y : U n seul c u l t e e n c h a î n e le m o n d e Q u i v i v i f i e u n seul a m o u r :

C e t t e loi q u i dit à tous " F r è r e " , A brisé ces divisions Q u i séparaient les fils d u père E n r o y a u m e s et nations.*

L a m a r t i n e p i c t u r e d h u m a n i t y f r o m the artist's point o f v i e w , seeking balance and perspective in

fitting

all its parts i n t o a

clear design. For h i m , the significance o f the i n d i v i d u a l lay n o t in his isolated personality b u t in his social relationships: l ' h o m m e social n'est pas s e u l e m e n t i n d i v i d u , il est ê t r e c o l l e c t i f ; il se c o m p o s e du père, de la mère et de l ' e n f a n t ; . . . voilà 4

"Utopie,"

Rccuciltemcnls

poétiques.

l'unité

THE

i6

VISION

OF

1821

humaine, voilà la famille. L ' h o m m e isolé n'est pas tout entier homme . . . C'est la famille qui est homme. 5

The family, then, was the lowest common denominator of society that excluded the anarchy of irresponsible individualism and offered a solid basis for peaceful human intercourse: Le père, la mère, l ' e n f a n t , voilà les trois termes de la trinité humaine . . . C e t esprit de famille n'est pas l'opposé de l'esprit social, il en est la raison. C'est de ces groupes de famille qui se f o r m e le groupe social. La société n'est qu'une famille élargie. 6

Once Lamartine had interpreted the role of man as an intrinsic part of a group, he described a broader conception of unity, the nation. Since the union of one family with another to produce a third molded all three into the same likeness, the continuation of this process resulted in the fusion of the families of any one nation. " O n voit assez," wrote Lamartine in the Conseiller du peuple, " q u ' à nos yeux toute individualité aboutit à la nation."

7

Although barriers of religion and tradition stand between nations and races, he pointed out that a greater force acts to level these obstacles: Il y a quelque chose de supérieur aux antipathies des races, des souvenirs, des religions: c'est la sympathie de la civilisation, qui tend à réaliser de plus en plus la grande unité de la race humaine, sous le symbole de la lumière et de la liberté. 8

The proof of this "sympathy of civilization," he was convinced, lay in the testimony of history that man is progressively attaining peace with himself and with society: Effacer autant que possible les nationalités rivales et tendre à l'unité morale et à l'unité des intérêts, c'est l'action du temps, c'est l'action évidente de la Providence; constituer le genre humain en une seule famille, réunissant ses lumières et ses forces pour s'améliorer au lieu de se diviser en mille races jalouses et ennemies se c o m b a t t a n t pour s'entre-nuire, voilà la tendance de la nature. 9 5 8

8 CFL, lxxxii, p. 274. FP, I V , 1 1 4 - 1 5 . 9 Voyage en Orient, II, 549. FP, I,

7 Page 226. 228-29.

THE

VISION

OF

1821

l ?

The picture was cleverly constructed to suit Lamartine's aesthetic taste. By negating the importance of the individual and accepting the f a m i l y as a nucleus, he drew a design of life consisting of a series of concentric circles. Thus, as he saw it, this symbol imposed on the world a unique l o y a l t y and devotion to all men without regard for the vagaries of birth: II . . . est un [patriotisme] . . . qui se compose . . . de tous les droits que les peuples ont en commun, et qui, en chérissant avant tout sa propre patrie . . . considère les nationalités diverses comme les unités partielles de cette grande unité générale dont les peuples divers ne sont que les rayons, mais dont la civilisation est le centre. C'est le patriotisme des religions, c'est celui des philosophes, c'est celui des plus grands hommes d'Etat. 1 0

For this reason Lamartine sympathized with Claude des Huttes, the stonemason of Saint-Point, in his all-embracing love. Both felt themselves integral parts of a collectivity rather than individuals. 1 1 But not content w i t h imagining h u m a n i t y as closely k n i t at a n y one time, Lamartine followed the example of Joseph de Maistre and Ballanche in considering its u n i t y f r o m a historical point of view as w e l l : C'est la famille qui est l'homme, car elle est l'homme dans les trois temps de son être: le passé, le présent, l'avenir. L'homme a le jour, la famille seule a la perpétuité; la famille, c'est la vie de l'humanité. 1 2

Collectively and separately, he remarked, the f a m i l y , the nation, and the race survive the individual to perpetuate their best qualities: La famille est évidemment un second nous-mêmes, plus grand que nous-mêmes, existant avec nous et nous survivant avec ce qu'il y a de meilleur de nous. C'est l'image de la sainte et amoureuse unité des êtres révélée par le petit groupe des êtres qui tiennent les uns aux autres, et rendue visible par le sentiment. 1 3

One generation yields to another, each leaving a richer heritage than it received: 10 12

Ibid., CFL,

Ill, 174. lxxxii, p. 274.

11 13

Compare supra, Introd., p. j . Les Confidences, p. i o , note 1 .

THE

18

VISION

OF

1821

E t la famille, enracinée Sur le coteau qu'elle a planté, Refleurit d'année en année, Collective immortalité. 1 4

Thus, f r o m any point of view, at any time Le genre humain n'est qu'un seul être Formé de générations . . . 1 5

Although, in the eyes of Lamartine, humanity formed ar. entity, he could not prevail upon himself to isolate man from hi; environment. L i f e was universal; and man was invisibly connected to other worlds: 1 0 J e me sens une tendresse béte, mais une tendresse que je ne puis pai vaincre, pour tout le reste de la création, surtout pour toutes ces créatures animées d'une autre espèce, qui vivent à côté de nous sur la terre, qui voient le même soleil, qui respirent le même air, qu: boivent la même eau, qui sont formées de la m ê m e chair sous d'autres formes, et qui paraissent vraiment des membres moins parfaits, moins bien doués par notre père commun, mais enfin des membres de 1; grande famille du bon Dieu. 1 1

Lamartine had been brought up in Mâcon, surrounded by pets and domestic animals; horses and dogs were always his favorites. Therefore, it was essential for him to include therr. in the scheme of things. The ninth epoch of Jocelyn, whereir. Lamartine apostrophizes his dog, 1 8 clearly demonstrates the affinities which the poet felt related them: man and dog merely represented differing degrees of the same creation. In the final version of Jocelyn, Lamartine renounced affirming too categorically the existence of a soul in animals lest he offend orthodox friends and, more especially, his father and his wife. The manuscript, however, reveals that the reference to his pet in the line Révèle en toi le coeur avec tant d'évidence 14

Jocelyn,

16

"Utopie,"

l s

Pages

p. 2 0 4 . Recueillements.

195-96.

15

"A

17

Tailleur

l'Esprit Saint," de pierres,

Harmonies. pp. 7 8 - 7 9 .

THE

VISION

OF

1821

19

had originally read L ' â m e en toi se lève avec t a n t d'évidence. 1 9

His dog possessed the same right to immortality as its master, 2 0 even shared in the enjoyment of a soul. This so impressed Lamartine that, m a n y years later, he digressed in the familier

to express the conviction that eventually

Cours

someone

would reveal the physical and spiritual harmony between man and beast.- 1 T h e same unity encompassing these t w o orders he extended to plants. Just as a love for animals had persuaded him to enlarge his system, so did an interest in nature demand an explanation of the significance of plant life. Speaking to a horticultural society in 1848, Lamartine indicated the place of the vegetable k i n g d o m in his philosophy: C e qui a fasciné de tous temps les hommes pour ce bel art [agriculture] . . . c'est la cohabitation plus rapprochée avec la nature . . . , c'est cette contemplation pieuse de la végétation, ce sont ces extases qui se renouvellent sans fin à l'aspect de cette vie universelle, de cette sourde intelligence répandues et visibles dans les v é g é t a u x ; ce sont ces limites indécises entre le règne v é g é t a l et le règne animal, qui semblent réunir tous les éléments organisés dans une mystérieuse unité à travers leurs diversités et leurs séparations apparentes. C ' e s t cette conviction de la divinité de la nature qui m'a fait souvent accuser moi-même de panthéisme. 2 2

So keenly did he sense his alliance to the world that he recognized a close tie w i t h even more than the trees and the grass:

23

A u sillon, au rocher j'attachais ma paupière, E t ce regard disait: A la brute, à la pierre, A u moins, que ne suis-je pareil?

24

H e discovered new relationships in the soil. T h e very dust lived ; every globule of air comprehended an inhabited planet. Each 19 20 22 24

Henri Guillemin, Le Jocelyn de Lamartine, p. 299. 21 Jocelyn, " 9 e époque," p. 196. CFL, CT, pp. 2 3 4 - 3 7 . 23 FP, V , 67. Tailleur de pierres, pp. 73, 81. "Le Tombeau d'une mère," Harmonies.

20

THE

VISION

OF

1821

microcosm lived its days and nights in its drop of space; and through it life and t h o u g h t circulated as millions of minute, unseen universes pursued their destinies: Comme ils gravitent en cadence, Nouant et dénouant leurs vols harmonieux! Des mondes de Platon on croirait voir la danse S'accomplissant au son des musiques des cieux. L'oeil ébloui se perd dans leur foule innombrable; Il en faudrait un monde à faire un grain de sable, Le regard infini pourrait seul les compter: Chaque parcelle encor s'y poudroie en parcelle. Ah! c'est ici le pied de l'éclatante échelle Que de l'atome à Dieu l'infini voit monter. Pourtant chaque atome est un être! Chaque globule d'air est un monde habité! Chaque monde y régit d'autres mondes peut-être, Pour qui l'éclair qui passe est une éternité! Dans leur lueur de temps, dans leur goutte d'espace Ils ont leurs jours, leurs nuits, leurs destins, et leur place La pensée et la vie y circulent à flot; Et, pendant que notre oeil se perd dans ces extases, Des milliers d'univers ont accompli leurs phases Entre la pensée et le mot! " All these atoms held with m a n an equal dignity before God. 2 6 Since reason had been granted them in proportion t o their significance in the universe, the sole respect in which they differed f r o m each other and f r o m the rest of the world was in degree of intelligence. 2 7 Thus there arose in Lamartine's mind a picture of life as a chain of beings that stretched f r o m the smallest possible entity to man. T h e mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms were but extensions of each other. T h e plant represented a more advanced stage of reason than the stone; the animal was superior to the p l a n t ; and m a n marked the culmination of the evolution of the visible creation. Y e t each realm remained in close contact 25

Jocelyn,

28

CFL,

"4 e époque," p. i o j .

c x v , pp. 4 8 8 - 8 9 .

27

Ibid., p. 442.

T H E V I S I O N OF

1821

21

w i t h the others, linked b y shadowy borderlands consisting o f f o r m s of being that were not of one species, b u t of t w o . N o where did a gap open the chain, f o r God had allowed neither incompleteness nor death in his w o r k . 2 8 Man, then, manifested the highest f o r m of the material w o r l d b y v i r t u e of an advanced intelligence, and he existed o n l y as a f r a c t i o n of the great u n i t y into which all things are shaped: La vie est partout comme l'intelligence! Toute la nature est animée, toute la nature sent et pense! . . . l'infini est partout peuplé; et partout où est la vie, là aussi est le sentiment; et la pensée a des degrés inégaux, sans doute, mais sans vide . . . Regardez une goutte d'eau sous le microscope solaire, vous y verrez graviter des milliers de mondes! des mondes dans une larme d'insecte; et si vous parveniez à décomposer encore chacun de ces mondes, des milliers d'autres univers vous apparaîtraient encore! Si, de ces mondes sans bornes et infiniment petits, vous vous élevez tout à coup aux grands globes innombrables des voûtes célestes, si vous plongez dans les voies lactées, poussière incalculable des soleils dont chacun régit un système de globes plus vaste que la terre et la lune, l'esprit reste écrasé sous le poids de calculs; mais l'âme les supporte, et se glorifie d'avoir sa place dans cette oeuvre. 2 0 Meditation over these problems b r o u g h t Lamartine, like Pascal, to the discovery that m a n constitutes the trait d'union between t w o infinities: L'homme est le point fatal où les deux infinis 30 Par la toute-puissance ont été réunis.30 From h u m a n i t y to the C r e a t o r stretches another endless p r o gression of unperceived beings, connecting man to the angel, the angel to the seraph, and peopling space w i t h spiritual l i f e . 3 1 The chain, then, as Lamartine w r o t e in a plan f o r La

Chute

d'un ange, continues u p w a r d t h r o u g h i n f i n i t y w i t h o u t interr u p t i o n , 3 - a notion already present in Les

Harmonies:

Et quelle vaste intelligence S'élevait par degrés de la terre au seigneur 28 30

Ibid., xxix, p. 285. "Isolement," Les Méditations,

29 31

Voyage Ibid.

en Orient, I, 3 1 - 3 1 . Les Visions, p. 49.

32

THE VISION

22

OF

1821

Depuis l'instinct de la brute existence, Jusqu'à l'âme qui loue, et qui prie, et qui pense Jusqu'au soupir d'un coeur, Qu'emporte d'un seul trait l'immortelle espérance A u sein de son auteur! 3 3

This conception filled Lamartine w i t h the joy of having discovered the design of the world. It enabled him to visualize metaphysical existence: Qu'il est doux pour l'âme qui pense Et flotte dans l'immensité Entre le doute et l'espérance, La lumière et l'obscurité, De voir cette idée éternelle Luire sans cesse au-dessus d'elle. 34

Far removed f r o m the creation, listening to the adoration of his creatures, the God of Lamartine exists in timeless perfection. He is the supreme i n d i v i d u a l i t y , 3 5 universal and eternal. 3 6 As in the Gospel according to Saint J o h n , the poet's God is the source of life, the beginning and end of all things. 3 7 Around God, the Father and Creator, revolves the infinite soul; power, beauty, love, intelligence, and l a w are his accomplishments. 3 8 Lamartine believed that this all-comprehensive God, bringing forth diversity f r o m one idea, had willed the universe 3 9 in order to admire his own image. 4 0 Or le ciel et la terre, et ce que Dieu renferme Dans un jour éternel, tout est né d'un seul germe: Et ce germe est de Dieu la pensée et la loi, Qui porte toute chose avec sa forme en soi. 41

A single wish animated space w i t h beings, each of w h i c h shared in the soul of the M a k e r . 4 - From one germe all else was born 33

" H y m n e de l'ange de la t e r r e , "

34

" L ' I d é e de D i e u , "

36

" P o é s i e , " Harmonies;

37

Jocelyn,

39

CFL,

"14e

Harmonies. 35

Harmonies. Chute

d'un

é p o q u e , " p. I O J .

ange, 38

La Chute

d'un

ange,

"jère

v i s i o n , " p.

24.

Voyage

en Orient,

II,

c x v , pp. 4 8 8 - 8 9 .

40

" L e L a c , " Méditations;

41

Chute

d'un

ange,

Voyage

p. i é i .

en Orient, 42

II,

549.

"Désir,"

Harmonies.

p. vii. 549.

THE

VISION

OF

1821

2 }

t h r o u g h a process whereby the original t h o u g h t transformed itself into matter and multiplied indefinitely: De sorte qu'à la fois tout est vieux, tout est neuf, Qu'un monde décrépit d'un autre monde est l'oeuf, Qu'une chose accomplie enfante une autre chose, Et que chaque existence est une apothéose Où l'autre produit l'être en se décomposant, Où tout se perpétue en se divinisant! Et l'homme est ainsi né, fruit vivant de la terre; N o n , comme Jéhovah, complet et solitaire, Mais de deux composé, mâle et femelle, afin Que sa dualité lui révélât sa fin Et que cette union de l'homme et de la femme, Qui féconde le corps et qui complète l'âme, Fût le symbole en lui de la divine loi D'amour et d'unité qui doit tout fondre en soi! 4 3

However, to m a i n t a i n his conception of a God aloof who, at the same time, watched anxiously over the world, Lamartine was forced to establish the existence of demigods, 4 4 numerically equal to the visible beings, who were charged with the welfare of some member of that part of the hierarchy which ends in m a n . O n each of t h e m , as guardian angels, rested the responsibility f o r a lesser creature. 4 3 T h e y u n d e r t o o k , he claimed, to fulfill the f u n c t i o n of connecting the t w o realms of creation. Ill

Despite the impression Lamartine gives t h a t his vision had descended on him unexpectedly, it is obvious t h a t the revelation had been prepared, first, by a desire for a personal religion, to be f o u n d in the Méditations; and, second, by his dissatisfaction with Catholicism. T o those who carefully scrutinized the Méditations, Lamartine's first collection of verse betrayed a curious mixture of religious aspirations, b o t h orthodox and heretical. H a d they b u t k n o w n the dates of composition of the individual poems, 43 45

Chute d'un ange, " 8 e vision," p. i é î . Ibid., p. 49, f r o m a prose plan of La Chute

44

d'un

Visions, ange.

p. 4 5 .

24

THE

VISION

OF

1821

they would have been able to discern a distinct tendency toward a personal religion, for, as far back as A u g u s t , 1817, w h e n " L e L a c " was composed, there had appeared a desire to seek proof of the existence of God in the manifestations of nature: M a pensée, embrassant tes attributs divers, P a r t o u t autour de soi te découvre et t'adore, Se contemple soi-même et t ' y découvre encore:

C'est toi que je découvre au f o n d de la nature, C ' e s t toi que je bénis dans toute créature. 4 6

A year and a half later, Lamartine had discovered the concept of a chain of beings, w h e n in M a y , 1819, he began his poem, " D i e u . " W r i t i n g to Lamennais, he aired his recently acquired views on the personality of the D e i t y and his relationship to the universe: Le néant jusqu'à lui s'élève par degrés:

E t c o m b l a n t le néant de ses dons précieux, Des derniers rangs de l'être il peut tirer des dieux! Mais ces dieux de sa main, ces fils de sa puissance, Mesurent d'eux à lui l'éternelle distance, T e n d a n t par leur nature à l'être qui les fit; Il est leur fin à tous, et lui seul se suffit! 47

T h u s , b y 1820, Lamartine h u n g on the verge of discarding Catholicism in f a v o r of a more individual doctrine. H e needed b u t little to push him over the edge, and the impetus came f r o m his dissatisfaction with Catholic dogma. Lamartine, in f a c t , had long doubted the religion into which he had been born. His heresy m a y be said to have begun shortly after he l e f t the care of the Jesuits, for, b y 181 o, he had strayed f a r enough f r o m o r t h o d o x y to be in search of a more satisf a c t o r y philosophy. A s he then informed Virieu, A z a ï s ' theory 48 47

Méditations. " D i e u . " F o r dates of p o e m s , see L a n s o n e d i t i o n of Les

Méditations.

THE

VISION

OF

1821

2 J

of compensations attracted him strongly. " T u as sans doute lu cela," he wrote, "c'est de notre compétence, à nous autres apprentis philosophes."

48

This doctrine, and others like it, shook

Lamartine's faith to its foundations. From Catholicism he passed to agnosticism and the uncertain grounds of doubt. But this new position frightened h i m ; he envied the calm, satisfied assurance of his friends. H e would t r y to believe, he told Virieu: J'ai reçu une lettre charmante de V i g n e t ; il me mande qu'il est chrétien et de la f o i la plus v i v e . . . E t moi, mon cher ami, je tâche à présent de le redevenir aussi. . . . C e t t e longue souffrance que j'éprouve 49 m ' y ramène avec plus de f o r c e . . . Je demande seulement au ciel de la résignation qui me manque un peu et de la f o r c e et de la lumière dont j'aurais tant besoin. 50

T h u s , Lamartine was open to suggestion when, on June

n,

1814, Vignet set out with apostolic zeal to reconvert his friend: J'ai compris à demi-mot, mon bon ami, t o u t ce que tu éprouves maintenant au milieu de ce v a g u e d'opinions et d'idées où ton esprit se tourmente et s'agite, sans pouvoir se fixer. Lorsque t u croyais, tu vivais heureux et paisible; le jour où t u as cessé de croire a été pour toi un jour mauvais. 5 1

Influenced b y V i g n e t , Lamartine struggled to regain his faith. A t last, in June, 1816, he wrote e x u l t a n t l y to Virieu: "Je deviens de plus en plus dévot en théorie et le plus possible en pratique. Il n ' y a que cela de b o n . "

52

H e triumphed too soon, f o r the old restlessness grew w i t h his love for Mme Charles. His friends, w a t c h i n g his apostasy anxiously, believed they had f o u n d an o v e r w h e l m i n g argument in their favor w h e n Julie fell ill: " T â c h e de devenir chrétien," V i g n e t persuaded, "afin de te réserver le droit de prier pour elle."

53

H o w e v e r , in spite of the inducement offered b y V i g n e t ,

the apprentice philosopher steadfastly studied his trade. Lamar48

Corresp.,

50

Camille Latreille, " L » Jeunesse de L a m a r t i n e , " Corr.,

I, x l i x .

to Virieu, March 27, 61

Ibid.

53

Latreille, /or.

49

His recent illness. May

10, 1922. L e t t e r

1813. "Corresp.,

cit.

II, c x x , June 28,

181Î.

26

THE

VISION

OF

1821

tine's interest in heresies continued u n a b a t e d u n t i l , in 1 8 1 8 , he began d a b b l i n g w i t h the doctrines of M m e de K r u d e n e r . 5 4 W h e n her occult powers of persuasion failed to m a k e h i m one of her f o l l o w e r s , he did not r e t u r n to the C h u r c h . L a m a r t i n e n o w considered himself a free lance in religion and a c o n f i r m e d anticlerical. H i s hostility to his f o r m e r beliefs was such that in J a n u a r y , 1 8 1 9 , he advised Mlle E l é o n o r e de C a n o n g e to resist conversion: J e vous félicite de vos missionnaires, [he wrote] mais je ne vous engage point à vous convertir sur aucun point: vous êtes très-bien, tenez-vous-y . . . il n'y a que l'infini qui remplisse l'âme en tout genre.'' 5 B u t , f o r h i m s e l f , he had f o u n d no substitute f o r C a t h o l i c i s m , and this k n o w l e d g e bothered h i m . A l t h o u g h religious beliefs w e r e indispensable f o r happiness, as he told the Marquise de R a i g e c o u r t in A u g u s t of that same y e a r , he had not yet succeeded in attaining c e r t a i n t y : J e crois fermement qu'un homme à qui on a pu donner et conserver le plus de religion possible, est, et sera toute sa vie, le plus heureux, le plus sage. . . . Mais comment faire? J e n'en sais rien/'0 U n a b l e to solve this dilemma otherwise, L a m a r t i n e s u b m i t t e d docilely to the strong claim the C h u r c h had on his right to philosophize. T h e conversion of his

fiancée,

q u e n t m a r r i a g e w i t h i n the rites of

the C h u r c h ,

and his subseimpressed

s t r o n g l y upon him the p o w e r C a t h o l i c i s m could e x e r t on a d e v o u t person. Miss Birch's readiness to abjure Protestantism f o r a m o r e d o g m a t i c cult made h i m s t r u g g l e against his religious e v o l u t i o n . H a d she not traveled inversely the same road he w a s about to take? C a u g h t u p in her f e r v o r , he returned to his f o r m e r convictions. In 1 8 2 1 , w r i t i n g to Virieu of his n e w post in I t a l y , the poet piously a n n o u n c e d a complete acceptance of o r t h o d o x y : " j e suis devenu bon chrétien, c o m m e tu sais, et r7

je v e u x m ' e n tenir là in aeternum." M 56

Corresp., II, clvi, A u g u s t IbiJ., II, ccii, A u g u s t 1 8 ,

'

8, 1 8 1 8 . 1819.

57

IbiJ., II, IbiJ., I l l ,

dxxiii, January ccxlix, from

IJ,

Rome.

1819.

THE

VISION

OF

1821

27

IV For all Lamartine's good intentions, his penchant for philosophizing continued to undermine whatever temporary stability he had reached. True enough, he refused to discard Catholicism, but, although his wife had found solace in her new faith, he experienced no real resurgence of the will to believe. Dissatisfaction again nettled him, and he slowly slid back to the point he had reached in 1 8 1 9 . ^ Carefully avoiding any irrevocable decision on the relative merits of the two systems, he permitted them to remain actively at war in his mind. Thus, his repugnance for a sharp break with the past created within him a long conflict between his own ideology and Catholicism. Materialism, of course, as an alternate explanation of the universe, lay beyond the pale; it lacked the soothing assurance of a spiritualistic cosmology. As he was to write in the Histoire des Girondins: L'âme humaine a besoin du surnaturel. La raison ne suffit pas pour expliquer sa triste condition ici-bas. Il lui faut du merveilleux et des mystères. Les mystères sont l'ombre portée de l'infini sur l'esprit humain. Ils prouvent l'infini sans l'expliquer. 59

Of all the doctrines offering a panacea for the ills of humanity, only Catholicism and the metaphysics revealed in Italy interested Lamartine. T o select one of these posed a serious problem, not only because of the social difficulties involved, but because, to some extent, the two philosophies paralleled one another. The first formed part of the heritage his mother had passed on to him and claimed the sanction of tradition; the second he had begun courting at an early age when first he dipped into the metaphysical writings of the eighteenth cenOn

the

permanence

térieure

de Lamartine,

de son

mariage

of

Lamartine's

p. I I J :

ne marque

conversion,

see des

Cognets,

" L a conversion f o r m e l l e de L a m a r t i n e au

pas le d é b u t ,

mais la

fin

Vie

in-

moment

de sa période de

réelle

f e r v e u r chrétienne. Il a souhaité la f o i beaucoup plus passionnément qu'il n'en a joui lorsqu'il a cru la posséder. Il était dans sa nature de demeurer toujours âme d'inquiétude et de d é s i r . " 59

L'Histoire

¿es Girondins

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , p. 890.

une

28

T H E V I S I O N OF

1821

tury. Each assumed as self-evident the existence of a God who personally controlled the universe, a divine Providence that hovered over the earth, watching with interest the affairs of all and sundry. Both accepted the presence of the human soul, whose entity continued in an after-life following the disintegration of the body. Matter they separated from mind; one was evil, the other good. Life constituted a trial, they agreed, to be endured only as a divine torment. W h y evil existed, no one knew, but the followers of both philosophies arose in wrath at any suggestion of material causes. A belief in the supremacy of reason spelled anathema to them, as did a mechanistic conception of the universe. But here the similarity ended. For its part the Church fell back on divine revelation for proof of its right to govern the conduct of humanity. Dogmatically, God was divided into the Trinity; all but human beings were excluded from the salvation offered by this triple deity. On this basis Catholicism had expanded as a social religion, with rites, ceremonies, and rituals calculated to safeguard the interests of large groups. The devout merely had to follow a prescribed path to assure themselves of happiness in the hereafter. But there could be no dissension on policy or the interpretation of sacred texts; the word of the Church Fathers was infallible law. On the other hand, Lamartine's vision did not admit the necessity of revelation. It obviated any priestly hierarchy by stating that the future safety of the individual depended solely upon himself. He decided his own course of action without reference to dogmas or sacred texts. His was a personal belief in which the concept of a single God was open to a wide interpretation, depending on one's preference. This cosmology freed the individual from all authority; it bestowed on him the right to choose his own moral code, and to determine by free will whether he should rise or fall in the scale of spiritual values. Contrary to the belief of the Church, it specified the existence of a soul, not in humanity alone, but in all matter. Rather a cosmic explanation than a social religion, the chain of

T H E V I S I O N OF 1821 being afforded shelter to those philosophically m i n d e d people w h o hesitated to place themselves u n d e r the rigid rule of the Church. Lamartine had to reject one of the t w o doctrines: it was difficult to reconcile t h e m . T h e concept of a continuous scale of existents had f o r years been associated in the public mind with all types of illuminists, theosophists, and free thinkers. Choosing this philosophy would be t a n t a m o u n t to aligning himself publicly with the enemies of the C h u r c h . But the spurning of one in f a v o r of the other entailed discomforts t h a t he felt u n willing to face. Should he accept his vision, he would find h i m self playing the role of heretic. Such a decision would not only irritate his family and shock his mother, b u t m i g h t diminish considerably his chances f o r success in public life. T h e alternative, Catholicism, m e a n t subscribing to a code in which he had little real faith. H e would have to yield to the dictates of others; his actions would be controlled by a fixed law over which he had no jurisdiction. Personally he favored the f o r m e r course, b u t , f o r a long time, fear of possible consequences prevented an open declaration of his convictions. Such a vacillation in principles p r o f o u n d l y disturbed Lamartine. Desperately in need of certainty in religious matters, he continually dragged a f t e r him the suspicion t h a t he had chosen unwisely, and the h a u n t i n g d o u b t t h a t his selection ran counter to the t r u t h . T h r o u g h o u t his life he paid homage to a Supreme Being, yet never did he actually determine the m a n n e r in which to worship God. 9 0 60

Guillemin, Le Jocelyn

de Lamartine,

p. 7 j 8 .

Chapter II UNANIMISM A N D METAPHYSICS

LAMARTINE'S (1821-1830)

THOUGH STILL PAYING LIP SERVICE TO T H E C H U R C H , L A M A R t i n e h a d e v i d e n t l y ceased t o be a C a t h o l i c a f t e r his v i s i o n o f 1 8 2 1 . H e s t o o d n o w o n the t h r e s h o l d o f a n o t h e r p e r i o d o f his l i f e , t h a t in w h i c h he v e r s i f i e d t h e m e t a p h y s i c s o f his m y s t i c e x p e r i e n c e . L i t t l e b y little he h a d s u m m o n e d e n o u g h c o u r a g e t o m a i n t a i n his n e w p o s i t i o n . T h e n , o n the o c c a s i o n o f t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e Nouvelles

Méditations

in 1 8 2 3 , t h e p o e t d e f i -

n i t e l y a n n o u n c e d his a d h e r e n c e t o t h e f u n d a m e n t a l s o f

utt-

animism

b y c l a r i f y i n g a n d c o n t i n u i n g c e r t a i n ideas c o n t a i n e d

in t h e

Meditations: T o u t me dit que la terre un moment m'a prêté D e ce feu qui l'anime une faible étincelle, Que ma tombe lui rend ce que j'empruntai d'elle; Q u e ce souffle de vie, exhalé sans retour, Dans ces êtres sans fin circule tour à tour; Que, sans pouvoir jamais se joindre et se connaître, De ce MOI qui n'est plus d'autres MOI v o n t renaître, Qui, subissant ainsi l'unique loi du sort, Passeront du néant à la mort. 1

T o this d o c t r i n e o f t h e t r a n s m i g r a t i o n o f souls he a d d e d t h e n o t i o n o f a h i e r a r c h y o f b e i n g s t o f o r m t h e basis o f t h e m e t a p h y s i c s he w a s later t o p r e a c h : C'est ainsi qu'entre l'homme et Jéhovah lui-même, Entre le pur néant et la grandeur suprême, 1

"Réflexion."

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

3 I

D'êtres inaperçus une chaîne sans fin Réunit l'homme à l'ange et l'ange au séraphim; C'est ainsi que, peuplant l'étendue infinie, Dieu répandit partout l'esprit, l'âme et la vie. 2

A n d in each of the poems he composed at this time he expressed the same thoughts, continuing in Les Harmonies and Les Visions the formation of the theology he had f o u n d in Italy. II But the philosophy which dominated Lamartine, and which he now planned to frame in lyric poetry, boasted a f a r longer history than he suspected. It had come down to him through innumerable generations from Plotinus, and evidence of a still more ancient lineage carries it back into the dim recesses of the recorded past. For centuries scholars had gone into battle over the merits of this same system, debating its value in nice argument. Was there a hierarchy of beings? W h y had God made the world? The antagonists had hurled at each other expositions, refutations, and counter-refutations. By the time the debate arrived at the turn of the nineteenth century, its story counted the names of some of the most brilliant men of the past. Voltaire, the leader of the opposition, scorned Leibniz and Spinoza, and through them attacked Saint Augustine and Plotinus. The number of writers through whom Lamartine might have been introduced to this current of ideas is incalculable. Besides the philosophers of the past, his own generation produced many adepts who eagerly sought converts. Thus, in determining the extent of Lamartine's indebtedness for these concepts, the problem revolves around ascertaining in what measure these ideas formed part of the intellectual atmosphere that he breathed, and how much credence they received in the authors he read. T h e notion of a graduated ladder of life seems first to have 2

" L ' A n g e , " Les S oui elles

Méditations.

32

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

appeared when zealous disciples fused two unrelated hypotheses taken from the writings of Plato and Aristotle. When merged, these ideas gave rise to the notion of a world-soul and produced a metaphysics that was to have at least as great an influence on civilization as those from which it had sprung. From Plato, Plotinus accepted the theory that the universe contained all the possible forms a perfect God could produce. T o this he added an interpretation of Aristotle's law of continuity to create the chain of being. Since Aristotle had maintained that "things are said to be continuous whenever there is one and the same limit of both wherein they overlap and which they possess in common," Plotinus deduced that things alike in quality constitute a similar series.3 For him, the cosmos arranged itself in a sequence stretching from the least important existent to that creature nearest God. In the Middle Ages, Augustine and the pseudo-Dionysius conceded the probability of the Neoplatonic cosmology and willed it to their successors in the Renaissance. Here, under the influence of the geographical and astronomical discoveries of Columbus, Kepler, and Tycho Brahe, this explanation of the universe underwent a modification in the hands of men like Giordano Bruno. For his daring, he ended at the stake, suffering, as Abelard before him, the penalty for heresy. 4 For Plotinus, the cosmos had been limited to the known world; for Bruno, an ardent admirer of Copernicus, it was infinite. The ladder of life expanded through boundless space, one end lowered into unplumbed depths, the other raised to a God beyond the planets. Such was the conception of the universe which, reinforced as it passed through the hands of Leibniz and Spinoza, remained current until the middle of the eighteenth century. Ill The long, complicated progress of the concept of a gradation of life offered Lamartine a variety of points at which he 3

Lovejoy, Great

Chain

of Being,

pp. j j—j6.

* Ibid.,

pp. 7 1 - 7 ) .

LAMARTINE'S METAPHYSICS

33

might have encountered this doctrine. His work reveals a familiarity with the writings of many who had entertained this same notion. That he read the men with whom these concepts originated in the western world is certain; the ancients, it may be said, at least corroborated the fundamentals of his cosmology. The occasion of his reading Plato had come soon after his Neapolitan adventure. In response to the spiritualistic demands of the nineteenth century, Cousin had prepared f o r French use the works of Plato. In 1 8 2 2 , at the height of a movement against rationalism, he began the publication of Plato's dialogues, 5 hoping thereby to overwhelm materialism by a frontal attack. His translation quickly gained popularity in a nation well prepared f o r such teachings. Everywhere people quoted his edition, and not the least enthusiastic of these readers was Lamartine. When the Phaedo appeared, Lamartine realized that the translation contained a subject f o r a poem, one that coincided with the religion he had brought home from Italy. In his enthusiasm at this discovery, he acclaimed Cousin as the leader of a great crusade against materialism, a jeune philosophe, digne d'expliquer un pareil maître, pour faire rougir notre siècle de ses honteux et dégradants sophismes, après l'avoir rappelé lui-même aux plus nobles théories du spiritualisme. 6

It was an acknowledgment of a debt, f o r Lamartine borrowed from Cousin's translation the spirit and essence of the Phaedo in an attempt to " f o n d r e ensemble la poésie et la métaphysique de ces belles doctrines du sage des sages." 7 Whether the ideas belonged to Plato or Socrates made little difference to Lamartine; his concern lay with a metaphysics that in some ways resembled his own. Actually he never did succeed in distinguishing between their ideologies. A t first, in La Mort de Socrate ( 1823 ) , he called Plato the mouthpiece of Socrates; much later, 5 6

Oeuvres de Platon, La Mort Je Socrate,

1 8 2 2 - 4 0 , I ) vols. Avertissement, p. 2 1 7 .

1

Ibid.,

p.

212.

34

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

in his last work, the Cours familier

( 1 8 5 6 - 6 9 ) , he bestowed the

same philosophy on both men, attributing to each the theories associated with his early reading. 8 Deliberately Lamartine ignored the fact that Socrates and Plato represented a pagan culture to assume, with many of his age, that they were merely precursors of Christianity. This rationalization served a dual purpose in that it lent him the allure of a free-thinker, while, at the same time, his emphasis on the relationship of the ancients to Jesus Christ shielded him from possible criticism: Quoique ce morceau porte le nom de Socrate [he began his preface], on y sent cependant déjà une philosophie plus avancée, et comme un avant-goût du christianisme près d'éclore: si un homme méritait sans doute qu'on lui en supposât d'avance les sublimes inspirations, cet homme est Socrate. Il avait combattu toute sa vie cet empire des sens que le Christ venait renverser; sa philosophie était toute religieuse: elle était humble, car il la sentait inspirée; elle était douce; elle était tolérante; elle était résignée; elle avait deviné l'unité de Dieu, l'immortalité de l'âme. 9 H a v i n g thus soothed his conscience, Lamartine proceeded to justify with the aid of the Phaedo the vision of 1 8 2 1 . Socrates, preparing to drink the hemlock juice, instructed his friends and pupils in the meaning of life. His conversation, as directed b y Lamartine, outlined roughly a scale of forms, which the poet accepted as "la seule vraie, la seule noble, la seule honnête dans ses conséquences."

10

A s Jean des Cognets writes:

La Mort de Socrate, à tout prendre, est le miroir le plus fidèle où se soit réflétée la pensée religieuse de Lamartine. Dans ses poèmes postérieurs, elle est toujours atténuée ou exagérée en quelque sens par des influences ou par des considérations politiques. Toutes ses idées religieuses essentielles se trouvent en germe ici . . . A ces divers éléments, Lamartine n'ajoutera plus grand'chose: les circonstances ou les contradictions donneront seulement plus d'importance à l'une ou à l'autre de ses tendances mais elles subsisteront toutes, 8 10

C o m p a r e CFL, CFL,

lxxxi.

l x x x i i , p. 229-

9

Mort

de Socrate,

A v e r t i s s e m e n t , p.

211.

LAMARTINE'S METAPHYSICS

3 J

à peu près dans le même ordre hiérarchique que l'on discerne sans peine dans la Mort de Socrate.11 In the midst of His metaphysical poem, Lamartine drew f o r his readers the picture he had seen on the Neapolitan sky. But, as yet uncertain of himself, he carefully masked it as coming f r o m Socrates: Cet enfer et ce ciel par la lyre chantés, Ne sont pas seulement des songes du génie, Mais les brillants degrés de l'échelle infinie Qui des êtres semés dans ce vaste univers Sépare et réunit tous les astres divers. Peut-être qu'en effet dans l'immense étendue, Dans tout ce qui se meut, une âme est répandue? Et qu'enfin dans le ciel, sur la terre, en tout lieu, Tout est intelligent, tout vit, tout est un dieu? 12 The last question was merely rhetorical, for, immediately a f t e r wards, Lamartine began to trace the movement of the various links in the scale. The imitation of the Platonic dialogues gave him the opportunity to stress any of the points he was making through the introduction of a sceptical listener, and such was the method Lamartine employed to draw his reader's attention to the function of the lower part of the chain. —Mais quoi! suffit-il donc de mourir pour revivre? —Non: il faut que des sens notre âme se délivre, De ses penchants mortels triomphe avec effort; Que notre vie enfin soit une longue mort! . . . l'homme, de ses sens sur le seuil dépouillé, Doit jeter dans les feux son vêtement souillé, Mais ceux qui, chérissant la chair autant que l'âme, De l'esprit et des sens ont resserré la trame, 11

Vie intérieure,

pp.

134-35.

12

Mort de Socrate,

pp. 2 3 7 - 3 8 .

3

6

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

L e u r âme, avec leur corps mêlée et confondue, C h e r c h e en vain à briser ses liens

flétrissants,

L ' a m o u r qu'elle eut pour eux v i t encor dans ses sens . .

Step by step he related the approach of the soul to release, recounting the delights of immortality as he had seen them in his revelation. But near the end of the poem, Lamartine turned from the Phaedo to the Orient to introduce a new proposition. His idea of heaven differed radically from that of the Church. Instead of stating that life in the hereafter consisted of eternally contemplating the Maker, he painted a picture that paralleled an Asiatic conception of future happiness: . . . ces êtres purs l'un vers l'autre attirés, D e l'amour créateur constamment pénétrés, A travers l'infini se cherchent, se confondent, D ' u n e éternelle étreinte, en s'aimant, se fécondent E t des astres déserts peuplant les régions, Prolongent dans le ciel leurs générations!

14

The impressions received from Plato and Socrates were more deeply marked on Lamartine's mind by the conversations of his friends. They, too, had read Cousin's work and enjoyed discussing it. De Vaudan translated the Phaedo extemporaneously from the Greek; Fréminville interpreted its contents for the benefit of his young listener and composed fragments of a similar philosophy which he submitted to Lamartine for approval. In December, 1822, the poet wrote to Virieu from Saint-Point of his fascination for these doctrines: [ F r é m i n v i l l e ] m'a lu hier un f r a g m e n t digne de Platon, notre type. C'est

neuf, c'est i m p o r t a n t ,

c'est

v e u x - t u de mieux en métaphysique?

beau, c'est

vraisemblable!

Que

15

These men brought Lamartine a fuller appreciation of the Greek philosopher, and he adopted a reverent attitude toward the creator of the Platonic dialogues "dont je serais le disciple si le Christ n'avait pas parlé, ni vécu, ni souffert, ni pardonné 13

Ibid., pp. 230-51.

15

Corresp.,

14

Ibid., p. 2 ; } .

I l l , c c x c i ; see also IV, c c c c l x v i , August i ,

1829.

LAM A R T I N E ' S METAPHYSICS

37

en expirant." 1 0 Never, he exclaimed in the Cours familier, would reason again rise to such heights: " N o u s avouons que cette philosophie est la nôtre . . . comme elle est en grande partie celle des philosophes chrétiens." 1 7 IV When he invoked the sanction of the Christian philosophers f o r his metaphysics, Lamartine aimed to protect himself f r o m possible criticism, but there remained in his system several ideas more Oriental than classical or Christian. The notion of the celestial marriage of souls, entailing as it did a suggestion of sensuality, smacked strongly of an acquaintance with various Eastern religions that were just being revealed to the West at the turn of the nineteenth century. The spurt of interest in Eastern thought and religions displayed by the men of the last quarter of the eighteenth century had brought to the public notice doctrines similar to those inherited from the followers of Plotinus. B y this time they were garbed in the exotic costumes of a mysterious region. Translations of the Vedas and the Mahabharata rivaled in interest with treatises on Asiatic literature. Recognized in England as important, the movement toward popularizing the civilization of the East crossed the Channel to bring to light the patient work of French Orientalists, who had been struggling at their tasks since the foundation of the Académie des Sciences in the late seventeenth century. The success of Sir Charles Wilkins and Sir William Jones encouraged de Chézy and BarthélemySaint-Hilaire to consecrate their lives to the study of Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic. The growing popularity of these new translations swept UP Lamartine along with his contemporaries. 18 The greater part of one volume of the Cours familier was dedicated to Hindu literature, and the men whom he quoted to substantiate his 18

Voyage en Orient, I, 1 1 7 . Lamartine probably became d'Eckstein; c f . infra, p. 1 3 1 . 18

17 CFL, lxxxi, p. 199. acquainted with these translations

through

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

statements ranked among the leading scholars in this field. Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire provided a useful translation of the Vedas; 1 9 f r o m Hastings and Wilkins, Lamartine borrowed the story of the Bhagavad-gita, an episode from the Mahabharata. Edouard Foucaux, of the Société Asiatique, furnished additional parts of the Mahabharata, while the plot of Sakuntala came f r o m Antoine-Lconard de Chézy. Wilson and Jones' studies of the poetry of Kalidasa and the drama of Bhavabhuti gave the ninth entretien of the Cours. A n d , finally, the "Sanskrit baron," Ferdinand d'Eckstein, assured Lamartine of a constant flow of Indian legends, complete with analysis, comment, and gestures. But according to Lamartine, the fundamentals of the philosophy here called unanimism had been revealed to him on J a n u ary 10, 1 8 2 1 . Therefore, if he did encounter this theory while browsing through Oriental literature, it could have been prior to that date. Of the six writers on the East cited in the various entretiens, the works of three antedate the vision.- 0 Hastings and Wilkins' Bhagavad-gita is of 1787. Sir William Jones' Traité sur la poésie orientale appeared in 1 7 7 0 , and his Dissertation sur la littérature orientale a year later. De Chézy, too, had published versions of several parts of Sakuntala before 1 8 2 1 . Lamartine could easily have found the chain of being in any of these books, for they were commonly known to the intellectually curious of his youth. Oriental philosophy and literature were a part of the background of the generation of 1820.21 19

CFL,

20

Of

1854;

iii, p.

199.

the others, B a r t h é l e m y - S a i n t - H i l a i r e ' s

Foucaux

published his translation of

version of

the Vedas

the Mahabharata

in

w o r k s of the B a r o n d ' E c k s t e i n on the O r i e n t came well a f t e r 21

A n u m b e r of

padesa

and the Story

of

Sakuntala

the Bhagavad-gita

(1795)

that q u i c k l y

before

(178$), f o u n d their

F r a n c e . Sir W i l l i a m Jones discoursed learnedly on Oriental poetry and (Traité

sur

1771),

edited

Sakuntala

la

poésie

orientale,

Kalidasa's

1770;

Dissertation

Ritusamhara,

( 1 7 8 9 ) , Hitopadesa,

and

Gitagovinda,

ars noted these efforts and attempted

sur

translated

la the

littérature Moallakât

and parts of the Vedas.

to rival their E n g l i s h

and

the

1821.

translations of Indian literature had appeared

tine's vision. W i l k i n s prepared editions of

appeared in

1856;

Lamar-

the way

Hitointo

literature orientale, (1783),

F r e n c h schol-

colleagues. I n

1807

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

39

V H o w e v e r , though Lamartine could have discovered part of his philosophy in antiquity or in the Orient, it is more probable that he inherited most of it directly f r o m the eighteenth century. Far more familiar with eighteenth-century thought than with that of the East, Lamartine had at hand more opportunities to find unartimism in the age just passed than in the comparatively f e w works that, at that time, circulated i n f o r mation about Asiatic metaphysics. Since his references to Oriental philosophy do not occur until the Cours familier, seems likely that he did not begin to read

it

contemporary

Orientalists until a f t e r 1 8 2 1 . Likewise, in a choice between the ancients and the eighteenth century as the source of his doctrines, the latter again appears the more justifiable. In the f o r m current among the ancients, the scale of existents had been a static concept, whereas that preached by Lamartine revolved around a sense of universal dynamism. Previous to the second half of the eighteenth c e n t u r y , adherents to the chain of being had accepted the notion of an u n changing sequence of living f o r m s ; they allowed f o r no movement up or down the scale. H o w e v e r , when this philosophy reached the latter part of the century, it encountered such bitter opposition f r o m rationalists like Voltaire that its f o l lowers, among w h o m were Bonnet and Herder, adjusted their principles to meet the attack. In short, they infused the idea of motion into the earlier conception of a motionless creation. Four implications had stood out in the f o r m of this doctrine which eighteenth-century philosophers stressed: ( 1 ) Each link of the chain existed, not to complete the fullness of the world, but f o r its own sake. T h o u g h unequal in dignity, all existents de C h e z y Badha,

retaliated w i t h Mcdjnoun

et Leila;

in 1 8 1 4

and, in 1 8 1 7 , an analysis of the Mrgha-Doutub.

and C a m p e n o n had finished translating the Recbercbes the complete works of (1801-?)

Robertson

(1817—21,

appeared his historiques

1 2 vols, in 8 ) ;

had published a t h r e e - v o l u m e edition of the

Yadjnadatta-

B y 1 8 2 1 , Suard, Morellet, sur

l*]nde

and

Anquetil-Duperron

Upanishads.

4o

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

shared an equal claim to life. Their importance depended upon their respective relation to the whole, not to each other, since the universe was created for the manifestation of all possible forms. 2 2 ( 2 ) Man constituted the middle link of the chain, not numerically, because more forms were believed to exist above than below him, but as the transition f r o m the sentient to the intellectual. 23 ( 3 ) Thus man differed infinitesimally from the nearest non-human series. (4) And, because of this, man possessed a dual nature which forced him to live in constant discord with himself. Somewhere in the scale must be found a species where the reign of the senses gives way to the intellect. Man represents that species. 24 From these aspects of the question were deduced certain morals, the most characteristic of them an ethics of "prudent mediocrity." Since every place in the scheme must be filled, man's duty required him to maintain his post. Man fell into sin if he coveted the place above him or sank to that below. A n d some of the gloomier spirits drew from the theory of the great chain another conclusion as a weapon against popular discontent and equalitarian movements. The limitations of the masses, their low position in the scale, prevented their attaining a high degree of political enlightenment. Consequently, any improvement in the social status of the ordinary citizen appeared a dream beyond fulfillment. The universe was the best possible of universes; God engendered infinite variety through inequality. T h e divine will decreed subordination on the part of the taxpayer as essential, though, theoretically, a subordination without subservience, since each link commanded the respect of all others. However unpleasant these facts seemed, it was argued, they rested on reason. The subtlety of the "optimists" led into a pitfall. A revolt flared up against their scholastic maintenance of contemporary social distinctions. A s Voltaire pointed out, 2 5 their argument 22 24

23 Lovejoy, Great Chain of Being, p. 186. Ibid., pp. 184-90. 25 Ibid., pp. 198-99. Ibid., p. j j i .

LAMARTINE'S METAPHYSICS

4

r

robbed the majority of men of any hope for happiness in this world or the next. Since the universal good necessitates the presence of all evils, none can disappear. Could it be that God had created evil? All links of the chain must be filled; therefore, none may aspire to a higher state without detriment to a superior being. Because these reactionaries assumed that each link contained only one representative at a time, man, no matter how worthy, could not ascend. Had the just God deliberately sent his children into slavery? Those who clung tenaciously to this "theory o f optimism" devised a simple answer to the criticism. They placed the universe on a time basis, as an ever-developing creation. Although a creature occupied each rung of the ladder, Nature was constantly preparing new places for existents moving up the scale. The destiny of the individual changed from inaction and long-suffering to progressive self-transcendence. With the introduction of incompleteness in the conception of the chain, there followed a corresponding shift "in values. Neoclassic aestheticians had claimed that art should be the same everywhere at all times. T o insure its immediate comprehension, they had encased the genres in rigid rules demanding extreme simplicity on the part of the artist. These men learned to imitate the methods of God. But when the advocates of a hierarchy of beings, in many cases staunch defenders of the classic principles, saw motion where before they had imagined rest, the image of God was disclosed in change, as in a moving river rather than in a looking-glass, and the artist was advised to copy the methods of an insatiably creative power. Emphasis fell not on the least common denominator of aesthetic appreciation, but on the expression of variety. The function of the artist implied the multiplication of genres, a quest for local color and particularization. He accomplished his destiny in the naturalization of the grotesque. Originality and the mot gained importance in a movement that demanded the cultivation of national, racial, and individual peculiarities.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS VI

T h e n e w d y n a m i s m t h a t the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y h a d

in-

j e c t e d i n t o a static scale o f b e i n g s f o r m e d an integral p a r t o f L a m a r t i n e 's p h i l o s o p h y . H e r e m e m b e r e d t h a t , in his vision, m o t i o n t o w a r d G o d h a d a p p e a r e d the g u i d i n g instinct o f each l i n k , a n d this p r i n c i p l e he i n c o r p o r a t e d into his o w n s y s t e m . R e j e c t i n g the c o n c e p t i o n o f t h e a n c i e n t s , he s t a t e d t h a t . . . Dieu, qui produit tout, rappelle tout à soi. C'est un flux et un reflux d'ineffable puissance, O ù tout emprunte et rend l'inépuisable essence, Où tout rayon remonte à ce foyer commun, O ù l'oeuvre et l'ouvrier sont deux et ne sont qu'un! O ù la force d'en haut, vivante en toute chose, Crée, enfante, détruit, compose et décompose, S'admirant sans repos dans tout ce qu'il a fait, Renouvelant toujours son ouvrage parfait; O ù le tout est partie et la partie entière; O ù la vie et la mort, le temps et la matière, N e sont rien en effet que formes de l'esprit, Cercles mystérieux que tout en lui décrit . . .2I1 I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h a c t u a l i t y , the p e r f e c t i o n a n d stability o f G o d thus engendered a changing, imperfect world. From the first cause s p r a n g a u n i v e r s e ever finished a n d ever b e g i n n i n g , - 7 w h e r e there is no r e s t i n g until the i n d i v i d u a l has r e t u r n e d to his source: Trouvez Dieu: son idée est la raison de l'être, Il n'a fait l'univers qu'afin de le connaître. Vers celui dont le monde est l'émanation T o u t l'univers créé n'est qu'aspiration! L'éternel mouvement qui régit la nature N'est rien que cet élan de toute créature Pour conformer son être à l'éternel dessein, E t s'abîmer toujours plus avant dans son sein! 20

Chute

d'un

ange,

" 8 e v i s i o n , " p. 1 5 4 .

28

Chute

d'un

ange,

" 8 e v i s i o n , " p. 40.

27

25

"Les Révolutions,"

Harmonies.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

43

Admiring himself ceaselessly, God moves his pawns back and forth in a fantastic game where life, time, and matter reflect his own image. All these errant beings edge upwards, working their way from one level to another. 2 9 When judged worthy, their souls pass on to a higher plane, but if an existent is considered unworthy, it may be demoted or m a y remain in the same f o r m , depending on the seriousness of its offense. 3 0 A f t e r a soul has risen through the preliminary stages of physical life, it arrives at the human level, where it is subjected to the supreme test before being permitted to enter the spirit world. 3 1 A s a mineral, a plant, or an animal, it had not been free to determine its actions: Dieu a donné à tous un atome ou un monde de matière, et une parcelle ou un monde d'intelligence, selon les dessins qu'il a sur eux. A u x derniers l'instinct, aux seconds, la sensation, aux premiers, la liberté méritoire. 3 2

In the lowest phases of existence, the being lay helpless, with instinct its only spiritual attribute. As it advanced, it was granted sensation, but not free will. N o w , however, that it assumes human shape, its f u t u r e lies in its own hands, 3 3 for the realization of heaven or hell, symbols for movement up or down the ladder, depends solely on the individual. 3 4 Writing to Sainte-Beuve in Les Harmonies, Lamartine explained that La vie est un degré de l'échelle des mondes Q u e nous devons franchir pour arriver ailleurs! Souvent les pieds meurtris, le front blanc de sueurs, C o m m e un homme essouflé qui monte un sentier rude Se repose un moment vaincu de lassitude; Sur cette marche même, hélas, qu'il f a u t franchir O u pour reprendre haleine ou pour se rafraîchir, On s'arrête, on s'assied, on voit passer la foule, 29 31 33

30 "Dieu," Méditations. CFL, c x v , pp. 488-89. 32 Chute d'un ange, " 8 e vision," p. 1 6 3 . CFL, cxv, pp. 488-89. 34 Ibid. Chute d'un ange, " 8 e vision," p. 1 6 3 .

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

Qui sur l'étroit degré se coudoie et se foule; On reconnaît de l'oeil et du coeur ses amis, Les uns par le courage et l'espoir affermis, Montant d'un pas léger que rien ne peut suspendre, Les autres chancelants et prêts à redescendre. 35 O n those w h o seek o n l y pleasure falls the penalty of a descent into a l o w e r f o r m . Each transgression against the l a w t h a t grants salvation in return f o r the chastisement of the flesh incurs a longer deprivation of the sight of G o d : La vie est le combat, la mort est la victoire, Et la terre est pour nous l'autel expiatoire . . . 3 e T o Lamartine, then, death was not the absence of life, the cessation of existence; to him it meant progression: Qu'est-ce donc que mourir? briser ce noeud infâme, Cet adultère hymen de la terre avec l'âme, D ' u n vil poids, à la tombe, enfin se décharger! Mourir n'est pas mourir; mes amis, c'est changer! T a n t qu'il vit, accablé sous le corps qui l'enchaîne, L'homme vers le vrai bien languissament se traîne, Et, pour ses vils besoins dans sa course arrêté, Suit, d'un pas chancelant, ou perd la vérité. 3 7 T h e soul, as it leaves its shape, has attained freedom. Behind it lie repression and pain; ahead appears the promised land. 3 8 B u t before entering it, the soul undergoes a p r o f o u n d change: Il dépouille en mourant ses vils sens de poussière Et son sens immortel, par la mort transformé, Rendant aux éléments le corps qu'ils ont formé, Selon que son travail le corrompt ou l'épure, Remonte ou redescend du poids de sa nature! Deux natures ainsi combattant dans son coeur, Lui-même est l'instrument de sa propre grandeur; Libre quand il descend, et libre quand il monte, Sa noble liberté fait sa gloire ou sa honte. Quand il a dépouillé ce corps matériel, 35 37

" E p i t r e à Slinte-Btuve." Ibid., p. 2 1 8 .

36 38

Mort de Socratc, pp. 2 3 0 - 3 1 . Ibid., p. 222.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

4 J

Descendre ou remonter, c'est l'enfer ou le ciel! La liberté nous porte entre ce double abîme D e bien pour la vertu et de mal pour le crime; Mais la vertu s'élève et ne redescend pas, E t le crime expié peut remonter d'en bas. 3 9

Once in the realm of spirits, Lamartine noted that, although life is more pleasant, the soul still faces many t r a n s f o r m a tions. 4 0 Here it enters a world in which ineffable bliss compensates for past sacrifices, where the need for self-chastisement ceases: E t l'âme, qui jadis esclave sur la terre A ses sens révoltés faisait en vain la guerre, Triomphante aujourd'hui de leurs voeux impuissants, Règne avec majesté sur le monde des sens, Pour des plaisirs sans fin, sans fin les multiplie, E t joue avec l'espace et les temps et la vie! 4 1

With the construction of a ladder of souls, the question of evil seemed solved. Apparently Lamartine had accounted for the two aspects of evil: first, fate beyond human control, which m a y be, according to Lamartine's system, divine justice; and, second, human sin, which is but error on the part of a free being. Yet he was not completely satisfied with these answers, for he returned often to the problem. If God allows man to act in such a way as to prevent his promotion up the scale, then that capacity for repelling good must exist in God, of whom the world is but an image. T h u s God cannot be entirely good. In La Mort de Socrate, when Cébès asked Sócrates-Lamartine who had created evil, the later admitted an inability to answer definitely: Sur ce globe déchu le mal et le trépas Sont nés le même jour: Dieu ne les connaît pas! Soit qu'un attrait fatal, une coupable flamme Ait attiré jadis la matière vers l'âme; 39 41

Chute d'un ange, " 8 e vision," p. 163. Mort Je Socrate, p. J 4 1 .

40

CFL,

viii, p. 93.

4

6

L A M A R T I N E ' S

M E T A P H Y S I C S

Soit p l u t ô t que la vie, en des noeuds t r o p

puissants

R e s s e r r a n t ici-bas l'esprit a v e c les sens, Les pénètre tous d e u x d ' u n a m o u r

adultère,

Ils ne sont réunis que par u n g r a n d

mystère!

C e t t e horrible u n i o n , c'est le m a l ; et la m o r t , R e m è d e et c h â t i m e n t , la brise a v e c e f f o r t !

42

Thus God remained f o r Lamartine the creator of all things, yet was absolved of all blame f o r the presence of evil. The contradiction offered the poet a Gordian knot he could never hope to untie, but he persisted in the belief that evil constituted a by-product of creation. Since it could not originate in a perfect God, it had to result from human sin. VII That Lamartine found unanimism in eighteenth-century writers becomes all the more probable in the light of his extensive knowledge of this period. A cursory glance at the introduction of Lanson's edition of Les Méditations suffices to confirm any suspicions concerning the enormous debt he owed the preceding age. 43 Although Lanson refers only to those writers who may have helped in the formation of Les Méditations, it is evident that Lamartine also came into contact with others whose esoteric thought claimed his attention. In 1808, now eighteen years of age, he had assumed control of his own education. N o t only was the library of his uncle, the Abbé, open to him, but also that of the Curé of Bussières, the cabinet de lecture of Mâcon, and the collection of the Bienassis family, where, as Lanson remarks, "il se jette dans l'enfer du X V I I I e siècle." 44 In addition to the classics, this library was well stocked with the works of theosophists, illuminists, and sundry other heretical metaphysicians. It was indeed a storehouse of material on the chain of being. As a boy, Lamartine had frequently visited the home of his comrade, Guichard de Bienassis. With his host, he contemplated 42 44

Ibid., p. 239* Ibid., p. xiii.

43

Compare op. cit., xiii-xvii.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

47

the locked doors of the library, wondering what treasures were stored within. Both knew that the room contained works which the parents of Guichard believed too dangerous f o r their young son. But the impossibility of safely exploring the room served only to strengthen the boys' determination to see these exciting books. Guichard finally solved the mystery by surreptitiously borrowing the key to the wonderland, and he and Lamartine crept in to satisfy their curiosity. What books they actually opened remain f o r the most part u n k n o w n , but it is extremely likely that they met the Plotinic theory in one of the many forms in which its disciples dressed it. T h e invaders returned pleasantly terrified and shocked at the writings of the Marquis de Sade. 4 "' There Lamartine probably shivered at the theories of some of the illuminists who attempted to stem the advance of materialism with the concept of a spiritual gradation. A n y acquaintance with the illuminists or the theosophists of the eighteenth century, even a superficial one, would have given Lamartine a knowledge of this philosophy, f o r , just before the chain of being entered the nineteenth c e n t u r y , the illuminists adopted it as part of their "science of G o d . " A b o u t 1 7 8 9 , France was overrun b y that desire f o r the marvelous which transformed many into theosophists. 4 " B y then, M a r tinus de Pasqually, Swedenborg, and Saint-Martin had climbed to popularity, introducing a taste f o r explanations of the supernatural. With the Church sliding into disrepute, mystics yearned f o r personal contact with heaven; in the wake of Lavater and Dutoit-Membrini, the more ambitious among them established themselves as rivals of the Pope, assuming occult virtues that enabled them to discern the harmony of the cosmos. Like Lamartine, they gravely assured their neophytes that the plan of the universe had been revealed to them, and that this divine inspiration could be transformed to qualified disci4r

' A l b e r t T h i b a u d e t , Histoire A u g u s t e V i a t t c , Les

Sources

Je

la littérature occultes

du

française, romantisme,

p. I,

41.

48

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

pies. Through numerous affiliations, lodges, clubs, and confréries, the illuminists exchanged their superstitious inductions and cabalistic secrets. In mystic societies where Rosicrucians and Free Masons rubbed shoulders, men like Gabalis constructed pseudo-theologies and rituals around the unity of existence in their incessant warfare against the Church. 4 7 Dutoit, f o r instance, wove around these notions a " n e w " philosophy. Like the Martinists and Court de Gébelin, he venerated the Elohim, demigods who had aided in the creation of the universe, and whom God had drawn from his own intelligence to fill the top ranks of the hierarchy of life. 48 Remaining, for all his pretended novelty, well within the Neoplotinic tradition, Dutoit explained that the world born of the Elohim returned to God in a series of metempsychoses: La métempsychose est un principe éternel, tout ce qui est hors de Dieu s'exécute par métempsychose pour les esprits qui émanent de Dieu, par métemsomatose pour le corps et par métamorphose pour l'un et l'autre, ce qui est la consommation finale.49 Willermoz—who at the age of twenty-three was an Elu Coën and the founder of a lodge, Parfaite Amitié—felt called upon to add his schemes to those of his brother illuminists. On J u l y 9, 1 7 7 9 , he sent a sketch of his beliefs to a fellow mystic, Joseph de Maistre. T o the man who was later to defend a tottering Catholicism, he offered a précis of a system in which "tous les chaînons sont liés à leur place." 50 It revealed, he devoutly hoped, the unity of the cosmos. Restif de la Bretonne, too, drew up a set of theosophic principles: Tout est substance dans la nature . . . vous devinez la substance divine, qui est l'intelligence, par celle qui est en vous, et par le bel ordre de l'Univers, qui est sa partie corporelle; et vous conjecturez que la partie intellectuelle est un fluide plus épuré que l'éther, que 40

Ibid., I, 3J. Ibid., I, 12.

48 50

Ibid., I, Ibid., I,

112.

140-41.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

la chaleur, que la lumière solaire, et qu'on peut la nommer: le fluide électrico-magnético-intellectuel divin. . . . Or, le fluide intellectuel, par lequel tout pense et raisonne, est le fluide électrique de Dieu, lequel fluide imboit les êtres de l'univers, propres à les recevoir; non directement, immédiatement, mais par les intermédiaires naturels, le Soleil, les Corné to-planètes. image.51

. . . T o u t , dans la n a t u r e , est type

et

W i t h the aid of this philosophy, Restif transcended matter, visualizing a God whom he adored in a f r e n z y of mysticism: Quelle idée je me forme de la Divinité centre de tout, embrassant tout, animant tout, absorbant tout, pour tout reproduire, et donnant à tout l'intelligence qui lui convient, soit qu'on le nomme instinct ou raison! Etre unique, combien je t'aime . . . Je vous ai fait entendre que je croyais le soleil et les planètes des êtres d'une intelligence proportionnée à leur importance dans l'univers; que l'immensité de ce que nous appelons l'espace est aussi pleine de ces peuples célestes qu'il le peut être pour leur laisser la liberté d'agir; qu'ils ont un langage qui leur est propre, et dont nous pouvons avoir une idée par analogie, puisque nous sommes en petit ce qu'ils sont en grand. 5 " The universal deity that Restif worshiped created all mind and matter. To each of his beings he granted intelligence in varying degrees, and with it, a particle of matter f r o m the materialization of his o w n person. 5 3 From himself he drew a world some day to be absorbed upon its return to the maker. A f t e r being dissolved, the universe, Restif predicted, would rise again f r o m its ashes like the phoenix. A l l species, men and animals alike, would begin their lives anew, rolling through eternity f r o m one existence to another. Their bodies would change, and with them memory would disappear. 54 Restif conceived all things in terms of u n i t y ; humanity, like animal life, was one. In a passage that foreshadowed the D a r winian theory of evolution, he proclaimed that the various species were born of each other. The first f o r m to which God had given birth evolved through millions of centuries before 51 53

Ibid., I, 253. Ibid., I, 254.

52 54

Ibid., I, 253-54. Ibid.

JO

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

it reached the status of M a y bug, at w h i c h level myriads of its companions stopped their development. Numerous centuries more produced the mole, then the f o x , the monkey, and finally man."'5 A f t e r each release f r o m corporeal existence, the immortal soul hovered above its f o r m e r residence f o r a c e n t u r y , then was reincarnated. Its life continued t h r o u g h o u t eternities in a series of metempsychoses,'"' 0 until, one day "tombés, avec notre soleil, dans le sein de Dieu même, nous nous ressouviendrons de t o u t ce qui est arrivé pendant tout l'éternité précédente." Then the cycle w o u l d begin again. 5 7 Restif's f r i e n d , Nicolas de Bonneville, carried on the same ideas: Le monde . . . est un grand animal qui vit et se meut au moyen d'une âme universelle, ce qui le remplit dans toutes ces parties; cette âme est Dieu, la nature, tout ce que vous voudrez. Tous les êtres isolés, dont les corps font une partie de ce grand tout, sont aussi remplis d'une portion de cette âme universelle. Notre âme est donc une émanation de la grande âme; celle des animaux qui n'ont point la parole étant moins considérable, est aussi moins, car plus la portion est grande, et plus grande est l'intelligence. Cette portion diminue par une chaîne ininterrompue, depuis les anges ou esprits aériens, dont l'émanation est la plus volumineuse, jusqu'au polype qui passe pour intermédiaire entre l'animal et la plante, et depuis le polype jusqu'au caillou, qui végète encore, tout insensible qu'il paraît. . . . Plus les âmes se rapprochent, se confondent, plus la portion d'intelligence s'agrandit; cela est clair. Voilà pourquoi il serait avantageux que tous les hommes qui, comme vous le voyez bien, sont frères, puisqu'ils ne sont que des fractions du grand Tout, communiquassent entre eux, d'un bout de l'univers à l'autre, et augmentassent leur puissance en resserrant les liens de la fraternité. r , s Following Sébastien Mercier, de Bonneville admitted

inter-

stellar migrations of the soul. T h e true doctrine of the w o r l d , he claimed, could be reduced "à l'égalité, à l'unité entre Dieu et toute la famille humaine sans exception." 55

Ibid.,

I , If6.

58

Ibid.,

I, 2 6 4 - 6 5 .

inlbid.,

I, 1 5 9 . ™Ibid.,

;)9 57

I, 265.

ibid.,

I,

257.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

VIII For all their fantastic religions, their philosopher's stones, and universal panaceas, the illuminists contributed m u c h to regulate the flow of ideas in France. T h e y played a leading role in inciting the early nineteenth-century revolt against materialism. But their mystic prophecies and warnings to the practical bourgeoisie resulted only in a tendency to credit as plausible an instinctive knowledge of the existence of God. T h e divergences among their respective systems defeated a common aim to found a new church. T h e miraculous powers which they claimed and their assumed intimacy with the Creator provoked most of their prospective parishioners to laughter and derision. T h o u g h many of their contemporaries granted that the C h u r c h needed renovation, only the pathological could accept the aura o f abracadabra with

which

the hopeful

Messiahs

surrounded

themselves. For the most part, comets o f an instant, they

flick-

ered before the public eye, leaving after their disappearance the same wistful yearning for something the C h u r c h could not offer. N o t so, however, with B o n n e t . T h e calculated coldness o f the Genevan scientist and the methodical logic of his w o r k stilled potential jeers on the lips of his readers. B y displaying a thorough knowledge of science, he avoided the criticisms that fell on others who presented a similar design of life. Though Lamartine does not mention

Bonnet, he could

scarcely have escaped his influence. T h r o u g h B o n n e t , whom Rousseau considered important enough to correspond w i t h , 0 0 the doctrine of a chain of beings was introduced to the nineteenth century with the blessing of science. Great in his own time, the reputation of Bonnet expanded after the Revolution to make of him a profound thinker. Lavater, in debt to B o n n e t for the fundamentals of his theory o f the unity of life, classified him with Leibniz, 0 1 and de Bonneville popularized his philos60 61

Harold Hoffding, Jean-Jacques Rousseau Viatte, Sources occultes, I, 6 7 - 6 8 , 159.

and His Philosophy,

p. 9.

5

2

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

o p h y w i t h the m e n of ' 9 3 . A f t e r 1 8 0 0 , the fouriéristes

claimed

h i m f o r an illustrious p r e c u r s o r ; N o d i e r q u o t e d his w o r k s in c o m p a n y w i t h those of B e r n a r d i n de S a i n t - P i e r r e , B u f f o n , and R o u s s e a u ; and M m e N e c k e r de Saussure, cousin and close f r i e n d of M m e de Staël, boasted t h a t she w a s his niece. 0 2 T h e pinnacle of p o s t h u m o u s g l o r y , h o w e v e r , w a s not reached u n t i l

the

m y s t i c s of L y o n b o w e d to his i m a g e . B r e d i n k e p t his w o r k s close to those of C o n f u c i u s and E p i c t e t u s ; while his f r i e n d B a l l a n c h e b o r r o w e d f r o m B o n n e t the t e r m palingénésie

w i t h all the de-

v o t i o n of a s e l f - c o n s t i t u t e d disciple. 6 3 T o g e t h e r t h e y spread B o n n e t ' s theories a n d a respect f o r his l e a r n i n g . T h a t L a m a r t i n e k n e w of

Bonnet

directly, or

indirectly

( p r o b a b l y t h r o u g h B a l l a n c h e ) , seems credible f r o m a c o n sideration of their respective philosophies. T h e principal d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n them rests on the f a c t t h a t , t h o u g h t h e y both a r r i v e d at the same doctrines, B o n n e t prided himself on h a v i n g reached t h e m r a t i o n a l l y , " 4 w h i l e L a m a r t i n e claimed the aid of divine revelation. R e a s o n and instinct, t h e n , traveled the same road. W i t h less i m a g i n a t i o n b u t a m o r e direct a p p r o a c h , B o n n e t built his theories on the same f o u n d a t i o n t h a t later w a s to be used b y L a m a r t i n e : S'il est en Cosmologie un Principe aussi fécond que certain, c'est celui de cette Liaison universelle qui enchaîne toutes les Parties de la Nature. Plus on entre dans le détail, et plus on découvre de ces chaînons qui unissent tous les Etres. 65

T h u s , h a v i n g decided that all parts of the universe are c o n nected, 6 6 he applied the principle of e v o l u t i o n to w h a t he s a w , and deduced a c o s m o l o g y a c c o u n t i n g f o r m a n and beast. B y an act of his w i l l , B o n n e t believed, G o d p r o d u c e d " d ' u n seul J e t " the entire u n i v e r s e . 6 7 F i r s t he b r o u g h t f o r t h a single 82

Ibid., II, 99. Charles Bonnet, La Palingénésie 85 Ibid., II, 49. "Ibid., I, j j 6 ; II, 1 9 J - 9 4 .

64

63

Ibid., I, 4 1 . philosophique, II, 397. 66 Ibid., I, 244.

LAMARTINE'S germe,

METAPHYSICS

jj

which, in t u r n , procreated the types for each species. 6 8

These types then evolved t o become the ancestors of all the existents of a similar species: les Touts Organiques ont été originairement préformés, et . . . ceux d'une même Espèce ont été renfermés les uns dans les autres, pour se développer les uns par les autres, le petit par le grand, l'invisible par le visible. 69 In this m a n n e r he explained the survival o f the various f o r m s of life after the Deluge. These imperishable germes

lay d o r -

m a n t until the recession of the flood allowed t h e m t o f o r m anew a populous w o r l d :

70

Ainsi, par une suite des Lois de la SAGESSE ÉTERNELLE, tout reprend un nouvel Etre. Un autre Ordre de Choses succède au premier: le Monde est repeuplé, et prend une Nouvelle Face: les Germes se développent: les Etres Organiques retournent à la Vie: le Règne Organique commence une féconde Période, et la fin de cette Période sera celle du second Monde, de ce Monde dont l'apôtre a dit: qu'il est réservé pour le Feu, et auquel succéderont de nouveaux deux et une nouvelle Terre.'1 E a c h t e m p o r a r y halt in the evolution o f the world resulted in another chain of life, t h e f o r m o f w h i c h remained p a t t e r n e d a f t e r its predecessor: Un même Dessein général embrasse toutes les Parties de la Création. Un Globule de lumière, une Molécule de terre, un Grain de sel, une Moisissure, un Polype, un Coquillage, un Oiseau, un Quadrupède, l'Homme ne sont que différents traits de ce Dessein, qui représente toujours les Modifications possibles de la Matière de notre Globe. Mon expression est trop au-dessous de la réalité: ces Productions diverses ne sont pas différents Traits du même Dessein; elles ne sont que différents points d'un Trait unique, qui par ses circonvolutions infiniment variées, trace aux yeux du CHÉRUBIN étonné, les formes, les proportions et l'enchaînement de tous Mondes, le CHÉRUBIN luimême n'en est qu'un point, et la MAIN ADORABLE qui traça ce Trait, possède seule la manière de le décrire. 72 68 70

Contemplation Ibid., I, 1^6.

de la nature, 71

69 Palingénésie, I, j . I, 356. Ibid., I, 257. '"-Ibid., II,

si.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

B o n n e t r e p r o d u c e d the classic portrait of a progression of souls. E v e r y possible f o r m of l i f e existed

73

and each shaded

h a r m o n i o u s l y into the existents above and b e l o w . 7 4 T h e e i g h t een o r t w e n t y thousand varieties of plants k n o w n to B o n n e t , he classified as r u n g s in a ladder w h i c h led to the animal w o r l d , 7 5 and thence to the planets. 7 0 T h e earth represented a link in the sequence of w o r l d s , each of w h i c h was inhabited. E v e r y planet had e v o l v e d f r o m a d i f f e r e n t p r o t o t y p e ; all were e x a m p l e s of the f r u i t f u l d i v e r s i t y of G o d . 7 7 A t the head of the visible w o r l d stood m a n , the acme of terrestrial p e r f e c t i o n . 7 8 A s the maître

chaînon

of the earth, the

h u m a n race expressed w i t h i n itself similar divergences a m o n g individuals: Il y a sur la Terre parmi les Hommes une diversité presqu'infinie de Dons, de Talents, de Connaissances, d'Inclinations, etc. L'Echelle de l'Humanité s'élève par une suite innombrable d'Echelons de l'Homme brut à l'Homme pensant. Cette Progression continuera, sans doute, dans la Vie à venir, et y conservera les mêmes Rapports essentiels: je veux dire, que les progrès que nous aurons faits ici-bas dans la Connaissance et dans la Vertu détermineront le point d'où nous commencerons à partir dans l'autre Vie ou la Place que nous y occuperons. Quel puissant motif pour nous exciter à accroître sans cesse notre Connaissance et notre Vertu! 7U

T h u s B o n n e t arrived at the conception of a second i n f i n i t y o f w h i c h m a n w a s the s t a r t i n g point. T h e ladder reached f r o m one planet to another, then o n w a r d into spiritual existence. A s the i n d i v i d u a l rose, he stepped into a land w h e r e the sight of G o d r e w a r d e d the v i r t u o u s : LÀ, comme des ASTRES resplendissants, brillent les HIÉRARCHIES CÉLESTES.

LÀ rayonnent de toutes parts les ANGES, les ARCHANGES, les SÉRAP H I N S , les C H É R U B I N S , les T R Ô N E S , les V E R T U S , les P R I N C I P A U T É S , les D O M I N A T I O N S , les P U I S S A N C E S . A u c e n t r e de ces AUGUSTES S P H È R E S , é c l a t e le SOLEIL DE J U S T I C E , 73 7F> 73

Ibid., II, 124. Palingénésie, II, 4 2 3 . Contemplation, I, 76.

"*lbid.,

I, 243. 77 79

75 Contemplation, I, 3 8 - 3 9 . Ibid., I, 425—26. PdlingcnéJIE, II, 443—44.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

dont tous les autres lumière et leur splendeur. 80 1'oRiENT d*EN HAUT,

ASTRES

empruntent leur

Bonnet convinced himself that his philosophy opened doors hitherto closed to m a n . H e paused to check his results before startling the w o r l d : the universe was one; change and diversity signified nothing of p e r m a n e n t value: Je retrace fortement à mon Esprit toutes ces Preuves. Je les pèse de nouveau. Je ne les sépare point: j'en embrasse la Collection, l'Ensemble. Je vois évidemment qu'elles forment un Tout unique, et que chaque Preuve principale est une Partie essentielle de ce Tout. Je découvre une subordination, une liaison, une harmonie entre toutes ces Parties, une convergence de toutes vers un Centre commun.*1 A fellow naturalist aided B o n n e t in i n t r o d u c i n g his beliefs into the nineteenth c e n t u r y . Bernardin de Saint-Pierre sentimentalized his discussions of nature in Les Etudes de la and Les Harmonies

de la nature

nature

with such success t h a t they

m a d e his name familiar t h r o u g h o u t Europe. N o t a very intellectual representative of his generation, he merely repeated the ideas of others. T h e notion of a gradation of life intrigued him, also, but he never discussed it in its entirety, c o n t e n t i n g himself with demonstrating the benevolence and h a r m o n y o f nature that this doctrine a t t e m p t e d to prove. H i s works were well k n o w n to L a m a r t i n e , 8 2 as to every one of his time, and in them L a m a r t i n e p r o b a b l y discovered the usual catch words bandied about b y converts to this philosophy. Each mention of the plausibility of the chain would have tended to confirm L a m a r t i n e ' s penchant f o r similar theories. T h e gentle disciple o f Rousseau, f o r instance, assured his readers that "les sphères de tous les êtres se c o m m u n i q u e n t par des rayons qui semblent réunir leurs e x t r é m i t é s . "

83

H e recounted

the tangible evidence of universal h a r m o n y as demonstrated b y his beloved plants and animals. T o him fell the task o f p r o v 80 82 83

81 Contemplation, I 84. Palingènéiie, I, 397. Sce FP, "Discours prononcé sur la tombe d'Aimé Martin," June 27, 1847. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Etudes de la nature, I, 76.

5

6

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

ing the utility of each link; to others the onus of logically recreating the plan of the Maker. IX This acquaintance with the illuminists and theosophists not only gave Lamartine an admirable background for his philosophizing, but, at the same time, enabled him to construct a system of metaphysics toward which many of his contemporaries were turning. When Lamartine returned to France after his stay in Italy, he found there an intellectual climate favorable to the flourishing of his new doctrines. Paris radiated spiritualism and animism, a milieu of illuminism and its related theories. The Globe, in all its majesty, resented the effervescent logic of the disciples of unanimism, and voiced its decisive disapproval. But its very scorn betrayed a popular rise in favor of this philosophy. One of the staff 84 drew himself to the heights of his doctrinaire majesty to explain the strange new ideas: Dieu est la f o r c e des forces, le t y p e des âmes, l'esprit pur et souverain. C'est c o m m e tel qu'il a t o u t f a i t , t o u t produit. T o u s les êtres ou p l u t ô t tous les agents de l'univers, ceux qui sont doués d'intelligence et de liberté, ceux qui n'ont que de la résistance et de la mobilité, ceux qui se r a p p r o c h e n t plus ou moins des uns ou des autres, tous ne sont que des effets ou des f o r m e s de son a c t i v i t é ; on pourrait presque dire qu'ils n'en sont que les actes v i v a n t s . 8 5

The tendency of philosophers and writers to cultivate the unorthodox irked the precise Globe, and it lost no time in pouring forth its vitriol on this manifestation. Its columnists noted with marked aversion the penchant for the exotic which had gripped even great scholars. Therefore, one of them took it upon himself to reprove Guignaut, the worst sinner of them all: Le sens d u m o t symbole présente à lui seul la difficulté t o u t entière. U n symbole est un signe, mais u n signe qui n o n seulement rappelle, 84 85

The article is signed P H . Le Globe, J u l y 30, 1 8 2 5 , article on Maine de Biran.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

J 7

indique une pensée, c'est encore un signe qui l'exprime et la contient autant que ce qui est sensible peut exprimer et contenir ce qui ne l'est pas. Or c'est précisément le grand dogme de l'école actuelle, que la nature est le reflet ou, pour mieux dire, la forme vivante de la pensée de son auteur. Toute la nature est donc le symbole de Dieu qui vit en elle: ce n'est plus un vain théâtre pour les yeux, c'est un sanctuaire tout rempli de l'être invisible, où retentit sans cesse l'hymne religieux. L'homme, à son tour, est aussi un être essentiellement symbolique, comme composé d'un esprit et d'un corps à travers lequel l'esprit ne peut que transpirer; et reluire pour ainsi dire dans le milieu qui lui est assigné; de telle sorte que sa propre pensée ne lui apparaît à lui-même que sous le voile des mots et des images . . . Ainsi envisagé, l'esprit humain ressemble, rayonnant de toutes parts vers le grand monde qu'il réfléchit et où il se voit réfléchi comme participant à l'intelligence de son auteur. 86

The horror of the editorial staff at the subversive elements of the doctrine revealed their existence in full. But, not only did the Globe arouse curiosity, it even opened its pages to Azaïs to announce the coming appearance of his Explication universelle, and to review favorably his open lectures on the one and only "système universel." 87 While the Globe pointed an accusing finger at the more prominent proponents of illuminism, theosophy, and animism, the Swedenborgians began to raise their voices in an endeavor to recapture the attention of France. The return to favor of spiritualism revived their prospects for a New Jerusalem, bringing recruits to those disciples who had perseveringly prolonged the mystic doctrines of the past century. Unnoticed by the Globe or the other agents of respectability, the movement attained momentum until, in 1840, the religious descendants of Swedenborg began reëditing his writings. The circle of high priests resumed shape, and the new Messiahs gathered the faithful into their fold, using each other's formulas and fantasy without hesitation. Richer quoted Œgger; Œgger, a former priest, corresponded with the Englishman, Tul, and the German theosophist, Hofaker. Through the mouths of all flowed 86

Ibid.,

August 27, 182 j .

87

Ibid.,

Decembtr 7, 1 8 2 6 .

j8

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

the same amalgamation of the doctrines of Mesmer, SaintMartin, and Swedenborg. 88 Everybody was a potential convert in their eyes as CEgger showed in 1 8 3 0 when he attempted to proselyte the Rothschilds: Jéhovah-Jésus-Christ, en un mot, s'est présenté devant moi en personne, pour me donner ses dernières explications sur la nature de son être et ses rapports avec le genre humain et pour me permettre de répandre enfin généralement sur la terre la connaissance de la langue de la nature; connaissance par laquelle les hommes communiqueront dorénavant d'une manière plus étroite avec le ciel, et en feront ainsi descendre cette Nouvelle Jérusalem dont la Jérusalem terrestre n'était que le type.89

The honeyed tones of the Swedenborgians attracted the attention of several writers who were lost in a maze of conflicting opinions. Balzac, for example, fell under the spell of the illuminists, and opened for them a new channel for propaganda. Séraphita sketched the beliefs of this school in a f o r m that promised to intrigue those Frenchmen against whose ears the enticements of the theosophists had hitherto beaten to no avail. The popularity of Balzac's works diffused the gospel throughout France, even introducing it into orthodox homes. 9 " The same ideas gained further credence through the writings of Charles Nodier. From the mystics who had indoctrinated Balzac with heresy, this romantic Brahman imitated the visionary attitude of his masters. With him, theosophy rose to the rank of a literary topic that was to nourish the novels of A l e x andre Dumas and Georges Sand. 9 1 Through the translations of Moët and Hindmarsh, 9 2 Nodier had joined Balzac in reading Swedenborg. But to this philosophy the leader of the first romantic cénacle added several others, principally that of Pythagoras, which he discovered in a translation of Maurice Qua'i, and that of Charles Bonnet, revealed 88

Auguste

Viatte,

"Les

Swedenborgiens

en

France

de

1820

a

' 9 3 ' . P- 4 3 7 89

Ibid.,

00

Maurice Souriau, L'Histoire

01

Viatte, Sources

p. 4 2 4 . occultes,

du romantisme II, 1 6 7 .

9

en France,

-Circa

1820.

p.

169.

1830,"

RLC,

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

5 9

t o h i m in t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n s o f t h e u b i q u i t o u s B a l l a n c h e . T h i s assortment of heterodox opinions

filtered

through

his

mind

t o f o r m t h e w e i r d i l l u m i n i s m w i t h w h i c h h e l a r d e d his b o o k s . 0 3 T h e strangeness of N o d i e r ' s views d r e w m a n y

readers

to

his t a l e s , a n d m o s t o f t h e m b e c a m e c o n v i n c e d o f t h e a u t h o r ' s madness. A w a r e of this attitude, N o d i e r felt himself

forced,

in 1 8 3 2 , t o d e f e n d his p o s i t i o n : Depuis quatre ans, une idée, descendue dans mon esprit à la faveur du sommeil qui est le premier des enseigneurs, s'y est développé avec t a n t de puissance de nuit en nuit qu'elle a fini par se changer en c o n viction. . . . N o n , mon ami, je ne suis pas fou. N o n , je ne me crois inspiré. N o n , je ne veux ni fonder une école philosophique, ni prendre place parmi les illuminés des religions. . . . C'est qu'aucun homme qui pense ne peut la contredire sans s'accuser dans son coeur de mauvaise foi et de mensonge, et cette perception, c'est celle du système de la création toute entière avec son c o m m e n c e m e n t et son b u t . Les sages de l'Inde, et après eux Pythagore, Charles Bonnet et K a n t , qui sont les trois plus grands génies de tous les siècles, en ont aperçu quelque chose; Cuvier aussi, mais la chaîne s'est rompu dans sa main sans qu'il osât la renouer. Moi, je la tiens, j'en suis sûr, il n ' y manque pas un anneau et l'univers est complet c o m m e il devait ê t r e . 9 4 N o d i e r ' s universe closely resembled that of L a m a r t i n e .

He,

t o o , a d m i t t e d t h e u n i t y o f all f o r m s o f l i f e a n d t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e shapes o f r e a l i t y . H u m a n e x i s t e n c e fitted i n t o t h e d i v i n e p l a n o n l y as a p a r t o f a c o m p l e x m o s a i c : Il existe pour chaque mortel plusieurs épreuves successives, mais isolées par l'oubli. 0 ' Il est incontestable que l'échelle des êtres se prolonge sans interruption à travers notre tourbillon tout entier et de notre tourbillon à travers tous les autres, jusqu'aux limites incompréhensibles de l'espace où réside l'être sans commencement et sans fin, qui est la source inépuisable de toutes les existences, et qui les ramène à lui. 0 « T h i s e a r t h f u r n i s h e d f o r t h e soul a c o r r i d o r t o t h e o t h e r w o r l d , w h e r e it c l i m b e d t o t h e d i g n i t y o f être Viatte, Sources »s Ibid., II, 1 4 } . 03

occultes,

II, 165.

94 86

Ibid., Ibid.,

compréhensif. II, 1 6 4 - 6 J . II, 165.

In this

6o

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

capacity the being that had attained felicity acted as protector f o r a f o r m lower in the scale. 97 X In the midst of such an intellectual atmosphere, Lamartine began to compose another book of poetry, but this time he contemplated something more grandiose than Les Méditations or La Mort de Socrate. Consumed with a desire to be the first to complete a successful French epic, he evolved Les Visions, a vast poem that was to embody the essentials of his revelation. For a long time he had worked over the details of the projected masterpiece, then, on A u g u s t 6, 1 8 2 3 , he informed Virieu that his dream neared f u l f i l l m e n t : Je vais faire ou refaire César en romantique pour m'amuser cet automne et gagner dix mille francs dont j'aurai besoin. E poi, il gran poema epico, lyrico, metaphysico [sic], etc., si Dieu le veut.98 T r u e to his word, Lamartine began his epic in the fall. In December, 1 8 2 3 , he had progressed f a r enough to send Virieu a tentative account of the p l o t . " It was, as he explained in Les Nouvelles

Confidences,

to be "l'histoire de l'âme humaine et

de ses transmigrations à travers des existences et des épreuves successives, depuis le néant jusqu'à la réunion au centre universel, D i e u . "

100

A s he envisaged it, the hero would represent

an idea; he was to be the living embodiment of an explanation of the universe. In J a n u a r y of the next year, Lamartine finished some lines of the first of the f e w chants he ever completed. A t that time he informed Genoude: " J e continuerai à ruminer mon poème dont j'ai enfin dessiné le squelette."

101

T h e next month he

admitted to the Marchesa di Barolo that the work promised to eat up more time than he had anticipated: 97

Ibid.,

II, 1 4 3 ,

99

Ibid.,

III, cccvi.

101

tiker,

Wilhelm p. 38.

98

16 j .

Hoegen,

100

Die

Corresp.,

Ill, ccxcviii.

Quoted in G u i l l e m i n , Visions,

Menschheitsdichtungen

der

pp.

36-57.

französischen

Roman-

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

61

Quant à moi j'écris peu ou point: de temps en temps quelque chant de mon poëme, qui peut-être ne s'achèvera jamais. Mais il faut avoir une chimère dans ce monde: ce poëme sera la mienne, ayant renoncé aux autres. 1 0 J

In this letter Lamartine struck closer to the truth than he imagined, for, in March, 1 8 2 7 , he was still recording f o r Virieu's benefit the progress of Les Visions. " M a verve épique me reprend depuis quelques jours," came the word f r o m Florence, "peut-être ferai-je quatre ou cinq chants cet été à

L>>

103

ivourne. Six long years he spent in working and reworking fragments of his epic before he realized that his conception of the poem surpassed his powers. According to Henri Guillemin, some part of the project occupied him constantly f r o m December, 1 8 2 3 , to March, 1829, a statement which the manuscript dates seem to corroborate: December 25, 1823 Invocation January 1—March 27, 1824

Vision

March 29—June 10, 1824

Premier chant des Chevaliers

première

June-July, 1824

Beginning of the Deuxième

chant des

Chevaliers July, 1824

T w o fragments of the

September, 1824

More of the Deuxième chant des Chevaliers Deuxième chant des Visions End of the Deuxième chant des Chevaliers

1826 (?) May i-June 1, 1827

Solitaires

Beginning of June, 1 8 2 7

Beginning of the Troisième

1827 March, 1829

Chevaliers Hymne du solitaire Jugement dernier104

chant

des

This period, from 1823 to 1829, coincides with the growth of a conviction in Lamartine that the religious spirit of France needed fostering. On April 19, 1824, he had stated to Casimir Delavigne that 102

Barolo, 103

V i r g i l i o P o n t i , Let/ere

inedite

di

pp. 24—2î, letter dated F e b r u a r y Corresp.,

I l l , ccxcviii.

Alphonse 15, 104

de

Lamartine

1824. Visions,

p.

21.

alla

Marchesa

di

LAMARTINE'S

62

METAPHYSICS

nous sommes dans un temps où l'abus de la relligion [s/'r] ne me paraît pas à redouter. Elle est détruite dans les classes inférieures de la société, on cherche avec raison à la semer de nouveau dans les coeurs et dans les esprits. Elle y est nécessaire. Elle est le premier des besoins moraux de l'homme, n'attaquez pas l'abus dans le temps ou [sic] nous n'avons pas même la chose: s'il se glisse quelques excès, quelque zèle humain dans la conduite de ceux qui sont ou se disent aujourd'hui ses apôtres, jettons [ s / f ] notre manteau sur ces infirmités qu'il f a u t voir, plaindre et oublier; croyez-moi, nous sommes loin du temps où elle élevait des bûchers et des échafauds, la Puissance temporelle est anéantie. Son esprit vit et vivra toujours, réchaufïons-le. Epurons-le si nous le pouvons mais ne coupons pas les faibles rejettons [s»V] de ce grand arbre déraciné et qui couvrira nos enfants de son ombre. Si les abus renaissent avec la puissance il se trouvera à temps des hommes courageux pour les attaquer encore, mais à présent favorisons-la ou de nos efforts ou du moins de notre silence. 1 0 ' " F a v o r i s o n s - l a , " he h a d a d v i s e d , a n d this he i n t e n d e d t o d o w i t h Les Visions.

H e p l a n n e d t o s t u d y , in t h e l i g h t o f his r e v e l a -

t i o n , the f a l l of m a n a n d the s u c c e s s i v e steps o f an i n d i v i d u a l soul as it r e t u r n e d t o G o d . S i n c e this one s o u l w a s t o s y m b o l i z e t h e e n t i r e c r e a t i o n , w i t h special e m p h a s i s o n t h e f a t e o f

man,

L a m a r t i n e o r i g i n a l l y h o p e d t o discuss all the m o m e n t o u s p e r i o d s o f h i s t o r y . T h u s , his list of titles i n c l u d e d : " L e D é l u g e , " " L e s Patriarches," "Les Prophètes," " L e

Christ,"

"Les

Martyrs,"

" L e s Solitaires de la T h é b a ï d e , " a n d " L e s C h e v a l i e r s . " T h e s u b title, Les Lois morales,

h i n t s t h a t h e w a s o n t h e v e r g e of d i s -

c l o s i n g w h a t he c o n s i d e r e d a n e w t h e o l o g y . T h e p l o t of t h e e p i c r e v o l v e d a r o u n d t h e p u n i s h m e n t

in-

f l i c t e d o n an a n g e l f o r d a r i n g t o t r a n s g r e s s a g a i n s t t h e d i v i n e l a w . F o r his sin, he w a s c o n d e m n e d t o r e m o u n t the l a d d e r o f life: Sois homme [ G o d commanded h i m ] , mais homme immortel, ou plutôt renaissant sans cesse et subissant les diverses destinées de l'homme jusqu'à ce que, par ta propre force et vertu et épreuves, tu aies reconquis ta destinée première. Alors tu mourriras pour la dernière fois et si tu es jugé pur, tu redeviendras ange. 1 0 6 lf 5

'

Jacques

L'Ordre, 106

Lynn,

"Une

November 2 1 ,

Visions, p. 83.

Lettre

1938.

inédite

de

Lamartine

sur

le

libéralisme,"

L A M A R T I N E ' S

M E T A P H Y S I C S

63

Under this curse, the fallen angel struggled to regain his lost position. Pardon for the offense came on the Last Day, and as Lamartine pictured the disappearance of the earth, he took occasion to underline the moral of his story: E t quelle v a s t e intelligence S ' é l e v a i t par degrés de la terre au Seigneur, D e p u i s l ' i n s t i n c t grossier de la seule existence, D e p u i s l ' a v e u g l e soif du terrestre bonheur, J u s q u ' à l ' â m e qui loue et qui prie et qui pense, J u s q u ' a u soupir d ' u n coeur Q u ' e m p o r t a i t d ' u n seul trait l'immortelle espérance A u pied d u c r é a t e u r !

107

Thus, still under the influence of his Neapolitan experience, Lamartine immortalized that dream by incorporating it into poetry and, in so doing, he further weakened the few ties that still bound him to Catholicism. XI One of Lamartine's last connections with the Church snapped in 1829, when his mother died. T o her he owed his religious training; for her sake he had withheld deserting Catholicism. But once her restraining influence was removed, he felt free to express his personal opinions. N o w he need no longer refrain f r o m writing what might hurt her. Each departure from what she had taught left a wake of bitterness, but his path lay clearly mapped. 1 0 8 He took advantage of this freedom when he published Les Harmonies ( 1 8 3 0 ) . More and more his verses concerned themselves with emphasizing the fundamental unity of creation, the harmony of the numberless parts that form the Whole. They were, he explained, "destinées, dans la pensée de l'auteur, à reproduire un grand nombre des impressions de la nature et de la vie sur l'âme humaine," and were printed for the chosen f e w who sought "des degrés pour monter à Dieu." 1 0 9 107 109

108 Ibid., p. 245. Des Cognets, Vie intérieure, Harmonies, Avertissement, p. 1.

p. 162.

64

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

W i t h f e w exceptions, the v e r y titles of the poems betrayed the power of the mysticism into which Lamartine had plunged. H e wrote h y m n s to the spirits that govern the parts of the day, discussed " L ' I n f i n i dans les c i e u x , " " L ' H u m a n i t é , " " L ' I d é e de D i e u , " and listened to " L e C r i de l ' â m e . " A n d all this he set forth in tones that recalled the teachings of the cabalists and the illuminists:

110

A toi, grand T o u t ! dont l'astre est la pâle étincelle E n qui la nuit, le jour, l'esprit, v o n t aboutir! F l u x et reflux divin de vie universelle, V a s t e océan de l ' E t r e où tout va s'engloutir!

T h e u n i t y of Les Harmonies

111

lay, as Lamartine warned, in

their v e r y d i v e r s i t y . 1 1 - In Les Visions

he had tried vainly to

fit his philosophy into one long poem, and, when that seemed impossible, adopted the opposite course. B y distributing throughout m a n y poems the gist of his revelation, he believed he could succeed in teaching his metaphysics to his friends through a series of interpretations of nature. This method also claimed the advantage that most sceptical readers would overlook his theology, the significance of which could be grasped only b y a f e w kindred spirits. A f t e r all, he had written, " c e s vers ne s'adressent qu'à un petit n o m b r e . "

113

T h r o u g h the collection of Les Harmonies 1 1 0

According

ran a series of

to Joseph Buche, it is p e r f e c t l y proper to apply

luminist to L a m a r t i n e : vie, l ' A d a m p r i m i t i f

the name

il-

" L ' i l l u m i n é se croit capable de rétablir en lui, dès cette

qui, avant la c h u t e , était presque un D i e u , à tout le moins

un collaborateur de D i e u ; cet A d a m d o n t la puissance s'étendait

souverainement

sur tous les êtres, qui possédait une intelligence sans nuages et une volonté sans faiblesses, des sens a u j o u r d ' h u i perdus, tel celui de c o m m u n i q u e r divins, de se déplacer visions d ' u n

avec les

êtres

à son gré dans l'espace, de lire au f o n d des coeurs.

Swedenborg,

d'un

Poiret,

d'un

abbé F o u r n i e r

sont pour

Les

l'illuminé

tout ce qu'il y a de plus naturel. P o u r ces élus l'oeil intérieur, f e r m é depuis la f a u t e d ' A d a m , se r o u v r e ;

alors le voile des apparences se dissipe, le monde

apparaît

d'anges

avec

ses légions

et de démons engagés

dans une lutte qui

réel ne

f i n i r a que par le triomphe absolu sur le mal du bien et de Dieu. A u t o u r du v o y a n t toutes les puissances célestes se g r o u p e n t ; il marche sous leur protection

évidente,

bien

(L'Ecole

persuadé

qu'aucune

puissance

mystique Je Lyon, pp. 2 1 - 2 1 . ) 1 1 1 " L ' O c c i d e n t , " Harmonies. 1 1 3

l b i J . , p. 2.

humaine 1 1 2

ne peuc

Harmonies,

rien

contre

lui."

A v e r t i s s e m e n t , p.

1.

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

65

philosophical observations that recapitulated Lamartine's metaphysical discoveries since 1821. For the most part they reproduced poetically all he had attempted to put into the ill-fated Visions and reaffirmed the poet's gratitude to God: O Dieu! tu m'as donné d'entendre Ce verbe, ou plutôt cet accord, Tantôt majestueux et tendre, T a n t ô t triste comme la mort! Mon âme sans chagrin gémit-elle en moi-même, C'est que de tes grandeurs l'ineffable harmonie N'est qu'un premier degré de l'échelle infinie. 114

But, in one respect, Lamartine's philosophizing differed from his previous attempts at metaphysical poetry. With Les Harmonies he lost the hesitation that marked Les Méditations and La Mort de Socrate. He now passed from the role of neophyte to that of instructor. "Savez-vous son nom," he asked in "L'Hymne de la Nuit," "quel Dieu nous imposa nos lois?" And thereupon he began preaching the fundamentals of a new religion: La vie est un degré de l'échelle des mondes Que nous devons franchir pour arriver ailleurs! O n s'arrête, on s'assied, on voit passer la foule, On reconnaît de l'oeil et du coeur ses amis, Les uns par le courage et l'espoir affermis, Montant d'un pas léger que rien ne peut suspendre, Les autres chancelants et prêts à redescendre. 115 En vain le coeur vous manque et votre pied se lasse,

114 115

" L e G o l f e de G ê n e s , " Harmonies. " E p i t r e à M. de Sainte-Beuve," Harmonies.

66

LAMARTINE'S

METAPHYSICS

Marche! sa voix le dit à la nature entière, Ce n'est pas pour croupir sur ses champs de lumière Q u e le soleil s'allume et s'éteint dans ses mains! Dans cette oeuvre de vie où son âme palpite, Tout respire, tout croît, tout grandit, tout gravite! Les cieux, les astres, les humains! 1 1 6 P a t i e n t l y L a m a r t i n e s o u g h t t o c o n v i n c e F r a n c e o f w h a t he h a d seen, t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t b e h i n d all c h a n g e there existed a u n i t y t h a t he k n e w t o be eternal. T h e p a s s a g e o f t i m e , the sequence o f e v e n t s , life a n d d e a t h , were b u t p a r t s of an i n f i n i t e whole. O r , as L a m a r t i n e g r a c e f u l l y s t a t e d i t : Dans l'hymne de la nature, Seigneur, chaque creature Forme à son heure en mesure U n son du concert divin . . , 1 1 7 110

" L e s R é v o l u t i o n s , " Harmonies.

117

" H y m n e du m a t i n , "

Harmonits.

Chapter III UNANIMISM A N D LAMARTINE'S POLITICS

(1830-1843)

THE PUBLICATION OF LES HARMONIES CLOSED ONE ERA OF L A -

martine's life and opened another. W i t h the appearance of this w o r k , it was evident that he had developed f r o m the pupil into the master. C o n f i d e n t of his theology, he now undertook to employ his metaphysics for political purposes. T h e intrusion into Lamartine's political life of what is essentially unanimism

began around 1830, when this doctrine

encountered the Messianic spirit that was sweeping over France. T h e July Revolution had in part manifested itself as anticlerical; the men w h o f o u g h t behind the barricades, bent on overthrowing the Bourbons, were also striking at the strongest ally of the reigning house, the C h u r c h . W i t h the heady intoxication of victory came a desire to replace both the enemies they had overthrown. Louis-Philippe slipped easily onto the throne of his cousins, but the generation of 1830 found it easier to make a king than a national religion. However, conscious of the solemnity of their task, certain of progress and the benignity of Providence, these men welcomed the task of reconstructing a faith. A n d to do so, they turned f r o m the Catholicism they hated to freer forms of worship. Mystical yet pseudo-rational, they were receptive to unanimistic principles.

II T h e spirit of the age, as reflected in its many attempts to rationalize a mysticism that could compete with Catholicism,

68

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

was strongly reflected in Dargaud, a close friend of Michelet. In September, 1830, Lamartine first met Dargaud, and this new relationship brought an increased alienation from the Church. A bitter anticlerical, Dargaud early resolved to convert the supposedly orthodox Lamartine to his own views. Invited to Saint-Point, he immediately seized the occasion to proselyte his host. Their first conversations consisted of an exchange of commonplaces wherein they fenced with one another, each refusing to be first to disclose his opinions to a stranger: N o u s parlâmes de beaucoup de jeunes hommes de grande espérance [ D a r g a u d w r o t e in his d i a r y ] ; de Michelet dont M . de Lamartine aimait la fantaisie, de Q u i n e t dont il avait salué avec intérêt la préface sur Herder, de Sainte-Beuve, un poète dont l'accent valait mieux que le style, enfin de Théophile Gautier et de Lerminier. 1

Before long the two men broached more personal subjects. When Dargaud began cautiously questioning Lamartine as to his fundamental beliefs, the latter answered honestly, safe in the knowledge that Michelet's friend could be trusted. On September 1 0 , Dargaud retired to record the following conversation: Quelle est votre foi à vous? me dit M . de Lamartine. J e suis de la R é v o l u t i o n , c o m m e v o u s probablement de la Vendée. . . . M a religion est le déisme qui comprend

tout

l'ensemble

du

spiritualisme, les lois morales et l'immortalité de l'âme. . . . Béranger dirait que v o u s êtes un B l a n c et que je suis un Bleu. M o n père le dirait aussi, reprit M . de Lamartine, cependant vous comprendrez par ma brochure [La Politique

Rationnelle]

qu'il n ' y a

pas entre nous un abîme en politique. E t en religion? E n religion non plus. N é a n m o i n s vous êtes orthodoxe. J e le suis un peu des lèvres, mais je ne le suis guère de coeur. A vrai dire je ne l'ai été à aucune époque. 2

When Dargaud heard of Lamartine's convictions and realized that the situation presented an opportunity to weaken 1

Des Cognets, Vie intérieure, p. 183.

2

ibid., p. 184.

L A M A R T I N E ' S

P O L I T I C S

69

the Church, the devil's advocate in him cried for an outlet. The next day he returned to the assault, instigating a campaign to entice Lamartine into a liberal theology, "le déisme qui comprend tout l'ensemble du spiritualisme." On September 1 1 , 1830, he tried to force from Lamartine a declaration of adherence to this type of deism, but without success. Under constant pressure, the poet admitted that he feared the publicity resultant from such a statement would ruin the political aspirations he fostered: J e ne v e u x pas e n c o r e .

. . . J u s q u ' à p r é s e n t , s u r le t e r r a i n

religieux

je ne suis pas p r ê t , t a n d i s q u e je s u i s p r ê t s u r le t e r r a i n p o l i t i q u e . L e rôle q u e v o u s m e t r a c e z s e r a i t i m p o r t u n . Il m e c o n s t i t u e r a i t p h i l o s o p h e , il m e t u e r a i t c o m m e h o m m e

. . .

comme

d'Etat.3

But two years later, when Lamartine had returned from the Orient, Dargaud found him more amenable. The death of his daughter, Julia, had prompted Lamartine to break with Catholicism; the people of Bergues had satisfied his political aspirations for the present by electing him deputy. Gradually Dargaud won Lamartine with his arguments. Thus, when the latter prepared the manuscript of the Voyage en Orient, he was completely under the spell of his friend, and the account of his trip took shape under the watchful eye of an anticleric. Dargaud persuaded Lamartine to write freely, with the result that the book admitted a frank acceptance of heresies.4 Urged on by his domineering friend, Lamartine declared himself hostile to organized religion: La grande

figure

enfance

arrêter

à

prisonner

dans

d i v i n e [ h e w r o t e ] , que l ' h o m m e c h e r c h e depuis son ses

définitivement temples,

dans

s'élargit

sons

imagination

toujours,

dépasse

et les

à

em-

pensées

é t r o i t e s et les t e m p l e s l i m i t e s , e t laisse les t e m p l e s v i d e s e t les a u t e l s é c r o u l e r , p o u r a p p e l e r l ' h o m m e à la c h e r c h e r e t à la v o i r o ù elle se m a n i f e s t e de p l u s e n p l u s , d a n s la pensée, d a n s l ' i n t e l l i g e n c e , d a n s la v e r t u , d a n s la n a t u r e et d a n s l ' i n f i n i ! 3 4

¡bid.,

p.

5

193.

Claudius Grillet, " L e Voyage en Orient de L a m a r t i n e et sa Marseillaise de la P a i x , " C.orr., May 1 0 , 1 9 2 0 . Voyage en Orient, II, 29.

JO

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

A f t e r the announcement of Lamartine's apostasy, Dargaud remained at hand to bar a possible change of mind. As the years passed, the friendship of the two men grew closer. "Nous parlons de vous souvent avec Michelet," wrote the poet in 1837. 6 Up to 1840, Dargaud successfully battled Lamartine's orthodox friends for control over him. In that year, Lamartine's father died; when, a year later, death also claimed Virieu, Dargaud naturally assumed the position of principal adviser to the poet. He shared this power with Mme de Lamartine until her death in May, 1863. Then his last rival had vanished and he seemed the undisputed director of the aging writer's conscience. But in December, 1865, Dargaud himself was buried, setting even in death an example for his friend. In accordance with his wishes, no priest accompanied the casket: "le bruit de l'argile tombant par pelletées sur ma bière est le seul psaume que je pressente pour mes funérailles." 7 How great a debt he owed to Dargaud, Lamartine showed in 1849, on the occasion of prefacing a new edition of Les Noul'elles Méditations: Votre coeur et votre intelligence [he told D a r g a u d ] ont été depuis vingt ans les pages où j'ai jeté en courant ce que je ne dis qu'à moimême. Quand vous reviendrez dans cette vallée de Saint-Point, où j'ai laissé tomber dans votre oreille plus de rêveries que les peupliers de feuilles sur le chemin, vous vous souviendrez encore, et vous serez mieux que ce livre mort et muet, un souvenir vivant de ma vie. 8

III The same spirit that motivated the actions of Dargaud appeared in Lamartine's first political treatise, La Politique rationnelle ( 1 8 3 1 ) . If he agreed with Dargaud in religious matters, then he had to adopt similar political beliefs, for, as he acknowledged in Le Manuscrit de ma mère: "Toute ma politique tient et doit tenir à toute ma religion." 9 9 7 8

Corrcsp., V, dcxxxvii, March n , 1837. Camille Latreille, Les Dernières Années Je Lamartine, p. 169. 8 Des Cognées, Vit intérieure, pp. 1 1 - 1 2 . Page 229.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

? í

The tone of the pamphlet was patterned after the didacticism of Les Harmonies.

The book, he confessed, was a lesson in the

ethics of legislation, written for the benefit of the nation as a whole. T o begin with, Lamartine recalled to France the mission it had to fulfill: L'oeuvre de cette grande époque, oeuvre longue, laborieuse, contestée, c'est d'appliquer la raison humaine, ou le Verbe divin, ou la vérité évangélique, à l'organisation politique des sociétés modernes, comme la vérité évangélique fut, dès le principe, appliquée à la législation civile et aux moeurs.10

As Lamartine had thus far been more concerned with the theoretical than the practical, his metaphysics had given him few political principles. However, his reveries had led directly to the conclusion that human progress lay in direct ratio to the realization of social justice and equality. His political platform, therefore, would be to sponsor any measure assuring the rights of his fellow citizens, and this precept he declared the foundation of the civil code: nous touchons à l'époque du droit et de l'action de tous, époque toujours ascendante, la plus juste, la plus morale, la plus libre de toutes celles que le monde a parcourues jusqu'ici, parce qu'elle tend à élever l'humanité tout entière à la même dignité morale, à consacrer l'égalité politique et civile de tous les hommes devant l'Etat, comme le Christ avait consacré leur égalité naturelle devant Dieu. Cette époque pourra s'appeler l'époque évangélique, car elle ne sera que la déduction logique, que la réalisation sociale du sublime principe déposé dans le livre divin comme dans la nature même de l'homme, de l'égalité et de la dignité morale de l'homme reconnues enfin dans le code des sociétés civiles.11

This position might appeal to a sentimental and uncritical electorate, but Lamartine well knew that a practical bourgeoisie would merely sniff at such sententious remarks. Y e t , inexperienced in political matters and unprepared for concrete commitments regarding internal and foreign policy, he had to content himself temporarily with a Utopian social theory de10

Sur la politique

rationnelle,

p. j 6 ) .

11

Ibid., p. j i l .

LAMARTINE'S

72

POLITICS

duced directly f r o m his philosophy. Therefore, in 1 8 3 1 , when he first sought election to the Chamber of Deputies, the main plank of his platform was an admonition that must have startled the solid citizens of Bergues, concerned largely as they were with sugar beets and similar commodities: Votre théorie sociale sera simple et infaillible: en prenant Dieu pour point de départ et pour but, le bien le plus général de l'humanité pour objet, la morale pour flambeau, la conscience pour juge, la liberté pour route, vous ne courrez aucun risque de vous égarer; vous aurez tiré la politique des systèmes, des illusions, des déceptions dans lesquelles les passions ou l'ignorance l'ont enveloppée; vous l'aurez replacée où elle doit être, dans la conscience; vous aurez saisi enfin, dans le perpétuel mouvement des siècles, dans l'orageuse instabilité des faits, des esprits et des doctrines, quelque chose de fixe et de solide, qui ne tremblera plus sous vos mains. 1 2

Lamartine's sermons earned him few votes; on the contrary, they repelled a pragmatic population as being the wishful thinking of a romantic poet. In spite of his hopes, he went down in inglorious defeat, and retired to sulk, choosing the Orient f o r his tent in the tradition of Chateaubriand. He had not relinquished hope of usurping Napoleon's place in history, but rather decided to await a more favorable moment. Into the desert he traveled, returning to mystic meditations: T o u t est bien [he prayed], puisque vous l'avez voulu . . . . menezmoi où vous voudrez et comme vous voudrez, pourvu que je me sente conduit par vous . . . et que nous nous aimions dans cette ineffable unité que nous formerions, vous, eux et nous! 1 3

Despite his setback, he still believed that some day he would be able to put the concept of the chain of being into politics. IV Because of his idealism, perhaps, Lamartine's desire for a part on the European diplomatic stage had been dashed, but this 12

Ibid.

13

Voyage en Orient, I, 293.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

73

very failure led to an adventure that encouraged him to persist in preaching unanimism. Smarting f r o m defeat, he sought relief in forsaking the land that had denied him. In the East he reviewed his conduct and concluded that he, not the Church, had attained the truth. While he was thus constructing a defense of his philosophical position, an event occurred which confirmed his deductions. A letter arrived one day asking him to visit the desert stronghold of the fantastic Lady Esther Stanhope. Lamartine's curiosity could not resist such an invitation. H e had heard countless tales of the noblewoman who, laden with wealth, had left England for a land more appreciative of her occult powers. Recognized as a seer by the tribesmen, she wielded a political influence over them by appealing to their superstitious natures. H e r letter, then, offered the political aspirant a remarkable opportunity to discuss the problems of the East with a qualified observer. Furthermore, the aura of magic which surrounded her stimulated the imagination of the poet. As Lamartine relates it, he was received in a manner befitting royalty. A f t e r dinner, L a d y Stanhope decided to entertain her guest by reading the f u t u r e for him. T o the delight of L a m a r tine, she prophesied that he would one day play a major role in the formation of world history. H e would be known as a leader of men. Then, her moment of vision past, she questioned him as to policy, remarking on his aristocratic tendencies. Lamartine balked at being labeled a member of a class; his philosophy, he felt, made him a member of all groups. Recalling the theme of La Politique rationnelle, he paraphrased it for his hostess: J e ne suis ni aristocrate ni démocrate; je suis homme et partisan exclusif de ce qui peut améliorer et perfectionner l'homme tout entier, qu'il soit né au sommet ou au pied de l'échelle sociale! J e ne suis ni pour le peuple ni pour les grands, mais pour l'humanité tout entière; et je ne crois ni aux institutions aristocratiques ni aux institutions démocratiques la vertu exclusive de perfectionner l'humanité; cette

LAMARTINE'S

74

POLITICS

v e r t u n'est que dans une morale divine, f r u i t d'une religion parfaite! L a civilisation des peuples, c'est leur foi!

14

His intention was to s u m m o n all men, irrespective of their social r a n k , to the same perfection and moral enlightenment. H e w o u l d , in other words, show them the unity of the world. 1 "' T h e n , intoxicated by the flattery rained on him, he modestly added: E t puisque vous êtes religieuse, que vous croyez que D i e u aime égalem e n t tous ses enfants, et que vous attendez un second Messie pour redresser toutes choses, vous pensez sans doute . . . c o m m e moi." 1

F o r a man as sensitive as Lamartine to the intellectual g y r a tions of his age, it was impossible to avoid i d e n t i f y i n g himself w i t h the elect of God. T h e notion of the G o d - g i v e n leader f o r m e d a large part of the contemporary climate of opinion. A t that time, saint-simoniens and fouriéristes were v y i n g with one another to convince the people that they k n e w the road to the promised land. T h e Napoleonic legend had blossomed, tantalizing ambitious imaginations w i t h the picture of the man each aspired to imitate. Popular opinion conceded that France lacked capable leaders, and the men of 1 8 3 0 scrambled to apply f o r the v a c a n t positions. U n d e r the pressure of this environment, Lamartine accepted the doctrine of the " l e a d e r . " E v e n before his audience with L a d y Stanhope, he had assumed that on his shoulders nestled the cloak of leadership. H e r view of the f u t u r e only encouraged this opinion. Could not his religion, c a r e f u l l y thought out, rival Catholicism, Saint-Simonism, or any mystic nostrum concocted f o r the French mind? H e felt himself particularly suited f o r the role circumstances had opened to his capabilities. His election in absentia at Bergues, while he was roaming the East, seemed to clinch the new apostleship and, thenceforth, L a m a r tine tended to be surer of his right to govern. H e would rationalize Christianity and at the same time introduce a new ethics into politics. 14

Ibid., I, 184.

lt

lbid.,

I, 185.

"Ibid.

L A M A R T I N E ' S

P O L I T I C S

7 J

When Lamartine returned to France, he felt confident enough of his philosophy to disparage adverse doctrines. In September, 1 8 3 4 , he boldly informed Cazalès that ce que

vous

entendez

par

catholicisme

aujourd'hui

n'est

pas

assez

l a r g e et assez h a u t . D i e u et l ' h u m a n i t é s o n t p l u s g r a n d s q u e c e l a e t embrassent

cela

et

autre

chose.

Voilà

le c a t h o l i c i s m e

de la

raison,

c ' e s t lui s u r t o u t q u ' i l f a u t s e r v i r . M e s r é f l e x i o n s p r o f o n d e s et s i n c è r e s m e p o r t e n t , m o i , de p l u s en p l u s , à c e l u i - l à . 1 7

He neglected repeating this opinion to the strictly orthodox Virieu later that same year, but he did acknowledge his search for a substitute for Catholicism: " D a n s quelques années j'écrirai certainement une philosophie, mais, ne voulant pas écrire à la légère sur ces sujets si divins, j'attends et je mûris mes convictions." 1 8 Although the suspicious Virieu questioned him, Lamartine deferred answering. He was as yet unprepared to chance breaking a long and close friendship: Quant

à la p h i l o s o p h i e

[he answered],

je n e m ' e x p l i q u e pas e n c o r e .

19

u n g r a n d et s e c r e t t r a v a i l q u i

M a i s il se f a i t d e p u i s d e u x a n s en m o i renouvelle

et

change

mes

convictions

sur

tout.

Je

crois que

nous

s o m m e s d a n s le f a u x , et q u e les h o m m e s o n t m ê l é t r o p l ' h u m a n i t é à l ' i d é e d i v i n e . U n e r é f o r m e est i n d i s p e n s a b l e a u m o n d e r e l i g i e u x

plus

q u ' a u m o n d e p o l i t i q u e . Q u a n d m e s p e n s é e s s e r o n t m û r e s , je les laisserai tomber.20

The next year, in April, 1 8 3 5 , Lamartine judged his thoughts sufficiently mature for exposure. As he had stated, his recent trip had brought to a crisis the struggle between orthodoxy and dissidence, and this transformation he disclosed in the Voyage cn Orient. For the most part, the book recounted his odyssey, but, here and there, he not only clearly restated what he had written in Les Harmonies, but he attacked Catholicism as an opposing religion. It was no wonder that the Messianic tone of the Voyage drew 17

Henri Guillemin, " L a m a r t i n e et le Catholicisme," RF,

18

Corresp., V , d l x x x i i , October 1 9 , 1 8 3 4 . Since his return f r o m the Orient. Corresp., V , d l x x x i v , December 1 0 , 1 8 3 4 .

10 20

May i , 1 9 3 4 , p. 4 5 .

7

6

L A M A R T I N E ' S

POLITICS

caustic remarks f r o m the bien pensants. His readers did not fail to notice that the new deputy proposed to rival, if not replace, the Church in offering an explanation of the universe. Some of them resented his attitude as well as his heresies. Gustave Planche, never noted for the subtlety of his remarks, elected himself the champion of Rome. In a f e w withering sentences he castigated all Lamartine's ideas: they were too preposterous to refute. "C'est donc le rôle de Dieu que vous voulez prendre?" he sneered. "Orgueil ou folie, votre ambition ne mérite pas de réponse." 2 1 V Lamartine chose to ignore these criticisms, firm in the conviction that on him rested the burden of deposing the Church. So certain was he of the solidity of his position that, after the publication of the Voyage, he no longer concealed his opinions f r o m Virieu, but actually took pride in stressing them.-- A t the same time he reëmphasized his unanimistic beliefs by preparing the ninth epoch of Jocelyn. Back of this strong stand stood the staunch Dargaud, encouraging and exhorting his friend.- 3 With the approval of Dargaud, Lamartine judged himself sufficiently qualified to begin a publicity campaign in favor of his religion. On January I J , 1836, he notified the public that the great French religious epic had at last appeared in the form of a poetic sequel to the religious parts of the Voyage en Orient. But, mindful of the acid pen of Planche, Lamartine took pains to stress the maturity of his thought: C e s pages, t r o p nombreuses p e u t - ê t r e , ne sont c e p e n d a n t que des pages détachées d ' u n e o e u v r e p o é t i q u e qui a été la pensée de m a jeunesse, et qui serait celle de m o n â g e m û r , si D i e u me d o n n a i t les années et le génie nécessaires p o u r la réaliser. 2 4

Despite Lamartine's antagonism to the Church, his tale reflected traces of Catholicism. Jocelyn glorifies the life history 21 23 21

22 Le Voleur, July i , 1 8 3 5 . Corresp., V, dciii, October 1, 1835. Sec des Cognets, Vie intérieure, Avant-propos. Jocelyn, Avertissement de la première édition, p. 19.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

77

of a country priest who remained f a i t h f u l to his religion in the face of apparently insurmountable temptations. The major part of the plot revolves around a discussion of the rehabilitation of a fallen woman through the grace of the Church. O n Christianisme, the face of it, Jocelyn appears a second Génie du and a convincing portrayal of the power of Catholicism. Yet this was the poem of which the Gazette de France wrote on March 29, 1 8 3 6 : " O n croit avoir entendu quelque roman philosophique, en magnifique poésie, mais dans le genre de La Religieuse de Diderot pour le fond des choses." 2 5 Here the Gazette was recalling the strange catechism that Jocelyn preached, doctrines that implied a strong criticism of the Church. But, hardy as were Lamartine's words, the manuscript version of Jocelyn had been even more specific. Prudence, however, had cautioned him to remove some sections, as, f o r instance, that in which he labeled the Church " l a planche qui chavire": Si le siècle nourri du lait des paraboles Peut fixer son soleil sans l ' o m b r e des symboles E t de sa foi qui meurt s'élance à la raison, Loin d'insulter de pied la planche qui chavire, Q u ' i l couronne de fleurs le v i e u x m â t du navire Q u i le porte à l'autre horizon. 2 0

Perhaps the bitterest dose f o r the Gazette to swallow was the symbolic design of the poem. Originally a part of the Visions,27 Jocelyn had been extracted from the epic when the latter grew to unmanageable proportions, but the purpose behind the "Visions carried over from its ruin. Lamartine was utilizing the country priest as an example of an individual who found salvation in the recognition of unanimism, f o r Jocelyn accepts his fate peacefully only when his meditations reveal to him the same unity and plan of the universe that intrigued Lamartine. In the tradition of Les Harmonies, to evangelize France: GuiUemin, Le Jocelyn Jiclyn,

de Lamartine,

the poet set out once more 26

p. 2 4 9 .

A v e r t i s s e m e n t de la première édition, p.

19.

Ibid.,

p. 2 5 8 .

LAMARTINE'S

7«

POLITICS

J e cherchai quel était le sujet épique approprié à l'époque, aux moeurs, à l'avenir, qui permet au poète d'être à la fois local et universel, d'être merveilleux et d'être vrai, d'être immense et d'être un. Ce sujet, il s'offrait de lui-même, il n'y en a pas deux: c'est l'humanité, c'est la destinée de l'homme, ce sont les phases que l'esprit humain doit parcourir pour arriver à ses fins par les voies de Dieu.- 8

A double purpose motivated his selection of the story of Jocel y n : first, to revive "l'adoration de D i e u " and inspire "l'amour des hommes"; and, second, to renovate Catholicism, to make it more supple, to adapt and c l a r i f y it. He now dreamed of a complete and rapid fusion of all h u m a n divergences into a purified religion in which dogmatic differences would be abolished. His certainty of accomplishing this seemingly impossible task was an illusion that had been common to the eighteenthc e n t u r y illuminists. Increasingly as the spirit "croît et s'élève, plus il se simplifie, et sa région ne connaît ni division ni différence," Saint-Martin had said. In his t u r n , Lamartine claimed to inhabit that same rarefied atmosphere, "cette région où tout ce qui s'élève à Dieu se rencontre et se r é u n i t , " leaving behind "celle où les spécialités, les systèmes et les controverses divisent les coeurs et les intelligences." 3 0 Instead of following the example of the Church in teaching the separation of man from the surrounding universe, he preferred to emphasize the theology of a unified creation: O mon chien! Dieu seul sait la distance entre nous; Seul il sait quel degré de l'échelle de l'être 31 Sépare ton instinct de l'âme de ton maître. 31

Like Lamartine, Jocelyn sensed the u n i t y of all things, and on this basis he built his theology: C'est que dans le péril la faible humanité De Dieu même a reçu l'instinct de l'unité. :32

From this precept Lamartine passed to a description of the stars and planets. To Laurence, the curate pointed out the relaIbii. 3n

G u i l l e m i n , Le Jocelyn

31

Jocelyn,

"9e

de Lamartine,

époque," p.

195.

p. 2 1 9 . 32

Ibid.,

"8e

é p o q u e , " p.

183.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

79

tionship of the solar system t o the universe and the m u t u a l interdependence of its parts. T h e n , w i t h the ecstasy of an illuminist, he passed t o the realm of the u n k n o w n : Vois-tu glisser entre deux feuilles Ce rayon sur la mousse où l'ombre traîne encor, L'air y devient visible; et dans ce clair milieu On voit tourbillonner des milliers d'étincelles, D'insectes colorés, d'atomes bleus, et d'ailes Qui nagent en jetant une lueur de Dieu! Comme ils g r a v i t e n t en cadence, N o u a n t et dénouant leurs vols harmonieux! Des mondes de Platon on croirait voir la danse S'accomplissant au son des musiques des cieux. L'oeil ébloui se perd dans leur foule innombrable; Il en faudrait un monde à faire un grain de sable, Le regard infini pourrait seul les compter: Chaque parcelle encor s'y poudroie en parcelle. A h ! c'est ici le pied de l'éclatante échelle Que de l'atome à Dieu l'infini voit monter. Pourtant chaque atome est un être! Chaque globule d'air est un monde habité! Chaque monde y régit d'autres mondes peut-être, Pour qui l'éclair qui passe est une éternité! Dans leur lueur de temps, dans leur goutte d'espace, Ils ont leurs jours, leurs nuits, leurs destins, et leur place, La pensée et la vie y circulent à flot; Et, pendant que notre oeil se perd dans ces extases, Des milliers d'univers ont accompli leurs phases, Entre la pensée et le m o t ! O Dieu! que la source est immense D'où coule tant de vie, où rentrent tant de morts! 33 It was this doctrine on w h i c h L a m a r t i n e fell back w h e n , in a m a n n e r closely resembling t h a t of Balzac in Séraphita,

he

caused the souls o f Laurence and J o c e l y n to fuse into a star a f t e r their celestial m a r r i a g e . 3 4 33

Ibid.,

"4e

é p o q u e , " p.

105.

34

Souriau, Histoire

du

romantisme,

p.

169.

8o

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

A reaction to this identification of the entire universe with God set in immediately. For his temerity, Lamartine saw Jocelyn inscribed on the Index on September 5, 1836, a fate which even the boldness of the Voyage en Orient had escaped. But here the Catholic press had found three major faults that no believer could condone: first, the description of Jocelyn's ordination; 3 5 second, Lamartine's plea against the celibacy of the clergy; 3 6 and, last, the preaching of pantheism, 37 which the Abbé Bautain called "la véritable hérésie du X I X e siècle." 3 8 The latter was so patent that the critic of Le Voleur wrote on May 1 , 1 8 3 6 : Il y a en lui [Lamartine] une irrésistible sympathie par tous les points avec la Vie universelle, et il cherche ensuite à réprimer cette expansion, à la ramener dans un ordre régulier de foi; il y a en lui, si j'ose le dire, du boudhiste qui tâche d'être méthodiste.

One by one, the Church newspapers voiced a hearty disapproval. The Abbé Mathieu Orsini, editor of the Moniteur de la religion, spared no pains to make himself clear: Si le poème de M. de Lamartine est un diamant, à coup sûr ce n'est pas un diamant Catholique. . . . La religiosité quintessenciée de M. de Lamartine a quelque chose de nuageux et d'insaisissable qui n'est point à nous, et s'il faut dire franchement toute notre pensée, il y a peu d'espoirs qu'il revienne dans nos rangs; son pli est pris, son système fait. 3 9

With this statement in mind, few of the orthodox could take Jocelyn f o r other than " u n ouvrage insidieux qui ouvre toutes les issues de l'âme au vent des passions humaines . . . , un poison doux et lent," 40 especially when Bonnetty pointed out in the Annales de philosophie chrétienne that "cela sent trop le philosophe." 4 1 VI Just as Jocelyn, in its capacity of sequel to the Voyage en Orient, revealed the ideas which influenced Lamartine's literary 35

Guillemin, Le Jocelyn Ibid., pp. 2 7 6 - 8 2 . *°lbid. 37

de Lamartine, pp. 263—68. 38 Ibid., p. 103. 41 Ibid., pp. i6$-66,

38

Ibid., pp. 268-76. Ibid., p. 265. March j i , 1 8 3 6 . 39

L A M A R T I N E ' S

81

POLITICS

productions, so did his behavior in the Chamber betray a greater intrusion of this same philosophy into his political life. Criticism of Jocelyn had left Lamartine unruffled. He had been too long associated with a personal theology to abandon it at the first objection. In October, 1835, he revealed to Virieu that his doctrines were prompting him to new and unsuspected political reactions: Il se f a i t , depuis m o n

v o y a g e et m o n incursion dans l'histoire,

un

g r a n d travail de r e n o u v e l l e m e n t en moi. . . . B r e f , je d e v i n s de j o u r en j o u r plus r é v o l u t i o n n a i r e . Il y a d e u x lois d u monde, le repos et le m o u v e m e n t .

C e r t a i n s esprits,

certaines époques,

sont

ordonnées

p a r D i e u p o u r servir de tous leurs m o y e n s l ' u n e ou l ' a u t r e de ces lois divines. . . . et je crois q u ' i l

J e m é d i t e sans cesse, et à g e n o u x , et d e v a n t D i e u , f a u t q u e nous et ce t e m p s - c i nous servions

cou-

r a g e u s e m e n t la loi de r é n o v a t i o n . O r pas de r é n o v a t i o n par le passé, c'est le flot qui a c o u l é et qui n ' a b r e u v e plus u n e seconde f o i s les m ê m e s générations. J e ne m e p r o n o n c e pas c e p e n d a n t encore à fait. J ' y

m e t s t e m p « , religion, e x a m e n , p r u d e n c e . Puis, u n e

tout fois

le parti pris, j'irai t r è s - l o i n . 4 2

The trip to the Orient had evidently solidified Lamartine's intention to purify politics. When the prophecies of Lady Stanhope spurred him to take stock of his political credo, he decided to follow the lines laid down in La Politique rationnelle. He fully realized that to hold, as he did, to an idealistic faith in progress and Providence, meant a bitter fight against the nationalistic bloc of deputies. Since his policy sought the general good of humanity, he would, in his incessant battle for the underprivileged, inevitably run afoul of the popular bourgeois dictate, "enrichissez-vous." He welcomed the coming struggle for power, but, during his novitiate in the Chamber of Deputies, one question haunted him: could he accomplish his task? At any rate he would try, he informed Bienassis: "L'homme n'est homme que par la pensée et l'action; l'une complète l'autre. Cette époque exige le concours de tous." 4 3 But the Chamber of Deputies refused to take seriously Lamartine's contribution. His first declarations elicited their 42

Corresp.,

V , dciii.

43

Ibid.,

V , dcvi, September 6,

183J.

82

L A M A R T I N E ' S

POLITICS

curiosity, then their indignation. The conservatives of the regime, numerically f a r superior to the liberal opposition, sneered at what they considered the mouthings of a moonstruck poet. N o less indignant at Lamartine's attitude, the various liberal parties looked askance at a deputy who refused to league himself with any group, and who seemed to side agilely with whatever faction caught his f a n c y . Since no party whip controlled his actions, and his vote apparently vacillated indiscriminately from one side to the other, both majority and minority considered him a self-aggrandizing egoist. The scorn with which he was treated in political life irked Lamartine, but he bided his time, waiting for ultimate justification. The power of the conservative group and its unwillingness to grant reforms pushed him farther and farther to the L e f t , until, in 1 8 3 5 , he first entertained the idea that perhaps only revolution could foster an occasion f o r transforming his philosophy into measures destined to improve the moral and social conditions of the proletariat. Discouraged and despairing, he confided his fears to Gino Capponi: D e p u i s m o n r e t o u r de m o n long et m a l h e u r e u x v o y a g e dans l ' O r i e n t , seul, sans e n f a n t , sans a v e n i r , je v i s triste et m a l h e u r e u x . M a vie est une philosophie t a n t ô t en a c t i o n , t a n t ô t en m é d i t a t i o n .

La

Pensée

Religieuse dans son a c c e p t a t i o n la plus large f a i t le f o n d de mes autres pensées. M a i s il est t r o p clair à m o n esprit q u e la f o r m e religieuse v e u t et crie r é v o l u t i o n c o m m e toutes les autres f o r m e s . 4 4

Y e t , despite bitter opposition, Lamartine maintained his position as sole member of the parti social. As the years passed, it became evident that he was fighting against privilege for what he considered the common good. The liberals overlooked his aristocratic heritage when they discovered that he meant what he said when he cried: " J e veux que la politique ait une âme et un b u t . " 4 5 He had been pilloried so often f o r his principles, yet ever repeated them, that the L e f t grudgingly con** André Germain, "Lamartine et Gino Capponi," Revue Européenne, 1 9 3 1 , p. 6 i i . Letter dated Paris, January 8, i 8 j j . 15 Corresp., V I , dcccxxxvi, letter to Dubois, January 8, 1844.

July,

LAMARTINE'S POLITICS

83

ceded his sincerity. When the majority cast him off as useless, the minority welcomed his vote and his powerful oratory. Slowly the deputies learned that, although Lamartine's phrases rang emptily to them, the nation read into them prophecies for the future, prophecies that augured ill for a reactionary government: "Nous sommes philosophes avant d'etre politiques [he hammered out constantly to a fast growing audience]; ou plutôt notre politique n'est que la philosophie de l'humanité." 4 6 It was during the first years of bitter parliamentary debate that Lamartine came to recognize in his actions the compelling influence of unanimism. Each time he voted, he chose the side which seemed to further the advancement of his cause. Yet, despite the fact that this attitude persistently influenced his political manoeuvres, its presence appeared only as a vague desire to improve the lot of the unfortunate. How he was to raise the standard of living for the proletariat was a question for which his philosophy had no solution. His self-confidence assured him that he could restrain France from reaction and disaster; his religion directed that his efforts be turned toward spiritually aiding the underprivileged and the ignorant while, at the same time, bettering their material status. But there the matter rested. If he were to fulfill the mandate he had assumed of director of the national welfare, he would have to prepare definite reforms for the consideration of the Chamber. And since, at the time of his first election, he possessed no plan for social improvement other than the hazy outlines suggested by his vision, he found himself forced to choose between adopting the doctrines of one of the liberal parties, or painfully setting up a policy of his own. The first of these courses dissatisfied Lamartine. The pompous conservatism of the ultras disgusted him; there could be no advance under a reign that longed for the past. Constitutional monarchy, likewise, offered no hope. Since Lamartine's clash with Louis-Philippe over "Le Chant du sacre," 4 7 he had enter46

FP, I V , " R é c a p i t u l a t i o n , " N o v e m b e r ¡ 1 ,

47

Lamartine

had i n c u r r e d

Louis-Philippe's

1844. displeasure

by

referring

disparag-

84

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

tained suspicions as to the honesty and integrity of the bourgeois king. The Orléans family dreamed too intensely of dynastic power to bother with the lower classes. As for the socialists and communists, they frightened him. For a man who, in 1 8 4 3 , boasted the largest landholdings in France, the extreme L e f t constituted a menace to his own existence. If he fell, he rationalized, his utility to society ended. Then, too, no affinities bound him to the groups stemming from Rousseau: " L e vrai contrat social n'a pas été délibéré. . . . La société n'est pas d'invention humaine, mais d'inspiration divine," he maintained. 48 Besides, memories of the Revolution and of the treatment his family had received at the hands of the disciples of Rousseau barred any alliance with them. For those people who might accuse him of sacrificing a solution of society's problems f o r personal considerations, he had another answer handy: lis [the f o l l o w e r s of R o u s s e a u ] c o n f o n d a i e n t sans cesse et puérilement, c o m m e lui [ R o u s s e a u ] , la délibération qui doit être libre, multiple, élective, avec l'action, qui doit être, dans les républiques mêmes, une, hiérarchique, obéie, irrésistible, légale sans doute, mais absolue dans sa légalité. Ils brisaient par l'élection de tous les magistrats le mécanisme de l'autorité publique, républicaine ou monarchique; en sorte qu'en la plaçant p a r t o u t à la c i r c o n f é r e n c e , il n'en restait que le vain simulacre et la responsabilité dérisoire au centre. Leur gouvernement était t o u t pensée, le bras y m a n q u a i t ; c'est ce qui les précipita dans l'anarchie, et de l'anarchie dans le despotisme de l ' é c h a f a u d . "

Of the social panaceas left, only the two most important, fouriérisme and saint-simonisme, attracted his attention. He lost his interest in the first, however, with the realization that the underlying doctrine of fouriérisme contradicted his own philosophy. " L e tort du fouriérisme," he explained in 1844, "n'est pas de vouloir perfectionner l'homme, mais de le diviniser!" 5 0 He admitted that they were both working for the ingly to the latter's f a t h e r , P h i l i p p e - E g a l i t é , in a poem celebracing tion of C h a r l e s 48

CFL,

50

FP, IV,

the

corona-

X.

l x v i i , p. 29. 1 1 4 , December,

40

1844.

Histoire

des Constituants,

IV,

134—35.

LAMARTINE'S POLITICS

8j

same social amelioration, but it seemed blasphemy to have mankind arbitrarily deified by man. God and man were separate entities whose slow, progressive fusion represented the goal toward which humanity moved. Saint-simonisme influenced him more, but, here again, Lamartine found a situation he could not accept. Insofar as this sect claimed to work f o r the benefit of the poor, he could applaud its efforts as he did those of the fouriéristes, but their periodic internal dissensions warned him that they flirted with extinction: Le saint-simonisme a en lui quelque chose de vrai, de grand et de fécond: l'application du christianisme à la société politique, la législation de la fraternité humaine. Sous ce point de vue, je suis saintsimonien. Ce n'est pas l'idée qui a manqué à cette secte éclipsée, mais non pas morte; ce ne sont pas les disciples qui lui ont failli non plus, ce qui leur a manqué selon moi, c'est un chef, c'est un maître . . . ; je ne doute pas que, si un homme de génie et de vertu, un homme à la fois religieux et politique, confondant les deux horizons dans un regard à portée juste et longue, se f û t trouvé placé à la direction de cette idée naissante, il ne l'eût métamorphosée en une puissante réalité. . . . La société . . . est dans un moment de déroute; . . . une secte religieuse, morale, sociale et politique, ayant un symbole, . . . un but, un chef . . . aurait inévitablement la victoire; mais il f a l l u t apporter à la société son salut et non sa ruine, . . . rappeler la religion à la raison et à l'amour, la politique à la fraternité chrétienne. 5 1

Saint-simonisme, then, held no charms f o r him; he was interested not in burying the dead hopes of others, but in creating a dynamic program f o r the future. Since the past and the present could suggest no compatible policy, he would fashion his own based solely on an idealistic platform: "le bien le plus général de l'humanité pour objet, la morale pour flambeau, la conscience pour juge, la liberté pour route." 5 Around 1835 Lamartine had grown conscious of the failings in his political system and, f o r the next eight years, busied himself with incorporating new tenets into it. 5 3 They 51 63

Voyage en Orient, II, i j o - 5 1 . Ethel Harris, Lamartine et le peuple,

52 Politique rationnelle, pp. 1 3 1 - 3 2 .

p. 3 6 1 .

LAMARTINE'S

86

POLITICS

were all founded on the credo he had prepared f o r his public life: " I l y a quelque chose de plus f o r t que la passion individuelle, c'est une pensée collective."

54

T h e cardinal point in his policy, that on w h i c h all others hinged, sprang directly f r o m unanimistic ideals. I f L a m a r t i n e planned to help men rise in the scale o f life, then he would have to adopt an international point o f view when considering measures before the C h a m b e r o f Deputies. T h e amelioration o f conditions in France represented o n l y part o f his task, f o r , as he had recognized when f o r m u l a t i n g his philosophy, the individual was part o f a greater e n t i t y than the n a t i o n :

55

Dans toute question de haute ou de petite politique, je crois qu'un homme d'Etat digne de ce nom, c'est-à-dire un guide du peuple, un coopérateur de la Providence, doit se préoccuper de deux points de vue: le point de vue du genre humain d'abord, et le point de vue national ensuite; ou plutôt que son regard doit converger vers ces deux points de vue à la fois. . . . Je suis homme avant d'être Français, Anglais ou Russe.50 H o w e v e r , w i t h o u t the existence o f international stability, L a m a r t i n e could scarcely hope for success. T h u s , in considering internationalism, he arrived at the s u b j e c t o f world peace. F o r him the question o f republic versus m o n a r c h y , liberty or despotism, relinquished priority to any debate on peace or war. T h e advance of civilization, the progressive education o f the human race, and the f u r t h e r i n g o f the principle o f f r a t e r n i t y could mean little to countries w h i c h settled differences b y arms. Reason offered no justification

f o r mass

murder

when so m u c h lay at stake. I f men planned to govern t h e m selves, pay homage to a G o d o f goodness, and claim a m o r a l i t y , then resorting to mutual slaughter was illogical."' 7 La paix entre les nations! [he pleaded] pour faire rougir enfin l'esprit brutal de l'humanité de ce meurtre en masse qu'on appelle la guerre, 54

Quoted

Berryer,

''•'Atheism 57

in Paul

Nourrisson,

Montalembert, among

Recueillements,

the

Trois

Lamartine,

p.

People,

p. 1 7 .

P r é f a c e , pp.

Précurseurs

de

la

liberté

d'association:

147.

14-15-

56

FP,

I I , J 8 I , September,

1840.

LAM ARTINE'S

POLITICS

87

et pour laisser de plus en plus souffler et propager l'esprit divin, c'està-dire l'esprit de sociabilité, de f a m i l l e et de f r a t e r n i t é universelle dans le genre humain!

Once Lamartine had agreed to vote consistently f o r a policy of international cooperation, on the theory that no man had the right to dominate his neighbors by force, he next found himself committed to oppose slavery. That part of humanity should be excluded from the benefits shared by the more fortunate seemed unjust and contrary to general welfare. A f r i c a n slaves were entitled to the same rights as any other race. Fraternité as the French ideal would remain a mockcry until the government proclaimed that a human being need meet no requirements to qualify for the brotherhood of man. Free men in a peaceful world called for free trade. Like the Physiocrats of the eighteenth century, Lamartine concluded that tariffs impeded economic progress. The reasonable course to be taken lay in an unhampered exchange of goods. Since each had need of the other, the manufacturer, the farmer, the artisan, and the laborer would all gain by bartering their goods or services. Likewise, nations would flourish under such a plan. English machinery would pay for French produce, laces, and perfumes. Since no nation was self-sufficient, circumstances left no other course but that of mutual aid through the abolition of customs duties: E f f a c e r autant que possible les nationalités rivales et tendre à l ' u n i t é morale et à l'unité d'intérêts, c'est l'action du temps, c'est l'action des choses, c'est l'action évidente de la Providence; constituer le genre humain en une seule f a m i l l e , réunissant ses lumières et ses forces pour s'améliorer au lieu de se diviser en mille races jalouses et ennemies se c o m b a t t a n t pour s'entre-nuire, voilà la tendance de la nature aidée des religions, de la raison, et de la vraie et grande politique . . . . l'histoire n'est que le témoignage de ces tendances du monde social au rationalisme, à l'unité, à la concentration des races, à la paix. 5 9 58

FP, I V , 4 8 1 , A u g u s t 2,

1846.

59

Ibid.,

I, 2 2 8 - 2 9 , April 1 4 ,

1836.

88

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

But, for all his cosmopolitanism, Lamartine complete internationalism in politics verged on There existed a point beyond which his program pushed. Like an immovable barrier, race heredity acceleration of the unification of humanity:

agreed that Utopianism. could not be blocked any

L ' h o m m e [he c o n c e d e d ] n'est pas aussi éducable que le disent les philosophes. L ' i n f l u e n c e des gouvernements et des lois est bien loin d ' a g i r aussi radicalement qu'on le pense sur les moeurs et les instincts d ' u n peuple, tandis que la constitution primitive, le sang de la race, agit toujours et se m a n i f e s t e après des milliers d'années dans les f o r m e s physiques et dans les habitudes morales de la f a m i l l e ou de la tribu. L e genre h u m a i n coule par fleuves et par ruisseaux dans le vaste océan de l ' h u m a n i t é ; mais il n ' y mêle que bien lentement ses eaux, souvent jamais, et il ressort, c o m m e le R h ô n e du lac de Genève, avec le g o û t et la couleur de son onde. Il y a là . . . un grand secret pour les législateurs. T o u t ce qu'ils f o n t dans le sens de l'esprit des races réussit; tout ce qu'ils tentent contre cette prédisposition naturelle échoue. 6 0

The acceptance of this limit to his outlook slightly modified Lamartine's position. Since what pleased the French might anger the Germans, he could not indiscriminately apply a single policy to all nations. Thus checked, he proposed to press international idealism only so f a r as was circumspect, but, within France, to place no restriction on the number of reforms to be advocated. The French belonged to a single race; what concerned them alone could injure no one else. Furthermore, the application of reforms to one country might conceivably encourage neighboring nations to follow suit. His aims for France paralleled to a great extent those he dreamed for the world at large. The poorest classes, of course, demanded first attention: by relieving their situation he took a long step toward his goal. He had to raise the standards of the masses, apply the principles of equality and fraternity, 8 1 lest the workers, left in their existing plight, menace the safety of France: 60

Voyage

en Orient,

II, 289-90.

61

FP, IV, 482, August 2, 1846.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

89

Les prolétaires:—classe nombreuse, inaperçue dans les gouvernements théocratiques, despotiques et aristocratiques, où ils vivent à l'abri d'une des puissances qui possèdent le sol, et ont leurs garanties d'existence au moins dans leur patronage; classe qui aujourd'hui, livrée à elle-même par la suppression de ses patrons et par l'individualisme, est dans une condition pire qu'elle n'a jamais été, a reconquis ses droits stériles sans avoir le nécessaire, et remuera la société jusqu'à ce que le socialisme ait succédé à l'odieux individualisme.62

B y socialism, however, Lamartine did not imply a tendency to follow any of the various radical manifestoes. On the contrary, he meant to call f o r collective action toward social reforms that in no way threatened the stability of capitalism, "une sorte d'assurance mutuelle à des conditions équitables entre la société possédante et la société non possédante." 6 3 Some years later, in 1850, when the attacks of the conservatives recalled him momentarily f r o m retirement, he clarified his definition by way of justification: Voilà ce que les anciens appelaient, comme par instinct, la roue de la fortune; ce que les modernes, plus éclairés, appelleront la rotation de la propriété, l'égalisation successive des parts de la terre et des industries entre les familles, la répartition chrétienne des biens de ce monde, mais la répartition par les oeuvres, par les héritages, par le travail, par les économies, par la loi! Voilà le communisme vrai! 64

Socialist doctrines conveyed little to Lamartine when they menaced his own property rights. Only insofar as they guaranteed the well-being of the proletariat without threatening his own did he advocate them. A republic, based on the right to private property, held the only solution to contemporary problems; no other form of government could adequately replace it. 65 In one matter, though, Lamartine saw eye to eye with the socialists, and that was the removal of Church influence from 62 63 04 65

Voyage en Orient, II, 5 1 4 . Quoted in Nourrisson, Trois Précurseurs, p. 1 5 4 . Le Passé, le présent et l'avenir Je la république, p. 1 3 4 . Histoire Je la restauration, p. 4.

9

o

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

p r i m a r y education. T h e reactionary tendency of Catholicism, and the power it held over French children, forced him into opposition to parochial schools. T o control public opinion, to insure progress, the state necessarily had to defeat the C h u r c h . It was the strongest enemy of liberal government, and to grant it the formation of the younger generations meant setting a handicap that might never be overcome. T h e C h u r c h and the state fulfilled separate f u n c t i o n s ; their respective aims were incompatible, even antagonistic: J e ne suis pas un partisan de l'éducation du siècle par le clergé [he confessed in the Confidences] ; je déteste la théocratie, cette f o r m e la plus odieuse de toutes les tyrannies, parce qu'elle la revendique au nom du Dieu de liberté et qu'elle la perpétue en la sacrant. J e redoute pour l'esprit humain l'influence du sacerdoce dans les gouvernements; mais aucune de ces considérations ne m'empêchera de reconnaître et de proclamer la vérité, ou ne me f e r a nier le bien où il est. T a n t que l'esprit du siècle ne deviendra pas une f o i religieuse qui dévore à son tour les âmes, les établissements laïques lutteront inégalement avec les établissements du sacerdoce. Il f a u t que l ' E t a t devienne une religion aussi. S'il n'est qu'une administration morte, il est vaincu. Il n ' y a pas de budget qui vaille un grain de foi pour acheter les âmes. 60

Abolish church schools and instil in lay institutions his o w n f a i t h and hope f o r France, such was the proposal of L a m a r tine. Sometimes, his attitude toward the ethics of national behavior forced him to stand against most of his colleagues, b y reason of the precepts deduced f r o m his credo or, possibly, f r o m parts of Catholicism compatible with it. N o man could slay his neighbor, he insisted; likewise, the state could not condemn criminals to death. Since the Sixth C o m m a n d m e n t contained no exceptions, the execution of the death penalty meant assuming powers not granted to any person or faction. A s Lamartine explained during his struggle to abolish capital punishment: GG

Confidences,

p. 1 2 9 , note x v .

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

9

i

L ' h o m m e peut t o u t faire, e x c e p t é créer. L a raison, la science, l'association lui o n t soumis les éléments. R o i visible de la création, Dieu lui a livré la n a t u r e ; mais pour lui faire sentir son n é a n t , au milieu des t é m o i g n a g e s de sa g r a n d e u r . Dieu s'est réservé à lui seul le m y s t è r e de la vie, il a dit é v i d e m m e n t à l ' h o m m e : J e me réserve aussi la m o r t . T u ne tueras pas, c a r t u ne peux pas restituer la vie. T u e r est un a t t e n t a t à m o i - m ê m e . C'est une violence faite à m o n c r é a t i o n . 6 7

One crime does not excuse another. Although a criminal might menace society, in removing him, society sins against God by deranging the plan of creation. And, for Lamartine, this constituted the greatest of crimes. Obviously, Lamartine's entire political platform rested on an optimistic faith that he, as a divine instrument, had a Messianic mission to fulfill. Whenever he mentioned his idealism in debate, or talked of infusing a new spirit into politics, his bored colleagues either left or stayed to jeer. Yet, despite the vague language and egotism behind his lofty, and sometimes hopelessly Utopian, projects, Lamartine established for himself a remarkable record for social reforms. Among his achievements he could claim the following improvements: better organized savings banks and insurance companies; the granting of pensions to employees, with bonus clauses for the crippled; salary increases for workers supporting large families; better equipped naval, military, and agricultural institutions for orphans and state wards; more advanced hospitals, asylums, and technical and trade schools. Moreover, with his help, the liberals forced a reform of the prison system and the suppression of the bagne; public utilities came under government control; the fortifications of Paris were demolished; slavery was abolished; and the burden of military conscription was spread out through all classes. In the field of education he fought for free and obligatory primary schooling, with scholarship grants to enable the more promising pupils to continue. He sponsored the cause of libraries for the people, 67

FP, I, 2 J 9 , A p r i l 1 8 , 1 8 3 « .

LAMARTINE'S

9 2

POLITICS

plays f o r their amusement, and universities f o r their enlightenment. 8 8 This was what he meant b y social reformation: Ainsi [he later warned the deputies of the dying Second Republic], vous le voyez, il y a un socialisme vrai et graduellement applicable à la République . . . c'est celui qui respecte et qui relie plus fortement les membrures de la société, cette arche de la famille humaine; c'est celui qui améliore, qui élève, qui perfectionne les conditions et les rapports des hommes entre eux. 00

Socialism, or republicanism, it was a direct realization of the faith Lamartine held, so patently taken from the Politique rationnelle that, in 1 8 4 3 , Charles Alexandre was prompted to write: Il est toujours l'homme de la politique rationnelle, de sa brochure de 1 8 3 1 , dont, par une insouciance irrespectueuse de ses oeuvres, il n'a plus un seul exemplaire. Il a déposé dans ce livre d'hier toutes ses pensées d'aujourd'hui, des prophéties qui s'accomplissent. Le fleuve est sinueux, mais il roule la même eau, et s'élargit seulement des sources recueillies dans sa course. 70

VII What Alexandre had said of Lamartine's political behavior applied equally well to his literary evolution. The popularity of Jocelyn had so pleased Lamartine that he determined to continue exposing his doctrines in epic form. On the 15 th of February, 1 8 3 6 , he announced to Virieu that eighteen months later he would publish a second fragment of the "épopée indoustanique." 7 1 But as he worked over his verses, the old torment returned. Although he had concluded that the revelation of 1 8 2 1 had been God-given, he disliked completely forsaking Catholicism, and his ego recalled that he was of the elect. On N o v e m ber 23, 1836, Lamartine notified Virieu of the struggle that possessed him: 6S 69 70

Harris, Lamartine et le peuple, p. 444. Le Passé, le présent et l'avenir de la république, p. 52. Charles Alexandre, Souvenirs sur Lamartine, p. 3.

71

Corresp.,

V , dcxi.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

93

Ma tristesse est entre Dieu et moi et non entre la nature et moi. C'est le combat de l'esprit qui souffle et qui renverse dans mes vaines pensées celles que j'aurais voulu le plus précieusement conserver telles que je les avais reçues; c'est cette forte voix intérieure à laquelle on résiste quelques années et qui crie à la fin si haut en vous qu'il n'y a plus de milieu entre le crime d'étouffer la conscience ou la nécessité dure d'obéir à ce qui vous semble la voix céleste. 72 His indecision lingered on f o r many months. In June of the next year, Lamartine's letters to Virieu still reflected hesitation over his choice of religions, but evidently a decision was slowly being reached: Ce monde physique et politique [he told his friend], n'existe pas pour notre plaisir, mais pour notre travail . . . . j'ai senti la nécessité de vivre du pain plus fort de la raison religieuse qu'on appellera comme on voudra. . . . J e n'ai pas la foi d'en bas que tu as, je n'ai que celle d'en haut. 73 A n d , in the same vein, at the end of that year: " M a vie est pleine, mais creuse et triste, rien de personnel ne la remplit. C'est tout philosophie, religion, poésie." In 1 8 3 8 , the publication of the Chute

74

d'un

ange

indicated

that he had crushed the revolt of the Catholic side of his mind, for it was obvious even to the most casual reader that his latest work confirmed the heresies of Jocelyn. turned to the thesis of unanimism

H e had re-

with a firmer faith, intent

on enlarging the scope of his former teachings. N o t only did the Chute

d'un

ange maintain the same line of

thought, but it also continued the same plot, as Jocelyn

had

continued the Visions.

ange

In the preface to the Chute

d'un

he made an observation: La Chute d'un ange . . . n'était qu'une introduction en drame à un poème dont le plan général ne s'expliquera que par le développement et la combinaison de ses parties. . . . Ce sujet, ai-je dit, c'est l'âme humaine, c'est la métempsychose de l'esprit, ce sont les phases que l'esprit humain parcourt pour accomplir ses destinées perfectibles 72 Ibid., "* Ibid.,

73 V , dcxxxü. Ibid., V , dcxlm, June 3, V, dclxiii, December 1 8 , 1 8 3 7 .

1837.

LAMARTINE'S

9 4

POLITICS

et arriver à ses fins par les voies de la Providence et par ses épreuves sur la terre. 75

They were both, in fact, parts of the Visions. La Chute d'un aitge related the first episode in the drama, whereas Jocelyn represented one of the last chants. Yet each repeated the same story. As Henri Guillemin writes: La Chute d'un ange, c'est l'histoire de qui se rue sur le bonheur; au bout du chemin, les mains vides et un coeur broyé, et l'appétit du suicide; Jocelyn, c'est l'histoire de qui consent à se passer du bonheur; une telle vie, c'est l'enfer aussi.7'1

Jocelyn was Cédar come to life in order to undergo another part of the punishment decreed by God. However, the Chute d'un ange comes closer to the original plan of the Visions. The symbolism of the title itself links it nearer to the revelation of 1 8 2 1 and the unfinished epic that proposed to dramatize this experience. According to Lamartine, the Visions told the story of a soul from its fall to its pardon on the D a y of Judgment. In this manner he could stress the workings of the chain, and the part in it that man played. This same intention, abandoned when the Visions grew to excessive length, reappeared in the Chute d'un ange. Evidently the Chute d'un ange was associated with Lamartine's first attempts to make his mystic dream intelligible. In an outline of the third chant of the Visions, he had sketched a story that closely resembled that of Cédar: Je fus chargé par Jéhovah d'être le gardien d'une de ses créatures la plus belle et la plus pure qui f û t sortie de ses mains après la première femme. Son nom était Eva. Description de ses amours avec elle; il l'aime tant qu'il en oublie le ciel et fait le souhait de devenir homme! Dieu irrité lui accorde sa demande et le condamne à mourir et à revivre jusqu'à ce qu'il soit digne de rentrer dans le ciel. Il devient homme, sujet à la mort; il est heureux quelque temps; la corruption des hommes augmente. 77 75

Chute

70

G u i l l e m i n , Le Jocelyn

d'un

ange,

p. vi. de Lamartine,

p. 7 8 1 .

77

Visions,

p. 80.

LAMARTIN'E'S

POLITICS

9 J

In a prose plan f o r this poem, Lamartine stressed the underlying significance of his work: La chaîne qui semble interrompue aux y e u x fermés des mortels est une chaîne sans interruption. Les effets et les causes s'y tiennent sans discontinuité. C ' e s t un écoulement éternel, semblable à celui des eaux qui filtrent de la m o n t a g n e dans l'océan ou des étincelles innombrables de la lumière qui coulent sans fin des astres intarissables et rejaillissent de chaque particule de sable pour accroître le jour universel. O r le monde matériel et le monde des esprits sont frcres. Chaque homme, chaque être, a sa corrélation en haut. Dieu a établi une parenté universelle entre tout ce qu'il a créé. T o u t communique à lui.' 8

In short, Lamartine planned to discuss in what way the physical and material worlds were connected, and to employ Cédar as an example of a soul passing first down, then up, the sequence of being. Thus, the Chute d'un ange was more specific in its metaphysical implications. Jocelyn taught a new plan of the universe to Laurence; Cédar demonstrated the same philosophy in action. T o produce better results in his campaign to convert France to a new religion, Lamartine had cleverly reversed the chronological order of the poems, spreading the theory before he clothed it in a concrete image. In this manner he repeated in different versions, one of which supplemented the other, the theology he had been preparing since 1 8 2 1 . Since it touched more closcly on Lamartine's Italian adventure, the Chute d'un ange bristled with indications of an illuministic ancestry. In succession, the poet used several themes that were current among the theosophists of the past century: the first emanation from God; the fall and rehabilitation of man, a fundamental idea of Saint-Martin, the Philosophe Inconnu; metempsychosis; the proximity of the millennium; and the complete redemption of sins on Judgment Day. All these by-products of his vision acted on the thought of Lamartine. T o his readers he seemed to have returned to another age. 79 But Lamartine had taken care to forestall some of the bitIbid.,

p. 4 5 .

•0 Ibid.

LAMARTINE'S

96

terness that had greeted Jocelyn.

POLITICS Remembering the biting at-

tacks of the Catholic press, he prefaced his work with a defense of his philosophy, listing a series of beliefs that he hoped would soothe the C h u r c h , but which, in reality, emphasized his apostasy. Des critiques religieux et sincères croient voir en moi une tendance croissante à matérialiser l'idée de Dieu, à confondre le Créateur et la création dans une vague et ténébreuse identité qui, en détruisant l'individualité suprême de Dieu et l'individualité de l'homme, anéantirait à la fois l'homme et Dieu. . . . Je crois en un Dieu possédant la suprême individualité, comme y croit la nature qui n'a été créée que pour réfléchir cette individualité divine, et qui ne subsiste que de sa providence. J e crois à la liberté morale de l'homme. . . . J e crois que la seule oeuvre de l'humanité comme être collectif, et de l'homme comme être individuel, c'est de graviter vers Dieu en s'en rapprochant toujours davantage. J e crois que le travail du jour, comme le travail des siècles, c'est de dévoiler de plus en plus cette idée de Dieu, dont chaque rayonnement illumine l'esprit d'une vérité de plus, enrichit le coeur d'une vertu de plus, prépare à l'homme une destinée plus parfaite, et fait remonter à Dieu une plus sainte adoration. Dans ma conviction, tout ce vain mouvement d'hommes et de choses ne cache que ce grand mouvement organique de l'homme vers une connaissance plus complète de son Créateur et vers un culte plus spiritualise. 80 One of the main connections between the Chute

d'un

ange

and the revelation of 1 8 2 1 is the treatment given the everabsorbing problem of evil. In Jocelyn,

Lamartine had assumed

that sin formed a part of the world, but in the Chute

d'un

ange he adopted another point of view. Cedar, of course, had committed a crime in desiring a human wife, and for this he was cursed: Va! descends, cria-t-il, toi qui voulus descendre! T u ne remonteras au ciel qui te vit naître Que par les cents degrés de l'échelle de l'être Et chacun en montant te brûlera le pied;

80

Chute

d'un

ange,

p. vii.

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

97

Et, p r ê t a n t à ton âme une enveloppe neuve, Renouvelé neuf fois ta vie et ton épreuve; A moins que le pardon, justice de l'amour, Ne descende dans ce mortel séjour! 8 1

Thus, by the admission of Jehovah himself, sin did exist, for otherwise Cedar could not have fallen. The presence of evil in the handiwork of a perfect God tormented Lamartine. According to his version of the creation, God had given forth all things in an image of himself. Therefore, if evil existed in the universe, it also existed in God. Such a contradiction smashed the very foundations of his theology. There must be an explanation, and he had to find it. A solution finally appeared, and he offered it to the public in a highly imaginative form. As Lamartine pictured it, God read his doubts and condescended to remove them: Or, l'esprit du Seigneur, qui dans notre nuit plonge, V i t son doute et sourit . . . "Regarde," lui dit-il; et le sage éperdu . . . par le tout il comprit la partie; La fin justifia la voie et le moyen; Ce qu'il appelait mal f u t le souverain bien . . . 8 2

Evil, then, was only a point of view. According to human standards, it prevailed everywhere, but, from the standpoint of the Creator, what man called sin either signified unfitness for promotion up the chain of being, or masked a test put to some creature. By means of this explanation Lamartine could recognize evil, and yet refuse to acknowledge it. A reiteration of the principles propounded in Jocelyn, plus an interpretation of evil that contradicted current notions, sent many of Lamartine's friends scurrying for their pens. Steadfastly he maintained a stoic silence to this second onslaught of accusations until the Baron Carre de Vaux charged him with plotting to overthrow Christianity. Then he defended himself stoutly by claiming that what he advocated represented true Christianity: 81 Ibid., " i j e vision," p. 298. 8 2 Ibid., "1ère vision," p. i j j.

9

8

LAMARTINE'S

POLITICS

T u partages donc à tort [he complained] l'erreur commune qui attribue l'intention d'hostilité envers le christianisme dans ceci [La Chute d'un ange] ou dans Jocelyn. J e suis chrétien à peu d'interprétation près. Le peu de bien qui est en nous vient de là, et je vénérerai toujours la source où nos âmes ont tout puisé. Maintenant le christianisme à la lettre est-il le christianisme en esprit? Le christianisme qui a traversé, en s'en imprégnant, les ténèbres des âges les plus honteux de l'esprit humain est-il le christianisme de ses âges de développement et de lumière? là est la question. Là nous différons sans doute, mais toujours en glorifiant la même doctrine. 8 3 W r i t i n g t o a n o t h e r o f his f r i e n d s , t h e C o m t e de C i r c o u r t , he a g a i n p o i n t e d o u t t h a t his a i m s p a r a l l e l e d those o f C a t h o l i cism. Bien que nous différions, en effet, d'opinions catholiques, je vis dans la même communion morale que vous, et, tout panthéiste qu'on me croit, je me console dans la prière et dans l'espérance. 8 4 B u t it m u s t h a v e been h a r d f o r his f r i e n d s t o reconcile his a c t i o n s t o his w o r d s , especially in the l i g h t o f the p r a y e r w i t h w h i c h he h a d b e g u n the Chute

d'un

ange.

I t s p o k e too well o f

m o n i s m t o be e v e n f a v o r a b l e t o the C h u r c h : Dieu, Dieu, Dieu, mer sans bords qui contient tout en elle. Foyer dont chaque vie est la pâle étincelle, Bloc dont chaque existence est une humble parcelle! Q u ' i l vive sa vie éternelle, Complète, immense, universelle; Q u ' i l vive à jamais renaissant Avant la nature, après elle; Q u ' i l vive et qu'il se renouvelle, E t que chaque soupir de l'heure qu'il rappelle Remonte à lui, d'où tout descend!!! 8 5 83

Corresp.,

84

Jean des C o g n e t s , " L a m a r t i n e et le comte de C a r n é , " C o r r . , J u n e 1 5 ,

V, dclxxvii, J u l y

15,

L e t t e r to C a r n é dated N o v e m b e r 4, 8ii

Chute

d'un

ange,

1838. 1838.

" i e r e v i s i o n , " p. 2 4 .

1925.

Chapter IV UNANIMISM A N D

LAMARTINE'S

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y (1843-1848) AROUND

1843, LAMARTINE

DISCOVERED A N

IMPORTANT

GAP

in his philosophy. Although his vision explained the relationship of all forms of life to each other and to God, it gave no indication of the reciprocal influence of the members of any single group. N o t that Lamartine cared particularly f o r a solution that would cover every detail of the cosmos, but, as an active participant in the government of France, he puzzled over the ethics of human behavior, over the direction in which mankind was progressing. What he needed, he believed, was a philosophy of history. Accordingly Lamartine verified his original theories in the manner of Rousseau in the Confessions, but, instead of using his own life as proof of the validity of his observations, as Jean-Jacques had done, he turned to the society of his times. B y the time that Lamartine's curiosity stirred him to substantiate his revelation with an interpretation of past events, there had long been a vogue for philosophies of history. H e was, then, responding to a common, as well as to a personal, desire. In 1843 the shelves of the bookstores groaned with the works of men driven by a similar urge. " E n étudiant l'histoire," Mme de Staël had written in De la littérature, " I l me semble qu'on acquiert la conviction que tous les événements prin-

IOO

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

cipaux tendent au même but, la civilisation universelle." 1 U n wittingly she had foreshadowed one of the principal occupations of the early nineteenth century. Following her hint in 1 8 2 5 , Quinet set down his reflections on history, and, two years later, incorporated them into a three-volume translation of Herder. In 1826, J o u f f r o y assumed the role of prophet when he offered the public a course on "la philosophie de l'histoire." Five years later the fashion still reigned firmly enough for the Baron d'Eckstein to submit to the Revue des Deux Mondes an article modestly entitled: " D u genre humain aux grandes époques de son développement, considérées sous le point de vue d'une philosophie de l'histoire." A n d likewise, Chateaubriand contributed the Etudes historiques, the preface of which passed in review the systems of Hegel, Herder, Vico, and Ballanche. 2 The special enthusiasm with which the first few generations of the nineteenth century searched the past to discover the future arose from a need of the age. Those interested in history, Ballanche and d'Eckstein, as well as Quinet and Michelet, felt it incumbent on themselves to discover in the mutations of the present a manifestation of the eternally serene mind of God. Cousin, for example, found in social changes three ideas on which he believed reason itself to be founded: the conception of infinity, that of the finite, and the perception of the connections between the two. The Orient of old represented the immobility of the infinite; Greco-Roman philosophers arrived at a comprehension of the finite; while the moderns discerned their relationship. 3 In its turn, the Producteur called attention to a general law: Bien comprise, l'histoire est une science certaine dont les lois, une fois connues dans le passé, jettent un jour éclatant sur le présent et l'avenir. Elle montre la succession des trois états: théologique, méta1

Pages 1 7 7 - 7 8 . Guillemin, Le Jocelyn de Lamartine, pp. 99—100. 3 Ludovic Carrau, " L a Philosophie de l'histoire et la loi du progrès," October, 1 8 7 5 , p. 573. 2

RDM,

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

IOI

physique et positif; elle nous enseigne que les peuples ont marché de l'isolement à l'union, de la guerre à la paix, de l'isolement à l'association. 4

Above all things this serious generation craved the philosophical certainty that life had a purpose. From the contemplation of this purpose they hoped to deduce a plan of daily action. Therefore, to find the goal of human activity, the men of the period uprooted the cornerstones which their ancestors had laid with such pomp. " O n répète souvent," wrote Barante in 1 8 2 7 , " . . . qu'il nous suffit de regarder et d'expliquer chaque chose." r> T o be able to foresee the events for which their acts would be cause, in fact to construct a new world, was the hooe each nursed. The picture of a series of souls, the beginning and end of which lay in the hands of the Creator, may have satisfied their metaphysical tastes, but once in possession of a part of the secret of existence, they tried to seize the rest. When Lamartine succumbed to the prevailing fever f o r a knowledge of the unknown, he set out enthusiastically to construct his own solution. On the 15th of August, 1843, he informed Dargaud: "J'écris et j'avance le premier livre des Girondins. J e n'ai rien gravé de ce style." 6 But in one respect his approach differed from that of most of the contemporary philosophers of history. In the interest of unity, his results must coincide with his metaphysical beliefs. One way led out of this dilemma, and this Lamartine took after the example of the late eighteenth century. When Voltaire, among others, had indicated the difficulties inherent in the conception of a static hierarchy of forms, philosophers of that day had shifted their system to a temporal basis, that of a world in the state of becoming. They agreed that man personified the peak of terrestrial evolution as the link that enjoyed the distinction of belonging to both the m i 4 6 6

Georges Weill, L'Ecole Samt-Simonieniu, pp. 4 - j . Pierre Moreau, Classicisme des romantiques, p. 1 3 4 . Corresp., VI, dcccxzix.

102

P H I L O S O P H Y OF

HISTORY

terial and spiritual worlds. O f all species, he alone enjoyed free will and the right to determine his own future. Therefore, a chronicle of civilization should reveal a collective struggle to dominate bestiality. N o doubt lingered in their minds that this accounted f o r the present uncertainty. A c a r e f u l study, then, of social struggle would disclose the state toward which society moved. A n d their curiosity to discover this Utopia blazed higher with the conviction that man, though a free agent, unconsciously submitted to the judicious pressure of Providence. Thus the problem assumed the allure of a mathematical puzzle. Granted that humanity claimed a destiny all its o w n , and that God influenced this evolution, what then did the f u t u r e hold f o r France? T o find the answer the first generation of the nineteenth century consulted their predecessors, hoping to wring f r o m them a satisfactory reply. Each writer, and Lamartine was no exception, carried in his mental baggage certain prejudices and a priori convictions that differentiated him f r o m the others, and, as a result, there appeared a mass of opposing explanations. Undismayed by the confusion of contradictions, Lamartine plunged into the study of history. T h e reason f o r this absorbing interest in the past came f r o m his political evolution f r o m 1843 to 1848. A s f a r back as 1 8 3 5 he had written to Virieu: " J e deviens de jour en jour plus révolutionnaire."

7

F r o m then

on, he slowly changed f r o m conservatism to a mild republicanism. B y 1 8 4 3 , he decided that f e w of the reforms he demanded would be granted by a Chamber over which ruled Guizot's dictum: enrichissez-vous

par l'épargne

et par le tra-

vail, and he increasingly voted with the opposition. Finally, in 1 8 4 7 , despairing of progressive leadership under

Louis-

Philippe, he cast his lot in with the republicans. T h e decision had been slowly matured. A s Lamartine grew

increasingly

aware of an approaching clash with the majority and a probable conversion to republicanism, he wondered about the jus7

Ibid.,

V , dciii.

PHILOSOPHY

OF H I S T O R Y

I0

3

tice of his actions. If he could interpret the shadows of coming events, then he could prepare himself accordingly. The answer lay in a philosophy of history. II A t that date, the chief topics of historical interest were the revolutions of 1 7 8 9 and 1 7 9 3 . Still alive in the memories of a great many statesmen, they appeared to have been sudden, overwhelming tempests of great destructive power. T h a t an uncontrollable uprising of the people should have s w i f t l y shifted the source of power f r o m an age-old aristocracy to a wealthy bourgeoisie seemed astonishing. According to the logic of some, 1 7 9 3 had been a mistake; to others it appeared the reasonable revenge of a down-trodden people. T h e situation became all the more confusing when candidates f o r office chose to make these dates a political issue, reading into them the words punishment, madness, or triumph according to their personal tendencies. Lamartine experienced the same fascination f o r the Revolution that gripped the entire nineteenth century. A s he slowly passed to republicanism and to the doctrine of 1 7 8 9 , he felt a desire to establish this event as being founded in reason. Then, using the Revolution as a starting point, he could discover the destiny of modern France. It was an undertaking characteristic of the age, a tendency at which Senancour had jeered in the Rci crics: Mais toi . . . tu veux savoir, au milieu de tant de nations de moeurs opposées, ce qui est commun à toutes, ce qui convient à ton espèce en général; tu consultes leurs annales, histoire incomplète de deux cents générations, et dans ces mémoires d'un jour tu prétends voir ce qu'il y a de permanent dans l'homme.8 Concentrating on the rhythm of group movements, L a m a r tine began his task in 1 8 4 3 , in Les Girondins, s

E.

de

r ê v e r i e , " p.

Senancour, 110.

Rêveries

sur

la

nature

primitive

by applying to de

l'homme,

I,

"8e

P H I L O S O P H Y OF

IQ4

HISTORY

history the fundamental concept of his metaphysics, that humanity, collectively as well as individually, is progressing to a higher plane of existence. His publications covered only a panorama of the political crises from 1789 to 1848, but he justified his concern with contemporary events by assuming that the rapidity of developments in France compensated for the lapse of time usually required for careful appraisal. 9 A c cording to this theory, the Revolution was as f a r removed in perspective as the age of Louis X I V . In the belief that his genius enabled him to find in complicated data truths hidden from others, a belief shared by many historians of that period, Lamartine hoped to see in the past the course of the future. He read of the rise and fall of races, the birth and death of religions and empires, and out of a mass of facts rose a picture of humanity stumbling blindly over an endless highway. 1 0 From this he selected what he considered to be the universal and eternal truths governing progress, 1 1 and he arranged these to form an explanation of recent history. In the beginning, he maintained, God started man in search of a perfect society in which a united humanity, judged by a single magistrate and adoring but one God, would express the divine will in common law. 1 - Men, as equals before God, were to seek that parity under a government in which all had the same share. 13 N o temporal limits defined this evolution, 1 4 but only to peace-loving nations were promised lasting life and liberty. All others must perish. 15 A s a fundamental rule, to be followed without exception, G o d decreed that the action of the individual should not be an end in itself, but a service to society: 9 10

Histoire de la restauration, I, i. Histoire de la revolution de iS48

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , I,

56-57.

1 1

Histoire

de la restauration,

12

Histoire Histoire Histoire

des Girondins (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , p. 4 J J . de la revolution de 1S4S (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , I , 1 2 5 . 15 de Turquie, II, 97. Histoire de la restauration,

13 14

I, 2.

II, 1 0 ; .

PHILOSOPHY

OF H I S T O R Y

I O

j

Dieu n'a dit à aucun homme: T u te feras de toi-même ton propre but . . . . tu feras servir le monde à ton usage. Il a dit, au contraire: T u seras, autant qu'il est en toi, le moyen, l'instrument, le serviteur de la terre . . . . tu grandiras non en toi-même, être petit et passager, mais dans le peuple, être éternel . . . . et dans l'esprit humain amélioré et grandi par tes oeuvres. 16

This dictate was to pass f r o m one generation's hands to another's: as the first one died, it was to leave a patrimony of ideas and institutions to its successor, thus perpetuating a collective notion of the will of God. 17 In addition, the individual was to be reminded again of the divine law through his conscience. 18 Reason and imagination were provided to complement this restraint as an assurance to man of continual contact with his law-giver: La raison conclut la divinité; à elle seule, l'imagination la voit . . . . la dévoile . . . . et, communiquant par l'énergie de sa perception son enthousiasme aux autres, crée entre la terre et le ciel ces mondes invisibles qui occupent dans l'esprit des hommes plus de place que le monde réel. C'est l'imagination qui spiritualise le genre humain, c'est le spiritualisme qui l'élève à la découverte de Dieu, c'est la vue de Dieu qui moralise et divinise l'homme. 1 9

It would appear, then, that since the aspirations of h u m a n ity are of divine origin, as are the instincts of social order, family, and property, society must shortly approach the perfect government. 2 0 According to Lamartine, this Utopia would soon be reached but for the fact that certain conditions tend to retard h u m a n evolution. First of all, there exists a universal law which condemns all accomplishments to instability, 21 a law that may be counteracted only by continual labor. 22 And second, even though this last condition be f u l filled, Providence f u r t h e r complicates progress by accumulatie

lbid., I, Histoire Histoire 19 Histoire 20 Histoire 21 Histoire

17 18

386-87. de la revolution de 1848 (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , II, 94. des Girondins (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , p. 890. de Turquie, I, 48. de la révolution de 1 848 (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , II, 2 5 3 - 5 4 . 22 de Turquie, I V , 1 0 1 . Ibid., I V , 1 0 5 .

i o

6

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

ing obstacles in order to increase the value of w h a t e v e r liberty is g a i n e d . 2 3 I n the third place, m a n himself c o n t r i b u t e s the principal h i n d r a n c e to his advance. Created as the messenger and i n s t r u m e n t of G o d , he o f t e n lacks the s t r e n g t h to m a terialize liberal ideas. F o r this reason, centuries are sometimes required to c o n v e r t h u m a n i t a r i a n theories into the actual i n stitutions f o r w h i c h they were predestined. 2 4

And,

finally,

the c o n t r a d i c t i o n of good and evil in the h u m a n constitution impedes civilization. T h i s Manichean d u a l i t y , existing also in society, p r o v o k e s a constant s t r u g g l e between the opposing f o r c e s , and the conflict is registered in the fluctuation of p u b l i c opinion, in collective passions, and w a r s . 2 5 In this last connection,

Lamartine

reacted

violently

to

the

teachings

of Joseph de Maistre. W a r s , L a m a r t i n e w r o t e , constitute mass m u r d e r s ; a n y nation that e x p a n d s b y f o r c e acts c o n t r a r y to the purpose of G o d , and ends b y losing its gains. 2 6

Para-

d o x i c a l l y , h o w e v e r , he did j u s t i f y any w a r t h a t claimed to protect the progress of h u m a n i t y . 2 7 T h u s , the goal recedes f r o m nations, t h o u g h

ultimately

society w i l l reach a g o v e r n m e n t based on reason and

then

divine w i l l . T h e c o n f i r m a t i o n of this t r i u m p h L a m a r t i n e saw in the hidden v i r t u e w i t h w h i c h society is e n d o w e d , a passion f o r justice and t r u t h : " I l y a dans le genre h u m a i n [he bel i e v e d ] u n e v e r t u secrète supérieure à tous ses vices et à tous ses intérêts. C'est la passion de la justice et de la vérité p o u r elle-même."

28

B u t b e f o r e attaining success, nations m u s t u n d e r g o transf o r m a t i o n s similar to those in the development of the i n d i vidual. Reiterating

w h a t his f r i e n d Ballanche had

taught,

L a m a r t i n e stated that each people passes t h r o u g h periods of i n f a n c y , v i r i l i t y , and senility, m a t u r i n g f r o m a p a t r i a r c h y

29

to a state of complete l i b e r t y . H a v i n g cleared one stage, it 23 25 2S 27 29

Histoire Histoire Histoire Histoire Histoire

24 des Constituants, III, 1 - 2 . Ibid., I V , 472. de la restauration, V , 329. de la révolution de 1S4S (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , II, 10. des Constituants, I V , 3 7 1 . -slbid., I, 8. de la Russie, p. 9.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

l o ?

enters periods of stress similar to those of Ballanche's paltngénésies in which new institutions supersede the old. Each of these revolutions symbolizes the death of one civilization and the birth of another. 30 Desirable as are these developments, they cannot be accelerated. 31 Because events are spontaneous, not premeditated, society must await progress lest its haste result in delay. A t the proper moment, two instincts, growth and conservation, will reveal the form next to be assumed: O r les nations ont deux grands instincts qui leur révèlent la forme qu'ils ont à prendre selon l'heure de la vie nationale à laquelle elles sont parvenues: l'instinct de leur conservation et l'instinct de leur croissance. 32

Guided by these laws, society sweeps along successively from an aristocratic monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, thence of republicanism. 33 Each step marks a fluctuation of growth, a "correlation mystérieuse qui existe entre les actes et leurs conséquences." 3 4 Such upheavals, Lamartine warned, are not to be confused with the changes in governments provoked by ambition or hatred. On the contrary, civilization is the aspiration of society toward a perfecting of the relations between citizen and g o v e r n m e n t : 3 5 Il y a . . . un moyen certain de ne pas se tromper au caractère de ces crises, c'est de considérer quel est l'élément qui domine dans une révolution. Si les révolutions sont le produit d'un vice, d'une personnalité, des crimes de la grandeur isolée d'un homme, d'une ambition individuelle ou nationale, d'une rivalité de trône entre deux dynasties, d'une soif de conquête ou de sang, ou même de la gloire injuste dans la nation, d'une haine surtout entre les classes de citoyens; de telles révolutions sont des préludes de décadence et des signes de décomposition et de mort dans une race humaine. Si les révolutions sont le 30

Histoire

des Girondins

31

Histoire

de la restauration,

32

Histoire

33

Trois

de la révolution mois au pouvoir,

34

Histoire

des Girondins

35

Histoire

de la révolution

(Bruxelles, III, de

1848

1 8 4 8 ) , p. 8.

32. (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , I, 3 3 7 , note f o r p. 59.

p. 7 1 . (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , p. 3. de 1848

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , I, 2.

PHILOSOPHY

io8

OF

HISTORY

produit d'une idée morale, d'une raison, d'une logique, d'un sentiment, d'une aspiration, fût-elle même aveugle et sourde, vers un meilleur ordre de gouvernement et de société, d'une soif de développement et de perfectionnement dans les rapports des citoyens entre eux ou de la nation avec les autres nations; si elles sont un idéal élevé au lieu d'être une passion abjecte; de telles révolutions attestent même dans leurs catastrophes et dans leurs égarements passagers une sève, une jeunesse, et une vie qui promettent de longues et glorieuses périodes de croissance aux races. . . . Or l'idée du peuple et l'avènement régulier des masses dans la politique, quelques difficultés que présente aux hommes d'Etat un phénomène démocratique si nouveau, cette idée, disons-nous, étant une véritable morale de toute évidence pour l'esprit comme pour le coeur du philosophe, la révolution qui porte et qui remue cette idée dans son sein est une révolution de vie et non de mort. Dieu y assiste, et le peuple en sortira grandi en droit, en force et vertu. 3 6 H o w e v e r , it w a s d i f f i c u l t f o r L a m a r t i n e t o e x p l a i n

why

b o t h t y p e s o f r e v o l u t i o n s d e m a n d a sacrifice o f b l o o d . F o r a s o l u t i o n , he w a s f o r c e d t o t u r n t o t h e Soirées de Saint

Péters-

bourg, a c c e p t i n g f r o m de M a i s t r e a j u s t i f i c a t i o n w h i c h he h a d d e n i e d in t h e case o f selfish w a r s . B l o o d , he r e p e a t e d , is the price which G o d demands for evolution: U n e nation doit pleurer ses morts, sans doute, et ne pas se consoler d'une seule tête injustement et odieusement sacrifiée; mais elle ne doit pas regretter son sang quand il a coulé pour faire éclore des vérités éternelles. Dieu a mis ce prix à la germination et à l'éclosion de ses desseins sur l'homme. Les idées végètent de sang humain. Les révélations descendent des échafauds. Toutes les religions se divinisent par les martyrs. . . . L'histoire de la Révolution est glorieuse et triste comme le lendemain d'une victoire et comme la veille d'un autre combat. Mais si cette histoire est pleine de deuil, elle est pleine surtout de foi. 3 7 M e n die

fighting,

b u t in n o i n s t a n c e are their e f f o r t s in v a i n . 3 8

T h e y m a y e x a g g e r a t e their p r i n c i p l e s , y e t a r e v o l u t i o n

can-

n o t s u c c e e d u n t i l it h a s e x a c t e d t h e f u l l n u m b e r o f lives req u i r e d f o r all g r e a t d i s p l a c e m e n t s o f i d e a s . 3 9 39

Ibid.,

I, 2 - 3 .

38

Ibid.,

p. 5 8 7 .

39

C f . Histoire

35«.

37

Histoire

de la restauration,

des Girondins

(Bruxelles,

V I I , 6 8 , a n d Histoire

1 8 4 8 ) , p. 9 2 8 .

des Constituants,

IV,

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 0

9

A l t h o u g h these realignments of values o f t e n surpass their objective, Lamartine preached that all revolutionaries m u s t moderate their actions and attempt to reach their goal c a u tiously. 4 " H e firmly maintained that o n l y struggles c o n t i n u ing over m a n y years e v e n t u a l l y

triumph:

1789

witnessed

the rise of the masses f r o m servitude and ignorance;

1848,

their vengeance on oligarchy and an increased interest in the f o r m a t i o n of their o w n g o v e r n m e n t . 4 1 T h e crisis past, nothing remains of the f o r m e r regime. T h e expiation here again t h r o u g h blood, recalled de Maistre, wipes a w a y all past servility, leaving to the nation only its genius

42

and the sovereignty of G o d as manifested in the increased p o w e r of the people. " R i e n ne survit que la souveraineté d i vine, qui se manifeste par la souveraineté du peuple, et qui se 43

légitime par la liberté."

T h u s f a r Lamartine had interpreted o n l y the movements of the populace; there still remained the explanation of leaders. T h e r e are always men, he reflected, symbolizing their times, whose character is produced by their epoch and through w h o m popular desires assume f o r m and meaning. W h e n e v e r a nation approaches a catastrophe, G o d summons these representatives of the masses, as he did Toussaint L o u v e r t u r e : J e ne sais quel esprit par mon nom m'appela, Me cria: " C ' e s t ton h e u r e ! " et je dis: " M e v o i l à ! "

44

T h e i r function is to direct their c o u n t r y , then to disappear when their task is completed. 4 "' A n d it is the crises that p r o duce these individuals which determine the f u t u r e of society. Sometimes the leader sacrifices himself f o r the good of his people; sometimes he jeopardizes their s a f e t y f o r

personal

gain. In the latter event he seeks to utilize his popularity f o r antisocial purposes. 4 ' 1 Napoleon, as Lamartine pointed

out,

typified the ruthless and selfish t y r a n t : 4

" Histoire

41

IbiJ.,

Je

la révolution

Je

I, 3.

Histoire 44

Toussaint

45

Histoire

1848

Histoire

Je

la

restauration,

Louverture, Jes

Constituants,

Act

(Bruxelles, Jes

VIII,

II,

18.

(Bruxelles,

1848),

p.

857.

412.

I I , scene ii, p . IV,

1849),

CironJins

457.

42. 46

Histoire

Je

Turquie,

V,

38.

PHILOSOPHY

I 10

OF

HISTORY

N a p o l é o n , qui avait ce génie des camps, était bien loin d'avoir le génie des sociétés. S'il l'avait eu, il aurait f a i t marcher la révolution en ordre sous ses aigles. Il la fit reculer et la refoula jusqu'au moyen âge. Il t r a h i t son temps, ou il ne le comprit pas. Son règne ne f u t q u ' u n e d u r e discipline imposée à une nation. Il f u t à la France ce que la f a t a l i t é est au libre arbitre, une dégradation adorée et sublime, mais une dégradation enfin. 4 7 Ultimately

the dictator falls f r o m power

for failing

to

u n d e r s t a n d t h a t he, as an i n d i v i d u a l , has n o r i g h t s o t h e r t h a n t h o s e g r a n t e d b y t h e state. Les droits des citoyens s'écrivent dans chaque loi que régit l ' é t a t social d o n t ce citoyen est m e m b r e . . . . La n a t u r e donne des désirs, la société seule donne des droits. . . . Il n'existe pas de droit de l'homme en société indépendant de c e t t e société elle-même. 4 3 Since personalities m u s t be sacrificed t o a d v a n c e s o c i e t y , 4 9 t h e leader sins in asserting t h e p r i o r i t y o f his o w n e g o , a n d w h e n this o c c u r s , G o d c o n d e m n s h i m a l o n g w i t h t h e n a t i o n

that

suffered h i m : C'est ainsi qu'en r e m o n t a n t avec la sagacité de la conscience aux premières causes des revers et d u d é m e m b r e m e n t d ' u n g r a n d peuple, on t r o u v e presque t o u j o u r s à la source de ces calamités nationales une f a u t e morale devenue une f a u t e politique. O n ne saurait t r o p le redire aux individus c o m m e aux gouvernements, une bonne c o n science est la meilleure des politiques, et, dans l'ordre privé comme dans l'ordre publique, ce sont les hommes qui f o n t leur sort, ce sont les peuples qui f o n t leur destinée.' 0 This

power

to

intrude

into human

destiny

God

exercises

w h e n e v e r s o c i e t y stagnates. F o r e x a m p l e , d u r i n g t h e c h a o s f o l l o w i n g t h e H u n d r e d Years' W a r , G o d inspired t h e i n v e n t i o n o f t h e p r i n t i n g press. T h o u g h

it a p p a r e n t l y w a s

dis-

covered b y accident, Lamartine believed that Providence had p u r p o s e l y s u p p l i e d p r i n t i n g to e n c o u r a g e progress. 3 1 W i t h its a d v e n t a n e w f o r c e , t h e spread o f e n l i g h t e n m e n t , c a m e to a d vance civilization: 47 48 50

Histoire de la révolution de 1S4S (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , I, 4. Histoire des Constituants, II, 2 1 6 - 1 7 . Ibid. 51 Histoire de Turquie, VI, 4. Histoire des Constituants,

I, 3 - 5 .

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

III

A r m é e s de l ' i n s t r u m e n t m é c a n i q u e q u ' u n e providence cachée sous l'apparence d ' u n hasard et d ' u n e industrie venait de donner, la conscience et la raison travaillèrent sans relâche à leur double é m a n c i p a tion. L'une chercha Dieu dans les révélations de la n a t u r e ; l ' a u t r e chercha la justice dans les institutions politiques. Toutes deux s ' u n i r e n t quelquefois pour saper en c o m m u n deux autorités, l'Eglise i n t o l é r a n t e et l'Etat oppresseur, que le moyen âge avait coalisés contre elles. T a n t ô t victorieuses, t a n t ô t vaincues, elles m a r q u è r e n t de leur sang tous leurs pas vers leur but de liberté et de justice. Each n e w press c o n t r i b u t e d to t h e spirit of rebellion t h a t w a s t o reach a c l i m a x in the R e v o l u t i o n and sweep F r a n c e o n t o t h e Second R e p u b l i c . \ r e p u b l i c was the last t r a n s f o r m a t i o n t h a t L a m a r t i n e d e scribed f o r France, f o r , since d e m o c r a c y

needed n o

inter-

mediaries b e t w e e n the people and the expression o f t h e i r w i l l , it seemed d i r e c t l y inspired b y P r o v i d e n c e : Les républiques semblent plus directement gouvernées par la P r o v i dence, parce qu'on n ' y voit point de main intermédiaire e n t r e le peuple et sa destinée. Que la main invisible protège la F r a n c e ! . . . qu'elle fasse éclore d ' u n e république conservatrice et progressive, la seule durable, la seule possible, ce qui est en germe dans cette n a t u r e d ' i n s t i t u t i o n : la Moralité du peuple et le règne de Dieu. 6 3 Y e t he h i n t e d t h a t o t h e r f o r m s of g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d f o l l o w it, e v e n t h o u g h r e p u b l i c a n i s m s y m b o l i z e d f o r h i m perfection:

"La F r a n c e est jeune, elle usera de

political

nombreuses

f o r m e s de g o u v e r n e m e n t a v a n t d ' a v o i r usé la f o r t e v i e i n tellectuelle d o n t D i e u a doué la race f r a n ç a i s e . " B u t b e y o n d this p o i n t he had n o wish t o go. His p h i l o s o p h y of h i s t o r y h a d g i v e n h i m t h e a n s w e r to his personal p r o b l e m s .

Ill L a m a r t i n e a c k n o w l e d g e d no d e b t to his c o n t e m p o r a r i e s f o r his system, b u t , in all p r o b a b i l i t y , it represented an a c c u m u l a tion of b o r r o w i n g s f r o m o t h e r studies o f t h e same m a t e r i a l . •2lbiJ.

r,!

Histoire

Je la révolution

de

¡SjS

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , II, 365.

112

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

His reasoning parallels closely that of so many of his friends that it seems likely that he was at least indirectly influenced by their results. Several of his intimates owed their fame to philosophies of history, and among them there stands out as a possible source for his material the amiable and comparatively inarticulate Ballanche. Their relationship had long been close, and it was in memory of this intimacy that Lamartine dedicated a section of the Cours familier: J e l'ai beaucoup c o n n u ; j'ai assisté, au pied de son lit, à ses dernières contemplations de l'une et l'autre vie; je l'ai v u v i v r e et je l'ai presque v u mourir dans cette petite mansarde de la rue de Sèvres d'où il p o u v a i t voir la fenêtre en f a c e de son amie, M m e Récamier. Ballanche laisse dans le coeur de ceux qui l'ont connu l'image d'un de ces rêves calmes du matin, qui ne sont ni la veille ni le sommeil, mais qui participent des deux. C e n'était pas un homme, c'était un sublime somnambule de la vie. 5 4

They had met shortly after the July Revolution. A letter in the archives of Saint-Point, dated October 10, 1830, discloses that, at this time, Ballanche knew Lamartine well enough to address him as "bien cher et illustre ami." Four years later, the friendship had expanded to a proposed political collaboration. On February 17, 1834, Lamartine announced to Virieu his plan to create a Revue politique with the aid of Ballanche (whom he named first), Lamennais, and Pagès. The next year Ballanche, for his part, confided to Mme d'Hautefeuille that he was "tendrement attaché" to M. and Mme de Lamartine. 55 M. de Lamartine returned the compliment in a letter to Sainte-Beuve of 1836 wherein he resuscitated the project for a political journal: Parlerons-nous de presse politique? ferai si vous voulez. Organisez

C ' e s t bien vil. Cependant

cela, mais à condition

que

j'en vous,

Ballanche, T o c q u e v i l l e , B e a u m o n t , C a r n é , Pagès, etc., nous écrirons 54 55

Portraits et nions romantiques, p. 59. Guillemin, Le Jocelyn de Lamartine, p. 132.

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

„ j

ensemble; car là serait une force: en moi seul il n'y a qu'un instinct droit et rapide des choses. 5 "

But Ballanche had more to ofïer than friendship. He gladly bequeathed the poet that part of his symbolic wisdom which Lamartine tagged a "christianisme élastique." 5 7 It constituted his only legacy to posterity, but one so rich that Emile Faguet could later write of him: Tout ce qui a été, en notre siècle, mêlé de mysticisme, ou simplement religieux avec une certaine profondeur, peut donc être rattaché à lui, ou du moins tient à lui par certaines affinités. 68 . . . Il n'est point négateur, comme les Chateaubriand, les De Maistre et les Bonald, il n'est point, comme eux, ni taquin, ni insolent, ni superbe. 59

More than that, he disagreed with their unqualified adoration of an outworn past. On one fundamental point he denied their premises, and that alone served to turn him from their spheres of influence. Time is ultimately real, he maintained in the teeth of their opposition, and civilization reveals an actual process of development through cycles of growth and decadence. 60 In reality, Ballanche's elastic Christianity disguised a belief in a progression of souls. Searching f o r a spiritualistic philosophy that he could embroider around the notion of progress, the mystic from Lyon had come upon the answer sometime between 1 8 1 4 and 1 8 1 8 . His Antigone of 1 8 1 4 made no mention of the ideas later to be connected with his name, but, after 1 8 1 8 and the publication of the Essai sur les institutions sociales, they appeared in each of his succeeding literary attempts. It was a reiteration forced on him by the tremendous program he had undertaken: " C e que Charles Bonnet a essayé pour l'homme individuel, je l'ai tenté pour l'homme collectif." 01 56 A . Chesnier du Chesne, "Lettres de Lamartine à Sainte-Beuve," RDM, N o vember 1, 1 9 3 3 , p. 95. 57 Pierre Moreau, Le Romantisme, p. J I . 58 59 "Ballanche," RDM, January i , 1 8 9 3 , p. 46. lbii., p. i j . 60 George Boas, Trench Philosophies of the Romantic Period, p. 1 1 8 . 01 Pierre-Simon Ballanche, Palingénisie sociale (Oeuvres, Vol. I l l ) , p. : i .

PHILOSOPHY

I I 4

OF

HISTORY

N o t unlike Lamartine, Ballanche transformed the teachings of Bonnet by infusing into them some of the lyricism of the d a y : " L e s cieux racontent la gloire de leur auteur: tous les êtres disent qu'ils sont l'ouvrage d'une main toute-puiss a n t e . " 6 2 N a t u r e was whispering to him, as it had to Lamartine in the Harmonies, that the various aspects of matter could be arranged in a hierarchical order that would explain creation. Ballanche, however, differed f r o m Bonnet in one respect which influenced his entire approach to this philosophy. H e applied the results of the Genevan scientist to humanity alone. T h u s envisaged, his work complements the Palingénésie philosophique and the Contemplation de la nature, for Bonnet had never progressed beyond general applications of the doctrine. This failure Ballanche set out to remedy, carefully imitating the clinical coldness of his predecessor: L ' i n s p e c t i o n d u f o e t u s h u m a i n , à ses d i f f é r e n t e s époques de développ e m e n t , o f f r e une analogie f r a p p a n t e avec c e t t e succession d'êtres a n i m é s et avec ces progrès dans l'échelle de la vie. C h a q u e être, à m e s u r e qu'il s'élève dans c e t t e hiérarchie de l ' o r g a n i s a t i o n , présente les m ê m e s analogies avec ceux qui lui sont i n f é r i e u r s ; l ' h o m m e seul p a r c o u r t , a v a n t de voir la lumière, tous les degrés, et rappelle ainsi à lui seul s u c c e s s i v e m e n t , c o m m e p o u r les c o m p l é t e r , t o u s les actes d e la c r é a t i o n des êtres qui vivent sur terre, tels q u e ces actes de la p u i s s a n c e divine sont é n u m é r é s dans la Genèse. 0 3

The method of proof by analogy, however, ran counter to the imaginative mystic's nature. Lacking Bonnet's reasoning abilities, Ballanche felt the need of a more familiar tool, the symbol. It appealed to him as the proper method of explaining concepts which transcended logic, and he used it to transfer to his readers a philosophy calculated to renovate Catholicism. T o that end he created Hébal, imaginary chief of a Scottish clan. H é b a l , according to Ballanche, performed the dual f u n c tion of at once explaining and passing through the chain of 82

Ballanche, Essai sur les institutions

63

Palingénésie,

I I I , 39.

sociales

(Oeuvres,

Vol. I I ) , p. 269.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

„ j

being. Like Lamartine, he fell into a trance in which the will of God was made clear to him. His vision, too, concerned the unity of the world. Yet, whereas Lamartine had read the revelation on the clouds, Hébal sensed it pulsating through his being: Hébal se sentait à - l a - f o i s l'être d é c h u et l'être réhabilité, ne f o r m a n t qu'un seul être, un être identique, se reconstruisant l u i - m ê m e , c o n damné dans la voie du progrès pour reconquérir ce qu'il a perdu, l'éclat de son principe o n t o l o g i q u e primitif, car le principe, qui seul constitue l'identité, n'a p o i n t péri. 6 4 . . . Il se sentait q u e l q u e f o i s dans une vie antérieure, qui se m ê l a i t aux origines de l'univers. . . . Ainsi il se sentait ayant une existence réelle dans le passé; il se sentait assimilé à l ' h u m a n i t é antérieure, enfin il se sentait d e v e n u le mystère général, l ' h o m m e universel, v i v a n t d'une vie infinie, c o s m o g o n i q u e m e n t , m y s t i q u e m e n t et historiquement. 6 5

With occult powers of divination, Hébal peered into the f u t u r e to see the completion of terrestrial creation, the spiritualization of matter. The lower animals had disappeared; man had absorbed all other forms of life: "Ainsi toutes les animalités successives qui ont précédé l'homme se résumaient successivement les uns les autres; toutes ont fini par se perdre dans l'homme même, dernier terme de la création pour le globe." 06 Then man passed into the realm of essences, where the second part of his journey began. "Chaque être," Ballanche wrote in the Prolégomènes pour Orphée, "est destiné à s'élever graduellement; le terme de cette ascension progressive nous est inconnu." He dared not strip the last veil f r o m Isis. As Ballanche had worked over the details furnished by Charles Bonnet, a suspicion dawned in him that the life of one person reflects in miniature all human lives. From t h a t step he progressed to a corollary: humanity is the unity of all people, those who have existed, those who are, and those 64 65

Ballanche, La Vision Ibid., pp. 1 0 - 1 1 .

d'Hébal,

p. 3 5 . 06

Ibid.,

pp.

103-4.

1x6

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

w h o will be. The conclusion seemed to indicate itself to HébalBallanche: L'homme de génie qui, voyant que tout est lié dans les destinées humaines, exprimerait d'avance les idées vulgaires d'un autre âge; celui-là, comblant l'espace qui le tiendrait séparé des temps postérieurs, créerait dans l'avenir des événements et des chefs d'empire, et prédirait ainsi une épopée. 67 Predict the f u t u r e ! T h e p h a n t o m beckoned him into the past. He began his epic in a m a n n e r that became traditional in the nineteenth c e n t u r y : L'esprit humain marche dans une route obscure et mystérieuse, où il ne lui est jamais permis de rétrograder; il ne lui est pas même permis d'être stationnaire. Les nations dégénèrent; l'esprit humain marche toujours; il a en lui une vie incessament progressive qu'il n'aperçoit point . . . . l'esprit humain a, ainsi que l'homme, ses âges et ses temps critiques. La vie des sociétés humaines, à son tour, ressemble t o u t - à - f a i t à celle des individus. Les sociétés humaines naissent et meurent; mais leur berceau et leur tombeau sont des objets sacrés, également secrets et inconnus. On sait qu'elles se succèdent dans le temps, et qu'elles héritent les unes des autres. 6 8 Ballanche's ideas clarified as his research continued. From the dust of his m u s t y documents arose the shape of the great men of f o r g o t t e n eras, leaders of the masses. Since he k n e w theirs to be the opinions that had ruled past ages, and molded the character of successive generations, Ballanche recalled to l i f e on the pages of his cahiers, the f e w w h o regulated the destiny o f the m a n y . 6 9 Imaginatively Ballanche recreated the stages of history into definite scenes. In the Ville Jes expiations, he disguised himself as a priest in order to discuss the order in which the palingénésies had occurred: Mon fils [he b e g a n ] , on compte quatre grandes époques dans le monde depuis la naissance de l'homme. 67 68

Essai sur les institutions Ibid., p. 4 1 .

sociales

(Oeuvres, Vol. I I I ) , p. 285. 69 For eximpie, Orphée.

PHILOSOPHY

OF H I S T O R Y

I I 7

La première f u t la chute originelle, et la dispersion du mal pour lui faire perdre de son intensité. La seconde f u t le déluge universel. . . . La troisième époque est celle de la manifestation dans le Temps du Médiateur. . . . Enfin la quatrième époque est celle de la consommation. 7 0

Back to the fall of man went the mystic for the starting point of his drama. A t that time the human race was divided into two antagonistic groups, the patricians and the plebeians. As the first to arrive at a conception of language, society, and property, the patrician gained control of his rival by reserving for himself the power to develop his faculties. 7 1 Thus the patrician could control the conditions for the progress of the plebeian. His iron rule aroused in his subject a resentment which initiated the first class war, one in which a group of the plebs massacred reactionary elements and constituted itself the privileged class. Le patricien d'une époque f u t le plébéien de l'époque précédente: ainsi le patricien d'une époque historique f u t le plébéien d'une époque héroïque, et le patricien héroïque f u t le plébéien d'une époque cosmogonique; car tout est succession, développement, progrès dans la marche des destinées humaines. 7 2

As each generation sought f u r t h e r civilization, God prepared a new test. The penalty for man's original daring in attempting to compete with the Maker was a severe one. Man, collectively and individually, had to expiate the Fall by finding his way through barbarity to theocracy, and thence to aristocracy. The last struggle, that reserved for the nineteenth century, demanded the slow ascent to power of the entire plebeian class. 73 For Ballanche, the rise of the masses signified the m a t u r i n g of man. Each advance nearer republicanism f u r t h e r rehabilitated a degraded race. As theocracy yielded to aristocracy, 70

Pages

71

Prolégomènes

72

Ibid.,

104-j. p. 1 9 5 .

pour

la Ville

des Expiations 73

(Oeuvres,

V o l . I l l ) , p.

F a g u e t , " B a l t a n c h e , " pp. 56—59.

194.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

aristocracy to a more liberal government, God received additional installments on the price set for a pardon o f humanity's crime. Like the Jehovah o f Lamartine and de Maistre, God asked for blood in payment of the debt, and in receipt o f it, returned to m a n a part o f the dignity he had lost on being condemned to time and space. Whenever a major crisis had passed, the C r e a t o r allowed society t o discover what Ballanche called a loi agraire

as tangible proof that progress had been

achieved: La première loi agraire primitive fut la propriété personnelle et la délimination des ordres; elle établit les rapports respectifs de patron et de client. Le plébéien cesse d'être pecunia. La seconde loi agraire primitive fut la dignité humaine manifestée par le mariage. Le plébéien entre dans l'humanité; il devient susceptible d'acquérir par la propriété une famille et des tombeaux. La troisième loi agraire primitive fut la propriété. . . . Le plébéien fait partie de la cité. 7 4 A f t e r that he attained a realization o f the oneness of society, and with this, a more charitable attitude t o w a r d his fellow men.75 This life o f expiation fitted in admirably with Ballanche's notion of the unity of the total creation. As he imagined the process, the evolution o f the h u m a n race merely demonstrated in miniature the law of change that governed the universe: Le fini et l'infini se confondent dans le même temps et dans le même être. Chaque être subit toutes les successions cosmogoniques; il les subit à chacune de ses transformations, à chaque manifestation d'une nouvelle série d'épreuves. Tous les faits universels, ainsi que je te l'ai déjà dit, sont semblables et identiques; mais je dois ajouter que tous les faits individuels sont la représentation des faits universels. L'histoire d'un homme, c'est l'histoire de l'homme. 76 74 71

Prolégomènes pour la Ville de s Expiations (Oeuvres, Vol. III), p. 19 j . 76 Ibid., p. 206. Ville des Expiations, pp. 106-7.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

„

9

Some day man would reach maturity on earth, and then, his destiny accomplished, the earth would disappear:

77

Et dans le point le plus reculé de l'avenir [Hébal's dream ended], sur la limite du dernier horizon de l'humanité, l'homme achève de compléter la création de la terre. Par un magisme nouveau il spiritualise la matière. Les animaux disparaissent, car toute vie est devenue, par l'assimilation, la vie de l'homme. Ainsi toutes les animalités successives qui ont précédé l'homme se résumaient successivement les unes les autres; toutes ont fini par se perdre dans l'homme même, dernier terme de la création pour le globe de la terre. . . . Le genre humain, seule forme subsistante, se réveillant de la mort, et se mettant, comme autrefois Job, à interroger le Créateur, le Créateur dont l'ouvrage va périr! Tant de générations qui parlent par un cri unanime, devenue une voix articulée, une seule voix, la voix de l'homme universel; et cette voix est un gémissement qui contient l'image et le souvenir de toutes les calamités humaines depuis le. commencement jusqu'à la fin.78 These same ideas converged upon Lamartine f r o m another quarter when he made the acquaintance of E d g a r Quinet. In 1 8 2 7 , Quinet had first sought Lamartine's patronage on the occasion of the publication of the Introduction phie de l'histoire

de l'humanité.

à la

philoso-

T h e copy of the book, sent at

that time to the poet while he was still in T u s c a n y , paved the w a y for a friendship that was to begin when, t w o years later, the Académie de Mâcon asked Lamartine to read some of his verses and Quinet to read a part of his Voyage.

A mutual ad-

miration broadened their relationship until the year

1834

saw Quinet rubbing elbows in the Paris home of the L a m a r tines with d'Eckstein and Michelet. 7 9 A t Saint-Point the historian and the deputy often continued their discussions of the intricacies of perplexing philosophical problems. D u r i n g one of these visits, in 1 8 3 8 , Lamartine confided to Virieu the pleasure he found in their conversations: 77 78 79

Prolégomènes four la Ville des Expiations (Oeuvres, Vol. I l l ) , p. 186. Vision J'Hcbal, pp. 1 0 3 - 6 . Henri Tronchon, " H e r d e r et Lamartine," KLC, 1921, p. 5 1 9 .

PHILOSOPHY

120

OF

H I S T O R Y

A propos de philosophie allemande, voici E d g a r Q u i n e t qui débarque c h e z moi de H e i d e l b e r g et qui v i e n t passer h u i t j o u r s à parler de H e r d e r et de Strauss, d u panthéisme et d u s y m b o l i s m e . J e te q u i t t e p o u r aller le rejoindre. 8 0

N o doubt they discussed the theory of the unity of life, f o r , by 1 8 3 4 , Quinet, like d'Eckstein, had become a firm believer in its actuality. Some years earlier, in 1824, Quinet had begun an essay on Herder in which he treated the German philosopher's contributions to the study of history. In 1 8 2 7 , he published a translation of Herder's philosophy for which the essay served as preface. The latter work betrayed the fact that Herder had attracted Quinet to the chain of being. The translation provided for him a version of the doctrine that differed little from those Quinet could have read in French: C e qui est c o m m u n

à t o u t e espèce de terre et de pierre

[Herder

w r o t e ] , est c e r t a i n e m e n t une loi générale pour toutes les créatures de notre

globe. . . .

La

chaîne

incommensurable

descend

depuis

le

C r é a t e u r j u s q u ' a u g e r m e d ' u n g r a i n de sable; c a r m ê m e ce dernier a sa figure d é t e r m i n é e . 8 1

The old story unfolded: stones evolved into plants, plants into animals, and all the lower manifestations of life strove to produce man: L'homme

semble

être

parmi

les

animaux

cette

parfaite

créature

qui, sans briser l ' i n d i v i d u a l i t é de sa destinée, r é u n i t en elle le plus g r a n d n o m b r e possible de r a y o n s et de f o r m e s . . . l'homme créature

plus parfaite,

qui réunit

les traits de tous dans l'abrégé

est

une

le plus

complet.82

Above humanity towered another infinity for which man was the starting point, 83 and into which the individual passed at death. 84 Here Herder let the matter drop. Since he was preparing a philosophy of history, he felt it more urgent to deal 80 81 82

Corresp., V, dclxxx. Idées sur la philosophie Ibid., I, 9 1 - 9 1 .

de l'histoire, Introd., I, 60. 83 s Ibid., I, 1 5 0 - 5 1 . *Ibid.,

I, 191.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

121

with the past than the future. Where he left off, the theologians could begin. Quinet immediately delegated this task to himself. Convinced of the need f o r a personal metaphysics, 85 he proceeded to shape Herder's thought to his own ends: Imaginez quelque méthode contraire en tout à celle qui a été suivie par Vico, ce sera celle de Herder . . . le second s'élève de la manifestation la plus grossière de l'être matériel; il enchaîne dans une seule idée, partout présente et partout modifiée, l'espace qui renferme les forces de la création, et le temps qui les perfectionne en les développant. Depuis la plante qui végète, depuis l'oiseau qui fait son nid, jusqu'au phénomène le plus élevé du corps social, il vit tout séparer à l'épanouissement de la fleur de l'humanité. . . . Par quel enchaînement merveilleux toutes les formes se préparent l'une l'autre! . . . Par une identité admirable elles s'avancent toutes d'une forme inférieure à une forme supérieure, de la pierre à la plante, de la plante à l'animal . . . . quand, enfin, il arrive . . . jusqu'à l'homme . . . . il reconnaît en lui l'être que préparait et qu'annonçait le concours des formes et des instincts qui se sont succédés devant lui. 89

A t once, Quinet's religious doubts and hesitations were dissipated. His enthusiasm aroused in him the same praise that Bonnet, Lamartine, and Ballanche had chorused upon their comprehension of the profundity of this doctrine: " P o u r moi . . . ce livre a été . . . une source intarissable de consolations et de joie. . . . Que de fois ne me suis-je pas écrié, en déposant ce livre . . . voilà l'homme que je voudrais avoir pour mon a m i ! " 8 7 Moreover, the conception of a gradation of souls offered more than a temporary respite from religious torment; it clarified his conception of existence. A n d this new point of view he promised to share with the world. Therefore, in 1 8 3 3 , he published Ahasvérus, in which he copied Ballanche's method of exposition. Ahasvérus, like his descendant Cédar, was to symbolize a link of the chain in motion. With this 85

Emile Faguet, Politiques et moralistes, II, 190.

86

Idées sur la philosophie

87

de l'histoire,

/bid., Introd., I, 51-j2.

Introd., I, 19-20.

122

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

t h o u g h t in mind, Q u i n e t prepared his conception of the Last J u d g m e n t . A s A h a s v é r u s awaited sentence f r o m the A l m i g h t y f o r having insulted Christ on C a l v a r y , he begged a f a v o r : A u lieu des degrés de ma maison du Calvaire, je voudrais sans m'arrêter monter jusqu'à vous les degrés de l'univers. Sans prendre haleine, je voudrais blanchir mes souliers de la poussière des étoiles, monter, monter toujours, de mondes en mondes, de cieux en cieux, sans jamais redescendre, pour voir la source d'où vous faites jaillir les siècles et les années. 88 His plea f o r a special punishment softened the anger of the God he had o f f e n d e d : J e te bénis [Christ told h i m ] , le pèlerin des mondes à venir et le second Adam. . . . Va-t'en de vie en vie, de monde en monde . . . et quand, après l'éternité, tu seras arrivé de cercle en cercle à la cime infinie où s'en vont toutes choses, où gravissent les âmes, les années, les peuples et les étoiles, tu crieras à l'étoile, au peuple, à l'univers, s'ils voulaient s'arrêter: Monte, monte toujours, c'est ici. 8 9 T o this cosmology, strikingly similar to that revealed to Lamartine in 1 8 2 1 , Q u i n e t appended a philosophy of history. Here again his mind followed that of Lamartine, but w i t h one exception. W h e r e a s Lamartine had turned to history long a f t e r his initial meeting w i t h the chain of being, Quinet simultaneously developed his metaphysics and his historical theories. Herder's Idées had e v i d e n t l y been stimulating enough to suggest both lines of i n q u i r y . The same f u n d a m e n t a l belief on w h i c h Lamartine

had

based his philosophy u n d e r l a y the w o r k of Herder: Une seule et même humanité se montre sous des apparences diverses dans toutes ces choses que quelques nations sur la terre ont perfectionnées, et que cent autres ont défigurées par des arts f a u x et grossiers. Suivre les traces de cette humanité et en déterminer les lois, tel est le but de cette vraie philosophie de l'homme.90 It was the accepted notion o f a homogeneous h u m a n i t y in motion. Since all men, Herder wrote, f o r m a single f a m i l y of i s

" Ahasvérus (Oeuvres Ibid., p. 387.

69

complètes Je Edgar Quinet, Vol. V I I ) , p. 386. 90 Idées sur la philosophie de l'histoire, I, 238.

PHILOSOPHY

OF H I S T O R Y

I 2 3

common culture, their past necessarily constitutes a whole in the f o r m of a continuous social tradition. Furthermore, in the light of the Plotinic theory, he postulated the major law of life: "Tous les instincts d'un être v i v a n t p e u v e n t être ramenés à la conservation de soi-même et à des rapports de participation

à une autre destinée que la sienne."

91

Thus,

civilization evolved in conjunction w i t h the m o v e m e n t of the spiritual hierarchy. From these preliminary observations, H e r d e r made a deduction that led directly to his final j u d g m e n t on the direction of social progress: Nous avons v u que le but de l'existence présente est l'éducation de l'humanité, à laquelle les moindres circonstances de cette terre concourent et qu'elles sont toutes appelées à provoquer. Nos facultés intellectuelles sont appelées à l'exercice de la raison, nos sens les plus délicats à la pratique de l'art, nos penchants à la vraie liberté, à la recherche du beau; nos pouvoirs actifs à l'amour du genre humain. 9 2 Through the exercise of these faculties, Herder believed that man would ultimately grasp the h a r m o n y of the universe and the significance of the relationships among all phases of reality, car l'homme doit lui-même acquérir par l'exercice un degré de lumière et de sécurité, tel qu'il devienne sous la direction de son père et par ses propres efforts une créature plus noble et plus libre; et c'est ce qui arrivera. Ainsi l'apparence de l'homme deviendra l'homme en réalité; ainsi la fleur de l'humanité . . . s'épanouira dans sa vraie forme, dans toute la plénitude de sa beauté. 9 3 W i t h this statement Herder circled back to his original p r e m ise, a progression of existents: De là nous pouvons facilement conclure quelle est la partie de nousmêmes qui peut passer à un autre monde: c'est cette humanité divine, le bouton non encore éclos de la vraie forme de l'homme. 9 4 81 93

Ibid., I, 227.

Ibid., I, 287-88.

92 94

Ibid., I, 284. Ibid.

124

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

O n these beliefs Quinet modeled his own system, changing and adding to m a k e the doctrine fit his politics as well as contemporary events. H e approached the construction of a philosophy of history w i t h the same religious spirit as Herder, and, like him, utilized the same starting point. In company w i t h Lamartine, Ballanche, and Herder, he had the consciousness of being in h a r m o n y w i t h the surrounding world, and through this feeling he was led to the study of civilization. To w h a t end had it been created? W h e r e was it going? J e recueillais épars les éléments dont se compose mon individualité; pour comprendre le secret de mon être, il me fallait interroger les débris de l'Orient, les oracles muets de la Grèce, les bruyères des Gaules. . . . Ainsi, je m'arrêtais pour écouter au fond de mon âme le sourd retentissement des siècles passés. Je vivais, non plus en moi, mais dans cette masse confuse de nations et d'existences diverses qui m'ont précédé; et je me livrais si bien à elles, que je crus quelque temps que ma personnalité allait être absorbée dans la conscience universelle du genre humain. 9 5

But Quinet suspected that Herder had deviated f r o m his premises, and he determined to r e c t i f y this error in his own doctrine. 9 " The first step in the réévaluation of events he took w i t h most of the nineteenth-century philosophers by affirming the u n i t y of h u m a n i t y and of time. Then, following Ballanche, Quinet identified the history of a nation w i t h that of an individual. In this w a y he could neglect the individual and pass on to seek a universal law behind historical change. 9 7 W h a t he came upon was the same astounding conclusion arrived at by a large section of the early nineteenth c e n t u r y . A s a whole, society seemed to be moving to a definite goal: " C e ne f u r e n t plus des individus qui se succédèrent les uns aux autres [Quinet discovered], mais des êtres collectifs qu'on resserra dans d'étroites sphères." 9 8 W h e n God condemned m a n , he directed him to recreate in company with the entire 9r

> Ibid.,

Introd., I,

07

Ibid.,

98

Introduction

I n t r o d . , I,

S5

90

.

Ibid.,

I n t r o d . , I, 25.

57-58.

à la philosophie

Je

l'histoire,

p.

348.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

universe the harmony and perfection that had existed before the C r e a t i o n . " For centuries humanity had struggled to f u l fill this edict. One age gave impetus to the next, each depositing its legacy for the benefit of unconceived generations, and from this storehouse of tradition, Quinet traced on his pages a diagram by means of which he calculated the exact moment when society would have accomplished its destiny: L'histoire, dans son commencement c o m m e dans sa fin, est le spectacle de la liberté, la protestation du genre humain contre le monde qui l'enchaîne, le triomphe de l'infini sur le fini, l'affranchissement de l'esprit, le règne de l'âme: le jour où la liberté manquerait

au

monde serait celle où l'histoire s'arrêterait. Poussé par une main invisible, non seulement le genre humain a brisé le sceau de l'univers et tenté une carrière inconnue jusque-là, mais il triomphe de lui-même, se dérobe à ses propres voies, et changeant incessament de formes et d'idoles, chaque effort atteste que l'univers l'embrasse et le g ê n e . 1 0 0

In other words, Quinet concluded with Herder, the function of society will have ceased on the day the last being passes into the spirit world. 1 0 1 It is not surprising that Lamartine found in Michelet another great influence on his philosophy of the Transcendent Idea. Early in their respective careers, the two men found common ground for friendship in their mutual sympathy f o r Dargaud. The latter Lamartine had met in 1 8 3 0 , and f r o m then on, the historian and the poet joined company in attempting to raise Dargaud from a chronic state of unemployment. Another factor contributing to the growth of their friendship was the similarity of their political evolution. Aware of 09

Idées

sur la philosophie

111,1

IbiJ.,

101

Lamartine

the Cours Quinet

well

familier

I n t r o d . , I, 2 9 , 38—39.

understood

the affiliation between H e r d e r

he stressed the naturalness of

as a " n a t u r e

not only

de l'histoire,

Introd., I, 3 2 - 3 3 .

allemande dans un

familiar with

the Idées

sur

talent

contains a quotation f r o m H e r d e r ' s Poésie h a v e been multiple.

français."

la philosophie

but he read H e r d e r in other translations. T h e

and Q u i n e t .

this partnership b y de

Furthermore,

l'histoire

2 8 t h entretien,

des Hébreux.

de

In

qualifying he

was

l'humanité,

sent o u t in

1858,

T h e influence, then, m a y

126

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

this, Michelet and Lamartine joined forces in an attack on the bourgeois monarchy of Louis-Philippe. In June, 1843, the historian had occasion to remind Lamartine of the closeness of their collaboration: Je me sens uni à vous dans l'amitié et l'espérance. Notre devise comviendra, mune est, je pense, la belle devise du moyen âge: Le temps comme on la dit dans les caveaux de l'église souterraine de Bourges. 102

This ideological affinity extended even into philosophy. Michelet, too, arrived at the notion of a chain of beings and its corollary, a philosophy of history, but it appears that, unlike Lamartine, he derived his metaphysics from his theories of social progress. He reversed the usual procedure although ultimately he arrived at the same composite picture. Michelet's curiosity about the past first awakened when, in 1827, he published a translation of Vico's Scienza nuova. The work of the Italian jurist appealed greatly to Michelet, caught up as he was in the general desire to discuss the evolution of civilization. Vico had assumed that history unfolded according to a preconceived plan, and that this pattern could be seen in prehistoric myths and ancient traditions. His thesis, like that of Ballanche, rested on the premise that progress depended on the humor of a watchful Providence. In short, the outlines of his system were those commonly recognized in the early nineteenth century as prerequisites for historical inquiry. But the Scienza nuova differed sufficiently from the Palingénésie to constitute a rival philosophy. While both writers employed the same general principles, their results were contradictory. In regard to this, Claude-Julien Bredin, a friend of Ballanche, remarked to his compatriot: "J'ai enfin commencé ton Vico; j'y trouve des idées qui m'étonnent et qui diffèrent assez des tiennes; mais j'en retrouve qui sont réelle102 Jean-Marie p. 195.

Carré,

"Lamartine

et

Michelet,"

RDM,

September

i,

1926,

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 2 /

ment tiennes." 1 0 3 Vico started f r o m the same precept as Ballanche, that the world will ultimately realize perfection, yet he believed that m a n alone, with the aid of a benevolent Providence, had constructed society. From this conclusion he drew what he was pleased to call "la métaphysique de l'esprit humain." 1 0 4 The unity of his system, Vico wrote, was copied f r o m the theologians. " L a science nouvelle est une théologie sociale." 1 0 5 Using the methods of contemporary philologists and philosophers, he established as a criterion for the choice of material a single axiom: " c e que l'universalité ou la pluralité du genre humain sent être juste, doit servir de règle dans la vie sociale." l u 0 His common sense would serve as a barrier against useless digressions and the ever possible misinterpretation of historical data. Confidently, he mapped f r o m the time sequence a "cercle éternel" around which all nations revolved. 1 0 7 The Deluge Vico considered the first important historical event. From there he worked toward the present, uncovering myths, questioning heroes of antiquity. Each legendary figure symbolized for him the thought of a primitive people who, instead of analyzing logically abstract ideas, wove them into a personality. T h u s Homer became a collective being, and the people of Greece sang their own story; Aesop was not a h u m ble writer of fables, but "le caractère poétique des plébéiens considérés comme exprimant la sagesse sous forme de comparaisons et d'exemples." Solon spoke for the Athenians, while Dracon posed as the emblem of governmental severity. 1 0 8 This method gave Vico interesting results: D a n s le développement de la société humaine, dans la marche de la civilisation [he w r o t e ] , on peut distinguer trois âges, trois périodes: 103

A u g u s t e V i a t t e , Un

Ami

de Ballanche:

Claude-Julien

Bredin,

Iviii, p.

V i a t t e claims t h a t B a l l a n c h e discovered V i c o while visiting I t a l y in 104

Principes

100

lbid.,

p. 92.

108

Cf.

Edmond

March-April,

de l'histoire,

1919.

10r

p. 87. 107

Estève,

"Vico,

Michelet

Ibid., et

' Ibid.,

pp.

231.

1824.

p. xiii.

88-89.

Vigny,"

Revue

Universitaire,

128

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

âge divin ou théocratique, âge héroïque, âge humain ou civilisé. A cette division répond celle des temps obscur, fabuleux, historique. 109

The first period, he believed, came after two thousand years of barbarity and chaos had separated man f r o m the Deluge. The second continued until the year 3223, when Hercules established the first Olympic games, thus beginning the recorded life of humanity. 1 1 0 From this précis, Vico drew other more definite views. He deduced that pressure of the social instinct in man created civilization from barbarity, then swept society along a path from which it never strayed. Before Lamartine and Ballanche, he believed that as each nation developed a culture, it rose to theocracy, then to aristocracy. A struggle between the masses and the privileged classes destroyed oligarchy, and in its place appeared democracy. Since Vico considered the last type degenerate, it was with pleasure that he observed its disappearance. Popular government, he declared in opposition to Lamartine and other nineteenth-century historians, foundered because of its mistakes in policy, and the monarchists were forced to reassume control to rectify the errors of the peop l e . 1 1 1 " [ L e s hommes] partent de la monarchie domestique, pour traverser les gouvernements du plus petit nombre, du plus grand nombre, et de tous, et retrouver l'unité dans la monarchie civile." 1 1 2 Once society had returned to a monarchy, elements inherent in its structure slowly precipitated another struggle and another democracy. Continually it jockeyed f r o m one point to the other. Yet a nation never returned to exactly the same state, but always to a parallel one. The progress of civilization, then, may be diagramed as a spiral whose loops widen with every added circle. H a v i n g thus reduced life to a mathematical graph, Vico could standardize the course of events, and admit progress with each new form of government. The 109

Principes

1 1 1

Faguet, " B a l U n c h e , " p.

de l'histoire,

p. x v i i . 334.

110

Ibid.,

1 1 2

Principes

pp. 1 3 , 1 5 ,

17.

de l'histoire,

p.

344.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 2 9

power shuttled back and forth from monarchist to republican, and with the closing of each circuit, humanity moved forward. It was ever changing, yet always in accordance with preordained plans. Naturally enough, as the translator of the Scienza nuova, Michelet absorbed much of Vico's thought. From 1827 on, certain of his ideas indicated an acceptance of statements of the Italian jurist. To the end of his career, Michelet clung to a belief in historic symbolism. Like Vico, he perceived abstract ideas where others saw only the individuals, as Romulus or Lycurgus: for him heroes were the creation of a collective mind. On this basis, Michelet tended to minimize the importance of the individual in history, and to accentuate that of the nation or group. He followed Vico in this, and he always spoke of his master in superlative terms: A v a n t lui, le premier m o t n'était pas dit; après lui, la science était, sinon faite, au moins fondée: le principe était donné, les grandes applications indiquées. 1 1 3

Under the spell of Vico, Michelet borrowed three premises for his own use: first, that humanity controls its own destiny; 1 1 4 second, that nations develop ideas in conformity with their character, and, with them, suitable governments; 1 1 5 and third, that humanity deposits its knowledge in a common tradition. 116 These he incorporated into the Bible de l'humanité, in which he painted civilization as "la trame universelle qu'ont ourdie nos aïeux de leur pensée et de leur coeur." 1 1 7 But, in two important instances, Michelet disagreed with what he had translated. In the first place, he refused to admit the corsi and ricorsi of the Neapolitan historian. Instead, he claimed that society was advancing from a state of barbarity directly to a democracy in which justice and reason would 113 114 116

J . B. Vico, Oeuvres choisies, Introd., p. i. 115 Ibid., pp. iii-iv. Ibid., Bible de l'humanité, Preface, p. i.

I, 77.

117

Ibid., p. iii.

I3

o

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

reign. T h e stages of the journey remained the same as those described in the Scienza

nuova,

but ultimately

democracy,

not monarchy, would triumph. Man was a single being who learned continuously, and his thought formed the immense chain of discoveries which constitute his identity. 1 1 8 De l'Inde jusqu'à 89, descend un torrent de lumière, le fleuve de Droit et de Raison. La haute antiquité, c'est toi. Et ta racc est 89. . . . La Justice n'est pas l'enfant trouvé d'hier, c'est la maîtresse et l'héritière qui veut rentrer chez elle, c'est la vraie dame de maison. . . . Elle peut dire: " J ' a i germé dans l'aurore, aux lueurs des Védas. A u matin de la Perse, j'étais l'énergie pure dans l'héroïsme du travail. J e fus le génie grec et l'émancipation par la force d'un mot: Thémis est Jupiter. Dieu est la Justice même. De là Rome précède, et la Loi que tu suis encore." 1 1 9 A n d in the second place, whereas V i c o had remained strictly within

the confines of

orthodoxy, Michelet's

metaphysics led him to a chain of beings.

dabbling in

120

Although he arrived relatively late at this cosmology, Michelet proved to be one of its stoutest supporters. In 1 8 4 6 , when his relationship with Lamartine inferred common political beliefs, he was echoing one of the themes of

Jocelyn:

L'animal, sombre mystère! . . . Monde immense de rêves et de douleurs muettes! . . . Mais des signes trop visibles expriment ces douleurs; au défaut de langage. Toute la nature proteste contre la barbarie de l'homme qui méconnaît, avilit, qui torture son frère inférieur. 1 2 1 His conviction grew with time until, in 1 8 6 1 , he was paraphrasing the description of the "infini v i v a n t " of which L a 118

G a b r i e l M o n o d , La Vie et la pensée

1 1 9

Bible

de l'humanité,

120 Perhaps In the Oeuvres conjuratione,

de Jules

Michelet,

choisies

de Vico,

w h e n Michelet w r o t e of Vico's De

being.

Parthenopeâ

he added: " C e petit o u v r a g e m a n u s c r i t de V i c o , dont nous devons à l'obligeance de M . Ëallanche. . .

was close enough

f o r Ballanche to help Michelet

received more

f r o m his

friend

than

chelet must have been f a m i l i a r w i t h the w o r k s of 121

108.

it was Ëallanche w h o initiated Michelet into the chain of

la c o m m u n i c a t i o n the historian

I,

p. 4 8 5 .

Q u o t e d f r o m his o w n w o r k s in the Bible

Since their

in his w o r k , a manuscript.

be that

Certainly

Ballanche.

de l'humanité,

acquaintance

it m a y

p. 6 1 .

Mi-

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

131

martine had written a f e w years earlier in the Cours milier:

fa-

122

O u i , tout v i t , tout sent et tout aime. . . . D a n s l'infini matériel qui s'approfondit sous mes y e u x , je vois, pour me rassurer, un infini moral. La personnalité, jusqu'ici réclamée c o m m e monopole par l'orgueil des espèces élues, je la vois généreusement étendue à tous et donnée aux moindres. . . , 1 2 3 II y a un monde sous ce monde, dessus, dedans, tout autour, dont nous ne doutons pas. . . . l 2 4 E t , du plus haut au plus bas de l'échelle de la vie, on sent l'unité de l'âme. 1 2 5

These opinions were heartily seconded b y the Baron d ' E c k stein, another nineteenth-century mystic and friend of L a martine. A l l his life this man had puzzled over the existence of G o d , and every minute step of his mental processes was described to his associates. T h e exact date of his meeting w i t h Lamartine is u n k n o w n , b u t the path of the Baron seems to have crossed that of the poet soon after the July Revolution. O n c e they met, they remained friends f o r the rest of their lives. T h e strange figure of d'Eckstein, like a character f r o m a novel of adventure, immediately captured the f a n c y of L a martine. Born a Dane, educated in G e r m a n y , the one-time commissioner of police for Louis X V I I I fascinated Lamartine w i t h his cosmopolitan manners, his w i t , and his learning. This picture of him the poet sketched f o r Virieu on the occasion of d'Eckstein's visit to Monceau: Le baron d'Eckstein est toujours ici jusqu'au départ. Il nous enchante par son intarissabilité, sa science énorme, son parler brillant et passioné et sa f a c u l t é de traduction de sanscrit et d'allemand. C ' e s t un dictionnaire qui se feuillette lui-même et qui n'a pas de sinet [j/'c]. 1 2 6

T h e "brahme d ' O c c i d e n t " continued his relationship w i t h L a martine, pouring f o r t h a generous stream of anecdotes and encyclopedic information. From him and his w o r k s came the material that in 1856 filled a volume of the Cours 122

i8s6.

124

Ibid.,

12fl

Corresp.,

p. 29.

123

Michclet, La Mer,

125

Ibid.,

V , d c l x x j v i , N o v e m b e r j j > 1838.

p.

familier.12'' p. 3 7 4 .

124. 127

Entretien

iii, p. 209.

I3

2

PHILOSOPHY OF H I S T O R Y

A jack-of-all-trades, d'Eckstein remained consistent in one respect: he utilized all possible outlets to satisfy an insatiable urge to write didactically. Of all his newspapers, Le Catholique lived the longest ( 1 8 2 6 - 2 9 ) , an£ ^ here the doughty Dane mixed literary criticisms, philosophical polemics, and political advice to produce the piquant metaphysical compound that Lamartine had concocted. Le Catholique, as the name implies, had been founded primarily as a defense for a sorely beset Catholicism. Its first number boasted that the editor would "découvrir l'homme même, dans le plus intime enchaînement de ses pensées; l'homme non comme être isolé, mais comme uni à l'espèce humaine, mais dans ses rapports avec Dieu et la nature." 1 2 8 To d'Eckstein, a recent convert, this meant war on pantheism, eclecticism, or any other doctrine hostile to the Church. 1 2 9 But his incurable curiosity for things intellectual led him from the path he had chosen. A n interest in the Orient manifested itself in the "morceaux choisis" he printed from Oriental literature; extracts from the Mahabharata: Le Brahmane infortuné; Nala et Damayanti; Malati et MaJhava; Mrichchakati; and the Gita Govinda. A n irresistible desire to philosophize carried him beyond mere translations to erudite discussions of Eastern dogma, such as La Nature des éléments and Le Rôle du soleil, selon les doctrines de l'Inde.130 Leibniz, Herder, the translations of William Jones, and his own work in Sanskrit presented the chain of being to him in a multitude of forms from which he drew his own system. Little by little, d'Eckstein finally surrendered to a unanimistic philosophy. One year after the initial number of the Catholique, the Baron had imbibed sufficient heresy to write: O u i , la nature est animée, en même temps qu'elle anime. E l l e est fécondée, elle est féconde. Mais elle n'est pas seulement la nature, elle n'est pas seulement âme et vie, soumises aux conditions de la f o r m e ou de la matière. . . . 128 130

Le Catholique, January, > 8 i i . P. M. Nicolas Burtin, Le Baron d'Eckstein,

129

p. 3 4 1 .

Ibid.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 3 3

Toute force, soit qu'elle se montre avec une liberté relative, comme chez l'homme, et à un degré inférieur dans la matière brute ou le minéral; toute force, dis-je, dans ces deux suppositions, toute âme, tout esprit, toute vie (termes que je considère comme identiques) subissent constamment l'influence de la matière ou de la forme qui les environne, n'apparaissent que sous une forme déterminée par cette matière. Dieu seul . . . est affranchi des formes. 1 3 1

In September, 1 8 2 7 , he could admit that "tout est esprit, tout est âme. L'esprit vit dans le Logos, l'âme dans le Kosmos céleste." But he abstained from affirming the complete validity of the unity of life. It was true only in principle: " e n principe, la théorie du Kosmos, comme celle du Logos, purgées des excroissances de l'idolâtrie, des erreurs du panthéisme et de la corruption des orgies, sont vraies et saines." 1 3 2 With this reservation, he could continue castigating in an article on Ballanche all those who pledged allegiance to the theory of spiritual progression. However, by December, 1829, d'Eckstein had mellowed with regard to this philosophy. His own criticism of the ideas of others drove him to express his personal opinions on cosmology, and the result smacked of Hindu philosophy and numerous heretical doctrines of the Occident, with only a seasoning of Catholicism. According to this discussion, life had thrived on the earth for only six thousand years, or twelve thousand perhaps "si l'on veut y comprendre les grandes époques de la création." When God first conceived time, He molded a universe in His image, a universe where evil did not exist. Unfortunately, however, the created plotted to seize the power of their Creator: Il y eut dans le premier crime, déviation du principe divin. Il y eut chute; cette chute détermina un désordre. La terre f u t bouleversé, l'organisation primitive détruite. Le mal, le chaos naquirent; c'est là l'origine de la matière. Dans la matière se trouvent les éléments d'une organisation primitive, paralysée, frappée de mort. 1 3 3 131 132

Le Catholique, J a n u a r y , 1827, pp. 167—68. 133 Ibid., September, 1 8 2 7 , p. 4 1 7 . Ibid.,

December, 1828, p. 424.

I 3

4

P H I L O S O P H Y OF

HISTORY

From this crime chaos resulted until G o d willed t o restore order. T h e n , d'Eckstein's G o d used the same germes w h i c h Bonnet's had reconstructed the post-deluge

with

civiliza-

tion. W h e n the surface of the earth had hardened, the

germes

opened and living beings once again crawled i n t o the air: Eclos d'un germe qui renferme son organisme tout entier, il grandit et se déploie au moyen d'une action élémentaire intérieure, sous les auspices de l'action de la lumière extérieure. . . . Chaque germe offre une invisible unité. . . . Le germe, c'est l'idée même de l'organisme. 13 * Life n o w began climbing, like Jack's bean stalk, t o the f o o t of God. Creation still continued; each day N a t u r e methodically added to its handiwork, p l u g g i n g the gaps between the various species in an endeavor to construct a perfect of all possible forms:

continuum

135

Partout s'est offerte à nous une seule structure vitale, qui, lorsqu'elle a tout-à-fait subjugué la matière, opère l'organisme, réalise des idées vivantes, en les exprimant pour ainsi dire dans la forme de la nature, devenue une harmonie des parties avec le tout, un monde, un univers. En remontant l'échelle des êtres, nous y avons vu la vie et la lumière s'affranchissant entièrement, revenir au principe de l'intelligence d'où elles étaient émanées, et l'homme renfermer dans sa pensée un monde en petit, symbole complet du monde en grand; ce monde de l'homme contenu dans la parole et en quelque sorte peuplé des idées que nous voyons en dehors de nous, réalisées dans les choses. 139 Nous avons renversé (telle est du moins notre espérance) la notion sophistique et fausse qui présente la nature comme morte et inanimée: nous l'avons bannie même de l'empire inorganique. 137 T h e Baron, like his contemporary philosophers, had his word to add concerning the significance of historical change: " C o n sidéré sous son point de vue particulier [he had written in the prospectus to his newspaper], le Catholique m e n t de l'histoire vue dans les masses." 134 138 138

Ibid., pp. 358-59. Ibid., pp. 576-77. Ibid., January, 1826, p. 1 .

135 137

138

s'occupe spécialeH e proposed to find

Ibid., p. 364. Ibid., March, 1829, p. 47«.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 3 J

a comforting view of the purpose of life, and his search for it took him around the circumference of a great circle of the cosmos. Starting with God he constructed an infinite scale of existents, then reversed his reasoning to predict the return of man to the Creator. 1 3 9 Digging into myths and legends, d'Eckstein exhumed from tradition what he considered universal truths: 1 4 0 Le père du genre humain [he wrote in 1 8 2 8 ] ne fait qu'ouvrir à ses enfants, à mesure et sous condition qu'ils se perfectionnent dans ses voies, une vue sans cesse plus intime de la vérité, qui est Dieu lui-même. . . . Il y a . . . une élévation continuelle des esprits vers la source de tout bien, selon la portée et le mérite des intelligences. 1 4 1

From his somewhat mystic point of view, d'Eckstein interpreted this progress in a manner similar to that of Quinet. In a burst of lyricism he declared that society, in harmony with the universe, was attempting to dominate passion and egoism with reason. "Ennoblir, purifier, exalter, élever la création . . . telle est sa mission véritable." 1 4 2 The phases of this mission fell into three different categories: first, an era of ineffable bliss for all creatures born just after genesis; second, the fall of man and his consequent precipitation from Eden; and, third, the regeneration of humanity through its conquest of bestiality. " T ô t ou tard le génie de l'homme reprend ses droits. L'erreur n'a qu'un temps; la vérité est en possession de l'éternité." 1 4 3 A n optimist, the Baron selected the nineteenth century as the moment chosen for the elevation of humanity to divine felicity. Already he could foresee the day when Europe would form a single state: " N o u s ne faisons que d'entrer dans cette voie [he trumpeted], mais nous y marchons à pas de géants." 1 4 4 His basis for this statement was the political unrest that had characterized the situation in France since 1789. A t long last, 139 141 143

Ibid., December, 1829, pp. 588-89. Ibid., March, 1828, p. 370. Ibid., p. 1 1 3 .

140 Ibid., February, 182«, p. 203. Ibid., January, 1828, p. 104. 1** Ibid., September, 1829.

142

I3

6

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

he surmised, the people were beginning to understand their relationship to government. They were finally seeing that the dissension surrounding them came as a punishment for having strayed from the prescribed path. 1 4 5 N o w , indeed, they must rectify matters. IV When, in 1843, Lamartine started to write the Histoire des Girondins, he tended more and more to shape the story he was telling within the framework of his ideology. In 1847, Lamartine sent the final version of the Girondins to the publishers, and, when it reached the public, no small part of the influence it exercised came from the skillful manner in which Lamartine had arranged his facts. The book was a magnificent and persuasive illustration of his social theories: C e livre [he began cautiously] n'a pas les prétentions de l'histoire, il ne doit pas en affecter la solennité. C'est une oeuvre intermédiaire entre l'histoire et les mémoires. Les événements y tiennent moins de place que les hommes et les idées. Les détails intimes y abondent. Les détails sont la physionomie des caractères; c'est par eux qu'ils se gravent dans l'imagination. 1 4 6

Ostensibly the Girondins was intended to discuss impartially a critical two-year period of the recent past, but, as Lamartine admitted, the governing concern of the book was political and moral didacticism. And, in the light of his religious preoccupations, that purpose seems to have been closely connected with the chain of being and Lamartine's conception of the "leader": Cette histoire pleine de sang et de larmes est pleine aussi d'enseignement pour les peuples . . . jamais . . . cette corrélation mystérieuse qui existe entre les actes et leurs conséquences ne se déroula avec plus de rapidité. . . . Cette justice rémunératoire que Dieu a placée dans nos actes mêmes comme une conscience plus sainte que la fatalité des anciens, ne se manifesta jamais avec plus d'évidence; jamais la loi morale ne se rendit à elle-même un plus éclatant témoignage et 145 148

Ibid., March, 1828, pp. 3 9 1 - 9 3 . Histoire des Girondins (Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , pp. 1—2.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I } 7

ne se vengea plus impitoyablement. E n sorte que le simple récit de ces deux années est le plus lumineux commentaire de toute une grande révolution, et que le sang répandu à flots n ' y crie pas seulement terreur et pitié, mais leçon et exemple aux hommes. C ' e s t dans cette esprit que je v e u x les r a c o n t e r . 1 4 7

In his self-ordained position of seer, Lamartine believed himself capable of passing judgments on the events of the Revolution for the benefit of the French people. For this reason he nominated himself the "conscience" of history: "Voilà l'histoire telle que les anciens l'entendaient et telle que je voudrais moi-même, si Dieu daignait guider ma plume, en laisser un fragment à mon pays." 1 4 8 The thesis of the Girondins announced the conclusion at which Lamartine had arrived during his own political evolution. The constant refusal of the conservatives to stomach liberalism in any form had forced him toward republicanism, and this evolution he noted in his attitude toward his subject: C e qu'on pouvait entrevoir alors de la R é v o l u t i o n française annonçait ce qu'il y a de plus g r a n d au monde: l'avènement d'une idée nouvelle dans le genre humain, l'idée démocratique, et plus tard le g o u v e r n e ment démocratique. 1 4 9

As a new idea, of course, the Revolution "était donc au fond un spiritualisme sublime et passionnée. Elle avait un idéal divin et universel." 1 5 0 Of the last statement Lamartine was certain. A study of the period in question had convinced him that the principles of '89 were embodied in three moral precepts: La souveraineté d u droit sur la f o r c e ; L a souveraineté de l'intelligence sur les préjugés; L a souveraineté des peuples sur les gouvernements. Révolution dans les droits: l'égalité. Révolution dans les idées: le raisonnement substitué à l'autorité. Révolution dans les faits: le règne du peuple. Un

évangile des droits sociaux.

Un

évangile des devoirs.

charte de l ' h u m a n i t é . 1 5 1 147 149

ibid., p. 3. Ibid., p. 7.

148 150

Ibid., p. 8.

Ibid.

1 5 1 Ibid.

Une

!38

P H I L O S O P H Y OF

HISTORY

Since these results coincided with what he had inferred from his conception of the universe, there could be little doubt f o r him that they were divinely inspired. Moreover, the medium through which Providence had accomplished its ends was the "leader." Faced with a long list of revolutionary leaders, and mindful of his own role in politics, Lamartine remarked that "la pensée de tout un peuple repose quelquefois dans l'individu le plus ignoré d'une vaste foule. Il ne f a u t mépriser personne, car le doigt de la Destinée marque dans l'âme et non sur le f r o n t . " Mirabeau, Danton, and Robespierre symbolized the spirit of an age that matured and acted through them. As agents of a power greater than themselves, they merely translated the will of their people into concrete effort: C ' e s t l ' i m a g e de certains hommes dont le génie pour ainsi dire collectif se modèle sur leur époque et incarne en eux toute l'individualité d'une nation. Mirabeau était un de ces hommes. Il n ' i n v e n t a pas la révolution, il la manifesta. Sans lui elle serait restée peut-être à l'état d'idée et de tendance. Il naquit, et elle prit en lui la f o r m e , la passion, le langage qui f o n t dire à la f o u l e en v o y a n t une chose: L a voilà! 1 5 3

Under the aegis of such men a dormant desire of the nation transforms into fact. A unanimous urge to accomplish a hitherto latent thought permeates the consciousness of the group: T o u s les sens veulent porter leur tribut au patriotisme et s'encourager mutuellement. Le pied marche, le geste anime, la v o i x enivre l'oreille, l'oreille remue le coeur. L ' h o m m e tout entier se montre comme un i n s t r u m e n t d'enthousiasme. 1 5 4

Such, f o r instance, Lamartine remarked, happened in the case of the Constituent Assembly: C ' e s t pour cela que la révolution qu'elle a f a i t e est devenue une date de l'esprit humain, et non pas seulement un événement de l'histoire d ' u n peuple. Les hommes de l'Assemblée constituante n'étaient pas des Français, c'étaient des hommes universels. O n les m é c o n n a î t et on les rapétisse quand on n ' y voit que des prêtres, des aristocrates, des 152

lbtd., p. 1 7 .

153

Ibid.,

p. 4.

»« Ibid.,

p. 24g.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 3 9

plébéiens, des sujets fidèles, des f a c t i e u x ou des démagogues. Ils étaient, et ils se sentaient eux-mêmes mieux que cela, des ouvriers de Dieu, appelés par lui à restaurer la raison sociale de l'humanité et à rasseoir le droit et la justice par tout l'univers. 1 5 5

To the best of their ability the Assembly did attempt to give the government of Louis X V I "la raison sociale de l'humanité," but in so doing they finally resorted to force, thereby violating Lamartine's code of ethics. Yet, in view of the end, he excused the means: "La pensée la plus sainte [he rationalized], la plus juste et la plus pieuse, quand elle passe par l'imparfaite humanité, n'en sort qu'en lambeaux et en sang." 1 5 6 Moreover, it had been a war designed to protect the progress of civilizaticn. But, in spite of this, he felt called upon to express his revulsion for the horrors of the Terror. Perhaps it was the memory of his father's imprisonment that prompted him to say: "La démocratie se faisait place avec le fer; mais, en se faisant place, elle faisait horreur à l'humanité." 1 5 7 Of blood he would have none, even though he was actively preaching the doctrine of revolt. The second, the more subtle purpose of the Girondins, was to incite the French to resist the smug self-satisfaction of the doctrine of "enrichissez-vous." Lamartine had made up his mind; if constitutional monarchy refused to countenance reform, it must fall. Yet he never stated his case in so many words. By innuendo and inference he criticized the failings of the reigning regime: T o u t e s les fois qu'une théorie est en contradiction avec le salut d'une société, c'est que cette théorie est fausse; car la société est la vérité suprême. 1 5 8

And, to strengthen the force of his generalities, Lamartine praised the merits of democracy, noting that it constituted the only form of government under which man might expect the aid of Providence: " ' ¡ b i d . , p. i i 4 . 157

Ibid., p. 8j5.

«« Ibid., p. 21. 158 Ibid., p. 114.

I4

Q

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

C'est la force vraie du pouvoir social appartenant non à quelques-uns, mais à tous, sortant sans interruption de sa seule source, le peuple, et y rentrant toujours inaliénable, pour en ressortir éternellement à sa volonté. 159 Carefully, he prepared for an expected emergency, recalling t o France the glorious deeds of the past: Changer le gouvernement était toute la politique des Girondins. Changer la société était la politique des démocrates. 160 B u t there must be as little bloodshed as possible. It could be done, he believed, pointing to the history of the Girondists: Sans doute il ne faut pas compter les vies que coûte une cause juste et sainte, et les peuples marchent dans le sang et ne souillent pas en marchant à la conquête de leurs droits, à la justice et à la liberté du monde. Mais c'est dans le sang des champs de bataille et non dans celui des vaincus froidement et systématiquement massacrés.161 A quick uprising, the hurried and unmolested departure o f the deposed monarch, peace with Europe, and the beginning of the reign of the Politique

rationnelle,

all this he held out to a

people restless for greater political freedom: Combattre ce n'est pas immoler. Otons le crime de la cause du peuple comme une arme qui lui a percé la main et qui a changé la liberté en despotisme; ne cherchons pas à justifier l'échafaud par la patrie et les proscriptions par la liberté; n'endurcissons pas l'âme du siècle par le sophisme de l'énergie révolutionnaire; laissons son coeur à l'humanité, c'est le plus sûr et le plus infaillible de ses principes, et résignons-nous à la condition des choses humaines. L'histoire de la Révolution est glorieuse et triste comme le lendemain d'une victoire et comme la veille d'un autre combat,162 V Lamartine's appeal t o the nation fell on fertile soil. W h e n the government of Louis-Philippe forbade the opposition t o 159

Histoire

160

Ibid.,

181

Histoire

182

Ibid.,

des

Girondins

(New York,

1 8 4 7 ) , p.

341.

p. 3 4 1 . des

Girondins

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 8 ) , p. 3 5 7 .

p. 9 1 8 . M y italics.

P H I L O S O P H Y

OF

H I S T O R Y

I 4 I

hold a banquet in protest against the methods of G u i z o t , the populace of Paris flared into anger, precipitating a series of events which brought to Lamartine the inspiration f o r his greatest desire: the power to apply as leader of France precepts deduced f r o m his metaphysics and his philosophy of history. O n the 24th of F e b r u a r y , 1 8 4 8 , the people seized the g o v ernment f r o m the king. Insurgents lay siege to the Tuileries, invaded the Hôtel de Ville, and frightened Louis-Philippe into abdicating in f a v o r of the C o m t e de Paris. T h a t night, a f t e r hours of debate with her advisers, the Duchesse d'Orléans entered the C h a m b e r of Deputies with her son to claim the c r o w n f r o m the deputies assembled there. A t half past one in the morning D u p o n t de l'Eure stood on a chair to announce the abdication of the k i n g and the regency of the Duchesse d ' O r léans. T h e c r o w d applauded. A f e w moments later, h o w e v e r , the complexion of the scene changed. T h e mob charged in through the door, yelling f o r a republic. Sauzet, president of the C h a m b e r , lost control o v e r the proceedings and hid in f e a r of his life. Pandemonium broke loose until Lamartine mounted the rostrum. Below him the debate w a x e d f u r i o u s , republicans yelling f o r a d e m o c r a c y , royalists f o r the regency. F i n a l l y Lamartine spoke: Messieurs

. . .

je p a r t a g e aussi p r o f o n d é m e n t q u e q u i q u e c e s o i t

p a r m i v o u s le d o u b l e s e n t i m e n t q u i a r e m u é t o u t à l ' h e u r e c e t t e e n c e i n t e en v o y a n t présenter

u n des spectacles

les a n n a l e s

humaines,

les p l u s t o u c h a n t s

celui

d'une

que

princesse

puissent

auguste

dans

s o n m a l h e u r se c o u v r a n t de l ' i n n o c e n c e de son fils, et v e n a n t se j e t e r d u sein d ' u n p a l a i s e n v a h i et a b a n d o n n é d a n s le sein de l'asile d e la représentation du peuple! Mais,

messieurs,

si j e

. . . partage

cette

émotion,

. . .

je n e

p a s a v e c m o i n s de v i v a c i t é le r e s p e c t d û à c e p e u p l e c o m b a t t a n t trois j o u r s p o u r r e n v e r s e r u n g o u v e r n e m e n t

rétrograde.

partage depuis

. . .

J e d e m a n d e d o n c q u e l ' o n c o n s t i t u e à l ' i n s t a n t , d u d r o i t de la p a i x p u b l i q u e , d u d r o i t d u s a n g q u i c o u l e ! d u d r o i t de ce p e u p l e

affamé

p a r le g l o r i e u x t r a v a i l q u ' i l a c c o m p l i t d e p u i s t r o i s j o u r s ! je d e m a n d e qu'on institue un g o u v e r n e m e n t 163

Histoire

de la révolution

de 184$

provisoire.103 (Leipzig, 1 8 4 9 ) , I,

137-39.

j42

P H I L O S O P H Y OF

HISTORY

His speech settled the quarrel. There would be a republic. D u p o n t de l'Eure, replacing Sauzet as president, read off a list of candidates previously prepared in the offices of the National, b u t the enthusiasm of the crowd interrupted the procedures. "La République," they cried, "à l'Hôtel de Ville." P a r t of the crowd left with Lamartine, then Ledru-Rollin resumed his presentation of the candidates. A chorus of oui or non determined the success of each name. T h e members of the Provisional G o v e r n m e n t , D u p o n t , Lamartine, Arago, Ledru-Rollin, Marie, Crémieux, and GarnierPagès, left separately for the Hôtel de Ville f o r a conference. A dispute broke out among them over the name to be given to the regime. Lamartine, upheld by the men f r o m the National, demanded that the decision be left to the Assembly, and proposed the following statement: Bien que le Gouvernement provisoire . . . préfère la forme républicaine, ni le peuple de Paris, ni le gouvernement ne prétendent substituer leur opinion à l'opinion des citoyens, qui seront consultés sur la forme définitive du gouvernement qui proclamera la souveraineté du peuple.164

Louis Blanc forced the adoption of the words soit pour for préfère, and, when Lamartine left to harangue the crowd in one of the halls, Blanc slipped out to the square and cried: "Le Gouvernement provisoire veut la République." 1 6 5 Later, when Lamartine's proclamation returned f r o m the printer, Crémieux undertook to change his declaration by shortening the government's first statement to: "Le Gouvernement provisoire veut la République, sauf ratification par le peuple, qui sera i m médiatement consulté." 1 6 6 A n d , not to be outdone, Louis Blanc, Albert, and Garnier-Pagès issued at the same time f r o m the prefecture of police a decree in which they affirmed t h a t : "La volonté du peuple a proclamé la République. Le Gouvernem e n t provisoire la déclare constituée." 1 6 7 T h e republic, long 164 Ch. Seignobos, La Révolution de 1/4$, p. 9. I j m indebted to this same study for all the historical details about the Second Republic used herein. 195 Ibid. 1«« Ibid. Ibid.

P H I L O S O P H Y OF H I S T O R Y

I 4 3

desired by Lamartine, had almost become a reality. As temporary Minister of Foreign Affairs, he now held sufficient power to guarantee the passage into law of some of the social legislation he had long advocated. H o w quickly he realized the extent of his opportunity may be seen in the list of decrees that the government sponsored, all of which Lamartine either proposed or heartily seconded. On February 25, the right to work was granted the French laborer; and Lamartine proposed the abolition of the death penalty f o r political crimes. On the 26th he sought to broaden this measure into a complete rejection of capital punishment, but his colleagues limited the law to a mere declaration of f a v o r toward the draft offered on the 25th. On the 29th, the government announced its intention to seek a "répartition plus equitable des contributions," and placed itself on record as "résolu à proposer sincèrement à l'Assemblée nationale" a new budget suppressing the octroi and the taxes on salt and newspapers. On March 4, slavery was attacked, but this appeal of humanitarianism did not reach fruition until April 27, when a decree abolished slavery as " u n attentat contre la dignité humaine." March 9 saw the emptying of the debtor's prisons; March 10, those containing religious prisoners; and, on March 1 2 , corporal punishment was erased from the list of penalties applicable to men in the army and navy. But these measures faded into insignificance in front of the greatest of all: on March 4, 1848, the franchise was extended to all men over the age of 25. On March 16, Lamartine read to his colleagues a program whereby, after paying the owners an indemnity, the state would buy the railroads, assume control of insurance companies, banks, and all ruined factories, and set up a budget for government work programs. Lamartine's part in the passage of humanitarian laws had been great, but greater still was the role he played as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His chief concern, under the existing conditions, was to assure the newborn government peace and the opportunity to succeed. He had to forestall any European coali-

I 4 4

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

tion to restore monarchy, to convince neighboring countries that France harbored no thoughts of revenge f o r 1 8 1 5 . T h i s he did in his circulaire

aux agents diplomatiques

français

by an-

nouncing t w o contradictory policies. T h e first, f o r external consumption, formally abandoned the warlike tradition of 1 7 9 2 ; the second, for home use, condemned the treaties of 1815: La République française n'a pas besoin d'être reconnue pour exister. . . . Elle est la volonté d'un grand peuple qui ne demande son titre qu'à lui-même. Cependant, la République française désirant entrer dans la famille des gouvernements institués comme une puissance régulière et non comme un phénomène perturbateur de l'ordre européen, il est convenable que vous fassiez promptement connaître . . . les principes et les tendances qui dirigeront la politique extérieure du gouvernement français. La proclamation de la République française n'est un acte d'agression contre aucune forme de gouvernement. . . . La Monarchie et la République ne sont pas . . . des principes absolus qui se combattent à mort; ce sont des faits . . . qui peuvent vivre face à face . . . en se respectant. La guerre n'est donc pas le principe de la République française comme elle en devint la fatale et glorieuse nécessité de 1 7 9 2 . . . . La République française n'intentera donc la guerre à personne. . . . Les traités de 1 8 1 j n'existent plus en droit aux yeux de la R é p u blique française; toutefois les circonscriptions territoriales de ces traités sont un fait qu'elle admet comme base et point de départ dans ses rapports avec les autres nations. . . . Elle se proclame l'alliée intellectuelle et cordiale . . . des nations qui veulent vivre du même principe que le sien . . . elle exercera, par la lueur de ses idées, par le spectacle d'ordre et de paix qu'elle espère donner au monde . . . le prosélytisme de l'estime et de la sympathie. 168 A t the same time, as a more specific indication of his intentions, Lamartine adopted a personal policy entirely opposed to that of Guizot. H e sent to Berlin as "chargé d'affaires de la R é p u blique française" with secret instructions, a career diplomat named de Circourt. T h e latter was charged with the task of convincing the king of Prussia of the pacific aims of the French 1«»IbiJ., p. 28}.

PHILOSOPHY

OF

HISTORY

I 4 J

government, and to notify him of the general plan of which de Circourt's mission formed a part: former ou préparer entre les trois grandes puissances essentiellement pacifiques, la Prusse, l'Angleterre et la France, les bases d'un système d'équilibre et de paix du Rhin aux Alpes; faire accéder peu à peu . . . à ce système la Belgique, l'Espagne, la Suisse, les puissances indépendantes de l'Italie. 1 6 9

Thus, in March, 1848, Lamartine stood on the threshold of his Utopia. As Lady Stanhope had prophesied, he had led the people of France into the republic demanded by his philosophy of history. Furthermore, his position as actual head of the revolutionary moderates enabled him to encourage the liberalism of the Politique rationnelle in a peaceful atmosphere. Circumstances had conspired to give him the opportunity of applying the results of his metaphysical, political, and historical research: Oui, il rêve [Charles Alexandre said of him], il a eu le grand et le beau rêve d'une politique nouvelle faite de philosophie, d'humanité, de religion. Il veut mettre Dieu dans la politique, l'homme y est trop. 1 7 0 169

lbid., p. 284.

170

Souvenirs

sur Lamartine,

p. 2.

Chapter V U N A N I M I S M IN L A M A R T I N E ' S LATE Y E A R S ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 8 6 9 ) L A M A R T I N E ' S UTOPIA, HOWEVER, LASTED BUT A SHORT TIME.

T h e radical elements of his government doubted the sincerity of an aristocrat w h o must only partially share their views, and w h e n Lamartine refused to back a movement to adjourn indefinitely the elections to the Assembly and to positions of responsibility in the national guard, the L e f t unanimously deserted his lead. T h e y clamored for more time to educate the people, lest they vote for reactionaries, and since Lamartine opposed this, the socialists wanted him deposed. O n the 17th of M a r c h , 1848, the political clubs sponsored a manifestation of workers, in protest against this refusal of the government to postpone the voting. T h e next day the members of the provincial cabinet decided under pressure to delay the elections of the national guard officers until A p r i l 5, but this did not reduce Lamartine's u n popularity with the extreme L e f t . Since the elections to the Assembly had been put off only until A p r i l 23, the left w i n g of the group of clubs suspected that the time limitations placed on their propaganda would precipitate their defeat. O n A p r i l 16, the socialists organized another manifestation, but this time the government refused to sanction their requests, and the socialists, threatened w i t h army action, had to admit t h e m selves temporarily defeated. T h e momentary firmness of the ministers checked the hos-

LAMARTINE'S LATE YEARS

i¿j

tility of the socialists, and gave hope to the hitherto terrified bourgeoisie. Lamartine, as chief of the moderates, received the expression of the middle class's gratitude when, in April, ten departments elected him to the National Assembly. Y e t , as events show, this tremendous display of confidence was more a tribute for past favors than a promise of future support. In June, Paris rioted over the decree dissolving the ateliers nationaux, and, with the defeat of the insurgents, Lamartine fell from power. Frightened by the bloodshed and the thought of other such revolts, the conservatives demanded a military dictator. When General Cavaignac replaced Lamartine as the man of the hour, the middle class settled down, secure in its resumption of power. It did not, however, forget the part Lamartine had played in the early days of the revolution, nor his collaboration with the radicals responsible for the J u n e insurrections. In rebuke f o r his socialistic tendencies, the solid citizens refused to elect their former Minister of Foreign A f fairs to the presidency. Lamartine received less than 8,000 ballots for his pains, and suffered the insult of having LouisNapoleon chosen f o r the position. He knew his hour had ended, but, on general principles, he remained a deputy until the coup d'état, hoping against hope that the revolution of 1848, his revolution, would somehow outlast the stupidity of the Chamber. When it failed, as he had feared it would, he retired to Saint-Point, a bitter and disillusioned man. However, his retirement failed to save him from the slander of his enemies. Lamartine had left the government, wiser than in February, but poorer by exactly 540,000 francs. 1 Y e t rumor flew over France that he had robbed the treasury, plotted with the communists to seize complete control of the power, committed treason, and betrayed the trust of the people. His political opponents cast insults on his name long after 18 j 1 when he sought the peace of his home to repair his lost fortune. A n d , despite the bitter recriminations of his adversaries, he still remained f a i t h f u l to the ideals he had tried to give to his country: 1

Trois mois au pouvoir,

p. 39.

!

4

8

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

R e c e v e z mes adieux, citoyens! [he told his compatriots after his defeat]

. . . C h a q u e fois que je jetterai dans l'urne un vote de bonne

intention pour le peuple, de fermeté contre les factions, de salut pour la patrie, pour la famille, pour la propriété, pour la conscience, pour la société, je me dirai que deux millions de citoyens votent avec moi pour cette République unanime qui n'est à vos yeux comme

aux

miens que l'intérêt de tous, légitimé par le droit de tous, et défendu par la main de tous, dans le plus libre et dans le plus f o r t des gouvernements. Lamartine Représentant

du

peuple

2

II Defeated in the greatest struggle of his life, Lamartine did not admit himself beaten. Although the Chamber and its political leadership were barred to him, there still remained one more powerful medium for the expression of his opinions, namely, the press. By publishing a newspaper, Lamartine hoped to accomplish two ends: first, to bolster his much depleted fortune, and, second, to recapture the control over France that he had lost in June, 1848. With an overpowering optimism, he saw himself once more out of debt, and once more in a position to apply and teach his beloved doctrines. He still believed himself the "leader." As early as 1 8 3 3 , at the height of the Messianic spirit, Lamartine had toyed with the idea of a newspaper that would serve as "pain populaire." Ten years later, in a pamphlet entitled Des publications populaires, he still spoke optimistically of founding a new type of daily paper, the subscription price of which would not exceed "cinq journées de travail." ;< In addition he imagined himself the editor of countless scientific studies, novels, and poems, all prepared for popular consumption. His enthusiasm carried him so f a r into illusion that he mentally collected for collaborators an army of young men " [ q u i ] sèmeraient des lys purs et des roses virginales dans le pot de fleurs de la mansarde." 4 2

Ibid.,

4

Ibidp.

p. 60.

3

H a r r i s , Lamartine

1 4 7 . Quoted f r o m L a m a r t i n e .

et le peuple,

p.

146.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

I 4 9

However, because of the claims made on him by his political life, the project remained locked in a desk drawer f o r some time. N o t until 1845 did he consider the time ripe f o r entering journalism, and the result was the short-lived Bien

public.

Nevertheless its slight measure of popularity encouraged him so much that he persisted in believing that some day one of his newspapers would catch the public f a n c y . A f t e r his retirement from the Chamber in 1 8 5 1 , Lamartine again turned to journalism. Encouraged by the achievements of Emile de Girardin's penny press, he resolved to offset his recent monetary losses with the profits to be earned f r o m a daily paper, and, at the same time, to continue his guidance of France. Once he had boldly asserted in his youth: J'espère bien en effet que je serai un jour général d'armée. . . . J ' é t a i s né pour être cela ou chef vendéen et qui sait si un jour? . . . L a poésie n'est que de l'héroïsme rentré! J e puis vous assurer que je me sens l'âme un peu héroïque! 5

A n d now that France had pointedly rejected his bid f o r power through public office, he determined to recapture the command of opinion by the more devious route of propaganda. T h e plan of all his newspapers came f r o m the same mold: Premièrement, réduire tellement le prix des livres à l'usage des masses, que la nourriture de leur intelligence n'enlève pour ainsi dire rien à la satisfaction de leurs besoins matériels. . . . Secondement, il f a u t réduire la morale, la science, la poésie, l'histoire, la civilisation pour le peuple en peu d'espace . . . pour proportionner ce strict nécessaire de la route aux forces de l'homme qui porte tout et qui m a r c h e à pied. 1 '

A s their names indicated (Bien public, du peuple),

Civilisateur,

Conseiller

each repeated the same moral precepts and printed

the same idealism with which Lamartine had long been associated. He was merely transferring to his new work the thesis of his political and religious convictions: r

* Ponri, Lettert*

ary 6

16

incditc,

p. 4 3 . Letter to the Marquise de Barolo, dated

[18^7].

Le Cililisateur,

M a r c h , 1 8 5 2 , pp. 6 - 7 .

Janu-

ï50

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

T o u t e civilisation [he warned in the first copy of Le Pays] qui ne vient pas de l'idée de Dieu est fausse. T o u t e civilisation qui n'aboutit pas à l'idée de Dieu est courte. T o u t e civilisation qui n'est pas pénétrée de l'idée de Dieu est froide et vide. La dernière expression d'une civilisation parfaite, c'est Dieu mieux vu, mieux adoré, mieux servi par les hommes." More t h a n any o t h e r , the Civilisateur

carried o u t the f u n d a -

m e n t a l design of L a m a r t i n e ' s papers, lavish w i t h moral e x h o r tations. H e r e the h o p e f u l editor issued a series of popularized biographies, f o r , a c c o r d i n g to Lamartine's o p t i m i s t i c c o n v i c t i o n , his readers w o u l d f i n d in the life s t o r y of a great m a n inspiration to i m i t a t e his actions: Sur cette carte vivante et palpitante du genre humain [ t h e Ciiilisateur], il [ t h e reader] entreverra l'oeuvre et le plan de Dieu dans l'humanité, comme il les entrevoit dans les éléments sur la carte morte du géographe. Il se comprendra lui-même dans ces ancêtres, comme il se comprendra d'avance dans ses fils. Il ne se découragera pas des lassitudes et des chutes, en considérant l'immensité de la route, les progrès de la marche, l'infini du but. Il saura que cette famille dont il fait partie s'avance éternellement avant lui, avec lui, après lui, vers des destinées providentielles qu'il dépend de lui d'accélérer par ses vertus ou de ralentir par ses vices. . . . Il vivra de la vie des âges tout entiers, parcelle sans doute, mais parcelle qui comprend et qui contient tout. 8 T h e scheme was n o t o n l y a revival o f t h e didactic a i m s o f Jocelyn

and the Chute

d'un

ange,

to teach the u n i t y o f the

w o r l d , b u t , more t h a n t h a t , as L a m a r t i n e p o i n t e d o u t . B y f o l l o w i n g the advice g i v e n b y the editor, t h e French

worker

w o u l d a u t o m a t i c a l l y better his lot: " N o u s é l è v e r o n s le niveau des âmes en é l e v a n t le n i v e a u des esprits, n o u s créerons l'unité des intelligences. C'est é v i d e m m e n t l'oeuvre de ce siècle, l'oeuvre de D i e u . "

0

Soon the biographies t h a t

filled

the pages o f

Lamartine's

newspapers began a p p e a r i n g in separate editions. T h e s u b t l e t y and force w i t h w h i c h he c o u l d relate the s t o r y of a great man's 1

Chamborant

8

Le

Cii iliiateur,

de P c r i s s a t , Lamartine March,

1852,

p.

inconnu, 14.

p.

314. B

Ibid.,

p.

35.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

I j r

life encouraged Lamartine so much that he reproduced in book f o r m these portions of his newspapers. In this manner he reached a larger audience and doubled his source of f u n d s . Each of the men he considered offered, in word or in action, some help to his program f o r the spiritual rearmament of France. A l l were "leaders" in the sense that they had l e f t the m a r k of their personality on their respective ages, and their lives, carefully editorialized, lent the m a x i m u m of force to the morality Lamartine proposed f o r national acceptance: U n h o m m e destine à réussir n'est jamais que le résumé v i v a n t d ' u n e inspiration c o m m u n e dans l'esprit de son temps. Il le d e v a n c e peu, et c'est pourquoi on le persécute:

mais il l ' e x p r i m e , et

un c'est

p o u r q u o i on le s u i t . 1 0

Christopher C o l u m b u s was chosen because "son action sur la civilisation f u t sans mesure, il acheva l'unité physique du globe. C ' é t a i t avancer, bien au delà de ce qui avait été fait jusqu'à lui, l ' o e u v r e de D i e u :

L ' U N I T É M O R A L E DU GENRE H U M A I N . "

Solon appeared as the George Washington of the past;

11

Cath-

erine the Great, an enlightened despot. A s shining examples of vice or virtue, he held the illustrious dead before the eyes of the people, praising or condemning as the occasion warranted. L a martine pushed his puppets across his pages, shaking an admonishing finger at the public in the hope that he could bully it into a proper line of conduct. Ill Lamartine's activity as a writer during the last period of his life reinforced his attempts to bring a new gospel to France. T o this end, he w o r k e d along three lines: as historian, creative writer, and critic. In the first t w o capacities, he merely c o n tinued the interests of earlier years; in the last, he entered a new domain. A f t e r 1 8 4 8 , Lamartine's reasons f o r continuing historical 10

Les Grandi Hommes Je l'Orient, p. i6. 12 Christophe Colomb, p. 306. Civilisateurs et conquérants, I, 37.

11

1 5

2

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

research changed with his private fortunes. H e approached his studies with the object of realizing on their monetary value, and of j u s t i f y i n g the position into which circumstances had led him in 1 8 4 8 . T h e last concern by no means yielded to the first. " C ' e s t moi seul," he wrote in the Mémoires

inédits,

"qui

ai improvisé la république: et, à moins d'approuver l'anarchie, q u ' y avait-il à cette heure à f a i r e ? "

1:1

This excuse, however,

m i g h t not prove c o n v i n c i n g to posterity, that f e a r f u l judge whose role he had characterized in the Girondins:

"L'impar-

tialité de l'histoire n'est pas celle du miroir qui reflète seulement les objets, c'est celle du juge qui voit, qui écoute, et qui prononce."

14

W o u l d f u t u r e generations c r u c i f y him on the cross

of public opinion? H e could at least defend his conduct by demonstrating w i t h the aid of his philosophy of history the inevitability of events: Si vous voulez f o r m e r le j u g e m e n t des masses

[he told h i m s e l f ] ,

les arracher à l'immorale théorie du succès, faites quelque chose qui

n'a pas encore été fait jusqu'ici: donnez une eonscieiiee à l'histoire. V o i l à le mot du temps, voilà l'oeuvre digne du peuple et l'entreprise digne de v o u s . 1 0

T h e main outlines of his explanation, then, were d r a w n bef o r e h a n d : to prove that he, L a m a r t i n e , had been swept by Providence to the pinnacle of power, then dropped into p o v e r t y and disgrace a f t e r his usefulness had passed. T h u s he emerged f r o m history a victim of injustice, slandered f o r h a v ing followed a divine mandate: Quel beau commentaire de la P r o v i d e n c e qu'une histoire ainsi écrite à l'usage des masses! et j ' a j o u t e : quel bienfait pour le peuple, et quel gage de sa f u t u r e puissance mis ainsi dans sa main avec un pareil livre! A p p r e n d r e au peuple par les f a i t s , par les dévouements, par le sens caché de ces grands drames historiques, où les hommes ne voient que les décorations et les acteurs, mais dont une main invisible c o m bine le plan, lui apprendre, dis-je, à se c o n n a î t r e , à se j u g e r , à se modérer l u i - m ê m e ; le rendre capable de discerner ceux qui le servent 13

Mémoires

14

Histoire

inédits,

p. 8.

des Girondins

(Bruxelles,

1 8 4 8 ) , p. 3.

1,

'Gcneiit

ic, p. 56.

L A M A R T I N E ' S

L A T E

Y E A R S

1

i 3

de ceux qui l ' é g a r e n t , c e u x qui l'éblouissent de c e u x qui l ' é c l a i r e n t ; lui m e t t r e la main sur c h a q u e h o m m e , sur c h a q u e g r a n d é v é n e m e n t de sa propre histoire, et lui dire: Pèse-toi t o i - m ê m e , non pas f a u x poids de tes passions d u jour, de tes p r é j u g é s , de tes colères, de ta v a n i t é nationale, de ton étroit patriotisme, mais au poids juste et v r a i de la conscience universelle d u genre h u m a i n et de l ' u t i l i t é de l ' a c t e p o u r la civilisation; le c o n v a i n c r e que l'histoire n'est point au hasard, une mêlée c o n f u s e d ' h o m m e s et de choses, mais u n e m a r c h e en a v a n t à t r a v e r s les siècles, où c h a q u e nationalité a son poste, son rôle, son action d i v i n e assignée, où c h a q u e classe sociale e l l e - m ê m e a son i m p o r t a n c e a u x y e u x de D i e u . 1 "

This situation, to be sure, limited the scope of the work. Since he was considering primarily his own part in the revolution of 1848, he avoided rambling too f a r back in the past. What concerned him chiefly was the history of France from 1789 to 1848, and the relations this period had to the crisis that precipitated him from favor. His interest in the immediate past ceased when he had thrown sufficient light on the first part of the nineteenth century to prove that he had neither directly nor indirectly retarded the progress of his country. Hence, in his historic studies, Lamartine deliberately stressed the role of the leader who suddenly appeared to pilot France through recurring crises. He worked backwards from the date of his own accession to power, beginning in 1848 with a short account of the February revolution, Trois mois au pouvoir. From that he passed to a more detailed consideration of the birth of the Second Republic in the Histoire de la révolution de 1848 ( 1 8 4 9 ) , thence to the Histoire de la restauration ( 1 8 5 2 ) , and finally to the Histoire des Constituants (1855). Unconsciously, perhaps, Lamartine filled in the gap between the Girondins and his Trois mois au pouvoir. His remaining two histories, Histoire de la Russie ( 1 8 5 5 ) and Histoire de Turquie ( 1 8 5 5 ) , while they conform to the outlines of his philosophy of history, were published primarily for the money they would bring in. The Histoire de la révolution de 1848, for the most part au16

IbiJ.,

pp. 57-58.

I J 4

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

t o b i o g r a p h i c a l , indicates m o r e clearly t h a n the other

works

L a m a r t i n e ' s c o n c e r n f o r the g o o d will of posterity. In this he c a r e f u l l y stressed the similarity b e t w e e n

1 7 8 9 and 1 8 4 8 , e x -

p l a i n i n g t h a t the first u p h e a v a l represented o n l y the prelude t o t h a t into w h i c h P r o v i d e n c e h a d called h i m : C ' e s t cette seconde crise de la r é v o l u t i o n de notre pays, à laquelle j'ai assisté, que je vais essayer d'écrire pour être utile au peuple en lui m o n t r a n t sa propre image à une des plus grandes heures de son histoire, et pour honorer n o t r e temps d e v a n t la postérité. 1 7 A s s u c h , the r e v o l u t i o n o f 1 8 4 8 h a d been no c o m m o n r e v o l t : D a n s l'une et l'autre, c'est une idée morale qui f a i t explosion dans le monde. C e t t e idée, c'est le peuple, le peuple qui se dégage en 1 7 8 9 de la servitude, de l'ignorance, du privilège, du préjugé, de la monarchie absolue; le peuple qui se dégage en 1 8 4 8 de l'oligarchie du petit n o m b r e et de la monarchie représentative à proportions t r o p étroites, l'éclosion du droit et de l'intérêt des masses dans le g o u v e r n e m e n t . 1 8 Since he h a d led this m o v e m e n t , t h e n , his part had also been e x t r a o r d i n a r y . H a d he not g u i d e d F r a n c e t h r o u g h a greater r e v o l u t i o n t h a n 1 7 8 9 , " a v e c des éléments de désordre de moins et des éléments de p r o g r è s de p l u s " ?

1!l

It h a d been his r e v o l u t i o n , a n d he h a d been inspired

in

it b y u n a n i m i s t i c principles. H e recalled this in his a c c o u n t o f the provisional g o v e r n m e n t , believing himself the i n c a r n a tion o f a g r e a t idea: " I l

[ L a m a r t i n e ] m a r c h a i t seul à u n b u t

d é t e r m i n é d a n s son e s p r i t . "

A s the central c h a r a c t e r of the

r e v o l u t i o n , he took r e f u g e f r o m criticism b y p o i n t i n g out t h a t he had been g u i d e d b y g r e a t m o r a l principles: L a m a r t i n e avait été créé religieux, c o m m e l'air a été créé transparent. L e sentiment de D i e u était tellement indivisible de son âme, qu'il était impossible de distinguer en lui la politique de la religion. T o u t progrès qui n'aboutissait pas pour l ' h o m m e à une connaissance plus lumineuse et à une adoration plus a c t i v e du créateur source et fin de l ' h u m a n i t é , lui paraissait une marche à tâtons et sans but dans le néant."1 17 18 20

Histoire de la révolution /bid. Ibid., I, 20.

de 1S4S

(Bruxelles, 1 8 4 9 ) , p. 3. 10 Ibid. (Leipzig, 1 8 4 9 ) , I. 2. 21 Ibid., I, 56.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

H i s principles, too, he m a i n t a i n e d , c a m e f r o m religious c o n v i c t i o n s , "l'éternelle v é r i t é d o n t l ' E v a n g i l e est u n e p a g e , " " a n d to e m p h a s i z e his o b j e c t i v i t y and c o m p l e t e passivity u n d e r the aegis of P r o v i d e n c e , he w r o t e o f h i m s e l f as a stranger, d i s i n terested and c o n c e r n e d o n l y w i t h the w e l f a r e o f h u m a n i t y : Les deux idees principales que Lamartine croyait assez saintes et assez mûres pour valoir l'effort d ' u n e révolution, étaient entièrement désintéressées. . . . L ' u n e était l'avènement des masses au droit politique, pour préparer de là leur avènement progressif, inoffensif et régulier à la justice, c'est-à-dire à l'égalité de niveau, de lumière et de bien-être relatif dans la société. La seconde était l'émancipation réelle de la conscience du genre h u m a i n , non par la destruction, mais par la liberté complète des croyances religieuses. Le moyen à ses yeux était la séparation définitive de l ' E t a t et de l'Eglise.- 3 I n retrospect, he d r e w t w o portraits w i t h the i n t e n t i o n o f fixing first

an i m a g e o f h i m s e l f as he w i s h e d t o be r e m e m b e r e d . T h e w a s m e a n t to c o n v i n c e the bourgeoisie that he h a d n o t

p l o t t e d w i t h radical e l e m e n t s t o seize p o w e r ; it pushed aside all s u g g e s t i o n that he had acted w i t h o u t

f o r e s i g h t against

the

f u n c t i o n i n g of progress, the f e t i s h o f the m i d d l e class: Il [ L a m a r t i n e ] ne flattait rien dans la démagogie, il n'excusait rien dans les bourreaux, il plaignait t o u t dans les victimes. Mais sa pitié pour les vaincus ne l'aveuglait pas. Il plaignait les hommes, il pleurait les femmes, il adorait la philosophie et la liberté. La vapeur du sang des échafauds ne lui voilait pas les saintes vérités qui se levaient sur l'avenir derrière cette f u m é e de l'exécrable holocauste. . . . Il renvoyait l'opprobre aux démagogues, la gloire à la Révolution. 2 4 T h e second sketch, i n t e n d e d t o appeal to the m o r e r o m a n t i c e l e m e n t , was a poetic c o n c e p t i o n o f L a m a r t i n e as a leader in a c t i o n , s t e m m i n g s i n g l e - h a n d e d the forces o f e x t r e m i s m .

He

had g i v e n his i m a g i n a t i o n free rein to raise h i m b e f o r e all eyes in t h e role o f s u p e r m a n : L a m a r t i n e était presque toujours provoqué par son n o m ; sa taille et sa voix sonore le rendaient plus apte à ces conflits avec la foule; il -?lbiJ.,

I, 50.

23

¡bid.,

I, 5 4 - 5 , .

-UbiJ.,

I, 2 1 .

ïjé

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

avait ses vêtements en l a m b e a u x ; le cou nu, les c h e v e u x ruisselants de sueur, souillés de la poussière et de la f u m é e ; il sortait, il rentrait, plus porté qu'escorté par des groupes de citoyens, de gardes nationaux, d'élèves des écoles, qui s'étaient attachés à ses pas sans qu'il les c o n n û t , c o m m e l ' é t a t - m a j o r du dévouement autour d ' u n chef sur le c h a m p d'une r é v o l u t i o n . 2 5

Lamartine had tried his best, he assured his readers. Once, when it seemed that the clubs would succeed in overthrowing the provisional government, he tried to have himself killed in action, fighting for the ideal that was perishing before his eyes. On J u n e 23, 1848, he led a section of troops against the insurgents: "Lamartine désirait la mort, pour se décharger de l'odieuse responsabilité du sang qui allait peser si injustement sur lui." 26 As he had foreseen, the responsibility f o r the carnage was laid at his door. Men of property were determined never again to experience such fright as the June insurrections had given them. Since proponents of the romantic revolution had failed to fulfill their promise of a peace, the army would be called in to enforce order. Unabashed by this attitude, Lamartine felt, even in disgrace, that he had accomplished the greatest of his aims. France now had a republic. Q u e la main invisible protège la F r a n c e ! [he w r o t e in conclusion] . . . Qu'elle préserve la R é p u b l i q u e de ces deux écueils: la guerre et la démagogie! et qu'elle fasse éclore d'une R é p u b l i q u e conservatrice et progressive, la seule durable, la seule possible, ce qui est en germe dans cette nature d'institution: la moralité du peuple et le règne de Dieu.27

He had marked the w a y ; others could build the road. A s a creative writer, Lamartine continued the work he had begun with his first newspaper, Le Bien public. He forsook poetry for prose, lyricism for lessons in morality and religion, and, in this respect, Genevieve and the Tailleur de pierres furnished sequels for the Civilisateur: 25

Ibid., I, 183.

26

ibid., 11, 318.

27

Ibid., II, 3 a.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

Rien n'est trop haut, rien n'est trop beau pour les masses [he wrote in the preface of Geneviève]. Ce sont les écrivains qui manquent au peuple, ce ne sont pas les lecteurs qui manquent aux écrivains. Ah! si j'avais le talent de tels et tels écrivains de nos jours, et leur jeunesse, et leurs loisirs, et leur plume, que ne ferais-je pas dans cet ordre d'idées! Il y a un monde nouveau à découvrir sans aller, comme Christophe Colomb, traverser l'Atlantique. Ce monde nouveau, c'est la sensibilité et la raison des masses! La géographie de l'univers moral ne sera complète que quand ce continent populaire sera découvert, conquis et peuplé d'idées par les navigateurs de la pensée. On l'entrevoit déjà; il ne reste qu'à l'aborder. 28 According to Lamartine," 9 he first began considering w r i t ing especially for the masses when, in 1 8 4 6 , he discussed popular literature with Reine, the dressmaker-author of A i x . She had called on him at his hotel in Marseille to pay her respects, and in the course of her conversation, explained what Lamartine's books meant to the poorer classes. She passed in review the classic writers of France, dramatists, historians, and scientists. N o t h i n g , she concluded, had yet been written exclusively for the people. T h e y starved mentally amidst a profusion of great writers. Four years later, when Lamartine had fallen from power, he recalled her plea for a proletarian literature. B y then, he had returned to writing and was searching desperately for material. T o appeal to such a public fitted his plans admirably; once more he could become the "leader," but this time, through the medium of stories familiar to the peasants of Saint-Point: J e vais tenter de les écrire aussi simplement qu'ils m'ont été racontés. J e les publierai un à un en volumes détachés, à bas prix, sans luxe de papier ni d'impression, pour les rendre accessibles aux plus pauvres familles d'artisans. J e n'y mettrai ni prétention de style, ni effort de talent, ni esprit de système; la nature, la nature, et encore la nature! voilà tout le génie pour ces sortes de productions. Le peuple s'en inspire de plus près encore que nous. S'il la retrouve dans ces tableaux sans art, il s'y plaira et il en désirera d'autres. Des mains plus libres et plus fraîches les lui prodigueront. La littérature populaire sera 28

Geneviève,

pp. 6 4 - 6 J .

20

Ibid., p. 1 .

I5

8

LAMARTINE'S LATE

YEARS

ébauchée; elle ne peut commencer et finir que par des ouvrages de sentiment, car les classes lettrées ne sont que coeur! C'est donc par le coeur qu'il f a u t élever le peuple au g o û t et à la c u l t u r e des lettres. 3 0

O f t e n he had planned to stimulate the people with a daily paper, the staff of which would include "tous les hommes qui, en France ou en Europe, marchent à la tête de la pensée, de la philosophie, de la science, de la littérature, des arts et même des métiers." 3 1 But, since each attempt to found a new popular Encyclopédie had collapsed after only a few months, he shifted his program to the field of literature. With Geneviève Lamartine started, he hoped, a long list of works that would teach la

politique

générale

Jans

ses

principes

les

plus

unanimes

. . .

le

procès-verbal complet de la journée dans l'univers entier; faire pénétrer ainsi la clarté générale par toutes les portes . . . f a i r e participer ces masses d'hommes . . . à l'activité de la vie religieuse, philosophique, scientifique, littéraire et politique. 3 2

In Geneviève, Lamartine offered the people an ethics which he considered fitting f o r their social rank. Gone was the urge to incite to revolt; instead, he seems to have regressed to the doctrine of the eighteenth-century optimists. Geneviève told the story of Jocelyn's servant, and, in one respect, aimed at the same moral as Jocelyn. Like her master, Geneviève accepts her life on the assumption that by so doing she is acquiescing in the divine will: M o n Dieu! [she p r a y e d ] faites-moi la grâce de t r o u v e r la servitude douce et de l'accepter sans murmure, comme la condition que vous nous avez imposée à tous en nous e n v o y a n t dans ce monde. Si nous ne nous servons pas les uns les autres, nous ne servons pas Dieu, car la vie humaine n'est q u ' u n service réciproque. Les plus heureux sont ceux qui servent leur prochain sans gages, pour l'amour de vous. 3 3

From one sacrifice she passed to another, ruining herself f o r love of a sister. All this, Lamartine observed, because she understood her function in life. 30

Ibid., pp.

32

Ibid., p. 61.

52-5}. M y italics.

« Ibid., p. 33

61.

Ibid., pp. 296—97.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

The "tailleur de pierres" of Saint-Point knew his place, too. Like Geneviève, he spent his time working for the needy, accepting only the smallest pay. But, whereas Jocelyn's servant had portrayed an ethics in action, the virtue of Claude des Huttes lay not so much in his charity as in his dissertations on the chain of beings. More than Geneviève, he taught the unity of the creation: "Est-ce que nous n'avons pas une véritable parenté de corps avec cette terre d'où nous sortons, où nous rentrons, qui nous porte . . . ? Est-ce que notre chair n'est pas de sa chair?" 34 Like Jocelyn, Claude preached the catechism of nature. In the little cave where he slept, he meditated on God and disclosed his reflections to Lamartine when the latter came to visit him. Once, when Lamartine asked him to define his use of the term prochain, he repeated the theme of Jocelyn and the Chute d'un ange: je veux dire les hommes, les choses, les bêtes, et même les arbres et les plantes, tout ce qui est notre parent de corps ou d'âme, enfin, monsieur, ici-bas, tout ce qui est proche de nous, tout ce qui habite ou tout ce qui compose ce monde où Dieu nous a mis comme j'ai mis ces animaux dans cet enclos pour vivre en paix et en amitié autour de moi. 35

With the Tailleur de pierres, Lamartine exhausted his enthusiasm for creating didactic fiction. In its stead, he rifled his old works for fragments suitable for popular consumption, Lectures pour tous, in which he resuscitated parts of Jocelyn, wrote of the efficacy of prayer, and digressed on peace, patriotism, and the infinite. Still the "leader" to himself, Lamartine sought converts to his religion through lectures on heaven and dialogues between God and nature. It was a hopeless dream he described in these pages, but, at all cost he held to his own definition of a full life: "L'homme n'est homme que par la pensée et l'action; l'une complète l'autre." 3 6 Beyond that he could do no more. 34

Tailleur

36

Corresp.,

de pierres,

pp. 8 2 - 8 3 .

35

Ibid.,

p. 7 3 .

V , d c v i , letter to Bienassis, dated September 6,

1835.

!6O

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

Lamartine's excursion into the field of literary criticism constitutes the greatest effort on his part to shake off his o v e r w h e l m i n g debt and to recapture the popularity he had once enjoyed. In 1 8 5 6 , under heavier financial obligations than ever b e f o r e because of his weakness f o r speculation, L a m a r t i n e conceived the plan of publishing m o n t h l y discussions on a variety of subjects. These bulletins f o r m e d the Cours familier

in which

he undertook to review critically the literary masterpieces of the world. T h e public he sought was that which had f o l l o w e d h i m f a i t h f u l l y through the intrigues of the Second R e p u b l i c . T h e censorship of the g o v e r n m e n t of Louis-Napoleon limited the scope of this w o r k . While politics lay beyond the s a f e t y zone, literary criticism and metaphysical

speculations

w e r e permitted. Lamartine could theorize to his heart's content as long as he refrained f r o m antagonizing the E m p e r o r . A t first, he intended to restrict himself to literature, intent on imitating Sainte-Beuve's Causeries.

T h e first f e w

entretiens

announced his plan of beginning w i t h the w o r k s of the A n cients and passing chronologically to modern writers. F r o m Greece, R o m e , and India he w o u l d w o r k d o w n to c o n t e m p o r a r y G e r m a n y and France. B u t a f t e r a n n o u n c i n g his intentions, L a m a r t i n e could not follow them. H a r d put to find enough to say each m o n t h , he generously padded the entretiens,

filling

m a n y of his issues w i t h excerpts f r o m translations. T h e o n l y time he seemed to be at ease in his w o r k was in describing his personal reactions to an author, or digressing on a tangent to some more sympathetic subject. A s his stock of literary observations dwindled, digression became the rule rather than the exception, and, under such conditions, his philosophy came to the fore. Briefly Lamartine touched on the criticism that had fallen on him a f t e r 1 8 4 8 ; and, b y 1 8 5 6 , his reaction was one of defiance: O n m'accuse d'avoir f a i t la révolution de 1 8 4 8 , en réhabilitant les principes honnêtes de la révolution de 1 7 8 9 , tout en

flétrissant

im-

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

i6i

pitoyablement les crimes de 1793. C'est vrai, et je suis loin de m'en repentir.3" For those still dubious of his honesty, he could point with pride to the series of histories that cleared him of all suspicion of duplicity and treason. " U n véritable historien [he r e m a r k e d ] n'est q u ' u n traducteur, mais c'est le traducteur des desseins de Dieu. Il déchiffre les hiéroglyphes de la Providence."

38

Lamartine, little desiring to have his magazine banned, satisfied himself w i t h f e w remarks on the Second Republic. I n stead, as in his earlier days, he turned to his vision. A large part of the Cours familier

records the f a c t that Lamartine still c l u n g

to the revelation of 1 8 2 1 . T h e third entretien

recalled the con-

ditions under which he had experienced his mystic vision, describing publicly f o r the first time the Neapolitan adventure. Furthermore, lest anyone think it a passing phase, Lamartine affirmed again his allegiance to that philosophy: " M o i , je crois que la matière est vile, que la pensée est Dieu, et que Dieu pensant est tout le C o s m o s . "

3U

Once he faltered in his beliefs, beaten down by the t h o u g h t that the world no longer wanted him. T e m p o r a r y despair and doubt overcame the debt-ridden old m a n : Question de nature, d'histoire, d'évidence [he criticized his own handiwork], que la nature, l'histoire, l'évidence . . . solvent contre ce beau rêve de ces philosophes de l'ascension continue. L'échelle de Jacob était un beau rêve aussi, mais on n'y montait qu'endormi; et de plus, à l'échelle de Jacob, il manquait malheureusement un échelon: c'est celui qui montait du fini à l'infini. Heureux les hommes qui croient l'avoir retrouvé! Quant à nous, nous restons tristement au pied de l'échelle, bien convaincu qu'elle porte à faux, et que son sommet n'est qu'un vertige. 40 T e n months later, however, this cloud of pessimism had dissipated. Lamartine once more returned to his metaphysics, this time describing the effect d'Eckstein's Sanscrit translations had 011 him: 3

~CFL, Ibid.,

39

lxx, p. 1 8 7 . cxiv, p. 404.

38 40

Ibid., Ibid.,

lxviii, p. 61. vii, p. 8.

L A M A R T I N E ' S

L A T E

Y E A R S

J ' a d m i r a i , j ' a d o r a i c e t t e p a r e n t é u n i v e r s e l l e des ê t r e s , c e t t e f r a t e r n i t é d e la v i e e n t r e t o u t c e q u i r e s p i r e , e n t r e t o u t c e q u i s e n t , e n t r e t o u t ce q u i a i m e i c i - b a s d a n s la m e s u r e d e s o n i n t e l l i g e n c e e t de sa d e s t i n é e . 4 1

H e had been too closely associated w i t h the chain of b e i n g to d e n y it in his old age. A s t h o u g h c o n s c i e n c e - s t r i c k e n f o r his lapse o f f a i t h , L a m a r tine f r e q u e n t l y a l l u d e d to his belief in the u n i t y of c r e a t i o n . H i s a t t e n t i o n w a s d r a w n i n c r e a s i n g l y to the alliance b e t w e e n m a n and the rest o f the a n i m a l k i n g d o m , and there g r e w in h i m a desire to c o m p o s e his version of La Mer and

L'lnsccte.

G r a d u a l l y he c o n c e i v e d the idea of w r i t i n g a h i s t o r y o f a n i m a l l i f e . I n the 8 9 t h entretien

he g a v e the reason f o r this n e w

interest: " J ' a i t o u j o u r s r e p r o c h é au christianisme son insensibilité p o u r les a n i m a u x , c o m m e si ce q u i aime t a n t n ' a v a i t p o i n t de coeur, c o m m e si ce q u i pense, calcule et c o m b i n e , n ' a v a i t p o i n t sa p a r t d ' i n t e l l i g e n c e . " 4 - B y 1 8 6 4 , he had neared a decision. O n the occasion of r e v i e w i n g A r i s t o t l e ' s Natural

His-

tory, he r e m a r k e d in the c o n c l u s i o n o f his article: O n n'y regrette fisamment

. . . q u ' u n é c r i v a i n aussi c o n s o m m é n ' a i t p a s

i n s i s t é d a n s sa d e s c r i p t i o n

tellectuelle

de

leurs

moeurs.

des a n i m a u x

. . . Cette

partie

suf-

s u r la p a r t i e jusqu'ici

in-

négligée

m a n q u e à A r i s t o t e c o m m e à B u f f o n . Ils n ' o n t p o i n t q u e le c o r p s , ils ont

déchiré

une

des p l u s

belles p a g e s

de

l'oeuvre

de D i e u

dans

sa

n a t u r e a n i m é e ; ils o n t p r i v é le C r é a t e u r d ' u n e p a r t i e de sa g l o i r e . ' 1 3

T h e n he a d d e d : Si

nous

cantique

avions plus

le

talent

complet

. . . nous

de

la

oserions

création,

. . . chanter

le s p i r i t u a l i s m e

de

. . .

le

l'histoire

naturelle.'1''

B u t he h a d n o t the t i m e . A l t h o u g h his m e t a p h y s i c s h a d opened another field o f a c t i v i t y , he k n e w himself too n e a r d e a t h to enter it. A l l he c o u l d do w a s to s h r u g s a d l y : " C e j o u r v i e n d r a et g l o r i f i e r a le C r é a t e u r . " 41 43 45

Ibid., iii, p. JI8. Ibid.t cv, p. 254. Ibid., cv, p. 237.

45 42 44

ibid., lbid.

l x x i i x , p.

¡66.

L A M A R T I N E ' S

L A T E

163

Y E A R S

IV During his last years, the aging poet seemed to remain satisfied with his personal philosophy and hardened himself against the Church. As he had told Claude des Huttes: T o u t e s les manières aboutissent à la v ô t r e . O n peut les dire en plus de paroles, n o n en plus de sens. D e s effets sans cause;

une

chaîne

immense qui remonterait et descendrait j u s q u ' à l'infini des élévations et des p r o f o n d e u r s de l'espace, qui porterait des mondes et des mondes suspendus en t o u t sens à ses i n n o m b r a b l e s a n n e a u x , et qui point de premier c h a î n o n ! V o i l à les mondes sans D i e u , m o n

n'aurait pauvre

Claude.40

Ever since the onslaught of the orthodox after the publication of the Chute d'un ange, he had remained anti-Catholic. In 1839, his growing hostility to organized religion led him to scribble on a pad of paper: E n t r e la n a t u r e et son m a î t r e , L ' h o m m e g r a n d i n'a plus le p r ê t r e P o u r p o r t e r à D i e u ses a c c e n t s , C h a c u n est son p r ê t r e à s o i - m ê m e E t le coeur, autel sans e m b l è m e A la prière p o u r e n c e n s . 4 7

Then, the reader will remember, Virieu died, and immediately afterward Lamartine's father. Dargaud usurped Virieu's position as the poet's confidant, and around him gathered Michelet, Quinet, and Lamennais, all bitter opponents of the Vatican. 48 A t this time, too, Lamartine felt particularly in need of their support, for, once again, he had reached a state of indecision. As he had written to Virieu just before the latter died, life held little security for him: L a vie est c o u r t e , vide. . . .

J e ne m e console q u ' e n

priant

Dieu

s o u v e n t et toujours, mais la l a n g u e directe me m a n q u e : je le prie dans la langue mystérieuse et indirecte qui s'addresse p a r t o u t et à t o u t . 4 9 46 47 48 49

Tailleur de pierres, p. 62. Guillemin, "Lamartine et le Catholicisme," p. 47. Des Cognets, Vie intérieure, p. JOJ. Corresp., V, dcclxxii, February 6, 1 8 4 1 .

164

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

Despite this t e m p o r a r y despair, Lamartine's inherent optimism revived. O n J a n u a r y 3, 1 8 4 2 , in a discussion on architecture that he later discarded, Lamartine digressed into a consideration of the f u t u r e of religion in France. W h a t w o u l d it be, he w o n d e r e d ; the answer came f r o m his o w n convictions: une religion sans mystères, une religion grande comme la création, une t o m m e la n a t u r e . . . u n e n t r e t i e n p i e u x de l ' h u m a n i t é son créateur, une religion pour ainsi dire individuelle . . .

avec

le temple

aura la forme de la tolérance, l'immensité et l'unité. 0 0

T h o u g h L a m a r t i n e kept statements such as these locked a w a y , his increasing aversion f o r Catholicism inevitably alienated m a n y old friends. Some of them undertook to defend the C h u r c h in their letters, pointing out its social and moral advantages. T y p i c a l of his replies is a letter to the Comte de C i r court in w h i c h he summed up his position: O u le catholicisme est la vérité ou il est le mensonge. S'il est la vérité, mourons avec lui; s'il est le mensonge, séparons-nous-en tout à fait, avec le respect que l'enfant a pour la nourrice qui l'a nourri, bercé, conduit par la lisière jusqu'à son âge mûr, mais avec la vigueur d'une raison qui marche seul. 5 1

T h e C o m t e de C i r c o u r t had but to recall passages f r o m his friend's latest f e w books to realize that Lamartine had no intention of d y i n g f o r the C h u r c h , but, instead, had apostatized in f a v o r of a more rational philosophy. A short while later, Lamartine restated his position in a letter to the Comte's w i f e : J e raisonne seul [he w r o t e recalling perhaps his answer to the C o m t e ] , et j'écris après des pages de mélancolie sur mon adolescence, que vous lirez cet hiver . . .

et puis des philosophies que vous ne lirez

jamais. 5 2

H e had excellent reasons f o r keeping these bits of philosophy to himself f o r they contained statements too radical f o r a deputy. In a rough d r a f t of a projected Voyage 50

G u i l l e m i n , op. cit.,

52

Ibid.,

p. s j .

V I , dccclxxv, October 29,

51

Corresp.,

1845.

à Châties,

V I , dccclxxi, July 7,

184;.

he

LAMARTINE'S LATE YEARS

165

had permitted himself to comment bitterly on the shortcomings of the priesthood: " D i e u n'est point enfermé dans les limites étroites d'un sanctuaire gardé par des prêtres qui le cachent au lieu de le révéler." 5 3 Even more heretical was his comment on Christ: "Christ . . . qui f u t non pas un Dieu incarné dans un homme, mais un homme divin comme un Dieu." ',4 The publication of a few similar remarks would have seriously damaged Lamartine's literary career, and might conceivably have ended his political life. The next years were too full for Lamartine to indulge in philosophical revery. The stormy days of 1847 found him publishing the Histoire des Girondins and opposing the Orléans dynasty at every turn. In 1848 he reached the acme of his political career as the leader of the ill-fated Second Republic. Even when he finally realized his public life had ended, there was no leisure for metaphysics. Year after year he ground out pot-boilers, sinking further into debt with every struggle to rise. His financial manipulations, like those of Balzac, served only to create a more unbearable situation. Y e t , during these years of Calvary, he never denied his vision. 55 Through the influence of Dargaud, his convictions crystallized until, in May, 1 8 6 3 , the death of Mme de Lamartine seemed to herald the complete triumph of personal religion. Orthodoxy's champion had vanished, and Dargaud seemed solidly established as adviser to the aging writer. However, two years later, in December, 1865, Dargaud himself died, and Valentine de Lamartine, the poet's niece, immediately occupied his place. Through her, Catholicism made its •' 3 G u i l l e m i n , op. cit., 50

Charles

54

p. J J .

Alexandre, in his Souvenirs,

was openly sneering at C a t h o l i c i s m :

Ibid.

notes t h a t , in A p r i l ,

"Un

1851,

Lamartine

autre soir, M . de C i r c o u r t était

venu.

J e ne sais quel courant de conversation amena les causeurs à parler de l ' E v a n g i l e , de son esprit de douceur. D a r g a u d d é f e n d a i t l ' E v a n g i l e par des versets de liberté. M . de C i r c o u r t , une bibliothèque parlante, riposta à coups de versets

contraires.

Son érudition implacable tentait de p r o u v e r que l ' E v a n g i l e est une religion torité et d'obéissance. Il parlait débat,

Lamartine

c l a v e s . ' " (Pp.

dit

271-72.)

un

mot

sans a c c e n t , dans sa v e r v e f r o i d e . A grave:

'Le

christianisme

est

une

d'au-

la fin

religion

du

d'es-

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

last and most p o w e r f u l bid f o r v i c t o r y over the poet's conscience. Valentine, a strict believer, assumed her new post with great seriousness. In all good will, convinced that she worked f o r the safety of Lamartine's soul, she schemed to sway her patient t o w a r d the C h u r c h . T w o priests, Père G r a t r y and Père H y a c i n t h e , became involved in the struggle when each sought the glory of reconverting the great man. " D i t e s - l u i bien que je prie pour lui du f o n d du c o e u r , " wrote Père G r a t r y to V a l e n tine. " J e demande à Dieu de lui mettre dans l'âme . . . lité positive de J . - C . "

50

la réa-

" V o t r e tâche est g r a n d e , " sympathized

Père H y a c i n t h e . " V e i l l e z sur les destinées éternelles de cette âme."

57

O n the latter priest fell the principal role in the drama. W h e n Père H y a c i n t h e visited the Lamartines in 1 8 6 7 at the request of Valentine, they planned to force a retraction of f o r m e r heresies. U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r their hopes, Père H y a c i n t h e was called to R o m e before a suitable moment arrived. B u t even f r o m a distance he continued to guide the efforts of Valentine: " C o m m e cette visite ne pourra être renouvelée avant mon retour de R o m e , " he wrote, " c e serait peut-être le moment de tenter quelque chose."

-vs

While in R o m e , Père H y a c i n t h e still

worried enough about the safety of Lamartine's soul to ask f o r him a special benediction f r o m the Pope: Je tiens à vous dire [he told Valentine] que c'est avec un empressement plein de bienveillance et d'égards que cette bénédiction a été accordée. Puisse-t-elle porter bonheur à l'illustre malade! Puisse-t-elle vous donner à vous-même, Madame, la consolation et la force dont vous avez besoin.5'-1 In the absence of Père H y a c i n t h e , Valentine enrolled the A b b é Perrotin in her c a m p , a priest f o r w h o m Lamartine held great admiration. A t t r a c t e d b y the charm of the A b b é , L a m a r tine attended mass every S u n d a y , " d e b o u t du commencement jusqu'à la fin de l'office." 56 59

Latreille, Dernières IbiJ., p. 172.

années, 59

60

p. 171. IbiJ.

60

IbiJ. IbiJ.,

p. 173.

LAMARTINE'S

LATE

YEARS

j6?

B u t still the victory had not been w o n . A s L a m a r t i n e w e a k ened, his orthodox friends watched Saint-Point apprehensively, waiting f o r conversion. In his impatience, one of them could not suppress his evangelical zeal: Il f a u t achever [ L é o n G a u t i e r advised h i m ] , il f a u t relire encore une fois l ' E v a n g i l e ; puis nous o f f r i r le beau spectacle de v o t r e tête blanche s'inclinant devant la d i v i n i t é de J . - C . L ' h e u r e est solennelle, l'occasion est rare. V o u s qui aimez à flatter l ' i n f o r t u n e , ne profiterezvous pas de ces jours douloureux que traverse l'Eglise pour tomber enfin dans les bras de cette mère, et lui donner, au milieu de tant d'angoisses, la joie de votre conversion publique? N o u s attendrons de vous ce grand acte qui honorera toute votre vie et vous grandira devant la postérité en vous j u s t i f i a n t d e v a n t D i e u . " 1

T h e concerted action of the Catholic party finally seemed to conquer Lamartine's resistance. O n the 28th of F e b r u a r y , 1869, in his cottage at Passy, the poet asked f o r and received the last sacrament f r o m the A b b é D e g u e r r y , curate of the Madeleine. A t the side of his bed knelt Valentine and Père Hyacinthe: Sou venez-vous, chère M a d a m e [ F a t h e r H y a c i n t h e w r o t e to V a l e n t i n e in February, 1 8 7 0 ] , de cette couche f u n è b r e et p o u r t a n t souriante, de ce c r u c i f i x qui reposait sur sa poitrine. . . . Sans doute vos larmes ont le droit de couler avec a m e r t u m e . .

Y e t , in her hour of triumph, Valentine herself was not certain she had led her uncle back to o r t h o d o x y : " J e ne sais pas s'il était orthodoxe," she told Charles A l e x a n d r e . T h e n she paid her uncle the greatest tribute she could: " J e ne suis pas en peine de son âme; elle a trop glorifié Dieu et donné à son prochain, pour que Dieu ne l'ait pas mise dans sa gloire." 01

il'iJ.,

p.

174.

- il'îJ., pp. 175-76.

0;i 63

IbiJ.,

p.

176.

CONCLUSION THE

PHILOSOPHY

THAT

LAMARTINE

HAD

ACCEPTED

AS

THE

valid explanation of the cosmos was handed down to him from antiquity. Since the day of Plato, every age claimed at least one man who adhered to some form of the chain of being. Thus, this doctrine could boast of the sanction of time when it reached the eighteenth century, the immediate source of Lamartine's ideas. It then soared to a peak of popularity unprecedented in its long career. O c c u l t seers, pseudomagicians, mystics of all kinds, charlatans and sincere believers proclaimed its superiority to a decadent Catholicism. And from these men, it appears, Lamartine inherited the basic premises of the unauimism

around which, in his turn,

he rebuilt the theoretical structure of his "échelle de la vie." His conversion to this doctrine rested on a profound desire to discover the reason for existence. W h e n he decided that the Catholicism of his youth failed to satisfy this need, he let it drop into the limbo of things once loved, turning instead to the religion which answered some of the questions that continually perplexed him. At times, Lamartine found occasion to doubt his choice, but invariably he returned to the same personal interpretation of life. His ideology formed the core of all his acts; on it he founded a code that completely motivated his attitudes toward politics and art; and he dedicated his capabilities to these principles, supremely confident of the infallibility of his metaphysics. N o r was Lamartine alone in following the dictates of this type of unanimism.

Many other romanticists expressed agree-

CONCLUSION

i69

ment with His beliefs. H u g o and Balzac, Michelet and Quinet, all offer f a m o u s examples

of

personal

religions

fashioned

along similar lines. A m o n g the lesser figures of the age w h o followed suit m a y be cited the Baron d'Eckstein, Ballanche, and Brizeux. These men do not exhaust the list of adherents to the belief in a spiritual gradation; so m a n y others wrote of the doctrine that it seems as though this current of thought filled a large part of the romantic m i n d . It was one of the themes underlying a major part of their w o r k , the solution of the enigma of reality which they considered more satisf a c t o r y than o r t h o d o x y . II Furthermore, since the chain of being, in the " t e m p o r a l i z e d " f o r m adopted b y the late eighteenth c e n t u r y , enjoyed great popularity f r o m 1 8 2 0 to 1 8 5 0 , it yields an important clue to the f u n d a m e n t a l s of romanticism in France. Prior to the eighteenth c e n t u r y , stability had been the keynote of French civilization. T h e revolutionary force of the succession of time and events had been thought corrosive and unreliable. T h e Catholic C h u r c h , g u a r d i n g its authority, preached the glory of static religions and civic organizations. O n similar grounds the m o n a r c h y refused to admit a developing society. Both institutions, the C h u r c h and the State, laid claim to a superiority to time, to an authority beyond the vicissitudes of progress. T h e y recognized that it was to their considerable advantage to discourage fluidity and to f a v o r the benefits of a perpetual status

quo.

B u t during the second half

of the eighteenth

century,

when, under Voltairean criticism, adherents to the concept of a progression of souls were being forced to revise their systems to include the notion of progress, m a n y writers came to grant the importance of social evolution in the g r o w t h of all institutions. Progress became a c a t c h w o r d . G r a d u a l l y they concluded that the prescribed contemporary explanations of

I 7

o

CONCLUSION

the universe lacked sufficient flexibility to take into consideration change in any form. The seed planted during the Battle of the Ancients and the Moderns ripened until the French mind accepted sufficiently the concept of the relativity of events to sense the presence and power of the evolutionary stimulus of passing time. The battle was hard fought. On the one hand the Church and State punished any effort to disparage the sanctity of permanence. On the other the philosophers, free thinkers, dissidents of every variety, doggedly preached the glory of progress. Little by little the balance of victory swung their way but, before they could complete their triumph, the Revolution exploded and militarism assumed a temporary ascendency over philosophy. N o t until France resumed a semblance of tranquility under the Restoration did the idea of mobility again attain importance. The neo-classicists and the conservatives clamored for a return to the institutions of the ancien régime, but when Ballanche built an optimistic metaphysics around the rhythm of development, the concept of growth as a part of life became acclimated to the nineteenth century. For the generations maturing during the whirl of revolutionary and Napoleonic activities, motion was almost synonymous with life. They had seen so many empires vanish, had witnessed France careen vertiginously through so many wars, that it took little persuasion to convince them that time erodes all things. Thus, the behavior of the first romanticists rises from a response to their general realization that time and succession must be reckoned with in all calculations, that they constitute major though elusive factors in the equation of life. Ill The romantic reaction to the implication latent in the acceptance of this notion varied with the individual, but, in the main, writers followed one of two courses.

CONCLUSION

i7I

Some, A l f r e d de Musset f o r example, bewildered b y the contemporary

disregard

f o r absolute values, buried

them-

selves in their o w n egos as the only stable clement in an u n certain universe. T h e consciousness of succession and fluidity which this situation b r o u g h t awakened in them a sense of differentiation in the characteristics of the individual. Melancholy at their lack of f i x i t y , they assumed that since e v e r y thing would vanish, only they themselves were of

impor-

tance. Y e t others, as Lamartine and Michelet, accepted more stoically their unsettled conditions. T h e y , too, realized their lack of permanent values, but, more courageous than the

first

g r o u p , determined to reshape their metaphysics. T h e y sought stability within change and, in their t h i n k i n g , m a n y , like L a m a r t i n e , arrived at theories of

romantic unanimhm.

In

various f o r m s , this doctrine answered their needs b y a d m i t ting flux as the necessary expediency of a w o r l d progressing t o w a r d the eventual goal of permanence. T h u s their search ended in a reconciliation of the evolution of h u m a n affairs w i t h stability. F r o m this recognition of the changes resulting f r o m the passage of time and f r o m the acceptance of a chain of beings, sprang the works of the romantic age. Y e t , f a r more i m p o r tant than this literary revolution to the intellectual life of France were the new philosophies that arose to encompass the notion of time. Historians r u m m a g e d in the past to discover the character of f o r m e r epochs, and in searching out the peculiarities of other eras, they created simultaneously the m o d ern approach to history and a philosophy that w o u l d synthesize the stable elements of society's vast evolution. L i v i n g in the same climate of opinion, L a m a r t i n e f o l l o w e d the lead of the historians in quest of material consciously port r a y i n g a m o v i n g world, but one seen in the light of unanimistic principles. U n d e r the pressure of the fetish of social progress, he sponsored the cause of humanitarianism, determined to quicken the action of time and to f u r t h e r the de-

ly 2

CONCLUSION

signs of Providcncc.

Religiously Lamartine bowed to the

changes time produced. His allegiance to the theory of an ecbcllc

dc la lie was but one of the ways in which he opti-

mistically acknowledged what he considered signs of social evolution and of cosmic unity.

SELECTED (Unless

otherwise

specified,

BIBLIOGRAPHY the

place

of

publication

is P a r i s )

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Lamartine, Alphonse de, Saiil. Hachette, 1 9 1 8 . Shakspeare et son oeuvre. Lacroix, 1865. Souvenirs et portraits, j vols., Hachette, Jouvet, 1886. Sur la politique rationnelle (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. X X X V I I ) . Chez l'Auteur, 1 8 6 3 . Le Tailleur de pierres de Saint-Point. Hachette, 1 8 6 2 . Toussaint Louverture. Chez l'Auteur, 1 8 6 3 . Trois mois au pouvoir. M. L é v y , 1848. La Vie de famille, [n.d.]. Les Visions. Les Belles Lettres, 1936. Voyage en Orient. 2 vols., Hachette, Furne, Jouvet, Pagnerre, 1875. Lange, Frederick Albert. The History of Materialism. London: Kegan Paul, 1 9 2 5 . Lange, Maurice, "Lettres de Chateaubriand et de Lamartine," RHL, 1922. Langle, Paul Fleuriot de, "Glanes Lamartiniennes," RP, April 1, 1929. Lanoire, E., "Lamartine, député de la seconde circonscription de Dunkerque," Mémoires de la Société Dunkerquoise, 1909. Lanson, Gustave, " L e Centenaire des Méditations," RDM, March 1 , 1920. "Manuscrit de la Mort de Socrate," in Mélanges offerts à M. Emile Picot, I. Morgand, 1 9 1 3 . Larguier, Léo. Alphonse de Lamartine. Hachette, 1929. Lassaigne, Jacques, "Lamartine: lettres inédites," Rei ue Mondiale, December 1 5, 1934. Lasserre, Pierre. Des romantiques à nous. Nouvelle R e v u e Critique, 1926. Le Romantisme. Mercure de France, 1907. Latreille, Camille, "Les Années de détresse et d'héroïsme," Corr., February 10, 1 9 1 9 . Les Dernières Années de Lamartine ( 1 8 5 2 - 6 9 ) . Perrin, 1 9 2 5 . " L a Jeunesse de Lamartine," Corr., May 10, 1 9 2 2 . "Lamartine, poète politique," Annales de l'Université de Lyon, folio 36, section "Lettres." "Lamartine et Virieu," RF, J u l y 1 5 , 1 9 2 5 . "Lettres inédites de Lamartine," Corr., June 25, J u l y 10, 1926. " U n Manuscrit de Lamartine: le xl e entretien du Cours Familier de Littérature," RHL, 1920. " S u r quelques lettres de Lamartine," RHL, 1 9 1 6 . Laurent-Pichat, L., " L e Cours familier de littérature," RP, April 1 , 1856.

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

185

Lebey, André. Lamartine dans ses horizons. Michel, 1929. Leblond, Marius-Ary. L'Idéal du X I X e siècle. Alcan, 1909. Legouvé, Ernest. Lamartine. Hetzel, 1876. Lenoir, Raymond, " L a Philosophie de Musset," RHL, 1929. Lerminier, "Les Nouveaux Historiens de la Révolution française," RDM, June 1 5 , 1 8 4 7 . Levaillant, Maurice, " U n Ami de collège de Lamartine, Prosper Guichard de Bienassis," RDM, November 1 5 , December 1, 1 9 2 4 . " L e Centenaire des Nouvelles Méditations," RDM, September 1 5 , 1 9 2 3 . " L a Jeunesse inquiète de Lamartine," RH, August 29, September j , 1 2 , 19, 1 9 2 5 . "Lamartine initiateur," M/, June 10, 1 9 2 5 . "Nouvelles lettres de Lamartine au Vicomte de Fontenay," RDM, September 1 5 , 1930. Looten, C., " D e u x lettres inédites à C u n y n g h a m , " RLC, 1 9 2 5 . Lovejoy, A r t h u r O. The Great Chain of Being. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1 9 3 6 . " T h e Parallel of Deism and Classicism," Modern Philology, February, 1 9 3 2 . "Romanticism and Optimism," Publications of the Modern Language Association, X L I I ( 1 9 2 7 ) . Lucas, Hippolyte, "Correspondance avec Lamartine," AR, II ( 1 9 0 5 ) . Lynn, Jacques, " U n e Lettre inédite de Lamartine sur le libéralisme," L'Ordre, November 2 1 , 1938. Macpherson, James. The Poems of Ossian. N e w Y o r k : Peaslee, 1 8 3 5 . Madelin, Louis. La France de l'Empire. Pion, 1926. Maigron, Louis. Le Romantisme et la mode. Champion, 1 9 1 1 . Le Romantisme et les moeurs. Champion, 1 9 1 0 . " L e Romantisme et l'homme de lettres," RHL, 1909. Maistre, le Comte Joseph de. Considérations sur la France. Ateliers Catholiques du Petit-Montrouge, 1 8 4 1 . Principe générateur des constitutions politiques. Ateliers Catholiques du Petit-Montrouge, 1 8 4 1 . Les Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg. 2 vols., Lyon: Pélagaud, 1875. Maréchal, Christian. Josselin inédit de Lamartine. Bloud, 1909. "Lamartine, est-il philosophe?" RL, 1908. "Lamartine et l'Avenir," AR, III ( 1 9 0 6 ) . Lamennais et Lamartine. Bloud, 1907. Le Véritable Voyage en Orient de Lamartine. Bloud, 1908. Marie, Aristide. Gérard de Nerval. Hachette, 1 9 1 4 .

! 86

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mario, Ortenso. Lamartine, le poète et l'Italie. Città di Castello: Lapi, 1909. Maritain, Paul, "Lamartine et Mme Emile de Girardin," AM, 1909. Marsan, Jules. La Bataille romantique. 2 vols., Hachette, 1 9 1 2 . "Encore les variantes de Lamartine," RHL, 1 9 1 1 . Martino, Pierre, "Notes sur la composition du C r u c i f i x , " Revue Universitaire, March I J , 1905. Masson, Pierre-Maurice, " L a Composition d'une méditation de Lamartine: le Passé," RHL, 1905. Lamartine. Hachette, 1 9 1 1 . Mazade, Charles de. Lamartine, sa vie littéraire et politique. Didier, 1872. Mengin, Urbain. Lamartine à Florence. Grenoble, Allier, 1 9 2 5 . "Lamartine à Naples et à Ischia," RLC, 1924. Michaud, Régis, " Œ g g e r et le vrai Messie," RLC, 1 9 2 1 . Michelet, Jules. Bible de l'humanité. Calmann L é v y , 1899. L'Insecte. Hachette, 1863. La Mer. Hachette, 1 8 6 1 . Le Peuple. Hachette-Paulin, 1846. Michiels, Alfred. Histoire des idées littéraires en France au X I X e siècle. 2 vols., Dentu, 1863. Moine, Julien le, "Lamartine à l'Hôtel de Ville," AM, 1 9 1 2 . Monod, Gabriel. La Vie et la pensée de Jules Michelet. 2 vols., Champion, 1 9 2 3 . Moreau, Pierre. Chateaubriand. Garnier, 1927. "Chateaubriand, Lamartine et la politique," RCC, February 29, March 15, April 1 5 , May 30, 1928. Le Classicisme des romantiques. Pion, 1 9 3 2 . Les Destinées d'Alfred de Vigny. Société Française d'Editions Littéraires et Techniques, 1936. L'Histoire en France au X I X e siècle. Les Belles Lettres, 1 9 3 5 . Le Romantisme. De Gigord, 1 9 3 2 . Mornet, Daniel. Les Origines intellectuelles de la révolution française ( 1 7 1 5 - 8 7 ) . Colin, 1 9 3 3 . Moysset, Henri, "Lamartine homme politique," Revue des Etudes Historiques, January—February, 1904. Muller, Paul, "Lamartine orateur d'affaires," Journal des Economistes, May 1 j , 1 9 1 8 . Muse française, La. E. Cornély, 1 9 0 7 - 9 . Musset, Alfred de. Oeuvres complètes. 2 vols., Béziat, [n.d.]. Nanteuil, le Baron de, "Les Mystères I.amartiniens," RB, August, 1938.

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nettement, Alfred. Etudes critiques sur les Girondins. De Signey et Dubey, 1848. Nisard, Désiré. Portraits et études. L é v y , 1 8 7 5 . NL, May 30, 1 9 2 5 , "Lettre à Reschid Pascha." Nourrisson, Paul. Trois précurseurs de la liberté d'association: Berryer, Montalembert, Lamartine. Sirey, 1922. Orsier, Joseph. Le Phédon de Platon et le Socrate de Lamartine. De Boccard, 1 9 1 9 . Page, F., "L'Isolement de Lamartine," Foreign Quarterly Review, 1919-20. Paquot, Marcel, "Lamartine, Lamennais et H u g o , " RHL, 1929. Partridge, Eric. The French Romantics' Knowledge of English Literature. Champion, 1 9 2 4 . Peoples, Margaret H . , " L a Société des Bonnes Lettres ( 1 8 2 1 - 3 0 ) , " Smith College Studies, V , October, 1923. Périssat, le Baron de Chamborant de. Lamartine inconnu. PlonNourrit, 1 8 9 1 . Perret, J . , " E d g a r Quinet et Lamartine en face de l'Allemagne," Annales de la Société d'Emulation de l'Ain, J a n u a r y - J u n e , 1 9 3 3 . "Lamartine adolescent à Belley," Annales de la Société d'Emulation de l'Ain, April, May, June, 193 1. Puymaigre, le Comte de, "Lettres de Lamartine à M. de Puymaigre," Mémoires de l'Académie de Metz, 1 8 7 2 - 7 3 . Quentin-Bauchart, Pierre. Lamartine, homme politique. Pion, 1 9 0 3 . Quinet, Edgar. Ahasvérus (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. V I I ) . Pagnerre, 1858. Essai sur les oeuvres de Herder (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. I I ) . Pagnerre, 1 8 7 3 . Histoire des mes idées (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. X ) . Pagnerre, 1858. Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire de l'humanité (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. I I ) . Pagnerre, 1 8 7 3 . Les Tablettes du Juif Errant (Oeuvres complètes, Vol. V I I ) . Pagnerre, 1858. Ravonneau, A l f r e d . Lamartine romancier populaire et social (1848— 69). Dijon: Bernigaud et Privât, 1929. Read, Herbert. Reason and Romanticism. London: Faber and G w y e r , 1926. Reynaud, Louis. Le Romantisme, les origines anglo-germaniques. Colin, 1926. Le Romantisme et les lettres. Aubier, 1929. Reyssié, Félix. La Jeunesse de Lamartine. Hachette, 1 8 9 2 .

I 88

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rod, Edouard. Lamartine. Lecène, Oudin, 1893. Roe, C., "Les Véritables Origines du romantisme français," RHL, 1929. Rolla, Clélia. Lamartine et l'Italie. Novare: Cantone, 1 9 1 3 . Romains, Jules. Problèmes d'aujourd'hui. Kra, 193 1. La Vie unanime. N R F , 1926. Ronchaud, L. de, "Les Nouveaux Historiens de César: M. de Lamartine, M. Troplong," RP, April 1 j , 1856. RP, October 1, i j , November 1, J 9 2 J , "Lettres de Lamartine à Aimé Martin." Roth, Georges, "L'Assassinat de M. de Lamartine," RDM, November M. 1919Lamartine et la Savoie. Chambéry: Dardel, 1927. 1 1 "Lamartine et le Père Hyacinthe ( 1 8 6 6 - 6 9 ) , " 9 9~ 30. Roustan, Mario. Lamartine et les catholiques lyonnais. Champion, 1906. "Le Socialisme de Lamartine," GR, December, 1930, January, 1 9 3 1 . Rouxière, Jean de la, "Lamartine en 1848 jugé par Chateaubriand," AR,X (1913). Sachs, Eva. Les Idées sociales de Lamartine jusqu'à 1848. Jouve, 191 j. Saint-Amand, Imbert de. Mme de Girardin. Dentu, 1888. Saint-Pierre, Bernardin de. Oeuvres complètes. 12 vols., ArmandAubrée, 1834. Etudes de la nature. 4 vols., Didot, 1784-88. Harmonies de la nature. 3 vols., Armand-Aubrée, 1834. Saint-Point, Valentine de, "Lamartine inconnu," NR, January 1, 190$. Sainte-Aulaire, le Comte de, "Lamartine et la politique," RP, July 15. ' 9 M Sainte-Beuve. Les Grands Ecrivains français: X I X e siècle. Garnier, 1926. Poésies complètes. Charpentier, 1890. Portraits contemporains. 5 vols., Calmann Lévy, 1876. Sakellaridès, E., "Deux lettres inédites de Lamartine," RL, 1903. Sanvert, P. A. Notes sur la poésie religieuse de Lamartine. Mâcon: Protat, 1880. Saurat, Denis, "Les Eléments religieux non-chrétiens dans la poésie moderne," RLC, 1923. La Religion de Victor Hugo. Hachette, 1929.

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sayous, André, "Charles Bonnet," RDM, October 1, 185 j . Schermerhorn, Elizabeth W. Benjamin Constant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1924. Séché, Léon, "Les Albums de Mme Victor Hugo: lettres inédites de . . . Lamartine," AR, IX ( 1 9 1 2 ) . Les Amitiés de Lamartine. Mercure de France, 1 9 1 1 . "Le Carnet de Lamartine," AR, V ( 1 9 0 8 ) . Lamartine de 1 8 1 6 à 1830. Mercure de France, 1906. "Lamartine et l'école romantique," AR, II ( 1 9 0 $ ) . "Lamartine et Elvire," AR, VIII ( 1 9 1 1 ) . "Lamartine et Mme de Girardin," AR, VII ( 1 9 1 0 ) ; also Corr., December 10, 1909. "Lamartine et la Némésis," AR, X ( 1 9 1 3 ) . "Le Manuscrit de ma mère," AR, VII ( 1 9 1 0 ) . "Les Manuscrits de Lamartine," RP, October 15, 1905. "La Réponse à Némésis de Lamartine," AR, VIII ( 1 9 1 1 ) . "Le Roman de Lamartine," AR, V I (1909). "Les Sources littéraires des Méditations," MF, September 15, 1905. "Trois lettres inédites de Lamartine," A R , III ( 1 9 0 6 ) . Seignobos, Ch. La Révolution de 1848—Le Second Empire. Hachette, 1921. Seillière, Ernest, "Le Mysticisme naturiste dans l'oeuvre de Lamartine," Séances et travaux de l'Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, May—June, 1926. Senancour, E. de, Obermann. 2 vols., Hachette, 1 9 1 2 - 1 3 . Rêveries sur la nature primitive de l'homme. Société Nouvelle, 1910. Simon, Gustave, "Lamartine et Victor Hugo," RP, April 15, 1904. Souriau, Maurice. Histoire du romantisme. 3 vols., Spes, 1927. La Préface de Cromwell, Boivin, [ 1 9 — ] . Sperco, Willy, "Lamartine et son domaine en Orient," RF, October 15, 1938. Sprietsma, Cargill. Lamartine et Théophile Foisset. Boivin, 1936. Staël, Mme de, De la littérature. Treuttel et Wurtz, 1820. Steeg, T., " L a Carrière politique de Lamartine," Action Nationale, September 2 ; , 1918. Strowski, Fortunat, "Les Limites du génie de Lamartine," Corr., August 25, 1916. Testot-Ferry, Alfred, "Une Lettre de Lamartine," AM, 1 9 2 5 - 2 6 . " L a Vérité sur Laurence et Jocelyn," AM, 1928-29.

I9Q

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thibaudet, Albert, "Les Harmonies de Lamartine," AM, 1 9 3 0 - 3 1 . Histoire de la littérature française de 1789 à nos jours. Stock, 1936. Tilley, A., "Lamartine's Méditations Poétiques," Modem Language Review, July, 1 9 3 1 . Trolliet, Emile, "Les Poésies politiques de Lamartine," RB, May 20, Tronchon, Henri, "Les Etudes historiques et la philosophie de l'histoire aux alentours de 1830," Revue de Synthèse Historique, December, 1922. La Fortune intellectuelle de Herder en France. Rieder, 1920. "Herder et Lamartine," RLC, 1921. Romantisme et préromantisme. Les Belles Lettres, 1930. "Le Sens probable des Harmonies," RCC, May 30, June i j , 30. r 93JVan Tieghem, Philippe. Le Mouvement romantique. Vuibert, 1923. Vianey, Joseph, "Les Grands Poètes de la nature en France: Lamartine," RCC, February 15, 1926. Viatte, Auguste. Un Ami de Ballanche: Claude-Julien Bredin. De Boccard, 1927. Le Catholicisme chez les romantiques. De Boccard, 1922. Les Sources occultes du romantisme. 2 vols., Champion, 1928. "Les Swedenborgiens en France de 1820 à 1830," RLC, 1 9 3 1 . Vico, J . B. Oeuvres choisies de Vico. Translated by Michelet. 2 vols., Hachette, 1835. Principes de l'histoire. Translated by Michelet. Renouard, 1827. Vigny, Alfred de. Poèmes antiques et modernes. Flammarion, 1935. Servitude et grandeur militaire. Garnier, 1921. Stello. Conrad, 1925. Théâtre complet. Librairie Nouvelle, 18 j 8. Voleur, Le (183 j—36)Waltz, René, "Lamartine et la Franc-maçonnerie," RHL, 1 9 3 1 . "La Tristesse de Lamartine," Revue de l'Université de Lyon, 1928. Weill, Georges. L'Ecole Saint-Simonienne. Alcan, 1896. Histoire de l'idée laïque en France au X I X e siècle. Alcan, 1925. Whitehouse, Remsen H., "Lamartine et les Etats-Unis," AM, 1 9 1 1 . The Life of Lamartine. 2 vols., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918. La psychologie politique de Lamartine. Mâcon: Protat, 1 9 1 5 .

SELECTED

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"De la religiosité de Lamartine," Bibliothèque Universelle, October-December, 191 j . Wilson, M. K., "Lettre inédite à M. le Juge de Segrais," KLC, 1924Zola, Emile. Le Roman expérimentale. Charpentier, 1 9 2 } .

INDEX on

A b c l a r d , 32 A c a d é m i e de M a c o n ,

beliefs

of,

j 5;

teachings

A c a d é m i e des Sciences, 3 7

Bonnetty,

Ahasvérus

Bonneville, Nicolas de, j o ,

(Quinet),

121

A l e x a n d r e , C h a r l e s , 1 6 7 ; quoted, 92, I 6 J A n i m a l s , u n i t y extended to, 7 , 1 8 ; hist o r y of l i f e , contemplated, A n i m i s m , 56, Annales Antigone

quoted,

Bourgeoisie, trine,

80

81,

139;

refuse

Bredin, Claude-Julien, chrétienne,

(Ballanche),

JI

"enrichissez-vous"

5 2 ; quoted,

Bruno, Giordano,

113

126

32

Bussières, C u r é o f , 4 6

Asiatic philosophy and literature, 37 if.,

B u c h e , Joseph, 6 4 » B u t f o n , 52

132 A u g u s t i n e , Saint, 3 1 ,

32

A z a ï s , 5 7 ; t h e o r y of compensations, 24 f .

C a n o n g e , M l l e Eléonore de, Capital p u n i s h m e n t , 9 0 ,

Ballanche, P i e r r e - S i m o n ,

j,

7,

17,

52,

26

143

C a r r e de V a u x , B a r o n de, 49

J9, 100, 1 2 1 , 124, 1 3 0 , 1 3 3 , 169, 1 7 0 ;

C a t h o l i c , see R o m a n

Catholic

philosophy,

106,

Catholique,

134

tions

and

with,

113,

114

ff.;

a* source

martine's material, 1 1 2 ; teachings of B o n n e t ,

rela-

for,

La-

transformed

1 1 4 tf. ; philos-

o p h y compared w i t h V i c o ' s , 1 2 6 f . B a l z a c , H o n o r é de, 7 , 1 1 , 58, 7 9 ,

I6J,

169

Le,

Causeries

C a v a i g n a c , General,

37,

38

Cazalès, 7 5 Censorship,

political,

31 f., 10

168;

stressed

Bhagaiad-gita,

losophers,

38

of

149,

Aristotle's

by

3 9 ; see also Chamber

156

of

ship, "Chant

B l a n c , Louis, 1 4 2 86,

106,

portance, influence, J I f . ;

idea

72,

candidacy

73 ;

im-

philosophy

Saint-Pierre's w o r k

phiof

102;

his

leader-

141 du sacre, L e , "

Charbonnel,

J.-Roger,

based

Chateaubriand,

83 9

100

C h é z y , A n t o i n e - L é o n a r d de, 3 7 , 38 Christ, 34,

165

for,

Lamartine's

Charles, M m e J u l i e , 25

140

Bonnet, C h a r l e s , 3 9 , j 8 , 1 2 1 , 1 3 4 ; of, 5 1 - J 5 ;

32;

Unanimism

novitiate in, 81 if.,

M m e Marianne de toward,

169;

Deputies,

B i r c h , Marianne, 2 6 ; see also L a m a r t i n e ,

108, 109,

concept,

101,

unsuccessful,

attitude

10;

1 2 tf.,

eighteenth-century 39 if.,

Biographies, series of popularized, I J O

Bloodshed,

1821,

motion f u s e d into earlier concept o f ,

(Michelet), 129

Bienassis, G u i c h a r d de, 46, 8 1 Le,

vision

in O r i e n t a l literture, 3 8 ; implications

Bergues, d e p u t y , 69, 7 4

public,

160

C h a i n of being, L o v e j o y ' s book on,

long progress of concept of universe,

B a u t a i n , A b b é , 80

de l'humanité

160

147

4 2 f f . ; l i f e envisioned as, 2 0 f f . ; age-

Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire, Bédé, J e a n - A l b e r t ,

132,

(Sainte-Beuve),

Lamartine's

Barante, quoted, 1 0 1

Bien

La-

147

B r i z e u x , A u g u s t e , 1 6 9 ; quoted, 6

80

A r i s t o t l e , 1 6 2 ; law of c o n t i n u i t y , 3 2

Bible

doc-

to elect

martine to presidency,

161

J7

de philosophie

trans-

f o r m e d b y Ballanche, 1 1 4 if.

119

INDEX

1 9 4

C h r i s t i a n i t y , L a m a r t i n e ' s c l a i m that he

Doumic, René, 9

advocated the t r u e , 97 Chute d'un ange, La, 7 , 1 4 , 2 1 , 1 5 0 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 ) ; publication, 9 3 ; continued b y , and c o m p a r e d w i t h Jocelyn, 93ft.; m e t a p h y s i c a l implications, 9 3 , 959 8 ; p r a y e r at beginning o f , 98 C i r c o u r t , C o m t e de, 9 8 , 1 4 4 , 1 6 4 Citoleux, Marc, 9 Civilisateur, 149, 150, 156 C l a u d e de« H u t t e s , fictional c h a r a c t e r ,

D u m a s , A l e x a n d r e , 58

5. 1 7 . 1 Î9» 1 6 5 Cochin, Henri, 9 C o g n e t s , J e a n des, 9 ; q u o t e d , 34 C o m p e n s a t i o n s , A z a ï s ' t h e o r y o f , 24 f . Confessions ( R o u s s e a u ) , 99 Conseiller du peuple, 16, 149 Contemplation de la nature (Bonnet), 114

142

D y n a m i s m , new, 4 2 ff. E c k s t e i n , Ferdinand d', Baron, 5, 38, 100, 119« 120, 1 6 1 , 169; characteristics, 1 3 1 ; f r i e n d s h i p with L a m a r tine, 1 3 1 ; philosophy, 1 3 2 - 3 6 ; interest in the O r i e n t , w o r k in Sans k r i t , 1 3 2 , 1 6 1 ; interests, 1 3 2 E d u c a t i o n , free, 90, 91 E i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , knowledge o f , 4 6 ÏO Elections m« Blohim,

to

Assembly,

postponement,

48

" E n r i c h i s s e z - v o u s , " doctrine o f , 8 1 ,

Contemplations, Continu Cours

D u p o n t de l ' E u r e , Jacques C . , 1 4 1 , D u t o i t - M e m b r i n i , 4 7 , 48

Les

(Hugo), 7

psychique, familier,

131,

3, 7 , 8

19,

160,

161;

Ballanche,

112

Cousin,

34,

37,

39,

125«,

section dedicated

to

Victor,

translation

of

Plato's

100

Criticism,

French:

Les

Visions,

Jocelyn Essai

160 f.

in

appearance

in

60—63;

les institutions

sociales

politics, 7 4 , 8 1 de la nature,

Les

(Saint-Pierre),

55 Etudes

C u v i e r , Georges, 8

E v i l , problem o f , 4 5 , 96 f .

101,

i2j;

influence o v e r

martine, 6 8 - 7 0 , 76,

163,

165;

clerical views, 6 8 ; death, 7 0 ,

Laanti-

165

ideas a b o u t ,

143

D e b t , see Financial

condition

Deguerry, Abbé,

167

De

(de S t a ë l ) , 99

la littérature

j

(Jones), Dog, 18, 19

160,

improve,

16 j

Edouard,

Fouriérisme, Re-

38

84, 85

Franchise extended, Free trade,

87

Fréminville,

36

143

12 G a b a l i s , 48 Gautier, Gazette

Dionysius (pseudo-), 32 Dissertation

156-59

condition, effort to

Foucaux,

D e p u t y , election as, 69, 7 4

24

f o r the masses,

113

17

Foreign A f f a i r s , Minister o f , 1 4 3 - 4 5

publicanism

"Dieu,"

( A z a ï s ) , 57

F a g u e t , E m i l e , 9; on Ballanche,

1 4 8 - j 1,

D e m o c r a c y , praise o f , 1 3 9 ; see also

"Désir,"

(Chateaubriand), 100

uniicrselle

Financial

D e m i g o d s , 2 3 , 48

Descartes, R e n é ,

Explication

Fiction

44

D e a t h p e n a l t y , 90,

historiques

F a m i l y as basis of society, 1 6 ,

D a r w i n i a n t h e o r y f o r e s h a d o w e d , 49 Death,

(Bal-

113

Cuisenier, André, 3

Dargaud,

139

to complete

E t h i c s , desire to introduce a new, into Etudes

literary,

attempt

announced, 7 6

sur

lanche) ,

w o r k s , 3 3 , 3 6 ; ideas f o u n d in social changes,

Epic,

sur 38

la littérature

orientale

Léon,

Geneiièie, Génie

167

de France, 156, du

briand),

excerpt, 7 7 158

Christianisme 77

(Chateau-

INDEX G i r a r d i n , Emile de, 1 4 9 Girondins, see Histoire des Globe, Le, resentment t o w a r d ism, 56 f .

Girondins unanism-

G o d , conception o f , 1 2 ff., 22 f . , 45 f . ; motion t o w a r d , 1 3 , 4 2 ; homage to, 2 9 ; relation to evil, 4 5 , 96 f . Government ownership program, 143 G r a d a t i o n of l i f e , 3 0 ; age-long progress of the concept, 3 1 f . ; see also C h a i n of being G r a t r y , Pcre, 1 6 6 Great 10

Chain

Guignaut,

of

Being,

The

(Lovejoy),

j6

G u i l l e m i n , H e n r i , 9, 6 1 ;

quoted, 94

G u i z o t , François P. G . , 1 0 2 , 1 4 1 , Harmonies,

Les,

8, 1 1 ,

144

13, 14, 21,

31,

4 3 , 6 3 , 64, 6 j , 6 7 , 7 1 , 7 j , 7 7 , publication, Harmonies

63

de

Pierre),

114;

la

nature,

L«

(Saint-

$5

Hastings,

38

Herder, J . G. von, 39, 1 0 0 , 1 3 2 ; Quinet's essay on, and translation o f , 1 2 0 Hierarchy

of

centuries of

temporal

de-

basis,

101;

de la restauration, de la révolution

Histoire

de la Russie,

Histoire

des Constituants, des

1 5 3 ff.

l'histoire Chute

Lamartine,

Illuminists, 7 , 56, 5 7 ; a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h ideas o f , 4 7 , 5 6 ; w a r f a r e against C h u r c h , 4 8 ; role o f , in revolt against materialism, j 1 ; c e r t a i n t y of p u r i f y i n g religion, the ecstasy o f , 78 f . Index, Jocelyn inscribed on, 80 International idealism, 86, 88 Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire de l'humanité (Quinet), 1 1 9 I t a l y , vision of 1 8 2 1 g i v e n in, 1 2 Jesus C h r i s t , 3 4 , Jocelyn,

i6j

14, 18, 76, 77, 130, 150,

158,

had appeared in, 7 6 ; plot, 7 7 ; double purpose

motivating,

78;

bitter

at-

o f , 80,

81,

80;

1j3 27,

illustration

of

ij2,

153,

Lamartine';

1 3 6 ; influence, 1 3 6 , 1 4 0 ; more subtle purpose o f ,

139

de Turquie,

popular-

philosophy

of,

99-14f,

171 ;

L a m a r t i n e ' s reasons f o r plunging into study

of,

99,

1789

and

1793 103;

later w r i t i n g s posterity, H o f a k e r , 57

102;

revolutions

the chief

topics

to explain himself

iji—j6,

161

see

Krudener,

Mme

"Lac, Le,"

24

of

life,

de, 7 ,

26

graduated:

first

ap-

pearance of notion, 3 1 ; see also C h a i n of

being

Lamartine

of

L a m a r t i n e , M m e de

to

93 ff. 132

Newspapers

of

L a m a r t i n e ' s efforts in

ange,

100

Journalism,

Ladder

153

d'un

J o n e s , Sir W i l l i a m , 3 7 , 3 8 , Jouffroy,

153

Girondins,

as

interest,

de

d'un ange, 9 j I l l u m i n i s t , name, applied to 64«

w i t h La Chute

153 de 1848,

social theories, 1 0 3 , 1 3 6 ff.; published,

History,

philosophie

i t y , 9 2 ; continued b y , and c o m p a r e d

Histoire

Histoire

la

9 6 ; inscribed on Index,

58

Histoire

: 65 ;

sur

(Herder), 122, 1 2 $ « I l l u m i n i s m , indications o f , in La

tacks on, and criticisms

being

Hingant, 7

Histoire

Idées

1 5 9 ; a n n o u n c e m e n t that religious epic

beings, 31;

see also C h a i n of Hindmarsh,

ff.;

1 2 0 ff.

bate over,

H y a c i n t h e , Père, 1 6 6 , 1 6 7 " H y m n e de la n u i t , L ' , " 6$ " H y m n e du m a t i n , " 8

100

Hegel, G . W . F . ,

philosophy,

195

H u g o , V i c t o r , 4, j , 7 , 1 1 , 1 6 9 H u m a n i t a r i a n laws passed, 9 1 , 1 4 3 H u m a n i t y in L a m a r t i n e ' s p h i l o s o p h y , ff.

(father), 70,

139,

(mother),

163 15,

27,

29. 63 L a m a r t i n e , A l p h o n s e M a r i e Louis de, the term unanimism applied to e n tire philosophy o f , 4 f . ; b u t not p a n theism o r m o n i s m , j ; use of expres-

INDEX

1 9 6 Lamartine (Continued) sions unanime

net's

and unanimite,

played by nnanimitm 10,

83,

86,

168,

5; part

in l i f e o f , 8 f . , 171;

thought

of,

influence

French

epic

continu

growth

of

reality

of

8;

critics,

articles

psycbique,

a

finds

favorable

his new

doctrines,

56; attempt to complete a s u c c e s s f u l

belief

the

51 f . ;

climate

to flourishing of

compared w i t h that of R o m a i n s , 8 f . ; in

upon,

French intellectual

in

Les

Visions,

conviction

60-63;

that

religious

61;

connec-

about,

spirit

needed

and discussions of doctrine o f , 9; in-

tions

with

fluences t h a t f o r m e d ideas, 1 0 ; reasons

mother died, 6 3 ; publishes Les

f o r selection o f , as representative of

monies,

the age,

to, 6 4 « ; passed f r o m role of neophyte

10;

the five periods of

his

fostering, Church

63;

snapped

when

name Illuminist

Har-

applied

l i f e , i t ; vision of 1 8 2 1 , 1 2 ff., 4 2 f f . ;

to that of i n s t r u c t o r prcaching

the G o d o f , 1 3 , 22 f . , 29, 42 f . , 45 f . ;

damentals

of

dissatisfaction w i t h

period

1830-1843;

23 f . ,

27,

164,

philosophy, 98;

Catholicism,

168;

poems

reveal

14,

jo,

31,

of

his

philosophy

schema

14,

64-66,

92fur-

nished by the vision; l i f e reorientated

of

a

metaphysics 67-98;

new

for

by

Dargaud

by people of Bcrgues, 69, 7 4 ;

resulting

of

fluence of

as adviser

to,

6 3 ; consideration of u n i t y f r o m his-

163,

death

torical point of v i e w , 1 7 ;

mother,

15,

27,

29,

heresies,

unity

ex-

of

19;

Politique

to minute f o r m s , 1 9 ; l i f e envisioned as

a chain

reveal

of

being,

religious

20 f f . ;

tendencies,

poems

23,

63;

69, 75 ; power

165;

tended to animals, 1 8 ; to plants,

Voyage

admitted f r a n k acceptance

g r o u p of concepts, 1 5 f f . , 1 6 8 ff.; inhis

a

death

of daughter J u l i a , 69; elected deputy en Orient

and

into

theology, 6 8 - 7 0 ;

oneness

universe

his

purposes,

b y it, 1 4 ; e f f o r t s to find h a r m o n y and in

65 ;

employs

political

enticed

more liberal

fun-

religion,

father

and

70;

of of

wife 70,

wife, 70,

Virieu,

rationnelle

of

Dargaud, 70,

165;

163;

La

his first political

treatise, 7 0 ; concern w i t h social justice and e q u a l i t y , 7 1 , 8 1 , 83—92 sim,

143;

pas-

political p l a t f o r m , 7 1 ,

72,

religious aspirations, 2 3 ; beginning of

85 f f . ; goes to Orient a f t e r defeat as

his

candidate

heresy,

24;

religious

uncertain-

f o r C h a m b e r of

Deputies,

ties and resulting conflict between his

72, 73, 8 1 ;

Lady

Stan-

own

hope's prophecies, 7 3 , 8 1 , 1 4 5 ;

belief

ideology

and

Catholicism,

25-

influence of

2 9 , 92 f . , 1 6 8 ; love f o r M m e C h a r l e s ,

in his role of

25;

9 1 , 92, 1 4 8 , 1 5 7 ; desire to introduce

marriage,

religion

of

wife,

not w o n o v e r

to doctrines of

de

26;

Kriidener,

1 8 3 0 ; unanimism

period

26; Mme

of

1821-

and his metaphysics,

a new

ethics

withholds friend

G o d - g i v e n leader, into politics,

religious

Virieu,

75;

views

74,

74,

81 ;

from

old

finally

discloses

30—66, 1 6 8 , 1 7 1 ; no longer a C a t h o -

them, 7 6 , 8 1 ; conviction that his was

lic, 30, 6 3 , 69, 9 3 , 1 6 3 ;

concept of

burden o f deposing the C h u r c h ,

a gradation of l i f e , 3 0 ,

indebtedness

for

concept

31-37; to 41,

to writers of

eighteenth-century 46;

the

past,

to O r i e n t a l literature, 37 the

new

thought,

dynamism

an

76;

announces t h a t French religious epic had appeared in Jocelyn,

76;

double

ff.;

purpose m o t i v a t i n g the poem, 7 8 ; cer-

39-

t a i n t y t h a t he could p u r i f y religion,

in-

tegral part of philosophy, 42 f f . ; ideas

the

ecstasy

Jocelyn

of

an

illuminist,

78 f . ;

disapproved by C a t h o l i c press

of death, 4 4 ; attempts to solve p r o b -

and placed on Index,

lem of evil, 4 j , 96 f . ; extensive k n o w l -

C h a m b e r of Deputies, 81 Û., 1 0 2 ; at-

edge of

eighteenth

education, 4 6 ;

century,

46-50;

libraries open to, 4 6 ;

8 0 ; novitiate in

titude t o w a r d revolution, 8 2 ; lack of definite

political

program,

83;

atti-

acquaintance w i t h ideas of the illumi-

tude t o w a r d the several parties, 83 f . ;

nists and theosophists, 4 7 ,

toward Louis-Philippe, 83, 1 0 2 ,

56;

Bon-

126;

INDEX toward

fouriérisme

nisme, into

197

saint-simo-

and editor a t t e m p t s to recapture c o n -

84 f . ; new tenets incorporated

trol o v e r F r a n c e and rebuild f o r t u n e ,

political

and

system,

85-92;

inter-

148-51;

thesis

of

political

and

re-

national idealism and w o r l d peace, 86,

ligious c o n v i c t i o n s t r a n s f e r r e d to his

88;

new

attitude

toward

sacrifice, 86,

106,

war

108,

and

blood

140;

opposi-

work,

149;

issues

biographies,

150;

his

popularized attempts

to

tion to slavery, 8 7 , 9 1 , 1 4 3 ; a d v o c a c y

bring new gospel to F r a n c e , r e i n f o r c e d

of

along three lines by a c t i v i t y as w r i t -

free

trade,

87;

attitude

toward

socialism, 89, 9 2 ; t o w a r d free e d u c a -

er,

tion, 90, 9 1 ;

w r i t i n g s to j u s t i f y and explain

t o w a r d the death

pen-

a l t y , 90, 1 4 3 ; r e m a r k a b l e record social

reforms, 9 1 ,

14);

ism, 92, 1 0 2 , 1 0 3 ,

for

republican-

104, 1 1 1 ,

137

ff.,

151;

self

efforts

in

to p o s t e r i t y , the

historical

151-56,

tures of himself of

late

him-

161;

as central

pic-

character

revolution,

153-56;

proletarian

literature,

creates

1 4 2 ; literary e v o l u t i o n , 9 1 ; return to

didactic

thesis

Chute

5 9 ; f a i l u r e of later attempts to f o u n d

what

newspaper,

d'un

of

unanimism

ange,

93 f f . ;

in

La

claims that

156-

1 5 8 ; enters field o f

liter-

he advocated represented true C h r i s -

ary

tianity,

debt and recapture p o p u l a r i t y , 1 6 0 f . ;

97;

period

philosophy of

of

1843-1848;

h i s t o r y , 99—145,

reasons f o r p l u n g i n g

171;

into the

study

of history, 99, 1 0 2 ; f u n d a m e n t a l c o n cept

of

his

his history

metaphysics and his

applied

attempt

to

cover the destiny of modern 103-11; tion,

f a s c i n a t i o n f o r the

103;

ments

interpretation

of

the

populace,

to dis-

France,

criticism

w o r k limited by political 160;

clings

162;

of

161,

165;

censorship, 1821

during

heretical

last years

animal remains

about

against

Church,

statements,

making

them,

164 f.;

163

1 6 4 ; e f f o r t s of

niece and f r i e n d s to bring him

indirectly influenced, 1 0 6 ,

to

111-36;

philosophy of

109,

history

gives

Catholicism,

rise fc out

of

165—67;

increasing

the answer to his personal problems,

165;

111;

s a c r a m e n t of C h u r c h ,

relations

with

Ballanche,

plan to create a Revue

Politique,

relationship w i t h Q u i n e t , Michelet, stein,

12j f 1 3 0 ;

131;

Girondins,

112;

119;

with

publishes 136;

112; with d'Eck-

Histoire

des

the book a m a g n i f i -

asked

Lamartine,

for

Julia

de,

and

received,

69

L a m a r t i n e , M m e M a r i a n n e de, religion, 2 6 ; power over husband, 7 0 ; 70,

himself

the " c o n s c i e n c e " of

history,

137;

assumes leadership in C h a m b e r ,

141;

leads people into

establishment

of the republic, 1 4 2 , 1 4 5 ; as Minister of

Foreign

Affairs,

143-45;

on

threshold of his U t o p i a , 1 4 5 ; of

the

period

1 8 4 8 - 6 9 , 146—67; last days of his

Utopia, elected

deserted to

by

National

socialists,

146;

Assembly,

147;

f a l l f r o m power, retirement vate nents,

life, 147;

147; as

slandered newspaper

to

by

prioppo-

publisher

death,

165

L a m a r t i n e , V a l e n t i n e de, efforts to b r i n g 67

nominates

last

167

L a m a r t i n e back to C a t h o l i c i s m ,

1 3 7 ff.;

to

indebtedness,

136;

thesis,

back

efforts

cent illustration of his social theories, its

ff.;

caution

leaders, 1 0 9 f . , 1 3 8 ; writers by w h o m 108,

and

conceives

satisfied w i t h personal philosophy and hardened

of

vision

a h i s t o r y of

idea of w r i t i n g life,

move-

104—9;

to

his m e t a p h y s i c s ,

Revolu-

of

in e f f o r t to shake off

165-

L a m e n n a i s , F. R . de, 1 5 , 24, 1 1 2 , Lavater, 47,

163

51

L e a d e r , L a m a r t i n e ' i 'belief

in his

God-

given role o f , 7 4 , 9 1 , 92, 1 4 8 ,

157;

stresses

his

leadership

in

revolution,

MJ Leaders, interpretation of movements o f , 109 f., of, Lectures

138;

popularized

biographies

151 pour

tous,

159

Legislation, pamphlet on the ethics 7i

of,

INDEX

1 9 8

Leibniz, 3 1 , 32, 5 1 , 1 3 2 Libraries open to L a m a r t i n e , 46 Literary criticism, 160 f. Lois morales, Les, 62 Louis-Napoleon, 1 4 7 , 160 Louis-Philippe, antagonism toward, 83, 1 0 2 , 1 2 6 ; anger of populace, 1 4 0 ; abdication, 1 4 1 Lovejoy, Arthur O., 10

Mahabharata,

37, 38,

Maistre, Joseph 109,

de,

132

17, 48,

106,

108,

118

Manuscrit

de ma mère,

Maréchal,

Christian,

Masses, see

Les,

Πg g e r , 7, 57,

Optimism, theory o f , 40 f. O r i e n t , visit to, 7 2 , 7 3 , 81

152

M e r c i e r , Sébastien,

O r i e n t a l philosophy and literature, 37 ff.,

50

Mi

58

Messianic

j8

O n e and the m a n y , notion o f , 6

2 3 , 30, 46, 60, 65

inédits,

Mesmer,

70

9

Populace

Méditations, Mémoires

Le,

N a t u r a l science, penetration of unanimism, 7 Nature des éléments (d'Eckstein), 132 Nature spirituelle, 3 N e c k e r de Saussure, M m e , 52 Neoplatonic cosmology, 32 N e w s p a p e r s , Jocelyn attacked by C a t h o lic press, 8 0 ; L a m a r t i n e ' s efforts to publish, 1 4 8 - 5 1 , 1 5 8 ; Baron d ' E c k stein's, 1 3 2 N o d i e r , C h a r l e s , 5 2 ; philosophy o f , j 8 f . Nouielles Confidences, Les, 60 Nouvelles Meditations, Les, 30, 7 0

leader, see

Metaphysics,

O r l e a n s , Duchesse d \

Leader

Lamartine's,

30-66;

em-

141

O r s i n i , M a t h i e u , quoted,

80

ployed f o r political purposes, 67—98; L a m a r t i n e ' s f u n d a m e n t a l concept applied

to his

history,

103-11 ;

m a r t i n e clings to vision, 1 6 1 , M i c h e l e t , J u l e s , 5, 7 ,

11,

of, La-

165

1 5 , 68,

100,

1 1 9 , 1 6 3 , 1 6 9 , 1 7 1 ; relationship w i t h Lamartine,

125 f.,

130;

philosophy,

1 2 6 , 1 2 9 ; translation of V i c o ' s nuoia,

126;

through metaphysics,

being

130

Mineral k i n g d o m in p h i l o s o p h y , Moët,

Scienza

led to a chain of

19

Mort

Palingénésie

sociale

Pantheism,

(Ballanche),

Paris, C o m t e de,

80

Pascal,

12,

141

21

press, G i r a r d i n ' s ,

Perrotin, Abbé,

1 4 , 33 ff., 4 5 , 60,

M o t i o n , idea o f : f u s e d into earlier c o n cept of chain of being, 3 9 ; again important after Restoration, Musset, A l f r e d de,

126

Parochial schools, 90

170

Phaedo

169 f . ;

prog-

171

166

(Plato),

Lamartine's

indebted-

ness to, 33 ff. Philippe E g a l i t é , 8 4 « philosophe

Inconnu,

see

Saint-Martin,

L . C . , M a r q u e s s de Philosophy

171

149

of,

ress t o w a r d goal o f ,

10 La,

(Bonnet),

5

Permanence, sanctity

de la religion,

de Socrate,

philosophique

114

Penny

M o n i s m , j , 98 M o r e a u , Pierre,

112

Palingénésie

P a s q u a l l y , M a r t i n u s de, 4 7

58

Moniteur

Pages,

see also

of

history,

99-145,

171;

History

Planche, G u s t a v e , 7 6 Napoleon J, Nation, National

P l a n t s , u n i t y extended to, 1 9 , 54

109

role in society, Assembly,

elections to, 1 4 6 ; 147 Natural

16,

Plato, t h e o r y of the universe, 3 2 ;

17

postponement Lamartine

of

elected,

debtedness Plotinus, 3 1 ;

History

(Aristotle),

162

Cou-

sin's translation o f , 3 3 ; Lamartine's in-

Poésie

to,

3 3 ff.

philosophy o f ,

des Hébreux

(Herder),

32 125

INDEX Poésie

philosophique

Lamartine Political

au XIX*

siècle,

La:

toward

the

(Citolcux), 9

parties»

several,

attitude

83 f .

Political purposes, e m p l o y m e n t of m e t a physics

for,

Political

67—98

system,

new

tenets

incorpo-

rated into, 85—92 Politics, Lamartine's

platform, 7 1 ,

72,

83, 85 i f . ; desire to i n t r o d u c e a new ethics

into,

74,

81 ;

novitiate

C h a m b e r of Deputies, 81 ship,

ff.;

in

censor-

160

Politique

rationnelle,

Populace,

La, 7 0 , 7 3 , 8 1 , 9 2

interpretation

of

movements

o f , 1 0 4 - 9 ; literature f o r , 1 j6—j9 Press, see Newspapers Printing press,

110

Prisons emptied, Producteur,

Le,

143 100

Progress, notion o f : ponents,

adherents and

op-

169 f.

Prolégomènes

pour

Orphée

(Ballanche),

i »Ï Proletarian literature, Publications

156-59

populaires,

Des,

148

Purpose of l i f e , c r a v i n g f o r philosophic certainty,

101

Pythagoras,

58

Q u a ï , Maurice,

58

Quinet,

5,

Edgar,

7,

100,

135,

163,

199

R e v o l u t i o n , idea o f , entertained, 82 R e v o l u t i o n of 1 8 4 8 , 1 4 1 ; L a m a r t i n e ' s part in, 1 4 1 f ï . ; p i c t u r e of himself as its c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r , 1 5 3 - 5 6 R e v o l u t i o n s of 1 7 8 9 and 1 7 9 3 , 1 0 ) Revue des Deux Mondes, 100 R i c h e r , 57 Rôle du soleil, Le ( d ' E c k s t e i n ) , 1 3 2 R o m a i n s , J u l e s , philosophy of unanimisme, 3 f . ; sources, 4 ; t h o u g h t o f , c o m p a r e d w i t h t h a t of L a m a r t i n e , 8 f . , i in Roman Catholic C h u r c h , Lamartine's dissatisfaction w i t h religion o f , 1 4 , 23 f . , 2 7 , 1 6 3 ff.; c o n f l i c t between his o w n ideology and C a t h o l i c i s m , 25—29, 7 5 f . , 92 f . ; break w i t h , 3 0 , 6 3 , 69, 9 3 , 1 6 3 ; w a r f a r e of illuminists against, 4 8 , 1 6 9 ; s t r u g g l e against, disclosed in Voyage en Orient, 69, 7 5 ; burden of deposing the C h u r c h , 7 6 ; C h u r c h places Jocelyn on Index and a t t a c k s it in press, 8 0 ; L a m a r t i n e advocates removal o f influence f r o m e d u c a t i o n , 89 f . ; e f f o r t s of niece and f r i e n d s to b r i n g h i m b a c k to, 1 6 5 6 7 ; last sacrament administered, 1 6 7 ; f a v o r s benefits of a perpetual status quo and discourages f l u i d i t y , 1 6 9 R o m a n t i c i s t s , concept of unanimisme, 4 ff., 1 6 8 ff. R o t h s c h i l d s , the, 58

1 6 9 ; relationship w i t h L a m a r t i n e , 1 1 9 ;

R o u s s e a u , J e a n - J a c q u e s , 5 1 , 5 2 , 55, 9 9 ;

essay on, and translation o f , H e r d e r ,

L a m a r t i n e ' s feeling against, 84 Russie, Histoire de la, 1 5 3

1 2 0 f f . ; philosophy,

121

ff.

R a i g e c o u r t , Marquise de, 26

Sade, M a r q u i s de, 4 7

Reine, dressmaker-author of A i x ,

157

Sainte-Beuve, 4 3 ,

Religious epic, see E p i c

Saint-Hilaire,

R e p u b l i c , Second: L a m a r t i n e leads people into establishment o f , 1 4 2 , histories treating

birth

of,

145;

153

1 3 7 fi.,

f o r m s to f o l l o w , predicted, Reuif

142;

11 r

48-50

Revelation of

1 8 2 1 , see Vision la

l'homme Révolution,

sur

nature

(Senancour), Histoire

Saint-Hilaire, Saint-Pierre, mentalized

de la,

primitive 103 153

Barthé-

Geoffroy, 7, 8 58, 7 8 ,

Bernardin

de,

Bonnet's

Saint-simonisme, Sakuntala,

Rcteries

see

95 52;

senti-

discussions

of

nature, 5 5

de la Bretonne, theosophic p r i n -

ciples,

160

lemy-Saint-Hilaire Saint-Martin, 47,

Republicanism, L a m a r t i n e ' s t u r n t o w a r d , 92, 1 0 2 , 1 0 3 , 1 0 4 , 1 1 1 ,

112,

Barthélémy,

84,

85

38

S a n d , Georges, 58 de

Sanskrit

writings, 37, 38,

stein's w o r k in, 1 3 2 , Sauzet,

141,

142

161

132;

d'Eck-

INDEX

200 Schools, 9 0 ,

91

Science, penetration of unanimism, 7 Scienza nuova ( V i c o ) , 1 2 6 £i. S e n a n c o u r , £ . de, j , 1 0 3 Séraphita (Balzac), 7, j8, 79 S l a v e r y , opposition to, 8 7 , 9 1 , 1 4 3 Social e v o l u t i o n , adherents and opponents, 1 6 9 f . Socialism, a t t i t u d e t o w a r d , 8 9 ; a realization o f I.amartine'i f a i t h , 92 Socialists, opposition to L a m a r t i n e ; t e m p o r a r y d e f e a t in 1 8 4 8 , 1 4 6 Social justice and e q u a l i t y , concern w i t h , 7 1 , 8 1 , 8 3 - 9 2 passim Social r e f o r m s accomplished, 9 1 , 1 4 3 Social theories, illustrated b y Girondins, 13« S o c i e t y , Utopian: curiosity to discover, the u r g e u n d e r l y i n g philosophy of h i s t o r y , 1 0 2 ; conditions retarding, IOJ

3 0 ; t h e o r y in Oriental literature, 3 8 ; resentment of Le Globe betrays rising f a v o r o f , 5 6 ; return to thesis o f , in La Chute d'un ange, 93 ff-; see also C h a i n of being Unanimité, term, 5 U n i t y , considered f r o m historical point of v i e w , 1 7 ; extended to animals and lower f o r m s , 19 Universe, age-long progress of conccpt o f , 3 1 f . ; see also C h a i n of being; Vision U t o p i a , curiosity to discover, the urge u n d e r l y i n g philosophy of history, 1 0 2 ; conditions retarding human evolution and, i o j V a u d a n , de, 3 6 Vedas,

the, 3 7 , 38

Vegetable k i n g d o m in philosophy, 19 Vico,

Socrates, impressions received f r o m , 33 f ï . Soirées

Je

stre),

Saint

Pétersbourg

(de

Ville

progress, 1 6 9 f f .

57

of prophecies, 7 3 , 8 1 ,

Je pierres,

14j

57 f .

ijé,

sur

la

poésie

orientale

112,

116

119,

131;

death,

70,

163

Vision

d'Hébal,

Vision

of

La

1821,

(Ballanche), 7

12 ff., 4 2

109

(Jones),

ff.;

schema

of philosophy f u r n i s h e d b y , 1 4 ;

jus-

tified

34;

with

Visions,

5 7 , 95

T o u s s a i n t L o u v e r t u r e , François D . , Traité

(Ballanche),

the

aid

of

L a m a r t i n e clings to, 1 6 1 ,

159

Theosophy, 7, 47 ff., f é ,

102,

Dargaud,

Stanhope, L a d y Esther, visit to, 7 3 ; inSwedenborgism, 7, 47,

Lamartine,

1 6 3 ; position as c o n f i d a n t usurped by

Staël, M m e de, $ 2 ; q u o t e d , 99

Tailleur

des expiations

93,

56,

Stability

fluence

126-30

V i r i e u , 2 4 , 2 $ , 26, 60, 6 1 , 7 j , 7 6 , 92,

32

Spiritualism, is.

philosophy,

Mai-

108

Spinoza, B a r u c h , 3 1 ,

100;

V i g n e t , e f f o r t s to reconvert

Les,

31,

64,

65;

Phtfdo, 165 attempt

to

complete a successful French epic in, 6 0 - 6 3 ; dates on w h i c h beginning and later parts were w r i t t e n , 60, 6 1 ; plot,

3« Trois

mois

Tul,

,7

au pouvoir,

62 f . ; continued by Jocelyn,

IJ3

9 4 ; La Chute Voleur,

Turquie,

de,

Histoire

153

I.e,

term,

Unanimism,

excerpt,

5

(Quinet),

Voyage

concept o f , defined by R o -

tion

en Orient, of

in, 69, 7 j ;

losophy

80

of

Lamartine,

4 f.;

roman-

concept o f , 4 ff., 1 6 8 i f . ;

77, 93,

part o f , 94

80 169

119 1 4 , 80;

Lamartine's

mains, 3 ; term applied to entire phiticists'

ange

V o l t a i r e , 3 1 , 3 9 , 40, 1 0 1 , Voyage

Unanime,

d'un

Jocelyn

transforma-

views

disclosed

as sequel to, 7 6 ,

in

realm of science, 7 ; part played b y , in

W a r , attitude t o w a r d , 86, 1 0 6 , 1 0 8 , 1 4 0

l i f e of L a m a r t i n e , 8 f . , to, 8 } , 86, 1 6 8 ,

Wilkins,

171;

Willermoz,

Romains'

introduction

L a m a r t i n e ' s vision, un;

to,

and

L a m a r t i n e an-

nounces adherence to f u n d a m e n t a l s o f ,

Sir Charles,

37,

48

W o r l d - s o u l , notion o f , 3 1

38