Liberal Values

Helena Rosenblatt is Professor of History of Hunter College at the City University of New York.

Review of the hardback: '… a valuable addition to our knowledge of Constant's unfolding political concerns …' History of Political Thought

• Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Constant's Education: the French, Scottish, and German Enlightenments: 1. Childhood; 2. Edinburgh; 3. Paris; 4. Protestantism and the Enlightenment; 5. Brunswick; 6. Mauvillon, the new German theology and the idea of progressive revelation; 7. Constant's 'The Spirit of Religions'; 8. Madame de Staël; Part II. The Crucible of the Directory Years: 1. The see-saw policy of the directory; 2. Catholicism and the need for 'Republican Institutions'; 3. Catholic counter-arguments; 4. Constant during the Directory; 5. Critics of the Directory's Religious Policies; 6. The second Directory and the renewed campaign for Republican institutions; 7. Theophilanthropy; 8. Lessons of the Directory: William Godwin and Des circonstances actuelles; Part III. Napoleon, or Battling 'the New Cyrus': 1. Napoleon and the Catholic Revival; 2. Enlightened responses and the plan to 'Protestantize' France; 3. Charles de Villers; 4. Bonaparte's decision; 5. Portalis on the Utility of Religion; 6. The Concordat and the Organic Articles; 7. Friends and foes of the Concordat: from the Génie du christianisme to Delphine; 8. Constant's trip to Germany; 9. The Sentiment/Form Distinction; 10. Return to Paris (December 1804) and the Debate on a National Religion; Part IV. Constant becomes Constant: From the Principles of Politics (1806) to the Spirit of Conquest and Usurpation (1814): 1. Constant's Political Principles in 1806; 2. 'Private judgement' in Protestant Polemics; 3. Book VIII: On Religious Freedom; 4. Constant's 'Corner of Religion': from the 'Letter about Julie' to the Correspondence with Prosper de Barante, a. The 'Letter about Julie', b. Adolphe and Cecile, c. Correspondence with Prosper de Barante; 5. De l'Allemagne (1810); 6. Constant's return to Germany; 7. The spirit of conquest and usurpation (1814); Part V. Politics and Religion during the Restoration (1814–24): 1. Keeping Political Liberty Alive; 2. Keeping Religious Liberty Alive; Part VI. The 'Protestant Bossuet': De la religion in Political Context (1824–30): 1. De la religion, volume I (May 1824), Reviews of volume I; 2. Charles X and 'the invasion of priests', Constant's article 'Christianity', Professions of Protestantism; 3. De la religion, volume II (October 1825); 4. The Problem with Industrie: Constant and religion seen from the Left; 1. Saint-Simon's 'New Christianity' (1825); 2. Auguste Comte, Le Producteur, and the search for a new 'spiritual authority'; Part VII. Constant's Legacy: 1. The Revolution of 1830; 2. Constant's declining reputation.