Benjamin Constant

2.1. Birth and early life

Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 25, 1767. He hailed from the Constant de Rebecque family, who were descendants of French Huguenots who had fled from Artois to Switzerland during the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century. His father, Jules Constant de Rebecque, was a professional military officer, serving as a high-ranking officer in the Dutch States Army, a tradition followed by his grandfather, uncle, and cousin Jean Victor de Constant Rebecque. Constant's mother, Henriette-Pauline de Chandieu-Villars, died shortly after his birth, leading to his grandmothers taking primary care of him. His early education was primarily conducted by private tutors in Brussels (1779) and the Netherlands (1780), as his father's military duties often required the family to move across Europe.

2.2. Education

Constant's academic journey took him to several European universities. In 1782, he entered the Protestant University of Erlangen in Germany, where he gained access to the court of Duchess Sophie Caroline Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. However, he was compelled to leave Erlangen in 1783 following an affair with a girl. He then moved to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he resided at the home of Andrew Duncan, the elder. During his time in Edinburgh, he formed friendships with notable figures such as James Mackintosh and Malcolm Laing. Upon leaving Edinburgh, he pledged to repay his gambling debts, indicating an early exposure to the social habits of the European nobility.

2.3. Early activities and relationships

After his studies, Constant returned to continental Europe in 1787, traveling through Scotland and England on horseback. During these years, he was deeply influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality, which led him to criticize the prerogatives of European nobility. His family, in turn, criticized him for omitting part of his last name. In Paris, at the home of Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard, he became acquainted with Isabelle de Charrière, a 46-year-old Dutch woman of letters. Charrière, who had a long-standing correspondence with Constant's uncle, David-Louis Constant de Rebecque, later assisted in publishing Rousseau's Confessions. Constant stayed at her home in Colombier, Switzerland, where they collaborated on an epistolary novel titled Les Lettres d'Arsillé fils, Sophie Durfé et autres. Charrière served as a maternal mentor to him until his appointment to the court of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel necessitated his relocation north. He left the court in 1792 with the onset of the War of the First Coalition.

In Braunschweig, Constant married Wilhelmina von Cramm in 1788, but she divorced him in 1793. In September 1794, he met and became interested in the famous and wealthy Germaine de Staël, who was herself brought up on the principles of Rousseau. They both admired Jean Lambert Tallien and Talleyrand. Their intellectual collaboration between 1795 and 1811 made them one of the most celebrated intellectual couples of the time, often associated with the Coppet group. Their affair resulted in one presumed daughter, Albertine.

3.1. Public Office and Political Involvement

A staunch republican from 1795, Constant supported the coups d'état of 18 Fructidor (September 4, 1797) and 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799). During the Consulat, in 1800, he emerged as a leader of the Liberal Opposition. Despite reservations from Napoleon Bonaparte, Constant was appointed to the Tribunat on December 25, 1799, at the insistence of Abbé Sieyès. However, due to the critical nature of his speeches and his close association with Germaine de Staël, Napoleon forced Constant to withdraw from the Tribunat in March 1802, ending his political activity for a period.



Constant then left France, traveling to Switzerland and later to the Kingdom of Saxony. In 1814, he returned to Paris as the French Restoration began with Louis XVIII of France ascending the throne. As a member of the Council of State, Constant proposed a constitutional monarchy. During Napoleon's brief return to power in the Hundred Days (1815), Constant, despite his previous opposition, sided with Napoleon, who had adopted a more liberal stance. Constant fled to the Vendée but returned after being invited to the Tuileries Palace to help draft changes for the Charter of 1815, which aimed to transform Napoleon's restored rule into a modern constitutional monarchy. This decision, however, drew criticism from his contemporaries.

After Napoleon's final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, Constant moved to London with his wife. By 1817, he was back in Paris and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower legislative house of the Restoration-era government. He quickly became one of its most eloquent orators and a leading figure of the parliamentary bloc known first as the Independents and later as "liberals". He remained in this post until his death in 1830, becoming a prominent opponent of Charles X of France during the latter half of the Bourbon Restoration in France. During the July Revolution of 1830, he supported Louis Philippe I's ascent to the throne. In 1830, King Louis Philippe I provided Constant with a significant sum of money to help settle his debts and appointed him to the Conseil d'État.

3.2. Political Philosophy: Core Concepts

Benjamin Constant is celebrated for his seminal distinction between two forms of liberty: the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns." This conceptual framework became a cornerstone of his liberal theory.

The **Liberty of the Ancients** referred to a participatory republican liberty, characteristic of ancient city-states like ancient Rome. In this model, citizens had the right to directly influence politics through debates and votes in public assemblies. This level of direct participation was a demanding moral obligation, requiring significant time and energy, often facilitated by a sub-society of slaves performing much of the productive labor. Ancient Liberty was also largely confined to relatively small, homogenous male societies where citizens could easily gather for public affairs.

In contrast, the **Liberty of the Moderns** was founded on the possession of civil liberties, the rule of law, and freedom from excessive state interference. Direct political participation was limited, a necessary consequence of the larger size of modern states and the emergence of mercantile societies where individuals had to earn a living through work rather than relying on slave labor. Instead of direct involvement, citizens would elect representatives to deliberate in Parliament on their behalf, thereby freeing citizens from daily political engagement and allowing them to pursue private interests. Constant argued that modern freedom meant establishing a clear boundary between a person's private life and the sphere of state intervention.

3.3. Political Philosophy: Critique and Theory

Constant's political philosophy was deeply shaped by his critical assessment of the French Revolution and its aftermath, particularly the Reign of Terror. He argued that the revolutionaries mistakenly attempted to apply ancient republican liberties to a modern state, failing to recognize the fundamental changes in societal customs and needs over two millennia. He noted that ancient populations were vastly smaller than modern countries, rendering direct participation impractical in large nations. Constant emphasized that ancient citizens found greater satisfaction in the public sphere, whereas modern individuals prioritized their private lives.

He vehemently denounced despotism, criticizing French political philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Abbé de Mably for what he saw as their conflation of authority with liberty. According to Constant, these thinkers inadvertently sanctioned state overreach, leading alleged reformers to establish absolute despotism under the guise of a republic, echoing the public force of the Ancien Régime. He consistently condemned any liberty derived from despotism as vacuous. Constant viewed the Reign of Terror as an "inexplicable delirium," and much of his political thought revolved around understanding and justifying its horrors. He recognized the revolutionaries' disastrous over-investment in the political sphere, noting that the pervasive mob mentality of groups like the Sans-culottes deterred many well-intentioned individuals and paved the way for despots such as Napoleon.

Constant believed that in the modern world, commerce was inherently superior to war. He criticized Napoleon's belligerence as illiberal and incompatible with modern commercial societies. He argued that states organized on the principles of Modern Liberty would naturally seek peace with other peaceful nations, unlike ancient societies which often relied on war.

To safeguard liberty in the post-Revolutionary era, Constant sought to reconcile the ideal of Ancient Liberty with the practicalities of Modern Liberty. He looked to Britain, with its Glorious Revolution of 1688 and subsequent constitutional monarchy, as a successful model for Modern Liberty. He concluded that constitutional monarchy was better suited than republicanism for maintaining Modern Liberty. His ideas were instrumental in drafting the "Acte Additional" of 1815, which aimed to transform Napoleon's restored rule into a modern constitutional monarchy, though it only lasted for the "Hundred Days." Nevertheless, Constant's work provided a framework for combining monarchy with liberty. The French Constitution (or Charter) of 1830, which established a hereditary monarchy alongside an elected Chamber of Deputies and a senatorial Chamber of Peers, with executive power vested in responsible ministers, can be seen as a practical application of many of Constant's concepts. Despite often being overlooked in France due to his Anglo-Saxon sympathies, Constant profoundly (albeit indirectly) influenced French constitutional traditions.

Constant developed a novel theory of constitutional monarchy, positing that royal power should function as a **neutral power**. This neutral power was intended to protect, balance, and restrain the excesses of the other active powers: the executive, legislature, and judiciary. This concept was an advancement over the prevailing English theory of the time, which, following William Blackstone, viewed the King as the head of the executive branch. In Constant's system, executive power would be entrusted to a Council of Ministers (or Cabinet) who, though appointed by the King, were ultimately accountable to Parliament. By clearly distinguishing between the powers of the King (as head of state) and the ministers (as the Executive), Constant addressed the political reality observed in Britain for over a century: that ministers, not the King, are the responsible actors, and the King "reigns but does not rule." This distinction was crucial for the development of parliamentary government in France and elsewhere. The King, in Constant's view, was not a powerless figure; he retained significant powers, including judicial appointments, dissolving the Chamber and calling new elections, appointing peers, and dismissing ministers, but he could not govern, make policy, or direct administration, as these were the tasks of responsible ministers. This theory was explicitly applied in Brazil (1824) and Portugal (1826), where the monarch was given "Moderating Powers" in addition to executive power. In other contexts, like the 1848 "Statuto albertino" of the Kingdom of Sardinia (which became the basis of the Italian constitution from 1861), executive power was notionally vested in the King but exercised solely by the responsible ministers. He advocated for the separation of powers as the foundation of a liberal state, but unlike Montesquieu and most liberal thinkers, he proposed four powers instead of three:

• The Neutral Power of the Monarch
• The Executive Power (vested in ministers appointed by the monarch, collectively acting as the head of government)
• The Legislative Power (divided into two representative powers: the Representative Power of Opinion, an elected body representing citizen opinion, and the Representative Power of Tradition, a hereditary House of Peers)
• The Judiciary (similar to Montesquieu's concept)

Constant also advocated for a "new type of federalism", which involved a serious effort to decentralize the French government by devolving powers to elected municipal councils. This proposal was realized in 1831 with the creation of elected municipal councils, albeit with a narrow franchise.

Constant was a strong opponent of imperialism and conquest. He condemned French colonial policy in the West Indies and other regions as racist, unjust, and a violation of fundamental principles of human equality. He supported extending civil and political rights to non-white colonial subjects. He championed the Haitian Revolution, arguing that the institutions established by Haitians demonstrated that non-Europeans were capable of founding institutions equivalent to those of Europeans. He was also a staunch proponent of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire.

3.4. Key Political Writings

Benjamin Constant's political thought is articulated in several significant essays and treatises. Among his most influential works are:

• Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments (1806, revised 1815): This comprehensive work laid out his theories on constitutionalism, the separation of powers, and the nature of liberty. It was later translated as On the Sovereignty of the People (1996).
• De l'esprit de conquête et de l'usurpation dans leurs rapports avec la civilisation européenne (1814): This treatise, often translated as "The Spirit of Conquest and Usurpation and their Relation to European Civilization," was a sharp critique of Napoleon Bonaparte's military ambitions and imperial policies, arguing that conquest was incompatible with modern commercial societies.
• De la force du gouvernement actuel de la France et de la nécessité de s'y rallier (1796)
• Des réactions politiques (1797)
• Des effets de la Terreur (1797)
• Fragments d'un ouvrage abandonné sur la possibilité d'une constitution républicaine dans un grand pays (written between 1795 and 1810, published 1991)
• Réflexions sur les constitutions, la distribution des pouvoirs et les garanties dans une monarchie constitutionnelle (1814)
• De la doctrine politique qui peut réunir les partis en France (1816)
• De la liberté de l'industrie (1818)
• Des élections de 1818 (1818)
• Cours de politique constitutionnelle (1818-1820)
• De la liberté des Anciens comparée à celle des Modernes (1819): A famous speech that clearly articulated his distinction between ancient and modern liberties.
• Mémoires sur les Cent-Jours (1819-1820)
• Commentaire sur l'ouvrage de Filangieri (1822)
• Appel aux Nations chrétiennes en faveur des Grecs (1825)
• Discours de M. Bejamin Constant à la Chambre des députés (1827-1828)
• Mélanges de littérature et de politique (1829)
• Choix de rapports opinions et discours prononcés à la chambre des deputés (1832)

4.1. Novels

Constant published only one novel during his lifetime, Adolphe (1816), which remains his most celebrated literary work. This first-person novel, written in the sentimentalist tradition, delves into the psychological complexities of a young, indecisive man's ill-fated love affair with an older mistress named Ellenore. The novel is renowned for its deep psychological insight and exploration of romantic themes. Constant initially conceived Adolphe as an autobiographical account of two love affairs but decided against depicting serial passions for public consumption. The love affair portrayed in the final version is believed to be based on Constant's relationship with Anna Lindsay, whose correspondence details the affair. Adolphe has been critically compared to other significant works of its time, such as Chateaubriand's René and Mme de Staël's Corinne.

In his youth, Constant also collaborated with Isabelle de Charrière, a literary friend of his uncle, on an epistolary novel titled Les Lettres d'Arsillé fils, Sophie Durfé et autres.

Other autobiographical writings include:

• Le Cahier rouge (1807): Published posthumously in 1907, this work provides an account of his love for Germaine de Staël, with whom he had a significant intellectual and personal relationship.
• Cécile (written around 1809): Also published posthumously in 1951, this novel further explores autobiographical themes.

4.2. Comparative Religion

Constant dedicated forty years of his life to the study of religion and religious feeling, a testament to his deep intellectual curiosity. His extensive research and publications on this subject reveal his desire to understand religion as a fundamental social phenomenon inherent to human nature. He viewed religious feeling, regardless of its specific manifestations, as a continuous search for perfectibility. Constant argued that if religious expressions become rigid, fragmentation is inevitable, emphasizing the need for religious feeling to adapt and evolve over time.

Constant strongly asserted that political authority should not interfere with the religious beliefs of its citizens, even under the guise of defending them. He believed that individuals should be free to determine their own sources of consolation, moral guidance, or faith, as external authority can only influence interests, not convictions. He also condemned any religion deemed purely utilitarian, considering it a degradation of authentic religious feeling.

Constant theorized that the decline of polytheism was a necessary progression in line with human advancement. He posited that as human understanding evolves, the beneficial effects of theism become more pronounced. He observed that belief in a god has itself evolved, with Christianity, particularly Protestantism, representing its most tolerant form and an indicator of intellectual, moral, and spiritual evolution. His major work on this subject is De la religion, considérée dans sa source, ses formes et ses développements (1824-1834), a five-volume study of ancient religion, and Du polythéisme romain considéré dans ses rapports avec la philosophie grecque et la religion chrétienne (1833).

5.1. Marriages and Family

Constant's first marriage was to Wilhelmina von Cramm in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1788. However, this marriage ended in divorce in 1793. In 1808, he secretly married Charlotte von Hardenberg, a woman who had been divorced twice. Charlotte was related to the German Romantic poet Novalis and to the Prussian statesman Karl August von Hardenberg. Their marriage lasted until Constant's death in 1830. Constant is also believed to have fathered Albertine de Staël-Holstein (1797-1838) with Germaine de Staël; Albertine later married Victor de Broglie (1785-1870).

5.2. Key Relationships

Constant's life was significantly shaped by his intellectual and emotional connections with several prominent women.

His early relationship with Isabelle de Charrière, whom he met in 1785, was formative. She was a Dutch woman of letters, 46 years old when they met, and acted as a maternal mentor. Their intellectual exchange led to their joint authorship of the epistolary novel Les Lettres d'Arsillé fils, Sophie Durfé et autres.

The most profound and influential relationship of his life was with Germaine de Staël, whom he met in September 1794. De Staël, already famous and wealthy, was herself a product of Rousseau's principles. Their intellectual collaboration between 1795 and 1811 made them one of the most celebrated intellectual couples of their time, often associated with the Coppet group. Their affair was passionate, and they had a presumed daughter, Albertine. Constant was deeply influenced by de Staël in his literary, philosophical, and political development. However, their relationship was also tumultuous, marked by frequent arguments and a gradual cooling. De Staël, disappointed by French rationalism, became interested in German Romanticism, and she and Constant traveled to Prussia and Saxony, meeting figures like Friedrich von Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wieland, August Wilhelm Schlegel, and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel. Constant eventually left de Staël in Leipzig, and their relationship continued to fray, particularly when she demanded he repay his gambling debts after Albertine's marriage.

He also became acquainted with Julie Talma, the salonnière wife of actor François-Joseph Talma, with whom he exchanged compelling letters. Later in his life, Constant developed a fervent affection for Juliette Récamier, a friend of Germaine de Staël, with whom he maintained an intellectual correspondence.

7.1. Assessment

Benjamin Constant's legacy is primarily defined by his foundational contributions to liberalism and democracy. He is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most eloquent proponents of classical liberal thought in the early 19th century. His articulation of the distinction between the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns" provided a crucial framework for understanding and advocating for individual civil liberties in modern states, earning him recognition from later thinkers like the British philosopher Isaiah Berlin, who acknowledged his debt to Constant. Berlin noted Constant as "the most eloquent of all defenders of freedom and privacy."

Constant's critique of the French Revolution's excesses, particularly the Reign of Terror, and his consistent denunciation of despotism, including Napoleon's authoritarian tendencies, underscore his commitment to individual freedom and limited government. His theory of a neutral monarchical power in a constitutional monarchy was an innovative solution to balancing governmental authority and individual liberty, influencing constitutional developments in France and other nations like Brazil and Portugal.

However, Constant's actions, such as his temporary support for Napoleon during the Hundred Days after having previously opposed him, drew criticism from contemporaries and have been subjects of historical debate. Despite these controversies, his intellectual consistency in advocating for fundamental liberal principles remains a hallmark of his thought.

7.2. Legacy and Impact

Constant's influence extended far beyond his lifetime, shaping political thought, liberal movements, and literary and religious studies. His writings on liberty profoundly impacted the development of liberal movements across Europe and the Americas, including the Trienio Liberal movement in Spain, the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Portugal, the Greek War of Independence, the November uprising in Poland, the Belgian Revolution, and the growth of liberalism in Brazil and Mexico.

In the literary sphere, his novel Adolphe is considered a pioneering work in psychological fiction, influencing the development of literary psychology. His extensive, forty-year-long research into comparative religion, exploring religious feeling and the evolution of belief systems, contributed significantly to the study of religious phenomena. Constant's moral and religious thought was notably influenced by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and German thinkers such as Immanuel Kant. He emphasized that true individual liberty was not merely about egoism or self-interest but also encompassed emotional authenticity and fellow-feeling, advocating for self-sacrifice and human emotions as a basis for social living. His works continue to be studied for their insights into the complexities of human nature, society, and governance.