1743; d. at Paris Oct. 13, 1803. After studying law, he entered the army
and at Bordeaux became acquainted with a Portuguese^1 <#sdfootnote1sym>
Jew named Martinez de Pasqualis, whose freemasonry increased St.
Martin's tendency to mysticism. At Lyons and Paris St. Martin
communicated, in mysterious phraseology and ceremony, his "revelation"
on *God, the spirit world, the fall, and original sin*. Among his
hearers was a Count d'Hauterive, on whom St. Martin tried all sorts of
experiments^2 <#sdfootnote2sym> at Lyons (1774-76) *to gain fellowship
with the Logos.* Meanwhile, he gradually withdrew from Pasqualis and his
followers, formed a cautious friendship^3 <#sdfootnote3sym> with
Cagliostro, and read Swedenborg. At this period he published his first
work, under the pseudonym of "un philosophe inc(onnu)" Des erreurs et de
la vérité, ou les hommes rappelés au principe universel de la science
(Lyons, 1775), a book which aroused the anger of Voltaire.
To propagate his views St. Martin now removed to Paris, where he moved
in aristocratic circles, writing his emanational tenets in his Tableau
naturel des rapports qui existent entre Dieu, l'homme et l'univers
(Lyons [ostensibly Edinburgh], 1782). His travels gained him new
acquaintances. In England he met William Law and Best; he accompanied
Prince Gallitzin to Italy in 1787; in 1788 he resided in *Montbéliard*
with Duchess Dorothea of Württemberg. Until 1791 he lived in Strasburg,
where he studied the writings of Jacob Bohme, but in the latter year his
father's illness forced him to return to Amboise, where his theories
found little sympathy. To this period of his career belong his L'Homme
de désir (Lyons, 1790), Ecce homo (Paris, 1792), and Le Nouvel Homme
(1792).
St. Martin's last close friendship was formed with Baron Kirchberger of
Bern, through whom he was kept informed of mystic movements abroad
during the French Revolution. This latter upheaval was greeted by him
with joy, and after being appointed tutor, with Condorcet, Sieyès, and
Bemardin de St. Pierre, to the Dauphin in 1791, he became one of his
jailers two years later. St. Martin himself was later imprisoned^4
<#sdfootnote4sym> and exiled to Amboise. Before long, however, he was
sent back to Paris as a teacher^5 <#sdfootnote5sym> [178] at the new
normal school there. This position he held until his death, and during
his incumbency he wrote Lettre à un ami, considérations politiques,
philosophiques et religieuses sur la révolution française (Paris, 1795);
Eclair sur l'association humaine (1797); Esprit des choses ou coup
d'oeil philosophiques sur la nature des êtres et sur l'objet de leur
existence (1800) ; Ministère de l'homme esprit (1802), besides
translating a number of the works of Boehme.
St. Martin's views, *a mixture of cabalistic, Gnostic, and neoplatonic
doctrines^6 <#sdfootnote6sym>* on a Christian basis, can scarcely be
reduced to a system. At the same time, he bitterly hated^7
<#sdfootnote7sym> the Church, yet fell into all sorts of clairvoyance,
conjuring, and juggling with numbers and the tetragrammaton. His
favorite sphere was anthropology; he held it the aim of man to be still
higher than Christ, the highest type of humanity; i*n his daily life St.
Martin sought simply to live like a pious Christian*. For his following
see *Martinist Order*.
(C. Pfender.^8 <#sdfootnote8sym>)
/*Bibliography*/ : La Correspondance inédite de L. C. de Saint-Martin .
. . ed. L. Schauer and A. Chuquet, Amsterdam, 1862, cf. Mystical
Philosophy and Spiritual Manifestations. Selections from the ...
Correspondence between . . . Saint-Martin . . . and Kirchberger, Exeter,
1863;
J. B. M. Gence, Notice biographique sur L. C. de Saint Martin, Paris, 1823;
L. Moreau, Réflexions sur lee idées de L.C de Saint- Martin, ib. 1850;
E. M. Caro, Du mysticisme au 18e siècle. Essai sur la vie et la doctrine
de Saint-Martin, ib. 1852;
J. Matter. Saint-Martin, le philosophe inconnu, ib. 1862;
A. Franek, La Philosophie mystique en France à la fin du 18e siècle.
Saint-Martin et son maître Martinez Pasqually, ib. 1866.
1 <#sdfootnote1anc>Affirmation habituelle, non validée.
2 <#sdfootnote2anc>La source historique de cette donnée pourrait être
intéressante, mais d'où cela vient-il? Des leçons aux élus coëns, des
sommeils selon le système de Mesmer?
3 <#sdfootnote3anc>Lcsm semble ne jamais avoir apprécié Cagliostro...
4 <#sdfootnote4anc>Le terme emprisonné est inexact, les nobles étaient
éloignés de Paris décret du 24 germinal (16 avril 1794)
5 <#sdfootnote5anc>La durée de vie de l'école normale fut courte, lcsm
n'exerça jamais, il ne fut donc jamais « titulaire »
6 <#sdfootnote6anc>Données véhiculées par l'ordre martiniste, encore
faut-il prouver ces éléments!
7 <#sdfootnote7anc>Il me paraît inexact de parler de haine, comme d'une
utilisation superstitieuse des nombres... la suite de la phrase est «
particulière »!
8 <#sdfootnote8anc>Pfender Charles, Pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Paris pasteur luthérien, de l'exemple du Christ,
faculté de théologie de Strasbourg; la confession d'Augsbourg; Martin
Luther; ...
