ENFANTIN, BarthélémyProsper [Le Père Enfantin], (1796-1864), one of the founders of Saint-Simonism, was born at Paris, February 8, 1796. He was the son of a banker of Dauphiny, and after receiving his early education at a lyceum, was sent in 1813 to the Ecole Polytechnique In March 1814 he was one of the band of students who, on the heights of Montmartre and Saint-Chaumont, attempted resistance to the armies of the allies then engaged in the investment of Paris. In consequence of this outbreak of patriotic enthusiasm, the school was soon after closed by Louis XVIII., and the young student was compelled to seek some other career instead of that of the soldier. He first engaged himself to a country winemerchant, for whom he travelled in Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands. In 1821 he entered a banking-house newly established at St Petersburg, but returned two years later to Paris, where he was appointed cashier to the Caisse Hypothécaire. At the same time he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari. In 1825 a new turn was given to his thoughts and his life by the friendship which he formed with Olinde Rodriguez, the favoured disciple of Saint-Simon. Introduced by Rodriguez to the master, who was then near his end, be ardently embraced his doctrines and schemes of social, political, and religious reformation. With Rodriguez he received the last instructions of Saint-Simon, and the two were entrusted with the propagation and development of his system. Their first step was the establishment of a journal, entitled Le Producteur, and of a limited liability company for its support. This journal had for its motto “The Golden Age, hitherto placed by blind tradition in the past, is before us.” Enfantin contributed largely to its pages; and setting forth in ...