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Line 10: + + − After Constant's discharge bishop Affre recommended him to his colleague in Évreux<ref>[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Théodore_Olivier Nicolas-Théodore Olivier]</ref>, where from February 1843 on he preached in so successful a way that his fellow ministers jealously announced the death of abbé Constant in the newspapers. Despite a swift denial another scandal couldn't be avoided, however, the bishop kept his hand upon him, and commissioned him with the realisation of a mural painting in a nunnery. Rumour has it that at about the same time he nearly became a member of the secretive [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian Order]]. Friends of his father's vouched for him, by which he might even have prospects of the rank of a Grand Master. Unfortunately nothing of that came about, and the painting too would not be finished. Because when in 1844 his second sweeping blow appeared, ''La Mère de Dieu'', his relationship with the bishop experienced a rapid deterioration, and Constant returned to Paris.+ − + − Deeply churned up by the death of his friend Flora Tristan he published ''L'Émancipation de la femme ou le Testament de la paria'', followed a year later (1845) by his pacifist manifesto ''La Fête-Dieu ou le Triomphe de la paix religieuse''. After all, he occupied himself busily with the humanistic and the utopian ideas of the time, particularly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Simonianism Saint-Simonianism] and the theories of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_fourier Charles Fourier]. But neither could convince him: Saint Simon teaches religion without religiousness, which he found repulsive. And Fourier's approach of man's necessity for acting out his drives he considered absurd and foolish. He was 35 now, and still his search continued.+ − − It is not very much astonishing that his private affairs weren't running smoothly either.<ref>The events in Constant's life described in this paragraph ought to be taken cautiously. Because when writing on this article the author got the impression that most of what can be found about Constant in the internet has been copied from the same source. Everyone for example notes a so-called "Institution Chandeau" in Choisy-le-Roi. However, even a lengthy research over several hours didn't reveal any information on that institute, but lots and lots of identical wordings, all of them apparently taken from the French Wikipedia (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Éliphas_Lévi). ''Chandeau'' is, as might be expected, a proper name, but nowhere is it mentioned with even a geographical connection to Choisy-le-Roi. Only one hint could be found: if "Institution Chandeau" is supposed to have been the name of a girls' school at the time in question, http://fr.topic-topos.com/ecole-emile-zola-choisy-le-roi might give at least a vague possibility for an explanation.</ref> In the small town Choisy-le-Roi, located a few kilometres outside of Paris and since 1840 at the railway to Orleans, he used to meet with a warden of a girls' school (presumably, see note). But while they were making plans to marry, and she was pregnant from him, one of her girl friends fell in love with Alphonse, the underage maiden [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Noémi_Cadiot Marie-Noémi Cadiot]. Some fiery love letters later she escaped and hid herself in his garret. Seeing himself put before the choice between marrying her or face trial for seducing a minor - what was left for him? On July 13, 1846, they married. She gave birth to a daughter whom he adored and who would die aged seven in 1854. Soon after which Marie-Noémi would leave him. The descendants of the warden he left so unfaithfully live to this very day.
→Per aspera ...
Since the archbishop of Paris, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Auguste_Affre Denis Auguste Affre], interceded on his behalf, Constant received an appointment as a supervisor at Juilly College east of Paris. Treated badly by his seniors, he wrote his first furious pamphlet, ''La Bible de la liberté''. Its publication in February 1841 not only caused a scandal within the church hierarchy, but also at the court in Versailles.<ref>A contemporary, if rather sardonic report of these incidents and of the following may be seen at: [http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb33497059p Mystères galans des théâtres de Paris]. Paris: Cazel, 1844. Page 88 et seqq.</ref> Constant was arrested and sentenced to a prison term of eight months and a fine of 300 Francs. Unable to raise this sum, he served eleven months in prison, studying the works of Swedish mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg.
Since the archbishop of Paris, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Auguste_Affre Denis Auguste Affre], interceded on his behalf, Constant received an appointment as a supervisor at Juilly College east of Paris. Treated badly by his seniors, he wrote his first furious pamphlet, ''La Bible de la liberté''. Its publication in February 1841 not only caused a scandal within the church hierarchy, but also at the court in Versailles.<ref>A contemporary, if rather sardonic report of these incidents and of the following may be seen at: [http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb33497059p Mystères galans des théâtres de Paris]. Paris: Cazel, 1844. Page 88 et seqq.</ref> Constant was arrested and sentenced to a prison term of eight months and a fine of 300 Francs. Unable to raise this sum, he served eleven months in prison, studying the works of Swedish mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg.
Following Constant's discharge, Bishop Affre recommended him to his colleague in Évreux<ref>[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Théodore_Olivier Nicolas-Théodore Olivier]</ref>, where, from February 1843, he preached so successfully that his fellow ministers jealously announced the death of abbé Constant in the newspapers. Despite a swift denial another scandal could not be avoided; the bishop, however, kept holding a protective hand over him, commissioning him with the realisation of a mural painting in a nunnery. Due to friends of his father's vouching for him, he almost was accepted as a member of the secretive [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian Order]] and rumour has it he even had prospects of being made a Grand Master. However, this did not materialise, and the mural likewise never was finished, as in early 1844, Constant's rapport to the bishop rapidly deteriorated due to a further publication, ''La Mère de Dieu'', and Constant returned to Paris.
Deeply agitated by the death of his friend Flora Tristan, he published ''L'Émancipation de la femme ou le Testament de la paria'', followed by his pacifist manifesto ''La Fête-Dieu ou le Triomphe de la paix religieuse'' a year later (1845). He intensely studied the humanistic and the utopian ideas of the time, particularly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Simonianism Saint-Simonianism] and the theories of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_fourier Charles Fourier]. But neither could convince him: Saint Simon taught religion without religiousness, which he found repulsive. And Fourier's approach of man's necessity for acting out his drives he considered absurd and foolish.
In the small town Choisy-le-Roi, located a few kilometres outside of Paris, he used to meet with a supervisor of a girls' school (presumably, see note). But while they were making plans to get married, her being pregnant from him, one of her friends fell in love with Constant, a minor by the name of [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Noémi_Cadiot Marie-Noémi Cadiot]. After some fiery love letters she escaped and hid in his attic. Faced with the choice between marrying her or being tried for seducing a minor, Constant married Cadiot on July 13, 1846. She gave birth to a daughter who died aged seven in 1854. Shortly after the death of their daughter, Cadiot left Constant.
In dem kleinen Ort Choisy-le-Roi, wenige Kilometer außerhalb von Paris gelegen, traf er sich seit seiner Rückkehr aus Évreux regelmäßig mit einer Aufseherin eines (vermutlich, siehe Anmerkung) Mädchenpensionats. Während er mit ihr Heiratspläne schmiedete und sie von ihm schwanger war, verliebte sich ihre Freundin in Alphonse, die noch minderjährige Marie-Noémi Cadiot. Nach einer Reihe heißer Liebesbriefe entfloh sie und versteckte sich in seiner Mansarde. Er wurde vor die Alternative gestellt, sie zu ehelichen oder ein Verfahren wegen Verführung einer Minderjährigen zu gewärtigen. Am 13. Juli 1846 heirateten sie. Sie gebar ihm eine Tochter, die 1854 mit sieben Jahren verstarb. Bald darauf verließ ihn Marie-Noémi.[3]
The revolution of February 1848 brought more liberties for Alphonse-Louis too. Just one year ago he had once more been convicted for one of his pamphlets, ''La Voix de la famine'', now nothing could hamper his roaming the political stage any longer. He headed the left-wing magazine ''Le Tribun du peuple'' which died after the fourth issue, founded a political workers' association named (in revolutionary tradition) ''Le Club de la montagne''<ref>In the first National Assembly in 1791 the deputies of the political left were seated on the upper ranks, hence the name ''La montagne'' ("Mountain Party").</ref>, then in June, when the political reaction felt uneasy about the latest developments and tried to turn back the wheels, he nearly got killed by a firing squad. Luckily they took someone else for him and shot the wrong fellow. He tried to be elected to the National Assemply, but a friend of his made the race, after which the friendship broke. Under financial aspects however the couple Constant was well off now, because Marie-Noémi was emancipating herself. She published literary feuilletons, and received lessons from the sculptor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pradier James Pradier] who had already been promoted by the Roi Citoyen and now helped her open the doors to the Parisian society. In this wake of hers Alphonse too was commissioned by the government with two paintings for the ministry of the interior.
The revolution of February 1848 brought more liberties for Alphonse-Louis too. Just one year ago he had once more been convicted for one of his pamphlets, ''La Voix de la famine'', now nothing could hamper his roaming the political stage any longer. He headed the left-wing magazine ''Le Tribun du peuple'' which died after the fourth issue, founded a political workers' association named (in revolutionary tradition) ''Le Club de la montagne''<ref>In the first National Assembly in 1791 the deputies of the political left were seated on the upper ranks, hence the name ''La montagne'' ("Mountain Party").</ref>, then in June, when the political reaction felt uneasy about the latest developments and tried to turn back the wheels, he nearly got killed by a firing squad. Luckily they took someone else for him and shot the wrong fellow. He tried to be elected to the National Assemply, but a friend of his made the race, after which the friendship broke. Under financial aspects however the couple Constant was well off now, because Marie-Noémi was emancipating herself. She published literary feuilletons, and received lessons from the sculptor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pradier James Pradier] who had already been promoted by the Roi Citoyen and now helped her open the doors to the Parisian society. In this wake of hers Alphonse too was commissioned by the government with two paintings for the ministry of the interior.