Described by some as the most dangerous enemy of religion in Canada and by others as a great philosopher, an eminent sociologist, a universal scholar, and the victim of the Canadian clergy, Louis-Antoine Dessaulles is best remembered as a journalist and a political figure, as a prominent leader of the Institut Canadien, and as a fierce opponent of the clergy. Since Dessaulles's literary career arose from his religious and philosophical convictions, it is only by taking into account the social and political context of his writings that one can succeed in understanding the contribution of this controversial figure to the revolutionary spirit of nineteenth-century French-Canadian literature.

Dessaulles was born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, on 31 January 1819. His mother, Marie Rosalie née Papineau--sister of the prominent patriot leader Louis-Joseph Papineau--and his father, Jean Dessaulles--a militia officer, seigneur, and politician--had been married on 9 May 1816. They had five children, three of...