Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
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French
philosophical
writer, b. at
Chambéry
, in
Savoy
, in 1753, when
Savoy
did not belong to
France
; d. at
Turin
, 26 Feb., 1821. His
family
, which was of French origin, had settled in
Savoy
a century earlier, and had attained a high position, his
father
being president of the Senate. Joseph, the eldest of ten children, was a pupil of the
Jesuits
, who, like his
parents
, inspired him with an intense
love
of religion and detestation of the eighteenth-century
philosophical
rationalism
, which he always resolutely opposed. In 1774 he entered the magistracy; in 1780 he was assistant fiscal advocate general; in 1788 he was appointed senator, being then thirt-five years old. Four years later, he was forced to fly before the invading French, and discharged for four years at
Lausanne
a confidential mission for his sovereign, the King of
Sardinia
. That monarch having lost the capital of his kingdom, de Maistre lived in poverty at
Venice
, but on the restoration of the king, went to
Sardinia
as keeper of the great seal (1799) and, three years later, to St. Petersburg, as plenipotentiary. This mission lasted fourteen years, till 1817. Though weakly supported by his Government, which was at times displeased with his frankness, poor amidst a lavish aristocracy, he nevertheless successfully defended the interests of his country with the Czar Alexander, who, like most of the leading personages at St. Petersburg, highly appreciated his character and his ability. He afterwards returned to
Turin
, to fill the post of minister of State and keeper of the great seal until his death.
The writings of Joseph de Maistre (as well as those of his younger brother —
Xavier de Maistre
) were all in French, then the literary language of
Piedmont
. Joseph's first important work was written during his sojourn in
Switzerland
. He was then forty years of age. He had previously composed some speeches and a few comparatively unimportant essays. We may mention "L'éloge de Victor Amédée III", attacking the intolerance which had lighted the fires of the stake, and glorifying the
war
of the Americans against their oppressors. After the outbreak of the
French Revolution
, he published some writings on current events, e.g. "Discours à M. le Marquis Costa de Beauregard sur la vie et la mort de ton fils" and "Cinq paradoxes a la Marquise de Nav . . ." (1795). In the following year appeared his "Considerations sur la France" (London and Lausanne, in folio); although its dissemination was rigorously forbidden by the French authorities, several editions were exhausted within a year. The author maintains the thesis that
France
has a mission from
God
: she is the principal instrument of good and of
evil
on earth. De Maistre looks on the
Revolution
as a providential occurrence: the monarchy, the aristocracy, the whole of the old French
society
, instead of turning the powerful influence of French civilization to benefit
mankind
, had used it to foster the doctrines of the eighteenth-century
philosophers
: the crimes of the Reign of Terror were the punishment thus merited. The author added that the foreign nations were dupes of a foolish dream, in undertaking the dismemberment of
France
, "the most beautiful kingdom after that of
heaven
". Finally, he predicted a speedy restoration, and disappearance of the abuses of the past.
In connection with this work must be mentioned a little book composed in 1809, under the title "Essai sur le principe générateur des constitutions politiques et des autres institutions humaines". Its main
idea
is, that constitutions are not the artificial products of the study but come in due time and under suitable circumstances from
God
, who slowly brings them to maturity. After the appearance in 1816 of the treatise "Sur les délais de la justice divine dans la punition des coupables", translated from Plutarch, with additions and notes, Joseph de Maistre published at
Lyons
in 1819 his masterpiece "Du Pape". The work (2 vols. in 8vo.) is divided into four parts. In the first the author proves that in the
Church
the
pope
is sovereign, and that it is an essential characteristic of all sovereign power that that its decisions should be subject to no appeal. The
doctrinal
declarations of the
pope
are binding on man without right of appeal. Consequently, the
pope
is
infallible
in his teaching, since it is by his teaching that he exercises his sovereignty. And in point of fact "no
sovereign pontiff
, speaking freely to the
Church
, has ever made a mistake in the matter of
faith
". In the remaining divisions of his work the author examines the relations of the
pope
and the temporal powers: civilization and the welfare of nations; the
schismatical
Churches. He establishes that nations require to be guaranteed against abuses of the power to which they are subject by a sovereignty superior to all others; now, this sovereignty can be none but the
papacy
, which, even in the
Middle Ages
, had, in fact, already saved
European
civilization from the barbarians. As to the
schismatical
Churches, the writer thinks that they will inevitably fall into
Protestantism
, and from
Protestantism
through
Socinianism
into philosophic indifference. For "no religion can resist
science
, except one."
The treatise, "L'Église Gallicane dans ses rapports avec les souverains pontifes" (Paris, 1821, in 8vo), formed, in the original plan of the author, the fifth part of the preceding work. De Maistre at the last moment resolved on the advice of his friends, to make it a separate work. He discusses vigorously, and at times, from the Gallican standpoint, harshly, the celebrated Declaration of the Assemblée of 1682. Besides a voluminous correspondence, Joseph de Maistre left two posthumous works. One of these, "L'examen de la Philosophiede Bacon", (Paris, 1836; 2 vols in 8vo), is an attack on Locke and Condillac, and in general on the
French
philosophers
of the eighteenth century, in the
person
whom the author considers as the father of their system. This work is not among the most highly esteemed of De Maistre's writings. The "Soirées de St. Pétersbourg" (Paris, 1821, 2 vols, 8vo) is a reply in the form of a dialogue to the objection against Providence drawn from the existence of
evil
in the world. For Joseph de Maistre, the existence of
evil
, far from obscuring the designs of
God
, throws a new light on them; for the moral world and the physical world are inter-related. Physical
evil
exists only because there has been, and there is, moral
evil
. All wrong must be expiated. So humanity which has always believed in the necessity of this expiation, has had recourse, to accomplish it, not only to
prayer
, but to sacrifice, that is, the shedding of blood, the merits of the innocent being applied to the guilty — a law as mysterious as it is indubitable, and which, in the opinion of the author, explains the existence and the perpetuity of
war
. The fame of Joseph de Maistre has been enhanced too, by his "Correspondance". Almost six hundred of his letters have been preserved. In them one finds the tender father, the loving, devoted friend, and at the same time a keen, ingenious, unaffected,
joyous
writer. His complete works were published in fourteen volumes, 8vo, at
Lyons
, 1884-87.
To appreciate de Maistre in his writings as a whole, one may remark that his
ideas
are bold and penetrating, and his views so clear and accurate that at times they seem prophetic. An enthusiastic believer in the principle of authority, which the
Revolution
tried to destroy, he defends it everywhere: in the State by extolling the monarchy, in the
Church
by exalting the privileges of the
papacy
; in the world by glorifying the
rights
and the conduct of
God
. His style is strong, lively, picturesque; animation and good humour temper his dogmatic tone, and he might even be deemed eloquent. It is
true
he does not disdain paradox in his thinking or
violence
in his language: he has neither the moderation nor the serenity of
Bossuet
. But he possesses a wonderful facility in exposition, precision of
doctrine
, breadth of learning, and
dialectical
power. He influenced the age that followed him: he dealt Gallicanism such decisive blows that it never rose again. In a word, he was a great and virtuous man, a profound thinker, and one of the finest writers of that
French language
of which his works are a distinguished ornament.
Sources
RAYMOND, Eloge du Comte Joseph de Maistre (Chambery, 1827); DE MARGERIE, Le Comte Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1882); DESCOTTES, Joseph de Maistre avant la Revolution (Paris, 1893); COGORDAN, Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1894).
About this page
APA citation.
Bertrin, G.
(1910).
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre.
In
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09554a.htm
MLA citation.
Bertrin, Georges.
"Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre."
The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 9.
New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1910.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09554a.htm>.
Transcription.
This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation.
Nihil Obstat.
October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor.
Imprimatur.
+John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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