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the relations of the pope and the temporal powers;
civilization and the welfare of nations; the schionatical
Churches. He establishes that nations require to be
guaranteed ajgainst abuses of the power to which they
are subject by a sovereignty superior to all others;
now, tms sovereignty can be none but the papacy,
which, even in the Aliddle 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'Eglise Gallicane dans ses rapports avec les souverains pontifes" (Paris, 1821, in 8vo), formed, in the original plan of the author, the fiiih part of the precedmg 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 Galilean standpoint, harshly, the cele- brated Declaration of the Assembl^c of 1682. Besides a voluminous correspondence, Joseph de Maistre left two posthumous works. One of these, " L'examen de la philosophic de Bacon " (Paris, 1836, 2 vols, in 8vo), is an attack on Locke and Condillac, and in general on the French philosophers of the eighteenth centur>', 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 "Soir6es de St. Pdtersbourg" (Paris, 1821, 2 vols. 8vo) is a reply in the forpa 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 physi- cal world are inter-related. Physical evil exists only because there has been, and there is, moral evil. All wrong must be expiated. So humanity, w^hich 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 inaubitable, and which, in the opin- ion of the author, explains the existence and the per- petuity of war. The fame of Joseph de Maistre has been enhanced, too, by his **Correspondance". Al- most six hundred of his letters have been preserved. In them one finds the tender father, the loving, de- voted 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 penetrat- ing, 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 aestroy, he defends it everj'where: 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, hvely, picturesque; animation and good humour tem- per 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 blo^ 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 distin- guished ornament.
Raymond, Eloge du Cotnte Joseph de Maistre (Chamb^ry, 1827); DE Margerie, Le ComU Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1882); Descottes, Joseph de Maistre avant la Rivoliition (Paris, 1803); CoQORDAN, Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1894).
Gboroes Bebtrin.
Maistre, Xavier de, French romance-writer,
yoimger brother of the preceding, b. at Chamb^ry,
Savoy, in 1763; d. at St. Petersburg, 12 June, 1852.
Being an oflScer in the Sardinian Araiy when Savoy
was reunited to France in 1792, he became expatriated
like his brother. In 1799 he was in the Austro-Russian
army in Italy. He followed General SuvarofT to Rus-
sia, but, his protector having fallen into disgrace, was
reduced to earn his living by painting, being a land-
scape artist of great ability. The arri val of his brother
Joseph as envoy extraordinary of the King of Sardinia,
changed his situation. He entered the Admiralty
Office and became, in 1805, librarian of the Admiralty
Musevun; he was then named to the staff of the army,
took part in the Caucasian War, was made a general,
and married a lady-in-waiting of the empress. From
that time he looked on himself as a Russian subject.
He did not visit Savoy again till 1825. After a snort
stay in Paris in 1839, he returned to St. Petersburg,
where he died at the age of eighty-nine.
It may be said that de Maistre became a writer by chance. When a young officer at Alexandria, in Piedmont, he was arrested for duelling. Having been sentenced to remain in his quarters for forty-two days, he composed his "Voyage autour de ma chambre". He added some chapters later, but did not judge the work worthy of being published; but his brother, however, having read the manuscript, had it printea (1794). It is a delightful chat witn the reader, filled with delicate observations, in which an artless grace, humour, and spontaneous wit are wedded to a gentle and somewhat dreamy philosophy. In 1811 appeared "Le L^preux de la cit6 d'Aoste". This little dialogue, of about thirty pages, between an iso- lated leper and a passing soldier (the author), breathes a touching spirit of resignation, ahid unites an im- pressive simplicity of form with suppressed emotion and exalted moral and religious ideas. It is a little gem, a masterpiece. The same must be said of the two novels published some years later: "I^s prison- niers du Caucase*' and "La jeune Sib^rienne". In the former the author relates the vicissitudes of the captivity of Major Kascambo, who has fallen, with his ordnance, into an ambuscade. " La jeune Sib^ri- cnne" is the story of a young girl who comes from Siberia to St. Petersburg to ask for the pardon of her parents. It is the Tact round which Madame Cottm has woven her romance "Elisabeth, ou les exilds de la Sil>6rie"; but the story of Xavier de Maistre is by far the truer to life and more pathetic. In 1825 de Maistre wrote, as a pendant to his first work, in the same vein and with the same charm, the " Expedition nocturne autour de ma chambre".
Xavier de Maistre, it is true, has written only book- lets, but these booklets are masterpieces of their Idnd. His style is ingenious, graceful, and brilliant, while its simplicity, lucidity, and rhythm wonderfully enhance its charm for reaciers. He may be regarded as one of
the first among French authors of the second rank. Sainte-Beuve, Portraits coniemporains.
Georqeb Bertrin.
Maitland, Diocese of (Maitlandensis^, in New South Wales. Maitland, the principal settlement on Hunter River, was chosen as the title for a bishop in 1848, when Dr. William Henry Davis, O.S.B., was sent as coadjutor to the Right Rev. Dr. Folding, O.S.B.. Archbishop of Sydney, with the title of Bishop oi Maitland. However, it did not become a residential see until some twenty years later, when the first suffra- gan dioceses of New South Wales were established : Goulbum in 1864, and Bathurst and Maitland in 1865. The Right Reverend James Murray, then secretary to Cardinal Cullen, was appointed Bishop of Maitland. and, after being consecrated in the pro-cathedral ot Dublin by Cardinal Cullen on 14 November, 1865, pro- ceeded to his distant diocese, of which ha tflfik^^^Rfc-
