Maistre

Maistre, (1) Joseph de (1754-1821), diplomatist and polemical writer, was born at Chambery, and studied at Turin. He entered the Civil Service under the House of Savoy, and became a member of the Senate. The Revolution drove him to Lausanne, and there in 1796 he wrote Considerations sur la France. He was afterwards summoned to Turin, and later to Sardinia, and was in 1802 sent as envoy to St. Petersburg. In 1815 he returned to Savoy and to high office. His polemical works, Du Pape, and Letters on the Inquisition, were of an Ultramontane character. He also wrote Soirees de St. Petersbourq, and an examination of Bacon's philosophy. (2) Xavier de, brother of the above, was born at Chambery, and for a time served in the Piedmontese army. During this time he wrote Autour de ma Chambre. Afterwards he went to St. Petersburg, and became to all intents and purposes a Russian. Other well-known works of his are Le Lepreux de la Cite d'Aoste and La jeune Siberienne.