Volume 37, Number 16 · October 25, 1990
Joseph de Maistre and the Origins of Fascism: III
By Isaiah Berlin
Some of Joseph de Maistre's acutest pages, directed against modern liberalism, skepticism, and science, are reserved for Russia, in which he spent fifteen of the most creative years of his life.[1] Alexander I used him for a time as a confidential adviser, and Maistre furnished him with observations and advice he clearly meant to apply beyond Russia herself, to the whole of contemporary Europe. He became celebrated for his political epigrams, which proved much to the taste of Alexander and his advisers, especially after the emperor's liberal phase was over. Such maxims as 'Man in general, if reduced to himself, is too wicked to be free,' or 'Everywhere the few lead the many, for without a more or less powerful aristocracy authority is not sufficient for this end' must have found great favor in the aristocratic salons of St. Petersburg, and he is mentioned with approval in contemporary Russian memoirs.[2]
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