Introduction of my life

Hello my name is Joseph de Maistre and I am a philosopher, lawyer, writer, and a diplomat. I was born on April 1, 1753 at Chambery in the Duchy of Savoy. I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that has a high prestige in France. My father, Francois-Xavier emigrated to Chambery and rose to the rank of senator. He later then received the title Count from the King of Piedmont Sardinia. My mother was from Rumilly. My little brother is Xavier and he is a wonderful military officer and an outstanding writer.

In my youthful days my father taught me to be charitable. As a result I was involved with many charitable societies. When I was fifteen I joined Confrérie des Pénitents Noirs, it is a religious order which helps take care of condemned prisoners. When I turned twenty I was fortunate enough to join the freemasons. I still remember where I was initiated; in fact it was in the lodge of Trois Mortiers in Chambery. I was educated by the Jesuits and I pursued a degree in law at the University of Turin. I graduated in 1774 then I decided to follow in my father's footsteps, so I ultimately became a senator in 1787. The next year was one of my most memorable years. I finally married my sweetheart the lady Francois-Marguerite de Moraud. Oh how it was a beautiful wedding! However the events in which to come were alarming.

In 1789, my father whom I deeply adored passed away... as a result I inherited his title as count. At the same time the bloody revolution began destroying France.  It was all because of that asinine Estate General especially the Third Estate since they began to believe that they can make France "better". On July 9, 1789 the Estates General decided to combine the Third, Second, and First Estates to form the National Constituent Assembly. This revolutionary fervor spreads like wildfire and erupted in Sardinia, which forced me to flee back to Chambery. However here life no longer what it used to be. I was faces with a grim choice of joining the revolutionary army to fight the Piedmontese army, but I refused and immigrated to Lausanne in Switzerland.  It is here where I visited the salon of Madame de Stael and began to discuss politics and religion. I then began my career as a counter revolutionary-writer.  Some of the books I wrote were Discours à Mme. la marquise Costa de Beauregard, and  sur la vie et la mort de son fils ("Letters from a Savoyard Royalist", 1793), ("Discourse to the Marchioness Costa de Beauregard, on the Life and Death of her Son", 1794). From Lausanne I decided to go to Cagliari which is where the King of Piedmont of Sardinia was exiled to.  The court at Cagliari sent me to Russia as an ambassador to Tsar Alexander I.  After the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of the house of Savoy’s control in Piedmont, I was able to return to Turin in 1817 to serve as a magistrate then as minister of state.  My life has been an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end.