Joseph de Maistre

In the following viewpoint Joseph de Maistre argues that the French Republic, which was established on September 22, 1792, following the abolition of the monarchy, cannot succeed. According to de Maistre, a large republic in which all people are represented cannot exist because in the course of history one has never been established; he contends that the republic recently created in America (the United States) has yet to prove its longevity. In addition, de Maistre asserts that the French republic will fail because a durable government cannot be built upon a corrupt and savage revolution. De Maistre was a French writer, diplomat, and royalist whose works include Considerations on France, the source of the following selection.

What could have been said to the French to get them to believe in a republic of twenty-four million...