Unit 6 AMSCO AP Europe SAQ 6.5 - Withrow

Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.

"If we had never heard governments spoken of, and men were called upon to deliberate, for example, on hereditary or elective monarchy, we should justly regard one who would decide for the former as a madman: the argument against it appear so naturally to reason, that it is useless to repeat them. History, however, which is experimental politics, demonstrates, that an hereditary monarchy is the government which is most stable, the happiest, and the most natural to man; and an elective monarchy, on the contrary, is the worst form of government known.

It is written, 'By me, kings reign' [Proverbs 8:15] This is not a phrase of the church, a metaphor of the preacher; it is a literal truth, simple and palpable.

It is a law of the political world. God makes kings in the literal sense. He prepares royal races; maturing them under a cloud which conceals their origin. They appear at length crowned with glory and honor; they take their places; and this is the most certain of their legitimacy.

The truth is, that they arise as it were of themselves, without violence on the one part, and without marked deliberation on the other: it is a species of magnificent tranquility, not easy to express. Legitimate usurpation would seem to me to be the most appropriate expression, (if not too bold,) to characterize these kinds of origins, which time hastens to consecrate."

-Joseph de Maistre, "Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions," 1809

Describe the historical situation in which de Maistre was writing.

Explain the importance of the historical situation in which de Maistre was writing.

Explain ONE phrase in this passage that shows the difference between the ideas of Maistre and those of John Locke.