Essays in Idleness

[I’ve been fussing with this essay, which is much too grand.]

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As an unreconstructed monarchist, and general reactionary, I have notarized several items of news lately touching on the British succession. Now, seriously, under Scots law, one cannot be a “notar” unless one is first a solicitor, or so I was once told. So perhaps I only noted, that the succession of Charles, not only to the Kingship of Canada, but also to the Headship of the Commonwealth of Nations, is already proceeding. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has, with her characteristic wisdom and foresight, been “pushing the envelope” on this one, internationally, lest the usual liberal-progressive fiends seize the opportunity to try something on, in the event (quod Deus avertat!) of her demise.

Of course, I am also a Jacobite, but my (Loyalist, Scotch Presbyterian) ancestors were able smoothly to transfer their allegiance from the Stuarts to the Hanovers, when a worse enemy came in sight — in their case, republican revolutionists in these American colonies. Gaelic dance requires feat footing, and the occasional exchange of partners.

It is best, in any realm, to have only one person on the throne at a time, and that person as legitimate as possible. Putting a committee, a party or, worst, an “idea” on the throne, instead, is no recipe for digestible oatmeal. And for sake of completeness, God leaves the construction of earthly thrones to the human chairmakers, and Christ the King is above them all.

The democrats of this world — and I am not one of them — are of the opinion that the only way to obtain a peaceful transition of power is by mass voting. This is nonsense, as will be seen in the impending civil war, between voting constituencies of the Left and Right that cannot abide each other. Princes of Church and State are meant to ride above mere factional squabbles; to embody wholes, not halves.

Yet peace is secured by neither monarchy, nor democracy, but by universal subscription to legitimate rule. It is in the hands of the people, finally, who alone can resist their Adamic inclinations to malicious idiocy, abetted by sociopaths and frauds, demagogues and imposters. The singular beauty of inheritance in a kingdom is that the instruments of succession hold relatively still. Mobs, by comparison, shift about. Their decision of one day is rued in another. They are combustible by nature.

(The USA revolutionists did finally frame an arguably legitimate constitutional order, that was mature enough to last fifty years. The Founding Fathers had views on democracy quite similar to mine. Came they back to see how their Constitution had fared “by the people,” and the politicians of DC, they would surely vomit.)

Nothing in our human world works smoothly for long, thanks to sin, and I wouldn’t want to overstate hereditary virtues. Moreover, the conflict with revolutionary forces is one that will exist in all ages, as we first discovered in Eden Pairc. For the devil never gives up, and won’t, until Time itself is concluded. The enemies of peace, order, and good government, may claim to have alternative organizing principles, but except Tyranny, they never do. Their real intention, under the sponsorship of the infernal power, is to undermine any order that exists, promote discontent, and turn it into violence.

Notwithstanding anything I may have said yesterday, the personal morality of the leader — whether she be Her Majesty, or Trump — makes no fatal difference. It isn’t a public matter, it shouldn’t concern the people, if the people are left alone. It is matter between the ruler and God. Even King David had foibles.

(Those Bible-reading Evangelicals understand this, among whom Trump’s popularity just soars.)

The issue with Henry VIII, for instance, was not that he was personally a rake, scum, adulterer, and overall sleazebag, like many other monarchs. Rather it was that he, by his actions, was overturning the political and ecclesiastical order of England, Wales, and all Europe — with terrible consequences that, incidentally, Saint Thomas More foresaw. For this alone, he was worth deposing. Alas, the Pilgrimage of Grace failed.

The crimes of the Borgias and Medicis fill me with indifference. They did not try to change the teaching of Holy Church. Only a pope who toys with that, ought to be removed from office.

One must not only have a legitimate ruler, but he must rule legitimately, leaving the office as he found it, having made no fundamental change. This, Her Majesty our beloved Queen, has been doing her best to assure, and as always, God Save the Queen!