Quote of the Month

Writes American Monarchist:

There is no such thing as the consent of the governed, unless you count "not blowing up Capitol Hill" as "consent". Government is about force. The talk about "the consent of the governed" is rhetoric intended to make the subjects of a democracy feel as if they are not sheep being shorn until time for the barbecue. Time for adherents of elected government to come up with a better argument.

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Bertrand de Jouvenel

Five score and half a dozen years ago today, Bertrand de Jouvenel was born.

To quote:

Where is liberty?

For two centuries now this European society of ours has been seeking it; what it has found has been the widest, the most cumbersome, and the most burdensome state authority ever yet experienced by our civilization.

And:

The mistake is one which was exposed in advance by Montesquieu: "As it is a feature of democracies that to all appearance the people does almost exactly as it wishes, men have supposed that democratic governments were the abiding-place of liberty: they confused the power of the people with the liberty of the people." This confusion of thought is at the root of modern despotism.

Further:

When at a given moment of historical development we find Power making laws with the assent either of the people as a whole or of an assembly, and being unable to make them except with this assent, we are apt to interpret these rights of the people or assembly as a limitation on Power, as a decline from its primitive state of absolutism. But this primitive absolutism is pure myth. It is not true that mankind has emerged from a former state in which magistrates and monarchs dictated out of their own heads the rules of behaviour. They had not in truth such a right, or, more accurately perhaps, of such power.

Moreover:

It is possible, with the help of prudently balanced institutions, to provide everyone with effective safeguards against Power. But there are no institutions on earth which enable each separate person to have a hand in the exercise of Power, for Power is command, and everyone cannot command. Sovereignty of the people is, therefore, nothing but a fiction, and one which must in the long run prove destructive of individual liberties.

Also:

[Authoritarianism] could, no doubt, have been avoided if there had been a stable, vigorous, and unified executive to which the legislature acted merely as limitary principle. But in fact, as we have seen, the contrary happened: the legislature made itself the ruling sovereign.

His Britannic Majesty Spoke to Parliament after Declaration of Independence

233 years ago today, King George III gave his first speech before the British Parliament since the leaders of the American Revolution came together for the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Happy Halloween!

If I could find a way to dress up as Wilsonian mass democracy with no clothes, I could scare the pumpkin out of all the neighbors.

The October Manifesto

Eight long dozen years ago today, the October Manifesto was issued.

Ottoman Surrender

Seven baker's dozen years ago today, the Ottoman Empire surrendered to the Allied Powers.

Jane Addams

Half a dozen years short of a century ago today, Jane Addams wrote to the bête noire of this weblog, arguing the dangers of preparing for war.

Turkish Republic Proclaimed

Five decades and three dozen years ago today, Turkey was proclaimed a republic.

Lew Rockwell on the Young Turks:

Who were the Young Turks? A bunch of pro-British militarist-nationalists in WWI Turkey, engaged in helping overthrow the Ottoman Empire, and setting up a military dictatorship, which exists (slightly disguised) to this day. The Young Turks also committed genocide against the Armenians, and ethnically cleansed the Greeks. The Brits (and the French), for their part, wanted to open up former Ottoman provinces like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, etc. to colonialization. The whole area, as David Fromkin shows in his magisterial A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, has been in turmoil since the Treaty of Versailles. The Ottoman Empire was sort of an Islamic Austro-Hungarian Empire, multinational and therefore anti-nationalism, pretty tolerant of ethnic and religious minorities, decentralzed and against religious extemism, since the Sultan, himself a religious figure, wanted no competition. But war criminals like Winston Churchill wanted chaos in the Middle East, the better to expand British imperialism and enrich the special interests that profited from oppressing and ripping off foreign peoples. This is just more evidence, of course, for thinking that WWI was the worst political and humanitarian disaster in the history of the West. After all, WWI also led to Leninism and Hitlerism.

German Mutiny

Nine years short of five score years ago today, mutiny broke out in the German High Seas Fleet.

His Britannic Majesty Speaks

Eighteen long dozen years ago today, King George III spoke to Parliament about the American rebellion.

Ludendorff Resignation

Seven long dozen years ago today, Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff resigned as quartermaster general.

House of Lords Act

Ten years ago today, the House of Lords passed the House of Lords Act 1999, altering the upper chamber beyond recognition.

Swedish-Norwegian Dissolution

Eight baker's dozen years ago today, the Swedish-Norwegian Union was dissolved.


Mr. Trond Norén Isaksen has more photos of the peace monument.

Brazil vs. Germany

92 years ago today, Brazil joined the Allied Powers.

Allies Leave Austria

Six years short of six decades ago today, the Allies left Austrian territory according to the Austrian State Treaty. The treaty's full name was:

State Treaty (with annexes and maps) for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria.

One of the provisions read:

Austria further undertakes to maintain the law of 3rd April, 1919, concerning the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine.

Benjamin Constant

A score dozen and two years ago today, Benjamin Constant was born. To quote:

In a word, despotism [i.e., absolute monarchy] rules through silence and leaves man the right to remain silent; usurpation [i.e., dictatorship] condemns him to speak, it extends this persecution to the private sanctuary of his thought, and by forcing him to lie to his conscience it robs him of the last consolation which is still left the oppressed.

And:

In certain historical periods one has to make the full circle of follies in order to return to reason.

Both quotes can be found in Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn's Liberty or Equality.

George III to Address Grievances

Five years short of a dozen score years ago today, the First Continental Congress petitioned His Majesty George III to address grievances.

The Peace of Westphalia

Thirty dozen and one year ago today, the Treaty of Münster was signed as the second part of the Peace of Westphalia.

French Republican Calendar

Eighteen dozen years ago today, the Jacobins adopted the French Republican Calendar.

W.E.H. Lecky

Eight long dozen and two years ago today, William Edward Hartpole Lecky, who stood up against the rising age of democracy, passed on from this world.

Karl and Zita

Today is Blessed Emperor-King Karl's Feast Day. A couple of years short of a century ago today, then Archduke Karl married Princess Zita.

Ottoman Armistice?

Seven baker's dozen years ago today, the Ottomans sought an armistice with the Allied Powers.

Surrender of Cornwallis

Eleven score and eight years ago today, General Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

Russell Kirk

91 years ago today, Russel Kirk was born.

Alaska from Russia

A couple of years short of a dozen dozen years ago today, Alaska was transferred from the throne of Russia.

José Ortega y Gasset

Six years short of three score years ago today, José Ortega y Gasset passed away.

Ortega y Gasset worked against the monarchy, but was nevertheless an opponent of the rise of the rule of mass man.

Tea Act Criticized

A couple of centuries and three dozen years ago today, the Tea Act was criticized in the “Philadelphia Resolutions.”

Queen Murdered

Eighteen dozen years ago today, the Queen of France was brutally murdered.

Canada 1812

Three years short of a couple of centuries ago today, Canada was saved – under the leadership of Sir Isaac Brock – from takeover from the American Republic.

Anatole France

Seven dozen and a year ago today, François-Anatole Thibault, also known as Anatole France, passed on.

To quote:

For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free.

Robert E. Lee

Five score and three long dozen years ago today, Robert E. Lee passed away.

Pedro I of Brazil

A baker's dozen years short of a couple of centuries ago today, Dom Pedro Primeiro proclaimed the Empire of Brazil and himself as Emperor – on his 24^th birthday.

Bulgaria with the Central Powers

Six years short of a century ago today, the Kingdom of Bulgaria entered the Great War on the side of the Central Powers.

Thomas Konow

Two centuries and a long dozen years ago today, Thomas Konow was born. A dozen decades and eight years ago today, he passed on.

Thomas Konow was the last survivor of the Norwegian constitutional fathers. He lived to see the beginning of the “constitutional crisis” that would ultimately wreck the regime established by the constitutional fathers.

The Siege of Vienna

A score years short of half a millennium ago today (September 27 in the Julian Calendar), the Siege of Vienna commenced – ending 17 days later.

Bosnia under Austria-Hungary

A century and a year ago today, the Danube Monarchy annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Lord Cornwallis

Two centuries and four years ago today, the Most Honourable General the Marquess Cornwallis passed on from this world.

French Revolutionaries Disestablish Christianity

Four years short of eleven score years ago today, Christianity was disestablished in France.

The Kingdom of Portugal

99 years ago today, the Kingdom of Portugal fell.

Viva o Rei de Portugal!

François Guizot

222 years ago today, François Guizot was born.

"Making the World Safe for Democracy"

91 years ago today, the German Empire sought an armistice with the Persona Non Grata of this weblog, who later the same month “responded,” saying only a “democratic Germany” would be dealt with.

War Revenue Act

Four score and a dozen years ago today, the United States Congress passed the War Revenue Act.

Gloucester, Virginia

Eight years in addition to eleven score years ago today, supplies for His Britannic Majesty's forces were cut off at Gloucester in the Old Dominion.

Life after Democracy?

Over at The Nation, Ms. Arundhati Roy ponders modern democracy, especially in the Indian context.


H/T: Mr. Charles Featherstone of the LRC Blog

French Legislative Assembly

Two years short of eleven score years ago today, the French Legislative Assembly convened.

French Support of the American War of Independence

233 years ago today, the rebels learned of increased French support.

The Second Jacobite Rising

A long dozen score and four years ago today (September 21 in the Julian Calendar), the Battle of Prestonpans of the second Jacobite Rising took place.

Lawrence of Arabia Takes Damascus

Nine years short of a century ago today, Lawrence of Arabia overtook Damascus.

Max von Baden Takes Office

Seven baker's dozen years ago today, Max von Baden succeeded Georg von Hertling as Chancellor of the German Empire.