Dear Friends, Be careful what you wish for

Well, the king will come in. Let him come-in, and call a Parliament of the greatest Cavaliers in England, so they be men of estates, and let them sett but 7 yeares, and they will all turn Common-wealthe’s men.

James Harrington, 21 February 1660

Strict parallels in history don’t exist. Things change. This moment is different from any other, past, or passing, or to come. The tendency to look for parallels is unhelpful unless it gives clear recognition to the necessary differences: seeing what is different in an earlier event that seems similar is usually more valuable than enumerating similarities.

So I’m going to name not a parallel, but an event worth attention in our interesting times.

The English Civil War between, roughly, King and Parliament went through its various stages, roughly, between 1642 and 1651; although the execution in 1649 of the reigning monarch, Charles I, was the decisive moment. The monarchy was restored in 1660. The period in between, known to royalist historians, and to bourgeois historians feeling sorry for them, as the Interregnum, was in fact the period of the Commonwealth, in which England, dispensing with kings, experimented in a republican form of government under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

The Commonwealth did not long survive Cromwell’s death in 1658. But the terms negotiated for the return of the king (Charles II), were, for the time, remarkably peaceful. They did, however, put an end to any possibility of a permanent English Republic.

James Harrington (1611-1677) was an exponent of republican government in the civic humanist tradition, and author of The Commonwealth of Oceana, a classic of utopian literature (for civic humanism, see J.G.A. Pocock, esp., The Machiavellian Moment).

In late 1659 and early 1660 he and friends met nightly at the Turk’s Head in New Palace Yard. Their last meeting, as the Restoration got going, was on 21 February, at the close of which Harrington spoke the words given above, but worth repeating: “Well, the king will come in. Let him come-in, and call a Parliament of the greatest Cavaliers in England, so they be men of estates, and let them sett but 7 yeares, and they will all turn Common-wealthe’s men.”

Harrington’s timing was a bit off, and the greatest Cavaliers in England didn’t exactly turn Common-wealthe’s men. But they did, completely and entirely, abandon absolute monarchy. Three years (1685-1688) of Charles’ brother James worked the final magic, though the greatest Cavaliers huzza’d! like anything at his coronation.

So, no Republic, but also, no Divine Right of Kings.

Ok, time to shake the dust of the 17th century, scrape the mud of New Palace Yard, from our shoes.

               Dateline 2024

Might there possibly be some greatest Cavaliers, so they be men of estates, amongst us still? Cavaliers huzzaing like

crazy and all over the place. What are they huzzaing for? Who are they huzzaing for?

Ok, here we need to take a little break. Royal families as a species are an unprepossessing bunch. The number of even vaguely presentable ones, up to and including the present moment, is small. Among them, Charles II really doesn’t come off so badly. Mainly what he wanted was to have a good time – my own feeling is that he desperately hoped that the Restoration wouldn’t happen, he was doing fine supported by the French in the manner to which he was accustomed. And then, my mum was fond of him, and she was an extraordinary judge of character even across centuries. James II was another thing entirely, but he lost his crown quite consciously doing what he believed – yes, returning Britain to Catholicism really wasn’t going to fly, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

When we come to today’s huzzaists and those for whom they are huzzaing – huzza-ees ? – we’re in very different territory. Anyone who can huzzah! for this particular huzza-ee … well, you can only say they asked for it.

Which brings us to the point: is it really a good idea for Republicans throughout the land, high and low, downstream and upstream, to HUZZAH! quite so loudly and sycophantically as this? For this guy? That he’ll turn on you in an instant is almost the least of it. He requires you all to lie all the time. If you forget for one moment, and tell a truth, however small, you’re toast.

You have all become astonishingly good at lying with a straight face, even with an unctuous smugness (the current speaker of the House is specially good at that). Yes, you all support one another in your lies – except when you don’t – and you have the comfort in knowing not only that your 24/7 tele-prompt provided by Fox, Newsmax, etc. is there to tell you what else to say, but also that if everything else fails you can get a high-paying gig there … well, maybe, listen, though, if too many of you all at once get thrown out, well, Fox may do some winnowing. Keep your day jobs  handy, if you can.

Let’s cut to the chase: are you all really sure that Project 2025/Trump 2025 is really going to work out for you? Ok, you’re never going to turn Common-wealthe’s men, that is, you’re never going to work for the ordinary, common-sense good of the American people and of the world … but you may want to re-think your trust in Trump, in the Heritage Foundation, in the “Second American Revolution”. Whatever that is, it is certainly not for you, at best, you’re pawns (ok, that’s maybe a bit better than being prawns).

Sorry, got a bit carried away haranguing the unfortunate.

Love and solidarity,

Bobby