Ch. 6 - Hero as King

[May 22, 1840.]
LECTURE VI.
THE HERO AS KING. CROMWELL, NAPOLEON: MODERN REVOLUTIONISM.



We come now to the last form of Heroism; that which we call Kingship. The
Commander over Men; he to whose will our wills are to be subordinated, and
loyally surrender themselves, and find their welfare in doing so, may be
reckoned the most important of Great Men. He is practically the summary
for us of _all_ the various figures of Heroism; Priest, Teacher, whatsoever
of earthly or of spiritual dignity we can fancy to reside in a man,
embodies itself here, to _command_ over us, to furnish us with constant
practical teaching, to tell us for the day and hour what we are to _do_.
He is called _Rex_, Regulator, _Roi_: our own name is still better; King,
_Konning_, which means _Can_-ning, Able-man.

Numerous considerations, pointing towards deep, questionable, and indeed
unfathomable regions, present themselves here: on the most of which we
must resolutely for the present forbear to speak at all. As Burke said
that perhaps fair _Trial by Jury_ was the soul of Government, and that all
legislation, administration, parliamentary debating, and the rest of it,
went on, in "order to bring twelve impartial men into a jury-box;"--so, by
much stronger reason, may I say here, that the finding of your _Ableman_
and getting him invested with the _symbols of ability_, with dignity,
worship (_worth_-ship), royalty, kinghood, or whatever we call it, so that
_he_ may actually have room to guide according to his faculty of doing
it,--is the business, well or ill accomplished, of all social procedure
whatsoever in this world! Hustings-speeches, Parliamentary motions, Reform
Bills, French Revolutions, all mean at heart this; or else nothing. Find
in any country the Ablest Man that exists there; raise _him_ to the supreme
place, and loyally reverence him: you have a perfect government for that
country; no ballot-box, parliamentary eloquence, voting,
constitution-building, or other machinery whatsoever can improve it a whit.
It is in the perfect state; an ideal country. The Ablest Man; he means
also the truest-hearted, justest, the Noblest Man: what he _tells us to
do_ must be precisely the wisest, fittest, that we could anywhere or anyhow
learn;--the thing which it will in all ways behoove US, with right loyal
thankfulness and nothing doubting, to do! Our _doing_ and life were then,
so far as government could regulate it, well regulated; that were the ideal
of constitutions.

Alas, we know very well that Ideals can never be completely embodied in
practice. Ideals must ever lie a very great way off; and we will right
thankfully content ourselves with any not intolerable approximation
thereto! Let no man, as