What better monarch to feature for a July 4th post than His Majesty King George III? He may be the only monarch in the history of the world to be vilified in the founding documents of another country. What is sadly, even criminally unjust, is that King George III was as far from being a cruel, despotic tyrant as any man could be. He was, in fact, an upright, generous man of simple tastes, extremely devoted to his family and could, with relatively little opposition I think, be considered the most able and admirable monarch of the Hanoverian dynasty of Britain. This monarch who came to be so hated in America was very popular in Britain, even beloved. He was the first king of the House of Hannover not to speak with a German accent, who considered himself truly "British" rather than a German who simply tolerated Britain for the brief periods he had to stay on the island. It can honestly be said that George III was the first truly British monarch to reign since the death of Queen Anne. What is more ironic, is that he was quite popular in the American colonies as well, the attachment to the Crown being the only thing which really prevented independence from being declared much sooner.
On the Ludvig von Mises Institute Blog, Stephan Kinsella proposes a Happy We-Should-Restore-The-Monarchy-And-Rejoin-Britain Day!:
The celebration of the 4th of July as if it's a libertarian holiday is a bit much to bear. Secession from Britain was a mistake. It's easy enough to realize that the Constitution was not some libertarian achievement as conservatives and libertarians delude themselves into thinking. The Declaration of Independence in 1776 led to all the standard evils of war and raising an army--in the words of Jeff Hummel, "unfunded government debt, paper money, skyrocketing inflation, price controls, legal tender laws, direct impressment of supplies and wide-spread conscription." Hmm, doesn't sound very libertarian to me. (See also below on the language of the Declaration.) Stealing, conscripting, enslaving, murdering. The glorification of democracy. The expansion of empire. The entrenching of corporatist interests with the state. The substitution of traditional order with worship of the democratic state.
7 comments:
Pining for the British Empire would mean something if the UK weren't in even worse shape than the USA is now.
Now, if it's Brits and Colonials pining for the old British Empire, all is forgiven. I can raise a glass to that.
Here's a 2003 defence of George III by America's Joseph Sobran:
http://www.sobran.com/columns/2003/030916.shtml
Thank you Mr Stove. Nice to see that Mr Sobran was willng to put a good word in for a person falsely accused of being a tyrant like poor old King George III.
By the way, has your own website been restored yet?
Yes, my website is now online again, though such was the damage to it caused by hackers earlier in 2009 that it will probably take another month before I can restore to it everything that it had before.
Well Mr Stove, I hope everything gets back to normal as swiftly, and as easily, as possible.
Yes King George got the shaft for doing what all British kings have done since the Glorious Revolution - front for a rapacious parliamentary elite!
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