Cicero
by Winston Elliott III
I am yearning for conservative voices offering great depth, thoughtfulness, and dare we say, grace. Is it possible to be strong in conservative principles and to present those principles in a manner which is attractive, persuasive and genuine? Where is our American Cicero? Is there hope for the American Republic? Perhaps. As Russell Kirk said: “A conservatism of instinct must be reinforced by a conservatism of thought and imagination.” The Imaginative Conservative will continue to present a conservatism of thought and imagination in the hope of preserving the best of the Western tradition and restoring the virtue of our Republic. Let us commence, and let us pray.
“Long before our own time, the customs of our ancestors moulded admirable men, and in turn these eminent men upheld the ways and instituions of their forebears. Our age, however, inherited the Republic like some beautiful painting of bygone days, its colors already fading through great age; and not only has our time neglected to freshen the colors of the picture, but we have failed to preserve its form and outlines.
For what remains to us, nowadays, of the ancient ways on which the commonwealth, we are told, was founded? We see them so lost in oblivion that they are not merely neglected, but quite forgot. And what am I to say of the men? For our customs have perished for want of men to stand by them, and we are now called to an account, so that we stand impeached like men accused of capital crimes, compelled to plead our own cause. Through our vices, rather than from happenstance, we retain the word “republic” long after we have lost the reality.”–Cicero, De Re Publica
Do we too retain the word “republic” long after we have lost the reality? Is the American Republic beyond hope? President Richard Nixon once asked Dr. Russell Kirk if we “we have any hope.” Dr. Kirk replied that “…it is all a matter of belief. If most intelligent and energetic people come to believe the prophets of despair, then indeed ruin falls upon the state, for many folk withdraw to hidie-holes, there to conceal themselves from the coming wrath.” We should ask ourselves if we encourage our fellows to have hope. Do we suggest paths to cultural renewal as often as we lament the present discontent? Or have we given in to a conservatism of nostalgia where we immerse in mourning the loss of what we can never regain? Are we prophets of despair?
Alternatively, is ours a conservatism of restoration as well as preservation? Dr. Kirk went on to tell Nixon: “But if, rather than despairing, people recognize the gravity of social circumstances and hopefully resolve to take arms against a sea of troubles–why, hope breeds hope, and a nation’s vitality is renewed…the American Republic is still young, as civilizations go, and that despite our present discontents we Americans conceivably may enter soon upon an augustan age.”
A conservatism of hope which helps to bring about an Augustan age. I like that.
Winston Elliott III is the Editor-in-Chief of The Imaginative Conservative.. Find Russell Kirk’s books here.
Thanks for taking the time to create and write this.
Aspects of the task may be different depending upon where our vocations lead us.
Someone such as Barbara, working with various troubled communities, has her noble work cut out for her. Same for Brad teaching. Some others of us, more politically involved, must constantly interpret current events in a mercurial and ephemeral world, lacking such distinct, stable and rewarding furrows to plough. A Christian monk, a Zen master or a Sufi adept can lose himself in his/God's work, just as can a parent, a teacher, a social-worker, etc. In a way, whether they are saving the culture for today or planting winter wheat to sprout after the coming snows, it may not matter so long as they keep heart and keep at it. Similarly, a writer and publisher of ideas such as you primarily feeds hearts with values. No effort is wasted for those who "work like a creek" (in Rumi's phrase), quiet but never still. The conservative many can take pleasure and hope in the immediate and local results of their efforts; while the politically-active few must struggle harder to avoid despair for they are sowing for a far broader and uncertain harvest. In communities and families no effort is wasted, while for those of us who try to paint on a bigger (but by no means no more important) canvas, results are less immediately dependable.
Yet, if God stands outside of all Creation then He stands outside of Time, and every act within Time remains ever visible to Him and to all those blessed enough to join Him. So even if empires decay, no effort is wasted nor good deed unnoticed.
Meanwhile, let us be like Chesterton's old Saxon king for whom: "…there was death on the Emperor, And night upon the Pope, And Alfred, hiding in deep grass, Hardened his heart with hope."
Very insightful article from the editor of IMC . Hopeful to see more articles authored by WWE III in the near future.