CREDO OF A REACTIONARY
BYFRANCIS STUART CAlVFPBELL
Authorof Tha Menawof tha H~rd
I that
Do not hesitate to announce
I ama reactionary. I take
a deep pride in the fact. I see no
more virtue in looking forward
longingly to an unknown future
than in looking backward nostal-
gically to knownand proven values.
The term "reactionary" as I use
it does not stand for a definite and
immutableset of ideas. It stands
for an attitude of mind. As a reac-
tionary I resent and oppose the
spirit and the trends of the epoch
I am forced to live in, and seek to
restore the spirit which had its
finest embodiment in by-gone
periods.
The circumstance that the term
"reactionary" is applied as an epi-
thet to fascists and other brands
of modern man for whoma true
reactionary has only contempt is
no fault of mine.
As an honest reactionary I nat-
This is the fourth in a series of articles summing
up personal "credos" or life-views. Previous con-
tributions were the credo of a Liberal by Oswald
Garrison Villard; of a Conservative by George Bar-
ton Cutten; and of a Socialist by Norman Thomas.
The editors do not necessarily agree with the views
expressed in this series.
86
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
urally reject Nazism, communism,
fascism and all related ideologies
whichare, in sober fact, the reduc-
rio ad absurdumof so-called democ-
racy and mobdomination. I reject
the absurd assumptions of majority
rule, parliamentaryhocus.-pocus;the
bogusmaterialistic liberalism of the
Manchester School and the bogus
conservatism of the big bankers and
industrialists. I abhor the central-
ism and uniformity of the herd life,
the stupid mobspirit of racialism,
the private capitalism as well as the
state capitalism (socialism) which
have contributed to the gradual
ruin of our civilization !in the last
two centuries. The real reactionary
of this dayis a rebel against the pre-
vailing assumptions and a "radi-
cal" in that he goes downto the
roots.
I ampersonally a reactionary of
the traditional Christian faith, with
a liberal outlook and agrarian pro-
pensities. Where so marly around
me worship the "new," I respect
forms and institutions which have
grownorganically over a long period
 CREDO OF A REACTIONARY
of time. The periods that preceded
the two great storms -- the Middle
Ages and the Renaissance, ended
by the Reformation; and the
Eighteenth Century, ended by the
French Revolution- are rich in
forms and ideas of lasting impor-
tance. The universality of a Nicho-
las of Cues or of an Albertus Mag-
nus, the glory of the Cathedral of
Chartres and the late Baroque of
Austria, inspiring figures like Ma-
ria Theresa, Pascal, George Wash-
ington or Leibnitz fascinate me
more than the three "common
men" of our time--Mussolini,
Stalin and Hitler- or the demo-
cratic splendor of a department
store or the spiritual emptiness of
communistand fascist mass meet-
ings magnetized by ecstatic mob-
masters.
The introductory note to this de-
cline of civilization was written by
Martin Luther, who worshipped
the nation, exalted the state and
ranted against the Jews; by that
royal barbarian on the English
throne who supplanted the Catho-
lic spirit of his countrywith a para-
lyzing parochialism; by the first
"modern" -- the Genevan who de-
nied the basis of all philosophical
freedom, Free Will -- and the other
Genevan who preached the return
to the jungle and idyllic barbarism.
These four horsemen--Luther,
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
87
Henry VIII, Calvin and Rousseau
--were but the heralds of more
fateful things to come. The dis-
aster was final when the French
Revolution, faced by the eternal
dilemmaof choosing between lib-
erty and equality, decided for
equality. The guillotine and the
Strasbourg magistrates who
creed that the spire of the cathe-
dral be demolished because it rose
above the equalitarian level of all
other houses, are everlasting sym-
bols of modernism and perverse
"progress."
The masses, forming organized
majorities’ holding identical ideas
and hating uniformly all those who
dare to be different, are the pres-
ent-day product of these various
revolts. Priest and Jew, aristocrat
and beggar, genius and imbecile,
the political non-conformist and
the philosophical explorer- all of
them are on the list of the pro-
scribed. The herd rules today al-
most everywhere with various
means and under the most diverse
labels. This tyranny is what I op-
pose.
II
As a reactionary, I believe in lib-
erty, but not in equality. The only
equality I can accept is the spiritual
equality of two newbornbabes re-
88 THE AMERICAN MERCURY
gardless of the color, creed or race
of their parents. I accept neither
the degrading equalitarianism of
the "democrats," nor the artificial
divisions of the racialists, nor the
class distinctions of communists
and snobs.
Humanbeings are unique. They
should have the opportunity to
develop the personalities--and that
meansresponsibility, suffering, lone-
liness. I not only like the principle
of monarchybut I like all people
whoare crowned. Andthere are all
sorts of crowns, the noblest of them
consisting of thorns. ModernMan
--this docile, "cooperative" and
urbanized animal--is not after a
reactionary’s liking.
I believe in the family, in the
natural hierarchy within the fam-
ily, and in the natural chasm be-
tween the sexes. I love old men
full of dignity and proud fathers,
but I also love courageous and up-
right children. In a hierarchy the
lowest memberis functionally as
important as the highest. Andthe
abyss between men and women
seems to me a good thing too;
there is no triumph in building a
bridge over a mere puddle.
I like people with property. I am
not at all enthusiastic about the
rootless fellow in an apartment
house, with a social security num-
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
ber as his maindistinction. I loathe
the capitalism that concen-trates
property in the hands of a fe~y, no
less than socialism whk:hwants to
transfer it to that great nobody,
the hydra with a million heads and
no soul, Society. I like people With
their ownabode, their ownfiel-d~,
their own views prompting them
to independent action. I fear the
herd: the 51 per cent who voted
for Hitler and Huge:nberg; the
howling mobwhich supported the
French Terror; the 55 per cent of
Whites in Southern States who
keep the 45 per cent of Negroes
"in their place" with ~:he help of
blow torch and rope.
I dread all masses consisting of
men afraid to be unique, to fie
persons; caring for safety more
than for liberty, fearing their
neighbors or "community" more
than God and their conscience.
These are the people wlho demand
not only equality but identity.
They suspect anybody who dares
to be different. They want merely
"ordinary, decent chaps" after the
British, "regular guys" after the
Americanor "rechte Kerle" after the
German pattern. Modern Man
seems to have only one wish: to
see everything moulded after his
o,vn image; he loathes personality
and wants to assimilate. What he
88 THE AMERICAN MERCURY
gardless of the color, creed or race
of their parents. I accept neither
the degrading equalitarianism of
the "democrats," nor the artificial
divisions of the racialists, nor the
class distinctions of communists
and snobs.
Humanbeings are unique. They
should have the opportunity to
develop the personalities--and that
meansresponsibility, suffering, lone-
liness. I not only like the principle
of monarchybut I like all people
whoare crowned. Andthere are all
sorts of crowns, the noblest of them
consisting of thorns. ModernMan
--this docile, "cooperative" and
urbanized animal--is not after a
reactionary’s liking.
I believe in the family, in the
natural hierarchy within the fam-
ily, and in the natural chasm be-
tween the sexes. I love old men
full of dignity and proud fathers,
but I also love courageous and up-
right children. In a hierarchy the
lowest memberis functionally as
important as the highest. Andthe
abyss between men and women
seems to me a good thing too;
there is no triumph in building a
bridge over a mere puddle.
I like people with property. I am
not at all enthusiastic about the
rootless fellow in an apartment
house, with a social security num-
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
ber as his maindistinction. I loathe
the capitalism that concen-trates
property in the hands of a fe~y, no
less than socialism whk:hwants to
transfer it to that great nobody,
the hydra with a million heads and
no soul, Society. I like people With
their ownabode, their ownfiel-d~,
their own views prompting them
to independent action. I fear the
herd: the 51 per cent who voted
for Hitler and Huge:nberg; the
howling mobwhich supported the
French Terror; the 55 per cent of
Whites in Southern States who
keep the 45 per cent of Negroes
"in their place" with ~:he help of
blow torch and rope.
I dread all masses consisting of
men afraid to be unique, to fie
persons; caring for safety more
than for liberty, fearing their
neighbors or "community" more
than God and their conscience.
These are the people wlho demand
not only equality but identity.
They suspect anybody who dares
to be different. They want merely
"ordinary, decent chaps" after the
British, "regular guys" after the
Americanor "rechte Kerle" after the
German pattern. Modern Man
seems to have only one wish: to
see everything moulded after his
o,vn image; he loathes personality
and wants to assimilate. What he
 CREDO OF A REACTIONARY 89
cannot assimilate he weeds out. AmericanWhigs. Wereactionaries
Ourwholeage is markedby a vast (whetherweknowit or not) are all
systemof levelling andassimilating Whigs.Ourtradition, in English-
agencies comprisingschools, ads, speakingcountries, rests on Magna
barracks, mass-produced goods, Charta, which only the ignorant
mass-produced newspapers and will call "democratic."
books and ideas. The darker side I have no relish for nineteenth
of this process can be seen in the century"liberalism"with its gross
social ostracismpracticed against materialismand the paganbelief in
minorities in pseudo-liberaldemoc- the "survivalof the fittest," i.e. the
racies; in the humanabattoirs and most unscrupulous. For European
concentration campsof the super- conditions I amnaturally a mon-
democratictotalitarian nations; in archist becausemonarchyis basi-
the endlessstreamsof homelessref- cally supra-racialandsupra-national.
- ugees wanderingaimlessly all over Not only did free institutions sur-
the world. CommonManin any vive better in the monarchiesof
aggregationis pitiless, whollylack- Northwestern Europethan in the
ing in generosity. republican heart of the continent
.Liberty, after all, is an aristo- but in the ethnically mixedarea of
cratic ideal. In Washington, right Central and Eastern Europe one
in front of the White House, on oughtto prefer monarchs of foreign
JacksonSquare, there is a wonder- origin with alien wives,alien moth-
fu! symbol: the monumentto the ers, and alien sons- and daugh-
first Americanegalitarian sur- ters-in-law to political "leaders"
roundedby the statues of four Eu- belongingpassionatelyto specific
ropean noblemen who came to nationalities,classes,parties.
America to fight for liberty andnot I feel freer undera manwho,is
for identity--the Polish-White- nobody’schoice than underthe ap-
"- RussiannoblemanKosciuszko,Baron pointee of a majority following
yon Steuben, the Comte de Ro- blindly their overheatedemotions.
chambeauand the Marquisde La- Voltaire had morechance to sway
fayette. Baronde Kalb is commem-the courts of Paris, Potsdamand
orated elsewhere and Count Pu- Petersburgthan a Dawson,a Soro-
laski’s namegraces a highwayin kin, a Ferrero or a Bernanoshas
Newlersey and a statue in Savan- to swaythe "democratic"masses.
nah. Pulaski wasthe only general The Europeanmonarchsintellec-
killed in the Great Rising of the tually and morally have matched

PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG

ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
 °9 THE AMERICAN MERCURY
their republican top-hatted epi- destroyedall cultural institutions of
gones. The Bourbons certainly non-Italians in their countryfound
comparefavorablywith the politi- imitators in the streatnlined and
cos of the three FrenchRepublics. progressive Technocratswhoclam-
TheFtihrers of the totalitarian era ored, once this war had reached
have of course often been more America,for the confiscationof the
"brilliant" and successful because wholeforeign-languagepress.
less scrupulous. Backedby care- Asa reactionaryI like patriots,
fully staged plebiscites, they feel whoget enthusiastic about their
iustified in indulgingin slaughters patria, their fatherland;and I dis-
no Bourbon, Habsburgor Hohen- like nationalists, whoget excited
zollern wouldhave risked. Plato about tongue and blood. The re-
told us more than two thousand actionary upholdsthe idea of soil
years ago that democracydegen- and liberty, he fights against the
erates inevitablyinto dictatorships complexof bloodand equality.
and de Tocqueville re-emphasized As a rectionary I hold definite
it in I835. Mostfatheads on both viewsas well ~s tentative opinions.
sides of the Atlantic continue to "In necessary things unity, in
confusedemocracywith liberalism, doubtful things liberty, in every-
two elements which may, or may thing charity" is a fine reactionary
not, coexist. A "prohibition" program. If I consider something
backedby 51 per cent of the elec- to be Truth, I discount every
torate maybe most democratic, opinionopposingit. But I disagree
but it is hardlyliberal. with certain medievalecclesiastics
or with the shortsighted conserva-
III tives whobelieved that error can
be fought by force. Anymeticulous
Whatwereactionaries wantisjffee- eradication of error by artificial
doraanddie, ersity. Webelievethat means(alwaysdirected against per-
there is evena peculiar strength in sons, not against the idea itself)
diversity. St. Stephen, King of ends by making the Truth un-
Hungary,said to his son: "Arealm palatable, stale, unattractive. Asa
of only one languageand one cus- reactionary I respect any person
tomis foolish andfragile." This is ~vho courageously and sincerely
contrary to the demo-totalitarian holdserroneousviewsfollowinghis
superstitious belief in our epochof conscience.I haveinfinitely more
uniformity.TheItalian fascists who respect for a fanatic Catalonian
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
 CREDO OF A REACTIONARY ~
9
anarchist, an orthodoxJew,a hard- wayround. The Nazi emphasison
bitten Calvinist or an ecstatic the ninety million Germans,the
Dervish than for a humanitarian Soviet emphasison "the masses,"
pseudo-liberalwith a secret venera- the general identification of "big-
tion for the omnipotentstate. A ger" with "better" showour de-
real reactionary is a manof abso- basementexpressedin the worship
lute faith andabsolute generosity. of quantity, our contemptfor the
Hereconciles dogmaand freedom. person, our wholemoderndespair
As a reactionary I wouldlike to in humanuniqueness.
see materialized in this country I hold that state, business,manu-
moreof the anti-democratic ideas facture are the great slaveholdersof
of the FoundingFathers. Indeed, our times, lohn Doeworkslike his
few Europeanwriters fuIminated spiritual ancestor, the medieval
more strongly against the demos serf, oneanda half daysa weekfor
than Madison, Hamilton, Mar- his landlord. Of four weeklychecks
shall, JohnAdams or evenJefferson he hands over at least one to the
whostood for an aristocracy of corporation which rents him his
merit, not for mass-rule. YetHam- habitat. Failure to do so would
ilton’s centralismis basicallyleft- result in dispossession, a menace
ish. Neither here nor in Europe unknown to the villein of the thir-
should it prevail. Whatwe need teenth century. In the factory he
on either side of the Atlantic is slaves, unlike the guildsman,for
moreof a personalattitude. Colos- unknown investors as well as for
salism andcollectivismare the en- corrupt labor leaders, if not, as
emy. The farmer Schmidt from in the USSR,for a combination
Hindelang, for instance,shouldfirst leviathan of State and Society.
of all be proudto be the headof a The workersshould ownthe tools
family, the masterof a homestead, of production;there is no earthly
and then to be a dwellerof Hinde- reason whythey should not own
lang. Uponfurther reflection he the factoriesin a literal senseor be
oughtto find pride in beinga peas- the holdersof all sharesdistributed
ant of the Allg~iuvalleyandalso to after a certain key. Aplant could
be a Bavarian. His Germandom be a living communityno less so
oughtto be a mysticalunity at the than the medievalworkshop.
very horizon of his thoughts. But I like free people whoare fre-
the moderntendencyis to establish quently "backward"people, like
the hierarchyof loyalties the other the Tyroleans,the Swissmountain-

PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG

ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
 THE AMERICAN MERCURY
eers, the Scots, the Navarrese,the Plato, de Tocqueville, Doiioso
Basques,the grimpeasants of the Cortes, Burckhardtall knewthis.
Balkans, the Kurds. Theyescaped Progressivedemocracy li.ke pseudo-
the lesser evil of serfdomin the liberalismis nothingbut a Gironde,
MiddleAgesand the major evil of a forerunnerof the Terror.
urbanizationin moderntimes. They Among this handful are Winston
are very reactionary, conservative, Churchill and CountGalen, Count
liberty-loving. Theycan afford to Preysing and yon Faulhaber, Nie-
be conservative becausetheir cul- m611erand GeorgesBernanos, Gi-
ture is out of tune with modern raud and d’Ormesson, Count Te-
times; whatthey haveis worthpre- leki, CalvoSotelo, Schuschnigg and
serving. The urban conservative, Edgar Jung. None of them did
on the other hand, is nothing but compromise with the wickednessof
an inhibited "progressive." either the Girondeor the Terror in
I believe in the manof excel- their modernforms;deador alive,
lence, the manof duty as against they will not yield. Theydo not,
the CommonMan whose only andthey did not necessarilybelieve
strength lies in numbers, whose in a BraveOld Past as opposedto
political manifestationis submission a Brave NewWorld, but they saw
to prefabricated "convictions" the calamities of the present as
or to "leaders" whounlike "rulers" growingout of the errors of the
do not differ from the massesbut past into the catastrophes of the
personifyall their worsttraits. future. Theyare isolated by the
Todaya handful of genuinereac- suspicion that surrourLds them.
tionaries carry the brunt of the Theyare consideredkilljoys for not
fight against super-progressivismin joining in the universal panegyric
its totalitarian form. Theyknow of Progress. They have become
that democracyas a force cannot adamantand passionate. Theywill
deal with the totalitarians; em- carry their banners even unto
bryonicformscannotsucceedagainst death, and their banners are very
their morematuremanifestations. old, very proudandvery ~aonorable.

T ~Etrne source of our sufferings has been our timidity. Wehave beenafraid to think.
Wehave felt a reluctance to examininginto the groundsof our privilege~, and the
¯ extent in which wehave an indisputable right to demandthem, against all the powerof
authority on earth.
-- JOHN ADAMS:,e~ Dissertation on the Canonand Feudal Law, i7~5~ ~

PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG

ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
,.~ .Racketsthat prey on the
superstitiousmillions.

LUCK FOR SALE

gx~ Jor~

NewBrunswick, N. J. A dozen large companiesstud

GentlemensSir and friendes, i notice the big cities of Americaandfunc-
your high John the Conquererroot and tion independentlyor collabora-.
if it is so goodand luckeyi wouldlik
to have one. also send me a herb for tively as the fountain-headsof oc-
manhoodand howto use it. cultism. They print dream books
Beg to remane and package herbs; they mold
magicalcandlesand fill smallbot-
tles with perfumedchemicalsbear-
T HISactual letter, typical of ing suchexotic namesas Beneficial
thousands, is the foundation Dream,Bat’s Blood, Fiery Wallof
stoneof manyan illicit fortune. It Protection;they stuff little square
represents the averagecustomerin boxes with Live Lodestone,Sahara
a series of flourishing and highly Desert Sand, Chineseand Jinx-Re-
profitable "superstition rackets." mover Washes, Graveyard Dust,
Millions of Americansare in con- WahooBark and Sumbul Root.
stant and ever hopeful search of Then specially-trained salesmen
ready-made luck and herbs and dispose of themto the eager men
ointmentsto solve all their prob- and women in the tenementsof St.
lems. Andhundredsof clever ma- Louis, Shreveport, Chicago, Har-
nipulators sell them almost any- lem-wherever education has
thing, their heart desires for a mere touchedonly lightly.
pittance. As dealers in commercial Thoughthe salesmen are able
occultismand voodooand as para- gentry,the chief selling is doneby
site tipsters on the parasitical num- mail through the companycata-
bers racket, also kno~vnas bolita, logue, an elaborately designedaf-
theycollect millionsof dollars an- fair that appeals gaudily and di-
nually. rectly to the lowliest dreamsof
JOHNROEBURT is an editor at the O.l~ce of WarInformation. He is a forme/ news-
paperman,screenwriter,andjournalismandshort story teacher. Hehas written articles,
stories, andplays.
93
PRODUCED 2003 BY UNZ.ORG
ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED