Keeping A Republic

“A Republic . . . if you can keep it” was the well-known quip by Benjamin Franklin, soon after the constitutional convention of 1787, in response to a woman asking whether such marked the beginning of a Republic or a Monarchy.

Far less known was this exchange between Franklin and Edward Gibbon, the then-recent author of Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire, during their chance encounter at a Paris tavern roughly a decade before that convention and soon after the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin had sent a note to Gibbon inviting him over for a drink. Gibbon reportedly sent back a note declining the invitation saying he could never break bread with a man in open insurrection against the king, to which Franklin cheekily replied that it was too bad as Gibbon might have picked up some good pointers for his next work i.e. Decline and Fall Of The British Empire.

So many declines, so little time. Next up might be the application right here of history’s inevitable workings marked by what Gibbon referred to as “little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.” He might have added hubris. For those without the time to read the entire six-volume Gibbon treatise you may default here to this compact five-page overview to frame our discussion, tempting the more cynical among us to regard as the first draft of the Decline and Fall Of The American Empire (click: The Chronicler of Decline).

Did somebody say Empire? Thought we were a Republic. Well, so did Rome until it was weakened by civil war and power struggles as Caesar crossed the Rubicon and allowed his adopted son Augustus to consolidate power that marked the end of that republic after five hundred years. Lost in the process: those republic values that stressed civic duty, frugality, and public service that ultimately gave way to imperial wealth from vast territories which fueled luxury, grand architecture, and emperor cults.

Hhmm. What’s that you say, a big, beautiful 250-foot-tall “Arc de Trump” with gold accents, eagles, and possibly a Lady Liberty sculpture to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the declaration of our “Republic”? You can’t make this stuff up.

The club’s sister discussion group addressed the various papers (Federalists and Anti-Federalists) in which the founders entertained “lively fears” of what happens when classical ideals bump up against reality through which a republic becomes an empire. The papers make reference to those who had “begun their careers by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.”

Or, again invoking Gibbon, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive. Or when the wisdom and authority of the legislator is hostage to the “dexterity of private interest.” The bottom line to the Gibbon history is the way a disease of the soul can metastasize throughout the body politic, incapacitating a people from within. Sound familiar?

Please note the following RSVP Policy for Member Monday: RSVP sign-up opens up at 11:00am on Fridays via the City Club weekly Newsletter. Seats are first-come, first-served: the first 14 secure a spot at the table, the last 3 on the couch. Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance or the standard Social Lunch rate applies.