Full Idea
The distinguishing character of the monarchy lies precisely in the fact of belief in a higher-born person, of voluntary acceptance of an ideal person. I cannot choose a leader from among my peers.
Gist of Idea
The whole point of a monarch is that we accept them as a higher-born, ideal person
Source
Novalis (Fath and Love, or the King and Queen [1798], 18)
Book Reference
Novalis: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Stoljar,M.M. [SUNY 1997], p.88
A Reaction
Novalis was passionately devoted to the new king and queen of Prussia, only a few years after the French Revolution. This attitude seems to me unchanged among monarchists in present day Britain. Genetics has undermined 'higher-born'.