A man of rare quality, indeed

At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the past nine years and ten months of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U.S., and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble in the Musical Hall of this city on the 1st day of February next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity.

It was with this proclamation that Joshua Norton became Emperor Norton I, Dei Gratia monarch of our fine nation, and protector of Mexico, in 1859.

You say you didn't know we had an Emperor. Well, now you know. I first ran across mention of him in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shaw's Illuminatus Trilogy back in high school, but the book was crammed with so much weirdness I don't believe good Joshua captured my attention. Later, while reading Neil Gaiman's superlative comic work, The Sandman, I came across a story called 'Three Septembers and a January', which had the Emperor as it's focus.

You can learn about him on Wikipedia, which has a link to a fine site that collects his proclamations, even the forged ones, from the years of his odd reign. The introduction is especially worth reading, and makes the cogent point that the Emperor Norton could only have existed in an egalitarian state such as ours. Here, in the land of the free, a man is truly able to be Emperor, if he wants to be. When the Emperor was arrested by a young policeman of San Francisco, to be incarcerated for psychological treatment, the people of the city expressed outrage, and Police Chief Patrick Crowley released him quickly and gave a formal apology. Chief Crowley observed of the self-styled monarch "that he had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line."

That is where my personal affection for the Emperor comes from. Joshua Norton apparently developed delusions of grandeur after losing his fortune speculating in rice, but far from attempting to live out the life of the average monarch, this gentle man spent his days walking the streets of his adopted city, inspecting the cleanliness of the streets, the repair of public buildings, and the uniforms of the constabulary, who, following his arrest and release, would salute him as he passed. He was a beloved figure, known for being accompanied by his two dogs, Lazarus and Bummer. He would also give out Imperial currency and bonds to pay debts, which are now collector's items, and the fine restaurants he ate at would place plaques at their entrances, reading, 'by Appointment to his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I of the United States'. They say he once stopped an anti-Chinese mob from committing harm upon their targets by standing in the street between them and reciting the Lord's Prayer, head bowed.

You'll never find a better emperor anywhere in the history of the world.

Here's to you, my emperor, Joshua Norton, Norton I.