Free Republic

Mr. Robinson, a former British military intelligence officer, is apparently bothered by the possibility that American policy is in some way a function of Southern notions of honour. In his assertions, though, Mr. Robinson is mistaken as to American history, Greek literature, what precisely honour is and how it functioned both historically and presently. I will reply to him in the fashion the ancients preferred, “point by point.” It is true that the Old South saw blacks as essentially outside of the realm of honour, which was part and parcel of the desire in the Old South to see blacks...

“But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever.”Edmund Burke, 1793 On British television recently, there was an advertisement for a beer. Set in the eighteenth century, it began by showing a pretty young woman sat in a carriage, looking on as the two men who seek her heart meet up in a field and bow before one another. Then, turning on their heels, they both walk towards their duelling positions. Except the duel doesn’t happen. After a few seconds, one of the duellers turns and...