THE SPIRIT OF KNIGHTHOOD
“The Vigil” by John Pettie
“Today, the cynic is quite in vogue, and his voice outcries the idealist. But, there is, after all,
something ignoble in belittling a mighty and unselfish undertaking, and in defacing the memory of men who sacrificed themselves. Nor does it become us of today, who have seen our world plunged into
war for no apparent cause, to cast stones at those who fought during two centuries for what they believed to be the greatest of earthly causes.”
Harold Lamb, The Crusades, the Flame of Islam, International Collectors Library, Garden City, NY
1930 Afterword, pp 465-466
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The above quote was written in 1930. Lamb was very aware of the politically correct attitude of the elitists in academia in the post- World War 1 era. The cynicism of those elitists may have motivated
this quote from the author. The political reality of those days was dominated by fascists such as
Adolf Hitler, Generalissimo Franco, and Il Duce Benito Mussolini of Italy. Those same elitist snobs
didn’t anticipate the horrors of Nazism in a few short years. With the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Wehrmacht in June of 1941, suddenly the attitude changed to one of the necessity of a
“Crusade in Europe” to defeat Nazi Germany. Now, in our time, that same elitist thinking has
come full term. Idealism is mocked and held in low esteem. The political correctness of relativism
and secularism has again gained in popularity in academia. Rest assured, dear reader, that in coming
years, when new threats emerge to destroy our civilization, those much maligned “idealists” will again be asked to rescue us all from our own folly.
Read the thoughts of the Archbishop of Denver in his address at the US Air Force Academy:
THOUGHTS ON A NEW KNIGHTHOOD
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