EDITORrnThomas Flemingrnr,XEc;iiTiVEF,DrroRrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnAaron D. WolfrnARE DIRECT’ORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCGKT’RIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Carrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhiUh Jenkins, J.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnJanet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnDonald Ijvingston, William Mills,rnWilliam Murchison, AndreirnNavrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnEILM EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnEORHTGN-AEEAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifkovicrnEEC;AL-AEH’AIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnREEIGION EDrrORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobhsrnGIRCHEATTON MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford InstituternA piiblicaiion of TTie Rockford Institute.rnEclitoriiil ant} A{]crtiiing Officer;rn92S Nortli Main Street.”Rockford, IE 611(13,rnWebsite: www .clironielesiniigiizine.orgrnEditorial Phone: (81S) 964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (81 5) 664-5813.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris, 11.61054. C;all l-80(l-S~-5459.rnII.S..-^. Nevs,stand Dishlbutioii bv E.asterii NewsrnDistributors, Inc., One Media Wjx, 12406 Rl. 250,rnMilan, Ohio 44848-9705.rnCopvnglit c>2001 In Th,rn,]1 rights resered.rnRockford Institute.rnChronicles: A Magazine of.American Culturern(ISSN 0887-5751) is ])iiblislied monthly for $59.00rn(foreign subscriptions add $12 for surface delier”,rn$48 for .ir Mail) per ear b T lie Rockford Institute,rn928 North Main Street, Rockford, IE 61105-7061.rnPreferred periodical ]»stage ]3aid at Rockford, 11.rnand addiHonal mailing offices. POSTMASTER:rnSend address changes to Chronicler, P.O. Box 800,rnMonntMorris, II. 61054.rnrlie iews expressed in Chronicler are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of Tlie Rockford Instihite or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited niaiiuscripts cannot bernreturned unless aeeompanied b) a self-addressedrn.stain]X’d eiuelope.rnChroniclesrnVol.2?. No. 5 Maich 2UII1rnPniil<;Jiiillnlii,ilL(ISl.ilool.iiicTic,irnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn England’s JoyrnChristie Davies’ enraged tirade againstrnthe Scots (‘”I’he Enghsh Rejoiee at Seotland’srnComing Independence,” Correspondence,rnDecember 2000) was unusuallyrnbitter, even for the often bitter pagesrno{ Chronicles. There really is no point inrndwelling on Davies’ hysterical eruptionsrn(which I am clipping out and saving asrnexamples of undiluted, dishlled nationalistrnvenom), except to make the followingrnobservations: The Scots, having outlastedrnthe Sassenach, will be just as happv to seernhim go as Professor Davies would have usrnbelieve he will be to go; the English willrnnever be able to erase the influence ofrnScotland on Fhiglish historv, so thevrnmight as well get used to it; and finally,rnProfessor Davies shoidd never use thernterm “we English,” unless he is sailingrnunder false colors, because he bears a surnamernbelonging not to the English, butrnto the Welsh, a pathetic remnant of arnthoroughly defeated and nearly extinctrnrace.rnThank God our forefathers left ChristiernDavies and his ilk behind when theyrncame to America!rn— Russell McluiddenrnWest Columbia, TXrnProfessor Davies Replies:rnI now understand how H.L. Menckenrnfelt when Americans reacted to his accountrnof the introduction of the baditubrnin the way they did. 1 tried to plant cluesrnever)’whcre as to the true meaning of thisrntext—written by one descended fromrnScots on both sides —particularly whenrnI u rote: “A belief in predestination hasrnled to an amoral antinomianism” (ThernProtestant FAhic and the Spirit of Capitalism?rnRabbie Burns’ “Holy Willie’srnPrayer” as applied to Clinton?) and “Adjustrntheir dress before their next visit tornLondon” (in which public places was thisrnphrase, used by Churchill, displayed?).rnClearly, the rest of the article has to bernread in the same wav.rnThe phrase “we English” is only everrnused by those who are not. Elowever, Irnam entertained by Mr. McEadden’srncomments about the Welsh, and I willrnpass them on anonymously to the leaderrn{Arxveinydd) of the IJrdd Ffascist Cymru.rnScottish-Americans needing furtherrnreas,surance should read mv forthcomingrnbook. The Mirth of Nations (New Brunswick,rnNJ: Transaction Press), in which Irndevote an entire chapter to the evidencesrnof and reasons for, the superior sense ofrnhumor and intelligence of the Scots. Forrninstance, I note that “an appreciation ofrnthe achievements of Scots such as RobertrnAdam, Henrv Bell, Joseph Black, JamesrnBoswell, David Hume, Colin Maclaurin,rnAdam Smith, Tobias Smollett and JamesrnWatt has made Scottish intellectual andrnpractical pre-eminence respected in England.”rnHere’s tae us!rnOn EnlightenmentrnI have been subscribing to Chronicles forrnoer three years, and I look forward to thernenlightenment offered by each issue. Irnwish I had begun partaking of this wisdomrnlong, long ago, but I suppose wernhave to be ready for something before werncan reap the benefits of it. Every issue offersrna new angle, a new insight, anotherrnauthor to search for, a new piece of histor’rnto dig into, another layer of the collectedrnknowledge of our Western heritage.rnWlienever Chronicles arrives, I experiencernthat familiar feeling: Wliere have Irnbeen? Why wasn’t I told/taught this?rnWas I just supposed to know it intuitivelyrnor by some kind of cultural osmosis?rnQuite a humbling experience, but humblingrnin the best way. Chronicles also aidedrndie restoration (after 15 dark years ofrnatheism) of my Christian faith. It is notrneas to convey mv gratitude for this.rnAlong with some back is.sues, I orderedrnan audiotape of Thomas Fleming’s lecturernon Sir Walter Scott from the SecondrnAnnual Summer School. What an eyeopeningrnexperience! I truly wish I werernable to attend the Summer School or onernof the seminars you present every year.rnI hope you will continue to give recommendationsrnabout good books tornstudy, as well as organizations whose activitiesrnyou support. The Chesterton Socictvrnis one example. (I recently joinedrndiis group and am highly impressed withrntheir work.) I wouldn’t have found it if itrnweren’t for Chronicles.rn4/CHRONICLESrnk rnrn