tional importance, and we are better offrnfor having it. We would be even betterrnoff if our children absorbed some of itsrntruth by reading it in school, as teachersrnand pupils used to do in the old days.rn].0. Tate is a professor of English atrnDowling College on Long Island.rnDisappearingrnAmericarnby Wesley Allen RiddlernAmerica’s British Culturernby Russell KirkrnNew Jersey: Transaction;rn122 pp., $24.95rnAmerica’s British Culture by the laternRussell Kirk offers a clear, insightfulrnexplication of key British elements inrnAmerican culture, as well as an importantrncritique of the current cultural climaternin America. Kirk examines fourrnmajor British contributions that havernparticularly shaped American culture:rnlanguage and a common body of literature;rnrule of law and the common lawrntradition; representative government;rnand ethical heritage—moral habits,rnconventions, customs, and the like. Inrnan appendix he addresses the aspects ofrnclassical philosophy which, mostly transmittedrnthrough Great Britain, also continuernto affect American mores and politicalrnmodes of thinking.rnKirk stresses the importance of thernKing James translation of the Bible afterrn1611 in America and other works thatrnexerted formulative influence on thernColonies. He shows that much morernthan abandonment of words and books isrninvolved in the modern refusal to studyrnthe classics in favor of more “functional,”rnscientific, or politically correct fare. Indeed,rnsince the body of English literaturernfrom Chaucer to Melville contains anrnoperative set of cultural values largelyrnindependent of religion, discarding greatrnliterature involves the loss of the heroicrnvalues that animate it. To the extentrnthat both religion and secular heroic valuesrndecline, American culture and civilizationrndecline with them.rnIn terms of legal tradition, the consideredrndecisions of able judges in a multitudernof cases comprise the common law.rnIn the absence of specific statutes, thernlaw respects precedent and generally observesrncustom. The jury system comesrnfrom the common law tradition; so doesrnthe presumption of innocence. Kirkrnpoints out that this is most unlike civil orrnRoman law, which constitutes the legalrntradition of most of Europe. Moreover,rnmodern interpretations of the law as “living,”rnor as a tool for liberal social engineersrnand psychoanalysts, underminesrnthe ancient rights of freeborn Englishmen,rnnot to mention the Constitutionalrnrights of American freemen.rnAmerican forms of representative governmentrn—Congress, state legislatures,rncounty and municipal councils andrnschool boards—also have roots in England.rnKirk traces the development ofrnrepresentative government through thernvarious stages in English history. Hernmaintains that the American Revolutionrnwas fought over conflicting interpretationsrnof the British Constitution, especiallyrnover the limits of Parliamentaryrnsovereignty. The colonists had come tornexpect actual representation from theirrnassemblies in matters involving “internal”rntaxation. Of course, the sad state ofrnaffairs is that the forms have been corrupted.rnOur country resembles a consolidatedrnnational democracy more thanrna republic. The momentary mob rules,rnled by special interests that play therncountry through Congress like some politicalrnpinball machine. Average taxes ofrn40 percent are taken through payroll deduction,rnand Americans find themselvesrnheld hostage by their own government—rnin the same state of political slavery thatrndrove them from England in the firstrnplace.rnIn terms of an ethical heritage, everyrnculture has drawn its mores or principlesrnof morality primarily from religiousrnbelief, and America is no exception. Kirkrnspends some time delineating the variousrnreligious denominations in thernColonies. He quotes Tocqueville, however,rnsaying the various sects comprisedrna broad Christian consensus concerningrnmorality. Kirk puts it succinctly: “Out ofrnChristian teaching arose America’srnmores.” In addition. Kirk addresses thernbeginnings of higher education in Americarnand shows how American universitiesrnwere patterned on Cambridge andrnOxford. Such universities satisfied bothrnEnlightenment and Great Awakeningrnimpulses in Colonial America and thernEady Republic. Oxford’s “God is myrnlight” motto applied in substance to thernAmerican Ivy League as well. Anyonernwho doubts it can read the arches liningrnHarvard yard. They still stand, even asrnthe inner temple is defamed.rnTaken together, Kirk’s assessments ofrnthe four major cultural traditions receivedrnfrom Great Britain present a powerful,rnsometimes subtle argument aboutrnAmerica. Kirk maintains that generalrnculture is necessary to peace and stabilityrnin society at large. He demonstratesrnthat civilizations are indeed predicatedrnupon the interdependent relationship ofrnhigh culture and coherent democraticrnculture of the people. He discusses atrnlength the ongoing transmutation ofrnAmerican culture by counterculture andrnby relentless attacks on the key elementsrnhe described. His focus is on the processrnof the transmission of culture and thernways in which it is subverted in Americarnby unhistorical and antihistorical education.rnThe outcome, of course, is therndisruption of the perennial cultural renewal,rna loss of general culture, and therndecline of American civilization.rnKirk proves that attempts to infusern”multiculturalism” into the schools atrnall levels result in a generational missingrnlink. Hans Sennholz has likewise equatedrnso-called “multiculturalism” withrndnficulturalism. It is in fact an attack onrnthe Judeo-Christian culture of the West.rnMoreover, it constitutes the abandonmentrnof our historic commitment to anrnAmerican identity. Attempts to exorcisern”dead white males” from history andrnliterature and to equate all cultures impedernprogress and lead to intellectualrnprovincialism. Declining academic standardsrnattest that awareness of diversity inrnthe world and in our own country has actuallyrndecreased.rnToday, pupils are reduced to the eternalrnpresent, without perspective or context,rnintellectually confined to everdiminishingrnboundaries of minority selfesteem.rnA “Curriculum of Inclusion”rnhas become a curriculum of cultural disintegration.rnAmerica’s British Culture isrna timely reminder of what is at stake:rnthat complex web of literature, law, government,rnand mores that constitutes therngreatest cultural legacy in the history ofrnmankind.rnWesley Allen Riddle is an instructor inrncolonial and revolutionary Americanrnhistory at West Point.rnJANUARY 1995/29rnrnrn