Lady Thatcher calls Decent Folk to Arms
By John Crouch, Attorney at Law,
Crouch & Crouch, Arlington, Virginia; (703)
528-6700;
Copyright John Crouch 1994
Amicus Curiae, College of William and Mary
Other Crouch Articles
Decent people in America and Britain must regain "the courage of their
convictions," draw on their shared libertarian heritage, and stand
alone, if necessary, against "monstrous communist and fascist tyrannies,"
Margaret, Baroness Thatcher told audiences at the College of William and
Mary last Friday and Saturday.
Thatcher spoke at her investiture as the college's chancellor on Saturday
at William and Mary Hall, and earlier at a student symposium Friday at Phi
Beta Kappa Hall.
Thatcher's remarks on Saturday concerned the basis and future of the Anglo-American
alliance. America and Britain are bound not by mere "national interest,"
she argued, but by common, liberal principles based on unchanging "Biblical
ethics." She said "our interests have so often coincided"
precisely "because we stand on the same hallowed moral ground: an abiding
belief in the sanctity of the individual."
"What led to the ultimate triumph of the principles ... is the simplicity
of their truth. The individual is a moral being, capable of the exercise
of free will, and able to know right from wrong."
In contrast, "the idea that there is no truth to know" is now
encouraging oppressors and robbing decent people of "the courage of
their convictions," Thatcher warned. She urged schools and universities
to refute assertions of moral relativism.
Due a related "historical conceit," chronological provincialism,
"our generation has gone a long way towards unlearning history,"
she claimed. "Abiding truths" and "permanent things"
are treated as "quaint artifacts," useful in their time but irrelevant
today.
Unlike some American conservatives, Thatcher stressed the fundamental importance
of the rule of law, expressed in the Bill of Rights, Habeas Corpus, trial
by jury, and the common law. She said the common law, evolved over centuries,
was more important and trustworthy than statutes or political "diktats."
She was formerly a lawyer.
"We are not doomed," she argued, but on the other hand "tyranny
has not been extirpated, but merely found new soil." Quoting Churchill,
she warned that "'Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed
in terms of platitudes.'"
Budget cuts attacked
Participants could not ignore the threat of budget cuts and tuition increases
looming over the college. When President Timothy Sullivan awarded Governor
George Allen an honorary degree, he took the opportunity to remind him to
"ensure that Jefferson's vision of a unique and distinguished system
of higher education in Virginia is sustained and enhanced."
Retiring Chancellor Warren Burger recalled that when the college fired its
last British chancellor in 1776, the Crown retaliated by "terminating
all financial assistance" and "putting it on the state of Virginia.
Governor, we don't want you to forget that."
In response, Allen merely noted that the college actually was privatized
from 1776 until 1906. Thatcher said she was glad to learn that "as
chancellor, you need not always be over-tactful," and may "drop
a few well-chosen hints."
Question Time
Thatcher took questions on geopolitics and human rights from students and
faculty at a symposium on Friday. Her main points were that free trade is
the most powerful way to build lasting democracy, and that the pursuit of
worldwide consensus is no substitute for Anglo-American leadership. [See
related article -- will probably be put online in mid-April]
What chancellors do
Thatcher's job, created in 1693, involved representing the College's interests
in London. Chancellors before 1776 were bishops and earls. Since then, the
college has become more selective. Chancellors, like law school deans, are
named only when a worthy candidate appears; Burger is the first since 1764
to be replaced immediately. The College's first American chancellors were
U.S. Presidents George Washington and John Tyler, separated by a sixty-year
interregnum.
- John Crouch
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