Free Republic

We are in a battle the outcome of which will have far reaching effects on the very soul of this nation. As we pray for victory let us remember "Non Nobis Non nobis, Domine, Domine, non nobis, Domine Sed nomini, sed nomini, tuo da gloriam." ( Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to your Name give glory.). Which is beautifully expressed in this scene from Kenneth Branagh's version of Henry V http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewbuPY3uGQ4

For the sake of our collective survival, the English-speaking world needs to annually trumpet common achievements, values, and goals. Fortunately, the calendar contains an excellent date. Even better, the holiday's credo has already been composed -- by the greatest content provider ever in any language. Tomorrow, October 25, was once known as the Feast Day of St. Crispin. On this day in 1415, Henry V and his underdog British, outmanned at least by a factor of four, defeated Charles VI of France at the Battle of Agincourt. These days, even though Vatican II has delisted the twin martyred brothers St....

The scale of Henry V’s triumph at Agincourt, which has been feted as one of the greatest victories in British military history, has been exaggerated for almost six centuries, a new book is to reveal. The English and Welsh were still outnumbered, according to Anne Curry, professor of medieval history at Southampton University — but only by a factor of three to two. For the last 50 years historians have believed the odds were at least four to one. Curry is the first academic to untangle the true scale of Henry’s victory in 1415 by sifting through original enrolment records...

KING HENRY VNow, herald, are the dead number'd? HeraldHere is the number of the slaughter'd French. KING HENRY VWhat prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle? EXETERCharles Duke of Orleans, nephew to the king;John Duke of Bourbon, and Lord Bouciqualt:Of other lords and barons, knights and squires,Full fifteen hundred, besides common men. KING HENRY VThis note doth tell me of ten thousand FrenchThat in the field lie slain: of princes, in this number,And nobles bearing banners, there lie deadOne hundred twenty six: added to these,Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen,Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,Five hundred were but...

My feelings on the Spanish people's election results are best summed up by Shakespeare in this excerpt. (I have bolded passages that I find most applicable and made one change marked with a "*" begging the Bard's pardon): Henry V That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse; We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand...

SCENE III. The same. Before the gates.   The Governor and some Citizens on the walls; the English forces below. Enter KING HENRY and his trainKING HENRY VHow yet resolves the governor of the town?This is the latest parle we will admit;Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves;Or like to men proud of destructionDefy us to our worst: for, as I am a soldier,A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,If I begin the battery once again,I will not leave the half-achieved HarfleurTill in her ashes she lie buried.The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,And the flesh'd...

We do not stand alone. Contrary to the story suggested by much of the world's elite media, our boys do not fight alone. It is true, however, that our military allies are few. And thank G-d for that! On the eve of battle, Lt. Colonel Tim Collins, commander of the 1st Battalion of The Royal Irish, addressed his men on the Kuwait-Iraqi border. The London Times' Sarah Oliver reported, "Wearing his kukri, the Gurkha blade that he is entitled to carry as a Gurkha commander, Colonel Collins spoke to his 800 men, an arm of Britain’s 16 Air Assault Brigade,...

WESTMORELAND O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day! KING HENRY V What's he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin: If we are mark'd to die, we are enow To do our country loss; and if to live, The fewer men, the greater share of honour. God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me not if men my garments wear; Such...

You know, this has been a bittersweet Fourth for me. No, it's not because I am anyway dismayed by the course of the War or have any misgivings about its outcome. What I am dismayed about is that we, who suffered so great a loss on September 11th, have been so readily abandoned by our "friends" in Europe. That we must now suffer the indignities of the likes of John Pilger, Robert Fisk, or George Monbiot. These are men who would rather cuddle up to evil, appease evil, praise evil, rather than summon up the moral courage to condemn...