Knowledge is Good

Every Christmas since 1949 the Wall Street Journal has published In Hoc Anno Domini by Vermont Royster. It tells the story of how the advent of Christianity liberated humankind from the shackles of Roman oppression. Its message is timeless and applies with particular force to today’s struggle between those who believe that the secular state is almighty and all-encompassing and those who believe that the dictates of the state must be subordinate to our natural, inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Even though Royster wrote of Christianity, his fundamental message supports everyone of whatever religious or […]

Tomorrow, as it has done every Thanksgiving since 1961, the Wall Street Journal  will publish The Desolate Wilderness,  an account of the Pilgrims’ journey to America, followed by a commentary, And the Fair Land, written by Vermont Royster, a native of North Carolina who held many positions at the the WSJ including being its editor from 1959 to 1971. Royster started the WSJ’s annual tradition of publishing both pieces on Thanksgiving. Unlike the J-school know-nothings who infest today’s media, Royster had a life outside the confines of journalism that gave him an appreciation of this nation, its forbears and its accomplishments. In 1940, he left the […]