Essay No. 35
Esprit de Corps
BY
The Right Rev. Edgar Jacob, D.D.
Bishop of St. Albans.
EARLY in the nineteenth century individualism was not only too little balanced in religion, but it affected political economy, of which enlightened selfishness was boldly proclaimed to be the leading principle. We are recovering from this want of balance now, but the lessons of history will have been learnt in vain if we do not remember that the swing of the pendulum often leads into reactions just as dangerous as the half-truths which have caused them ; and if I try now to show some of the lessons of the corporate life as they help duty and discipline, it is with the proviso that they are truths which themselves need to be balanced if they are to help us to the life which, as Christians and citizens, it is our duty to lead.
With this proviso, however, I wish to submit the general principle that membership of a body entails obligations which esprit de corps can turn into a
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delight and an honour. I wish to apply, this both in the religious and the civil sphere.
IN THE SPHERE OF RELIGION
Do we work the principle of esprit de corps for all that it may mean ? If it be difficult to realise its meaning for the entire Church, do we work it for the Church of England or, if members of other Christian bodies, for the communion to which we may belong ? Would it not be a help to a young man going abroad to realise that his manner of life in the new country affects the honour of his Church and not himself alone, that he cannot go wrong without others suffer¬ing, and that he cannot do right without others gaining ? Or, if this be a difficult conception to grasp at once, may not the associations of an English diocese or an English parish be often a restraint or a stimulus ? When Vicar of Portsca, I used to encourage young men who might go from the parish into the Royal Navy or into various lines of business to remember that the honour of the parish was com-mitted to their keeping, and photographs of the church and of home scenes and home letters often reminded them of these lessons and helped to drive the truth home. My belief is that many a young man away from home is helped to do his duty and to keep from moral evil by the associations of his home and parish and by the esprit de corps which, when once grasped, makes him ashamed to bring
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dishonour on the body to which he belongs and really anxious to bring honour to it by living a pure and true life. I have found elementary and secondary schools, guilds and societies—by whatever name they may be called—helpful in sustaining this esprit de corps, and so in maintaining a high standard of life. It is not the highest motive, but it is a very true subsidiary motive, and we cannot afford to do without these helps in the perils which our young folk have to face. It is largely a bad environment which drags them down ; and this esprit de corps helps to encompass them, at least in thought, with a good environment by enabling them to realise that they are members of a body which cares for them and to which they owe obligations. Self-control, good honest work, a regard for duty for duty's sake, a love of honesty, not because it is the best policy, but because it is morally right, are at least easier of achievement and at least characteristic of the true nature of a young man who lives not as though his religion and his life were matters between God and himself alone, but with the sense that, being the child of God, he is a member of a Divine society, and that what he thinks and says and does affects the whole society and not himself alone. The principle of esprit de corps may be carried into every, department of life, business and pleasure alike, and it gives a young man or young woman an unseen but felt environment which restrains from vice and
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inclines to virtue. The principle cannot be taught too early in life. It is far more difficult to teach it when habits are fixed and when the very idea of a corporate life may seem like a fanciful dream.
IN THE CIVIL SPHERE
And yet I cannot help thinking that many men have come to realise something of the principle in civil life who have failed to apply it to religion. There is many a club or trade union or friendly society which has a very real esprit de corps that is of great value in maintaining the efficiency of the society and keeping its members loyal. If this be so, then the doctrine of analogy might make a man reflect that what he realises to be true in the secular sphere is likely to be true in the sphere of religion as well ; and, when once he has come to acknowledge this, he will find that it is what Christianity has especially taught the world and what all experience confirms.
But let me give it a wider application in the civil sphere than in reference to a club or a trade union or a friendly society. We are subjects of a King whose Empire takes in 400,000,000 of the human race. Have we adequately realised what esprit de corps means to us as Englishmen ? Surely we are bound to guard such principles as that our Empire stands for justice between man and man and for civil and religious freedom. Further, that the character of our moral lives affects the Empire. If a soldier or
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sailor, colonist or tourist, acts in other lands un-worthily of the country to which he belongs, are we not all affected ? Does it not tarnish the British honour ?
Speaking as a Christian, who is bound by Christ's teaching and example, I hold that the Christian society is bound to present the Gospel to every nation, and that those in our Empire have the first claim on us for such presentation ; but what hindrance to the work can equal that of moral lives which are a disgrace to Christianity ? Therefore, both from the civil and from the religious standpoint, I hold that the "white man's burden " must include the personal example, and that the esprit de corps of an Englishman coincides with the esprit de corps of a Christian in leading to virtue and restraining from vice.
I have given some illustrations of the way in which this principle of esprit de corps may work in the religious and in the civil spheres, but I have given illustrations only which may be copiously increased. I contend that it is a principle which may be far more widely and thoroughly worked in the Church and in the State, and that the earlier the principle is grasped and applied the more chivalrous and unselfish will our people become and the more will they be linked together by ties of love and duty.
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