OUR ESPRIT DE CORPS.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 163, 27 October 1883, Page 3

OUR ESPRIT DE CORPS.

One general characteristic of a healthy society, ■which, unfortunately, is conspicuous by its rareness amongst us, is the feature of esprit de corps. Whilst each of us is quite prepared to acknowledge the desirability, and enumerate the advantages of its presence, we do not try to establish it. As individuals, we, for the most part, at any rate, are working each for himself alone, and not for the common weal. How many of those, for example, who attend board-meetings, sit upon committees, or father " charities " socalled, do so for the sake of furthering the avowed object, and not for the purpose of advertising themselves in one way or another ? The fact is, we do not trouble ourselves to foster esprit de. corps; we do not trouble ourselves to exclude it ; nor do we guard against the evils of its absence. The consequence is, that we are fast becoming supremely indifferent upon the subject, and are thus sowing the seeds of a rottenness in the core of oiu* society. But, surely, so downward a moral course might be arrested, as arrested it must be if society, hi the true sense of the word, is to continue. Surely .■g.ojnt— giiaaiL

deul might be clone if only a few of us were to put our shoulders to the wheel and start it revolving. We should soon find an increase iv our numbers.

Let us examine the cause. It arises, in no small degree, from personal selfishness, which will not yield one iota for the convenience of, or out of consideration for, another. This serves to assume the position that an individual is a world in himself alone, without regard to others ; instead of a simple unit in the crowd, who has his duty to do by others as much as by himself. Our friend cannot labour disinterestedly with others, and thus often spoils an undertaking by the operation of what is now with him a second nature, because never combatted, and which manifests itself in a hyper-sensitiveness, a paltry imagination of grievances, a want of forbearance towards and allowance for the failings or weaknesses of others, and a suspicious readiness to impute " motive." Were there less of this kind of thing, were there less individual and party feeling, and more liberal state animation, we should not hear so much about " wire-pulling," and " wheels within wheels "as we do. But this want of esprit de corps seems to crop up in those very Mattel's of society where it should least of all obtain. Is a public meeting to be held t:> promote some good work ? We are sure to find some person of position, whose place it was to be there, and who would have proved a useful assistant, staying away on the ground that he has been slighted, inasmuch as he was not specially invited to attend. In fact, "he did not know " that such a meeting was to be held ; or, he " was not aware " of the day ; he " had not received any invitation." Bah ! what downright humbug this is ! Another man won't help athletics in any shape or form, because he hasn't been presented with a card of membership by the athletic club ! It i 6 of no use to laugh at such folk, and give them the title of idiosyncrasies, or 60ine equally longsounding name ; for here, wkere people like to be thought " peculiar," such treatment would be attractive rather than otherwise.

What was it that, in tlie 18th century, wellnigh drove English society and religion to the wall ? It was the want of esprit tie corps. Society became disorganised, and religion a laughing-stock. It was the absence of esprit de corps, crushed out of the people by the nobles, that brought about the French Bevolutiou of 1789, whose bloodshed might have been averted by combined peaceful measures. But we see it so very frequently in everyday life. Our young athletics do net try to run a fast race, or make a top score at cricket for the glory of the club of which they are members, but to win a prize, or to get "top-score" — very nice in their way, but really deserving of only a very secondary consideration. But as in games, so is life serious. It is a case of everyone for himself — a lamentable state of things, indeed, and one well worthy of the reflection of thinkers.