Patriotism True and False
New Hope for Britain. By Olaf Stapledon. (Methuen. 5s.)
" IT is a fact as patent as it is disquieting," writes Dr. Wing- field-Stratford, " that of late years the very notion of patriotism should have come under a cloud." Turning to Mr. Stapledon, we find him suggesting that "Mussolini and Hitler, seemingly by magic, have been able to raise their peoples to a very real and effective patriotism." Neither of these authors gives a definition of patriotism, and each appears to attach more than one meaning to the word. Mr. Stapledon speaks of the " easy and destructive patriotism of contemporary Italy and Germany," and contrasts it with the patriotism he wishes to inculcate, " based not on barbarian, but on civilised values." But we may question whether the term, on his own showing, is rightly applied at all to the mass hysteria of Nazi Germany, or, say, to the jingoism which infected England at the end of the nineteenth century. Mr. Stapledon himself speaks of the neurotic condition in which the mind is susceptible to the " call of the pack," the " uncritical herd-passion " which is " always and essentially opposed to the spirit of true com- munity." Surely there is here some confusion, since what is opposed to the spirit of true community can hardly be true patriotism.
It is, we must presume, not patriotism itself, but the false notion of it that Dr. Wingfield-Stratford alludes to when he says that it has come under a cloud. It is with the desire of showing it in the light of a study of the British character that he has written this book, which treats the question historically —a later volume is promised dealing with the modern problem. The book would have gained much by compression. The lure of the historical questions which interest him often take him outside his subject, so that we are in danger of losing the thread. He begins with pre-Roman Britain. He notes that after the Saxon conquest " John Bull had entered into posses- sion of England." The frequent allusions to John E all are somewhat disconcerting. This stock character is in evidence in Magna Carta, in the ingrained respect for the Common Law, in the English attitude to the Tudor sovereigns, in the " straightforward and unsophisticated motive " with which the Armada was faced and defeated, in the challenge to the Stuart kings, and in the far more complicated conditions, full of cross-currents, of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the earlier part of his inquiry the author seems to be concerned to trace the evidences of national self-consciousness in whatever form it might assume ; and he goes on to trace the emergence of certain characteristics which he considers to be essentially British, these manifesting themselves in all the decisive moments of history, whether it be in Magna Carta, or the wars with Spain, or the constitutional struggles with the Crown. He warns us not to sentimentalise about our British civilisation, and suggests that we must contemplate it not only in its virtues, but " in all its ugliness and callousness and smug self- complacency, if we are to understand its strength or fathom the secret of its diuturnity." In the British character are mingled many apparent opposites—something which leads to the jingo patriotism of the Jameson Raid and a few years after to the self-sacrificing Imperialism which gave South Africa her Constitution. But where, in all this, is patriotism? Is it to be found only in the nobler manifestations of the national character, or in all? The implication is that it is in the former only ; but until his argument is made more explicit (perhaps in his later book), we cannot be quite sure what the author means by it. This book is primarily a study of the British national character as revealed in a history of 2,000 years.
Mr. Stapledon is also engaged on an analysis of the British character and institutions, and his mind is very clearly made up about what in them is good and what is bad ; and it is his aim to show the means by which the first can triumph. He starts with certain ethical and social assumptions, " The right relation between individuals is friendliness, comrade- ship or brotherhood.' " The humane motive which aims at promoting the " free activity and development of human capacity " for every individual should be the governing motive in politics and international relations. In faCt, looking back on Britain's social history, he finds it notable for two contra- dictory things, the " democratic spirit " and " economic exploitation " ; and these are at war in our midst today as in the nineteenth century. Examining the qualities of British democracy, he admits some of its advantages, but in the end concludes that it is a farce. There can be no true democracy which admits such " gross inequalities of fortune, such wretchedness in the lives of . . . citizens." But, like Dr. Wingfield-Stratford, he believes in what both describe as " the English spirit," and in the regeneration of the country by developing its virtues.
In his analysis Mr. Stapledon refuses to indulge in catch- words ; he is moderate, humane and often illuminating in judgements which arise from his intuition. He is less satis- factory when he comes to the question of remedies. His goal being that of an ideal fellowship as the basis of a society in Which every citizen may lead the fullest life—a goal which all of us might desire—he does not make it at all clear why the Stafford Cripps methods he advocates must lead to it. He demands a regeneration of the human mind and character, and offers us a piece of machinery for effecting it which could only operate when the regeneration was already complete. In other words, he asks for what some people would simply call Christianity, and offers us a piece of political mechanism as the means for getting to it. His political conclusions may or may not be right, but if they are he has not shown us why. None the less, the book is interesting and suggestive on -ery
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