As all these illustrations
suggest, the cause to which one can be loyal is never a mere collection
of individuals; nor is it ever a mere abstract principle. This cause,
whether in the church or the army or the workshop, in the home or in the
friendship, is some sort of unity whereby many persons are joined in one
common life. The cause to which a loyal man is devoted is of the nature
of an institution, or of a home life, or of a fraternity, wherein two or
more persons aim to become one; or of a religion, wherein the unity of
the spirit is sought through the communion of the faithful. Loyalty
respects individuals, but aims to bring them together into one common
life. Its command to the loyal is: "Be 'one undivided soul of many a
soul'". It recognizes that, when apart, individuals fail; but that when
they try to unite their lives into one common higher selfhood, to live
as if they were the expressions, the instruments, the organs of one
ideally beautiful social group, they win the only possible fulfillment
of the meaning of human existence.
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