raditional foes, to
cherish "neighbourhood and Christianlike accord," so that never again
should "war advance his bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair
France."

However whole-heartedly Shakespeare rebukes the excesses and illogical
pretensions to which the lack of moral or intellectual discipline
exposes patriotism, he reserves his austerest censure for the
disavowal of the patriotic instinct altogether. One of the greatest of
his plays is practically a diagnosis of the perils which follow in the
train of a wilful abnegation of the normal instinct. In _Coriolanus_
Shakespeare depicts the career of a man who thinks that he can, by
virtue of inordinate self-confidence and belief in his personal
superiority over the rest of his countrymen, safely abjure and defy
the common patriotic instinct, which, after all, keeps the State in
being. "I'll never," says Coriolanus,

"Be such a gosling to obey instinct, but stand
As if a man were author of himself,
And knew no other kin."[37]

[Footnote 37: _Coriolanus_, V., iii., 34-7.]

Coriolanus deliberately suppresses the patriotic instinct, and, with
greater consistency than others who have at times followed his
example, joins the fighting ranks of his country's enemies by way of
illustrating his sincerity. His action proves to be in conflict with
the elementary condition of social equilibrium. The subversion of the
natural instinct is brought to the logical issues of sin and death.
Domestic ties are rudely severed. The crime of treason is risked with
an insolence that is fatal to the transgressor. With relentless logic
does the Shakespearean drama condemn defiance of the natural instinct
of patriotism.

III

It does not, however, follow that the patriotic instinct of the
Shakespearean gospel encourages blind adoration of state or country.
Intelligent citizens of the Shakespearean world are never prohibited
from honestly criticising the acts or aspirations of their fellows,
and from seeking to change them when they honestly think they can be
changed for the better. It is not the business of a discerning patriot
to sing paeans in his nation's honour. His final aim is to help his
country to realise the highest ideals of social and political conduct
which are known to him, and to ensure for her the best possible
"reputation through the world." Criticism conceived in a patriotic
spirit should be constant and unflagging. The true patriot speaks out
as boldly when