Loyalty is one of those terms which have departed
most widely from their original meaning. By derivation loyalty means fidelity
to law; but it has come to be used to express devoted fidelity not to the law,
but to a king or other master. It is not difficult to see how this change of
meaning was brought about. In old times, before the growth of republican ideas
has begun to oppose the doctrine of divine right, the sovereign was regarded as
the embodiment. Of law, and devotion to him was therefore called loyalty. But
as time went on and new political opinions spread among the nations of the
earth, it became apparent that there might be a conflict between devotion to
the king and devotion to the laws. This was conspicuously the case in England
at the time of the Great Rebellion, when those who rebelled against the king
were moved to do so by regard for the law of England, which, as they thought,
had been violated by Charles I. Many of the loyalists, on the contrary, cared
little for the law and constitution, and were animated by personal devotion to
their kings, for whom they were willing to sacrifice their liberty and life.
The deep loyalty of the Cavaliers was brilliantly displayed on many a hard
fought battlefield, and is sung in the pathetic lyrics of Lovelace and other
poets of the time who supported the royal cause.
Indeed Charles I belonged to a family which, from
the beginning to the end of its tragic history, had a wonderful power of
exciting passionate loyalty. One of the earliest of the Stuart kings of Scotland
‘after making noble efforts to establish peace and, justice in his native
country. was attacked by a party of assassins who resented his innovations He
was taken at a disadvantage while sitting unarmed with his wife and her
ladies-in-waiting, and when of the approaching conspirators was heard, it was found
that the bolts and bars had been removed from the room, in which the family
party were quietly conversing apprehensive of no evil thus the king would have
been immediately at the mercy of the assassins, had not a lady of the noble
house of Douglas truth her arm as a bolt in the staple of the door and broke
her delicate arm. It is sad to relate that her splendid act of devotion did not
save the life of the doomed kind. A similar spirit of devotion to the Stuart
king was displayed for more than three centuries the time when his noblest
blood of Scotland was poured out like water in the gallant but hopeless attempt
to place Charles Edward on the throne of his fathers.
But is must not be supposed that the spirit of
loyalty is confined to one country or
continent striking examples of it may be
founded in the east as well as in the west. No better instance could be show
how, in the worlds of Shakespeare.
“He that can endure
To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,
Does conquer him that did his master conquer
And earns a place in story.”
It reflects credit on human nature that many such
stories illuminate the pages of ancient and modern history. The word loyalty is
not confined to the feeling of a faithful subject to a kind; for we can speak
of a loyal friend, a loyal servant, a loyal partner, and even a loyal doing. We
can also by loyal to abstract ideas, such as principles, religion and our
native land, for loyalty means sincere and faithful attachment to anything.