THE ART OF BEING AN OFFICER.
"LIFE demands an art," said Wordsworth ; and if life as a whole demands it, much more do the particular .occupations of life. None perhaps requires more than the occupation of the military or naval officer, whose position depends upon the restraint and the respect of those under him. In the degree in which he inspires respect and goodwill, in the same degree will he be successful. In the matter of physical force every officer is, temporarily at all events, at the mercy of his men; but he has an apparatus of brain-power, wisdom, and superior education and training at his service which adjusts the relation in his favour. Most officers would have little fear of their resources failing ultimately, even if
the great tradition of discipline and patriotism were not working on their side in the men's minds. Yet the margin of authority which the officer has in hand over and above the merely negative success of not being flouted is an affair of much delicacy. The good officer is good by no special law; his success is not a question of science ; it is, in a word, an art. It cannot be defined. Moreover, the officer's happiness and usefulness are to be measured not only in his dealings with his men, but in his association with his brother-officers from whom he draws his sanction and support. From time to time the intimate affairs of a regiment are exposed to the public when some one appeals to a higher authority outside for confirmation in his action against an inferior or in his grievances against a superior. In nine cases out of ten it is found that the origin of the trouble is a want of tact—a lack of the art of being an officer—whether in the superior who has aggravated the bad qualities instead of coaxing out the good ones in a subordinate, or in the subordinate who has imagined bigotry in his superiors or has failed with his men because he somehow provoked them and alienated their sympathies. It is remarkable how much room for variation there is in the art of being an officer. Men will serve one faithfully, almost affectionately ; and to another they will render only the minimum of performance which keeps them on the safe side of insubordination. The men themselves, perhaps, have never tried to analyse the virtues and defects of their officers, but they have a saying that they like their officers to be gentlemen. And that probably covers their sense that those in authority over them should not mistake bullying for firmness or familiarity for friendliness.
Just at the time when this subject has been brought once more to public notice we have received a reprint of a little book of rules for young officers written by General O'Callaghan and called " The Young Officer's Don't' " (London : H. Rees, ls. net). In its new form it has a preface by Sir George Clarke. General O'Callaghan apologises in his own "preface to the first edition" for publishing what may seem to some people a collection of trite maxims, but explains that experience has shown him that they are not at all unnecessary. Sir Isaac Newton, it is said, after glancing at Euclid, asked iyhy such self-evident facts should be stated. It all depends upon the know- ledge of the person to be instructed. If General O'Callaghan perceived the need for his rules of conduct " from bitter experience," we may be quite sure that there are many young officers to-day to whom they will not be in the least super- fluous. Assuming that to be so—and it is always foolish to assume too much knowledge—we can go further and say that maxims could not be offered in a shape more likely to reach the right persons. They are breezy and friendly, and yet they are impersonal. They are for those " who have no elder brother, no friend who, on their joining, will take them by the hand and say, ' This is the custom—that " No doubt advice from the mouth of a friend is the best advice of all; and we are inclined to say that willingness to listen to advice (we do not say to accept it), and a certain constitutional unreadiness to be offended by frank and candid statements, are signs of the gentleman-like bearing which is a large part of the art of being an officer. But to those who have not benevolent and honest-spoken friends, or to those who mistakenly think that they consult their dignity by an undignified sensitiveness, this book is to be recommended as having itself the makings of a very good friend. As Sir George Clarke says in his wise words of preface, "the uncompromising written word has an impersonal force which can neither be misunderstood nor resented."
A few examples of the maxims will be enough. "Don't let false shame lead you to subscribe to things you can't afford. There is no class of men, taken as a whole, more liberal than your brother officers, and, for that reason, they will respect the more a man who has the courage to regulate the amount of his subscription by the depth of his pocket." This is quite true. We have heard of a case in which several officers of an expensive cavalry regiment made a conspiracy to collect less than the right amount of sub- scriptions from a poor officer who had joined them temporarily in order that he might not be embarrassed. And, to return almost to the same point which we mentioned before, it is, of course, a sign of ill-bred pretension, rather than of a good bringing-up, to be lavish beyond one's means. If an officer is condemned nominally for the reason that he cannot afford to hunt or to play polo, one may be sure that there is some deeper reason behind. Take another example under the heading of " Parade ": "Don't think it always incumbent on you to repeat the dreary formula, Any complaints ? ' when visiting your men in their barrack-rooms or quarters. Such an inquiry in hospital, for instance, is obviously superfluous, and in married quarters it is discourteous." Tact, of course, cannot be acquired by precept. It is a state of mind, an attitude towards life ; and though tactlessness can be corrected in each case, it can never be confidently prevented. But so far as precept is serviceable, we should think that this one might be taken as a test. General O'Callaghan recommends himself often by a humorous afterthought, as in the two following examples :—" Don't talk loud at mess, or monopolise the conversation by telling stories which, though possibly new to you, may be well known to your elders. These are the privileges of senior officers, and your turn will come." "Don't lay down the law at whist or bridge. This is simply intolerable to your superiors ; besides which, however badly they may play, it is their recognised prerogative." On the other hand, there are several maxims which warn the young officer against the excessive meekness which might seem to be a renunciation of the aspiration to leadership ; and even the maxims directed against the baneful habits of "talking shop" and capping the stories of worthy old gentlemen are sufficiently corrected by others of which the sense is a condemnation of the magna libido tacendi. It may be said that the intention of such books as this is to produce a type, and that men who are typical abjure originality. There may be, and are no doubt, exceptions to the virtue of a type even in the Army, but conformity to a model such as General O'Callaghan describes is generally a short cut to smooth working and seemly order. "In the Army," says Sir George Clarke, " where the associa- tion of men is necessarily intimate, and their mutual depen- dence is essential, angularities and solecisms are peculiarly exasperating."
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