ch he has never seen with his eye, and round which,
moreover, he must steer in the night. If a contrary wind also springs
up, that is, if any great accidental event declares itself adverse to
him, then the most consummate skill, presence of mind, and energy are
required, whilst to those who only look on from a distance all seems to
proceed with the utmost ease. The knowledge of this friction is a chief
part of that so often talked of, experience in War, which is required
in a good General. Certainly he is not the best General in whose mind it
assumes the greatest dimensions, who is the most over-awed by it (this
includes that class of over-anxious Generals, of whom there are so many
amongst the experienced); but a General must be aware of it that he may
overcome it, where that is possible, and that he may not expect a degree
of precision in results which is impossible on account of this very
friction. Besides, it can never be learnt theoretically; and if it
could, there would still be wanting that experience of judgment which
is called tact, and which is always more necessary in a field full of
innumerable small and diversified objects than in great and decisive
cases, when one's own judgment may be aided by consultation with others.
Just as the man of the world, through tact of judgment which has become
habit, speaks, acts, and moves only as suits the occasion, so the
officer experienced in War will always, in great and small matters, at
every pulsation of War as we may say, decide and determine suitably to
the occasion. Through this experience and practice the idea comes to his
mind of itself that so and so will not suit. And thus he will not easily
place himself in a position by which he is compromised, which, if
it often occurs in War, shakes all the foundations of confidence and
becomes extremely dangerous.

It is therefore this friction, or what is so termed here, which makes
that which appears easy in War difficult in reality. As we proceed, we
shall often meet with this subject again, and it will hereafter become
plain that besides experience and a strong will, there are still many
other rare qualities of the mind required to make a man a consummate
General.

CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUDING REMARKS, BOOK I

THOSE things which as elements meet together in the atmosphere of War
and make it a resistant medium for every activity we have designated
under the terms danger, bodily effort (exertion), information, and
fr