ance, can only be reached by the pupil for himself. And
there are many who fall by the way. . . .

It arises out of the second: it must be preceded by subordination of
self. For until a man can subordinate himself, he cannot take on his
shoulders the cares of others; he cannot put those others first, And
until he can put others before him, he cannot be put in a position of
responsibility: he is not fitted to fill it. And it is the principle
of responsibility on which the British Army is built up: another thing
about which I am very doubtful as to the knowledge of those whose paths
have not led them near things military. . . .

I have touched on things material; let me hold forth awhile on things
spiritual.

What think you, my masters, is the driving force of a regiment in the
field? The answer is in one word--Leadership. Quite so, you say; the
remark seems to have been made before. It has, which makes it all the
stranger that it is so little understood.

What does the word mean to you? Prancing in front of the men with a
drawn sword, shouting, "For King and Country"? They'd laugh at you,
and follow a--leader: one of their own. Ruling by fear, ruthlessly
without thought of human weakness, without tinge of mercy? They'd hate
you, and you would have to drive them like the Prussians do. Ruling by
pusillanimous kindness, by currying favour, by seeking to be a
popularity Jack? They'd despise you--and rightly.

The quality of leadership is none of these things: it is something much
more simple, much more homely, if I may use the word. To lead men a
man must first of all understand men, understand human nature; he must
know his job, and know it better than his men; he must possess
intensity of purpose.

Human nature! What the men like and what they dislike; the little
fetishes they put up, the little gods; the few words of praise when
they have done well, of disappointment when they have not;
consideration for them, giving them beer and concerts; being with them
in the trenches when the weather is bad, and not in a dug-out. Little
points perhaps, but it's the little points that are so important.

Human sympathy--the appealing to the spark of better things that lies
in the worst; the inculcation of an ideal to live up to--the ideal of
the regiment. All the hundred and one things that go to make up a
man's life and not an automaton's; all the things that make for the
affection and love of those under you.