During his brilliant career since the war began Joffre has developed some of the qualities notable in our own General Grant. There is not a particle of show or bluster about him. He dresses as plainly as possible, talks little and seems to prefer solitude. But his will is imperious and he does not hesitate when anything is to be done, whether it is pleasant or otherwise. For his men he has the greatest consideration, but they say in France that, like Lincoln, he has little regard for Generals. Some of the things told about him remind you of the story of Lincoln. In this story a Confederate raid had resulted in the capture of two generals and a number of privates. When the story was brought to Lincoln, he said it was too bad about the men. Someone suggested that it was a pity the generals had been taken, but Lincoln said that did not matter much, as he could make some more. Joffre has made it uncomfortable for the inefficient generals in France. Many of them have lost their commands and most of them live in fear of his quiet but inexorable discipline. Joffre does not look kindly on visitors to the Front, and nobody gets there without his permission. He signed the passes on which the Commission traveled, but he did not seem overjoyed at our coming enough to look us up while we were there. Apparently he regarded us as people who could not help in his big job and who were likely in some way or other to become nuisances. When you talk with people who know this man you are at once impressed with the fact that he appreciates his great responsibility and that there is nothing on his mind but how to win this war for France. They say he has a clipping bureau that saves for him all that is being printed about the war. He probably expects to read it somewhere after the war is over, but he will not likely be able to do this in the remainder of an ordinary lifetime. Time only will decide whether Joffre is really a great military genius, or whether he is merely a good general, conscientiously doing his best and fortunate enough to become a popular hero. Modern war is so different from old time variety that no one can judge results up to this time. It is at least certain that Joffre has beaten the Germans back and back, slowly, but surely forcing them out of France. He says himself that he "has been nibbling at them."