“As a man he appears to enjoy perpetual youth. He is short of stature, with no neck and a large round head. His hair is white, plentiful and worn _en brosse_, and he appears to be clean-shaven, so short is his clipped white moustache. “Two things strike one immediately, the charm of his perennial smile and the quick brilliance of his brown eyes. “As a raconteur he is inimitable, whilst as a lecturer his marvellous power of expression, his command of vocabulary and his convincing use of simile make it possible for him to communicate to his less erudite audiences a certain measure of his vast knowledge. This is by no means confined to military subjects, and his power of quotation from the classics is marked, whilst he has at least once published a lengthy poem in a volume dealing with the mathematics of gunnery. “As an ardent philologist, he bristles all over at the sound of the word ‘Tancque’ from French lips, and opens a violent crusade against the use of foreign words as a substitute for good French equivalents. “His voice is loud and resonant and his speech accompanied by frequent gestures, his favourite being the placing of his left hand flat upon his chest as if he implies that his utterances emanate from his heart. “He possesses many characteristic attitudes, and when in conversation is often to be seen tossing his _képi_ from one side of his head to the other. In fact it is scarcely ever to be seen except jauntily tilted over one ear. “His admiration for the cavalryman at the head of a triumphal entry into a town is reduced to nothingness by his conviction that he is useless in modern war. He would prefer to see a victorious General enter a town on foot, escorted by a section of _Chars d’Assaut_, as being more typical of the present-day battlefield. “He is himself a great walker, and may frequently be seen alone, wearing, as is his wont, a pair of pale blue spats or gaiters, a relic of the Empire uniform, and in summer no socks. “This latter habit was recommended to him by a friend, and its adoption by him is typical of the man in that he is always prepared to give careful thought and personal trial to any scheme laid before him. “To this quality, added to his immense personal charm and vast experience, is due his undoubted right to rank amongst the big men of this war, a successful issue to which has ever been the dream of his life.”