THE SILENT FIELD MARSHAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1125, 19 December 1914, Page 8

THE SILENT FIELD MARSHAL.

The leader of tho British Expeditionary Force has l:een called " Silent French " : and indeed his most suitable motto would seem to lie '* Deeds not words."' One does not associate (.Jenoral French with the limelight. It is said that tho tremendous ovation accorded to him when ho arrived in Franco made him blush.

One of the strictest disciplinarians, he is beloved by his men.: and their affection for him is linked with profound confidence in his capacity. For they know what he has come through, and how nobly he has acquitted himself under the most trying circumstances.

SIR JOHN FRENCH.

"JACK'/'S AT HIS OLD GAME."

is a great reader of Dickens. It is said that lie carried an old worn copy of "Pickwick" about with him throughout tho South African War. It reminds one of Baron Bradwardine and his "Titus Livius," or of Wolfe and " Gray's Elegy." His wit mid ingenuity would appear to have developed early in life if the following story is true. When a little boy, John French was once set to read tho family morning prayers, and changed the words of the petition, " 0 Lord : cut us not off as cumberers of the ground," into "0 Lord cut us not off as cucumberers on the ground." It must not be forgotten that Sir John has served as a sailor. When a boy, he entered tho Navy, and remained there for nbout five years; but afterwards found his true sphere in the 'other service. But we may be suro that the time spent on board rthip was not thrown, away. Indeed, Sir John's naval experiences may probably be of great value to him at the present time.

In a recent interview Sir John's sister, Mrs Despard, the veteran leader of the-women's movement, said:— " My. brother will be one of the happiest men in the field. For the war game is his one passion. He loved it when he was a boy. Battles and preaching were his only hobby. And Napoleon was and still is his hero. Napoleon the soldier, not Napoleon the politician. Indeed, he holds very strougly that the soldier should stick by his sword, the peasant by his plough —you know Frederick the Great's dictum? Tliat is one of his first axioms in life. In one curious way his Napoleon cult has been unexpectedly useful. In pursuing his heroworship he has traced every hillock and hedgerow of the country over which he is now fighting. He knew the Belgian theatre of war by heart through tho Waterloo Campaign before he ever landed." On being asked if he could be satisfied, as she was, with a slum in Nine Elms, if the work was there to do, Airs Despaa-d replied, " I don't doubt it. Even there I think they would like him. Only the other night the poor fellow from whom I get my evening paper asked me if I were Mrs General French's sister. I said he was right. Well, he told me how, working with a battery in a very hot corner during the South African war, he had seen the General rideover to cheer them up. ' Now hi don't care 'oo the man is, and I don't care 'o.o I am, I love the man,' he said, rather huskily. I forgot my paper that night; but I was shaking that man's hand. I was touched. • Don't imagine there is no romance in Nine Elms." JACKY'S AT HIS OLD GAME.

The very human Field-Marshal who is making history on the Continent of Europe, the man who relieved Kimberley, the man who, away back in the Nile Expedition, won unstinted praise from Sir Redvers Buller, is a pattern of tireless industry. Surely he has used his talents well. When others feasted and revelled, he was engrossed in the • troubles of longforgotten military leaders. It is recorded of him that when Assistant Adjutant at the War Office, he ended his work by solving a tactical problem at liis desk six days in every week! Said a soldier when he" heard of Sir John French's appointment to command the Expeditionary Force, '• Jacky's at his old game again; it's all right for us." . And this expresses th© sentiments of every British heart.

A HUMANE LEADER

He has the respect of ins men because he treats them as men and not as machines. As a young soldier no one worked harder than Lieutenant. French, of the Hussars, and General French has no use for loafers; but it is one of the characteristics of his generalship that no one. who serves under him feels his work to be a disagreeable duty. His inspiring example makes his'men feel that they are responsibly co-operating with him in a great work. Here, we have the secret of successful leadership. It is not surpassing ability—.or transcendent genius even—that wins men to devoted service and heroic enterprise. It is character. French is followed because he is just. Much will be overlooked in a man who is scrupulous in his regard for the rights of others. The student wiio called Jowett a beast added, " But he is a just beast."

Moreover, French is the right man in the right place. He is tho square man in the square hole. He fits his job as the skin fits the hand. And ae is genially modest withal.

NO BARKER, BUT A.GOOD BITER The great cavalry leader has a positive genius for getting out of tight places. Some of his escapes appear miraculous. After the Boer position was captured at lilandslaagte, French said that during the murderous few minutes outside the laager he had never been in such a tight corner before. In'a letter home he wrote, "I never thought I could come out alive." From Ladysmith he escaped 03' a very close shave lying flat on the floor of a railway carriage rained upon by bullets. And yet he .came through the whole of the South African campaign with scarce a scratch. Tributes have been paid to his wonderful coolness. Never does he expose his men unnecessarily to danger. He sees far ahead and lays his. plans with prudence. An ox-dragoon wrote : '' He is an example •of still waiters running deep, a man of few words, but one of the most businesslike generals in the Army, and a rigid disciplinarian. I heard him summed up by a trooper whom he had sentenced, in a word or two to fourteen days confinement in barracks:—' Old French don't bark a bit, but don't he bloomin' well bite!'" Sir John French is above all efficient. •That is the first impression conveyed by his short, thick-set figure and hia resolute features mantling with the encouraging smile of strength. His face and bearing and the pose o,f his head suggest great powers in reserve. No one is more fertile in resource. He has been described as the " incarnation of the cavalry spirit." His boldness and ingenuity in bluffing an enemy are proverbial. ' A READER OF DICKENS.

An Irishman, Sir John has a- ready wit, and a keen sense of humour. He