e, instead of coming to
England. I think that at last he almost dreaded taking leave lest a
visit home might weaken his resolve to walk the sacrificial road. It
was only after his death that we learnt from his brother officers in
the 2nd Cavalry Brigade that he had often told them he was convinced
he would not survive the War. That conviction seemed only to
strengthen his determination to get into the fighting-line. A voice
within told him his place was in the heart of the combat and he obeyed
its monition with joyful alacrity. From the time he joined the Tank
Corps a sort of divine content filled his soul.

Paul found and gave great happiness in his own home. Never moody or
despondent, his sunny disposition made him like a glory in the house.
He enjoyed nothing better than a frolic with his younger brother, of
whom he was devotedly fond. A racy and witty talker, he loved an
argument. Many a verbal joust he and I had together. Our views did not
always concur. We differed in opinion on many matters, including our
estimates of eminent men, alive and dead. For example, my son did not
share my contempt for Rousseau; nor could I share his admiration for
Frederick the Great and Napoleon, those ruffians of genius who wrought
so much evil in the world. Paul, however, adored men of action, and he
forgot the crimes and moral defects of Napoleon and Frederick in
contemplating the splendour of their achievements. Austere though his
own morals were, he nevertheless held that a man capable of great
service to the State ought not to be debarred from performing it by
his religious opinions or the lack of them, or by the nature of his
private life. He felt that you must take genius on its own terms.

What Paul was to his mother and to me I dare not write. Let it suffice
to say that no parents were ever blessed with a richer treasure. His
love for us flowed through the channel of his being like a river
singing on its way. How proud we were of his nobility of soul, his
heroic temper, his many triumphs! Young as he was we found in him a
firm stay and a sure support, and we felt ourselves more secure in
life under the shelter of his strong and radiant personality. We had
cherished high, and I hope not unworthy, hopes of his future--hopes
which, but for the War, would assuredly have been fulfilled. He had
not settled in his mind what profession he would adopt. Law attracted
him once, then repelled him; and I strongly dissuaded him from
Jou