"You are not," President Poincare went on, "of those who let themselves
be downcast by danger; neither are you of those whom victory dazzles.
You do not believe that we are near the end of our efforts and our
sacrifices. You guard against optimism as much as against depression."

This he said to Foch, in the field, on August 23, 1918, when the fruits
of victory though in sight were not yet within grasp.

Had the presentation been three months later, President Poincare would
(I think) have spoken not differently; better even than before, he
would have known that Foch is not "of those whom victory dazzles"; and
not less clearly than before would he have perceived that Foch does not
"believe that we are near the end of our efforts and our sacrifices."

Foch may well feel that he has done his utmost for his country and for
mankind, in the crisis for which he prepared himself and which he met
with such superb faith in the triumph of Right; but he certainly does
not feel that he has ushered in the millennium; he knows what other
demands there are and will be upon the souls of men, on their devotion
to their country, their perception of truth and honor, and their ardor
and ability to serve humanity. He knows that not France alone but
every nation has need to-day and henceforth of leaders who will do just
what he did: personify the highest ideals of their people and prepare
themselves to defend those ideals intelligently, unselfishly, devoutly.

He has established a new standard in leadership. Far from culminating
an old order, he has inaugurated a new--an order which everyone may
join who wills to serve. Its motto is: "Right is Might; believe in the
power of Right; learn to uphold it; strengthen others, as they come in
contact with you, to meet the enemies of Right and to vanquish them;
never forget that the moving power of the world is _soul_, and the laws
of the soul were made by God."

Too deep a student of history, too keen an analyst of human nature to
entertain any illusions about the enemy he has conquered but not
converted, Foch knows that if what he has been privileged to do for
France and for her allies is to have any lasting value, there must be a
league of freedom-loving peoples as strong and as united to preserve
peace as they were to win it; and that this league must be supported by
a general morale not one whit less devoted to the end in view than was
the morale which won the war.

Too wise to feel that