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3·

man might respect such men for their deeds, but he never got to know
them.

The first two examples I will take are Mr. Lloyd George
and my old chief, Lord Milner. Mr. Lloyd George has the most perfect
gift of expressing himself and his personality of any man I
have ever known. That is why he has been so great a popular leader
- he is wholly comprehensible. No atmosphere of mystery ever surrounded
his character or his talents, and the plain man found in him
something which he could himself assess, so that he could give or
withhold his confidence as if he were dealing with a familiar friend.
This power of inducing a sense of intimacy among millions who have
never seen his face is the greatest of assets for a democratic statesman.

Mr. Lloyd George in the War was a living figure everywhere, not
only for Britain but for all the world. He was like an electric
current whose strength is scarcely lessened by transmission over
distances. He used a universal tongue, and his strength lay in this
universality, this abounding share in a common humanity. That is
what made him, I think, the supreme civilian figure in the War.

He had a mind which was immensely quick and receptive, but
not very retentive. He could pick up an idea and use it brilliantly,
and then forget it completely. This made him a difficult man to
serve. But it also gave him his perpetual exuberance and vigour. He
could never be stale because he could get rid of all unnecessary baggage
and wake every morning to a new world. You can realise how magnificent
a leader he was in a time like war, when things were perpetually
changing.