It was true, as the event was to prove, that he could no longer count on unquestioning support of any policy simply on the ground that he advocated it; but any opinion which he presented would have been commended not only by the cogency of his argument but by an old esteem for his wisdom, and, above and beyond this, by a personal feeling Men would have inclined to his side not for the argument's sake only, but for his sake.
There was felt, too, precisely at the moment when it mattered most, the defect in his quality as leader.

He lacked the personal touch.

It was not that he would not, but that he could not, put himself into contact with the individual minds of men.

He owed it, I think, to the rank and file to give them more of his guidance than they actually received.

He was a genial presence when they met; but of confidential discussion upon details I am sure that nothing passed.