Part 25 (2/2)

What pride to have reared such a son and to know that he felt that the greatest thing in life was to lay all on the altar of his country! And to think of the gallant band whom he has joined--W G C Gladstone, Rupert Brooke, Raymond Asquith, Donald Hankey, and many more

”And ofttime cometh our wise Lord God, Master of every trade, And tells them tales of His daily toil, Of Edens newly made; And they rise to their feet as He passes by, Gentlemen unafraid”

The tears came to my eyes, tears of joy and pride, when I read the extract from Paul's wonderful letter to Hal We had looked forward to Paul serving England in his life--great service for which his transcendent gifts seemed to mark him out It has been ordained, however, that his service is by way of Calvary We can only wonder what it all ue of mine in the Press Gallery wrote:

He was a fine fellow and you had good reason to be proud of hireatly struck by his last letter It breathes a splendid spirit and ree in my favourite essay in Stevenson: ”In the hot fit of life, a-tip-toe on the highest point of being, he passes at a bound on to the other side”

An old friend who knew Paul well and whose two sons were educated at Dulwich College wrote:

I grieve beyondof so noble-hearted a one down in this horrible as of the very flower of our race--he even reat, too There are consolations even in such an affliction as yours; and the highest consolation of all ly laid down his life for his fellow-men

Froallant son's death brings to my mind a verse of Adam Lindsay Gordon's:

”Many seek for peace and riches, length of days and life of ease; I have sought for one thing, which is fairer unto me than these; Often, too, I've heard the story, in ned me--Glory, coupled with an early tolory, though his pro life has suddenly been cut off Is it too ht so nobly will at last becoe of the whole world? He and those who have fallen with him will then have created a new earth, in which shall dwell peace and righteousness I firmly believe it will be so; but it is up to us who are left behind to see to it that all the heroic sacrifices have not been made in vain, and that the ”new order” will be worthy of those ideals which were cherished by the men who laid down their lives for thees that reached us, none touched a deeper chord than the following:

_7th August, 1917_

I would like to convey to you my condolences in the loss of your son, Lieut H P M Jones Although a stranger, I a in to-day's _Daily Chronicle_ the account of his career and those noble words he wrote in his letter home just before his death I and those around me felt, ”Here was a fine man and one the country could ill afford to lose” May it be sorief, that your boy's death made at least one man say to himself: ”I will try to be a betterWelsh musician wrote:

I cannot express how intensely I feel for you in your great sorrow at the death of Paul Of surpassing intellect and noble ideals, he would have been invaluable to the country in the near future I feel sure it reat pride and comfort to you that he eous way, so beco to his noble soul He will live for all time in my mind as the very essence of honour and idealism

”That was a wonderful letter,” writes a newspaper proprietor ”I have read nothing finer It brought tears to my eyes, but it made me proud of my race”

The athletic editor of a London newspaper, who is an authority on public-school athletics, wrote:

In your son's death we have lost areiants of the school he so splendidly led

From an official of the House of Commons:

I have prayed earnestly that there -up of hearts so sorely broken The record of his school life, vivid with success and leadershi+p and, best of all, whole-hearted in its purity, wrung ht of what had been lost to us But I believe he has passed on to other service

”A life nobly lived and nobly died--the ideal”--such was the coue ofsoldier son ”I venture to say,” he added, ”that his noble letter, written al to thousands and thousands of sorely-stricken hearts in these sad tiold”

”Be sure,” wrote an old Cardiff friend, ”in all your sorrow that He who fashi+oned your boy so well and equipped hi; and that when you 'carry on,'

bearing your load bravely, your dear boy will be nearer to you than you often think, in some splendid service, too”