, 1896-04-29

the Knowledge of his power of dominating
men, of his maSterful way of dealing with
gigantic affairs, expected to find a man self
possessed almost unto aggressivenesS but his
quiet, shy, retiring manner took me quite by
surprise. This. | understand, is always his
way with new men with whom he is brought
directly in contact he is seldom quite at
home with a man until he knows HIM we'll.
But it does not take Mr.. Rhodes long to
know a man. He Is q remarkably shrewd
reader OF character, and not a little Of his
success is due to this natural shrewlness.
On the other hand, Mr.. Rhodes is by no
means an easy man to real that sphinx
like smile of his. when the knowing ones try
to get at him, is most disconcerting. He
reads yon, in fact, mulch more easily than
you can read him.
MR. CECIL RHODES AT HOME.
Mr.. Cumberland's description of Mr..
Rhodes at home is now a little out of date,
as the latter has announced his intention of
residing at Buluwayo in future. He says:
Mr.. Rhodes is an exceedingly hard working
~man-about, l should say, the most hard
working in South Africa. He is a veritable
glutton for work, and it is a marvel that he
does not occasionally break down from sheer
mental exhaustion. His superabundanoe of
nervous energy carries him on where many o
man would collapse. He, especially during
the Parliamentary session, has hardly -
spare moment, and is consequently q diff
cult man to get at. He is an early riser, and
invariably arrives at his office, one of a series
of official rabbit-holes burrowed beneath
Parliament House, before ten o'clock, and
there he works and receives deputations and
visits from his colleagues until he takes his
seat in the House. On the House rising he
drives d0wn to his cottntry residence, the
Grange at RondebosCh, where every day All
extensive correspondence awaits his personal
attention. In town he very seldom dimes.
Mr.. Rhodes. the Prime Minister, at his office
in Cape Town, Is quite another man ON Mr..
Rhodes at Rondebosch. In Cape Town he is
always too busy, too closely occupied with
State aud other public affairs, to be able to
give much more than the ordinary Yes" or
aNo" to questions that may be put to him.
But at Roodebosch You have the man minus
the cloak Of Premiership and the trappings
of director of vast public companies. There,
in his own house, you have a perfect host,
a brilliant conversationalist and an admira-
Bile listener-the man in fact, you wish to
study ...... Mr.. Rhodes has O mania for col
lectinr. and his collection is MS interesting az
one will find in many q museum. 1t contains
numerous quaint things unearlhed at Zim-
babye, amongst them being a queer bird
carved in stone, and a variety Of gold orna-
ments =. -. The latest additions to Mr..
Rhodes most interesting collection of curios
are Lobengnla's seal and gun. It has been
said that NJ. Rhodes is a woman -hater, but
this is a libel. True, he does not court
woman's society, and he is never found pour
ing empty n~othings into a pretty woman's
ear, but there are some wOmen-women Of
the intellectual order-for whom he has an
admiration -. He is peculiar in his
dress, and peculiar in his way of living. At
home, although there are enough best bed
rooms to put up quite a large circle of friends
he never sleeps in the house itself. but goes
to rest in a room fitted up in an clubhouse in
the garden. There he knows he can be alone
alone with his work, his thoughts, free
from intrusion, and away from every sound of
life. II matters not whether his home be full
of friends or empty, he goes to his lonely
room across the yard all the same. Mr..
Rhodes is never so happy as when on the
open veldt with a gun IN his hand and no
companion but a dog.-1he Church Family
Newspaper.