The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-07-17
CECIL RHODES
Picturesque Career of an Un-
crowned aud Fallen King.
His Marvellous Rise to Power in
South Africa.

Africa from England, eighteen years
or 80 ago. He was a slim, pale young
fellow, whom tho doctors said was on
the verge Of consumption. AT Oxford
University, where he WAS when his
health failed, he was known only as
hard student, whose passion it was 20
DO the leader In everything he uuder.
took. He was poor ia those days, for
lac was one OF that numerous class. tho
younger sons OF English gentlemen,
whose family fortune is insufficient
for their maintenance at nome, aud
who therefore arc shipped of to the
colonies, whore they either fight their
way to fame and fortune or else are
claimed by death in some OF the many
forms it takes ia those Wild lands.
From the moment That Cecil Rhodes
set foot on African soil, with a few
pounds in his pocket, he seemed to be
gifted with the touch of Midas, for
his handful Of sovereigns multiplied
with marvellous rapidity, and in less
than five years reached the astonish-
ing sum OF million pounds His
first move was the organizing of
all the gold and diamond mines of
South Africa into a gigantic syndi-
cate, OF which he, of course, was the
head. This was known Us the Consol-
idated De Beers mines. For one of
his partners Rhodes had the now ia
nous Barney Barnato, the "Kaffr
King, the fluctuations of whose South
African stocks last year meant the
daily loss and gain Of millions Of
pounds.
The stock of the new company was
at par on the day of its birth, but be-
fore it was a month old it had doubled
in market value, and Cecil Rhodes's
name was on every tongue. A little
later came the news of q discovery
which then seemed like stroke of
fabulous good fortune, but which,
through his greed for power and
wealth, has since brought about his
undoing-the discovery of new and
rich gold fields in the Transvaal Re-
public. Rhodes and his associates
sent more than half a hundred diff
ferent companies Immediately into
this new territory to locate and seize
upon-in a perfectly legal way, of
course-nll the best and richest of it.
Millions more poured into their treas
ury.
But all this while Cecil Rhodes was
maturing and beginning to carry out
his political plans. His first taste of
this sort of power was when he was
elected member OF the Cope parlia
ment from Kimberly. To adequate
ly appreciate his success as states
man it will be necessary to OBJ
serve that then the Cape parliament wa,
two bitterly opposed factions, one of
which was jealous of even the slight
control OF England and wished to be
entirely independent, while the other
was as strong in it's allegiance to the
home government and to her whom
their opponents named as the Widow
at Windsor" No man could have
been popular with both these hostile
parties had lie not been diplomatist
of the first rnnk, secret, self.reliant
and masterful.
1t was not long before they all knew
what'au iron hand his velvet glove
concealed, for when the time was ripe
he threw aside oil disguise and de-
clared that the Cape was able to gov
ern itself without aid or advice from
London. His views were hailed with
acclaim by vast majority, and from
that day Cecil Rhodes has been the
most popular and powerful man in
that part of the world He became a
member Of the Cape ministry in 1884,
and six years later reached the high
est Office he could hope to attain in a
colonial dependency, that Of prime
minister,
Such was the beginning and growth
of Cecil Rhodes's ambitious dream,
which has not yet been realized-the
forming Of an Independent federation
of South African states, Of which he
should be the undisputed leader