The times., 1899-10-01

strip of land" are common examples of his style
/ OF speech and the expression OF his dominant
spirit.
He has the faculty of leading people to believe
that they want the exact opposite OF what they
really do want, and he does it in such a pol
ished manner that they give their consent be-
fore they realize what he has asked them. His
personal charm, which in itself is almost ire
sistible, is fortified with straightforward, breezy
heartiness that carries with it respect, admira-
uon, confidence, and, finally, conviction. He
has argued and treated with persons ranging IN
intelligence and station from a native chief to
the most learned diplomats and rulers in the
world, and his experience has taught him that
argument will win any case.
! Lobengula called him ''the brother who eats
a whole country for his dinner" To this title
might be added ''the debater who swallows up
the opposition in one BREATH" Mr.. Rhodes never
asks exactly what he wants He will ask the
shareholders OF company for ten million, when
he really needs only five million, but in that
manner he is almost certain of satisfying his
needs. In the same way, when he pleads with an
opponent, he makes the demands so great that
he can afford 10 yield half and still attain his
object.
In other words, Cecil Rhodes has, in
common with many American kings un-
crowned. a great aptitude at the useful
game of bluff.
The fight between Rhodes and Kruger is
lot fight between two men, or two types,
or even two nations, alone. 1t is a con-
fict between the eighteenth and the twen-
tieth centuries. Dom Paul is precisely
what his forefathers were more than a
hundred years ago Cecil Rhodes is in
many respects what his countrymen are
going to be, in the ever expanding empire
! of the Anglo-SaXon race in the twentieth
| century. 1t must be seen by any observ-
ant person that the modern Englishman in
the colonies is taking on some of the char
acteristics which we are wont to call
American. For all his blatant An
glicism Kipling has many American
qualities of style and spirit His
literary methods and those of Ba.e-
stier. who had absorbed the life of
! the West, resembled each other far Liore
than either resembled the average English
author. And Kipling is a thorough be-
liever in Rhodes Like Rhodes, he is in
advance of his time-so far in advance that
even yet about half his public is rubbing
! its eyes and trying to understand him;
and like Rhodes, he gets, on the whole,
more abuse than praise. The indomitable
hopefulness and activity of them both is
| also characteristic of the man OF the fu-
ture He will be like the man of Heine's
poem, "he will work miracles, and they will
come off, too;" because he has seen this
done But the only marvels which Dom
Paul believes in are found between the lids
of his Bible, and he seems still TO believe
|
in his behalf in the latter end Of the nine
| teenth century.
Rhodes is less than two-thirds the age
of Kruger. He is less than fifty, while
| Kruger is seventy-five. Twenty-seyen
years ago the English imperialist, then
slender lad of less than nineteen, was toll
by his physician that he had tuberculosis
and could live but little time, but that
if he wished to extend his span of life be-
yond three years he should go to South
Africa. He and his brother, sons OF a
poor country rector, started for the Kim
berley diamond fields, and reached their
destination nearly penniless. The main
industry at Kimberley then was illicit
diamond buying, but this is thing OF
which even Rhodes enemies do not ac
cuse him. He made money in various COM
mercial enterprises, and at the end of two
or three years went back TO England
! Some time later he met the physician who
! had advised him to go tosAfrica. and the
! medical man declared that it was perfect
! " impossible that his interlocutor could
4 be the Rhodes whom he knew, because, ac-
! cording to his books, that Rhodes had been
! dead for some time. Yet he has lived to
! add a larger slice to the British Empire
than any other man. The following char
acteristic incident is related of him at the
/ beginning of the chapter given to his ca
| reer:
Sixteen years ago Cecil ]. Rhodes, then man
| Of small means and political record, stood IN
a small Kimberley shcp and looked for long
| time at map OF Africa which hung on the
wall. An acquaintance who had watched him Tor
several minutes stepped up TO Rhodes and asked
whether he attempting to find the location
! of Kimberley. Mr.. Rhodes made no reply for sew
! eral seconds, then placed his right hand over the
/ map, and covered a large part OF South and
Central Africa, from the Atlantic to the Indian
hat Rriff hp lg
! my dream"
AZ viii give you ten years to realize it,
| piled the friend.
''GiVe len MORE" said Rhodes, land then
well have new map. fEf s! "a se4s
| Three-fourths of the required time has elapsed,
/ and the full realization of Rhodes dream must
/ take place within the next four years There
| remain only two small spaces on that part OF
the map which covered by Rhodes hand
! that are not British, and those are the Orange
/ Free State and the South African Republic
1t remains to be seen whether Dom Paul's
passive, stubborn, crafty resistance will
withstand the determined adaptable ag-
gressive, and progressive force represented
! by Rhodes, which is working against him
1t is the old question of the irresistible
force and the immovable post. But post
can be worn away, grain by grain, while a
force is not so easily exhausted. In con-
ficts of this sort it is well to stake ones
money on the motive power. II generally
wins in the end.
There is another factor, besides the Boer
and the Englishman, in this South African
/ problem, and il is by no means insignifi-
cant. 1t is the native-the Zulu, the Basuto
| and the Matabele. He hates the white man,
( collectively; and If ii came TO a war he
| would be in it. II is fairly certain that he
would not take the side of the Boer, but
| it is not possible to say with positive as
surance what would happen until the time
comes, for the history of the English and
Dutch in Africa has not been favorable to
a complete understanding between either of
| these races and the native African. The
conquering race rarely understands the con-
| quered.
There is one tribe of natives, referred to
! in this book, which is worth some attention
in connection with the present political sit
uation, because it shows what can be
| Grafton, by the influence of one man. The
tribe in question is in Bechuanaland, and
! it is under Khama, chief of the Bawangwa-
] to. According to Mr.. Hillegas, this tribe
| has been converted from polygamy, tribal
warfare, and half dozen other savage Gus
toms: schools and churches have been es-
tablished, and the Is 900 people Of the tribe
are so thoroughly under the control of their
! King and so far advanced in civilization
that the traveller is safer than he would be
in the streets along New York's water
front. Theft is unknown, murder is un-
cept when some white man smuggies liquor
into the country.
For fifty years withcraft has not been
L., Nth,