The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-03

|
projected by high revenue duties, and
that the negroes should be made to
| work and be kept under strict legisla-
| ton.
Rhodes saw that he was not strong
enough to fghtrthe Cape Dutch, so he
| tried to work with them. They elected
| MIN to power as prime minister, and he
gave them the laws they wanted.
But his heart was far away from Cape
Colony. He had seen the magnificent
country up north ioverrun by the impis
tarmieG Of theiGmighty Lobengula, end
he longed to have it. He believed, as
dld many more. sthat this was the fabu-
lous land Of Ophir. whose wealth would
surpass anything the world had seen.
The 125,O00 miles of fertile land were ly-
Ing worse than waste under The yoke
] or the savage king. Yet Lobengula was
so strong with his mighty armies, and
his land so distant, that any power
might well pause before attacking him.
| Rhodes first sent his agents to Loben-
! gula, to live with him, win his confidence,
and secure a concession from him giving
| them the right to search his country fol
| minerals. Lobengula was crafty and
suspicious, but at last was persuaded to
sign away an exclusive concession for
mineral rights in consideration OF pay
| ment of $500 a month, thousand Martini
rifles and ammunition, and a gunboat en-
the Zambesi.
At the same time the empire-maker al
lied himself in England with members OF
| the great noble families and by their IN
| f1uence secured from the government
| charter giving them the right to trade,
| practically as great power, In the north
THE JAMESON RAID FIASCO.
The world knows how Rhodes and his
| followers went on and on, how the native
| king wa inf n0hf{nQ driven out
! of his country and to his death, and now
| the Chartered company. became the SOW
ereign power in Matabeleland and Mas
| homeland. Cecil Rhodes was now, appar-
| emily, Mt the apex of his power. Ills
| career had been one succession OF prac-
tically unbroken victories. Many times
| over millionaire. the real king OF
| great dominion very many times larger
| than the British islands, the prime minis
! ter of Cape Colony, chosen by the queen
| of England among her prtyy councillors,
| the idol and ideal of ambitious English
men everywhere. he seemed mightier
| than many despots.
| But you never know the real character
| of man until he has undergone defeat.
| Few realized the power of the African
Napoleon until after his apparent down
| fall.
The gigantic mistake of the Jameson
| raid was one of those blunders so unex-
| pected and irreparable that people can
| only regard them, with wonder. Badly
| planned, badly executed, doomed to fail
ure before its start, the mad bold ride
! of DR.. Jim and his men came on the
! world with a thunGer-crash OF surprise.
| ! well remember the anxious time in
| London when, cable communication hav-
| ing broken down, we were waiting day
| after day for news. Those of Mr..
| Rhodess friends not in the inner secret
refused haliElyo hot ho no
| nanced folly so great. AS one of them
| said to me at the time, II do not believe
| that the raid was planned by any one.
| If 1t had been, do you think they would
have gone off without radons, or sup
plies, or provisions of any kind? 1 don't
believe Jameson has planned it; am
| certain Rhodes did not. Even If Rhodes
has horns and hoofs, he is not quite an
| idiot, and an idiot he would have been
If he had planned Jameson's mission of
relief
Eut he had planned it! On him the
heaviest blow fell. He was forced to re-
| sign his office prime minister. and
the Dutch, who had long kept him in
power, became in a day his bitterest OBJ
ponents. Blow followed en- blow The
land he had conquered, ana which now
bore his name,s was ruined by the great
cattle plague, and then the natives rose
in rebellion.
RHODES HOUR OF TRIUMPH.
Then it was that the man proved his
grit. He poured out his money by hum
dreds of thousands of dollars to recon-
qller and revive Rhodesia, and at last.
taking his life IN his hands, he went I'M
armed among the most savage of the
Matabeles and by force of personal mag
netism talked them into submission.
He came back to London and talked the
angry shareholders IF t1,o
pany into enthusiasm. He settled in Cane
colony and sought to win over the dis
trEStfu Dutch voters. The battle &c
not yet over, but he is already on tho
nigh road to victory. Rhodesia once more
shows signs Of prosperity, the sharehold-
ers of the Chartered company are bright
ening, and even the Cape Dutch are los
ing their hatred
Meanwhile Mr.. Rhodes rushes about ha-
tween Rhodesia, London and Cane Col
ony doing his best to be in the three
places at once. He no longer lives in
the bachelor club at Cape Town, but has
his home, presided over by his sister. at
Grooteschurr, big old house in the SUBJ
urbs.
1t Is quaint house with a "stoop" or
broad stone platform In front of it. and
rambling, old-fashioned Dutch rooms
When Mr.. Rhodes bought It ne lined the
mouse with teak, and furnished ii with
the oldest-fashiened Dutch furniture he
could secure. He was careful to have a
good library. He has always been q mas
s1onate reader, and he gives his friend
Mr.. Stead, the London editor, the task
OF picking him out the best new books
and sending them, out to him. But he
does not confine himself to modern books
alone. An elaborate collection of trans
1ations of the classics forms a prominent
part of his library. All the translations
were made to has order, typewriter and
bound up.
On the walls of that library hang a tat
tered Union Jack taken from battle
field and flag taken from the Portu-
guese in a battle between them and Mr.
Rhodes men at Manica The room is
full of curios from the great elephant
seal with which Lobengula stamped his
first concession to the Chartered COMPANY
to the old plaques atop of the book
shelves. Around the house is a great
menagerie, which is one of its owners
chief hobbies. He aims to make a great
zoo which shall preserve the great game
rapidly growing scarce.
CECIL RHODES AT HOME.
In his home Mr.. Rhodes exercises a
generous hospitality. He usually has
number of guests and treats them with
out ceremony. Thoughtful for their COM
fort, he does more than treat them well.
He does not awe by magnihcence and in
dulges in no display. A hundred folks in
Cape Town might show a greater display
of silver upon their tables than he, but
he believes that comfort consists in some
thing else than big cigars, costly cham
payne, many servants and sumptuous sur
roundings.
of he