, 1900-01-11


friends of Mr.. Rhodes. Most OF ny
Rhodesian friends canno understand
why / should pose the war, and the
friends of peace are equally at p. loss
to understand how 1t is that, detesting
h war as | do, l should persist in my
regard and admiration for Cecil
Rhodes. Possibly when they read this
sketch both parties may be better able
to understand my position, and 1t may
help some of those who ave been mis-
led into ignorant denunciation of the
personality of a man they know moth
ing o to understand some of the
reasons why those h know him best
believe in him most"
OF Rhodes in South Africa, Mr.. Stead
says, in part:
Cecil ]. Rhodes, a dozen years ago,
was unknown outside the narrow con-
fines of the Cape Colony. Gen. Gordon,
who had been in South Africa, had met
him there sixteen years ago, and
formed so high an estimate of his char
acter that when he started on his
heroic mission to the Soudan in 1884,
his first act was to telegraph to Mr..
Rhodes, asking him to accompany him
to Khartoum. Mr.. Rhodes was then
treasurer of the Cape Colony, and so
he was unable to accept Gen. Gordon's
invitation. Had it been otherwise, the
recent history of Africa, both North
and South. would lave to be rewritten;
for the life of one of these men and
the death of h other are the two
great factors which at this hour DOM
mate the d~estinies of Africa.
1t is well to approach the study of
Mr.. Rhodes from the standpoint of
Gen. Gordon's invitation to Khartoum.
The ordinary standpoint from which
Mr.. Rhodes is judged is that of the
tinancier or the politician. Those who
look at him from either the Stock Ex-
change or Downing Street never dis
cover the key to the strangely COM
pick character, which is the fascina-
ton of his friends and the despair of
his enemies. II you want to under
stand Cecil Rhodes, it is necessary to
begin by remembering that Gen. Cor
o knew him well and trusted him alb
solutely. Gen. Gordon was the Bayard
of our generation. No more absolutely
s~elfiess man ever served his country
and his queen.
Yet this man was the friend of Cecil
Rhodes. Gordon knew him, believed
in him and trusted him so much that
in the supreme moment of Gordon's
career when he took his life in his
hand n Jared forth to the post OF
duty-and as the result proved, of
death-at Khartoum, his first thought
was to send for Rhodes-Rhodes. who
was no even a soldier or a diplomatist,
and who a no experience whatever
of the problems of the Soudan. Cor
don, however, who was a keen, shrewd
Judge of men. knew Cecil Rhodes to be
a man after his own heart. And l.,
who knew both men, can well under
stand the secret of his confidence in
Rhodes.
Cecil Rhodes Is at this moment, not
withstanding his temporary eclipse
after the unfortunate affair of the
Jameson raid, the greatest parsonage
in the British empire. bar two; the
greatest man bar one. The queen and
the queens prime minister. Lord Sal
isbury, alone tower above the African
empire builder in the estimation of the
world both within and without Greater
Britain. After Mr.. Rhodes. Mr.. Cham
berlain is a bad fourth. But Mr..
Rhodes Is so much greater than Mr..
Chamberlain hat he could afford to
accept the odium of a parliamentary
censure in order to save Mr.. Chamber
lain from an exposure which would
have extinguished his political career,
and to emerge practically unaffected by
his sacrifice.
1t Is not necessary here to introduce
any detail as to the way in which Mr..
Rhodes built up his fortune. 1t did not
probably differ much from the methods
in which other ~millionalres have made
their piles. A fortunate selection Of
diamondiferous soil was the beginning
of 1t all, followed up by patient manual
toll In the digging and the washing of
the dirt. Then when enough had been
found to constitute a nucleus of a for
tune, there began the speculation In
buying and selling claims which goes
on withou ceasing In every mining
camp. Young Rhodes was very for
tunate in his financial operations. By
degrees 1t became evident that he was
coming to the top. The Jews there, us
elsewhere. proved too many for the
Gentiles. But there was one GENTLE
whom they could neither circumvent
nor overcome. Ultimately. when the
time cana for tho great mathematics