Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-07-14
TRAITS OF CECIL RHODES
ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT FIG.
URES OF HIS TIME.

| His Greatness Lay-His Talents For
| Leadership-Exercised n Fascination
Over His Associates.
Cecil Rhodes was the son Of a clergy
man of the Church of England, rector
Of Bishops Stortford, small town half
way between London and Cambridge.
school of the town. His lungs We're
so weak that at the age of nineteen
he was sent to live with a brother
in Natal, whence he presently drifted
to the recently discovered diamond
mines at Kimberly, and spent num-
Der of years there, acquiring claims"
and laying the foundations of his i'm
mense fortune, while returning from
time to time to England to keep his
terms and pass his examinations at
Oxford. Ultimately he effected q con-
solidation of all the numerous interests
at the diamond mines into one huge
company, of which he became the
ruling spirit, and turned to politics.
His career thereafter is known to all
the world.
The characteristic note of his intel
lect was its power Of concentration.
He had no very wide range of tastes
and interests, nor did his mind play
freely upon different subjects. 1t was
absorbed by few ideas, was accus-
toned to brood upon them, and was not
easily drawn off, even in general soci-
ETY., to other topics Literature and
art seemed to have no great attraction
for him. The only department of his
tory that he cared for was the his
tory of the Roman Empire, apparently
because it touched his Imagination,
and suggested to him analogies with
the history OF the British Empire as
It has grown during the last two cen
turies. Indeed, he was so fond of it as
| to have special translations made for
| his own use OF the works of those
more obscure historians of the later
imperial period who had not been
turned into English; for though he had
| taken his degrees at Oxford, he had
40 special turn for languages, and
had allowed his Latin and Greek to
| grow rusty. But though he did not
shine in general conversation, those
who talked with him were always i'm
| pressed by the force with which he
| spoke on any practical question. He
| had always formed his views for him
| self; he held them with tenacity; he
| stated them with an air of almost pas
slonate conviction, reiterating them
again and again in almost the same
b
nize the worth of any objections that
might be brought against them. He
could, when it was necessary, attend
carefully to details and be patient in
working them out. No such success
as he achieved in business and Qor
time) in politics would have been possi-
BILE without a mastery of details. But
he liked better to deal with large con-
ceptions, and to dwell upon a few
dominant facts or forces, as if these
were the only things that needed to
be regarded. ,.... ...
Though he sat for many years in the
Cape Parliament and led it as Prime
Minister, he lacked the ordinary ac-
complishments Of the practical poll
tician. He was q powerful rather
than q persuasive speaker, and by no
means skilful in debate; sometimes Of
Tending people whom he ought to have
conciliated, and often blurting out
opinions which 1t would have been
prudent to conceal. His colleagues
In the Ministry were always nervous
when he rose, though his talent for 60
ing straight to the vital issues, and
the force Of his personality, made him
effective He might in this respect be
compared to Bismarck although the
latter was much greater master of
eXpresslon), and while not an orator in
the recognized sense of the word, he
often struck out phrases of extraor
dinary strength and point.
Although Cecil Rhodes was a socia-
Bile man, hospitable and always sur
rounded by friends, his intellectual life
was solitary and isolated. He did not
seem to profit much by the counsel of
| others, nor indeed to feel the need of
| consulting others. He thought things
out for himself, brooding upon them
III u iiail-uichluy way, WuiCu Seelueu
in contrast to the steady direction of
his thoughts to practical aims. This
| habit constituted part of his strength.
1t gave bis views consistency and So
| lidity. He had reflected so deeply that
he felt sure of himself, and was not
easily turned from his purpose. But
1t had also n weak side; 1t gave him an
undue confidence in his own star n
confidence fostered by the Difference
which he received from all those who
surrounded him, among whom he
found no equal. And by putting him
out of sympathy with the persons he
had to deal with, it affected his iudg-
ment. He was so self-absorbed as not
always to foresee how his action would
strike other people. There can be lit
tie doubt that the anger which the CO.
lonial Dutch showed against him after
the raid of December, 1895, was not
| foreseen by him, and that, even as late