The suburban citizen., 1902-05-10
TRAITS OF CECIL RHODES
ONE OF TIE MOST BRILLIANT FIG
uRES OF HIS TIME,

Power of Mental Concentration-Where
His Greatness Lay-His Talents For
Leadership--Exercised Fascination
over His Associates.
Cecil Rhodes was the son of clergy
man of the Church Of England, rector
)f Bishops Stortford, a small town half
way between London and Cambridge.
He was educated at the grammar
school of the town. His lungs were
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 a num-
ber of years there, acquiring claims"
and laying the foundations Of his inn
mense fortune, while returning from
time to time to England to keep his
terms and pass his examinations at
oxford. Ultimately he effected a 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
ect 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 a 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
1t has grown during the last two CEN
turtles. 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
no special turn for languages, and
had allowed his Latin and Greek to
grow rusty. But though he did not
shine in general conversation, those
Eho 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
sionate conviction, Teterating them
again and again in almost the same
words, and seldom seeming to recog-
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 Gor a
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 n 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 a powerful rather
, than a 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 it would have been
| prudent to conceal. His colleagues
in the Ministry We're always nervous
when he rose, though his talent for go
| 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 a much greater master of
expression, 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
bic man, hospitable and always sur
rounded by friends, his intellectual life
was solitary and isolated. He did no
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 then
in n half-dreamy way. which seemed
in contrast to the steady direction OF
his thoughts to practical aims. This
habit constituted part Of his strength
1t gave his views consistency and so
lidity. He had reflected so deeply tha
he felt sure Of himself and was no
easily turned from his purpose. Blu
1t had also weak side; it gave him N
undue confidence in his own star, {
confidence fostered by the Difference
which he received from all those whc
surrounded him, among whom M
found no equal. And by putting hin
out Of sympathy with the persons HI
had 10 deal with, it affected his judg
ment. He was so self-absorbed as no
always to foresee how his action wOult
strike other people. There can he lit
tie doubt that the anger which the co
lonial Dutch showed against him afte
! the raid of December, 1888, was no