New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-28

Greatness often suffers the fate OF oelhs e'l,7i
misunderstood or inadequately Tecoroeu' IL '
present case of the present subject oo'" %
these common misfortunes are 10 be Pl 49,
For Il must be said the outset thdt' ue94'i'e
its uretentious dress and its handsome typog-
raphy, Mr. Hensman's study is sadly lhaue
euate 10 its subject TO its promise II Is Ho'
81 roucb a study as a collocatfon Of the new ma
-e,ials for 4 study and OF new aterials Whlch
have not the merit Of novelty. NO ne" ld'to
are disclosed concerning the career OF Seoh
Rhodes. No new light is thrown upon ms chaI-
acter The book is mere repetition OF "haI
has hitherto been recorded and Of what should
already lie well known to the world It's VaIue
IS that il brings a considerable mass Of informa-
ton together in a form that is grateful TO the
eye. if not inspiring 10 the mind and that II
inns serves 10 remind the world of essential
facts which the world too easily forgets. TO
chronicle small beer or. indeed. to chronicle
mere facts q any kind, is not to make a study.
Nevertheless. the baldest facts Of such career
as that Of Cecil Rhodes may We'll invite absorb
ing study.
There he those who hold him 10 have been
merely an unscrupulous money getter. who for
the sake Of gratifying his own greed became
the foe and the oppressor of the Beers, and
who finally plunged Great Britain into the pres
ent tedious costly and by means glorious
var or. at hest. they regard him as man who
got rich and then. as afterthought. under
took the exploitation Of the African continent
lust as another might have gone in for horse
racing or Yachting Any such estimate Of him
IS absurd. Those who make II misapprehend or
libel the man. II IS not a question Of ethics or
OF morals but one Of simple fact. And Mr..
F4ensman's book inadequate as il is in many re-
spects at least serves the purpose Of making
that circumstance quite clear. Il shows con-
clusvely that Rhodes not primarily
money getter He was never possessed of the
s'auri saCra fames.' on the contrary. ne had a
considerable contempt for wealth as wealth
He valued it only for what he could do with it,
He acquired It solely as means 10 a far greater
end and he had that end in view before he had
the means Instead. as some i'll advised critics
have said Of becoming an imperiaiist because ne
had grown rich, there is no fact in all MS
career more clear and certain than that ne
sought TO get rich for the sake Of enabling him.
self to execute the imperial schemes which ne
had rreconceved. Thus he revealed himself to
his friend and c0n1dant the illustrous Gordon
when he said to him 1t is no use to have
great ideas If you have not the money to carry
Them ont He had the great ideas first Ihen
ne set bout getting the money to carry them
mi That was why he plunged into the speeu-
lations at Kimberley and made himset me
diamond king" OF the world. Even barney
Pa~nato-that typical money getter, VINO got
nancy solely for its own sake, and who had no
sr,,rition beyond the most sordid greed-eVen
ne recognized this salient feature OF Rhodess
character. For when, after bit Of keen rivalry
The two men became allies in the diamond bust
ness F3arnato said 10 Rhodes: Well, some Of
Us have q fancy for one thing. and some Tor
another You evidently have fancy for build
.ng an empire in the north, and I suppose We
must give you the means TO do So"
Empire builder. then. was Cecil Rhodes; not
fortune seeker As such, let note a few sig
nifcant points in his early career mentioned but
little considered by his bographer- 1t does not
particularly matter that in school he was a poor
mathematician but eXcelled in theology, French
classics history and geography. Nor need we
dwell long upon his having even then beeh
rersevering and disinclined to be surpassed by
any one. Far more suggestive is the fact that
he was born at the time when weak, short
SIGHTED and unworthy British ministers were
expeIllng the Orange River State from the en-
pire. and We're declaring that all Great Britain
really required in South Africa was a coaling
station At the Cape" It would be an interesting
r,roblern for The psychologist to reckon TO what
extent prenatal influences Of patriotic indigna-
ton. and similar impressions in infancy and
early childhood, decided the whole trend OF
Cecil Rhodes's life. To this initial circumstance
let US add TWO others. one was that his hrst
arrival in South Africa broken down Oxford
the first realization Of the value of that country
for trade and settlement The other that
his entry into political life followed i'm
rlediately after the folly and shame of Majuba.
The first step in British territorial expansion
In South Africa. in our time, the acquisi-
ton Of Griquaand West, including the Kim
berley diamond fields It had been claimed by
the Orange River Free State, probably with
Justice and right The opening Of the diamond
fields caused the British GOvernment-then un-
der GIadstone's leadership-to covet the country,
and TO determine upon the seizure Of it. This
spoliation Of the Beers The biographer regards
as a reproach upon Gladstones memory. For
while the Orange Beers may have been wrong
in resisting the reference OF the dispute to
bitratlon, we must remember that Gladstone
himself had been disinclined TO arbitraJe other
matters OF an even more fitting nature for
such settlement. Nor co all men regard with
approval, either. the action OF the British in
practically forcing the Beers 10 submit to
bitration. Rhodes's biographer finds little ex-
cuse or apology for imposing upon the Beers
q British and therefore a not impartial ar
btrator whose judgment was predestned to be
against them. That episode undoubtedly had a
bad effect, in arousing among many Beers d
distrust Of Great Britain, though in after years
the relations between the Orange State and
Great Britain were most friendly. The most i'm
portant feature of the Griqualand West an
nexation was. however. that II the first
step in the British march northward; and
though Rhodes had absolutely nothing to do
with il, it was the opening of the gate into
the empire OF his dream.
The next step was taken largely by Rhodes
himself This was the extension of British au-