The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-05-14
WITH RHODES
At OXFORD

As an old college friend of the great
man" of South Africa, ] may, perhaps,
be allowed to add a few recOllections of
him in the old days of our college
friendship, writes a graduate of Oriel
college in London NJ. a. p. We entered
our names together at Oriel college, OK
ford, in October 1873, and admiration for
the dear old house was always the pas
sion of Rhodes life, second only to that
of carving out new empires for British
rule, or extending his railway from the
, Cape to Cairo, He once proposed to
found a new Oriel college In South Afri-
ca, and without doubt would have car
red out his intention if the war had not
interviewed.
Cecil Rhodes was not a very industrious
student in those old college days. His
health was not very robust. Neither the
river, nor COwley cricket grounds, nor
the old running path, knew him as a
competitor. Nor was he ever fond of
study. Two years ago, when the college
entertained him as the honOred guest of
the evening at the Gaudy dinner, he
was sitting al the right hand of the old
dean-the same dean who, having in
older days a somewhat sharp and sar-
castle tongue, had said to Rhodes. Mr..
Rhodes, don't you think that you could
find a more congenial sphere for the
Inn Hall?"
Old oxford men will recolect that
New Inn hall, now entirely destroyed,
was then a kind of refugium peCcato-
rum where those who could not pass
their examinations within the prescrib-
+ ed period and were obliged for this or
other reasons to leave their college,
could find recognized shelter and
abode until the tyranny of examination
hAp IafV
reprimanded for neglectng to attend
lectures; his reply was decidedly char
acteristc, He said in his deep, rather
gruff voice: IF you will let me alone,
Mr.. Dean. I'll pull through"
At the end of his first years his health
broke down, and his place in college
knew him no more. He was ordered to
go to South Africa, where his cousins
were already engaged in diamond min
ing. Rhodes stayed out there exactly
a year and returned to Oriel, where we
were all delighted to welcome him back.
He cared not for multiplicity of friends,
but was very staunch and true to those
of us who knew him well. During that
year Of absence he made some money
out of diamonds, and he used to carry
some of the precious stones about with
him in a little cardboard box, which he
kept in his waistcoat pocket.
On more than one occasion this box
was produced at lecture time for the
inspection of Rhodes friends when. the
lecture was more Than usually dull.
Presently it would be upset, and the
stones scattered on the floor; and then
there would be a mighty hunt and
much confusion, and the lecturer would
look up from his well-wOrn manuscript
and eXclaim: What is the matter,
gentlemen And the usual reply was
given "Oh, sir, ii is only Rhodes and his
diamonds" and the lecturer himself
would join in the hunt
The Oriel "Gaudy,' June 1899, was a
memorable occasion. The University of
Oxford had just conferred the honorary
degree Of d. G. l.. on the Hon. Cecil
Rhodes, in spite of much opposition on
the part of those who considered that
he was an INSCRIPTIONS adventurer"
and was disqualified for any such dis
tinctiOn on account of the part which
he had taken in the Jameson raid. The
lord chancellor was present, represent
ing Queen Victoria, the royal visitor of
the college founded by her predecessor
King Edward H. No reporters were
there to record the speech which Rhodes
delivered on the occasion in which he
boldly defended himself against his ira
ducers. His eloquent words live only
in the recollection of US who heard
them:
you have compared me-" he said,
with Lord Give and Warren Hastings,
and others who have made it their busr-
ness in life to act as pioneers and found
empires for the extension of English
sovereignty, Even some of these men,
greater men than /, have not escaped
calumny, and have been tried before
their peers for alleged misconduct. But