New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-03-01
London. February 10 |,

Hous, n the social splendor is IN
81 He was standing by the sac
'D ~ hostess. the Duchess Of su'ner.
us rho first impression was one OF
.s' anu The Duchess IS .
disSpf % unusual height, and she tow
wo"", him. Her presence and per-
ereo %" ,.ould he remarkable any
sons re and at stafford House on '"'
~"., - a great party she was PIT
ms =, in a suitable frame. Gehe'''
we os her companion seemed ins'g-
D 'aaant, BOT only in stature gut IN
amer. in authority. he was her III,
NAM The Duchess had the air OF
i'''V' 81 and her guest had not. You
'0"' compact little person with neat
." and a neat bearing: who looked
INVITING but the soldier who Had
"N' General Sir Redvcrs Butler to
~ srecs at Colcnso. and at whose
S y, upon the British forces in South
africa ,.
lfiSdct't
v,,oved fast and followed raster
ma appearancc was TO me the more
,o;,tinc because I remembered
us, ~aral Icubcrt whom General Botna
.aoedcd rs commandments Oh
o. forces General Joubert was
- The Transvaal delegation VINO
- 20 England to settle the conVen-
-. ubich the relations of England
,he Transvaal were finally deter
n,.ed. after Majuba Hill in 1881 aho
-. negotiations which followed J met
VS.. gentlemen at a private dinner
-, 1oubert was tall. masterful 10
A.bold. with n manner of some re-
lin, though in friendly company
.,u set M. soldierly: whom YOU couiu
~. ,birl, q strong man in all senses
- the word. \ square forehead p'eIo-
- uocl, ewes beneath, strong feat-
n,os thick. full. black beard-an aP-
,,orance altogether patriarchai II not
.rimi,iye. and primitively dressed IN d
,,..,, frcclz coat buttoned TO the chin
r. talk with him was impossible except
through one Of the secretaries as III
,.rnrater. never a satisfactory way.
u,tad for conversational purposes'-no
rnr,isb no French. no German, not
even Dutch. unless the Taal be deeinen
mitch Rut he was a parsonage, ana
,he memory Of him is vivid after thirty
years.
General Botha. without these physi-
cal advantages. presently revealed MN
s,,f 70 Won rs a man of whom YOU had
"a Judge otherwise than by his inches
The soul of the man was in his eyes
The expression Of the face was 10 De
soppbt there: or rather you did not
have 10 seek for it; you could Eot es-
cape from it. The rest did not much
matter There is no rule of SIX Tor
great men. Napoleon was little over
sye feet and Bismarck a little over
* our Japanese friends thlhh
sbor,ness clear advantage. Inc
heart has not so much work 10 do IN
pumping blood TO the brain. II Ger
,ainlv has not with General Botha' ana
when YOU looked into his eyes you ior-
20, The rather disconcerting first I'M
prsslon from distance and recog-
uzed the soldier, the ruler, the war
Ike leader Of a warlike people whom
you had expected to meet.
\ man rather disposed to silence.
Even TO his hostess, woman OF con-
vocational gifts, he seemed TO nave
inst then little 70 say. They stood
silent together: perhaps not caring 10
talk in the midst Of a listening group
He could he fluent enough when ne
chose and Of English he had mas
terry. His sentences were crisp direct
luminous. He had the power or stauhs
a case which a man versed in action
usually has He used words for the
sake Of what they expressed. Iheie
vas something which soon convinced
YOU that here was an incarnate Will
lower And that is what they say oil
him at the Cape: that IL is he VINO is IN
his Government and in this Crisis the
driving force General SHUTS, his De-
fence Minister. is the organizer but u
is General Botha who decides, VINO
takes responsibilities, who governs
On the staircase Of Stafford House ne
stood in a blaze of light. To-day he
stands before the world in light more
binding still What is there in south
Africa which makes IL so often tie
central point Of interest 20 the who're
world? II holds the ashes OF perhaps
the greatest Englishman Of his tiine'
and the grave OF Cecil Rhodes is one to
which pNgrimages never cease. kru-
ger is none the less q hero 10 his Ie.-
low Beers because they have mace
peace and a firm alliance and complete
political union with the race he hated
and fought and wo Id have driven back
. Cape Colony if he could; even had IL
made the rest OF South Africa a Ger
man principally: as 4 probably would
have.
II MAY be too soon 70 bracket General
Boths with either OF these. They were
alike men Of creative energy. Botha,
lhus far. or until the other day mas
been content 10 be captain ~ the
heo and a ruler In Government House.
But to-day he IL something more tnah
f'iher Or both. He Is the one man IN
a'' the world who bag taken up inc