Evening star., 1921-10-09
SOME POLITICAL REFLECTIONS

while he would shamelessly hint for
| things in the houses of the: people
who were entertaining him, even in
the houses of his own subordinates,
| until the weaker or the more timorous
gave him the object of his covetous-
ness. nevertheless. for the sake of
his country, he clung to the uncon-
genial chair in Whitehall, not merely
| working like a carthorse for what
he considered to be his nations good.
but suffering without public COM
plant of any kind, and scarcely
private grunble. all the numerous
humiliations that came his way either
from his own colleagues in the cab
met or from powerful section of the
newspapers outside.
remember hearing from the late
John Bonner, a most admirable artist
| In many fields. an amusing account of
| an interview with Lord Kitchener
! which illustrates the field marshars
passion for his Kentish home. and
| also sheds a telling light on the es-
! thetic side Of his character.
Mr.. Bonner had been recommended
to Lord Kitchener. who wanted amo-
rini scattered about the leafy gardens
approved. A few months afterward
the amorine were set up in the gar
| dens.
| Soon came a summons to the pres
| ence of the great man. Mr.. Bonner
found him terrible object in ter
remembered. Lord Kitchener was not
| good to look upon. He appeared a
coarse, a top-heavy person; and in
| anger. his cross-eyes could be pain
| fully disconcerting.
| Lord Kitchener forgot that Mr..
Bonner was not only an artist of
singularly beautiful spirit, but gen.
| tleman.~ He blazed at him. What
did he mean by sticking up those
ridiculous little figures in Broome?
What did he mean by it?-with an
| unpleasant reference to the account.
The poor artist. terribly affrighted.
said that ne thought Lord Kitchener
had seen his drawings and approved
ofsthem! Yes. the drawings. but you
can't see the figures when they're up!
What's the good of something you
can't see?'
The great man, it appeared at last,
wanted amorini the size of giants; a
rather Rosherville taste.
He had knowledge" said Lady
Sackville, from whose beautiful house
he borrowed many ideas for Broome,
and would have liked to have. carried
ly William w drum, which he found
in his bedroom as a waste paper recep-
tacle. The had knowledge but no taste"
but no taste"
Her. daughter said to me on one
occasion, EVERY chair he sits In be-
comes a throne" referring to the at
| niosphefe Of power and dignity which
| surrounded him.
TT is instructive, think, to remark
how a single virtue passionately
held-held, I mean, with a religious
sense Of its seriousness-can carry
even second-class mind to genuine
greatness. greatness that can be felt
II not defined. In every sense Of the
saint, a poet or a statesman, Lord
Kitchener was a second-class and
even third-class person; but so driv-
ing was his sense Of duty that it car
ried him to the very forefront. Of ma
| tional life. and but for the political
atmosphere in which he had to work
| for the last few years of his distin-
guished service'to the state he might
easily have become one Of the great
and shining heroes of British history.
He had no taste; but the impression
he made on these who had was the
| impression Of great character.
How was it. that his greatness-
| that is to say. his greatness of per-
sonality-made SO pitiable an end?
What was lacking that this indubitable
greatness should have been so easily
brayed In the mortar of politics?
The answer, I think. is this: A sim
gle virtue can bestow greatness. and
the greatness MAY never fail when
1t has time and space in which to ex-
press itself; but. many virtues of in
tellect and character are necessary
| when time is OF the essence of the
contract, and more especially in q
situation Of shared responsibility.
Lord Kitchener knew many of his
own failings He was by no means a
vain man. Indeed, he suffered con-
siderable pain from. the knowledge
that he was not the tremendous per-
son Of the popular Imagination. This
knowledge robbed him of self as
surance. He tried to live up to the
legendary Kitchener, and SO long as
he could ind men as brave as him
self, but Of swifter. and more adaptable
intelligence to do his bidding he sue
ceeded. Many Of the public indeed.
believed in the legendary Kitchener