The Press. TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1902. CECIL RHODES'S WILL.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11243, 8 April 1902, Page 4

The Press. TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 1902. CECIL RHODES'S WILL.

H by any means it can be proved to bs feasible, the scheme of scholarships outlined

in Cecil Rhodes's bequest will be a magnificent example of 'the power of wealth when wisely directed. In any case it sets the seal on the true character of the Imperialism which was the dead statesman's guiding motive in life, and shows that bayond his "dreams and hopes and labours for the world-supremacy of England lay the desire for a great Anglo-Saxon federation which should dictate peace to the world. His dictum that "educational relations are the strongest tie" between countries may be open to criticism; the bonds of blood-relationship, and even of self-interest, as we see to-day in the case of Russia and France, may be closer stall. But holding the belief he did, Cecil Rhodes acted on it as thoroughly as he acted through life on all his beliefs, and as a result we have to-day before us the widest and most remarkable scheme of university scholarships that has ever been propounded. Erary portion of the Empire, every £>tate and Territory in,the United States, and the several integral parts of the German Empire are each invited to send a student to Oxford. It is characteristic of the testator's methods during his life's work in South Africa that the test of selection of these students is not wholly, or even largely, on the ueual'dines that govern the granting of scholarships. In the total number of points to be gained by the winner, literary and scholastic attainments count for less than | one-third. The possession by a candidate :of such qualities of manliness, truth, and courage as win him the votes of his schoolfellows is reckoned as of equal value to his scholarship, ami his master's choice of a lad •for displaying qualities of moral force of character is to stand for as much, as, and no more than, his proficiency in sports. •Mr. Rhodes, in fact, wished his scholarships to go to those likely to grow into men such as he himself would have chosen, as he did choose, for the task of'Empire'building, a task which, while calling for some qualifications of education, demands also that the man shall be physically strong and active, that he shall be bold and resotyte, "straight" in his dealings with others, in every sense of the word a man, and a leader of men.

It may be noted that this is not the first essay made by Mr. Rhodes to encourage the growth of such qualities in young men. Last year he promised an annual cheque d £250 to the Diocesan College School in Capetown for the maintenance of a scholarship, candidates for which would have to pass a test in four subjects. For scholastic attainments was awarded 40 per cent, of the .total number of marks, 20 per cent, was for fondness for and success in outdoor sports, and a similar percentage for "qualities of manhood, such as truth, courage, " devotion to duty, sympathy for, and pro"tection of the weak, kindliness, unselfish- " ness, and fellowship," while 20 per cent, was to be given, on the judgment of the head master, for the display during school days of "moral force of character, and '•the instinct to lead and take an interest "in bis schoolmates." By such a system I Mr Rhodes hoped to inaugurate a system under which "the best man for the world's "fight" might be obtained.

Such a scheme could be worked with success in a single .school, and the authorities of tie various College schools in South Africa, to whom Mr Rhodes has bequeathed .scholarships of this kind, will have little difficulty in awarding the prizes. But when once the single school is left, and t.he taak of adjudication is spread over an entire colony, as in the case of Xew Zealand, it becomes exceedingly problematical wbetier tha wiaiae* of the testator can be

carried out. It is easy enough to test the scholastic attainments of candidates by the ordinary methods of examination, and the marks for .proficiency in snorts could be awarded, partly on a candidates known ability as a cricketer and footballer, and partly on the result of * test athletic meetm S- But the choice of a boy on the votes °f his sdroolmates and t&e opinions .of his headmaster .seems ,to present formidable difficulties. It is not easy to imagine a standard by which one could (measure the fitness of, say, representatives of Christ's Colege or the Boys' Sigh School against those of Waaiganui College and the Otago High School. A boys , boy is generally of a pretty good stamp; he has, at any rate, the virtues of manliness and plucfr and good-fellowship, as shown, however, on the /sports ground, -not in the school. ! The boy to whom the master would give j highest marks for "moral force of character" might thoroughly deserve the honour, but he might very possibly be one of the last to be selected by his mates. And, in any case, assuming that the choice of boys and .master fall on the same candidate, hmr is he to be measured, 'in these matters, against a boy similarly selected in another school? Tine only possible way out of the impasse that we can see would he for each school to send up for .examination in scholarship and sports the boy chosen for his mental and moral qualities, and even then it would probably hanpen that a boy with great claims with regard to these qualities would be ploughed in the educational examination or beaten out of eight on the running track by lads infinitely inferior to him in those traits of character which the scheme of scholarship is designed to encourage. The details of the .scheme at present at our disposal are too vague to enable one to discuss it with conf|dence. We can only Eope that the noble aims of £he testator may not be defeated in the case of States and colonies by the difficulties that lie in the way of carrying them out.