PRIVATE LIFE OF RHODES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

PRIVATE LIFE OF RHODES.

The annual selection of the lihooes Scholars keeps prominently before the public the memory of the great Lmnite-biuUlet. whose -ex-pi :vate secretary. Mr. 1 liilip Jour-Jan. give? many interesting sidelights on an extraordinary career m "Cecil Rhodes: His Private Life" (.John Lane. London i. Tire author tells us that : "No father aid have leposed greater (ontidcnce in Ins son than Mr. I > bode* placed ill me Nothing w a.- hidden from me. ami 'a; 'expressed his opinio, to llie oi pers'f 1 . • and ri.bl'.i onestions C ! the day 'a the litest rouble manner. I loved him for the faith which he had in me.

This is how Mr. iihodes appeared to * Mr. .iourdaii at the beginning ot their acquaintance : " He could not be described a* stout. hi;; i-temed to be possessed ot a vigorous and tobr.st constitution. He was - careless about his dress, in so tar that he never studied e'fect. He generally w-ue - an ordinary tweed suit and a peculiarly Fhaned biowu bowler hat. His carriage when walking was no: voiy erect. ami his stvle of dies* did not command a second look from the casual observer, m -he ' street, although until one looked into his clear, searching blue eyes one could not help detecting there character, determination. and intelligence,. . . • He looked

best in evening diess. hen very much interested in a subje< : he adopted a natural and easv attitude by resting his lorearms ;=nd elbows light iy on 'fit- table, and bv throwing his massive head slightly backward afforded his hearers a full view oi his tine, broad, commanding forehead."

Rhodes generosit v vas one oi ins most remark able characteristic:;. He left iIO.OOO in his will to Mr. Jotirdan, besides having displayed singular Kindness tc his secretary during his lifetime. To th? residents of Salisbury he gave a sMiiliir amount during a visit in iB3o. a'> lime was fully occupied." says Mi. Jourdan. "in writing out cheques. All tins raonev came out of his own private pocket."'

His indomitable courage was shown on two memorable occasions. TL*> first was when, after the Jameson raid. he came fearlessly to England, as he said. "to face the music " —in other words, to answer to the Government for the part ho took in the raid. His words afterwards were : " When I arrived in Londori. and saw the 'busmen and cabbies and other working men touch their hats to me in a friendly way. I knew I was nil right, and thai the man in the street had 'forgiven me." .

The other occasion when courage was required of him was at Oxford, when the degree of D.C.L. was conferred on him. He heard rumours before the ceremony of a hostile reception awaiting him. in view of his part in the Jameson raid, but- he determined to go through with it. The ball was crowded to its utmost capacity, a.nd the gallery was packed with mischievous vouncr undergraduates. Rhodes walked

tip the gangway very nervously and awkwardly, and at the critical moment one young mischief shouted in a- stentorian voice: 'Don't look so bored. Rhodes.' " Fortunately, this was the only interruption that occurred, and Rhodes himself took it in good pari. Mr. Jourdaa gives us many other glimpses into the private life of the Father of Rhodesia.' 7 all of which go to show the strong character and iron determination of the* wonderful statesman, who, unhappilv, didl'flbt .live to see his dream of a united South' 'Africa fulfilled.