MR CECIL RHODES AND HIS ENEMIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5777, 22 January 1897, Page 2

MR CECIL RHODES AND HIS ENEMIES.

♦ Tho thirty-five meetings, hostile to Mr Cecil Rhodes, which havo just been held at Cape Town, wero hardly needed to remind tho public that ono of the penalties of greatness in any walk of life is to be heartily hated, maligned and misrepresented. In the case of Mr Rhodes, however, there has been so much that was open to question in his past actions and in hin recent utterances, that these meetings may have been animated by no unworthy motive. The fact that somo three dozen meetings have been held to counteract the effect of one, suggests that they havo been small "hole-and-corner" affairs, claiming to represent popular opinion while really hiding from public view. If they wero large and open gatherings, then the compliment paid to Mr Rhodes's influence is all the greater. Tho burning down of "Groot Schnnr," tho residence of Mr Rhodes near Rondebosch, marks the malevolent nature of some of his opponents. That occurrence, which took place on Dec. 16, is believed to havo been tho result of incendiarism, and tho diabolical character of the act may be inferred when it is mentioned that the firo was started after midnight, when there wero eight persons sleeping under the roof. Within twenty minutes of the discovery of the firo tho roof was ablaze from end to end, and very shortly afterwards it was patont that " Groot Schuur " was doomed. Nothing was saved from the rooms on the upper story. All the old paintings, with the exception of a representation of Cape Town and Tablo Mountain as depicted early in tho century, were burnt. Among tho more precious of the articles burnt was Mr Rhodes's chest of papers, including autograph letters from Mr Parnell. Fortunately, the library of two thousand volumes, including the collection of type-written translations of old works on African history, was nearly all saved. Tho Cape Times says that the news of the fire was received with feelings of widespread sorrow. " Groot Schuur," it says, "is something more than a private residence ; it has come to be regarded as a national possession, into which the element of porsonal interest largely enters." The present hostile demonstrations in Cap© Town, just as Mr Rhodes is about to meet a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Transvaal raid, appear to indicate that his opponents are activo in their efforts to discredit him.