es adhered
firmly to their point of view; it was not an easy matter to persuade
either of them to take the initiative. Each very well knew and felt it was
an indispensable step, but each considered it should be taken by the
other.

This brings me to make a remark which probably has never yet found its way
into print, though some have spoken about it in South Africa. It is that
Cecil Rhodes, whilst being essentially an Empire Maker, was not an Empire
Ruler. His conceptions were far too vast to allow him to take into
consideration the smaller details of everyday life which, in the
management of the affairs of the world, obliges one to consider possible
ramifications of every great enterprise. Rhodes wanted simply to sweep
away all obstacles without giving the slightest thought to the
consequences likely to follow on so offhand a manner of getting rid of
difficulties.

In addition to this disregard of vital details, there was a tinge of
selfishness in everything which Rhodes undertook and which gave a personal
aspect to matters which ought to have been looked upon purely from the
objective. The acquisition of Rhodesia, for instance, was considered by
him as having been accomplished for the aggrandisement of the Empire and
also for his own benefit. He sincerely believed that he had had nothing
else in his mind when he founded the Chartered Company, than the desire to
conquer a new country and to give it to England; but he would certainly
have felt cruelly affronted if the British Government had ever taken its
administration into its own hands and not allowed Rhodes to do exactly
what he pleased there. He loved to go to Buluwayo, and would spend weeks
watching all that was being done in the way of agriculture and mining. In
particular, he showed considerable interest in the natives.

The Colonial Office in London was treated by Cecil Rhodes with the utmost
disdain on the rare occasions when it tried to put in a word concerning
the establishment of British rule in the territories which he gloried in
having presented to the Queen. It was sufficient to mention in his
presence the possibility of the Charter being recalled to put Rhodes into
a passion. No king or tyrant of old, indeed, treated his subjects with the
severity which Rhodes showed in regard to the different civil officials
and military defenders of the Rhodesia he loved so much and so unwisely.

It is curious that Rhodes never allowed speculation a free hand in
R