ion." The
quality of inspiring affection to which this impressive phrase bore
witness was one which had made itself felt among the humblest of those
who were fortunate enough to have been associated with Lord Milner in
any public work. Long after Milner had left Egypt, the face of the
Syrian or Coptic Effendi of the Finance Department in Cairo would
light up at the chance mention of the genial Englishman who had once
been his chief. And in remote English counties revenue officials still
hang his portrait upon the walls of their lodgings. Such men had no
claim to appraise his professional merit or his gifts of intellect;
but their feelings were responsive to the charm of his nature. "He was
so considerate": that was their excuse for retaining his name and
personality among the pleasant memories of the past. But the other
side of Milner's character, the power of "tenacious and inflexible
resolution," of which Mr. Asquith spoke, was destined to be brought
into play so prominently during the "eight dusky years" of his South
African administration, that to the distant on-looker it came to be
accepted as the characterising quality of the man. To some Milner
became the "man of blood and iron"; determined, like Bismarck, to
secure the unity of a country by trampling with iron-shod boots upon
the liberties of its people: even as in the view of others his clear
mental vision--never more clear than in South Africa--became clouded
by an adopted partisanship, and he was a "lost mind." Nothing could be
further from the truth. If the man lived who could have turned the
Boer and Afrikander from hatred and distrust of England and English
ideas by personal charm and honourable dealing, it was the man who
had universally inspired all his former associates, whether equals or
subordinates, with admiration and affection. Whatever bitterness was
displayed against Lord Milner personally by the Boer and Afrikander
leaders after the issue of the war was decided was due to their
perception that he was then--as always--a source of strength and an
inspiration for renewed effort to those whom they regarded as their
rivals or opponents. They hated him just as the French hated
Bismarck--because he was the strong man on the other side.

Lord Milner's inflexibility was, in its essence, a keener perception
of duty than the ordinary: it was a determination to do what he
believed to be for the good of South Africa and the Empire,
irrespective of any consi