d
affections, while in the case of the League it was money and money alone.
I do not mean that every member of the League had been bought by De Beers
or the Chartered Company; but what I do maintain is that the majority of
its members had some financial or material reason to enrol themselves.

In judging the politics of South Africa at the period of which I am
writing, one must not forget that the greater number of those who then
constituted the so-called Progressive party were men who had travelled to
the Cape through love of adventure and the desire to enrich themselves
quickly. It was only the first comers who had seen their hopes realised.
Those who came after them found things far more difficult, and had
perforce to make the best of what their predecessors left. On the other
hand, it was relatively easy for them to find employment in the service of
one or the other of the big companies that sprang up, and by whom most of
the mining and industrial concerns were owned.

[Illustration: THE HON. J.H. HOFMEYR]

When the influence of the De Beers increased after its amalgamation with
the other diamond companies around Kimberley, and when Rhodes made up his
mind that only a political career could help him to achieve his vast
plans, he struck upon the thought of using the money and the influence
which were at his disposal to transform De Beers into one of the most
formidable political instruments the world had ever seen. He succeeded in
doing so in what would have been a wonderful manner if one did not
remember the crowd of fortune-seeking men who were continually landing in
South Africa. These soon found that it would advantage them to enrol under
Rhodes' banner, for he was no ordinary millionaire. Here stood a man who
was perpetually discovering new treasures, annexing new continents, and
who had always at his disposal profitable posts to scatter among his
followers.

The reflex action upon Rhodes was that unconsciously he drifted into the
conviction that every man could be bought, provided one knew what it was
he wanted. He understood perfectly well the art of speculating in his
neighbours' weaknesses, and thus liked to invite certain people to make
long stays at his house, not because he liked them, but because he knew,
if they did not, that they would soon discover that the mere fact of being
the guest of Mr. Rhodes procured for them the reputation of being in his
confidence. Being a guest at Groote Schuur endowed