ned. Most
of his mistakes proceeded from this over-sensitiveness which, in a certain
sense, hardened him, inasmuch as it made him vindictive against those from
whom he did not get the approval for which he yearned. In common with many
another, too, Cecil Rhodes had that turn of mind which harbours resentment
against anyone who has scored a point against its possessor. After the
Jameson Raid Rhodes never forgave Mr. Schreiner for having found out his
deceit, and tried to be revenged.

Cecil Rhodes had little sympathy with other people's woes unless these
found an echo in his own, and the callousness which he so often displayed
was not entirely the affectation it was thought by his friends or even by
his enemies. Great in so many things, there were circumstances when he
could show himself unutterably small, and he seldom practised consistency.
Frank by nature, he was an adept at dissimulation when he thought that his
personal interest required it. But he could "face the music," however
discordant, and, unfortunately for him as well as for his memory, it was
often so.

The means by which Cecil Rhodes contrived to acquire so unique a position
in South Africa would require volumes to relate. Wealth alone could not
have done so, nor could it have assured for him the popularity which he
gained, not only among the European colonists, but also among the coloured
people, notwithstanding the ruthlessness which he displayed in regard to
them. There were millionaires far richer than himself in Kimberley and in
Johannesburg. Alfred Beit, to mention only one, could dispose of a much
larger capital than Rhodes ever possessed, but this did not give him an
influence that could be compared with that of his friend, and not even the
Life Governorship of De Beers procured for him any other fame than that of
being a fabulously rich man. Barney Barnato and Joel were also familiar
figures in the circle of wealthy speculators who lived under the shade of
Table Mountain; but none among these men, some of whom were also
remarkable in their way, could effect a tenth or even a millionth part of
what Rhodes succeeded in performing. His was the moving spirit, without
whom these men could never have conceived, far less done, all that they
did. It was the magic of Rhodes' name which created that formidable
organisation called the De Beers Company; which annexed to the British
Empire the vast territory known now by the name of Rhodesia; and which
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