countenance. Later on I had many conversations with Mr. Rhodes about the
Governor. He used to say--and no one was better qualified to judge--that
Sir Alfred Milner was one of the strongest men he had ever met. "In the
business I am constantly having to transact with him, connected with the
Chartered Company," he remarked, "I find him, his mind once made up,
unmovable--so much so that we tacitly agree to drop at once any subject
that we do not agree on, for nothing could be gained by discussing it. I
allow he makes his decisions slowly, but once made they are
irrevocable."

Mr. Rhodes used also to say he admired beyond words Sir Alfred's
behaviour and the line he adopted in that most difficult crisis before
the war. "He assumes," said his appreciator, "an attitude of perfect
frankness with all parties; he denies himself to no one who may give him
any information or throw fresh light on the situation; to all he
expresses his views, and repeats his unalterable opinions of what is
required."

Other people told me how true these words were, and how ingeniously and
yet ingenuously Sir Alfred Milner contrived to treat a unique position.
Standing alone, the central isolated figure, surrounded by a young and
inexperienced staff, his political advisers men for whom he could have
but little sympathy, and whose opinions he knew to be in reality
diametrically opposed to his and to the present policy at home, the
Governor steered clear of intrigue and personal quarrels by his
intensely straightforward and able conduct. He was in the habit of
almost daily seeing Mr. Rhodes, financiers from Johannesburg, military
men thirsting for war, who were commencing to arrive from England, as
well as his Cabinet Ministers. To these latter he probably volunteered
information about the other interviews he had had, thereby disarming