of the easy and pleasant existence which one enjoys in Merrie England, and
only there. It is not the country Squires, whose homes are such a definite
feature of English life; nor the aristocratic members of the Peerage, with
their influence and their wealth; nor even the political men who sit in
St. Stephen's, who have spread abroad the fame and might and power of
England. But it is these modest pioneers of "nations yet to be" who, in
the wilds and deserts of South Africa, Australia and Asia, have
demonstrated the realities of English civilisation and the English spirit
of freedom.

In the hour of danger we have seen all these members of the great Mother
Country rush to its help. The spectacle has been an inspiring one, and in
the case of South Africa especially it has been unique, inasmuch as it has
been predicted far and wide that the memory of the Boer War would never
die out, and that loyalty to Great Britain would never be found in the
vast African veldt. Facts have belied this rash assertion, and the world
has seldom witnessed a more impressive vindication of the triumph of true
Imperialism than that presented by Generals Botha and Smuts. As the leader
of a whole nation, General Botha defended its independence against
aggression, yet became the faithful, devoted servant and the true adherent
of the people whom he had fought a few years before, putting at their
disposal the weight of his powerful personality and the strength of his
influence over his partisans and countrymen.
CATHERINE RADZIWILL.
_December, 1917._




CECIL RHODES