affairs in South Africa or the necessities of the country; that the
British Government had always shown deplorable weakness in regard to the
treatment meted out to its subjects in the Colonies, and that both Rhodes
and Jameson were heroes whose names deserved to be handed down to
posterity for the services which they had rendered to their country.

It is true that these ardent Jingoes were but a small minority and that
the right-minded elements among the English Colonials universally blamed
the unwarranted attack that had been made against the independence of the
Transvaal. But the truculent minority shouted loud enough to drown the
censure, and as, with a few notable exceptions, the South African Press
was under the influence of the magnates, it was not very easy to protest
against the strange way in which the Raid was being excused. I am
persuaded that, had the subject been allowed to drop, it would have died a
natural death, or at worst been considered as an historical blunder. But
the partisans of Rhodes, the friends of Jameson, and personages connected
with the leading financial powers did their best to keep the remembrance
of the expedition which wrecked the political life of Rhodes fresh before
the public. The mere mention of it was soon sufficient to arouse a tempest
of passions, especially among the Dutch party, and by and by the history
of South Africa resolved itself into the Raid and its memories. You never
heard people say, "This happened at such a time"; they merely declared,
"This happened before, or after, the Raid." It became a landmark for the
inhabitants of Cape Town and of the Transvaal, and I could almost believe
that, in Kimberley at any rate, the very children in the schools were
taught to date their knowledge of English history from the time of the
Raid.

The enemies of Cecil Rhodes, and their number was legion, always declared
that the reason why he had faced the music and braved public opinion in