that he had come alone and undefended to hear their side of the case. A council was held by them in the very depths of the hills, where no armed force could touch them. He was invited to attend it. It was a case of staking his life on trust. He displayed no hesitation, but mounted and rode unarmed with the messenger. Three friends rode with him. The confidence was justified. They met the assembled chiefs at the place appointed. The native grievances were laid before Mr Rhodes. At the end of a long discussion Mr Rhodes, having made and exacted such concessions as he thought fit, asked the question, “Now, for the future is it peace or is it war?” And the chiefs, laying down their sticks as a symbol of surrendered arms, declared, “We give you one word: it is peace.” The scene, as described by one of the eye-witnesses, was very striking. Mr Rhodes, riding away, characterized it simply as “one of the scenes which make life worth living.”
His life was drawing towards its end. He had still a few years, which he devoted with success to the development of the country which bore his name. The railway was brought to Bulawayo, and arrangements were made for carrying the line on in sections as far as the south end of Lake Tanganyika, a construction which was part of his pet scheme for connecting the Cape by a British line of communication with Cairo. He also concluded arrangements for carrying a telegraphic land line through to Egypt, and had the satisfaction of seeing the mineral development of the country fairly started. But the federal union of South Africa, to which he had always worked as the secure basis of the extension of British rule in the southern half of the continent, was not for him to see. The South African War broke out in 1899. Mr Rhodes took his part at Kimberley in sustaining the hardships of a siege; but his health was broken, and though he lived to see victory practically assured to British arms, peace had not been concluded when, on the 26th of March 1902, he died at Muizenberg, near Cape Town.
His life's work did not end actually with his death. He left behind him a will in which he dedicated his fortunes, as he had dedicated himself, exclusively to the public service. He left the bulk of his vast wealth for the purpose of founding scholarships at Oxford of the value each of £300 a year, to be held by students from every important British colony, and from every state and Territory of the United States of America. The sum so bequeathed was very large; but it was not for the munificence of the legacy that the will was received with acclamation throughout the civilized world: it was for the striking manifestation of faith which it embodied in the principles that make for the enlightenment and peace and union of mankind, and for the fine constancy of Mr Rhodes's conviction that the unity of the British Empire, which he had been proud to serve, was among the greatest of organized forces uniting for universal good. The will was drawn up some years before his death. A codicil, signed during the last days of his life, gave evidence of some enlargement of his views as to the association of races necessary in order to secure the peace of the world, and added to the original scheme a certain number of scholarships to be held at the disposal of German students.
The publication of the will silenced Mr Rhodes's detractors and converted many of his critics. It set a seal which could not be mistaken upon his completed life. The revulsion of sentiment towards him was complete, and his name passed at once in the public estimation to the place which it is probably destined to take in history, as one which his countrymen are proud to count among the great makers of the British Empire.
See the Life by Sir Lewis Michell (2 vols., London, 1910); consult also Sir T. E Fuller, Cecil John Rhodes: A Monograph and a Reminiscence (London, 1910), and “Vindex,” Cecil Rhodes: His Political Life and Speeches (London, 1900). (F. L. L.)
The Rhodes Scholarships.—The scholarship system founded by the will of Cecil Rhodes provides in perpetuity for the support at Oxford, for a term of three years each, of about 175 selected scholars. Each scholar from the colonies and the United States has an allowance of £300 per annum during the continuance of his scholarship; those from Germany, as being nearer to Oxford, an allowance of £250 each. In each province of Canada, in each state of Australia, in the four collegiate schools of Cape Colony (Rondebosch, Stellenbosch, South African College, and St Andrew's College, Grahamstown), in the dominion of New Zealand, and in the colonies of Natal, Jamaica, Bermuda and Newfoundland, a scholar is elected each year. Three scholarships annually are assigned to Rhodesia. Each state and Territory of the American Union is entitled to have two scholars in residence, so that an election takes place in two years out of three. Five scholarships are provided annually for scholars from Germany.
In his will Rhodes mentions the objects he had in view in founding the different scholarships:—
1. Colonial.—“I consider that the education of young colonists at one of the universities in the United Kingdom is of great advantage to them for giving breadth to their views, for their instruction in life and manners, and for instilling into their minds the advantage to the colonies as well as to the United Kingdom of the retention of the unity of the empire.”
2. American.—“I also desire to encourage and foster an appreciation of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from the union of the English-speaking people throughout the world, and to encourage in the students from the United States of North America who will benefit from the American scholarships to be established for the reason above given at the university of Oxford under this my will an attachment to the country from which they have sprung, but without, I hope, withdrawing them or their sympathies from the land of their adoption or birth.”
3. German.—“I note the German emperor has made instruction in English compulsory in German schools. I leave five yearly scholarships at Oxford of £250 per annum to students of German birth, the scholars to be nominated by the German emperor for the time being. Each scholarship to continue for three years, so that each year after the first three there will be fifteen scholars. The object is that an understanding between the three Great Powers will render war impossible and educational relations make the strongest tie.”
He defines as follows the principles on which he wished his scholars to be selected:—
“My desire being that the students who shall be elected to the scholarships shall not be merely bookworms, I direct that in the election of a student to a scholarship regard shall be had to (1) his literary and scholastic attainments; (2) his fondness for and success in manly outdoor sports such as cricket, football and the like; (3) his qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship; and (4) his exhibition during school days of moral force of character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his schoolmates, for those latter attributes will be likely in after life to guide him to esteem the performance of public duties as his highest aim.”
The trustees named in the will for the management of the trust were Lord Rosebery, Lord Grey, Lord Milner, Sir Lewis Michell, Dr L. S. Jameson, Mr Alfred Beit and Mr Bourchier F. Hawksley.
After consultation with the educational authorities of all the communities to which scholarships are assigned, the trustees arranged a system for the selection of scholars. This system, which is subject to such changes as experience suggests, may be summarized as follows. Every candidate, in order to become eligible, is required to pass the Responsions examination of the university of Oxford, or some examination accepted by the university as an equivalent. In the case of communities possessing universities or colleges in affiliation with Oxford, a certain standing at those universities is accepted in lieu of Responsions. Examinations are held in two years out of three in each state of the American Union, and annually in colonies which do not have the affiliated universities or colleges referred to. German scholars are nominated by his majesty the emperor of Germany. Candidates must be unmarried—must be between the ages of 19 and 25 (in Jamaica and Queensland, 18-25; in Newfoundland, 18-21; in Western Australia, 17-25), and they must be, in the colonies, British subjects—in the United States and Germany, subjects of those countries. In each British colony electing scholars and in each state of the Union there is a committee of selection, composed commonly of leading educational authorities or high public officials. To these committees all candidates who have passed the qualifying tests submit their claims. The committees are entrusted with the power of selection, but are expected to exercise this power, as closely as circumstances permit, in accordance with the suggestions made by Rhodes. The trust arranges for the distribution of elected scholars among the colleges of Oxford, each of which has agreed to receive a limited number of approved candidates. (G. R. P.)
RHODES, JAMES FORD (1848-), American historian, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 1st of May 1848. He
