THE DECAY OF HOME LIFE IN ENGLAND
When people tell the truth they are generally
disliked. From Socrates, to the latest of his modern
philosophic imitators, the bowl of death-dealing
hemlock has always been mixed by the world and
held to the lips of those who dare to say uncomfortably
plain things. When the late W. E. H.
Lecky set down the truth of Cecil Rhodes, in his
book entitled The Map of Life, and I, the present
writer, ventured to quote the passage in
"The Vulgarity of Wealth," when that article
was first published, a number of uninformed
individuals rashly accused me of "abusing Cecil
Rhodes." They were naturally afraid to attack
the greater writer. Inasmuch, said they: "If
Mr. Lecky had really suggested that Cecil Rhodes
was not, like Brutus, 'an honourable man,' he,
Mr. Lecky, would never have received the King's
new 'Order of Merit,' nor would Mr. Rhodes
have been the subject of so much eulogy. For,
of course, the King has read The Map of Life, and
is aware of the assertions contained in it." Now
I wish, dear gossips all, you would read The Map of Life for yourselves! You will find, if you do,
not only plain facts concerning Rhodes, and the
vulgarity, i.e. the ostentation of wealth, but much
useful information on sundry other matters closely
