334 Har court's Opinion of Rhodes [1899 



most veteran troops. There seems now a chance of the whole British 

 army capitulating before Buller and his men can relieve them from 

 England. Letters from old Watts and Kegan Paul, both in sympathy 

 about ' Satan Absolved.' 



" 2nd Nov. — To Malwood with Anne and stopped to lunch. After 

 it, old Sir William took me into his smoking room, and we talked over 

 the whole South African case. The old man is, I think, secretly just 

 as pleased as I am with the success of the Boers, though, when I said 

 I should like to see the Boers established in Cape Town, he protested 

 he could not go with me as far as that. However, he spoke strongly 

 enough, and told me a number of most interesting things about Rhodes 

 and Milner. When he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1893, 

 Rhodes came to him about his railway project and humbugged him 

 not a little. Sir William showed me a map on which Rhodes had 

 marked his schemes, and he came again, when he was in England after 

 the Raid, ' to face the music' Sir William says he is an astonishing 

 rogue and liar, but occasionally blurted out truths other rogues would 

 hide, and he had boasted how he bought up everybody by putting them 

 into good things on the Stock Exchange. He said that, though he, 

 Rhodes, was certainly privy to the projected revolution at Johannes- 

 burg, he did not think he knew precisely of the Jameson Raid. The 

 reason the Outlanders at the last moment would not rise was that they 

 found out that Jameson intended to hoist the British Flag, and that did 

 not suit them. They wanted to continue the Republic and run it them- 

 selves. As to Milner, Sir William said he was certain he was sent out 

 on purpose to pick a quarrel with Kruger. He had seen a great deal of 

 Milner while he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Milner came to 

 wish him good-bye — and he had told him he knew why he was going. 

 He knew, too, that Milner had told Lady Cowper at Panshanger before 

 he left for the Cape, ' If I come back without having made war I shall 

 consider my mission has failed.' Milner was an enthusiastic Jingo, but 

 knew nothing of Statesmanship. Sir William also told me he had seen 

 a good deal this year of Cromer, and had been charmed with him. He 

 had found Cromer very moderate, hating Rhodes and hating Kitchener, 

 and doing his best to keep them within bounds. He told me that if the 

 Liberal Government had remained another fortnight in office they would 

 have made Redvers Buller Commander-in-Chief, instead of Wolseley. 

 Altogether my visit was a most interesting one. I wish I could remem- 

 ber a tithe of what he told me. 



" 3rd Nov. — A violent wind and rain, but we are snug here in our 

 wood. Lady smith is invested and isolated. There are reports of an- 

 other defeat of White. I hope nothing will happen to Guy. 



' 10th Nov. — There is a severe article on ' Satan Absolved ' in the 



