A French Appreciation of Mr. VV T. Steau. 



639 



true and just cauMS. ^overeiyns themselves did not 

 disdain to call him to them, in order to interest hin^ 

 ■n their great or generous conceptions. 



He was amongst those most convinced about and 

 most devoted to the cause of arbitration. Hut that 

 which is less known is that for this Slcad expended a 

 small fortune. The Russian Government wished to 

 reward Stead for that which he had done before, during. 

 and after the (Hague) Conference, and as he would 

 have nothing to do with decorations it was proposed 

 at least to refc.nd him the expenses necessary for the 

 prolonged propaganda. Stead refused. 



THE NAI'OLEON OF THE CAPE AND HIS WILL. 



One morning Stead rushed into my little retreat 

 ! where, far from the noisy life of Paris, I was working 

 ', to improve my attempts at optimistic philosophy. He 

 i had accustomed me for several years to these unex- 

 j pected visits, followed by delightful and interminable 



chats. A common friend, .Mme. de P , had once 



invited us together, and we left that evening tied for 

 e\er by an attachment stronger than death. Often, 

 fatigued or discouraged by a life of feverish work, we 

 called upon one another, and dined together in Paris 

 or in London, to return next day to the daily task. 



His visit then did not astonish me very much. With 

 that childlike gaiety, full of the charm of the unex- 

 pected, he asked me brusquely : " Will you go with 

 me to hell ? "—and this hell, in the Biblical language 

 with which Stead interspersed his ordinary conver- 

 sation, was just a great world journal, or, rather, two 

 gigantic journals, two enterprises grandly human. All 

 this belonged to the wonderful, the strange, as was 

 c\xrything which inspired Stead to act. 



Cecil Rhodes had asked Stead several days before : 

 '' What would you do. Stead, if you had a million of 

 money ? " Stead did not hesitate an instant. In his 

 talk with his intimate friends he had often spoken of 

 the need to found an international paper independent 

 of subscribers, purchasers, advertisements, finance, 

 governments, and the devil in person. His reply was 

 riady : — " I would start an English paper such as 

 I'.nijland has never seen, and another for the Continent 

 tiiat Europe could never ha\e conceived of." And 

 Rhodes answered him with that absence of gesture and 

 sobriety of words which were so astonishing in this 

 mover of men and millions ; — " Start your two 

 journals ; I will put the million at your disposal." 



What new and fascinating conception wou'd be 

 nrrded in order to get these journals accepted and 

 riad — journals whirli were to realise the ideal of a lay 

 gospel, supportcfl b\- the ocrult and open, despotic and 

 irresponsible power possessed by the modern Press ? 

 • • • • 



THE NEED OF PRISON FOR RHODES. 



.Stead wrote me llie lines in which the nobility of his 

 ioul. wrapped in the n)anlle of a mjslic, showed itself 

 n its solemn and reflective beauty :--" Cecil Rhodes 

 - not a man of finished morality. What he needs is a 



ir of hard labour. If he had to reflect in prison upon 

 .ii and the |>roblems of existence, he would become 

 )crfect." 



This man, whom man> represent as mspired, and 

 therefore with foregone conclusions impossible to 

 move, was open to argument. His honesty compelled 

 him to acknowledge with true Christian humility his 

 faults and errors. Passionately devoted to peace and 

 the brotherhood of the peoples, he cherished the project 

 of an Anglo-German enteiile. With his customary 

 energy he projected and organised the visit of the 

 German journalists to London, and also that of the 

 JJritish journalists to Berlin, Then came the turn of 

 the teachers and industrials. 



HIS ATTITUDE TO GERMANY. 



The abuse and mockery which were hurled down upon 

 him flowed over his soul as water over marble. Thus 

 he endeavoured to realise a fantastic, improbable 

 dream. He wanted to bring all the professionals of 

 England and Germany in contact, in order that, 

 knowing each other better, and thus being able to 

 appreciate each other, they might the better love one 

 another. But his successive journeys to German)- 

 opened his eyes. 



He began to understand the fatal force which was 

 pushing the German Empire towards the domination 

 of the world. He was dismayed at the danger which 

 menaced his dear England if she went to sleep under 

 the influence of the intoxicating music which had 

 cradled his own slumbers. And then, braving ridicule, 

 he declared himself the advocate of two keels to one. 

 He travelled over England, held conferences, thun- 

 dered in the newspapers, and this friend of Germany, in 

 short-sighted eyes, appeared to have become her implac- 

 able enemy. 



His passionate search after truth often brought him 

 into an impassable lalnrinth. He felt the danger of 

 responding to the appeal of the mysteries of the life 

 bevond, hut he pursued them after all. His righteous 

 simplicity often subjected him to misapprehension. 

 Starting with false premises, he arrived at solutions 

 which made him ridiculous to people who counted 

 themselves wise and knowlcdgable. That trust in 

 premonitions which laid him open to troubling pre- 

 visions, automatic writing, and communication with 

 spirits, never ceased to haunt him. 



A BEAUTIFUL REFLECTION OF THE DIVINE. 



What an exquisitely fantastic book the relations 

 between Stead and Julia and Catherine IL would make ! 

 But what would be the use ? Let us confine ourselves 

 to this^that this courageous investigation of the 

 truth, at the risk of sacrificing his renown and his 

 fortune, is also one of the traits of the heroic honesty 

 of Stead. The more he believed in the possibility of 

 benefiting his brethren by some sparks from the 

 Great Mystery whi<'h he really felt to be working in the 

 Unknown, the more he would have thought himself 

 dishonoured if he had al andoncd the field of battle. 



Would Stead have purified spiritualism, or would 

 spiritualism have contributed to the aggrandisement 

 of his soul? What does it matter.^ Such as it was, his 

 soul was one of the most beautiful rellections of the 

 divine upon earth. 



