3^4 



The Review of Reviews. 



October 1. t90e. 



patriotic, social or religious, each of thes<- subscribers 

 were to put the halfpenny saved by the cheapening 

 of the paper into a fund, they would raise _;^i90,ooo 

 — more than double the annual value of the Beit be- 

 quest. What is lacking is not money. There is 

 plentv of money. It only needs to be collected. 

 VVhat is lacking is faith, and the expression of faith, 

 a capacity to take the collection. 



THE MUNIFICENCE OF A MILLIONAIRE. 



Of Mr. Beit's munificence the world heard little. 

 He preferred to do good by stealth and blush to 

 find it fame. He gave a park worth _;£20o,ooo to 

 Johannesburg, which was his largest known gift in 

 his lifetime. He gave another estate — the Franken- 

 wald — to Johannesburg as the site for a university, 

 u hich by his will he has endowed with another 

 j^2oo,ooo. He gave _£25,ooo as a thankoflfering 

 for his recovery to the Institute of Medical Science 

 Fund of the London University, and he and his 

 partner munificent!) endowed the Technological 

 foUege. which is to be the Charlottenijurg of South 

 Kensington. He gave liberally to hospitals. He 

 did not contribute to free libraries, but he made the 

 largest gift that had been made for manv vears to 

 anv English imiversitv when he endowed a Chair 

 of Colonial History at Oxford to the tune of ^1310 

 per annum: — 



sn The maintenance of a resident professor of colonial 

 history. 



12) Assistant lecturers. 



'3> A prize of £50 for an annual essay on the advantages 

 of Imperial citizenship and the payment of examiners' 

 fee?. 



(41 The purchase of books on the subject, the amount of 

 such purcnase not to exceed £50 per annum. 



One of the conditions laid down was the institution of 

 an annual public lecture on the history of British 

 dominions over the sea. 



His private charities were large Imt unostentatious. 

 V\'hatever he gave he gave with a kindly sympathy 

 which doubled the value of the gift. 



MB. BEIT AT HOME 

 In his f)ersona! relations to his partners, his em- 

 ployes, his servants, his friends, and his relatives 

 he was distinguished by a spirit of simplicity, sin- 

 cerity and affection. His affection to his mother was 

 beautiful to see. His kindness to his friends was 

 unfailing. He had a singularly sunny temperament, 

 and one of the pleasantest of smiles. As a host he 

 was perfect. He was nervous in manner among 

 strangers and almost as shy as a child. No man ever 

 put on less side. .Ajrcgance was not in him. nor 

 have I ever heard him utter an unkind word about 

 anyone. He was very mild in his talk e\en when 

 discussing those who were holding him up to public 

 infamv. I never found in him anv trace of resent- 

 ment. He was always ready to meet anyone if he 

 thought it could do any good. His mind was al- 

 ways receptive and eager to learn. He wanted to 

 see Mr. Bums, but Jc^n of Battersea. who had con- 

 sented to meet Mr. Rhodes, refu.sed to go to Park 

 I.ane. 



If he had gone he would have found Mr. Beit and 

 Mr. Beit's house well worthy of his attention. Some 

 of the finest paintings in the world hang on the 

 walls, and he has one of the best collection of 

 bronzes in London. But he would have found Mr. 

 Beit himself was more interesting than any of the 

 treasures with which he adorned his home. He 

 might have told him, as he did tell Mr. Rhodes, that 

 he would like to put him against a wall and riddle 

 him with bullets. That expression of personal 

 idiosvncrasv would not have disturtied the placidity 

 of his host. For Mr. Beit was a philosopher in his 

 way with a vein of humour in his disposition, and 

 he would have enjoyed the breezy talk of John 

 Burns. 



ALFEED BEIT ANT) JOHN BURNS. 



But to Mr. Burns and to many others Mr. Beit 

 was a kind of devil. He was a kind of vampire- 



Mr. Beit's Mansion. Towin Water. Welwyn. 



octopus draining the life-blood of South Africa. 

 He was the typical Randlord. He was the Mag- 

 nate at whose bidding the Republics had been an- 

 nexed after the homesteads of a nation had l-een 

 given to the flames. He was Herr Beit, German- 

 Jew millionaire — what more need be said? To 

 which I can only reply that while I regard the war 

 with a detestation as deep as any man, and while I 

 deplore as bitterly as any one the deplorable results 

 of that great crime of our day, I do not think that 

 Mr. Beit from first to last did anything which he 

 did not honestly believe would be for the benefit of 

 the British Empire, of the world at large, and in the 

 long run of the Boers themselves. That he deceived 

 himself is possible enough. We all do that at times, 

 not being infallible. But that he was as honest 

 and straight and public-spirited a man as any I know 

 of, that I feel certain, and I do not forget that I 

 know John Burns. 



W. T. Stead. 



