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 DR. JAMESON
 
 Photo In] 
 
 [Elliot & Far. 
 
 Dr. Jameson (1896). 
 
 \_Frontispiece.
 
 DR. JAMESON 
 
 BY 
 
 G. SEYMOUR FORT 
 
 WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS 
 (REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION) 
 
 LONDON 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED, 
 
 PATERNOSTER HOUSE, E.C 
 1918 
 
 All rights reserved.
 
 PREFACE TO PRESENT EDITION. 
 
 The first edition of this book, which was published in 1908, 
 closed with the defeat of the progressive party at the Cape, 
 under the leadership of Sir Starr Jameson, in 1907, and I 
 have been asked to complete my account of his life and work. 
 In doing so I wish to emphasize my previous statement, 
 that this sketch does not in any way claim to be an ex- 
 haustive or critical monograph of his career. 
 
 My object in 1908 was to divert public attention from 
 the spectacular catastrophe of the Raid to the sterling and 
 imperial work that Jameson had accomplished as pioneer, 
 administrator and Colonial statesman. At that date, so 
 far as the general public was concerned, my book was in the 
 nature of a pioneer undertaking — a crude, blatant voice 
 demanding recognition for a man whom to-day pens more 
 eloquent than mine have done their utmost to honour and 
 whose qualities and services have gained renown throughout 
 the length and breadth of the Empire. 
 
 G. Seymour Fort. 
 11, Radnor Place, 
 
 Hyde Park Square. 
 4th March, 191 8.
 
 PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 To describe in a speech, in his presence, the career of a 
 personal friend is always embarrassing, both for the speaker 
 as well as for the friend. To write of him in a book is a 
 still more delicate task, and however much the author 
 may wish to confine himself to the mere narration of facts, 
 he cannot avoid making his friend the victim of a con- 
 siderable amount of panegyric and laudation. There is, 
 indeed, much to be said in favour of those who utterly 
 condemn the writing of contemporary biography ; but even 
 they are sometimes willing to admit that the degree of 
 an author's criminality varies in different cases. It often 
 happens, in fact, that such a biography is the only method 
 of enabling an existing generation to make any definite 
 acquaintance of a man, whose character and work posterity 
 will certainly study with interest. 
 
 This book does not in any way pretend to be an ex- 
 haustive or critical monograph of Dr. Jameson's Life 
 and Times. It is merely an appreciative sketch of his 
 career up to the present period. The idea of writing it to a 
 certain extent originated with my friend, the late Mr. 
 Alfred Beit, for whose advice and information I am greatly 
 indebted. Although I have Dr. Jameson's permission 
 to publish, he has never seen a line or word of the con- 
 tents of this publication, and the views expressed therein, 
 except where his own speeches are quoted, are entirely 
 my own, and not his. Doubtless he would disagree with
 
 viii PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 many of my conclusions, and had it been possible, I would 
 gladly have consulted him on very many points. I strictly 
 refrained, however, from doing so, and as he is in com- 
 plete ignorance of what I have written, it is impossible 
 for any misconstruction in this respect to arise in the 
 future. 
 
 There may be readers who will confine themselves to the 
 adventurous period of Dr. Jameson's life, and will not care to 
 read the last two chapters, describing his less exciting, but 
 equally essential work as Premier of Cape Colony. Such 
 persons may possibly carry away with them a false idea as 
 to his attitude towards the Dutch. For many traits in 
 their national character, notably their hardihood and 
 patriotism, he has ever maintained an unstinted admira- 
 tion ; while the number of his personal friendships with 
 the Dutch and Afrikander peoples, both men and women, 
 throughout South Africa has steadily increased every year. 
 In common with many Dutchmen and every Britisher, he 
 was frequently compelled in his earlier years to oppose the 
 aggressive anti-British and anti-South African policy of 
 President Kruger and his Hollanders. With the close of 
 the Boer War, however, Krugerism died a natural death, 
 and Dr. Jameson has since been conspicuous, both as citizen 
 and politician, in his efforts to eliminate race-feeling, and 
 to promote between the Dutch who are in power and the 
 British the spirit of co-operation, and the desire to make 
 South Africa a prosperous home for members of both races. 
 
 It now only remains for me to express my gratitude 
 to those who have helped me in my task. Let me say 
 first, that before his death, Mr. Edmund Garrett wrote 
 expressing his pleasure at the appreciative nature of my 
 sketch, more especially as he had come to realize that 
 Dr. Jameson was a far greater man than he had described 
 him in his " Story of a South African Crisis." I have to
 
 PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. ix 
 
 thank the Directors of the British South Africa Company for 
 allowing me free access to their library and records ; and 
 also Mr. Bromwich, their librarian, for his ever-ready help. 
 I have not been fortunate in the matter of photographs. 
 In the first place, it has not been possible to discover the 
 address of the owner of the copyright to an album of 
 interesting early Rhodesian incidents ; secondly, Dr. 
 Jameson has always shown himself very clever in eluding 
 those comparatively few photographers, who, in the pre- 
 kodak days, occupied the field. I am indebted to Mr. 
 Mathers, the editor of South Africa, who kindly placed 
 at my disposal his interesting photographic collection of 
 men of note in that country. 
 
 To Mr. S. W. Jameson, Majors Heany and Johnson, 
 Mr. J. B. Taylor, Mr. J. Stevens and to Mr. Garlick I am 
 indebted for very many of the unwritten, unrecorded 
 events referred to in these pages. There are also numerous 
 other friends, both here and in South Africa, to whom my 
 thanks are given for the information I have directly or 
 indirectly gleaned from them. To Mr. R. S. Holland I am 
 very grateful for his long continued assistance ; and 
 especially am I under deep obligation to Mr. Bourchier 
 Hawksley — probably Dr. Jameson's closest living friend — 
 for his unfailing and invaluable help in all matters con- 
 nected with this work, and especially in its revision. 
 
 G. Seymour Fort. 
 
 3, Southwick Place, 
 Hyde Park Square, W. 
 November, 1908.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAF. 
 
 Prologue 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 i 
 
 I. — Introductory 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 II. — The Early Years of Jameson 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 III. — Kimberley 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 IV. — The Occupation of Mashonaland 
 
 
 
 85 
 
 V. — Administration 
 
 
 
 • ii5 
 
 VI. — " The Raid " . 
 
 
 
 . 156 
 
 VII. — The Aftermath . 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 /III. — " Premiership "... 
 
 
 
 • 243 
 
 IX. — Residence in England . 
 
 
 
 • 319 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Dr. Jameson (1896) Frontispiece 
 
 Dr. Jameson and Mr. Cecil Rhodes in Kimberley Facing p. 82 
 Bulawayo in 1893 ....... 144 
 
 Dr. Jameson (1906) ... „ 226 
 
 Hon. J. H. Hofmeyr ...... 232 
 
 Groote Schuur , 238
 
 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 " All sorts go to make a world, 
 
 The coward and the rogue and the hero ; 
 But the highest fortune of Earth's children 
 Is always in their own personality." 
 
 Jameson's name is known throughout the length 
 and breadth of the civilized world. It has stirred 
 the hearts and passions of men, and aroused the 
 curiosity and imagination of nations. Despite this 
 recognition, however, but little seems to be known 
 of the incidents of his career, or of the nature of 
 the work he has achieved. Men's eyes have been 
 so riveted on the Raid that they have lost the 
 true perspective of the events that preceded and 
 followed that incident. They have scarce per- 
 ceived the strength and beauty of his friendship 
 with Rhodes — a poem yet to be written. They 
 have overlooked the romance of his occupation of 
 the Hinterland of Rhodesia; and the brilliance of 
 his early administrative methods, which estab-
 
 2 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 lished for all time its civilization and prosperity. 
 In the swirl of events they have failed to realize 
 his rapid ascension to power after suffering the 
 greatest debacle of modern times. On Wednes- 
 day, the ist January, 1896, Jameson held Her 
 Majesty's commission as Administrator of Rho- 
 desia ; by noon the next day he was officially 
 proclaimed outlaw, and before night was a prisoner 
 in the hands of the Boers, his life a forfeit to their 
 mercy. Then followed imprisonments in Pretoria 
 and England ; yet in May, 1900, he was a member 
 of the Legislative Assembly at the Cape — from 1904 
 to 1908 was Premier of that Colony, and is to-day 
 the leader of the Opposition. 
 
 Seldom have disaster and universal disapproba- 
 tion been so triumphantly defied, or the incalcu- 
 lable force of personality so remarkably displayed. 
 Because of his downfall a greater Jameson has 
 arisen, who, in the strength and patience born 
 of adversity, strives unceasingly to promote that 
 unity of policy and method, for which an inchoate 
 South Africa still craves. There is something 
 almost epic about the history of one who has so 
 persistently challenged forlorn hopes and yet 
 remains indomitable. Unambitious for himself, 
 but accepting the power thrust upon him, indifferent
 
 PROLOGUE. 3 
 
 to personal wealth, free from domestic ties, scorn- 
 ing the paths of idleness and irresponsibility, he 
 has during the past twenty years devoted himself 
 to the service of Rhodes' ideas. Slowly but surely 
 the manifestation of a character so finely loyal is 
 beginning to make itself felt, and to cause many 
 to doubt whether they had not perhaps too hastily 
 condemned as a mere Raider, one whose claim to 
 greatness becomes daily more convincing. 
 
 Despite some divergence of interests between the 
 Britisher at home, and the Britisher in our de- 
 pendencies, the daily trend of circumstance serves 
 to create a more definite consciousness of our 
 common Imperial citizenship. Naturally generous- 
 hearted, we are ever anxious to do homage to 
 those whose work in any portion of our Empire 
 deserves recognition. Too often, however, it 
 happens that, either through stress of our own 
 lives, or through lack of organized information, 
 we fail to appreciate in their lifetime those whom 
 otherwise we would have hastened to honour. 
 The object of this sketch, therefore, is to supply 
 the too little known records of Jameson's life. 
 
 These are not so complete as the writer could 
 have wished, and Jameson's habitual modesty 
 and silence have added considerably to the diffi-
 
 4 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 culty of their compilation. To keep a diary, to 
 write an unnecessary letter, or even an unnecessary 
 word in a letter, has always been essentially foreign 
 to his temperament. Moreover, as many of his 
 expeditions were undertaken alone, or at most with 
 one or two others, some of whom have since died, 
 much interesting material has been lost, or still 
 lies buried in his memory. 
 
 Incessantly as he pioneered from 1890 to 1896 — 
 he was for days naked in a boat ; for weeks 
 tentless and almost provisionless under persistent 
 rains — he had not, like Rhodes, any primitive 
 passion for vast expanses, for veld experiences under 
 stars and sky. Nor were his adventures under- 
 taken for adventure's sake, but they were simply 
 unavoidable obstacles to his plans, and, as such, 
 when once overcome, were not considered worthy 
 of remembrance. Absorbed in the fresh diffi- 
 culties that daily confronted him, he counted as 
 nothing that which he had accomplished. 
 
 However incomplete this tale of his doings, 
 its compilation has been full of fascination. 
 Jameson possesses to the full that magnetic per- 
 sonality and capacity for leadership which is a 
 gift of the gods, and which, like genius, inevitably 
 gives power to its possessor, whatever may be his
 
 PROLOGUE. 5 
 
 duties or profession. Thus dowered, it was im- 
 possible for him to escape from the control over men 
 and events which it placed in his hands. But his 
 power has ever been instinct with human sym- 
 pathy. A lightning reader of character, he is by 
 nature a cynic, whose innate kindliness of heart 
 has always proved stronger than his cynicism. 
 
 Natives, school-boys, and men living primitive 
 lives, have a subtle gift for nicknames that sym- 
 bolize for ever some dominant feature in the 
 character of the person to whom they are applied. 
 So appropriate are they that it is often difficult 
 to decide whether the nickname creates the man, 
 or the man the nickname. Be this as it may, 
 " Doctor Jim " was an inspiration of the diamond- 
 diggers of early Kimberley, whose note of endear- 
 ment and confidence has never been belied. There 
 is something almost mysterious in a man who could 
 sway the wills of giants so masterful as Rhodes 
 and Lobengula, and could command the devotion 
 of all sorts and conditions of men from Cape Town 
 to the Zambesi. But this power to charm and 
 persuade was always the instrument of a deadly 
 earnestness. Whether as professional man, as 
 pioneer, as adventurer, as administrator, as revo- 
 lutionist, or as Prime Minister of the most difficult
 
 6 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 dependency in the Empire, he was, and is, at all 
 times thorough. In the strength of this com- 
 bination of instinctive kindliness and unquenchable 
 purpose he has made history in the past, and is 
 to-day a greater power in the land than before. He 
 illustrates the truth of the saying : "To be what 
 we are, and to become what we are capable of 
 becoming, is the only end of life." 
 
 How to make such an one live, move and have 
 his being through the medium of the printed page ; 
 how, amid the narrative of circumstance and in- 
 cident to convey the living personality — the in- 
 fluence of glance, voice or gesture — must be at 
 once the aim and the despair of every writer. 
 Emphatically a man of action, the record of 
 Jameson's doings can alone give an insight into his 
 many-sided nature. But the story is the thing ; 
 for therein he must reveal himself, however much 
 the teller may halt in the telling.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 " He who belongs to me must be strong of bone and swift of foot, eager for 
 fight and for feast ; no sulker ; no John o* Dreams ; as ready for the bended task as 
 for a feast." 
 
 The purpose of this opening chapter is to give a 
 general sketch of the more salient features of 
 Jameson's character, and of the circumstances 
 that formed the background of his career. It 
 is no easy task to adequately portray, even 
 in outline, this leader of men, so slight in phy- 
 sique, so great in spirit and energy. Behind the 
 simple directness of his manner lie diverse abilities, 
 and a nature so self-contained that it too frequently 
 defies representation. With this heritage of possi- 
 bilities it was his singular good fortune, when quite 
 a young man, to fall under the influence of Rhodes, 
 whom he always speaks of as the " master mind." 
 Rhodes gave to the talented young surgeon the 
 priceless gift of vision, of vistas of action so preg- 
 nant with high national purpose, that eventually 
 they diverted Jameson's ambition from his medical 
 
 7
 
 8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 profession to the sphere of administrative and 
 political effort. During the years that Rhodes was 
 preventing Kruger from blocking the road to the 
 north, and was laying the foundation of his political 
 power in Cape Colony, he was also inspiring Jame- 
 son with the same enthusiasm and outlook as him- 
 self ; and eventually both agreed to sacrifice the 
 best of their brain and effort to the wizardry of 
 South African problems. 
 
 If Rhodes was supreme in the world of ideas, 
 Jameson, working through conviction and loyalty, 
 was to prove himself as great in the sphere 
 of action and executive command. The former 
 was an initiator — an empire-architect, who foresaw 
 great territorial alterations, and by sheer force 
 of character and statesmanship compelled the 
 fulfilment of much that he had planned. This was 
 his field, sacred to his peculiar political genius. 
 The latter, absorbed in his own medical work, 
 remained at first a sympathetic observer of his 
 friend's efforts, but eventually, after some ten 
 years of intimate companionship, threw over his 
 medical profession, and voluntarily undertook the 
 leadership of pioneer enterprises for which he had 
 received neither physical nor mental training. 
 
 The influence of Rhodes upon Jameson is mani-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 fest, but what part the latter played in the making 
 of Rhodes is mainly surmise. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival in Kimberley he at- 
 tended Rhodes professionally, and doubtless his 
 quickness of grasp and insight impressed them- 
 selves forcibly upon his patient. He brought with 
 him, moreover, an acquaintance with books, systems 
 and up-to-date research that had been denied to 
 Rhodes, whose practical Colonial work had given 
 him but scant time for reading. 
 
 Little, indeed, is known of Rhodes' early pre- 
 Oxford mental evolution. In 1872, as a mere lad 
 under twenty, he trudged from his plantation in 
 Natal, to the newly-discovered diamond diggings in 
 Kimberley. Here he gradually came to the front. On 
 the one side he was shrewd, with a marked aptitude 
 for business ; on the other contemplative, visionary 
 and aloof. Fortunately, the necessity for holding 
 his own with the sharp-witted money-makers 
 around him ever drove him into constant practical 
 activity. But unsatisfied with mere business 
 successes, his vast, brooding imagination never 
 slept, and under the quickening influence of the 
 racial struggle in the sub-continent he soon found 
 scope for action. Intensely zealous for British 
 supremacy, the events after Majuba aroused in him
 
 io DR. JAMESON. 
 
 an acute sense of danger, and stimulated to definite 
 action the ideas that were seething within him. 
 As his nation's champion he stepped forth into 
 the arena of South African racial and political strife. 
 Pitting himself against the schemes of Kruger, 
 Bismarck and a host of other opponents, he set 
 himself to secure the much-sought-after Hinter- 
 land, that was so essential to British suzerainty in 
 South Africa; and to the safety of her important 
 naval station of Simonstown, in Cape Colony. His 
 unceasing endeavour was to safeguard British 
 interests and to promote the unity and prosperity 
 of South Africa for its own sake, and for the sake 
 of the Empire. 
 
 It was a struggle between Titans, and only by 
 hairbreadth margins did Rhodes succeed in defeat- 
 ing his foreign rivals in their attempts to gain 
 a footing in what is now Rhodesia. The years 
 between 1882 and 1889 were desperately critical 
 to Great Britain's trade and political interests in 
 the sub-continent. They witnessed the aggressive 
 attempts of Kruger to extend the western bound- 
 aries of the Transvaal, by supporting the Dutch 
 freebooters who attempted to establish Republics 
 in Stellaland and in the land of Goshen, both within 
 the British sphere. They saw Bismarck's success in
 
 INTRODUCTORY. n 
 
 acquiring important territories in South-west Africa, 
 and his all but successful coup to secure the im- 
 portant port of Walfish Bay; while both to his 
 and to Kruger's mind was present a scheme for 
 joining hands and creating a German-Boer dominion 
 that would effectually secure the whole Northern 
 Hinterland for themselves. Finally, Portugal, 
 Germany, and Kruger were all competing to get 
 some concession from Lobengula, the paramount 
 chief over the vast and wealthy territories that 
 extended even to the Zambesi. A strong man was 
 needed to confront this situation — one who, armed 
 with wealth, political power and local knowledge, 
 would fight tooth and nail for British interests on 
 South African soil. 
 
 Such an one was Rhodes, who, vigilant and 
 aware of all the dangers that threatened his nation 
 both from within and without, had, long before 
 the amalgamation of De Beers, dedicated his 
 money, time and energy to this purpose. The iron 
 had entered into his soul because of the humiliated 
 position of the Britisher and loyal Afrikander,* 
 and because of the indifference of the Home 
 
 * Afrikander. A Cape Dutch word, originally used to imply an African 
 native, then a half-caste, then a South African white of Dutch speech and sym- 
 pathies, then any South African born of white parents ; and now it is applied to 
 the Dutch themselves — they are the Afrikander nation.
 
 12 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Government to the importance of that Hinterland 
 which other nations were lusting and afoot to possess. 
 
 Before the end of 1889 he had greatly achieved. 
 Working hand in hand with Sir Hercules Robinson, 
 he had broken up the Dutch raiding Republics 
 and annexed them to Cape Colony, thus thwarting 
 both Kruger and Bismarck. He had sent Moffat 
 posthaste to Lobengula and obtained a treaty, 
 giving pre-emptive rights over Matabeleland to 
 Great Britain. He had secured for himself a 
 concession from Lobengula, and had been granted 
 a Royal Charter for the Company formed to exploit 
 territories of unknown wealth and extent. He had, 
 moreover, buttressed his success by winning over 
 the Bond and Dutch in the Cape to support him 
 in his plans for the development of the North. 
 Finally, he had aroused a passionate loyalty to 
 himself and to his work in Jameson, who was 
 pre-eminently suited by natural temperament and 
 ability to further carry out those Imperial aims on 
 which his larger purpose was bent. 
 
 These were, first, the successful political and 
 commercial occupation of the future Rhodesia, 
 which Rhodes hoped would become a great self- 
 governing dependency, offering an assured market 
 to British goods, and prosperous, happy homes
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 to the overcrowded inhabitants of these isles. 
 Secondly, he wished to amalgamate the various 
 South African states, and to bring about a poli- 
 tical and commercial federation that would sweep 
 away artificial boundaries and unnecessary rivalry 
 in railways and other matters. Recognizing the 
 geographical unity of South Africa, and the soli- 
 darity of her problems, he believed that under a 
 British-colonial administration Briton and Boer 
 could unite in developing the rich resources of 
 their land. But even these two projects were not 
 ends in themselves, but merely steps, as it were, 
 for a still more complete political and commercial 
 unification of the Empire. He considered that in 
 the world's exchange of products, every advan- 
 tage should be given to those of the same blood 
 and nationality. With a supreme faith in the 
 efficiency of the Anglo-Saxon race, he desired the 
 re-incorporation of America with ourselves as a 
 guarantee for universal peace and prosperity. 
 To use his own words : " No cannon would then be 
 fired in either hemisphere but by permission of 
 the English race." His historic imagination in 
 this respect was intensely alive, and stimulated his 
 desire to realize for Greater Britain the practical 
 advantages of Empire.
 
 14 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 These were no ready-made ideas or formulas, 
 but were gradually acquired convictions, the result 
 of many years' struggle between his imagination 
 and the changing circumstances of his surroundings. 
 
 In 1878, during the germination and early 
 period of Rhodes' evolution, Jameson arrived 
 in Kimberley. The professional acquaintance 
 between the big-limbed, dreamy, successful dia- 
 mond digger, and the dapper young surgeon, with 
 his alternations of earnestness and badinage, his 
 quick movements and quicker mental perceptions, 
 soon ripened into close companionship. The two 
 had many points in common. Rhodes was a 
 seventh and Jameson an eleventh child, and 
 both had been subjected in boyhood to the viri- 
 lizing atmosphere and control of elder brothers. 
 To this may possibly be due their observance of a 
 casual and matter-of-fact manner towards each 
 other. It seemed almost a point of honour be- 
 tween them never under any circumstances, how- 
 ever thrilling, to waste any mere emotional ex- 
 pression. Both had had to depend upon them- 
 selves and their abilities for the bare means of 
 existence. Both were free from those minor en- 
 thusiasms for games and sport which so frequently 
 dissipate the energies of the sons of educated
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 15 
 
 men. In a sense, both were quixotic, but also 
 very practical and business-like. Both, although 
 impatient of small issues, were intensely dogged, 
 and would reckon no measure too trivial or useless 
 if necessary to success. 
 
 Without any pose or affectation, each had man- 
 nerisms of speech and manner which were the 
 natural expressions of their respective individu- 
 alities. In the heat of argument Rhodes' voice 
 would rise to falsetto ; while Jameson, in a way 
 peculiarly his own, would enforce speech by gesture. 
 For instance, if arguing that a certain idea lay at 
 the back of people's heads, he would throw him- 
 self forward and impetuously strike the back of 
 his own head to emphasize the point. By tem- 
 perament, circumstances, and the nature of their 
 work, neither married, though each in his own 
 way has done great altruistic service for his 
 country, and for the generations that are to come. 
 
 Although alike in these respects, the nature of 
 their relationship to their fellow-men was different. 
 Jameson possessed a natural as well as a trained 
 power of observation, while Rhodes was com- 
 paratively unobservant of the individualities of 
 the men and women with whom he came in 
 immediate contact. Naturally rather shy and
 
 16 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 isolated in habits and mind, Rhodes was very much 
 devoted to those who worked for him, but was also 
 somewhat inclined to regard people mechanically in 
 connection with the circumstances of his work, and 
 thus to a certain extent separated himself from 
 their minor and personal interests. It was not 
 that he lacked sympathy or understanding, but 
 that his thoughts and work were on so large and 
 impersonal a scale, that they thrust into the 
 background his really neighbourly and friendly 
 attitude. 
 
 Jameson was more easily accessible. In some 
 subtle way he attracted all sorts and conditions of 
 men to himself, and seemed to inspire them with an 
 instantaneous trust and intimacy. Without exactly 
 telling them he did so, he interested himself in 
 their personalities, understood their limitations, 
 and sympathized with their fate. A recent writer 
 thus describes him : 
 
 " He was the most striking personality I met in 
 South Africa. His manner is irresistible — easy, 
 courteous, and genial ; and he has a way, when 
 talking, of including every one present in the con- " 
 versation, and giving them the impression that 
 somehow they are contributing an important share. 
 Other people impressed by their ability, their
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 17 
 
 ' gift of the gab,' their charm of manner, but none 
 possessed to such a degree the power of making 
 themselves felt." 
 
 Just as some men possess strange powers over 
 animals, so here and there is one who seems to 
 have the same unusual influence over his fellows. 
 Such men have been wont to regard the multitude 
 as necessary material for the operation of genius ; 
 but Jameson is alive to every throb of individu- 
 ality, to every form of aspiration. His is that 
 large pity and help which real strength always 
 gives to weakness. 
 
 Like other leaders of men, his methods are pecu- 
 liarly his own. Somewhat brusque and daring in 
 speech, he is ever ready to seize upon opportunities 
 for playful moquerie that sometimes half flatters, 
 but never hurts. Quick as thought he will hit off 
 a man's weak point, and in the same breath laugh- 
 ingly and kindly esteem him for it. In a flash he 
 tempers criticism with a big-hearted, cheery toler- 
 ance, and is always ready to attribute t( the very 
 best of intentions " to those with whom he radically 
 differs in opinion. 
 
 But perhaps the strongest bond between Rhodes 
 and Jameson in their early days was the latter's 
 keenness and clear grasp of contemporary poli-
 
 i8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 tical events. Hard- worked as he had been in 
 London, he had stepped into even harder pro- 
 fessional work in Kimberley, and his modest stud 
 of two hardy veld horses had soon to be increased 
 by another pair and a pony. Despite, however, 
 this strain, mental and physical, and his genuine 
 love for his profession, he was ever an avid student 
 of affairs. From books, from events, and the daily 
 burning discussions of the club and the market- 
 place, he began to learn South African history. 
 Although brought up as a boy in a Radical, doc- 
 trinaire atmosphere, and for a long time an ad- 
 mirer of Gladstone, he shared to the full the sense 
 of personal humiliation which that statesman 
 inflicted upon all loyal South African colonists. 
 He had yet, however, to learn that ignorance, 
 indifference and the subordination of Imperial 
 interests to British party budgets, were not the 
 monopoly of the Liberal party alone, but that for 
 the next twelve or fourteen years the one certain 
 feature of home-made Downing Street policy was 
 to be its uncertainty. 
 
 Rhodes, however, was his real educator — the 
 source of his political knowledge and historical 
 outlook. Under his influence Jameson learnt to 
 think Imperially, and to realize that one great
 
 INTRODUCTORY. ig 
 
 object in acquiring new territory was to secure 
 fresh markets. Moreover, not only did he gain an 
 insight into the larger significance of current poli- 
 tical events, but the whole circumstances of South 
 African history, past and present, were framed 
 for him in the setting of his friend's ideas. 
 He mastered the whole chess-board of South 
 African politics. The significance of the various 
 situations, the strength of the various person- 
 alities, their probable moves and counter-moves, 
 were all clear to his view. The opinions and con- 
 victions he thus formed were based upon excep- 
 tional opportunities for studying history in the 
 making. His position was a very enviable one, 
 and perhaps the most interesting and irrespons- 
 ible of all his many experiences. Knowing inti- 
 mately Rhodes' motives and methods, he sat, as 
 it were, behind the scenes, and watched him 
 moulding events to his will and idea. 
 
 He was able to compare the knowledge- 
 able and persuasive policy of Rhodes in breaking 
 up the raiding Republics with the expensive and 
 doctrinaire militarism of Sir Charles Warren's 
 intentions. This, and Lanyon's tactlessness in the 
 Transvaal, made Jameson for many years very nerv- 
 ous of the methods of home-appointed military
 
 20 DR, JAMESON. 
 
 officers, especially when acting as political agents. 
 He could estimate exactly the value of Rhodes' 
 desperate haste in sending Moffat to Lobengula, and 
 its effect in forestalling the designs of other rivals. 
 With a full knowledge of Rhodes' diplomacy in 
 tempting the Bond party to withhold any support 
 to Kruger's schemes for blocking the trade routes to 
 the North, no one knew better how genuine was the 
 former's regard for the Cape Dutch and his desire 
 to make both races equally prosperous and happy. 
 
 None, moreover, knew better how much Rhodes 
 had been hampered by Downing Street, and how 
 much he had been helped by the independent 
 support of the High Commissioner, Sir Hercules 
 Robinson. By their united efforts, these two had, 
 during this period, not only to a large extent re- 
 stored British prestige, but despite the indifference, 
 or worse, of their own Government, had won, hands 
 down, in an International struggle for territory of 
 the utmost importance. They had, of course, been 
 subjected to the usual Ministerial vacillations at 
 home. In 1861, Sir George Grey complained 
 that within five years of his administration there 
 had been seven Colonial Ministers, each of whom 
 held different views upon some important points of 
 policy in connection with South Africa. Although
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 21 
 
 Rhodes and Sir Hercules were not put to this 
 strain, they had to carry out their work under the 
 inevitable cloud of uncertainty. Support given one 
 moment was withdrawn the next. Under one 
 Minister it was a policy of " drift ; " under another, 
 one of fussy interference. Fortunately, these 
 two men had to a certain extent taken the 
 direction of affairs into their own hands — they 
 knew exactly what they wanted, and fought steadily 
 side by side to obtain it. 
 
 Ever since the recession of the Transvaal after 
 Majuba, South Africa has been divided into three 
 camps — that of the violent anti-British, anti- 
 progressive Dutchmen, under Kruger ; that of 
 the militant Britisher, who strove for political 
 supremacy in the interests of progress and federa- 
 tion, under Rhodes and Jameson ; and, lastly, the 
 camp of diplomatic Afrikanderists, under Mr. Hof- 
 meyr. These last aimed at the political ascen- 
 dency of the Dutch and the development of the 
 country primarily in the interests of Dutch South 
 Africans who were willing to remain British 
 subjects in order to reap the advantage of their 
 Empire's naval strength and protection. 
 
 Uneducated, but trained in all the cunning of 
 Kaffir statecraft, Kruger's outlook was really con-
 
 22 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 fined to the Transvaal. Outside his racialism, he 
 had no policy for South Africa as a whole, and 
 steadily refused to co-operate with Rhodes or any 
 one else in furthering any combined action 
 amongst the South African States. In his dread 
 lest the Dutch nationality should be swamped by 
 the inflowing tide of Britishers he represented the 
 common fear of all Dutchmen ; but he appealed 
 to those extremists whose race passion was founded 
 in ignorance and a limited tribal idea of patriotism. 
 For the moment circumstances favoured his policy, 
 but to-day Krugerism is almost extinct. 
 
 Rhodes' policy, on the other hand, suffered from 
 an excess of those qualities that Kruger lacked. 
 It was too definitely comprehensive and statesman- 
 like, too definitely patriotic and Imperial, for the 
 unimaginative and ill-informed party politicians 
 in England ; and without the whole-hearted sup- 
 port of his nation his schemes for South African 
 federation in the interests of Briton and Boer alike 
 could never succeed. This he never received. 
 During all the strenuous years of struggle between 
 Kruger and Rhodes, Mr. Hofmeyr, who is one of 
 the most remarkable men in South Africa, adopted 
 a waiting and highly diplomatic course. Most 
 cleverly he managed at one and the same time
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 23 
 
 to make both Rhodes and Kruger imagine that 
 each possessed his sympathy and support. He 
 is a past master in the art of elusiveness, and 
 his generalship of the policy of the Bond is 
 exceedingly clever. But whatever his methods, 
 his aims are worthy. He represents the passionate 
 love of Dutchmen and Afrikanders for South 
 Africa, and their legitimate patriotic desire to 
 administer the sub-continent in their interests 
 and in those of their Afrikander children. 
 Hofmeyrism reigns triumphant to-day and has 
 come to stay. 
 
 During the early and critical years of the Rhodes- 
 Kruger duel Jameson watched, as it were, the whole 
 struggle from start to finish, the dangers that had 
 been averted, and the touch-and-go situations that 
 had been saved. 
 
 Because of a curious fatalist trait in Jameson's 
 strenuous temperament, Rhodes' success had made 
 a deep impression on his mental attitude. It justi- 
 fied the latter's policy of expediency, demonstrated 
 the influence of individual will and character in the 
 making of history, fired Jameson's sense of nation- 
 ality, and stirred in him the wish to take a part 
 in Rhodes' work and plans. 
 
 In many respects both Rhodes and Jameson were
 
 24 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 under the same educative training, and by 1889 
 both had learnt to look at the British situation in 
 South Africa from the Boer view of that period, 
 and both had realized how difficult it was for the 
 very ignorant racial average Boer to understand 
 the vacillations of Imperial policy in South Africa. 
 It was because of these vacillations, and because 
 the Boer was so supremely ignorant of British 
 history, or any history but that of South Africa, 
 that the status of the Britisher in that country was 
 so very different to that which he occupied in 
 Europe. There, he represented a nation that 
 had ever pursued a spirited policy, had fear- 
 lessly grappled with difficult situations, and by 
 grim, invincible purpose had stormed victory, even 
 in the face of desperate odds. For this reason the 
 Britisher could justly carry his head high, and, if it 
 so pleased him, exult in insularity to the exclusion 
 of companionableness. The majority of Boers, 
 however, especially twenty years ago, knew but 
 little of British history and cared less. Waterloo* 
 and Trafalgar — Wellington and Nelson — even if 
 the names were known to them, were devoid of 
 
 * A friend of the writer's was once telling a Boer what the English had done 
 at Waterloo. "Yes," said the Boer; "but I am talking of the great battle 
 of Boomplaats, in the Transvaal, where my late father-in-law lost fourteen 
 oxen and ten sheep."
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 25 
 
 any significance whatever. In the early days of 
 Rhodes and Jameson they judged Great Britain 
 solely from her records in South Africa, a country 
 to them the alpha and omega of creation. Loving 
 their land passionately, it passed their imagina- 
 tion to understand why a great nation claiming 
 Suzerain rights should refrain from utterly de- 
 stroying those who both secretly and openly 
 strove to possess it for themselves. Like the 
 natives, the Boers respected any obvious mani- 
 festation of strength, but regarded the abstract 
 propositions of a higher humanitarianism as strange 
 forms of weakness for which they had a feeling akin 
 to contempt. However kindly their feelings to- 
 wards the individual Britisher, they regarded the 
 latter as the representative of a nation ever un- 
 certain and greedy in peace, ever capricious and 
 inefficient in war ; a nation that under the guise 
 of philanthropy had liberated their slaves and 
 had not seen to it that the owners were com- 
 pensated ; that had sent forth commercialized 
 hordes to dog the footsteps of the hardy Boer 
 trekker, to inhabit where he had fought, to reap 
 where he had sown. Under these circumstances 
 South Africa has been the one place on this 
 planet where, owing to the persistent backing and
 
 26 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 filling of Great Britain's policy, the Britisher and 
 loyal colonist have had to hang their heads and 
 eat the bitter bread of humiliation. 
 
 Deep in Rhodes' and Jameson's hearts was the 
 desire to regain for their fellow-countrymen that 
 pride of race which elsewhere was their heritage, 
 and to demonstrate to the contemptuous Boer the 
 possibility of carrying through a high-spirited 
 policy with tenacity and success. Both were pro- 
 foundly sensible of the unnecessary humiliation 
 to which their fellow-colonists had been subjected, 
 and of a call to restore to them their place and 
 power. 
 
 In their likeness, as well as in their unlikeness, 
 the two men were complementary the one to the 
 other. Rhodes had found an intellect ; a tem- 
 perament and a capacity for disinterested service 
 that responded to his views ; and between the 
 years 1880 and 1889 the friendship had grown 
 on his side into a perfect confidence and trust, 
 while with Jameson it had become a source of quiet 
 but deep-seated enthusiasm. This friendship, born 
 of mysterious sympathy, devoid of sentiment, un- 
 expressed and inexpressible, instinct with certainty 
 and strength, was in reality a silent, unwritten part- 
 nership which was to alter the map of South Africa,
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 27 
 
 and to add a great possession to our Empire. More 
 immediately it resulted in Jameson, when oppor- 
 tunity offered, volunteering to take upon himself 
 the burden of carrying out Rhodes' plans and 
 attempting to translate his ideas into facts. 
 
 Once having set his hand to the plough, he never 
 turned back ; he served Rhodes with a loyalty 
 that was almost in excess ; a loyalty that subordi- 
 nated every personal ambition and interest, that 
 scorned danger or discomfort, that welcomed every 
 responsibility and undertaking, however forlorn ; 
 that spared no energy of brain or body, that even 
 in the blackest moment of trial neither knew nor 
 tolerated defeat. Intensely human himself, he 
 brought to his work methods akin to genius in 
 the handling of men and situations ; and eventu- 
 ally all sorts and conditions of men have come to 
 recognize the sway of his fascinating personality, 
 of his too persuasive, too persistent will. 
 
 Fame is divinely unjust to individuals. History 
 has. no place for the average successes of average 
 men, but reserves her pages for the excesses and 
 failures — for the triumphs or defeats of those Over- 
 men who compel events into larger and unexpected 
 channels, and bring about denouements that startle 
 the complacent and unexpectant world. Jameson
 
 28 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 has stamped his name upon the Empire's records, 
 not only because of his ability or excess of loyalty, 
 but also by reason of a special quality of leader- 
 ship, and by his temperamental aptitude for deli- 
 berately preferring the risk. Among the makers 
 of history in South Africa during the past twenty 
 years — Presidents, High Commissioners, states- 
 men, warriors and politicians — he stands con- 
 spicuous and apart. Not even Rhodes can dwarf 
 his individuality. In the slight, compact figure, 
 unconscious pose, inscrutable but quite ordinary 
 thoughtful expression, there is no indication of 
 desperate adventures heroically adventured, of 
 forlorn hopes triumphantly assailed, of great vic- 
 tories and catastrophic defeats impassively accepted, 
 of wealth, power and recognition unconcernedly set 
 aside, of the fiery vehemence of speech that ever 
 belied an unusual kindness in action and thought. 
 Unselfish for himself, but selfish for the fulfilment 
 of Rhodes' ideas, loyal to his friends, but utili- 
 zing them for his work, at once sympathetic and 
 ruthless, at once personal and impersonal, he has 
 always been more loved than feared, and thus has 
 attained a position that distinguishes him from 
 other men. 
 
 His career divides itself into three periods, and
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 29 
 
 the different qualities displayed in each have a 
 curious hereditary significance. During the first, 
 which lasted till he was thirty-five years old, he 
 was an eminently successful physician, interested 
 in his profession, a popular and unobtrusive citizen, 
 a mere observer of public events. Overworked 
 in London, he had, in 1878, relinquished his house 
 surgeonship of University College Hospital to 
 take up a partnership in Kimberley. 
 
 Here he quickly took the lead in his profession 
 and created for himself a very definite popularity, 
 especially amongst the cosmopolitan digger com- 
 munities, until in 1889 he volunteered to go to 
 Bulawayo on a dangerous and important mission 
 for Rhodes. 
 
 Backed up by Mr. Beit and Jameson, Rhodes had 
 held on grimly to the clause in the Diamond Mines 
 Amalgamation agreement, which enabled De Beers to 
 help to finance and to share in the development of the 
 Chartered Company's territory. This accomplished, 
 Rhodes had to recruit and arrange for a pioneer 
 expedition on a very big scale, and, above all, he 
 had to obtain from Lobengula permission to enter 
 the conceded territories. During this time he 
 and Jameson shared a small iron-roofed cottage, 
 and together at early dawn would ride through the
 
 30 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 waggon-packed market-place, redolent of cattle, 
 natives and merchandise — away into the wind- 
 swept veld, their thoughts ever northward, and 
 their talk ever of the great scheme of occupation 
 which hovered, as it were, on the brink of actuality. 
 Small wonder is it, therefore, that Jameson felt 
 irresistibly impelled to this mysterious, adventurous 
 north ; that in the grip of a glowing enthusiasm his 
 pulses beat high, his whole being surged for action 
 — and he became a brand ready for the burning. 
 
 Up to the late autumn of 1889, no serious 
 hitch had occurred, and the sky was blue, when 
 suddenly one afternoon Rhodes received a telegram 
 from his agent at Bulawayo to the effect that his 
 life had been threatened, and that he had fled to 
 Palpapye, killing two horses under him. This was 
 a serious blow to Rhodes' prestige with Lobengula, 
 and threatened the whole future of the Chartered 
 Company. From the Club he went to his house 
 opposite, and, as was his wont when troubled, 
 began walking up and down the verandah. Pre- 
 sently Jameson came along ; Rhodes handed him 
 the telegram in silence. Jameson asked one or 
 two questions, and then said, " I will go, and 
 
 take back with me." Rhodes said, " But 
 
 when can you start ? " Jameson replied, " By
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 31 
 
 the post-cart to-morrow morning at four." He 
 went. 
 
 The brilliance of Rhodes' lucky star had now 
 revealed itself. In Sir Hercules Robinson he had 
 found a statesman of ripened colonial experience, 
 who perhaps more than any other official in the 
 Empire was qualified both by temperament and 
 education to tutor his rising genius, to further 
 his political policy at the Cape, and to effectively 
 sympathize in his large ambitions in the north. 
 The calm official wisdom, the clear view, and un- 
 failing support of this imperial-minded High Com- 
 missioner had been of incalculable help in securing 
 the dominancy of Cape Colony and building the 
 foundations of his plans. In Jameson speeding 
 northwards Rhodes had placed at his service a 
 fiery energy, an intrepid pertinacity, together with 
 a subtle strength for leading the strong. A com- 
 bination of qualities rare indeed, but essential for 
 confronting a brutal barbarism, for controlling 
 scarcely controllable adventurers, and for im- 
 planting civilization on the vast and untameable 
 veld. With the support of Sir Hercules, Rhodes 
 had checked Kruger ; while with the onslaught of 
 Jameson, he was to overthrow Lobengula and his 
 sanguinary militarism. Two such psychological
 
 32 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 friendships come but seldom to the sons of men, 
 and without them Rhodes' genius might have 
 been doomed to sterility. 
 
 From this time Jameson definitely abandoned his 
 profession and entered into the second period of 
 his career, which lasted till 1896. This included 
 two risky expeditions to Lobengula ; his march into 
 Mashonaland, and occupation of the country ; 
 his exploring trip to discover a route to Beira ; 
 his journey to Gungunhama, the paramount chief 
 of Gazaland ; his capture by the Portuguese ; his 
 two years' official administratorship of the occupied 
 territories ; his civilian-military victories over the 
 Matabele ; his efforts as a revolutionist ; the Raid 
 in December, 1895 ; his trial and subsequent im- 
 prisonment in Holloway. Unfitted as he was by 
 his previous training for experience of this sort, 
 his immediate adaptation to a pioneer life may 
 possibly have been due to the Norse blood that 
 flowed in his veins. The hardships and adven- 
 tures that confronted him seemed, as it were, the 
 very breath of his nostrils. The Viking spirit that 
 lurked in his temperament was aroused, and a new 
 aspect of the man revealed itself. Instinctively 
 he became the recognized leader of those adven- 
 turous Elizabethan spirits who made themselves
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 33 
 
 masters of the vast Hinterland — who overthrew 
 the ferocious Matabele — who madly, desperately 
 hurled themselves against Kruger and his Boers. 
 He pioneered these important territories in the 
 spirit of Drake, and administered them in the spirit 
 of Clive. He stood for law and order amidst scat- 
 tered communities with inadequate machinery for 
 their control. Cut off from communication with 
 the outer world, he was, as chief magistrate, their 
 ruler and judge, with the issue of life and death in 
 his hands. He had to take upon himself the duties 
 of trained officialdom, to create a civil service, to 
 organize departments, and under exceptional diffi- 
 culties to endeavour to obtain a balance between 
 revenue and expenditure. Yet more, as Rhodes' 
 representative, and, so to say, father of the people, 
 he had to minimize difficulties, to inspire the faint- 
 hearted with energy, to encourage the renewed 
 efforts of those whose brave endeavours had been 
 defeated by sickness or circumstances ; to give sym- 
 pathetic access to everyone, and to assist the 
 worthy and unworthy alike in every possible way. 
 It is not, however, the purpose of this chapter 
 to enter further upon the incidents and adventures 
 of these years. During this period South Africa 
 was the centre of international jealousies and racial 
 
 3
 
 34 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 distrust ; and in the midst of these turbulent forces 
 Jameson was himself a leading turbulent factor. 
 His loyal, fiery spirit drove him into conflict with 
 the various personalities and situations that lay 
 in the path of Rhodes' plans, and up to the Raid 
 nothing had withstood the spell of his persuasive- 
 ness or the force of his attack. 
 
 His energy was marvellous, and the bare records 
 of his journeyings amazing. Space in South Africa 
 remorselessly consumes the time and vital energy 
 of those who seek to encompass it. The expanses 
 of the veld are heart-breaking, and a light Cape 
 cart, with six mules, can at best not exceed an 
 average of forty miles a day. Between 1889 and 
 1895 Jameson travelled hundreds of miles on foot, 
 thousands on horseback, and many thousands 
 in Cape carts. In journeyings, in hardships and 
 imprisonments, and in the romance of his ad- 
 venturous leadership he ranks with the famous 
 administrators of British and French history. 
 
 The vicissitudes of his fortune during this period 
 are extraordinary. In 1888 a physician in Kim- 
 berley ; in 189 1 the administrator of a territory 
 almost as vast as Europe. Created an induna of 
 his crack regiment by Lobengula in 1889, he was 
 in 1892 the leader of the force that destroyed that
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 35 
 
 chiefs power and army. In 1891, Colonel Ferreira, 
 a Dutch trekker, was his prisoner at Tuli ; in 
 January, 1896, Jameson was under the Colonel's 
 escort as prisoner to Pretoria. In January, 1895, 
 the principal personage and speaker at the Imperial 
 Institute, with His Royal Highness the then Prince 
 of Wales in the chair, he was in the autumn of the 
 following year condemned in our British courts for 
 an act of raiding that is almost unprecedented in 
 our annals. Without flinching he bore the whole 
 burden of his disaster and responsibility. Behind 
 a mask of inscrutable silence and dignity, he 
 received his sentence of imprisonment, entered 
 the walls of his prison, and thus ended the second 
 period of his career. 
 
 Released at the end of 1896 on account of ill- 
 health, he immediately entered a nursing home, 
 and his sickness was well-nigh unto death. Thanks, 
 however, to his constitution and to the skill and 
 care of those who tended and nursed him, he 
 gradually got better, and spent much of the time 
 between 1897 and 1899 in recuperation, in rest and 
 leisured travelling upon the Continent. On the 
 outbreak, however, of the Boer War at the end of 
 1899, he went to Ladysmith, and after the raising 
 of the siege returned to Rhodes at Cape Town. 
 

 
 36 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 The incident of the Raid had in no way affected 
 the friendship between them. Rhodes' confidence 
 had not been shaken, nor had Jameson's loyalty 
 abated. When Rhodes' house in Cape Town 
 was burnt down in 1897, the messenger told him 
 he had bad news. " What is it ? " he was asked. 
 " Groote Schuur has been burnt down," was the 
 reply. " Thank God," said Rhodes; " is that all ? 
 I was afraid you were going to tell me Jameson 
 was dead." 
 
 So far from being dead, Jameson's active mind 
 and fighting spirit had for some time previously 
 been chafing under idleness, and while staying 
 with Rhodes in 1900, after his return from Lady- 
 smith, he definitely determined to enter Cape 
 political life. Neither he nor Rhodes had been 
 turned aside from their Imperial purposes by the 
 fire of criticism and disapproval through which 
 they had passed after the Raid ; but the conditions 
 had changed, and the nature of their work was 
 different. Their task of expansion and consolida- 
 tion was accomplished. Rhodesia was an integral 
 part of the Empire under Imperial supervision, 
 while Kruger and his Boers had risked and 
 lost everything in a hand-to-hand struggle with 
 the suzerain power. At the Cape the Bond
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 37 
 
 party were active in organization, well off for 
 funds, and practically controlling the political 
 situation. But the almost certain creation of 
 the two Republics of the Orange Free State and 
 Transvaal into colonies after the War gave fresh 
 stimulus to Rhodes' scheme for federation ; and 
 he set to work to organize the British or Progressive 
 party at the Cape, in order that the eldest colony 
 might be able to take a lead in the matter. This 
 was the meaning of his utterance in 1901, ■' that 
 his political life was only just beginning." 
 
 Despite the strong feeling against him on account 
 of the Raid, Jameson resolved to share in this work, 
 and was returned as a member for Kimberley in 
 1900. With unswerving patience he bore the 
 bitter and unceasing vituperation of his enemies 
 and the cold, half-averted glances of his friends ; 
 and for several sessions neither spoke nor took an 
 active part in public business. Gradually, however, 
 by the exercise of control and tact he lived down 
 the sharp edge of suspicion, and made his influence 
 felt. Eventually, after the death of Rhodes, and 
 after much hesitation on the part of many, he 
 was elected leader of the Progressive party. 
 
 With all his old fighting thoroughness he cham- 
 pioned his party to the polls at the general election
 
 38 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 of 1904, and achieved the almost impossible by 
 securing a victory over the Bond, and became 
 Premier of Cape Colony. After years of con- 
 tumely and abuse, power was once again in his 
 hands, and friend and foe were alike expectant as 
 to the manner in which he would exercise it. But 
 great as he had been in his pioneer days, he had 
 in the dark hours of disaster learnt to temper his 
 fiery zeal with the more statesmanlike quality of 
 patient waiting upon opportunity, and he more than 
 justified the confidence that had been placed in him. 
 Confronting the Dutch with firmness, he lost no 
 opportunity of showing them a consideration and 
 tact that has won from them both respect and 
 regard. Under his leadership racial feeling through- 
 out the Colony lost much of its bitterness, and the 
 relations between the two parties in the House 
 were less strained and more companionable than 
 for many years past. His main object was in 
 every way possible to develop the resources of the 
 Colony in " the best interests of both races " ; and 
 despite the fact that his term of office was one of 
 unexampled financial stress and retrenchment, the 
 country was enabled to slowly replenish its stock, 
 to irrigate its soil, and thus recover from the effects 
 of the War.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 39 
 
 Such is the man — first in peace, first in war — 
 and esteemed in the hearts of all who know him, 
 who for the last four years exercised his power as 
 Prime Minister at the Cape in the interests alike 
 of the Briton and of the Boer, and for the further- 
 ance of a true South African national policy ; and 
 who to-day as leader of the Opposition still pursues 
 the same purposes. 
 
 As we become more beset by commercial aims 
 and sordid desires, it seems a pity to pass by un- 
 heeded one so knightly in spirit and in deed, whose 
 rare disinterestedness and personality illumine the 
 prevailing drabness of our average world. 
 
 In the following chapters we propose to fill in, 
 as it were, the features of this rough portrait, 
 to build up the man from his family history and 
 boyhood's days, and to recount at more length the 
 incidents of his life and adventures.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 
 
 " Our conscious years are but a moment in the history of the elements that 
 build us." 
 
 There is perhaps nothing more difficult to explain 
 than differences of character in mankind — why 
 some attain to power, whilst the many exist only 
 to pass out of existence. For practical purposes 
 the terms character, temperament and individuality 
 are one and the same, and are used to express the 
 control over circumstances exercised by an in- 
 dividual's brain and will power. The finer the 
 brain, the stronger the will, and the more per- 
 fectly the two are co-ordinate, the greater is 
 the character or individuality of the individual, 
 and the wider the area of circumstances over 
 which he operates. These qualities are, more- 
 over, hereditary, and heredity to-day has a 
 two-fold significance. It is applied, of course, to 
 the observed characteristics, physical and mental, 
 
 of known ancestors ; but it also includes those 
 
 40
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 41 
 
 infinitely more subtle factors of family, race, and 
 environment which essentially contribute in the 
 manufacture of a new individual. Such an one 
 is the heir of all human achievements in 
 the past, and represents a fresh combination of 
 inherited memories. He is, in fact, a new form 
 of brain and will power, confronting an environ- 
 ment slightly different to any that has preceded 
 it. The character of a man cannot, therefore, 
 be moulded by his circumstances, but must in- 
 evitably create for itself those that are necessary 
 to its manifestation. The adage that " adventures 
 are to the adventurous " is true because the timid 
 have no quality within themselves wherewith to 
 create the necessary adventurous surroundings. 
 It is obvious that if the term heredity be 
 confined to the few observed traits of im- 
 mediate ancestry it cannot explain either the 
 success or the failure of men. The more unusual 
 a man's character or individuality, the more 
 necessary it is to remember that, behind what is 
 known of his forefathers, there lies a wide field 
 of untraceable hereditary influences that must 
 inevitably find expression through his achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 In common with a host of distinguished men,
 
 42 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 the blood of mixed nationalities flows in Jameson's 
 veins. Such mixtures often produce unexpected 
 effects, and much that is unexpected in him can 
 be traced to his intermingled Danish and Scotch 
 ancestry. His ancestors were Norse people, living 
 in the Shetland Isles, from whence his great- 
 grandfather departed as a young man to seek his 
 fortune in Leith. Here he found employment in a 
 flourishing business, rose high in the estimation 
 of his employer, married his daughter, and eventu- 
 ally became senior partner and sole proprietor 
 of his father-in-law's business. His eldest son suc- 
 ceeded him, and married the daughter of a Danish 
 merchant in London. 
 
 Jameson's father was the only son of this 
 marriage. Of a literary, restless temperament, 
 and a Writer to the Signet by profession, he 
 devoted his energy and time to journalistic 
 enterprises. His most abiding literary work was 
 a dramatic poem called " Nimrod," which contains 
 many passages of brilliance and power. A member 
 of the Free Church of Scotland after the dis- 
 ruption in 1843, he was not averse to free-thinking 
 debates, and revelled in all kinds of intellectual 
 discussion. In politics he was a Liberal, with 
 a natural gift for public speaking, a fervent
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 43 
 
 sympathizer with minor nationalities, a friend of 
 Daniel O'Connell, and an enthusiastic admirer of 
 Cobden. 
 
 In 1835 he married the daughter of a Major- 
 General Pringle, of Symington, Midlothian, a well- 
 known Scotch family. The issue of this marriage 
 were ten sons, of whom Dr. Jim was the youngest, 
 and one daughter. Mrs. Jameson appears to have 
 been a religious-minded woman of a singularly 
 unselfish nature. Possibly her vitality was in- 
 herited, for her eldest sister, whom the writer 
 had the privilege of meeting when she was eighty- 
 nine, was the most vigorous old lady he has ever 
 seen. At that age her cheeks blossomed like roses, 
 her hearing was perfect, and her movements were 
 as active as those of a young woman of twenty. 
 Her nephew, Dr. Jameson, singularly resembled her 
 in appearance ; the same hawk-like eyes, the same 
 compact figure, erect even when the writer met her, 
 the same quick step and rapid mental perceptions ; 
 and, if the stories of her were true, she possessed 
 the same fearless, quixotic temperament. She had, 
 in early years, been a close friend of Walter Scott, 
 and her reminiscences of him as a man were most 
 vivid and forcible. 
 
 Dr. Jim was born at No. 5, North Charlotte
 
 44 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Street, Edinburgh, on the 9th February, 1853. 
 Five months later in the same year, Cecil Rhodes 
 came into the world in a small house on the out- 
 skirts of a market town in Essex. Twenty-eight 
 years later the two met, and within another ten 
 years, both, driven by destiny, had entered into 
 an informal but epoch-making partnership. 
 
 The baptism of their tenth son presented some 
 difficulty to Jameson's parents, who by this time 
 had exhausted the list of ordinary names, and were 
 at their wits' end to know what to call him. An 
 inspiration, however, seized his father to name 
 him after a great American friend, a Mr. Leander 
 Starr, with whom he kept up a constant corre- 
 spondence. Accordingly our hero was launched 
 into the world as Leander Starr Jameson, a 
 somewhat unusual prefix — which fortunately has 
 not handicapped him, but which was singularly 
 inapplicable to his unpretentious disposition. 
 
 There are theorists who maintain that the 
 aggressive qualities of parents are more likely 
 to predominate in the elder than in the younger 
 offspring, who, consequently, are more prone to dis- 
 play the quietest tendencies of their ancestry. 
 Certainly in Jameson's elder brother, familiarly 
 known throughout South Africa as " Bob," the
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 45 
 
 nomadic instincts of his Danish blood were strongly 
 to the fore. A wanderer in many lands, of great 
 physical strength and endurance, virile in speech 
 and understanding, overmastering all and whoso- 
 ever he might meet, he was a king of adventurers 
 and pioneers, who could always hold his own under 
 the most diverse circumstances. 
 
 Although the youngest of ten sons, Jameson's con- 
 stitution and physique were good, and offered no 
 hindrance to the splendid mental and moral heritage 
 he had received. From his great-grandfather and 
 his Danish grandmother came the primitive Norse 
 impulses for daring and leadership. From his- 
 Scotch grandmother and from his mother he would 
 inherit the earnestness of purpose, the power of 
 application, the keen, practical shrewdness of their 
 race, and with those qualities also a capacity for 
 deep sentiment and passionate loyalty, a loyalty 
 that in his case evinced itself, not for soil or locality, 
 but for a man and his ideas. Moreover, his great- 
 uncle on his father's side was a distinguished man 
 of science and letters, who, in 18 16, was Professor 
 of Natural History in Edinburgh University, a 
 Member of the Institute of France, the author of a 
 book on mineralogy, and discoverer of an alloy 
 called Jamesonite. From him his great-nephew
 
 46 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 would collaterally receive a bias in the direction 
 of science and literature. 
 
 In physical appearance Jameson is, in a way, 
 remarkable. Of moderate height, about five feet 
 eight, slim, erect, and compact in figure, with the 
 quick, short step of an artist. Dark-brown hair and 
 moustache, ruddy complexion, keen eyes that seem 
 to see less than they do, firm jaw, firm chin and 
 short nose. Tense in body, he is equally tense 
 and steel-like in mind. But he is not always 
 a strung bow ; austerity is far from him. His 
 natural inclination is for good-humoured laughter 
 and fellowship, and he is at all times a most 
 cheery and convivial companion, whose sense of 
 humour is irrepressible. But these eminently de- 
 sirable virtues he has ever subordinated to a sense 
 of the great responsibilities he has deliberately 
 undertaken. His appearance and manner are un- 
 intentionally deceptive. He is always more wide- 
 awake than he appears, and grasps more in a 
 second than many can puzzle out for themselves 
 in the course of hours or days. There is about him 
 an atmosphere of fresh-coloured simplicity very 
 like the chubby guilelessness of Jowett. Widely 
 different as was the field of their operation, both 
 had in common a searching insight below the
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 47 
 
 surface of things — both were intuitively cynical, and 
 yet in neither case was their cynicism malignant. 
 Very few men or women are sufficiently foolish to 
 waste their time in trying to take in Jameson ; 
 while the failure of those who attempted to do so 
 with Jowett is historical. Like the latter, Jameson 
 has a peculiar power of retiring into himself. 
 His very physical appearance seems to shrink 
 as he sits motionless and contemplative ; but, 
 like Jowett, he is ever ready to seize falcon-like 
 upon occasion, and to inflexibly convert it to his 
 purpose. 
 
 Jameson's father was somewhat nomadic, and 
 consequently Dr. Jim's boyhood associations were 
 as much English as Scotch. His father left Edin- 
 burgh to edit a paper at Stranraer when Dr. 
 Jim was but two years old, and the grim, square 
 granite masonry of Scotch streets, the bleak hills 
 and grey exposed aspect of Scotch landscape, 
 formed the scenic background of the first eight 
 years of his life. From Stranraer the family 
 migrated to Sudbury, in Suffolk, and finally, after 
 various journalistic experiences, settled, in 1865, 
 in London. From an early age, therefore, Dr. 
 Jim's youthful memories are connected partly 
 with the soft warmth and colouring of an
 
 43 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 English market town, and its background of 
 carefully-tilled countryside, its woody knolls and 
 hazelled lanes ; and partly with the prosaic sur- 
 roundings of a London suburb. 
 
 Under these circumstances his school education 
 was of a somewhat haphazard and varied kind. 
 At the age of eleven he went to the Grammar 
 School at Sudbury for about a year and a half, 
 then for a short time to the London Collegiate 
 School, and after 1865 to Godolphin School in 
 Hammersmith. Here he remained till he was 
 nearly nineteen, when he entered University College 
 Hospital as a student. 
 
 From a purely conventional point of view a 
 scrappy education of this kind may seem wholly 
 inadequate, but it must be remembered that to 
 a very younger son his home possesses some- 
 thing of the disciplinary atmosphere of a school. 
 He is not unduly fussed or petted, nor is he the 
 subject of experiments in authority ; but receives 
 from the ripened experience of his parents just 
 that necessary amount of interest and attention 
 that their somewhat divided sympathy can give. 
 Moreover, to sit daily at the table of a journalist 
 father of wide and varied information, who was 
 ever willing to discuss his ideals, is in itself a fine
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 49 
 
 training in the art of thinking and expression. 
 From his mother he would receive that orthodox 
 Scotch religious instruction, whose metaphysical 
 propositions are, in themselves, a course of reason- 
 ing and logic. From her also he would gain an 
 insight into the romance of Scotch history and 
 legend. Moreover, occasional letters from his ad- 
 venturous brothers abroad would stimulate imagina- 
 tion and quicken that capacity for adventure which 
 was for so many years to lie latent and unexpressed 
 in his many-sided temperament. Nor were his 
 brothers — high-spirited, intelligent, red-blooded and, 
 perchance, rather rough young fellows — without 
 their value. They brought actuality and brute 
 incident into a domestic atmosphere dominated on 
 the mother's side by religious faiths and unselfish 
 devotion, and on the part of the father by a high 
 and somewhat doctrinaire intellectuality. 
 
 Under these influences Dr. Jim grew up a 
 practical, sensible, manly young fellow, thought- 
 ful and well-balanced. Like most Scotch boys, 
 he was old for his age, with deep Scotch sources 
 of feeling and purpose. His school career, although 
 uneventful, was quite a success. Good at games, 
 he also distinguished himself at his work, and 
 carried off many prizes. Immersed for the moment 
 
 4
 
 50 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 in the matter in hand, he was not apparently over 
 keen in either work or play. Always ready to take 
 part in any sport that was going, with his light, 
 well-knit figure he was an excellent runner, es- 
 pecially at long distances. Often he and his 
 brothers would run late at night on the Cromwell 
 Road — with market gardens on either side instead 
 of houses ; and in the mile matches he, though 
 youngest, was generally victorious. 
 
 No traces, however, are to be found in his boyish 
 or school days of the impetuous energy that 
 characterized his later years. Possibly he may 
 have been dwarfed by his brothers, or possibly he 
 was one of those who as boys develop slowly. 
 Both his home and school experiences seem to have 
 been quite ordinary and devoid of characteristic 
 incident, nor does he appear to have given any 
 sign of that capacity for leadership or persuasive 
 power that illumines his life's work. In fact, he 
 passed through his school career with singular 
 unobtrusiveness. Free from any trace of intro- 
 spection or self-consciousness, he took the facts of 
 life simply and with great naturalness. While yet 
 a boy, he realized that his prospects in the future 
 depended on his own efforts, and from the moment 
 he left school he never played a single game. The
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 51 
 
 only recreation he afterwards allowed himself was 
 to join a London Volunteer corps, and for some 
 time he was under the command of Sir Frederick 
 Leighton. Fortunately, he did not waste any 
 valuable impressionable years in the semi-scenic 
 academic world of Oxford or Cambridge, but went 
 straight, at the age of nineteen, to University 
 College Hospital. He thus escaped having to adapt 
 his growing individuality to the observance of those 
 microscopic tyrannies of good form and public 
 school conventions which dominate the social 
 atmosphere of these historic universities. If the 
 life at the University College was more prosaic, 
 it was, at all events, more practical and square 
 with actual issues ; it gave him less to unlearn, 
 and in every way more fitly prepared him for his 
 future colonial experiences than Oxford or Cam- 
 bridge could have done. 
 
 Just at the close of his school career, in 1871, 
 he made a trip to Paris with one of his brothers. 
 The Germans were then at St. Denis, and the Com- 
 mune had not yet been proclaimed. It was the 
 interesting intermediate period in which the city 
 began to recover from the shock of the siege ; 
 when men's minds were overflowing with interesting 
 details — for whose recital the recent bullet marks 
 
 4*
 
 52 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and wrecked hotels always formed an appropriate 
 text. Returning, he entered University College 
 Hospital in 1872. He had no natural liking for the 
 work, which was, in fact, at first quite distasteful 
 to him. The quality of pity is rare to youth, but 
 even as a boy it had been keenly alive in him. 
 So sensitive indeed was he to the sight of pain, 
 that after witnessing his first operation he was 
 completely prostrate. For hours he lay utterly 
 unnerved, unable to eat or even speak to anyone. 
 However, in a spirit of practical determination, he 
 overcame this sensitiveness, and devoted himself 
 heart and soul to learning his profession. Doggedly 
 painstaking, at the end of three years he closed his 
 studentship with distinction. He won the gold 
 medal for medical jurisprudence, and silver medals 
 in surgery, medicine, pathology and anatomy. 
 He also gained the following qualifications : — M.B. 
 and B.S. London University, M.R.C.S. England, 
 L.S.A. London. 
 
 His first professional experience was to go to 
 America in charge of an Englishman who was a 
 confirmed opium-eater. He completely cured his 
 patient, and seems to have had a pleasant enough 
 trip, and his reminiscences of the various cities he 
 visited are perhaps more Bohemian than historical.
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 53 
 
 On his return to London he took up work at 
 University Hospital. Here he rapidly rose to fame 
 as a brilliant operator, and in 1876, at the age 
 of twenty-three, was appointed resident medical 
 officer. By this time he had become an enthusiast 
 in his profession, and spared neither himself, his 
 time, nor his health. The star of his fortune had 
 arisen. He was the youngest of young house 
 surgeons, and his youth, conspicuous ability, his 
 brilliance and keenness in his work, and his non- 
 professional personal sympathy with his patients 
 made him a universal favourite. The professors 
 and his fellow-surgeons regarded him with a 
 favourable eye, and he enjoyed the warm personal 
 friendship of such prominent men as Jenner, 
 Erichson, Christopher Heath and Russell-Reynolds, 
 who were then the representative men in the pro- 
 fession. His chief Gamaliel, however, was a 
 Professor Grant, a man of advanced age, who had 
 been a pupil of his great-uncle, the Professor of 
 Natural History at Edinburgh. He seems to have 
 been a man of mark, and, for those times, an ad- 
 vanced thinker. In this atmosphere of busy work 
 and intellectual friendships Jameson ripened into 
 the fullest powers of manhood. With his natural 
 fine ethical character, and his clear, practical
 
 54 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 reasoning, he early divorced himself from any 
 theological or metaphysical leanings, and devoted 
 his energy to the scientific study of his profession, 
 and of the actual processes of human life. 
 
 In a sense he was too zealous and keen, and, 
 before two years were out, he had strained his 
 vitality almost to breaking-point j he was worked 
 out, and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 
 About this time, in May, 1878, a Dr. Prince, from 
 Kimberley, desired a partner, and wrote to the 
 authorities at University College, leaving the selec- 
 tion to them. Reluctant as they were to lose 
 Jameson, they offered him the post. He accepted 
 it as a rest and change, with the full intention, after 
 a few years of absence, to return with sufficient 
 money to go through a course at Vienna, and 
 finally set up for himself in London as a specialist. 
 With his departure for South Africa the first stage 
 of his career may be said to have closed. 
 
 In the flush of his success and enthusiasm for 
 his profession he had developed those scientific 
 and intellectual tendencies which were more directly 
 traceable to his Scotch ancestry. But he had 
 already given indications of the force and im- 
 pulse within him to sway the hearts and wills of 
 men, of a personality and a temperament greater
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF JAMESON. 55 
 
 than mere professional skill or ability. His cha- 
 racter, having expressed itself through success in 
 a London hospital, had created wider possibilities 
 in the Diamond City of South Africa, as an area 
 wherein to manifest its further destiny and action.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 KIMBERLEY. 
 
 "Great men take themselves, and the world, too seriously to become what 
 are called merely intellectual." 
 
 The incidents of Jameson's eleven years in Kim- 
 berley are not in themselves very exciting. The 
 real interest of this period lies in his behaviour 
 under the special circumstances of his new sur- 
 roundings. To go straight from the routine of a 
 London hospital to the rough makeshifts of a 
 diggers' town ; to leap suddenly to prominence in a 
 cosmopolitan adventurer population of some sixty 
 thousand souls ; to find himself in a country whose 
 history was being made with violence and bitter- 
 ness ; and above all, to come under the direct 
 influence of such a personality as Rhodes, was 
 no usual experience for a mere house surgeon 
 some twenty-five years of age. Any little drawing- 
 room weakness, or the mere suspicion of personal 
 conceit, might easily have lost him the position he 
 
 so quickly won for himself. But meanness or 
 
 56
 
 KIMBERLEY. 57 
 
 pettiness in any form was foreign to his nature. 
 His danger lay rather in a recklessness of over- 
 strength, in an over-earnestness in the work in 
 hand, which left no room for introspection or self- 
 consciousness, and which clever banter could but 
 scarce conceal. Kimberley was a hard school, 
 wherein the weaker went to the wall. The 
 soft in brain or moral fibre succumbed to ex- 
 cess in drink and gambling ; whilst camp-fever, 
 dysentery, typhoid mowed down the feebler con- 
 stitutions. 
 
 In the opening chapter we explained at some 
 length the part played by Rhodes, and by the 
 march of historic events between 1878 and 1889, 
 in educating Jameson's political ideas and ambi- 
 tions. In the present we propose to consider the 
 relation of his character to the local conditions 
 of one of the most remarkable mining camps the 
 world has known. 
 
 The discovery by a few diamond-seekers of the 
 diamondiferous pipes or funnels near Kimberley 
 changed the history of South Africa. But the 
 prizes that fall to the individual prospector are few 
 and far between. Staking his life against the fiercest 
 obstacles of nature, he too often suffers a lonely and 
 unrecorded death ; or gambling against unknow-
 
 58 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 able geological or chemical factors is overmastered 
 by starvation and want. There is, however, 
 probably no finer excitement than when, by a 
 turn of the spade or stroke of the pick, the lucky 
 digger becomes possessed of virgin treasures of gold 
 or diamonds. In a moment he passes from long- 
 deferred hope to an assured certainty. In one 
 and the same breath he becomes an overlord of 
 primitiveness, and the controller of wealth and 
 luxury in the civilization of the world. For possi- 
 bilities such as these thousands of adventurers from 
 all parts of the world flocked in the early seventies 
 to the diamond diggings on the Vaal River, and 
 converted the lonely spaces of its veld into centres 
 of frenzied energy and activity. More by good 
 luck than by foresight, these early pioneers worked 
 their way from the difficult alluvial workings on 
 the banks of the river to the dry diggings twenty- 
 five miles distant. Here were the pipes or funnels 
 through which had been cast up the diamonds that 
 had been manufactured in the bowels of the earth ; 
 and here for a few years was a rich harvest for the 
 individual digger. It was a chance discovery, in 
 1871, of a stone in a well about a mile from De 
 Beers camp that located the rich pipe round which 
 the town of Kimberley was eventually established.
 
 KIMBERLEY. 59 
 
 An eye-witness has published some quaint 
 glimpses of these pre- Jameson days. 
 
 " De Beers," he writes, " is rather an aristocratic 
 camp ; many gentlemen blessed with wives and 
 families have encamped here, and made themselves 
 comparatively comfortable, and the English ele- 
 ment predominates pleasingly over the Dutch or 
 Boer. Well-dressed gentlemen and well-dressed 
 ladies, too, may be seen cantering over the veld 
 on well-groomed horses ; the tents are more like 
 marquees. 
 
 "As to the appearance of the kopje at New 
 Rush (Kimberley), during working hours no words 
 of mine can give an adequate idea of the immense 
 activity displayed. Most of the claims have been 
 divided into halves and quarters ; and every digger, 
 being anxious to get through the ground as quickly 
 as possible, puts up as many Kaffirs as he can get 
 hold of, so that such a number of men, white and 
 black, are congregated in this little space — all 
 working with ceaseless energy — that the place is 
 like a magnified ant-hill with a combination of 
 bee-hive. 
 
 " The curious visitor to the Colesberg kopje 
 will be frequently startled by a loud and gathering 
 ' Hurrah ! ' or confused shout. He will see many
 
 60 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 diggers running from their claims to a certain spot, 
 on reaching which, he will probably find that a 
 large diamond has just been ' turned up ' ; but 
 even more frequently it will be a cart with a couple 
 of mules or oxen which has tumbled into some 
 claim. I saw a cart with two oxen topple over 
 into a claim forty feet deep ; a nigger was working 
 at the bottom, and he yelled out lustily, but, 
 fortunately for him, escaped." 
 
 Of doctors he writes : " The medical man on 
 the Fields need not confine himself to the exercise 
 of his profession. If he sorts on his claim, his 
 tent should be pitched not very far from the latter, 
 and he can have a particular flag flying on his 
 claim with a notice to patients as follows : ' Apply 
 at claim No. 10, marked by a red flag.' " 
 
 The writer has no admiration for the methods 
 of the Boer diggers, whom he describes as " mean 
 cusses," and goes on to say : " See him dig — 
 well, you can hardly call it digging ; the brutal 
 old patriarch will sit at the sorting table 
 all day with his pipe — perhaps allowing the 
 vrouw to do likewise — while half-naked Kaffir 
 boys (aye, and young girls, too), and his own 
 children, from the long, pasty-faced, half-idiotic 
 lout of twenty, down to the little four-year-old
 
 KIMBERLEY. 61 
 
 who can scarcely toddle, are all toiling hard under 
 the broiling sun, picking, shovelling, hauling, break- 
 ing, and sifting. One old couple I have often 
 seen sitting solemnly at the table ; long after all 
 the English diggers had knocked off work for the 
 day, while a young Kaffir girl, of most graceful 
 figure, and a still younger Dutch girl, were toiling 
 hard at a big sieve, evidently thoroughly tired out. 
 Another, working quite near my claim, used to 
 rouse my indignation, and that of many other 
 Englishmen, too, by the amount of labour he got 
 out of a most active little girl of about ten, and 
 a poor little toddler of five, hardly able to lift the 
 tools they worked with." 
 
 Kimberley was seven years old when Jameson 
 arrived in 1878. Its irregular grouping of tents 
 and canvas had disappeared, and much of its 
 camp picturesqueness had given way to the more 
 precise appearance of a permanent town. Brick 
 and corrugated-iron buildings, churches, proper 
 hotels, theatres, and even machinery, were in 
 evidence. Regular streets had been laid out, 
 and Carnarvon Hospital stood out conspicuously. 
 This was capable of holding some two hundred and 
 fifty European patients, besides having a large 
 native ward. It was supported partly by a grant
 
 62 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 from the Government, and partly by public contri- 
 butions, and was administered by a Board, who 
 also attempted to deal with the sanitation of the 
 town and an inadequate and wretched water supply. 
 A Lieutenant-Governor was in residence, and law 
 and order were maintained by efficient police. 
 The Illicit Diamond Act was in force, and the 
 rough-handed justice of mob or Lynch law had 
 disappeared. No longer could a man suspected of 
 buying diamonds from the natives have his tent 
 burnt to the ground, and afterwards, when found 
 to be innocent, be made richer than before by 
 the contributions of those who had misjudged him. 
 
 At first, there were thousands of diggers working 
 their claims on the open workings of the Kimberley, 
 De Beers and Du Toitspan mines. Their total 
 finds aggregated to very large sums, and as much 
 as £40,000 or £50,000 would be won in a week. 
 
 Owing, however, to the increasing depth of the 
 claims, and to the difficulties arising from the 
 falling reef, the efforts of the individual digger were 
 very gradually replaced by the more organized 
 operations of syndicates and companies. The law 
 limiting each man to two claims became impractic- 
 able under the conditions of deep mining, and 
 the process of buying out individual owners was
 
 KIMBERLEV. 63 
 
 carried out so systematically that by 1885 there 
 were eleven companies and only eight private 
 holders in Kimberley mine ; seven companies 
 and three private holders in De Beers ; twenty 
 companies and twenty-one private holders in 
 Du Toitspan ; eight companies and twenty-four 
 holders in Bulfontein. 
 
 Then came the period of greater consolidation, 
 and the desperate opposition of Barnato and his 
 group to Rhodes' and Beit's scheme for amalgamat- 
 ing all these companies into the present De Beers 
 Consolidated Mines. These changes of ownership 
 had so altered the numbers and nature of the 
 population, that whereas in 1875 it was a sort 
 of diggers' paradise, where luck and individual 
 energy could make money in lumps, in 1890 there 
 was scarcely a digger left. In fact, so industrialized 
 has diamond mining become, that the Kimberley 
 of to-day is almost a Sleepy Hollow, where 
 speculation is dead and the majority of the 
 population are employes of the Company. 
 
 In Jameson's early days, however, the digger 
 element prevailed, for even those who had 
 sold their claims remained to gamble in 
 the shares of the endless companies and syndi- 
 cates that were daily created. They were a
 
 64 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 motley crowd of every nationality and pro- 
 fession — ex-soldiers, ex-sailors, sundowners from 
 Australia, ranchers from Mexico, lumbermen 
 from Canada, ex-clergymen, mathematical pro- 
 fessors, clerks, farmers, and Boers. Despite a 
 free sprinkling of cranks, wastrels and scoundrels, 
 most of them were of the hardy adventurer type, 
 rough but honest-intentioned diggers, bent on 
 securing at one coup the fortune that had hitherto 
 so successfully eluded them. Dogging their foot- 
 steps were an army of hawkers and diamond- 
 buyers — razor-witted fellows, scenting bargains from 
 afar. Then came the promoters and managers 
 of syndicates — a class of themselves, some repre- 
 senting foreign money, and most of them men 
 of education and character. They, together with 
 the merchants and professional men, the Boers 
 and produce dealers, formed the more permanent 
 element in this shifting population of some eighty 
 thousand Europeans. Intermingled with this cosmo- 
 politan white community was an ever -increasing 
 supply of black and coloured labour, Indian coolies, 
 Malays, Cape boys, Zulus, Basutos, and Kaffirs 
 from every part of the sub-continent. Such a 
 population, living under insanitary conditions, 
 in perpetual dust, drinking bad water, working
 
 KIMBERLEY. 65 
 
 their claims primitively and taking desperate mining 
 risks, had naturally attracted many doctors. 
 
 There were at least eight recognized practitioners 
 in the camp before Jameson arrived, but fortune 
 favoured him at the outset. A prominent merchant 
 was suffering from an internal disease for which none 
 of the other professional men had dared to operate. 
 He, however, at once decided to do so, and within 
 three days of his arrival had improvised the 
 necessary instruments and operated with complete 
 success. He thus at once established himself as 
 the leading surgeon, and within a few months had 
 created a reputation and demand for his services 
 that almost overwhelmed him with work. Living 
 with his partner, Dr. Prince, in a small corrugated- 
 iron house in the centre of the town, his hospital 
 duties absorbed much of his time. It was only by 
 unsparing use of horseflesh that he could fulfil all 
 the varied experiences that awaited him in the 
 tents of the diggers or the homes of the merchants 
 and their families. 
 
 Needless to say, the hospital was ever full to 
 overflowing, not only with desperate cases of fever, 
 aggravated by hard living, but also with surgical 
 cases of every sort and kind. The head of 
 the nursing staff was Sister Henrietta, a tall, 
 
 5
 
 66 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 dark woman, arrestive in appearance and master- 
 ful in temperament. Unsparing of her own energy, 
 she demanded the same devotion from her nurses, 
 and was, perhaps, too precise a disciplinarian to be 
 entirely popular. To her punctilious mind, the light- 
 hearted brusquerie, the dashing, non-serious serious- 
 ness of Jameson were decidedly disconcerting. To 
 overhear him gravely advising a patient not to leave 
 on Sunday " because the only places open will be 
 the public-houses and the churches, and neither 
 will do you any good," was admittedly a shock to 
 her formalist ideas. But she soon recognized that 
 such utterances concealed a conscientious zeal for 
 work that was not less earnest than her own. More 
 than once, when her nurses had broken down, 
 did Jameson sit up night after night in order to 
 relieve them of their duties, and even to act as 
 nurse himself ; and however alien to her precise- 
 ness was the unexpected spontaneity of his 
 methods, he commanded her loyalty and respect. 
 
 Similarly, other women, the wives of merchants 
 and others, who had at first resented his un- 
 deferential frankness, and who had disliked being 
 told that they were describing ailments that could 
 not possibly exist, eventually came to hang upon 
 his slightest word of advice. Without doubt,
 
 KIMBERLEY. 67 
 
 doctors generally deserve more gratitude than they 
 get, but Jameson's ordinary treatment of ordinary 
 ailments seems in many cases to have left an 
 exaggerated impression of indebtedness upon the 
 minds of his patients. Not only in South Africa, 
 but elsewhere, are to be found those whose sense 
 of his skill is wholly out of proportion to anything 
 he has professionally done for them. Three days 
 after the Raid the writer was buying fruit from 
 a stall in Pretoria, and selected a particular bunch 
 of grapes. " No, sir," the woman replied, " you 
 can't have that ; I am keeping the best I have for 
 Dr. Jim " ; and she went on to explain that he 
 had cured her daughter in Kimberley, and that no 
 sacrifice was too great for his sake. Mr. Garrett 
 tells a similar story of a groom who asked him for 
 news. " I said, ' You seem interested in Dr. 
 Jim.' ' Interested ! ' said he. ' Whatever " quod " 
 he gets, I'd gladly do half of it for him — that I 
 would.' This groom had once broken his leg 
 in a race at Kimberley, and the Doctor had attended 
 him in the hospital. That was all." 
 
 Although treating his body servants in an 
 apparently off-hand, indifferent fashion, he in- 
 variably aroused in them the same unaccountable 
 zeal and enthusiasm to render service. Despite 
 
 5*
 
 68 DR. JAMESON 
 
 the well-worn valet adage, he was always their 
 hero, and a master whose slightest needs they 
 delighted to anticipate. It was, however, no joke 
 or sinecure to be his servant, especially in his 
 pioneer and adventure days. The coloured man 
 who served him from the start in Kimberley went 
 with him to Bulawayo and afterwards into 
 Mashonaland, where he died from fever in 1892. 
 His was a dog-like devotion, and he always con- 
 trived, on long treks or pioneer expeditions, to 
 discover some unexpected fresh food or dainty 
 to set before his master. The very first words that 
 Jameson said to his white successor were : " What 
 is your name ? " And on being told he at 
 once replied : " What a silly name you have." 
 But never was the relationship between master 
 and man happier and more staunch than in this 
 case. Through the stormiest of his stormy periods, 
 through the Matabele campaign, the Raid, the 
 journeys on the Continent and till his health 
 eventually broke down, this servant was loyalty 
 itself. 
 
 But it was the digger population who were the 
 first to proclaim Jameson's individuality and to 
 christen him for all time " Doctor Jim." The pecu- 
 liar conditions of a prospector's life, especially a few
 
 KIMBERLEY. 69 
 
 years ago — his long periods of solitary physical 
 labour in the midst of great spaces and silence; 
 his aloofness from the petty talkativeness, from 
 the routined alertness of gregarious minds — all 
 tended to make him rely largely upon his intuitions. 
 Instinctively, these elemental men recognized the 
 " make-it-or-lose-it " element in Jameson — his im- 
 possible courage, his utter reliability as a man. 
 They were no less certain of his latent qualities of 
 leadership than he was himself. Hence, probably, 
 arose his characteristic buoyancy, his daring chal- 
 lenge of speech, which sometimes caused women to 
 gasp, and men to wonder that such things could be 
 said and friendship remain. 
 
 In 1878 Rhodes was living with eleven others 
 in a house away from the diggers' quarters, in the 
 fashionable end of the town. They were known 
 as the " Twelve Apostles," and Jameson soon 
 became a frequent guest at their evening gather- 
 ings. A non-business man amongst those whose 
 main purpose was money-making, he was at first 
 more a listener than a talker. Although really a 
 brilliant conversationalist, he had none of that 
 loud-voiced assertiveness which in some communi- 
 ties is too often mistaken for real force of character. 
 It was only later, in his fight over the small-pox
 
 70 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 question, that the cold steel of his temperament 
 made itself felt. 
 
 With the increase of cosmopolitan syndicates 
 and companies the Germans and the French each 
 started a separate mess of their own, and Rhodes 
 took a house opposite the Club, that had just been 
 built. This he shared with his friend Pickering, 
 and after the latter's death, with Jameson. 
 
 At this time Kimberley was the metropolis of 
 South Africa, the centre of speculative activity, 
 and also the port of arrival and departure for all 
 those bound northwards. 
 
 Its Club was for years the rendezvous of the 
 most interesting men in the sub-continent. To 
 and fro from its verandahed portals flowed a con- 
 stant stream of explorers, hunters, missionaries, 
 politicians, budding financiers, and eminent pro- 
 fessional men — adventurers all. It was a para- 
 dise of daring spirits in travel and in speculation. 
 Amongst them there was a freemasonry and an 
 old-world sense of comradeship-in-arms whose 
 charm has departed for ever. Such men as Grant, 
 Selous, Merriman and Beit have become known to 
 history ; but there were hosts of others, some of 
 great natural ability, others of learning and educa- 
 tion, whose names are buried in oblivion. Quot
 
 KIMBERLEY. J\ 
 
 homines, tot sententicz, and within the hospitable 
 walls of this Club the talk ranged over every subject 
 under the sun. Even in bad times the laughter 
 and forcible wit of forcible men rose irrepressibly. 
 Amidst this picturesque swashbuckler throng 
 Jameson moved, a self-possessed, unobtrusive, 
 energetic little man. Immensely popular and 
 respected by one and all, his real capacity had not 
 been made manifest ; and the possibilities of his 
 character were unsuspected, even by himself. He 
 had not yet entered into his kingdom. 
 
 Rhodes was the presiding genius of the place ; 
 the man whose individuality had asserted itself, 
 whose table was always the centre of interesting 
 men and interesting discussions. In these, how- 
 ever, he seldom did himself justice ; and in the 
 ebb and flow of ordinary conversation his power 
 was but half revealed. Great as was the sweep 
 of his thought and imagination, its expression, 
 although frequently emphatic, was not always 
 forthcoming. With Jameson, however, the quick 
 repartee or clinching argument are the natural 
 expression of a very ready wit and brain. There 
 is a radiancy about his speech that is infectious. 
 The ball is at once tossed into the air. There 
 is the suggestion of a mask, raised only to be
 
 72 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 lowered again, of a temperament whose limitations 
 are always elusive. Strangely enough, in the 
 matter of clothes the position was reversed. With 
 Rhodes they served to reveal, with Jameson to 
 conceal, individuality. It was always an effort 
 to the former to discard his own special garb, 
 the very roomy white trousers, the grey slouch 
 hat, the loose collar and ample grey sack coat. 
 These were the garments he loved, and which, 
 in a subtle way, seemed to express the furrowed, 
 wide outlook of the man. But with Jameson 
 conventionality in dress is almost a cult. Really 
 indifferent, his only care is that his clothes 
 should not attract attention, but should be such 
 as are suitable for the occasion and in this 
 respect quite ordinary. 
 
 What with riding at dawn, his hospital work in 
 the forenoon, and visiting his patients in the 
 afternoon, Jameson had, during the day, scarcely 
 a moment to himself. Rhodes' business took 
 him to the Club, but it was not till the even- 
 ing that the former could go there with any 
 feeling of rest or amusement in his mind. Rhodes 
 at that time very seldom played cards, but 
 Jameson dearly loved a friendly gamble, and 
 played as dashingly as he lived. " Whenever
 
 KIMBERLEY. 73 
 
 the gentlemen rang for gingerbeer," said his 
 servant, " I knew they were playing high." 
 
 It was a mark of his greatness that serious and 
 pre-eminent as he was in his profession, and be- 
 loved as he was in the hospital and in every home 
 in the community, he was also a man to be reckoned 
 with amongst the hard-headed players in the card- 
 rooms of the Kimberley Club. 
 
 Although, as a rule, not taking part in the public 
 affairs of the community, on one or two occasions 
 he showed the temper of his ability and fighting 
 power. In brilliant fashion he came to the rescue 
 of Dr. Prince, who had been made the defendant 
 in a serious action which involved a defini- 
 tion of hysteria. Jameson had not taken 
 honours in medical jurisprudence for nothing, and 
 by his evidence and his prompting of the de- 
 fendant's counsel, so puzzled judge and jury as to 
 the nature and possibility of hysteria, that he 
 practically won the case for his partner. 
 
 The occasion, however, that made him famous 
 and displayed to the full his self-reliancy, was the 
 appearance of a sickness amongst the natives which 
 all the other medical men declared to be small-pox, 
 but which he maintained was nothing of the kind. 
 The matter was of vital concern. If the former
 
 74 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 were right and the epidemic was contagious, it was 
 essential to the safety of the general public that 
 further immigration of native labour should cease, 
 the native compounds be placed in quarantine, 
 and the diamond mines closed down. Jameson, 
 however, diagnosed the sickness as a form of cow- 
 pox, declared it to be non-contagious, and took 
 upon himself the responsibility of advising the 
 diamond mine owners not to stop recruiting native 
 labour and working the mines. The risk was 
 great, and he was accused of deliberately sacrificing 
 the public health to capitalist interests. A per- 
 fect cataclysm of feeling passed over Kimberley 
 on the subject ; and experts were summoned 
 from other parts of South Africa, who disagreed 
 with Jameson. But so dogged was he, and so 
 widespread was the faith that the Kimberley 
 community placed in his judgment, that he pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 The late Mr. Garrett sums up his account of the 
 matter by stating that, " it need only be added 
 that Jameson's opinion turned out to be absolutely 
 wrong. After the risk of spreading the infection 
 through the colony had been incurred, it was proved 
 beyond doubt that the disease was small-pox." 
 Mr. Garrett does not, however, quote any authority
 
 KIMBERLEY. 75 
 
 for this statement, which, the writer believes, is con- 
 trary to the consensus of modern professional 
 opinion. Quite recently a similar epidemic broke 
 out in Kimberley, and was declared to be exactly 
 what Jameson declared his epidemic to be — namely, 
 a sickness identical with a form of cow-pox peculiar 
 to South Africa and non-contagious. 
 
 Despite the varied interests of his life, he had 
 always suffered keenly from the famine of books in 
 the land. The few that arrived he consumed 
 greedily, and went hungry for more. In order to 
 keep himself in touch with the progress of his pro- 
 fession and the movement of the world, he had 
 taken every opportunity of revisiting England. 
 Between 1878 and 1886 he returned four times. 
 How far he had influenced Rhodes' desire for a 
 University education it is impossible to say ; but 
 he generally contrived to travel with the latter 
 when he returned to keep his terms at Oxford. 
 
 In 1882 he visited the mining camp of Mr. J. B. 
 Taylor, at Pilgrim's Rest in the Transvaal, who 
 from this date became his lifelong friend. The 
 camp had prided itself on its poker playing, but 
 Jameson's skill and success were so undeniable 
 that the rifles, horses, and even boots of some of 
 its members were at his mercy.
 
 76 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 His first six years at Kimberley were the busiest 
 and most profitable. The amount of his income 
 during this period was considerable, but the 
 exact amount must always remain in doubt. 
 Living was exceedingly costly, and he never dis- 
 played any Scotch aptitude for husbanding his 
 own resources. None the less, he had by 1885 
 saved a considerable sum of money, which he 
 regarded as a nest egg to enable him to go to 
 Vienna to study as a specialist. His investment 
 of it, however, turned out to be unfortunate, and 
 nearly all was lost. As this happened after the 
 population of Kimberley had begun to rapidly 
 diminish, his prospects of recovering his losses were 
 not very bright. About this time Dr. Prince 
 retired, and for a short period he took as partner 
 a Dr. Wolff, who afterwards appeared in the Raid 
 history. The latter did not, however, remain long 
 in partnership, and by the end of 1886 Jameson 
 was alone in the practice. 
 
 The years of 1887 and 1888 were specially 
 strenuous ones for Rhodes. He was striving day 
 and night to accomplish his amalgamation schemes ; 
 and at the same time was straining every nerve 
 to secure from his rivals a concession from Loben- 
 gula In this matter he was fortunate in the
 
 KIMBERLEY. 77 
 
 men he had selected at various times to repre- 
 sent him in Matabeleland. Natives are quick to 
 discern differences in class amongst Europeans, 
 and the status and behaviour of such represen- 
 tatives as CD. Rudd, Rochfort Maguire and 
 others, made manifest to Lobengula the nature 
 of Rhodes' position and integrity, and eventually 
 in October, 1888, the concession was formally 
 granted. 
 
 Later in the year Dr. Rutherfoord Harris left 
 Kimberley in charge of the presents and payments 
 that had to be made to Lobengula ; and with 
 him went Jameson, who wanted a holiday and 
 was anxious to get some big-game shooting. Both 
 were then tenderfeet and raw to the veld, and to 
 this day the old inhabitants of Palapye chuckle 
 over the huge stone filter strapped to the front of 
 one of their waggons which was, of course, smashed 
 to atoms the moment they entered the bush 
 country. On arriving at the borders of Matabele- 
 land the indunas refused to allow them to ad- 
 vance. Jameson, however, despite their black 
 looks, rode in alone, and, at his explana- 
 tion, Lobengula at once gave the road to Harris 
 and the waggons ; but as he refused to grant the 
 former permission to hunt, he immediately returned
 
 78 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 to Kimberley. Harris, after handing over the 
 presents, remained a short time in the kraal, and, 
 on his departure, left an agent to look to 
 Rhodes' interests and to endeavour to obtain from 
 the chief permission to send a pioneer expedition 
 into Mashonaland. 
 
 Meantime Rhodes had obtained a Royal Charter 
 for his Company, which had been launched under 
 smiling auspices, and was busy preparing for the 
 exploitation of his conceded territories. But 
 clouds of trouble were rolling up in Bulawayo. 
 For years past the kraal had been the centre of 
 rival intriguing concession-hunters, who naturally 
 grudged Rhodes his success, and who at once set to 
 work to instil suspicion into the minds of the Chief 
 and the Matabele warriors against him. Natives 
 are naturally suspicious, and it was not difficult to 
 spread a belief that Rhodes' real object in obtain- 
 ing the concession, and in wanting to send an 
 expedition to Mashonaland was to seize Matabele- 
 land itself. Whether Lobengula believed this is 
 uncertain, but unquestionably it aroused a very 
 strong anti-Rhodes party amongst his indunas and 
 warriors. This aggravated the already difficult role 
 of the Chief. For amongst all those of different 
 nationalities who had sought concessions from
 
 KIMBERLEY. 79 
 
 him, Rhodes was the strongest, and richest, and the 
 one man upon whose word he found he could rely. 
 Wisely recognizing the strength of the white man, 
 Lobengula was really anxious to protect Rhodes' 
 agent and the other Europeans living under his 
 protection ; but at the same time he did not dare 
 to show too much favour to the former, because 
 of the growing alarm and mutinous attitude of his 
 murderous impis. Lobengula was a great Kaffir 
 statesman, with foresight and strength of cha- 
 racter ; but the force of circumstances was too 
 strong for him. Powerless to stem the tide of 
 civilization sweeping steadily northwards, he was 
 equally powerless to restrain his warriors from 
 sooner or later hurling themselves against it. Sur- 
 rounded as he was by intriguers on every side, he 
 could trust no one, least of all the mean-souled 
 whites who crawled, native-fashion, on their 
 stomachs before him. 
 
 These men, and others, who were Rhodes' 
 enemies, daily whispered sinister prophecies in his 
 ears, and the turbulent murmurs of his scarce- 
 restrained warriors grew hourly louder and more 
 insistent. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that, within a few months 
 of Harris's departure from Bulawayo, Lobengula
 
 80 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 apparently repented him of the concession he 
 had granted, murdered the indunas who had coun- 
 selled it, and refused audience to Rhodes' agent. 
 The latter, alarmed by this signal mark of 
 royal disfavour, by the fierce, threatening and 
 insulting behaviour of the Matabele themselves, 
 and by the fearsome rumours so freely circu- 
 lating, fled to Mafeking and sent off his alarmist 
 message. 
 
 The news was naturally a shock to Rhodes. At 
 this critical moment to have his agent discredited 
 in the eyes of the Matabele, and of the whole 
 world, seriously imperilled the future of his great 
 Company, and undermined the foundations of his 
 plans for the future. Moreover, he had already 
 started to recruit his police, but if the Chief was 
 openly hostile and refused to grant the road, any 
 expedition into Mashonaland was impossible. 
 
 Jameson's appearance on the scene at this 
 crisis has already been described. Splendid 
 and opportune as was his offer to go to 
 Bulawayo, his chances of success were very 
 remote. He was, practically speaking, still a 
 tenderfoot, unable to speak Kaffir, unaccustomed 
 to the veld and to the handling of dangerous 
 native situations. Even Rhodes, whose belief in
 
 KIMBERLEY. 81 
 
 him was great, could hardly hope that he would 
 succeed where tried men like the agent had failed. 
 
 His undertaking, however high-spirited, seemed 
 hopeless. He had first to persuade the agent to 
 return; then to overcome the suspicions of the 
 Matabele, and persuade them and their Chief to 
 restore the agent to favour; finally, and this was 
 a matter of supreme importance, he had to win 
 from Lobengula permission for the pioneer expedi- 
 tion to enter Mashonaland. 
 
 Rhodes, of course, foresaw clearly the enormous 
 difficulties that lay before Jameson, but the latter 
 waived them aside. Under ordinary circumstances 
 he was far removed from any trace of self-assertion 
 or bravado, but when occasion required, he seemed 
 inspired by a supreme confidence in himself to 
 achieve success. Nor was this the first time of its 
 manifestation. Ten years previously, within a few 
 days of his arrival in Kimberley, he had performed 
 an operation which the consensus of professional 
 opinion had declared impossibly dangerous. Again, 
 in the case of the native epidemic, he had pitted 
 his individual opinion against the Kimberley world, 
 and risked spreading a frightful contagious disease 
 throughout the community. Masterful and self- 
 reliant as he was in these professional matters, he
 
 82 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 was much more so in thus taking upon himself this 
 delicate touch-and-go mission to Lobengula. 
 
 Every act of a man is physiognomical of him, 
 but the Jameson of 1889 was a much more sea- 
 soned man than the young doctor of 1879. With- 
 out conscious effort he had found himself possessed 
 of power over men and women, and for ten years 
 had stood the test of a great popularity, easily 
 won and easily held. In a virile community, 
 amongst dare-devil, hard-headed men, he had held 
 his own, and by sheer force of character created 
 for himself a distinct influence and power. Just as 
 Kimberley had changed from a tent-dwelling com- 
 munity of prospectors and speculators to the 
 prosaic streets of industrial orderliness, so had he, 
 from a mere medical practitioner, grown to recog- 
 nize himself capable of the leadership and control 
 of men. Living for ten years in the midst of 
 gambling and recklessness, of meteoric alterna- 
 tions of success and despair, the non-moral aspects 
 of success, the naked facts, the complex realities 
 of life, had all been open to his view. As medical 
 adviser to one and all, he was in the position of a 
 spectator who, from behind the scenes, sees the 
 working of the wires that make the puppets dance. 
 An observer of the lives and outlook of nomads
 
 ■*, 
 
 u
 
 KIMBERLEY. 83 
 
 and elemental men, they had called to him, and 
 in some subtle way he had answered their call. 
 No man could go through the peculiar experiences 
 of these years without gaining in responsibility and 
 in knowledge. It was, therefore, in no light-hearted, 
 irresponsible spirit, but with all the seriousness 
 of his thirty -five years of strenuous life, that he 
 volunteered to save the situation for Rhodes. 
 Having then no partner to look after his practice, 
 his mission would probably occupy him many 
 months, and his offer to go to Bulawayo meant a 
 definite abandonment of his professional career. 
 
 Although subsequent events have amply justified 
 his action, it was at the time no light matter for 
 him to give up the certain successes of his pro- 
 fession for the wider possibilities and uncertain 
 issues of Rhodes' venture in map-making. There 
 are no unstable elements in his character, and it 
 was no momentary impulse that impelled him to 
 embark upon the quasi-military, quasi-political, 
 and wholly commercial enterprise of occupying 
 Mashonaland — an enterprise which but for his 
 influence with Lobengula might have ended in 
 bloodshed and disaster. Doubtless Jameson loved 
 his profession, as a sphere of ascertained usefulness, 
 
 wherein he had acquitted himself pre-eminently ; 
 
 6*
 
 84 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 but unconsciously he had begun to regard him- 
 self as indispensable to his friend and his work. 
 Even as he read the telegram from the agent, he 
 grasped the supreme urgency of instantly restoring 
 Rhodes' prestige in Bulawayo. In an instant 
 came the laconic " I will go " ; and to Rhodes' 
 question, " When will you start ? " spontaneously 
 came the equally laconic reply, " To-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 Thus was clinched in silent contract an unwritten 
 understanding, inviolable even by death. The 
 mysterious friendship that during these past years 
 had grown from strength to strength had now 
 become a partnership pregnant with unceasing 
 effort, and destined to achieve success even in the 
 face of overwhelming disaster. 
 
 Once and for all Jameson put behind him the 
 past with all its professional ambitions and ideals. 
 In the fulness of knowledge and of his own free 
 will, he launched himself forth into those fierce, 
 stormy seas of South African administration and 
 politics in whose midst he has since battled with 
 undefeated patience and strength.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 
 
 " Go to your work and be strong, halting not in your ways, 
 Baulking the end half won for an instant dole of praise • 
 Stand to your work and be wise, certain of sword and pen, 
 Who are neither children nor gods, but men, in a world of men." 
 
 Sunrise the following morning saw Jameson, 
 quietly and unconcernedly, awaiting the arrival of 
 the coach for the north with its fourteen horses. 
 Desperately critical and quixotic as was his mis- 
 sion, there were none to bid him farewell. Un- 
 saluted, and almost unrecognized, he sank back into 
 the cramped seat he was to occupy for the four- 
 hundred-mile trek to Mafeking. This was the first 
 of his incessant coach and Cape-cart journeys over 
 impossible roads, and under every conceivable con- 
 dition of hardship and discomfort. 
 
 During the next six years, in a spirit of high 
 endeavour, he travelled to and fro to the Hinter- 
 land and within it, traversing and re-traversing the 
 aching desolations of the veld, to the eventual 
 undermining of his health and vitality. When in 
 
 8q
 
 86 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Rhodesia he generally had his own Cape cart and 
 six mules, and preferred to travel alone, relying 
 on books and cigarettes to relieve the ennui of 
 days and days of endless trekking, which an uncon- 
 genial companion would have rendered unbearable. 
 Always in a hurry to push on, the casualties and 
 inevitable delays of African travel were thus easier 
 to endure than with an irritable or equally impa- 
 tient fellow-traveller. 
 
 Starting at dawn, he would keep going until 
 about nine. Then breakfast, journeying again 
 from eleven to one, and again from four to seven, 
 or to the nearest water. During the hours of 
 actual trek he would crouch in a corner of 
 the cart, his hat over his eyes ; shrunken, en- 
 wrapt in a contemplative atmosphere, possibly 
 less sad and lonely than it appeared ; and with 
 God knows what ideas fermenting in a tempera- 
 ment so nearly akin to genius. The instant, how- 
 ever, the mules stopped he was on his feet, and, 
 placing his chair in the nearest shade, would plunge 
 into his book, generally a history or a biography, 
 or some good modern novel. Carrying but little 
 personal luggage, his veld appearance was always 
 comparatively clean and neat, despite the fact 
 that his normal pace of dressing and undressing,
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 87 
 
 shaving and washing, was incredibly quick. To 
 food he was indifferent, eating a small quantity 
 with a lightning and disastrous speed, but the 
 after-meal cigarette was always indispensable, and 
 always followed by a good many others. On one 
 occasion he started with a friend, whose constitu- 
 tion demanded a large amount of food. The cart 
 was packed accordingly, and promptly broke down 
 the first afternoon in the middle of a stream. Wet 
 and provisionless, the travellers escaped to the 
 opposite bank, where they began a discussion on 
 religion. When assistance eventually arrived, about 
 ten p.m., the two were found so absorbed in 
 their arguments that they had forgotten about 
 the accident, their fasting condition, or even the 
 approach of night. 
 
 After nine toilsome days of persistent jolting, 
 with broken sleep and bad food, Jameson arrived 
 at Mafeking. Here he met Rhodes' agent, and 
 with some difficulty persuaded him to return. To- 
 gether they rode on to Bulawayo. No journey 
 for the faint-hearted this, for the Matabele young 
 bloods were straining at the leash, scarcely held 
 in check by the king's word, and with undisguised 
 truculence jostled the travellers even at the en- 
 trance to the kraal.
 
 88 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 On the occasion of Jameson's previous visit, the 
 king, although refusing him leave to hunt, had 
 been favourably impressed by his fearless, in- 
 dependent attitude, which was in marked contrast 
 to the fawning approach of so many other of his 
 white visitants. He, therefore, at once granted him 
 an audience, and soon restored the agent to favour. 
 The moment, moreover, was auspicious, as Loben- 
 gula was suffering from a bad attack of gout, and 
 wisely preferred to trust Dr. Jim's medicines rather 
 than the Christian Scientist methods of his own 
 medicine-men. To prescribe for a great barbaric 
 chief of this kind was risky business, and if the 
 medicines had signally failed, Jameson's position 
 would not have been pleasant. Fortunately, they 
 acted successfully, and after a time the gout began 
 to disappear. The occasion was too good to lose, 
 and as the king's confidence and favour increased, 
 so did Jameson daily endeavour to obtain some 
 definite permission for Rhodes' police and pioneers 
 to enter the conceded territories. Natives, how- 
 ever, are adepts in the diplomatic art of staving 
 off a definite situation, and after three months' 
 residence the only tangible result of Jameson's 
 high favour was that Lobengula gave him a com- 
 mission and made him an induna of his favourite
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 89 
 
 regiment, the Imbeza. His initiation was in public, 
 and all the ceremonies were observed. It was a 
 strange spectacle, the slight, thoughtful young 
 Scotchman, in store clothes, and weaponless, con- 
 fronting this lust-stamped, massive-framed, bar- 
 barically adorned chief, and receiving from his 
 hands the insignia of his famous impi — the black- 
 plumed ostrich head-dress, the shoulder cape, 
 the ox-hide shield with its distinguishing black 
 and white stripes, the two assegais.* At a sign from 
 the king, the circle of indunas and cruel-eyed 
 warriors tapped their shields, and with uplifted 
 assegais, obediently yelled their fearsome wel- 
 come. Outside the enclosure the scarcely human 
 faces of the women and amoholisf peered forward, 
 scowling ominously ; while the reek of cattle and 
 natives was as a vapour forsaking the sun-baked 
 earth. Great as was the honour in the eyes of the 
 Matabele, it was a refinement of irony that this 
 eminent surgeon, who had devoted his scientific 
 skill to shedding of blood to save life, should be 
 hailed as companion-in-arms by those whose pro- 
 fession was war in its most brutal form, whose 
 supreme aim was the shedding of blood to destroy 
 
 * Now in his brother's hall in England. 
 
 ■)■ Amoholis. Captured slaves, and strangers at the gate.
 
 90 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 life. In the light of after events, there was still 
 further irony in the ceremonial rites, the tradi- 
 tional battle-cries, the stabbed and slaughtered 
 cattle, the hunks of steaming flesh engorged 
 in honour of the man who was subsequently to 
 be their destroyer and conqueror. For Jameson 
 himself it was a veritable baptism of blood, an 
 initiation magnificently heathen and ferocious, a 
 summons to adventure remorseless and impera- 
 tive. Outwardly he remained an impassive and 
 indifferent spectator. Possibly he was revolted 
 by the utter savagery of the cattle-slaying process ; 
 possibly the whole scene may have stirred the ele- 
 mental instincts of his blood. But in any case, he 
 must have realized how slender were the threads 
 that restrained these murderous Matabele from 
 turning upon himself and the two or three other 
 unprotected whites in their midst. Scarce four 
 years later he stood on the self-same spot, the 
 victorious leader of his Rhodesian force, who 
 had mown down charge after charge of the 
 Matabele impis, and had utterly wiped out one 
 of the most organized systems of savagery the 
 world has known. 
 
 Meanwhile, Jameson's position as an induna gave 
 him many advantages, and eventually, about a
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 91 
 
 month after his promotion, Lobengula yielded to 
 his persistent importunity and subtle persuasive- 
 ness. At a secret interview the king told him 
 that he might bring in the expedition to 
 Mashonaland ; or in native phraseology, that he 
 might lead his " white impi " into that territory. 
 Lobengula stipulated, however, that Jameson 
 himself should go in with the pioneers via 
 Tuli ; and further explained that for statecraft 
 reasons this was not a formal official permission. 
 Lobengula made it clear that, as his warriors 
 were hostile to the proposed expedition, and 
 eager to attack it, he could only in secret thwart 
 their purpose ; in other words, that although 
 he would not openly support Rhodes' plans, he 
 would diplomatically do so. 
 
 This was very satisfactory to Jameson, who 
 immediately posted off to Rhodes in Kimberley. 
 The latter had during his absence steadily gone 
 on recruiting his police forces, who had been sent 
 up to Macloutsie, near the borders of Matabeleland, 
 about five hundred miles from Kimberley. On re- 
 ceipt, however, of Jameson's information, Rhodes 
 entered into a contract with Major Frank Johnson 
 to equip five hundred pioneers with a year's™ provi- 
 sions for eighty-five thousand pounds. Thus far
 
 92 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 all was plain sailing, but unfortunately Rhodes, 
 who had grown impatient at Jameson's long stay 
 in Bulawayo, and had feared for his success, had 
 sent up another emissary, who missed Jame- 
 son altogether, and arrived at Bulawayo after 
 he had left. The king, however, did not 
 take this emissary into his confidence, but 
 assumed an anti-Rhodes attitude, refused to grant 
 the road to the proposed pioneers' expedition, and 
 stated that he had also refused the road to Jameson. 
 Lobengula was so uncompromising, and the 
 natives so menacing, that the emissary returned 
 to Kimberley and reported very unfavourably 
 upon the situation. Not unnaturally, Rhodes 
 thought that the chief had hoodwinked Jameson, 
 who had been unduly optimistic. This second 
 check to his plans seriously upset him, and for a 
 few days matters were so strained between the two 
 friends that Jameson went the length of purchasing 
 horses to renew his professional work. Rhodes, 
 however, on further consideration, asked Jameson 
 if he would again revisit the Chief. He at once 
 agreed to do so, and set out for Tati in a Cape 
 cart. Here he found the most alarmist rumours 
 in circulation with regard to the intentions 
 of the Matabele, and almost all the white
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 93 
 
 men had their horses saddled in readiness 
 for flight. Nothing daunted, Jameson continued 
 his journey into Bulawayo, and despite the 
 most dismal prophecies and warnings, his courage 
 again proved its own talisman, and he reached 
 his destination safely. He found, however, that 
 the hostile feeling of the impis had become 
 much more intense, and the whole position 
 more difficult. Moreover, although Lobengula re- 
 ceived him in audience, he refused, either in public 
 or in private, to confirm the promise he had pre- 
 viously made. Much, indeed, had happened in the 
 six months of his absence. On the one hand, pre- 
 sents of all sorts and kinds had poured upon the 
 Chief — gold, rifles, opera-hats, opera-glasses, bath- 
 chairs, bulls, champagne, race-horses, etc. More- 
 over, his indunas had returned from England, 
 affirming the power of the Great White Queen, and 
 Her Majesty had sent officers of the Life Guards to 
 visit him, appearing in full uniform at the annual 
 dance. But, on the other hand, the whole nation — 
 and even Lobengula himself — had been thoroughly 
 aroused and alarmed by the assembling on the 
 borders of Matabeleland of the armed forces of the 
 Chartered Company's police and pioneers, who were 
 being drilled in daily-increasing numbers. It is true
 
 94 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 that Lobengula had sent some of his impis to the 
 Zambesi to slake their thirst for blood upon the 
 tribes north of that river ; but those who remained 
 were in a fever heat of warlike expectancy and 
 revolt. The king was in a very equivocal posi- 
 tion, and dared not show much favour to Jameson, 
 who saw that it was useless to remain. After two 
 days spent in vain, he arranged to leave the next 
 morning at daybreak, but before starting, as a 
 final effort, went to Lobengula to say good-bye. 
 The door of the Chief's hut was in two portions, 
 an upper and a lower, and, leaning over the lower 
 half, he had his last and final interview. The old 
 king was stark naked, somewhat agitated — an 
 unwieldy mass of dark copper-coloured flesh moving 
 restlessly up and down within the dim, uncertain 
 light of the hut. 
 
 " Well, King," said Jameson, " as you will not 
 confirm your promise and grant me the road, I 
 shall bring my white impi, and if necessary, we 
 shall fight." 
 
 Lobengula replied : "I never refused the road 
 to you and to your impi." 
 
 " Very well," said Jameson ; " then you acknow- 
 ledge that you have promised to grant me the 
 road ; and unless you refuse it now, your promise
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 95 
 
 holds good." Then, as the king remained diplo- 
 matically silent, Jameson said : " Good-bye, 
 Chief ; you have given your promise about the 
 road, and on the strength of that promise I 
 shall bring in my impi to Mashonaland," and 
 he left. 
 
 This was the last time these two saw each 
 other. 
 
 Probably to no man has Lobengula so revealed 
 his real intentions and his true policy as to Jame- 
 son, and right loyally did he carry out his word. 
 For not only did he protect the Europeans in his 
 kraal, while the pioneers were marching into 
 Mashonaland ; but he so timed his prohibitory 
 messages that the pioneer force was able to 
 get clear of the bush and into the open table- 
 land at Victoria before his messengers got back to 
 Bulawayo. Nothing would have been easier than 
 for Lobengula to have allowed his impis to harass 
 the pioneers in their first two hundred miles of 
 broken bush country, and thus made it doubtful if 
 they could ever have reached Victoria. So cleverly, 
 however, did he handle the situation, that he allowed 
 the pioneers to accomplish their entire march un- 
 attacked ; and at the same time managed to retain 
 his own position as king and commander-in-chief
 
 96 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 of his white-hating impis. As a centre of loyalty 
 himself, Jameson has always inspired the same 
 quality in others, and amongst them this great 
 Kaffir chief stands out with a conspicuously 
 pathetic interest ; more especially as ultimately 
 he was destined to fail in controlling the fighting 
 instincts of his subjects, and had to pay a king's 
 penalty for failure. 
 
 Meanwhile Jameson went from Bulawayo straight 
 to Macloutsie, where the expedition was assembled, 
 and arrived there in May, 1890, just before their 
 inspection by General Methuen. 
 
 The five hundred pioneers, under Major Johnson, 
 were a semi-civil, semi-military force, composed 
 chiefly of Colonials and those accustomed to veld 
 life — a determined, reliable lot of men, athirst 
 for gold, and ready to encounter any risk to obtain 
 it. There were five troops of police, recruited from 
 every class of life, and representing every form 
 of occupation under the sun — English, Scotch, Irish, 
 Welsh, American and Colonial, younger sons and 
 ex-soldiers, City men and those born on the soil. 
 They were a strange assortment, the majority of 
 them with grit, but devoid of any training for the 
 work in hand. The officers were as varied in size, 
 uniform and qualifications for command as their
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 97 
 
 men. One of them writes : "I am only of medium 
 height ; on my right is my junior sub., over six 
 feet four, and turned out spick and span in neat 
 
 cords and blucher boots. To my left stands , 
 
 a squat five-foot-nothing, in baggy clothes and 
 badly rolled puttees, looking as fierce and as trucu- 
 lent as any stage villain I ever set eyes on. While 
 
 — is an ex-Life Guardsman, and looks it, 
 
 is evidently an old man of the sea, who 
 
 has taken to soldiering rather late in life." 
 
 Jameson had no official position, either with the 
 pioneers or the police. As Rhodes' representative, and 
 as holding his power of attorney, he accompanied 
 the expedition as the eyes and ears of his friend. 
 
 Amongst those officially in command a certain 
 chaos of authority seemed to prevail. The officer 
 commanding was Colonel Pennefather, while 
 Mr. Colquhoun, the Administrator, seems to have 
 held a sort of paulo-post-future authority, which was 
 not to come into being until after the occupation 
 was declared. Sir John Willoughby was not only 
 an energetic and determined second-in-command, 
 but he was in this, as in other critical expeditions, 
 Jameson's very loyal and trusted comrade. In 
 the subordinate ranks were many officers of 
 varied experiences and character. The pioneers 
 
 7
 
 98 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 were officered by Majors Johnson, Heany and 
 Borrow, who were all three men of considerable 
 business ability and of intimate knowledge of 
 the natives and of the country. The last was killed 
 with Major Wilson at Shangani. Selous and Van 
 Rooyen were famous hunters ; Captain Hoste had 
 resigned the senior command of Donald Currie's 
 line to join the expedition. 
 
 The difficulties in getting such a force fully 
 equipped and provisioned for a year were very 
 great, and it was not till the 3rd of August that 
 the pioneers and three troops of police started 
 from Tuli in the teeth of prohibitive messages from 
 Lobengula, and of prophecies of the most alarmist 
 description. Their task was no light one. The 
 country before them was unknown, roadless, inter- 
 sected by treacherous rivers, hilly and covered with 
 dense bush, which afforded perfect cover. With 
 Selous organizing the road-making ahead, the 
 column slowly advanced, hourly expectant of 
 attack from an enemy who knew the country in- 
 timately, and whose whereabouts it was impossible 
 to discover long beforehand. At night they 
 laagered their twenty-eight waggons, keeping an 
 engine going with a searchlight, and at dawn stood 
 to arms for two hours till the sun was up. The
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 99 
 
 strain was severe upon all. Alarms were frequent, 
 and at any moment the silence of the advance 
 might have been broken by the yells of the 
 Matabele. 
 
 Sometimes riding with the scouts of this strange 
 force, sometimes in the rear with those who 
 marched rifle in hand ; insouciant always, always 
 urging the bolder course, full of light-hearted chaff 
 and badinage, Jameson was a cheering influence to 
 one and all. Nor was this experience without its 
 value, for he was able to gauge the temper of his 
 material under strain, the capacity or incapacity 
 of those selected to command, the distinctive 
 virtues and weaknesses of his elemental men, and 
 daily himself grew more conscious of his capacity 
 for leadership. 
 
 The worst part of the whole march was the first 
 two hundred miles from Tuli to what is now 
 called Fort Victoria. Had the Matabele attacked 
 the column before it reached the latter point, it 
 would certainly have gone hard with the expedi- 
 tion. Half-way, at the Lundi River, a white envoy 
 appeared with a message from the king, ordering 
 the expedition "to go back unless they were strong 
 enough to go on." "Did the white man think the 
 Matabele were grasshoppers and that they could
 
 ioo DR. JAMESON. 
 
 walk over them easily ? " Colonel Pennefather 
 replied that he was sent by the Queen, and must 
 go where he was sent and should do so. The voice 
 was that of Colonel Pennefather, the words were 
 the words of Jameson. Before this reply reached 
 the king at Bulawayo the column had emerged 
 from the bush country into the magnificent open 
 plateau beyond Fort Victoria. Leaving one troop 
 at this fort, the force, now comparatively safe, and 
 with visions of Eldorados before their eyes, gaily 
 marched through great, undulating grassy plains, 
 dotted with clumps of trees and bushes, another 
 one hundred miles north-east to what is now called 
 Fort Charter. Here a second troop was left, and 
 the remaining troop and the pioneers pushed on 
 for yet another hundred miles north, till on the 
 12th September they finally halted at Mount 
 Hampden, where they erected a fort, now the 
 town of Salisbury. 
 
 This was approximately the centre of those 
 territories over which Rhodes had secured a title. 
 Here this little band of some five hundred 
 Europeans found themselves ; an islet of western 
 civilization in the midst of an ocean of surround- 
 ing barbarism ; a mere speck of white humans in 
 a boundless expanse of veld and sky. On the
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 101 
 
 south their nearest railway station was Kimberley, 
 some one thousand miles distant. To the east was 
 the sea, at least four hundred miles away, and 
 through unexplored territory; to the south-west 
 were the Matabele. But to the north and north- 
 west as far as the Zambesi, and to the east and 
 south-east as far as Portuguese territory, the land 
 was theirs to exploit for its reputed mineral wealth 
 and treasures. The whole spirit of the enterprise 
 had been Elizabethan, and the parade on the 13th 
 of September, 1890, to hoist the Union Jack and 
 formally declare the occupation of the country was 
 an historic occasion for one and all. For a few 
 moments of proud achievement the little square 
 of ragged, travel-worn pioneers stood shoulder to 
 shoulder before going forth, each on his own, to seek 
 for the gold for which his soul was aflame. Sedate, 
 and almost depressed in appearance, Jameson was 
 the only man without a trace of uniform, and per- 
 haps the only one amongst those chest-expanded, 
 expectant adventurers who was completely indif- 
 ferent to any chance of procuring riches for 
 himself. 
 
 Yet no one knew more intimately the background 
 of ideas, the manipulation of circumstances, the 
 inner history of this undertaking. No one, more-
 
 102 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 over, had so furiously overborne obstacles — had 
 so deliberately risked his life for this partial 
 fulfilment of a great Imperial scheme. For 
 himself, and vicariously for Rhodes, he no doubt 
 realized to the full the political and historic 
 significance of the occasion. But in the severe, 
 business-like spirit of their partnership it was 
 evident his mind was also intent on those 
 immense practical difficulties that immediately 
 confronted their further task of settlement 
 and development. The most urgent of these 
 was transport. The provisions they had brought 
 with them might last a few months ; but how 
 was it possible for more waggons, especially in 
 the rainy season, to cross the rivers and overcome 
 the difficulties of the road from Tuli northwards. 
 Even with all the organized labour of the pioneers, 
 the task of getting heavy waggons over the so- 
 called roads and drifts had been a heavy one, and 
 to single parties it was almost impossible. More- 
 over, apart from the danger from the Matabele, 
 the expense of waggon transport for eight hundred 
 miles would make the cost of living prohibitive. 
 The only alternative route was from the Portuguese 
 ports of Beira or Sofala on the east coast, which 
 were only about four hundred miles, as the crow
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 103 
 
 flies, from Salisbury. This, however, was quite 
 unexplored, and Jameson determined to accom- 
 pany Major Johnson, who had planned to re- 
 turn this way, had arranged for a steamer to 
 await him on the coast, and had brought up a 
 Berthon boat for use on the Pungwe River if 
 necessary. 
 
 The two left Salisbury on the 30th of September, 
 and made their way for about two hundred miles 
 to Umtassa's kraal. This Chief, a prince of liars 
 even among natives, was really a tributary of 
 Gungunhama, who was Suzerain of the native 
 tribes over an ill-defined but large stretch of terri- 
 tory in the south-east. Umtassa, however, pre- 
 tended to grant concessions over Manicaland. 
 Having nothing to concede, he did so freely to one 
 and all, to British as well as to Portuguese, receiving 
 gifts from all. After negotiating with him, Jame- 
 son and his companion left their waggon behind, 
 and, leading their horses, struggled over the moun- 
 tains into Portuguese territory, and, worn-out, 
 reached Massi-Kessi late in the evening. Their 
 reception, however, by the Portuguese comman- 
 dante was so unwelcome, that they had to retrace 
 their steps and shift for themselves in the open 
 veld for food and lodging. Eventually they
 
 104 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 managed to obtain a few carriers, and although 
 short of food, continued their journey towards the 
 coast. 
 
 As they proceeded, the country became less 
 mountainous, and shortly before reaching the vast 
 reedy, swampy flats that extend even to the sea, 
 they met Baron Rezende and his party. He was 
 courtesy itself, and gave them provisions in ex- 
 change for their horses, which would, in any case, 
 have died from the tsetse fly in the bush. Emerging 
 from this, they found that the height of the reeds 
 and grass made travelling on the flats very slow 
 and difficult. They, therefore, struck north, 
 launched the boat on the Pungwe, and dismissing 
 the boys, proceeded to row themselves down- 
 stream. The first afternoon torrents of rain 
 soaked everything they possessed ; and landing 
 near Sarmento, they spread their clothes before 
 a fire to dry, and in a deserted hut close by 
 slept as only men can who have toiled in the 
 tropical sun on the Beira flats. They awoke with 
 the roar of burning thatch in their ears, and, dash- 
 ing through the flaming grass, reached their boat. 
 Johnson escaped naked save for a blanket, a rifle 
 and cartridges and a tin of sugar. Jameson 
 jumped into the boat in a singlet and a pair of
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 105 
 
 dancing pumps, and with a shot gun minus 
 cartridges. 
 
 They were just in time to push off from the 
 burning reeds, and in this plight, the one naked 
 and the other nearly so, without food or neces- 
 saries of any kind, they had to row as best they 
 could some eighty or ninety miles under tropical 
 conditions to Beira. For four days they galley- 
 slaved, occasionally capsizing, sometimes stranded 
 on mud-banks; the sun blistering their bodies 
 in every part, and the reek of malaria ever surging 
 in their nostrils as they crept slowly past the 
 fever-stricken swamps and forests that border 
 one of the most pestilential rivers in Africa. They 
 shot a few birds and a buffalo, eating the flesh 
 raw ; and at night, fastening their boat to the 
 bank, slept exhausted, heedless of precautions 
 against lions or snakes. 
 
 The third night, tying up their boat to a branch 
 above them as usual, they woke to find that the 
 tide had risen, lifting the boat so high above the 
 branch that the rope was as an anchor dragging 
 them under water. Bewildered, they were just 
 able to loose themselves adrift before being entirely 
 sucked under. Eventually, towards evening on 
 the following day, they found themselves on the
 
 106 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 great reaches of water at the mouth of the river. 
 Tropical birds of every kind flew amidst the foliage ; 
 hippopotami played around them on every side, 
 and occasionally plunged from the banks under the 
 very bows of the boat. Suddenly they observed 
 what seemed to be a single stick bobbing up and 
 down against the sky-line to their front. Exert- 
 ing every effort, they reached the open expanse of 
 bay, and saw the outline of a vessel anchored off 
 the spit of land on which was the solitary hut 
 which then constituted the port of Beira. This 
 was the steamer that had been awaiting them 
 for weeks. The captain had that very morning 
 determined to leave, but by a miracle of good 
 fortune, he had delayed to take on board the flesh 
 of a hartebeest that by chance had been shot 
 that morning. This delayed the steamer's de- 
 parture. Had the captain started as he had 
 originally intended, the two travellers would have 
 been stranded for weeks or months at Beira, with 
 a certainty of fever as a result of the exposure. 
 
 By the end of October Jameson was back 
 in Kimberley laying before Rhodes in detail all 
 that had happened, and discussing the future. 
 As a result, before the end of November he was 
 again in the post-cart en route for Salisbury.
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 107 
 
 The main reason for his return was the aggressive 
 attitude of the Portuguese in Manicaland, to which 
 they laid claim, because of a concession purported 
 to have been granted to them by Umtassa. They 
 also had put forward shadowy claims to Mashona- 
 land and Matabeleland, based on sixteenth-century 
 expeditions. The excitement in Lisbon over Rhodes' 
 expedition had been very great ; notwithstanding 
 that on the 14th July, when it was on the eve of 
 starting, it was stated in the House of Commons 
 that " the British Government had officially in- 
 formed the Portuguese Ambassador that they knew 
 of no expedition to Mashonaland whatsoever." 
 
 Already a slight collision had occurred in 
 Manicaland, and two Portuguese officers, Colonel 
 Andrade and General Gouveia, after being chased 
 round a hut in Umtassa's kraal by a Chartered 
 Company's police officer, had been taken prisoners 
 and sent out of the country via Salisbury. Rhodes' 
 claim to exploit Manicaland was based on his 
 concession from Lobengula, but, as the district 
 was apparently under the suzerainty of Gungun- 
 hama, Jameson's object was to obtain from the 
 latter a title to exploit for minerals that would 
 over-ride any concession Umtassa might have 
 given to the Portuguese. His difficulties were
 
 108 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 further complicated by the fact that Gazaland, 
 where Gungunhama had his kraal, belonged to 
 the Portuguese, who were also seeking a similar 
 concession over Manicaland, and it was within 
 their right to prevent Jameson or any other rival 
 concessionaires from entering their territory for 
 this purpose. Speed and secrecy were therefore 
 imperative, and by the first week in December 
 Jameson had arrived at Tuli. Here he was un- 
 avoidably detained for a few days, and the fol- 
 lowing comments of a shrewd observer, who then 
 met him for the first time, seem worth recording : 
 
 " At first Jameson wrapped himself in a cloak 
 of impenetfalia, and retired into a shell, manu- 
 factured, as I imagine, for the occasion ; and he 
 seemed to me to be feeling his way among us with 
 characteristic caution, typical not only of his 
 nationality, but of his individuality, which is, to a 
 certainty, cast in the plastic mould of diplomacy. 
 He spoke very little of Mashonaland or Manica, or 
 about his and Johnson's trip through the latter 
 country. One thing I like about him, he is not 
 bitten with the bounce mania so prevalent in 
 South Africa. However, in a dry, quiet way, pecu- 
 liarly his own, he has occasionally had recourse to 
 the decidedly strong vein of humour that runs
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 109 
 
 through him. As a companion he is excellent — 
 lively, amusing, cheery — one, in fact, who thinks 
 it folly not to be jolly ; not that his manner is good, 
 in the high sense of polish, but in every other way, 
 politeness and suavity especially, it is extremely so, 
 and he never loses a chance of using it if he can 
 help it." 
 
 No man, however primitive his surroundings, 
 can succeed by sheer, unrelieved courage and burli- 
 ness, and the source of Jameson's power, even 
 with native chiefs, lay probably in the persistent 
 exercise of this very fine quality of observation and 
 tact. 
 
 He left Tuli just in time to get to Salisbury 
 before the rains of an unprecedented wet season 
 came down and made the rivers impassable. 
 After a short stay there, he went to Umtali, and 
 with Doyle and Moodie, left at the end of 
 January for Gungunhama's kraal. It was now 
 the middle of the rains, and in crossing a swollen 
 river at the second day's march, their pack-mules 
 carrying luggage and provisions were swept down, 
 and almost everything washed away. This was a 
 serious mishap at the commencement of a six- 
 hundred miles' journey, and Jameson had great 
 difficulty in persuading his companions to con-
 
 no DR. JAMESON. 
 
 tinue. Their hardships were great. The rain was 
 incessant, the native paths greasy, the rivers almost 
 impassable. Wet by day, they slept at night un- 
 sheltered beneath sodden overcoats. The natives 
 were unwilling to trade, and for days together they 
 lived on nothing but mealies and mealie por- 
 ridge. All three had attacks of fever, and it was 
 nothing but the dogged, terrier-like determination 
 of Jameson that kept them going. Eventually, 
 after twenty-five days' journey, they arrived, half- 
 starved, exhausted physically and mentally, with 
 clothes filthy and in rags, and altogether pre- 
 senting an appearance hardly calculated to favour- 
 ably impress a powerful and independent chief. 
 Moreover, the Portuguese had preceded them, and 
 were encamped on the opposite hills with tents, 
 guns, uniforms, and all the paraphernalia of orna- 
 mentation for making a brave show before Gun- 
 gunhama. To add to the discomfiture of the 
 travellers, and to doubly handicap their mission, 
 they were coldly received by the Chief because 
 of some absurd trumped-up charges that had 
 been made against them by a native from whom 
 they had tried to purchase a beast for food. 
 He had played so fast and loose, and so 
 delayed them by his dishonest and exorbitant
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. in 
 
 bargaining, that Jameson had told him in for- 
 cible language that the deal was off. Taking 
 short cuts to the kraal, this man laid his 
 alleged grievances before the Chief. These not 
 unnaturally prejudiced Gungunhama against Jame- 
 son ; and it was not until the third morning 
 after his arrival that the travellers were granted an 
 interview beneath a wide-spreading fig-tree near 
 the kraal. So far as clothes and outward appear- 
 ances went the travellers cut a sorry figure ; 
 and Jameson, as the result of privation and ill- 
 ness, was especially " gaunt, hollow-eyed, and 
 shrunken." The first step at this interview was 
 to clear the ground in respect of the matters 
 complained of by the native and his friends 
 who were present. The majority of natives 
 are natural liars, and the man began a 
 plausible tale, supported by grunts of corrobora- 
 tion from his friends. Doyle, however, who 
 thoroughly understood Kaffirs, saw that some 
 intervention was necessary, and rising from the 
 floor, made some obvious remarks which de- 
 monstrated that the man was lying. Doyle's 
 statements soon convinced Gungunhama, who 
 forthwith punished the native for lying and 
 received Jameson into his favour. The latter
 
 112 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 made good use of his opportunity, and in 
 the teeth of Portuguese opposition, succeeded 
 within a week in obtaining the concession he 
 wanted. Directly the document was signed, 
 Jameson at once started for the Sabi river, hoping 
 to return by the steamer Countess Carnarvon, 
 which had brought up presents for Gungunhama 
 from Rhodes. On reaching the river, however, 
 the party found that the Countess Carnarvon 
 had been taken prisoner by a Portuguese gun- 
 boat, and they were also made prisoners. As Doyle 
 was very ill, Jameson refused to leave him, and 
 remained on board the steamer, which was taken 
 in tow by the gunboat to Delagoa Bay. Here, 
 after a short delay, Jameson and his party were 
 released, and he returned to Cape Town about 
 the middle of March. 
 
 Within the past eighteen months he had travelled 
 and adventured incessantly. Three times had he 
 visited Lobengula, covering over four thousand 
 miles in Cape carts and on horseback, and had prac- 
 tically persuaded the chief to allow the pioneers to 
 proceed unattacked. With the expedition he had 
 marched to Fort Salisbury and formally occupied 
 the conceded territories. He had explored Manica- 
 land, and rowed unclothed down the Pungwe to
 
 THE OCCUPATION OF MASHONALAND. 113 
 the coast. Scorning fatigue, he had again re- 
 visited Fort Salisbury, travelling fiercely at the 
 hottest season, and early in 1891 had trekked six 
 hundred miles to Gazaland, and, in the face of 
 every obstacle, triumphantly secured a concession 
 from Gungunhama. Finally, he had been taken 
 prisoner by the Portuguese to Delagoa Bay. As a 
 result of these efforts of will and daring, he had 
 achieved the occupation of Mashonaland, and, 
 although the situation in Manicaland was not 
 formally settled till after the battle of Massi-Kessi 
 on the 15th of May, 1891, when forty-seven 
 Chartered Company's police defeated some four 
 hundred Portuguese and captured that fort, 
 Jameson had secured an indefeasible title to 
 mineral rights in that country. 
 
 Fever-stricken, his vital force exhausted, he 
 arrived in Cape Town, fully entitled to the rest 
 and holiday he so needed. But Rhodes' wish 
 and the condition of affairs almost immediately 
 demanded his presence in Fort Salisbury; and 
 without protest or demur he quietly made pre- 
 parations to return and formally take over the 
 administratorship of the country. If i n the course 
 of his leadership he was compelled to risk the lives 
 and health of others, he had been himself foremost
 
 ii4 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 in facing risk and self-sacrifice of every kind. 
 Despite all he had gone through, he was now 
 about to take upon his shoulders the ad- 
 ministration of vast newly-acquired territories 
 during their most critical and trying period, and 
 the incidents of his work as Administrator will 
 occupy the next chapter.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 " There were giants in the earth in those days." 
 
 Like other historic pioneers, the early settlers in the 
 Chartered Company's territories sowed in hardship 
 for others to reap the fruits of their endurance. 
 Their position during the first six months of 1891 
 was serious. The persistent rains and the over- 
 grown, towering grass had made gold-seeking for 
 the moment impossible, and in many cases the 
 prospectors were confined, fever-stricken and half- 
 starved, to their huts. So impassable were the 
 rivers and so bad the roads, that scarce a single 
 waggon had been able to get through from Tuli 
 to Salisbury during this period. Theoretically, the 
 forts and the country generally were provisioned 
 till June, but long before that date groceries, and 
 even flour, had become unprocurable, and the com- 
 munity were reduced to living almost entirely upon 
 native produce. The police, isolated in small 
 bodies in the different districts, were unable to 
 
 115 8*
 
 n6 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 maintain inter-communication. The whole country 
 was practically defenceless against the Matabele ; 
 while the Portuguese in Manicaland were daily 
 becoming more aggressively hostile. All efforts 
 to make a road from Beira had failed, the oxen 
 had succumbed to the tsetse fly, and Major Johnson's 
 coaches lay abandoned and rotting in the Beira 
 flats. A police officer, stationed about one hundred 
 miles of Salisbury on the 17th April, 1891, wrote 
 as follows : — 
 
 " I often think of you all, and the dear old troop. 
 The men are very badly off for clothes, and what 
 they have bears no resemblance to uniform, while 
 many of them are bootless and going about bare- 
 footed. 
 
 " Meat is a rarity ; and though there is game in 
 abundance, the grass is so high that it is impossible 
 in most places to see five yards from the path. Tea, 
 coffee, sugar, and bread I have been so long without 
 that I do not miss, and have quite forgotten, the 
 taste of. Our principal article of diet is mealie 
 meal and pumpkin. The meal we get from the 
 natives is made from young mealies, which do not 
 bind ; but as we get sweet potatoes now and then, 
 we manage, by mixing them together, to make a 
 sort of ootato-cake or bread with it. I have lived
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 117 
 
 three whole days on nothing but pumpkin-squash 
 — not over-pleasant at any time, but without even 
 salt or pepper absolutely nauseous ; but I am get- 
 ting on better now, except for meat. Heyman 
 managed to send me, a few days ago, a little Boer 
 meal, which I serve every fourth day at one pound 
 per man ; so we do manage to get a little bread 
 by mixing it with the Kaffir meal. 
 
 " We have had a lot of fever, but very few deaths, 
 considering. After I left, only two men remained 
 behind there — Matthews and Glover. They were 
 both down with fever, and it appears, when the 
 former died, the native servants cleared off, as they 
 always do when a white man dies here. Owing to 
 the rivers being up, it was five days before any 
 of the men could get from Umtali to bury him. 
 You can well imagine the state the body was in 
 on their arrival — so bad, indeed, that with great 
 difficulty a rope was made fast to his legs, and he 
 was then dragged to his grave. Glover was all 
 the time in the same room, and very nearly insane — 
 and no wonder ! " 
 
 These were no exceptional experiences, but the 
 common lot of police and pioneer alike. To add 
 to the difficulties of the situation, adventurers — 
 too often moneyless and provisionless — had already
 
 n8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 begun to dribble in to the country from various 
 points. 
 
 Meanwhile the administrative authorities were 
 at loggerheads with each other. Friction existed 
 between the Administrator and the Officer Com- 
 manding, especially with regard to the control and 
 disposition of the police force, while both these 
 officers were subjected to an irritating interference 
 in detail from the Kimberley office. Appoint- 
 ments were made and cancelled, orders issued only 
 to be countermanded, and the settlers generally 
 were filled with despair at this chaos of authority 
 and lack of organization, especially with regard to 
 transport. 
 
 Inefficient as was the administration, the ex- 
 penditure on it was enormous and wasteful. When 
 Rhodes pointed out to Jameson that the Company 
 was expending money at the rate of £250,000, 
 per annum, and that their funds were becoming 
 exhausted, the latter replied : "I will run the 
 country for you on £40,000 a year." Rhodes said, 
 " Well, if you do that I will find the balance 
 out of my own pocket." In order to carry out 
 his word he had to sell a great many of his 
 Chartered Company shares, but both on this 
 occasion and in subsequent years he always
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 119 
 
 received the most generous and loyal assistance 
 in this matter from his friend, Mr. Beit. 
 
 In addition, however, to all these troubles from 
 within, a fresh danger had arisen from without 
 in the shape of a Boer trek into the concessioned 
 territories, which had been organized in the Trans- 
 vaal in the early months of 1891. Its object was 
 to set up an independent republic in Banailand, 
 within the Chartered Company's territory, to 
 which certain Boer concessionaires asserted they 
 had received a prior concession from the local chief. 
 Such was the condition of affairs when Jameson 
 left Cape Town in April, 1891, to take over the 
 administration of the country. En route he stopped 
 at Pretoria to interview President Kruger with 
 regard to the Banailand trekkers. The latter 
 was very full of promises and smooth words, while 
 secretly supporting the trekkers in every way that 
 he dared. Jameson arrived at Tuli early in June, 
 and from here inspected the defences on the various 
 drifts above the Limpopo River. On the 24th a 
 large body of trekkers unexpectedly arrived at the 
 main drift a few hours after he had left, and their 
 leader, Colonel Ferreira, at once crossed into 
 Chartered Company territory. He was arrested by 
 the officer in charge, and messengers sent post-
 
 120 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 haste after Jameson, who returned that evening, 
 and straightway rode across to the Boer camp 
 accompanied by an interpreter and a trooper. The 
 Boers, about two hundred in number, came to- 
 gether in front of a belt of dark-foliaged trees that 
 fringed the pebbled beach of the river. The 
 majority of them were back- velders— colloquially 
 called taark-haaras y or shaggy-heads; an un- 
 kempt, sullen-browed group of veld-hardened men, 
 rifle in hand, and bandoliered, rancorous at heart, 
 and filled with contempt for everything British. 
 The long line of their tented waggons glimmered 
 through the trees in the rear. The ample figures of 
 the sun-bonneted vrouws moved to and fro amidst 
 the cattle and fires, and innumerable children, bare- 
 headed, bare-footed tatterdemalions, watched, 
 open-mouthed, the historic interview. 
 
 Jameson remained mounted, the water dripping 
 from his boots and leggings, and at once began 
 to address the assembled Boers. But so nervous 
 was the interpreter, that he could not proceed, 
 and eventually Colonel Ferreira had to be sent for. 
 After informing them of the High Commissioner's 
 and President Kruger's Proclamations forbidding 
 the trek, Jameson stated plainly and emphatically 
 that he would oppose by force their entry into
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 121 
 
 Charterland, unless they signed an agreement to 
 abide by the Company's regulations. He added, 
 however, that he was willing to receive a deputa- 
 tion. The Boers listened in silence, and next 
 morning sent a deputation, who argued the right 
 of the trekkers to proceed into Banailand. Mean- 
 while, however, a maxim gun and other rein- 
 forcements had arrived at the drift, and after 
 prolonged negotiations with the deputation, who 
 frequently crossed and re-crossed to confer with 
 the trekkers, the latter became divided amongst 
 themselves. Some began to trade horses, tobacco, 
 etc., with the troopers ; others agreed to sign the 
 Chartered Company's regulations if they were per- 
 mitted to shoot in Mashonaland ; while some even 
 volunteered for service in the police force. 
 Gradually, under the influence of Jameson's firm- 
 ness and tact, the trek dispersed, and many Boers 
 accepted his offer to come into the country under 
 the Company's regulations. 
 
 As soon as the matter was settled, Jameson 
 returned to Tuli, and took with him as nominal 
 prisoner Colonel Ferreira, who, in 1885, na d re- 
 ceived from Her Majesty the distinction of C.M.G. 
 for gallantry in native wars. Tuli was then not 
 only the port of entry for supplies to the con-
 
 122 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 cessioned territories, but also the rendezvous for 
 the varied types of travellers going and returning 
 from the north. To many an educated man, the 
 conversations at the hospitable mess at the Fort 
 were a mental oasis after weeks or months of end- 
 less worry about sick oxen or lost mules, or the 
 prospect of finding water, or one of the other 
 multitudinous difficulties of South African travel. 
 During his few evenings at the Fort, Jameson seems 
 to have taken a prominent part in the discussions 
 at mess. An officer who was present thus writes : 
 "In a dry, quiet way peculiarly his own, and no 
 one else's, he has occasionally had recourse to the 
 decidedly strong vein of humour that runs through 
 
 him, and which invariably finds a vent in " 
 
 . . . " I am inclined to think that, like his model 
 and magnet, Jameson does not believe in excessive 
 formality, but in attaining an object by the nearest 
 and quickest method ; and it would take very little 
 to induce either Rhodes or himself, should the occa- 
 sion present itself, or the emergency arise, to ride 
 rough-shod over forms or amenities and rules or 
 regulations." ..." I happened to mention O'Brien's 
 book, ' When we were Boys.' Jameson imme- 
 diately, and quite eagerly, asked me to lend him 
 the book to read, and, upon my promising to do so,
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 123 
 
 he maintained that O'Brien, as second in command 
 of one of the greatest movements of the day, or 
 century, for the matter of that, and apart from 
 any individual or other considerations, must be a 
 man with something in him." 
 
 A few months later the same writer was present 
 at a conversation between Rhodes, Randolph 
 Churchill and Jameson on the subject of the 
 firing upon Sir John Willoughby by a Portuguese 
 gunboat as he was landing at Beira. 
 
 " Lord Randolph asserted his opinion most 
 emphatically that the commander of the English 
 gunboat would have been perfectly justified, and 
 quite within his rights, if he had turned his guns 
 on, landed a force, and taken possession of Beira. 
 Jameson agreed that this would have been the 
 proper course, but pointed out that a man acting 
 in this way, on his own responsibility, would have 
 lost his commission for certain and have been 
 sent into disgrace owing to official red tape ; but 
 Lord Randolph declared very positively that, as 
 a member of the Cabinet, he, for one, would have 
 vigorously defended and belauded such an act of 
 prompt decision. Indeed, from all I could gather, 
 Lord Randolph, Rhodes and Jameson were alto- 
 gether in favour of men rising to the occasion."
 
 124 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Unfortunately, Jameson, during his few days 
 sojourn at Tuli, had no time to thoroughly examine 
 the system of accounts and transport which pre- 
 vailed. For once his astuteness failed him, and 
 he left in supreme command at this important 
 station an officer whose methods did not advance 
 the interests either of the settlers or the Chartered 
 Company. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival in Salisbury, at the end 
 of July, Mr. Colquhoun left, and Jameson formally 
 took over the Administratorship. 
 
 His first care was to reduce expenditure, a 
 necessary and ungrateful task which would have 
 wrecked the popularity of most men. The external 
 conditions of the country no longer demanded a 
 large body of police, and he gradually reduced 
 their numbers from seven hundred to about one 
 hundred, at the same time creating a volunteer 
 force of some five hundred for defence, at a cost of 
 about £4 per man per annum. In the meantime 
 he arranged the provisioning of the country for 
 the coming wet season, reorganized the civil service 
 as economically as possible, and visited the various 
 isolated mining communities at Umtali, Victoria 
 and Fort Charter, which were devoid of any means 
 of inter-communication, save by mounted mes-
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 125 
 
 sengers over dangerous and difficult roads. At 
 these so-called townships he dismissed inefficient 
 officers, started hospitals and gaols, and generally 
 dealt with the thousand-and-one matters that 
 awaited the settlement of a supreme economic 
 and administrative authority. Nor did he neglect 
 any opportunity of visiting new gold discoveries, 
 in order to ascertain for himself the nature of the 
 reefs and the practical working of the new mining 
 law. Moreover, as there was no judge or high- 
 court machinery, he was himself, as chief magis- 
 trate, the court of appeal in civil and criminal 
 cases. In all these matters he acted, as it were, in 
 a dual capacity with a dual responsibility. As the 
 official representative of a great Company, he had 
 to study the interests of shareholders whose views 
 were predominantly commercial. On the other 
 hand, as standing in Rhodes' shoes, as representing 
 his mind and ambitions, he had to consider the 
 wider political and imperial issues of the situation. 
 He had to drive a coach for the Chartered Com- 
 pany and one for Rhodes as well. But as a driving 
 force he was remarkable, and few men have been 
 able to inspire such zeal and energy from those 
 who worked for them. Under these conditions he 
 had to compromise, to carry out reforms with
 
 126 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 judgment, and to temper economy with a certain 
 munificence which assisted even the inefficient to 
 settle on the land. 
 
 Despite his efforts he was, however, powerless 
 to stem the current of general discontent and dis- 
 appointment that prevailed. This found expres- 
 sion on the 12th September, 1891, at the banquet 
 to commemorate the Occupation Day of the 
 previous year, and the methods and officials of 
 the Chartered Company were then savagely at- 
 tacked in speeches that were undisguisedly revolu- 
 tionary and hostile. The chief causes of complaint 
 were the heavy tax of fifty per cent, on gold pro- 
 perties and the prohibitive rates of living. Trans- 
 port from Kimberley was £80 per ton, and the 
 ordinary necessaries of life were almost unprocur- 
 able — jam cost ten shillings or even fifteen shillings, 
 a tin ; cigarettes, sixpence or a shilling each ; 
 whisky £20 the case, and other things in like 
 proportion. 
 
 Jameson was not present at the banquet, but 
 shortly afterwards took up his abode in Salisbury 
 for the wet season. He at once compelled the 
 leading grumblers to confront him with their com- 
 plaints, and gave a sympathetic hearing to their 
 various troubles and requests. Although fearless,
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 1 27 
 
 he ever sought to avoid giving offence, and was 
 always ready to accept and put in force possible 
 suggestions. Adamant in refusal if necessary, he 
 was so human withal that the refused generally 
 departed more mindful of his charm than their 
 loss. Thus, under the influence of his presence, 
 a great deal of the aggressive hostility to the Com- 
 pany soon disappeared. 
 
 In adapting himself to all the circumstances 
 of this new environment, he displayed not only 
 tact and foresight, but in a marked degree the 
 supreme quality of common-sense. Practical horse- 
 sense stamped his judgments and actions in every 
 department. Without military or legal training of 
 any kind, he shrank from no responsibility, and 
 his word was law throughout the length and breadth 
 of the land. Intolerant of methods that savoured 
 of red-tapeism and circumlocution, he swept aside 
 all forms of unnecessary professional etiquette, and 
 relied entirely upon his own shrewdness. To a 
 cavalry officer who had applied for promotion to 
 major, he replied that he was quite willing to make 
 him a general, but at captain's pay. In his judicial 
 decisions, he avoided technicalities, and dealt out 
 a ready-made justice after the fashion of Solomon. 
 His wisdom in this respect justified itself, and if
 
 128 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 a few soldiers or lawyers occasionally resented his 
 disregard for unessentials ; practical colonists and 
 litigants rejoiced in the efficiency of an administra- 
 tion that maintained law and order, and organized 
 the resources of the country under exceptionally 
 difficult circumstances. 
 
 In October, 1892, the first trial for murder took 
 place. There was no jury, but Jameson selected 
 six prominent, responsible men to act as assessors 
 with him. The case occupied two days, and during 
 the last afternoon the rough mud-and-wattled 
 court-house was packed densely with bare-armed, 
 flannel-shirted men. 
 
 The hearing of the evidence closed dramatically. 
 According to Roman-Dutch law, the prisoner was 
 allowed to enter the witness-box to give evidence 
 in his own behalf. A Jew, he swore with all the 
 solemn customs of his race to speak the truth. The 
 story he told was weak and unconvincing. Then 
 came the psychological moment, when again, with 
 every solemnity, pale with intense emotion, and 
 placing his hat on his head, he swore before God 
 and on his soul that he was innocent of the charge. 
 The assessors left and returned in half an hour. 
 In the sultrous and expectant stillness, Jameson 
 rose to deliver their verdict, and his voice, generally
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 129 
 
 so insistent and clear, for once faltered, as, standing 
 face to face with the accused, he pronounced the 
 sentence of death. The primitive surroundings ; 
 the grim perjury of the prisoner ; the dramatic 
 sacrifice of his soul to save his life; the evident 
 emotion of Jameson and his assessors, all empha- 
 sized the inexorableness of justice even in that 
 far land, and made this first murder trial more than 
 usually impressive. 
 
 Not long afterwards, just as Jameson had sat 
 down to dinner in the mess hut, a trooper galloped 
 up and reported that a large body of townsmen 
 were marching towards the gaol to lynch a native 
 who had been condemned to death for the cold- 
 blooded murder of a European and his wife and 
 child. Without a second's delay, hatless, he ran 
 towards the gaol, and some two hundred yards 
 below it, saw about one hundred men advancing 
 with ropes and ladders. Stepping to the front, 
 and taking his stand on the crest of the hill, he 
 began to address them. A few were drunk, but 
 the majority were sober ; some held responsible 
 positions, and one and all were stubbornly deter- 
 mined to avenge for themselves this dastardly 
 native outrage. Jameson's manner was at first 
 rather casual, and in a quiet, persuasive way he 
 
 9
 
 i 3 o DR. JAMESON. 
 
 appealed to the men to allow the law to take its 
 natural course. His arguments were received in 
 ominous silence, and after a few moments there was 
 a movement amongst them towards the gaol, 
 as if they would sweep him aside. At this, his 
 manner instantly changed. He seemed seized with 
 fury ; a Celtic passion of speech poured from his 
 lips. With fierce emphasis of language, he drove 
 home his points, sometimes to the crowd collec- 
 tively, sometimes to individuals. Standing half- 
 way between the swaying, darkened mass of 
 humans that encircled him in front, and the 
 shadowy outline of buildings silhouetted in his 
 rear, his bare-headed figure and furious gestures 
 had a singularly bizarre effect. But his desperate 
 earnestness succeeded in arresting the attention 
 of the lynchers, and a murmur of discussion arose 
 in their midst. Eventually the leaders began to 
 argue, and this gave Jameson his opportunity. 
 He appealed to their common interests not to 
 frighten away capital • he called them individually 
 and collectively " damned fools," and eventually, 
 by promising that the native should be speedily 
 hanged, he gained the day. Some there were 
 whom he, as was ever his wont, had helped pro- 
 fessionally when dire stricken with fever or sick-
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 131 
 
 ness ; and these grateful hero-worshippers, seeing 
 how earnestly he was opposed to their intention, 
 began to move down-hill towards the town. Others 
 broke up in groups to discuss the matter, and at 
 last the leaders went off with Jameson to friendly 
 drinks in his own hut. Meanwhile the native 
 had been taken from the defenceless mud walls 
 of the gaol and galloped off into the veld, 
 where he was kept until he was brought to his 
 execution. Thus, by a mixture of tact, cleverness 
 and determination, he overcame a very difficult 
 occasion. 
 
 Never, perhaps, had the strength of his personal 
 influence and magnetism been put to a severer 
 strain. A will less fiercely determined, an Admini- 
 strator less genuinely proved as a friend and 
 as a man, would have been powerless to have 
 stopped the deliberate purpose of this pioneer 
 crowd. The authority of his office was of no avail, 
 and he had to rely entirely on his personality to 
 persuade these justly-angered men to allow the 
 unemotional processes of ordinary law to effect 
 their inadequate vengeance. His success was due 
 to the sheer weight of a personal influence, that 
 neither economic reforms on a large scale, nor 
 
 the unkindly condition of a new country, nor the 
 
 9*
 
 132 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 disappointed hopes of an entire community had 
 been able to weaken. 
 
 Ere long, however, his effective administration 
 began to make itself felt, and by the beginning of 
 1893 the prospects, both for the settlers and for 
 the Company, were bright and hopeful. Owing 
 to the saving in expenditure, Rhodes had been 
 able to finance a railway from Beira, and the 
 work had already commenced. Telegraph lines 
 had been laid as far as Victoria; roads had 
 been made, and inter-communication established 
 between the various townships ; a postal 
 system organized, surveys effected j and the new 
 Gold Law had proved workable in almost every 
 respect. 
 
 Despite the reduction of the police and the 
 amateur nature of the judicial arrangements, life 
 and property were almost as safe in these vast 
 territories as in any European capital. The natives 
 had been protected against themselves and against 
 the whites, and the whites against the natives, 
 and thus to a certain extent, Jameson had accom- 
 plished the task he had set himself to perform. 
 He had, in fact, so administered and civilized these 
 vast dominions of barbarism, that they were ready 
 to receive any influx of capital or population that
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 133 
 
 might take place. So far, indeed, no phenomenal 
 deposits of gold or precious stones had been dis- 
 covered, but the comparatively little prospecting 
 that had been done had proved that the country 
 was highly mineralized ; and on several reefs 
 development work had shown very satisfactory 
 results, while the wealth of the soil had induced 
 many settlers to put their time and money 
 into farming operations. 
 
 By April, 1893, miners, farmers, investors and 
 shareholders were all justifiably optimistic on the 
 rapid progress and prosperity of the country. 
 Jameson, who had no expert knowledge of mining, 
 shared in the general optimism, and sent home 
 hopeful cables, especially on the gold outlook. But 
 the cloud of Matabele trouble, for some time past 
 hovering on the horizon, had by June assumed 
 so definitely threatening an aspect, that for the 
 moment all industrial progress was arrested and 
 the entire community compelled to devote itself 
 to preparing for war. 
 
 The organization, discipline, and ferocious fight- 
 ing qualities of the Matabele had won for them a 
 reputation which for years had held South Africa 
 in awe. Not only professional soldiers who had 
 visited the country, but even practical colonists
 
 134 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and hunters, shared a general belief in their almost 
 unassailable strength. 
 
 Briefly stated, the history of events is as 
 follows : — 
 
 Ever since the big annual dance at Bulawayo, at 
 the beginning of the year, the young Matabele impis 
 had been raiding the natives on the Mashonaland 
 border, stirring up petty chiefs to fight, and utilizing 
 every opportunity to harry them as of old, killing 
 the men and carrying off the women and cattle. 
 In June, they had cut the telegraph wires near Fort 
 Victoria, but Lobengula denied that his people 
 were guilty, and sent an impi to punish the 
 Mashonas, whom he accused of the deed. The latter 
 fled to Fort Victoria, pursued and killed by the 
 Matabele even in the streets of the township. 
 Jameson, who was there at the moment, gave them 
 an hour to clear out over the border. They were 
 impudent, and eventually, at Magola's kraal, three 
 miles from Victoria, fired upon a small force that 
 he had sent out to reconnoitre. The fire was re- 
 turned ; two indunas and several Matabele were 
 slain, and the impi retired to Bulawayo. Jameson 
 reported the matter to Lobengula, and demanded 
 one thousand cattle as a fine for the invasion of the 
 Chartered territory. After messages to and fro,
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 135 
 
 the latter agreed to pay the cattle on condition 
 that the Mashona refugees were handed over to him. 
 To this Jameson made no reply, and all communica- 
 tions between him and Lobengula ceased. 
 
 Up to this point Jameson's course had been 
 clear ; and the community had, almost to a man, 
 supported his policy and actions. The settlers 
 had, in fact, threatened that they would leave 
 the country in a body unless the Matabele were 
 instantly punished, and the menace of further 
 incursions removed. All work was more or less at 
 a standstill ; waggon transports were unobtainable, 
 and suspense and alarm prevailed on every side. 
 
 The prestige of the Chartered Company amongst 
 the Mashonas and other native tribes, and the 
 safety of all white men throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land, made it imperative that the 
 Matabele should be punished for their invasion 
 of the Company's territory, and that their power 
 should be broken. Under these circumstances, any 
 ordinary Administrator, after strengthening the de- 
 fences of Mashonaland, would have appealed to the 
 Imperial Government to break the military power 
 of a native organization that so dangerously 
 menaced British progress and civilization. Jame- 
 son, however, was not the man to play a passive
 
 136 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 role of this kind. His knowledge of South African 
 history had implanted in him a distrust of Imperial 
 and professional military methods of conducting 
 native or other wars. The long delays, the inde- 
 cision, the inevitable backings and fillings, the 
 supreme capacity for waste of money, time and 
 men which had in the past so often charac- 
 terized Imperially-managed Colonial campaigns, 
 would have spelt ruin to Mashonaland, as 
 well as to the Company and to Rhodes. He 
 believed that the only way to meet the situation 
 was, with a mobile force of his pioneers, to 
 assume the aggressive — to fight the Matabele 
 in their own country, and march across rivers 
 and through forests direct to Bulawayo. The 
 risks and responsibility of this plan were tre- 
 mendous. Defeat would mean not only ruin to 
 everyone concerned, but possibly the massacre of 
 every white inhabitant in Mashonaland — in fact, 
 there would have been nothing to check the march 
 of the victorious impis to the sea. Old colonists 
 and experienced men wagged their heads in 
 solemn warning, and even some of the pioneers 
 themselves doubted the feasibility of Jameson's 
 idea. But nothing turned him aside from his 
 purpose. Deaf to arguments, he also refused to
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 137 
 
 recognize any impossible difficulties. Cock-sure 
 himself, he inspired Rhodes and others with his 
 cock-sureness. For two months of desperate 
 worry and anxiety he rested neither night nor 
 day, ever travelling backwards and forwards be- 
 tween Salisbury and Victoria, enthusing, re- 
 cruiting, and in every way organizing for a punitive 
 force to advance into Matabeleland as soon as 
 possible. With the same splendid pioneer material 
 to his hand that, in the face of alarmist prophecies 
 of every kind, had so staunchly marched into 
 Mashonaland ; and mindful of the other desperate 
 expeditions he had already so triumphantly carried 
 through, the whole bent of his temperament urged 
 him to take the risk, however momentous, and to 
 seize the occasion which he and his destiny had 
 created. 
 
 The High Commissioner, however, who had been 
 in frequent communication with Lobengula, ordered 
 Jameson not to press the matter of the cattle fine, 
 and forbade him to make any aggressive movement 
 unless attacked. This enforced inaction indefi- 
 nitely complicated the difficulties of the position. 
 The whole business and progress of the country 
 was paralyzed. The expenditure of the Company 
 in military preparations was enormous. The wet
 
 138 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 season was near at hand, and Lobengula was already 
 organizing his impis and making every prepara- 
 tion for defence or attack. Fortunately, on the 
 5th of October, the Matabele themselves removed 
 this impasse by attacking a patrol of the Imperial 
 British Bechuanaland Police. As the High Com- 
 missioner had no authority to send up Imperial 
 troops from Cape Town, he mobilized a mixed force 
 of Bechuanaland Police and Chartered Company's 
 recruits, under Colonel Goold-Adams ; at the 
 same time withdrawing his injunctions, he gave 
 Jameson a free hand to attack if he wished. It 
 was, however, no easy matter to raise a volun- 
 teer unpaid force, and it strained Jameson's tact 
 and persuasiveness to the utmost to overcome the 
 various frictions and difficulties that arose, and 
 to finally get every man to sign for service. There 
 had naturally been a good deal of heroic talk, 
 which was not always readily translated into 
 action. Jameson himself, in writing of his ex- 
 periences at this crisis, said ; " This is the first and 
 last time I shall ever lead an army." To a little 
 coterie of swagger young Englishmen who de- 
 manded commissions, he replied, " Very well, I 
 make you all captains ; but you must all carry 
 rifles, and get troopers' pay," and the compromise
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 139 
 
 had soothed their vanity without reducing their 
 efficiency. On the nth, he addressed the Victoria 
 troops on parade and marched out with them, joining 
 the Salisbury column at Iron Mine Hill, sixty-five 
 miles from Salisbury, on the 16th of October. 
 
 The combined force, under the command of 
 Major Forbes, consisted of, roughly, seven hundred 
 Europeans, five hundred horses, two thousand five 
 hundred natives, including Cape boys, six maxims, 
 five other quick-firing guns, and thirty-seven 
 waggons. No tents or baggage were carried. 
 Jameson roughed it with the others, sleeping in 
 the open and served with the same rations. In 
 fact, in this respect he was worse off than most, as 
 his mess companion invariably ate his sugar ration 
 as well as his own. Although holding no military 
 rank, he was first in authority in all counsels of 
 war, and was the moving spirit on every occasion. 
 He even accompanied the midnight scouting ex- 
 pedition to burn down the big military kraal of 
 the Insukameni regiment. Cigarette in mouth, 
 and a small black riding-whip in hand, no spurs, 
 and in plain grey riding suit, lace boots and gaiters, 
 with an old grey hat on his head, his figure was 
 always on the spot where the fighting was keenest 
 or the situation most critical. His only weapon
 
 140 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 was a revolver, which was never fired till several 
 days after arrival in Bulawayo, when, seeing it lying 
 on his box, he said, " Let us go and shoot some 
 of these native dogs."* 
 
 During the two fierce attacks on the laagers he 
 walked up and down smoking, and was, even during 
 the hottest firing, apparently an indifferent specta- 
 tor. At Shangani he was furious with Major 
 Wilson for exposing himself, and shouted, " Get 
 off that box, you silly ass ; you are much more 
 use alive than dead," and at last rushed forward 
 himself and pulled away the box upon which 
 Wilson was standing. At the Bembesi fight 
 he picked up a rifle, saying, "I have never shot 
 at a man in my life. I wonder what it is like," 
 and as a sort of curious experience fired one or 
 two shots into the attacking natives in the bush. 
 Here a great disaster befell him, as, during the 
 thick of the fight, some miscreant stole his very 
 precious cigarettes, which were stowed away in one 
 of his boots. However, to celebrate the victory 
 that evening, he produced, as a rare luxury, the 
 pot of jam that had been presented to him as 
 the column had started. 
 
 * The camp was swarming with packs of native dogs ; unowned mongrels of 
 a most useless and mischievous kind.
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 141 
 
 His star was in the ascendant, and the fortune 
 of war favoured him from the start. Owing to 
 divided councils amongst themselves, the Matabele 
 allowed the column to pass unattacked through the 
 Sambula forest, and on the 24th to cross unmolested 
 the Shangani river at a bad place. Owing to these 
 tactics, the pioneers were compelled to laager in 
 the afternoon in a weak position on the other side 
 of the river. Meanwhile, the Matabele, some seven 
 thousand strong, had planned, about 10 p.m., to 
 make a night rush with the assegai upon the laager. 
 A series of the merest and most unexpected 
 off-chances, however, upset their plans. In the first 
 place, in order to show the laager's position to 
 a belated patrol that had not returned, Major 
 Forbes sent up a rocket at 8 p.m. This chance 
 rocket so disconcerted the superstitious enemy 
 that they decided to delay their attack till dawn. 
 Even then, the fortunate accidental discharge of 
 one of the Matabele rifles, as they commenced 
 their advance, revealed their movements, and com- 
 pelled them to abandon their intention of rushing 
 the laager with assegai, and to open fire along the 
 whole line. Moreover, their charge in the front of 
 the laagers was weakened by the failure of one of 
 their regiments to arrive in time. Despite, however,
 
 142 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 these three chance-favouring circumstances, this 
 first attack, made in the faint light of the setting 
 moon, when it was difficult to locate the enemy, 
 and to render the firing at all effective, was a very 
 serious one. Some few of the Matabele, indeed, 
 got up to within eighty yards of the laager. The 
 second attack, at about 4.30 a.m., when the 
 sun was shining, was much more easily dealt with. 
 But had the assegai rush taken place at 10 p.m., 
 as originally intended, Jameson's force would have 
 had a desperate night struggle before them, and 
 the whole course of South African history might 
 have been changed. 
 
 The following day Jameson suffered a keen 
 personal loss in the death of Captain Gwenyth 
 Williams, whose horse bolted with him amongst 
 the enemy. The advance continued, and daily 
 skirmishes occurred till the column reached the 
 Bembesi River on the 1st of November. Here they 
 were unexpectedly attacked at noon by a large 
 force of Matabele belonging to the older and more 
 trained regiments. The position of the laager 
 was not good, the fire of the enemy was well main- 
 tained, and they very nearly succeeded in captur- 
 ing the whole of the horses, which had stampeded. 
 Eventually, however, after about two hours' severe
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 143 
 
 fighting, the impis, who had suffered heavily, 
 retired in some confusion. 
 
 The next day the pioneers marched to within 
 thirty miles from Bulawayo. By evening, scouts 
 returned, and reported that the place was partially 
 in flames and deserted, save for two white men 
 found on the roof of Dawson's store ; that the 
 king's waggons, ivory and effects had been re- 
 moved, his houses blown up, and that he himself 
 had fled. Early on the following morning, the 
 3rd of November, a small patrol was sent in ad- 
 vance to Bulawayo. Jameson remained behind, 
 but ever impatient to get on, at last ordered his 
 horse, and seeing a well-known Rhodesian standing 
 by, said to him, " Come with me ; we have more 
 chance of getting something to eat in the kraal 
 than if we stop here ! " Shortly after starting, 
 however, the man's horse gave out, and Jameson 
 rode on alone with his servant. 
 
 Pushing on, late in the afternoon he arrived 
 in sight of Bulawayo. A solitary, rough-garbed 
 civilian, he stopped to gaze as conqueror upon the 
 deserted huts and still smoking embers of that 
 citadel of ferocious savagedom. From blackened 
 walls, blue wreaths of smoke curled silently up- 
 wards through stillness and heat to the great, silent
 
 144 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 expanse above. On the right, a few tottering stakes 
 marked the spot whereon, three years previously, 
 Jameson had been acclaimed induna of the royal 
 regiment. Behind them could be seen the disman- 
 tled ruins of the medicine-kraal, that temple of 
 insensate witchcraft, that laboratory of organized 
 murder and rapine, wherein Lobengula, a necro- 
 mancer surrounded by necromancers, had so 
 often determined in what direction his blood- 
 thirsty impis should fall upon the unnerved men, 
 the defenceless women and children, of the surround- 
 ing tribes. At one swoop, as it were, Jameson had 
 hurled him and his myrmidons from power, had 
 delivered from their historic fear thousands of 
 terrorized natives; had made possible the march 
 of civilization throughout the length and breadth 
 of that South African Hinterland; had added an 
 immense and wealthy territory to our Empire; 
 and had converted the concessions of the Chartered 
 Company into great freeholds, extending from the 
 Zambesi in the north to the Portuguese territories 
 on the south and east. The pride of achievement 
 was his ; but much as had been done, much still 
 remained to be done, and gathering up his reins, 
 he crossed the stream, and cantered up the slope 
 into the ruined kraal.
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 145 
 
 Here he took up his quarters, living in a deserted 
 hut by day, and sleeping within the laager of 
 waggons by night. His position was a trying one, 
 as it was impossible to follow up his victories and 
 pursue Lobengula until the slow-moving waggons 
 from the south had arrived with provisions. While 
 impatiently awaiting their arrival, he heard that, 
 shortly after he had started from Iron Mine Hill, 
 Lobengula had sent two peace envoys to Colonel 
 Goold-Adams at Tati, and that they had been 
 shot under a misapprehension. He also learnt that 
 the day after his victory at Bembesi, the Bechuana- 
 land Police force had defeated the Matabele at 
 Shangesi Spruit, on the southern borders of Mata- 
 beleland. 
 
 The news was good so far as it went, but dis- 
 content had broken out amongst the pioneer column, 
 and only a certain number volunteered for further 
 service under Major Forbes in pursuit of the king. 
 Moreover, the arrival of Commandant Ralf and his 
 Transvaal recruits in the unprovisioned camp at 
 Bulawayo did not make the situation easier. On 
 the 4th of December, however, in the midst of 
 his anxiety, Rhodes suddenly appeared. So un- 
 expected was he, that Jameson told the messenger 
 
 who brought him the news, " not to be an 
 
 10
 
 146 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 ass." He was, in fact, only just in time to gallop 
 out and meet Rhodes two miles from Bulawayo. 
 
 Such a meeting, under such conditions, justified 
 some expressions of congratulation or jubilancy; 
 but by virtue of their mysterious understanding, 
 the two partners did not even shake hands. 
 Casually nodding to each other, they plunged at 
 once into the practical necessities of the situation. 
 A few days later came the news — the heart- 
 stirring news of the fate that had befallen 
 Major Allan Wilson's force in their pursuit of 
 Lobengula — and of their epic fight to the death 
 in the face of overwhelming Matabele. Realizing 
 the desperate plight of the survivors, Rhodes 
 and Jameson, as soon as possible, set out 
 with such provisions and necessaries as were 
 procurable. 
 
 On the 16th of December, the troops, with the 
 exception of a force left at Inyati, returned to 
 Bulawayo. On the 21st they were paraded, ad- 
 dressed by Rhodes, and dismissed, each man re- 
 ceiving a farm. By this time stores and canteens 
 in abundance had sprung up, and Bulawayo, now 
 converted from a military into a mining camp, 
 threatened for a moment to become an Alsatia. 
 The administrative machinery was not yet in
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 147 
 
 working order, and hardly adequate to deal with 
 a certain number of desperados, who became 
 such a menace to the community, that Jameson 
 threatened to turn the guns upon them unless 
 they left the country. 
 
 He himself had a narrow escape, saved only by 
 his presence of mind. Lying one afternoon on his 
 bed in his tent, a burly, drunken prospector sud- 
 denly lurched inside, and drawing his revolver, 
 
 said, " You are a good old doctor, but I am b y 
 
 well going to shoot you." Jameson remained 
 motionless, puffed a whiff of cigarette smoke through 
 his lips, and coolly replied, " Yes, that's all right ; 
 but don't you think you had better have a drink 
 first ? " The man agreed. Jameson called his serv- 
 ant and told him to take him to the canteen, at 
 the same time pointing with his finger, not to the 
 canteen, but to the police camp. Off went the 
 prospector, quite pleased, but soon discovered the 
 ruse. A desperate struggle took place ; the servant 
 was thrown heavily to the ground, and the pro- 
 spector was only just overtaken by the police as 
 he was re-entering the tent, revolver in hand, 
 and black murder in his heart. 
 
 The man was imprisoned, but shortly afterwards 
 
 demonstrated his homicidal mania by escaping 
 
 10*
 
 148 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 from gaol and training the maxim gun on the 
 race-course during a meeting. Fortunately, the 
 shots went high, and no one was killed, but some of 
 the jockeys had a narrow escape. 
 
 Rhodes left on the 23rd of December, but Jame- 
 son remained to face the innumerable difficulties 
 and anxieties in connection with the settlement 
 of the country and its administration. 
 
 Its scheme was similar to that which was in force 
 in Mashonaland. Postal service and heliographic 
 communications were established. Forts were built 
 at Bulawayo, Mangwe and Fig-tree Camps, and 
 roads opened in various directions ; hospitals and 
 prisons erected in the township. Meanwhile, the 
 volunteers, who had been disbanded on Christmas 
 Day, had been busy pegging out the farms and 
 claims to which they were entitled. By the end 
 of January over nine hundred farm rights and 
 nearly ten thousand gold claims were registered. 
 Those who wished to return to the place of their 
 enlistment had received from the Chartered Com- 
 pany rations to enable them to do so ; while those 
 who elected to remain had been supplied with 
 such stores and tools as were available. 
 
 Shortly after the fall of Bulawayo Jameson 
 had taken steps to let the Matabele know that all
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 149 
 
 those who came in and surrendered would be 
 allowed to return to the kraals in time to plough 
 and sow, and would also receive a certain number 
 of the captured cattle. By the end of January, 
 1894, several of the chief indunas and thousands 
 of married Matabele with their amaholis, or de- 
 pendants, had surrendered their guns and assegais. 
 Many had accepted work, while the others had gone 
 to their kraals to till their lands. A boy of thirteen 
 handed in his assegai and shield, saying, " I am 
 tired of fighting the white man, and want to live 
 at peace with him in the kraal." The settlement 
 of all these matters involved an incessant attention 
 to detail, but on the whole, matters worked out 
 smoothly, and Jameson's chief troubles arose from 
 the interference of the Home Government in a 
 country it had done so little to acquire. 
 
 But for the accident of such an Administrator 
 as Jameson in Mashonaland, it is quite certain that 
 sooner or later the task of breaking up the aggres- 
 sive militarism of the Matabele would have fallen 
 upon the Imperial authorities, whose methods, even 
 if successful, would, judging from past experience, 
 have been very expensive in blood and money. 
 The Chartered Company, however, without in- 
 volving the Home Exchequer in anything but
 
 ISO DR. JAMESON. 
 
 fractional expense, had accomplished this task and 
 acquired Matabeleland. Moreover, by virtue of its 
 proved capacity to administer newly-acquired terri- 
 tories, and of the demonstrated beneficence of its 
 native rule, the Company, by every rule of the 
 game, was entitled to a free hand in the settle- 
 ment of affairs, especially native affairs, in Mata- 
 beleland. 
 
 There was no reason or justification for 
 attempting to hamper Rhodes and Jameson in this 
 respect. But Downing Street plays a peculiar 
 game of its own with regard to South African 
 matters ; and it at once set up a claim for 
 Imperial interference in respect of the Matabele. 
 The loudest agitators, needless to say, were those 
 who were the least likely ever to leave their 
 too comfortable English homes in order to put 
 their theories about natives to an actual test. 
 Such persons always suffer from an excess of 
 imagination. It was not reasonable to imagine 
 that a man like Rhodes — the author of the Glen 
 Grey Act in Cape Colony, the beloved " Baba," or 
 father, of natives ; or that a man like Jameson, 
 who had protected natives over territory as vast 
 as Europe, would act contrary to their self-interests, 
 and introduce non-humane methods of government
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 151 
 
 for the Matabele. It is a curious misarrangement 
 of affairs that can enable an ignorant, easy, and 
 mischievous sentimentalism to hamper the difficult 
 and delicate civilizing work of men of such character 
 and experience as these. 
 
 Secondly, the Imperial authorities laid an em- 
 bargo on the captured cattle, and it was impossible 
 for Jameson and his Chartered Company officials to 
 hand back to the surrendered Matabele the number 
 of beasts they had been promised. Moreover, the 
 presence of vast herds of animals of apparently 
 doubtful ownership stimulated cattle-thieving both 
 amongst whites and blacks, and on every possible 
 scale. The task of repressing this additional trouble 
 was, of course, thrown upon the Chartered Company, 
 who had to organize a special body of police to patrol 
 the roads to the Transvaal and elsewhere. Thirdly, 
 these same Imperial authorities forbade the erection 
 of townships throughout the country, thus definitely 
 increasing the risk and hardship to prospectors, 
 farmers, and others, who, in pursuit of their own 
 interests, were also helping to develop and civilize 
 the territory. Finally, as a supreme effort of 
 home-made wisdom, they endeavoured to alter the 
 tariff clause that Rhodes and Jameson had drafted 
 in the new constitution that was being drawn up
 
 152 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 for Rhodesia. Under this clause, Rhodesia was 
 bound always and for ever to admit British-made 
 goods at the current rates prevailing in Cape Town. 
 Its object was to secure for British manufacturers 
 the same advantages in Rhodesia that were granted 
 them at the Cape. The Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies, however, wished to erase the words 
 " British-made goods " and to insert instead " all 
 imported goods." 
 
 The effect of this would have been to gratuitously 
 give to our commercial rivals equal rights in terri- 
 tories which we had recently annexed to our 
 Empire, and to positively throw away the chance 
 of securing therein advantages for ourselves. Such 
 a short-sighted, unpatriotic policy is almost in- 
 credible ; but it was only with the greatest 
 difficulty that Rhodes was able to persuade the 
 Government not to alter the original wording of his 
 clause. 
 
 In the face of such cumulative evidence of the 
 incapacity of Downing Street to deal with South 
 African problems, small wonder is it that Rhodes 
 and Jameson grew daily more and more conscious 
 of their ability and fitness to think imperially and 
 to act for the sub-continent. 
 
 So many and so difficult were the questions
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 153 
 
 connected with the settlement of Matabeleland, 
 that it was not till May, 1894, that Jameson could 
 return to his headquarters in Salisbury. His 
 j ourney there was an unpleasant one, as his waggon 
 broke down half way, and for three days he was 
 wrecked on the veld. 
 
 After remaining in the latter place for some two 
 months, he accompanied Rhodes to Umtali, and 
 when nearing this township they met an armed 
 force advancing to attack the native chief, Makoni. 
 This action on the part of the magistrate was pre- 
 mature, and Rhodes' anger waxed hot against 
 him. Jameson, however, threw himself into the 
 breach, and eventually pacified both parties, and 
 the magistrate afterwards became Rhodes' trusted 
 friend and companion. After a brief stay at Umtali, 
 the two partners went to the coast, and from 
 thence to Delagoa Bay and Pretoria, where Rhodes 
 had a final and a historic interview with Kruger. 
 
 Early in November, both left for England, and 
 Jameson enjoyed the holiday and recognition he 
 had so deservedly earned. On his last visit, in 1886, 
 he was unknown outside a small circle of friends ; 
 but he returned in 1894 as a man whose personality 
 had borne a foremost share in the making of history 
 in South Africa. During these years he had carried
 
 154 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 through with success epoch-making enterprises. 
 He had pioneered and occupied a hinterland of 
 considerable potential wealth and political im- 
 portance. With tact and wisdom he had civilized 
 these territories, maintaining law and order over 
 hordes of natives, and over Europeans, lawless by 
 instinct and circumstance. With iron determina- 
 tion he had broken the military organization of the 
 Matabele, had destroyed their famous regiments, 
 and converted some twelve thousand warriors into 
 peaceful and almost industrious subjects. 
 
 In acknowledgment of achievements so strenu- 
 ously Imperial and disinterested, Her late Majesty 
 was graciously pleased to confer upon him the dis- 
 tinguished Order of Commander of the Bath. He 
 had, indeed, earned rest and recognition, the congra- 
 tulations of eminent men, the patronizing plaudits 
 of sleek, stay-at-home hedonist citizens, the flattery 
 and friendship of distinguished women. His pro- 
 fessional friends and others welcomed him with 
 complimentary dinners ; and on the 28th of January, 
 1895, His Majesty (then Prince of Wales) presided 
 at his address to the Imperial Institute. For 
 nearly two hours Jameson arrested a closely packed 
 audience by a plain, lucid statement of the past 
 making of Rhodesia, and of its prospects for the
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 155 
 
 future. His manner and delivery were singularly 
 simple and natural. Ignoring absolutely anything 
 he himself had done, he gave, as was right, all 
 honour and glory to Rhodes, who sat, impressive 
 and Sphinx-like, behind him. So effectively, indeed, 
 did Jameson gloss over his own share in this Imperial 
 work, that the great audience gained no hint, or 
 even fleeting glimpse, of the self-sacrificing heroism 
 and dare-devil leadership of the quiet-toned speaker, 
 who so impersonally, and yet so vividly, aroused 
 their interest. 
 
 This deliberate effacement of any reference to 
 his own personal influence and power, to his own 
 adventures and triumphs, formed the crowning 
 wreath of a personality destined to greatness, 
 of one whose deeds were great, but whose cha- 
 racter was greater. But before the year was out, 
 the laurels he had so deservedly gained and so 
 modestly worn were to be torn ruthlessly from 
 his brow and unctuously trampled under foot 
 by the many who had then swelled the chorus 
 of applause.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE RAID. 
 
 " It matters little how a man lives if only he is true to himself ; it matters 
 little what a man may lose if he remains what he really is." 
 
 Amongst many strange episodes in South African 
 history the abortive Uitlander Revolution of 1895 
 is perhaps one of the strangest. 
 
 Its most conspicuous incident was the attempt 
 by Jameson to lead an armed British force into 
 Transvaal territory to Johannesburg, before any 
 definite overt revolutionary act had been com- 
 mitted in that city. This was not quite in accord- 
 ance with the prearranged revolutionary scheme ; 
 but as Jameson has never explained to the world 
 why he started when he did, the writer neither can, 
 nor wishes to, break in upon the dignity of his 
 silence in this respect. 
 
 Apart, however , from the Raid itself, Jameson 
 unintentionally played a bigger part in this his- 
 toric muddle than he intended. Free from any 
 personal ambition of wealth or power, he was from 
 
 the outset a disinterested but most uncom- 
 
 156
 
 "THE RAID." 157 
 
 promising revolutionist. Strenuous as were his 
 conscious efforts, the unconscious influence that he 
 exercised by reason of his past phenomenal good 
 fortune was perhaps greater. Reviewing the 
 whole circumstances dispassionately, it is im- 
 possible to escape from the conclusion that an 
 irresponsible optimism, and belief in " Jameson's 
 luck," to a certain extent paralysed the wills and 
 judgments of his fellow revolutionists. One and 
 all did reverence, not so much to the man, as to 
 his fortunate star, which, up to the very last, they 
 expected to accomplish the miraculous and the 
 improbable. Not that they confessed this super- 
 stition even to themselves, and certainly not to 
 each other, but unconsciously it obscured their 
 vision, and sapped their resolutions. 
 
 Jameson was equally under the spell. Believing 
 absolutely in himself, and believed in by others, 
 his past extraordinary successes had to a certain 
 extent distorted his perspective. He and his 
 fellow leaders were all hard-headed men, who in 
 ordinary affairs had shown themselves pre- 
 eminently businesslike, but obsessed by their 
 amazing optimism, their revolutionary plans 
 seem to have been singularly lacking in common- 
 sense and practical organization.
 
 158 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 The irony of the situation was all the greater 
 because of the unquestioned personal courage of 
 the responsible leaders in Johannesburg, the 
 splendid financial resources at their control and 
 the righteousness of their cause. The right 
 of the Uitlanders to appeal to force in 1895 was 
 unquestioned, and the sympathy of Western 
 peoples was on their side. Between the un- 
 relenting hostility of Krugerism on the one 
 hand, and the declared impotency of the Im- 
 perial Government to interfere on their behalf 
 on the other, they had of necessity to seek their 
 own salvation as best they could. Although con- 
 tributing nine-tenths of the taxation, they had in 
 vain sought by legitimate means to obtain some 
 adequate right of representation, some abatement 
 of the corruption that permeated the political and 
 commercial life of the community, sapping even 
 the administration of justice. Kruger and his 
 oligarchy had, however, laughed at their petitions 
 and scorned their constitutional grievances. Nay 
 more ; for out of the wealth of the Uitlander-pro- 
 vided revenue, they had purchased arms and built 
 forts wherewith to further strengthen their racial 
 dominion. The Uitlanders were, in fact, at the 
 mercy of the President and his satellites, and if
 
 "THE RAID." 159 
 
 ever circumstances justified a revolution, the}^ 
 did so in their case. 
 
 To their credit, the Anglo-Saxon community in 
 Johannesburg refused to accept this intolerable 
 position, or to go back on their claim to that 
 adequate representation in respect of taxation 
 which was instinct in their blood, and for which 
 their forefathers had so successfully battled afore- 
 time. Having exhausted every constitutional 
 method, the political leaders in that city, together 
 with their friends outside, determined upon a plan 
 of revolution, and began to smuggle in arms. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, they did not appear 
 to grasp the logical necessities of such a step. 
 Revolution is a burning brand which must either 
 be left absolutely alone, or wielded to the utter 
 destruction of those it is meant to destroy. Like 
 war, it is a distinct business, outside ordinary 
 ethical considerations, justified as a means to an 
 end, and as a desperate resort to be carried through 
 by the fire of absolute conviction and faith. But, 
 able as were the conspirators, their organization 
 was defective. There was no revolutionist leader 
 as such, no recognized centre, no chain of re- 
 sponsibility. They did not even clearly work out 
 the details of their scheme ; relying upon Jameson's
 
 t6o DR. JAMESON. 
 
 luck to make good all that was wanting either in 
 conviction or careful pre-arrangement. There was, 
 in fact, so much play-acting and make-believe all 
 round, that even to themselves the leading con- 
 spirators did not appear to admit the actual facts 
 of the situation. 
 
 Nothing is more extraordinary than the manner 
 in which these brainy financiers, who, as a rule, 
 never accepted any statement unless supported 
 by evidence, gulled themselves into believing that 
 the Home Government deliberately approved the 
 massing of the Chartered Company's police on 
 the frontier to support their revolutionary plans. 
 The murmur went round with a wink, and without 
 any attempt at verification it was accepted as a 
 fact. 
 
 Never, moreover, in the history of revolutions 
 have women and children played so varied and 
 so diverse a role. For Jameson they were the 
 alleged pretext for an act of over-daring, and for 
 a Raid ; for the revolutionists they were the 
 justification for a policy of cautious inaction and 
 an armistice. To the former they were as a bluff 
 for his police and the world generally. To the 
 Reform leaders these same women and children 
 were the blague whereby they bluffed themselves
 
 "THE RAID." 161 
 
 into doing no bluffing at all. To complete the 
 burlesque, the Boers were neither cannibals nor 
 even savages, but Westerns, chivalrous by instinct 
 towards womanhood, who, even if Jameson had 
 succeeded in entering Johannesburg, would cer- 
 tainly have allowed these same women and children 
 free egress before attack. 
 
 Then, again, there was so much mystery as to 
 the arms and ammunition actually stored in 
 Johannesburg, and so much hoodwinking of Kruger 
 on one side, and of the populace on the other, 
 that no one until the last moment, and after Jame- 
 son had started, seemed to know definitely the 
 actual amount that had been smuggled in and un- 
 packed. Approximately some two thousand rifles, 
 five guns, and twenty thousand rounds of ammu- 
 nition were all that was available at the actual 
 moment, although a good deal more came in after 
 the city had surrendered. 
 
 In the interests of the extraordinary business 
 of revolution, Hampden and Cromwell threw their 
 ordinary affairs to the winds ; but the Johannes- 
 burg leaders were perforce obliged to cling to the 
 respectable responsibilities of citizenship, and could 
 only give spare time to the debating of revolu- 
 tionary methods. It is an axiom of warfare that 
 
 ii
 
 162 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 complicated operations are dangerous, but even on 
 paper the revolutionists' scheme was alarmingly 
 complicated and difficult. 
 
 Briefly it ran somewhat as follows : The citizens 
 to be roused and secretly armed ; an ultimatum to 
 be sent to the Government, and, on its refusal, the 
 arsenal at Pretoria to be taken by a coup on a cer- 
 tain date ; the person of the President to be seized ; 
 a general rising to take place ; and a Provisional 
 Government declared. Meanwhile Jameson was to 
 be stationed at Pitsani, on the Transvaal border, 
 to ride over with his police to the support of the 
 Uitlanders thus plunged into civil war. A certain 
 discretion was given to him as to the moment 
 of his starting, but this was not to take place 
 until he had received the signal from Johannes- 
 burg. The object of his appearance on the scene 
 was so to strengthen the forces of the Uitlanders as 
 to enable them to hold their own, if possible without 
 fighting, until such time as the High Commissioner 
 and Rhodes could arrive. These two were to act as 
 mediators between the armed, outraged forces of 
 the Republic on the one hand, and the militant but 
 insufficiently armed Uitlanders on the other ; and, 
 if this plan proved successful, a plebiscite was to 
 be taken for a new form of government.
 
 "THE RAID." 163 
 
 It was obviously a stupendous task to attempt to 
 carry out such a conspiracy under the very eyes of 
 a Government whose Intelligence Department was 
 highly paid, and whose funds for buying in- 
 formation were unlimited. Moreover, the diffi- 
 culties of the revolutionists were of no ordinary 
 character. In the first place, as the finances were 
 largely provided by friends outside, the organizers 
 within the city were more in the position of agents 
 than leaders. They had to refer situations, and 
 seemed incapable of dealing with them on the spot 
 as they arose. Secondly, the difficulty of smuggling 
 in arms under the eyes of Kruger's ubiquitous 
 secret service spies was very great. Thirdly, in 
 a cosmopolitan and high-wage-earning community 
 a political agitation had to be kept simmering 
 that would border on revolution, but yet not 
 play too soon into the hands of the armed forces of 
 the Republic. Fourthly, the leaders discovered 
 at the last moment that the date fixed for the 
 blowing up of the arsenal at Pretoria coincided with 
 the New Year's festival, or Nacht Maal, of the 
 Boers, who flocked into that town for the occasion. 
 Fifthly, they made no arrangement as to the 
 nature of the revolutionist flag, and suddenly, at 
 
 the last moment, found themselves hopelessly dis- 
 
 11*
 
 1 64 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 united on this point. Sixthly, for the purpose of 
 preconcerted action with Jameson they had to 
 try and keep pace with his arrangements, which 
 were far in advance of their own. They were 
 between the fires of desperate haste on the one 
 hand and desperate secrecy on the other. Jameson 
 himself was also in a very equivocal position at 
 Pitsani ; for at any moment the Boers might 
 assemble in sufficient numbers to prevent his 
 crossing the border, or the High Commissioner 
 might order his police elsewhere. Even under 
 the most favouring circumstances and the most 
 perfect unanimity amongst themselves, a revolu- 
 tion of this sort cannot be manufactured to date 
 like a garment. 
 
 Instead, however, of working out their plans 
 beforehand definitely and in detail, the conspirators 
 seem to have gone from stage to stage in a con- 
 fused, half-hearted fashion, until suddenly con- 
 fronted with the alternative of either having to 
 fight Kruger with an inadequate supply of arms to 
 hand, or else to throw themselves upon his mercy. 
 
 Quite early in December, Rhodes apparently 
 foresaw the insuperable difficultes and futility of 
 the whole business. In the presence of a witness 
 he said to Jameson : "I think, after all, we had
 
 "THE RAID." 165 
 
 better give it all up." Jameson is reported to 
 have replied that it was then too late to do so, 
 and to have argued so vehemently in favour of 
 going on, that Rhodes allowed his saner judgment 
 to go by default, and succumbed to that let-us- 
 see-what-comes-of-it attitude that so disastrously 
 illusioned these amateur revolutionists. 
 
 Rhodes' reasons for supporting the revolution 
 in the first instance are obvious, but his continuance 
 of that support after he had so clearly seen the 
 seething complications of the whole business can 
 only be explained by the fact that his clearness of 
 vision was also obscured. No man, however great, 
 can entirely free himself from the controlling in- 
 fluences of his early surroundings. From his youth 
 up, Rhodes had lived in the fortune-worshipping 
 atmosphere of mining camps, and amongst pro- 
 spectors, miners, and others who, in their efforts 
 to exploit mineral wealth, too often relied more 
 upon luck than upon labour for their success. 
 
 Great statesman as he was, he had been, perhaps 
 unconsciously, affected by the belief-in-luck atmo- 
 sphere of his earlier years, and appeared unable 
 to free himself from that irresponsible optimism 
 about Jameson and his undertaking which he 
 shared with so many others around him. It was,
 
 1 66 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 however, during the last few critical days that the 
 revolutionist leaders appeared more especially 
 to fail in realizing either the acute nature of 
 Jameson's difficulties, or their own acute necessity 
 for taking adequate steps to prevent his starting. 
 Jameson's telegrams of the 26th and the 27th 
 had breathed defiance of any compromise, and 
 his determination to leave on Saturday, the 
 28th, which was the date arranged. On that day 
 he had wired that there would be no rising in 
 Johannesburg unless he started. 
 
 Telegrams like these, from a man like Jameson, 
 created a desperate situation, and one which 
 obviously demanded desperate measures on the 
 part of those who were by way of opposing his 
 intention. But neither Rhodes nor the Johan- 
 nesburg leaders took any adequate means to pre- 
 vent him from taking the wholly uncontemplated 
 step of starting before they were ready. It is true 
 that Rhodes sent more or less peremptory tele- 
 grams, urging Jameson to wait, and the leaders in 
 Johannesburg did the same j but instead of some 
 of the latter going themselves to interview Jameson, 
 they were fatuous enough to believe that two 
 rather irresponsible messengers would dissuade 
 the most determined man in South Africa from
 
 "THE RAID." 167 
 
 carrying out that which he obviously intended 
 and had openly threatened to do. 
 
 Such half-and-half measures at such a crisis re- 
 vealed the 'twixt-and-between condition of their 
 minds. They coquetted with circumstances. Their 
 " No " was like the half-hearted " No " of a finess- 
 ing woman, which really is a form of cf Yes" await- 
 ing the mastery of circumstance. Their capacity for 
 determined action seemed to be in inverse propor- 
 tion to the desperate need for it, and no one dared 
 absolutely and irrevocably to oppose Jameson's luck. 
 
 Metaphorically, they were like passengers on 
 board a steamer without crew or captain, who 
 had planned to cut the hawsers and go out to sea. 
 At the last moment, however, they all changed 
 their minds except one man, who had been placed 
 in charge of the lifeboat, and who had asked what 
 was the good of his lifeboat if they were not going 
 to carry out their original plan. They expostu- 
 lated, but despite his determined threats to cut 
 the ropes himself, took no hard and fast measures 
 to prevent his doing so. He was as good as his 
 word, and in a moment they all found themselves 
 out at sea. Once, however, the deed was done, 
 they confronted their danger with cool courage, 
 and worked in every way possible to minimize the
 
 168 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 catastrophe they had foreseen, but were too 
 irresolute to avert. 
 
 History has acquitted Rhodes of entirely initia- 
 ting the revolutionary idea. His position seems to 
 have been somewhat that of a man who is com- 
 pelled by the force of circumstances to take part 
 in a play he has not written himself nor altogether 
 approved. His co-operation, however, was essen- 
 tial to the Johannesburgers, who required his 
 assistance for the smuggling in of arms, and for 
 an armed force at the border on whose support 
 they could rely. It was exceeding difficult for him 
 to refuse to sanction the use of the Rhodesian 
 Police for that purpose. Any Uitlander rising that 
 might take place would be so entirely racial in 
 character that it would have been impossible for 
 the police force on the border, whether Imperial 
 or Rhodesian, to have remained merely neutral 
 and observant. Sir Henry Loch, the year before, 
 had organized the Bechuanaland Police Force 
 in the event of such an Uitlander outbreak in 
 Johannesburg, and although Rhodes' position 
 was entirely different, it was almost impossible for 
 him to do less. 
 
 This racial aspect of the question especially 
 appealed to him and to Jameson. They both
 
 "THE RAID" 169 
 
 realized not only that the Britisher was deprived 
 of his legitimate rights in the Transvaal, but that 
 Kruger's policy increasingly threatened the whole 
 British position in South Africa. The latter, 
 moreover, in his last interview with Rhodes, in 
 November, 1894, had definitely refused to enter 
 into any railway or customs union. Vehemently 
 opposed to any form of co-operation with the other 
 South African states, his anti-British autocracy 
 had become so aggressive that it was a menace 
 to the peace of the sub-continent. In endeavour- 
 ing to shut out Cape-carried produce from the 
 Transvaal, and in closing the drifts even to waggons 
 from the south, he had, so late as October of that 
 year, very nearly plunged the whole country into 
 war. At the same time, there were reasons to 
 suppose he was dangling temptations before Ger- 
 many ; and certainly the sudden access of that 
 country's influence in the Transvaal was no 
 imaginary danger. 
 
 It is true that many of the Progressive Boers were 
 in sympathy with the Uitlanders, but except by act 
 of God or by a revolution, there seemed to be every 
 probability that Kruger would flourish in his un- 
 enlightened political wickedness for many years 
 to come. Time was on his side and against Rhodes,
 
 170 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 who saw the goal of his enlightened statesmanship 
 further off than ever, and who realized the hope- 
 lessness of any constitutional method of altering 
 the position. 
 
 In favouring the idea of the revolution, both 
 Rhodes and Jameson had probably in the back of 
 their minds the hope that a Rhodes-inspired policy 
 both in the Transvaal and Cape might once and 
 for all establish British prestige and the progress 
 of South Africa on federal and Imperial lines. In 
 any case, it was impossible for them to stand by 
 with folded hands and see Krugerism develop itself 
 unchecked, or to refuse to lend their aid to those 
 in Johannesburg who had resolved to overthrow 
 his authority. 
 
 Under these circumstances Rhodes agreed to 
 allow the Chartered Company's police to be used, 
 and obtained from the Imperial Government a 
 strip of land in Bechuanaland, quite close to the 
 Transvaal border, whereon they could assemble. 
 Doubtless all the thousand-and-one details of the 
 conspiracy were laid before him, but it is uncer- 
 tain if he gave his whole mind to their considera- 
 tion. The influenza from which he suffered during 
 much of the time that the plans were under dis- 
 cussion is in some way responsible for the lack of
 
 "THE RAID." 171 
 
 the adhesiveness, foresight and anticipation of diffi- 
 culties which were so generally characteristic of 
 his work. It is, moreover, a curious fact that 
 from the moment he turned his face from the 
 north the hand of fate seemed against him. 
 
 The same reasons that induced Rhodes to co- 
 operate in the revolution appealed also to Jame- 
 son. His whole past, and especially his six years 
 of adventureship and power, had ripened him for 
 the occasion. Mr. Garrett narrates that, long 
 before any revolutionary scheme had been con- 
 sidered or crystallized, he was one afternoon in 
 March, 1895, reading the history of Clive on the 
 stoep at Government House, Bulawayo. Public 
 indignation was at that moment aflame against 
 Kruger, because of the fresh disabilities he had 
 placed upon Britishers seeking representative 
 rights. Suddenly Jameson looked up, and ex- 
 claimed : "I have a jolly good mind to march 
 straight down off the plateau with the men I have 
 here, and settle the thing out of hand. The idea of 
 South Africa going on being trodden upon by this 
 Pretoria gang is absurd. I have a good mind to 
 get the fellows together and start to-morrow, via 
 Tati." 
 
 A friend somewhat drily pointed out the un-
 
 172 DR JAMESON. 
 
 feasibility of such a project, and an argument 
 ensued. At last Jameson, banging the book down 
 on his knee, said : " You may say what you like, 
 but Clive would have done it." 
 
 From the first he had entered heart and soul 
 into the conspiracy. Half-hearted in nothing, the 
 impracticability and difficulties of the scheme 
 seemed to act as a spur to his energy, and the 
 words " impossible " or " compromise " were abso- 
 lutely banished from his mind. He became, in 
 fact, the centre of revolutionary activity, and took 
 upon himself the direction of the whole business. 
 
 The hypnotic influence of a leader upon his 
 followers is too often reflected back by them upon 
 himself, and their faith and obedience act as a 
 further stimulus to his over-confidence. During 
 the past five years everything had given way before 
 the impetuous onslaught of his fiery will. He 
 had over-persuaded ferocious and hostile chiefs ; had 
 ruled forcible men forcibly ; had, single-handed, 
 turned back, and bidden return whence they came, 
 the sullen-browed Boer trekkers ; had overthrown 
 Lobengula and his impis, and led his civilian force 
 victorious to Bulawayo. Actor and audience were 
 alike upset by a career so signally dominant and 
 successful. But despite his marvellous vitality,
 
 "THE RAID." 173 
 
 the hardships of the past years had already 
 strained his powers to the utmost. It was rest 
 that his organism required, and not the added 
 excitement, responsibility, physical fatigue and 
 high nervous tension of this hopeless conspiracy. 
 Scarce had the work of occupying, developing and 
 administering Rhodesia been finished, than the 
 task of manufacturing this revolution had begun. 
 The human brain resents abnormal effort, and 
 either snaps or warps, In Jameson's case it did 
 not snap, but apparently he had begun to believe 
 that one or two men can always succeed in hustling 
 big historical or national movements. 
 
 In this spirit he had prophesied over bravely, 
 and as the strain of trying to whip everything into 
 readiness by a certain date became greater, so did 
 he more and more appear to get out of touch with 
 the actualities of the situation. His telegrams 
 ignored every consideration except that the date 
 fixed for his departure had arrived. 
 
 He appeared to under-estimate the resistance 
 of the Boers, and to minimize the very serious 
 difficulties of the revolutionists in Johannesburg, 
 which he dismissed as mere frivolous pretexts. 
 To stir up a lion with a walking-stick is sheer 
 lunacy, and the conspirators in that city were not
 
 174 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 so mad as to risk civil war with Kruger with only 
 two thousand rifles and ten rounds of ammunition 
 per rifle. 
 
 It is one of the penalties of a great leader that 
 he cannot delegate his leadership to others, and 
 must himself be on the spot to inspire the neces- 
 sary enthusiasm and work. Jameson's efforts in 
 this respect before the Matabele War were 
 as nothing to his journeyings in connection with 
 this revolution. From start to finish, his personal 
 presence was necessary in order that the various 
 actors might be kept up to revolutionary pitch. 
 During the last six months of 1895 he travelled 
 incessantly j his energy was terrific. At one 
 moment in Bulawayo carrying out his ordinary 
 duties as Administrator, and, in addition, con- 
 trolling the secret arrangements for mustering 
 the police at Pitsani. Then down in Cape Town 
 conferring with Rhodes, overcoming his opposition 
 and distrust, and spurring him into half-hearted 
 acquiescence. From there to Johannesburg, com- 
 pelling the leaders to bring their debates to prac- 
 tical issue, to fix definite plans and dates, inducing 
 them to write him the famous letter of invitation, 
 and then, with fateful persuasiveness, preventing 
 them from retrieving their action.
 
 "THE RAID." 175 
 
 That Jameson should have returned to Pitsani 
 during the last few critical days instead of going 
 to Johannesburg appears to have been a 
 fatal misarrangement. No doubt there was a 
 difficulty about the troopers at Pitsani, who might 
 have hesitated to follow any other leader ; but 
 their officers were his personal friends, and ready 
 to give implicit obedience to his commands. His 
 word to them was law from wherever sent and 
 however delivered. Had he remained in Johannes- 
 burg and wired " Return," grumbling and 
 astonished, they would have led their men back 
 to the parade grounds of Rhodesia ; " Ride," 
 and they would have ridden, and the men would 
 have followed, especially if the order to " ride " 
 was supported by an actual overt rebellion within 
 Johannesburg. If, for some fictional purpose, a 
 civilian official was necessary to the force, any 
 Rhodesian magistrate would have answered the 
 purpose. In Johannesburg Jameson would have 
 been the man of blood and iron, who would have 
 gathered unto himself the desperate spirits of that 
 city, and somehow or another have carried out the 
 contemplated coup in Pretoria. Whatever the 
 result, at all events this would have been a 
 desperate and wholly justifiable stroke by the
 
 176 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Uitlanders within the Republic, and, therefore, 
 far more in keeping with the revolutionary idea 
 than a desperate wholly unjustifiable attempt 
 from without. 
 
 Possibly some consciousness of this mistake may 
 have come to Jameson as he lay on his camp-bed 
 at Pitsani, his already fevered temperament chafing 
 almost to exasperation at the complications and 
 delays that were daily arising. He had arrived at 
 this spot on the 24th, and the date fixed for his 
 ride was the 28th. So far as his force was con- 
 cerned, everything was in readiness. On that 
 narrow strip of newly-acquired British territory, 
 scarce three miles from an invisible and map- 
 made boundary, some five hundred men, horses 
 and guns had been collected and exercised. Within 
 the Transvaal, and at convenient distances along 
 the route of the proposed march to Johannesburg, 
 were the relays of horses and the provisions 
 so expensively arranged for the undertaking. 
 Although the object of the expedition was not 
 generally known, a sense of impending events 
 hung over the camp. This, however, did not allay 
 the discontent, and even desertion, that prevailed 
 both amongst the Charter Police, who had been at 
 Pitsani since the 29th of November, and amongst
 
 "THE RAID." 177 
 
 the newly re-enlisted men from the disbanded 
 Bechuanaland Police Force. The increasing rest- 
 less and uncertain temper of his whole force was 
 one amongst the many of Jameson's great 
 anxieties. There was, however, nothing to be 
 done — nothing but to await the signal from 
 Johannesburg. But as the appointed date drew 
 near, there came from that city and from Cape 
 Town the messengers and telegrams to Jameson, 
 telling of unpreparedness, of unexpected diffi- 
 culties, of necessity for postponement. Mean- 
 while also from his own spies came in, hour by 
 hour, reports of unaccountable movements of 
 the Boers on his front. It was evident that 
 at any moment the action of the Boers or of the 
 High Commissioner might make it impossible for 
 him to cross the border, even if Johannesburg, 
 rerying upon his promised assistance, sent the 
 signals. Matters had, in fact, by this time gone 
 so far that he must either retire or advance, 
 but in the uncertainty as to the real state of 
 affairs in Johannesburg, he could not then desert 
 his post and return to Rhodesia. His expedition 
 had been equipped at enormous expense for the 
 sole purpose of rendering at the right moment 
 armed and organized assistance, and it was im- 
 
 12
 
 178 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 possible for him to be the first to throw up the 
 sponge, and to be held responsible for all time for 
 failing Johannesburg in her stress and need. 
 
 But more serious still were the indications 
 that the revolution as planned was fizzling 
 out in Johannesburg ; that a compromise of 
 some sort with Kruger was possible ; and 
 that exposure must follow. However unsatis- 
 factory a compromise might be to the Johannes- 
 burgers, it was clear that Rhodes would be 
 the real sufferer and victim. Armed with full 
 knowledge of all the revolutionary steps that 
 had been taken, Kruger could afford to ignore 
 everyone else, and to concentrate his attack in 
 undermining Rhodes' political and Imperial posi- 
 tion in South Africa. On the other hand, to start 
 to time, regardless of the fact that Johannesburg 
 was not ready, was to prematurely crystallize the 
 chaos of existing affairs into definite action, and 
 to commit one and all to the aggressive plan of 
 revolutionary campaign that had been originally 
 contemplated. 
 
 Moreover, apart from such obvious considera- 
 tions as these, every experience in the past had 
 taught Jameson that resolute action was a mar- 
 vellous solvent of anticipated difficulties, and as
 
 "THE RAID." 179 
 
 if by magic, was capable of converting anticipated 
 disaster into success. To resolve and to act had 
 ever been synonymous terms with him. Again 
 and again he had desperately converted forlorn 
 hopes to victories. Although unable to direct 
 the simplest military movement, and without any 
 technical military knowledge, his had been the 
 brain and will of the Matabele campaign. The 
 issues of peace and war had lain in his hands ; 
 his had been the responsibility for suspending or 
 hurling attack, for the grim rattle and red silence 
 of conflict. His had been the assumed indifference 
 of victory, the assured conviction of resolution 
 asserted and justified. 
 
 The whole bias of his temperament revolted 
 against doing nothing, which meant retiring, and 
 prompted him to go on, even if he had to dash 
 forward in the face of the greatest possible uncer- 
 tainty and difficulty. Very seldom in history 
 has such a peculiar combination of circumstances 
 awaited the decision of one man, and a man 
 of such loyalty and such an exceptional com- 
 bination of qualities as Jameson. Tremendous, 
 however, as were the issues, a decision had to be 
 made, and he alone could decide. Around him 
 were his trusted and trusting officers. The horses 
 
 12*
 
 180 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 in the lines, and the resolute men at his command, 
 insistently asserted themselves to his view ; while 
 the orders of the officers and the many-toned sounds 
 of the camp rang in his ears. In front lay the 
 open veld, and some hundred miles distant were 
 further relays of horses and provisions, while some 
 eighty miles beyond was Johannesburg itself, 
 waiting and irresolute. It was psychologically a 
 very unfair moment ; his body was racked with 
 fever, his nerves strung to the uttermost, and 
 catastrophe threatened from every side. In 
 moments such as these the supreme ethical 
 responsibility is that of a man to be true to him- 
 self and to his ideals. Certain it is that Jameson 
 believed in the righteousness and the necessity of 
 supporting at that time a revolution in Johannes- 
 burg ; and that during the whole of his career no 
 whisper had been heard of any stain upon a life 
 of great unselfishness, of scrupulous honour and 
 loyalty, on a character incapable of any meanness 
 or littleness. 
 
 Apart, however, from the mystery that still 
 remains as to Jameson's motives for his decision on 
 this occasion, it has been rightly held to be an 
 International crime to lead an armed force into the 
 territory of a neighbouring state, which in the
 
 "THE RAID." 181 
 
 language of diplomacy was then at peace with this 
 country. 
 
 Once Jameson had started, he was tempera- 
 mentally incapable of turning back, even if circum- 
 stances had made it possible. Neither quaint 
 letters from Boer Commandants, nor emphatic 
 instructions from the High Commissioner, nor 
 Boer rifles, nor outlawry, nor the determination of 
 the Johannesburgers to remain within their gates, 
 could cause him to falter a single moment from 
 his resolve to reach that city. Seldom have men 
 been led by a leader so inflexible, and seldom has 
 a leader been followed by men so inflexibly 
 enduring, as were those five hundred Rhodesian 
 troopers, who, even in a forsaken cause, maintained 
 a discipline and a courage wholly worthy of their 
 race. 
 
 Except in matters of policy, such as the libera- 
 tion of Lieutenant Eloff, and the insistence on a 
 letter of warning being sent to the Commandant 
 at Krugersdorp, Jameson took no part in the dis- 
 position of the force, or of the technical military 
 matters of the ride. He had done his utmost to 
 arrange for provisions and for change of horses along 
 the route, and if these failed, he was not responsible. 
 Not his to decide whether the column should walk
 
 i82 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 or trot, when or where they should rest, in what 
 order they should march. But when disaster 
 came fast and furious, when the nemesis of his 
 overbearing action hurled him within a few hours 
 from the pinnacle of trusted honour as Adminis- 
 trator of his Queen to the position of an outlaw, 
 deserted, entrapped, surrounded by those who had 
 his life at their mercy, he remained greater than 
 his debacle. No burden of responsibility could 
 bend or snap the steel-like qualities of his spirit. 
 The same superb qualities of leadership, the same 
 fearlessness, stoical control, and sensitive regard 
 for others that had distinguished his triumphs were 
 more than ever conspicuous as catastrophe fol- 
 lowed catastrophe, and defeat was crowned by 
 indignity and imprisonment. " I am all right, but 
 should like a force sent out to us," was his final 
 message to Johannesburg, when in the last grey 
 dawn of freedom, he surveyed his exhausted and 
 haggard-eyed force, almost defenceless against the 
 deliberate rifles of the enclosing, overwhelming 
 Boers. It was a splendid lie — a paean of defiance 
 at a moment of direst stress and anxiety, a scorn 
 and a challenge to Fate from one who had ever 
 remained indomitable. But his fortune had for 
 the moment utterly deserted him, and the stars
 
 "THE RAID." 183 
 
 that during the Matabele campaign had fought on 
 his side were now phalanxed against him, and 
 every chance favoured the enemy. 
 
 At the very outset, the man entrusted to cut the 
 wires from Zeerust to Pretoria in a moment of 
 drunken stupidity cut the wires of an ordinary 
 fence instead. Ignorant of the trick that fortune had 
 thus played him, Jameson paraded his men at three 
 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, the 29th of December, 
 and made them a speech, of which, unfortunately, 
 there is no authentic record. Nothing was written, 
 and the memories of his audience differ. Certain 
 it is that one and all agreed to follow him, and not 
 a man fell out. At six- thirty that evening, wear- 
 ing a light overcoat over civilian clothes, he placed 
 himself at the head of his forces, leading them 
 forth into the open plain, across the invisible line 
 that divided the dominions of his Sovereign from 
 those of President Kruger. 
 
 All through that night they rode, dusky figures 
 moving shadow-like across the ocean-like veld, 
 till in the stillness of early dawn they swept 
 through the peaceful hamlet of Malmani. Vrouws 
 and startled children, youngsters and bearded 
 patriarchs rushed to their stoeps to gaze, frowsy- 
 eyed and amazed, at the strange cavalcade galloping
 
 1 84 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 through their midst. Just beyond the village 
 were Colonel Raleigh Grey's men from Mafeking, 
 and with only here and there an off-saddle, the 
 combined force rode on through the burden and 
 heat of that day, until by evening they had 
 crossed the dangerous defile of the lead mines. 
 
 They were now seventy-eight miles from Pit- 
 sani, and over a hundred miles lay before them. 
 Of food so far there had been abundance, but the 
 too brief and too frequent off-saddles had given 
 them time neither to digest nor rest, and already 
 their limbs ached and their eyes were heavy with 
 lack of sleep. But on they went through the 
 second night as through the first, and at dawn of 
 the Tuesday reached the farm where the remounts 
 were being grazed by a Dutchman. So uncon- 
 scious, however, was he of the part he was playing, 
 that he naively asked Jameson as he rode up : 
 " Jameson, what do you come bothering me like 
 this for?" By some great mismanagement most of 
 the horses were old coachers whom it was waste of 
 valuable time to attempt to saddle or ride, and 
 with a very few exceptions the men stuck to the 
 horses they started with. At Doornpoort, ninety- 
 one miles from Pitsani, came the first messenger 
 from the High Commissioner, handing to Jameson
 
 "THE RAID." 185 
 
 and to each officer separate instructions to retire. 
 With merely a verbal reply that the despatches 
 would be attended to, the advance was continued, 
 and that evening, near Boon's Store, up rode 
 Lieut. Eloff, demanding by what right they were 
 invading the Transvaal. He was promptly put 
 under arrest, until Jameson insisted on his being 
 liberated and his arms returned him. Still on they 
 spurred, and shortly before midnight, when crossing 
 a rocky wooded ridge, received their baptism of 
 fire from a small party of Boers in their flank. 
 One man was wounded and the youngest hour 
 of the New Year ushered in with blood. 
 
 Early next morning (Wednesday) came a mes- 
 senger to Jameson from Pretoria, bearing a peremp- 
 tory cable from the High Commissioner, inform- 
 ing him that his action was " repudiated," and 
 he would be held " personally responsible " for his 
 most " unauthorized proceeding." He replied in 
 writing that his supplies were exhausted, and he 
 must perforce proceed to Krugersdorp or Johannes- 
 burg. Without pause, they continued the march, 
 and at ten o'clock two cyclists arrived from Johan- 
 nesburg. From them Jameson learnt that the 
 Johannesburgers had made no overt act against 
 the Transvaal Government. Jameson replied :
 
 1 86 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 " Tell Colonel Rhodes we are all right ; the only 
 thing is, it might perhaps be as well to send out 
 an escort — say, two hundred men — to conduct 
 me in to show I am not coming as a pirate." 
 
 At midday Krugersdorp was sighted, with 
 Johannesburg only twenty miles distant. Hind's 
 Store, a few miles on, was soon reached, where, 
 for some unexplained reason, there was hardly any 
 supply of provisions, and even water was scarce. 
 Here Jameson's servant procured him some eggs, 
 but he would not touch them, refusing fare that 
 his men could not get, and contented himself with 
 a morsel of hard biscuit dipped into coffee. 
 
 They had now traversed some one hundred and 
 fifty miles in seventy hours, with only ten off- 
 saddles, and were so wearied that both horses and 
 men slept as they stood. With the Boers massing 
 in their rear, any lengthy rest was impossible, and 
 with almost mechanical effort the dog-wearied men 
 and horses moved forward till, four miles beyond 
 the store, they confronted the Boer position on 
 the opposite hill. Then came the shelling of 
 Krugersdorp and the futile charge of the advance 
 guard upon the Queen's battery. Later, between 
 2 and 3 p.m., when apparently the maxims 
 and seven-pounders had cleared the opposite ridge,
 
 "THE RAID." 187 
 
 the order was given to charge. Down the slope 
 rode two troops, while the Boers opposite held their 
 fire till men and horses had galloped headlong into 
 the vlei* below, and, struggling and horseless, were 
 easy targets to their pitiless rifles. 
 
 Less than half escaped back to the main body, 
 and a desperate effort was then made to outflank 
 the enemy on the right and gallop straight away 
 in the dusk to Johannesburg. Scarce, however, 
 had they started when heavy firing was heard in 
 the direction of Krugersdorp on the left, and 
 thinking that at last their friends had come to 
 their rescue, they turned aside, hastening towards 
 this new objective. But Fortune was again tricking 
 them, adding irony to the cup of their troubles, and 
 they soon learnt that the firing came from the 
 enemy, who were letting off salvos to welcome 
 their own reinforcements. An invaluable oppor- 
 tunity was thus lost. To retrace their steps was 
 impossible, for darkness was now falling upon the 
 land, and in the fast-fading light the Boer forces 
 could be distinguished closing in upon them from 
 the south, east and west. 
 
 There was nothing for it but to bivouac in the 
 best shelter available. Foodless, racked with 
 
 * Vlei, Swampy ground.
 
 188 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 fatigue and dispirited by defeat, they sought what 
 cover was obtainable within a slight natural de- 
 pression below the slope of the hill. In darkness, 
 save for one lantern for use amongst the wounded, 
 they huddled together, and the silence of desperate 
 men in a desperate position was only broken by 
 the occasional sounds from the ambulance and the 
 ting-ting of the bullets that now and again showered 
 over and around them on every side. Three times 
 during the night did the Boers pour in their 
 volleys. Two troopers were killed and a few 
 wounded, and for the rest the conditions were not 
 conducive to sleep. 
 
 Despite everything, Jameson was outwardly con- 
 fident and unworried. Twice he visited the 
 wounded, making one or two suggestions, and with 
 here and there an encouraging remark to men in 
 obvious distress. For some time in low tones he 
 discussed the morrow's plans with his officers, 
 even then hopeful that things would work out right 
 as soon as he could come within the environs of 
 the city and rally the armed miners around him. 
 Afterwards, leaving the group, he lay down, wrapt 
 in his overcoat, a little apart. Perhaps he slept ; 
 perhaps in the isolation and darkness his soul 
 faced quietly the naked happenings of the past
 
 "THE RAID." 189 
 
 three days, and the uncertain, significant future. 
 Certain it was that his wanton gallop had not 
 constrained the Johannesburgers to join issue with 
 him, that Britons and Dutchmen had been slain for 
 a cause that was as yet no cause, and that he 
 alone was responsible. By 3 a.m. he was up, and 
 despatched his second " I am all right " message 
 to Johannesburg, quite unconscious that mes- 
 sengers were then speeding forth to inform him 
 of the High Commissioner's proclamation, calling 
 upon " all British subjects " to abstain from 
 giving the said Dr. Jameson any countenance or 
 assistance, and also of the Reform Committee's 
 armistice with President Kruger. 
 
 At 4 a.m. his force silently mounted, and by 
 a series of rushes and charges in the face of per- 
 sistent fire made good their advance for some 
 eight or nine miles, over broken ground and amid 
 the dumps and shafts of mining properties. At 
 about 7 a.m. he received his sentence of formal 
 outlawry, and for an hour at least gave no sign — 
 grimly uncommunicative while yet a bare chance 
 remained that he and his force should gain their 
 objective. But the sword of mischance flamed 
 before him at every turn. A mere stranger — 
 a chance Cape Colonist — showed the almost out-
 
 ipo DR. JAMESON. 
 
 paced Boers a drift over the vlei whereby they 
 could head back the raiders from their only route 
 into the city. It was a neck-and-neck business, 
 and the enemy were only just able to seize the 
 position on Dornkoop kopje and thus compel 
 Jameson to divert to the left. The end was at 
 hand, and amidst the deserted cattle kraals of 
 Brink's Farm his troopers found themselves in 
 a cul-de-sac, unable to advance to the front and 
 with some eight hundred Boers closing in on their 
 flanks. From this temporary shelter they made 
 a brief and gallant stand. The maxims were fired 
 till they jammed, and the seven-pounders' ammu- 
 nition was almost exhausted. One last rush was 
 made and failed, and then -the Staats artillery 
 came up on the left flank and the game was up. 
 
 Who first waved the borrowed apron of a Hot- 
 tentot tante as a signal for surrender is still a 
 matter of doubt. Jameson was apparently at that 
 moment watering his horse, and the following is 
 the account of an eye-witness. 
 
 " After the retreat alongside the farm fence a 
 rumour went round that each man should secure 
 the best mount he could from amongst the spare 
 horses, and trust to his luck to get through. On 
 hearing this ; I asked the Doctor to give his horse
 
 "THE RAID." 191 
 
 some water, adding that he had had none since 
 the previous day at noon, and unless he had it I 
 thought he would not stand up much longer. 
 The Doctor replied that he thought some water 
 would do both himself and his horse a great deal 
 of good, and rode off to the river on our left. As 
 he was lying down and drinking, — — — came 
 down and said : ' Doctor, you must surrender,' 
 to which the latter replied, ' No, I'm damned if I 
 
 do.' answered that it was impossible for 
 
 anyone to get through alive, and added that the 
 white flag had already been sent up. On hearing 
 this, the Doctor jumped up and demanded by 
 whose authority the token of surrender had been 
 hoisted. I was so thunderstruck that I did not 
 hear the reply. Dr. Jameson fell down in a dazed 
 manner as if shot, and said : ' If this is true, I am 
 done for.' I remarked that there could be no 
 doubt about it, and at the same time I pointed to 
 the flag, already half-way up the hill. Dr. Jameson 
 was silent for a few moments ; and at the same time 
 I remarked that the men had already done more 
 than he had asked them to do, by getting beyond 
 Krugersdorp, and that I thought he could hardly 
 again lead them to the spot from which a few 
 moments before we had been driven, and with little
 
 192 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 or no hope of being able to get through. The 
 Doctor then got on his horse and galloped up to 
 the farmhouse, where he was met by Sir John 
 Willoughby, who was nearly beside himself with 
 rage at the surrender having taken place without 
 his knowledge or consent. At the same time, 
 Colonel Harry White's language was very forcible 
 and anything but parliamentary in denouncing the 
 very idea of knocking under." 
 
 These are the statements of one who was in an 
 exceptional position to know the facts of a situa- 
 tion that has hitherto been somewhat misrepre- 
 sented. 
 
 Jameson bore a charmed life that day, and the 
 bullet was not moulded that could hit him. In 
 the morning, conspicuous in his light-coloured 
 overcoat, he had galloped ahead during one of the 
 charges, and for some considerable distance had 
 ridden parallel to a line of fire from the enemy's 
 trenches with bullets whizzing above and around 
 him on every side. With great gallantry his servant 
 overtook him, persuaded him to take off his coat, 
 and guided him into cover. Again, in the afternoon, 
 when seated a prisoner in a trolley in the market- 
 place of Krugersdorp, a Boer from amidst the sur- 
 rounding crowd deliberately aimed at him, but
 
 "THE RAID." 193 
 
 the bullet whizzed just over his head. The signal 
 restraint and discipline of these justly enraged 
 Krugersdorp Boers in not shooting Jameson and 
 his officers off-hand will ever redound to their 
 credit j while the dishonest concealment by the 
 Transvaal Government of the conditional terms of 
 the surrender remains as an indelible blot on the 
 pages of Boer history. 
 
 By noon the arms had been handed over, and 
 Jameson and his officers taken to the Court House 
 in Krugersdorp. In a sense, the surrender was a 
 relief to the awful mental tension of the past 
 eighty-six hours, during which he had practically 
 lived in the saddle. In that time he covered a 
 distance of some one hundred and ninety miles 
 with inadequate rest or sleep, and for the last 
 seventeen hours without food or water. The phy- 
 sical collapse that overcame him acted as an 
 anaesthetic, deadening the sense of downfall, of 
 responsibilities, of the danger to his own life, of 
 the public indignities of his position, of the trucu- 
 lence and undisguised triumph of his captors and 
 escort. Unwashed, his lips and eyelids leaden and 
 swollen, he climbed with stiffened, aching limbs 
 into the Cape cart in which he had to endure a 
 further drive of fifty miles to Pretoria. Here he 
 
 13
 
 194 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 was handed over to the prison officials, still self- 
 contained, but tottering, dazed and semi-animate 
 with fatigue and exhaustion. 
 
 Five days later, the writer, visiting him and his 
 officers at the gaol, found them in a small court- 
 yard, still in the clothes they had worn on the 
 ride, without books or luxuries of any kind, but 
 apparently unconcerned and undaunted. For 
 seats they had dragged out the mattresses from 
 their cells, and not having seen anyone from the 
 outer world but officials, were glad to learn the 
 gossip and talk of the market-place. 
 
 Here they remained till early in February, and 
 the close confinement within the walls of their 
 tropically-heated prison completed the break- 
 down of Jameson's overstrained constitution. An 
 invalid he stepped on board the man-of-war which 
 was to convey him a prisoner of war to these shores. 
 When arraigned before Sir John Bridge at Bow 
 Street on the 25th of February, 1896, on charges 
 framed under the Foreign Enlistment Act, he 
 appeared outwardly erect and well, but the seeds 
 of permanent trouble had been started in his 
 system to which he is a martyr to this day. 
 
 His ill-health, however, in no way affected his 
 dogged determination to put things right for him-
 
 "THE RAID." 195 
 
 self and his officers. Conscious of his own high 
 Imperial motives, he was not going to be sacrificed 
 on the altar of do-nothing, unctuous rectitude 
 without a struggle. Unflinchingly, with no hint 
 of bended knee or bowed head, he met the too 
 often cold shoulders of those who had been his 
 friends, and the reproachful queries of those whose 
 curiosity proved stronger than their sympathy. 
 But many were the loyal friends who in these dark 
 hours of his downfall rallied to his side. 
 
 In the midst of a wreckage that had caused many 
 deaths, and involved the Chartered Company in a 
 loss of at least seventy-five thousand pounds' worth 
 of material, besides other and increasingly serious 
 difficulties, he never quailed for a moment. By 
 every means in his power he strove to help the 
 situation for his officers, and to assist the Company's 
 officials in unravelling the tangle in which they were 
 involved. Neither martyr nor hero, he accepted the 
 accumulating consequences of his defeat in the 
 quiet greatness of spirit natural to a great leader 
 and a gentleman, and became the reorganizing 
 centre of the chaos he had himself so largely created. 
 
 The preliminary examination before Sir John 
 Bridge started on the 10th of March, and the ex- 
 amination of witnesses proved such a lengthy 
 
 13*
 
 196 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 business that several adjournments were granted: 
 it was not till the 18th of June that Jameson, Sir 
 John Willoughby and the two Whites were com- 
 mitted for trial. 
 
 During all this time, although released on bail, 
 he was practically a prisoner in his London hotel 
 because of his notoriety. This made it impossible 
 for him to go abroad on foot without attracting 
 a crowd, and condemned him to unnecessary con- 
 finement. Nothing galled his really stricken spirit 
 so much as the melodramatic ignorance and curio- 
 sity of the outside world, which sought in every 
 way, and on every occasion, to invade his legitimate 
 privacy and freedom. Over and over again he 
 was turned back from any attempt to walk in the 
 streets by the brutale stare, or the blatant cry, 
 " That's him," or even the veneered impertinence of 
 " I beg your pardon, but are you not Dr. Jameson ? " 
 
 As a final blow came the uprising of the Mata- 
 bele. This was a climax, and his health now 
 became chronically worse, while the effort to fight 
 against an unusual gloom became more and more 
 difficult. Surrounded by the grandiose, uncom- 
 fortable comfort of a great London hotel ; presiding, 
 for the sake of his friends, at a routine of meals 
 of which he could but seldom partake, the strain
 
 "THE RAID." 197 
 
 of maintaining an outward demeanour of cheerful 
 complacency and suaveness became unbearable, 
 and on the eve of a breakdown he left for the rest 
 and seclusion of a quiet spot in Norway, for which 
 his assaulted spirit so badly craved. 
 
 He returned to take his trial " at Bar " in 
 Queen's Bench Division before the Lord Chief 
 Justice (Lord Russell of Killowen), Baron Pollock, 
 Mr. Justice Hawkins, and a special jury. The trial 
 began on the 20th of October, and lasted seven days. 
 It was, perhaps, specially remarkable for the atti- 
 tude taken by the Lord Chief Justice, who, rightly 
 or wrongly, considered that Jameson's conviction 
 was necessary to the moral status of Great Britain 
 in Europe, and that no legal technicalities should 
 be allowed to stay the course of justice. Jameson 
 was, in fact, tried by a man as masterful as 
 himself, who was determined to vindicate national 
 honour in the sight of the whole world. The 
 summing-up of the Chief Justice was merciless in 
 logic and force, and all the more dramatic because 
 of the unprecedented nature of the occasion, the 
 character of the accused, and the powerful and 
 arresting personality of his judge. 
 
 The jury retired after the summing-up, and after 
 some time returned and announced that they
 
 198 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 could not agree. A moment of intense interest had 
 arrived, and the dominancy of the Chief Justice 
 asserted itself. With a sweep of his arm, as of a 
 great ruler, he waved down Sir Edward Clarke, who 
 had risen to make a point for the defence, and 
 turned aside to face the jury on his left. As, 
 however, Sir Edward still remained standing, he 
 confronted him for an instant, saying, "Sit down, 
 Sir Edward ; I am now addressing the jury, and 
 will not hear you." Then, with exceeding im- 
 pressiveness, he placed before the jury twelve 
 categorical questions, to which they were to answer 
 "Yes" or "No." Back they went, returning with 
 the same answer that they could not agree ; and it 
 was evident that one square-jawed, solid-framed 
 juryman was obdurate. The excitement grew in 
 intensity. Again did the Chief Justice impress 
 his points upon the jury, addressing them almost 
 directly to the man who was standing out. 
 Eventually, after some time, the impasse was 
 removed, and a unanimous verdict of " Guilty " 
 was returned. The judges retired, and on their 
 return, Jameson, who throughout had sat tense 
 and motionless, stood up to the right of the 
 others, to receive his sentence. Amidst a silence 
 that was felt, the Chief Justice sentenced him to
 
 "THE RAID." 199 
 
 fifteen months' imprisonment, Sir John Willoughby 
 to ten months, Major White to seven months, and 
 the others to five months, without hard labour. 
 
 There is no exact precedent in modern times of a 
 political criminal with such a balance of imperial 
 achievement to his credit. A wrong decision — a 
 single act of misjudgment, had at a stroke cancelled 
 the seven years of splendid and unique service he 
 had deliberately and disinterestedly given his friend, 
 his country and Empire. In sickness and in health, 
 through adventure, through hardships of every 
 kind, welcoming risks and responsibilities, enduring 
 untold worry and anxieties, scorning the leisures 
 and soft pleasures of life, impelled by the pure 
 passion of disinterested loyalty and patriotism, 
 Jameson had risked everything to oppose an enemy 
 of his countrymen and to add to the glory and 
 strength of Britain beyond the seas. Of these 
 labours— of this rare patriotism and loyalty, the 
 majority of his countrymen throughout the Empire, 
 both then and for some years to come, refused to 
 take an}/ note. Ignorant of the complexities of 
 his situation at Pitsani, they lightly dubbed him 
 a mere raider — and thanked Providence that such 
 an one was safely confined within the walls of Her 
 Majesty's prison.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 
 
 "Where there are no graves there are no resurrections." 
 
 Owing to a technical error, Jameson was first sent 
 to Wormwood Scrubbs, clothed in prison garb, 
 and treated as a common criminal. He was, 
 however, very soon removed to Holloway, where, 
 as a first-class misdemeanant, he was denied the 
 blessed consolation of labour. Day by day, amidst 
 the routine of not uncomfortable prison life, he sat 
 face to face with himself. Despite occasional 
 visitors, solitude was his portion. After the whirl- 
 wind of storm-tossed action came the long days of 
 contemplation, perhaps introspection. It is the 
 very essence of character to defy the gods and win 
 fortune from misfortune. During the past years 
 of adventure and strife Jameson had himself been 
 their occasion and circumstance, but the limits of 
 his multifarious activity had not been reached, 
 nor had the depths of his character been made 
 
 manifest. For the moment his brilliant powers of 
 
 200
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 201 
 
 brain and leadership were extinguished, but the 
 dull, inactive hours of his confined life witnessed 
 the growth of qualities of patience, and of patient 
 endurance, that served to increase the strength 
 of a character whose strength had already been 
 proved. 
 
 In after years he said to his constituents : " Of 
 the troubles I have had in my earlier days (you 
 will perhaps remember some of them), they have 
 all, I believe, been the result of impatience." 
 
 His health, however, grew worse, and at last 
 became so precarious that he had to undergo 
 a severe surgical operation in prison. He was 
 released in December, 1896, and went straight 
 to a nursing home in South Street. During 
 the past ten years he had spent his energy like 
 water, and had drained to the dregs the reserve 
 vitality of a very vital constitution. The shock 
 of an operation, coming as it did after months of 
 unnatural confinement, was almost greater than 
 he could bear. For days afterwards the pulse of 
 his life beat very low — in a weakness of flesh and 
 spirit he turned, as it were, his face to the wall, 
 and convalescence was far from him. 
 
 Since the Raid, Rhodes had spent much time in 
 Rhodesia, endeavouring to stem the tide of the
 
 202 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Matabele rebellion, and in the autumn of 1896, 
 at the risk of his life, had succeeded in making 
 an historic peace with the chiefs of that nation. 
 He returned early in the spring of the following 
 year, and from the moment of his arrival in 
 London Jameson had shown himself expectant and 
 listening for the voice and step he knew so well. 
 Rhodes was really a far more sensitive man than 
 he liked to admit, even to himself, and was always 
 peculiarly averse to facing anything like an 
 emotional situation. Not unnaturally, he dreaded 
 this first meeting at Jameson's sick-bed. His first 
 words as he strode into the room were : " Well, 
 we both of us have had a rough time ; but yours 
 was the roughest." 
 
 This visit had an obviously beneficial effect, 
 and Jameson began to recover. But no sooner was 
 he able to leave South Street, than he was sum- 
 moned to give evidence before the Parliamentary 
 Commission of Inquiry at Westminster. With 
 dignity he read his statement, and his answers 
 were always clear and to the point. The examina- 
 tion lasted several days, and never once during 
 this time did he show the slightest trace of annoy- 
 ance at the many apparently unnecessary matters 
 he was called upon to explain. After paying a
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 203 
 
 few summer visits, he started in the autumn for 
 a yachting cruise. Marseilles, Algiers, Alexandria, 
 Cairo (where he was ill some time), Jerusalem, 
 Jericho, Syria, Rhodes Island, Palermo and 
 Naples were all visited in turn, and the trip was 
 an education in itself, adding much to his know- 
 ledge of history and art. 
 
 Returning early in 1898, he again left in the 
 spring for a shooting expedition in Corfu, and 
 after much slaughter of pig and woodcock, dallied 
 for a few months in England, enjoying the leisured 
 life of an ordinary stay-at-home gentleman, and 
 even entered into negotiations as a candidate for 
 a constituency. But this sort of philandering with 
 life was intolerable to him, and, as Rhodes remarked 
 to the writer, he was really " eating his heart out " 
 for some definite work. " Plus notre esprit est 
 fort, plus il faut qu'il agisse. II meurt dans le 
 repos ; il vit dans I'exercice," emphatically applied 
 to Jameson, and he soon relinquished his idea of 
 standing for Parliament in England, and left for 
 South Africa. After a short stay in Bulawayo, he 
 went to Rhodes' homestead on the Inyanga 
 Plateau in Manica, and set out on foot from there 
 to Tete, a Portuguese station on the north bank 
 of the Zambesi.
 
 204 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 His object in making this three-hundred-mile 
 walk was to arrange for the erection through Por- 
 tuguese territory, and across the river, of the 
 telegraph line towards Cairo, which Rhodes, despite 
 a mismanagement at the start, involving a waste 
 of some forty thousand pounds, with Mr. Beit's help, 
 had persisted in pushing forward with all speed. 
 
 Walking steadily, Jameson arrived in twenty- 
 two days, and was immediately successful in his 
 negotiations and in procuring the necessary native 
 labour to carry the line across the river and from 
 there northwards. His work finished, he was 
 anxious to catch a steamer at Chinde for the south, 
 and engaged natives to paddle him in a dug-out 
 canoe to that port. Half-way, however, they 
 mutinied, and seizing a paddle, he belaboured 
 the headman. Even well-intentioned natives are 
 exasperating, but during twenty-eight years' ex- 
 perience this was the first time he had ever struck 
 a I^afnr. The result, however, in this case was 
 excellent. Finding they had a resolute man to 
 deal with, the mutineers worked with a will, and 
 reached Chinde in time to catch the steamer. Dis- 
 embarking at Beira, he arrived late one evening 
 at Umtali. Here he learnt that Rhodes was ill at 
 Inyanga, some sixty miles north, and although
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 205 
 
 he had been travelling all day under tropical con- 
 ditions, he immediately procured two horses and 
 set out with his servant for the homestead. 
 
 All night they rode, and at early dawn breasted 
 the height of the great plateau. The keen moun- 
 tain blasts chilled them to the bone, and several 
 weary miles still lay before their leg-wearied horses. 
 Searching for his cigarette-case, Jameson found 
 he had only two left, one of which he at once gave 
 to his servant. This may seem but a small and 
 obvious self-denial, but only those who have spent 
 the night in sleepless effort can realize how all too 
 brief is the stimulus and joy of one cigarette, 
 especially when smoked in the face of opposing 
 breezes. 
 
 The report of Rhodes' illness was fortunately 
 exaggerated, but Jameson remained on. For a 
 few weeks the two friends gave themselves up to 
 the comparatively quietist pleasures of a Rhodesian 
 farm. Together they planted young fruit trees, and 
 supervised the agricultural and orchard experi- 
 ments that were being made on the red, ferrugi- 
 nous soil of those healthy, fertile uplands. To- 
 gether they visited the ancient ruins, the old gold 
 workings, and more especially the old water furrows 
 and other vestiges of a great scheme of irrigation
 
 206 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 that abound in those regions — witnesses to the 
 presence there, at some unknown period, of a nume- 
 rous and well-organized population. Jameson, ever 
 loving excitement, even attempted to break in to 
 the yoke wild cattle from the Zambesi, and on one 
 occasion only escaped the charge of an infuriated 
 beast by plunging into a swamp, while Rhodes 
 miraculously leapt on to a waggon. 
 
 Of affairs and politics there was much discussion ; 
 but the subject of Jameson's future, and how 
 best he could assist the new political situation at 
 the Cape, more especially absorbed their attention. 
 The Raid had finally broken Rhodes' com- 
 promise with the Dutch at the Cape, where the 
 Bond party was now in power. 
 
 By this time, the whole of South Africa, with the 
 exception of Natal and Rhodesia, was dominated 
 by Dutch political influence, and Kruger, at the 
 height of his power, was spending large sums in 
 keeping alive anti-British feeling. The entire 
 sub-continent was already seething with racial an- 
 tagonism, and the horizon was darkened with the 
 menace and rumblings of war. Hampered by the 
 effects of the Raid, the only thing Rhodes could do 
 was to endeavour to unite and consolidate the 
 British party at the Cape in order to fight the
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 207 
 
 Dutch politically in that Colony; and to create a 
 rallying-point there for those throughout the 
 country, whether British or Afrikander, who desired 
 to safeguard British interests. 
 
 Hitherto there had been no attempt at any 
 definite party organization, and Rhodes had relied 
 upon his own personal influence for support in the 
 Legislative Assembly. But realizing that it was no 
 use to court the Dutch voters, who, whenever the 
 " bell rang," would always vote racially inside the 
 polling booth, whatever their promises might be 
 outside, he had started the South African League 
 as a counter-organization to the Bond, and as a 
 centre for the Progressive party. He had also 
 brought out from England the late Mr. Owen Lewis 
 to act as chief agent, to revise voters' lists, and other- 
 wise carry on the anti-Bond campaign on more 
 effective lines. In order to take part in these new 
 methods of consolidation, Jameson was willing to 
 become a member of the Legislative Assembly, but 
 owing to the incubus of the Raid, it was no easy 
 matter to find him a seat. He therefore returned 
 to England in the latter part of 1898, but his holi- 
 day was brief, and he left in April, 1899, intending 
 to stand for Port Elizabeth. Difficulties, how- 
 ever, arose both for this and other constituencies,
 
 2o8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and eventually he went to Bulawayo, where he 
 remained till the outbreak of war in October of that 
 year. 
 
 He at once offered his services to the Imperial 
 Government, and endeavoured to reach Mafeking, 
 but was unable to do so, and only after great 
 difficulty succeeded in getting to Ladysmith. Here 
 his servant caught typhoid, and through nursing 
 him day and night he himself succumbed. As 
 soon as the siege was raised, he was placed on board 
 a steamer at Durban, and on arrival at Cape Town, 
 in March, 1900, was carried prostrate to Groote 
 Schuur. Here he quickly became convalescent, 
 and ere long was down on the stoep, eagerly dis- 
 cussing plans with Rhodes, who had recently 
 returned from the siege of Kimberley. Much had 
 happened since the Inyanga farm days to clear 
 the situation, and to make the prospects of 
 Federation brighter than they had been for years. 
 Although the war was dragging along unsuccess- 
 fully, it was evident that sooner or later the Trans- 
 vaal and the Orange Free State would become 
 dependent colonies ; and this, together with Lord 
 Milner's sympathy for a South African Common- 
 wealth, gave a fresh impetus to Rhodes' work 
 of consolidation and party organization. Under
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 209 
 
 these circumstances, Jameson, who had already 
 been made director of De Beers, hesitated no longer, 
 and determined to stand for Kimberley. There 
 his memory and popularity were ever green, and 
 being returned unopposed, he took his seat in the 
 House in the May session of 1900. 
 
 The occasion was a painful one. As he entered 
 the Assembly Chamber, the Progressives feared to 
 applaud him, as is usual, lest the Bond members 
 should give utterance to their bitter resentment 
 at his election and position as a member. With set 
 face he walked up the tensely silent House, made 
 his bow to the Speaker, and retired to a seat in the 
 most far-away corner of the Progressive benches. 
 
 His position was one of unprecedented discourage- 
 ment. He had to listen to persistent and un- 
 bridled personal invectives ; to face a consensus of 
 suspicion that never for one moment forgot to 
 impute to him the least honourable of motives ; 
 to sit side by side with those who had been 
 his judges in the Cape Enquiry on the Raid, 
 and many of whom had voted in favour of 
 the report that had condemned him ; to confront 
 the bitter racial rancour of the Dutch, and the 
 semi-averted eye of many of his own party ; to 
 attune the fiery temper of his spirit, the rapid 
 
 14
 
 210 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 grasp and movement of his brain, to the inertia 
 and slow-witted deliberateness of the most de- 
 liberate assembly in the Empire. But within the 
 quiet stillness of his resolve he discovered a depth 
 of patience, that accepted without resentment, 
 and as a matter of course, all forms of uncharit- 
 ableness and distrust. 
 
 Taking no part in the debates, he sat throughout 
 the first session a silent spectator, and, save for 
 his vote, was to all appearance of no use to his 
 party. Even in the lobbies, for some time he re- 
 frained from anything but civil replies to such 
 civil remarks as were made to him. But the great 
 fact remained that in thus planting himself down 
 within the gate of his enemies, he had signalled to 
 the whole world his refusal to accept ostracism of 
 any kind whatsoever, and his determination to 
 again take the field, and share with Rhodes the 
 task of reorganizing the British political position 
 in Cape Colony. 
 
 Early in 1901 he returned to England with 
 Rhodes, whose health had already begun to fail, 
 and together they went to Egypt. Here they 
 spent some time, journeying in a dahabeah down 
 the Nile. When within two days of Khartoum, 
 the intense heat so affected Rhodes that they were
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 211 
 
 reluctantly compelled to return. Then came the 
 
 cable from Cape Town, conveying the news of 
 
 the forgery of Rhodes' name, and during all the 
 
 subsequent worries on the matter, it was upon 
 
 Jameson that he leant for advice and counsel. 
 
 Despite Rhodes' desire to remain at home and 
 
 live at his country house near Newmarket, he 
 
 was compelled in January, 1902, to return to Cape 
 
 Town. Jameson accompanied him, and the gloom 
 
 of increasing worry and ill-health closed in upon 
 
 them. Then as Rhodes' illness became more 
 
 serious, Jameson was the flaming sword that 
 
 stood betwixt him and the ungodly number of those 
 
 who ever sought to interview him He never 
 
 wearied in his efforts to save his dying friend from 
 
 every form of unnecessary worry and anxiety. 
 
 Day by day, during the stifling months of February 
 
 and March, seated together on the stoep of their 
 
 tiny cottage at Musenburgh, they watched the 
 
 great waves roll in straight from the South Pole, 
 
 and break on the rocks at their feet, and the 
 
 dreamy, everlasting beauty of the mountains that 
 
 confronted them on their right hand and on their 
 
 left. Already each was conscious that the term 
 
 of their partnership was drawing to a close, and 
 
 each was silently but supremely grateful at heart, 
 
 14*
 
 212 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 the one to the other. Then when Rhodes could 
 no onger gain the stoep, and with weakening 
 powers, was subject to illusions of fancy and hope, 
 Jameson was ever at hand to pacify his demands 
 for the Cape cart, or his queries as to when they 
 were to set sail for England. 
 
 Thus, up to the very last, Rhodes was able to 
 realize in its utmost fullness the strength of that 
 friendship that had served him so loyally in the 
 stress and storm of his work, and that remained 
 behind to carry out those ideals which he himself 
 had to leave only half completed. 
 
 Despite his outward composure, Jameson was 
 for many a day afterwards a man broken and 
 stricken with grief. Simply and unobtrusively, 
 he attended the funeral obsequies, and followed his 
 friend's remains to that lone kopje on the Matoppo 
 Hills, where between sky, veld and mountain, the 
 silence is unbroken, and where, save for the gliding, 
 darting lizards, the unconscious reigns supreme. 
 
 None missed the companionship of the " master 
 mind " more than he did, and as soon as possible 
 he went to England, returning to take part in the 
 late session of 1902. Busy as he was with the 
 details of his trusteeship to Rhodes' wonderful 
 will, and with the legacy of duties that had fallen
 
 THE AFTERMATH 213 
 
 to him as director of the Chartered Company* and 
 of De Beers, he, nevertheless, found time to push 
 forward the whole organization of the Progressive 
 party. Gradually and almost unconsciously, despite 
 the still crippling influence of the Raid incident, 
 men's eyes turned to him as the leader, and iiTK 
 perceptibly almost, he began to assume that posi- 
 tion within the caucus of the party. 
 
 In the early spring of 1903, he went up to 
 Rhodesia with Mr. Beit, and spent some time 
 travelling all over the country with him. 
 
 Returning to the Cape for the Session in May, 
 he witnessed the debacle of Sprigg over the Bond's 
 Railway Bill ; and having refused to consider 
 the latter's suggestion of a coalition, at once 
 set to work to endeavour to fight the elections 
 on a definite anti-Bond programme. While thus 
 electioneering in East London, Mr. Beit was 
 suddenly taken ill in Johannesburg. In the 
 confusion that momentarily prevailed amongst 
 his friends there, Beit, just before becoming 
 unconscious, said, " Send for Jameson." Im- 
 mediately on receipt of the wire, the latter 
 ever loyal to his friends, and especially to one 
 who was himself such an example of loyalty, went 
 
 * He was elected in July, 1902.
 
 214 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 by special train to Johannesburg, and practically 
 did not leave Mr. Beit till he saw him safe into his 
 house in London, returning himself the next week 
 to Cape Town, in October, 1903. 
 
 During all these years, while Jameson was travel- 
 ling to and fro, and only giving an intermittent 
 attention to politics, the prospects of the Pro- 
 gressive party went steadily from bad to worse. 
 In the early part of the session of 1900, the Bond 
 was in power under the Premiership of Mr. W. P. 
 Schreiner, that troubled-souled Afrikander, torn 
 between allegiance to the Imperial idea and his 
 unavailing efforts to keep his party to the 
 same level of loyalty as himself. He was pledged 
 to carry through a Bill to indemnify the military 
 authorities for their actions ; but his Dutch fol- 
 lowers, who were opposed to the punishment of 
 the rebels by disfranchisement, refused to support 
 him. He resigned, and the Progressives, under Sir 
 Gordon Sprigg, came into office. 
 
 As there was no session in 1901, Sprigg 
 easily maintained his position as leader of 
 the party. Owing, however, to the con- 
 tinuance of the War, and to the proclamation 
 of martial law within the Colony, party feeling 
 became more and more racial in character.
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 215 
 
 Schreiner and his friends, who had temporarily 
 supported Sir Gordon Sprigg, retired from poli- 
 tical life, and when the House assembled in August, 
 1902, the Bond had practically a working majority. 
 Sprigg meanwhile had become more and more of 
 a buffer between the Progressives and the Bond, 
 and his increasingly opportunist methods had 
 caused great dissatisfaction to a section of his 
 party. The Bond, in fact, had by this time found 
 out that in Sprigg they had a Progressive Prime 
 Minister who was prepared to go great lengths in 
 carrying out their wishes rather than those of his 
 own party. Amongst many instances of this was 
 Sprigg's opposition to the declared wishes of the 
 Progressives in respect of the temporary suspension 
 of the Constitution. His statement to the Colonial 
 Premiers at the Conference in London, that he had 
 a majority behind him in this matter, was true, 
 but it was a Bond, and not a Progressive majority. 
 There is something curious in the prominent 
 part that Sir Gordon Sprigg has played on the 
 stage of Cape politics, and amongst patriots of 
 such mental stature as Rhodes, Jameson, Hof- 
 meyr and Schreiner. Of unimpeachable integrity, 
 austere in habit and outlook, a teetotaler, an 
 exemplary husband and father, he was in politics
 
 216 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 curiously greedy of power, and too often played 
 but a half-hearted game for his own side. Believing 
 it to be essential to the welfare of the Colony 
 that he should retain office, he carried his oppor- 
 tunism so far, that although nominally a leader 
 of the Progressives, he eventually became a servant 
 of the Bond. In fact, so tenacious was he of 
 office, that by August, 1903, he had reduced the 
 political situation at the Cape to what Mr. Cham- 
 berlain described as " comic opera." Shortly after 
 this, however, the nemesis of his servitude over- 
 took him. The Bond, wishing to exercise its 
 political power for itself, demanded as the price of 
 its support a Railway Bill of outrageous propor- 
 tions, for the purpose of building log-rolled lines 
 to almost every little Boer dorp within the Colony. 
 Sir Gordon Sprigg professed himself ready to 
 carry out this ruinous proposal, but the Bond 
 further insisted that this Railway Bill should be 
 passed before supplies were voted. This, however, 
 was a depth of subserviency that even Sir 
 Gordon could not reach, and as the Bond refused 
 to pass the financial Bills, it became necessary in 
 August, 1903, for the Governor to issue a proclama- 
 tion dissolving Parliament. Meanwhile, however, 
 as the elections could not take place till January,
 
 THE AFTERMATH 217 
 
 Sprigg remained nominally in power, and the ad- 
 ministration was financed by means of warrants 
 from the Governor. 
 
 Sir Gordon was a typical opportunist ; and under 
 his aegis there had developed a section amongst 
 the Progressives who were always ready on every 
 occasion to truckle to the Bond, and were locally 
 known as mugwumps, or Independents. These 
 sprang up like mushrooms in 1902 and 1903, and 
 were neither British nor Afrikander in their con- 
 victions. Lacking principle or definite programme, 
 they were ever ready to compromise or coalesce 
 on an}/ subject. In fact, many of those claiming 
 to be Independents were really Bondsmen in every 
 constituency but their own. 
 
 During the first two years of his Parliamentary 
 apprenticeship, Jameson made many friends 
 amongst those of the Progressive section who 
 opposed Sprigg. More particularly he had formed a 
 strong personal friendship with Dr. Smartt, who was 
 the able leader of the anti-Sprigg section. Moreover, 
 the general impression he had created by his tactful 
 and patient endurance of personal attack had been 
 still further increased by the dignity and force of 
 his speech on the Indemnity Bill in the session of 
 1902, when for the first time he broke through his
 
 218 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 self-imposed silence. Rising to a full and expectant 
 House, he said : 
 
 " I would remind the hon. gentleman that 
 during the session of 1900, I have sat on those 
 back benches and never opened my mouth ; and I 
 have done it because I felt it was quite natural 
 that, during the time of trouble, when the War was 
 still on, any word from my mouth would be mis- 
 understood, and would rather tend to create than 
 to allay excitement on the opposite side of the 
 House. But I would say this, that I have found 
 it very difficult indeed to maintain that silence 
 continuously, when, from day to day, not once, but 
 many times, I was treated with words not kind, 
 not courteous, from the hon. member for Aliwal 
 North especially, and also from other members on 
 the opposite side of the House. However, that 
 was all due, I would acknowledge, to this 
 abominable Raid. That was a bad blunder. 
 But the penance has been done, and, I think, 
 by ordinary fair-minded men it might now be 
 forgotten." 
 
 These words and the speech that followed deeply 
 impressed both the British and Dutch in the Colony, 
 and amongst the former the half-conscious idea 
 of Jameson as leader began to crystallize itself into
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 219 
 
 a definite view and expression. Men seriously 
 considered whether it were possible for his natural 
 qualifications as leader to triumph over the dis- 
 qualifications created by the Raid. Thus ponder- 
 ing and unprepared, the Progressive party found 
 itself face to face with a General Election on the 
 resignation of Sprigg in the autumn of 1903. Their 
 outlook was not a happy one. A few there were 
 who were determined not to accept Sprigg's 
 proposed coalition ministry and definitely to fight 
 the Bond; but the larger number, fearful of its 
 organization, while distrustful of their own, and 
 looking askance at Jameson as leader, were almost 
 apathetic to any political principle, and ready to 
 fall in with any form of compromise that was 
 momentarily convenient. Amongst the anti- 
 Coalitionists there was a good deal of hesitancy as 
 to a programme, and it seemed probable that 
 Sprigg and his Coalitionists would prevail. Eventu- 
 ally, however, in November, acting under the 
 initiative of Dr. Smartt, a coterie of Jameson's 
 followers took the matter into their hands and 
 formally offered him the leadership. This he 
 accepted, and agreed to stand for Grahamstown 
 in opposition to Mr. Douglas, a prominent 
 Coalitionist and Minister of Sprigg's Cabinet;
 
 220 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 while Dr. Smartt opposed Sprigg at East 
 London. 
 
 At first sight, it may appear strange that Jameson 
 should have split the British party by opposing 
 Sir Gordon Sprigg and his colleagues, especially 
 at a moment when racialism was the main issue 
 between the two political parties. 
 
 Jameson himself was quite open about the 
 matter, and, moreover, took every opportunity 
 of assuring Sprigg that he would support him if he 
 would abandon his pro-Bond tactics, and prove him- 
 self, in fact as well as in name, the leader of the 
 Progressive party. It was, however, essential to 
 the Progressive party that its members should at 
 that period pledge themselves to fight in support 
 of British interests, in order to make British instead 
 of Dutch influence paramount at the Cape. The 
 moment was emphatically opportune for making 
 such a stand ; for, however great the divergence 
 of opinion about Lord Milner's administration, 
 he, at least, had made clear his determination to 
 support the Britishers, and those others who had 
 proved themselves loyal. Throughout the Colony 
 these loyalists were consequently beginning to take 
 heart, and were in a condition to respond to the 
 stimulating influence of a leader with a definite
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 221 
 
 and live programme. Moreover, the pledge was 
 not to Jameson, or to any particular leader 
 or person, but simply to abide by the pro- 
 gramme of the party or to resign membership. 
 Sir Gordon Sprigg, Mr. Douglas, and his other 
 colleagues, would not, however, so pledge them- 
 selves. As sham leaders, they were playing into 
 the hands of the Bond, and their backboneless 
 opportunism constituted so grave a menace, that 
 Jameson had no other option but to oppose them, 
 and compel them to declare themselves either 
 Bond or Progressive. It was a struggle for political 
 supremacy between British and Dutch, in which, 
 for the first time in their history, the former had 
 an organization at their back, a definite policy to 
 fight for, and a fighting leader at their head. 
 
 Jameson realized that no compromise or con- 
 ciliatory policy was to be contemplated until the 
 Progressives had organized themselves and de- 
 feated the Dutch on the racial issue, which at that 
 time formed the inevitable line of cleavage between 
 the two parties. 
 
 As the result of the elections in Grahamstown* 
 in December, Jameson easily defeated Douglas, 
 
 * The polling at Grahamstown takes place some days before the polling in 
 other constituencies.
 
 222 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and in a speech, thanking his supporters, said 
 he hoped the party would take encouragement 
 from his victory. This, together with Dr. Smartt's 
 success in thoroughly defeating Sir Gordon Sprigg 
 at East London, broke up the ranks of the 
 mugwumps. 
 
 Following up these successes, Jameson motored 
 some seven thousand miles over South African 
 roads, addressing meetings at every political centre, 
 enthusing his followers, stiffening the backs of 
 the wobblers, and personally seeing that the local 
 organizations were in fighting trim. 
 
 His programme was a simple one. He made it 
 clear that he had no favours to offer either for Boer 
 votes or for opportunists, for all those, in fact, 
 who desired to cling to compromise and who could 
 not give their whole-hearted support to the main 
 principles of the Progressive policy. Broadly 
 stated, these were, first, the maintenance of 
 British interests ; second, the development in 
 every way possible of the potential resources of 
 the Colony ; thirdly, the furtherance, whenever 
 compatible with Cape interests, of a closer inter- 
 Colonial co-operation and federal policy. 
 
 On these broad issues the Progressives fought the 
 Bond organization, whose legislative proposals
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 223 
 
 were definitely reactionary and racial, and whose 
 ideas as regards federation on Imperial lines were 
 at that time too elusive to be trusted. 
 
 The unexpected happened, and as a result of 
 the elections the Progressives found themselves 
 with a majority of two in the Assembly and of 
 four in the Legislative Council, or Upper House. 
 It was, however, no easy matter to form a Ministry, 
 and one of Jameson's many difficulties lay in his 
 own position as director of De Beers and of the 
 Chartered Company. Rhodes had held the two 
 positions when Prime Minister, but objections were 
 raised in respect of Jameson, because it was feared 
 that, as director of De Beers, he might be influenced 
 in respect of legislative measures for taxing dia- 
 monds ; and that, as director of the Chartered Com- 
 pany, he would be obliged to favour the Beira Rail- 
 way as against the Cape Railways for Rhodesian 
 imports. He, however, refused to relinquish either 
 of these posts, on the ground that, in Rhodes' 
 interest, he owed these companies an equal 
 allegiance. As a matter of fact, one of his first 
 measures was a tax on incomes above one thou- 
 sand pounds per annum, which mulcted De Beers of 
 about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds 
 annually. Under the circumstances, however, he
 
 224 DR - JAMESON. 
 
 became, like Rhodes, Prime Minister without a 
 portfolio, and without a salary. When challenged 
 on this matter subsequently, he said : 
 
 " Then there is just one personal criticism I 
 would like to take notice of. Now, Mr. Merriman 
 is never rude ; he is very gentlemanly. If he 
 wants to give you a dig, he wraps it up very nicely. 
 But there was one sentence of his speech at Port 
 Elizabeth which was clearly meant to refer to me. 
 He said : ' We do not want to be governed by 
 these gentlemen who sit on commercial boards.' 
 Now, that was certainly intended for me. Well, 
 I try to help in the government of this country, 
 and I do sit on boards ; but after all, even a poli- 
 tician who takes part in the government of a 
 country must have some recreation. Now, we 
 all like a certain kind of recreation equally — that 
 is, sleep. Outside sleep, even outside our Govern- 
 ment itself, we want a little recreation. Well, I 
 take my recreation in the shape of helping to govern 
 and carry on the development of the estate called 
 after the late great leader, Mr. Rhodes. It is 
 true, I also, in my recreation — not taking away any 
 time, I assure you, from my position of helping 
 to govern this country — I also take part in the 
 development of what I consider the greatest com-
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 225 
 
 mercial asset of the Cape Colony, and I try to direct 
 it as far as, in my small way, I can on lines to de- 
 velop the whole country. I speak of De Beers. I 
 also help to administer the estate of the late 
 Mr. Rhodes, where, I am sure you will all agree, 
 neither South Africa nor the Cape Colony were 
 forgotten in the distribution of his wealth after 
 his death. (Hear, hear.) But why should this 
 disqualify me from taking part in the government 
 of the country, any more than Mr. Merriman's 
 recreation, which, I am informed, is looking at 
 other people growing fruit and violets at Stellen- 
 bosch ? (Laughter.) It is really the position, and, 
 as a matter of fact, I share with Mr. Merriman in 
 his recreation. I also take an interest in the 
 growing of fruit in the neighbourhood of Stellen- 
 bosch ; in fact, I take a very active part in the 
 management of the large fruit-growing area there 
 in the shape of the Rhodes farms." 
 
 His position was indeed a strange one. It almost 
 looked as if it were the working out of some 
 mysterious design, the result of some unforeseeable 
 co-ordination of circumstances personal and im- 
 personal. Who could have prophesied that within 
 seven years of his liberation from prison Jame- 
 son, the most execrated man in South Africa, 
 
 15
 
 226 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 would stand even as Rhodes had stood before 
 the Raid ; that, vested with the power of Premier- 
 ship, and with a solid party behind him, he 
 would be able to carry out in spirit and in 
 letter Rhodes' aims and policy ? Whether that 
 policy be called Imperial, Colonial, or National ; 
 its practical objects were the same, namely, to 
 lay the foundations of a permanent prosperity for 
 Cape Colonists, by assisting them to develop the 
 hitherto neglected resources of their soil and to 
 find markets for their products. 
 
 Previous Governments had in the past to a 
 very considerable extent relied for revenue upon 
 the carriage of over-sea goods from Cape ports to 
 the north, and had too frequently sacrificed the 
 Colony's industrial interests to mere party and 
 racial legislation. Jameson's concern for the 
 Cape's welfare was above all party or racial 
 considerations. A thriving, populous Colony 
 within a thriving and united South Africa, 
 such was Jameson's, as it was Rhodes', ideal. 
 From the first he endeavoured to create a non- 
 racial attitude in the practical economic interests 
 of the Colony, and to promote in every way possible 
 that inter-Colonial co-operation which is so essen- 
 tial to the interests of every state and every in-
 
 Photo bii] 
 
 [Ernest ii. mills. 
 
 Dr. Jameson (1906). 
 
 \Facingp. 226.
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 227 
 
 habitant in South Africa. His position was from 
 the first stronger than that occupied by Rhodes, 
 because he understood better the value of organiza- 
 tion, especially in industrial matters. Speaking at 
 a banquet in his honour on the 2nd of February, 
 1904, on the eve of the assembling of Parliament, 
 he made clear the aim of his policy. In the course 
 of his speech he said : 
 
 "Mr. McClure alluded to the unmitigated abuse 
 which I personally have received. That we will 
 forgive. I have no enmity against the other side. 
 They used whatever means they had to advocate 
 their principles, and I give them credit for believing 
 in their principles, and I claim for our side the 
 same absolute honesty. Both parties have desired 
 the good and the prosperity of the Cape Colony, 
 viewed from two different points of view. We, the 
 Progressive party, view this limb of the British 
 Empire as a real, integral portion of the Empire 
 that can never be separated from the Empire, 
 and can never prosper unless we recognize that it 
 is a limb of the British Empire. Our opponents 
 honestly believe that the success and the pro- 
 sperity of this country is capable of being brought 
 about and maintained separately from the British 
 Empire — possibly still more prosperous with the 
 
 15*
 
 228 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 British Empire ; but what they maintain is that 
 you must rule this country separately. I do not 
 mean to impute to them a desire to separate from 
 the British Empire. They are honestly, I believe, 
 loyal to the flag ■ but it is not a real feeling that this 
 Colony should be, must be, and will be, a portion 
 of the British Empire ; and that is the entire differ- 
 ence between us, and that is what we have really 
 fought for. . . . 
 
 " Now, I have said frequently at the hustings 
 during the last three months that I consider one 
 of the great advantages that a majority of the 
 Progressive party would produce in this country 
 would be the allaying of that so-called racial feel- 
 ing. I said, ' Give us a working majority, and I 
 believe that it will be the main factor in getting rid 
 of this racial feeling.' I feel that the people of 
 this country are sick of contests, whether it is 
 physical or political. What we want in this country 
 is rest ; we want to go about our business, and 
 I feel the majority of our opponents are with us 
 on that line. . . . There are some practical 
 things, especially, that will help that consumma- 
 tion, and seeing that the majority of our opponents 
 are specially interested in the land, I, and I believe 
 most of my friends — I know my friend Dr. Smartt
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 229 
 
 will agree in what I have to say — we believe 
 honestly in that old hackneyed but good phrase 
 that the land is the backbone of the country. 
 That being so, we have to our hand the means by 
 which we can show our bona fides to our oppo- 
 nents, and that is by taking in hand what I con- 
 sider to be the most important, but at the same 
 time the most neglected department of this country, 
 namely, the Department of Agriculture. Our 
 desire, if our Ministry is to have any special fea- 
 ture, our desire is to make agriculture and the 
 proper development of the agricultural resources 
 of this country the main feature of this Ministry 
 which has just come into office. . . . We are 
 creating nothing ; we are following in the foot- 
 steps of our great leader. We are a united body 
 of Progressives, determined to carry out the policy 
 laid down for us by our great departed leader. 
 . . . You have heard a great deal about the 
 pledged party. Well, it is quite true that our 
 party, one and all, are pledged to it, not to any 
 individual. They can assemble together in caucus 
 and keep me out of my position — that will make 
 no difference to the programme and the Pro- 
 gressive party ; but they are pledged on the pro- 
 gramme of the Progressive party put before their
 
 230 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 constituents. Having gone on to the platform 
 with that programme in their hands, and having 
 said to their constituents, ' We agree to that pro- 
 gramme ; we wish you to send us down to pass that 
 programme/ I say, then, they are pledged to 
 their constituents to vote with the majority of 
 their party on every item of their programme. 
 Therefore, I say, we are a strong majority. . . . 
 We, the Progressive party, and we, the Ministers 
 who are responsible for what is brought forward 
 by the party, absolutely recognize that we have 
 a mandate from the people of this country to carry 
 out. We recognize that this period of stagnation 
 due to opportunism is past, and we will carry 
 out that mandate, whatever may be the results, 
 without favour one way or the other, and without 
 questioning what the result will be to ourselves 
 or the party. We will go through with it, and 
 I hope I am justified in saying we are sanguine 
 that we will be able to bring about in this, 
 the Cape Colony, a united people, a prosperous 
 country, fit to take its legitimate place in that 
 coming voluntary federation to whose realization 
 we are prepared to devote our best energy and 
 strength." 
 
 This speech outlined the main trend of Jame-
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 231 
 
 son's policy on taking office in 1904, and it is 
 now necessary for a moment to consider the 
 policy and personnel of his Opposition. The Bond 
 party had this advantage over their opponents, 
 that their solidarity was assured. Even if the 
 race question in 1904 had not been a political 
 issue, and had not formed a clear line of cleavage 
 between the Bond and the Progressives, the Dutch 
 are so loyal to their own race in religious, social 
 and business matters, and so intensely clannish in 
 every respect, that no matter what they may say 
 outside, it is a foregone conclusion they will only 
 vote for a Dutchman inside the polling booth. 
 It was, perhaps, for this reason that the Bond Oppo- 
 sition programme in 1903 and 1904 appeared so 
 meagre beside the constructive aims of the Pro- 
 gressives. Moreover, it has always been the 
 Bond's policy to fight behind cover, and on all 
 such controversial questions as abolition of drink 
 to natives, native franchise, or federation, to be 
 either silent or elusive. It is difficult to realize 
 what would have been the position of the British 
 in the Cape if the Bond party, naturally em- 
 bittered by the events of the War, had come into 
 power instead of Jameson. Even as it was, race 
 feeling then ran so high that in many parts of
 
 232 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 the Colony the British were boycotted in business 
 and ostracized socially. 
 
 Such items, therefore, as were definite in the 
 Bond programme of 1904 were inevitably racial. 
 Dutch teachers in the schools, and the manipula- 
 tion of education in Dutch interests — the official 
 recognition of the Taal, which is a dialect — 
 high protective duties on imported meat, even 
 though these involved, owing to the scarcity of 
 cattle, the killing of breeding stock — while brandy 
 and wine were to be freed from excise and the 
 mineral resources of the country to be directly and 
 heavily taxed. 
 
 Such proposals were solely in the interests both 
 of Dutch supremacy and of the Dutch farmers 
 and wine growers, and did not reveal any regard 
 for the general welfare of the community. As a 
 matter of fact, for the first three years of Jame- 
 son's administration the Opposition had no con- 
 structive programme, and their policy was more 
 to harass than to oust the Progressives. This was 
 due partly to the financial stress within Cape 
 Colony, and partly because the Transvaal and 
 Orange River Colonies had not been granted 
 responsible Government. As a Bondman said to 
 the writer : " Why should we trouble when Jame-
 
 Photo by] 
 
 [B.EES, Johannesburg 
 
 Hon. J. II. Hofmeyr. 
 
 [Facing p. 232.
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 233 
 
 son is doing more for the Dutch farmers than a 
 Bond Ministry would dare to do." Even in 1908, 
 after the force of circumstances had been too 
 strong and the Bond had formed a Ministry under 
 the new label of the South African party, Mr. 
 Hofmeyr is reported to have said : "I hope the 
 South African party will be in power, but I fear 
 they will regret it when they get there," a state- 
 ment probably endorsed by Mr. Merriman, who has 
 to face the most difficult financial situation that 
 ever confronted a Cape Minister. 
 
 Although socially holding himself aloof from 
 Jameson, Mr. Hofmeyr was too genuine a lover 
 of the Cape and South Africa not to approve of his 
 non-racial enlightened policy for developing the 
 Colony's agricultural resources. Foreseeing that 
 the weight of Dutch population and organization 
 was automatically bringing to pass that Afrikander 
 dominion under the Empire for which he had so 
 persistently laboured, he did not wish to force the 
 situation or to attempt to place the Bond party 
 in office. 
 
 Probably no Prime Minister ever had more loyal 
 colleagues than Jameson during his four years of 
 office — Dr. Smartt as Commissioner for Railways, 
 Mr. Walton as Treasurer, Mr. Sampson as Attorney-
 
 234 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 General, Colonel Crewe as Minister for Education, 
 all strove as men have seldom striven to support 
 their leader's ideas and policy. In the face of 
 unparalleled financial adversity and gloom, in 
 the face of violent parochialism and antagonism 
 from their constituents, and in the face of bitter- 
 minded political opponents highly trained in the art 
 of party warfare, they did their utmost to serve the 
 larger interests of their Colony and South Africa. 
 
 In debate and in Parliamentary tactics the Pro- 
 gressives were possibly not quite so powerful or 
 skilful, nor did they possess the same concentrated 
 purpose as their opponents. Jameson, although de- 
 void of any rhetorical art, was the most persuasive 
 and arrestive speaker on his side, and perhaps in 
 the House. During the earlier years of his political 
 career he had lacked practice. But as time went on 
 his natural ability as a speaker, which he had pro- 
 bably inherited from his father, quickly developed, 
 and this, combined with his personality, made 
 him a power both in the House and on the platform. 
 With a pleasant voice and easily audible inflec- 
 tions, with a certain impressive deliberateness, 
 with a remarkable power of insinuating himself 
 with his audience and explaining his point 
 clearly in simple, brusque sentences, frequently
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 235 
 
 lightened by raillery and humour, Jameson 
 easily held his audiences. Nor was he less 
 effective in debate. Master of a quiet sar- 
 casm that left its mark, he was able not only to 
 keep his temper, but eventually to smile at per- 
 sonal vituperation that was only too frequently 
 as untrue as it was offensive. His party, how- 
 ever, were not so forceful, and towards the end of 
 his administration, Jameson, realizing the weak- 
 ness of his side's debating power, resorted to 
 silence both for himself and his followers. For 
 hours he would sit huddled up, apparently asleep, 
 but ever and again rising to merely negative some 
 outrageous statement or proposition. 
 
 Although seldom conspicuous, the most inte- 
 resting and statesmanlike member of the Bond 
 party was Mr. Malan, a Dutch Afrikander, with 
 considerable intensity of conviction and character, 
 and an effective speaker and debater. He and 
 Jameson, putting party feeling aside, co-operated 
 to promote federation. He is practically Mr. Hof 
 meyr's representative in the Assembly, and, like 
 General Botha in the Transvaal, is the exponent 
 in the Cape of the new enlightened Dutch policy 
 for South Africa. Both because he is editor of 
 Oris Land, the organ of the Bond, and also be-
 
 236 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 cause of his personal character and ability, he is 
 a powerful influence with the Dutch party ; but 
 it did not suit the Bond tactics to make him leader 
 of the Opposition, which position was given for the 
 time being to Mr. Merriman. This gentleman has 
 ever been a picturesque figure in Cape politics, 
 and for several years past has placed at the disposal 
 of the Bond the services of a very well-read English 
 gentleman, a caustic debater, with a distinct capa- 
 city for oratorical effect. In the case of Mr. 
 Merriman, as in the case of many other Parlia- 
 mentary doctrinaire-humanists at home, an ex- 
 tended knowledge and literary culture produces a 
 curious effect. They become cynics in ordinary 
 life, but ultra-sentimentalists in political affairs. 
 Indeed, in the past is has only been with extreme 
 difficulty that Mr. Merriman has been able to bring 
 his brilliant superficialities within the domain 
 of practical politics. He is obviously the anti- 
 thesis of Mr. Hofmeyr, and is, therefore, more 
 satisfied with the pageantry of power than its 
 reality. His long Parliamentary experience, and 
 elastic Parliamentary conscience, together with 
 his power in speech and debate, made him 
 an effective leader of a purely harassing Opposi- 
 tion. Possessing a certain dignity and charm,
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 237 
 
 he not infrequently imperilled it in his personal 
 attacks upon Jameson. He found an able col- 
 league in Mr. Sauer, a resident in Cape Town, 
 who, although a pronounced negrophile, has for 
 many years actively served the Bond. When 
 Sir Gordon, then Mr., Sprigg resigned office in 
 1890, Rhodes formed a Ministry after Mr. Sauer 
 had been asked to do so, and had failed. The 
 latter remained in Rhodes' Cabinet till 1893, but 
 subsequently became the leader of personal attacks 
 upon his former chief, and intemperately continued 
 this role in respect of Jameson. He is a very able, 
 if cynical, debater. 
 
 These were the more prominent members of an 
 Opposition composed almost entirely of Dutchmen 
 from the country districts, who were strictly under 
 the thumb of the Bond in matters of policy, and 
 whose attitude was, generally speaking, strictly 
 parochial and ultra-conservative. 
 
 The great difficulty for Jameson, as for all past 
 Progressive leaders, lay in lack of solidarity or 
 unity within the British party or electorate. For 
 a brief period in 1903-4, when the supremacy 
 of British over Dutch influence made racialism 
 a political issue, the Progressives were united; 
 but there was no clannishness amongst them to
 
 238 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 withstand the tendency to individual independ- 
 ence of opinion. Jameson started with some sort 
 of organization amongst his followers, but he failed 
 eventually to retain any real voting solidarity. 
 Pledged to the fulfilment of Rhodes' ideals, and 
 to the hastening of a federation that at that date 
 appeared daily further from realization, he was to 
 a certain extent on a plane by himself. 
 
 Strenuous, however, as was his political atmo- 
 sphere, his actual habitation was ideally picturesque 
 and restful. The house and estate that Rhodes had 
 created for himself, some seven miles from Cape 
 Town, he had bequeathed to the future Premiers 
 of Federated South Africa. Here Jameson, as 
 representing the Rhodes trustees, resided in trust 
 for that future which it was his purpose to hasten. 
 In some respects his life was enviable. For the 
 time being, the reins of power were in his hands ; 
 he was surrounded by loyal colleagues ; his circle 
 of personal friends, Dutch and British, yearly in- 
 creased ; and his surroundings, if not bracing, were 
 beautiful. Groote Schuur, as the house is called, 
 is in itself an inspiration. Built somewhat on the 
 lines of an enlarged and glorified Dutch farmhouse, 
 it is symbolical of the instinctive taste of a man 
 who, above all things, loved that which was
 
 Groote Schuur. 
 
 [Facing p. 238.
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 239 
 
 natural and great. Its grey- toned roof, whitewashed 
 walls, and broad, pillar-supported stoep, stand 
 embowered amidst woods and gardens on a lower 
 slope of Table Mountain. To the right is a deep 
 cleft, clothed with blue-tinted hydrangeas. Imme- 
 diately behind the back of the house, beds of flesh- 
 leaved crimson flowers form a dividing space of 
 colour between its flagged, white-columned verandah 
 and a grove of dark cedars. Beyond are the 
 mountain slopes whereon feed eland and gnu, 
 zebra and other South African fauna ; and on a 
 great roomy ledge are caged two splendid lions. 
 Rising abruptly behind, in the background are the 
 dark, scarred, cliff-like walls of Table Mountain. 
 Itself a naked fragment of the primeval, it stands 
 forth enhaloed in its own mysterious and ever- 
 lasting solitude. Sphinx-like, it gazes down upon 
 the many-hued humans, who beneath its shadow 
 from time immemorial have played their troubled 
 parts, and between laughter and sorrow have ex- 
 hausted the gamut of their little emotional lives. 
 
 Within the house, the lofty, spacious, and un- 
 carpeted rooms, the rare old books, the selected 
 works of art, and relics of an African past; and, 
 above all, the scent of seasoned teak, create an 
 atmosphere of their own, and, like a temple, convey
 
 240 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 the impression of an abiding presence. The house 
 and grounds are open to the public, who sometimes 
 convert them into what Jameson describes as a 
 sort of Hampstead Heath. " I don't mind the 
 people if they behave well," he said ; " but it was 
 rather trying one day to see from my study win- 
 dows a young woman deliberately roll herself 
 from top to bottom of one of the grassy slopes." 
 
 Leaving Groote Schuur every morning after 
 breakfast, Jameson generally went to his office in 
 Cape Town to interview all sorts and conditions of 
 men; to adjust the innumerable divergent and con- 
 flicting interests of those who have ever been prone 
 to division ; to master the details of the rival 
 interests of town and country ; to have at his 
 ringers' ends the technical intricacies of customs, 
 conventions, railway rates and shipping freights ; 
 to strive for the adjustment of those financial diffi- 
 culties that hampered his efforts ; and finally to 
 develop the potentialities of a soil whose wealth 
 previous Governments had not attempted to realize. 
 
 Such are some of the many issues that occupied 
 his busy hours and brain. His work over, a stroll 
 through the grounds, a game of billiards, or perhaps 
 golf, before dinner, and a game of bridge afterwards, 
 completed his day, and during the three months
 
 THE AFTERMATH. 241 
 
 of session even this was impossible. Occasionally 
 a visit to Kimberley, to Johannesburg, or some 
 other place, enabled him to escape from the too 
 shut-in and relaxing climate of Groote Schuur, 
 and to gain strength from the bracing breezes 
 of the great inland plateaux. 
 
 The same unconscious parochialism that in- 
 fluences the followers of party throughout the 
 Empire exists both amongst the Bond and the 
 Progressives at the Cape. Here, as elsewhere, the 
 bigger and more statesmanlike ideas of leaders 
 have to be attuned to local needs and local interests. 
 These, perhaps, are more complex at the Cape than 
 elsewhere, and only by the most delicate steering 
 was it possible for Jameson, or any leader to 
 make headway in any Nationalist or large South 
 African policy. 
 
 In a colony whose financial prosperity is so 
 intimately connected with its political administra- 
 tion, the daily fret and worry of minor details 
 especially in bad times, is unceasing. It has sapped 
 the vitality and enthusiasm of more than one 
 statesman. There is a fateful quality in the 
 politics of South Africa that, from the earliest 
 period of our administration, has broken the ideals 
 and wasted the efforts of the flower of British 
 
 16
 
 242 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 brain and character. In Australia, Canada, and 
 other colonies, Prime Ministers may come and 
 go, and the majorities behind them have all equally 
 proved themselves to be Imperial in intention ; 
 but this was not the case at the Cape when 
 Jameson took office in 1904, and his defeat 
 then would have had more far-reaching effects 
 than to-day. Those who strive impersonally 
 with far-seeing purpose must inevitably be 
 lonely, and there was much that was more than 
 usually responsible, much that was solitary and 
 food for discouragement, in Jameson's Premiership 
 during the four years from 1904 to 1908. In 
 the following chapter we shall sketch in more 
 detail the actual work he accomplished in that 
 period.
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 " PREMIERSHIP. 
 
 " The spice of Life is battle. The best that is in us is better than we can 
 understand, for it is grounded beyond experience and guides us, blindfold but 
 safe, from one age to another." 
 
 Before attempting any chronological record of 
 Jameson's career as Premier, it is necessary, even 
 at the price of dullness, to first explain the position 
 occupied by the Cape in relation to the other South 
 African states. To the Empire this colony, by 
 reason of her naval station at Simonstown, is of 
 supreme strategic importance, but within the sub- 
 continent her trade position has gradually 
 weakened. 
 
 Previous to the War, the Cape ports and State 
 railway system had, despite their greater distance 
 from Johannesburg, the market centre of South 
 Africa, managed to secure the larger share of the 
 transport of over-sea imported goods for that city. 
 For this purpose the Colony had, at various times, 
 spent millions upon her harbours at Cape Town, 
 Port Elizabeth and East London, and in improving 
 
 243 16*
 
 244 DR - JAMESON. 
 
 the railway systems connected with them. This 
 money had been expended in anticipation of an 
 increased production from the Transvaal gold 
 mines, and a consequent increase in the volume 
 of imported goods for the transport of which the 
 Cape expected to retain her full share. Upon 
 these somewhat optimistic anticipations she had 
 depended for revenue as well as for payment of 
 interest on the monies borrowed. Meanwhile her 
 two coast rivals in the carrying trade — Natal, with 
 her port at Durban, and Delagoa Bay, whose rail- 
 way system was partly under Portuguese and partly 
 under Transvaal control — had also, in the same 
 optimistic spirit, spent large sums in developing 
 their ports and railway systems. 
 
 Although these latter harbours were much nearer 
 to Johannesburg than any of the Cape ports, the 
 gradients on their railway routes were steeper and 
 their management not quite so efficient or economic 
 as that of the Cape railway system. For the pur- 
 pose, however, of preventing a war of railway rates, 
 and a reckless cutting of prices, these three com- 
 petitors had, on various occasions, met at railway 
 conferences, but no principle of distribution had 
 been agreed upon, and much of the Cape's former 
 trade was beginning to slip away from her ports.
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 245 
 
 This was approximately the situation when Jame- 
 son took office in February, 1904. He then found 
 that Sir Gordon Sprigg had left the Treasury chest 
 absolutely empty ; that the expenditure had risen 
 from eight to ten millions, and the revenue had 
 fallen in the same scale; while for actual current 
 administrative purposes the sum of three millions 
 was owing to the savings banks, ordinary banks, 
 guardian funds and other creditors. There was, 
 in fact, an enormous debt unsecured, without a farth- 
 ing to pay it with, or to carry on the administration 
 of the Colony. 
 
 With the aid of Mr. Walton, the Treasurer, Jame- 
 son was able to grapple with the immediate need 
 for money, but owing to the depressed condition 
 of the Transvaal gold mines and consequent con- 
 traction in the volume of imported goods, the 
 revenue from the railways continued steadily to 
 decrease ; and the dumping down of surplus mili- 
 tary stores after the War seriously affected the 
 merchants and traders throughout the country. 
 
 The depression was still further accentuated by 
 the action of the Transvaal Government, who, in 
 order to gain permission to recruit for native labour 
 within Portuguese territories, gave every facility 
 for the carriage of goods for Johannesburg from
 
 246 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Delagoa Bay. The practical effect of this arrange- 
 ment was to reduce the Cape's already reduced 
 railway revenue, and to still further impoverish 
 the already stricken merchants and agents at its 
 ports, while those at Delagoa Bay became com- 
 paratively prosperous. At a later period, two more 
 difficulties awaited the Cape's carrying trade pro- 
 spects. In 1905 the Rhodesian administration de- 
 termined to favour Beira as their port of entry, 
 rather than Cape Town or Port Elizabeth. This 
 involved a further loss of revenue to the Govern- 
 ment, and created a difficult position for Jameson 
 in his dual capacity as Premier, and a director 
 of the British South Africa Company. Further, 
 in 1907, the British shipping ring granted more 
 favourable ocean freights to Durban than to 
 Cape ports. This ring, by a system of deferred 
 rebates, which were forfeited by any person or firm 
 who shipped goods by vessels outside the ring, had 
 created for itself so powerful a monopoly that it 
 could differentiate in its rates between big and small 
 firms, and even, as in the above case, between the 
 Cape and Natal. 
 
 In the face of such a combination of opposing 
 forces, it was obvious that no Government could 
 hope to recover for the Cape its full pre- War share
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 247 
 
 of the carrying business, or restore to their former 
 prosperity the merchants, agents and other wealth 
 distributors living in the towns. Handicapped by 
 her geographical position, the Cape had no weapons 
 wherewith to fight, and could only hope by negotia- 
 tion, and by a continuity of inter-colonial agree- 
 ments, to recover some of her rapidly diminishing 
 carrying trade. She had to face the fact that the 
 Transvaal, with its gold mines at Johannesburg 
 and their annual output of over £20,000,000, 
 their army of white employes and thousands of un- 
 skilled coloured labour, dominated the politico- 
 economic position in South Africa. Not only was 
 the coastal carrying trade oriented upon Johannes- 
 burg, but all roads led to that city, and each state 
 sought to find therein a market for its agricultural 
 and industrial products. Despite the exports to 
 Europe of wool, ostrich feathers and diamonds 
 from the Cape, despite the wheat-growing and 
 cattle-rearing capacities of the Orange River Colony, 
 and despite the coal treasures of Natal, the trade 
 and general prosperity of the whole sub-continent 
 in a very large measure depends upon the small 
 area of gold-producing mines in the Transvaal. The 
 ore in these, however, is not always rich, and in 
 most cases the margin between the money spent in
 
 248 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 producing the gold and the actual amount of gold 
 remaining for profit is small. A very slight difference 
 in the cost of production makes all the difference as 
 to whether a mine pays to work or not ; and no 
 one is going to spend a sovereign in extracting a 
 sovereign. Apart from an adequate supply of 
 unskilled labour, the successful working of these 
 mines depends upon the cost of living and standard 
 of wages. The lower these are, the greater the 
 number of tons of ore, and of mines, that can be 
 worked to a profit. But in a city so far inland as 
 Johannesburg, the cost of living and of all sorts of 
 materials is determined by the cost of railway 
 charges from the coast ; and it was, therefore, essen- 
 tial that these should be as low as possible. But if 
 low railway rates were necessary to the Transvaal 
 consumers, they were equally ruinous to the tax- 
 payers of the Cape j for the latter Colony could 
 not compete successfully in any war of railway rates 
 with the nearer ports of Durban and Delagoa 
 Bay. 
 
 Lord Selborne, in his memorandum, puts the case 
 very clearly. " Thus the interests of Cape Colony, 
 of Natal, and of the Orange River Colony conflict 
 the one with the other. But when it comes to con- 
 sidering the railway interests of the Transvaal, then
 
 PREMIERSHIP." 249 
 
 it will be found that the interests of the Transvaal 
 are diametrically opposed to the interests of Cape 
 Colony, of Natal, and Orange River Colony. The 
 Transvaal loses revenue in every ton of goods which 
 enters by any other port but that of Delagoa Bay." 
 
 Fiscal interests, moreover, proved as incompatible 
 to reconcile as railway revenues, and the conflict 
 of interest between the Transvaal and the Cape 
 was not confined to railway rates alone. Both 
 the Transvaal and also the Cape farmers sought 
 their markets in Johannesburg, but while the former 
 needed protection, the Cape farmers, as the most 
 distant, could only successfully compete if they 
 were granted preferential railway rates. Unless, 
 therefore, the Transvaal and the Cape could merge 
 their opposing interests in some inter-colonial co- 
 operative agreement, the situation contained all the 
 possibilities of a war of railway rates and tariffs, 
 in which the Cape must inevitably be at the mercy 
 of her neighbours. In other words, if the Trans- 
 vaal were to recede from the Customs Union, to 
 adopt a protective policy in the interests of her 
 farmers and consumers, and to erect a ring fence 
 of Customs Houses round her frontiers, the deli- 
 cately adjusted balance of trade throughout the 
 sub-continent would be overthrown, and the Cape,
 
 250 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 more especially, would lose the benefit of the 
 millions she had spent in railways, harbours and 
 ports. 
 
 It was obviously, therefore, necessary for the 
 Cape in her own interest to support preferential 
 railway rates for her farmers, the maintenance of 
 a Customs Union, and every form of federative 
 action, as it was only by a process of clever 
 bargaining at inter-colonial conferences that she 
 could hope to further her own particular interests. 
 
 The conventions that were thus arrived at were 
 at best but poor makeshifts for any general South 
 African policy, and were only tolerated because the 
 different States were unable either to remain 
 separate or to unite on satisfactory terms. In the 
 bargainings that took place at the four inter- 
 colonial conferences between 1904 and 1908, it 
 was fortunate for the Cape that she was represented 
 by a man like Jameson, who was at once a fighter 
 and a persuader of men, and who, in no parochial 
 spirit, strove for the Cape's interests, but always 
 kept in view the wider needs of a united South 
 African continent, some definite scheme of political 
 union, either unification or federation. 
 
 Until this could be formulated and agreed upon, 
 no South African policy was possible. Despite the
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 251 
 
 fact that the boundaries of the different States are 
 mere map-drawn lines ; despite the fact that the 
 white community is a mere islet in an ocean of 
 coloured peoples, who daily grow more capable of 
 organization and menace ; despite the unsatisfac- 
 tory results of makeshift conventions, and the 
 general economic disadvantages of inter-state rivalry 
 in railways and tariffs, no machinery exists for a 
 common South African action, either in respect 
 of these matters or of defence of native administra- 
 tion. Meanwhile, to further emphasize the waste 
 of time and money thus occasioned, the cost of ad- 
 ministering the affairs of the sub-continent is 
 enormous ; the salaries of the members of eight 
 legislative bodies, namely, an Upper and Lower 
 House in each state, and those of four Govern- 
 ment House establishments, together with that of 
 a High Commissioner and his staff, constitute a 
 record for a maximum of administrative expen- 
 diture with a minimum of result. 
 
 Public opinion in South Africa is not naturally 
 inclined to take long views, but gradually, under 
 pressure of such wasteful conditions, it was being 
 educated to perceive the absolute necessity for 
 some definite form of union and central authority. 
 
 Lord Selborne's memorandum of 1907 made
 
 252 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 articulate the growing consciousness of this need. 
 It demonstrated the fact that, in respect of the 
 strictly internal affairs of South Africa, the people 
 of South Africa are not self-governing in respect 
 of South African affairs, because they have no 
 South African Government wherewith to govern. 
 
 The effect of this memorandum was to lift the 
 question of closer union out of its academic, after- 
 dinner peroration stage, and to prepare the way 
 for its becoming a matter of practical politics. It 
 was, however, not until after Jameson's defeat 
 had placed the Bond party in power at the Cape 
 that the leaders of the Dutch political organizations 
 in the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies de- 
 termined to co-operate with the Bond leaders in 
 hastening a unification of South Africa on a basis 
 likely to ensure for them, and for their majorities, 
 a political ascendency for many years to come. 
 Consequently, at the railway and customs con- 
 ference in May, 1908, they made the question of 
 closer union a matter of urgent practical politics, 
 and shelved all other questions until its form could 
 be decided upon by a meeting of delegates from 
 all colonies to be held at Durban in October, 
 1908. 
 
 At the time Responsible Government was granted
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 253 
 
 to the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies Jame- 
 son foresaw that he would have to abandon any 
 hopes of federation on a British basis and await 
 the decision of the Dutch political ascendency in 
 the matter. The idea of a Federal Parliament 
 dealing with South African questions, framed more 
 on the Canadian model than the Australian, and 
 delegating to the existing State Parliaments local 
 powers, had been part of the heritage that he 
 had received from Rhodes, and for the realization 
 of some scheme of union of this kind he had per- 
 sistently striven. Unification, or the establishment 
 of one central Parliament for South Africa, was ob- 
 viously a more economical form of administration ; 
 but this Jameson did not consider immediately 
 practical, in view of the ignorance and unen- 
 lightened condition of a very great number of the 
 country voters, especially the Dutch. But what- 
 ever form the federation might take, Rhodes and 
 Jameson had always conceived of it as a federation 
 under British, and not under Dutch, ascendency. 
 The great obstacle to their scheme of federation 
 was the difficulty of arriving at some inter-state 
 arrangement on the subject of native franchise. 
 
 Since 1853 the native has been granted a vote 
 in the Cape Colony. Rhodes, who, in the early
 
 254 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 days of Kimberley, had witnessed the evils of 
 the blanket vote, had, as Premier, at once raised 
 both the educational and property qualifications 
 for the native. Even with this raised qualification, 
 it is an unedifying spectacle during elections to 
 see the representatives of the two white races meta- 
 phorically wearing away the buttons of their waist- 
 coats in crawling for the native vote. This, how- 
 ever, does not affect the principle that Rhodes 
 laid down in his declaration of equal rights for all 
 civilized peoples, and which Jameson has per- 
 sistently reaffirmed. It is probable that Rhodes 
 never contemplated the possibility of such a com- 
 plete Boer supremacy as that which now administers 
 South African affairs ; and there were many who, 
 after the grant of responsible government to the 
 two Dutch colonies, were for abandoning the whole 
 of Rhodes' federal policy; but Jameson at once 
 took the bolder view. "No," he said ; " federa- 
 tion has been our objective in the past, and we 
 cannot now turn our backs on the principle because 
 it will be carried through by Dutch rather than 
 by British influence." He never for a moment 
 wavered, and subsequently made his standpoint 
 very clear. Speaking at Grahamstown in 1907 on 
 the eve of the coming elections, he said :
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 255 
 
 'This contest is going to decide what position 
 the Cape Colony is going to occupy, and every 
 individual in the Cape Colony is going to occupy, 
 in the coming union between the different states 
 of South Africa. This Parliament that will be 
 appointed by the electors at this coming contest, 
 will put in power a government for five years, and 
 if I am not very much mistaken (I know I am sup- 
 posed to be an optimist, but I really believe that 
 my optimism will come true this time), in five years 
 the South African states will be federated in some 
 form or other. (Cheers.) What is the attitude 
 of Mr. Merriman towards this question of union ? 
 Well, he gave us some very fine ideals at Port 
 Elizabeth the other day. I endorse all those fine 
 ideals, but those ideals alone will not carry Union 
 in this country. We must get to practical details. 
 What did he say ? He absolutely refused to grasp 
 the thistle of details. On this question of Union, I 
 am prepared to grasp the thistle ; I am prepared 
 to go into details. I have been put down as a 
 federationist. The fact of the matter is, I say 
 if we are to realize our ideal of a South African 
 nationality nothing short of unification will bring 
 that about. (Cheers.) Theoretically, I am in 
 favour of unification, but I am a practical man,
 
 256 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and see the difficulties ahead. I am not going to 
 ruin a cause by swallowing the apple whole when I 
 can swallow a bite of it and get the apple later 
 on. (Cheers.) Mr. Merriman has told you you 
 can never unify in this country except from senti- 
 ment. I agree that sentiment is a large factor ; 
 but it is not the only factor, and if we depend on 
 sentiment alone, as practical people we shall never 
 get Union at all. We must appeal also to the 
 material advantages, and they must be apparent 
 to every man in South Africa. (Cheers.) The real 
 difficulty is the native franchise question, and Mr. 
 Merriman has told us that we must not bring this 
 question into party politics. We must bring every- 
 thing into party politics, but we must not do so 
 from the party politics point of view, but from 
 the inherent merits of the case. (Cheers.) It is 
 all very well for us to say, or for Mr. Merriman to 
 say, that the matter of the natives is not to be 
 brought into party politics ; but what do our friends 
 the natives and their leaders say ? We acknow- 
 ledge in this Colony that the natives are full citizens, 
 with citizens' rights. (Cheers.) We know that in 
 the neighbouring Colonies they are not acknow- 
 ledged as citizens, with citizens' rights, and Mr. 
 Merriman told us that he is in sympathy with
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 257 
 
 the authorities in the adjoining Colonies. Must 
 not that at once create a certain amount of sus- 
 picion among our native friends, and must they 
 not be allowed to ask the various candidates what 
 their views are on this subject of vital importance 
 to them, supposing any change takes place, such as 
 unification or federation ? Surely the natives 
 have the right to ask that. (Applause.) We have 
 a definite policy — we are not afraid of interpreting 
 that policy and definite programme, and included 
 in it are absolute equal rights for every civilized 
 man. (Loud cheers.) The neighbouring Colonies 
 will, in time — not at present — come to our theory 
 on the native question, and will acknowledge their 
 rights as citizens. (Cheers.) Coming down in the 
 train this afternoon, I read that interesting speech 
 of General Botha's — (Cheers) — given on Dingan's 
 Day. What did he say in the last two lines ? I 
 know the Transvaal is not in favour of our policy ; 
 the Orange River Colony is not in favour ; Natal 
 is tentative. The last two lines of General Botha's 
 speech said that the natives must be Christianized 
 and educated. (Cheers.) Well, if they are 
 Christianized and educated, and become civilized 
 men, and, except for their colour, the same as us, 
 they will demand citizens' rights, and they will 
 
 17
 
 258 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 get them. (Cheers.) That being so, it will take 
 time. Therefore, I say the franchise question is 
 probably a bar to unification. Some of my friends 
 disagree with me, and they say ' No, it can be got 
 over.' I am not dogmatic. I have a perfectly 
 open mind, and am willing to be convinced. I 
 have thought of it carefully and I can conceive 
 no scheme that will satisfy every section of the 
 population, and, therefore, in the meantime let us 
 go for federation. But if there is such a scheme, 
 and it will maintain the rights of the people — 
 (Cheers) — then by all means I shall vote with both 
 hands for unification, as the bigger ideal of the 
 two." (Cheers.) 
 
 These words clear up all doubt as to Jameson's 
 attitude on these two very important questions 
 of native franchise and of closer union, which 
 are perhaps the most important problems that 
 confront all South African politicians. 
 
 There yet remains a brief explanation of the 
 peculiar position that Jameson from the first 
 occupied in respect of his Progressive con- 
 stituents. These were mainly the British 
 merchants, agents and traders residing in the 
 towns, whose interests as consumers were often 
 directly opposed to those of the land-owning
 
 « PREMIERSHIP." 259 
 
 Dutchmen who formed the backbone of the Bond 
 Opposition party. Beyond their capital and labour, 
 these merchants and traders possessed few wealth- 
 producing assets, and were mainly circulators and 
 distributors of the Colony's wealth. The Dutch 
 landowners, however, possessed in their soil a 
 wealth-producing asset, for whose development 
 State aid in the interest of the Colony generally was 
 imperatively necessary. Owing to automatic trade 
 movements over which he had no control, Jameson 
 was in the position of being unable to give economic 
 assistance to the wealth distributors who were his 
 political friends ; whilst he had to strain every nerve 
 to help the wealth-producing Dutch farmers and 
 wine-growers who were his political opponents. 
 
 With each succeeding year, the peculiar features 
 of this situation made themselves more manifest. 
 The merchants and town-dwellers steadily became 
 poorer, whilst the landowners waxed daily more 
 prosperous. Bankruptcies, which were only too 
 frequent amongst the town-dwellers, were almost 
 unheard of amongst the farmers, whose prosperity 
 by 1908 was so established that the story was 
 current of a wealthy Dutch sheep-owner whose 
 chief and only complaint was that " his ewes would 
 
 lamb too fast." Another Dutch ostrich-farmer com- 
 
 17*
 
 260 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 plained bitterly of the income tax on incomes above 
 £1,000, and as instancing its awful injustice, pointed 
 out that one of his neighbours had to pay income 
 tax on £12,000 a year and another on £17,000. 
 
 In any other country such marked prosperity 
 of the land-owning class would have had a 
 beneficial effect upon trade generally, by quicken- 
 ing the circulation of money, and by increasing the 
 amount to be handled by merchants and traders. 
 But Dutch landowners, both by circumstance 
 and by nature, are not money-spenders. Trained 
 to hardship, the very virtues of their pioneership 
 become an economic defect. Their excessive sturdi- 
 ness, and more especially that of their vrouws, so 
 limits their ideas of comfort that they have not even 
 an elementary desire for the social luxuries and 
 environment that usually accompanies the pos- 
 session of large incomes. Grim, austere and de- 
 liberate in their outlook upon life, the current 
 of their emotional natures runs deep, and but 
 seldom rises to the surface. With a low 
 standard of physical comfort, they have but very 
 few intellectual or artistic temptations on which 
 to spend money, and the lighter joys, the Parisian 
 refinements, even the ordinary joie-de-vivre of life, 
 are far from them. Because of his many limita-
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 261 
 
 tions, the Dutch farmer is easily suspicious of any- 
 thing and anybody outside the ken of his own actual 
 or ancestral experience ; and his practicality in 
 this respect often goes the length of not allowing 
 his golden sovereigns to go out of sight or touch. 
 He is more prone, in fact, to hoard his gold than 
 either to spend it or to keep it in circulation by 
 placing it in a bank. 
 
 He is, moreover, in more ways than one, a law 
 unto himself, and in the pursuit of a racial or 
 political idea is quite capable of upsetting the com- 
 mon experience of mankind with regard to the dis- 
 tribution of wealth. In these and other respects the 
 workings of his mind — like the mental paths of the 
 native — have not yet been discovered. Dutchmen 
 possess a wonderful power of silent combination for 
 some object known only to themselves. So subtle 
 is this understanding, that a Britisher living on 
 close friendly terms with his Dutch neighbours 
 would never even suspect its existence. By 1908 
 the difference between the prosperity of the Dutch 
 landowners and the poverty of the British mer- 
 chants and traders became so marked that it was 
 currently rumoured that the Bond had ordered 
 the former to hoard their gold so long as Jameson 
 and the Progressives were in power.
 
 262 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 The atmosphere of South Africa seems to breed 
 rumours of every possible kind. Too often they are 
 malignant in character and disseminate poisonous 
 discord and suspicion amongst the few scattered 
 humans who strive to people the vast spaces of 
 the land. In this particular instance, if the report 
 be true, it shows up the dogged racial and political 
 purposiveness of the Dutch ; and even if untrue, 
 it reveals the authority that, by a general con- 
 sensus of opinion, is attributed to the Bond over 
 its constituents. Whatever their motive, the 
 action of these Dutch landowners in thus failing 
 to put their increasing sovereigns into circulation, 
 completely upset Jameson's legitimate anticipations, 
 who had naturally expected that the whole com- 
 munity would have benefited from the increasing 
 prosperity of the landowning class. 
 
 His disappointment in this respect made his posi- 
 tion more difficult with his followers, and created 
 a greater strain upon their allegiance. Not un- 
 naturally, the Progressive party kicked against 
 having to bear the burden of taxation, and even to 
 make sacrifices in the economic interests of their 
 political opponents — the Dutch landowners ; who, 
 on their side, did not even attempt to play the game. 
 During the first two sessions the Progressives bore
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 263 
 
 the situation patiently ; but in 1906 they openly re- 
 volted against an amendment to the effect that any 
 meat duty, once reimposed, should not be suspended 
 except by consent of both Houses of Parliament. 
 Jameson supported this amendment, which was 
 moved by a British Progressive farmer, but almost 
 all the town representatives of his party voted in 
 the opposition, and he and his Ministry were only 
 saved from defeat by the support of nearly the 
 whole strength of the Bond party, who voted in 
 its favour. In other words, twenty-two town Pro- 
 gressive members, representing a total of some two 
 hundred thousand town voters, out of a total of 
 five hundred and eighty thousand white voters 
 in the Colony, revolted in the interests of the general 
 consumer for a lowered cost of living, and refused 
 to support the landowners' claims for duties on 
 imported meat. 
 
 But, added to the economic hopelessness of the 
 Progressives, was the political despair occasioned, 
 not so much by the actual grant of responsible 
 government to the Transvaal, as by the manner 
 in which it was done, and by the fact that it was 
 unaccompanied by any attempt whatsoever to 
 safeguard the welfare of the British minority. The 
 excessive sensitiveness displayed by the Imperial
 
 264 DR- JAMESON. 
 
 Government towards Dutch feeling, the excessive 
 regard shown for the political and economic interests 
 of the Dutch throughout South Africa, and the 
 utter lack of sympathy and regard for the Britisher's 
 interests of any kind, all served to re-plunge the 
 Progressive party at the Cape into that condition 
 of apathy and indifference to Imperial interests 
 into which they had fallen in previous years. 
 Rightly or wrongly, Britishers in the sub-continent 
 felt that their country neglected their interests. 
 To-day they are a disappointed people living 
 in the midst of triumphant opponents, to whom 
 country and race have been the religion and the 
 alpha and omega of all purpose in life. No 
 doubt the Britisher, like the Dutchman, is content 
 that the sub-continent should remain within the 
 British Empire, as thereby he gains for the 
 moment a cheap, safe, and easy form of naval 
 protection ; but, apart from his material advantages 
 in this respect, he has ceased for the time being 
 to have any pride in, or enthusiam for, the record 
 of Imperial administration in South Africa. 
 
 Gradually the Progressive party tended to 
 disintegrate into groups, with different economic 
 rather than political aims. There was a small 
 British farmer group, demanding increased protec-
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 265 
 
 tion for the agricultural interest ; there was a Cape 
 manufacture group, demanding protection for Cape 
 factories ; and there was a powerful free trade group, 
 more or less under the lead of an able town 
 Progressive, Mr. J agger. These groups were all 
 frankly parochial, and eager to gain some im- 
 mediate economic relief for themselves. Generally 
 speaking, the Progressive party became more 
 or less indifferent to all wider political questions 
 except those which directly and immediately 
 affected their material interests. This was forcibly 
 illustrated at Port Elizabeth, when an audience, 
 representing the best intellectual and commercial 
 elements in that city, paid scant attention to a 
 really interesting political speech of Mr. Merriman, 
 but roused itself to fierce interest in questions re- 
 lating to the special railway needs of their port. 
 
 No country in the Empire is so rich in strange 
 bouleversements as South Africa, and on a psychic 
 plane, the evolution of Jameson's character during 
 the years of his Premiership reveals an interesting 
 change. By nature quick beyond the quickness 
 of ordinary men, he was, before the Raid, 
 himself a centre of impetuosity, and with fiery 
 impatience endeavoured to override every obstacle 
 in his path. But so strictly had he constrained
 
 266 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 himself as Premier, that towards the end of his 
 four years' administration it was the impatience 
 of his party with his patient, long-sighted, states- 
 manlike methods that largely caused them to 
 disintegrate and fall away from his leadership. 
 
 All these matters formed, as it were, the back- 
 ground of Jameson's administration, and some 
 brief sketch of them was necessary before attempt- 
 ing to describe the course of events in his four years 
 of office. 
 
 He opened his first session in February, 1904, 
 in a speech revealing the grave financial condition 
 of the country, and setting forth the constructive 
 nature of his programme. This included an Addi- 
 tional Representation Bill, measures for retrench- 
 ment, temporary abolition of all protective duties 
 on meat and foodstuffs, in order to give the country 
 time to replenish its exhausted resources, and 
 taxation proposals which fell equally on English 
 and Dutch alike. The income-tax of one shilling 
 in the pound on incomes of one thousand pounds a 
 year and upwards included within its scope mining 
 companies like De Beers, Johannesburg millionaires 
 with residences at the Cape, manufacturers, and 
 also, to their great disgust, the prosperous Dutch 
 landowners. An excise duty of six shillings per
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 267 
 
 gallon on wine and spirits directly affected the 
 Dutch farmers, whom, however, the Government 
 assisted by advancing money against their brandy, 
 and by affording them facilities for its storage and 
 distribution. Previous administrations had failed 
 to carry out taxation on these lines, but Jameson 
 maintained to the last that the excise was a just 
 tax, an expedient tax, and that it had come to 
 stay. 
 
 The real fight, however, took place over the 
 Additional Representation Bill. This was in no 
 sense a Redistribution Bill introducing a new 
 electoral system ; but was a measure urgently 
 needed in order to remove some of the glaring 
 anomalies that had arisen owing to the changes 
 and increases of population during recent 
 years. Between 1865 and 1898 the number of 
 voters had increased from 38,000 to 135,000 ; but 
 only thirteen new members had been added. In 
 other words, 38,000 voters had an excess of repre- 
 sentation, while 97,000 voters were either inade- 
 quately represented or had no representation at all. 
 In order to partially remedy this state of things, 
 Jameson's Bill proposed to create nine new members 
 for town constituencies, some of which had consider- 
 able Dutch influence, and, so far from swamp-
 
 268 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 ing the country interests, it still left many urban 
 districts unrepresented. Under the circumstances, 
 as the majority of the unrepresented town voters 
 were British, the Bill inevitably and in all 
 fairness increased the strength of the Progressives ; 
 and it was a foregone conclusion that the Bond 
 would fight the measure tooth and nail. 
 
 Although during the elections the Progressives had 
 promised fairer representation, it was a very daring 
 thing for an untried Premier, with a bare work- 
 ing majority, to start with a measure that simply 
 flung the glove in the faces of his opponents. The 
 Bill, however, was absolutely just and necessary, 
 and as race feeling throughout the Colony was, in 
 any case, still fiercely aflame, there was nothing 
 to be gained by delay. 
 
 Both during and after the War, in many districts 
 in the Cape the Dutch had persisted in a systematic 
 social ostracism and trade boycott of all those 
 Britishers or Afrikanders who had shown them- 
 selves loyal to British interests. This bitterness 
 throughout the Colony reflected itself in the House 
 of Assembly, where there was little or no social 
 intercourse between the representatives of the two 
 parties, and members did not cross the floor to speak 
 to each other.
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 269 
 
 In such an atmosphere it was not unnatural that 
 the Dutch gave full rein to their bitter opposition to 
 this Redistribution measure. Dreadful, indeed, 
 were their prophecies. 
 
 The Bill would " create an Ireland within the 
 Colony ; it would for ever make any co-operation 
 between the two races impossible." One Bondman 
 described it as " the latest Jamesonian invention, 
 patented in the Transvaal." Eventually the Oppo- 
 sition resorted to stone-walling, and the first all- 
 night sitting lasted from 9 p.m. to noon the 
 next day. The Government whips were to a certain 
 extent unprepared, and spent an anxious night 
 keeping members from their homes, and searching 
 distractedly for sleepers in the nooks and corners 
 of the House. For the second night, however, 
 elaborate preparations were made in respect of 
 blankets and food, and the Opposition were invited 
 to share the hospitality of the Government in this 
 respect. Jameson, however, had determined to 
 follow British precedent and apply the closure, 
 which he did after this sitting had lasted from 
 2 p.m. till 8 a.m. the following morning. 
 
 Amongst the many incidents of this prolonged 
 and racial struggle, the extraordinary endurance 
 of Dr. Jane Warterton, who occupied the Strangers'
 
 270 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Gallery during both sittings from start to finish, 
 without leaving her seat, is one of the most re- 
 markable. This lady, a physician of no mean 
 repute, a philanthropist to whom the poor of 
 Cape Town are eternally indebted, and a staunch 
 Progressive, remained in the Gallery the whole of 
 each night and left the House each morning the 
 freshest and least overcome of them all. Jameson 
 stuck to his seat closer than any other member 
 of his side, but even he could not do without food 
 or cigarettes, and was an easy second to his pro- 
 fessional lady colleague and political supporter. 
 
 The Dutch are curiously superstitious, and, by the 
 second morning, many of the country members 
 began to regard this lady's presence as an omen of 
 their defeat. With the exception of a few passages 
 at arms, the struggle was carried out with a 
 singular absence of personal friction, and Jameson 
 crowned his victory by going out of his way to 
 congratulate the Opposition on the gallant and 
 determined fight they had made. His tact and 
 chivalry in this instance made a great impression 
 on the Dutch members, who had anticipated his 
 foot upon their necks, but, instead, found them- 
 selves raised by the hand to the seat of honour. 
 To weakness, masquerading as magnanimity, they
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 271 
 
 had long been accustomed. They had, in fact, 
 grown to consider concessions as a right, and, 
 accepting all that was offered them, had pursued, 
 tongue in cheek, the racial tenor of their way. 
 
 On this occasion, however, they had been for the 
 first time for many years solidly opposed and beaten ; 
 and yet, because of the grace of their conqueror, 
 their pride in themselves was uplifted rather than 
 destroyed. With the power in his hands, Jameson 
 could afford to be conciliatory, and his Amnesty 
 Act for pardoning some of the rebels and for reduc- 
 ing the punishment of treason to a minimum had 
 all the charm of the unexpected to the Opposition. 
 
 At the same time, he strained every effort to 
 find money to spend in assisting irrigation, in 
 providing facilities for storage of brandy and other 
 products, in bringing out experts to educate the 
 farmers in the more scientific methods of making 
 wine and butter. He further directly encouraged 
 agricultural co-operation by arranging for a Govern- 
 ment loan of two pounds for every one expended 
 by co-operative groups on legitimate experiments 
 in farming or fruit-growing. 
 
 In all these matters he received the most com- 
 plete and loyal support from his colleagues, and 
 despite the unpopularity of retrenchment measures
 
 272 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and the increasing falling-off in trade returns, 
 his first session was undoubtedly a success. 
 
 But the incessant strain of the elections and 
 subsequent work so told upon his health, that he was 
 compelled, after the session, to return to England, 
 and spend some time at Carlsbad. He had barely 
 recovered from his cure, and had just begun to take 
 a legitimate holiday and enjoy shooting visits to 
 his friends, when the necessities of the Colony de- 
 manded his return in September, 1904. 
 
 In the intervening months, after his return, 
 and before the session of 1905, he got into personal 
 touch with many of the Dutch farmers and repre- 
 sentatives, and eventually persuaded two Bond 
 members to sit on the agricultural Commission of 
 enquiry which the Bond caucus and Opposition 
 had, for political reasons, opposed. Moreover, their 
 constituents supported these two members in their 
 refusal to sacrifice their obvious economic interests 
 to the mere political dictates of the Bond ; and such 
 revolts have been rare occurrences in its history. 
 
 In the spring of 1905, Jameson represented the 
 Cape at a conference at Johannesburg on the 
 subject of railway rates for over-sea traffic, at which 
 representatives from the Transvaal, Natal and 
 Delagoa Bay were also present. Its object was to
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 273 
 
 readjust the arrangement whereby Delagoa Bay 
 had secured a bigger share of the carrying trade, 
 and to endeavour to arrive at a more equitable 
 distribution of traffic between the competitors. 
 For months previously he had been negotiat- 
 ing for this conference, and it was only through 
 Lord Milner's assistance that it was convened. 
 On these occasions each representative naturally 
 endeavours to secure the best bargain possible for 
 his own colony or port, but the discussions which 
 involve mazes of figures and technicalities are 
 usually left to experts. Jameson, however, was 
 determined to master for himself in detail the whole 
 question, and, with extraordinary pertinacity, stuck 
 to his task, working day and night, and also during 
 every waking moment of a two-and-a-half days' 
 railway journey to Johannesburg. At the end of 
 seven days' discussion he practically got the 
 Delagoa Bay representatives to agree to a principle 
 of distribution whereby the Cape, Natal and 
 Delagoa Bay were each to have the carriage, ap- 
 proximately, of one-third of the total volume of 
 over-sea imported goods for the north. The agree- 
 ment, however, was subject to ratification in Lisbon. 
 To obtain this ratification as speedily as possible 
 
 was vital to Cape railway revenue, and to its mer- 
 
 18
 
 274 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 chants and agents, but the delays of the Foreign 
 Office officials in London and Lisbon proved an 
 insurmountable obstacle ; and it was not till 
 Jameson had personally and persistently visited 
 the Foreign Office in London that any pressure was 
 brought to bear upon Lisbon for a reply. 
 
 Immediately after the conference, he motored 
 from Johannesburg to Cape Town via Basutoland, 
 for the purpose of investigating a proposed 
 railway extension to tap the resources of that 
 territory. Shortly after his return he was laid 
 up with a troublesome and painful illness. It was 
 the busiest moment before the session, and lying in 
 bed or on the sofa, he daily received an endless 
 stream of callers, listening with patience to their 
 statements, only to writhe with agony the moment 
 they had left the room. 
 
 Perhaps the most important legislative measure 
 of the busy session of 1905 was the Education 
 Bill. In their zeal for exclusiveness, the Dutch 
 are especially jealous in endeavouring to protect 
 their children from any form of education which 
 might possibly weaken their national consciousness 
 or racial prejudice. The average Boer predikante 
 is generally an embittered anti-Briton and hands 
 on the torch of racialism from generation to genera-
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 275 
 
 tion. Great care has to be taken lest the Boer 
 children should be so educated in history that they 
 could question his authority and the truth of his 
 too often false and distorted racial utterances. 
 
 The real fight lay in the appointment of teachers, 
 and Jameson wisely, not wishing to force the 
 situation, agreed to a compromise whereby the 
 control of elementary education remained in the 
 hands of the local committees, subject, however, 
 to the final supervision and authority of the Edu- 
 cation Department. But having compromised with 
 the Opposition on this matter, he resolutely fought 
 them on their motion to include the Taal amongst 
 the subjects for the Civil Service examinations. 
 
 In no great dependency of our Empire have the 
 conditions for agricultural development been en- 
 tirely favourable. Australia has her droughts, 
 Canada her winter. In South Africa, and certainly 
 in Cape Colony, one of the many obstacles has been 
 the antipathy of the Dutch landowner to any 
 departure from the rude, wasteful methods of his 
 ancestors in farming and wine-making. Especially 
 has he objected to any State interference in the 
 direction of enforced regulations to prevent the 
 spread of scab or other animal diseases. Jameson 
 
 made every effort to overcome their prejudices ; and 
 
 18*
 
 276 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 previous to the 1905 session, he had appointed an 
 agricultural Commission of enquiry, and in defiance 
 of the orders of the Bond caucus, had succeeded in 
 persuading two Bond members to accept seats 
 thereon. As a result of the work of the Com- 
 mission, he was able to carry through a Bill for re- 
 organizing the Agricultural Department, and for 
 creating Agricultural Boards in order to supply up- 
 to-date information throughout the Colony. 
 
 The work of the session also included a Work- 
 men's Compensation Bill, and a rather interesting 
 anti-Trust measure, in the shape of a Meat 
 Monopoly Bill, for the purpose of protecting retail 
 butchers from being crushed out by the various 
 cold storage companies and organizations. 
 
 Meanwhile, as the session progressed, it became 
 evident that the flame of racial feeling was abating. 
 The debates became less rancorous. Members 
 freely crossed the floor of the House to speak to 
 each other, and a much more genial and companion- 
 able spirit prevailed. Doubtless, many causes co- 
 operated in this direction ; but the two principal 
 factors were, firstly, the non-racial character of the 
 Government's administration, its genuine attempts 
 to assist the agricultural and commercial interests 
 of the Colony, the unexpected generosity of the
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 277 
 
 Amnesty Act, and the tactful compromise on the 
 Education Bill. Secondly, Jameson's personal mag- 
 netism had daily made itself more felt. By his 
 firmness, his wonderful self-command, his tact and 
 cleverness in meeting difficult situations, he had 
 not only justified to his party their election of him 
 as a leader, but the Dutch, who have all the 
 Oriental's respect for strength that makes itself 
 felt, were obliged somewhat reluctantly to admit 
 the just and moderate manner in which he exercised 
 his power. The charm of his personality had begun 
 to affect even the most disaffected. " I came to 
 Parliament, meaning to hunt him," said a staunch 
 Bondman, " but it looks as if I meant to follow 
 him." 
 
 On a youthful occasion Lord Curzon, in depre- 
 cating the personal influence of Mr. Gladstone on 
 political parties, said, " He has introduced the 
 paradoxes of lovers into the lobby of the House of 
 Commons." Dutchmen do not usually fly to such 
 rhetorical heights as these ; but in their more simple 
 speech they expressed much the same thing. 
 
 A Dutch lady of social position confessed to the 
 writer that she spent her time stiffening the Boer 
 members to resist the magnetism of a personality 
 that was revolutionizing them politically and
 
 278 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 socially ; while another lady, whose influence was 
 considerable with Dutch families, and who was at 
 first Jameson's bitter opponent, came to write of 
 him that " he will live as the great peace-maker." 
 The largest pears the writer has ever seen were sent 
 as a present to the Doctor by one of his previously 
 most rancorous Dutch detractors. 
 
 But there was no real break-up of the solidarity 
 of the Bond positions, and the racial cleavage was 
 constantly in evidence. As, for instance, when 
 there were two candidates for a post in the House, 
 one a Britisher and the other an Afrikander, no 
 Progressive voted for the latter, and no member of 
 the Opposition for the former. Again, after the 
 defeat of Mr. Malan's motion for making the Taal 
 a compulsory subject in the Civil Service examina- 
 tion, many of the Dutch members, for the purpose 
 of staging their motion, continued the debates 
 for a short time in Dutch ; as soon, however, as 
 their disappointment was over they relapsed into 
 English. Notwithstanding the growing confidence 
 that Jameson had enkindled for his policy, both in 
 the House and throughout the country, he was un- 
 able to prevent the inevitable tendency towards 
 division that displayed itself within the Progressive 
 party. Towards the end of the session some
 
 « PREMIERSHIP." 279 
 
 of the country members, whose farms were pro- 
 gressing and whose stock had multiplied, demanded 
 protective meat duties, while the constituencies of 
 Port Elizabeth and East London, in their despair 
 at the continued diversion of their trade both to 
 Delagoa Bay and to Beira, threatened to turn out 
 their Progressive representatives. 
 
 The session closed gloomily, and he returned 
 to England in broken health. Unfortunately, 
 the treatment at Carlsbad was not successful, and 
 for some considerable time afterwards he was 
 seriously unwell. But despite everything, he did 
 not for one moment neglect to work tooth and nail 
 to arouse the Colonial and Foreign Offices to the 
 urgent necessity of bringing pressure to bear upon 
 the Portuguese Government to ratify the railway 
 rates according to the arrangement arrived at in 
 Johannesburg early in the year. As already ex- 
 plained, the delay in Lisbon in ratifying this 
 agreement was causing a serious loss at the Cape, 
 and he was determined if possible to have the 
 matter settled. The writer was present one morn- 
 ing when his doctor insisted upon performing at 
 once a painful operation upon his side. Jameson 
 immediately sent a message to the Colonial and 
 Foreign Offices, where he had appointments, asking
 
 280 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 them to postpone the interviews arranged for that 
 morning till the afternoon. Scarcely was the wound 
 bandaged than he was dressed, and within two 
 hours, despite great pain, was impressing upon 
 British officialdom in its sacred precincts the urgent 
 need of prompt action. 
 
 It was a revelation to witness such a passionate 
 service for purely impersonal ends, and any zeal for 
 personal aggrandizement pales before the fire of 
 Jameson's conception of loyalty and duty. In the 
 midst of all this he suffered the loss by death of 
 Mr. Owen Lewis, who had been associated with 
 him from the start of his political career, whose 
 expert knowledge of organization had been placed 
 at his service, and who for some time past had 
 lived as his friend and companion at Groote 
 Schuur. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, the pressure of his work 
 increased. In addition to the Lisbon matter, there 
 was also a conference on shipping freights, at 
 which representatives from the other colonies were 
 present. Every morning his room at 2, Down 
 Street, was, from nine till eleven, crowded with 
 visitors. British and South African politicians, 
 financiers, journalists, sculptors, pioneers, fruit and 
 tobacco merchants, all thronged to snatch a short
 
 « PREMIERSHIP." 281 
 
 interview with him. From these he would escape 
 to attend a meeting of De Beers or the Chartered 
 Company, or of Rhodes' trustees, and on each and 
 all he was a fund of energy and initiation. His 
 days of holiday were few and far between, and, even 
 on these, he was as often as not visiting British 
 statesmen of both parties, impressing upon them 
 the big issues at stake in South Africa. It is no 
 slight honour for a colony that its Premier should 
 enjoy the personal confidence of his Sovereign and 
 of the leading men of both parties in England. 
 
 With nothing definite in hand to show for his 
 efforts, Jameson returned early in January, 1906, 
 to Cape Town. Here he found a somewhat dis- 
 sentient and faint-hearted party awaiting him. 
 So profound, indeed, was their despondency, that 
 many openly prophesied the downfall of the Pro- 
 gressives within the first weeks of the coming 
 session. He at once attacked the situation with 
 every weapon in his armoury. He interviewed 
 without ceasing, argued with recalcitrants, over- 
 persuaded those of doubtful heart, was by turns 
 tactful and forceful, ever belittling the fears of 
 his followers, and infecting them with that spirit 
 of raillery that had always concealed the doggedness 
 of his purpose.
 
 282 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 His immediate work was to prepare for the im- 
 portant conference to be held at Pietermaritzburg, 
 in Natal, on railways and Customs Union, at which 
 every state in South Africa, including Rhodesia, 
 was to be represented. He left early in March 
 with two Dutch members, whom he had selected 
 to join with him in representing the Colony on this 
 occasion. The work of the conference was to re- 
 consider all previous inter-colonial settlements, both 
 with regard to railway charges and customs duties ; 
 and so to adjust the railway profits as to make it 
 possible for all the states, inland and coast, to 
 accept one fixed, uniform tariff on all imported 
 goods. In other words, this conference was nothing 
 else but a big bargaining arrangement whereby, 
 in a comprehensive scheme of give and take, rail- 
 way rates were bartered against customs dues. 
 For instance, the Cape would grant the Transvaal 
 some advantage in respect of certain customs duties 
 in return for the Transvaal agreeing to a certain 
 scale of railway charges for the carriage of over- 
 sea goods from the Cape ports. Or the Cape, again, 
 would give Natal certain preferential rates for her 
 coal to Kimberley in return for Natal agreeing 
 to accept a smaller share of the carrying trade of 
 imported goods to the north. In the absence of
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 283 
 
 any formal federation on these matters, these 
 conferences were, at the best, only makeshift 
 arrangements for tempering the competition between 
 the railway systems of the different states, and for 
 enabling the coast states to collect the customs 
 dues and distribute them upon an accepted 
 uniform basis. In view of the maelstrom of op- 
 posing interests that prevailed, it was obvious that 
 the difficulties in the way of any settlement at this 
 conference of 1906 were very great, and it was 
 not until after weeks of discussion that a uniform 
 tariff for all the colonies was agreed upon, and the 
 principle established that, when once a uniform 
 duty is fixed by the Union and has been ratified 
 by the Parliament of each colony, no one colony 
 can deviate from the duty so fixed without the 
 consent of all other parties to the Union. Thus, 
 when it was subsequently proposed by a majority 
 vote of the Cape House of Assembly to raise the 
 duty on imported meat to two-pence per pound, 
 the Government was unable to bring in a Bill 
 to give effect to the proposal until it had asked 
 for the consent of the governments of the other 
 colonies. 
 
 So far as the Cape was concerned, Jameson 
 had every reason to be satisfied with the results
 
 284 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 of his efforts. For his farmers he had secured 
 preferential railway rates for their produce over 
 Orange River and Transvaal railways ; and the 
 duty of the Transvaal against Cape brandy and 
 wine was reduced from fourteen shillings to six 
 shillings per gallon. For his merchants and for 
 the general body of taxpayers he had gained 
 a more favourable share in the carrying trade of 
 imported goods ; while the establishment of the 
 principle of the Customs Union was a definite step 
 in the direction of that closer union or federation 
 on which, both in the interests of his Colony and of 
 the sub-continent, his heart was set. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the results of the con- 
 ference were not generally well received outside 
 Cape Colony. The Transvaal and Orange River 
 Colony did not get the cheap railway freights 
 they wanted, and there was an outcry against the 
 preferential rate to Cape brandy, and more general 
 dissatisfaction with the fact that the cost of living 
 was not rendered cheaper. In fact, the Transvaal 
 authorities only agreed to ratify the Union on the 
 understanding that the whole question was to be re- 
 discussed at a conference to be called in 1908, when 
 the existing arrangement was automatically to be 
 declared at an end. Notwithstanding the economic
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 285 
 
 advantages of the Customs Convention, especially 
 to the Dutch farmers and wine-growers, the Bond 
 party, for political purposes, opposed the clause 
 therein granting a preferential rate of twenty-five 
 per cent, to British goods, but they were easily 
 defeated, as some Bond members revolted, and 
 voted for the Government. 
 
 Despite Jameson's victory in this respect, the 
 growing discontent of the town representatives and 
 the generally disintegrated condition of his party 
 made his position daily more difficult ; and he 
 himself described it as " treading on egg-shells." 
 
 As already stated, the nature of the grant of 
 responsible government to the Transvaal had still 
 further disheartened the Progressives, who were 
 impatient at the failure of Jameson's policy to 
 alleviate their economic distress, and who had 
 already broken up into groups, each with its own 
 economic panacea for its particular interests. On 
 the other hand, the advent of Dutch political 
 ascendency in the two Colonies had stirred the 
 blood and ambitions of the entire Bond party, and 
 although the actual leaders, like Mr. Hofmeyr, 
 still counselled patience, the mere parliamentary 
 representatives were inspired to renew with 
 redoubled vigour their harassing tactics.
 
 286 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 In pursuance of these methods Messrs. Merriman 
 and Sauer were very much to the fore. The former 
 introduced a motion to reaffirm the resolution 
 against Chinese labour that had already been 
 passed in both previous sessions. There was no 
 obvious reason for such a motion, but it gave them 
 an opportunity for making a personal attack upon 
 Jameson, so intemperate that it rallied his party 
 in indignant protest, and thus recoiled against 
 themselves. Jameson's speech in reply at once 
 threw a cold douche upon Mr. Merriman' s im- 
 passioned periods by quietly asking the House to 
 descend from " eloquence " to " common-sense." 
 He then went on to show that, in view of the 
 opposition in the Transvaal to the Customs Union, 
 and of the nightly meetings held against the 
 introduction of Cape brandy, "how foolish" it 
 would be to further embitter the relation between 
 the two colonies. Finally, he pointed out that 
 in less than a month the Transvaal would have 
 responsible government, and added a rider to Mr. 
 Merriman's motion, reaffirming previous resolutions 
 and deprecating any interference with the internal 
 arrangements of a neighbouring colony. 
 
 This discomfited the Opposition, and brought 
 Mr. Sauer on to his legs. White to the lips, he
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 287 
 
 gave Jameson the lie without scruple, and declared 
 that what he had said was not true, and that in 
 reality he was in favour of Asiatics. The first 
 and second time Jameson allowed this to pass, but 
 the third he rose. " I cannot be accused of false- 
 hoods across the floor of this House," he said with 
 deliberate, but emphatic, empressement. Unabashed 
 as usual, Mr. Sauer continued : "If ever there was 
 a piece of insincere humbug, it was this attempt 
 of the Prime Minister to talk about popular rights." 
 " He was a fine Constitutionalist ! " "A lot he had 
 cared for the rights of the people in the past ! " 
 and so on. It is only fair to say of the Dutch 
 representatives, especially those representing the 
 landowning interests, that however ready to sup- 
 port the harassing policy of their leaders, they had 
 more respect for themselves, and for the dignity 
 of the House, than to follow in the methods of in- 
 temperate personal attack so persistently adopted 
 by Mr. Sauer. 
 
 As a matter of fact, during the whole of the 
 latter part of the session of 1906, the Progressives 
 were simply treading water. The Opposition did 
 not consider the moment opportune for proving 
 their strength, while ministers simply held their 
 party together as well as they could, and merely
 
 288 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 offered a silent, passive resistance to the un- 
 pleasant skirmishes of the Opposition. 
 
 In May of 1907, Jameson came to London re- 
 presenting his Colony at the Colonial Premiers' Con- 
 ference of that year. The strategical and Imperial 
 importance of the Cape has already been stated. 
 The naval base at Simon's Bay, for instance, must 
 eventually provide the main station for coaling, 
 repairing, and docking His Majesty's ships operat- 
 ing in southern waters in time of war. The closing 
 of the Mediterranean or the blocking of the Suez 
 Canal would force a vast confluence of traffic upon 
 Table Bay, East London, and Port Elizabeth, and 
 a proportionate naval squadron would be required 
 for its protection. If India were threatened, troops 
 and supplies would be crowding the same way. 
 "Or if," as Mr. Seddon predicted, " the Pacific 
 be the theatre of the next naval campaign, the 
 Cape again would be the strategic centre. So 
 essential is its maintenance as a military post, that 
 were all Africa even as the Sahara, the Cape and 
 its hinterland would be worth the terrible price we 
 have paid for them." 
 
 It was, therefore, appropriate that the first resolu- 
 tion that Jameson submitted to the London Con- 
 ference was one dealing comprehensively with the
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 289 
 
 whole question of defence amongst the sister-nations 
 of the Empire. The Cape itself contributes towards 
 the Imperial navy, and the maintenance of the West 
 African and Cape squadrons ; she also maintains a 
 force of seven hundred Mounted Rifles, ten thousand 
 horse and foot Volunteers, while every able-bodied 
 man is liable to be called for service in an emer- 
 gency. His proposal was that there should be one 
 big Imperial defence scheme, in which each de- 
 pendency should be assigned its proper quota and 
 contribution, while as complementary to this resolu- 
 tion, he next asked the Conference definitely to 
 affirm that the self-governing colonies demand, as 
 the essential condition of their taking due part 
 in a scheme of Inter-State defence, proper repre- 
 sentation upon an Imperial Council. 
 
 In this resolution Jameson was voicing the idea 
 that for many years had been very much in 
 Rhodes' mind. The same can be said of the 
 next resolution, dealing with preferential trade, 
 that he submitted, namely, that " This Con- 
 ference reaffirms the resolution adopted unani- 
 mously by the Colonial Conference held in London 
 in 1902, and recognizes with extreme gratification 
 the extent to which the principle of reciprocity 
 has been accepted by the various Colonies. This 
 
 19
 
 290 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 Conference, while adhering to the principle of 
 preferential treatment of the products and manu- 
 factures of the United Kingdom, desires to impress 
 upon His Majesty's Government the opinion that 
 the continuance of such preferential treatment to 
 the producers and manufacturers of Great Britain 
 is largely dependent upon the granting of some 
 reciprocal privileges to British Colonies." 
 
 These were the more important proposals en- 
 trusted to Jameson. The others included the 
 desirability of providing alternate routes of cable 
 communication, the exemption for shareholders 
 resident in a British colony from taxation, both at 
 home and in that colony, and the enactment of 
 uniform laws for the granting and protection of 
 merchandise marks and patents. 
 
 In introducing these questions, his grasp and 
 lucidity of expression strongly impressed his 
 fellow-Premiers, and he was a conspicuous sup- 
 porter of Mr. Deakin, especially in the question of 
 granting preferential rates. 
 
 Avoiding all unnecessary publicity, he attended 
 as few public functions and entertainments as 
 possible, leaving these to his colleague, Dr. Smartt, 
 whose digestion, he declared, was stronger than 
 his own. Together with the other Premiers, he
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 291 
 
 received the freedom of the City of London, of 
 Manchester, and more especially, that of Edin- 
 burgh. Probably no honour or recognition that 
 he had received since his accession to power at the 
 Cape was so valued by him as this last, conferred 
 upon him by his fellow-countrymen. True Scotch- 
 man that he is, the sense of achievement recognized 
 in his own country, the pride of birthplace and 
 nationality, in a word, his clansman spirit, was then 
 aroused to the utmost. The congratulations of 
 his fellow-countrymen and townsmen fell like music 
 upon ears that had ever been deaf to flattery, and 
 the honour that Edinburgh that day conferred upon 
 her strenuous citizen for his Imperial services 
 formed a laurel crown that the city was proud to 
 grant and he proud to receive. 
 
 That General Botha and Jameson should repre- 
 sent respectively the Transvaal and the Cape at 
 this important Conference was significant of a 
 partial solution of the storm and stress of racial 
 antagonisms that had prevailed during the past 
 twenty years. The former represented the ideal 
 of an Afrikander ascendency within South Africa, 
 even if the country from Cape Town to the Zam- 
 besi saluted the British flag. The latter repre- 
 sented an ideal that, if not lost for ever, was at 
 
 19*
 
 292 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 all events temporarily obscured — the ideal of a 
 South Africa peopled with keen Imperialists, 
 both British and Dutch. Botha, the enlightened 
 Dutchman, was satisfied now that he and his 
 fellow-countrymen were the rulers of the sub- 
 continent, and was content to use the British 
 Navy for their protection as British subjects. 
 Jameson was secretly sad at heart, but still 
 strove in the interests of his fellow-Britishers 
 in South Africa to make the best of the 
 lost and defeated cause. The one a genial and 
 astute representative of a people whose dogged 
 and insistent race purpose had been achieved ; the 
 other, the dogged, fighting representative of a 
 nation whose vacillating and sentimental policy 
 in South Africa had sacrificed the best interests 
 and loyal hopes of its citizens in that land. None 
 knew better than Jameson that as surely as the tide 
 overwhelms the rocks, so surely is the rising 
 flood of Dutch and Afrikander population gradually 
 sweeping the British out of the country. But to 
 the victors the spoil and the acclamations. 
 
 On his return from London in June, 1907, the 
 Mayor of Cape Town invited all the South African 
 Premiers to a banquet, and he took this oppor- 
 tunity to indicate his policy in respect of the
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 293 
 
 new situation that had been created by the 
 accession to political power of the two Dutch 
 Ministers in the Transvaal and Orange River 
 Colony. 
 
 During his absence Mr. Hofmeyr had stated 
 in a speech that the Progressive party had always 
 shown a want of political confidence in the Dutch 
 people. Jameson replied : 
 
 " This was true at one time. It is no longer 
 true. (Loud cheers.) It was true before the 
 events of the last five or six years. And why ? 
 At that time, what we felt was that there was an 
 idea, certainly not in the mind of Mr. Hofmeyr, 
 or people like that, but in the minds of a certain 
 portion of the people of this country, the idea of 
 separation. And, therefore, at that time there 
 was a feeling of a want of political confidence. 
 But that is past absolutely. (Hear, hear.) It is 
 past after the speeches I have listened to at the 
 Conference day by day from General Botha. 
 After I read that speech of Mr. Hofmeyr at 
 Wellington I say that all those grievances are 
 past, and that we are going to work together in 
 the future. 
 
 ' What we are working for is the federation of 
 South Africa, as alluded to by the Mayor to-night —
 
 294 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 a federated South Africa as part of the British 
 Empire." (Applause.) 
 
 He then went on to speak of the question of 
 nationality. He said : 
 
 " The Bond preached a nationality. It was 
 natural. The Farmers' Association afterwards 
 formed itself into the Bond. They preached a 
 nationality. We were later. We preached our 
 nationality as strenuously and honestly as they 
 did ; but they were before us. We had a bigger 
 nationality to look to. We were perhaps absorbed 
 in a bigger nationality — the British nationality. 
 Our Dutch friends have long been cut off from 
 the Motherland. They really had only South 
 Africa itself to look to. I give our Dutch friends 
 all credit for the earnest inception, according to 
 their lights of nationality, which we have followed 
 and not initiated ; but we have had it as strongly 
 as they have. (Applause.) Our original idea was 
 a British nationality in South Africa as part of it. 
 (Hear, hear.) Our idea is still a greater British 
 nationality, but also with it a South African 
 nationality, and that is echoed by Mr. Hofmeyr 
 in his speech, who said : 
 
 " ' We cannot be expected to sing your national 
 songs with the same verve that you do, but we
 
 « PREMIERSHIP." 295 
 
 do say that it is a real and a thorough interest that 
 we have in the British Empire and in the British 
 Navy as a means to that end.' (Applause.) 
 
 " Therefore I claim that we have got the real 
 South African nationality, and that they have 
 got our British nationality ; and there is no reason 
 why these two great parties in this country should 
 not settle down and bring about the natural realiza- 
 tion of that South African nationality in a fede- 
 rated South Africa, which will be part of the British 
 Empire." (Applause.) 
 
 There were many, both at home and in South 
 Africa, who considered that on this occasion 
 he had shown undue haste to forget the past, 
 and that his views as to the future were too 
 optimistic. There has, however, been no leader 
 of men who has not possessed, or at all events 
 pretended to possess, this quality. Unquestionably, 
 Jameson is an optimist. He has said of himself : 
 
 " When we came into office with a beggarly Trea- 
 sury, we were youthfully optimistic, and for the 
 last four years, from year to year, almost from 
 month to month (I have been as great a sinner as 
 anyone), we have optimistically been hoping to 
 turn the financial corner." 
 
 Moreover, however right it might be for English
 
 296 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 politicians to criticize the manner in which re- 
 sponsible government in the new Colonies had been 
 granted, to point out the great risks involved, and 
 the injustice done to Britishers thereby, it was im- 
 possible for Jameson to merely criticize, or even 
 passively to resist, what was a fait accompli. Face 
 to face with a situation that directly affected the 
 Progressive party, he had to discover for his dis- 
 heartened and countryless British supporters some 
 national and political inspiration that would give 
 them fresh courage and stimulate them to merge 
 their parochial and self-interested views into a wider 
 and more truly South African policy. It was doubt- 
 less a quixotic task to attempt to kindle in 
 the present generation of Britishers any real 
 fire for a South African nationality j but it was 
 the only constructive possibility to him, and he 
 made the most of it. His speech on this occa- 
 sion drew a curtain over the suspicion and dis- 
 trust of the past j it struck the first note of a 
 new order of things, and rang in a feeling of re- 
 newed mutual confidence. 
 
 Although in reply the Bond leaders made no 
 open avowal of a desire for closer union, yet in 
 the session in July Mr. Malan put a question to 
 the Government on the subject of federation,
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 297 
 
 indicating a desire that this should be a com- 
 mon cause, and asking what steps they had 
 taken to direct the attention of the other colonies 
 to the subject. Jameson replied by informing 
 him of the communication sent by his Cabinet to 
 the High Commissioner, which led up to Lord Sel- 
 borne's able memorandum, and practically ini- 
 tiated a South African discussion on the subject. 
 
 Subsequently Mr. Malan formally brought for- 
 ward his motion : 
 
 " That it is desirable that the Government of 
 this Colony should approach the Governments of 
 the other self-governing British Colonies to consider 
 the advisability of taking preliminary steps to 
 promote the union of British South Africa." 
 
 In the course of an able speech, he claimed that 
 the matter should be treated as one of serious prac- 
 tical statesmanship, and not in the theoretical spirit 
 of a debating society. For himself, he spoke 
 " from a sincere desire to serve the best interests 
 of South Africa." First, he laid down the prin- 
 ciple that the spirit of the people is of more im- 
 portance than the character of the Federal Con- 
 stitution. Union must come, " not only from the 
 people, but from the whole people." He told an 
 anecdote of his recent visit to London. While he
 
 298 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 was there, he was pursued by newspapers desiring 
 interviews, and he gave them the text of a United 
 South Africa. One of them remarked : " Oh, yes, 
 it's all very well. It will mean a Dutch South 
 Africa, and that's why Malan is in favour of federa- 
 tion." Mr. Malan was telling this to a Cabinet 
 Minister in England, who observed : " Well, if they 
 have a majority and they carry out the Constitu- 
 tion, why not ? " "I thanked him," said Mr. 
 Malan, "as an Englishman for giving the reply ; 
 but as a Dutch-speaking South African, I give this 
 reply, that the time has passed when we should 
 speak of Dutch and English on racial lines, and that 
 when the day for Union comes, whether it is Eng- 
 lish or Dutch that are in the majority, it will make 
 not the slightest difference ; because we are all 
 working for one ideal. I don't want a Dutch 
 South Africa." 
 
 Jameson seconded the motion. " I welcome the 
 motion," he said, " still more the tone of the 
 speech." He then passed on to the racial question : 
 " A sentimental difficulty against which argument 
 is powerless, but which must be got over before 
 we come to the practical difficulties." " The only 
 way to get over it," he declared, amid loud cheers, 
 "is by adopting the attitude of Mr. Malan. We
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 299 
 
 must be prepared to place ourselves in the position 
 of others on the subject." On the language ques- 
 tion, which is nearly allied to the racial problem, 
 he went on to say : " I believe that we are drawing 
 nearer to each other. I am perfectly willing to 
 admit that this is now a bilingual country, and 
 am also prepared to admit that it would be to the 
 advantage of every man, woman and child if they 
 understood both languages." Continuing he said 
 that " though all must agree that a unilingual is 
 preferable to a bilingual country, we can't get a 
 unanimous voice on that question at present. 
 And therefore we must help to foster the lan- 
 guage which is the mother tongue of a large section 
 of the people. We are prepared to go very far 
 lengths to do that." 
 
 The speeches of Mr. Malan and Jameson 
 on this occasion will be notable for all time as 
 heralding a new statesmanship for South Africa. 
 The sound of their voices will prevail, even if for 
 the moment it be lost amid the battle-cries of mere 
 partisans, and in the din of parochial interests at 
 party elections. 
 
 Shortly after this debate a fresh blow was struck 
 at the Cape carrying trade by the action of the 
 shipping ring in granting preferential freight charges
 
 300 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 to Durban as against Cape ports, and Jameson was 
 compelled to enter into hasty negotiations for an 
 inter-colonial conference on the matter at Bloem- 
 fontein. 
 
 Both in the negotiations that preceded and 
 also that took place at this conference, Jameson 
 found a hearty supporter in General Botha, with 
 whom he had been on very friendly terms since 
 the Colonial Conference in London. Whether Jame- 
 son had in any way been able to influence General 
 Botha's views in favour of a wide South African 
 policy is, of course, mere surmise. Certain it is 
 that the General has proved a staunch ally in main- 
 taining the principle of the Customs Union against 
 the more parochial-minded of his constituents, who 
 demanded its abolition in favour of a Transvaal pro- 
 tective policy, chiefly in the interests of its farmers. 
 
 With General Botha's assistance at the Bloem- 
 fontein conference, Jameson again succeeded in 
 getting back for the Cape a certain portion of the 
 carrying trade, and as a net result of his efforts 
 at this and the other conferences, he was sub- 
 sequently able to claim that the Colony had during 
 his administration retained sufficient to pay the 
 deficit on the local lines built in the agricultural 
 interest. " Mr. Merriman," he said, " states that
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 301 
 
 the death-knell of our carrying trade has been 
 sounded ; but I can assure you that we have fought, 
 and have kept enough of it practically to pay the 
 deficit on all the agricultural lines that have been 
 built ; and the result of the building of these lines 
 has been that in the total tonnage carried on 
 all our railways, half has been Colonial produce." 
 This was the last conference he attended as Prime 
 Minister. 
 
 Amongst minor matters during his last brief 
 session of 1907, Jameson succeeded in passing the 
 Credit Bank Bill and a Bill for Prohibiting the 
 Exportation of Ostriches In the face, however, of 
 increasing uncertain support from his party, any 
 constructive policy was impossible, and much time 
 was occupied in passively resisting the mere harass- 
 ing attacks of the Opposition. Then came the 
 extraordinary situation created in the Upper House, 
 v/here the Progressive majority was reduced in 
 Committee to a minority, and the House refused to 
 grant supplies. 
 
 He dissolved his Parliament, and appealed to 
 the country on the Constitutional question ; but 
 his position was very difficult. He had to defend 
 his past years of administration, not only to the 
 Dutch Opposition, but also to the British town-
 
 3 o2 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 dwellers, who were dissatisfied and impatient with 
 the economic results. He and his Ministers were, 
 in fact, exposed to an enfilading fire, and when the 
 elections for the Upper House clearly showed that 
 the feeling of the country was against the Progres- 
 sives, he gladly resigned office. 
 
 In the speech to his constituents at Grahamstown 
 in November, which opened the election campaign, 
 Jameson reviewed the results of his policy : 
 
 " Four years ago, when we took office, this 
 country had gone through a calamitous war. 
 Bitter feelings between the two great white races 
 were rampant through the country. The finances 
 of the country were practically in a desperate 
 condition. We laid down at that time a broad 
 policy, the first plank of which was, that we would 
 do our utmost to obliterate, not only all recollec- 
 tion of the War, but all those bitter feelings which 
 had arisen during and after the War. I claim 
 that we have carried out that part of the programme. 
 I can say honestly that, so far as the people of 
 this country are concerned, racialism has disap- 
 peared. I pass by, in that connection, the pro- 
 fessional politician, who will use it for party pur- 
 poses ; but racialism in the hearts of the people of 
 both parties is absolutely dead and gone. (Cheers.)
 
 " PREMIERSHIP. 303 
 
 The second plank was that we would do our utmost 
 to push forward the development of the natural 
 resources of the country. There again, I say, 
 we have carried out what we promised, so far as 
 the third plank would allow us, and that was that 
 we would put the finances of the Colony on a sound 
 basis. Our development policy, of course, has 
 been restricted for want of money ; but that deve- 
 lopment has started a new era in this country, not 
 only regarding agricultural, but also as regards the 
 mineral development of the country. (Applause.) 
 
 " Believing in the country, we did not stop 
 development in the country ; but, on the other 
 hand, at extra expense, we have increased facilities 
 for education. We have brought education to the 
 door of every child in this country, of whatever race, 
 creed, or colour. (Cheers.) We have increased 
 facilities for transport. We have built branch 
 railways that did not pay, and we have been tho- 
 roughly justified with the increase of the traffic of 
 Colonial produce, and that, even though our carry- 
 ing trade was passing away. We have, further 
 than that, also passed loans, hoping to get funds 
 for the increase of agricultural development by 
 means of irrigation. W T e have, further, aided and 
 originated a movement of co-operation amongst
 
 304 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 farmers, and aided financially all those co-opera- 
 tive schemes. All this we did in pursuance of our 
 policy of the development of the resources of the 
 country, side by side with our policy of retrench- 
 ment, and of putting the finances of the Colony on 
 a sound basis." 
 
 Under the existing Cape law, natives are restricted 
 from buying drink in some districts, but not in 
 others. The object of many of the Dutch wine- 
 growers was to increase the number of areas within 
 which drink could be sold to the natives ; the 
 object of the temperance party was to have no 
 sale of liquor to natives in any district. Jameson 
 held an equipoise between them. On the one hand, 
 he wished to restrict the sale of drink alto- 
 gether • on the other, he was anxious to encourage 
 the Dutch wine-growers to improve the quality of 
 their wine, so that they could be independent of 
 the native market. In this he succeeded, but he 
 was unable, owing to their and the Bond's oppo- 
 sition, to carry through any prohibitive measure for 
 the whole Colony. Nor did he believe in any tinker- 
 ing measure to increase the restricted areas. His 
 own words describe his position, and are the best 
 reply to the criticisms upon his policy in this re- 
 spect that have been raised in English editorials :
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 305 
 
 " As perhaps some of you may have noticed, in 
 my letter published after the dissolution of Par- 
 liament, I claim to have fulfilled the whole of the 
 Progressive programme, with one exception ; and 
 that one exception I want to say a few words upon. 
 Now, that is the much-discussed liquor question. 
 In our original programme we laid it down that 
 we were in favour of total prohibition of liquor 
 to the aboriginal natives. We have not changed 
 from that position by one iota — (Applause) — not- 
 withstanding anything that has been said or done. 
 It is true we have not passed that as an Act of 
 Parliament. It was one of the first subjects we 
 took up in the first session of our Parliament. We 
 inquired carefully into the matter, and we found 
 it was impossible in Parliament, as then consti- 
 tuted, either in the Assembly or the Council ; but 
 still the Government was not supine in dealing with 
 this most important question. The Attorney- 
 General, who is sitting on my right, even at the 
 early stage prepared a comprehensive Bill dealing 
 with the whole liquor question, needless to say, 
 in the interests of temperance. It was impossible 
 to get a consensus of opinion between those in- 
 terested in the liquor trade and those interested in 
 
 temperance. It was impossible to get an agree- 
 
 20
 
 306 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 ment, and without such an agreement any passage 
 of a Bill was utterly impossible \ and so we had 
 to give it up. A great deal of last session was 
 taken up by this question. 
 
 " I daresay you will all understand, even you 
 who are in favour of total prohibition, as I am, 
 that the present condition of things, where you 
 have total prohibition practically in one neigh- 
 bourhood and free drinks in the next, must neces- 
 sarily lead to smuggling and crime. (Applause.) 
 If you get rid of the anomaly, and have some 
 uniform regulation throughout the country, it would 
 be infinitely better in the interests of temperance 
 and law and order than the present condition of 
 isolated temperance and isolated drunkenness." 
 
 In reply to the criticism that had been raised in 
 respect of his reference to Mr. Schreiner as leader 
 of the new party, he, at Cape Town, emphatically 
 denied that he " had abandoned the leadership, 
 and got into a boat when the country was in a 
 mess." He said : 
 
 " I have only spoken once since Parliament 
 rose — that is, at Grahamstown, and I said then 
 that I would resign as Prime Minister of this Colony 
 after the election. I said nothing about resigning 
 as leader of the Progressive party. (Loud cheers.) I
 
 " PREMIERSHIP." 307 
 
 have already told you that if the Progressive party 
 is to be an extended party, including others who 
 did not originally belong to the Progressive party, 
 then the leader of such a party must have the 
 loyal co-operation of every member of that party. 
 And though the Progressive party might elect 
 me again as leader, still those recruits must have 
 a voice in the selection. Therefore, I said, whatever 
 the result of the election, I would resign, and leave 
 it to the party in a majority to elect me or Mr. 
 Merriman, or anyone else. So far from getting 
 into a boat and abandoning the leadership, I recog- 
 nize that until every return has come in and every 
 member has been elected, not only for the Legisla- 
 tive Council, but for the House of Assembly, I still 
 am in the position of leader of the Progressive 
 party. (Loud cheers.) So that the Unionist party 
 is not without a leader, and when the elections are 
 finished, supposing that I am not elected, which is 
 highly probable, the day that I resign the leadership 
 of the party, another man will step into my place, 
 and the leadership will be continuous. (Cheers.) 
 So much for party." 
 
 In this spirit, he inspired his party during the 
 elections with all his old energy and determination, 
 fighting a losing battle, but contesting every inch 
 
 20*
 
 3o8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 of ground, in order to create for the future an 
 active and intelligent Opposition. After pointing 
 out that in the Council elections a good many 
 Britishers had deserted the Progressives, because, 
 even counting every single Dutchman, the figures 
 came short of the number of votes by which they 
 were defeated, he went on to state that the real 
 reason was " that the people have had a very 
 hard time during the last four years, and they had 
 to look round and see whom they could hit." In 
 other words, the apathy of a large section of the 
 Progressives had, under impatience and desire for 
 a change, developed into active or passive 
 opposition. 
 
 Jameson finally proceeded : 
 
 " Up to now, the man in the street has practically 
 been engaged in a mad orgie to get rid of the poli- 
 tical past, to get rid of the Government. He 
 has done it, and he will now settle down and put 
 on his thinking cap. He will say, ' What have I 
 got ? ' That is a natural thing for anyone to do. 
 He will then say, ' What have the new Govern- 
 ment promised us ? Now I wake up to it. I don't 
 think they have promised us anything.' (Laughter.) 
 Then the process of thinking will go on, and the 
 elector will say, ' Let us look at the policies of
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 309 
 
 the two parties.' He will turn to the Unionist 
 party and say, ' What is their policy ? ' (A Voice : 
 " They have none.") The gentleman says we have 
 none. At all events, it has been put down in black 
 and white, and has been acted upon for four years ; 
 and I shall refer him to the Statute Book of the 
 Cape Colony to find out whether it has not been 
 largely carried out. (Loud applause.) I will leave 
 it there. The electors have taken the plunge, and 
 the Bond is in power. Many of them acknowledge 
 that it is an experiment, and, after all, it is an 
 experiment for the session. We will call the dis- 
 contented Unionists, and they will say, ' If this ex- 
 periment fails, perhaps we had better take some 
 safeguards.' A man, when he cannot swim, does 
 not, as a rule, jump into deep water without a 
 lifebelt. The elector is now going to look for his 
 lifebelt. The only possible form it can take is a 
 strong, intelligent, critical Opposition." 
 
 But interest in local politics was waning. Poli- 
 tical unification was in the air, and Jameson, who for 
 many years past had foreseen its necessity, was in 
 the forefront of those who were endeavouring to 
 realize its attainment. In this connection he was 
 in close touch with that group of young university
 
 3 io DR. JAMESON. 
 
 men whom Lord Milner had introduced to help in 
 carrying out his peace administrative programme. 
 As far as possible Rhodes had employed South 
 Africans for South African work; Jameson was, 
 therefore, all the more interested in Lord Milner' s 
 experiment, and keenly appreciated the sincerity 
 with which this group strove to adjust their abilities 
 to the requirements of a deeply agitated and complex 
 community. During the strained years of his Cape 
 Premiership he welcomed their occasional com- 
 panionship ; their detachment from localist 
 influences ; their wealth of phrase and epigram. 
 
 Moreover, they shared with him, perhaps to a 
 greater extent than many of his own party followers, 
 his sympathy with that legitimate nationalism 
 which, in a more or less inarticulate form, stirred the 
 aspirations of the Afrikander peoples. On this 
 basis both he and they were willing to co-operate 
 with any form of Government, whether British 
 or Dutch, provided its measures were non-racial 
 and were framed in the interests of the entire South 
 African community. 
 
 Both Jameson and this university group realized 
 that much spade work had to be done in order to 
 give practical expression to these inchoate views 
 prevailing as to closer union. They therefore,
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 311 
 
 under the leadership of Mr. Curtis, took upon their 
 shoulders the burden of educating South African 
 public opinion, and also of collecting the necessary 
 facts and statistics relating to the many complex 
 problems that confronted any form of political 
 consolidation. 
 
 At the Intercolonial Conference that was held in 
 May, 1908, to consider the Customs Convention, 
 the only subject discussed was that of a South 
 African National Union, and each Colony was asked 
 to appoint delegates to a National South African 
 Convention. Messrs. Merriman, Sauer, Malan, 
 Jameson and Smart were appointed delegates from 
 the Cape Colony to the Convention, which met at 
 Durban on the 8th October, and again in Capetown 
 on the 23rd November. The difficulties of arriving 
 at any agreement in respect of a draft constitution 
 were very great. Mr. Curtis and his group always 
 advocated unification rather than federation, that 
 is to say, that the Parliament and Government should 
 be wholly supreme over any local Governments, 
 and after much debate the principle was eventually 
 agreed to. 
 
 Then came lengthy discussions on the language 
 problem ; the native franchise ; voting basis for 
 the electoral system, and last, but not least, the
 
 312 DR, JAMESON. 
 
 situation of the Union capital. Each one of these, 
 and particularly the last, was capable of wrecking 
 the whole Convention. Eventually, however, in 
 February, 1909, a draft constitution was agreed 
 upon, published, and submitted to the various 
 Colonial Parliaments. Their amendments were 
 again considered by the Convention, which assembled 
 at Bloemfontein on 3rd May, and final agreement 
 on all points was arrived at on the nth May. The 
 draft Act was then carried to England by delegates 
 from the various Colonies (Jameson being one of 
 those who came from Cape Colony), and received the 
 Royal assent on the 20th September. 
 
 During all these critical months Jameson specially 
 exercised his influence, firstly towards avoiding the 
 delay that would ensue if any matter was referred 
 to a Commission for report, and secondly, towards 
 preventing the Convention from breaking up upon 
 some point of academic disagreement. Fortunately 
 the two quarto volumes of some eight hundred pages 
 of statistical tables and precise facts, edited by the 
 Curtis Committee, to a very large extent made 
 reference to any Commission unnecessary. It was, 
 however, a much more difficult matter to reconcile 
 the intense antagonisms of some of the delegates 
 on certain questions, and on these occasions Jame-
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 313 
 
 son was always alert to exert his driving force in the 
 direction of a working compromise, even if this 
 was not entirely satisfactory. To check academic 
 discussion, and to get on with the business, was his 
 main idea, and the end to which he exerted all his 
 diplomacy and persuasive power. In questions 
 relating to South African nationality he was always 
 to the fore, and proposed that the Orange River 
 Colony should again revert to calling itself Orange 
 Free State. On the language question, he seconded, 
 if he did not initiate, the proposal that both English 
 and Dutch language should be recognized as equal 
 in official dealings. 
 
 In common with many others, Jameson foresaw 
 that in all probability the Dutch would have the 
 majority in the Union Parliament, and in a 
 speech to a Durban audience during the general 
 election he went out of his way to demonstrate 
 how non-racial both his and Rhodes' attitudes had 
 been in the past, and at the same time to emphasize 
 the importance, now that local politics were a thing 
 of the past, of getting a best-man Government from 
 both races. In the course of his speech he said 
 " the Raid was one of the strongest proofs of the 
 absolute absence of racialism in Mr. Rhodes and 
 himself. He would say at once, in view of the
 
 3H DR. JAMESON. 
 
 criticism of that Raid, that it was a foolish blunder. 
 It did far more harm than good, and everyone who 
 was punished for it thoroughly deserved it. But 
 with all the foolishness and blundering, the motive 
 was good. The motive was to remove a corrupt 
 Government, not to replace Dutchmen by English- 
 men ; and if further proof were wanting, he had in 
 his pocket at that time, supposing they were to 
 succeed in their aim, the names of those who would 
 be the new Executive, and the President was not 
 to be an Englishman, but the most advanced and 
 progressive man they knew at that time — Mr. Lucas 
 Meyer, President of the Volksraad. His object 
 was to get a best-man Government from both races. 
 If he saw an opportunity to-morrow of turning out 
 the present Government and putting in an English 
 Government, he would refuse to do it. He would 
 put in a best-man Government ; and that was what 
 they were working for." 
 
 The result of the elections gave General Botha 
 and his Dutch supporters a clear majority of 13 
 over all other parties. The returns were : Nation- 
 alists (Dutch) 69, Progressives 40, Natal Indepen- 
 dents 10, Labour 3. General Botha was now in a 
 position in which he could, had he chosen, have 
 formed a best-man Government such as Jameson
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 315 
 
 so urgently desired. He decided otherwise, how- 
 ever, and Jameson found himself leader of an 
 opposition composed of the Progressives, with 
 occasional and uncertain support from the Natal 
 Independents. 
 
 Had he been a mere politician his course would 
 have been a comparatively easy one. Although 
 at this period race feeling had to a certain extent 
 disappeared from the surface, yet the Dutch 
 Nationalists under Botha, and the English-speaking 
 Progressive members under Jameson, had both 
 been elected upon the race issue. The obvious 
 role, therefore, for their leader was on all and every 
 occasion automatically to file them into the lobby 
 against the Nationalist Government. To Jameson, 
 however, such a course was impossible ; his concern 
 was not with any party question whatever, but 
 with the welfare of the South African community, 
 and in this spirit whenever occasion required he 
 ignored every other issue and led his party to the 
 support of those non-racial measures introduced 
 by Botha's Government which were opposed by 
 Dutch and other extremists. In other words, he 
 converted his opposition of Progressives into a 
 temporary and unintentional Coalition party, and 
 thus occasionally brought about that best-man
 
 316 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 government and policy which had always been the 
 aim of his statesmanship. 
 
 Rhodes, in his will, had bequeathed Groote Schuur 
 to the first Premier of a united South Africa, and 
 one of Jameson's first acts, after the elections, 
 was to hand it over to General Botha, and to take 
 a house called " Westbrook," immediately outside 
 the Groote Schuur grounds. For some considerable 
 time past a very strong friendship had grown up 
 between these two men ; both loved South Africa 
 with a breadth of vision and statesmanlike concern ; 
 both possessed the magnetism of leadership, and, 
 as a minor bond of neighbourliness, both were good 
 bridge-players, and enjoyed, when occasion allowed, 
 this relaxation from the strain of political responsi- 
 bility. There can be no doubt that the friendly 
 relationship between these two strong personalities 
 and their occasional political co-operation were 
 powerful factors in allaying political ferment, 
 and in enabling men to turn with closer attention 
 to the development of the agricultural and industrial 
 resources of the country. In these matters Jameson 
 took a deep and lively interest, but unfortunately 
 his frail health became distinctly frailer, and towards 
 the end of 1911 was a source of grave anxiety to his 
 friends. Suffering greatly from a painful sickness,
 
 "PREMIERSHIP." 317 
 
 he struggled on, often insisting upon taking his seat 
 in the House, despite all entreaties, but the careworn 
 look of his face, and his loss of vivacity, revealed the 
 desperate struggle he was carrying on to subordinate 
 pain to duty. Eventually such grave symptoms 
 developed that in March, 1912, to the consternation 
 not only of his Party, but the whole of South Africa, 
 he announced his resignation, and shortly afterwards 
 returned to England. 
 
 In considering his remarkable rise from contumely 
 to power, one is reminded of the equally remarkable 
 career of Disraeli. Disraeli, handicapped by an 
 ostentation of speech and manner that shocked the 
 conventions of the aristocracy, and by a race 
 descent that was offensive to all classes in the 
 nation, won his way to power and Premiership by 
 sheer brain quality and statesmanship. 
 
 Upon Jameson, when he entered the Cape 
 Assembly, was concentrated all the prejudice and 
 personal hatred of a race who regarded him as a 
 reckless filibuster, but he won his way to Premier- 
 ship, partly by brain quality, but more especially 
 by a personality and a standard of duty that com- 
 pelled universal respect and personal regard. With 
 such a handicap, to have achieved within twelve 
 years Premiership, Leadership of the Opposition,
 
 3 i8 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 friendship, loyalty and respect alike from enemies 
 and from those who stood aloof, is indeed a tribute, 
 not only to his ability and statesmanship, but also 
 to the wonderful, disinterested and sincere character 
 of the man.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Under the influence of rest and skilled medical 
 treatment, by the end of May, 191 2, Jameson had 
 won his way back to a measure of his former health 
 and vitality. 
 
 In 1902 he had been appointed a Director of the 
 British South Africa Company, and now for the first 
 time he was able to devote himself to the work that 
 lay nearest his heart, the development of Rhodesia. 
 Ever since the Raid, this Company had been sailing 
 through troubled waters, and by 1912 it was con- 
 fronted by dissatisfied shareholders at home and 
 equally dissatisfied settlers in Rhodesia. The 
 former were growing impatient at the disappoint- 
 ment of their hopes of dividends, and the latter at 
 the trials inseparable from settlement in a young 
 country which, moreover, was suffering from a period 
 of exceptional drought. This strained economic 
 situation inevitably produced political agitation 
 
 319
 
 320 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 throughout the community against the adminis- 
 trative methods of the Company. Some were for 
 responsible government, some for Crown Colony 
 government, while others were for the incorpora- 
 tion of the territory in the South African Union. 
 In order to overcome these difficulties at home and 
 abroad Jameson gave to his fellow Directors his 
 whole time and energy j and at the eighteenth 
 ordinary general meeting of shareholders held at 
 Cannon Street Hotel on February 27th, he was in 
 the absence of the President elected Chairman. 
 
 As a general rule the relation between share- 
 holders and their directorate is almost entirely a 
 commercial one. If the balance sheet is satisfactory 
 all is well, but if otherwise, shareholders in almost 
 every case exercise their right of criticism. Rhodes, 
 however, had aroused in the shareholders of the 
 Chartered Company such a genuine interest in the 
 work of developing Rhodesia that these annual 
 meetings had assumed somewhat the nature of a 
 gathering of Imperialists who were as much interested 
 in the political side of their enterprise as they were 
 in its financial success. It was, however, easier to 
 maintain this attitude in the earlier days of the 
 Company, when expectations ran very high, than 
 later on, when these had not been justified by
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 321 
 
 results, and in this respect Rhodes had somewhat 
 the advantage of Jameson. 
 
 The apprehensions of his friends at this meeting, 
 however, proved causeless, for although Jameson 
 spoke without notes for over an hour and a half, he 
 held his audience from start to finish. His easy 
 conversational method — his frankness — his masterly 
 lucid exposition of the Company's various activities 
 and work, compelled their attention and completely 
 won their confidence. Lucidity, sincerity and 
 courage, and absence of all oratorical effort, were the 
 characteristic qualities of the speech. 
 
 The simple words of a shareholder who spoke on 
 the occasion forcibly convey the impression created. 
 
 " We have had a brilliant and most states- 
 manlike speech from the Chair. He has told 
 us face to face and man to man what he evi- 
 dently believes, and his truth is manifest in 
 everything he has said." 
 
 In June, 1913, Jameson was elected President 
 of the Company, and in October, accompanied by 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Fox, left for Rhodesia, in order 
 to tackle on the spot the somewhat formidable
 
 322 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 crop of politico-economic difficulties that were then 
 agitating the community of that country. Here he 
 remained some six months and made a complete 
 tour of Southern and Northern Rhodesia, visiting 
 almost every township and personally discussing 
 with all the principal inhabitants their various 
 grievances and troubles. Although no amount of 
 sympathy or discussion could materially alter the 
 economic position, Jameson, though himself one of 
 the fathers of the South African Union, was able to 
 persuade the community of the unwisdom of their 
 desire for premature incorporation into it. In this 
 and in many other respects he succeeded generally 
 in establishing a greater feeling of contentment 
 throughout the community. No doubt his personal 
 magnetism to a certain extent contributed to his 
 success, but on the other hand his sympathy with 
 every section of the community was so alive and 
 practical and his concern for their welfare so genuine 
 that one and all felt that they were not being swayed 
 by a mere oratorical spell-binder, but were being 
 advised by a man who was one of themselves. It 
 is probable that his tour was on the whole a happy 
 one, and he returned to England in March, 1914, 
 in much better health and spirits. 
 
 There is every reason to think that unprepared-
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 323 
 
 ness for the war which was declared in July both of 
 ourselves and our allies and the lack of real insight 
 and drive in our subsequent efforts at organization 
 affected Jameson more deeply than he allowed to 
 appear. It had always been the distinction of his 
 emotional temperament to conceal any expression 
 of it, but to those who knew him well its anxiety 
 occasionally betrayed itself. That the progress of 
 Rhodesia would be seriously impeded was but a 
 secondary consideration ; his chief concern at that 
 time was whether the great resources of the Empire 
 would be properly handled and organized. 
 
 Whether from this or other causes, towards the 
 fall of the year his health again began to fail, and 
 after again successfully presiding at the annual 
 meeting of the Chartered Company, he left for a 
 visit to India, accompanied by Sir Charles Metcalfe 
 and Mr. J. B. Taylor. Unfortunately, the full 
 benefit of this tour was marred by the news that 
 reached him at sea of the death of his brother Sam, 
 to whom he was devotedly attached. On his return 
 to England his time was mainly occupied first with 
 arranging for an action to be brought to test the 
 Company's title to unalienated lands in Rhodesia ; 
 and secondly, with the question of the amalgama- 
 tion of Northern and Southern Rhodesia, which he
 
 324 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 and his fellow Directors then considered advisable. 
 Eventually, in October, he left with Mr. Malcolm 
 in order to discuss this matter on the spot with 
 the settlers in both spheres. Unfortunately, very 
 soon after his return in March, 1916, he again 
 became very ill and had to undergo a major and 
 critical operation. After many weeks of suffering, 
 he gradually grew stronger, and by the end of May 
 he was again able to take up his work. Moreover, 
 he added to his other duties by accepting the 
 position of the Chairmanship of the Prisoners of 
 War Committee. 
 
 It was, however, no easy matter successfully to 
 centralize the very many private and independent 
 arrangements that had been made for providing 
 our prisoners with food, money and comforts ; 
 nor was this kind of work exactly suited to 
 Jameson's temperament and ability. He, however, 
 could never do anything half-heartedly, and having 
 undertaken to add this responsibility to his other 
 duties, he allowed no consideration of health to 
 hinder him from living up to his very high standard 
 of duty in regard to it. Over and over again, when 
 other men would have remained in bed and sent 
 for a doctor, he sallied forth in the most inclement 
 weather and despite the entreaty of his friends,
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 325 
 
 to attend some meeting or carry out some aspect 
 of the work that he considered necessary. Under 
 these circumstances he allowed himself no proper 
 summer or autumn holiday, which, undoubtedly, 
 handicapped him in facing the cold of the winter, 
 to which he was exceedingly susceptible. His 
 duties chained him to London, and he practically 
 had no change or holiday till in the late spring, 
 1917, he went for a few weeks to an English watering- 
 place. On July 5th he presided at the 20th 
 Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Company 
 Shareholders. 
 
 He had been unable, owing to his operation, to 
 preside at the same meeting the previous year, 
 and on that occasion several shareholders had 
 attacked the Company's position and management. 
 As during the interval no very marked improvement 
 had taken place, there was every reason to expect 
 the attacks would be renewed, and possibly in a 
 more determined fashion. Jameson, however, who 
 always believed in offence as the best method of 
 defence, at once referred to the previous year's 
 opposition by saying, " I should not wonder this 
 morning if the most lively part of our meeting is 
 not what I have got to say to you, but, perhaps, 
 
 what you have to say to me afterwards. I noticed, 
 
 21
 
 326 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 in reading through the report of last year's pro- 
 ceedings, that there was a good deal of criticism 
 which might well be summed up under two headings, 
 first, that the Directors were a pack of idiots, and 
 if that was true, it would be a very large con- 
 tributing factor to the second, that there was no 
 dividend." 
 
 Such light-hearted raillery is unusual at city 
 meetings, and Jameson's use of it on this occasion, 
 together with his very clear, detailed account of the 
 Company's position, almost entirely silenced 
 criticism — certainly, the few shareholders who 
 spoke dealt out more praise than blame. 
 
 It is true that despite the war and the enforced 
 Conservative policy of the Board, Jameson had 
 a better position to lay before shareholders in July, 
 1917, than he had on the first occasion of his Chair- 
 manship four years before, in 19 13. He was able 
 to emphasize the strong financial position of the 
 Company, which had £3,450,000 in cash and saleable 
 securities, in addition to a fairly well-filled portfolio 
 of shares which would in time be valuable. The 
 value of the production of gold and other minerals, 
 especially base metals, was largely on the increase ; 
 the success of cattle ranching had been so estab- 
 lished as to demand the erection of a canning and
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 327 
 
 freezing factory, while the three-year old plantations 
 
 of citrus fruits gave definite promise that Rhodesia 
 
 would shortly be able to supply the London markets. 
 
 Politically, both the directorate and the settlers 
 
 had agreed, during the period of the war, to forego 
 
 the amalgamation of Northern and Southern 
 
 Rhodesia — while, as regards the future of its 
 
 Government, Jameson could say that " Personally, 
 
 I think that Rhodesia is well advised to stand by 
 
 what they gave an overwhelming vote for at the 
 
 last election — and then to decide their future, as 
 
 to whether they should come into the Union or 
 
 not. But they may not. This war is going to 
 
 change the outlook of many people, and perhaps 
 
 it will effect a change in the people of Rhodesia — 
 
 it may and it may not — but should they consent, 
 
 and should also the Imperial Government come 
 
 forward and say that in Imperial interests you 
 
 must come to an arrangement with the Union, 
 
 having got the consent of the people of Rhodesia 
 
 — should that occur — then I say that the sound 
 
 position of the Company which I put before you 
 
 to-day would render it certain that you would 
 
 receive an adequate return for your property, for 
 
 which you have waited so long. Now, gentlemen, 
 
 I am always remembering that I was told to keep 
 
 21*
 
 328 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 to business. I began with business pure and 
 simple, and I will end with business. In the case 
 of these two alternatives, I hope I have shown 
 you that should we be allowed to continue our 
 development to the full extent of our extended 
 Charter, then, granted the return of normal times, 
 on a fair examination of our resources, and com- 
 paring those resources with the capital on which 
 we have to pay interest, we shall be able to pay a 
 fair interest and a rapidly-increasing interest. On 
 the other hand, should an acceleration of what I 
 have stated take place, and should we have, as I 
 have said, in Imperial interests to hand over a 
 large portion of your estate — should that occur — 
 I believe that the position that I have exposed to 
 you will ensure that you will get a large and satis- 
 factory settlement which will fully compensate 
 you for your long years of waiting." 
 
 These are almost the last words of the last speech 
 Jameson made from a public platform ; they are 
 eloquent of his reasoned optimism for the future of 
 Rhodesia — a future that he had sown for others 
 to reap. 
 
 Although invited to join other lucrative Boards, 
 Jameson confined himself to the British South 
 African Company and to De Beer's Company, of
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 329 
 
 which he had been a Director since 1900. He was 
 also a trustee under Mr. Rhodes's will of the Rhodes 
 Trust. Despite his conscientious attention to these 
 commercial responsibilities, they only partially 
 occupied his time and energy. His ten years' 
 political experience in South Africa, and the central 
 position he had taken in the constitutional develop- 
 ment of that Commonwealth, made it impossible 
 for him to take a mere spectator's interest in British 
 and Imperial politics. 
 
 For publicity he had no desire, and partly because 
 of his ill-health and partly because of his in- 
 dependent attitude towards party distinctions, he 
 was reluctant to become a Parliamentary candidate. 
 
 Moreover, even if he had declared himself an 
 adherent of either party, he had neither the time 
 nor strength to determine his exact attitude towards 
 the many complex interests and issues that harass 
 the path of the conscientious legislator. 
 
 Broadly stated, he deprecated the pre-war 
 dominance of party feeling, which destroyed national 
 cohesion and perspective, and too often subordinated 
 national issues to party interests and votes. 
 
 He enjoyed the personal friendship of the leaders 
 of the Conservative and of the Liberal party, and 
 amongst other notable men, that of Lord Roberts,
 
 330 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 of whose campaign in favour of national service 
 he was an ardent supporter, and at whose house 
 he was a frequent guest. 
 
 On the constitutional and economic questions 
 relating to the development of the Empire he 
 had had practical experience — and had also been, 
 for years past, a close student of the subject. Both 
 in domestic and Imperial affairs he was anxious 
 to apply that principle of amalgamation whose 
 value in the cause of efficiency Rhodes had so 
 forcibly demonstrated j and on these lines he was 
 ever ready to support all schemes for closer cohesion, 
 and for more organized utilization of Imperial 
 resources. For a man of Jameson's temperament 
 it was impossible to be content with the mere 
 academic expression of opinion, and he unceasingly 
 exerted his influence to attain achievement of his 
 views. There are political thinkers who make 
 themselves articulate by writing, and there are 
 others who do so by public speaking. Jameson, 
 however, employed none of these methods. In 
 evading the written word he was more than an apt 
 pupil of Rhodes, and it is doubtful if the full tale 
 of his letters averaged more than three a week, 
 while, except at Chartered Company meetings, he 
 never spoke in public. Instead of the press or the
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 331 
 
 platform, he preferred for his audience that great 
 company of personal friends — both men and women 
 — who vied with each other in recognizing the 
 compelling force of his personality. 
 
 Upon this assemblage of politicians, journalists, 
 writers, soldiers, pioneers, financiers, and women 
 workers and women idlers, by methods peculiar to 
 himself, he let himself go. Upon them he poured 
 forth his views and aims, and stimulated them to 
 organize for their achievement. It was not his 
 wont to talk at length, nor was he, unless excep- 
 tionally interested, a good listener. He was so 
 logical and so quick to grasp a situation, that he 
 would often cut short exposition by some forcible 
 remark or personal raillery that would too often 
 quite disconcert the speaker. 
 
 Despite his adventurous career, mere reminis- 
 cences obviously bored him ; he was always for 
 movement, for some betterment of present or 
 future conditions, and in discussion he was a 
 master in the art of persuasion, unconsciously 
 creating in those around him a latent desire to 
 follow, if he would lead. The source of such per- 
 suasive influence eludes analysis, and, like the 
 mystery of leadership, is probably more psychic 
 than mental. In this latter respect Jameson^ was
 
 332 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 splendidly equipped ; he had great power of con- 
 centration, of logical reasoning, and of rapid 
 diagnosis, while on his lighter side he was 
 brilliant in repartee and in the exercise of a badinage 
 that was both cynical and personal. Despite his 
 apparent delight in these direct personal allusions, 
 they never seemed to wound, for daring as they 
 were in expression, they were so tempered by some 
 kindliness unspoken, but felt, that the victim was 
 usually the first to join in the laugh against himself. 
 He wrapped himself in cynicism as with a cloak, 
 not only to protect himself against his own quick 
 human sympathy, but to conceal the austere 
 standard of duty and honour that he always set 
 to himself. He was ever trying to hide from his 
 friends his real attitude towards life, and the high 
 estimate he placed upon accepted ethical values. 
 His entire freedom from any trace of self-conscious- 
 ness — his direct, outspoken handling of men and 
 affairs, his quiet but complete assurance, were 
 the inevitable expression of a mens conscia recti. 
 In the exercise of this splendid freedom he could, 
 when occasion offered, cast responsibility and 
 thought to the winds, and like a schoolboy enjoy 
 the amusement of the moment, whether a game 
 of golf or bridge, or a bout of witticism, raillery
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 333 
 
 or gossip. No amount of worry or sickness or 
 responsibility could kill this elemental freshness 
 and boyishness, which was such a dominant factor 
 in the genius of his personality. 
 
 Such a wealth of temperament magnetically 
 attracted to itself those who were, perhaps, less 
 richly endowed, and very soon after his return to 
 England Jameson found his bachelor quarters of 
 a bedroom and sitting-room quite inadequate, and 
 took a house in Cumberland Place, which he shared 
 with his two brothers. Here, half buried in a large 
 armchair by the fire, in a spacious smoking-room on 
 the ground floor, he delighted to welcome his 
 friends. For an hour after breakfast and an hour 
 before dinner he was, as a rule, accessible to all 
 who sought to see him. Surrounded by these 
 and by the varied interests of his still full life, and 
 with a sufficiency of income to meet his inexpensive 
 wants, his last years were not without that element 
 of rest and reward that the strain and quality of 
 his work had earned. Practically speaking, he 
 died in harness, because in the cause of his work 
 he refused to pay heed to obvious pain and sickness. 
 
 Two days before he had to take to his bed the 
 writer found him after breakfast, as usual, seated by 
 the fire, but looking very ill. The day was intensely
 
 334 DR. JAMESON. 
 
 raw and cold, and it was pointed out to him how 
 unnecessary it was for him to go out. He appeared 
 to assent, but all the time intending to go to his 
 work, and he went. Then, as his illness overtook 
 him and he had to take to his bed, it was all too 
 evident that his spirit had outworn the machinery 
 of his body. 
 
 The calls upon his marvellous nervous energy 
 had been many and unceasing ; it was this force 
 that had overcome the frailness of his frail physique, 
 and enabled him to succeed as a pioneer and an 
 Empire Administrator. The same force, during 
 the days of his political career at the Cape, had 
 bridled his impatient mind and spirit to the un- 
 progressive attitude of a Dutch and Afrikander 
 community. 
 
 Nervous energy would almost appear to share 
 with radium the property of being able to multiply 
 itself upon itself. But whatever may be the actual 
 nature of the thing we call nervous energy, it may 
 be safely asserted that every man or woman who 
 has made history has possessed this force in a 
 more than average degree. Richly as Jameson 
 had been endowed in this respect, he had drawn 
 upon it lavishly and without reserve. Extravagant 
 as he had been in its expenditure, he had never
 
 RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND. 335 
 
 used it for a personal purpose, but always for 
 impersonal ends — for furthering the progress of 
 Rhodesia — for the Unification of South Africa — for 
 more organized use of the resources of the Empire. 
 For projects such as these he laboured unceasingly 
 and with rare disinterestedness. He was essen- 
 tially a patriot who sought for himself neither 
 wealth, nor power, nor fame, nor leisure, nor even an 
 easy anchorage for reflection. The wide sphere of 
 his work and achievements, and the accepted 
 dominion of his personality and influence were both 
 based upon his adherence to the principle of always 
 subordinating personal considerations to the work 
 in hand, upon the loyalty of his service to big ideals. 
 His whole life seems to illustrate the truth of the 
 saying that in self-regard and self-centredness there 
 is no profit, and that only in sacrificing himself for 
 impersonal aims can a man save his soul and benefit 
 his fellow men.
 
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