Page:Last Will and Testament of Cecil Rhodes.djvu/69

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deal with them each in their order, taking his writings first—writings which were made known to the world for the first time after his death. Of his last Will and Testament, executed in 1899, printed in the first part of this volume, I need not speak. I confine myself in this part to his other writings.

Cecil Rhodes, in the current phrase of the hour, was an empire maker. He was much more than that. Empire makers are almost as common as empire breakers, and, indeed, as in his case, the two functions are often combined. But Cecil Rhodes stands on a pedestal of his own. He was a man apart. It was his distinction to be the first of the new Dynasty of Money Kings which has been evolved in these later days as the real rulers of the modern world. There have been many greater millionaires than he. His friend and ally, Mr. Beit, could probably put down a bank-note for every sovereign Mr. Rhodes possessed, and still be a multi-millionaire. As a rich man Mr. Rhodes was not in the running with Mr. Carnegie, Mr. Rockefeller, or Mr. Astor. But although there have been many wealthier men, none of them, before Mr. Rhodes, recognised the opportunities of ruling the world which wealth affords its possessor. The great financiers of Europe have no doubt often used their powers to control questions of peace or war and to influence politics, but they always acted from a strictly financial motive. Their aims were primarily the shifting of the values of stocks. To effect that end they have often taken a leading hand in political deals. But Mr. Rhodes inverted the operation. With him political considerations were always paramount. If he used the market he did it in order to secure the means of achieving political ends. Hence it is no exaggeration to regard him as the first—he will not be the last—of the Millionaire Monarchs of the Modern World.

He was the founder of the latest of the dynasties which seems destined to wield the sceptre of sovereign power over the masses of mankind. He has fallen in mid-career. His