Cecil John Rhodes (Freemason)
Businessman. Mining Magnate. Politician. Freemason. Society of the Elect.
The Anglo-American Establishment by Carroll Quigley (1981).[9,p34]
In each of his seven wills, Rhodes entrusted his bequest to a group of men to carry out his purpose. In the first will, as we have seen, the trustees were Lord Carnarvon and Sidney Shippard. In the second will (1882), the sole trustee was his friend Neville E. Pickering. In the third will (1888), Pickering having died, the sole trustee was Lord Rothschild. In the fourth will (1891), W.T. Stead [Died on the RMS Titanic] was added, while in the fifth (1892), Rhode’s solicitor, B. F. Hawksley, was added to the previous two. In the sixth (1893) and seventh (1899) wills, the personnel of the trustees shifted considerably, ending up at Rhodes death in 1902, with a board of seven trustees:
- Lord Milner (Freemason).[8]
- Lord Rosebery (Freemason)
- Lord Grey (Freemason. Apollo Lodge, University of Oxford)
- Afred Beit (Freemason. British-German gold and diamond magnate).[8]
- L. L Mitchell
- B. F. Hawksley
- Sir Dr. Leander Starr Jameson (Freemason)[8]
This is the board to which the world looked to setup the Rhodes Scholarships.
Dr Frank Aydelotte [Rhodes 1905], the best-known American authority on Rhodes’s wills, claims that Rhodes made no reference to the secret society in his last two wills because he had abandoned the idea. The first chapter of his recent book, The American Rhodes Scholarships, states and re-iterates that between 1891 and 1893 Rhodes underwent a great change in his point of view and matured in his judgement to the point that in his sixth will “he abandons forever his youthful idea of a secret society.” This is completely untrue, and there is no evidence to support such a statement. On the contrary, all the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, indicates that Rhodes wanted the secret society from 1875 to his death in 1902. By Dr Frank Aydelotte’s [Rhodes 1905] own admission, Rhodes wanted the society from 1877 to 1893, a period of sixteen years.
Accepted practice in the use of historical evidence requires us to believe that Rhodes persisted in this idea for the remaining nine years of his life, unless there exists evidence to the contrary, This is no such evidence. On the other hand, there is direct evidence that he did not change his ideas.
Two examples of this evidence can be mentioned here:
On 5 February 1896, three years after his sixth will, Rhodes ended a long conversation with Reginald. B. Brett (later Lord Esher) by saying, “Wish we could get our secret society.”
And in April 1900, a year later he wrote his seventh and last will, Rhodes was reprimanding Stead for his opposition to the Boer War, on the grounds that in this case he should have been willing to accept the judgement of the men on the spot who had made the war. Rhodes (Freemason) said to Stead (Freemason), “That is the curse which will be fatal to our ideas - insubordination. Do not you think it is very disobedient of you ? How can our Society be worked if each one sets himself up as the sole judge of what ought to be done? Just look at the position here. We three are in South Africa, all of us your boys … I myself, Milner, and Garrett, all of whom learned their politics from you. We are on the spot, and we are unanimous in declarating this war to be necessary. You have never been in South Africa, and yet, instead of deferring to the judgement of your own boys, you fling yourself into a violent position to the war.”
Dr Aydelotte’s assumption that the scholarships were an alternative to the secret society is quite untenable, for all the evidence indicates that the scholarships were but one of several instruments through which the society would work…
The Anglo-American Establishment by Carroll Quigley (1981).[9,p38]
The Secret Society, after so much preliminary talk, took form in 1891, the same year Rhodes drew up his fourth will and made Stead as Well as Lord Rothschild the trustee of his fortune. It is perfectly clear from the evidence that he expected Rothschild to handle the financial investments associated with the trust, while Stead was to have full charge of the methods by which the funds were used. About the same time, in February 1891, Stead and Rhodes had another long discussion about the secret society. First they discussed their goals and agreed that, if necessary in order to achieve Anglo-American unity, Britain should join the United States. Then they discussed the organisation of the secret society and divided it into two circles: an inner circle, “The Society of the Elect”, and an outer circle to include “The Association of Helps” and The Review of the Reviewers (Stead’s magazine, founded 1890).
They drew up the following “ideal arrangement” for the society:
- General of the Society: Rhodes
- Junta of Three: William Stead (Freemason), Reginald Brett (Apostles) and Milner (Freemason).
- Circle of the Initiates: Cardinal Manning, General Booth, Bramwell Booth, “Little” Johnston, Albert Grey and Arthur Balfour.
- The Association of Helpers.
- A College, under Professor Seeley, to be established “to train people in the English-speaking idea.”
17 Jul 1890 to 12 Jan 1896 - 7th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (Monarch Queen Victoria)
Leading to up Boer War… Rhodes communication to William Stead,
“You will support Milner in any measure that he may take short of war. I make no such limitation. I support Milner absolutely without reserve. If he says peace, I say peace; if he says war, I say war. Whatever happens, I say ditto to Milner”[5]
1888 - formed De Beers (Diamond Mining Company)
1873, returned to Britain to study at Oxford (Old Souls College), but stayed for only one term, after which he went back to South Africa. He was greatly influenced by John Ruskin’s inaugural lecture at Oxford, which reinforced his own attachment to the cause of British imperialism.[2]
1871, 18yr Rhodes and his 26yr old brother Herbert left the colony for the diamond fields of Kemberley in Nothern Cape Province. Financed by N M Rothschild & Sons, Rhodes succeed over the next 17 years in buying up all the smaller diamond mining operations in the Kimberley area.[2] The use of slaves later became the Aparthied policy in South Africa.[4]
Died 26 Mar 1902, Heart Failure (ill health since young). Age 48.
[0] - Britannica.com - Cecil Rhodes
[1] - FYI - Wiki - Cecil Rhodes
[2] - FYI - Rhodes Scholarship
[3b] - FYI - Wiki - List of Rhodes Scholars
[9] - Book - The Anglo-American Establishment by Carroll Quigley
[10] - Last Will and Testament of Cecil Rhodes/Part 1
Comments