MR. RHODES AND THE JESUITS.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."1
Sin,—In connection with the statement published in the Review of Reviews regarding Mr. Rhodes's so-called political will, I think the following brief account of a conversation which I had with him about three years ago may prove interesting at this moment to your readers. I was sitting next Mr. Rhodes at a large dinner, and our conversation turned on religious belief. Mr. Rhodes expressed himself in strongly eulogistic terms of the Roman Catholic Church. He said:—" I have a great admiration for the Roman Catholic Church ; it is in my opinion the one logical religion in the world, and if I only had the time I should like to become a Jesuit myself. Do you know any Jesuits ? I have met many of them in Rhodesia, and have so great a respect and so keen an admiration for them as a body, that I take off my hat to them, each and all. It is not so much what they do, or what they say ; it is what they are that has impressed me so deeply." This expression of opinion, coming from such a source, naturally impressed me greatly, and the following day I repeated the above con- versation to a Jesuit priest of my acquaintance, and have often quoted it since.—I am, Sir, &c., [We are not surprised. It was natural that a num of Mr. Rhodes's grandiose and impatient ambitions should have been greatly attracted by the idea of a great Society pledged to instant obedience, perinde ac cadaver. But if he had entered the Order he would, we feel sure, have insisted on instantly becoming the head of the Jesuits. The Society would not have been a very tranquil community till he had reached the position of the Papa Nel o,—he who must be obeyed.—En. Spectator.1
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