PART I

CHAPTER I
SOURCE, ORIGIN, AND PURPOSE

Cecil Rhodes left to the world a Will whose provisions have caused more comment than those of any other Will of modern times. A simple paraphrase of its chief provision would be ‘I Cecil John Rhodes leave £2,000,000 for the foundation of between 150 and 200 perpetual scholarships at Oxford University.’ To stop, however, with such a summary is to know nothing of the real character of the Will. Aside from being a legal document disposing of property, the Will is an excellent commentary upon Rhodes’s life and thought and a record of certain of his conclusions. Its value to our present subject, however, is rather prospective than retrospective. Rhodes provided not only the money for the foundation, but a detailed memorandum of the principles which he wished his Trustees and Executors to keep in mind in establishing the Rhodes Scholarships.

The first essential, then, to an understanding of the Rhodes Scholarships is to be familiar with the clauses of the Will which are the foundation upon which they rest, and which determine the general shape of their structure.

It may be well, however, and a considerable aid to an understanding of the Will, to remind ourselves first of a few important incidents in the life of Rhodes—incidents which go far to explain his motives and methods.

Rhodes entered Oriel College, Oxford, in 1873. A few months later, being in bad health, he was sent by his physician to South Africa. This forced trip spelled Opportunity in large letters before him. Keen perception, ingenuity, and careful application forged the links between opportunity and wealth. But wealth was not a goal; it became an instrument for the realization of ideals. Coincident with the success of his business schemes, and intimately correlated with his practical thinking, was the development of a personal and political philosophy which shaped his ideas of the value and proper function of wealth.

Rhodes had not been a brilliant student; but he was a persistent and a logical thinker. Long before he finished his College course he had set himself certain problems such as seldom occur to the ordinary man, and whose solution is rarely attempted even by extraordinary men. What was most important, he met his problems squarely, carried his thinking to conclusions, and his conclusions into practice.

Throughout his life he cherished a fond memory of his student days and a deep reverence for his University. His high respect for Oxford grew not alone from the happy impressions of early and careless years. He matriculated when twenty years old. For the next eight years he alternated between winters spent in South Africa amid the influences of frontier life, and summers spent in the social and academic atmosphere of Oxford. When, after eight years, he took his degrees, B.A. and M.A. together (1881), he was already a successful business man, well on his way to maturity (b. 1853). Thus he had been an Oxford undergraduate both as a youth and as a man, and had learned the theories and practices of Oxford side-by-side with the practical experiences of business life during the impressionable years of early manhood.

During these undergraduate days he had been deeply impressed by a passage from Aristotle—‘Virtue is the highest activity of the soul living for the highest object in a perfect life.’ He appreciated Aristotle’s emphasis upon the necessity for having a high ideal and for struggling toward that ideal. He revolved in his mind while in Oxford and in Africa, as he went and came, and during his summers here and his winters there, many problems as to the end and object of existence. What is the end of the process of evolution? Is it man? For what end does man exist? Why do I exist? What does my existence demand of me? Is there a God? If so, what does he wish man to do? What would he have me do? What can I do best?

He became conscious of a desire for power—effective, creative power, the power which ‘does things.’ He early decided, and he never changed his opinion, that the ‘open sesame’ to the realm of power was money. The opportunity for making money lay before him; the ability and the business capacity lay within him; money was his. Yet wealth was not his end; he never made money an end; it was always a means.

His self-interrogation did not cease. He decided that his first great duty was to his country. What is this duty?—he asked himself. Naturally, to further her interests. Her interests are?—Those of the British Empire. And those are?—To advance civilization and the cause of universal peace. What could he do? He decided that he would ‘paint as much as possible of the map of South Africa British red’. But patriotism should not be selfish—nor should it be narrow. He looked beyond the boundaries of the Empire. ‘What race can do, is doing, and will do most to advance civilization?’ He answered himself that the Anglo-Saxon race was the race of the Present and of the Future—the instrument of Destiny. Therefore, he would devote himself to the ideas which the Anglo-Saxon race represents.

These conclusions were recorded in a ‘draft of some of my ideas’ which Rhodes put upon paper while in Kimberley, when he was about twenty-four years of age (1877). He continued with a consideration of how his ideas might be made effective. His fancy suggested the formation of a kind of secular church which should have its members in all parts of the Empire, especially at the Universities, and whose common interest should be the extension of the Empire. He sketched the kind of men upon whom he could depend, the method by which they might be recruited, keeping ever in mind ‘the closer union of England and her Colonies’.

First Will, 1877.

That same year he wrote a Will in which he directed that all his estates and effects of every kind should be administered to promote British rule; to perfect a system of emigration from the United Kingdom to the Colonies; to further the consolidation of the British Empire; to assist towards the restoration of Anglo-Saxon unity; towards securing the representation of the Colonies in Parliament, and the foundation of a Power so great as to render wars impossible and to promote the best interests of humanity.

At that early period, then, we find—not the idea of the Rhodes Scholarships—but the ideas which dominated Rhodes’s subsequent imperial theories, the soil which was ready to receive the suggestion which seems later to have come spontaneously, of founding and defining a scholarship system.

Second Will, 1882.

Third Will, 1888.

This Will of 1877 was suspended in 1882 by a very informal Will written on a single sheet of note-paper, and that in turn was revoked and replaced by a third in 1888.

In 1889 Rhodes met Mr. W. T. Stead, then editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, and the two men discovered a remarkable coincidence in their ideas, especially on the subjects of an English-speaking reunion and a society for the promotion of world welfare and peace.[1] Mr. Rhodes set forth a number of his political ideals at considerable length.

His earlier devotion to the idea of British ascendancy, while not lost, had become but a part of his larger idea of Anglo-Saxon supremacy. So unbiased had he become that in 1891 he expressed himself as so desirous of seeing an English-speaking union that he would be willing that the English monarchical system and isolated imperial existence be sacrificed, if necessary, to its achievement.[2]

Fourth Will, 1891.

In 1891 he signed his fourth Will, making over his real and personal property to two persons, one of whom was ‘W. T. Stead of the Review of Reviews’.

Fifth Will, 1893.

The fifth Will was drafted in 1892 and signed by Mr. Rhodes in 1893. The name of Mr. Hawksley was added as one of the Executors, and joint-heir. It was understood that Mr. Stead was the ‘custodian of the Rhodesian ideas’, and the other two Executors were to direct necessary financial and legal measures.

In January, 1895, Rhodes first announced to Mr. Stead his intention of founding a number of scholarships. He said that while on the Red Sea in 1893 the thought had struck him of creating a number of scholarships at a residential English University to be open to various British Colonies. His proposition at that time was to provide for twelve scholarships at Oxford each year, each tenable for three years, of a value of £250 per year. A codicil was added to the fifth Will providing for these scholarships for Canada, the Australian Colonies, including Western Australia and Tasmania, and for Cape Colony.

A good many things happened in the life of Rhodes between the time he left England in February, 1895, and the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899. There was the Johannesburg Raid, for instance; and there were all those strenuous preliminaries to the war in which Rhodes stood as the champion of what his imperial school considered the true rights of England.

Sixth Will, 1899.

In July, 1899, before the outbreak of the War, Rhodes recast and expanded the whole scheme of his Will and substituted, for that of 1893, a sixth document, which became his ‘Last Will and Testament’,[3] wherein he outlined and provided plans and detailed directions for establishing the scholarships which are now known as the Rhodes Scholarships. Each of the friends who became a Trustee doubtless had a share in the discussions and suggestions which gradually shaped and realized the Scholarship idea. Mr. Stead tried, without success, to persuade Rhodes to divide the scholarships between Oxford and Cambridge, also to open them to women; he was successful, however, in his suggestion which resulted in scholarships being granted to the States and Territories of the United States.

Rhodes rejected all propositions whereby the appointments were to be based solely upon Competitive Examinations. His own ideas upon this subject were expressed in the Codicil of October, 1901.[4]

Thus the form realized in the last Will and Testament was not the result of any hasty resolution to attempt some great innovation in the method of bequeathing wealth for educational purposes; it was not a philanthropic caprice; it was not a mere response to suggestions occurring to him while casting about, as so often happens, for an answer to the question, ‘How shall I leave my money?’ Both the substance and the letter of the document by which he left £2,000,000 for ‘an educational experiment’ were the result of living and thinking, suggesting and receiving suggestions, accepting and rejecting; and, finally, of careful decision. It represents conclusions; it is characteristic, moreover, of the mind of its author, combining practical judgement with the promptings of an imperial imagination; it represents unbroken confidence in the ideals which to him made life worth living.

Soon after the writing of this Will the Boer War broke out, and the political concord between Rhodes and Mr. Stead was at an end. Their friendship, however, continued, and each remained true to the same old ideal—although their opinions as to British rights in South Africa were in violent antithesis.

In the original Will Mr. Rhodes left the residue of his real and personal estate to the Earl of Rosebery, Earl Grey, Alfred Beit, William Thomas Stead, Lewis Lloyd Mitchell, and Bourchier Francis Hawksley, absolutely as joint tenants. The same persons were appointed his Executors and Trustees.

In a Codicil dated January, 1901, Rhodes directed that the name of W. T. Stead should be removed from the list of his Executors.[5] In October of the same year he added Lord Milner’s name to the list of Executors and joint heirs, and in March, 1902, on his death-bed, that of Dr. Jameson.

Before the month was out the great creative imperialist had passed from the scene of his successes. He died at Muizenberg, near Cape Town, on the 26th of March, 1902, in his forty-ninth year.

In his constructive fancy he had known no ordinary limits. ‘I would annex the planets if I could.’[6] He had measured by more than the span of a single life or a few generations; he had built for to-morrow as well as for to-day. ‘I find I am human, but should like to live after my death.’[7] He frequently wished ‘that he might return to earth to see how his ideas were prospering, and what was being done with the fortune which he had dedicated to the service of posterity’. His Will expresses in concrete form what were his purposes and what the plans which he left as a sacred Trust to the care and guardianship of his chosen friends.

CHAPTER II
THE SIXTH AND LAST WILL OF CECIL JOHN RHODES

The Will is arranged in forty-two clauses, followed by four codicils. As it is the intention here to deal only with those provisions which bear directly upon the Rhodes Scholarships or Oxford, it would seem natural to omit all other articles; but, for the sake of giving a comprehensive view of this remarkable document, it has seemed preferable to follow the regular order of the clauses, inserting summaries of those which are irrelevant to our subject.

The quotations in the following pages are made from a copy (in the Bodleian Library, Oxford) of the full text of the Will as published by Hollams, Sons, Coward and Hawksley.

Thick Clarendon type has been used to indicate exact quotation of the text, while the use of ordinary type enclosed in [ ]s indicates summarizing or abridgement.

Transcriber’s Note: The words ‘Thick Clarendon type’ will appear in the ‘Clarendon Bold’ font if you have it. If they don’t look any different from the rest of the paragraph, consider installing that font to get the full experience!

The designation of the clauses or articles by Arabic numerals is exactly as they occur in the text. The Roman numerals have been arbitrarily inserted to indicate topical divisions.[8]

WILL AND CODICILS
OF
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CECIL JOHN RHODES.

Testator died 26th March, 1902.

Hollams, Sons, Coward and Hawksley
30, Mincing Lane, E.C.
(London).

[The Will.]

I the Right Honourable Cecil John Rhodes of Cape Town in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope hereby revoke all testamentary dispositions heretofore made by me and declare this to be my last Will which I make this 1st day of July 1899.

I.

1. I am a natural-born British subject and I now declare that I have adopted and acquired and hereby adopt and acquire and intend to retain Rhodesia as my domicile.

2. I appoint the Right Honourable Archibald Philip Earl of Rosebery K.G. K.T. the Right Honourable Henry George Earl Grey Alfred Beit[9] (...) William Thomas Stead[9] (...) Lewis Lloyd Michell[9] (...) and Bourchier Francis Hawksley[9] (...) to be my Executors and the Trustees of my Will and they and the survivors of them or other the Trustees for the time being of my Will and hereinafter my Trustees.

Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

[give directions and instructions for the burial of Rhodes’s body at Matoppos in Rhodesia; the disposal of certain small legacies; the erection of a monument to the men who fell in the first Matabele War at Shangani in Rhodesia; the disposition of certain properties in Rhodesia; the disposition of certain moneys to provide for the Matoppos, the Bulawayo, and the Inyanga ‘Funds’, experimental farming and the establishment and maintenance of an Agricultural College, and the management of certain estates.]

II.

[Bequests to Oriel College, Oxford.]

12. I give the sum of £100,000 ... to my old college Oriel College in the University of Oxford ... and I direct that the sum of £40,000 part of the said sum of £100,000 shall be applied in the first place in the erection of (the said) new College buildings and that the remainder of such sum of £40,000 shall be held as a fund by the income whereof the aforesaid loss to the College[10] revenue shall so far as possible be made good.

And ... I direct that the sum of £40,000 further part of the said sum of £100,000 shall be held as a fund by the income whereof the income of such of the resident Fellows of the College as work for the honour and dignity of the College shall be increased.

And I further direct that the sum of £10,000 ... shall be held as a fund by the income whereof the dignity and comfort of the High Table[11] may be maintained by which means the dignity and comfort of the resident Fellows may be increased.

And I further direct that the sum of £10,000 ... shall be held as a repair fund the income whereof shall be expended in maintaining and repairing the College buildings.

[This portion of the Will is concluded with advice to the College authorities that they consult the Rhodes Trustees as to the investment and handling of these various funds.]

III.

Articles 13, 14, 15

[provide for the disposition and maintenance of De Groote Schuur, Rhodes’s South African residence, directing that it be left as a residence for the Prime Minister for the time being of the Federated Government of the States of South Africa, and that certain of the expenses of its maintenance be paid from the income of the estate.]

IV.

[The Scholarships at Oxford.]

16. Whereas I consider that the education of young Colonists at one of the Universities in the United Kingdom is of great advantage to them for giving breadth to their views for their instruction in life and manners and for instilling into their minds the advantage to the Colonies as well as to the United Kingdom of the retention of the unity of the Empire And whereas in the case of young Colonists studying at a University in the United Kingdom I attach very great importance to the University having a residential system such as is in force at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge for without it those students are at the most critical period of their lives left without any supervision And whereas there are at the present time 50 or more students from South Africa studying at the University of Edinburgh many of whom are attracted there by its excellent medical school and I should like to establish some of the Scholarships hereinafter mentioned in that University but owing to its not having such a residential system as aforesaid I feel obliged to refrain from doing so And whereas my own University the University of Oxford has such a system and I suggest that it should try and extend its scope so as if possible to make its medical school at least as good as that at the University of Edinburgh And whereas I also desire to encourage and foster an appreciation of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from the union of the English-speaking peoples throughout the world and to encourage in the students from the United States of North America who will benefit from the American Scholarships to be established for the reason above given at the University of Oxford under this my Will an attachment to the country from which they have sprung but without I hope withdrawing them or their sympathies from the land of their adoption or birth Now therefore I direct my Trustees as soon as may be after my death and either simultaneously or gradually as they shall find convenient and if gradually then in such order as they shall think fit to establish for male students the scholarships hereinafter directed to be established each of which shall be of yearly value of £300 and be tenable at any College in the University of Oxford for three consecutive academical years.

17. I direct my Trustees to establish certain Scholarships and these Scholarships I sometimes hereinafter refer to as ‘the Colonial Scholarships’.

18. The appropriation of the Colonial Scholarships and the numbers to be annually filled up shall be in accordance with the following table:—

Total No. appropriatedTo be tenable by Students of or from[12]No. of Scholarships to be filled each year
9Rhodesia3 and no more
3The South African College School in the Colony of Cape of Good Hope1 and no more
3The Stellenbosch College School in the same Colony1 and no more
3The Diocesan College School of Rondebosch in the same Colony1 and no more
3St. Andrews College School Grahamstown in the same Colony1 and no more
3The Colony of Natal1 and no more
3The Colony of New South Wales1 and no more
3The Colony of Victoria1 and no more
3The Colony of South Australia1 and no more
3The Colony of Queensland1 and no more
3The Colony of Western Australia1 and no more
3The Colony of Tasmania1 and no more
3The Colony of New Zealand1 and no more
3The Province of Ontario in the Dominion of Canada1 and no more
3The Province of Quebec in the Dominion of Canada1 and no more
3The Colony or Island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies1 and no more
3The Colony or Islands of the Bermudas1 and no more
3The Colony or Island of Jamaica1 and no more

19. I further direct my Trustees to establish additional Scholarships sufficient in number for the appropriation in the next following clause hereof directed and those Scholarships I sometimes hereinafter refer to as ‘the American Scholarships’.

20. I appropriate two of the American Scholarships to each of the present States and Territories of the United States of North America provided that if any of the said Territories shall in my lifetime be admitted as a State the Scholarships appropriated to such Territory shall be appropriated to such State and that my Trustees may in their uncontrolled discretion withhold for such time as they shall think fit the appropriation of Scholarships to any Territory.

21. I direct that of the two Scholarships appropriated to a State or Territory not more than one shall be filled up in any year so that at no time shall more than two Scholarships be held for the same State or Territory.

22. The Scholarships shall be paid only out of income and in the event at any time of income being insufficient for payment in full of all the Scholarships for the time being payable I direct that (without prejudice to the vested interests of holders for the time being of Scholarships) the following order of priority shall regulate the payment of Scholarships.

[Provided that:—

Scholarships shall be paid of (i) students from Rhodesia, (ii) of students from the South African Stellenbosch, Rondebosch, and St. Andrews School, (iii) of students from the other British Colonies, (iv) of students holding the American Scholarships.

Articles 23, 24, 25, which dealt with the qualities of candidates and methods of selection, were replaced by clauses in the Codicil of Oct. 11, 1901. See [p. 18].]

26. A qualified student who has been elected as aforesaid shall within six calendar months after his election or as soon thereafter as he can be admitted into residence or within such extended time as my Trustees shall allow commence residence as an undergraduate at some College in the University of Oxford.

27. The Scholarship shall be payable to him from the time when he shall commence such residence.

28. I desire that the Scholars holding the Scholarships shall be distributed amongst the Colleges of the University of Oxford and not resort in undue numbers to one or more Colleges only.

29. Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained my Trustees may in their uncontrolled discretion suspend for such time as they shall think fit or remove any Scholar from his Scholarship.

Article 30

[gives the Trustees authority to make vary or repeal regulations general or particular with regard to (i) the election of qualified students and the methods by which qualifications are to be ascertained, (ii) the tenure of Scholarships, (iii) suspension and removal of Scholars, (iv) payment of scholarships, (v) the method for giving effect to clause 28, (vi) any other matter which they may think necessary with regard to the Scholarships.]

Articles 31, 32

[continue specifications as to the authority of the Trustees.]

33. No regulations made under clause 30 or made and approved of under clauses 31 and 32 hereof shall be inconsistent with any of the provisions herein contained.

34. In order that the Scholars past and present may have opportunities of meeting and discussing their experiences and prospects I desire that my Trustees shall annually give a dinner to the past and present Scholars able and willing to attend at which I hope my Trustees or some of them will be able to be present and to which they will I hope from time to time invite as guests persons who have shown sympathy with the views expressed by me in this Will.

Article 35

[leaves the Trustees free to “set apart out of my estate such a Scholarship fund ... as they shall consider sufficient by its income to pay the Scholarships and in addition a yearly sum of £1,000”.]

Articles 36, 37

[leave the Trustees free to invest the Scholarship fund as they shall “in their uncontrolled discretion” see fit.]

Article 38

[provides for the establishment of “further Scholarships”—“for students of such British Colonies or Dependencies” as the Trustees shall see fit—such Scholarships to “correspond in all respects with the Scholarships hereinbefore directed”.]

39. Until the Scholarship fund shall have been set apart as aforesaid I charge the same and the Scholarships upon the residue of my real and personal estate.

40. I give the residue of my real and personal estate unto such of them the said Earl of Rosebery Earl Grey Alfred Beit William Stead Lewis Lloyd Michell and Bourchier Francis Hawksley as shall be living at my death absolutely and if more than one as joint tenants.

41. [Trustees may employ a Secretary or Agent to transact all business required to be done by the Trust.]

42. My intention is that there shall always be at least three Trustees of my Will so far as it relates to the Scholarship Trusts and therefore I direct that whenever there shall be less than three Trustees a new Trustee or new Trustees shall be forthwith appointed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand the day and year first above written.

Signed (...) C. J. Rhodes.

(Witnesses)

CODICILS.
I. ‘Jan. 1900.’ Really Jan., 1901.

(1.) A Codicil added by Rhodes revoking the appointment of Mr. Stead as one of his executors. (See Clause 2, [p. 10].)

(Witnesses)

German Scholarships.

(2.) This is a further Codicil to my Will. I note the German Emperor has made instruction in English compulsory in German schools. I leave five yearly Scholarships at Oxford of £250 per annum to students of German birth the Scholars to be nominated by the German Emperor for the time being. Each Scholarship to continue for three years so that each year after the first three there will be fifteen Scholars. The object is that an understanding between the three great Powers will render war impossible and educational relations make the strongest tie.

C. J. Rhodes.

America has already been provided for. C. J. R.

(Witnesses)

(3.) [Endorsed on back of above.]

A yearly amount should be put in British Consols to provide for the bequests in my Will when the Diamond Mine works out; the above is an instruction to the Trustees of my Will.

C. J. R.

(4.) [Provisions for certain Inyange farms.]

II. Oct. 11, 1901.

I appoint the Right Honourable Alfred Lord Milner to be an Executor and Trustee of my said Will ... in all respects as though he had been originally appointed (...) I revoke clauses 23, 24 and 25 of my said Will and in lieu thereof substitute the three following clauses which I direct shall be read as though originally clauses 23, 24 and 25 of my said Will:—

23. My desire being that the students who shall be elected to the Scholarships shall not be merely bookworms I direct that in the election of a student to a Scholarship regard shall be had to:—

(i) his literary and scholastic attainments.

(ii) his fondness for and success in manly outdoor sports such as cricket football and the like.

(iii) his qualities of manhood truth courage devotion to duty sympathy for and protection of the weak kindliness unselfishness and fellowship and

(iv) his exhibition during school days of moral force of character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his schoolmates for those latter attributes will be likely in after life to guide him to esteem the performance of public duty his highest aim.

As mere suggestions for the guidance of those who will have the choice of students for the Scholarships I record that (i) my ideal qualified student would combine these four qualifications in the proportions of 3/10 for the first 2/10 for the second 3/10 for the third and 2/10 for the fourth qualification[13] so that according to my ideas if the maximum number of marks for any Scholarship were 200 they would be apportioned as follows—60 to each of the first and third qualifications and 40 to each of the second and fourth qualifications. (ii) The marks for the several qualifications would be awarded independently as follows (that is to say) the marks for the first qualification by examination for the second and third qualifications respectively by ballot by the fellow students of the candidates and for the fourth qualification by the head-master of the candidate’s school. (iii) The results of the awards (that is to say the marks obtained by each candidate for each qualification) would be sent as soon as possible for consideration to the Trustees or to some person or persons appointed to receive the same and the person or persons so appointed would ascertain by averaging the marks in blocks of 20 marks each of all candidates the best ideal qualified students.[14]

24.[15] No student shall be qualified or disqualified for election to a Scholarship on account of his race or religious opinions.

25.[16] Except in the cases of the four schools hereinbefore mentioned. [The four South African Colleges. See [Clause 18].]

The election to Scholarships shall be by the Trustees after such (if any) consultation as they shall think fit with the Minister having control of education in such Colony, Province, State or Territory.

Signed (...) C. J. Rhodes.

Witnesses:

III. Jan. 18, 1902.

[This codicil deals chiefly with the disposition of various properties and of the Dalham Hall estate in England.]

IV. Mar. 12, 1902.

I make Dr. Jameson one of the Trustees of my Will with the same rights as Lord Milner Lord Rosebery Mr. Michell Lord Grey Mr. Beit and Mr. Hawksley.

C. J. Rhodes.

Witnesses:

Hollams, Sons, Coward and Hawksley,
30, Mincing Lane,
E.C.

[The Trustees at present are as follows:—The Earl of Rosebery, Earl Grey, Lord Milner, Sir Lewis Lloyd Michell, Bourchier Francis Hawksley, Dr. Jameson.]

CHAPTER III
FROM PROVISION TO PRACTICE, 1902-1906
THE MEASURES AND STEPS BY WHICH THE SCHOLARSHIP SYSTEM HAS BEEN ORGANIZED

Cecil Rhodes had no idea that his Will was a perfect document. He well realized the difficulty and the complexity of the problem of organizing and putting in practice the Scholarship system for which he was providing; and with clear foresight he made the will elastic, leaving to his Trustees and their agents the development of details.

He had always in life expressed a rare confidence in the Anglo-Saxon race. His Will bears witness to the confidence which he placed in the training capacity of the oldest seat of Anglo-Saxon learning, in the skill and public spirit of his Trustees, and in the assimilative capacities of a cosmopolitan group of students of Anglo-Saxon stock whom he meant to draw together.

The first step for the Trustees was to secure agents who should have personal supervision of the task of organizing and engineering the machinery by which Rhodes Scholars should be selected, introduced to Oxford, and instructed, advised, and guided in the various intricacies of what, to most of them, would prove an altogether new system. Dr. George R. Parkin, LL.D., G.M.G., was called from his position as President of Upper Canada College, Toronto, and accepted and undertook the task of ‘world agent’, so to speak, of the Rhodes Trust. His wide experience in educational work, his knowledge of Oxford as an Oxford student, and his intimate knowledge of the parts of the British Empire and of the English speaking world eminently fitted Dr. Parkin for the position which he assumed.

Mr. Francis J. Wylie, M. A., a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, was chosen to fill an executive and diplomatic position as the Oxford representative of the Trustees, a position which makes him at once the negotiator between the Trust and the University, and, until the Scholars’ applications for College entrance are adjusted and accepted, between the Scholars and the University and Colleges.

To Dr. Parkin was entrusted the making of the necessary arrangements with Oxford, and the construction of a system for selecting and appointing Scholars. Negotiations with the University and with the Colleges found all the Colleges willing to accept Rhodes Scholars, although their requirements varied somewhat. The Trustees found it advisable to require that only men who showed ability to pass Responsions[17] should be eligible.

Entrance to an Oxford College is not as simple a matter as entering most Colleges or Universities in the United States, Germany, the British Colonies or even other Universities in the United Kingdom.

The handling of an endless variety of questions which would naturally arise in this connexion, negotiations between the appointed Scholars and Oxford, and the adjustment of individual difficulties at Oxford became, as they continue to be, the charge of Mr. Wylie.

Dr. Parkin was then able to set out on what became a one-hundred-thousand-mile trip to the ‘ends of the earth’, to approach the authorities in the centres from which Rhodes Scholars were to be drawn. It was his mission to deal with ever-varying local conditions, and establish in each centre an appointive system which would at once satisfy the requirements of the Will, the requirements of the University, and the circumstances of the local educational (and sometimes political) régimes. Only through the elasticity of the Will, which gave discretionary powers to the Trustees, and through which they, in turn, allowed Dr. Parkin to deal with local conditions, was the success of these negotiations made possible.

Of this unique trip of organization Dr. Parkin says:—

‘Practically it has brought me in touch with almost every educational man of weight in the United States and in all our Colonies. In New York I met the heads of fifteen of the greatest American Universities, and in Washington the Presidents of the State Universities throughout the Union assembled in conference. At Boston the Colleges and Schools of New England were represented. At Chicago nearly sixty heads of Colleges from the six neighbouring States, representing altogether between twenty and twenty-five millions of people, had been drawn together by President Harper. At Atlanta the nine Southern States were represented, the delegates coming 600 miles southward from Virginia and 500 miles northward from Louisiana. At Kansas City, Spokane, San Francisco, and Denver, the representatives of the Far West and the Pacific Coast were collected. In the Maritime Provinces of Canada, at Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, and Vancouver, independent conferences were held, as also in each of the Australian States, in New Zealand, Bermuda, Jamaica and Newfoundland. In South Africa the consultation was chiefly with individual schools or the heads of educational departments.’[18]

As may readily be seen from clause 23 of the Will, Rhodes had in mind a system of selection which is only possible to ‘Schools’ and to some Colleges which are organized after the manner of the English ‘Public School’. Obviously this system would be altogether inapplicable in most parts of the United States and in the newer parts of the British Empire. Clause 25, however, leaves to the Trustees the right to make such arrangements and provide such a system as shall be found practicable.

The questions, then, which these conferences had to discuss were: the extent to which it was possible to adhere to Rhodes’s suggestions; methods of selection; the committees of selection; eligibility; age limits; conditions of domicile; and school or collegiate standing which should govern candidature and appointment.

The results were, broadly speaking, as follows:[19]—

In those Colonies where neither Governor nor Chief Justice is elected or directly subject to political influence, these officials were asked to act along with educational men on the Committees of Selection.

In four of the Canadian Provinces and a few States of the United States a system was agreed upon among the leading Colleges or Universities whereby they were to nominate Scholars in rotation. (This remains the case only in Maine, Vermont, and Washington, and these may soon be changed.)

Scholars from Cape Colony were of course chosen from the individual schools to which Scholarships were assigned.

Whenever the number of Independent Colleges or Universities is large, and when courses of study vary widely, it was found most practicable to adopt a plan of open candidature.

Aside from those Committees in which the Governor and Chief Justice were included, the Committee of Selection were chosen entirely from among prominent educators. The Presidents of the leading Universities are chairmen or members of those Committees, and two, four, or six, prominent University men of their respective States or Provinces are associated with them. The constitution of Committees in the United States has been kept purely academic.

In Germany the appointment as provided by the Will lies with the Emperor.

Age limits and preparatory training were absorbing questions. The English boy ‘comes up’ to Oxford as a rule in his nineteenth or twentieth year, after from four to seven years in a ‘Public School’ such as Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Winchester (or from a smaller school with much the same academic system). The English ‘Public School’ (which is not a Public School at all, see [p. 47]) differs widely in character and in curriculum from the American ‘High School’ or Preparatory School, if we except a group of academic schools—nearly all in the East—which are modelled on the English system.

It was therefore a question of prime importance to what extent it would be necessary, and then how far desirable and advisable, that the equipment of Rhodes Scholars should approximate to that of their college-mates-to-be, and in what respects they might advantageously differ.

It was pointed out in the Conferences:—

That the English ‘Public School’ gives a boy an opportunity to distinguish himself through its elaborate system of athletics and scholarship examinations at an earlier age than is usual in Colonial or American Secondary Schools.

That the American or Colonial student after two or more years of college or University life at home would be much better fitted to enter Oxford without handicap than if he went directly from his Secondary School.

That for the sake of understanding the English University from the American point of view and the American University from the English point of view, likewise for understanding and comparing other institutions, and above all for the sake of his later life when he should return to live in his own country, he ought to have a preliminary experience of University life in his own country.

That in order to appreciate and make the most of the advantages or opportunities which his position as a Rhodes Scholar would offer him, and to avoid the temptations to idleness to which Oxford would expose him and the variety of temptations which the long Vacation present, and in order that he might know, and remain in thoughtful and intimate sympathy with affairs in his own country, it would be greatly to his advantage to be more mature than the average graduate of the Colonial or American Secondary School, or than the ordinary Oxford matriculant.

W. T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, said in 1902:[20]—‘It would seem best that our candidates for the Rhodes Scholarships should all have obtained a preparation amounting to that required for the A.B. degree.’ The consensus of opinion, while not going to that length, was that at least two years of previous College or University life should be required, and with few exceptions this was made the rule.[21]

In cases where a Committee expressly asked leave to appoint from Secondary Schools, leave was granted. (This privilege has not been made use of.) Two years’ college requirements were adopted for Canada, for four of the six Australian States, and for New Zealand.

Three of the four South African schools to which Scholarships were especially assigned, asked to be allowed to send pupils who had pursued their work after leaving school for at least two years at the Cape University.

Queensland, West Australia, Natal, Rhodesia, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Jamaica are the only Colonies where two years’ University standing is not insisted on.[22]

This preliminary work of organization occupied Dr. Parkin, beginning in the early Fall of 1902, for more than a year. In the Spring of 1903 Mr. Wylie assumed office in Oxford. In December, 1903, the Trustees issued Memoranda to the Colonies and to the States, then to the Committees of Selection; and through them prospective candidates were informed of the conditions and regulations which they must fulfil.[23]

Seven South Africans and five Germans were appointed to Scholarships in 1903, and, with one exception, these men, the first Rhodes Scholars, entered Oxford in Michaelmas Term of that year (Oct. 1903).

In March, 1904, Dr. Parkin arrived in New York with a package of sealed envelopes which contained the examination questions, prepared in Oxford to be ‘set’ in the United States and Canada for the qualifying examination. On April 13, the first papers were opened simultaneously at various appointed centres throughout the two countries. The various sets of papers were opened successively in the presence of the supervising examiners as the hours of each examination arrived, during that day and the next. In the United States 236 candidates took the examination, and in Canada 7. When papers were finished the supervising examiners sealed them, and the whole number were sent to Oxford, there to be read and passed upon.

Of 242 who took this first examination 126 satisfied the examiners.

The names of those who ‘passed’ were reported to their Committees. From these lists the Committees then made their selection. When more than one candidate was eligible, the choice was to be based as far as possible upon Rhodes’s suggestions as laid down in clause 23 of the Will.[24]

In 1904, 48 scholars were selected from lists of candidates who had passed the examination; 19 Colonial scholars were chosen without examination; five Germans were also appointed.

The appointees were instructed to enter into negotiations with Oxford Colleges, through Mr. Wylie, at once.

Candidates were, and are, of course, allowed a choice in the matter of Colleges (students can only enter the University through a College), and this is a matter of considerable importance.[25] Owing to the lateness of certain appointments, and owing to the difficulty experienced in some quarters in getting sufficient information on the requirements and on the characteristics of different Colleges, there was some confusion, a good deal of puzzling, and numerous cases of almost random choosing in the expression of preference for this or that College, and in the acceptance of applications by the Colleges.

In October, 1904, the first large group of Rhodes Scholars, 72 in number, was matriculated at Oxford. The two questions which most vexed the Rhodes Scholars and the College and University authorities in that year were that of ‘standing’ and that of ‘choosing a course’, and these questions, while being simplified and made easier of settlement, will remain as problems which will confront the majority of foreign students who enter Oxford, especially Americans.[26]

In October, 1905, 67 more Rhodes Scholars arrived, followed in October, 1906, by 28 more, there being for 1906 no appointments in the United States. In the interval eighteen have ‘gone down’[27] and two have died.

The system of appointment, including Methods, Committees, and Regulations, has required some alteration and constant supervision—matters that occupy Dr. Parkin’s attention. At Oxford, personal negotiation, introduction, the adjustment of ever-rising individual questions, consultations, suggestion and advice when sought, and—by no means least—the issuing of quarterly cheques, are the technical functions of Mr. Wylie’s office.

Such, in brief, have been the successive steps by which the machinery has been set up and put in motion for realizing the elementary stages of the Rhodes Scholarship Scheme. By these means Rhodes Scholars have entered—and some have already left—Oxford. At present (January, 1907) there are in residence on the banks of the Isis 158 students who, in the words of the late Dr. Monro of Oriel, ‘benefiting by the munificence of Cecil Rhodes, now come from distant colonies and from nations joined to us by the tie of culture and of scholarship.’

The Rhodes Scholar enters Oxford, not as a ‘Scholar’, but as a ‘Commoner’[28]; his relations and responsibilities to the University are those of the ordinary undergraduate. He has served his time as a ‘curiosity’, the Chancellor has welcomed him, the Proctor has declared his approval of his presence, the Examiners have been ‘satisfied’, and the University has conferred degrees upon some of his number. His ‘Rhodes Scholarship’ is ceasing to be emphasized, and it is understood that it is his business and his purpose to live the life, so far as is compatible with his individual tastes, his character, and his principles, of the ordinary Oxford student.

RHODES SCHOLARS
A List containing the number of Appointments, etc., to date.

No. of Scholarships open per year. No. of Scholars allowed to be in residence at one time. No. appointed in 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. Total number to date. No. gone down. No. deceased. No. now in residence in Oxford, January, 1907.
Canada 8 24 [29] 9[30] 7 8 24 24
Newfoundland 1 3 1 1 1 3 3
Jamaica 1 3 1 1 1 3 3
Bermuda 1 3 1 1 1 3 3
Australasia (including New Zealand) 7 21 7 7 7 21 21
South Africa 8 24 7 5 7 5 24 8 16
United States 48[31] 96[31] 43 38 81 2 2 77
Germany 5 15 5 5 5 5 20 9 11
Total number appointed each year 12 72 67 28
Total number appointed to date 179
Total number gone down or deceased 21
Total number now in residence 158

In 1904

Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Mexico did not send scholars.

South Africa sent two less than its full number; Canada one more, by special leave.

In 1905

Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming did not send scholars.

Canada sent one less than its full number.

In 1906

The United States was not entitled to appointments.

South Africa sent two less than its full number.

CHAPTER IV
THE APPOINTMENT
ELIGIBILITY, REQUIREMENTS, QUALIFICATIONS, EXAMINATION, METHODS OF SELECTION, METHODS OF PROCEDURE AND INSTRUCTION

The Rhodes Trust now issues Memoranda which deal with the regulations and instructions which govern the eligibility and selection of candidates in their respective centres. Information may be had from the Local Committees.[32] A brief condensation of these regulations as they appear at present will answer most of the technical questions which may present themselves to a prospective candidate.

Eligibility.

Candidates must be subjects of those countries which they represent, i. e. Colonials—British subjects; Americans—citizens of the United States; Germans—German subjects.

Candidates must be unmarried.

Candidates must have passed their nineteenth birthday (except: West Australia—seventeenth, Queensland, Jamaica, and Newfoundland—eighteenth); but must not have passed their twenty-fifth (Newfoundland—twenty-first, South Africa—twenty-fourth) by October 1st of the year for which they are elected.

Candidates, except those who are exempted by the Colonial Universities Statute or by special regulations (see, for various States, Provinces, and Colonies, below), shall pass the ‘Responsions’ examination of the University of Oxford or its equivalent before becoming eligible for election.[33]

This examination is in no way competitive. It is merely a qualifying test to guarantee a degree of scholarship which will allow a student to take up a course at Oxford.

The Examination.

Papers.

At the request of the Trustees, the University of Oxford named in 1904 and 1905 a Board of Examiners to prepare and handle papers for this special examination. The same method will be adopted in 1907, and probably with little change henceforth. Papers are arranged in Oxford, printed, enclosed in sealed packages, and sent to the Chairman of each Committee of Selection. These packages are opened by the supervising examiner at the time and place announced for the examination and in the presence of the candidates.

Time and place.

This examination will be held each year (except in the case of American, German, and South African scholarships, as noted above on p. 24) in each State or Territory, Province and Colony, not later than the month of January, at suitable centres fixed upon by the respective Committees of Selection. The Committees will appoint suitable persons to supervise the examination and ensure its impartial conduct.

Stationery will be supplied. The packets of papers when opened will be found to contain the examination questions, time tables, the printed text of classical passages, &c., which are set in questions. Therefore no textbooks will be required.

The subjects and books assigned may vary slightly from year to year. The requirements, however, are as follows:[34]—

1. Arithmetic—the whole.

2. Either, The Elements of Algebra—Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Greatest Common Measure, Least Common Multiple, Fractions, Extraction of Square Root, Simple Equations containing one or two unknown quantities, and problems producing such equations;

Or, The Elements of Geometry.

Elementary questions, including propositions enunciated by Euclid, and easy deductions therefrom, will be set on the subject-matter contained in the following portions of Euclid’s Elements, viz.:—

Book I. The whole, excluding propositions 7, 16, 17, 21.

Book II. The whole, excluding proposition 8.

Book III. The whole, excluding propositions 2, 4-10, 13, 23, 24, 26-29.

Any method of proof will be accepted which shows clearness and accuracy in geometrical reasoning. So far as possible, candidates should aim at making the proof of any proposition complete in itself. In the case of propositions 1-7, 9, 10 of Book II, algebraical proofs will be allowed.

The American student especially should note that arithmetic includes circulating decimals and English money.

3. Greek and Latin Grammar.

4. Translation from English into Latin Prose.

5. One Greek and one Latin book.

Any of the following portions of the under-mentioned authors will be accepted as a ‘book’:—

Demosthenes: De Corona.

Euripides (any two of the following Plays: Hecuba, Medea, Alcestis, Bacchae).

Homer: (1) Iliad, 1-5 or 2-6; or (2) Odyssey, 1-5, 2-6.

Plato: Apology and Crito.

Sophocles: Antigone and Ajax.

Xenophon: Anabasis, 1-4 or 2-5.

Caesar: De Bello Gallico, 1-4.

Cicero: (1) Philippics, 1, 2; or (2) In Catilinam, 1-3, and In Verrem Actio I; or (3) Pro Murena and Pro Lege Manilia; or (4) De Senectute and De Amicitia.

Horace: (1) Odes, 1-5; or (2) Satires; or (3) Epistles.

Livy: Books 5 and 6.

Virgil: (1) the Bucolics, with Books 1-3 of the Aeneid; or (2) the Georgics; or (3) the Aeneid, Books 1-5 or 2-6.

Candidates, in preparation, may save time by noticing that one Greek and one Latin book only are required. Translations only are required; no questions being asked on the context or the grammar of the passages in the set Books. Greek and Latin Grammar and Latin Prose should be given special attention for the separate papers set on those subjects.[35]

Texts.

The Texts used are the Oxford Classical Texts (so far as published).

Examination Papers.

The papers written by candidates will be collected at the end of each examination, sealed, and sent to Oxford, where they will be examined. The names of those candidates who have satisfied the examiners will then be listed and sent to their respective Committees, and from these and the names of candidates who have otherwise qualified the Committee will make a selection. A certificate of having passed Responsions or of exemption from Responsions holds good permanently, so that a person once having obtained such certificates need not take the examination again in order to qualify as a candidate, and no holder of such certificate will be required to take Responsions upon entering the University of Oxford.

Selection.

Any questions of doubtful eligibility are to be settled by the local Committee of Selection.

The appointment shall be made each year; not later than the first of March in Australia and New Zealand; not later than the end of March in the other States, Territories, Provinces, and Colonies. The Scholar elected will begin residence in Oxford in October of the year in which he is elected.

LOCAL QUALIFICATIONS.

Australasia.

The Universities of Sydney (New South Wales), Melbourne (Victoria), Adelaide (South Australia), and Tasmania have applied for and been admitted to the privileges of the Colonial Universities’ Statute[36], so that candidates coming from these Universities who have fulfilled the stated conditions are accepted as candidates for Rhodes Scholarships without further examination.

New South Wales. Candidates shall be undergraduates or graduates of the University of Sydney.

Candidates shall have resided in New South Wales for an aggregate period of four years during the five years immediately preceding the date of election.

Queensland. Candidates shall have passed their eighteenth birthday, upper limit (25) remaining the same. No candidate shall be eligible for election who has been at a University for more than three years. No person who has taken advantage of a Queensland Exhibition shall be eligible for selection unless he consent to resign the Queensland Exhibition on election to a Rhodes Scholarship.

Every candidate shall have attended a Secondary School or Schools in Queensland continuously for three years, or his parents shall for the period of five years immediately preceding his application have been resident in Queensland.

South Australia. Candidates shall have lived in South Australia for an aggregate period of four years during the six years immediately preceding the date of their election.

West Australia. Candidates shall have passed their seventeenth birthday, the upper limit (25) remaining the same.

Candidates shall have been educated in a recognized School or Schools in West Australia for at least three years immediately before the election.

Victoria. Candidates must have been resident for at least seven years in the Commonwealth of Australia or its dependencies, in New Zealand or in Fiji, and for the three years immediately preceding the election must have been resident in Victoria.

Tasmania. Candidates must have passed the first and second annual examinations for any Bachelor’s Degree in the University of Tasmania.

Candidates must have been resident in Tasmania for five years prior to being awarded Scholarships.[37]

Bermuda.

A candidate must be a natural-born British subject who was born in Bermuda, or one of whose parents has been domiciled and resident in Bermuda, for at least five years immediately preceding January 1st in the year of selection, or in the event of his parents being dead, one of them must have been domiciled and resident in Bermuda for at least five years immediately prior to his or her death.

A candidate must have been educated in Bermuda for at least five years between the ages of twelve and twenty years.

A candidate who has attended a Colonial University affiliated to Oxford is exempted from Responsions.

Canada.

An elected Scholar must have reached at least the end of his sophomore or second year’s work at some recognized degree-granting University or College of Canada.

Candidates may elect whether they will apply for the Scholarship of the Province in which they have acquired any considerable part of their educational qualification, or for that of the Province in which they have their ordinary private domicile, home or residence. They must be prepared to present themselves for examination or election in the Province they select. No candidate may compete in more than one Province, either in the same or successive years.

The following Canadian Universities have applied for and been admitted to the privileges of the Colonial Universities’ Statute, so that candidates coming from these Universities who have fulfilled the conditions are accepted as candidates for Rhodes Scholarships without further examination:—

McGill UniversityMontreal.
Laval UniversityQuebec.
Toronto UniversityToronto.
Queen’s UniversityKingston.
Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia.
King’s College UniversityWindsor, Nova Scotia.
Acadia UniversityWolfville, Nova Scotia.
University of New BrunswickFredericton, New Brunswick.
Mount Alison UniversitySackville, New Brunswick.
Manitoba UniversityWinnipeg, Manitoba.[38]
Jamaica.

Candidates must have passed their eighteenth birthday, the upper limit (25) remaining the same.

The parents or recognized guardians of candidates must be actually domiciled in Jamaica, such domicile to include at least seven years of residence in Jamaica immediately preceding the election. In cases where, during the seven years’ period, the parent or guardian has taken short holiday trips off the island, such absence shall not be counted.

Candidates must have passed at least five years of their life in Jamaica. If educated partially abroad, candidates must not have left Jamaica to commence such part of their education before the age of eleven years, their preliminary education having been secured in Jamaica.

Every third year the selection of the Rhodes Scholars will be made from the candidates who have lived in Jamaica for the whole of the seven years preceding the date of examination. In case of such candidate having been off the island for the benefit of his health during this period, the Committee of Selection may decide, if they think fit, that this does not interfere with his eligibility. (Candidates who have attended a Colonial University affiliated to Oxford are exempted from Responsions if they fulfil the conditions of the Statute.) The qualifying examination will be held in the city of Kingston each year.

Newfoundland.

Candidates must have passed their eighteenth birthday, but must not have passed their twenty-first birthday, on the first of October of the year for which they are elected.

Candidates or their parents must have resided in the Colony for the five years immediately preceding the examination.

Candidates must have been regular attendant pupils or teachers in one of the public schools of the Colony for the three scholastic years immediately previous to the examination, provided that in alternate years, beginning in 1905, candidates who have received their education elsewhere subsequent to their fifteenth birthday, and who are otherwise qualified, shall be eligible.

The qualifying examination shall be held in the city of St. John’s each year.

New Zealand.

Candidates must be either graduates of the University of New Zealand or undergraduates of that University. They must have been for five years immediately preceding the year of election domiciled in the Colony, and must have been educated in the Colony four of such years.

The University of New Zealand has applied for and has been admitted to the privileges of the Colonial Universities’ Statute, so that candidates coming from that University who have fulfilled the stated conditions are accepted as candidates for Rhodes Scholarships without further examination.

The qualifying examination will be held in the city of Kingston each year.

South Africa.

Candidates must have passed their eighteenth, but not have passed their twenty-fourth birthday on October 1 of the year for which they are elected.[39]

Natal. (Additional Qualifications.) In Natal candidates are required (1) to have been educated at a School or Schools in the Colony of Natal for six years previous to the date of election, or (2) to have their legal domicile in Natal for six years, though acquiring their education or any part of it in other Colonies of South Africa. The Committee of Selection is free to make allowance at its discretion for temporary absences from the Colony or from South Africa during the six years referred to.

The Trustees desire to have assurances of full preparation up to the Oxford standard of Responsions of all Scholars elected by the four College Schools to which Scholarships are assigned in Cape Colony.

To this end permission has been given to these Schools to allow their elected Scholars, before taking up the Scholarship at Oxford, to pursue their studies, for a limited time after leaving school, at the higher institutions of the Colony.

In view of existing educational conditions, leave is occasionally given at present by the Trustees for candidates for the Scholarships assigned to Rhodesia who are being educated in other parts of Africa or in England to compete, provided that their parents reside in or are intimately connected with the Colony. In these instances the candidate is allowed to take Responsions or its equivalent either in England or in the Colony where he is receiving his education. Application for leave to compete under these conditions must be made to the Trustees directly or through the Director of Education for Rhodesia. Other things being equal, preference will be given to candidates educated in Rhodesia.

The United States of America.

An elected scholar shall have reached, before going into residence, at the least the end of his sophomore or second-year work at some recognized degree-granting University or College of the United States. An exception to this rule is made in the case of the State of Massachusetts, where, at the request of the Committee of Selection, authority is given to appoint from the Secondary Schools.

Candidates may elect whether they will apply for the Scholarship of the State or Territory in which they have acquired any large part of their educational qualification, or for that of the State or Territory in which they have their ordinary private domicile, home or residence. They may pass the qualifying examination at any centre, but they must be prepared to present themselves before election to the Committee of Selection in the State or Territory they select.

No candidate may compete in more than one State or Territory either in the same year or in successive years.

Selection.[40]

In accordance with the wish of Mr. Rhodes, the Trustees desire that[41] ‘in the selection of a student to a Scholarship regard shall be had to (i) his literary and scholastic attainments; (ii) his fondness for and success in manly outdoor sports, such as cricket, football, and the like; (iii) his qualities of manhood, truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship; and (iv) his exhibition, during school days, of moral force of character and of instincts to lead and to take an interest in his schoolmates’. Mr. Rhodes suggested that (ii) and (iii) should be decided in any School or College by votes of fellow students, and (iv) by the Head of the School or College.

Where circumstances render it impracticable to carry out the letter of these suggestions, the Trustees hope that every effort will be made to give effect to their spirit, but desire it to be understood that the final decision must rest with the Committee of Selection.

As a separate memorandum is prepared for each of several groups into which the scholarship system has been divided, it is impossible to reproduce here all the details of each. The following clauses are taken from the Memorandum issued for the United States:—

To aid in making a choice each qualified Candidate should be required to furnish to the Chairman of the Committee of Selection:—

(a) A Certificate of age (showing that he is within the eligible limits of age).

(b) A full statement of his educational career at School and College, his record in athletics, and such testimonials from his masters at School and his professors at College, in reference to the qualities indicated by Mr. Rhodes, as will assist the judgement of the Committee of Selection.

(c) In cases where more than one Candidate from a single School or College or University has qualified, the School, College, or University should be required to select (in accordance with the views of Mr. Rhodes) its chosen representative to go before the Committee of Selection for final choice, and a Certificate that he has been so chosen shall be sent to the Chairman of the Committee of Selection.

Each Candidate should personally present himself to the Committee of Selection before a final decision is made, unless specially excused by the Committee itself, in which case a statement of the reasons should be sent to the Trustees.

If a careful comparison of these records and personal interviews with the Candidates do not furnish sufficient grounds for making a decision, the Committee of Selection is free to apply to the Candidates, or to any selected number of them, such further intellectual or other tests as they may consider necessary (for purposes of comparison).

The Chairman of the Committee of Selection should at once notify to the Trustees and to Mr. F. J. Wylie, The Rhodes Trust, Oxford, the name of the elected Scholar, and should forward to the latter all the records, credentials, and testimonials relating to the Scholar on which the election was made. These papers should be transmitted immediately, as they are used in consulting College authorities in regard to the admission of Scholars. It has been the experience of the past two years that Scholars have frequently been unable to gain admission to any of the Colleges of their preference owing to remissness in forwarding to Mr. Wylie the necessary information.

The following ‘Instructions’, issued to Scholars elected for the year 1905, indicate the course of procedure by which a Scholar is entered at Oxford:—

‘1. In order to be admitted to the University of Oxford, it is necessary to be first accepted as a member of one of the Colleges which compose the University.

Election to a Rhodes Scholarship does not of itself admit to a College.[42] Every College has its own standard for admission, for Rhodes Scholars as for all other applicants, and accepts or rejects at its own discretion. Moreover, the number of Rhodes Scholars which any one College will admit is strictly limited. Few Colleges will admit more than five in any one year; and in the majority of cases four is the maximum. From the different candidates for admission a College will select those whose records suggest that they are most likely to do credit to the College to which they may belong. It is therefore essential that, in applying for admission to a College, a Scholar should submit the fullest possible evidence as to his personal character and academic record.

‘2. The procedure for a Scholar-elect should be as follows:—

(1) Immediately on receiving notice of his election he should write to the Oxford Secretary to the Rhodes Trustees, Mr. F. J. Wylie, The Rhodes Trust, Oxford, stating in order the Colleges which he prefers.

(2) He should satisfy himself that the credentials which he submitted to the Committee of Selection have been forwarded by the Chairman to Mr. Wylie.

(3) He should himself forward to Mr. Wylie any portion of the following information which may not have been included in the documents submitted to the Committee of Selection:—

(a) A Certificate of age;

(b) Testimonials as to character;

(c) Certified evidence as to the Courses of Study pursued by the Scholar at his University, and as to the gradings attained to by him in those Courses. This evidence should be signed by the Registrar, or other responsible official, of his University;

(d) A Catalogue of his University;

(e) Evidence as to the general tastes and pursuits of the Scholar outside his Academic Course;

(f) Information as to the intentions of the Scholar in regard to the line of study he proposes to follow at Oxford.

It is also desirable that the Scholar should state to what religious denomination he belongs.

All this material must reach Mr. Wylie by the beginning of the Summer Term—that is, by the middle of April at the latest.

‘3. When Mr. Wylie has the necessary information in his hands he will attempt to secure for each Scholar admission to the College of his preference. That will not be always possible. When a Scholar fails to gain admission to the College which stands first on his list of preferences, Mr. Wylie will enter into negotiation with the College second on that list, and so on.

Where he is specially requested to do so, Mr. Wylie is prepared to select a College for a Scholar, but it is greatly to be preferred that each Scholar should, so far as possible, choose for himself.’

Payment of the Scholarship.

The Scholarship will be paid quarterly. The first payment (£75) will be made in the course of the first week of the Michaelmas Term (October). No request for any earlier payment can be considered.

After a Scholar has been once accepted by a College he should conduct all further correspondence as to residence, studies, &c., directly with the College in question.[43] A Scholar must arrive in Oxford not later than the day on which his College assembles; and it will in most cases be advantageous to arrive a few days earlier.