CONTENTS

[PART I]
CHAP. PAGE
I. Source, Origin, and Purpose [1]
II. The Sixth and Last Will of Cecil John Rhodes [8]
III. From Provision to Practice, 1902-1906: the Measures and Steps by which the Scholarship System has been organized [21]
IV. The Appointment: Eligibility—Requirements— Qualifications—Examination—Methods of Selection—Methods of Procedure and Instruction [31]
[PART II]
V. Oxford as it is—or as it has seemed to a Rhodes Scholar [44]
VI. The Oxford System: University and College Government, Methods of Instruction, Courses of Study, and Degrees [61]
VII. Expenses [95]
VIII. Opportunities: the Value of a Rhodes Scholarship—Qualifications—Choice of a College—Choice of Work—Advantages [106]
[APPENDICES]
I. List of Rhodes Scholars [118]
II. List of Committees of Selection [128]
III. Copy of Examination Papers for January, 1907 [136]
IV. List of University Professors and Lecturers [143]
V. List of Honour Lectures, 1906 [151]
VI. List of Affiliated Universities [168]
VII. List of Books for Reference [169]
TABLES
1. Rhodes Scholars: List containing the Number of Appointments to January, 1907 [29]
2. Colleges of Oxford University [60]
3. Examinations for the B.A. Degree [77]
4. Expenses [103], [105]
Index [171]

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.