Johnston, Hawksley, Rosebery, Jameson, Michell, and Maguire played little or no role in
the society after 1902. Beit died in 1906, and Garrett the following year. Of the others,
Grey, Brassey, Esher, and Balfour continued in active cooperation with the members of
the Group. The real circle of initiates in the twentieth century, however, would appear to
include the following names: Milner, Abe Bailey, George Parkin, Lord Selborne, Jan
Smuts, A. J. Glazebrook, R. H. Brand (Lord Brand), Philip Kerr (Lord Lothian), Lionel
Curtis, Geoffrey Dawson, H. A. L. Fisher, Edward Grigg, Leopold Amery, and Lord
Astor. Since 1925, when Milner died, others have undoubtedly been added. This circle,
with certain additional names, we shall call the "inner core" or the "inner circle" of the
Milner Group. The history of these men's activities and the evidence which entitles us to
attribute them to the circle of initiates will occupy most of the remainder of this volume.
The changes which Milner made in the Rhodes secret society were not important.
There was no change in goals, and there was very little change in methods. In fact, both
of these were modified more by Lord Lothian and his friends after Milner's death than
they were by Milner after Rhodes's death.
Rhodes and Milner were aiming at the same goals, and had been for twenty-five years, in
1902. They differed slightly on how these goals could be obtained, a difference based on
different personalities. To Rhodes it seemed that the ends could be won by amassing
great wealth, to Milner it seemed that they could be won by quiet propaganda, hard work,
and personal relationships (as he had learned from Toynbee). Neither rejected the other's
methods, and each was willing to use the other and his methods to achieve their common
dream as the occasion arose. With the death of Rhodes in 1902, Milner obtained control
of Rhodes's money and was able to use it to lubricate the workings of his propaganda
machine. This is exactly as Rhodes had wanted and had intended. Milner was Rhodes's
heir, and both men knew it. Rhodes himself said before his death, "They tell me I can
only live five years. I don't mean to die. I want to live. But if I go, there is one man—Sir
Alfred Milner. Always trust Milner. You don't know yet what you have got in him." In
1898, in conversation with Stead, Rhodes said, "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."(17)
The goals which Rhodes and Milner sought and the methods by which they hoped to
achieve them were so similar by 1902 that the two are almost indistinguishable. Both
sought to unite the world, and above all the English-speaking world, in a federal structure
around Britain. Both felt that this goal could best be achieved by a secret band of men
united to one another by devotion to the common cause and by personal loyalty to one
another. Both felt that this band should pursue its goal by secret political and economic
influence behind the scenes and by the control of journalistic, educational, and
propaganda agencies. Milner's intention to work for this goal, and to use Rhodes's money
and influence to do it, is clearly implied in all his actions (both before and after 1902), in
his correspondence with Rhodes (some of it unpublished), and in letters to Parkin in
September 1901 and to Lord Grey in May 1902. (18)
It is very likely that, long before Rhodes died, this plan was discussed in private
conversations of which no record was kept. For example, three of the Rhodes Trustees
under the last will—Grey, Milner, and Beit—with Lyttelton Gell had dinner at Beit's
house and talked over important matters far into the night of 30 November 1898. It is
quite clear that Rhodes talked over with his associates the ways in which his ideals would
be carried out after his death. He lived constantly under the fear of death and regarded his
whole life as a race in which he must achieve as much of his purpose as possible before
he died. The biographer of Alfred Beit is quite confident that Rhodes discussed with Beit
a plan by which Rhodes would omit from his will all mention of a project close to his
heart—the Cape to Cairo Railway—leaving this project to be covered, as it was, by Beit's
own will. There can be little doubt that Rhodes would have discussed a project even
closer to his heart—the worldwide group of Anglo-Saxon sympathizers—with the
trustees of his own will, and, above all, with the one most clearly devoted to his ideas,
Milner.
Chapter 4—Milner’s Kindergarten, 1897-1910
The appointment as High Commissioner of South Africa was the turning point in
Milner's life. It was obtained, apparently, through his membership in Rhodes's secret
society, through the influence of Stead, Brett, and Rhodes. Stead, in his book on Rhodes's
wills, claims the chief credit for the nomination, while Brett was with Milner at Windsor
when he received the appointment and returned with him to London. Sir Harry Johnston,
who had already been offered the appointment for himself by a Foreign Office official,
felt that it was Rhodes's influence which gave it to Milner. In his autobiography he wrote:
"At last the decision was made—Sir Alfred Milner. I suspect very much on the personal
pleadings of Cecil Rhodes, who professed himself delighted with the choice.... The non-
selection of myself for a work that would have greatly interested me, was a
disappointment, and I felt it was due to Rhodes' enmity more than to any other cause."
As High Commissioner, Milner was subordinate to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, a post held at that time by Joseph Chamberlain, who was already acquainted
with Milner. They had fought Home Rule together in the election of 1886 and had both
been in Egypt in 1889. They already agreed on most of the important issues of the day,
combining, like other members of the Milner Group, advocacy of social welfare and
imperialism. Moreover, both were strong believers in union with Ireland and a new tariff
policy based on imperial preference. When Chamberlain joined Lord Salisbury's
government as Secretary of State for the Colonies (1895-1903), he was eager to accept
the suggestion that Milner be sent to South Africa. As Colonial Secretary, Chamberlain
did a number of things that won the complete support of Milner. Among these we might
mention the new constitution for Jamaica (1899), the federation of the Malay States
(1895), and the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia (1900). When Chamberlain
resigned from the Colonial Office in 1903 on the issue of tariff reform, the post was
offered by Balfour to Milner. The latter
refused in order to complete the work he had started in South Africa. When he was ready
to retire from his post, he recommended that his successor be either Alfred Lyttelton or
Lord Selborne. The latter obtained the appointment and not only carried Milner's work to
completion but did it with Milner's picked personnel. That personnel regarded Selborne
as second leader to Milner in the Group.(1)
As High Commissioner, Milner built up a body of assistants known in history as
"Milner's Kindergarten." The following list gives the chief members of the Kindergarten,
their dates of birth and death (where possible), their undergraduate colleges (with dates),
and the dates in which they were Fellows of All Souls.
Name Dates College All Souls
Patrick Duncan (later Sir Patrick) 1870-1946 Balliol 1890-1894 Never