Leander Starr Jameson - Character

Character

Jameson's character seems to have inspired a degree of devotion from his contemporaries. Elizabeth Longford writes of him, "Whatever one felt about him or his projects when he was not there, one could not help falling for the man in his presence.... People attached themselves to Jameson with extraordinary fervour, the more extraordinary because he made no effort to feed it. He affected an attitude of tough cynicism towards life, literature and any articulate form of idealism, particularly towards the hero-worship which he himself excited ... When he died The Times estimated that his astonishing personal hold over his followers had been equalled only by that of Parnell, the Irish patriot."

Longford also notes that Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem If— with Leander Starr Jameson in mind as an inspiration for the characteristics he recommended young people to live by (notably Kipling's son, to whom the poem is addressed in the last lines). Longford writes, "Jameson was later to be the inspiration and hero of Rudyard Kipling's poem, If...". Direct evidence that the poem If— was written about Jameson is available also in Rudyard Kipling's autobiography in which Kipling writes that If— was "drawn from Jameson's character."

As reported below, in 1895, Jameson led about 500 of his countrymen in what became known as the Jameson Raid against the Boers in southern Africa. The Jameson Raid was later cited by Winston Churchill as a major factor in bringing about the Boer War of 1899 to 1902. But the story as recounted in Britain was quite different. The British defeat was interpreted as a victory and Jameson was portrayed as a daring hero. The poem celebrates heroism, dignity, stoicism and courage in the face of the disaster of the failed Jameson Raid, for which he was wrongfully made a scapegoat.

Jameson's persuasive character, what became known later as 'the Jameson charm', was described in some detail by G.Seymour Fort (1918), who writes of his restless, logical and sagacious temperament in this way:

"... It was not his wont to talk at length, nor was he, unless exceptionally interested, a good listener. He was so logical and so quick to grasp a situation, that he would often cut short exposition by some forcible remark or personal raillery that would all too often quite disconcert the speaker.

Despite his adventurous career, mere reminiscences obviously bored him; he was always for movement, for some betterment of present or future conditions, and in discussion he was a master of the art of persuasion, unconsciously creating in those around him a latent desire to follow, if he would lead. The source of such persuasive influence eludes analysis, and, like the mystery of leadership, is probably more psychic than mental. In this latter respect, Jameson was splendidly equipped; he had greater power of concentration, of logical reasoning, and of rapid diagnosis, while on his lighter side he was brilliant in repartee and in the exercise of a badinage that was both cynical and personal...

.... He wrapped himself in cynicism as with a cloak, not only to protect himself against his own quick human sympathy, but to conceal the austere standard of duty and honour that he always set to himself. He was ever trying to hide from his friends his real attitude towards life, and the high estimate he placed upon accepted ethical values... He was essentially a patriot who sought for himself neither wealth, nor power, nor fame, nor leisure, nor even an easy anchorage for reflection. The wide sphere of his work and achievements, and the accepted dominion of his personality and his influence were both based upon his adherence to the principle of always subordinating personal considerations to the work in hand, upon the loyalty of his service to big ideals. His whole life seems to illustrate the truth of the saying that in self-regard and self-centredness there is no profit, and that only in sacrificing himself for impersonal aims can a man save his soul and benefit his fellow men."