it was on july 21, 1894, that i had the honour of meeting lord kitchener and getting the autographed impression of his right hand, which i now publish for the first time as frontispiece to this volume. the day i had this interview, lord kitchener, or, as he was then, major-general kitchener, was at the war office, and to take this impression had to use the paper on his table, and, strangely enough, the imprint of the war office may be seen at the top of the second finger—in itself perhaps a premonition that he would one day be the controlling force of that great department.
lord kitchener was at that moment sirdar of the egyptian army. he had returned to england to tender his resignation on account of some hostile criticism about "the abbas affair," and so i took the opportunity of his being in england to ask him to allow me to add his hand to my collection, which even then included some of the most famous men and women of the day.
as mr. t.p. o'connor, in writing recently of lord kitchener, said: "one of his greatest qualities, at once useful and charming, is his accessibility. anybody who has anything to say to him can approach him; anybody who has anything to teach him will find a ready and grateful learner."[pg xvi]
my experience can indeed bear out the truth of this clear judgment of one of the leading traits in lord kitchener's character. that very year, 1894, was a notable one in his life; his strong-willed action over the abbas affair was completely vindicated; he was made a k.c.m.g., and returned to egypt with more power than ever.
once in his presence he put me completely at my ease, and in a few moments he appeared to be deeply interested in observing the difference between the lines in his own clearly-marked palm and those in dozens of other impressions that i put before him.
he was then almost forty-four years of age, and i remember well how i explained the still higher positions and responsibilities that his path of destiny mapped out before him. the heaviest and greatest of all would, i told him, be undertaken in his sixty-fourth year (1914), but how little either of us thought then that in that year the most terrible war of the century would have broken out.
believing, as i do, in the law of periodicity playing as great a r?le in the lives of individuals as it does in nations, it is strange to notice that the same radix numbers that governed lord kitchener's career when he was planning out the egyptian campaign, which resulted in his great victories of atbara and omdurman in 1896 and 1897, are exactly the same for him in 1914-1915, and 1916 gives again the same radix number that in 1898 saw him receive a vote of thanks from both houses of parliament, and a gift of ￡30,000 from the state.
from the standpoint of those interested in this strange study of hands, the accompanying impression of lord kitchener's cannot help but be regarded as of[pg xvii] great importance. in it, the rules of palmistry that i have given in the following pages are borne out in all their details.
returning to the impression of this remarkable hand; even in shape alone one may read by the rules of this science the following clearly-marked characteristics:
length of fingers—intellectuality (page 134), strong determination and will-power (chapter on the thumb, page 127), mentality and firm determination of purpose (see line of head, page 17).
the remarkable line of fate running up the centre of the hand and turning towards the first finger, denotes ambition and domination over others (page 52).
the line of success and fame, starting on the hand from the line of life and ascending to the base of the third finger, exactly coincides with the period in lord kitchener's career when he began to find recognition and success (page 63).
as in my larger work on this subject i published gladstone's hand as a remarkable illustration of the truth that may be found in this study, so in this present work with the same confidence i give this illustration of lord kitchener's as another proof of character indicated in the shape and lines of the hand, and as it has been said so often that "character is destiny," so it is surely not illogical to point out that in following the rules laid down by this study one may obtain a clear idea of the destiny that the character, will, and individuality trace out in advance—tracks, as it were, stretching far out into the distant future for the engine of purpose and achievement to find already laid and ready to be used at the "appointed time."[pg xviii]
in conclusion, as i have now completely retired from all professional work, i may be allowed to point out that i am not publishing this book with the idea of seeking clients. i have no desire but to see this strange study taken up as a useful and practical means of obtaining an exact judgment of the character, qualities, and hidden tendencies that might otherwise be ignored.
i think that if all parents knew at least something of palmistry, the vast majority of children would be more usefully trained and their proper tendencies developed.
it is often too late when a child discovers—and most probably by accident—some tendency or talent that had never been suspected by its parents.
it is no wonder that so few persons find their true vocations in the world, when it is remembered the random, haphazard way in which children are brought up—educated for the most part in some scholastic mill that grinds down all to the same dead level of mediocrity, and then turns them into the army, the church, or into trade.
if, on the contrary, all these studies that teach the understanding of character were more encouraged, parents would have less excuse for the supreme ignorance they now show as to the real nature of those children who hold them responsible for their entry into the battlefield of existence.
these same parents would lift up their voices in righteous indignation if soldiers were sent into battle untrained, without their proper equipment, and yet these same parents have never, in the whole course of their lives, made the simplest study of any one of those many subjects by which they could in knowing[pg xix] the nature of their child, have strengthened weak points in the fortress of character, or by developing some talent or gift, doubly armed him for his entry into the battle of life.
it is from this standpoint that i earnestly hope this study of hands may some day be taken up. it was from this standpoint that i interested such men as gladstone, professor max muller, of oxford, lord russell, when he was lord chief justice, king edward vii., and many others too numerous to mention; and lastly, it is from the same standpoint that i have now written this book, which under the title of palmistry for all, will, i hope, appeal to all classes, and cause such an interest in the study of character that, instead of such an art being left in the hands of a few, it will, on the contrary, become universally used for the benefit of all.
cheiro
note.—cheiro retired from all professional work some time ago, and the public is therefore warned against persons pretending that they are the real "cheiro," and endeavouring to pass themselves off as the author of his well-known works.
