The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-21

in his own opinion the great
ID est man of the day in right
Of being the most illustrious
B living poet. Neither part of
n this modest definition was
entirely endorsed by the
world at large, though to
some degree it ran current in a certain
literary circle. The ribald and the
scorfer, however, asserted that it was
a fundamental article Of association in
the latter limited company that every
member was to be regarded as the
most eminent in his own particular
branch, and to be euloCized as the
most distinguished among mortals to
the casual Philistine. Supposing it
to be the case, this ingenious arrange
ment would somewhat discount the
value of the praise thus administered.
Ferd nand de CruZa was Il Dccadent
Poet. likc Agag, he walked delicate
ly but the same manner was not OBJ
servable in his compositions. 1;ealism
was what he delighted in. His enc
mics described his soulful yearnings a.
"decompositions" In appearance he
was large and heavy in build. He
wore his hair tangling over his collar
in the true poetic style. Also, his eyes
were big and black, like plums, and
under the influence of what he wished
TO be taken for extreme emotion he
would roll them with startling effect
That he was an EngliShman no one
had ever presumed to doubt, in spite
of the emincntly un-English character
of his name. 1t had been suggested
that some remote Portuguese eXtrac-
tion might he the origin of the latter.
Another view, however, of a more sim
pie nature was that he had found it
lying by the wayside of life. and, be-
ing dissatisfied with his own had Ct
feCted a transfer. Some people hint
ed at Judaism. but tho exceedingly
"ceestiar' shape of his nose seemed
a permanent outstanding argument
against the idea
Ferdinand was once described as a
young man with a talent for conversa-
tion. oh, how he would talk! And
the subjects which were ever most in
his mouth We're himself his works, his
eminencc. He had a curious knack of
spreading himself out like a peacock's
tail as he spoke, until he seemed to
dominate the entire room. He had =
theory that the world will only take
that therefore it is as we'll TO pitch,
the estimate high. Certainly he never
erred on this point, and there We're
those who said that the process of
self-puffery produced some curious in
ternal expansion as we'll. Poets of this
calibre have usually a considerable
feminine following. Nor was Ferdi-
nand any exception to this rule. Lank
-.
his feet, and lent eager ears to his
utterances with soulful squirmings.
Large ladies of exalted rank but less
exalted taste, with much laughter to
his brilliant dialogue" wherein the
unexpected wrestlod with the improp
er. MIR. de Cruza is so amusing"
they said, by which they meant that
he told offensive anecdotes well.
The homage of the fair sex was sweet
to Ferdinand. Specially delicious,
moreover was the alteration of a wo-
man like lady Laelia Harrogate, the
daughter of the Earl of Harrogate. and
the widow of old George Holofernes
Disdebar, who made a huge fortune,
don't you know, out of coal tar, and
was for some years chancellor of the
eXchequer, Lady Laelia was old
old Georges second wife. whom he
had married some time after the coal
tar episode, and within a few years
OF his death. There were no fewer
than forty years between the pair, and
it was said at the time that Lady
Laelia had been led like a lamb to the
altar solely by the indomitable will OF
her careful parent AS it turned out
old George died four years after the
wedding and Lady Laelia was left 4
widow of tWenty-fOur with a very
handsome jOinture to begin life over
again with the view of getting some
enjoyment out of it.
AS the wife of the chancellor of the
eXchequcr she had been bored to death
by serious people at an age when she
was utterly Incapable of appreCiating
them. When she was free, she flew to
the opposite extreme. Ferdinand dc
Cruza may be regarded as one of the
symbols Of this revolt. He gave heI
new and pleasurable sensations which
she only half understood, but which
We're delightful to her. He had suffi-
cient acuteness not to descend too low
In her presence. She openly declared
that she was devoted to dear Mr.. dc
Cruza." The world scOffed and nick
named the great man "the widows
Cru2a."
Now Ferdinand, in spite of his poetic
temperament and habit of railing al
the sOrdid practice of money-grabbing
was a capital man of business. II
occurred to him that Lady Laelia, with
her large jOinture, would be an excel.
lent investment At the same time
her beauty was not only grateful t,