The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-25
DR.. w. ]. LEYDS.

Remarkable Career of the Boer Am
bassador'-The Dutch Schoolmastel
Whose Powers Rivaled Krueger's.
what a charming fellowl' This is
the involuntary opinion formed by any
previously unprejudiced person on first
meeting the redoubtable DR.. Leyds
He is such a thorough man of the
world, with fund.- gentle, and courte-
Gus in manner, with a fund of infor-
nation on all subjects, a pretty taste
in art, and all the refinements of high
culture.
A good looking man, too, Of medium
| height, he has dark complexion,
dark, rather straight hair, and dark
eyes, KEEN piercing. but kindly. Add
ed to this. he is well dressed, neat,
and polished, with the invariable black
frock coat, clean white shirt, and mar
row black tie like bootlace, of the
orthodox Continental diplomatist
Withal he is crafty man Of extra
ordinary powers Of fascination no one
leaves his presence unscatched by his
subtle power Of charm Even Paul
|
struggle, and though it were gross
hattery to allege that Leyds was popu
lar in Pretoria, it would be equally in
correct to say that he was feared. a
little of the basillsk, a good deal of the
sphinx, touch of Macchievelli-cum
Mephistopheles, and the affability of a
drawing room tenor-all these quaiti
cations combined In making the man
interesting as study, and almost
unique as type.
The broad facts of his peculiar case
are simple enough He is Batavian,
born of Dutch parents in the Neither
lands, East Indies. AS a boy he was
brought home to Holland and put to
school. He displayed quite remarkable
aptitude and plewed his way quickly
and valiantly through all the junior
classes. Before he was sixteen years
old he had passed with honors his
final examination in the government
college preceptors. He then took his
degree as doctor of philosophy
his title-and also qualified as teach
err Of drawing and gymnastics.
In the year 1884 the Transvaal be-
ing in want Of educated officials who
could conduct the business of the re-
public in a manner more or less in ac-
cordance with its claim to be civil
lied nation, he was appointed state at
torney attorney generaD of the South
African republic.
With his blushing honsrs thick upon
him. he set sail for what was to him a
veritable Eldorado. He was a poor
man, very poor man, but he did not
so long The fates were pro-
ptious. Soon after his arrival at Pre-
toria and his being sworn into office,
he accuracy gagged the material
which he was employed to mold into
shape; very unpromisng at first, but |
with illimitable possibilities. of which |
he was not slow to take advantage.
He soon began to assert himself; DR..
Leyds of Pretoria in very few months
became the butterfly that had emerged |
from the crysals schoolmaster Leyds |
Of Holland. The plastic Beers were
more or less easily nodded into the |
shape which their attorney general |
thought best for thenl-and for him
self. He was not afraid of hard work,
and the reforms and apparent econo-
mics which he. introduced amazed and |
delighted the members of the govern
ment, who did not fail to- spread
throughout the country exaggerated
reports of the gubernatorial genius of
he young Hollander.
Nothing was too small, nothing too
arge for DR. Leyds to tackle. He even
'ound that the much maligned conces-
iionaire monopoist had his uses, as
we'll as the meanest thing that creep
,th. He cultivated the concessionaire,
made much of him; perhaps he showed
lin the evil of his ways; anyhow, they
we're always on the best of terms Both
appeared to wax fat and flourish
netaphorically, that is, for DIR. LeydS
lever lost his slimness of figure and
lis air of the hero of a young maiden's
lream. True, he was subject to sore
hroat and other serious ailments,
which necessitatea his absence from
Pretoria at critical moments, but this
nly made him the more interesting to
he wives of foreign consuls and 9TH
rs interested in his moral and mate
ial welfare.
Socially, DR.. Leyds has always been
'astly assisted by his charming wife,
Who is Dutch by birth and of quite ex-
linguistic powers. 1t was
t one time currently reported that Dr..
nd Mrs Cor MevrouW) Leyds between
hem spoke over dozen languages
nore or less iuently. Pretoria is not
literary town, and the centers of cul-
ure are few The Salon Leyds was
therefore, all the more welcome as a
aven of sweetness and light Books
1ere discussed. likewise pictures and
rints, especially of the old .Dutchl
masters. DR.. Leyds is a yioloncellist Of