Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-12
USED TO POINT MORAL
Wasted Career of the Late
Lord Anglesey.
A NOTED SPENDTHRIFT
EFFORTS TO PRESERVE HISTORIC
POINTS OF INTEREST.
WORK of an Organization for Preserva-
ton of Such Places-New
Bridge Club.
A NOTED SPENDTHRIFT

Special Correspondence of The Sunday Star.
LONDON, March 30, 1905.
The wasted career of the late Lord An
glesey will be used to point many a moral,
though he could never adorn tale AS
man he simply hopeless an ex-
ample of what should not be initiated. he
is unique. There have been spendthrifts
before but perhaps none quite imbecile.
The case of Benzon, usually known as the
Jubilee Juggins, is the most recent parallel.
He used to boast that he always wore
new shirt and the way In which he threw
money about was positively reckless. Lord
Anglesey. however. spent his money in the
way in which he considered gave him most
qualification.
1t is no spirit of disrespect to the fair sex
that one employs the epithet effeminate for
him. because most women are far above his
failings. But in his extraordinary love of
Jewelry there certainly was something eff
Terminate. Lord Anglesey would have given
almost anything for new jewel. He had
q sort of orientaism in his nature; a love
of gaudy clothing. of dressing gowns. of
bejeweled walking sticks, of gold toilet
things, and of flashing knicks-knacks He
himself once observed that the only book,
apart from play books. that appealed to
him was brief study of George ", written
by one of the decadents-I think 1t was
Aubrey Beardsey.
In excuse for such a wasted existence it
has been suggested that at all events. he
scattered money. But waste has no part in
any rational scheme of political economy,
and except for a few acts of careless gen.
crosby it is doubtful If Lord Anglesey ever
did any good to any one. Certainly to the
quiet vicinity of his residence he intro
duced number of disorderly persons who
were quartered at his expense among the
honest and industrious inhabitants,
aXtrayaRance could
have benefited trade, it has shown little
sign of doing so. for his creditors lost up
ward of f200,0OO. He had, however, no
chance In his upbringing. for it is no secret
that his father was debonnair to degree.
Once 1t was remarked that his own reced-
ing chin was the physical excuse for any
folly he perpetrated.
Fortunately humanity holds such effete
specimens in hearty contempt. and Lord
Angesey associated with sycophantic in
feriors because his equals would not toler-
ate him. In the ideal state which optimists
hope will be found on the advent of the
millennium there could have been but one
location for Lord Anglesey, and that
lethal chamber. And now Nature has re-
moved the poor fellow before he was old
enough to repent of his follies. 1t Is curious
that his death should take place so soon
after the publication of DE Profunds."
that posthumous meditation of more
profigate and licentious libertine. Both, In
their different way, drank of the wine OF
life and found early death in the dregs.
NO PatrOn OF the Drama.
Another oddly in Lord Anglesey was that
while he loved acting and dabbling in the
atricals, he was no great patron of the
drama in London. and never aspired to be
va stage door Johnnie at any of the metro
politan temples dedicated to the musical
comedy The whole of the life of this hap
less victim of his own folly Will never be
written; perhaps could not be adequately
described to ears polite. He will be remem-
bered as a Rehoboam. and 1t Is a fact that
he once declared that he always tried to
believe in the theory of rencarnation, be-
cause in his next existence he longed to be
q dancing girl. The nautch girl has always
evoked pity and that is the most charitable
feeling which can possibly be felt for a
man who actually apologized for not being
seen in peacock-blue plush
Anglesey was not only a decadent, but a
decadent without the impulse of an intelli-
gence that had run to seed. and his or
binary acts placed him in a category apart
from those who may be judged by the stand
ard of complete responsibility. His career
hardly comes within the province of the
specllations of the moralist. except so far
as 1t furnishes an illustration of the pos
sibilities of decadence, and OF Its defiance
of heredity. and his morbid alterations
made filter subject for the mental path
ologist. Had it not been for the picturesque
opportunities of his wealth, he would prob
ably have been an altogether undressing
person. but with enormous wealth to serve
as the medium for expressing his person
perversty and decadence
There is a feeling of pity that he should
have come to such an end. but stronger
pity that such inheritance should have
come into hands so unfit.
1t does necessarily follow that we are on
the eve of the general election because Mr..
Chamberlain has warned the faithful at
Birmingham that the time is coming short
" when | shall once more have to ask for
your confidence Much depends upon what
Mr.. Chamberlain means by shortly" a
nd nj nnSSihilitipS hr1t
q good deal more depends upon how far
Mr.. Chamberlain can make his own wish
father to the thought that 1.-The time is
coming" There a time when Mr..
Chamberlain could have given the date of
the general election pretty accurately. for
he could have replied Just when l please
hand in order to give time for Mr.. Bal
four's conversion and he has to
hold his hand because 1t has lost its power.
While every one readily agrees that places
OF natural beauty and historic interest
should be saved from destruction. there is
not the same alacrity in providing the funds
with which those desirable objects may
be accomplished. Thus the national trust
for the preservation of such places. which
has just held its annual meeting. had to
lament that while there was universal SYM
pathy with its endeavor to purchase Aria
Force and Gowbarrow Fell on Ulleswater,
In the English lake district. only half of the
&12lOO0 necessary had yet been provided
il would be pity IT, for the want of s6,OOO
pne of the most beautiful and picturesque
kpots in Lakeland were given over TO the
builder. which will certainly be its fate IL
the public does not provide the means by
which the place may be secured for its
use and enjoyment forever.
The national trust has. however, been
more fortunate in other directions. 1t has
bought up the old post office at Tlntagel,
In exquisite house dating from the four
ieenth century. 1t has also secured Crock
ham hill. in Kent. from which there is
vide view across the weald to the Ashdown
Forest range, a very popular resort with
Londoners. 1t Is also engaged In at
'empt TO save the Cheddar Cliffs according
10 Macaulay, are now among the few places
IF remarkable and unchanged aspect which
would likely be recognized by a seventeenth
century Englishman II he returned on a
fsit to his ancient haunts.
Bridge Playing in London.
Boldly confronting with its name the pos
hbility of surviving century hence as a
iurlous relic of ancient amusements, the
New Bridge Club has just opened for
members at Knightsbrdge. There are
twenty-six card tables In the three charm