The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

fi ttr a t ur t. Curiosities of Literature. By Isaac Disraeli. A New Edition. Edited, with Memoir and Notes, by his Son, the Right lion. B. Disraeli, Chancellor of her Majesty's Exchequer. In Three Vols. Vol. I. London : Routledge. IT is a pity that the elder Disraeli could not have lived to read the titlepage of this new and popu lar edition of one of the most attractive of his entertaining works. The paternal heart would have assuredly rejoiced at seeing his writings edited by his eldest son, and he would have been pardoned for any feelings of elation at beholding the name of Disraeli shining with enhanced lustre. The contrast between the serene life of the father and the stormy career of the son is fruitful in reflection. It was certainly most un likely that the leader of the House of Commons was to be looked for in the son of a retired and philosophic man of letters, unconnected with aristocratic interest, and not possessing great family resources; and if Isaac Disraeli had flourished in our times, he might have written a charming paper, in the new edition of " Curiosi ties," on " Leaders of the House of Commons." It is a subject on which, if we had space at our command, we could ourselves say much. The younger Pitt jumped from being a barrister on the Western Circuit into the lead of the greatest legislative assembly in the world, but then Pitt was "Chatham's son ;" and Mr. Perceval, though a Chancery barrister, was a man of long pedigree, and connected with the aristocracy. Lord Castle reagh was an Irishman of a then recently ennobled family, and he took as many liberties with the English tongue, while speaking, as his enemies (falsely) alleged he had taken with the rights of British subjects in Ireland. Mr. Canning had a poor man of letters for his father, .and an actress for his mother. As his friend Hookham Frere described him, Canning was Born to an ancient name of little worth, And disinherited before his birth — A landless orphan ; rank, and wealth, and pride, Were freely rang'd around him, nor denied His clear precedence. Sir Robert Peel was a manufacturer's son, and for thirty years he was vilified as " Spinning benny Peel," just as his father, when made a aronet in 1787, was lampooned by Sheridan and Lord John Townshend : Mr. Peel—Mr. Peel— In return f, r y int. zeal, I'm told they have dubb'd jou Sir Bob. By coarse Manchester stuff Yon have got wealth enough, And for honours you'll now drive a job, Mr. Peel, For honours you'll now drive a job. Yet Peel became, as he boasted, " the leader of " the gentlemen of England," and the young literary member of Parliament whom he affected rashly to despise—Benjamin Disraeli ' the son of a country gentleman, leading a life of philo sophic seclusion—rose in his turn to be leader of the Commons. Thus, of six successive Tory leaders of the Commons, two of them (Pitt and Perceval) were barristers, two (Castlereagh and Canning) were Irishmen, one was the son of a manufacturer, and another was the grandson of a Jew. On the other hand, the Liberals since Pitt's time have had Fox, Lord Howick (Earl Grey), Lord Althorp, Lord J. Russell, and Lord Palmerston—all aristocrats—for leaders of the House of Commons. These facts plainly show at a glance the exclusiveness of the Whig sys tem of government; and we can imagine what interesting matter the elder Disraeli might have inserted in a chapter on " Parliamentary Lea dership." Twenty years hence his more cele brated son might treat it with the authority of experience. Of the elder Disraeli and his writings we were always warm admirers, though not in an unqua lified degree. We never, however, shared in the feelings of those morose censors who disparaged his talents and denied the extent of his learning. He was a scholar, a philosopher, and a gentle man ; and, during the brief period between the death of Johnson and the decease of Lord Byron, Isaac Disraeli was an excellent specimen of the high-bred man of letters of the old and dignified school. Ile did not belong to the sharp and :snarling class of modern reviewers; he aimed at THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858. a wide sweep, and he ranged discursively as an independent thinker. He might have taken for his literary motto the line— Nullius athlietua jnrare in verbs magistri. His temper was serene, but it was from the calm ness of a deep, and not from the frigid apathy of a shallow, nature. Ile rejoiced in a library : Macgregor "on his native heath" did not feel more naturally in his element than the elder Disraeli while sauntering and meditating in the Bodleian. Ile had not the closeness of thought or homely masculine vigour of Mr. Hallam; he did not advance particular claims to profundity in Greek scholarship ; upon philo logical niceties he was not an authority ; and, having never pursued literature as a profession, he was sometimes careless in giving too much credence to his authorities. But his qualities as a writer were many, great, and indisputable. He could compress and expand with equal ease and grace ; he wrote a style of his own that happily adjusted itself to the claims of narrative and dis quisition. He avoided dryness and pedantry : in reading his compositions, one never smells the dust of a library; and he always thought with a freshness and liveliness not often to be found amongst those who pass their lives over hooks. It was said of Dr. Kippis, the editor of the " Biographia Britannica," that "he put so many " books on the top of his brain that he could not " think at all." But that could not be affirmed of Isaac Disraeli. He had a cheerfulness of heart that made him sprightly even upon a subject in trinsically dull ; and, though he never affected that word-painting style which is almost be coming a literary vice in our times, yet there is a richness of effect and geniality of tone in his writings which completely separates them from those ponderous dissertations produced by com pilers fainting under the burden of learning which they have amassed but cannot use. We know what can be said against Isaac Disraeli. and we have read all that has been written against him, by carping cynics and learned obscurities. We shall not enter upon a lengthy examination of his writings here, but we may record our own critical objection, which must be offered in abatement of his indisputable merits. He does not weigh his authorities with sufficient discrimination. When he is discussing a subject he appeals to several authors, great and small, and quotes from them successively. Thus, in his article on the " Inequalities of Genius," he cites three authorities,—first, what Carraccio said of Tintoret ; next, a remark by Trublet ; and then what Lucian observed. It seems ridiculous to appeal to Trublet, whose writings deserve to be forgotten, though they were better than what Voltaire represented. In many parts of the " Curiosities of Literature" this habit of mixing together names not entitled to quotation in the same company and on the same subject is to be censured. It produces as odd effects as if a French or German traveller should quote the savings and doings of "great English aristocrats " like the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Derby, " and Sir Benjamin Hall," or appeal to our living brilliant orators " like Mr. Disraeli, Mr. " Gladstone, the Bishop of Oxford, and Mr. " Bernal Osborne." Let any one versant in literary reputations turn over the leaves of the " Curiosities," and he cannot fail to observe this defect. The fault mentioned here is not to be found in Isaac Disraeli's other works, because he took up special subjects, and concentrated his attention more closely, and took more pains in examining and classifying his authorities. But, after all, the "Curiosities of Literature" is what gave, and will preserve, his name. It is always interesting, the selection of topics is judicious, and the illustrations are most enter taining. Like " Boswell's Johnson,'' it can be taken up at any time; and what a distinguished wit and ()rata once said of Boswell's work may be not inaptly applied to the "Curiosities" : " Everything is so delightful, and the great " charm of it is, that when I lay it down and " return to it after some months, I find that I " have forgotten what I read in it, and I find " everything just as rew and fresh to me as " before." It is difficult, indeed, to remember what has been observed in the " Curiosities," because the nature of the plan followed by the author was to disregard a formal method, so as that he might engage the attention of every kind of readers. It is a good book in a library, or by the seashore, or in the invalid's chamber, or the philosopher's study ; it can trifle and teach ; it can soothe in pain, and elevate in depression and, still better, it can excite an appetite for reading other books. Such is our own opinion on this work, but, as we said, we are aware that Isaac Disraeli and his writings have had their acrid detra c t ors , one or two of whom are still living. It has been said of the " Curiositities " by one of the most bitter of his censors:— One book he made for breakfast reading fit: The " Curiosities " will lightly sit On minds that like the literary chips. As arm known o'er which the eye soon skips From page to page without fatigue of thought, Or without sound ideas having caught— Mere shining nothings—spangles of the mind, That scintillate, but leave no heat behind— Of such the " Curiosities " were made: Old lore dug up, and in new dress array'd— Attractive matter in each chapter put, Without authenticating notos at foot; The whole desigti'd to dazzle and deceive, And make raw renders readily believe A chaplet rare the author should receive. He spread a counter sparkling to the eye, And well trick'd out to catch mere passers by,— Pebbles for pearls—pinchbeck pric'd for gold-- The cunning Isaac did too oft unfold. • s s • • " Prince of compilers" was the rank he And even as that his vogue bas greatly waned. His bizarre learning, loose and inexact, His wrong quotations, haziness of fact, Are found out now; and critics far and wide, As sham philosopher cid Dizzy oft deride. o e f that an pa s s ino ! geef. thelV e are phrase t pseudo- u c r n e tic a a s l d There are nearly as many errors as lines in the to ieta th therein used, " haziness of fact," but if we com prehend it rightly, the thing itself is exemplified in the foregoing passage. The "bizarre learn ing" of Disraeli the Elder might also be imputed to Plutarch's Lives, Selden's Table-talk, the Menagiana, the writings of Warburton, Bayle's Dictionary, the " Noctes Ambrosianze," and in short to all authors and to all works aiming at a cyclopwdic range and exhibiting various and recondite knowledge. The charge of being a " !ham philosopher " is vulgar and false. Isaac Disraeli was indeed a man of philosophic mind, but he despised a mere philosophe, and one of his greatest merits is his quiet contempt for the "cant of criticism." So, also, the charge of being a "compiler," though qualified by the ter m " prince," is untrue. A compiler is an author who has learning and industry, but who has neither thoughts nor a style of his own. Now, though we do not altogether concur with Isaac Disraeli's view of the character of James 1., his vindication of that monarch is abundant proof that he had a will of his own ; and his intense devotion to letters during a prolonged life is also additional proof of the native energy of his mind. Southey was not only an exquisite writer of Eng lish prose, but he was also a consummate judge of an English style, and more than once Southey recorded his admiration for the style of Isaac Disraeli ; and it deserved its praise for being rich without lusciousness, and light without frivolity. The famous controversy about Pope was originated by Disraeli the Elder, and Lord Byron dedicated his " Observations upon an Article in Blackwood's Magazine," discussing the question, to Isaac Disraeli, in the most flatteri ng terms ; and, last, not least, when the Univers ity of Oxford made him a D.C.L., the words used in the diploma of his honorary degree we.re, " Optima regis optimi vindici." Once or twice Isaac Disraeli turned on his detractors, and i his scorching reply to one of his assailants s a masterpiece of literary satire, full of fine strokes of poignant sarcasm. " Ritson," he wrote" was " harsh, crabbed, and morose; he was a wild . ea! " of the mountains, a of a larger !peenWhere we have left a blank Isaac Disraeli named his assailant, indicating with oblique sarcasm that his detractor was only a small kind of the feline species. The epithet "wild at of !he mountains " is exquisite, and ju st in its applica tion to the rabid spirit in which Ritson used to write his prefaces and notes on ballad poetry- But the whole subject of the elder D israeli, b ig life, and his attractive writings, is too tem . pang for us, and we must here pause. We rejoice t 9 see this edition of his works. The paper and type are excellent, and some new notes ar il added ; and if the succeeding volumes are as . we w brought out as that betbre us , the edition I„ shall highly creditable to its publishers. We • n( 11] RI of a rI 11 is V li a' It Ul ni it di fo Ii) of tl st et 711 tl ri st di 4 . 2( st ()I h T di P II 11 ft 8 • • 5 I I a 1 • e o [ it • it • e is a !.s 19 it Ti le le to is tg :0 re 904