The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-06-13 00:00:00

always hanging some le:, iiOtt. doilbting sup-
porters, whoseliinvering spirits are most apt to
be entrapped by such artfully disguised attacks
as whose n which the Satyrday•
Review has.
reeentl-, been so, freely indulging. In the present
state.'of pariiesi,no doubt, it Were worth an effort
to shake the confidence of those weaker disciples
in their teaders, if'thereby any modicum of
strength might be abstracted from the Opposi-
tion, and added to the motley crew which
supports the present coalition Ministry. If any
further explanation of the virulence of recent
detractors of Mr. DISRAELI, were required,
it might be found in that green-ey'd
jealousy which is natural to certain minds, when
they perceive the indisputable merits of one who
has risen from a lower to a more,elevated posi-
tion, by his own unaided genius, and by honour-
able exertions displayed under every conceivable
disadvantage. In short, the attacks of the
9turday .Review demonstrate the bitterness of
personal spite, pointed by a desire to injure,
ffithout the courage to appear under true colours.
We can only regard it as a miserable exhibition
i' of conscious inferiority and meanness, in the
presence of real greatness and honour. A brief
narrative of the plain facts we consider to be the
best antidote to the gross perversions and scurri-
lous analogies, to the propagation of which, our
Saturday contemporary has lent itself.

The career of Mr. DISRAELI, whether we

regard him as a literary man, or as a states-
man, constitutes one of the most brilliant illus-
trations of the best traits of English cha-
racter, and of the beneficial operation of English

institutions. The circumstances under which he
began life were but a dull prelude to a course so
varied and successful as his has proved. The
difficulties which beset his path to honourable
distinction, were great, and, in any other country
save free England, might have proved insuperable
barriers in his way. It is the glory of England
that the highest senatorial appointments are open
to the humblest of her sons who shall assert and
prove their ability to fill them meritoriously. Mr.
DISRAELI is a living proof of the possibility of
realising this proud boast. Like many other
great men who have risen from the ranks,
he seems to have been early impressed with a
consciousness of his own powers and of the high
destiny that awaited him. When a lad at school,
in the suburbs of London, he is remembered to
have expressed his determination of aspiring to
legislative honours. In subsequent life, but still
early in the history of his struggles to obtain a
political position, and long before he had met
with any encouragement to countenance his
ambitious efforts—amid many reverses and dis-
appointments—suffering under the coarsest casti-
gation of the great O'CONNELL, he boldly replied
in a confident strain, concluding his memorable
epistle to the Irish liberator, with the perilous
prophecy,—"We shall meet at Philippi !" When
at length fortune smiled upon Mr. DISRAELI, and
he obtained a seat in the House, his first effort to:
speak as a legislator, was hailed with shouts of
derision which might have appalled most
Even he was obliged to resume his
seat, but not until, with characteristic con-'
fidence, he exclaimed, " The time shall come
when you will hear me,"—a prophecy, the fulfil-
ment of which, many who then laughed, have lived
to applaud. Mr. DISRAELI has best expounded
the philosophy of his own career. In recently
addressing the members of the Lancashire
Mechanics' Institutions, he said—".l do not think
there is any greater fallacy than that which holds
up England as a country in which it is difficult
to advance, for those who have intelligence and
integrity. Take this as an incontrovertible prin-
ciple—accept this as a moral dogma of your life,
every man has his opportunity.' It may be a
long time of coming, but, depend upon it, it is
sure to arrive, and what you have got to do,
in the interval, is to prepare yourself for
that opportunity. Life is not a lottery.
Life is a science : and certain qualities
and certain talents, properly handled and
properly managed, must lead to certain suc-
cessful results." When, during the sessions of
1844 and 1845, Mr. DISRAELI bearded Sir ROBERT
PEEL and other illustrious men who unhappily
figured as prominent members of the " organised
hypocrisy" of those days, our expectant Minister
was leered at, as the ' clever novelist," whose
insane ambition seemed only fitted for a lunatic

asylum,
Amid many disasters, divisions, and dis
appointments, Mr. DISRAELI, with an amount of
courage and perseverance which of itself is mar-
vellous, rallied the scattered adherents of what,
for a time, seemed a lost cause, and swelled their
thinned ranks into the dimensions of a formid-
able and powerful phalanx. In 1852 the auspi-
cious day at last arrived when Mr. DISRAELI
was destined to realise the object of his life.
As CHANCELLOK of the EXCHEQUER, under Lord
DERBY, he was still exposed to the sneers of the
silly and stupid, who could not bring themselves
to believe in the possibility of a self raised man
of genius successfully managing the national
finances. Early in that session, however, he dis-
sipated all murmurs, by a financial statement
which elicited tremendous applause from a hostile
House, and commanded the admiration even of
his rivals. The praises of that budget were sung
by the most influential journalists, and echoed by
every section of the community. Suddenly,
however, faction and jealousy combined to thwart
this excellent measure. The Conservatives had
taken office in a hopeless minority, and the
Peelites, Whigs, Radicals, and the Irish Brigade,
combined and raised a clamour against the increase
of the House Duty, the decrease of the Malt-tax,
and the extension of the Income-tax to Ireland.
They attained their object, and the DERBY Cabinet
resigned. Nevertheless that budget was rejected
by a majority of only nineteen in a full house,
comprising the Irish members, whose opposition
is easily explained. It was supported by 286
members ; and the Conservatives, to a man, stood
up in its defence. Yet this budget is denounced,
by the Saturday Review, as:one of Mr. DISRAELI'S
mistakes, on account of which the Conservatives
ought to withdraw their confidence from him as
their leader in the House of Commons.
When, again, ME. DISRAELI led his party into
office, did he not produce, in a manly and
straightforward manner, a measure of reform
which might have effected au equitable settle-
ment of a most, embarrassing question—for the
solution of which Lord -JOHN RUSSELL, the
traditional Reformer, had before, as he has since,
proved himself utterly inadequate? Is it not now
the all but universal belief that Mr. Diskaufs
Reform Bill might, in committee, have been so
adjusted as to set that vexed question to rest for
at least another generation to come ? Have not
many of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S own supporters
already expressed their bitter regret that they,
in au evil hour, were induced to lend their aid to
its rejection. On this, as on the first occasion,
Mr. DISRAELI had taken office in an acknowledged
minority. In 1859, as in 1852, he fell before a
factious combination of Whigs, Peelites, and
Radicals. The best comment, perhaps, ou the.
conduct of the Oppo3ition on that occasion is;
to be found in the character, course, and recent I
fate, of the very measure on the faith of which
they displaced the Conservative Cabinet. And
yet the Saturday Review has the effrontery
to hold up the Conservative Reform Bill
as another of those extravagant mistakes
for which Mr. DISRAELI ought to be hurled from
his high positioa in the, estimation and confidence
of his party.
If another ilhis6ation :of the wisdegi
patriotism of the great Conservative leader