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