The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-02-15
Portrait of MI. D'Israell.

u 49, Portrait of MI. D'Israell.
sg9!5T There is a decided character about
3 the whole Of Mr.. Disracli, yet it is
I most difficult to determine in what it
especially consists. The first impress
\ sion conveyed to your mind, as, with
clothes shaped apparently with too
3 much care for effect, and those long
flakes ofcurling black hair that can
hardly be distinguished from the ring
5Flets ola woman, he walks hastily, with
20 selfabsorbcd air, and II quick, short,
5shuffling gait. toward Ills scat, is that
scffemnate, nay almost an cmasculatc
zEa0ectation. There seems TO be dan
i Idyism, not merely OF the body, but of
.sithe min also. We usually associate
1.-THE idea of pride with an erect, 4 lot-
siity gaze, a hauteur OF bearing. Strange
to say, Mr.. Disracli's bearing produces
The samo impression, from a totally
opposite cause. lie has an habit
+ ual. stoop, and there is that in his bear
s ing and carriage which might be mis-j
/: taken for humility. lie has also an
I. air Of selfabsorlion, which docs not ap-
aSpear natural it seems TO arise from in
s affected Indifference To the gaze or the
observation Of others. 1t is not the
IS less pride, though not of the most no
BILE order. You can see gtimpsrs of
an evidence that self esteem is no stran-
4 igerto his mind.
S In spite of the assumed st"lidity,
4ssSou may detect the sclf-constraint aud
the turtivc regards of a very vain man.
I in trying to appear as if lie were not
vain at all. Altllo Ugh his eyes arc
., downcast, they have not the d"wncaSt
look Of modcsty, but rather of a sort Of
4 superciliousncss, which is the mos,
striking expression on the face. lie
seems to look down because he con
sdcrs it too much trouble to look
up. But q further study leads you
S to think that your first impressions
Il lave been erroneous. You see that
the intellectual prcpondcratcs in Mr..
Disraeli's organization, and, by de-
grees, you begin to believe that he is
as much absorbed as he seems to be.
Like Sir Robert Peel, he appears to
& ..s Ii: Il EG! ft sy9is yhG> .s
in the House, except those forced on
him by the immediate necessity OF
3 partie. This isolation aud scliab-
q sorption are equally CONSPICUOUS whcth-
cr he is quicscent Or in activity: Oh
serve him anywhere about the llousc,
in the lobbics, or in the committee
4Frooms-you never see him in conf
Il Dental communication with amy one.
All inlcts of information and impress
=. sion seem as if they were violently
closed up by an effort of the will. Yet
we that he is kccnly alive TO the slight
est and most impalpable changes SO
ing on around him-thatSiN fact, his
intellect must be ever on t{3Ese >tl7ils
though, to III observer, il s29t
s in state of seliimposes
See him where S9E
past you noiselx
parently cs 2:Sw
.lg eNteEA sg 8 =. # %1nvol-
- like one
& n 3'es ,,-sIIc mu,Iumam-
M Natural relations
9s s1cs Of life. Whcn he
ia he equally shrouds him
49, 49, N his own intellectual a'mos-
E,ncre. You would think he paid no
regard to the thought Of whom he Was
addressing, but only TO the ideas he
was enunciating in words. Still with
what may almost be called il torpor Of
the physical powers, lie seems more
an intellectual abstraction, than liz
ing, breathing man OF passions and
sympathics. If some one OIL his friends
interrupts him to offer y friendly sng-
gcstion, or to correct mistalrmcnt
of facts, the chances are that he will
not notice him .at all, or, if lie does,
that it will be With y gesture inpa-
tience, or wish something like a
snarl, as, when man is grinding Il hand
organ, if his hand suddenly be stopped,
the pipes utter < slight diacord-
ant moan.
This singular sclfahsorption be,
trays itself even whcu he is in Il sit
ting posture. You never see him
gazing around him, or IolIimg back in
his seat, or seeking to take his ease aS
other men do in the intervals Of 30.
.litcal excitement lie sits with
his head rigid, his body contracted, his
arms closely pinned 10 his side. as
though he were Ill automaton. lie
looks like orc Of those stone figures OF
ancient Egypt that cnhody The idea
Of motionIess 1uicscncc forever CrM
;cnI B;OUr0Dhjcs. I'm E. U Francis