The New York herald., 1873-10-27
DIS r A ELI.
The Conservative Reaction
in Europe.
A MONOGRAPH OF THE TORY LEADER.
Salient Features of His Public
and Private Life.

liberals have been suffering leave small doubt that
the conservatives will shortly re-enter Downing
street. and as this time they will take office with
majority Mr.. Disraen may, probably, count on
those three years OF power-not merely OF place
which have been the steady object OF hts ambition.
Hitherto, indeed, Mr.. Disraeli has been three
times Minister, but he has never held power.
Since the tory party broke up In 1s46. after Sir
Robert PEEPS free-trade secession, conservative
statesmen have occupied the Treasury
Bench only on sunerance, and their
policy has been, perforce. that which
their opponents dictated. Such position
leant little dignity to the party in general, and it
exposed the leaders in particular to the 0bloquy,
and even the ridicule, which must always assail
men struggling to maintain q semblance OF au-
thority and yet too weak to carry out their wills.
BY the many-m0uthed Glamour OF liberalism-a
noisy thing in England as esewhere-conservatlsm
was pronounced enete and Mr.. Disraeli, its most
conspicuous advocate, an adventurer devoid Of
scruples and convictions. But Just as the man who
strives to keep his footing amid quickstands offers
. different picture to the one who feels the
ground firm under him. so 1t may prove that Mr..
Disraeli holding office under the dominance OF q
turbulent opposition and Mr. Disraeli governing
with strong majority q his back are by no means
the same men. He has himself said, ~
"GIvE NE THREE YEARS OF POWER
and England will not regret it, The elder Pitt held
power four years, In his best known administration.
and during that time he contrived to establish his
reputation as the greatest Of English statesmen
and to earn those enthusiastic rhapsodies we
have all read in Mr.. Carlyle's works. Whether
some future Carlyle will ever be justified in plac-
ing Benjamin Disrael and Lord Chatham on
levelis point beyond present divination; but in
speculating as to what map may do 1t is fair to
consider what he has already done, therefore
this is the moment for recalling another OF Mr..
Disraes sayings, uttered now six and thirty years
ago,
u HAVE BEGUN MANY TIMES SEVERAL THINGS AND
HAVE ALWAYS SUCCEEDED AT LAST"
The boast was true at the time 1t was spoken,
and 1t would be equally SO if repeated to-day for
Mr.. Disraes ascent to emlnence has been effected
In spite Of obstacles which nothing but the most
stubborn patience and answering resolution
could surm0unt-0bstacles OF birth, race, educa-
tion and Observation-Disclosures OF pride and
prejudice, In short such as, in an aristocratical
state, look at first sight insuperable. Wosey, the
son ofa butcher; Cromwell, the uncouth Puritan;
Canning, who was born of poor parents in the
middle class, were not more remarkable in their
rise than Disraeli, for Wolsey was sent to oxford
and then entered the Church. which leads to every
thing; Cromwell was favored by war and revolu-
tion; while Canning, thanks to an uncle's
generosity, ODbalueu through an EJOu euuCatl0Q
the passport to all British honors. But Dsraeli
enjoyed none OF these advantages. The son Of
Isaac Disraeli, who was descended from family
OF Spanish Jews driven by persecution to Venice
in the fifteenth century and settled in England
since 174S, Benjamin Dlsraeli was born in 1905 In
q small mouse TO the east OF London. His father
was in every respect book-worm-a man
who had written the "Curiosites and Amenities OF
Literature" who had spent most Of his days at the
British Museum grubbing up facts for historical
essays, and "in whom,' says his son, seven mar
riage produced no change for he rose to enter the
chamber where he lived alone with his books and
at night his lamp was ever Lit within the same
walls.n Young Be enjamin, whose mind took pre-
c0cious development was early inoculated by the
paeernal example, and, both at school, where he
worked little, and in the attorneys ofllce, where,
an articed pupil, he worked still less. his chief
production was authorship. Biographers have
persisenty declared that at the age OF twenty-one
he started in conjunction with Mr.. Murray, the
publisher, tory paper called the Representative,
which ran five months, aud some have gone the
length Of describing mnutey the sumptuous furni-
ture wherewith Mr.. Murray stocked the editorial
room, in order that lords and ladies' who called on
young Mr.. Dlsraeli might feel at home. But Mr.
Disraeli, not very long ago, dscaimed all con-
nection with the Representative. And it
seems that his FIRST contributions to the
press were scattered among variety OF
newspapers, mostly obscure. However that
may be, the contributions were certainly
good, for II Disrael had at school left undone many
things which he ought to have done, he had
on the other hand done many things which his
masters said he ought not to have DONE such as
read UP books OF poetry and romance old world
chronicles and lives OF literary men. There was
also IN him plenty OF health, physical and mental
ready wit and an impulsive disposition rather
Italian than English He loved to talk OF men who
had leaped to fame ut one bound and set the world
on fire. He cared little for boys sports; but he
liked to see comrade plant his nst nat en- the
nose Of dull bully, and this omantico-combatlve
nature showed itself early in his writings which
were hot and impetuous as whifrs of steam. His
father had the good sense to see that such one
was not fashioned for lawyers Office. After ALL
the lad had printers ink In his very blood, and for
his father TO have lectured him on the pers of lit
erature would have been q strange thing In.
deed. So Benjaminwas allowed to follow his own
inclination, and after scribbing, perhaps & gross
Of essays and leaders-whicb obtained insertion
primarily for his father's sake. but by and by for
their own merits-he applied himself to write
novel, and in 1923 produced 49,
''vIvIAN aREY.u
1t was radical book Of political adventure. paint.
ing the career Of 4 young man who was ambitious
OF political celebrity and resolved to acquire it by
any means-fair or the reverse. Mr.. Disraelrs ad-
sefsaries take grim pleasure IN asserting 10 this
day that In "vivian Grey'' the author meant to
foreshadow his own life; ana the thing is not i'm.
probable, for youth OF warm fancies sets light
store by those hedges and bitches called .expe.
diency," opinions" 'traditionsn &C., which
check the steeplechase to renown. Seeing older
mn MI AZ nhora cia
by scrambling through them last In despite OF all
their first jibbing and shying, he thinks it much
simpler to clear them at once without any fuss and
II this mode OF proceeding looks cynical when
sketched on paper as deliberate plan, what shall
be said OF those who practice It with sancti-
monous aGcctation OF being earnest and disinter-
ested all the whiles The great difference between