New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-12
DISRAELI.


elected to Parliament from one district. lie
has no legal claim whatever upon the govern
ment of the country. When he forms Cabi
net it will rest with him to decide what he
shall call himself, whether Chancellor OF the
Excheauer or First Lord of the Treasury, or
whether, following recent prccedents, he snail
assume both portfolios. But it Is none the less
true that in the recent elections, the most I'M
portant question before the voters OF England
was which of the two men, both of them COM
moneIs, should rule England for the time beng
The force of circumstances invests tradition with
a power far stronger than law By the provis-
ion of ON Constitution the people choose cleo
tors who shall choose the President, but in fact
before the electors come together their choice
has been made for them, and they have no
discretion whatever in the matter. The choice
of the electors cOnvulses the continent but
The vote they cast is the idle formaity of an
hour. The effect of contested election,
like that through which England has just
passed, would seem still more singular to one
ignorant of her political structure, because
there is nothing except public opinion to dc
tate the result. There has been no imposing
gathering OF politicians like those which give
authority to our national conventions. There
has been no nomination and no platform of
principles like those through which vast
number of our voters acquire their political
ideas. Ii is simply the conviction on the part
of the majority that if the Conservatives
win, Mr.. Dsraeli should be Prime Minister,
and that if the Liberals triumph Mr.. Glad
stone should stay where he is. And this con-
viction has force enough TO deprive the Crown
of the initiative which it nOminally possesses,
and to restrict the Queen To the choice OF
one man to form her government. This I'M
written law is as powerful as the rule OF the
caucus in America. There are as many Con-
scrvative Peers and Old Wing gentlemen who
execrate the necessity which forces them to
vote for Mr. Disraeli, as there were of solid
men in New-York who thoroughly disap-
proved of Gen. Grant at the moment when
they were spending their money layishly to
elect him. 1t is not to be understood, on the
other hand, that Mr.. Gladstone's frigid
virtues especially endeared him to the thou
sands that upheld him. But, nevertheless,
every vote cast on the one side or the other
WAS directly cast for one of these eminent
gentlemen
Ii is useless to seek for any circumstances of
luck or accident which have brought Mr..
Disraeli to the point where Conservative
victory in England means nothing but his
elevation to the first place in the realm.
II is the result of sheer ability and industry,
and no amount of prejudice or criticism can
make it appear otherwise. He bad few advan-
tages to start with. lie was the son of a
retired scholar the grandson of an Italian
Jew. of one of those families which the folly
of the Catholic Kings drove out of Spain in
the insoent exultaton which followed the
conquest of Granada. Spinoza and Daniel
Manin were the rich fruit of the same exiled
stock. Young Disraeli was poor, but neither
his blood nor his poverty could keep that
eager and restless spirit i'll the attorneys
Office where he was artlcled. Provided with
few introductOns, he made his own way in
society, and became a brilliant man OF the
world Mt a time when most boys are equally
intolerable from their pertness or their shy
ness He went into literature and Llade
great success before he was fairly grown. lie
then essayed politics, and years OF reverses
were not enough to dampen his ardor or ex-
tinguish his trust in himself. He attained a
seat in Parliament at 49, and made lament
able failure in his first speech. But his indus
t.y triumpbed over every difficulty, and he ended
by becoming one of the very first debaters of
the age and what was still more wonderful,
imposing himself upon the aristocratic party
of the most aristOcratic country in the world
as their absolute leader The latest dis
patches state that even Lord Salisbury and
Lord Carnarvon have given in their allegiance
to him, and his authority is thus complete 10
his own party. ..-... ...... --..-
He has certainly stopped to conquer and
served to rule at last. The aristocracy which
now reluctantly obeys him, he has served and
elorifed as only man of genius and imagina-
ton could do. His early works were filed
with incense all the more grateful because it
was vailed in such delicate wit and satire
In Contarini Fleming and Alroy he strove des-
perately to suggest claim to antiquity of
descent which might place him more on a
level with the English Barbarians," as Ar
mold calls them. Feeling keenly the prejudices
of his time he tried to defy them by an as
sumed Hebrew pride. But as he established
more and more firmly his position in English
society. it was curious to see how his defiance
died away, and how in his later works there
is little remaining of it. His LOthair is a
frank and hearty Offering OF homage to the
aristOOracy of England. Ilo feels at home
among them. and intensely enjoys the feeling.
lilo has fulfilled tho saving Of the royal