Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-11-13

whilst large moiety of readers marvel o
the identity of novel writer with the fore
most statesman of the age, it il beyond tht
conception of others that he could have de
voted SO much talent and leisure to tht
composition Of rcmances. It should be re-
fmembered, however, that & great deal o
history is only romance that we belle Va, -
and that romances are often histories that
we do not believe,--for more than one oi
Disraeli's fictions are actualiies in mssquer.
ade dresses--you behold the masquers and
their merry-making, but are left igno.
rant OF their names and station. A h0yel
as well as parable may be fraught with
moral teachings, and the three po' '4ical
novels "Coningsby," "Sibyp and y Ian.
cred," which are the most perfect things of
their kind in existence, were foreshadow.
ings of Disraeli'g convictions as a public man.
As such they were heartily abused by one
set of reviewers and as heartily praised BY
another--but the accusation of earicaturing
his contemporaries was never fairly brought
home to their author. The plots were 30
iugeniously laid and the characters 90 close.
ly veiled, that critics got tired of finding
keys to their dyunsdtis person0. "6ibyl |"
indeed is bold confession Of his faith 10
the masses of the English people; for If not
in terms plea for the radical remedy of
popular grievances, Disraeli afterwards re-
GREETED that he had not tefmed its heroinea
" "chartist." The dedication of this beatiti.
full story, has been so often quoted that it
has become almost an integral portion of
the text 1t reads as follows:
81 would inscribe this work to one whose
noble spirit and gentle nature ever prompt
her to symPathixe with the suffering; TO one
whose sweet voice has often encouraged,
and whose taste and judgment have ever
guided its pages; the most severe OF critics,
but--a perfect wife,"
II "Vivian Gray" gave the first dawn of
promise, it can be confidently asserted that
Henrietta Temple" permanently and be.
yond any other of his inventive efforts,
fixed the reputation of Disraeli as an author
as yet unsurpassed in inditing tale of true
love. The sweet and brilliant song he sings
in the pages which bear the intitulation Of
Henrietta Temple, love story" has been
compared to innumerable MASTERPIECES of
ancient bards and modern prose writer's:
but in vain has literature been ransacked to
find love scenes more enchanting than In
+" Henrietta Temple for none are more
natural, more tender, passionate and pure.
The Francisco Rimini of Dante has the
overpowering machinery of q supernatural
world to sustain it, whilst Disraeli's figures
move in the quiet routine of London socie.
ty-of Italy and rural England. The one
fills you with dazzling astonishment, the
last with calm and perpetual delight. A
very close approach between two great au-
thors is always q difficult coincidence to
meet Without there is measurably the
same wild rapture and lorn despair in both
the Bride of Lammermoor and "Henri-
eta Temple"
But in Sir Walter Scott's romance the lover
and his bethrothed are Of less refined clay,
less attractive to the beholdtr and the
scenery and period are worse than feudal;
for just then feudalism was receiving ne v,
If not more barbaric form, under changed
dynasty. Nor are the horrors OF the final
however magnificent on the
boards of an opera house, apt to invite re.
perusal in the library. We are reminded of
the French actor who characterized an Eng.
Iish tragedy, Gas a horrid farce where all
the characters kill each other and the can
die snuffers die of poison"
The scenes in "Henrietta Temple" are
laid amongst statesmen, wits and in the at.
mosphere of the highest social culture.
Some of the actors in it are prodigiously
animated sketches from actual life. Count
" Alfred D'Orsay" il of course the model
from which some of the characteristics of
Count Hippolyte Mirabel are copied. The un.
finished Castle Armine is the immense edifce
in which Mr.. Beckford died whilst endeavor.
ing ts construct. Other figures who people
his pages are drawn from the immense re-
sources of a society with which he was
familiar. As {. work of art simple and
pure, Henrietta Temple will stand out
always as a model to be admired and safely
initiated.
That so many trophies should be borne of
by one man is not only matter of astonish.
ment but one that leads to profound relec-
tons.
Benjamin Disraeli had no valuable con.
nections to pave his way. His father was
literary recluse-a book producer, it is
true, but in every sense book worm,
book devourer. His means were mediocre
to the position his son assumed
in the world at an early age. In fact he
began life under almost every conceivable
He was designated as the
of an unpopular race and
avowed an adherence to political tenets re.
pulsive 10 those who might have helped
him into power. His contentious were
againstthe most popular English statesmen,
he was hated by the Irish for his contests
with O'Connell, the liberator. Yet by
genius, unbounded application, patience,
wit, and personal disinterestedness, on his
return from the conference at Berlin all
as one man, it may be said, took
him by the hand. Since the visit of the
allied sovereigns of Europe to London, after
the battle of Waterloo, no greater concourse
ever assembled flan when Lord Beacons-
field returned to his country from the set
of the Turkish war, at the Berlin