The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-05-15
DISRAELI.


hc is % years old l}nt It i stated that before
Parliament cOnvcucs he viii address meeting
OF the Conservatives OF both houses, and after
wards ASSUME The leadership of the Opposl'
llion. Brnjamin Dsricl Is one ot She most
remarkable men of the present century. Born
at IFS very dawn he rNcrcd an influence upon
the literature of its tlrSt quarter ana the open
ing OF lis last quarter Is powerfully Impressed
by the splcndOr OF his genius for politics. II
is not Ul'cn that career lasts ftty years. mat
lot Caesar was about forty OF Napoleon l. less
1 than thirty, and Alexander died at the age OF
3D. But Wellington filled the public eye for
NEARLY sixty years. The publication Of "NIvl-
an Gray" IN 1925 introduced Disraeli TO the
! most distinguished society in England. In
the drawing room of Lady BIcS-lngtOn he "el.
bowed Dukes descended from the Conquest
The book was II brilliant satire on society and
politics 1t Immediately became the rage, ran
, through many editions, and was supplemented
! by key in winch itS characters were ident-
! lied as the celebrated wits politicians and
great ladies of the time. Lord Brougham Is
| laughed at as Mr. Foamlng Fudge Lord
Eden satcriled as lord Past Century, and
Mr. Canning mercilessly ridiculcd rs "Mr
Christian Gas" DID DsracI wish merely to
make himself known to the world? II So he
succeeded to his hearts content. lie became
| famous notorious the lion Oi the hour and his
audaCily amply sustained him. 1t WAS then
! that he became prOdlgal OF witty cpigrams and
! from wasting them on society lie came finally
to the more wclgnty business of tllnging them
at the heads of opponents in Parliament with
terrible effect HIS ambition for political dis
tincion developed early. Bulwcr offered hum
/ the opportunity TO stand for "a borough and he
eagerly seized it, Lord Mebourn sand to HIM !:
"WclI, Mr.. DsraclI, what is your idea III en-.
] p,l, if,tS
| of England, my Lnrd,' responded the son of
the old jewish bookworm. HIS opponent was
II brother OF Earl Gray Then Premier But
nothing dauntcd him. lie denounced both
| great parties, -lOtily sCOrning the Wings and
ICharaCtcriZing the Tories rs 10 u state OF lgnO-
rant ,lupuldctlou,' He was defeated and this
first defeat was followed by three more defeats.
| II was not until the filth attempt that he was
returned. Upon one occasion, beng asked snccr
| ingIy, "Up pom what ground do you stand here,
SIR" he rCtOrcd with whitening sarcasm, "On
my head, siri' II was during his fourth can
vass that O'COnncl referred TO him as the
hncal descendant of The impeni'cnt thief on
| the cross Pending these contests young Dis
rlcIi continued To publish books, which,
though often "Insocnt in their Sma!tncss,
Ivcrr always "rlcvcr.' In 1881, at the aye of
/ - E.ru,,rcd Parliament HIS maiden speech,
NnIcH hc hmstcncd 10 deliver, WAS IA complete
! failure lie was laughed, snCcred and huWICd
! doNn. Bat hr managed, above the din anu
cat calling, To- warn and deity the house IN TINS
memorable language: Il have begun several
times many thugs, lud have succeeded nj last
] Az, sir; and though sit down now, the time
/ viii come when You Viii hear me- Here
was "pHck, true grit and he was quite
cool, too. OF his own discontinue he SAID ::
"a failure j, nothing 1t may ht deserved, or
a.
brings -cIiknOwlcdgc: in the second II dcycI-
ops new combination which may be trlum-
phanl' II was a year and u hrlt before he
/ lncd agHJn to get the tar Of Parliament, and
| he got IT. lie became II PARTISAN of Sir Robert
! Peel. Bat when Peel dc serted the Protection
! lists DIsraclI deserted him and became his
most bulcr and incorporating opponent
| Reviewing Pccl's history, he once said: 81
| find that for between thirty and forty years
| from the days Of Mr.. Homer to the days OF
| Mr. Cobdcn, Sir ltohcrl prc has traded un the
IDEAS and intelligence of others. His life haa
been one great appropriation clause. lie Is =
burglar Ol others intellect Ihc.c /, no states
man who has committed political petty lar
CcnCy on so great scale lie exhausted all
| his vast resources of invcctiyc, WI, irouS oar
casn, anu whitening rldiCuc in assaults upon
the great minister, and finally drove lum from
power But in his biography Of Lord George
Bcnuck ne does amiablr justice to his Old
| political enemy. lic however, in that admir-
able work notes Il detect in the character OF Sir
/ Robert. which shows his strong appreciation
ui HE own most distinguished characteristic
! Imagination He says:
Thus glftcl and thus accomplished, Sir
/ Robert Peel had Il great deficiency; he was
without Imagination. Wanting imagination
he wanted precedence. No one was more sa
! gaCiuus when dealing with the circumstances
| before HIM; no one penetrated the present
with more aCutcnesS ana accuracy. His judg
mcnt was tultlcsS, provided he had not 10
| deal with the future.
| He was so adruIt that he could prolong rcsis
taucc even beyond It's term, hUt SO little fore
seeing that often in the very triumph of his
mnncuyrcs he found himself in an untcnabc
position"
| nisrarll also says OF Peel
"For SO very clever man lac was deficient
/ IN the knowledge of human nature The pros
! porous routine of his youth was not favorable
10 the development OF thus faculty. II was
never his lot To struggle. Although forty years
! in Parliament it is remarkable that Sir Robert
/ Peel never represented popular constituency
, or stood u contested election
/ IL is plain that, IN showing the deficiencies
of Sir Robert, lack of the imaginative faculty
and the knowledge of human nature the 70
mancist and hero OF desperate struggles
against u sea of adverse circumstances feels
that he is trlplc,armrd in both these respects.
When, in 1852, the Earl of Derby Carlc To the
| Premiership, D>raci was made Chancellor OF
the EXChcqucr; he was IA necessity 10 the Tory
administration, and must he ace opted whether
or no. Douglas Jerrold, writing to Il literary
friend Of the event, said:
II must congratulate you on the advent OF
the new Chancellor of the ENcheQuer. The
RI Hon. Benjamin Disrael Is the successful
man of letters lie has ink III his VEINS. The
goosc-quill--lct gold and silver sticks twinkle
as they may-lcads the House OF Commons
But "hc managed the finances as if figures
had always been his forte; and when he pre-
scented the annual budget he displayed Il re
markablc clearness and soundncss that show
ed how careful and effective study he had