The sun., 1880-12-05

and bnfflcd by tho aspect oil realism, cOupled
with tho absence OF vitality, exhibited oy the
persons Of tho tale. The fact ID that most OF
them givo us upon close scrutiny the impress
sion OF mechanical photographs or wax-work
fac Smiles OF beings once alive. but now, to all
intents and purposes. defunct. Our intellect
accepts tho fact OF their historical existence. but
our imagination docs not recognize them as
living breathing things We do not share their
emotions. kindle with their hopes. thrill with
their loves. droop with their sorrows, as we do
for those palpitatlng figures warmed and quick
ened by tho hand OF truly creative genius. In a
word tho cold inert eclectic realism exhibited
in "Endymon" Is. to tho animated. glowing
profound verify OF such m artist as George
Eliot. what a plaster cast reproducing n mans
very lineaments would DO to a portrait OF the
same face by Velasuuez. We cannot bring our
solves to care much about tho persons encoun-
tercd in this novel, except so far rs one OF them
is supposed in some respects to porsonato the
author. or ns others are identified with people
holding intimate or important relations to Mr..
Disraeli. or with men and women OF mark In
the social and political history OF this century.
To say that n novelist IL deficient in the power
not only OF construction but Of characterization
also. II the latter word DO used In high. croa-
tive sonse, would in nine cases out OF ten efTec-
tually dispose Of his claims to serious attention
When we add that Endymion" and It's COM
pnnion narratives are seldom enlivened by the
jocund. sly. or cynical humor in which the
works OF Dickens Thackeray. and Bret Harte
are so rich. ii might seem at first sight that the
process OF elimination had left behind little OF
substantial value. This however. would be n
grave mistake. Lord Beaconsneld's experience
has been so wide and his natural astuteness Of
intellect has cooperated with circumstances to
generate such n fund of worldly wisdom. that
his novels aside from their photographed
interest constitute q vast and incom-
parable treasury of useful information
and sngo suggestion. They will prove
more helpful to the future student Of the later
Georgian and Victorian eras even than suoh
books as Greville's memoirs. for the authors
opportunities were far greater. and have been
turned to very much better account, than
Greville's. Indeed. we soc no reason why
Lord Beaconsfeds social studies. taken col
lectivey. should not be looked upon hereafter
as presenting @ no less comprehensive and
Trustworthy tableau Of London society in the
nineteenth century than Balzacs Comedie HUI
maine is supposed to offer for the Paris OF
the Restoration. On the score OF authenticity.
indeed. fcw persons would dream OF contesting
the superior authority OF the English writer.
for although the naive studdm OF the Quarter
Latin deems 1t pertinent and profitable to ex-
plore Paris in the pages OF Balzac. there are
those who smile at his credulty.
While Lord Beaconsneld has much TO tell US
he tells 1t in a singularly lucid and effective
way. Ho can scarcely be credited with wit. and
what might pass for wit in his writings lacks
the flash, II not the sting; but he has a gift of
fashioning compact and memorable sentences
in which the neatness Of the phrase lends wings
to the apt matter. His descriptive style in " En-
dymion" and Lothair" is free. for the most
part, from the artificial. euphemistic tinge con-
spicuous in the earlier novels. 1t seems spon-
taneous and impersonal. 1t has q limpid cur
rent OF its own, which recalls the fluent. gentle
murmur OF discourse in q drawing room. The
obvious superiority Of the present book In this
respect over " Coningsby" attests how rigorous
a revision the author must have lately given
it, If 1t be. as we suppose, q work whose
first draught was made at least thirty years ago.
When. on the other hand. the flow OF descrip-
ton is interrupted by comment or colloquy. the
writer's thought perpetually tends to cast itself
in laconic. pithy. epigrammatic form, bright
ened with fit metaphor and pointed with not too
far fetched antithcsis. This. OF course. was al
ways a distinguishing feature OF Disrneli's die
ton. whether in his literary work or in his spo-
ken utterance. But We think that more crisp
sayings could be culed from Endymion"
than from any Of his previous publications.
His judgments on men and things are less ire-
duently couched. as we have said. in tones OF
sneer and sarcasm. but the irony. perhaps. is
not less mordapt because it is less palpable.
1t is natural enough that the reader should
try to identify the characters that figure in this
story with this or that parsonage in real life.
since this species OF mechanical reproduction
has always been Disraeli's forte and is. indeed.
the only kind OF realism which wo have learned
to expect from him. Nor is il often difficult to
discern whom the author has in mind in
sketching particular portrait. so far as the
physical. mental. and moral traits are con-
cerned. although he almost always seeks to
foil and disconcert the inQuisitive eye by some
Glsring incongruity OF circumstance. Endy-
mion himself, for instance. from q pychologi-
cal point OF view. presents many obvious points
| OF likeness. II not to what young Disraeli was,
| yet TO what Lord Beaconsfeld would have us
| think he was. Nothing. however could be more
| ludicrously irreconciable with the facts OF the
authors career than certain events in the life oil
'Endymion," ;" such as his successi ively holding
the relation OF brother n-law to Lord Palmers-
| ton and Louis Napoleon. II we except the irrel-
| evancy OF some incidents. tho delneation OF
| Palmerston under the name OF Lord Roehamp-
| ton. seems, on the whole. more faithful and
| complete than any OF the other attempts at pho
| Biography. although the features Of the WhiG
| leader are q good deal relned. and nobody
would guess that in real life Lord Rochnmpton
could be popularity known by tho sobriquet o!
Pam" The recognition OF Lord Melbourne
behind the mask OF Lord Montfort appears to us
q manifest blunder. There is scarcely any
thing in the public or private life of Melbourne
which finds a counterpart in the description
OF Montfort. nor anything in his personal char.
acter. except possibly The listlessncss which in
Melbourne's case was affected, and never, as
matter OF fact. hindered him from dis
charging official business, Neither can Mont
fort possibly be meant for Lord Nor.
manly though 1t is certain that Lady
Montfort can be no other than the Mar.
chioness OF Normandy. the heroine OF thC
| famous question de trpons. That so great
dame as Lady Normandy should. at a latel
81 no.