The Russellville Democrat., 1881-05-26
CEAC0NSFIELD.
Eccentricities Noticed During the Life of The Great Leader.
 Inndnn Hnr Rnstnn Hnrnld

Eccentricities Noticed During the Life of
 The Great Leader.
 London Cor. Boston Herald.
 There is d rumor current grayefy SUD- ported in some well-informed quarters that he is much older than is general ly believed-that he is 80 or upward. l cannot trace this report to any authori> tatiye source, but it falls in with the pop. ular attitude toward Beaconsfeld-a tendency to believe in whatsoever is extTavagant or partly miraculous con ceruing him; to look upon him as a sort of thaumaturgist and Arian mystery, the Wandering Jew, perhaps. His as- pect in these latter years was extraordi- nary. kind of dried and preserved look; ho trace of the strange and vivid beauty that Willis remarked in the youthful Disr8eG. 1 remember seeing him drive cut of Charing Cross station on his re- turn from the Berlin conference two or three years ago. He was yellow, parch meuty, furrowed the obliquity of his eyes were marked; altogether q super cilious, or aridiy superior air. He wore a light overcoat and black hat, and he paid no attention to the applausive clamors of the populace. He sat on the Ultk staL Ol lilG CHEllhEt. AlH lHt lIOLl seat sat the marquis of Salisbury, accept ing that inferior position with what grace he might. The spectacle was typ ical of the iEdomitable Jews conquest of the ost stiff necked aristoeracy in the world. But Lord Salisbury had, about that time given evidence of vio- lent and cynical interruptions sort ot ability, and, if Beaconstield had died that year, 1t is not unlikely that Sails bury might have succeeded him as lead CT of the conservative party. He can not hope to fill that position now. The general estimate Of bis ability has di- unfinished, while the perception of his political dishonesty and general rancor ousness has daily clarified. InquiriDg among intelligent conservatives. l can find only dlsmay and blankness as re, gards their future chief. Lord Cairns, a persistent and sarcastic lawyer, is suge gested by some, and he has done bis best to improve his prospects by his late elab- crate attack upon the Candahar policy oi the government. But what is Lord Cairns compared to the author of "Viv- ian Gray" and "Endvmion ?" It is q case of "elipse first, and the rest nowhere"
 Beaconstield is the ruling topic on all sides, and every one has his say about
 
 his cynieism and apparently reckless au- while he was still plain Dlsraeli, he was at large dinner, where his wife also was present an excellent lady, but not distinguished for outward attraction. It happened that her next neighbor at the table was Bemel Osborne, and, after the ladies had withdrawn, the latter { who has the manners of city cabman) broke out in loud voice: Good God, Dl ra. eli how on earth did you csme to marry that woman {" Hereupon ensued an ap- palled hush. All eyes were fixed upon Disraeli. At length he said, with his quiet, frigid drawl: Partly for one reason, which you, Osborne, are incapa- ble of understanding-grat This completely crushed the vivacious Os- borne, and was, moreover, fresh Illus tration of Dsraeli's supercllious courage, for his wiie's fortune had been of para mount service to him, and smaller man would have hesitated publicly to acknowledge so heavy an indebtedness. But, indeed, he seemed to enjoy laying himself open to attacks, as if for the ex- press purpose of showing that blows which would have annihilated ordinary men were but as the stroke of feather to him. Thus, when T. P. O'Connor's life" of him was published few years ago, full of the most terrible regulations as to Disraeli's political inconsistencies and tergiversations, the latter replied to friend who sought him to make some contradiction to these damaging asser- tions: But they're so true, my dear fellow-they're so true P What is one to make of such an antagonist as this Robert Browning has another character istic anecdote of him. At the banquet If the Royal academy in 1 think 1877, Disraeli electrified his audience by de- liberaiely praising the English artists for their imagination--a virtue which even the most ardent of their eulogists had never before thought of crediting them with. However, the assembly swallow ed the compliment, gasped, and wonder ed what manner of wild bird imagina- tion might be. An hour or SO later NIT. Browning met the great statesman stroll 'ing about the gallery and inspecting the pictures with his eyeglasses. "Wnat l especially notice ia these things" he re- marked, turning to the poet, Sis the total ab ence of the imaginative culty which they exhibit" "Now, what can have been the object of that?" Mir. Browning pertinently inquiries, after telling the story. But it is just this sort of cyni. cism which has gwen Disraeli much of his influence over the stolid, ulimagin- aiive race amld which his lot has been so strangely cast. After all, he has been great man, gifted with the strongest personal fascination. By the way, l saw last week, portrait of him by Millais, begun just before his illness. Only two sttines had been obtained, but there is the sallow, pungent face, thin black locks, black hair~tuft beneath the chin, exaggerated sailence of under lip, refined Aqneline (not Jewish ] nose, capacious forehead and extraordinary eye, like no other eye ever seen. The pose is nearly profile; an indication of the lank slightly bowed, black-coated figure per vading the picture.