New-York tribune., 1885-03-30
NOTES ON BOOKS
HE RuNNyMEDE LETTERs-MARK PATTI
SONS MEMOIRS-BOOK COVERS.

I An aj,nirer and biographer of Lord Beacohsheiu'
MIR. Francis Hitchman, has repuohsheu .ho
Rupnymede Letters bentley a. Co.. WIN al ii,-
troduc,ion and notes They are well worth read
ing, or re-readlng by students OF Engnsn pomso.
or hy ANYBODY who cares for their author iha'
Mr. Dis-aeli was in fact the writer Of these letters
tbcr,, can be little or no doubt He never says MI.
1i,tchman claimed them. but he never disavowed
tllcu Az they were hundred times P"",ots
fmputed TO him during his lifetime and as all nus
contemporaries believed that he wrote them inc
external evidence is sufficient. The internal Is
conclusive IL would be difficult to say VINO except
Mr. Disraeli was capable of producing these singu
lar compositions Ia which polished epigram after
mates with slovenly paradox, SIMPLE good sense
with pompous absurdity. patriotic spirit WIN
savaso hatred of everything not purely partisan
md bigotedly Tory They were published IN ihe
Tymes in 1886 AMI were addressed, for the most
mart 10 various persons who happened to DC AT the
moment objects Of Mr.. Disraers execration OF
nloratlon He was then thirty-one years OLD hao
thrics tried for seat in Parliament and been thflce
defeated had made no figure in literature, had no
fortune and almost no prospect OF politlca
career Why, In such circumstances, did ne fali 10
avow the authorship of letters which made sensa-
tion and which might well have pointed him out
TO the Tory leaders a man worth taxing care oi
Perhaps the ferocity of the invectlve which makes
nany of the letters such dismal reading may supply
an answer He was content to republish them
ANONYMOUSLY in the same year with dedication
10 Sir Robert Peel, and his e1itor thinks IL neces-
sary TO observe that there can be no doubt OF the
sincerity of Mr.. DisraePs attachment to his CHIEF,
ut that time
Invective in those days was weapon which men
used with a freedom now chiefly practlsed oy
Tories like Mr.. James Lowther on Mr. Gladstone;
or ike Lord Randolph Churchill on anybody with
e. Mr.
natural aptitude for vituperation which he Guilt
waited with care and brought to perfection still
later in life The quarrel with O'Connel at
Taunton when Disraeli called the Irisbman a
bloody traitor and the Irishman retorted by
describing Disrael as the heirataw Of the impenl-
tent thief on the cross. had already occurred. In
the dedication to the Letters. Runuymede carries on
the match by referring to OConnel as the vagabond
delegate of a foreign priesthood. Lord John
Russell is " the individual who. on the principle
that good vinegar is the corruDtion of bad wine
has been rnetamorphoscd from an incapable author
into an eminent politician" Elsewhere he figures
as a noble with an historic name and no fortune,
q vast ambition and a balsed career" There are
signs on every page that Dsraeli had beeen an
assidious student of Junius, and bis imitation OF
Juniuss manner, whether conscious or not. is
often as successful as an imitation can well be.
Here is passage on Lord PalmerSton and the
Wings:
The intellectual poverty of that ancient faction
who headed a revolution with which they dld not
sympatbise In order TO possess themselves OF
power which they cannot WELD, was never iEore
sineuarly manifested than when they delivered
the seals of the most important Office III the State to
4 Tory underng.. You owe the wings great
gratitude, my Lord. and therefore think you Will
betTay them
There Is a touch very characteristic Of Dsraeli
himself in the remark still to Lord Palmerston's
address that "yOur lordship may affect to smile.
and settle your cravat if you were arranging your
conscience" SO is the suggestion addressed to
that shallow vOluptuary who is still Prime Min
lister of England" Lord Melbourne: The man who
obtains property by false pretences is sent to
Botany Bay. Is the party that obtains power by
The same means to be saved harmlessY You have
established new colony in Australia; it wants
settlers Let the Cabinet emigrate." Not less
Disraean the conclusion of the Melhonrne letter;
Nv lord let us not part In angeT. Yours is still
gratifying even a great position. Notwithstanding
all your public degradation and all your private
annoyances, that man is surely 10 he enVed VINO
has ii IN his power 10 confer obligation on every
true-heartel Englishman. And this. your Lordshlp
command the gratitude Of every lover Of his
C0untIy you can resign
So constantly do human affairs return to the
same point in their orbit that many and many
passage In these letters roads if 1t were written
with reference to the events of yesterday. Mr..
Disracli changed his opinions often, no doubt and
his conduct more often STILL but such convictions
be had on fundamental matters Of policy, or on
constitutional principles. abode with him to the
last How much difference is there between the
author Of the Letter to tho Duke of Marlborough in
1850, and the writer of such passage as this
the Irish il 1896:
This wild reckless indolent, uncertain and super
etitiOus race have no sympathy with the English
character. Their fair ideal Of human felicity Is an
alf ~ n pl
Their history describes an unbroken circle OF
bigotry aud blood: And now, forsooth, the cry is
Justice to Ireland will best be secured by doing
justice to England. These men cannot he concll-
lated They your foes because they are the foes
OF Epgiand. They hate our free and fertile isle.
They hste our order. our civilization our enterprs-
ing Industry, our unstalned courage our oecorous
liberty, our pure religion
As for the euloges upon the House of Lords
which Runnymede Disrae composed in 1885, they
differ little except in style from those which we
heard from every Tory platform last summer and
autumn. II is, however, a curious example of
Dsraelfs foresight. waut of foresight, that he
should have believed the House Of Lords In 1886
had recovered its ancient authority Because the
Peers threw out number of bills which had passed
the House of Commons. Disraeli thought the English
Constitution had rallied from the shock Of 1S32
Nay the event in his estimation 81 not inferior
in its beneficial influence on the fortunes of the
county to Magma Charta ITSELF" which only
proves once more what nonsense a clever partisan
may permit himself to talk And not little odd is
il to be told that scarcely hired writer would
have the front at this day to pretend that differ
ence of opinion between the two Houses Of Parlia-
ment is collision between the Peers and the
People" No phrase was more common six months
ago in the mouths of writers and speakers, hired
not The Lords and the Commons. said Runnymede.
are both. alike and equally. representative of the
A.l uan fI,of tha