New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-23
DISRAELI.
AIR. FROUDE'S ESTIMATE

,;tI, a. The Oueers Prime Ministers" is opened by
this study OF the Earl OF Beaconsheid oy MI
Froude What the latter he's to say upon any SUI
;ect ;s sure 10 be interesting whether or not VIC
acree with him, and his subject this time is so eng
matical that almost every conceivaole We" mas
hoo, taken of il. On one or TWO points ohls
hove tho more careful critics been in accord All
ocrce that the Hebraism OF Dpsraeii counted lor
more than his English birth in the line OF de-
velopmeut taken by his character. All asee
that notwithstanding his clevcrnesS he was never
able 70 look at English Interests ana Ehgis"
nolitics as an Englishman would. Beyond these
points everything concerning the man mas pee"
disnu,ed Mr.. Froude, however, is unquestionably
r,obt when he asserts that criticism OF Dsraens
right 10 the political preferment he won involves
. challenge of that House Of Commons in and
throuob which all his triumphs were secured.
In that chamber his political career was passed.
That Chamber elevated him to the Premiership
II be was indeed the adventurer the charlatan
bjc enemies alleged, what must have been the
character of the House that accepted him as its
leader.
Yet that Disraeli was really an ADVENTURE IS
not to be seriously denied; and though MI
Froude seems rather to admire the method nothlng
in his whole career is more significant in this con-
nection than the way he began his Parliamentary
course He was deeply in debt, and he made q
ejaculation of his Parliamentary possibilities, DIS
creditors sustaining him on The understanding
that il lie won prize they were TO be paid WIN
interest II has been said, and may be again.
that his marriage was mercenary. by weddihg
rich widow he secured pecuniaYy independence
which was of vital Importance TO him. Blu no
student of this strange paradoxical parsonage can
hope to he able to establish any consistent theory
and a.
the theorizer encounters the fact that Disraeli
was continually doing and saying Things eini
nenty calculated to injure his political prospects
things Of which no mere adventurer couiu NC
supposed capable In fine, it is necessary to check
his politics by his novels, and vice-Versa' anu
when this has been done carefully as possible
IL still remains impracticable to say with any
confidence what manner of man this was. MI
Froude believes that he had used Alterations Tor
various purposes so much that affectatlon came 10
be ingrained In his nature. II may be So Ger
tain]y he had q strong tendency to masquerade,
and il showed itself from his youth. Certainly
moreover. he possessed a thoroughly Oriental love
of glare and gitter of splendid ostentation, OF
gaudy externals and this manifested Itself alike
when, as a young man, his coxcompry In dress
caused him to be ridicued, and when, IN mature
life he sought to dazzle the eyes Of the world by
his sham peace with honor and undertook to
increase the prestige of his royal mistress by dub
bing her Empress of India
| With this strong appreciation Of show and par
| able and melodrsma, however, there went deep
| cynicsm a cynicsm deep that 1t seems 10
| have killed in him all temper more equaDlc
| man perhaps never breathed. Capable OF saying
the bitterest and keenest things IN debate, he
! spoke always without malice, and almost, IL
might be said, without feeling. There was IN
his GOODNESS and apparent indifference much TO
reinforce the general belief in his nnEngllsh dis
position: but to the more observing his attitude
often suggested that of Mephistopheles, sneering
| at the fcllies and vices Of mankind. and making
use of them for his own ends at the same time
Disraeli was, nevertheless, full Of contradictions
| Thus there is no doubt that this cynic really
cherished strong illusions In regard TO the egen-
Grafton Of England and the reform OF politics
| Mr. Froude intimates a doubt whether his opposi-
ton to the repeal Of the Corn Laws and the open
ing of all the food-gates OF Free Trade can TO-
day be set down as the blunder it was assumed
TO be half century ago. For says the astute
bioqrspber it is quite obvious that meny OF the
predictions of Golden and his followers have been
curiously falsifed. One Of the strongest incent
ives TO Free Trade was the consideration that al
the rest of the world would be driven to folio"
| England In adopting polcy. -No", 100
| of the world has not followed England. On thu
contrary tariff systems are more general thai
ever. and more rigid. Disraeli opposed the Re
form bill when it proposed but small extension
OF the suffrage, and he made Reform his owl
measure when it involved a sweeping change Il
is impossible TO reconcile his action here with
any view Of consistent principle. In 1867 ht
was in fact an Opportunist But then all poll
tics in England had become Opportunist'
In the opinion OF Mr.. Froude. who, it mus
be said. sometimes seasons his comments will
fine old Tory flavor, the extension of the sufrag
was a mere demagogue trick, and there has beer
nothing but dcmagogue trickery since, Mr. Glad
stones disesta bshment OF the Irish Church bein!
one of the most notable examples of the kind
This has bearing upon Disraeli, however, 70
his course in 1867 sufficiently proves his willing
ness TO surrender any principle for the sake o
power When after long years Of Opposition h
found himself in power, and for the first tim
had an opportunity Of showing what was in him
it must be confessed that he did not produce an,
great policy. His curious fondness for the Turks
indeed, led him to the brink Of a great war witt
, Russia, and his eXtricaton rather a piec
of legerdemain than of craftsmanship, as tn
event proved. The purchase of the Suez Cana
shares WAS, perhaps. the most fruitful of his off
cial acts For the rest, Mr.. Froude observe
that no man of so much eminence in many way
has left so little mark his generation. II tn
I truly great man is he who has done or produces
, something of permanent value to HUMANITY
this high sense Of the word Lord Besconsfleld car
not be called great, either as of letters or
o statesman lie had tried, as young man, t
rouse the chivalry and pride Of the English NJ
bility, "and il the young generation to whor
he appealed would have gone along with him h
might have led q nobler crusade than Occur d
, Lion. But it was not in him to tread thorn
path with insufficient companionshp" Thus
was that perhaps no public man in England eve
rose so high and acquired power SO great S
little OF whose work has survived him.
! What, then, were his virtues and strong quail
ties, and how did he gain his end Let us hes
what Mr.. Froude says this Disraeli said {
> Peel that he was the greatest Member OF Parli,