New-York tribune., 1903-04-25
LORD BE4CONSFIELD.
Il Portrait of Him by Mr.. Bryce.

watch the shifting currents OF its opinions Is
very different matter from knowing the HOUSE
Of Commons" and he goes on TO observe tii"'
.andeed the two kinds Of knowledge are In a
x,.,s,re ,,ronnnatihle" Nevertheless. Mr.
Bryce himself seems to possess just this ouai
equipment for the discussion of public men anu
affairs The present volume is in nothing iiio'e
interesting than in its broad atmosphere "hioh
is that of really liberal thought and of SYM
pathy which ena bles the author to do justice 10
every aspect Of his subject Twenty OF MT
rrvce.e contemporaries are commemorated In
his pages the list opening with Lord Beacons-
field and closing with Mr.. Gladstone 1hese
historic rivals separated IN the pooA o'
other statesmen. such as the Earl OF iooesieis"'
Charles Stewart ParneH and Robert Love-
Tvr,rchr,en like Dean Stanley and Archbishop
TAFT: authors like Anthony Trollope. John hlch-
ard Green, and E. A Freeman All OF thein'
except Lord Beaconsfeld." says MT. Bryce
speaking of these men, were personally ana
most Of them intimately, known to me- All oi
them he portrays in clear and forcioie stSie
that places them very vividly before u.s. put
o6dIv enough IL is with the exception noted In
tie sentence Just reproduced that he is most
successful The long essay on LORD beacoiS-
field is by all odds the best thing in the Dook'
Perhans one reason why Mr. Bryce is so pc
cuiiariy interesting in his treatment OF Dlsraeh
IS that TO this day the latter is a figure more
ambiguous than any othe~ in the history OF 'he
Victorian era, and therefore more provocative
10 curtositv. Writing of Gladstone, for example
Mr. Bryce has only had TO follow lines thor-
oughiy familiar TO his reader; he has been able
TO move across ground nearly every foot OF
which has been crossed and recrossed by scores
ns commentators It is doubtful If Mr. Morley
himself in that official biography upon which
he has been so long engaged, VIII nave "heh nc
publishes II next fall, many. II any. surprises
70 offer his readers. Mr.. Bryce gives US no sur
prises in his essay on Lord Beaconsheid- Ii any
revelations are to be made concerning hihi'
Lord Rowton is probably the only authoritative
source TO look to for them, and ne renalhS
silent But Mr. Bryce has in Lord beacons-
field a theme in the treatment of which he must
necessarily trust TO instinct alone: he mas q
character TO dissect which Is still a mystery
and 50 he leaves in this work impression OF
freshness of lively personal feeling, Of some
thing piquant and suggestive. We feel this the
moment we come to the question OF Dlsraeh
racial origin. over which many writer ldooI-
ing under a mistaken conception OF tact, WouIo
be disposed quickly to glide. Mr.. Bryce makes
much OF it, and for good reason. ITO lay stress
on the fact that Mr. Disraen was Of Hebrew
BIRTH" he says. lis not, though some of his po-
iiticai antagonists stopped so to use II, to cast
fact Of the utmost Importance for a proper COM
prehension of his position" Briefly traversins
the salient characteristics of the race. he points
out that Disraen had three Of them in full
measure, detachment intensity. the passion
for material success" and never have we seen
the statesman's exploitation Of those character
istics in the development Of his career more
Justly or more eloquently elucidated than in
this essay.
This extraordinary man was essentially an on
locker upon life. from the beginning to the end,
but with the intensity that in IFS blood II
vas impossible for him TO sit still he watched
the social and political spectacle spread before
MIN in the English capital The thirst for
power and fame gave him no rest He must
gain what he say every one around him strug-
Cling for" MI Bryce thinks he might have
been a great satirist, but he resolved to pursue
statecraft. For such a career" says his critic,
his Hebrew detachment gave him some emf
nent ADVANTAGES It enabled him to take
cooler and more scientific view Of the social and
political phenomena he had to deal with. He
was not led astray by party cries. He did not
share vulgar prejudices. He calculated the
forces at work as an engineer calculates the
strength Of his materials the strain they have
20 bear from the wind, and the weights they
must support And what he had to plan was
not the success Of the cause. which might de-
pend on thousand things of his KEN but
his own success, a simpler matter" From his
early novel, "Vivian Grey material for such a
conception Of character as this is easily to be
drawn, and Vivian Grey almost uncannily
<oreshadowed his actual career We have
spoken Of MIR. Bryce his critic We use the
word advisedly. for If there is absolutely moth
ing OF personal rancour political pGrti pTis
made manifest in these pages, 1t is obviously
T-z1 a4-1ra 70
accept, with complaisance all the elements in
Disraeirs fantastic composition. It is one OF the
great charms Of this writer that he brings. con-
seiousiy or unconsciousy. a moral touchstone
70 the analysis Of any problem OF life and char
acter; and therefore Il IS not surprising TO find
hi. account OF Lord Beaconsffeld constantly
marked by signs Q: certain uneasiness
IN his presence, the uneasiness OF man
who admire the greatness Of another
but cannot blink his defects. He was OF
those strong natures" he says, who permit
neither persons nor principles to stand in their
way" and all through this essay kept
in mind OF the fact that Disraeli had a cold
heart, that he man of pride and anbi-
ton in whom those forces left room for
tain nober sentiments such love Of truth
and mankind. He did realize the part of
the power Of moral forces" we are told. and
he is not presented aiming in his work at
anything like a great moral ideal Among his
few anecdotes Mr. Bryce gives one which he had
from John Bright, who with Disraeli one
night IN the cloakroom OF the House Of Com
mons early in the political life OF the latter
after ALL he said to Bright. what is it that
brings you and here? Famei This is the
true arena I might have occupied literary
throne: but I have renounced IL for this career"
The spirit in which Disraeli sought fame Mr..