The Washington herald., 1912-12-08
BY A. ID. JACOBSON.

ny A. Ds JASobSON.
THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN DIsRAELI, Earl
OF BEAC0NSFTEID: By William Flayelli
Mnypenny. Volume H. The Macmillan Com
pany, New York.
The first volume of this biography
while concerned with triumphs of a kind
left the hero on the threshold of his real
career. "Disraeli Expectant'' one might
have called that volume, and in a similar
phrase ''Disraelf Militant might be the
title of this for it begins with his Par
liamentary debut in 1887, and ends with
the overthrow of Peel in 1876 Disraeli S
most thrilling years lie within this period.
We see him arriving at the house pre-
Ceded by his reputation as an affected
dandy, an audaCious novelist, and a Jew
a person provocative and sensational
enough. but not to be taken seriously by
any one; and We see him at the end as
the keen parliamentarian and debater.
the master of every subject on which he
spoke, the most dangerous antagonist in
the House of Commons. and the virtual
leader of the aristocratic party, in spite
Of his alien and obscure origin.
The account of ten years parliamentary
fighting may not seem to promise much,
but Disraelis story is a romance in all
its chapters. His whole life was one
great adventure, and his personality a
AeANl NlldN OulDlu even Ills ONH LNNlOL- L ilS
famous maiden speech of 1887 is typical
of the sort of thing that happened to
him. We are all familiar with Disraeli' 5
breakdown when delivering his first
speech in the House of Commons. In
deed. most parliamentarians have made
a poor show in their first enedavor'-thus
wrote the reviewer Of a parliamentary
volume. AS a matter of fact, II is to-
tally wrong. Disraeli did not break down:
=
temptuously hostile to the foreign-look-
ing dandy with his egregiOus garments
and affected manners; but the real OPP
position came from the Irish.
During DizZys unsuccessful campaign
al Taunton in 1885, there had been a vio-
lent quarrel between him and O'Connell
resulting in the sending II a challenge
to O'Connell's son. The opposition was
his salvation. He was on the verge of
committing one of those blunders that
are worse than crimes. Dizzy had a
reputation. He was a sort of blend of
Chesterton. Oscar Wilde, and D'Orsay;
and he had gone to the house prepared to
be brilliant, witty, and paradoXiCaL His
first speech was TO have been a com
pendulum of all possible literary airs and
dandiacal graces; and, had he been al
lowed to deliver it, his failure would have
been abysmal.
to take the house by storm without Civ
ing It time to become accustomed TO the
peculiarities of his manner Il am too
far out of the world to know anything
that is in it." wrote his father, but l
am always fearful that theatrica graces
will not do for the English Commons.
Your own observation of what is about
you must be your Instructor.
The unfair turbulence Of his enemies
lid hut haH
created a feeling in his favor: and when
he next addressed the house ION the sub
ject of copyright the result was very
different.
Turn We now to the romance of his
marriage. Lady Bea consfield used to de-
clare that Dizzy married her for her
money. but that If he had the chance
again he would marry her for love. That
calculation entered into his alliance with
a lady twelve years his senior. the widow
of his old colleague in the representa-
tion of Maidstone, is not to be denied:
but that motives other than mercenary
also were potent in inducing him to sur
render his sweet liberty and that indefi-
mite future which is one Of the charms
OF existence" is equally evident. Dizzy
knew exactly how Mrs. Wyndham Lewis
was left, and that her fortune was far
less than the world supposed. There are
the impassioned-not to say melOdramatic
love letters printed in this volume; and
chief fact of all, there is the complete
felicity Of their married life. Nothing in
the meridian of his glory became him so
well as the firmness with which he ex-
acted homage and respect from all to
the old lady who loved and believed in
him.
Every scrap of paper touched by his
pen became sacred to her. and was hoard
ID as a treasure. The troublesome period
Of his debut over Dizzy soon became a
valuable member of the Tory Opposition,
and contributed more almost than any
man TO the downfall Of the Wings and
he triumph of Peel. The latter had been
particularly friendly to the new member,
and when the government was being
formed Disraeli naturally hoped for
some recognition. None came: no one
seems to known why.
A more likely story is that Of the late
Lord HOughton, to the effect that the
real impediment was Stanley, who de- |
,lared that If the 'scOundrer were taken /
INTO the government he would go out of /
it," That Stanley disliked Disraeli in |
tensely at this time is notorious and |
renders the subsequent alliance between !
the hated Jew and the Rupert Of de- /
bate" against Peel himself all the more
1iquant. The fact remains thai Peel en-
irely ignored DisraeH and that both /
Dizzy and his wife each wrote to the /
prime minister begging for some recog- /
litiOn.
The most delightful feature of Mr /
volume is the anthology he .
las deftly made Of Disraelis own |
speeches, letters, and memoranda. Thus, |
II a special sense Dizzy is the hero Of |
his own biography. and what is best in |
lim can be admired without respect to /
party. No one was more genuinely con-
.erned with that problem of problems,
he condition of the poor. and his sup
,ort of the agricultural interest is due
o his hatred of the crimes committed in
he name of commerce. To the end there
we're always two DisraeIis, the Radical
Who stood for WyCombe. and the Tory
who sat for Shrewsbury. Some things
,elong TO political bedfellowship, but hats
III to the man who wrote "Sybil"
SCIENTIFIC sPRAGUE: By Francis Lynde.
Charles scribnsrs Sons. New York.
government chemist with an inclina-
ion TO indulge in detective work Scien-
ific Sprague. performs valient service in
aving the Red Butte Western Rail-
Dad from wreck by the big interests in
Iew York. His adventures are set forth
n half dozen stories that are loosely
eld together by reason of having for
haTacters a very interesting company
Noodrow Wi1S0o