330 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Wondrous Tale of Alroy," anil " Henrietta Tem- 

 ple." Ho wrote also the "Rise of lskander,"a 

 Vindication of the British Constitution," and 

 an epic, ridiculing revolutions, which was uni- 

 versally considered a failure. After visiting 

 Italy and Greece, and extending his trav. 

 Turkey and Syria, he returned to England to 

 find the country involved in the. Reform Hill agi- 

 tation. He entered into politics with great zeal, 

 at first taking the radical side; cont>--tii:_- tin- 

 borough of Wycombe in 1882, and again in 

 1835, against the Conservative or Tory candi- 

 dates, he was in both cases unsuccessful ; but 

 in April of the hitter year he contested Taun- 

 ton, on the Conservative side, against Mr. La- 

 boucherc, with no better success. In 1887 he 

 was invited by the Conservatives to stand for 

 Maidstone, having Mr. Wyndham Lewis for a 

 colleague. On this occasion he was elected ; 

 but his precipitation in addressing the House 

 of Commons, his outre manner, and extrava- 

 gant gestures, brought upon him the laughter 

 and ridicule of the House, which so discon- 

 certed him that he sat down, but not without 

 uttering the remarkable prophecy, "I have 

 begun many things several times, and have 

 often succeeded at last. I shall sit down now, 

 but the time will come when you will hear me." 

 In 1888 Mr. Wyndham Lewis died, and in the 

 following year Disraeli married the relict of 

 his late colleague, thereby acquiring consider- 

 able property. At the general election in 1841 

 he did not seek the suffrages ofhis former con- 

 stituents, but obtained a seat for Shrewsbury. 

 He had up to this time supported Sir Robert 

 Peel, but when that statesman avowed himself 

 a convert to free trade Mr. Disraeli opposed 

 him, ami, having already attained a consider- 

 able influence in Parliament, he became the 

 leader of the " Young England party," 

 servative organization, composed mainly of the 

 landholders and landed aristocracy. His de- 

 nunciation of Sir Robert's change of views wag 

 scathing, for ho had already become a master 

 of brilliant and polished invective, but, though 



orgy and eloquence excited great 1 

 in his party, and saved it more than once from 

 utter rout and defeat, they did not avail to 

 overthrow the measures or the administration 

 of the Whigs. 



On the death of Lord George Bcntinok, in 

 1848. Misraeli --mvcoded to the leadership of 

 the Protectionist party in the Commons, and 

 in the yenr following called the attention of 

 Parliament to the burden* on land and the de- 

 pression of the agricultural interest. He bore 

 generous testimony to the political consistency 

 and private worth of his predecessor in hU 

 "Lord George Bentinck : a Biography," which 

 had an extended circulation. In 1852, the 

 Earl of Derby, having undertaken thcconstrnr- 

 tion of a cabinet, offered him the port of Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer. His second budget, 

 in 1 -:,:;. f.iled to find acceptance with the 

 of Commons, and, the Government be- 

 ing outvoted upon it, the Derby cabinet ceased 



to exist Disraeli resumed the undisputed 

 leadership in the Lower House, and was again 

 summoned, in 1858 to fill the post of Chaiicel- 

 lor of the Exchequer in the second administrii- 

 tion of the Earl of Derby. In 1859 he intro- 

 duced, on the part of the Government, a ii 

 nre of parliamentary reform which, i 

 thrown out, was followed by the resignation 

 of the Government. In 1866, after dl 

 guisbing himself by brilliant assaults upon the 

 policy of the Paliiierston minis-try. ; 

 lor the third time Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 in the ministry formed again by the Karl of 

 Derby. He was mainly instrumental in carry- 

 ing an important measure of electoral reform, 

 and in March, 18118, on the retirement of the 

 Earl of Derby, became Premier of England. 

 He now offered in the House an ineffectual 

 .mcc to the movement for the disestab- 

 li.-hnicnt of the Irish Church, but refused to 

 resign, and awaited the approaching elections 

 for the popular verdict. These took place in 

 November, and gave the Liberals a majority 

 of about 112. \\itlioutwaiting for the assem- 

 bling of Parliament, the usual course. Disradi 

 tendered his own resignation and that of his 

 colleagues, December 2, 1868, and was suc- 

 ceeded by Mr. Gladstone. lie declined a 

 peerage, but his wife was created Countess 

 of Beacont-field. He pursued in regard to the 

 Gladstone ministry the parliamentary tactics 

 of an opposition leader, assailing its Irish ] olicy, 

 and availing himself of every blunder it made 

 to indulge in scathing criticism. On the 15th 

 of December, 1872, his wife, who was some 

 fifteen years his senior, died; his married lite 

 had been happy, and this bereavement clicitid 

 many testimonies of sympathy. Since he lias 

 Ken in Parliament he has written "Conings- 

 by," "Sybil," "Tancrcd," and, more recently, 

 "Lothair," novels in which politics, social 

 question!, and fiction, are curiously but not un- 

 successfully mingled. He is said to b:.ve 1 < en 

 engaged for some time past on another novel 

 of somewhat similar character. In March, 

 1878, when Mr. Gladstone resigned, Mr. I Is- 

 raeli attempted in vain to organize a cabinet, 

 and was under the necessity of consenting to 

 the resumption of power by Mr. Gladstone. 

 When Parliament was dissolved by proclama- 

 tion. January 24, 1874, Mr. Disraeli was very 

 bitter in his denunciations of the Liberals, de- 

 claring it a trick and an outrage, though he 

 had pursued the same course five years before. 

 This time, however, he seems to have experi- 

 enced no great difficulty in forming a cabinet, 

 though the Conservative majority of only 

 about fifty, and many of them not especially 

 friendly to him, indicates the possibility of a 

 brief lease of power. Mr. Disraeli is. however, 

 so audacious, so fertile in resources, and so 

 skillful in forcing upon his party even ultra 

 measures of reform, if they can thereby gain a 

 longer tenure of power, that no man cnn con- 

 fidently predict cither his measures or the du- 

 ration of his administration. 



