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DISEAELI, BENJAMIN. 



ceived his education at home, from his father, 

 and from private tutors. An intimate friend 

 of his father, an eminent solicitor, who had 

 a great practice, and no son of his own, wished 

 to make Benjamin the heir of his business, and 

 took him into his office for a time. But the 

 young Disraeli did not like the life of a lawyer, 

 and was not ambitious of success in that di- 

 rection. He therefore abandoned the solici- 

 tor's office, with its brilliant prospect of wealth 

 and reputation, and devoted himself to litera- 

 ture. His personal beauty, refined manners, 

 and remarkable powers of conversation, soon 

 made him a favorite in society. 



At the age of nineteen he visited Germany, 

 and on his return to England published, in 

 1826-'27, his famous novel " Vivian Grey," the 

 chief characters in which were faithful pict- 

 ures of himself, and of persons well known 

 in English society. The originality, vivacity, 

 and wit of this book gave it great celebrity, 

 and it was translated into the principal lan- 

 guages of Europe. It is said, by several of his 

 biographers, that at this period he was made 

 editor of a daily paper called " The Represent- 

 ative; " but this is not true. In 1828 he pub- 

 lished, in one volume, " The Voyage of Captain 

 Popanilla,"agay and good-humored but flimsy 

 satire, which met with little success. The 

 next year he commenced an extended tour in 

 Italy, Greece, Albania, Syria, Egypt, and Nu- 

 bia, and returned in 1831. Shortly afterward 

 he published his second fashionable novel, 

 " The Young Duke," and in the following year 

 another novel, " Contarini Fleming, a Psycho- 

 logical Autobiography," which Heinrich Heine 

 pronounced to be "one of the most original 

 works ever written," and which received high 

 praise from Goethe, and from Beckford, the 

 author of "Vathek." Its subject is the de- 

 velopment of the poetical nature, and it con- 

 tains brilliant sketches of Italy, Spain, Greece, 

 Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. The author 

 himself has said of it recently, " It would have 

 been better if a subject so essentially psycho- 

 logical had been treated at a more mature 

 period of life." At this time Disraeli made his 

 first attempt to enter Parliament. He pre- 

 sented himself to the electors of High Wy- 

 corabe, Buckinghamshire, near his father's resi- 

 dence, as a Tory-Radical, and was defeated by 

 the Whig candidate. In December, 1834, he 

 was again defeated in Wycombe. He next ap- 

 peared in May, 1835, at Taunton, as a thorough- 

 going Conservative. It was on this occasion 

 that, when charged by somebody in the crowd 

 with " O'Connellism," he called the great Irish 

 agitator a "bloody traitor;" to which Mr. 

 O'Connell made the retort, " For aught I know, 

 the present Disraeli is the true heir-at-law of 

 the impenitent thief who died on the cross." 

 Disraeli challenged O'Connell's son, Morgan 

 O'Connell, who had taken up^fe-father's quar- 

 rel; but the challenge was not accepted. 



In the mean while Disraeli wrote and pub- 

 lished several books. " The Wondrous Tale of 



Alroy," an Oriental romance of extraordinary 

 eloquence and power, depicting the adventures 

 of a prince of the house of David, who, in the 

 twelfth century, proclaimed himself the Mes- 

 siah, and called the Jews of Persia to arms, 

 appeared in 1833, accompanied by " The Rise 

 of Iskander," a tale founded on the revolt of 

 the famous Scanderbeg against the Turks in 

 the fifteenth century ; a political pamphlet en- 

 titled " What is He ? " in 1834, in which he tried 

 to explain his political views ; " The Revolution- 

 ary Epic," and "The Crisis Examined," in the 

 same year ; and a " Vindication of the English 

 Constitution," in 1835. In 1836 he published a 

 series of letters in the London Times, under the 

 signature of "Runnymede," which were read 

 with great interest on account of their remarka- 

 ble wit and sarcasm. Toward the close of the 

 same year he published a love story, " Henrietta 

 Temple; " and in the spring of 1837 appeared 

 " Venetia," a novel, in which he portrayed the 

 characters and appearance of Lord Byron and 

 Percy Bysshe Shelley. At last he achieved 

 the great object of his ambition. In the first 

 Parliament of the reign of Victoria, being then 

 thirty-two years of age, he obtained a seat 

 as representative of the Conservative borough 

 of Maidstone. His maiden speech was a fail- 

 ure ; the House jefused to listen, and clamored 

 him down in the rude English fashion. He 

 closed in the following words: "I am not 

 surprised at the reception I have experienced. 

 I have begun several times many things, and 

 I have often succeeded at last. I will sit down 

 now, but the time will come when you will 

 hear me." In Jtily, 1839, this prediction began ' 

 to be fulfilled ; he made a speech which was 

 listened to with attention, and praised for its 

 ability. In that year he published his five-act 

 tragedy " Count Alarcos," founded on an old 

 Spanish ballad, and in the same year contract- 

 ed a most fortunate marriage with the wealthy 

 widow of Wyndham Lewis, his friend and col- 

 league in the representation of Maidstone. 

 The happy influence of this union upon his 

 career he has himself acknowledged, in the 

 graceful dedication of one of his novels to a 

 " perfect wife." 



In 1841 he was elected from the borough of 

 Shrewsbury, and in 1841 published " Conings- 

 by ; or, The New Generation," which achieved 

 great success, and had a wide circulation. The 

 cause of its extraordinary popularity, apart 

 from its great literary merit, was the fact of 

 its principal characters being drawn from well- 

 known persons then living. It was regarded 

 also as an exposition of the views and designs of 

 the famous half literary, half political party 

 then attracting public attention under the name 

 of " Young England," of which Disraeli was one 

 of the most conspicuous leaders. In 1845 he 

 published " Sibyl ; or, The Two Nations," which ' 

 depicts, with much care, the condition of the 

 English people at that period, and especially 

 the Chartist agitation. In 1847 he was re- 

 turned as one of the members from Bucking- 



