i prefer the picturesque name of disraeli which he contrived out of the tribal designation of "d'israeli." had it been possible he would have transmuted benjamin into a gentile name. disraeli is far preferable to the sickly title of beaconsfield, by which association he sought to be taken as the burke of the tories, for which his genius was too thin.
disraeli is a fossilised bygone to this generation; though in the political arena he was the most glittering performer of his day. men admired him as the blondin of parliament, who could keep his feet on a tight-rope at any elevation. others looked upon him as a music-hall sandow who could snap into two a thicker bar of bovine ignorance than any other athlete of the "country party." he was capable of serving any party, but preferred the party who could best serve him. he was an example how a man, conscious of power and unhampered by scruples, could advance himself by strenuous devices of making himself necessary to those he served.
the showy waistcoat and dazzling jewellery in which he first presented himself to the house of commons, betrayed the primitive taste of a jew of the minories, and foreshadowed that trinket statesmanship which captivated his party, who thought sober, honest principles dull and unentertaining.
germany and england contemporaneously produced the two greatest adventurers of the century—ferdinand lassalle and benjamin disraeli. both were jews. both had dark locks and faith in jewellery. both were sybarites in their pleasures; and personal ambition was the master passion of each. both were consummate speakers. both sought distinction in literature as a prelude to influence. both professed devotion to the interests of the people by promulgating doctrines which would consolidate the power of the governing classes. lassalle counselled war against liberalism, disraeli against the whigs. lassalle adjusted his views to bismarck, as disraeli did to lord derby. both owed their fortunes to rich ladies of maturity. both challenged adversaries to a duel, but disraeli had the prudence to challenge daniel o'connell, who, he knew, was under a vow not to fight one, while lassalle challenged count racowitza, and was killed.
it was a triumph without parallel to bring to pass that the proud aristocracy of england should accept a jew for its master. not approaching erect, like a human thing, disraeli stealthily crept, lizard-like, through the crevices of parliament, to the front of the nation, and with the sting that nature had given him he kept his enemies at bay. no estimate of him can explain him, which does not take into account his race. an alien in the nation, he believed himself to belong to the sole race that god has recognised. the jew has an industrial daintiness which is an affront to mankind. he, as a rule, stands by while the gentile puts his hand to labour. isolated by christian ostracism, the jew tills no ground; he follows no handicraft—a spinoza here and there excepted. the jew, as a rule, lives by wit and thrift. he is of every nation, but of no nationality, save his own. he takes no perilous initiation; he leads no forlorn hope; he neither conspires for freedom, nor fights for it. he profits by it, and acquiesces in it; but generally gives you the impression that he will aid either despotism or liberty, as a matter of business—as many do who are not jews. there are, nevertheless, men of noble qualities among them, and as a class they are as good or better than christians would be had they been treated for nineteen centuries as badly as jews have been.
derision and persecution inspire a strong spirit with retaliation, and absolve him from scrupulous methods of compassing it. two things the jew pursues with an unappeasable passion—distinction and authority among believers, before whom his race has been compelled to cringe. an ancient people which subsists by subtlety and courage, has the heroic sense of high tradition, still looks forward to efface, not the indignity of days, but of centuries—which imparts to the jew a lofty implacableness of aim, which never pauses in its purpose. how else came mr. disraeli by that form of assegai sentences, of which one thrust needed no repetition, and by that art which enabled him to climb on phrases to power?
a critic, who had taken pains to inform himself, brought charges against d'israeli the elder to the effect that he had taken passages of mark from the books of continental sceptics and had incorporated them as his own. at the same time he denounced the authors, so as to disincline the reader to look into their pages for the d'israelian plagiaries. in the novels of d'israeli the younger i have come upon passages which i have met with elsewhere in another form. as the reader knows, disraeli delivered in parliament, as his own, a fine passage from thiers. so that when daniel o'connell described disraeli as "the heir-at-law of the impenitent thief who died on the cross," he was nearer the truth than he knew, for there was petty larceny in the disraelian family.
when sir james stansfeld entered parliament he had that moral distrust of disraeli, which lord salisbury, in his cranborne days, published a review to warn his party against. sir james (then mr. stansfeld) expressed a similar sentiment of distrust. disraeli said to a friend in the lobby immediately after, "i will do for that educated mechanic" the vitriolic spite in the phrase was worthy of vivian grey. he kept his word, and caused mr. stansfeld's retirement from the ministry. it was the nature of disraeli to destroy any one who withstood him. at the same time he could be courteous and even kind to literary chartists who, like thomas cooper and ernest jones, helped to frustrate the whigs at the poll, which served the purpose of tory ascendency, which was disraeli's chance.
in easter, 1872, i was in manchester when disraeli had the greatest pantomime day of his life—when he played the oriental potentate in the pomona gardens. all the real and imaginary tory societies that could be got together from surrounding counties were paraded in procession before him. to each he made audacious little speeches, which astonished them and, when made known, caused jubilancy in the city.
the deputation from chorley reminded him of mr. charley, member for salford. he exclaimed, "chorley and charley are good names!" when a tory sick and burial society came up he said "he hoped they were doing a good business, and that their future would be prosperous!" when the night came for his speech, the free trade hall was crowded. it was said that 2,000 persons paid a guinea each for their seats.
mr. callander, his host, had taken, at mr. disraeli's request, some brandy to the meeting. it was he who poured some into a glass of water. mr. disraeli, on tasting it, turned to him and said in an undertone, "there's nothing in it." this wounded the pride of his host, who took it as an imputation of stinginess on his part, and he filled the next glass plentifully. this was the beginning of the orator's trouble. for the first fifteen minutes he spoke in his customary resonant voice. then husky, sibilant and explosive sentences were unmistakable. apprehensive reporters, sitting below him, moved aside lest the orator should fall upon them. suspicious gestures set in. an umbrella was laid near the edge of the platform, that the speaker might keep within the umbrella range. for this there was a good reason, as the speaker's habit of raising himself on his toes endangered his balance. all the meeting understood the case. the orator soon lost all sense of time. he, who knew so well how to suit performance to occasion, was incapable of stopping himself. the audience had come from distant parts. at nine o'clock they could hear the railway bell, calling some to the trains. ten o'clock came, when a larger portion of the audience was again perturbed by railway warnings. disraeli was still speaking. eleven o'clock came; the audience had further decreased then, but disraeli was still declaiming hoarse sentences. it was a quarter-past eleven before his peroration came to an end; and many, who wished to have their guinea's worth of parliamentary oratory, had to sleep in manchester that night everybody knew the speaker would have ceased two hours earlier if he could. his host in the chair was much disquieted. his house was some distance from the city, and he had invited a large party of gentlemen to meet the great conservative leader at supper, which had long been ready. besides, he was afraid his guest would be unable to appear at it. arriving at the house disraeli asked his host to give him champagne—"a bottle of fizz" was the phrase he used—which he drank with zest, when, to the astonishment of his host, he joined the party and was at his best. he delighted every one with his sallies and his satire.
the next morning the city conservatives were unwilling to speak of the protracted disappointment of the evening before. the manchester papers gave good reports of the long speech, which contained some passages worthy of the speaker at any time—as when he compared the occupants of the front bench of the government in the house of commons to so many extinct volcanoes. as some members of her majesty's government were known friends of mazzini and garibaldi, the aptitude of the simile lives in political memory to this day. when the times report arrived it was found that a considerable portion of the speech was devoted to the laudation of certain county families, which were not mentioned in the manchester reports, and it was said that disraeli had dictated his speech to mr. delane before he came down. but though he lost his voice and his memory, he never lost his wit, for he praised another set of families that came into his head.
only in two instances has mr. disraeli been publicly charged with errors of vintage. in his time i heard members manifestly inebriated, address the house of commons. on a memorable night mr. gladstone said disraeli had access to sources of inspiration not open to her majesty's ministers.
in the morning star there appeared next day a passage from disraeli's speech, reported in vinous forms of sibilant expression. on that occasion lord john manners carried to him, from time to time during his oration, five glasses of brandy and water. i saw them brought in. there was the great table between the two front benches, which mr. disraeli said was fortunate, as he feared mr. gladstone might spring upon him. all the while it was not protection mr. disraeli wanted from the table, but support, for he clutched it as he spoke. sir john macdonald, premier of canada, whom i had the honour to visit at ottawa, not only resembled disraeli in features, in the curl of his hair, but in his wit. one night sir john made an extraordinary after-dinner speech, which had the flavour of a whole vintage in it. when sir john found he had astonished the whole dominion, he sent for the reporter, who appeared, trembling with apprehension. "young man," said sir john, "with your talent for reporting you have a great future before you. but take my advice—never report a speech in future when you are drunk."
connoisseurs in art who went to the sale of his effects at disraelis mayfair house were astonished at the houndsditch quality of what they found there. not a ray of taste was to be seen, not an article worth buying. the glamour of the oriental had lain in phrases, not in art.
it was the liberals who were the champions of the jews, and who were the cause of their admission to parliament. mr. disraeli must have had some generous memory of this. mr. bright would cross the floor of the house sometimes to confer with disraeli. there must have been elements in his character in which mr. bright had confidence. it was believed to be owing to his respect for mr. blight's judgment that he took no part against america, when his party did all they could to destroy the cause of the union in the great anti-slavery war. it ought to be remembered to disraeli's credit, that he made what john stuart mill called a "splendid concession" of household suffrage, although he took it back the next night, by the pernicious creation of the "compound householder." still, liberals owe it to him that household suffrage came to prevail when it did.
disraeli's attacks upon peel were dictated by the policy of self-advancement. he was capable of admiring peel, but he admired himself more. standing outside english questions and interests, he was able to treat them with an airiness which was a political relief. yet he could see that our colonies might become "millstones round the neck of the empire" if we gave them too much of downing street, or maybe of highbury.
to say disraeli had no conscience would be to say more than any man has knowledge enough to say of another; but he certainly never gave the public the impression that he had one. he devised the scheme of giving the queen the title of "empress." mr. gladstone opposed it as dangerous to the dynasty, lowering its dignity to the level of continental emperorship, and taking from the crown the master jewel of law, which has been more or less its security and glory for a thousand years.
disraeli seemed to care for the queen's favour—nothing for the integrity of the crown. he declared himself a christian, and said in the presence of the bishop of oxford, with voltairean mockery, that he was "on the side of the angels," and elsewhere described judas as an accessory to the crucifixion before the act, and to that ignoble treachery all christians were indebted for their salvation—an idea which could never have entered a gentile mind. this was pure voltairean scorn.
in his last illness he was reported to have had three different kinds of physicians—allopath, hydropath, homoeopath; and had he chosen the spiritual ministration of the archbishop of canterbury, the chief rabbi, and mr. spurgeon, no one would have been surprised at his sardonic prudence.
i had admiration, though not respect, for his career. yet i was for justice being done to him. when it was thought the tories would prevent his accession to the premiership, which was his right by service, i was one of those who cheered him in the lobby of the house of commons, to show that adversaries of his politics were against his being defrauded of the dignity he had won.
how was it that disraeli's standing at court was never affected by what would be deemed seditious defamation of the crown in any other person? when i mentioned in america the revolutionary license of his tongue in declaring the queen to be physically and morally incapable of governing, the statement was received with incredulity. the reporters who took down his aylesbury speech containing the astounding words hesitated to transcribe them, and one asked permission to read the passage to mr. disraeli, who assented to its correctness, and the words appeared in the standard and telegraph of september 27, 1871. the times and daily news omitted the word "morally," deeming it incredible. but it was said. his words were: "we cannot conceal from ourselves that her majesty is physically and morally incapacitated from performing her duties." this meant that her majesty was imbecile—a brutal thing to suggest, considering family traditions.
at a lord mayor's banquet mr. disraeli gave an insulting and defamatory account of the russian royal family and government, and boasted, like an inebriate jingo, of england's capacity to sustain three campaigns against that power. as the queen had a daughter-in-law a member of the royal house of russia, this wanton act of international offensiveness must have produced a sensation of shame and pain in the english royal family. i well remember the consternation and disapproval with which both speeches were regarded by the people. whatever even republicans may think of the theory of the crown, they are against any personal outrage upon it. yet mr. gladstone, who was always forward to sustain, by graceful and discerning praise, the interest of the royal family, and procure them national grants, to which mr. disraeli could never have reconciled the nation, was simply endured by her majesty, while to mr. disraeli ostentatious preference was shown. it was said in explanation that mr. gladstone had no "small talk" with which mr. disraeli entertained his eminent hostess. it was not "small talk," it was tory talk, which the queen rewarded.
i am of lord actons opinion, that mr. disraeli was morally insupportable, though otherwise astonishing. the pitiless resentment of "vivian grey" towards whoever stood in his way was the prevailing characteristic of the triumphant jew. like other men of professional ambition, he had the charm of engaging amity to those who were for the time being no longer impediment to him. when showing distress at a few drops of rain falling, news was brought her majesty that mr. gladstone had returned from a voyage and addressed a crowd on the beach. disraeli exclaimed with pleasant gaiety, "what a wonderful man that gladstone is. had i returned from a voyage i should be glad to go to bed. mr. gladstone leaps on shore and makes a speech."
the moral of this singular career worth remembering, is that genius and versatility, animated by ambition without scruple, may attain distinction without principle. it can win national admiration, but not public affection. all it can accomplish is to leave behind a name of sinister renown. if we knew all, no doubt lord beaconsfield had, apart from the exigencies of ambition, personal qualities commanding esteem.