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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gai*che, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustren; la mdthode. rata ) elure, a J 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 [f I 'il. My' ikx.:. ill A •Political \- # Pert^^oiicil •/ / Parallel. 1:. S ■ i 4^ J s I S ! ^^^^m^mms^mmm^ ^^ LORD BEACONSFIELD AND Sm JOHN MACDONALD A PARALLEL 0' A' ^\o' I' -•« . . • • » • • • ;•. •• .•- .• • > • • • • • I • ••• •• 9 • • • • • * «• • • ••• *«* * • ••• •• •• 3^^/0 m INTRODUCTORY. No one can rogrot more than the translator the total impos- .sil)ility of reproducing in works of a purely literary character the varied charms of style. The charm of the style, at once, rich, chaste, and free, of the Hon. Joseph Tas.s6 would linj^'er long in the memory after this little brochure had been laiil aside, but style is, in fact, Hid r/p.neriH, and like the sun, reigns alone. The theme, however, — the grandly interesting theme — is there, and no greater theme can possibly occupy mature brains and facile pens for a long period to come. It is the memory of our heroic contests, of our hard won battles, of the heroes who fought, and conquered, and died, in their country's service, which animates and incites our youth to manly exertion, to noble deeds worthy of fame ; to a home in the hearts of their fellow-countrymen . (Jan we do better than point to the brilliant examples of a BEAGONSb'IELD, of a Sill JoiIN MaODONALD ? No ! They occupy, and will continue to occupy, the highes t niche in the temple of fame. JAMES PENNY. MoNTUEAL, June, 1891. LORD BEACONSFIELD AWD SIR JOHN MACDONALD A PARALLEL -> A Canarlian journal recently puhlishcd an tsni^ravinf^ repre- senting Lord Boaconstield and Sir John Macdunald, in order to show in full relief the marvellous resemlilance of these two political celehrities. Both possessed a high and resounding tenor voice, a countenance, changeable and expressive, a proiriinent nose, eyes at once full of intelligence and tin^, a mouth and lips linn and sardonic, a forehead well tleveloped, hai- vith a strong tendency to curl and slightly silvered by tinie ; these are in fact the principal traits of resendilance in their remarkable physiognomies and physical outlines. It has even been said in the Limdon World, that if Sir John Macdonald would clothe himself in a coat of the fashion usually worn by Lord Beaconsfield and would then present himself in the Chandier of Peers, no official wouUl dream of the counterfeit and obstruct his entry, and further, that they would see Loi'd Salisbury press upon him his usual coniplimeuts and felicitations, without a shadow of doubt or mistrust, so perfect is the resemblance, so lifelike the mystification. Lord Beaconsfield counts well upon his head his seventy-five winters, for until of late his health has been wonderfully — 6 — pnsL'rycd ; but the govt Imving lately nuxdo serious attacks upon him his gait has become heavy and vacillating, and we find no longer in the advance of the illustrious old man the "youno- Disraeli, so ircsh, so rosy, and so spiritual, as he appeared to his friends, and as he was faithfully pourtrayel by the American With two luotres in hand, these two years younger in age, Sir John Macdonald carries his years so m'cU that they are not a burden to him ; they could even say truthfully that he has had a renewal of youth since the popular favour has reinstated him in power. Neither the storms of an active and turbulent life, nor the fierce and absorbing contests of the tribune, nor the immense pressure of public interests and affairs in this widely separated community and country have been able to change in any appreciable degree that marvellous nature of which the pliancy is admirably matched by its power of resist- ance, passive or otherwise. When we have known one, as him, indifferent to labor and fatigue and personal annoyance, in order to procure the accept- ance of his programme by body after body of electors ; when wo can find one like him able to fulfil all the rude, weighty and constantly annoying labours of leadership, and appear prompt alert and vigorous after the most prolonged sittings of the' House of Commons we have a right to hope and expect several years of life comljined with physical and mental power. Does this resemblance between the two first Ministers or Premiers, of England and Canada, limit itself to the outward physKlue alone ? We believe not. In studying the moral and intellectual strength of these two highly interesting and very celebrated personages we shall be able to trace, in addition to the former, most striking and undeniable traits of affinity In his recent travels in England Sir John Macdonald went to pass several days in the magnificent retreat of his friend Lord Beaconsfield at Hughenden, and his illustrious host was much struck by the intelligence of his second self, by the similitude of his manners, by his fac'le and ready conversation, by his gentlemanly lone and temperament. Both are charming, and conspicuous by their courtesy in m private life ; their conversation, turn by turn grave and light, is sown with philosophic reflections, with anecdotes, with smart and piquant repartees, of which they both appear to have an inexhaustible fund, and which they know how at need to turn with refined art against their adversaries. To see them pass their leisure hours in a fashion so intensely happy and full of enjoyment, so full of real abandon, we should be far from suspecting that one presides over the destinies of one of the most vast, and one of the most powei-fu' empires on earth, and that the other governs one-half of a continent destined to become a greater Britain by its population, as it is already by its immense territory. How interesting must have been th'3 first meeting of these two men, botk the successful products of their own labors, the architects of their own fortunes and successes both arrived at the summit of their ambition ; how strange that two spirits so fine, so little valued in the battles of political life should have formed a mutual and spontaneous admiration for each other ; that their meetings beneath the shade of the fresh foliage of the Park at Hughenden may have been of the highest importance ; th>'tthey may have considered in detail the most important interests of the British Empire, and then and there concerted a plan most probably hardy in its scope and outline, to insure the prompt development of the latent resources of Canada. This view of their friendly meeting is one that no person, having the slightest acquaintance with the character of the two parties, would attempt to doubt. We have proof, in any case, of the skill with which our Prime Minister has known how to seize that auspicious occasion to interest the head of the English Cabinet in our needs and welfare in the discoui'se pronounced recently by Lord Beaconsfield at Aylesbury — a discourse which explains and emphasizes the advantages that Canada offers to emigration, and the influence that it is doubtless called upon to exercise upon all European markets by the abundant productiveness of its soil. In effect, we have no recollection of a single example where a Prime Minister of England has dilated so long and so flatteringly upon our country, above all, on an occasion where there was no — 8 — imperative necessity to broach the subject as part and portion of the programme. That discourse was evidently for the most part inspired by Sir John Macdonald-and Mr. DisraHi gives us to thoroughly understand-includos some few slight errors which it is not desu-able to exaggerate, but it would be worth all the cavils all the objections possible, to fix the attention of the public favorably upon the brilliant future reserved for the Canadian Confederation and the field it so opportunely opens to the energies of the ambitious youth of Gaelic or Saxon blood. II If these two Statesmen had a considerable resemblance in their physical, moral, and intellectual (jualities there was also a distinct and appreciable analogy and resemblance in their political careers, notwithstanding there were points of very distinct contrast. The limits which the demands of journalism put to this sketch will permit us but to note and indicate the most striking points of these two remarkable characters- yet we believe that they alone vnll suffice to establish the exactitude and truth of the comparison. Let us say, primarily, that their debuts, their entrance into public life, differed very considerably. Before entering Par- liament, and even during his political career-ZoiAfur° dates but of the year 1870-Mr. Disraeli had not made himself a reputation, as formerly, Sheridan, by the production of comedies bu„ by romances, which, in general, obtained a brilliani .^uccess' He has inherited the literary talent from his father Isaac Disraeh who has left, as a legacy to posterity, some works which are highly esteemed, of which the best known is entitled • Cun.osthes of LiteraHre. Several of his works, romances, notably, Vivian Qrey o,nd Gonarmv neming-tivst-hnit. of his youthful genius-are still read with avidity and we are sometimes tempted to believe that he has. consciously or unconsciously, personified himself in the characters of some of the heroes so charmingly conceived and brilliantly pourtroyed by his vivid imagination. We may ask / — 9 — for example, if he has not indicated and painted to the very letter his own aspirations in the adventures of one of his characters of Jewish race: " that young man, a stranger to that TBce and to that C(,antry and whose sentiments were distinctly opposed to t^ie popular notions, had. however, signally drawn to uniself he full confidence of the masses of the people and hoped to be able some future day to control und govern them " Was not this the end that Mr. Disraeli had assigned to his aml>ition when he avowed of old, that he was engaged preparing to become a Prime Minister. As for Sir John Macrlonald he has never written a romance although he is endowed with a lively and fertile imagination' nor has he ever delivered himself over to the charms of the literary syren, and yet he has evidently studied with admirable resulte the works of the best authors, using freely at need the choicest flowers of rhetoric or the most charming poetical quotations, apropos to the sentiment of his harangues. It was at the Bar that the Canadian Prime Minister first distinguished himself, and he would there have achieved the most silves a irue born Eng ,hman. Although no man has had more difficulties to contend with in his aidbition to become the first Prime Minister of the Queen we cannot refuse to recognize that he has worthily and nobly responded to the high confidence imposed in him m later years. In effect, history will say that this son of a Jew-of whom Mr. Gladstone one day said in tones of reproach " that he had not one single drop of English blood in his veins" —has shewn himself as anxious for the high prestige and aggrandizement of England as any Minister who has held office before him, not even excepting Palmerston, nor yet the illustrious Pitt, that Englishman — par excellence — as they have called hi m. Ego te intus et in cute novi. " I know you thoroughly " In order to arrive definitely to the direction of the Conserv^ative party Disraeli did not hesitate in 1844, to abandon his late chief Sir Robert Peel ; in this he was supported by a numerous phalanx commanded by Lord George Bentinck, to whose memory his ancient lieutenant ha.s consecrated a most interesting book However, personal ambition cannot be said to be the^sinrrl,. veritable cause of his defection from the ministerial benches, for Peel had commenced to relax the system of Protection with wliich the Conservative members, representing principally the rural districts, were, until that moment, absolutely identified. By one stroke of the pen he had abolished the Customs duties upon seven hundred articl(;s of import, as a stepping stone to the establishment, two years after, of Free Trade at the demand of all the Liberal party, Cobden, Bright and Russell, at its head. It was in that unpitying unswerving contest, the war a outrance, that he waged against Sir Roliert Peel — a contest that finished only with the fall of the cabinet — that Mr. — 10— . DiHrnuli drew upon liiniHt'lf the genorul attontion, vvliile lavishing all tiie rcsourccH of his oi-ntorical talent, and of his most l)itin<' stinging sarcasms, in order to denounce tlie infidelity of the I'lime Minister to the recognized principles of Conservatism. It is not without interest to notice that in tliis instance Mr. Disraeli combatted Sir Robert Peel because of his assertion of the old flag Protection, which course he himself afterwards found it necessary to adopt. Such are the anomalies, the exigencies of political life. As a trait of English political manners and customs we may add that this implacable war— a war to the knife— was no obstruction to the fact that to-day the son of 8ir Robert Peel counts among his most ardent partisans the enemies of his father in the House of Commons. Sir John Macdonald took in 1856 the direction of the Upper Canadian Conservative jiarty. His pre.lecessor Sir Allan MacNab had then lost much of Jiis force and of his popidarity ; he inspired also almost insurmountable antipathies among a portion of the reformist party in unison with the Tories, and it was the current idea that it was far better to confide the leader- ship to a uian more active, less compromised, in the sharp contests (;f party, and less attached to the traditions of the past. Sir Allan MacNab found it difficult to pardon his former lieutenant for having been chosen as his successor, and ever voted against the cabinet of which Sir John formed a part. However that discord did not remain forever, because the Conservatives carried in l.S()2, their ancient chief to the presi- dency of the Upper Chamber. 4 A critic of to a class of never exacts rupture, and sacrifices, not enemies. Under his inclined to r VI Mr. Disraeli tells us that he has educated his party ideas which are dear to his own intellect, but he too much, never stretches the cord to the point of consents even to temporize and make opportune only for his friends but, in like manner, for his direction, the Tories, occasionally intolerant and ■etrograde, have been transformed detiuitely into — 17 — Conservatives, that is to say, into men attached to the traditions of the past, attached to tiie very essence oven of the En^^Iish institutions, but knowinf:^ iiow to nieot the necessities of modern life, of modern thoui^ht, and of modern progress ; knowing how to redress all secuhir abuses, knowin;^ how to prune the venerable constitutional tr(;e of its worm-eaten branclu's. " In atttsmptin;,', notwithstanding' my foebloneas, to direct the affairs of the jrreat party to which wo arc proudly alHliated," said Mr. Disraeli on a public occasion, " I am always compelled to attempt to separate in its opinions whatever is unchangeable and immutable from what is simply accidtmtal. Always, also, I endeavour to give it a broad and natural base, because I deem it essentially and profoundly a national ]>arty, and one whose attachment to the national institutions rests upon the conviction that they are the result of the true needs and requirements of the country, and are, by that strong title, the surest guarantee of the liberties, of the greatness, and of the prosperity, of our beloved country, England." In one of his early writings : A Vindication of the Gonditu- tion, Mr. Disraeli attributes the same role as a reformer of the Tory Party to Lord Bolingbroke — one of t'ne contemporaries of Walpole — (I rdk t\v\t he .shov.d have continued to follow beneath the cheering beams of a success much more remarkable than that of Disraeli. " In a series of writings which, by their inspired patriotism, by their judicious and profound views, and by the elo((uenco with which they are so strongly permeated, have not been surpassed in our literature, Lord Bolingbroke, said Mr. Disraeli, purged Toryism of all those ab.surd and odious doctrines which that party had fortuitously adopted, exposed clearly its essential and permanent character, prepared for its return t(j power and subsequently for that ])opular and triumphant career that the politics of an ailministration, inspired by the spirit of our free and ancient institutions, should in all cases inevitably produce." In Canada the same transformation of party ideas was effected by Sir John Macdonald, by means of the alliance of the Tories of Upper Canada and the Reformers of the Baldwin school with the French party founded by Lafontaine and Morin ; an alliance — IS — 11 which has given l)irth to the powcirfiil (vonsorvativi; party which has ruIoince the American Republic, with which for some years past the greater part of our commerce has been made, not only refuses to give free access to our goods, l)ut loads them with duties almost prohibitive. It is that unfriendly course of action which has made so many of our theoretical free traders acquiesce in and sanction the national policy recently inaugurated by the Conservative party. X In a speech made by Mr. Disraeli, some years since, he emitted the hardy opinion, that England was an Asiatic power of which the centre of gravity was to be found in Calcutta. Imbued with that startling idea, which lays claim to a certain amount of truth anrl ju. ^ness, — the British Empire having in Asia alone three parts of its subjects, about one hundred and Hfty millions — the Tory Chief has moved heaven and earth, sea and land, in the attempt to extend the inlluence of his country, and to assure it a free untrammeled route towards its immense oriental possessions. It is with that view that it has taken the necessary measui'es to control the company charged with the administration of the affairs of the Suez Canal — that canal designed and opened by a French genius, M. de Lesseps, for the great future profit of England : it is with that view it has acquired from Turkey the isle of Cyprus — that isle so celebrated in ancient history, and which had notably been con(piered by Richard Coeur de Lion in the twelfth century : it is in the same view and with the same policy, that it has resisted the encroach- ments of the Russian colossus, the greatest enemy of the British Lion, who desires to aggrandize himself in the East not less than in the West : it is with the same view that Mr. Disraeli has found means to ad .ovorn n..n it is ,.ecess.u-y also to he ahlo to astonish thoni." No .liplonintist of th. ,„■, sc/t .lay practises with more success upon the vast tln-atrc of European politics the art of sudden surprises than did Mr Disraeli in his day. ' XII True to the historic example of many celehrated personam-s both oi these prominent characters owed much to their wives Ihesc play sometimes a rdle more considerable than we are apt to 1 magme in the political arena, their influence being in inverse ratio to Its visibility ; the more strong the less perceptible We can truly say that Lady Beaconsfield has not a little contributed to assure a brilliant future to her husband in brin-in.. him a considerable fortune, without which it is almost imposTsible to achieve success in England. " I do not run after money "-said Macaulay-"but everyday I am more and more convince.l that ease in circumstances is necessary to any man who desires to become illustrious, and render essential service to his country " When in 1839, Mr. Disraeli solicited the hand of his future companion, she was the widow of a rich proprietor, Mr.Wyndham Lewis, who had previously represented the town of Maidstone, in Kent. In no wise handsome, at least twelve years older than her husband, not even remarkable for high intelligence or wit, but endowed with clear good sense and calm healthy Judgment, she has given him, in her unalterable affection and devotion, true domestic happiness " sole .source of a pure and permanent joy," as said the author of the romance, the Youvu Duke, who is no other than Disraeli himself. At the very apex of his brilliant career, Mr. Disraeli acknowedged his obligations to his wife, even proclaiming that he owed all his success^in life to her influence upon him. Following a very ancient custom, thev diRtril)ute every year in Dunmow, in the County of Essex, a" fiitch of bacon to the married couple who can swear upon the Bible before the altar of the Church, that during a year and a day, the domestic peace and comfort has not once been troubled by any matrimonial — 32 — (juarrol. Now, Mr. and Mrs. DiHrat'li did not hesitate some ycnrs since, to present thuniselves before the autltorities of Dunmow and demand the prize of an entire year of patience, love, and mutual a|j;reement, and their demand was accedea. Their party has never sought out other chiefs, for, although fully sensible of all tfieir faults and errors, they were accu -corned to believe that they could not entrust the command of their party to more firm and skilful hands. On the other sile, the chiefs would not be able to find partisans more induUrcf,' and more faithful, and they arrived at the natural conciu~;on that they were each made, one for the other. In order to give him a tangible mark of their appreciation of his services the friends of Sir John presented him, some years gone by, with a considerable sum of money, the fruit of a public subscription, duplicating, by this means, the idea of a tangible recompense for acknowledged services formerly awarded to Fox, the British statesman. — 33 — When in tho year 1873 Mr. Disracili was eluctcnl Lor.l Rector ot th„ .uuvorsity „f (ilas;,.,w-an omincmfc .Ustinction rocentiy c=oM ern.l upon Mr.(ila.l.stone-h,. was invit.-l toa ^^ran.l luuHmot m tl.at City, and he ornbraco.l tho opportunity to ron.in.i his ».<>ar(.r.s in tones of legitimate satisfaction that he ha.l heen head ot the Conservative party for a hunger period than the annals ot England coul.l show to have been tho lot of any other man He n-fkoned then tw.mty-Hve years and r.^tained office five years longer, thirty in all, being just five years more than ^'^^ prototype Sir John Macdonald. The words that he then en ,.. .,1 have a more than ordinary interest : " Tho reason why I have remained tor so long a period at the head of the party, in circumstances at once