/ 
 
 J-:-' 
 
 MEMORIALS 
 
 LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
• • n • • 
 
 
 '•* • . 
 

 
 » • 
 
MEMOEIALS 
 
 OF 
 
 LORD BEACONSFIELD 
 
 Reprinted from " The Standard." 
 
 WITH A PORTRAIT. 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 1881. 
 

 LONDON : 
 
 R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor, 
 
 BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
 I c c c < 
 
 , ,- 6 C C. 
 
 e c t e c < 
 
PEEPACE 
 
 This volume is published in response to the 
 wish expressed by innumerable Correspondents, 
 that not only the Biographical Notice of Lord 
 Be aeon sf] eld, which appeared in The Standard of 
 April the 20th, but selections from the various 
 other articles and reports published in that journal, 
 during his last illness, death, and funeral, should 
 be preserved for public use in an enduring shape. 
 The following pages are a record of what occurred 
 from the day on which Lord Beaconsfield became 
 seriously ill to the day en; ^hich he was buried. 
 Their contents are exclusively taken from the 
 columns of The Standard. They ja.^e; ,indee»i only 
 a selection from what was originally published 
 in the columns of that newspaper, but nothing has 
 been added from any other source. 
 
 Ml261i3 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 MEMOIR 1 
 
 11. 
 
 THE LAST ILLNESS ... 83 
 
 III. 
 IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH ..... , . 128 
 
 IV. 
 THE FUNERAL 178 
 
 Y. 
 
 LORD BEACONSFIELD's WILL 213 
 
 VI. 
 supplementary 219 
 
 APPENDIX 227 
 
MEMORIALS 
 
 OF 
 
 LORD BEACONSFIELD 
 
 I. 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 LoED Beaconsfield was, it is generally believed, 
 born in Bloomsbury-square, in the year 1804. His 
 father was that Isaac Disraeli who, as author of the 
 Curiosities of Literature, is familiar to all lovers 
 of quaint learning and graceful humour. The elder 
 Disraeli sprang from a Jewish family of the purest, 
 or Sephardim race, that, namely, which has never 
 left the shores of the Mediterranean. His father, 
 who was the son of a Venetian merchant, settled 
 in England in 1748, where he lived for nearly 
 seventy years, and died in 1817 at the age of ninety. 
 Isaac was born in 1766; he married in 1802 Miss 
 Basevi, by whom he had four children, and died 
 
 B 
 
MEMOilTALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 at Bradenham in 1848. Influenced, doubtless, to 
 some extent by the example of bis father, and being, 
 as he was fond of saying, " born in a library," Mr. 
 Disraeli at his first entry into life seemed inclined 
 to make a profession of literature, having very 
 soon abandoned the law, to which he was at first 
 apprenticed. 
 
 A considerable interval, however, elapsed between 
 the publication of Vivian Grey, that most brilliant 
 of all maiden performances, and the author's re- 
 sumption of his pen, during which Mr. Disraeli 
 visited most of the spots famous either for natural 
 beauty or historical associations in Europe and the 
 Levant. But with the General Election which fol- 
 lowed the passing of the Eeform Bill began the 
 political career which, lasting almost exactly half 
 a century, forms one of the most remarkable pheno- 
 mena of our own times. In the autumn of 1832 
 he issued an address to the electors of High Wy- 
 combe, and was supported at first by a combination 
 of Eadicals and Tories against the Whig candidate, 
 but the former party deserted him at the poll, and 
 he was defeated by a small majority. He subse- 
 quently issued an address to the electors of Maryle- 
 bone, on the same principles; but the expected 
 vacancy not occurring, he was a second time dis- 
 appointed of his object. In the autumn of 1834 the 
 Melbourne Ministry was dismissed ; and Mr. Disraeli 
 again sent out an address to the electors of High 
 
MEMOIE. 
 
 Wycombe. It was published afterwards with the 
 title of The Present Cinsis Examined, and shows 
 his mind in a transitional state. Mr. Greville, in 
 his diary under the date 5th December, 1834, 
 speaking of a call made upon him by the Chancellor, 
 Lord Lyndhurst, about getting *' young Disraeli " 
 into Parliament, remarks, " his political principles 
 must be in abeyance." 
 
 But by the spring of 1835 he had come to a 
 definite conclusion, and at the General Election 
 in April contested the borough of Taunton on 
 Conservative principles. He was again defeated, 
 and in the same year he published his Vindication 
 of the British Constitution, addressed to Lord Lynd- 
 hurst, who was a warm admirer of the young and 
 original politician, and in this essay he broached all 
 those ideas on the subject of English history which 
 were afterwards more fully developed in Coningshy 
 and Syhil, In 1836 he brought out his letters of 
 Runnynfiede^ a series of attacks on the administration 
 of Lord Melbourne. In the summer of 1837 the 
 King died, and at the ensuing General Election Mr. 
 Disraeli was returned for Maidstone. One story 
 of the way in which he obtained the seat has been 
 told as follows, but we do not pretend to vouch for 
 it. At the General Election in 1835 Mr. Wyndham 
 Lewis was the Conservative candidate, and according 
 to the practice of the day, bribery and promises of 
 bribery were rife on all sides. Mr. Lewis was beaten; 
 
4 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 but, notwithstanding his defeat, he fulfilled all his 
 engagements to the letter. This, and some causes of 
 dissatisfaction with the successful candidates, rendered 
 Mr. Lewis so popular in the borough that when, two 
 years afterwards, the King's death caused another 
 General Election, the party felt that they were strong 
 enough in Maidstone not only to return Mr. Lewis, 
 but also a Conservative colleague. Mr. Disraeli was 
 waited upon and consented to stand, and in due 
 course was returned. The event was important to 
 him in more ways than one. It provided him with 
 a seat. It secured for him the friendship of Mr. 
 Lewis ; and when Mr. Lewis died some short time 
 afterwards it provided for him, in the person of 
 Mrs. Lewis, a wife who, in the words of Lord Lytton, 
 could both console an(i exalt, and to whom Mr. 
 Disraeli on more than one public occasion gratefully 
 and affectionately referred as the solace and sweetener 
 of his life. 
 
 There were many young men who, like him, then 
 entered the House of Commons for the first time; 
 but there were probably few of them concerning 
 whom so much curiosity was excited ; for the junior 
 member for Maidstone was already a remarkable 
 man. He was not only the author of several bril- 
 liant and popular works, but he had already taken 
 an active part in politics. He had been a candidate 
 for several boroughs, and in his speeches he had 
 expressed himself freely on public men and public 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 measures. He had nearly fought a duel with 
 O'Connell, and had told Lord Melbourne, who asked 
 him good-naturedly at a party whether he could 
 be of any service to him, that he " wanted to be 
 Prime Minister," and in the Runnymede letters he 
 had singled out as the objects of his attack the most 
 prominent members of the Ministerial body. His 
 hatred was repaid with interest by the whole Whig 
 Party, while the Tories, among whom he took his 
 seat, were somewhat doubtful of the character of 
 their new ally. 
 
 It is not wonderful, therefore, that when he rose 
 to make his maiden speech he had few friends to 
 back him, and received from the House at large 
 less than the usual amount of that courtesy which 
 is shown to a new member. No doubt he flew at 
 high game. It was a daring thing for a new member 
 to reply, in his maiden speech, to the great Liberator, 
 and to include the whole Whig Party in the attack. 
 The Whigs resolved to crush the audacious assailant, 
 and groans, hootings, and scornful laughter arose on 
 all sides. Mr. Disraeli attempted for some time to 
 make head against the torrent ; but, finding his 
 efforts fruitless, he sat down with these memorable 
 words, " I am not at all 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." Eenewed derision greeted these 
 
MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 words, which were then supposed to be the outburst 
 only of mortified vanity ; but which time has since 
 shown to have been the prophecy of conscious 
 genius. 
 
 This rough reception did not daunt him from 
 presenting himself again to his audience even in 
 the course of the same Session. But he fixed on 
 less exciting subjects, and in consequence gained 
 more attention. The Chartist Eiots of 1839 were 
 the occasion of his first successful effort, and of his 
 really gaining the ear of the House. It was re- 
 markable, too, as showing that he was not in the 
 ordinary sense of the word a Party man — that the 
 Conservatives could claim him just as little as either 
 the Eadicals or the Whigs, that he had thought 
 out the principles of the British Constitution for 
 himself, and had come to certain practical conclu- 
 sions which have been the guide of his political life. 
 He condemned, as all men did, the scenes of violence 
 and riot of which the Chartists had been guilty ; 
 but he insisted that it was unwise to refuse to listen 
 to their complaints ; that their very violence showed 
 they had grievances to complain of, and those of a 
 substantial kind ; and he pointed out the mistake 
 that had been committed in the first Eeform Bill 
 by suppressing the burgess freemen, who were in 
 truth the representatives of the working classes, 
 without giving those classes any share of the repre- 
 sentation in another way. A Government founded 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 on a middle class, said Mr. Disraeli, cannot last. 
 In fact, a careful study of that speech will afford 
 a key to the whole of Mr. Disraeli's career, whether 
 in or out of office. 
 
 We need not follow the progress of the quarrel 
 with Sir Eobert Peel, which went on with increasing 
 bitterness till Sir Eobert Peel was driven from 
 power. It is enough to say that Mr. Disraeli's 
 speeches on those occasions, reprehensible as they 
 might be on some grounds, stamped him as one of 
 the first Parliamentary orators of the day. His pre- 
 diction was now realised — the day had indeed come 
 when the House would listen to him. He came 
 down from his old seat on one of the back benches, 
 and took up his position on the front seat below 
 the gangway, from which some of his finest orations 
 were delivered ; and this fact gives a point to the 
 story sometimes told of him that when a Conserva- 
 tive deputation invited him to resign the leadership 
 he routed them at once by saying that in that event 
 he should certainly take up a position on the front 
 seat below the gangway. Peel himself now recognised 
 in him a foeman worthy of his steel, and replied to 
 his attacks in some of his happiest oratorical efforts, 
 while the underlings on both sides of the House 
 went about insinuating all sorts of base motives for 
 his conduct. It was said that he had applied to 
 Peel, on the formation of his Government, for an 
 office of great responsibility, which was refused in 
 
8 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 a curt style, and that this was the secret of his sub- 
 sequent opposition to the Minister. Mr. Disraeli, 
 characteristically enough, was the first to notice this 
 insinuation, and crushed it effectually. It was true, 
 he said, that he had applied to the Minister for 
 office. But he did not think any one could accuse 
 him of arrogance in asking for the particular 
 office he applied for. It was only for a foreign 
 consulship, and he ventured to think the House 
 would not consider that that was a post for which 
 he was incompetent or disqualified. But after the 
 refusal he had continued to support the Minister 
 as steadily as before. He did not desert the Minister 
 tiU the Minister had deserted his principles. 
 
 The sensation created by the publication of 
 Coningsby and Syhil, in 1844 and 1845, regarded 
 merely as social satires, will not readily be forgotten. 
 But the political ideas which they contained, though 
 bitterly ridiculed by a generation incapable of under- 
 standing them, became in time the foundation of 
 a new faith. Nor can there be the slightest doubt 
 that the great Tory Party which Mr. Disraeli led 
 to victory in 1874 was largely indebted for its suc- 
 cess to the principles which he had promulgated 
 exactly thirty years before. It is perfectly true that 
 the Toryism which was presented to the world 
 through the medium of these brilliant fictions was 
 an ideal Toryism, and could hardly have been re- 
 produced in modern England any more than Plato's 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Eepublic could have been reproduced in ancient 
 Greece. It was founded partly on a study of Lord 
 Bolingbroke, without due allowance being made for 
 the difference between Parliamentary Government 
 in the reign of Queen Victoria and Parliamentary 
 Government in the reign of George II. Boling- 
 broke saw only the abuses which flourished under 
 the system of Walpole. He could not foresee the 
 glories of Chatham and his famous son. He very 
 naturally attributed the first to the system introduced 
 at the Eevolution, and he as naturally turned for a 
 remedy to the system which presented the greatest 
 contrast to it — the Monarchy, namely, of the Tudors 
 and Plantagenets. In the middle of the eighteenth 
 century the revival of such a Monarchy had not 
 become absolutely impossible. But thirty years 
 ago it had, and the weak point in Coningsby and 
 Sylil was that they vaguely suggested the restora- 
 tion of such a polity as the remedy for prevailing 
 evils. 
 
 But that the more important part of the theory — 
 the doctrine, namely, that Toryism and not Eadicalism 
 ought to be the popular political creed of this country 
 — was capable of being adapted to modern politics 
 Mr. Disraeli has himself shown. And he performed 
 an inestimable service to his own party by recaUing 
 to the public mind what Toryism really had been 
 within the memory of living men, who had sat in 
 the House of Commons before the French Eevolution, 
 
10 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 and who remembered it as the party of progress. He 
 showed that in genuine Toryism there was nothing 
 inconsistent with political liberality. But the move- 
 ment which from the publication of these works was 
 identified with the name of Mr. Disraeli was a social 
 as well as a political movement. Who does not re- 
 member Young England, with its white waistcoats, 
 and its village maypoles, and its dainty feudalism? 
 And yet, as a living writer has pointed out, what 
 was said of another great movement of the day was 
 equally applicable to this. Its sentiment was true. 
 With much that was extravagant on the surface, the 
 fundamental ideas of the Young England creed 
 touched the heart of the rising generation. "Men 
 began to feel that the relations between Sovereign 
 and subject, between landlord and tenant, between 
 gentle and simple, between priest and parishioner, 
 might be 'beautified and sweetened.' As far as the 
 movement aimed at a revival merely of ancient cus- 
 toms it was harmless and ineffective, and in some 
 measure was laughed down. But the spirit which 
 those customs had once represented was awakened 
 from a long sleep, and it is impossible to deny 
 that the relations between the different orders of 
 society have benefited by the revival." 
 
 The Corn Law struggle, and the part which Mr. 
 Disraeli took in it, form a portion of the general 
 history of the country. It may be granted that he 
 and the party with whom he acted, and who had 
 
MEMOIR. n 
 
 elected Lord George Bentinck as their head, were 
 mistaken in their opinion as to the general effect of 
 the Free-trade policy upon the fortunes of the 
 country. There is this to be said for them, that 
 they were following the traditional policy of both 
 Whigs and Tories, and that their opposition was 
 based at least as much on the injury they believed 
 the repeal of the laws would inflict on the working 
 classes as on the blow it would give to their own 
 order. Much also must be allowed to the natural 
 feeling of high-minded Englishmen, who felt that 
 they had been betrayed, and found the Minister 
 whom they had borne on their shoulders into office 
 for the purpose of maintaining Protection the first 
 to strike it down. They were resolved that such 
 treachery should not go unpunished, and for this 
 purpose their leaders had recourse to a policy which 
 probably in cooler moments they would hardly have 
 approved, but which in the heat and irritation of 
 those times appeared to be more than justified. On 
 this point the reader may consult some remarks made 
 by King Leopold, to be found in the recently pub- 
 lished Life of the Prince Consort. In the same 
 Session in which Sir Eobert Peel had introduced his 
 Bill for the repeal of the Corn Laws in the Commons, 
 he introduced a Coercion Bill for Ireland in the 
 Lords. This latter passed rapidly through the Upper 
 House. But in the IJouse of Commons the whole 
 Protectionist Party ranged themselves against the 
 
12 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Minister. The Bill was rejected. Sir Kobert Peel 
 resigned, and the Whigs returned to office. 
 
 At this time the men upon whom the leader of 
 the Opposition could actually depend for a division 
 were fewer than one hundred and fifty, and when 
 Lord George Bentinck divided the House upon his 
 Motion concerning Irish railways, supposed to be 
 his strongest point, he mustered to his colours but 
 one hundred and eighteen members. It seemed as 
 if the "great Conservative Party'' was about to 
 disappear altogether, and the task which devolved 
 on Mr. Disraeli in 1848 was much harder than the 
 task which devolved on Sir Eobert Peel in 1833, 
 inasmuch as the feeble remnant which supported 
 him was unsustained by the consciousness of any 
 great principle for the sake of which it had so 
 suddenly been brought low. 
 
 The first thing to be done was, in Mr. Disraeli's 
 estimation, the recovery of the rank and file of the 
 Peelites to the Conservative cause. For this pur- 
 pose he devised a series of motions which should 
 have the effect of accustoming them to find them- 
 selves in the same lobby with their former associates, 
 and the success of his tactics soon became apparent 
 in the increasing numbers which year after year he 
 was able to muster against Government. In 1849 
 his best division was 189 against 280. In 1850 he 
 had detached twenty-two members from the Minis- 
 terial side, and was beaten by a majority of only 
 
MEMOIR. 13 
 
 twenty-one, Mr. Gladstone himself, for the first 
 time since 1846, being seen in opposition to Sir 
 Eobert Peel. In 1851 Mr. Disraeli divided 267 
 against 281, a result which contributed in no small 
 degree to the resignation of Ministers soon after- 
 wards. Lord Stanley, however, after vainly appeal- 
 ing to Mr. Gladstone, to v^hom Mr. Disraeli would 
 at that time have surrendered the lead of the House 
 of Commons, declined the formation of a Govern- 
 ment, and Lord Eussell w^as obliged to resume 
 office. But in the following year he was again 
 driven to resign, and this time the leader of the 
 party — who had now become Lord Derby — felt 
 himself compelled to form a Ministry. It is not 
 to be wondered that he shrank from doing so. 
 With a Cabinet of recruits he had to face a majority 
 of veterans. 
 
 The new Ministry, in which Mr. Disraeli filled 
 the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, began in 
 a minority, and it was understood that no opposition 
 would be offered to a winding up of the work of 
 the Session then pending, and that after this there 
 should be an appeal to the country. There was, 
 therefore, a comparative truce from Party struggles 
 within the walls of Parliament. But a very differ- 
 ent scene was enacted out of doors. A period of 
 six years had now elapsed since the abolition of 
 the Corn Laws ; and though some extreme members 
 of the Tory Party still muttered their discontent 
 
14 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 and their resolution to endeavour to effect a change, 
 the great body of them had long before withdrawn 
 from the strife, and tacitly acquiesced in the in- 
 evitable. 
 
 But the Liberals were not slow to discern how 
 effective as a Party war-cry would be the imputa- 
 tion of a Protectionist policy. The machinery of 
 the Anti-Corn Law League was hastily resuscitated, 
 meetings were held in the manufacturing towns, at 
 which the leading Freetraders put down their names 
 for fabulous sums of money, in the event, which 
 they had good reason to know would not occur, of 
 the Government attempting to reverse the policy of 
 the previous six years ; and by these and similar 
 means the country was stimulated to return a 
 majority adverse to the Government. The decisive 
 issue was taken on the Budget. It was the first 
 effort of Mr. Disraeli as a Finance Minister, and 
 considerable curiosity was felt as to the result. He 
 did not disappoint the public expectation. In a 
 speech which lasted five hours he took a masterly 
 review of the financial position of the country. He 
 proposed to render taxation more equal in its pres- 
 sure ; and, starting from the assumption that taxation 
 and representation should go together, he proposed 
 that the house duty should be carried down as low as 
 the franchise, and laid upon houses of 101. value. 
 He proposed a reduction of the malt duties, while, as 
 a counterpoise, he suggested that they should deal in 
 
MEMOIR. 15 
 
 the same liberal spirit with the duties on tea. Such 
 were the salient features of the Budget. In con- 
 sequence, however, of the tactics of the Opposition, 
 the financial statement of the Government was made 
 in December, 1852, instead of in March, 1853, as 
 would have been the usual course. By the latter 
 date Mr. Disraeli was in the habit of asserting that 
 the disappearance of agricultural distress would have 
 enabled him to frame a Budget untainted by the 
 slightest odour of Protectionist opinions. At the 
 earlier date this was impossible ; the Opposition knew 
 this as well as he did, and forced his hand accord- 
 ingly. A coalition took place between the Whigs, 
 the Peelites, and the Eadicals, and the result was 
 that Government were beaten by a majority of nine- 
 teen. The Tory Party, however, were upon the 
 whole very well satisfied. They had played a losing 
 game with spirit. They had held office with credit. 
 They felt that their leaders had been tried and not 
 found wanting ; and they waited with confidence in 
 their tact and statesmanship till a fresh opportunity 
 should occur. 
 
 That opportunity occurred and was lost in 1855, 
 on the resignation of Lord Aberdeen, when Lord 
 Derby, much to the chagrin of Mr. Disraeli, declined 
 to take office without the assistance of Lord Palmer- 
 ston and Mr. Gladstone. It was Lord Derby's own 
 Parliament, and another dissolution would probably 
 have given him a majority. However, he declined 
 
16 MEMOKIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 the responsibility, and the ball rolled to the feet of 
 Lord Palmerston, who seized the opportunity, for 
 which perhaps he had long been waiting, and at the 
 mature age of seventy-one became Prime Minister of 
 England. During the Crimean war the Conservative 
 Party gave a loyal support to the Government, And 
 during the negotiations which followed Mr. Disraeli 
 first began to show that intimate acquaintance with 
 foreign affairs which made many people suppose that 
 he was marked out for Foreign Minister. In 1858 
 a mistake of Lord Palmerston's brought the Tories 
 into office once more ; and as men had been curious 
 to see how in 1852 they would deal with Protection, 
 so were they curious now to see how they would deal 
 with Parliamentary Eeform. Lord John Eussell had 
 revived the question in 1852 ; and it had been fit- 
 fully discussed ever since. Mr. Disraeli, as leader 
 of the Conservatives, was called upon to take part in 
 these debates, and he showed in his speeches that he 
 was not disposed to offer a blind and dogged resist- 
 ance to the cry, but would rather, if that were pos- 
 sible, guide the movement which could not be 
 repressed. He dilated on the defects of the first 
 Eeform Bill, on the injustice done to the counties in 
 the distribution of seats, and on the wrong done to 
 the working classes by the extinction of the scot and 
 lot voters. At the same time he insisted that reform, 
 to be beneficial, ought to be extended in a lateral rather 
 than in a downward direction, and that any measure 
 
MEMOIE. 17 
 
 of enfrancliisement ought to include all the intelli- 
 gence and education of the country, and reach those 
 classes of the community that were not to be found 
 in the occupation of £10 houses. A Eeform Bill in 
 conformity with Mr. Disraeli's views was eventually 
 determined on by the Government. Ministers, how- 
 ever, had a narrow escape of shipwreck before they 
 had a chance of unfolding it. A vote of censure 
 was prepared by the Opposition in connection with 
 a despatch sent out by Lord Ellenborough to India. 
 It was debated four nights in the House of Commons, 
 but by degrees the truth oozed out that the despatch 
 had been completely justified, and the sudden break- 
 ing up of the Opposition phalanx was graphically 
 described by Mr. Disraeli in a speech at Slough, 
 which was long remembered as one of his most 
 brilliant efforts. 
 
 The following year the. first Derby Eeform Bill 
 was brought in. The county and borough franchise 
 were fixed at the same level of £10, and in the re- 
 distribution of seats a larger number than before was 
 given to the counties. Though the borough fran- 
 chise was not reduced, yet the number of the electors 
 was to be largely added to by votes being given to 
 those who possessed a certain sum in the savings 
 banks, or who gave other guarantees of intelligence 
 and social position. Only one of Mr. Disraeli's ideas 
 was not carried out — that which proposed to remedy 
 the injustice of the first Eeform BiU by conferring 
 
18 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 the suffrage on the working classes. The time for 
 that step was not yet come. The Ministerial mea- 
 sure, however, was rejected. Lord Derby resigned, 
 and the Saturnian age of Lord Palmerston began. 
 
 Session rolled by after Session with little more 
 than the yearly routine of measures, and agitation 
 was everywhere so much discouraged that Mr. Bright 
 declared that he despaired of any further reform 
 during Lord Palmerston' s lifetime. The Paper 
 Diities and the Commercial Treaty with France 
 agitated both Houses. But Foreign Affairs were 
 the dominant subject of interest — the cession of 
 Savoy and Nice, the affairs of Poland aud Denmark, 
 and the civil war raging in America. On all and 
 each of these Mr. Disraeli spoke with great ability, 
 especially on the Danish question, which drew from 
 him, on the 4th of July, 1864, one of the most 
 masterly rdsumds of our then recent foreign policy 
 to be found in Parliamentary annals. As the Par- 
 liament of 1859 approached its seventh Session it 
 became evident that Lord Palmerston had taken the 
 measure of his countrymen more accurately than his 
 reforming colleagues imagined, for at the general 
 election of 1865 a large majority was returned to 
 the House of Commons whose main political cha- 
 racter was that they were pledged to support Lord 
 Palmerston. 
 
 Thus the prospect of a speedy return of the Con- 
 servatives to power appeared more hopeless than ever. 
 
MEMOIR. 19 
 
 But great changes were at hand. Lord Palmerston 
 died in the autumn of that year, and the duty of 
 meeting the new Parliament fell to Earl Eussell as 
 Premier, with Mr. Gladstone as leader in the House of 
 Commons. Then the long-repressed energies of these 
 statesmen broke out; and it was announced that the 
 first measure of the reconstructed Ministry would be 
 a new Pteform Bill, with a £6 suffrage. The pre- 
 cipitation with which this measure was adopted 
 annoyed many of the friends of Lord Palmerston. 
 The Keform Bill was opposed by the Conservatives, 
 Mr. Disraeli taking np his old line, that this mo- 
 notonous franchise put the government of the 
 country into the hands of one class of the com- 
 munity, and allowed no free play to the great 
 variety of classes and interests of which the com- 
 munity is made up. The opposition to the Bill, 
 however, at least in Committee, was for the most 
 part initiated by discontented Liberals, whose Cave 
 of Adullam has become an historic bye-word. It 
 soon became evident that Ministers did not possess 
 force enough to force the measure through. Still, 
 Mr. Gladstone persevered, until an amendment by a 
 Whig member that the franchise should be based on 
 the rating, and not the mere rental-value, placed the 
 Ministers in a minority, and the Russell-Gladstone 
 Government was at an end. 
 
 The private history of the Peform Bill of 1867 
 has still to be written ; but we may be permitted to 
 
 C 2 
 
20 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 say here that all the gossip that was current at that 
 time, and has been current since, concerning what 
 Mr. Lowe called *' the unparalleled betrayal " of the 
 Tory party by its leader, was due either to an 
 ignorance of the facts of the case, which one can 
 scarcely conceive probable, or to an intentional per- 
 version of the truth, which we should be sorry to 
 think possible. The Reform Bill of 1867— good, 
 bad, or indifferent — was essentially the work of the 
 House of Commons. The Cabinet decided — in fact, 
 they had no alternative — to introduce a measure of 
 reform. It was evident that somebody must do it ; 
 it was equally evident that Ministers with majorities 
 had failed to do it ; and Mr. Disraeli, therefore, 
 wisely determined, if he could, to remove the question 
 from the domain of Party, and to make the whole 
 House of Commons co-operate with him in his 
 work. This was the meaning of his celebrated 
 thirteen " Eesolutions," by which he hoped to as- 
 certain the collective opinion of the House, so as to 
 frame a measure which could not be assailed on 
 purely Party grounds. As the success of this pro- 
 posal would have had the effect of disarming the 
 Opposition, its leaders, of course, rejected it, and the 
 Cabinet was compelled to bring in a Bill at once. 
 But none the less was Mr. Disraeli's idea successful 
 in the end, and the whole House itself made to co- 
 operate in a measure which neither Party by itself 
 appeared by itself capable of passing. 
 
MEMOIR. 21 
 
 The scheme "which subsequently received the 
 Eoyal assent, and which had been the original 
 design of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli, was aban- 
 doned, in the first instance, in deference to the 
 feelings of other members of the Cabinet. But 
 few people know what it cost Mr. Disraeli to propose 
 the measure which had been kept in reserve as a 
 substitute, instead of the bolder one which he had 
 matured himself. Very short notice was given to 
 him of the inability of Lord Salisbury, Lord Car- 
 narvon, and General Peel to support the latter. Mr. 
 DisraeH had hardly more than one day to prepare 
 himself for the task ; and it may not be generally 
 known that he offered to resign office rather than 
 break up the Cabinet or undertake a task so much 
 to his own distaste. 
 
 However, he was overruled. But at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon of that day he had eaten nothing, 
 and, after taking a single glass of wine in Downing 
 Street, he went down to the House, there to dis- 
 charge his allotted task, with an air of depression 
 and depreciation which surprised every one who 
 heard him. The Bill, however, was only born to 
 perish, and the Ministry and the Conservative Party 
 had now to consider what course they were to take 
 The decision was not left to the Government. A 
 meeting was held at the Carlton Club, the result 
 of which was to inform the Prime Minister and the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer that the Tory Party 
 
22 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 now would support the original scheme, and no 
 other. Thus, so far from Mr. Disraeli having 
 dragged an unwilling Party after him, the Party 
 itself insisted on his acting as he did, and he had 
 no sincerer supporters through the desperate struggles 
 which ensued than some of those very county 
 members whose trust he was said to have abused. 
 
 Whatever may be thought of the policy of the 
 Government measure, there is no doubt that Mr. 
 Disraeli's Parliamentary reputation was enormously 
 enhanced by his conduct of it. So bitter and 
 ruthless an opposition has rarely been met by such 
 consummate tact, such immovable good temper, 
 such alert logic, and such perfect self-possession. 
 His humorous comments on Mr. Gladstone's fierce 
 attacks delighted both sides of the House, and his 
 stinging repartees on gentlemen who assailed him 
 in flank will long be remembered. The easy good 
 humour with which he expressed his satisfaction at 
 having the table between himself and Mr. Gladstone 
 during one of that gentleman's most indignant 
 diatribes destroyed its whole effect in a moment. 
 
 Nor were his graver efforts less surprising. One 
 night he wound up a great debate, answering the 
 House all round in a speech of three hours' duration, 
 without a single note, and it was generally allowed 
 that he had not missed a point, or failed to make 
 the most of an argument. When, after his first 
 great division against the whole might of Mr. 
 
MEMOIR. 23 
 
 Gladstone, which he won by a majority of twenty- 
 one, Tory members crowded up to the Treasury 
 bench to shake hands with and congratulate him, 
 they only expressed the feeling of the rest of the 
 House, who would have liked to pay the same 
 tribute of admiration to so genial and gallant an 
 antagonist. A propos of this triumph, Lady Beacons- 
 tield delighted to tell how, after it was over, an 
 ovation was prepared for him at the Carlton, where 
 the younger members of the Party begged him to 
 remain to supper; and how, in spite of their 
 seductions, he came home to his wife and ate half 
 the raised pie, and finished the bottle of champagne, 
 which she had prepared for his reception. 
 
 The most notable event in the career of Mr. 
 Disraeli during the remainder of the year 1867 
 was the famous Edinburgh banquet, when he took 
 credit to himself for having " educated " the Tories 
 and taught them to recur to the principles of its 
 founders, and to be the popular Party. But what 
 that famous speech will long be remembered for 
 was the inimitable comparison of the Edinburgh 
 and Quarterly Reviews to the two old-fashioned 
 rival posting-houses. They had both attacked his 
 policy as dangerous, revolutionary, and precipitate. 
 So, said he, may you behold the ostler at the Blue 
 Lion and the chambermaid at the King's Arms, 
 though bitter rivals in the bygone epoch of coaches 
 and post-horses, making up their quarrels and 
 
24 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 condoling together in the street over their common 
 enemy the railroad. 
 
 In the Session of 1868 Mr. Disraeli was chiefly 
 occupied with the completion of his Reform Bill, 
 by extending its provisions to Scotland, and with 
 a measure for the prevention of bribery and cor- 
 ruption. But the real interest of the Session 
 began with the resignation of Lord Derby, on the 
 25th of February. Mr. Disraeli might have said, 
 with Canning, that the post was his by inheritance, 
 and the enthusiastic cheers which greeted him as 
 he walked up to his seat the first night of his 
 appearance as Premier, sufficiently showed that his 
 claim to the dignity was recognised. The celebrated 
 Irish Church Resolutions were the immediate result 
 of Mr. Disraeli's assumption of the Premiership, 
 and though Mr. Disraeli spoke against them with 
 great power, it was manifest that the conclusion 
 was foregone. Resistance was hopeless in that 
 Parliament. But Mr. Disraeli no doubt expected 
 better things from a new one. The result of the 
 elections, however, was so decisive that he at once 
 resigned, and Mr. Gladstone had time to prepare 
 his measures for the next Session. 
 
 During the earlier Sessions of Mr. Gladstone's 
 first Administration little was left to the Opposi- 
 tion but to record an unavailing protest against 
 the revolutionary measures which it succeeded in 
 carrying. Mr. Disraeli had little to add in 18G9 to 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 what he said in 1868, though he had the additional 
 mortification of knowing that it must be said in 
 vain. The battle of the Irish Church was really 
 fought at the General Election. But such w^as not 
 the case with the Irish Land Bill, though even on 
 this subject it was too early to expect that the 
 overwhelming Liberal majority would listen to the 
 voice of reason. But in the following year, when 
 Mr. Gladstone's Irish policy was well out of the 
 way — when the storm of excitement which had 
 first borne him into office had begun to subside, 
 and at last there seemed some chance of opposing 
 Ministers with effect — Mr. Disraeli " woke up again," 
 as was said at the time, and very early in the 
 Session of 1871 delivered a most vigorous and wdtty 
 speech upon the Government proposal for a select 
 Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the condi- 
 tion of Westmeath. 
 
 It was in this speech that he summed up the 
 policy of Ministers in the following memorable 
 sentences: — "The right hon. gentleman persuaded 
 tlie people of England that with regard to Irish 
 politics he was in possession of the philosopher's 
 stone. He has been returned to this House with 
 an immense majority, with the object of securing 
 the tranquillity and content of Ireland. Has any- 
 thing been grudged him ? Time, labour, devotion — 
 w^hatever has been demanded has been accorded ; 
 whatever has been proposed has been carried. 
 
20 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Under liis influence, and at his instance, we have 
 legalised confiscation, consecrated sacrilege, and con- 
 doned high treason ; we have destroyed Churches, 
 we have shaken property to its foundation, and we 
 have emptied gaols; and now he cannot govern a 
 county without coming to a Select Committee. The 
 right hon. gentleman, after all his heroic exploits, 
 and at the head of his great majority, is making 
 Government ridiculous." The roars of laughter 
 and cheering which this pungent rhetoric evoked 
 will never be forgotten by any one who had the 
 luck to hear them. 
 
 This was not, however, the first great speech 
 which he made this Session. Three days before 
 he had delivered a most cutting philippic on the 
 proposed Black Sea Conference, more particularly 
 with reference. to the declaration of Mr. Odo Eussell 
 to Prince Bismarck, to the effect that the act of 
 Eussia in violating the neutrality of the Black 
 Sea would be a casus belli for England either with 
 or without allies. There can be little doubt that 
 with the beginning of this Session, 1871, began the 
 first decline of the Government in public estima- 
 tion. But it was with the year 1872 that the hand- 
 writing on the wall first became visible to all whom 
 the evil genius of Liberalism had not blinded. 
 Ministers had lived, as Mr. Disraeli said, in a 
 " blaze of apology " during the preceding autumn ; 
 and in the following Session two things occurred 
 
MEMOIR. 27 
 
 which shook the Cabinet to its centre — their 
 adoption of the Ballot Bill, and their policy towards 
 Mr. Fawcett's Dublin University Bill. The history 
 of the latter transaction could not be adequately 
 explained without the previous history of Mr. 
 Fawcett's measure, w^hich would be out of place 
 on this occasion. It may be sufficient to state that 
 Mr. Bouverie, sitting just behind Mr. Gladstone, 
 stigmatised it as " inconsistent with the dignity of 
 the Sovereign, disrespectful to the House of Com- 
 mons, and repugnant to the feelings of gentlemen." 
 
 Mr. Disraeli was far too skilful a tactician to 
 mar the effect of this scathing invective from one 
 of the supporters of the Government by adding 
 anything of his own to it. But by narrowly watch- 
 ing the effect which it produced in a House of 
 Commons devoted to the Premier, he was able to 
 draw pretty just inferences as to the state of public 
 feeling out of doors. The Ballot debates were even 
 more damaging to Ministers, for it was conclusively 
 shown that they had not taken up the measure till 
 the alleged necessity for it was confessedly passing 
 away. The Premier, said Mr. Disraeli, had " passion- 
 sionately embraced a corpse," and he was heard to 
 say on more than one occasion in private, and with 
 great energy, that he "hated the Ballot," and we 
 have reason to believe that his opinion of it never 
 changed. 
 
 It was in the spring of this year — i.e., Easter, 1872 
 
28 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 — that Mr. Disraeli fulfilled a promise given the year 
 before to the Conservatives of Lancashire, and paid a 
 political visit to the great centres of our commercial 
 and manufacturing industries. The invitation had 
 been accepted in 1871, coupled with the intimation 
 that Mr. Disraeli would prefer to choose his own 
 time for fulfilling the engagement. And now the 
 time had arrived. His progress was one perpetual 
 triumph. The enthusiastic reception which he ex- 
 perienced from the working classes was unmarred by 
 a single hostile manifestation. The speech which he 
 delivered at Manchester was well worthy of the 
 occasion, but over all that dignified eloquence 
 shone pre-eminent the peerless wit which likened 
 the then occupants of the Treasury Bench to "a 
 series of extinct volcanoes." But the Ballot Act 
 was the last of their eruptions, and with the Session 
 of 1873 it became tolerably apparent that the end 
 was not far off. Before the opening of the new 
 year, however, Mr. Disraeli had suffered a domestic 
 loss which, it was feared, would, for a long time at 
 least, banish him from public affairs. In December, 
 1872, " the perfect wife," she who had really ful- 
 filled for him all which conventional courtesy attri- 
 butes to the gentler sex — who had gloried in his 
 triumphs, lightened his reverses, and whose sympathy 
 with his political career was the genuine product of 
 her nature — whose devoted love shed over his home 
 even to the last somethins: of the bloom and softness 
 
MEMOIR. 20 
 
 of early married life — Maria, Lady Beaconsfield, died 
 at an advanced age, and left the bereaved statesman 
 to " the darkest hour of his existence." Neverthe- 
 less, it was, perhaps, because her sympathy v^ith his 
 public life had been so deep and genuine that Mr. 
 Disraeli may have found his best solace in renewing 
 it, and have felt that in pursuing such a course he 
 was not yet entirely dissevered from her. At all 
 events, he returned to Parliamentary work with ap- 
 parently unflagging energies, and circumstances soon 
 occurred which showed that his political nerve, his 
 coolness, and his prescience were still perfect. Mr. 
 Gladstone's fate had at last come upon him, and he 
 was compelled to light on Mr. Fawcett's Dublin 
 University Bill. Beaten by a majority of three, he 
 at once tendered his resignation, and without a 
 moment's delay her Majesty sent for Mr. Disraeli. 
 He declined to form a Government at once, he and 
 Lord Derby having previously made up their minds 
 what to do in the contingency which happened. Mr. 
 Disraeli informed her Majesty that he should have 
 no difficulty in constructing an Administration, but 
 that he would not undertake to do so with the ex- 
 isting House of Commons. Eventually, after the 
 most desperate efforts to dislodge his antagonist from 
 the position in which he had entrenched himself, 
 and to force him to come down and take office, Mr. 
 Gladstone was compelled to go back again, and it was 
 generally supposed he would dissolve Parliament 
 
30 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 at once. He gave it to be understood, however, 
 that he felt himself under no obligation to do so, 
 and the prevailing opinion began to be that he 
 would tide over another Session. The event justified 
 Mr. Disraeli's foresight ; but even had it not, nobody 
 can deny that he was right and Mr. Gladstone wrong 
 on the question of Parliamentary conduct. To say, 
 as Mr. Gladstone did, that when a Minister is de- 
 feated and resigns the leader of the Opposition is 
 bound to take office in his place, is to say that no 
 leader of Opposition who is not ready to take office 
 ought to press his resistance so far as to defeat the 
 Government. N'ow, as a leader of Opposition can, 
 in the nature of things, only be in this condition 
 under circumstances which occur at rare intervals, 
 it follows from Mr. Gladstone's doctrine that for the 
 greater part of their time Prime Ministers shall be 
 virtually absolute, exposed only to abstract criticism, 
 which is never to be carried to any practical result. 
 There were members of the Tory party, we believe, 
 who, though they did not doubt the correctness of 
 Mr. Disraeli's theory, doubted the soundness of his 
 judgment in not taking office and dissolving when he 
 had the chance. And it is impossible to say even 
 now what might have happened if Mr. Gladstone 
 had given himself the chance of another Session, 
 and had conjured up some other blazing question 
 with which to dazzle public opinion. The proba- 
 bility is, however, that nothing of the kind could 
 
MEMOIR. VA 
 
 have been done in the existing House of Commons. 
 The energies of the party were distracted and ex- 
 hausted. Government was beaten and demoralised, 
 and it is probable that Mr. Gladstone's best chacce 
 lay in doing what he did, and trying for a new 
 House of Commons with a smaller majority, kept 
 in order by the danger of a powerful and sanguine 
 Opposition. Mr. Disraeli justified himself to his 
 supporters in words of memorable import:— ''I 
 believe that the Tory Party at the present time 
 occupies the most satisfactory position which it has 
 held since the days of its greatest statesmen — Mr. 
 Pitt and Lord Grenville. It has divested itself of 
 those excrescences which are not indigenous to its 
 native growth, but which, in a time of long pros- 
 perity, were the consequences partly of negligence, 
 and partly, perhaps, in a certain degree of its tradi- 
 tions. We are now emerging from the fiscal period. 
 .... But there are other questions .... which 
 must soon engage the country. The attributes of 
 a Constitutional Monarchy — whether the aristocratic 
 principle should be recognised in our Constitution — 
 whether the Commons of England shall continue an 
 estate of the realm, or degenerate into an indiscrimi- 
 nate multitude — whether a National Church shall be 
 maintained — the functions of corporations, the sanc^ 
 tity of endowments, the tenure of landed property — 
 all those institutions and principles which have made 
 this country free and famous, and conspicuous for its 
 
32 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 union of order with liberty, are now impugned, and, 
 in due time, will become great and ' burning ' ques- 
 tions. I think it is of the utmost importance that 
 when that time arrives which may be nearer at 
 hand than we imagine, there shall be in this country 
 a great Constitutional Party which shall be compe- 
 tent to lead the people and direct the public mind. 
 And, sir, when that time arrives, and they enter on 
 a career which must be noble, and which I hope and 
 believe will be triumphant, I think they may per- 
 haps remember — and not perhaps with unkindness 
 — that I at least prevented one obstacle from being 
 thrown in their way, when, as the trustee of their 
 honour and their interests, I declined to form a 
 weak and discredited Administration." In the fol- 
 lowing autumn he was installed Lord Eector of the 
 University of Glasgow, an honour which was repeated 
 in 1874, when he defeated Mr. Emerson, by a 
 majority of 200. Two months afterwards the 
 world was taken by surprise by the announcement 
 of a dissolution of Parliament. 
 
 The result of the General Election placed Mr. 
 Disraeli in office, with a clear majority of fifty ; 
 and we may now view him as having realised for 
 a time the dream of his youth, and the more 
 practical conceptions of his riper years, in the 
 establishment of the claim of the Tory Party to 
 be the ''popular political confederation of this 
 country." Some people attributed the Tory victory 
 
MEMOIR. 33 
 
 to the wrath of the licensed victuallers, some to 
 a religious panic, some to both, and " beer and the 
 Bible " was a favourite taunt which the defeated 
 Liberals hurled at the heads of their antagonists. 
 But though no doubt these exasperated " interests " 
 did swell the Tory majority, a deeper and more 
 permanent feeling than anything which these 
 ephemeral wrongs could have produced was the 
 mainspring of the movement. The people had 
 begun to recognise in the Tory Party the existence 
 of qualities w^hich, however obscured during their 
 more recent history, had never been totally extin- 
 guished, and had once been their distinctive badge. 
 They felt, in a word, that under all the objectionable 
 policy attributed to Toryism, supposing the impu- 
 tation to be true, there lay a fund of national 
 sentiment and a loyalty to English ideas not equally 
 discernible in their rivals. Great revulsions of 
 popular feeling are seldom attributable to specific 
 grievances. These may fire the train, but more 
 general causes must have laid it. And that some 
 such general notions as we have here described were 
 largely diffused among the working classes at 
 the General Election of 1874 we think there can 
 be no doubt. Nor is the result of the last General 
 Election really inconsistent with this conclusion. 
 
 It may be remembered that Mr. Disraeli's 
 Government came into office to some extent pledged 
 to the redress of grievances under which various 
 
 D 
 
3t MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 important interests conceived themselves to be 
 suffering. The army believed itself wronged by 
 Mr. Cardweli's Army Bill. The licensed victuallers 
 had been injured by Mr. Bruce's Licensing Act. 
 The Church had been unjustly treated by Mr. 
 Forster's Education Act, and it was an understood 
 thing that whenever the Tory Party returned to 
 power an effort should be made to do justice to these 
 various complaints. But independently of the work 
 which the policy of the late Government had 
 directly prepared for its successor, there were other 
 grievances not indeed created by that Administra- 
 tion, but with which it had wholly failed to cope, 
 and to the redress of which the Opposition had more 
 or less committed itself. First and foremost amons: 
 these stood the grievance of the local ratepayers, 
 represented in the House of Commons by a band 
 of able men of business, and flushed with their 
 victory over Mr. Gladstone in 1872, when Sir Massey 
 Lopes defeated the Government by a majority of 
 one hundred. Next in importance stood the opera- 
 tive class, who felt themselves aggrieved by the 
 Labour Laws, the existing Factory Acts, and the 
 progressive inclosure of waste lands and commons. 
 Last, but not least, came tenant farmers, who were 
 anxious for some readjustment of our system of land 
 tenure, and also looked forward to some more 
 effective measure than had yet been passed for the 
 exclusion of cattle disease from these islands. 
 
MEMOIR. 35 
 
 Besides these various questions there were others 
 of more general interest which demanded investiga- 
 tion ; such as the state of our prisons, the condition 
 of our mercantile marine, the whole system of our 
 county administration, the Burial Laws, and, as a 
 matter of course, the Bankruptcy Laws. Here, then, 
 were subjects enough to occupy the attention of any 
 Government without rekindling those volcanic fires 
 which had so long shed their lurid glare over the 
 Liberal Administration. Mr. Disraeli accordingly 
 found himself entering upon office with a powerful 
 and united majority, to carry out that very pro- 
 gramme which twenty-two years before had been 
 sketched out by the late Lord Derby as the one he 
 intended to pursue. ]^ow, at last, Mr. Disraeli had 
 an opportunity of proving whether his sympathy 
 with the working classes had been merely assumed 
 for party purposes or whether it was sincere and 
 lasting. The world was not long left in doubt. One 
 of the first measures introduced into the House of 
 Commons by the new Home Secretary, Mr. Cross, 
 was a Factory Bill for the. protection of women; 
 and one of the next an Employers and Workmen 
 Bill for the rectification of legal inequalities com- 
 plained of by the workmen. From that time to 
 the end of the Parliament the same course of 
 legislation was steadily pursued, not a Session 
 passing without some contribution being made to 
 the Statute Book in the interests of the working 
 
 D 2 
 
36 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 man, designed either to consult his self-respect, to 
 ensure his safety, or to promote his comfort and 
 convenience. We need only name the Artisans' 
 Dwellings Bill, the Enclosure of Commons Bill, the 
 friendly Societies Bill, the Public Health Bill, and, 
 finally, the Factory Act Consolidation Bill of 1878. 
 
 The more specific pledges given by the Conserva- 
 tives in Opposition Mr. Disraeli took care to redeem 
 as soon as he came into power. A Licensing Amend- 
 ment Act relieved the keepers of public-houses from 
 the more oppressive and vexatious regulations of 
 Mr. Bruce's measure. An Education Amendment 
 Act enabled denominational schools to compete on 
 something like an equal footing with the Board 
 schools. The Regimental Exchanges Bill satisfied 
 the ofiicers of the army. The Agricultural Holdings 
 Act was welcomed by the farmers' friends in the 
 House of Commons as changing the presumption 
 of law in favour of the farmer, though that such a 
 change has not had much practical effect is shown 
 by the vigorous efforts now being made by Mr. 
 Chaplin and other Conservative county members 
 to make the Act really operative instead of being, 
 as it is, merely permissive. Finally the local rates 
 received substantial instalments of relief by the 
 Eating Act of 1874, the Poor-law Amendment Act 
 of 1876, the Prisons Act of 1877, and the Highways 
 Act of 1878. N"either the Prisons Bill nor the 
 Cattle Bill, however, was intended especially for 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 the benefit of any one class in the community. 
 They were national and popular measures, of which 
 the primary objects were to deal more effectively 
 with criminals, and to protect the flocks and herds 
 of the country from being decimated by imported 
 disease. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that down to 1878 Mr. 
 Disraeli's Government had really done all or nearly 
 all which it had undertaken to do on coming into 
 power, besides passing many other measures of the 
 first degree of public importance. The work of 
 the Cabinet was performed gradually ; and as it did 
 not deal with " burning " questions, never filled that 
 space in the public eye w^hich was filled by Mr. 
 Gladstone's legislation. But for real solid utility, 
 and the benefits which it has conferred on all classes 
 of society, it will contrast very favourably with the 
 work of the preceding Government — with amending 
 which, indeed, a good deal of the time of the Tory 
 party was taken up. 
 
 There were other questions, no doubt, in which 
 his Government was less fortunate. The Church 
 of England was gratified by Lord Sandon's Educa- 
 tion Act, by the Endowed Schools Act Amendment 
 Act, and by the Bishoprics Acts. But, unhappily, 
 the Public Worship Eegulation Act did not for 
 a long time effect the object of its authors ; and 
 Government found itself unable to settle the Burial 
 question^ in spite of the compromise which was 
 
38 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 offered to the Dissenters. But it must be borne 
 in mind that neither of these failures can be laid 
 to the door of Lord Beaconsfield or any of the 
 members of his Cabinet. The Public Worship 
 Eegulation Act was the work of the Bench of 
 Bishops, who were deeply convinced of its neces- 
 sity. The Bishop of Gloucester declared that if 
 the Bill had not been passed the Establishment 
 would not have lasted five years. The rest of the 
 Bishops, with a single exception, were unanimous, 
 and Mr. Disraeli, though personally not in favour 
 of the measure, felt that he could not well oppose 
 himself to this weight of authority. When we say 
 that he was personally not in favour of it, we 
 mean that he was probably prescient of its con- 
 sequences. But he never viewed with approbation 
 the attempts of the ultra-High Churchmen to 
 revive in the English Church a system which, if 
 not illegal, was at least obsolete, and opposed, as 
 he believed, to the deep-seated feeling of the vast 
 majority of the people. 
 
 Whether he was right or wrong in this estimate 
 of the subject is another question ; whether nothing 
 which is obsolete can ever be revived with advan- 
 tage, or whether so large a majority of the English 
 people are really hostile to Ritualism, cannot be 
 positively decided. And it is true that among 
 Mr. Disraeli's strong points, a knowledge of the 
 English Church, with a just appreciation of its 
 
MEMOIR. 39 
 
 parties, its traditions, and its susceptibilities, was 
 not to be reckoned. Still, on this matter of Eitual 
 he would have left the Clergy alone, if the Bishops 
 would have left his Government alone. But they 
 would not, and between them the Public Worship 
 Eegulation Act became law — a measure so certain 
 to provoke misconstruction, and, therefore, to en- 
 courage disobedience, that it might have been w^iser, 
 perhaps, in the Minister of the day to abstain from 
 supporting it. 
 
 With regard to the Burial question, however, Mr. 
 Disraeli's Government, though even more unfortu- 
 nate, was even more completely blameless. To what 
 extent the Bishops, and more especially the Primate, 
 had been consulted before the Burials Bill of 1876 
 was introduced into the House of Lords we are not, 
 of course, aware ; but it received their cordial sup- 
 port as soon as it was introduced. But directly an 
 Amendment was proposed which went straight to 
 the principle of the Bill and destroyed the essence 
 of the compromise, the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 turned round and gave that Amendment his support. 
 Of course, after this the fate of the Bill was sealed. 
 Two other questions besides were left over to the 
 present Government which the former one would 
 have been wise to settle — the Game Question and 
 County Administration ; and the failure to deal with 
 either must be allowed to be a blot on Mr. Disraeli's 
 domestic legislation. 
 
40 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 We must now, however, turn to the time when it 
 was announced that the days of Lord Beaconsfield 
 in the House of Commons were numbered, and that 
 failing health warned him from a scene in which he 
 ]iad so long drunk delight of battle with his peers, 
 and in which he had never seemed so great as when 
 striving against tremendous odds. Mr. Disraeli 
 made his last speech in the House of Commons on 
 the 11th of August, 1876. Next morning the well- 
 kept secret was disclosed. Mr. Disraeli was to 
 become Earl of Beaconsfield, and the leadership of 
 the House of Commons was to devolve upon Sir 
 Stafford ISTorthcote. Physical incapacity to bear any 
 longer the fatigue of leading the House of Commons 
 was his only motive for the step. And it must have 
 been with no common emotion that he took his 
 leave of an arena in which he had experienced such 
 remarkable vicissitudes of good and iU fortune, and 
 had crowned a chequered career with a brilliant and 
 popular triumph. 
 
 It cannot be said that in the accomplished and 
 courteous lieutenant whom he left behind him in the 
 House of Commons, Lord Beaconsfield had provided it 
 with a leader equal to himself, able either to rein that 
 proud Assembly with the same firm hand, or to wield 
 the magic blade which its master in so many gallant 
 fights had indeed borne ''like a king." The last 
 person in the world to claim any such equality 
 would be Sir Stafford Northcote himself. But still 
 
MEMOIR. 41 
 
 in ordinary times it is probable that he would have 
 been found quite equal to the duties of his position, 
 and that Lord Beaconsfield's absence from his old 
 post would have caused little or no remark. But 
 his lot, unfortunately, was not cast in ordinary times. 
 Sir Stafford Northcote was new to his difficult posi- 
 tion in times of extraordinary difficulty, confronted 
 by novel phenomena in the House of Commons 
 itself, and by a crisis of stupendous gravity in the 
 foreign relations of this country. That the long Par- 
 liamentary experience, the strength of character, the 
 fertility of resource, the eloquence, the wit, and the 
 satire which gave Mr. Disraeli an ascendency in 
 the House of Commons equal to that of either Sir 
 Robert Peel or Lord Palmerston, would have made 
 comparatively short work of the Irish Obstructives, 
 and would have bestowed on the attacks of the 
 Opposition the chastisement which they deserved, 
 may be asserted with confidence, and without any 
 unjust depreciation of Sir Stafford Northcote. Had 
 he remained in the Lower House, it is probable, 
 indeed, that the Home Eulers would never have 
 carried their tactics to the length they did ; and that 
 we should have been spared the disgraceful scenes 
 of 1877 and 1878. But if the representation of 
 Foreign Affairs in the House of Commons during 
 those two Sessions had devolved on Mr. Disraeli, 
 it is far from impossible that the effort might have 
 cost him his life. 
 
42 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 It was early in 1876 that the Eastern Question 
 began to attract the notice of the general public 
 in this country. We may pass over its earlier 
 incidents, the Andrassy Note and the Berlin Memo- 
 randum, and come at once to the more exciting events 
 which threatened at one time the very existence of 
 Lord Beaconsfi eld's Ministry. It was in March, 1876, 
 that rumours began to reach this country of atrocious 
 outrages perpetrated by the Bashi-Bazouks in sup- 
 pressing the Bulgarian insurrection. At first they 
 were discredited by the Government. But the publi- 
 cation of Mr. Baring's report, and the appearance of 
 some remarkable letters in the columns of a contem- 
 porary, speedily inflamed the passions of the people 
 to fever height, and in an evil hour tempted certain 
 eminent men to fan the flames of agitation. Ee- 
 ports were studiously circulated that Mr. Disraeli 
 was indifferent to these horrors ; that his '' Semitic 
 instincts " led him to sympathise with Turkey 
 through all extremes ; and that in aping the policy 
 of Lord Palmerston he was clinging to an exploded 
 superstition. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield was not more indifferent to 
 human suffering than other people, but his sagacity 
 taught him to distrust the accuracy of these reports, 
 and the event proved that he was right. As for 
 aping the policy of Lord Palmerston, it became 
 abundantly clear afterwards that if he had only 
 aped it a little sooner, much bloodshed would have 
 
MEMOIR. 43 
 
 been spared, and many serious errors avoided. And 
 as to his " Semitic instincts," the wiseacres who 
 circulated this phrase were evidently unaware that 
 the Semitic instincts of Lord Beaconsfield, if he had 
 been guided only by them, taught him to hate the 
 barbarian Turk as the ruthless oppressor of the 
 genuine Arab race, from which he himself sprang, and 
 which had a literature and a philosophy which the 
 semi-savage Ottomans could not comprehend. Any 
 reader of Tancred may see what Lord Beaconsfield 
 really thought about the Turks. But when placed 
 in a great political position, responsible for the 
 safety of an Empire and for the happiness or misery 
 of so many millions of the human race, his own 
 individual opinions were obliged to give way to 
 higher and more general considerations. He saw 
 no way of securing a barrier against the advance 
 01 Eussia to the Mediterranean on the one hand 
 and the banks of the Euphrates on the other but 
 by maintaining the Ottoman Empire in its place. 
 It was on the 26th of June that he made his first im- 
 portant speech upon the subject, in which he dwelt 
 on the improbability of the Turkish troops having 
 kept any prisoners for torture, as they usually pro- 
 ceeded by more expeditious methods. This expres- 
 sion was denounced as " levity " by sour and austere 
 fanatics. But Mr. Disraeli lived it down, as he did 
 many other imputations, and that in a very short 
 space of time^ On the 4th of August, 1876,\he made 
 
44 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 his second great speech in Parliament on this subject, 
 when he exposed with great effect the exaggerations 
 which had been palmed off upon the British public 
 as trustworthy evidence of the ineradicable ferocity 
 and brutality of the Turkish race. He likewise spoke 
 with great dignity of what he conceived to be the 
 duty of her Majesty's Government at this momentous 
 crisis. (Our duty, said he, is *'to maintain the 
 Empire of England," and these words gave the key- 
 note to his policy, from which, through evil report 
 and good report, he never afterwards deviated./ All 
 through the autumn, however, Mr. Gladstone and 
 his disciples kept up a vigorous agitation against his 
 policy. The state of the public mind was such 
 during the autumn months that a general election 
 would almost certainly have returned a Parliament 
 pledged to a crusade against Turkey. Lord Beacons- 
 field took one or two opportunities of setting the 
 public right on these matters, once at the agricul- 
 tural dinner at Aylesbury in September, and again 
 at the Lord Mayor's dinner at the Guildhall, when he 
 observed that if England embarked in war she was 
 not a country who would have to consider '' if she 
 could enter on a second or third campaign." 
 
 This language of course encouraged Lord Beacons- 
 field's enemies to declare loudly that he was bent on 
 plunging England into war. But on the whole Lord 
 Beaconsfield seemed himself to prefer the policy of 
 giving his opponents rope enough, and he had no 
 
MEMOIR. 45 
 
 reason to reproach himself with want of foresight. 
 As the autumn went on, public opinion began to 
 turn. Influential Liberals like Lord Fitzwilliam 
 and the Duke of Somerset began to denounce the 
 violence of the Eadical leaders of the Opposition. 
 The publication of Mr.. Schuyler's book informed the 
 British public that Eussia, too, could be guilty of 
 atrocities not one shade less execrable than those 
 imputed to the Turks ; and when it was announced 
 that Lord Salisbury was to be the English Pleni- 
 potentiary at a Conference of the Great Powers, to 
 be held at Constantinople in December, confidence 
 in Lord Beaconsfield's Government had been pretty 
 well restored. Men became ashamed of their almost 
 wilful blindness to the true character of Lord 
 Derby's Despatch of the 21st of September. The 
 Conference, however, was a failure. Turkey turned 
 a deaf ear to the suggestions of reforms pressed upon 
 her by all the European Powers, England included ; 
 and the Porte was, therefore, left to its fate. Major 
 martis jam apparet imago. But still opinion was 
 greatly divided in England on the probability of war 
 breaking out. The meeting of Parliament, ho vf ever, 
 had enabled Ministers to make such explanations of 
 their policy as satisfied the majority of the people, 
 and completed the reaction w^hich had commenced in 
 the November previous. 
 
 Henceforth Lord Beaconsfield retained the con- 
 fidence and admiration of the country to the end 
 
46 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 of the Eastern negotiations, and his opponents had 
 the satisfaction of seeing that he had emerged from 
 the short eclipse of his popularity more powerful 
 and more trusted than ever. War ultimately broke 
 out between Turkey and Eussia on the 30th of 
 April, 1877, with the progress of which it is un- 
 necessary to detain our readers. It is sufficient to 
 say that the gallantry exhibited by the Turkish 
 troops won the sympathy and admiration of Eng- 
 land ; and that throughout the remainder of the 
 Session, as well as during the recess. Lord Beacons- 
 field's Ministry suffered no diminution of credit. 
 Lord Derby's Despatch to the Eussian Govern- 
 ment, and the answer returned to it, in which an 
 assurance was given that the points specified by 
 Lord Derby, namely, Constantinople, Egypt, and the 
 Suez Canal, should be respected, satisfied the public 
 mind. 
 
 When Parliament was prorogued Lord Beacons- 
 field's position was still as powerful as ever. The 
 Opposition had endeavoured to foment a popular 
 outcry against the assumption by her Majesty of 
 the title of Empress of India, but the people, on 
 the whole, were rather pleased with it than other- 
 wise, and faction was once more disappointed. 
 During the autumn of 1877 it however began to 
 be apparent that some little divisions of opinion 
 were creeping into the Cabinet. Lord Carnarvon 
 and Lord Derby made speeches very different in 
 
MEMOIR. 47 
 
 tone from those of Mr. Hardy and Lord John 
 Manners. But Lord Beaconsfield said very little 
 till the Lord Mayor's dinner, when, after dwelling 
 on the fact that Turkey had proved that she was 
 something more than a geographical expression, 
 he wound up by advising the public to " try 
 a little patience." At the close of this year Lord 
 Beaconsfield enjoyed the distinguished honour of a 
 visit from her Majesty at Hughenden, a graceful 
 tribute to the services of the veteran Statesman which 
 was fully appreciated by the public. 
 
 The announcement that the Session of 1878 was 
 to commence a month earlier than usual, and that 
 Parliament was to meet on the 19th of January, 
 gave rise to many agitating rumours ; and when it 
 was known that in consequence of the English Fleet 
 having been ordered to the Dardanelles, Lord 
 Carnarvon and Lord Derby had resigned, the party 
 passions of an earlier period seemed to be re- 
 kindled. Lord Derby, however, resumed his place 
 in the Government in a few days, only, however, to 
 retain it for a short time, his final retirement being 
 caused by a difference with his colleagues as to the 
 proposed Congress, and according to his own 
 account, about some project for seizing a Turkish 
 port in Asia Minor. It was at this time that the 
 reserve forces were called out, also a step of which 
 Lord Derby had disapproved. 
 
 The excitement, however, created by this act of 
 
48 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 vigour was as nothing compared with the denuncia- 
 tions which were launched at the head of Lord 
 Beaconsfield when it was known that a portion of 
 our Indian army had been ordered to Malta. Mr. 
 Bright described Lord Beaconsfield in terms which 
 we shall not repeat. Mr. Gladstone declared that 
 the Royal prerogative on which the Prime Minister 
 relied was a forgery. By other politicians, of a more 
 advanced school, it was gravely asserted that Lord 
 Beaconsfield entertained a fixed design of subvert- 
 ing the British Constitution with the help of Asiatic 
 bayonets, and of restoring the Monarchy of the 
 Stuarts in the person of Queen Victoria. It is 
 needless to say that if there had been any serious 
 objections to the employment of these forces such 
 assertions would have smothered them in ridicule. 
 But it was impossible to show that there was a 
 single objection which was tenable. The people were 
 greatly delighted with the sudden proof that England 
 was a greater military power than they had supposed ; 
 and the effect which it produced on Eussia and on 
 all Europe was marked and instantaneous. The 
 Opposition in Parliament, of course, did their worst. 
 The measure, they said, was unconstitutional. The 
 Queen had no such power. The people of India 
 would be saddled with intolerable expenses. It was a 
 violation of the India Bill of 1858; with much 
 more to the same effect. But Lord Cairns in a single 
 speech demolished the whole fabric of invective, and 
 
MEMOIR. 49 
 
 showed conclusively that both law and precedent 
 were on the side of Ministers. 
 
 By this time the strength of Turkey had succumbed 
 to her colossal foe, and a Treaty of Peace had been 
 concluded by which English interests were very 
 seriously threatened. The attitude of England, how- 
 ever, now induced Eussia to pay serious attention 
 to her remonstrances, and when Lord Beaconsfield 
 insisted that the Treaty of San Stefano should be laid 
 upon a European council table, Prince Gortschakoff, 
 after much diplomatic fencing, the result of which 
 was the Schouvaloff-Salisbury compromise, accepted 
 Lord Beaconsfield's original proposal. The Congress 
 of Berlin followed, and though considerable objec- 
 tions were takefi at the time to the attendance of the 
 Prime Minister himself as the representative of 
 England, it is probable that there was no one else 
 who could have made an equally strong impression 
 on the Continental statesmen there assembled. The 
 result of his mission was the memorable Treaty of 
 Berlin, which will be for ever associated with his 
 strenuous efforts to uphold what he believed to be 
 the true interests of England. 
 
 It was the object of Lord Beaconsfield in the 
 Treaty of Berlin to close against Eussia the two 
 approaches to the Mediterranean, and by occupy- 
 ing Cyprus to command her path through the 
 Euphrates Valley. The etficacy of the means which 
 he adopted has not yet been tested ; and it would be 
 
 E 
 
50 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 premature to speak positively on the subject. It is 
 sufficient to state that in London, after the signature 
 of the Treaty, he was the hero of the hour; that 
 the populace and the Parliament believed "peace 
 with honour " to be no empty boast. Abroad, too, 
 Lord Beaconsfield was thought to have achieved a 
 still greater diplomatic triumph than he was credited 
 with at home. The Austrian Presse, in particular, 
 gave a summary of its results, from which we take 
 the following remarks : — " The action of the British 
 Cabinet since the signing of the Peace Treaty is 
 now manifest. It tends to prove that, war or no 
 war, the preponderance of English influence in Asia 
 is henceforth secured. Egypt, with the Suez Canal 
 and the maritime route to India, Asia Minor, with 
 Arabia;*^s "sfiso Syria and the rich Euphrates district, 
 Turkey on both sides the Bosphorus, together with 
 the road over Persia to the vassal States of Central 
 Asia, are now all under the powerful dominion of 
 Great Britain. . . . Such is the great moral and 
 political result not of the Berlin Congress, but of 
 the course followed by the mighty Indo -British 
 Empire, and which is henceforth to replace the old 
 Anglo-Ottoman traditions and the old Eusso- 
 European views on the policy of the East." This was, 
 however, an Austrian view of " England's triumph 
 in the Eastern Question." But even at home the occu- 
 pation of Cyprus, and the firm " Indo-British policy " 
 which it signified, evoked general enthusiasm. 
 
MEMOIR. 51 
 
 Immense majorities supported Lord Beacousfield 
 in Parliament. The freedom of the City of London 
 was conferred on him and on Lord Salisbury, and 
 their progress from Parliament Street to Whitehall, 
 on their return from Berlin, was one continued 
 triumph. In the speech which he delivered after 
 the subsequent banquet the Prime Minister gave 
 as clear and concise an exposition of what he 
 himself considered to be the real import of the 
 Treaty as is anywhere to be found. The well- 
 founded apprehensions which had prevailed both 
 in this country and in Europe, he described as 
 follows : — " That the balance of power in the 
 Mediterranean might be subverted : that Eussia 
 might establish ports on the ^gean : that the 
 restriction on the navigation of the Straits might 
 be removed : that Asia Minor might be conquered : 
 and the establishments and influence of Great 
 Britain on the Persian Gulf might be seriously 
 endangered : " and he claimed for the Treaty of 
 Berlin that it had secured the best possible pre- 
 cautions against all these contingencies. Such for 
 the time at least was thought to be the general 
 opinion of the country, and when Parliament 
 separated on the 16th of August there was no 
 apparent reason to doubt that Lord Beacousfield had 
 every right to feel himself more secure than ever. 
 
 During the autumn of 1878 public attention was, 
 however, diverted for a while from the Turkish 
 
 E 2 
 
52 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Question by the beginning of troubles in Afghan- 
 istan. But before these began to show themselves 
 it was obvious that considerable difficulty would 
 be experienced in carrying the Treaty of Berlin 
 into execution. The populations whom it affected 
 resisted the dispositions which had been made for 
 them, and Greece in particular was exceedingly 
 dissatisfied with the boundaries allotted her in the 
 Treaty. But for the time all eyes were turned in a 
 different direction; and for some months little or 
 nothing was said of the progress of the Treaty 
 towards completion. The short Afghan war of 1878 
 now belongs to history. It is sufficient to say that 
 it was entirely successful; that we gained the 
 "scientific frontier" declared to be imperatively 
 necessary, not only by Lord Beaconsfield himself, 
 but by the majority of experienced Indian statesmen, 
 and that the war was concluded by a most satisfactory 
 Treaty with the new Ameer, Yakoob Khan, in May, 
 1879. This was a success which it was impossible 
 to deny or to explain away. The country was satis- 
 fied that Lord Beaconsfield had gauged the situation 
 rightly, and that his action had been conformable to 
 the traditional principles by which our Empire had 
 been founded and preserved. What touched him 
 more nearly were the assertions put forward by a 
 portion of the London Press when the successful 
 issue of our negotiations with Yakoob became 
 known, to the effect that Eussia's desertion of the 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Afghans, which had contributed so largely to our 
 success, had been purchased by concessions in 
 Eastern Europe which virtually reduced the Treaty 
 of Berlin to the level of the Treaty of San Stefano. 
 Lord Beaconsfield, however, replied to this charge 
 in a speech in the House of Lords in May, 1879, 
 in. which in a few incisive sentences he pointed out 
 what the Treaty of San Stefano had proposed, and 
 what the Treaty of Berlin had enacted, drawing out 
 the contrast with a force and clearness which might 
 have satisfied any reasonable mind. 
 
 With the spring of 1879 a fresh source of trouble 
 developed itself in the affairs of South Africa, where, 
 it had seemed necessary to the High Commissioner> 
 Sir Bartle Erere, to crush the military power of the 
 Zulu King, Cetewayo, which he believed was a 
 standing menace to the Colony. The Home Govern- 
 ment was solicited for troops, which were sent out, 
 though not without an intimation to Sir Bartle Frere 
 that he was going faster than the Government 
 desired. War, however, had now become inevitable, 
 and crossing the frontier in false security, supposing 
 that they had only a contemptible enemy to deal 
 with, a portion of our forces was surrounded by the 
 enemy, and cut off almost to a man. 
 
 One cry of grief and indignation resounded 
 through the whole land. The miscarriage of our 
 arms reflected on the Ministry, and the Government 
 had to bear for a time th« triple burden of an 
 
54 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 unexecuted Treaty of Berlin, a doubtful war in 
 Afghanistan, and an unsuccessful one in South 
 Africa. Lord Beaconsfield, however, was never 
 greater than under misfortunes of this nature, and 
 never carried himself more proudly than he did at 
 this trying epoch. Presently, however, came the 
 news that the evacuation of Roumelia by the 
 Russians had begun, and that Yakoob Khan had 
 submitted. The Government, which had certainly 
 sunk somewhat in public estimation, regained its 
 old level of popularity. And at this moment, when 
 it could not be said that it was done under any 
 pressure of public opinion. Sir Garnet Wolseley was 
 sent out to South Africa to assume the chief political 
 and military command. 
 
 The domestic policy of Lord Beaconsfield in 1879 
 was almost a blank. The fact is that the Govern- 
 ment had done nearly as much as it could do in the 
 existing Parliament. Two questions still remained 
 which Government had been anxious to settle — the 
 liability, namely, of employers for injuries sustained 
 by their servants, and the reconstruction of our 
 county administration. But on each of these ques- 
 tions Lord Beaconsfield was placed between two fires, 
 and a General Election being at hand it was im- 
 portant not to run the risk of alienating any power- 
 ful body of his supporters. The Magistrates, gene- 
 rally speaking, were at issue on the subject of 
 County Boards ; employers and employed were at 
 
MEMOIR. 55 
 
 issue as to the liability of the former. It would 
 have been unwise to give offence either to the 
 ratepayers, or the country gentlemen, or the rail- 
 way companies, or the mill-owners, when their votes 
 were so shortly to be solicited ; and these and other 
 measures gradually drifted out of sight. 
 
 One question, however, of great domestic interest 
 had risen to the surface during the winter and 
 spring of 1879, and that was the condition of 
 British agriculture. Commerce, no doubt, was 
 equally depressed ; but the depression was common 
 to Europe ; its causes were understood, and its re- 
 vival confidently anticipated. That, however, was 
 not the case with the agricultural industries of this 
 country. They were, cornparatively speaking, iso- 
 lated in their distress. Its causes were warmly 
 disputed, and its cure seemed doubtful and remote. 
 Foreign competition, however, had obviously a great 
 deal to do with it, and murmurs of Protection 
 accordingly began to make themselves audible in 
 Farmers' Clubs. It was under these circumstances 
 that the Marquis of Huntly called the attention 
 of the House of Lords to the subject, and inquired 
 whether Her Majesty's Government intended to 
 institute any inquiry into the causes of the pre- 
 vailing suffering. This motion drew from Lord 
 Beaconsfield a remarkably able speech, in which he 
 declared once for all the impossibility of returning 
 to Protection, though not without reminding his 
 
56 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 audience of what had been said upon the subject 
 " in another place, and in another generation." No 
 doubt he must have experienced some satisfaction, 
 what he himself would have called a " dismal con- 
 solation," in calling to the remembrance of the 
 public the warnings he had addressed during the 
 great commercial struggle which lasted from 1846 
 to 1850. The country, he said, had been warned 
 that if Protection was abandoned such at some 
 future time would be the inevitable consequences. 
 But the country deliberately decided to run the 
 risk. Two General Elections in succession afforded 
 ample opportunity for a reconsideration of the ques- 
 tion had the public been so disposed. But the 
 Parliament of 1847 confirmed what had been done 
 in the two previous years, and the Parliament of 
 1852 confirmed what had been done afterwards, 
 For six years the country had been mainly occupied 
 with the consideration of the great question, and 
 the conclusion at which it finally arrived could not 
 lightly be tampered with. In the same speech he 
 pointed out, with great clearness, the effect upon 
 prices of the discovery of the gold-fields, of the 
 immense addition to the gold currency which was 
 suddenly created, and of the almost equally sudden 
 cessation of the Californian supply. 
 
 Before quitting the Session of 1879, however, we 
 may call attention to a motion brought forward on 
 the 13th of May in the Lower House by Mr. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Dillwyn, in which he sought to fasten upon the 
 Government the charge to which we have before 
 aUuded, of reviving personal government, and with- 
 drawing behind the veil of prerogative various 
 public questions which ought to have been sub- 
 mitted to Parliament. The attempt broke down ; 
 for the very obvious reason that it was im- 
 possible to succeed in it without implicating the 
 Sovereign, and it was impossible to produce any 
 evidence to connect her with the practice complained 
 of. But as a great deal was said at this time of 
 Lord Beaconsfield's supposed view on the subject of 
 the Eoyal Prerogative, it may not be amiss to ex- 
 plain what were his real ideas on the position of 
 an English Sovereign. It is certain that the Eevo- 
 lution of 1688, when it once got into fair working 
 order_, supplied very substantial checks on the per- 
 sonal authority of a Prime Minister. The King 
 could control him as he controlled Lord North and 
 Mr. Pitt, and the aristocracy could control him 
 through the machinery of the borough system, which 
 lasted down to 1832. A Parliamentary majority, 
 being largely composed of nominees, was always 
 liable to be withdrawn, or, at least, seriously im- 
 paired, if the Minister ran counter to the wishes 
 of the nobility. On the other hand, there was the 
 Eoyal Prerogative, still further circumscribing the 
 independence of the Premier. The Eeform Bill, 
 however, has effected a very great change in the 
 
58 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 position of tlie Prime Minister. It has emancipated 
 him from the influence of the borough-monger, 
 which was always at hand, and ready to act at a 
 moment's notice. It has, to a great extent, freed 
 him from the control of the Crown, if, as we are 
 assured, no Sovereign could ever venture to dismiss 
 Ministers who were supported by, or retain a Cabinet 
 in defiance of, a majority of the House of Commons. 
 And though this assertion may be somewhat in 
 excess of the exact truth, it cannot be doubted that 
 the power of the Crown to prevent a Minister with 
 a majority from doing what he likes in Parliament, 
 which was really possessed, to some extent, during 
 the Georgian epoch, has now all but disappeared. 
 
 For these two checks, which, as we say, were 
 immediate, instant, and direct, the Premier has now 
 only to fear the unorganised and divided influence 
 of public opinion acting at considerable intervals, 
 and in the nature of things less curious about the 
 privileges of Parliament and less jealous of the 
 power of individuals than those who enjoy the one 
 and are directly overshadowed by the other. The 
 control of the aristocracy and the control of the 
 Sovereign having both been virtually removed, the 
 Prime Minister, if a man of commanding mind, is 
 left virtually standing alone on a pinnacle of his 
 own, under no control at all but the popular will. 
 This was true of Mr. Gladstone, and is now true of 
 him again ; and, no doubt, it was true of Lord 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Beaconsfield. The only difference is that the power 
 of a modern Prime Minister is more precarious. 
 Under the old regime when once a political Party- 
 got possession of power it was not very easy to 
 dislodge it, and when its managers found a Minister 
 to suit them they were in no hurry to get rid of 
 him. Walpole held office twenty years, Lord North 
 twelve ; Pitt, Portland, Perceval, and, practically, 
 Lord Liverpool, died in harness. It is improbable 
 we shall ever see another Prime Minister holding 
 office for a dozen years ; but while he does hold it, he 
 is more free to do as he likes than even Mr. Pitt was. 
 l^ow it is perfectly clear that when the Sovereign 
 and the Prime Minister are in perfect accordance 
 with each other, it is impossible to say which of 
 them may exercise the power which has been 
 actually intrusted to the latter. If a Statesman 
 invested by the people with supreme power for 
 seven years chooses to place it at the disposal of the 
 Monarch, who shall say him nay? "While if the 
 Crown and the Minister shall not be in perfect 
 harmony, it is obviously the former which must 
 yield, unless the chance be preferred of trying an 
 appeal to the country. As for withdrawing things 
 from the cognisance of Parliament, that will depend 
 a great deal on the position which Parliament 
 occupies in public estimation. If a Minister finds 
 that everything he does is exposed to factious, 
 vexatious, and obstructive criticism, which is 
 
60 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 obviously condemned by public opinion out of doors, 
 secure of that support it is very likely that he will 
 be less ready to invite Parliamentary discussion than 
 he otherwise might have been. The great reform 
 of our Electoral system, which took place in 1867, 
 has made it comparatively easy for him to avoid 
 it. It has placed power in the hands of a class to 
 whom Parliament is not all in all. The ordinary 
 ratepayer is placed at too great a distance from the 
 House of Commons to be as jealous for its supremacy 
 as the middle and upper classes. More than forty 
 years ago Lord Beacon sfield expressed in the House 
 of Commons his distrust of a Monarchy of the 
 middle classes. That he understood and made use 
 of the Democratic tendency to place power in the 
 hands of individuals is probably quite true, and to 
 that extent the revival of Personal Kule may be 
 connected with his name. 
 
 With the approach of the winter of 1879-80 
 public curiosity began to manifest itself as to the 
 probability of a Dissolution of Parliament. But 
 the Government gave no sign. Lord Mayor's-day 
 came and went, and still no clue was afforded to 
 the course which was likely to be adopted. It is 
 possible that Lord Beaconsfield himself contemplated 
 finishing a seventh Session of Parliament, and 
 dissolving in the following autumn ; considering 
 that any objections which might be raised to this 
 unusual prolongation of the existing Parliament 
 
MEMOm. 61 
 
 would be more than compensated for by the chance 
 of some improvement in the meantime taking place 
 in the prospects of trade and agriculture. 
 
 The favourable results, however, of the Liverpool, 
 Sheffield, and Southwark elections made such an im- 
 pression on his colleagues, that they grew in favour 
 of striking while the iron was hot ; and a Dissolution 
 was resolved upon in March. It was proclaimed by 
 Lord Beaconsfield in a letter to the Lord-Lieutenant 
 of Ireland, published on the 9th of March, in which 
 the condition of Ireland, and the efforts of the 
 Separatist Party were alleged to be the great subjects 
 of national importance, though he also laid stress 
 on the critical condition of Eastern Europe, and 
 the necessity for consolidating English influence 
 for the purpose of maintaining peace. Of Lord 
 Beaconsfield's own anticipations conflicting accounts 
 have been circulated. He certainly told the Lord 
 Mayor that in all probability he should be address- 
 ing him again that time next year ; but that might 
 have meant very little. Nobody, however, was pre- 
 pared for such a wholesale overthrow as that which 
 occurred. The Conservative Party lost a hundred 
 and eleven seats. The event is still much too recent 
 to allow its significance to be justly gauged. Govern- 
 ments, like individuals, are liable to become stale. 
 The distress of the country, both commercial and 
 agricultural, was also a most important factor in 
 producing the astonishing result. Add to these 
 
G2 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 elements the effect of Mr. Gladstone's strictures on 
 the Foreign Policy of the Government, and we have 
 sufficient materials for explaining what occurred 
 without supposing that the people were less Con- 
 servative than they were in 1874. That Lord 
 Beaconsfield was mortified by the unexpected ex- 
 hibition of popular caprice is undeniable, and he 
 gave vent to his feelings in occasional cynical 
 remarks on the little trust that could be reposed in 
 the professions of the multitude. But, on the whole, 
 the conduct of the Conservative Party and their 
 illustrious leader under this unparalleled reverse was 
 dignified and manly, and under his skilful counsel 
 they speedily gained credit for a wise and patriotic 
 attitude in their new position. His Lordship recom- 
 mended them to reject the Compensation for Dis- 
 turbance Bill, but he advised them, at the same 
 time, to accept the Burials Bill and the Ground 
 Game Bill, and to reserve their resisting power 
 for more important and more dangerous proposals 
 which he believed to be in store for us. 
 
 During the autumn of 1880 he remained very 
 quiet, occupied probably with the revision of his 
 new novel, which was published in the month of 
 November. With the opening of Parliament in 
 January, he was in his place, and apparently 
 robust ; and when seen in society nobody could 
 have detected any sign of weakness or decay in 
 him. Speaking on the Address on the 6th of 
 
MEMOIR. 63 
 
 January, he delivered himself with all his accus- 
 tomed force and felicity of expression, and laid 
 special stress on the fact that the late Government 
 had fully intended' to renew the Peace Preservation 
 Act ; that their Bill was drawn ; and that the 
 measure itself, together with the important in- 
 formation on which it was founded, were placed 
 at the service of their successors. They, how- 
 ever, considered such a measure to be unnecessary, 
 and made themselves so far responsible for all 
 the horrors which ensued. He spoke several times 
 afterwards on Foreign Policy, more especially on 
 India, and was scarcely ever more effective in his 
 best days than in the recent debate on Lord Lytton's 
 motion condemning the abandonment of Candahar. 
 This was his last great speech in the Parliament he 
 had so long adorned ; nor could he have chosen a 
 theme more suitable to mark the end of his illustrious 
 career. Not, however, that this was his last service 
 to his country. The advice which he tendered to 
 the Constitutional party in the House of Commons 
 on the change proposed by Mr. Gladstone in the 
 mode of conducting public business was his final 
 contribution to the cause of Parliamentary inde- 
 pendence. Mr. Disraeli has always loved the House 
 of Commons, and the House of Commons has re- 
 turned his affection, his personal popularity in that 
 Assembly having been second only to that of Lord 
 Palmerston. In recommending the Leader of the 
 
64 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Opposition to resist the attempt of the Government 
 to apply their new rules for silencing debate to the 
 ordinary business of supply he showed his usual 
 courage, and his usual zeal for the honour and credit 
 of the House of Commons. Public opinion was 
 unmistakably on his side, though whether the House 
 has finally been saved from this complete destruction 
 of its freedom still remains to be seen. 
 
 Of Mr. Disraeli as an orator we know not if any 
 finished estimate has yet been written. But a brief 
 comparison of his eloquence with that of his great 
 rival may be expected in the present memoir. Tt 
 has always seemed to us that Mr. Gladstone was 
 strongest where Mr. Disraeli was weakest, and 
 Mr. Disraeli strongest where Mr. Gladstone was 
 weakest. The latter is clearly a type of the Peel 
 school. Less cold and formal than Sir Eobert, he 
 appeals to essentially the same class of instincts 
 in his countrymen. That is to say, he contrived 
 for a long time to persuade both the City and the 
 Church that he was their special representative. His 
 eloquence has till lately been either of a sombre 
 order, diffusing a " dim, religious light " all around 
 him, or else business-like, statistical, and economical. 
 Like Sir Eobert Peel, he is a master of all ecclesias- 
 tical and financial subjects. And even in his very 
 speeches we still detect the presence of that element 
 of respectability which was a marked characteristic 
 of Sir Eobert. On finance alone do the spheres of Mr. 
 
MEMOIR. 65 
 
 Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli touch one another. But 
 on every other point they are wide asunder as the 
 poles. As Mr. Gladstone — though with many points 
 of difference — represents Peel, so Lord Beaconsfield, 
 with many points of difference, represented Lord 
 Palmerston — excelled where he excelled, and under- 
 stood what he understood. His speeches, indeed, 
 went far beyond those of Lord Palmerston in that 
 mixture of sarcasm, cynicism, and bonhomie which is 
 so thoroughly in harmony with the tone of English 
 society, expressed with great felicity, and accom- 
 modated with consummate skill to the taste of his 
 audience. There are touches of a second nature 
 which makes the whole world of politics akin ; and of 
 these he was a perfect master. No one since Lord 
 Palmerston could appeal so successfully from the 
 severity of a senate to the more sportive tone of the 
 club and the dinner-table. In speaking his delivery 
 was inferior to Mr. Gladstone, who pours wave after 
 wave of strong, idiomatic, albeit rather pallid, 
 English upon the heads of his audience with a 
 fluency that is wonderful. Lord Beaconsfield, on 
 the contrary, used to hesitate a good deal, kn.d 
 seemed to have formed for himself a kind of 
 reserve vocabulary on which he could always fall 
 back when at a loss for words. The phraseology 
 alluded to must be well-known to all his hearers ; 
 and indeed he had recourse to it so often latterly 
 that it was fast xuijning into, manjierism. Lord 
 
 F 
 
66 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Palmerston likewise was always a hesitating speaker. 
 Neither was Lord Beaconsfield at his very best when 
 he was'most serious ; though some of his higher flights 
 of eloquence have been incomparably good. He, 
 moreover, had the art of extracting either novel or 
 apparently novel propositions out of the most thread- 
 bare subjects, and though such power may be a snare 
 to the statesman, it is a wonderful advantage to 
 the orator, who is enabled thereby to invest his 
 argument with ever-varying freshness and interest. 
 But it is mainly, of course, on his sarcastic rhetoric 
 and wealth of humorous illustration that his fame 
 as a speaker will depend. Lord Beaconsfield, in fact, 
 was almost the last representative of political wit 
 — the wit of Carteret and Townsend, of North, 
 Sheridan, and Canning, and, in a lesser degree, ot 
 the late Lord Derby and Lord Palmertson. This 
 rare accomplishment was both his strength and his 
 weakness. It occasionally tempted him into epigrams 
 which he had better have kept to himself ; while his 
 brilliant audacity was so little in keeping with the 
 decorous dulness of the House of Commons that it 
 made men suspicious of his soundness. A vague 
 idea that dulness and soundness go together is very 
 prevalent among what we may call the Calico school 
 of politicians ; and no doubt for many of them it is 
 a very consoling creed. But this unrivalled faculty 
 gave Mr. Disraeli an immense influence with the 
 intellectual public, while nothing could have served 
 
MEMOIR. 67 
 
 liim' better iu his conflict with a class of minds, to 
 be found perhaps on both sides of the House, whose 
 prejudices are impervious to reason, but which dread 
 wit as the brute creation dread fire. His brilliant and 
 biting witticisms will live in the popular memory, 
 as was said of Johnson's table-talk, long after his 
 more elaborate and ornate compositions have be- 
 come food for history. 
 
 Of Lord Eeaconsfield as a man of letters some- 
 thing still remains to be said. We have already 
 spoken of Vivian Grey and Coningsby, but rather 
 from a political than a literary point of view. Lord 
 Beaconsfield's novels, in fact, have always suffered 
 from their political importance, since it has served 
 in some degree to dwarf their dramatic excellence. 
 It is far from improbable that had he not devoted to 
 politics the mind so formed for literature, he might 
 have rivalled our most eminent novelists. Posterity 
 will determine whether he has not done so as it is. 
 Whether we take the plot, the character, or the lan- 
 guage, it would be difficult to name any work of 
 fiction which is superior to Coningsby and Sybil on 
 their own ground. Could we, indeed, name any one 
 that has equalled them in the portraiture of those 
 common-place characters to represent which faith- 
 fully is confessedly one of the highest triumphs of 
 literary art? What Miss Austen has done for the 
 country gentlemen and country clergymen, among 
 whom she was brought up ; what George Eliot has 
 
 F 2 
 
68 MEMOKIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 done for the farmers, the peasantry, and the trades- 
 men, whose peculiarities she had noted with an 
 equally observant eye ; that Lord Beaconsfield has 
 done for the men of clubs and drawing-rooms, the 
 politica] and social gossips, the Meltons and the 
 Milfords, the Ormsbys and the Eskdales, who are 
 as admirable in their way as the Bennets and the 
 Eltons, the Poysers and the TuUivers of the two 
 great artists we have mentioned. None but a 
 great dramatic artist could reproduce such varying 
 scenes and characters with such dazzling brilliancy. 
 Nor is it only in this province of his art that he 
 exhibits such pre-eminent ability. His descriptive 
 power is in some respects unique. Take his picture 
 of Wodgate or the burning of Mowbray Castle from 
 Syhil, and those of Jerusalem and Fakradeen's Castle 
 in the Lebanon from Tancred, and we challenge 
 contradiction when we say they have never been 
 surpassed since the author of Waverley and The 
 Talisman was laid in the sepulchre of his ancestors. 
 In Lothair and Endymion we have Lord Beaconsfield 
 again endeavouring to disseminate political convic- 
 tions through the medium of entertaining fiction, 
 but in very unequal degrees. In Lothair the writer's 
 purpose dominates over that of the mere novelist as 
 much as in either Syhil or Coningsby. But in 
 Endymion this is not so ; and it may be read as a 
 novel of society without our attention being drawn 
 to its political character. In another department of 
 
MEMOIE. 69 
 
 literature Mr. Disraeli has likewise gained distinction. 
 His Life of Lord George Bentinck is a political classic ; 
 and contains many striking passages of eloquence, 
 both grave and graphic. 
 
 It was the fashion at one time to speak of Lord 
 Beaconsfield as a political adventurer. Yet there 
 is no definition of an adventurer which will not 
 include some of the most eminent names in the 
 history of English politics. Is a political adventurer 
 simply a man without a patrimony who makes 
 politics a profession, as others do of law, divinity, 
 or medicine ? If so, then assuredly the two Pitts, 
 Burke, Canning, and Macaulay were all political 
 adventurers. Yet who \Vith any political ambition 
 would not rather have the reputation of any one of 
 these than the reputation of Newcastle, Rocking- 
 ham, Portland, or Liverpool? But is an adventurer 
 a man without any aristocratical connections — a man 
 born outside the charmed circle, who has to fight his 
 way into it, if not by his "literature and his wit," 
 by his eloquence and his perseverance ? Again, we 
 have the same names. And pre-eminently such men 
 were Burke and Canning; such a man was Lord 
 Beaconsfield, and such a man is Mr. Gladstone ! Or, 
 thirdly, is an adventurer a man who deserts a falling 
 house, and always contrives, if possible, to be upon 
 the winning side, who marches with every reaction 
 just far enough to suit his purpose, and then stands 
 aloof to be ready to take advantage of the next ? 
 
70 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 If this is the definition of an adventurer, we have 
 certainly had such in our history, and at no distant 
 date. But Lord Beaconsfield is not amongst them. 
 He belonged to the class of professional politicians, 
 like Burke, Pitt, and Canning, who all began life 
 with slender means, and looked to politics to make 
 their fortunes. But all three adhered steadily to the 
 principles with which they entered public life, and 
 Lord Beaconsfield has done the same. From the 
 Eeform Bill to the present day he has never once 
 swerved from the views which he announced to the 
 world in the Vindication of the British Constitution, 
 and afterwards developed more fully in Coningsby 
 and Bybil. To adhere unflinchingly for forty-five 
 years to an unpopular and eccentric creed, which 
 brings no political support, and is if anything a 
 source of weakness, may be Quixotic, unpractical, 
 fantastic, or what you like ; but assuredly it is not 
 the mark of a political adventurer in the evil sense 
 of that term. Lord Beaconsfield, like Burke, was 
 not "■ rocked and dandled into a legislator." But it 
 should be remembered that it was Burke who 
 restored the moral existence of the Whigs. By his 
 writings and his speeches he gave cohesion to those 
 discordant cliques which made the first ten years of 
 George IIL's reign a political chaos. He brought 
 order out of this confusion, and reconstructed the 
 Whig party on a popular and intelligible basis. 
 This was the work of one political adventurer, unless 
 
MEMOIR. 71 
 
 we fix an arbitrary meaning on the word to suit our 
 own occasions. Mr. Pitt, again, was certainly the son 
 of an earl, but though that gave him an introduction 
 to political life, it gave him nothing else. His elder 
 brother could do nothing for him, and when he entered 
 Parliament as the pupil of Lord Shelburne he must 
 undoubtedly have looked forward to making a liveli- 
 hood by politics. Yet this was the man who did for 
 the Tory party all, and far more than all, that Burke 
 had accomplished for the Whigs — raised it from the 
 ground, gave it a new meaning and a new vitality, 
 and started it on a triumphant career which endured 
 for nearly half a century. Again, from 1822 to 
 1826, it was Canning, the adventurer, ''the writing 
 fellow," who won for the Tory party all the popu- 
 larity it possessed, and who, had he lived, would 
 have saved it from the blunders of the Duke of 
 Wellington, and from the long-continued effects of 
 the vacillating policy of Peel. The real re-con- 
 structor of the Tory party, since 1832 is Lord 
 Beaconsfield, who in his turn has been styled an 
 " adventurer." But he is distinctly no more of an 
 adventurer than the other distinguished men to 
 whom, in succession, the two great parties in the 
 State have been so deeply indebted. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield lived so thoroughly in politics 
 that little remains to be said of his private or do- 
 mestic life. He was a man of very kind and genial 
 nature ; particularly fond of children, and though 
 
72 MEMOEIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 addicted to silence, was not remarkable for reserve. 
 At his own table lie desired others to talk rather 
 than himself; and if he caught a remark which 
 seemed to possess any merit, he would immediately 
 call attention to it, and take care that it was properly 
 appreciated. His style of living was comparatively 
 simple, and at Hughenden, though he and Lady 
 Beaconsfield took great delii^ht in the beautiful 
 woods which surrounded them, there was no ap- 
 pliances for field sports. Lord Beaconsfield neither 
 kept himters nor preserved game, leaving it to his 
 tenants to supply him at their own discretion. But 
 he felt all a politician's interests in the Chiltern 
 Hills, and was fond of driving among them with an 
 appreciative stranger, showing him Great Hampden 
 and Chequers Court, and repeating anecdotes of the 
 Great Eebellion, which, he used to say, was hatched 
 in these recesses. The Chiltern Hills are rich in 
 natural beauty and historic associations. But 
 neither their green glades nor their ancient man- 
 sions will yield anything in future more attractive 
 or interesting to the tourist than the picturesque 
 old Manor House henceforth and for ever to be 
 associated with the name of Beaconsfield. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield, be his defects of character and 
 errors of conduct what they may, will be remembered 
 among the great "Parliament men" whom this 
 country has produced, and whose renown is the 
 common property of Englishmen. For nearly three 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 centuries Parliamentary Government in England has 
 developed a succession of orators, adminstrators, and 
 leaders of parties the like of whom' no other nation 
 can boast. From the sturdy patriots of Queen 
 Elizabeth's reign down through the struggles with 
 the Stuarts, the Long Parliament and the Great 
 Eebellion, the Eestoration and the Eevolution, 
 English Constitutional statesmanship was nurtured 
 and trained for its ' ' flowering period," which began 
 with Bolingbroke and Walpole, and, we rejoice to 
 believe, is not yet near its close. How many among 
 the most splendid illustrations of that portion of our 
 annals will history place higher than Lord Beacons- 
 field ? It is idle to mete out honour by strict rule 
 and measure. Lord Beaconsfield, as all must acknow- 
 ledge, was an almost unique character, and that he 
 differed in almost every intellectual quality from his 
 predecessors was patent throughout his remarkable 
 career. 
 
 N'or is Lord Beaconsfield's fame of that kind which 
 will be seriously impaired by lapse of time. A 
 statesman may do good service to his country, and 
 his work may remain behind him, and yet the 
 personality of the man may quickly fade away, and 
 the labours he achieved may sink into the common 
 stock of national acquisitions, and excite no emotional 
 movements of gratitude. But it was given to Lord 
 Beaconsfield to colour the political life of England 
 for an entire generation, and even in his old age — as 
 
74 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 tlie deep and general interest excited by his illness 
 proves — his influence upon the popular imagination 
 was paramount. It will not be possible during the 
 lifetime of those who felt that influence — whether 
 in the form of attraction or repulsion— to estimate 
 justly the political results of Lord Beaconsfield's 
 statesmanship. But those who have known him 
 and who feel keenly what a change his death has 
 made in the atmosphere of English politics are 
 better able than the most dispassionate of judges, 
 and the most ruthless of critics, to bear testimony to 
 the effect produced on followers and opponents 
 alike by the peculiar genius of the late Chief of the 
 Conservative Party. 
 
 The career of Mr. Disraeli, to speak of Lord 
 Beaconsfield by the name identified with his 
 greatest efforts, may be contemplated from many 
 different points of view. As a statesman devoted 
 to principles, and bent on applying them in action, 
 and as the leader of a party defeated and disorganised 
 repeatedly, and raised under his admirable guidance 
 to a position of strength and good repute, Mr. 
 Disraeli made a name for himself, the lustre of 
 which no rancorous efforts of political partisanship 
 can darken. The title of Lord Beaconsfield is chiefly 
 associated in our minds with the late Adminstration, 
 and with the critical questions of Foreign Policy 
 which disturbed the public mind on the approach 
 of the last General Election. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 But our memory of Mr. Disraeli goes back 
 rather to the days when he was contending against 
 superior numbers, and an apparently unconquerable 
 mass of popular prejudice, at the head of the 
 Conservative Party in the House of Commons. When 
 the Government of Sir Eobert Peel was shattered 
 by the Free Trade controversy, and the Protectionists 
 were organised as a separate party, the Leadership 
 in the House of Commons fell almost inevitably to 
 Mr. Disraeli, and that office he filled for nearly 
 thirty years, occasionally in office, more usually in 
 Opposition, and only during the last couple of years 
 — from 1874 to 1876, when he was elevated to the 
 peerage — really wielding the power of a Minister 
 with a large and obedient majority at his command. 
 Throughout those days of adversity, when the 
 Conservative Party were seldom cheered by a ray 
 of hope, Mr. Disraeli showed himself a master of 
 almost every form of Parliamentary ability, and, in 
 spite of jealousy, of intrigue, and of a continuous 
 hail of slanders, he got himself recognised not only 
 as the indispensable leader of the Conservatives, but 
 as one of the foremost and most characteristic 
 representatives of the House of Commons. 
 
 It has often been said, with what degree of truth it 
 is not necessary to inquire, that Mr. Disraeli's origin 
 and mental bias unfitted him to represent, and even 
 to understand, the semi- articulate wishes of the 
 English people. But in a more limited sphere Mr, 
 
76 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEAGONSFIELU. 
 
 Disraeli succeeded beyond all doubt in representing 
 and assimilating English feeling. Eew statesmen 
 in modern times have so thoroughly understood the 
 House of Commons, have been so careful of its 
 dignity and honour, so reverential towards its great 
 traditions, and so faithful to its prevailing spirit. 
 We do not' refer, of course, to matters of policy in 
 which Mr. Disraeli found the majority generally 
 opposed to him ; we speak rather of the manner in 
 which be conducted public business, whether as head 
 of the Government or as Leader of the Opposition. 
 
 The same indomitable perseverance and undaunted 
 valour with which he fought the battle of his party 
 against overwhelming odds and apparently hopeless 
 destinies might have served his country hereafter 
 on a larger theatre, and in the cause of more extended 
 interests. His whole career, with the exception of 
 the few short years of power which marked its close, 
 is one long illustration of this remarkable character- 
 istic. His literary reputation was established at a 
 single stroke, and ran on very different lines from the 
 difficult and laborious path by which he climbed to 
 political eminence. But his first appearance in the 
 House of Commons, and a failure more famous than 
 many triumphs, form but the fitting introduction to 
 a public life of singular vicissitudes, surmounted one 
 after the other by the same intrepid spirit which 
 forty-four years ago told the Parliament of England 
 that they should still listen to him. How from this 
 
MEMOIR. 77 
 
 unpromising commencement he gradually rose to be 
 the foremost man of the party to which he had 
 attached himself : and the successive steps by which 
 he led his party to victory after a series of reverses 
 which would have crushed any ordinary statesman, 
 it will be for his biographer to relate. It is sufficient 
 to point out the remarkable fact that though he 
 lias required from his followers as large sacrifices 
 as any of his predecessors, he yet never for- 
 feited their support, and that to the last day of his 
 life, when the leader once again of a vanquished and 
 disheartened minority, he was regarded with as much 
 veneration as he had ever commanded in his most 
 brilliant and triumphant moments. 
 
 The European estimate of Lord Beaconsfield was 
 indicated in the telegrams published the day after 
 his death from the different Continental capitals. 
 That the impression produced by his death should 
 be only less profound abroad than at home was, 
 indeed, to be expected. In Paris, Vienna, Berlin, 
 and in all other chief centres of European thought 
 and action, he had long been something more 
 than the leader of a great political party. There, 
 as in England, he enjoyed two distinct kinds of 
 fame. The brilliancy of his parts, and the lustre 
 of his purely intellectual achievements, exercised an 
 irresistible fascination, long before his power and 
 prestige as a statesman were felt. More justice, 
 perhaps, has been done to Lord Beaconsfield, as the 
 
78 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 master of a literary style whose epigrammatic 
 flavour is almost unique, by the cultivated critics 
 of the Continent than by his own countrymen. 
 They have long recognised in him a writer and 
 speaker entitled to the largest measure of cosmo- 
 politan fame. The very fact of his lineage, and 
 of the obstacle which it seemed to interpose in the 
 path of his advancement, invested his career and 
 his success with a richer and more piquant attrac- 
 tion in foreign eyes. His books had been trans- 
 lated into every language of the Western world, 
 and had been commented upon in the literary 
 reviews of every capital. He had achieved a high 
 place in that great republic of intellect which 
 knows no distinction of nationality or climate. His 
 genius, wdth all its profoundly interesting qualities, 
 was felt long ere his capacities in international 
 statesmanship and diplomacy had made themselves 
 known. 
 
 When, therefore. Lord Beaconsfield w^ent to Berlin, 
 three years ago, he was infinitely less of a stranger 
 to the Continental public than the two or three of 
 his political contemporaries who vied with him in 
 national reputation. He had for years been regarded 
 as a European personage. There was much curious 
 speculation as to how far he was qualified to take 
 rank as a European force. Lord Beaconsfield did 
 not disappoint the expectations to which the news 
 of his approaching presence in the German capital 
 
MEMOIR. 79 
 
 gave rise. He fulfilled the great idea that had been 
 formed of him. He took his place with every mark 
 of honour at the table round which the Plenipoten- 
 tiaries of the Great Powers w^ere gathered. His 
 bearing, his manner, his speech, powerfully im- 
 pressed all those who were brought into contact 
 with him. Our Berlin correspondent tells us that 
 Prince Bismarck has been personally touched by 
 the tidings of Lord Beaconsfield's death. Nor can 
 we forget that during the summer of 1878 the Im- 
 perial Chancellor expressed his appreciation of Lord 
 Beaconsfield's qualities with unmistakable sincerity. 
 Independently of the political results of the Berlin 
 Congress, no one can doubt that the impression 
 which the statesman who was then Prime Minister 
 of England stamped on the minds of the representa- 
 tives of Europe, and on the opinion of Europe 
 generally, was both vivid and permanent. • 
 
 Long before Lord Beaconsfield arrived in Berlin, 
 he w^as looked upon by every section of Continental 
 critics as the statesman who had displayed a greater 
 fidelity to the traditional spirit of England than 
 any Prime Minister since the days of Palmerston. 
 The memory of this incident naturally colours, and 
 with evident diversity of hue, the remarks of the 
 Eussian, the German, and the Austrian press on 
 Lord Beaconsfield's death. It signalised a great 
 step taken in the direction of co-operation with 
 Austria and Germany against Eussian aggression. 
 
80 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFJELD. 
 
 An able and interesting article in the D^hats 
 described, with remarkable felicity and correctness, 
 the part played by Lord Beaconsfield in the sphere 
 of domestic politics. He was spoken of as " the 
 representative of that non-exclusive Toryism which 
 has enabled the aristocracy of England to remain 
 Liberal without ceasing to be Conservative." The 
 statement has more to recommend it than its 
 antithetical shape. As the great idea of Lord 
 Beaconsfield abroad was to prevent the old Givis 
 Momanus siim doctrine from becoming obsolete, and 
 to secure for the British Empire the exercise of 
 Imperial authority, so did he at home incessantly 
 aim at widening — and by widening, deepening — the 
 foundation of Conservatism as a political faith and 
 a national force. Who, he again and again asks in 
 his writings, are the friends of the people if not 
 the Tory party ? There may seem an air of historic 
 paradox about the proposition which the inquiry 
 conveys, but when Lord Beaconsfield spoke of 
 Toryism in its relation to the masses, he did not 
 always use the words in their conventional sense. 
 It is certain that he was always loyal to his own 
 interpretation of the principles of Toryism, and that 
 nothing was further from his thoughts than deliber- 
 ately to resist the declared wish of the English 
 people. " Do by legislation what in other countries 
 is done by revolution," might perhaps be cited as 
 the sum and substance of his notions as to the 
 
MEMOIR. 81 
 
 active mission of the Conservative party. This 
 explains much of the influence he exercised over 
 his followers in Parliament and in the nation at 
 large, whilst a general consciousness of the fact is 
 shown by the deep emotion which his death has 
 elicited in all parts of the country, and among all 
 conditions of the English people. 
 
 But the telegrams which appeared in The Standard, 
 April 20, showed that something more was de- 
 plored than the death even of a great statesman 
 and a great patriot. Lord Beaconsfield possessed 
 qualities such as few public men have ever shown, 
 and such as irresistibly won the respect and 
 admiration of Englishmen. He personified a higher 
 principle than that of mere personal success; and 
 the story of his career is the eloquent record of 
 great services. No mental equipment, however 
 splendid, no combination of external circumstances, 
 however auspicious, would have sufficed to raise 
 him to the pinnacle of greatness which he attained, 
 unless they had been accompanied by other 
 attributes. Lord Beaconsfield always exhibited and 
 always practised inexhaustible patience and infinite 
 fortitude. He was a formidable foe, but his enmity 
 was always open and honourable. He was effective 
 in Opposition, yet he was never vexatious or factious. 
 He gradually reached the highest office which a 
 subject can occupy, because he possessed, and be- 
 cause he systematically used, those gifts of sagacity 
 
 G 
 
82 MEMOEIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 and courage without some proportion of which no 
 success, even upon a lowlier level of life, is to 
 be commanded. He bore himself with composure 
 and dignity under the most bitter political reverses, 
 and the temper which he has consistently mani- 
 fested since the General Election of a year ago has 
 materially added to his reputation among his 
 countrymen. 
 
II. 
 
 THE LAST ILLNESS. 
 
 It was on Wednesday, March 23, 1881, that the March 23. 
 public first became aware that Lord Beaconsfield 
 was not in the enjoyment of his usual health. On 
 that day there appeared in The Standard this 
 paragraph : " The Earl of Beaconsfield, who is suffer- 
 ing from a slight cold, was considerably better 
 yesterday. Although the noble Earl did not go out 
 during the day, he transacted business almost as usual. 
 Dr. Kidd called upon his Lordship in the course 
 of the morning, but there is nothing at all serious 
 in his indisposition." As was natural, comparatively 
 little anxiety was caused by this announcement, 
 and nothing further was said on the subject till six 
 days later, March 29, on the morning of which day March 29. 
 these lines were published : — " The attack of bron- 
 chial asthma from which Lord Beaconsfield has been 
 suffering was very severe, and was at one time a 
 real cause of anxiety to his friends. Dr. Kidd re- 
 mained with him the whole of Sunday nicjht. A 
 
 G 2 
 
84 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFTELD. 
 
 favourable change took place yesterday, and the 
 gout has come out well, to the relief of the asthma." 
 As soon as it became known that Lord Beacons- 
 field's malady was not merely a passing cold, but a 
 serious attack of bronchitis complicated with gout, 
 public alarm became fully aroused, and numerous 
 inquiries began to be made at his residence in Curzon 
 Street. At nine o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, 
 March 29, Dr. Kidd, Lord Beaconsfield's ordinary 
 medical attendant, who had considered it neces- 
 sary to remain at the house during the night, 
 left Curzon Street, after issuing the following 
 bulletin : — " Lord Beaconsfield had a restless night, 
 partly through the pain of gout. The paroxysm 
 of asthma less severe but frequent." The pub- 
 lication of this report in the evening papers by 
 no means tended to diminish the apprehensions 
 which the morning's announcement had excited. A 
 copy of it was at once sent to the Queen at Buck- 
 ingham Palace, and Her Majesty having expressed a 
 wish that a consultation should be held. Dr. Quain 
 was sent for, and, after a careful inquiry into Lord 
 Beaconsfield's symptoms, he came to the conclusion 
 that his Lordship was suffering from bronchitic 
 asthma, complicated with gout. He expressed his 
 entire approval of the treatment adopted by Dr. 
 Kidd, and arranged to meet him again at ten o'clock 
 in the evening. Before leaving the house at four in 
 the afternoon, Dr. Quain wrote a bulletin to the 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 85 
 
 following effect : — " Lord Beaconsfield has been free 
 from spasmodic attack during the day, and his Lord- 
 ship's strength has been fully maintained." 
 
 While the doctors were in consultation Mr. March 29. 
 Gladstone walked to Curzon Street from Downing 
 Street and had an interview with Lord Barrington, 
 who was from the first, and remained till the last, 
 in attendance upon Lord Beaconsfield. During 
 the afternoon and evening there was a constant 
 succession of visitors at the house, amongst whom 
 were the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the 
 Duke of Cambridge, and many of the leading 
 members of both political parties. At ten o'clock 
 another consultation was held between Dr. Quain 
 and Dr. Kidd. They reported that Lord Beaconsfield 
 had been undisturbed by spasmodic attacks during 
 the evening ; that he was rather more feverish ; but 
 that in other respects his symptoms were not more 
 unfavourable. Shortly after Dr. Quain left an 
 official announcement was made as follows : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield's health during the evening has been 
 undisturbed by spasms. His Lordship is suffering 
 less, and he has been able to take nourishment." Dr. 
 Kidd remained with Lord Beaconsfield all night. 
 
 The impression produced by the knowledge that 
 Lord Beaconsfield's indisposition was serious may be 
 judged from the following leading article in The 
 Standard oiMsLTch. 30 : — " The news of Lord Beacons- 
 field's illness has been received by every section of 
 
86 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 the public with deep concern and regret. The latest 
 bulletins justify the hope that we shall soon hear of 
 his approaching convalescence, but the severity of the 
 present attack has not yet abated, and the weather 
 which we are now having, invigorating as it may 
 be to the young and strong, must sharply tax the 
 most robust constitutions that have completed their 
 seventh decade. For a few days to come the health 
 of the Conservative leader will be a matter of 
 anxiety, though not, we still trust, one of serious 
 apprehension to the nation. 
 
 " For it is the whole English nation, and not any 
 one particular division or party of it, which hopes 
 that Lord Beaconsfield may speedily be restored -to 
 his normal health and vigour. In this country 
 differences of political opinion are not inscribed in 
 characters of abiding personal embitterment, and 
 the sentiments to which, as Conservatives, we now 
 give utterance will touch a sympathetic chord which 
 will be responded to equally by those who do noi 
 belong to the same school of political thought as 
 ourselves. In England, slightly to alter Macaulay's 
 happy phrase, the shrine of reconciliation is reached 
 much earlier than the temple of silence. As yet 
 our political life is untainted by the contagion of 
 personal animosities, and the most loyal of private 
 friends may be the most uncompromising of public 
 enemies. If this be true in the case of men who 
 are actively engaged in party struggles, it is even 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 87 
 
 more true of the English people at large. There 
 are no critics so just, so impartial, and at the 
 same time so generous as those who are person- 
 ally unknown to the illustrious subject of their 
 remarks. 
 
 " To-day it is Lord Beaconsfield ; a few months ago 
 it was Mr. Gladstone. The mass of Englishmen do 
 not, when they learn that one in whom they recog- 
 nise a national leader is in physical suffering, and 
 it may be peril, ask themselves whether he has or 
 has not consistently represented what they may 
 happen to think are their own political views. They 
 judge him by his achievements and his merits, by 
 the standard of his public services, by the general 
 calibre and consistency of his whole career. In the 
 complex system of our public life there may be 
 found — such is the view of the English public — 
 an ample place for every sort of excellence. We 
 may be living under what we are told is a Demo- 
 cracy, and perhaps that Democracy may at times 
 appear somewhat mutable. But if it is periodically 
 capricious, it is permanently appreciative. The 
 qualities of greatness and devotion to public affairs 
 never fail to secure their true measure of national 
 recognition. The constituencies change their poli- 
 tical humour, but the canons by which they judge 
 of political greatness and deserts are fixed and un- 
 altered. Tt is at such conjunctures as the present, 
 when one of the most illustrious Englishmen of his 
 
88 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 epoch is the victim of a fatiguing and anxious 
 malady, that words which would at ordinary times 
 be trite and conventional acquire a fresh reality. 
 
 " Less than a year has passed since Lord Beacons- 
 field was Prime Minister. The position which he 
 now fills, in point of honour and influence, is 
 subordinate only to that of the Premier himself. The 
 First Lord of the Treasury and the Leader of her 
 Majesty's Opposition are the two great terms in the 
 equation of political power in England. The one 
 can as little be an irresponsible statesman as the 
 other. No one has ever shown a deeper conviction of 
 this truth than Lord Beaconsfield, nor is there any 
 other respect than this in which his mere political 
 superiority to Mr. Gladstone has more conspicuously 
 made itself felt. Since the General Election of last 
 year he has shown this sense of having a reversionary 
 interest in the exercise of official power, which has 
 commanded the admiration of his most persistent 
 political opponents. It is good for public men to 
 magnify their apostleship ; it is on every account 
 desirable that the leader of the attacks made upon a 
 Government should appreciate, from experience, what 
 the onerous functions of Government are. 
 
 ''In no other country of the world does the Prime 
 Minister fill anything like the same place which he 
 occupies here. In most European States the office 
 can scarcely be said to exist, for the simple reason 
 that genuine representative government is unknown. 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 89 
 
 In France, in Italy, and in Spain, the Premier is 
 only the chief of a victorious party, or the creature 
 of political convenience. Probably one of the reasons 
 which at the present moment renders M. Gambetta 
 averse to accept the succession to M. Jules Ferry is 
 that the President of the Chamber knows that in 
 doing so he would derogate from his own dignity 
 by identifying himself with a particular faction. 
 The English Prime Minister must, it is true, be a 
 party man. But he must be something more. He 
 must actively discharge many of the duties which 
 essentially appertain to Sovereignty. He cannot 
 divest himself of the consciousness that he appears 
 on various occasions as the direct representative of 
 the Monarchy. It is this feeling which gives gravity 
 and dignity to the office, and which causes the Prime 
 Minister of England to rise above the level that 
 satisfies the politicians who fill an analogous office 
 elsewhere. 
 
 "No First Lord of the Treasury has ever shown a 
 more chivalrous conviction of this fact than Lord 
 Beaconsfield. The same spirit which he has mani- 
 fested in power he has illustrated in Opposition. He 
 lias regarded his functions as charged with the same 
 responsibility whether he happened to sit on the 
 right hand or the left hand of the Speaker, or of the 
 Lord Chancellor. In the Upper Chamber of the 
 Legislature this feeling has, perhaps, been intensified 
 by the knowledge that he has there a majority at his 
 
90 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 command. Hence it is that he has always filled, and 
 that he continues to fill, a larger place in the public 
 mind than ever perhaps before fell to the lot of the 
 Leader of her Majesty's Opposition. His steady and 
 consistent purpose has been so to conduct himself in 
 Opposition that he might approach the place of 
 power with dignity and without embarrassment. 
 
 " In one respect the illness of Lord Beaconsfield is 
 calculated to point the same moral as did that of 
 Mr. Gladstone a year ago. The age may be a level- 
 ling one; but democracy brings with it its own 
 compensations. The rule of numbers will never 
 exclude the supremacy of individuals, and the des- 
 tinies of the multitude will continue to be controlled 
 by those whom a contemporary critic has called 
 * exaggerated personalities.' Lord Beaconsfield and 
 Mr. Gladstone are incomparably the two most dis- 
 tinguished public men of our epoch. Their national 
 services are great ; their political calibre is unap- 
 proached by any one of their contemporaries. If 
 the English people felt this last summer, when Mr. 
 Gladstone lay sick in Downing Street, they will feel 
 it more now when they read the bulletins issued 
 from Lord Beaconsfield's house in Mayfair. 
 
 " Mr. Gladstone has been successful in proportion 
 as he has identified himself with great popular move- 
 ments, and as a statesman he has almost retired into 
 obscurity when the tide has turned against him. 
 This has never been the case with Lord Beaconsfield. 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 91 
 
 The Leader of her Majesty's Opposition has achieved 
 the same place in the scale of national opinion as 
 the Prime Minister by dint of consummate political 
 management. He has relied not upon the propulsive 
 power of the multitude, but upon the patient strategy 
 of statesmanship, and he has displayed qualities in 
 this work which Englishmen will never cease to 
 admire, and of which his illustrious rival has given 
 no trace. He has not only trod the up-hill path of 
 an opposed career ; he has been voted to the Leader- 
 ship of a great political party by something better 
 than acclamation — by conviction. He has had able 
 colleagues and loyal followers. 
 
 " Capacity of political criticism is no Liberal mono- 
 poly. It exists as much on one side of the House 
 of Commons as the other. Lord Beaconsfield could 
 never have led his party to victory without showing 
 them, in the face of many obstacles, that he pos- 
 sessed the true attributes of the leader — the energy, 
 the conviction, the earnestness were there. What 
 was wanted was the concentration of force. Lord 
 Beaconsfield called no such agency for the first time 
 into existence, but he brought all of them, so to 
 speak, to a definite focus. During many years he 
 showed how this power was to be turned to lasting 
 account, and gradually he succeeded in transforming 
 a political minority into a majority. Mr. Gladstone 
 never attempted anything of this kind, and had he 
 done so he would have failed. Englishmen are not 
 
92 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 likely to forget this difference between the two 
 Leaders, and the more it is remembered and realised, 
 the greater is the prestige which will be conferred 
 upon the career of Lord Beaconsfield." 
 March 30. In the course of Wednesday, March 30, Lord 
 Beaconsfield's condition did not . improve. The 
 bulletin issued in the morning of that day was indeed 
 hopeful : — " Lord Beaconsfield's spasmodic attacks 
 have been less frequent during the night, and his 
 Lordship is less exhausted than he was in the earlier 
 part of yesterday." In reply to inquiries, Dr. Quain 
 intimated that this bulletin did not signify that 
 Lord Beaconsfield was to be considered out of 
 danger, though there was a marked improvement in 
 his condition. His Lordship had, during the night, 
 been able to take nourishment, and when his 
 physicians paid their early visit he was in good 
 spirits. 
 
 Dr. Kidd left the house between ten and eleven 
 o'clock in the morning, and did not return until 
 half-past four, when he only remained a few 
 minutes, coming back an hour later. As no bul- 
 letin was issued, it was understood that the 
 symptoms were favourable, but it subsequently 
 transpired that Lord Beaconsfield had not passed 
 a good day, and that he was so much weaker in 
 the evening as to cause his medical attendants 
 considerable anxiety. 
 
 At ten o'clock on Wednesday night, March 30, 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 93 
 
 Dr. Quain again arrived, and, after visiting his Lord- 
 ship, held another long consultation with Dr. Kidd 
 the result of which was the following bulletin: — 
 " Lord Beaconsfield has had several attacks of spas- 
 modic breathing during the day, and his Lordship 
 is scarcely as well as he was in the morning." This 
 bulletin was, as the others preceding it had been, at 
 once forwarded to her Majesty and the other 
 members of the Eoyal Family. 
 
 The number of visitors in Curzon Street through- 
 out the day was very great, and plainly indicated 
 how deep and widespread was the public sympathy 
 with Lord Beaconsfield in his serious condition. 
 Over 700 names were inscribed in the visitors' 
 book, while in the afternoon the carriages were at 
 times six or seven deep, waiting for their occupants 
 to see the latest bulletin. 
 
 Again it may be well to indicate the interest taken 
 in Lord Beaconsfield' s state by giving some extracts 
 from a leading article which appeared in The Standard 
 on the following day : — " The public will learn with 
 regret that Lord Beaconsfield is not progressing so 
 satisfactorily as it was hoped he would do. The 
 best evidence of the public solicitude caused by Lord 
 Beaconsfield's illness is to be found in the list of those 
 who called yesterday and the day before to make in- 
 quiries in Curzon Street. We had to publish just such 
 another catalogue when Mr. Gladstone was confined 
 to his bed in Downing Street last summer. The 
 
94 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Prime Minister has reciprocated in a specially- 
 attentive manner the tribute of courteous concern 
 of which he was himself then the recipient from 
 the Leader of her Majesty's Opposition. All the 
 chief members of the Government and supporters 
 of the Ministry have done the same thing. The 
 number of those who have written their names in 
 the visiting-book is not confined to statesmen and 
 politicians, but includes the representatives of every 
 class of the community. From the Eoyal Family 
 down to the artisan, the private house of the Conser- 
 vative Leader is the chief centre of personal interest, 
 and the first glance, when the newspaper is unfolded 
 this morning,- will be to the column which contains 
 the latest accounts of Lord Beaconsfield's health. 
 
 "The statesman who did not recognise in such 
 testimonies of patriotic concern one of the solaces 
 for the vexation of spirit and weariness of public 
 life would be strangely callous and cynical. As a 
 matter of fact, we know very well that the men who 
 are the objects of this national affection and regard 
 gratefully appreciate them at their true worth. Mr. 
 Gladstone acknowledged the kindly feeling shown 
 towards him on all sides in a letter which was at 
 once graceful, felicitous, and pathetic. Lord Beacons- 
 field will not be less deeply impressed. A career of 
 incessant devotion to public affairs does not blunt or 
 dull the capacity of human sensitiveness on such 
 occasions as the present. In a famous and eloquent 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 95 
 
 passage, Lord Beaconsfield has described how in- 
 tolerable would be the lot of the public man if he 
 could not count in the long run upon popular for- 
 bearance and sympathy. Lord Beaconsfield has 
 always shown remarkable accuracy — an accuracy for 
 which mere shrewdness without imagination would 
 be unable to account — in his estimate of English 
 character. The English people, he has said re- 
 peatedly, are the most emotional and enthusiastic 
 of the world ; * they conceal under a vest of pride 
 more than foreigners show with their recklessness of 
 histrionic display.' 
 
 "This opinion is receiving its justification now in a 
 way that Lord Beaconsfield himself would, perhaps, 
 scarcely have contemplated. The Leader of the 
 Conservative Party has never condescended to be a 
 hunter after such popularity. Some people think 
 that he has too studiously avoided all appearances in 
 the rdle of the popular statesman. He has never 
 been addicted to field sports. He has never shown 
 himself unnecessarily among the multitude. Few 
 politicians of any eminence have exercised such 
 reserve in the matter of attending public meetings. 
 He has engaged most sparingly in promiscuous 
 correspondence, and the position which he has 
 occupied among his friends and colleagues has 
 often been one of detachment and even isolation. 
 'After all,' Lord Beaconsfield has observed of the 
 younger Pitt, *a man who is Prime Minister at 
 
96 MEMOKIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 twenty-five cannot wear his heart on his sleeve.' 
 Lord Beaconsfield was not Prime Minister till 
 between thirty and forty years later. But much 
 of the reserve which was characteristic of the son of 
 Chatham has uniformly marked his public and his 
 private demeanour. 
 
 " This is not the bearing by which a public man is 
 usually supposed to endear himself to the multitude ; 
 and Lord Beaconsfield has never been a popular 
 iavourite in the sense in which Lord Palmerston was. 
 But the English people are capable of being im- 
 pressed in more ways than one. They like bonhomie 
 in the great ; they love to know that Prime Ministers 
 or Secretaries of State are men of like passions with 
 themselves; they delight in recognising illustrious 
 personages at Epsom Downs on Derby-day. But 
 they can also be profoundly affected, as the result 
 has shown, by the spectacle of self-contained resolu- 
 tion and disciplined capacity pressing on steadily 
 and surely to the supreme goal. The place occupied 
 by Lord Beaconsfield in English politics is altogether 
 unique. There is a quality in his genius which no 
 other English statesman has ever shown. His 
 determination, his patience, his masterly self-con- 
 trol, his incessant vigilance and effort, his never- 
 failing recognition of the true opportunity, and his 
 extraordinary skill in turning it to account; these 
 are attributes which have appealed to the imagination 
 of Englishmen. 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 97 
 
 " A sincere hope everywliere exists that this 
 illness will rapidly take a favourable turn, and 
 that before long Lord Beaconsfield will appear 
 in his accustomed place in Parliament, full of 
 renewed vigour and vitality. The age of states- 
 men is not to be reckoned by the calendar 
 alone. Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of 
 the Opposition have more than completed their 
 threescore years and ten. But it never occurs to 
 any one to speak of either as having completed his 
 work. English public men are in the habit of dying 
 in harness, and the expiring effort of Chatham in 
 the House of Lords is an historical incident which 
 has all the significance of a typical allegory. The 
 business of the world is carried on by ' Sovereigns 
 and Statesmen,' and, with almost the single excep- 
 tion of M. Gambetta, the chief makers of history in 
 every country of Europe at the present moment are 
 well advanced in years. Since the days of Canning 
 no English Prime Minister has gone to an early 
 grave, and even Canning, though Lord Lyndhurst 
 once spoke of him as a boy, lacked but three years 
 of threescore. Palmerston, Derby, Eussell were 
 each of them aged men ; Lyndhurst himself delivered 
 one of the greatest speeches which has ever been 
 heard in the Upper House when he was close on 
 eighty-four; and Englishmen still hope for much 
 from Lord Beaconsfield." 
 
 On Thursday there appeared to be an improve- M^ch 3L 
 
 n 
 
98 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 ment in Lord Beaconsfield's condition. Dr. Kidd, 
 as on the previous evenings of the week, spent the 
 night of Wednesday with his distinguished patient. 
 During its earlier hours Lord Beaconsfield was ex- 
 tremely restless, and had several fits of coughing, 
 but he gradually became more composed, and after 
 taking some slight nourishment fell into a quiet 
 sleep in the morning. Dr. Quain again arrived at 
 the house at half-past nine, and three-quarters of an 
 hour later, after another consultation, the physicians 
 issued the following bulletin : — " Lord Beaconsfield 
 has passed a quieter night, and his Lordship's condi- 
 tion is no worse this morning." After the physicians 
 had left Curzon Street in the morning Lord Beacons- 
 field again fell into a quiet slumber, and on awaken- 
 ing appeared refreshed, and was able to take some 
 nourishment. Shortly after four o'clock Dr. Kidd 
 returned, and remained at the house for nearly two 
 hours. Lord Beaconsfield was removed from the bed- 
 room he had previously occupied to the back drawing- 
 room, a much larger apartment. Dr. Quain and Dr. 
 Kidd again visited the house at nine o'clock in the 
 evening, and at a quarter to ten the following bulletin 
 was issued : — " Lord Beaconsfield has passed a quiet 
 day, and his Lordship's symptoms are rather more 
 favourable." 
 April 1. On Thursday night Lord Beaconsfield was able to 
 obtain some refreshing sleep. Dr. Quain arrived at 
 Curzon Street at half- past nine o'clock on the 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 99 
 
 morning of Friday, April 1, and had a consultation 
 •with Dr. Kidd, with the result that at ten o'clock 
 this bulletin appeared : — " Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed the night without any severe attack of 
 spasm. His Lordship is weak, but in other respects 
 his symptoms are improved." Lord Beaconsfield 
 was now able to take some substantial food, and 
 after the doctors had left the house he fell into a 
 gentle slumber. As perfect quiet was considered 
 essential, and it was found that the noise of the 
 vehicles in the street penetrated as far as the sick 
 room, straw was laid down in the roadway. This 
 effectually deadened the sound of passing carriages, 
 and no one except the two nurses saw the patient 
 until the afternoon. Dr. Kidd returned to the house 
 after an absence of four hours, at a little before 
 three o'clock, and remained some time, the verbal 
 report after his departure being to the effect that 
 Lord Beaconsfield's condition remained unchanged. 
 About this time he became more restless, and a de- 
 velopment of gout in the foot which had not hitherto 
 been affected caused a certain degree of feverishness. 
 The second consultation of the day took place at 
 nine o'clock, and lasted for nearly an hour and 
 a half The following was the bulletin : — Lord 
 Beaconsfield has been more restless and feverish 
 during the afternoon — a result due in some measure 
 to the development of gout in the foot which has 
 not been hitherto affected." During the day a 
 
 H 2 
 
100 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 telegram was received by Lord Barrington from 
 Lord Rowton to the effect that he was detained 
 at Marseilles by his sister's illness, and that the 
 doctors forbade him to leave her. 
 April 2. Throughout Eriday night Dr. Kidd remained in 
 attendance upon Lord Beaconsfield, who slept fairly 
 well and was able to take nourishment. Dr. Quain 
 returned at half-past nine in the morning, and this 
 was the bulletin: — " Lord Beaconsfield has had some 
 quiet sleep during the night. The gout in the 
 right foot is rather more developed. The spasms 
 have been relieved, otherwise the chest symptoms 
 continue much the same." It was considered by the 
 physicians that the patient had exerted himself too 
 much during the previous day, and the strictest 
 injunctions were therefore given that he should 
 see no one beyond his personal attendants, and 
 that the utmost silence should be maintained in 
 the house and neighbourhood, so as to allow him 
 to sleep, if possible. In consequence of this, even 
 Lord Barrington and Sir Philip Rose, who had 
 been constant in their attendance, abstained from 
 visiting Lord Beaconsfield, and in the evening when 
 the physicians held their second consultation they 
 were able to issue the following report: — "Lord 
 Beaconsfield has had some quiet hours of sleep at 
 intervals during the day. He has been altogether 
 free from spasmodic attacks since morning. His 
 Lordship is weak, but has had no increase of 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 101 
 
 weakness during the day." On Sunday, April 3, after April 3. 
 the usual morning visit of Dr. Quain, the most 
 satisfactory bulletin that had appeared for two 
 days appeared : — " Lord Beaconsfield has had a com- 
 paratively quiet night, the attacks of spasms being 
 few and slight. In other respects his Lordship's 
 condition is favourable and his strength maintained." 
 
 At noon, however. Lord Beaconsfield was again 
 seized by a spasmodic attack, and both the doctors 
 were speedily called in. A report of this relapse 
 soon spread, and caused considerable alarm. But 
 the reassuring announcement came shortly after- 
 wards that his Lordship had quite recovered from 
 the seizure, and had fallen into a sound slumber. 
 This sleep lasted for over an hour, and when the 
 physicians paid their afternoon visit they found 
 the condition of the invalid to be so favourable 
 as to justify their not issuing a second bulletin. 
 
 They were again at Curzon Street at nine 
 o'clock, and after a consultation of nearly an 
 hour's duration another bulletin was posted in the 
 following terms : — " At noon to-day Lord Beacons- 
 field had a return of spasm, by which he was 
 depressed for some hours. Since then his Lordship 
 has had some sleep and nourishment, and is not 
 materially worse than he was in the morning." After 
 issuing this. Dr. Quain left the house, but Dr. Kidd 
 remained for the night. In addition to the official 
 report the doctors admitted that the return of the 
 
102 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 spasmodic attacks caused them much anxiety. In 
 face of the . severe north-east wind which prevailed 
 it was declared to be very difficult to combat these 
 symptoms. The patient's room was maintained at 
 a temperature of 64 to 65 degrees, and bronchitis 
 kettles were kept at work to secure the necessary 
 dampness of the atmosphere. 
 April 4. Lord Beacon sfield's condition was obviously the 
 more precarious because his malady, unlike some 
 acute diseases, was not one which could be expected 
 to run a definite course to a termination fatal or un- 
 favourable. Thus, for instance, the earlier part of 
 Monday, April 4, afforded much encouragement to 
 those who watched by the bedside of the patient, 
 and the best hopes w^ere entertained; but at night 
 the physicians recognised the presence of an increase 
 of fever, which, though slight, could not but cause 
 anxiety. The most satisfactory feature of the case 
 was that there had as yet been no failure of strength. 
 For the eighth night in succession Dr. Kidd re- 
 mained with his Lordship, and on Monday morning, 
 shortly after nine o'clock, he was joined by Dr. 
 Quain and by a new physician, Dr. Bruce. The 
 result of the consultation was the issue of the 
 following bulletin : — " Lord Beaconsfield had rather 
 a restless night till three A.M. Since then his 
 Lordship has had some quiet sleep. Cough and 
 expectoration less troublesome, and his strength 
 maintained." 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 103 
 
 The doctors expressed themselves fairly satisfied 
 with the condition of their patient, but the con- 
 tinuance of the keen north-east winds caused them 
 much anxiety. Dr. Bruce remained at the house 
 during the day, and both of the other physicians 
 in attendance called two or three times ; but it 
 was not considered necessary to issue another 
 bulletin until night. Considerable anxiety was 
 shown by the numerous callers, amongst whom 
 were the Duke of Cambridge and Sir Stafford 
 Northcote, both of whom had personal interviews 
 with Lord Barrington. The verbal reports given out 
 from time to time were, however, of a nature to 
 quell alarm, as Lord Beaconsfield was able to sleep 
 well at intervals and take nourishment freely, while 
 there was no return of spasm. 
 
 Dr. Quain arrived at the house at nine o'clock in 
 the evening, and was with Lord Beaconsfield about 
 an hour, after which the physicians held their ordi- 
 nary consultation. While this was progressing 
 the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, 
 who had just arrived from St. Petersburg, drove 
 up to the house, and had an interview with the 
 doctors, together with Lord Barrington and Sir 
 Philip Eose, of nearly half an hour's duration. 
 After their Eoyal Highnesses had left a bulletin to 
 the following effect was communicated : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed a quiet day, free from 
 spasmodic breathing. To-night there is a slight 
 
104 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 increase of fever, indicated by the state of the pulse 
 and temperature." 
 
 The enormous sympathy manifested in Lord 
 Beaconsfield's state was shown, not only by the 
 innumerable calls in Curzon Street, but by the tele- 
 grams constantly received from all parts of the 
 world, and by offers, many of them of a very 
 singular kind, of objects for the comfort or the 
 cure of the distinguished invalid. 
 April 5. The bulletin of Tuesday morning, April 5, was 
 calculated to allay some of the alarm which the 
 accounts of the previous day had excited. Dr. 
 Quain arrived at Curzon Street at half-past nine, and 
 the result of the consultation with Dr. Kidd and Dr. 
 Bruce, both of whom had been at the house through- 
 out the night, declared itself as follows : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed a tolerably quiet night. 
 Some fresh gout has appeared in the knees, which 
 will explain the occurrence of feverish symptoms 
 which were present last night, and which are 
 mitigated this morning. His Lordship continues to 
 take nourishment and his strength is maintained." 
 Personal inquiries elicited the additional information 
 that Lord Beaconsfield was very cheerful, and 
 appeared to take more interest in public affairs than 
 for some days past. His request that he should see 
 the morning bulletin issued by his physician was 
 complied with. Dr. Kidd called again about half- 
 past one and saw his patient, who he stated to be 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 105 
 
 progressing as well as could be expected. Later, 
 however, there was a return of the spasms, followed 
 by a speedy rally, without much apparent loss of 
 strength. Between three and four o'clock a letter 
 was received from the Queen, which was read to 
 the distinguished invalid by Lord Barrington, who 
 then saw his Lordship for the first time since his 
 relapse two days previously. 
 
 The physicians were again in attendance at nine 
 o'clock, and this was their report : — " Lord Beacons- 
 field had a return of spasms in the early part of 
 the afternoon. This attack was slighter than those 
 of the preceding days, and has been followed by a 
 less amount of prostration. The chest symptoms 
 are not worse. His Lordship has taken nourish- 
 ment well during the afternoon." It was in the 
 course of this day, April 5, that Lord Barrington 
 received a telegram from Lord Eowton to the effect 
 that he had arrived at Monte Carlo with his sister, 
 and would leave again for England immediately. 
 
 Throughout Tuesday night the improvement in the April 6. 
 condition of Lord Beaconsfield continued. While the 
 gout and chest symptoms generally improved, there 
 was an almost entire cessation of the spasmodic attacks 
 that had chiefly caused anxiety, and his Lordship was 
 able to take nourishment with less difficulty, whilst 
 he slept at intervals. Both Dr. Bruce and Dr. Kidd 
 remained at Curzon Street on Tuesday night, the 
 former retiring to rest while his colleague remained 
 
106 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 on duty. They were, as usual, joined at half-past 
 nine the next morning by Dr. Quain, the result of 
 the consultation being the publication of a bulletin 
 to the following effect : — " Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed a fair night. The symptoms generally as 
 regards the chest and the .gout are improved. His 
 Lordship's condition is, on the whole, favourable." 
 This report was received with great satisfaction by 
 those waiting for it, and was immediately telegraphed 
 to her Majesty by Lord Barrington, who also sent 
 copies by messengers to the Prince of Wales, the 
 Duke of Edinburgh, Mr. Gladstone, and other dis- 
 tinguished personages. To prevent the incessant 
 opening and closing of the front door, two copies 
 of the bulletin were placed on boards suspended 
 to the railings outside the house. The beneficial 
 effect of this arrangement was amply shown in the 
 course of the day by the increased quiet inside the 
 building. 
 
 Dr. Kidd returned to Curzon Street at about one 
 o'clock, and saw Lord Beaconsfield for a short time. 
 On leaving, he stated that his patient had passed 
 a good morning, and was doing well. At a second 
 visit shortly before five he was met by Dr. Quain. 
 'No regular consultation took place, and no bulletin 
 was issued, but the fact that the physicians were 
 satisfied with the progress that Lord Beaconsfield 
 was making was telegraphed to her Majesty at 
 Osborne. The Prince of Wales called at a little 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 107 
 
 after seven o'clock, and had a short interview with 
 Dr. Bruce. At nine o'clock the three physicians 
 held a consultation, of which this was the result : — 
 " During the day Lord Beaconsfield has been almost 
 entirely free from spasms. He has taken nourish- 
 ment with less difficulty. The symptoms generally 
 show improvement." 
 
 A change for the worse, however, declared itself April 7. 
 during Wednesday night, and at three o'clock on 
 Thursday morning, April 7, Lord Beaconsfield was 
 seized with severe spasms, accompanied by slight con- 
 gestion of the right lung. Dr. Quain w,as immediately 
 sent for by Drs. Kidd and Bruce, and reached Curzon 
 Street at a Jittle before four o'clock. Soon after his 
 arrival Sir William Jenner called to see Dr. Quain, 
 and remained some considerable time. Dr. Jenner 
 was understood thoroughly to approve the treatment 
 applied. Messengers were also despatched for Lord 
 Barrington and Sir Philip Eose, both of whom amved 
 within a few minutes. They were joined at seven 
 o'clock by Lord Eowton, who had just reached 
 England from the Continent. Dr. Quain did not 
 leave the house until half-past eight, and returned 
 at ten o'clock, when the physicians held their usual 
 morning consultation. At a quarter to eleven the 
 public read this statement as follows : — '' During the 
 night Lord Beaconsfield had a severe attack of 
 difficulty of breathing, with some congestion of 
 the right lung, brought on by a slight chill. The 
 
108 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 symptoms, which at the time created grave anxiety, 
 have nearly passed away, leaving his Lordship not 
 materially worse than prior to the attack." 
 
 Drs. Quain and Kidd left Curzon Street at 
 about half-past eleven, when they stated that 
 Lord Beaconsfield was quiet and comfortable, and, 
 although slightly weaker, not seriously the worse 
 for the severe attack in the night. The physicians 
 again paid a short visit at a little before four, when 
 they found their patient maintaining his condition 
 of the morning ; it was therefore considered unneces- 
 sary to issue any extra bulletin. At nine o'clock 
 when they returned they issued the following : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed the day free from any dis- 
 tressing symptoms. His Lordship's weakness — 
 incident to the course of his malady — is now a 
 chief source of anxiety." Personal inquiries elicited 
 the additional information that there was very little 
 change since the morning, and that his Lordship 
 was as well as could be expected. 
 April 8. Dr. Kidd and Dr. Bruce again remained during 
 
 Thursday night at Curzon Street, and on Friday 
 morning Dr. Quain joined his colleagues shortly 
 after half-past nine, the following bulletin being 
 issued shortly afterwards : — " Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed a good night ; had refreshing sleep ; taken 
 nourishment well. The symptoms caused by the 
 serious relapse of the previous night are passing 
 away. His Lordship's condition this morning is 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 109 
 
 more hopeful than it was yesterday." Dr. Quain 
 paid his second visit of the day between four and iive 
 o'clock. On leaving, he stated that his patient had 
 not lost ground, and that the favourable symptoms 
 developed in the morning were fully maintained. 
 The physicians returned, as usual, at nine o'clock, 
 and held their evening consultation, when their 
 bulletin was as follows : — " Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed the day without material change, the favour- 
 able condition of the morning being maintained." 
 
 The physicians met on Saturday morning at half- ^ ^ g 
 past nine, and at eleven o'clock issued the following 
 bulletin : — "Lord Beaconsfield's night has been some- 
 what restless. He has been rather less inclined to 
 take nourishment. His Lordship's condition, how- 
 ever, is not materially different from that of yester- 
 day." Dr. Quain and Dr. Kidd both paid visits 
 during the day to their patient, whom they reported 
 to be going on as well as they could expect, and 
 again met at night, after which they issued the 
 following : — " Lord Beaconsfield has passed the day 
 freer from any of the symptoms of his chest affection 
 or of gout ; but his Lordship has felt, and is, weak." 
 
 As on previous nights, Drs. Bruce and Kidd stayed ^pj.^ ^q^ 
 at Curzon Street, and were joined in the morning 
 by Dr. Quain. This was the bulletin : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed a very quiet night, and has 
 taken nourishment well, but the weakness continues 
 much the same." Dr. Quain paid his last visit 
 
no MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 for tlie day at nine o'clock, and the bulletin said : — 
 "Lord Beaconsfield passed the day favourably, rather 
 gaining than losing strength, until 8. p.m., when 
 he had an attack of spasmodic breathing, which was 
 relieved by expectoration. His Lordship's condition 
 is not materially affected by this attack." 
 April 11. Dr. Quain arrived at half-past nine on Monday, and 
 at eleven o'clock the following was issued : — '' Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed a somewhat restless night. 
 His chest symptoms are not worse, but his Lordship's 
 strength is somewhat diminished." 
 
 During the morning Lord Beaconsfield saw Lord 
 Eowton, for the first time since his return from 
 Algiers. Dr. Quain and Dr. Kidd called twice in the 
 course of the afternoon, and after their second visit 
 they reported that Lord Beaconsfield had passed a 
 quiet day, and had rather gained than lost strength. 
 Between five and six o'clock the Prince and Princess 
 of Wales, the latfer of whom had only just arrived 
 at Charing Cross from St. Petersburg, drove direct 
 to Curzon Street to make inquiries as to the con- 
 dition of Lord Beaconsfield. Their Eoyal Highnesses 
 remained in conversation with Lord Eowton for 
 about twenty minutes. Shortly after nine o'clock 
 Drs. Quain and Kidd returned, and a few minutes 
 later Sir William Jenner, by special command of tlie 
 Queen, arrived, and joined in the consultation with 
 the other physicians, the result of which was the 
 issue of a bulletin to the following effect : — *' Lord 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. Ill 
 
 Beaconsfield has passed the day favourably, taken 
 more nourishment, and to some extent regained 
 strength." After the consultation Sir William Jenner 
 and Dr. Quain left. 
 
 The result of the consultation of the next day may April 12. 
 be judged from the following: — "Lord Beaconsfield 
 has passed a tolerably fair night. His Lordship has 
 been free from distressing symptoms, and the gain 
 of strength acquired during the afternoon of yester- 
 day has been maintained." After Drs. Quain 
 and Kidd had left. Lord Beaconsfield took some 
 refreshment, and at mid-day was considered to be 
 sufiiciently strong to be removed into the next 
 room. This was done under the superintendence 
 of Dr. Bruce. All through the morning, as during 
 the previous two or three days, a great many work- 
 ing men gathered in Curzon Street and anxiously 
 inquired for the latest information. This fact ^was 
 reported to Lord Beaconsfield by Lord Eowton. 
 
 Dr. Kidd returned to the house about four o'clock, 
 and Dr. Quain about three-quarters of an hour 
 later. The latter left after a short visit, when he 
 stated that Lord Beaconsfield had been rather more 
 restless, and appeared somewhat weaker than in the 
 morning, but that otherwise there was no material 
 change. At seven o'clock Dr. Quain was again 
 hastily summoned, as his patient had been seized 
 with a severe attack of difficulty in breathing. The 
 usual remedies were at once administered, and, after 
 
112 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 a time, the trouble passed off, Lord Beaconsfield 
 being again able to take some slight nourishment. 
 At nine o'clock the physicians met again for con- 
 sultation, and an hour afterwards the following 
 bulletin was published : — " Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed rather a restless day. At seven o'clock 
 this evening he had a severe attack of difficulty 
 of breathing, but this has passed off, and his Lord- 
 ship is now sleeping quietly, having taken some 
 nourishment." The physicians supplemented the 
 bulletin with the statement that each recurring 
 attack of the spasmodic breathing necessarily 
 rendered their patient weaker and the chances of 
 recovery more remote, and that while they did 
 not despair, they could not disguise the fact that 
 Lord Beaconsfield's condition was precarious. 
 April 13. The next day a slight improvement was reported 
 in the condition of Lord Beaconsfield. Dr. Quain 
 arrived for the morning consultation at half-past 
 nine, and the following was the bulletin :— " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed another restless night, and 
 felt disinclined to take nourishment. His Lordship 
 is less weak this morning than might have been 
 expected under the circumstances." In the after- 
 noon the physicians met at the house, when it was 
 resolved to issue a supplementary bulletin to allay 
 public anxiety. Shortly before six o'clock the following 
 was posted outside the house : — " Lord Beaconsfield 
 has passed a quiet day, free from any material 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 113 
 
 discomfort. He has taken nourishment and had rest. 
 The strength- is somewhat greater." Sir William 
 Jenner paid a short visit to Lord Beaconsfield 
 during the evening, and at nine o'clock the three 
 physicians published the following : — " Lord Beacons- 
 field passed the day without the occurrence of any 
 symptom to create anxiety or alarm. He has taken 
 a moderate amount of nutritious food with less 
 repugnance. There is rather an increase of strength 
 since the last bulletin." 
 
 The weather had now become comparatively 
 mild, and the change apparently had the desired 
 effect upon Lord Beaconsfield, who seemed much 
 stronger and very cheerful. This improvement was 
 aided by wheeling the bed of the invalid from the 
 front to the back drawing-room, both large and 
 airy apartments, upon 'alternate days. The chest 
 symptoms were presumed to have almost disap- 
 peared, but the great debility of the patient 
 necessitated the most watchful attention and care. 
 
 The usual consultation was held on Thursday morn- ^P"^ ^^• 
 ing, April 14, at ten o'clock, and the bulletin said : — 
 "Lord Beaconsfield has passed a good night. The 
 chest symptoms are quiet. There is some gain in 
 the digestive power and in the strength." 
 
 The extreme anxiety of the Queen as to the con- 
 dition of Lord Beaconsfield continued to be shown in 
 frequent telegrams and messages, and her Majesty 
 expressed her gratification at the general interest 
 
 I 
 
114 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 shown by the country at large in the welfare of the 
 distinguished statesman. The Prince of Wales and 
 the Duke of Cambridge called at Curzon Street 
 between one and two o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, 
 and had an interview of nearly half an hour with 
 Lords Eowton and Barrington. In the course of 
 the day Lord Beaconsfield was visited by both Drs. 
 Quain and Kidd, who stated in reply to inquiries 
 that their patient was progressing as well as they 
 could hope, but no further bulletin was issued 
 until after the evening consultation, when the follow- 
 ing appeared: — "Lord Beaconsfield has passed the 
 day favourably. He has taken nourishment, has had 
 quiet sleep, and regained strength in some degree." 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield's sick-room in Curzon Street 
 had now become the centre of a professional con- 
 troversy, an adequate idea of which may be 
 formed from tlie following remarks in a leading 
 article in 2'he Standard of April 15 : — " The state- 
 ments which have recently been made public by 
 the medical advisers of Lord Beaconsfield will be 
 scanned with legitimate curiosity, not unmingled 
 with some feeling of impatience. Lord Beaconsfield 
 has for some years past been attended by Dr. Kidd, 
 a duly qualified member of the profession, but 
 inclined to the particular style of treatment known 
 as homoeopathy. This system has been condemned 
 by the English facult}'' as heretical, and those who 
 adhere to it are exposed to a kind of professional 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 115 
 
 excommunication, according to which no regular 
 practitioner is allowed to co-operate with them in 
 the management of a case. Such being the known 
 rules to which all orthodox physicians are expected 
 to conform, it became a question of some difficulty, 
 when it was thought desirable that Lord Beaconsfield 
 should have further advice, to whom his friends 
 were to apply. Agreeably to the noble Lord's own 
 wishes, an application was made to Dr. Quain, 
 who replied in the first instance that he did not 
 see how it was possible for him to consult with Dr. 
 Kidd, as the latter was a homoeopathist. 
 
 " On this he was informed by Lord Barrington that, 
 at all events, Lord Beaconsfield had not been treated 
 homoeopathically, but in accordance with the 
 ordinary principles applicable to his complaint. 
 Dr. Quain then required that Dr. Kidd himself 
 should make a statement to this effect in writing ; 
 and this request being granted, and Dr. Quain 
 having taken the opinion of some of the leading 
 members of the profession, considered himself at 
 liberty to act in concert with Dr. Kidd. Dr. Quain 
 has been greatly blamed by some members of the 
 faculty for having consented to meet Dr. Kidd under 
 any circumstances ; but we feel assured that had he 
 refused to see Lord Beaconsfield he would have 
 exposed not only himself, but the whole profession, 
 to the severest censure. 
 
 "It would be monstrous, therefore, to find any 
 
 I 2 
 
116 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 fault with Dr. Quain for having consented to act 
 with Dr. Kidd. He seems to us to have behaved 
 in a perfectly straightforward and honourable 
 manner. Fully alive to the dignity of his pro- 
 fession, and by no means underrating the value of 
 the rules which have been adopted for the protec- 
 tion of scientific orthodoxy, he deemed it his duty 
 to make certain inquiries with regard to Dr. Kidd's 
 system before he felt justified in acting with him ; 
 but on receiving an assurance from Dr. Kidd that, 
 although he certainly believed in the efficacy of 
 homoeopathic treatment in certain cases, he was 
 not a regular homceopathist, and that only the 
 ordinary remedies recognised by the profession at 
 large had been applied to his distinguished patient, 
 he was ready at once to give him the benefit of 
 his assistance. In this view of the case he was 
 confirmed by the opinion of the then President of 
 the College of Physicians and other eminent prac- 
 titioners ; nor do we see what more can be required 
 of him in the way of explanation or excuse. 
 
 "As much, however, can hardly be said for the 
 conduct of Sir William Jenner. Sir William was 
 applied to in the first instance by Dr. Kidd him- 
 self to consult with him on the condition of Lord 
 Beaconsfield. This Sir William Jenner at once 
 declined to do, on the ground that Dr. Kidd was 
 a homceopathist, and without asking any questions 
 which would have enabled Lord Beaconsfield's 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 117 
 
 physician to explain to what extent he really de- 
 served that designation. Sir William, it seems, 
 was afterwards induced to visit Lord Beaconsfield 
 by the ' commands of the Queen,' having previously 
 refused to do so, because such an act would have 
 been a violation of those rules which he deemed 
 essential to the welfare of his profession. 
 
 "Now, without entering upon the very delicate 
 question how far even the entreaty of the Sovereign 
 should overrule a man's regard for the highest 
 interests of his profession, tve unhesitatingly assert 
 that when Sir William Jenner was informed of the 
 resolution taken by Dr. Quain, he was bound to 
 consider whether that eminent physician might not 
 have had good reason for adopting it. He had no 
 right to assume without inquiry that Dr. Quain 
 was wrong, and when we now see under what 
 very high authority Dr. Quain was acting, it is 
 more than doubtful whether Sir William Jenner 
 will not find himself in a false position. Eules 
 such as those by which he supposed himself to be 
 bound defeat their own object when applied with 
 such excessive stringency. 
 
 " Moreover, we are at a loss to understand what 
 middle course could possibly be found between the 
 course adopted by Sir William and that adopted 
 by Dr. Quain. If the allopathist is to hold himself 
 absolutely aloof under all conceivable circumstances 
 from those who differ from him, patients must very 
 
118 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 often be deprived of that assistance which might 
 possibly save their lives. If he is not to do this, 
 and is to hold that under especial pressure he is 
 justified in departing somewhat from the strict 
 letter of the law, it is difficult to see how he could 
 act with more propriety than Dr. Quain has done. 
 For Dr. Quain to have made no inquiry at all, and 
 to have driven straight down to Curzon Street as 
 soon as the application was made to him, would 
 have been to run into the opposite extreme, and 
 Sir William Jenner and his friends cannot surely 
 mean to imply that this would have been the pro- 
 per course of action. The public may possibly be 
 of opinion that even Dr. Quain himself was a little 
 over-sensitive on the point, and that valuable lives 
 ought not to be trifled with in deference to scruples 
 on a matter of professional etiquette. But be this 
 as it may, we think very few persons outside the 
 medical profession will on the present occasion 
 approve the conduct of Sir "William Jenner." 
 
 These observations elicited the following reply 
 the next day from Sir W. Gull : — 
 
 To THE Editor of "The Standard." 
 Sir, — As, in The Standard of to-day, you express, as from 
 a public point of view, some censure on Sir William Jenner 
 for not complying with Dr. Kidd's request to meet him in con- 
 sultation, will you afford me space to say that I desire to bear 
 my part in that censure, whatever it may be ? 
 
 Sir William Jenner, as a friend and colleague, conferred 
 with me before answering Dr. Kidd's note, and I entirely 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 119 
 
 concurred with him in his reply, which was to the effect that, 
 though ready to give his services in so anxious and important 
 a case, he could not, consistently with his duty to the patient, 
 co-operate with one who, according to his own statement, has 
 a double set of convictions in the treatment of disease. For, 
 whatever other objections might be raised as to etiquette and 
 -the like, it is certain that the welfare of a patient is en- 
 dangered when there is a tendency to compromise. 
 1 am. Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 William W. Gull. 
 74, Brook Street, April 15. 
 
 The weather still remained mild, and Lord April v. 
 Beaconsfield as a consequence continued to improve. 
 On Good Friday the bulletin issued by the 
 physicians after the morning consultation at ten 
 o'clock, was to the following effect : — " The only 
 change to report in Lord Beaconsfield's condition 
 this morning is one of slowly progressive improve- 
 ment." It was further stated that this bulletin was 
 to be considered as entirely comprehensive, and 
 covering the fact that there had not only been no 
 recurrence of the spasmodic attacks, but that the 
 chest symptoms and gout had apparently given way 
 to treatment. Dr. Quain paid a passing visit at 
 about four o'clock, but, in consequence of the ex- 
 cellent report given him, did not see his patient. 
 Both he and Dr. Kidd returned at nine o'clock, and 
 a little later this bulletin was posted : — " Lord 
 Beaconsfield has passed a quiet day, free from 
 discomfort, and maintained the gain of strength 
 already acquired." 
 
120 MEMOEIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 April 16. The report of the physicians on Saturday morning 
 was not unfavourable :•— "Lord Beaconsfield was rest- 
 less during part of last night ; but this morning his 
 Lordship's condition is satisfactory, and his progress 
 though slow, is not interrupted." It appeared that 
 the restlessness only lasted an hour, after which Lord 
 Beaconsfield again slept soundly and on waking was 
 able to take some nourishment. Prince Leopold 
 called at Curzon Street about one o'clock and had 
 an interview of a quarter of an hour's duration with 
 Lords Eowton and Barrington. In the afternoon 
 Lord Beaconsfield was sufficiently strong to see both 
 Lord Barrington and Sir Philip Rose, the latter 
 of whom was much astonished at the progress 
 made by the noble Earl, who conversed freely and 
 cheerfully with his visitors. 
 
 Dr. Quain arrived in the evening, at a little after 
 nine. The consultation which followed resulted in 
 the issue of the following : — '' Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed the day favourably." Dr. Quain and Dr. 
 Kidd, the latter of whom had been in attendance at 
 Curzon Street for the previous twenty nights, then 
 left, Dr. Mitchell Bruce remaining with the patient. 
 
 April 17. Both physicians returned at ten on Sunday morning, 
 when they issued another bulletin, confirmatory of 
 the early morning report that his Lordship had 
 passed a comfortable night, and was going on as well 
 as could be expected : — " Lor-d Beaconsfield has had 
 several hours' sleep during the night, and taken the 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 121 
 
 requisite nourishment. This morning his Lordship's 
 condition remains very much as yesterday." 
 
 In the evening Dr. Quain arrived at Curzon Street 
 soon after nine, and remained in consultation 
 with Drs. Kidd and Bruce for about half- an-hour. 
 The bulletin declared: — ''Lord Beaconsfield has 
 passed the day without any material change. There 
 has been no marked progress during the day and 
 no unfavourable change." Lord Beaconsfield during 
 the afternoon conversed with Lord Barrington for 
 some time. 
 
 In the course of Easter Sunday the wind had again April 18. 
 gone round to the north-east. It became bitterly 
 cold at night, and the effects of the change were 
 shown in the bulletin issued on Monday: — "Dur- 
 ing the last twenty-four hours it may be said that, 
 on the whole, as compared with the preceding 
 twenty-four hours. Lord Beaconsfield has been rather 
 more restless, and taken rather less nourishment ; as 
 a consequence, there has been no material gain of 
 strength." After the consultation. Dr. Quain inti- 
 mated that although there had been no gain of 
 strength within the past twenty-four hours, there 
 had been no loss of vital power. Lord Kowton 
 stayed in Curzon Street during the whole of the 
 afternoon, and saw his lordship — who was able to 
 talk — several times. But the evening bulletin was 
 alarmingly unfavourable : — " Lord Beaconsfield's con- 
 dition has not been satisfactory during the day. He 
 
122 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 has been free from urgent symptoms, and taken more 
 nourishment ; yet he rather loses strength." After 
 the consultation, Dr. Quain, on leaving, said his 
 patient was very weak and low. 
 April 19. This last bulletin was received with grave appre- 
 hension. It was generally regarded as an indication 
 that the life of Lord Beaconsfield was fast ebbing 
 away ; though it was hardly thought that the end 
 was so near as it proved to be. As midnight 
 approached, the drowsiness that had been apparent 
 gradually deepened into stupor, this in turn being 
 superseded by almost complete insensibility. About 
 three o'clock the breathing became embarrassed, and 
 for the first time the restoratives applied by the 
 physicians did not have their usual effect. Dr. 
 Quain was immediately summoned, but all efforts 
 to maintain life were in vain. At half-past six 
 on Tuesday morning, April 19, the following 
 notice was written by Lord Barrington on black- 
 edged paper, and posted outside the house on the 
 bulletin board, where it was eagerly scanned through- 
 out the day by the large and sympathetic crowds 
 who flocked to the vicinity of the darkened house : 
 — "The debility, which was evidently increasing 
 yesterday, progressed during the night, and Lord 
 Beaconsfield died at half-past four this morning, 
 calmly, as if in sleep." 
 
 By the bed-side of Lord Beaconsfield at the time 
 of his death were Lords Eowton and Barrington and 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 123 
 
 kSIi Philip Eose, together with his physicians and the 
 faithful attendants who have for weeks past stayed 
 by him night and day. Doctors Kidd and Bruce, 
 together with Lord Eowton, had been with Lord 
 Beaconsfield throughout the night ; but the other 
 gentlemen, together with Mr. Ralph Disraeli, were 
 sent for shortly after three o'clock, when it was 
 perceived that a great change had taken place, and 
 that the critical period was at hand. Mr. Disraeli 
 was, unfortunately, unable to reach Curzon Street 
 in time to be with his brother at the last. 
 
 The actual complaint to which Lord Beaconsfield 
 succumbed was an attack of acute bronchitis 
 supervening on chronic disease, complicated by age 
 a,nd gout in the system — a system greatly ex- 
 hausted by incessant and devoted attention to public 
 business. Beyond this, both the brain and heart 
 appeared to have been healthy. For the last three 
 years the departed statesman had been suffering from 
 the disease, with periodically severer attacks. His 
 final illness, it will be seen, lasted nearly a month, 
 and threatened at the close of the first week to prove 
 fatal. The weather was during the greater portion 
 of the time of the most unpropitious character, a 
 bitter east wind penetrating everywhere, notwith- 
 standing the utmost precautions that could be taken. 
 With its cessation on the 15th of April, Lord Beacons- 
 field's symptoms somewhat improved; with its return 
 on Saturday there came a further relapse. Lord 
 
124 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Beaconsfield became more restless, took nourishment 
 with more irregularity and less willingness, and 
 gradually grew worse, till at last, without any struggle, 
 he expired, so gently that it was some few moments 
 after death before those watching around his couch 
 were aware of the fact. 
 
 One of Lord Beaconsfield's medical attendants 
 furnished the following particulars of the Earl's last 
 moments : — The Earl's drowsiness, which had been 
 apparent in the later part of the night of April 18, 
 gradually deepened towards midnight into a stupor, 
 from which his Lordship was with difficulty aroused. 
 He still, however, took nourishment up to half-past 
 one the next morning. About two o'clock the stupor 
 deepened into coma, or complete insensibility, and 
 towards the hour of three the breathing became 
 very much embarrassed. Dr. Kidd and Dr. Bruce 
 at once applied all the usual restoratives for the 
 breathing, but for the first time during his illness 
 there was no response. Seeing the approach of 
 death, Dr. Kidd immediately despatched messen- 
 gers to Lord Barrington, Sir Philip Eose, and Sir 
 William Jenner. Lord Barrington was the first to 
 arrive, and upon entering the sick room he found 
 Lord Eowton closely grasping the right hand of the 
 distinguished patient, in which grasp Lord Barrington 
 joined. The two noble lords continued to clasp the 
 right hand of Lord Beaconsfield until the last 
 moment, his left being all the time held in that of 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 125 
 
 Dr. Kidd. About five minutes before the breathing 
 ceased Sir Philip Eose and Dr. Quain arrived. Then 
 a most placid appearance came over his Lordship's 
 face, which deeply moved all in the room. The 
 distressing breathing ceased, and for about five 
 minutes, slow, gentle inspiration took its place, and 
 all seemed over ; but even after the breathing had 
 stopped for four or five minutes, the heart's action 
 kept up, and the pulse continued perfectly perceptible 
 at the wrist. It was a most touching scene. As Lord 
 Kowton, Lord Barrington, the three physicians, Mr. 
 Baum, the young servant James, and the two nurses 
 watched round the bed for a further period of ten 
 minutes, perfect silence was kept, save for the 
 weeping of some who were present, because even 
 when the pulse ceased it was difficult to realise that 
 he was dead. Thus, without suffering, without a 
 struggle. Lord Beaconsfield's life slowly passed away. 
 During the progress of his illness Lord Beacons- 
 field displayed his usual fortitude. He was patient 
 and reticent, speaking but little, as he found that the 
 exertion of doing so fatigued him. When, however, 
 he did converse, his remarks always showed his 
 characteristic shrewdness, and it was evident to 
 those with him that when silent he was often ab- 
 sorbed in a deep train of thought. He was never 
 better for interviews with friends or others, and con- 
 sequently did not encourage them — a course in which 
 he was sustained by the advice of his physicians. 
 
126 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Indeed, he hesitated for some two or three days to 
 see Lord Kowton after his return from Algiers, 
 fearing the excitement might be injurious ; but after 
 the first interview the latter was constantly with 
 him, and Lord Beaconsfield derived the greatest 
 possible comfort from his presence. With this 
 exception, and on one or two occasions when Lord 
 Barrington and Sir Philip Eose saw him, no one 
 but his medical advisers and personal attendants 
 were admitted to the sick-room. 
 
 Immediately after all w^as over, telegrams were 
 sent to her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, the 
 Duke of Edinburgh, and other members of the 
 Koyal Family, as well as to Mr. Gladstone at 
 Hawarden, the noble Earl's colleagues, and to the 
 Eepresentatives of the various Foreign Powers. 
 
 Telegrams of condolence were received in reply 
 from all parts of the globe. Amongst them was one 
 of sympathy from Mr. Gladstone, who was deeply 
 affected when he received the sad intelligence of 
 Lord Beaconsfield's death. 
 
 The Prince of Wales sent a special messenger 
 during the afternoon from Sandringham with letters 
 of condolence to Lord Eowton and Lord Barrington. 
 
 Dean Stanley called at a little before noon, and 
 saw Lord Eowton and Mr. Ealph Disraeli. The 
 Dean made an offer of a resting-place in the Abbey 
 for the noble Earl, but no answer could be given at 
 the time, as, althouojh Lord Beaconsfield had made 
 
THE LAST ILLNESS. 127 
 
 no allusion during his last illness as to where he 
 wished to be buried, he had frequently on previous 
 occasions expressed his desire to be placed by the 
 side of Viscountess Beaconsfield at Hughenden. 
 In the afternoon Sir Philip Eose went down to 
 Hughenden Manor in company with Lord Kowton, 
 the literary trustee under the provisions of the 
 will, to look through the private papers of his 
 Lordship, and ascertain if he had left any written 
 instructions on the subject. 
 
 The Court Newsman of April 19 contained the 
 following significant paragraph : — " The Queen re- 
 ceived this morning, with feelings of deepest sorrow, 
 the sad intelligence of the death of the Earl of 
 Beaconsfield, in whom her Majesty loses a most 
 valued and devoted friend and counsellor, and the 
 nation one of its most distinguished statesmen." 
 
III. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 
 
 Some idea of the impressions which Lord Beacons - 
 field's death produced on the Continent may be formed 
 from the following extracts from the chief journals 
 of France, Germany, Austria, and Italy. The French 
 press delivered itself to the following effect : — 
 
 "Lord Beaconsfield (said the Frangais) died at 
 five this morning. The son of Isaac Disraeli ends 
 his existence environed with all tlie honours and all 
 the regrets that England can bestow upon a subject 
 of the Queen. The noble Lord has, in his seventy- 
 seventh year, brought to a close one of the most 
 extraordinary and most active of careers. History 
 no doubt will not invariably approve all the acts 
 done throughout his life by this dauntless cham- 
 pion, who conquered the first rank by dint of sheer 
 strength of will and talent ; but it can never contest 
 the great services he rendered his country and the 
 Party which chose him as its chief. The embarrass- 
 ment in which his death will leave the Opposition, 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 129 
 
 the sincere regret of his adversaries now in office, 
 the general mourning at his loss, in which the Queen 
 herself takes a leading part, alike testify to the 
 great position Lord Beaconsfield held in the institu- 
 tions of his country, and to the great void caused 
 by his departure from this world. '* 
 
 This is from the Debats : — 
 
 "Many conflicting judgments will no doubt be 
 passed upon the statesman and the litUrateur^ but no 
 one will venture to contest his mighty originality, 
 his brilliant qualities as a writer, and his incom- 
 parable qualities as an orator ; none will ever deny 
 him the glory of having been, whether in Opposition 
 or in office, the most trusted representative, the 
 staunchest champion of that non-exclusive Toryism 
 which has known how to modify and transform it- 
 self daily, and which has enabled the aristocracy of 
 England to remain Liberal without ceasing to be 
 Conservative." 
 
 The B4publique Frangaise, the organ of M. Gam- 
 betta, said : — 
 
 " England has just lost one of the most brilliant 
 individualities that during this centurv has im- 
 passioned Party struggles in the British Empire. 
 Lord Beaconsfield's death will create no surprise, 
 but it will excite throughout England that boundless 
 sorrow felt by all parties without distinction when a 
 Statesman who for close upon half a century has 
 played a preponderating part in the affairs of his 
 
 K 
 
130 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 country disappears from the political arena. People 
 reflect, and not without reason, that so highly gifted 
 a champion cannot so long have retained his popu- 
 larity among a free people without having contributed 
 to the greatness of his country, and few men are 
 called upon to the same extent as Lord Beaconsfield 
 to reap the benefit of that kind of amnesty which 
 death grants to those whose career is marked only 
 by sincere errors or shortcomings. If he made mis- 
 takes, the British nation is partly responsible for 
 them ; if he often erred, England participated in his 
 error, and did so all the more passionately that Lord 
 Beaconsfield, with his adventurous tendencies and 
 that thirsting for the marvellous which was, so to 
 speak, the trade mark of his mind, exercised over 
 his compatriots a seduction all the more extra- 
 ordinary that it did not chime in with the tem- 
 perament of the mass of the nation. The Leader 
 of the Tory Party was nearly seventy-seven, but 
 never had his personality shone with greater splen- 
 dour than at the period which is generally regarded 
 as the decline of life. In the eyes of the nation 
 Lord Beaconsfield was still young, for up to the very 
 last his words and acts were singularly free from any 
 indication of fatigue or senility, l^either he nor his 
 policy was aged, and that is not one of the least 
 marvellous features of a career in which the mar- 
 vellous has been so conspicuous. It is quite possible 
 to disapprove of the ideas and principles of which 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 131 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield made himself the zealous cham- 
 pion for forty years, and to deplore the adventures 
 into which he was hurried by his enterprising genius ; 
 but it would be an insult to the people who accepted, 
 applauded, and acclaimed him to withhold a kind of 
 admiration. A number of misdeeds have been laid 
 to his charge ; he has been reproached with being 
 deficient in depth, in coup cVceil, and even in moral 
 courage. If he had really had all these defects, we 
 think that the public feeling would speedily have 
 turned against him. The Tory Leader will not rank as 
 one of the great arbiters of the destinies of mankind, 
 but his career will endure as a proof of what may be 
 achieved by a skilful mind complying with admirable 
 suppleness with the transformations of public opinion. 
 What energy and perseverance Mr. Disraeli must 
 have needed from the day when, hooted by the Whig 
 majority in Parliament, he retorted that the day 
 would come when they would hear him, to the time 
 when the great Conservative Party chose him as its 
 leader, and he forced himself upon his country ! 
 Without inheriting a fortune — in a country where 
 wealth and birth used to be the indispensable pass- 
 ports to public life — he was able to overcome ob- 
 stacles believed to be insurmountable, and to conquer 
 by the sheer force of his own indomitable will the 
 position which everything conspired to prevent his 
 obtaining. It was a great revenge of Israel over 
 Christendom. Once having attained a foremost rank 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 in the Conservative Party, he was able to make it 
 amenable to that discipline that has been one of the 
 reasons for its successes, and make it accept that 
 policy of conciliation and compromise with popular 
 aspirations, one of the most memorable results of 
 which was the passing of the Eeform Bill by a Tory 
 Administration. At bottom Lord Beaconsfield ap- 
 pears to us to have been a clear-sighted sceptic. He 
 had with remarkable precision calculated the advan- 
 tage which, from a Governmental point of view, he 
 could derive from the position of the Conservative 
 Party. 'No one foresaw more clearly than he did 
 the future in store for it. He knew quite well there 
 was no stopping the Liberal evolution slowly being 
 accomplished in England. Instead of waging open 
 war with Liberalism, he compounded with it, and, 
 by dint of concessions, cleverly made at the right 
 time, he contrived to grant only a portion of what 
 public opinion demanded. The whole Conservatism 
 of Lord Beaconsfield consisted in retarding the Eng- 
 lish political evolution whilst very closely following 
 it. By a series of combinations skilfully combined 
 he saved the Party he directed from unpopularity and 
 discredit. In this respect he did the Tories a service, 
 the value of which it is impossible to exaggerate. 
 Lord Beaconsfield, if not a great politician, was at 
 all events a great tactician. That may not be enough 
 to control the destinies of a powerful nation, but it 
 is more than is required to preserve a Party from 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 133 
 
 premature dissolution. Tlie death of Lord Beacons- 
 field will therefore cause a great void in the ranks of 
 the Tories. These latter were in the highest degree 
 subject to the influence of the illustrious deceased. 
 Deprived of the chief who had brought them safely 
 through so many difficulties, who had made accept- 
 able to them compromises which their caste prejudice 
 would have rejected, it is a question whether the 
 Party will be able to keep up the intelligent dis- 
 cipline to which Lord Beacons field had trained them. 
 The Conservative Party never had greater need of it. 
 The principle of large landed estates is daily attacked 
 in England with increasing vigour, and its defence is 
 becoming more and more arduous. The British 
 aristocracy contains enough brilliant and cultivated 
 minds to carry on the struggle with 6clat, but it loses its 
 chief at the very time when his assistance was most 
 needful. Lord Beaconsfield's successor has not yet 
 revealed himself, and whatever his capacities may 
 be, he cannot possess that popular ascendency which 
 Lord Beaconsfield derived from his quasi plebeian 
 origin and the prestige that attaches to those who 
 owe everything to their own talent." 
 
 The Pvadical Mot d' Ordre wrote : 
 
 " The habit we have taken in France to regard 
 Mr. Gladstone as the impersonation of Liberalism, 
 and to identify Conservatism with his illustrious 
 rival, is founded on error. In reality there is no 
 practical difference in their political theories between 
 
134 MEMOEIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 the present Premier, imbued from his tenderest 
 youth with Protestant bigotry, and his rival, who 
 brought his broad and intelligent scepticism to bear 
 on all questions. We French Eadicals would be 
 greatly puzzled to choose between them. But what 
 preference we have is in favour of Benjamin Disraeli. 
 His tendencies were more democratic than those of 
 liis rival. He never at any time interfered in any 
 way with the freedom of the press and the right of 
 meeting, which he justly described in 1865 as *the 
 two safety-valves of a great country.' The Eeform 
 Bill which he carried in 1867 was iniinitely more 
 liberal than that introduced by Mr. Gladstone in the 
 T)receding year. Had he been in office in 1870, we 
 should in all probability not have been crushed by 
 Prussia; and we cannot forget that to his inter- 
 vention far more than that of Eussia we are indebted 
 for having been spared another war with Prussia in 
 1875. At the General Election- of 1874, when for 
 the first time in the Parliamentary annals of Great 
 Britain two working men took their seats in the 
 House of Commons, Benjamin Disraeli, then vir- 
 tually Premier, had the happy inspiration of hailing 
 as a beneficial sign of the times this accession of the 
 labouring classes to public life, and welcoming Mr. 
 Burt and Mr. Macdonald in terms which none of 
 our French Eadicals would think of using." 
 
 The Soleil said : — 
 
 "Notwithstanding his defeat, just one year ago. 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 135 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield continued very popular on the 
 other side of the Channel. The English felt grateful 
 to him for having restored to their flag on several 
 points of the globe a ^prestige that had been sadly 
 impaired. In his turn Mr. Gladstone had been 
 losing ground since his accession to office, and it 
 is impossible to say what might ^not. have been the 
 result of the next General Election if death had not 
 deprived the Conservative Party of its redoubtable 
 Chief. All that was done by Lord Beaconsfield in 
 the course of his long and brilliant career is not 
 equally entitled to praise, but no one can question 
 the intellect and energy of this exceptional man. 
 He rendered services to his country which even his 
 enemies acknowledge, and in an age in which Posi- 
 tivism and Materialism tend to bring down all things 
 to their low level, he was able to rescue England 
 from the grovelling terre-a-terre of the Manchester 
 school, raise up her soul, and remind her that mere 
 petty ephemeral interests are not everything for 
 a great people. Amid the fogs of England Lord 
 Beaconsfield shone out as a bright luminary. His 
 death produces the effect of an eclipse/' 
 
 The following is from the SiMe : — 
 
 " This bereavement will be keenly felt in England, 
 where, since the illness of the Prince of Wales, no 
 such manifestation of sympathy has been witnessed 
 as during the malady of Lord Beaconsfield. Not 
 only has the Conservative Party been deprived of 
 
136 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 its Leader, but England has also lost a man who was 
 at the same time an eminent writer and a remark- 
 able statesman. Lord Beaconsfield has made for 
 himself a place in the glorious annals of English 
 Prime Ministers, and we cannot forget that of them 
 all he was the one the least subject to the national 
 prejudices against France." 
 
 The Parlement remarked :— 
 
 *' In office he displayed the same qualities as in 
 Opposition. His policy was bold, supple, subtle, 
 and rich in expedients. Without firing a cannon- 
 shot he succeeded in acquiring Cyprus and in de- 
 priving Eussia of the most precious of the results 
 obtained during the late war. England, who had 
 witnessed with folded arms the dismemberment of 
 Denmark, the incorporation of Hanover into Prussia, 
 and the denunciation of the Treaty of Paris by 
 Eussia, at length resumed a leading part in the 
 destinies of Europe, and occupied in the Congress 
 of Berlin a place worthy of her historical ante- 
 cedents." 
 
 The Clairon observed : — 
 
 *' The greatest member of the Conservative Party 
 has vanished from the stage, and Erance has lost 
 its most illustrious and avowed friend amongst 
 British Statesmen. The figure which has disap- 
 peared was grand and original, and we desire to 
 salute in him above all the personification of our 
 political tendencies and our patriotic instincts. As 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 157 
 
 Premier, he showed Europe that England was some- 
 thing more than a counting-house. He obtained 
 partial possession of the Suez Canal by the pur- 
 chase of shares to the amount of four millions. He 
 established that preponderance against which we 
 have protested in these very columns. He placed 
 the Imperial crown of India on his Sovereign's head. 
 He made Eussia halt at the very doors of Constanti- 
 nople. He took possession of Cyprus, and caused 
 the weight of the British arms to be felt in every 
 continent, struggling at one and the same time 
 against savages, civilised nations, and his eternal 
 enemy, Mr. Gladstone, who sought to make England 
 disgusted with glory in order to cast it back into 
 egotism." 
 
 The Moniteur Universel said : — 
 
 " With Lord Beaconsfield disappears a figure, — we 
 should rather say a political force, — which had its 
 place and played its part in the equilibrium of 
 Western Europe. He dominated his contemporaries 
 by strength of character, talent, and vigour. He 
 could hold his own with the most distinguished men, 
 and oblige them to count with him. N'ow that Lord 
 Beaconsfield has disappeared, there remain in Europe 
 none but improvised and ephemeral Ministers, reeds 
 bending before every wind, puny and inexperienced 
 politicians, the scene being occupied by one per- 
 sonage alone. Prince Bismarck. We seek in vain for 
 something to cast an obstacle in the way of German 
 
138 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 hegemony, for something to weaken and oppose its 
 expansion in Europe and Asia. The Imperial Chan- 
 cellor is left free to act as he likes. The Continent 
 is his." 
 
 Among Berlin papers the Tribune, the organ 
 representing the Left wing of the National Liberals, 
 wrote as follows : — 
 
 " From his first appearance in the literary and 
 political world Benjamin Disraeli commanded an 
 ever-increasing share of public attention. Univer- 
 sally rated a wonderful man when he was a mere 
 youth, he enjoyed the same enviable reputation up 
 to the day of his death as a septuagenarian. How- 
 ever varied the character of the epoch in which he 
 was called upon to act, however serious the nature 
 of the events in which it was his lot to play a part, 
 Benjamin Disraeli always knew how to elicit the 
 interest, charm the imagination, and command the 
 respect of the world. In him there was a com- 
 bination of qualities any one of which would have 
 sufticed to raise him high above the ordinary level 
 of mankind. Though the writings of Isaac Disraeli 
 are still accounted eminent contributions towards 
 English literature, the first lines Benjamin published 
 gave promise of a talent vastly superior to that of 
 his father. While his imagination and poetry allured 
 young and old, his political wisdom and enthusiasm 
 riveted old and young. We all remember the famous 
 sentence he flung at the heads of adverse members. 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 139 
 
 who treated him as a parvenu, and declined to listen 
 to his first speech in the House. He fully kept the 
 promise he then gave, and will ever be regarded as 
 the regenerator of the Tory Party at a time when 
 regeneration was direly needed. Of his forty -three 
 years in Parliament he passed thirty-three as a leader 
 of his political friends, and fourteen years as a 
 Cabinet Minister. Albeit not born to play a part 
 amongst his countrymen, he, by his abiding gifts of 
 intellect and character, reached a pinnacle at which 
 he directed their politics, and for more than a gene- 
 ration was ' the observed of all observers.' " 
 
 The National Zeitnng, the organ of the Eight wing 
 of the Liberals, shows an equal appreciation of Lord 
 Beaconsfield's gifts and achievements : — 
 
 "Not as Earl of Beaconsfield will his name be 
 handed down by history. A born plebeian, he dies 
 as the Leader of the proudest aristocracy and the 
 prime mover of some of the greatest events in the 
 world. What a career from his first unencouraging 
 reception in the House to the triumphal welcome the 
 nation gave him on his return from the Berlin Con- 
 gress ! Uncommon talent, coupled with the most 
 unflinching will, made him victor in what, at one 
 time, must have appeared the most unequal of con- 
 tests. As in achieving this extraordinary exploit he 
 had leisure enough to write numerous remarkable 
 novels, in all of which he was his own hero, it is 
 not surprising that he who in life and literature 
 
140 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 performed such extraordinary feats should have himself 
 become, and is sure to remain, the hero of a large 
 circle of admirers. Whoever may write this won- 
 derful life, be he poet or biographer, will in Disraeli's 
 own writings hnd the character and objects of the 
 man clearly defined by his own hand. Existence on 
 the heights of society, and the power and notability 
 which it confers, was the aim of his life. Exceed- 
 ingly clever and firm, and not particularly chary in 
 the choice of his means, he attained his goal in a 
 degree rarely witnessed in modern times." 
 
 Prince Bismarck's Norddeutsche Zeitung devoted 
 some respectful remarks to the statesman who was 
 a frequent guest at the German Chancellor's house a 
 few years since : — 
 
 '' The telegraph announces the death of a states- 
 man whose hand has frequently controlled the 
 destinies of his country, and whose history fills a 
 teeming page in the annals not only of England but 
 of Europe and the world at large. Always brilliant 
 and influential, he entered upon the most remarkable 
 period of his life when accepting office in 1874. He 
 purchased the Suez Canal shares to obviate future 
 complications in a particularly important quarter ; 
 opposed Eussian prestige by the creation of the 
 Indian Imperial title ; annexed the Transvaal ; con- 
 cluded the Anti-Slavery Convention with Egypt, 
 and formed the South African Confederacy, all of 
 which greatly contributed to raise the power and 
 
IMPEESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 141 
 
 authority of Great Britain in a new and immense 
 iield of action. The diplomatic campaign of the 
 Berlin Congress and the acquisition of Cyprus added 
 fresh successes to his previous political exploits. By 
 his art and tact he managed to make the Balkans 
 the frontier of Bulgaria, to recover the ^gean for 
 Turkey, and to protect Stamboul and satisfactorily 
 settle the question of the Straits. In 1879 he was 
 less fortunate. Though he opened it with the proud 
 dictum, ' Impermm et Libertas' the British arms 
 failed to keep what in former times had been so 
 gallantly won in Asia and Africa. Cabul, indeed, 
 was taken, and rebellion quenched at the Cape ; but 
 the Irish question assumed a threatening aspect, 
 and a little later the Liberals gained a complete 
 victory in the General Election. Aged, yet active, 
 he retired from office, but not from politics, and he 
 has now departed this life at a moment when he 
 might have hoped by his powerful intelligence and 
 fertility of resource once more to defeat the disjecta 
 membra of the Liberal Party. Disraeli is dead, 
 and one of the most prominent politicians and 
 most devoted British patriots has disappeared from 
 the scene." 
 
 A like eulogium was bestowed on Lord Beacons- 
 field by the Government journal, the Fost : — 
 
 " Prince Bismarck always knew a patriot jealous 
 of his country's greatness and might when he met 
 him." 
 
142 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 The Austrian and Hungarian press, in fact, 
 lamented the event as though Austria or Hungary 
 herself had lost a leading statesman. 
 
 The Extra-Blatt expressed itself as follows : — 
 
 " The announcement of the death of Earl Beacons- 
 field has excited the profoundest sympathy through- 
 out the entire world of cultivated society. Queen 
 Victoria never had a more faithful counsellor ; nor, 
 since the days of Pitt and Fox, has England ever 
 possessed a more brilliant statesman. It was by his 
 own mental vigour that Disraeli raised himself from 
 obscurity to the highest pinnacle of political emi- 
 nence and dignity. The statesman and writer of 
 romances, whose eyes are now for ever closed, be- 
 came long ago, as plain Mr. Disraeli, the leader of 
 the British Conservatives. Bereft of his genius, the 
 party has lost a head which it will be difficult, if not 
 impossible, to replace. When the elections of 1874 
 carried Disraeli to the Premiership, one result was 
 that the slumbering British lion was roused by the 
 Prime Minister to a consciousness of his great posi- 
 tion in the world. To Disraeli it was due, moreover, 
 that the dreams of Ignatieff were not fulfilled, and 
 that the whole of the East did not become a mere 
 appanage of the Cossacks." 
 
 The article concluded by noting that "in the 
 decease of Lord Beaconsfield Austria-Hungary loses 
 one who had at all times and in various ways proved 
 her true and faithful friend," 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 143 
 
 The Presse said : — 
 
 " To-day Englishmen have to lament the departure 
 of one of their greatest statesmen. Both the great 
 political parties in England will equally feel this 
 severe loss. To the Tories the blow will be the 
 more severe that the Earl has left no one behind him 
 who can replace his authority with the Party, and the 
 question who is to succeed him as the Conservative 
 Leader is one that will be very difficult to determine." 
 
 The Deutsche Zeitung remarked that 
 
 " The British Empire has just lost its most emi- 
 nent statesman, a man who in many important quali- 
 ties surpassed even his great antagonist, the present 
 English Premier. It was the departed statesman 
 who for thirty years past led, or shared in leading, 
 the Tory party, shedding upon it the greatest bril- 
 liancy, and leading it from impotence to a dazzling 
 lease of power. The death of Disraeli is a loss 
 heavy indeed for England, but for the Conservative 
 Party almost irreparable." 
 
 The Tagehlatt, commenting on the news, expressed 
 its opinion that 
 
 " The Earl of Beaconsfield was a great man and a 
 great statesman. For fifty years he has taken part 
 in the public life of England, sometimes in a less 
 prominent position, at others in the foremost ranks. 
 He descends to the tomb in his seventy-seventh year, 
 having a-ttained the highest possible pinnacle of glory 
 open to his ambition. Never had the name of 
 
144 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 Beaconsfield filled a larger space in the world, never 
 had he exercised more influence on the destinies of 
 Europe, never had he made a more decided mark 
 on the history of the world, than in the last years 
 of his life. All whose hopes and fears centred 
 upon a change in the policy of England fixed their 
 eye upon Mr. Gladstone's most redoubtable oppo- 
 nent. Firmly as the Tories generally hold together 
 — and they are always far more united than the 
 Liberals — they can scarcely fail to suffer in their 
 stability from this loss, for there is no one to be 
 found who is capable of stepping into the position 
 and wielding the colossal inheritance left behind by 
 this great Party Leader." 
 
 The Ministerial Abend Post spoke of the telegram 
 from London announcing the death of Earl Beacons- 
 field as ''a mournful message of woe." 
 
 "The intellisjence of the decease of this celebrated 
 statesman and author excites the deepest sympathy 
 throughout the political and literary world of Europe 
 generally, and of Austria-Hungary in particular, to 
 which this death represents an irreparable loss. In the 
 person of Lord Beaconsfield the N"estor of the Tory 
 statesmen of England is laid in the grave. He was 
 the most illustrious representative of that Party in 
 which he for thirty years held undisputed the post of 
 leader, and for which, with his talents as a parlia- 
 mentary debater, he achieved with the weapons of 
 the mind the most splendid victories. Europe 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 145 
 
 mourns the departure of a politician endowed with 
 such rare gifts of intellect, and such a sagacious 
 insight into the great problems of the world, while 
 on her own part Austria-Hungary laments the loss of 
 a warm admirer and sincere friend." 
 
 The Neue Freie Presse declared that " England had 
 lost the greatest of her statesmen, who was not only 
 the undisputed head of the Conservative Party, but, 
 at the same time, an ornament to literature. The 
 importance of the man is seen from the fact that, 
 rising from comparatively modest beginnings, he 
 twice l6d the Tories to victory, twice guided the helm 
 of the State, and most effectively thwarted Eussian 
 policy at the Congress of Berlin. But it is impos- 
 sible to criticise his work and character in this brief 
 notice. All England applauded Lord Beaconsfield 
 as the chief adviser of Queen Victoria, who described 
 the result of the meeting at Berlin as ' Peace with 
 Honour.' After the elections two years later he fell 
 from power, and gave place to Mr. Gladstone. Since 
 that time Liberal England has suffered only defeats 
 in her foreign policy, while even in its home policy 
 the Liberal Premier has often been more illiberal 
 than the often scolded Imperialist. England will 
 sincerely bewail the loss of this statesman, who was 
 greatly esteemed by the Sovereign, and whom his 
 friends the Conservatives will find it very difficult to 
 replace, as no new leader can possess his undisputed 
 authority. The Liberals themselves acknowledge 
 
 L 
 
146 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 that by his death England suffers an incalculable 
 loss. For many years the British Empire has pos- 
 sessed no more powerful representative, and no 
 greater champion of its prestige in the world, than 
 the Earl of Beaconsfield." 
 
 Among papers published in Eome the Bersaglieri, 
 in three long columns, traced Lord Beaconsfield's 
 biography eulogistically : — 
 
 *' His imagination and affections often dominated 
 his intellect. "When he was the First Minister of the 
 Empress of the Indies, and champion of England's 
 greatness, he was still, as always, a romancer. His 
 life was a wonderful romance. The son of a Vene- 
 tian Hebrew, he determined to enter the ranks of the 
 proudest and most powerful aristocracy in the world. 
 He conquered in the struggle, and entered their 
 ranks triumphantly ; and this aristocracy acclaimed 
 him its chief, chose him its defender, and implored 
 his consent to allow his plebeian head to be covered 
 with a diadem. The man whom Mr. Gladstone had 
 reproached as not having a drop of English blood in 
 his veins has given to the English Gladstone a 
 terrible lesson in patriotism. He found England 
 reduced, as Lord Eussell said, to a power of the 
 third order, and he replaced her in her ancient posi- 
 tion. When the plebeian of Maidstone returned from 
 Berlin in 1878, where he had victoriously struggled 
 with the Andrassys, the Gortschakoffs, and the Bis- 
 marcks, and was able to say proudly to his nation. 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 147 
 
 * I bring you peace with honour/ an immense burst 
 of applause was thundered from shore to shore of 
 England. Guided by an ideal higher than that of 
 the politics of the day or the existence of a Ministry, 
 Mr. Disraeli more than once changed his policy. 
 His end was ever the greatness and prosperity of 
 England. To the domesticity-loving Queen this 
 ambitious man, this remoulder of Empires, was ex- 
 tremely dear. The daughter of the Brunswicks and 
 Tudors leaned in glad security on the arm of the 
 Hebrew's son." 
 
 The Diritto published five large columns contain- 
 ing a careful r^sumS of Lord Beaconsfield's life. To 
 judge of its influence and significance so hurriedly, 
 it says, is difficult. The man appears greater in 
 himself than in what he has done for his country, 
 in which, perhaps, more fame and phosphorescence 
 is to be found than real and durable advantage. 
 
 The Capitan Fracassa gave two articles occupying 
 several columns, by two writers, one on the Author, 
 and one on the Statesman. The former said : — 
 
 "What Dickens did for the middle and lower 
 classes Mr. Disraeli did for the aristocracy. The 
 impression produced in high life by the early 
 romances of the young Jew just escaped from the 
 life of commerce, may be imagined. His latter 
 novels are in fact real political battles, in which 
 vivid fancy and incisive style are the arras employed. 
 One thing strikes and pleases us in all the literary 
 
 L 2 . 
 
148 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 work of Disraeli — namely, his great and efficacious 
 sympathy for the Jews. A wonderful and ever rest- 
 less genius, he chose to fuse literature and politics, 
 and thus produced romances too much coloured by 
 politics, and followed a political policy too romantic." 
 The other writer said : — 
 
 " He won victory for the Conservatives on three 
 splendid occasions, the grandest of which, perhaps, 
 was the occasion of his Eeform Bill. This clever 
 and patriotic act immensely increased his prestige, 
 proving him to possess that fundamental quality of 
 every modern statesmen — aversion to dogmatism. 
 His birth, the religion of his fathers, his own story, 
 did not prevent him from triumphing over the pre- 
 judices of the British aristocracy against a new man ; 
 for the English aristocracy has this wonderful quality 
 which assures the perpetuity of its strength — once 
 it recognises genius, far from combating or avoiding 
 it, it defends, it attracts, it makes it part of itself 
 Thus it is truly what its name indicates, ' the govern- 
 ment of the best.' Thus Mr. Disraeli, instead of 
 becoming a violent Tribune, became the able and 
 successful leader of the aristocracy. This man, 
 whom Mr. Gladstone had reproached as a foreigner, 
 so conducted himself as to become the champion 
 and restorer of the greatness of England. The 
 Gladstone Ministry which fell in 1874 was, save 
 in finance, a notable monument of weakness and 
 improvidence ; and England fell very low. Lord 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 149 
 
 Beaconsfield answered to the cry of Europe too late 
 to prevent the war of 1876 ; he, however, mitigated 
 its effects, tore up the San Stefano Treaty, saved 
 from Russian domination a great part of the con- 
 quered provinces, and gloriously defended Western 
 Europe against the tyranny of the North. Eeturning 
 from Berlin, he laid at the feet of his Queen the 
 inestimable gem of Cyprus, and answered Russian 
 menaces by inducing Her Majesty to assume the 
 crown of the Indies, as if to show that that country, 
 as an integral part of the British Empire, would be 
 defended with all the power of the English Crown. 
 The people applauded the happy policy of their 
 Minister, and for six years deemed the increased 
 taxation well spent for such objects. Then the 
 money question prevailed, and Lord Beaconsfield 
 fell. Political life is now changed in England. Her 
 old institutions are being destroyed, and amid such a 
 scene Mr. Disraeli would no longer have known his 
 place. He has died in time, leaving the memory of 
 one of the most able and fortunate statesmen Europe 
 has ever seen." 
 
 The Opinione said : — 
 
 " Lord Beaconsfield was not only the head of a 
 great Party, but was truly one of the most remark- 
 able Statesmen recorded in history. His origin 
 might have inclined him to combat the aristocracy ; 
 the native instincts of his lofty and superb intellect 
 impelled him rather to impose himself on it, to 
 
150 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 make himself necessary to it, to assume the direc- 
 tion of it and govern it. Eate reserved for Lord 
 Beaconsfield in his last days great and poignant 
 grief. He was condemned to see his work destroyed 
 by his successor, who voluntarily renounced in Central 
 Asia the scientific frontier of the Indian Empire 
 acquired by so great sacrifices, and in Africa the Trans- 
 vaal. But Mr. Gladstone cannot injure the literary 
 monument of his great rival, for it is out of his power." 
 
 The Italia said : — 
 
 " His name will remain attached to certain events 
 of altogether special importance, and marked by an 
 excessive boldness. The purchase of the Suez Canal 
 shares is not forgotten, which the country so enthusi- 
 astically ratified ; and in the last w^ar, w^ho was it 
 that arrested the victors at the gates of Constanti- 
 nople, despite the violent opposition of Mr. Glad- 
 stone and his friends ? " The Italia concludes a 
 long and appreciative article by saying its imperfect 
 sketch is sufficient to render possible a measurement 
 of the immensity of England's loss. 
 
 The Pojpolo Romano, in the course of a long 
 article, wrote : — 
 
 " The humble descendent of a Jewish family 
 driven from their refuge at Venice, and then received 
 by hospitable England, raised himself to be the 
 giver of the title of Empress to the Queen of Great 
 Britain, and to add Cyprus to the British Empire. 
 The life of Lord Beaconsfield illustrates one of the 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 151 
 
 most characteristic elements of English political 
 life. He was accused, but his countrymen loved 
 him ; abused, but at the same time admired ; and 
 public life in England will long feel the absence 
 of that brilliant and unique personality. The author 
 of Endymion, and of the annexation of Cyprus, 
 did what he pleased with the British aristocracy. 
 The power of his fascination was unlimited. He 
 led it at his pleasure, notwithstanding that his 
 temperament and that of the Party he guided were 
 at antipodes. Such was the power of attraction 
 exercised by this prodigiously able man, that his 
 adversaries were far from considering his retirement 
 definitive, and therefore all England is now weeping 
 the death of a man who always most sincerely loved 
 her, and ever sought, even if sometimes erroneously, 
 to make her great and respected." 
 
 The Riforma, Signer Crispi's paper, had a very 
 long article admitting the wonderful power and ability 
 of the late Earl, but speaking grudgingly of his 
 work, and how mistakenly may be estimated by 
 the expressed opinion that Lord Beaconsfield repre- 
 sented the dead Toryism of a past time. Alone 
 in all the press, the Biforma thinks the death of 
 Lord Beaconsfield an advantage for England. 
 
 The tone of the Russian press was less uniformly 
 favourable. But the semi-official Journal, in an 
 article remarkable alike for its good taste and the 
 excellence of its style, said : — 
 
152 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 '' Whatever may be thought of the foreign policy 
 of Lord Beaconsfield, all recrimination or retrospective 
 criticism must be hushed in the presence of death. 
 Now, too, that cordial relations exist between Eng- 
 land and Eussia we can survey more calmly and 
 dispassionately the actions of a statesman who, 
 though a prey to prejudice, was animated, doubtless, 
 by the purest patriotism. We cannot forget that 
 Lord Beaconsfield's last effort as an orator was to 
 render homage to our dead Emperor, to express the 
 admiration he felt for the great deeds of his reign, 
 sympathy with Eussia in her affliction, execration 
 against the authors of sacrilegious crime. We can 
 sympathise with the grief which the English nation 
 must now experience. England has lost one of her 
 two great Statesmen — the man who is remarkable 
 in more respects than one, whose whole career pre- 
 sents a wonderful intermixture of personal merit, 
 social triumphs, and national gratitude to the Con- 
 servative party. The death of Lord Beaconsfield 
 is an irreparable blow. As an historical figure Lord 
 Beaconsfield has a grandeur of his own — a tinge of 
 romance is spread over his whole career. By his 
 genius, stubbornness, and will, he in some sort forced 
 himself upon his countrymen. He dominated cir- 
 cumstances and pressed them into his service. Eew 
 men have inspired warmer friendship or intenser 
 hate. His admirers exalted him to the skies, whilst 
 his opponents trailed his name through the mud. 
 
IMPRESSIOJsS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 153 
 
 His biographies are panegyrics or satires, and it 
 would seem impossible for his contemporaries to 
 judge him coolly and impartially. His ruling 
 qualities were imagination and sentiment. He 
 loved vast conceptions, and was apt to be led away 
 by grandiose projects. On the other hand, he held 
 in horror all details of routine and mere mechanical 
 work. Whatever opinion one may have of Lord 
 Beaconsfield, it must be confessed that he occupies 
 a great and noble position in the history of his 
 country. We can scarcely think that another 
 Benjamin Disraeli will make his appearance on the 
 world's stage. He who is this day mourned by 
 Englishmen without distinction of opinions presents 
 a figure quite exceptional amongst statesmen whose 
 mames adorn the annals of England." 
 
 The Golos wrote : — 
 
 " From the stage of European politics has passed 
 away one of the greatest and perhaps the most 
 prominent of contemporary Statesmen. The English 
 Conservative Party has lost its leader, the English 
 Parliameut one of its most brilliant orators, and Mr. 
 Gladstone his most dangerous opponent. Europe 
 undoubtedly will breathe freer from knowing that 
 those political surprises showered upon her in such 
 abundance during Lord Beaconsfield's final lease of 
 power need no longer be feared. Englishmen will 
 acknowledge him as a great Statesman. They may 
 differ from Lord Beaconsfield ; they may reject hia 
 
154 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 views and opinions regarding many things ; but they 
 are bound to acknowledge his clear mind, resolute 
 character, strong will, and unbounded patriotism. 
 Such, also, is the judgment that Eussia must repeat, 
 in spite of the hard time w^e had to pass through, 
 thanks to the views and tendencies of Lord Beacons- 
 field." 
 
 The Poriadoh said : — 
 
 "The death of Lord Beaconsfield is an event of 
 political importance, not to England alone, but to all 
 Europe. One of England's greatest statesmen, the 
 all-powerful leader of the Tory Party, he was at the 
 same time the best and most talented representative 
 of the old school of politics which is fast losing 
 ground in contemporary Europe. The name of 
 Benjamin Disraeli is inseparably bound up with the 
 history of England, and to write his biography would 
 be to cite all the chief events in the history of his 
 country during the last forty years. The political 
 career of Benjamin Disraeli presents us with much 
 that is instructive. It affords a brilliant proof that 
 the talent and energy of individuals, where public 
 life is allowed, develop themselves freely and attain 
 results which in other circumstances are impossible. 
 The most powerful and enlightened aristocracy in 
 Europe acknowledged as its chief the man who 
 sprang from a modest literary circle. The most 
 brilliant period of Lord Beaconsfield's life was the 
 last decade, in the course of which he secured the 
 
IMPKESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 155 
 
 triumph of his Party, and in the quality of its Leader 
 showed the way to outward glory and Imperial 
 power. Disraeli contributed greatly to re-establish 
 the political prestige of England in Europe and the 
 East. It seemed at one time that he would outshine 
 Bismarck with his daring deeds, such as the annexa- 
 tion of Cyprus and the despatch of the fleet to the 
 Bosphorus. He strengthened and confirmed England's 
 position in India by resolute measures calculated to 
 produce an effect upon Eastern peoples. Queen 
 Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, and the 
 neighbouring central Asiatic Powers were brought 
 to a state almost of vassalage by means of subsidies 
 and energetic campaigns. This policy of Beacons- 
 field gave rise to bitter criticism, especially in 
 Eussia." 
 
 The Hovoe Vremya said : — 
 
 "He stood up for despotism and wrong, and 
 although he obtained a passing success in the 
 struggle with our diplomacy, the English people fell 
 away from their leader. Lord Beaconsfield left no 
 good recollections, either at home or in Russia, 
 against which he cherished enmity and hatred ; nor 
 with the Turks, whom he protected. Beaconsfield 
 bore no standard. He was neither the representative 
 of his liberty-loving country, nor the champion of 
 the high eternal principles necessary to the existence 
 of humanity. He was a man of brilliant talent, 
 which was squandered in the service of a degenerate 
 
156 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 aristocracy, and in the passionate satisfaction of his 
 own insatiable ambition." 
 
 The following is from the ora, a Greek paper 
 published at Athens, of April 20th, and is written 
 by M. Tricoupis : — 
 
 " Greece had not the good fortune to enjoy any 
 great favour in the eyes of the deceased statesman. 
 Although not exactly popular, Lord Beaconsfield was 
 profoundly admired as a genius who had a strong and 
 resolute will. Disraeli was no mere chief at the 
 service of his Party. He was their model, and the 
 source of their great political ideas. His death can- 
 not fail to weaken the vigour of English political life 
 at home as well as British ^^'^^estige abroad. Every 
 one who is convinced that the influence of England 
 upon European politics is beneficent cannot fail to 
 regret the death of the noble Lord, who had laboured 
 so successfully for the power and glory of his 
 country." 
 
 Telegraphing from Pesth on the 20th of April, 
 the correspondent of The Standard said: "All the 
 papers of this capital to-day teem with reviews of 
 the life of Lord Beaconsfield, and with reflections 
 upon the political consequences of his death. There 
 is not a single journal here that does not speak of 
 the deceased statesman as a true friend to the King- 
 dom of Hungary. In this country Lord Beacons- 
 field's anti-Eussian policy has ever met with the 
 most enthusiastic approval, a fact which is very 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 157 
 
 intelligible when it is recollected that within the 
 past generation Hungary has had to suffer at the 
 hands of the Muscovites. If any nation has cause 
 to fear for its liberties on account of the proximity 
 and power of Eussia, it is the Magyars, who after 
 1848 were crushed by the mercenaries of the Czar. 
 The ever-present source of danger to Hungarian 
 freedom which is found in the existence of the 
 colossal despotic Empire beyond the Eastern borders 
 of Hungary explains the enthusiastic gratitude with 
 which this country dwells on the services rendered 
 to her by the anti-Slavonic policy of the late Premier 
 of England." 
 
 A few days later, April 24th, The Standard 
 correspondent at Alexandria telegraphed: ''The 
 Khedive expresses his deep regret at the death of 
 Lord Beaconsfield. His Highness declares that 
 he wiU never forget the kind, conciliatory policy, 
 amounting even to a real friendship, which was 
 inaugurated in Egypt by the great statesman now 
 deceased. That policy, the Khedive added, has 
 greatly contributed to the prosperity and progress 
 of Egypt." 
 
 In England itself the manifestations of public 
 sentiment which followed on the news of the death 
 of Lord Beaconsfield were not less remarkable. The 
 Standard of the day following that on which the 
 event occurred published three columns of closely 
 
158 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 printed letter-press, containing accounts of its 
 reception in every part of the United Kingdom. 
 On the whole the country was not unprepared for 
 the announcement, though in some places surprise 
 was mingled with regret. At Manchester, where 
 the bulletins of the previous week had led to a 
 revival of hope, the flags on the roofs of the Con- 
 servative and the Liberal Clubs were hoisted half- 
 mast high. At Newcastle-on-Tyne the bell of St. 
 Nicholas' Church was tolled, and the Vicar of 
 Newcastle, at the Easter vestry meeting, spoke at 
 length on the national loss. At Liverpool, where 
 the Conservatives were specially attached to the 
 ex-Premier, and firm admirers of his political 
 career, flags were displayed at half-mast from 
 all the public buildings, while the Mayor decided 
 to postpone his " at home " at the Town Hall, 
 and a banquet at the same place on Friday, for 
 both of which invitations had been issued. At 
 Leeds, by order of Alderman Tatham, the Liberal 
 mayor, the great bell in the Town Hall tower 
 was tolled from ten to eleven o'clock from respect 
 to Lord Beaconsfield's memory. At Plymouth the 
 news was published in second editions of the 
 morning papers. There are few places in which 
 party feeling runs higher than in the great seaport 
 of the West, but the sorrow caused by the death 
 of the leader of the Conservative party was 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 159 
 
 universal. At Bath, where Lord Beaconsfield was 
 a voter till he was struck off the roll on going to 
 the House of Lords, the sentiment was the same. 
 At Birmingham, both at the Conservative and 
 Liberal Clubs, flags were hoisted half-mast. The 
 Exeter newspapers published the telegram in special 
 editions, surrounded by black borders. Flags half- 
 mast floated from several buildings, and at noon 
 the cathedral bell tolled. At Bristol there were the 
 same signs of mourning, and a Conservative meeting 
 called for the evening, which Mr. David Plunket 
 and Mr. H. S. Northcote had promised to attend 
 was postponed. Shefiield, Preston, Wolverhampton, 
 and every country town of any size, joined in 
 the general mourning. The reports from Scotland 
 and Ireland told the same tale. At Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow important meetings were immediately 
 postponed. At Aberdeen touching reference was 
 made at a meeting of the Presbytery to the 
 event. In Dublin, where Lord Beaconsfield's 
 political adherents were very numerous and the 
 ranks of his political opponents included many 
 admirers of his writings; in Limerick, of which 
 place Lord Beaconsfield's physician, Dr. Kidd, 
 is a native ; in Belfast, and all the other great 
 centres of the Irish population, no sign of sorrow 
 was wanting. 
 At the various political meetings, Liberal and Con- 
 
160 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 servative, held during the next few days throughout 
 the country, regretful and sympathetic mention was 
 made of Lord Beaconsfield by the chief speakers, 
 irrespectively of their political views. Lord 
 Lymington, delivering an address at North Tawton 
 on educational energy, dwelt upon the great example 
 offered to the English people in Lord Beaconsfield's 
 career, and upon his consistent display of the 
 characteristics which were always highly appre- 
 ciated by Englishmen, strong independence of 
 character, strong belief in his own views, and an 
 indifference for the prejudices and casual changes of 
 public opinion. At a dinner of the North Northamp- 
 tonshire Conservative Association, Lord Burghley 
 referred to the deep gloom which had been cast 
 over the country by the death of Lord Beaconsfield, 
 adding that his advice was of immense importance 
 to the Constitution. 
 
 Meetings were held by all the Conservative Asso- 
 ciations of the country ; and resolutions testifying to 
 the loss sustained were passed. At a meeting of the 
 Plymouth Union of Conservative Associations, Mr. 
 Edward Clarke said of Lord Beaconsfield that he 
 had for six years wielded, with unquestioned authority 
 and with the full consent of the people, the mightiest 
 power which had been enjoyed by an English 
 Minister during the last half century. He never 
 (he added) struck a small antagonist. In all the 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 161 
 
 debates in the House of Commons he attacked the 
 leaders on the opposite side. 
 
 At Southport a day or two later (April 23), Lord 
 Lathom spoke of Lord Beaconsfield as a man whose 
 death would be deplored throughout the country, not 
 only by Conservatives, but by Liberals also ; adding 
 that he had lost in Lord Beaconsfield a personal and 
 very dear friend of his own. Mr. Walter, at 
 Wokingham, alluded to the death of the distinguished 
 man, " whose form, character, voice, and figure were 
 so distinguished in this country. Whatever differ- 
 ence of opinion there might exist with regard to his 
 conduct and career, they would all agree that the 
 present century had not produced another such 
 phenomenon in English politics. Lord Beaconsfield 
 was a man who, by sheer force and energy, and by 
 undaunted courage and perseverance for over forty 
 years of public career, had forced his way from the 
 very ranks of English public life to the highest 
 position an Englishman can aspire to and a states- 
 man possibly occupy. A career so remarkable was 
 only possible in a country where character and 
 conduct were so strictly, scrupulously, and closely 
 watched." 
 
 There were other qualities in Lord Beaconsfield 
 than his genius and success which attracted the 
 English people, and which explain the extraordinary 
 display of national feeling that has just been de- 
 scribed. Lord Beaconsfield achieved the fame and 
 
 M 
 
162 MEMORIALS OF LORD BBACONSFIELD. 
 
 influence of a great Statesman, not only by dint of 
 his genius, but by his insight into the character of 
 the race amid whom his lot was cast. If he seemed 
 at times to be a figure removed by some mysterious 
 barrier from the actors in that great drama of affairs 
 in which he bore so prominent a part, it was not 
 because he was unacquainted with the springs of 
 their action or the secrets of their movements. 
 Meditation supplied the incentive and material of 
 performance ; observation, matured by reflection, 
 taught him how performance could yield the most 
 enduring results. In the management of mankind, 
 he has said more than once, the force of the imagina- 
 tion as well as the reason must be taken into account. 
 Nor did he recognise in the English nation any ex- 
 ception to this rule. The English people he declared 
 were one of the most emotional and enthusiastic 
 in the world ; in the union which Lord Beaconsfield 
 himself presented of the imaginative and the practical 
 there was something which appealed powerfully to 
 the popular feeling. He was not a political philo- 
 sopher in the sense in which that title might be 
 bestowed on Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, or on Mr. 
 J. S. Mill ; but he had a wider, a deeper, and 
 perhaps a more truly philosophic knowledge of the 
 political forces at work than, perhaps, - any States- 
 man of his generation. 
 
 In some of his novels Lord Beaconsfield has 
 keenly satirised the mysterious essence known as 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 163 
 
 " the spirit of the age." But there were occasions 
 on which Lord Beaconsfield used the expression with 
 all earnestness, and his whole career was a proof 
 of his accessibility to the influences of the power. 
 " Without," he said in his inaugural address to the 
 Glasgow students in 1873, "an acquaintance with 
 the spirit of the age in which we live, whatever 
 our culture and whatever our opportunities, it is 
 probable that our lives may prove a blunder." 
 Many other persons may have used much the same 
 language, but without signifying the same thing. 
 *' The spirit of the age," as Lord Beaconsfield knew 
 it himself, and as he impressed the necessity of its 
 knowledge upon others, was no aggregate of crude 
 abstractions. It was not to be understood by any 
 arbitrary db priori process, but by close and patient 
 investigation. It was not the intuition of the philo- 
 sopher, but the gradual elaboration of the practical 
 student. 
 
 One of the secrets of Lord Beaconsfield's great- 
 ness and success is unquestionably contained in his 
 own life-long fulfilment of the precept which he 
 impressed with such brilliancy of illustration upon 
 the Scotch undergraduates eight years ago. The 
 vigour and accuracy of Lord Beaconsfield's judgment 
 were, of course, in a large degree the spontaneous 
 results of his own splendid intellect. But he would 
 have employed them with comparatively little effect 
 unless he had made a systematic study of the signs 
 
 M 2 
 
164 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 of the times. It may be said of Lord Beaconslield 
 that in him " old experience did attain to something 
 of prophetic strain ; " but it was that experience, 
 the capacity to acquire which was implanted by 
 genius, and strengthened by methodic practice. For 
 these reasons, it may be said of Lord Beaconsfield 
 that no statesman of our times has possessed any- 
 thing like the same faculty of political prevision. 
 The Tapers and Tadpoles, whom Lord Beaconsfield has 
 pelted with ridicule in Coningshy, fancied they could 
 see farther ahead than most people. But it was one 
 thing to be able to apply the measure of the elec- 
 tioneering agent upon any given occasion, and 
 another to be able to gauge the tendencies and the 
 action of public opinion. This art Lord Beacons- 
 field possessed in an extraordinary degree. 
 
 His possession of it was constantly illustrated 
 in two different ways. It prevented him during the 
 whole period that he was responsible for the policy 
 of the Conservative Party from offering an obstinate 
 resistance to measures on which the majority of the 
 English people were bent. The reason why the 
 popularity of Conservatism increased so much under 
 the leadership of Lord Beaconsfield was, that he 
 would never allow Conservatism to adopt an attitude 
 of invidious antagonism to the manifest will of the 
 day. The second mode in which Lord Beacons- 
 field's rare faculty of political prescience exercised 
 itself was, perhaps, more remarkable. It may never 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 165 
 
 be known whether Lord Beaconsfield was personally 
 surprised at the results of the General Election held 
 last year. It may or it may not be that 'he had 
 subsequently misgivings as to the tactical wisdom 
 of the letter which, on the eve of the Dissolution, 
 he addressed to the Duke of Marlborough. How- 
 ever that may be, events have since proved the 
 accuracy of the view which he took of the political 
 future of Ireland. The agitation which has since 
 vexed that country has shaped itself upon the same 
 lines which Lord Beaconsfield predicted. More than 
 a decade has passed since Lothair saw the light. 
 The novel has its faults ; but it is a remarkable 
 commentary on some of those events which have 
 lately harassed Europe. In 1870 the " Secret 
 Societies" of the Continent were merely a name 
 to the ordinary reader. Since then M. Cherbuliez 
 has addressed himself to the theme, and more 
 recently an English novelist has attempted to 
 develop the same idea. " Secret Societies " have 
 now become exactly what, eleven years ago, Lord 
 Beaconsfield led us to expect, and much of what 
 then to many people savoured of Transpontine melo- 
 drama might be read now almost as a transcript 
 from contemporary history. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield succeeded also in an unprece- 
 dented degree in making every question his own to 
 which he chose to dedicate his genius, and of setting 
 it in a new light unsuspected till then by the ablest 
 
166 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 and most thoughtful of his contemporaries. He 
 saw that after 1832 the time had arrived for criti- 
 cising the Eevolution settlement of 1688, and it 
 became in his hands the Venetian Constitution. He 
 saw that if the Tory Party was ever to regain its old 
 ascendency in the country it must be by recurring 
 to those principles which had originally made it 
 popular, and eventually rendered it predominant. 
 He referred us, therefore, to the principles professed 
 by that party in the early part of the last cen- 
 tury, and to some extent carried out by Mr. Pitt, in 
 preference to any modified version of the debased 
 Toryism which grew up after 1815. When it fell 
 to his lot to deal with Parliamentary Eeform, he did 
 not so much endeavour to accommodate representa- 
 tion to numbers — which he saw, perhaps, was a 
 hopeless task without something like a social Ee- 
 volution — as to ensure that all classes and interests 
 in the country should find proper expression in the 
 House of Commons. The " representation of inter- 
 ests " accordingly became, under his peculiar treat- 
 ment of it, almost a new idea, and one which 
 unquestionably exercised very considerable influence 
 in the settlement of the Eeform Question. His 
 principle of a rate-paying suffrage was calculated 
 to make the representation popular, without making 
 it democratic, by introducing an intelligible prin- 
 ciple which should place the exclusion of irrespon- 
 sible numbers on a national basis, such as public 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 167 
 
 opinion could endorse. But that he induced his 
 followers to accept this doctrine, and that he carried 
 through his great measure of 1867 without endan- 
 gering the unity of his Party, is a wonderful tribute 
 to the force of his personal character and the spell 
 of his peculiar genius. 
 
 It will be interesting to supplement these remarks 
 with a few extracts from the sermons delivered on 
 the Sunday following Lord Beaconsfi eld's death 
 by well-known clergymen. Canon Prothero, who 
 preached before the Queen at Whippingham Church, 
 taking as his text St. Luke xxiv. 30, said — 
 
 '*If some sudden trouble have fallen upon you in the loss 
 of a great councillor and supporter, whom in these trying 
 and dark days the nation can ill spare, on whose wisdom and 
 foresight it has long leant and never leant in vain, without 
 whose sagacious counsel the weighty affairs of rule must be 
 very heavy to bear, whose removal from the Senate leaves a 
 blank which cannot at present be filled, still it is only wise, 
 it is only due to our past experience of life, so mercifully 
 ordered by our Heavenly Father, to look back on those many 
 calamities through which we have passed and those which we 
 have been taught to endure, and without expecting to see 
 the why and the wherefore of such sorrows as this one, to 
 trust in Him who has caused them, and who says to us ' Be 
 not faithless, but believing.' " 
 
 At Sandringham Church, where the Prince and 
 Princess of Wales were present, the sermon was 
 preached by the Eev. T. Shore, who, taking for 
 his text the 25th chapter of St. Matthew, 15th verse, 
 
168 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 "And unto one he gave five talents," concluded 
 with the following remarks : — 
 
 " Few indeed there have been this century to whom the 
 words of the text can be more fitly appHed than to the 
 illustrious statesman who passed away last Tuesday morning 
 early. The foes of a lifetime and the friends of a hfetime 
 will, no doubt, bear a willing and eloquent tribute to his 
 supreme intellectual capacity, which seemed to create as well 
 as to utilise circumstances. They will do honour to the 
 genius of the dead statesman ; but here we will add that with 
 these intellectual endowments there were combined moral 
 qualities not always found in the same connection. His 
 faithful fidelity to friends, a pure and tender respect for 
 woman, a generous and healthful appreciation of younger 
 intellect in life's battle, a courage which rose higher as hope 
 died out in other less brave hearts, a patience which waited 
 in confidence, in silence through years of scorn, a patriotism 
 which in great national crises rose above all mean consideration 
 of party, a passionate jealousy for his country's honour, a 
 loyal and chivalrous devotion to his Queen — these were the 
 moral qualities which characterised a great man's life. The 
 great statesman has died, but the energising power of his 
 life survives. The memory of the first and last Earl of his 
 name will endure as an heritage to coming ages to kindle 
 the genius and to promote the enthusiasm of generations yet 
 unborn." 
 
 The Bishop of Liverpool, occupying the Oxford 
 University pulpit at St. Mary's, made a special 
 reference to the death of Lord Beaconsfield: — 
 
 *' That a great statesman had been removed from them on 
 a day when great statesmen were few appeared to be the 
 common opinion of the world. From north to south and east 
 to west the verdict was the same, the tongue on which listen- 
 ing senates often hung with admiration was at length silent. 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 169 
 
 The busy mind which coined so many striking thoughts never 
 likely to be forgotten, and devised schemes which affected 
 the future of empires and startled rulers and kings, had at last 
 ceased to work in this world. This was one of those deaths 
 which produced the sensation of a sudden gap or blank being- 
 made ill the great circle of the human family. About his 
 political opinions that was not the time or place to speak. Of 
 his inner religious life he knew nothing. But lie did see in 
 him two striking features of character which he commended 
 to the notice of all who heard him, and he commended them 
 especially to his younger hearers. If ever there was an 
 English statesman who could calmly rally his forces after 
 losing a battle, who courageously began a new campaign and 
 bided his time like Fabius until he marched through repeated 
 defeats to victory, that statesman was Lord Beaconsfield. 
 He had many faults, no doubt, and made many mistakes, for 
 he was only a mortal man ; but even his opponents must 
 admit that no political leader had risen so steadily and 
 stemmed the tide so manfully ; none had so completely illus- 
 trated the old adage, *A11 things come to the feet of him who 
 can wait.' " 
 
 The Eev. Henry White, chaplain of the Chapel 
 
 Royal, Savoy, preaching at the noon service in the 
 
 Chapel Eoyal, St. James's, from the words, " God's 
 
 eye beholds every precious thing " (Job xxviii. 10), 
 
 remarked — 
 
 *'The pulpit of a Christian sanctuary is not the place where 
 political allusions or personal adulations should be pro- 
 nounced ; but I suppose that a preacher who should shun all 
 reference to the wide-world loss which the utterances of the 
 past week have so abundantly recorded, would fail to meet 
 the appropriate expectations either of this or of any other con- 
 gregation. During the last five days the columns of every 
 English and foreign journal have been crowded with ample 
 
170 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 accounts of that great career which closed at the dawn of day 
 last Tuesday, within the distance of a few paces from this 
 chapel. Of his consummate genius as an author, as an orator, 
 as a statesman, there have been and there will yet be plentiful 
 testimonies. Perhaps it may best suit the place and the 
 occasion this morning to bear some witness to the worth and 
 the wealth of his personal fidelities and friendships. Even 
 those who had the slenderest opportunities of knowing him in 
 his own home can remember how touching it was to watch 
 the vehement, fiery Parliamentary gladiator enjoying the sun- 
 shine of domestic life with her who was to him the most 
 tender, devoted, and self-sacrificing wife that any man could 
 desire or deserve. I see that there are some in this chapel 
 who can remember that on the Sunday after her funeral he 
 came to the Savoy Chapel and stood, or knelt, with head and 
 heart bowed in grief. Nor can I forget the kindly appreciation 
 which he felt, and referred to, of many words in the hymns 
 and in the sermon which, by a strange coincidence quite 
 unprcmediated, were in sympathy with his sorrow and the 
 bereavement he had recently suffered, A little while later on, 
 and soon after his last assumption of office, he offered to one 
 destitute of any claims on his patronage, and quite spon- 
 taneously, a distinguished and responsible office, and even 
 added to this kindness the oft-repeated regret that the 
 responsibility was not undertaken. These personal remi- 
 niscences are utterly valueless in themselves, but they bear 
 witness to that tender and loyal devotion which marked in 
 unerring course all his private and public life. Whatsoever 
 may be the verdict of posterity, whatsoever may be said here- 
 after of this illustrious man — the most searching and cynical 
 criticism will not be able to deny that, despite all the failings 
 and faults to which the most exalted characters are not 
 strangers, there met in him an array of intellectual gifts, of 
 brilliant attainments, of loyal attachment to his Sovereign, to 
 his country, to his friends, which only a few of his contem- 
 poraries have ever reached or rivalled." 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 171 
 
 At St. Paul's Cathedral, at the afternoon service, 
 the Eev. Canon Liddon preached a sermon on the 
 17th verse of the 24th chapter of St. Luke — " And 
 He said unto them. What manner of communica- 
 tions are these that ye have one to another, as ye 
 walk, and are sad ? " 
 
 " Since last Sunday a great blank has been created in 
 English public life by the disappearance from among us of 
 a prominent and remarkable figure, who beyond question, 
 filled all but the largest place in the public eye. This is not 
 the time or place for touching, even remotely, upon many 
 questions that are suggested by his career — questions which 
 have already been largely and variously discussed in the 
 public press, and which will continue, no doubt, to be matters 
 of controversy for some time to come. All will agree that his 
 abilities were of the very highest order, that he rose to the 
 foremost position in public life with a rapidity and success 
 almost, if not quite, without a parallel in our history, and 
 that he has left his mark upon our country and upon Europe 
 traced in characters which will not soon be effaced." 
 
 The Rev. Canon Farrar, at the first of a series of 
 special Sunday evening services to be held in the 
 nave of Westminster Abbey, selected as his text the 
 38th verse of the third chapter of the Second Book 
 of Samuel, " Know ye not that there is a prince and 
 a great man fallen this day in Israel ? *' Canon 
 Farrar said a common loss had befallen England in 
 the death of that great statesman who, full of years 
 and honours, passed to his rest five days ago. 
 
 " To-day, as was said at the death of Sir Robert Peel, ' all 
 England feels like one family.' Political animosities, religious 
 
172 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 animosities were forgotten beside his open grave. Dis- 
 tinctions of Liberal and Conservative, of High and .Low 
 Churchmen, were obHterated in the sense of common regret. 
 We no longer thought of old hostilities of policy and severities 
 of language. The dead statesman erred, as we all did. He 
 was the first to acknowledge it. 'I have spent many years,' 
 he said, ' in political life ; ' and he added, with generous 
 humility, 'I have during that time done many things which 
 I regret, and said many things which I deplore.' He would 
 have been the last to desire the language of indiscriminate 
 eulogy. He would have held, with the poet — 
 
 ' That man was vain, and false as vain, 
 Who said, were he ordained to run 
 His long career of life again. 
 
 He would do all that he had done.' 
 
 '^The statesman who had just died was exposed, almost 
 even to the last, to storms of passionate obloquy ; yet now the 
 nation claimed him as her own, and would gladly have laid 
 him in that pre-eminently sacred spot where her patriots 
 slept. In no other cemetery in the world did so many great 
 citizens lie in so narrow a space. Chatham was there ; and Fox, 
 and Pitt, and Mansfield, and Grattan, and Castlereagh, and 
 Canning, and Wilberforce, and Palmerston ; and these, great 
 as they were, would have welcomed him. Lord Beacons- 
 field had been happy in the opportuneness of his death. He 
 died on the very day on which, a year before, he had resigned 
 to the Queen the seals of that office in which he achieved so 
 splendid a renown. He died a natural death, in old age, and 
 in the zenith of his honours — in a day of peace, with dear 
 friends by his side, and amid the generous regrets of all his 
 contemporaries ; and posterity, which saw all things in the 
 slow results of their ripening, would declare that he was not 
 unworthy, had he so desired, to have been laid among those 
 graves over which towered the stately monument of Chatham. 
 History would record, on her dispassionate page, that Lord 
 Beaconsfield consolidated and cheered in defeat, and guided to 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 173 
 
 victory and inspired with a wider policy and with less timid 
 aims, a great Party, which, whether we m'ght belong to it or 
 not, was necessary to the State ; that he gave to England 
 a stronger footing in Egypt and the Mediterranean ; that 
 he rekindled in her the old sense of her Imperial destinies ; 
 that in days when we were almost insolently taunted with our 
 military impotence he inspired us with the old belief in our 
 hitherto unconquered grandeur ; and that he made the voice 
 of England heard at the council board of nations as clearly 
 and as commandingly as it had been aforetime. By the grave 
 of Benjamin Disraeli envy herself would admit that there was 
 much room for honest praise. Was it not, for instance, brave 
 and noble in him to stand by his race — to shrink in nowise 
 from the name of Jew, to meet with open scorn the sneers of 
 those who scoffed at what he deemed to be a glory ? Might 
 a respectful word not be said, also, about that honourable 
 domestic faithfulness — that loyal love and life-long devotion 
 of kindness and gratitude to the partner of his yea.'s — which 
 were often wanting in meaner men ? Might we not admire, 
 again, his almost invariable good humour, his kindness to the 
 young, his sympathy with those who differed from him in 
 opinion, and, especially in his later years, the dignity of his 
 reticence under injuries — under attacks of the most en- 
 venomed bitterness ? Again, it must be admitted that it was 
 one of Lord Beaconsfield's principles — and a very noble one 
 — never to stoop for or hunt after popularity. ' They say — 
 what say they ? Let them say,' was a motto which suited 
 his strong self-reliance ; and in one of his latest speeches he 
 expressed his contempt for that incessant babblement of crude 
 condemnations — that ' weak, washy, everlasting flood ' of 
 dogmatism — on matters of which the writers were profoundly 
 ignorant, and which he characteristically called the * hare- 
 brained chatter of irresponsible frivolity.' " 
 
 The following Sunday, May 1st, Dean Stanley, in 
 his sermon in Westminster Abbey, dwelt on the 
 same theme : — 
 
174 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 " ' Popular judgments ' were at all times worthless in them- 
 selves. They were echoes, not voices, and breathed in an 
 atmosphere around them which might be turned to good 
 or evil by 'those who had the arrangement of human affairs, 
 but they had over and over again been proved to shift 
 with every gust of feeling or passion. Such, in a great 
 measure, were the varying opinions respecting the great 
 statesman avIio has gone. There was the expression of 
 strong approval three years ago ; there was the expression of 
 no less strong disapproval a year ago : there is, again, this 
 strong expression of sympathy now which seems almost 
 universal. There was beyond question," continued the Dean, 
 " a great gulf and void created whenever we lost from amongst 
 us any one who had filled a vast space in the eyes of our own 
 and of other countries. It disturbed the balance of power 
 and of parties, changed the hopes and fears of almost every 
 class, and it was not only in the camp to which the departed 
 statesman belonged that this sense of vacancy would be felt. 
 Great statesmen, the acknow ledged leaders of parties, were, by 
 the very fact of their greatness, raised above those parties 
 themselves; they were in fact much more nearly allied to 
 each other in purpose and in principle than the ordinary com- 
 monplace herd, the rank and file of their supporters, would 
 suffer us to believe." The Dean described Mr. Gladstone and 
 the late Lord Beaconsfield as the '^ great twin brethren of our 
 day," each supplying what the other needed for the public 
 weal. " Though they differed so widely in opinions, let us 
 hope that posterity will acknowledge that each fought for 
 what he deemed right in the cause of England's empire and 
 of England's commonwealth. The name of Lord Beaconsfield 
 would be remembered by posterity as that of one who had an 
 extraordinary career, which led the alien in race, the despised 
 in debate, the eccentric in demeanour, the romantic adven- 
 turer, the fierce assailant, by unflagging perseverance, unfailing 
 sagacity, unshaken fidelity, by constantly increasing dignity, 
 by large and larger breadth of view, to reach the highest 
 summits of fame and splendour." 
 
IMPEESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 175 
 
 The feelings of grief at the death of Lord Beacons- 
 field which the Jewish community, apart from those 
 shared in common with all other Englishmen, 
 specially feel, both on account of the Jewish birth 
 of the deceased statesman, and of his life-long 
 sympathy with the race from which he sprang, 
 found expression in the pulpits of several Jewish 
 synagogues on Saturday, April 23rd, as well as on 
 the previous Wednesday (the day after the death 
 of Lord Beaconsfield, and the seventh day of the 
 Feast of Passover). The Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler, 
 who is acting as Suffragan to his father, the Chief 
 Rabbi, referred to the loss which the country had 
 sustained in the death of the statesman whom, he 
 said, everybody, whatever be their political bias, 
 must acknowledge to have been gifted with brilliant 
 powers, with rich experience, and with far-reaching 
 wisdom : — 
 
 "Jews, remembering that Lord Beaconsfield once belonged 
 to their own faith, must, after studying his career, writings, 
 and utterances, readily admit that he never spoke or acted 
 like a renegade, villifying the faith he had forsaken, or con- 
 temning the stock whence he had sprung. No Israelite had 
 ever borne more fervent testimony to the sublimity of the 
 religion by which the Hebrew was sustained amid all his per- 
 secutions. No one could have uttered more persuasive words 
 or adopted wiser measures to remove restrictions from which 
 the Jews in England, as well as their brethren in the East, 
 had been suffering. Jews could not but record their gratitude 
 to him who had so faithfully served his country, and whose 
 
176 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 name would be inscribed in the deathless roll consecrated by 
 England's greatest sons." 
 
 The Rev. Professor Marks, preaching, at the Syna- 
 gogue in Upper Berkeley Street, on the destiny of the 
 Jewish race, observed that 
 
 " Though the distinguished statesman who had just passed 
 away was, by force of circumstances over which he had no 
 control, driven in his childhood from the ancestral pale of 
 faith, still it was scarcely possible to contemplate his life and 
 to read his works without arriving at the conclusion that up 
 to the last he was susceptible . of a pleasurable sentiment at 
 having been born of the race invested with so holy a mission, 
 and for which so great a future lay in store." 
 
 During the service at the Central Synagogue, Great 
 
 Portland Street, the Eev. A. L. Green spoke of the 
 
 death of Lord Beaconsfield as a great national 
 
 misfortune : — 
 
 " The whole civilised world (he said) was deploring, as all 
 English persons did with all their hearts, as loyal subjects of 
 the Queen, the death of one of the foremost statesmen in the 
 world, who in his life followed the greatest teaching of their 
 faith in its relation to mankind. Whatever might be the 
 condition of Jews, although they might be degraded politically, 
 they could not be demoralised. There was no instance of 
 any man, a Jew, ever having joined a revolutionary party in 
 any State in which he happened to live, however much they 
 had been deprived of their political rights and the rights of 
 common justice. Some of the most able statesmen whom the 
 world had produced had been Jews. Even with all the 
 bigotry of Ferdinand and Isabella, the only man capable of 
 conducting the affairs of State was a Jew. Then again, 
 there were the cases of Cremieux in France and Lasker in 
 Prussia. Ho wished with all his heart that they could have 
 
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY DEATH. 177 
 
 numbered Benjamin Disraeli as an adherent member of their 
 faith, but it was not his fault that he was not so, but the fault 
 of his family. They could not but think of the genius of the 
 man who, a Jew, with all the prejudices which existed against 
 Jews forty years ago, had succeeded in fighting, by the 
 powerful strength of his genius alone, his way to the leader- 
 ship not of a Radical Party — he did not desire to speak poli- 
 tically — but of a Conservative Party of this great Conservative 
 country. There was scarcely a parallel instance to be found 
 anywhere. Thanks to Sir David Salomons and Baron Lionel 
 de Rothschild, the avenues to political power were now open 
 to Jews ; and here they had had an instance of what the Jew 
 could do. The Master of the Rolls was an earnest Jew, and 
 he was none the less a good judge. They mourned as Jews 
 and as Englishmen the loss which the nation had sustained, 
 in the belief that they would never find Minister or public 
 servant more upright and true than was the late Benjamin 
 Disraeli." 
 
 N 
 
IV. 
 
 THE FUNERAL. 
 
 As soon as the first shock caused by the announce- 
 ment of the death of Lord Beaconsfield had a little 
 subsided, speculation and inquiry became active as 
 to whether a national tribute to his memory was to 
 be paid in the form of a public funeral. A general 
 impression unquestionably existed that his remains 
 would be laid in Westminster Abbey. It was indeed 
 understood that Lord Beacon sfield's desire was to be 
 buried by the side of the Viscountess Beaconsfield 
 in the quiet parish churchyard at Hughenden. But 
 it was remembered that a desire for private interment 
 had also been expressed by Lord Palmerston, and had 
 been overruled by the will of Her Majesty. The best 
 commentary on the public wish and expectation is 
 the following correspondence : — 
 
 *' Hawarden Castle, Aj)ril 19, 1881. 
 
 ''Dear Lord Rowton, — It was with sad surprise after more 
 favourable accounts of successive days down to yesterday 
 morning that I learned this day at an early hour the decease 
 of Lord Beaconsfield, which will be regarded with so much 
 mournful interest throughout the country and beyond its 
 limits. 
 
THE FUNERAL. 179 
 
 " In conformity with the message I have already sent, I 
 desire at once to inform you and his executors, that if it 
 should be agreeable to their wishes, I shall be prepared to 
 give the necessary directions for a public funeral. 
 
 '*In tendering this honour on the part of the Government 
 I feel assured that I am acting in conformity with the general 
 expectation and desire. 
 
 " I remain, dear Lord Rowton, 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 " P.S.— Should the proposal be accepted, I beg you at once 
 to convey the intimation to my private secretary, Mr. E. W. 
 Hamilton, now in Downing Street." 
 
 In acknowledgment of this communication, the 
 foUowing telegi'am from the Executors of his Lord- 
 ship's will was at once despatched : — 
 
 ''April 20, 1881. 
 " From Sir Nathaniel de Eothschild and Sir Philip 
 
 Eose to the Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., 
 
 Hawarden. 
 
 " With deep and sincere appreciation of the gene- 
 rous motives which dictated your offer, we feel our- 
 selves precluded by the terms of Lord Beaconsfield's 
 will from accepting the public mark of honour which 
 you so kindly propose, and have written you fully." 
 
 The above telegram was succeeded by the following 
 
 letter : — 
 
 ♦' 1, Grosvenor Gardens, April 20, 1881. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Gladstone, — Your letter to Lord 
 
 Eowton of yesterday has been placed in the hands 
 
 N 2 
 
180 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 of myself and Sir Philip Eose, as the executors 
 named in the will of Lord Beaconsfield, and we 
 desire to express our deep sense of the generous 
 motives which have induced you to propose to do 
 honour to his memory by offering to give directions 
 for a public funeral. 
 
 "But while fully appreciating this proposal on 
 your part, and expressing our grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of the terms in which the proposal is conveyed, 
 we feel ourselves precluded from accepting it by the 
 terms of Lord Beaconsfield' s will, dated in 1878, and 
 which, so far as regards the directions for his funeral, 
 is an echo of a previous one made in 1873, which 
 directs that he should be buried at Hughenden, by 
 the side of the late Viscountess Beaconsfield, and 
 for w^hich he had made careful provision in his 
 lifetime. 
 
 " We fully sympathise with the strong feeling that 
 everywhere exists in favour of a public expression 
 of regret for so great a loss to the country, a feeling 
 which your kind letter anticipated, but we think you 
 will agree with us, upon perusal of the extract from 
 Lord Beaconsfield's will, which I enclose, that we 
 have no alternative but to carry out his wishes. 
 
 " I remain, dear Mr. Gladstone, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 "N". M. DE EOTHSCHILD. 
 
 " The Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P." 
 
■THE FUNERAL. 181 
 
 The following is the extract in question from the 
 will of the Earl of Beaconsfield, dated 16th December, 
 1878 :— 
 
 " I desire and direct that I may be buried in the 
 same vault, in the churchyard of Hughenden, in 
 which the remains of my late dear wife, Mary Anne 
 Disraeli, created in her own right Viscountess 
 Beaconsfield, were placed, and that my funeral 
 may be conducted with the same simplicity as 
 hers was." 
 
 It subsequently appeared that there was practi- 
 cally an insuperable obstacle to the burial of the 
 Earl of Beaconsfield in Westminster Abbey. In the 
 will of the late Mrs. Brydges Willyams of Torquay, 
 who bequeathed him her fortune of forty thousand 
 pounds, there was a condition that she should be 
 buried side by side with him. Her remains were 
 laid in Hughenden churchyard, in the tomb where 
 Lady Beaconsfield was subsequently interred, and in 
 which a vacant space was reserved for his Lordship. 
 As further proof that Lord Beaconsfield designed 
 that Hughenden should be his place of sepulture, 
 a member of the firm which supplied the granite 
 work for his wife's tomb states that when carving 
 the central panel, space was reserved for his Lord- 
 ship's name by special instruction. 
 
 The commentary of The Standard, April 21, on 
 the correspondence, was as follows : — " The expres- 
 sion of the national desire that Lord Beaconsfield 
 
182 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 should receive the honour of a public funeral, and 
 that his remains should find a resting place in West- 
 minster Abbey, followed immediately upon the an- 
 nouncement of his death. Both wishes were antici- 
 pated with a promptitude which will be cordially 
 welcomed by the English' people. Dean Stanley lost 
 no time in requesting Lord Beaconsfield's representa- 
 tives to sanction his interment within the precincts 
 of the historic shrine which contains the ashes of 
 so many of England's greatest sons. The Prime 
 Minister displayed a not less laudable alacrity. 
 Immediately on hearing the news of Lord Beacons- 
 field's death, he telegraphed to Lord Eowton his 
 willingness to give the necessary directions for a 
 public funeral. This message was followed by a 
 letter from Mr. Gladstone, which we print this 
 morning, and which will be read with genuine 
 satisfaction by the English people. It is, indeed, 
 only such a tribute as the Premier might be expected 
 to pay to the memory of his illustrious rival who has 
 *gone before.' Its language is graceful, generous, 
 and judicious, and the significance of the Prime 
 Minister's offer is deepened by the statement of 
 his belief that ' in tendering this honour on the part 
 of the Government he is acting in conformity with 
 the general expectation and desire.' Death, which 
 is the great leveller, is also the great reconciler, and 
 Mr. Gladstone has done well in showing that the 
 long-standing differences between Lord Beaconsfield 
 
THE FUNERAL. 183 
 
 and himself are closed for ever. There will be only 
 one wish among the English people — that the Prime 
 Minister's proposal may be accepted. The rest of 
 the correspondence shows that there is some doubt 
 whether this will be possible. As soon as they had 
 seen Mr. Gladstone's letter to Lord Eowton, Sir 
 Nathaniel de Kothschild and Sir Philip Eose tele- 
 graphed their grateful appreciation of the offer, but 
 added that they did not feel themselves in a position 
 to avail themselves of it. In the will made by him in 
 December, 1878, Lord Beaconsfield ' desires and di- 
 rects ' that he should be buried in the same vault, in 
 the churchyard of Hughenden, in which the remains of 
 Lady Beaconsfield were placed, and that his ' funeral 
 may be conducted with the same simplicity as hers 
 was.' Lord Rowton went to Osborne yesterday and 
 had an interview with the Queen. We may fairly 
 assume that among the subjects mentioned by Her 
 Majesty were the place of Lord Beaconsfield's in- 
 terment, and the character of his obsequies. If it 
 should be the express will of the Sovereign that the 
 late Earl should be buried in Westminster Abbey, 
 and that his remains should be followed to the 
 grave with all the solemn splendour of a State 
 pageant, it may not be easy for his executors to 
 refuse compliance with the suggestion. The direc- 
 tions in the will must be taken in conjunction witli 
 the declaration of the Eoyal pleasure. Should 
 this course be followed, precedent for it will not be 
 
184 MEMOEIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 wanting. Lord Palmerston left instructions analogous 
 to those contained in the will of Lord Beaconsfield, 
 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Whatever 
 responsibility there is in this matter rests with Lord 
 Beaconsfield's representatives, who know perfectly 
 well what, under certain conditions, he would have 
 wished. If they decide that a public funeral, and 
 a grave in the great national fane are not in violation 
 of the spirit of Lord Beaconsfield's desires, the 
 English people will be deeply gratified." 
 
 The next day the public learned, not without some 
 sense of disappointment, that Lord Beaconsfield's 
 executors had definitely declined the ofifer made by 
 Mr. Gladstone, and that the departed statesman was 
 to be buried in the quiet churchyard of Hughenden. 
 Lord Beaconsfield's testamentary wishes, expressed 
 in writing between two and three years ago, were to 
 be respected to the letter. It had seemed possible 
 that as Lord Beaconsfield was understood to have 
 said nothing definitely on this subject during his 
 last illness, the wishes of the Sovereign, and the 
 unquestionable desire of the English people, might 
 have prevailed against the instructions which he had 
 drawn up in 1878. In these matters the testator 
 always knows that he must leave something to the 
 discretion of his executors. Circumstances may have 
 a modifying influence upon instructions of this cha- 
 racter, and the latitude of action which the deceased 
 has given to his representatives must be employed 
 
THE FUNERAL. 185 
 
 in the manner whicli they believe to be, on the 
 whole, most in harmony with the spirit of his 
 desires. That is the principle on which the exe- 
 cutors of Lord Beaconsfield have now acted. The 
 siraple fact that the noble Earl did not really cancel 
 the directions of his will before he died may be 
 accepted as conclusive proof that he adhered to 
 them. He must have known perfectly well that 
 the Abbey and a public funeral were within his 
 reach, and his silence on the subject makes it clear 
 that he wished for neither. 'Not merely on grounds 
 of local memories and personal affection is it natural 
 that Lord Beaconsfield should have contemplated 
 being laid in the same tomb as that by which he 
 stood as chief mourner eight years ago. There is 
 much in the tranquillity and solitude of the spot 
 which may well have had a charm for him. Peel 
 sleeps peacefully in the churchyard of Drayton ; the 
 remains of the late Lord Derby are in the vault at 
 Knowsley ; Lord Russell is buried at Chenies. The 
 graves of these worthies of our century are not the 
 less honoured or famous because they lie far outside 
 the Abbey Church of Westminster. 
 
 The exact order of events was as follows : — On Wed- 
 nesday, April 20, Lord Eowton went to see the Queen 
 at Osborne. He did not return to London till next 
 day, and it was on the afternoon of that day that 
 the first intimation of the decision as to the place 
 and mode of burial was made. Lord Eowton then 
 
186 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 explained to Sir Nathaniel de Eothschild and Sir 
 Philip Eose, in a conversation at half-past two 
 o'clock, that Her Majesty was anxious not to inter- 
 fere in the slightest degree with the wishes of the 
 deceased statesman, as set forth in his will with 
 regard to his funeral. Immediately after this inter- 
 view the following notice was issued: — "We are 
 requested to state that the funeral of Lord Beacons- 
 field will take place at Hughenden on | Tuesday 
 next at 3.30 p.m. In accordance with the wishes 
 clearly expressed by his Lordship, the funeral will 
 be conducted with the same simplicity as that of 
 the late Viscountess Beaconsfield." This notice was 
 the next day supplemented by another to the fol- 
 lowing effect : — " Lord Beaconsfield's executors desire 
 to announce that, in deference to the wishes so 
 clearly expressed by his Lordship, his funeral will 
 be conducted as privately as possible, and the 
 admissions to Hughenden Manor will necessarily 
 be extremely limited. Inasmuch, however, as many 
 of Lord Beaconsfield's friends may desire to be pre- 
 sent at the ceremony, which will take place in the 
 churchyard at half-past three o'clock on Tuesday 
 afternoon, the executors think it right to state that 
 the Great Western Eailway Company have made 
 arrangements to run special trains from Paddington 
 on that day, of which particulars may be obtained 
 at the Paddington station." 
 
 Pending the arrangements for the funeral. Lord 
 
THE FUNEEAL. 1«7 
 
 Beaconsfield's body lay in the back drawing-room 
 where he died, and where he usually transacted 
 business. The coffin was in the centre of the 
 apartment resting upon trestles, beneath which was 
 spread a carpeting of black cloth. The coffin was 
 covered with flowers and wreaths. One of these 
 garlands was conspicuous for the following inscrip- 
 tion:— "The last token of respect and admiration 
 and gratitude to the noble Earl of Beaconsfield 
 from one, hours of whose life he has charmed from 
 her earliest years by the magic of his pen." In many 
 cases those who brought the wreaths begged that 
 they might be allowed to place them upon the 
 coffin themselves, but no one was permitted to pass 
 into the front drawing-room, into which the coffin 
 was moved after it had been sealed up. Many 
 neat wreaths were accompanied by cards bearing 
 verses or touching inscriptions. Some coming from 
 little children had most affecting words attached to 
 them, as was the case with others coming from 
 veterans of the political or social world. Among 
 the most artistic of these tributes was an entablature 
 of over two feet in diameter with a double row of 
 white camellias encircling a background of stephan- 
 otis, with the words "In Memoriam" worked in 
 violets. As they . arrived, the flowers were care- 
 fully packed ready for removal with the coffin to 
 Hughenden. Telegrams of condolence and sympathy 
 were hourly received in Curzon Street from every 
 
188 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD."^ 
 
 quarter of the globe, many of the potentates of 
 Europe not only sending their messages through 
 their representatives, but also by direct communica- 
 tions. Amongst the messages was one from Prince 
 Bismarck, who expressed his great sorrow at the 
 loss sustained not only by the nation but by the 
 whole Continent. Other leading European states- 
 men sent telegrams to the same effect. 
 
 The final sight of the body of Lord Beaconsfield 
 was taken on Friday, April 22. The features were 
 unchanged; the same tranquil look, which almost 
 became a contented smile, and which had settled on 
 the rigid countenance a few minutes after death, 
 w^as still visible. Between ten and eleven o'clock 
 on Saturday morning several of the servants left 
 for Wycombe, and were followed shortly before 
 five in the afternoon by Sir Philip Eose, Sir 
 Nathaniel de Rothschild, and Lord Eowton, who 
 at once drove to the Manor. Throughout the 
 whole evening everything remained quiet in the 
 neighbourhood of Curzon Street, and at eleven 
 o'clock the gas was turned down and the house 
 apparently left to repose. About twelve o'clock Mr. 
 Alfred Rothschild arrived. An hour later a hearse, 
 drawn by a single horse, and accompanied by about 
 a dozen undertakers' men, drove into Curzon Street, 
 and the outer coffin destined to receive the shell and 
 lead case in which the remains lay was taken into 
 the house. A few minutes afterwards the coffin was 
 
THE FUNERAL. 189 
 
 placed in the hearse, which was then at once driven 
 to the Paddington station. At twenty-five minutes 
 past two on Sunday, April 24, the train left for 
 Wycombe. Wycombe was reached in a little under 
 an hour. Quietly, but with the same celerity that had 
 characterised the movements at Paddington station, 
 the hearse was duly horsed and driven off, followed 
 by two flys that had been hurriedly engaged, along 
 Castle Street and through Progmore Gardens, into 
 the Hughenden Eoad, entering the grounds of the 
 Manor, nearly two miles distant from the station, by 
 what is locally known as the " Green Lodge." This 
 lodge was erected under the immediate direction of 
 the late Countess, and was one of the last improve- 
 ments upon the estate suggested by her. When the 
 lodge gates were thrown open the hearse ascended 
 the hill, passing through the " Golden Gates," and so 
 by the Italian Garden to the front of the house. 
 Here the executors, accompanied by Lord Eowton, 
 were in waiting to receive the remains. Just at this 
 moment the first dawn of morning light broke 
 through the clouds, and the birds began their early 
 matin carol, the twittering of the larks and sparrows 
 being answered by the hoarse screech of one of the 
 peacocks that even then had begun to strut around 
 the lawn. In the grey glimmer of daylight, fighting 
 as it was with the glare of the lamps in the hall, the 
 body of the departed statesman was lifted from the 
 hearse and carried into the hall, where it was placed 
 
190 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 upon a small wheeled bier, draped in black cloth, 
 that had been brought down for the purpose. The 
 coffin was afterwards removed to the centre of the 
 room, which overlooks the Italian Garden that was 
 the favourite walk of Lord Beaconsfield. Immedi- 
 ately behind the head of the coffin hung the portrait 
 of Her Majesty, presented to her trusted adviser by 
 the Queen some years since, while on his left was 
 the likeness of his wife. 
 
 Sunday, April 24th, was a memorable day at 
 Hughenden. The picturesque little church of St. 
 Michael's had been made the scene of much loving 
 labour in view of Eastertide. The font was filled 
 with white and green hyacinths, noon daisies, 
 Gueldre roses, and fern leaves. Pulpit and lectern 
 were adorned with primroses, yellow daffodils, and 
 interwoven mosses. The chancel railing was decked 
 in greater variety of colour, artistically blended, the 
 top forming a bed of green, in which azaleas, tulips, 
 violets, primroses, and hyacinths, grouped with 
 charming effect, while handsome potted plants 
 flanked the altar on either side. On the reredos 
 were crosses and other emblems formed with white 
 and pink geraniums and azalea blossoms, while 
 beneath the window suitable texts were embroidered 
 in white on a crimson ground. For the morning 
 service some of these were removed, but enough 
 remained to produce an effect of a most agreeable 
 kind. Before the service commenced, at half-past 
 
THE FUNERAL. 191 
 
 ten, Lord Eowton, Sir K M. de Eothschild, and Sir 
 P. Eose came from the house of mourning and took 
 their places in the pew of the late Earl, which was 
 within the chancel screen and behind the choir 
 on the north side. The sermon was preached by 
 the Vicar of Hughenden, who preached from 
 2 Corinthians xv. 36. 
 
 "No doubt," he said, " there are many amongst those 
 whom I am addressing who have known the genial 
 kindness and simplicity with which Lord Beacon sfield 
 was always ready to enter into everything that had 
 to do with the parish. Have we not here watched 
 him coming down, even when at the height of his 
 prosperity and power — coming down here, simply 
 and humbly, Sunday after Sunday, as often as his 
 health permitted, to take his place amongst us, and 
 worship God — joining in our service. Again, do we 
 not remember, many of us, how we, in large numbers, 
 knelt side by side with him only on Christmas Day 
 last at yon altar, where he received from my hand 
 the blessed body and blood of Christ. Knowing him 
 as we did here in Hughenden, no man can say that 
 he was either an irreverent or an irreligious man 
 without most cruelly and most foully maligning his 
 memory. I cannot, I do not, pretend to say that 
 I enjoyed his confidence, or anything like great 
 intimacy with him. I only know this from the 
 necessary intercourse I have had with him as vicar 
 of the parish for twelve years ; and I never in my life 
 
192 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 heard him breathe a syllable which could be con- 
 strued into irreverence or want of due regard for the 
 Church, whose constitution he so well understood, 
 and whose place and importance in the nation none 
 valued more highly than he did." 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, in weather which happily 
 did not realise the sinister promise of the morning, 
 Lord Beaconsfield's remains were committed to the 
 earth in Hughenden churchyard. The ceremony 
 was deeply impressive and perfectly ordered. Lord 
 Beaconsfield was buried simply, as he wished to be, 
 and the rite was solemn, precisely because it was 
 simple. The appearance which the terminus of the 
 Great Western Eailway at Paddington presented on 
 the morning of the day was one of extraordinary 
 activity. Long before the departure of the ordinary 
 8.25 a.m. train the platform was thronged with 
 persons, many of whom had taken tickets over-night 
 for High Wycombe in order to be in time to witness 
 the final ceremony at Hughenden. The first of the 
 special trains, which started at 10.55 from the middle 
 departure platform, conveyed • about 500 passengers ; 
 but the demand for room was so pressing that many 
 ticket-holders had to be left behind and content 
 themselves with waiting for the ordinary eleven 
 o'clock train. 
 
 The Prince of Wales left shortly after one o'clock, 
 and about twenty minutes later there steamed out of 
 Paddington station a train conveying many members 
 
THE FUNERAL. 193 
 
 of both Houses of Parliament to Wycombe. The 
 number of persons who actually proceeded to High 
 Wycombe by the Great Western trains during the 
 morning was 1,400 ; being 300 first-class, 800 
 second-class, and 700 third-class passengers, together 
 with 100 invited guests. 
 
 The railway station of High Wycombe is distant 
 from the Manor House of Hughenden rather more 
 than two miles. For the space of about eight hours 
 every inch of the road was packed by a continuous 
 line of human beings, sometimes three or four, some- 
 times six, seven, and eight deep. From the early 
 forenoon till close upon three o'clock there was an 
 incessant tide of carriages of every description ebbing 
 and flowing between the opposite columns of 
 spectators. Then a change suddenly came over the 
 spirit of the scene ; the traffic stopped ; the multitude 
 was hushed in silence, and the stillness was only 
 broken by the tolling of the bell from Hughenden 
 Church tower. Nothing could have been more 
 impressive than the series of contrasts to be en- 
 countered between the church and the station. In 
 the town of High Wycombe itself many of the shops 
 were completely closed, and the windows of those 
 which were left open were partially veiled by shutters. 
 The brightness of the day, the clearness of the 
 atmosphere, the tender, hopeful tints visible on the 
 trees in the foreground, were out of harmony with the 
 gloom of the occasion. The broughams, victorias, 
 
 
 
194 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 flys, and other vehicles constantly driven past at a 
 brisk pace filled the air with the echoes of their 
 rattle. The sunshine illuminated vi^ith all the colours 
 of the rainbow the water in the fountain that played 
 hard by the Market-place. But as one went further 
 onwards, one might have been conscious of a change 
 in the genius of the place. The same crowd still 
 edged the road — stretched itself, after the town was 
 left behind, under the hedges bursting into verdure 
 and into blossom, and covered the brink of the turf 
 whose undulations " reach from the Park gates to the 
 house itself. 
 
 But while the scene below — in the pleasant 
 valley traversed by the waters of " that ancient 
 river Kishon," as Lord Beaconsfield loved to call 
 the familiar stream — is one of animation, it soon 
 begins to deepen into solemnity on the road 
 which runs through the Park above. The car- 
 riages go at a pace which becomes slower and 
 slower ; the air becomes more perceptibly hushed ; 
 the concourse of persons of all ages and of all 
 conditions of life is as dense as ever. Here on 
 the hill is a vast multitude collected together. 
 The men and women who compose it are almost 
 without an exception habited in black. They 
 gaze intently, but say nothing. A few minutes 
 more and we pass beneath what Lord Beacons- 
 field usually spoke of as the "Golden Gates." 
 A sharp turn now in the path which threads 
 
THE FUNERAL. 195 
 
 the labyrinth of shrubs, and the country house 
 of the departed statesman rises directly in front. 
 The scene is full at every turn of beauty and of 
 natural brightness, and the latter quality is perhaps 
 intensified by the solemnity and the stillness in 
 which everything is steeped. The carriages go 
 quickly up to the front door, outside which two 
 policemen are stationed. The visitors enter and 
 find themselves in a suite of rooms crowded with 
 some of the most famous of living Englishmen, 
 yet devoid even of that buzz of suppressed con- 
 versation which it is almost impossible to avoid 
 when such a multitude is gathered together. 
 
 It is now a few minutes after three. The 
 Prince of Wales and his brothers arrived a 
 quarter of an hour earlier, but are not in any of 
 the reception-rooms down stairs. The cofi&n lies on 
 its bier in an alcove leading out of the modest 
 hall of Hughenden Manor. But of its material, 
 one might almost say of its dimensions, nothing 
 can be seen. It is literally one mass of floral 
 beauty. Here are wreaths from every member 
 of the Eoyal Family in England — bouquets of 
 primroses sent by the Queen, with an inscrip- 
 tion attached to them, saying that they came 
 from Osborne Hill, and that they are of the 
 sort which Lord Beaconsfield loved. Here are 
 garlands of gardenias and camellias, of rose-buds 
 and Lent lilies, of crocus, and hyacinth, and 
 
196 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 daffodil. The windows are open. A perfect 
 concert of bird melody pours in through them, 
 and that music is the only sound audible. The 
 atmosphere is charged with a mixture of sweet, 
 pure odours ; the interior of the house is bathed 
 in sunlight; the general impression conveyed is 
 one of peaceful and picturesque beauty. But 
 what really strikes one most is the intense 
 silence. In the library and the drawing-room 
 — which are on the left of the hall, the dining- 
 room lying on the right — there cannot be fewer 
 than two or three hundred gentlemen. But their 
 footsteps make no sound on the surface of the 
 rich velvety carpets, and they pass to and fro 
 without a noise of any kind. They recognise 
 each other by a look ; they shake hands, but not 
 a word is said. The effect of all this is something 
 more than powerful. As each visitor enters the 
 drawing-room he is received by Lord Eowton, who 
 utters, however, only a few words, and those with 
 baited breath. Ambassadors, statesmen, diploma- 
 tists, cabinet ministers, past, present, and future; 
 country gentlemen who years ago occupied a seat 
 in the House of Commons, but who have since 
 retired, and who have probably no intention of 
 returning to parliamentary life; professional men, 
 — doctors, lawyers, and litUrateurs — are all here to- 
 gether. Lord Dufferin has come fresh from St. 
 Petersburg ; the Duke of Marlborough has hurried 
 
THE FUNERAL. 197 
 
 over from Biarritz ; Lord Hartington arrived an hour 
 ago by tlie Eoyal train from Paddington — as did 
 Lord Lytton, Lord Beauchamp, Count Miinster and 
 a host of others. It is, as a glance in any quarter 
 will show, a company of mourners, but it is also 
 a company of celebrities. 
 
 There is yet half an hour before the funeral pro- 
 cession will start for Hughenden Church, which lies 
 away yonder to the right, almost in a direct line with 
 the house, just outside the park, and on the dip into 
 the valley through which the little stream makes its 
 way. The hall, as has been already explained, leads 
 right through the building, which is of no great 
 depth, and indeed principally consists of frontages. 
 We enter from one lawn, and we pass on to another 
 — that from which the prospect of the town of High 
 Wycombe is commanded. A beautifully kept 
 expanse of soft luxurious turf it is, dotted with 
 trees, and with here and there a flower bed. 
 To-day, however, it is studded with frequent groups 
 of gentlemen, all of them more or less distinguished. 
 They pace up and down, engage with subdued voices . 
 in conversation, indicate to each other the chief beau- 
 ties in the landscape, and now and again glance up 
 at the closed windows of the little room above the 
 porch in which Lord Beaconsfield loved to sit, and 
 where his body till yesterday lay. That room was 
 his sanctuary, and its windows face what he called 
 the Italian Garden. It has been said that the flower 
 
198 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 beds are not very numerous or extensive. Yet it is 
 known that Lord Beaconsfield loved flowers. Why- 
 are there not more of them ? The answer to this 
 question comes in the notes of a shrill, weird, pene- 
 trating scream from the birds of Juno, which prome- 
 nade on the lawn in all the pride and plenitude of 
 their magnificence, and with an air which betokens 
 some resentfulness at the intrusion. Years ago, Lord 
 Beaconsfield was told that his peacocks would be 
 fatal to his flowers. " Well, then," he replied, " of 
 the two I prefer the peacocks." The cry of these 
 magnificent fowls is very remarkable, and has about 
 it not a little of eeriness. It is not so much the 
 note of a bird as a wail and a death dirge. 
 
 It is now within a few minutes of half-past three, 
 and the company collected on the lawn becomes 
 aware, though no specific intimation of the fact has 
 been conveyed to it, that the funeral procession is 
 about to form. All is done silently and in perfect 
 order. There seems to be no necessity for instruc- 
 tions audibly delivered at the last moment ; there is 
 no confusion, no uncertainty as to the place which is 
 to be filled by individual mourners, no inconvenient 
 crowding, no unseemly excitement. Everything is 
 dignified, impressive, tranquil, decorous, and solemn. 
 Slowly, and amid the same ever-pervading stillness, 
 though in the presence of tens of thousands of 
 spectators, the coffin is borne down the road which 
 leads from the gravelled walk that runs round 
 
THE FUNERAL. 199 
 
 the front lawn to Hughenden Church. The Bucks 
 Volunteers are drawn up on both sides, and are 
 succeeded by the men of theAVycombe Fire Brigade 
 in their blue uniform and jack-boots. From every 
 portion of the neighbourhood, and from many more 
 distant parts, the vast concourse of men and women 
 grouped round the iron railings is collected. On 
 either side grow tall elms, spreading beeches, and 
 many branching oaks. The temptation which these 
 offer to hundreds of lads and men is irresistible. 
 They swarm round the branches ; they are perched 
 on the topmost boughs ; their heads peep out from 
 many a tuft of delicately green foliage. But not a 
 voice is heard, and the rapt and reverential suspense 
 of soundless expectancy extends its influence every- 
 where. The procession, which probably numbers 
 more than three hundred persons in its ranks, 
 marches on to no other funeral music than that of 
 the wind as it sighs and rustles through the branches 
 of the trees. There is no check, no sudden quicken- 
 ing of the pace. The deep intonations of the bell 
 correspond almost exactly to each step which is 
 taken ; and with this grave harmony of sound and 
 movement the churchyard gate is reached. At the 
 entrance the procession is met by the Eev. Mr. 
 Blagden, with his curate and sexton, and placing 
 themselves at the head, the Vicar commences the 
 impressive Service for the dead, " I am the Resurrec- 
 tion and the Life." The body, and the long line of 
 
200 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 mourners, move solemnly and slowly to the portals 
 of the church, whose area in a few minutes is filled 
 but is not inconveniently crowded. 
 
 The cofl&n has been deposited on a bier in the 
 chancel, immediately in front of the communion- 
 table. ^Nothing of the woodwork is visible, and of 
 the magnificent array of wreaths and bouquets which 
 covered it when it left the house not one has been 
 removed or disturbed. At the east end of the bier 
 stand two of Lord Beaconsfield's servants — one of 
 them his confidential valet, who has preceded the 
 coffin, borne by eight labourers on the estate, to the 
 church, holding, as he now holds, the Earl's coronet 
 and the insignia of the Garter on a cushion of deep 
 ruby velvet. In a couple of minutes the sun is 
 hidden by a heavy April cloud, and then, as Mr. 
 Blagden proceeds with the service, the rays burst 
 forth again and flood the whole interior with a sea of 
 liquid gold. Profoundly impressive and profoundly 
 simple the ceremonial is. And its impressiveness is 
 singularly untinged by gloom. The decorations of 
 the church are eloquent of the joyous lessons of 
 Eastertide. Easter mottoes are blazoned on the 
 walls. The altar is adorned with Easter flowers. 
 ]!*^ot a leaf of cypress or a spray of myrtle is 
 to be seen. We are in the presence of death, 
 but everything seems to tell us that it is death 
 illuminated by the glory of resurrection and life. 
 
 I^ever, it may be safely said, did so small a building 
 
THE FUNERAL. 201 
 
 contain so illustrious a company. On the right of 
 the chancel are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of 
 Connaught, Prince Leopold, and others whose 
 position is only less distinguished. In the body 
 of the church are Peers of every degree, the repre- 
 sentatives of the greatest Sovereigns in the world, 
 men whose names are part of the history of England. 
 But more interesting and more pathetic than this 
 company of notables is the little group whose 
 members are seated on the left side of the chancel. 
 Here are the men to whom, more than to any others, 
 Lord Beaconsfield was attached, and who tended him 
 during his illness, as they had been indefatig- 
 able in their thoughtfulness and care during many 
 years previously. Close to them are two other 
 figures, in v/hom it is perhaps natural that even 
 more interest should be taken. They are those of 
 Mr. Ralph Disraeli and his son, who is now Lord 
 Beaconsfield's heir, a boy of between thirteen and 
 fourteen years of age, with features which strikingly 
 recall those of his illustrious uncle. The lad sub- 
 mitted yesterday to a trying ordeal, and he bore it 
 with a composure and a gravity which were really 
 remarkable. He was profoundly aftected, and his 
 eyes throughout the whole service were full of tears. 
 But there was something of self-reserve and dignity in 
 his grief which was very noticeable. It was not 
 difficult for those who watched him to understand 
 why he should have commended himself to his 
 
202 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 uncle. "The boy," said Lord Beaconsfield, "has 
 the stuff of a man in him, and I will give him the 
 chance of being one." Of the authenticity of this 
 utterance there is no doubt, and its immediate sequel 
 was that Lord Beaconsfield sent his nephew to 
 Charterhouse, where he now is, and decided that he 
 should be his heir. 
 
 When we entered the church the organ was 
 playing, and now, as we begin to leave the church, 
 the same strains are again heard. The coffin is 
 not now carried on the shoulders of the labourers; 
 it is wheeled by them, on the trestles on which it 
 has stood in the chancel, down the aisle, and in 
 this way it is conducted to the grave. Immediately 
 behind the coffin come the mourners and the 
 executors, then the Duke of Connaught and Prince 
 Leopold. After these the Prince of Wales walks 
 by himself. But there is no rigidly set order in 
 the procession, and the whole company walks 
 without any formal marshalling, but in perfect 
 order, to the grave. The vault, as has been already 
 said, is situated at the east end of the church, 
 and a few days ago the entrance to it was com- 
 pletely covered with the soil. The necessary 
 excavations have involved considerable labour, and, 
 as their result, a sloping pathway has been made 
 to the little catacomb. This is covered with a thick 
 woollen carpet, and before the Burial Service in the 
 churchyard begins, the coffin is slowly wheeled to 
 
THE FUNERAL. 203 
 
 the entrance of the vault. The whole area is 
 utilised for the exhibition of some of the many 
 beautiful floral tributes which have flowed in from 
 all parts of the kingdom. Mrs. Blagden, the wife 
 of the Vicar, has arranged them, and her task is 
 performed with practised skill and admirable taste. 
 Eeposing against the headstone, there is placed the 
 magnificent wreath, three feet in diameter, offered 
 by the Junior Carlton Club. This beautiful emblem 
 is composed of white roses and lilac, azaleas, with 
 a central coronet surmounting the letter B, worked 
 in violets, a scroll of violet ribbon bearing the 
 inscription — " From the Junior Carlton Club. In 
 respectful memory." Below is a large book-like 
 box, worked in white camellias, stephanotis, and 
 roses, and filled with violets. Then comes a floral 
 crown, two feet high, formed of the same flowers, 
 which bore the inscription, " A token of remembrance 
 of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, K.G., 
 from one who, though alien in politics, yet not in 
 race, was a fervent admirer of him who ^rose o'er 
 life's tide as lilies o'er the stream,' and earned a 
 Sovereign's gratitude and a nation's love." The 
 juxtaposition of these two offerings suggested the 
 Conservative symbols of Bible and Crown to most 
 of those who inspected them. The Eamsgate 
 Conservative and Constitutional Association sent 
 a coronet of pansies, lilies, camellias, hyacinths, 
 roses, and violets, while kindred bodies all over the 
 
204 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 country sent wreattis innumerable, and most various 
 and tasteful in design. Many wreaths of single 
 laurel leaves were sent, and to most of the donors 
 of these the same idea had occurred, of emblazoning 
 on the ribbons bearing the inscriptions the Earl's 
 famous Berlin offering "Peace with honour." The 
 grassy slope overlying the vault has been railed 
 off, and built against the wall of the church there 
 are some ornamental stone pilasters and Gothic 
 flutings, in which are inserted three red granite 
 slabs — two small ones, and a large one in between. 
 On the large one is inscribed, in letters of gold, 
 the following : — 
 
 " In memory of Mary Anne Disraeli, Viscountess 
 Beaconsfield in her own right, for thirty-three 
 years the wife of the Eight Honourable Benjamin 
 Disraeli, Lord of this Manor. Ob. Dec. 15, 1872." 
 On the slab to the right is the following: — 
 " In memory of James Disraeli, Esq., one of Her 
 Majesty's Commissioners of Inland Eevenue, and 
 the son of Isaac Disraeli, Esq., of Bradenham in 
 this county, author of Curiosities of Literature. 
 Ob. Dec. 3, 1868." 
 
 On the left-hand slab is the following : — 
 " In memory of Sarah Brydges Willy am s, relict of 
 James Brydges Willyams, of Carnauton, in the county 
 of Cornwall, and Colonel of the Eoyal Cornish 
 Militia. She died at Torquay, 11th November, 1863, 
 and was buried at her desire in this vault." 
 
THE FUNERAL. 205 
 
 On the right-hand side of the clergyman were 
 Lords Eowton and Barrington, and just before them 
 Mr. Disraeli and his son. On a line with them 
 were the Prince of Wales and his brothers. The 
 most prominent figure facing them was that of Lord 
 Henry Lennox, and conspicuous among those who 
 were in his immediate neighbourhood were the 
 American Minister, the Marquis of Exeter, Sir Owen 
 Burne, Sir James Brind, and Mr. Gerald Fitzgerald. 
 On the opposite side were the tall figure of Count 
 Mlinster, Lord Lytton, Sir Frederick Leighton, Sir 
 E. Cross, Sir Stafford Northcote, Sir Charles 
 Whetham, Mr. Eaikes, Mr. Ashbury, and many 
 others. Lord Lamington, better known as Mr. 
 Baillie Cochrane, and the original of the " Buck- 
 hurst " of Coningshy, Lord John Manners, the 
 " Harry Sidney " of the same novel, Lord Salisbury, 
 and most or all of the representatives of latter-day 
 Conservatism, in whom the political influence of 
 Lord Beaconsfield has been most conspicuously 
 manifested, were there too. The silence was intense 
 while the Service was read, and when the words, 
 " Earth to earth, ashes to ashes," were pronounced, 
 the sound of the mould falling against the flowers 
 which strewed the coffin below could distinctly be 
 heard at a distance of many yards. Shortly after 
 four o'clock Mr. Blagden pronounced the blessing, 
 and the company began gradually to disperse. One 
 last tribute to the illustrious dead there yet 
 
206 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 remained to render. First the mourners, and then 
 all those present in the inclosure, walked down to 
 the vault, and looked for the last time at the coffin 
 containing all that was mortal of Lord Beaconsfield. 
 At a quarter-past five the visitors began to depart. 
 The carriages and cabs came up to the front door of 
 Hughenden Manor, were filled rapidly, and drove 
 off to the station, whence they returned to London. 
 Shrewsbury, which was represented by Mr. 
 Disraeli in the earlier part of his political career, 
 paid marked tribute to the memory of Lord 
 Beaconsfield. At Canterbury Cathedral the Dead 
 March was played on the organ, and the solemn 
 bells in the tower were tolled during the hours of 
 interment. In Liverpool the manifestations of 
 mourning were universal, all the churches ringing 
 muffled peals, and the flags on the public buildings 
 and on the ships in the docks and river being placed 
 at half-mast. The balcony of the Conservative Club 
 was draped in black velvet, with floral wreaths 
 arranged upon it, and the effect was particularly 
 striking and impressive. At the Eeform Club the 
 blinds were drawn. Muffled peals were rung at St. 
 Peter's Pro-Cathedral and at the municipal offices. 
 At the monthly meeting of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce, the President, Mr. Eichard Lowndes, alluded 
 to the universal feeling, quite independent of party, 
 which the death of Lord Beaconsfield had called 
 forth. At Leicester there was a remarkably impres- 
 
THE FUNERAL. 207 
 
 sive funeral service during the time of the funeral 
 rites at Hughenden, and at three o'clock a procession 
 of about five hundred leading Conservatives, headed 
 by General Burnaby, made its way to St. Mary's 
 Church, where a vast congregation was assembled, 
 and where a special burial service was read, a 
 suitable funeral sermon being preached by the Eev. 
 Canon Burfield. Coventry has, of course, con- 
 tributed to the testimony of respect which is 
 now being universally paid to the memory of the 
 deceased statesman, and it is joined in, amongst 
 other places of importance, by Yeovil, South Shields, 
 Newbury, Wakefield, Lichfield, Cardiff, IN'ewport, 
 Leicester, Derby, Chelmsford, Sheffield, and Bir- 
 mingham. In Maidstone business was totally 
 suspended, and the same may be said, in a more 
 or less degree, for Southend, Stafford, Ludlow, and 
 Dundee. Sympathetic manifestations of feeling 
 were also freely expressed in Exeter, Wolver- 
 hampton, Bristol, and Bradford; whilst at Dover, 
 Plymouth, Portsmouth, Gravesend, Greenwich, and 
 the other great naval stations round the coast, the 
 shipping showed its tokens of regret by having the 
 flags half-mast high. 
 
 The blinds of the Mansion House were closely 
 drawn from two to four out of respect for the 
 memory of Lord Beaconsfield, with whom the 
 present Lord Mayor sat in the House of Commons, 
 though on different sides, for over ten years, and 
 
208 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 only official duties in the City prevented his 
 Lordship attending the funeral. 
 
 On the following Saturday, April 30th, the Queen, 
 accompanied by the Princess Beatrice, paid a visit to 
 the tomb of the late Earl of Beaconsfield, and the 
 vault, which was again re-opened to receive the 
 royal offerings of affectionate respect, was after- 
 wards finally closed. The visit of Her Majesty was 
 intended to be strictly private, and the secret was 
 most faithfully kept by the few to whom it was 
 confided. On Thursday Lord Eowton was sum- 
 moned to Windsor, when 'the Queen intimated her 
 desire to visit Hughenden churchyard and lay on 
 the coffin of the deceased Earl another wreath. 
 The Queen also wished to follow the exact route 
 travelled by Lord Beaconsfield on his last return 
 from Windsor to Hughenden, and to traverse the 
 exact course of the bier on the day of the funeral 
 from the Manor House to the tomb. Lord Eowton 
 communicated Her Majesty's pleasure to the two 
 executors, and on Friday his Lordship and Sir 
 Philip Kose left town for Hughenden, where they 
 were met by Captain Drake, Chief Constable of 
 the county of Bucks, and arrangements were made 
 for securing the desired privacy without exciting 
 public curiosity, which for several days past has 
 been very sensitive in the district in consequence 
 of the trench leading to the vault not having been 
 completely filled in. Eumour accounted for the 
 
THE FUNERAL. 209 
 
 fact by asserting that an iron door to close the 
 aperture was in course of construction, and when 
 masons were employed on Saturday to re-open the 
 trench, it was generally believed that this was the 
 case. Lord Beaconsfield's last visit to Windsor 
 Castle was on December 8th, and he drove over 
 on his return to Hughenden on the 10th, a dis- 
 tance of about twenty-four miles, calling at Eayners 
 (Sir Philip Eose's estate) on his way home. The 
 route traversed by his Lordship is somewhat cir- 
 cuitous, and as Her Majesty desired to reach 
 Hughenden by the same route, one of Sir Philip's 
 grooms preceded the Eoyal carriage on Saturday 
 from the entrance to Cleveden (seat of the Duke 
 of Westminster) to Hughenden. 
 
 Accompanied by Princess Beatrice, the Dowager 
 Marchioness of Ely (Lady in Waiting), and Lord 
 Charles Fitzroy acting as Equerry, Her Majesty left 
 Windsor* in a new carriage drawn by four greys, 
 with postilions and two outriders. Horses were 
 changed at Taplow, and the course from thence 
 pursued was by Dropmore, Hollspur, and along the 
 Oxford road to Low water. Turning in at the lower 
 Lodge at Eayners, the Eoyal party emerged, after 
 a two miles' drive, from the Lodge gates in the rural 
 village of Penn, and thence proceeded by Hazlemere, 
 Deadmandane Bottom, and Crier's Hill to Hugh- 
 enden Church. The Eoyal visitors were received 
 by Lord Eowton, who conducted Her Majesty and 
 
 p 
 
210 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 the Princess into the church, where they were met 
 by the Yicar and his wife. The Queen expressed 
 much admiration at the work of restoration, which 
 has been carried out mainly at the expense of Mr. 
 Seabright, of London, the vicar's father-in-law, and 
 looked with mournful interest on the fast-fading 
 wreaths which fill the seat in the chancel which the 
 late Earl used to occupy. Lord Eowton pointed 
 out where the proposed memorial window would be 
 inserted. Various objects of interest, including 
 the seat formerly occupied by Lord Beaconsfield, 
 were pointed out, and then, after ten minutes' stay 
 within the church, the Eoyal visitors walked across 
 the greensward to the inclined excavation leading 
 to the opening to the vault. They were followed by 
 the Queen's personal attendant, who carried a beau- 
 tiful wreath and cross, formed of white camellias 
 and other flowers, exquisitely worked in porcelain, 
 brought in the Royal carriage from Windsor Castle. 
 Tor a few seconds Her Majesty paused at the head 
 of the incline and stood looking sorrowfully down 
 the sloping path at the open vault. Then, followed 
 by Princess Beatrice, Lord Ptowton, the Lady in 
 Waiting, and Lord Charles Fitzroy, Her Majesty 
 walked into the tomb and placed the wreath and 
 cross upon the heap of floral offerings, which com- 
 pletely obscured the lid of Lord Beaconsfield's 
 coffin. 
 
 While thus occupied in the vault the Royal 
 
THE FUNERAL. 211 
 
 visitors were entirely hidden 'from the gaze of 
 the few assembled spectators, and what really 
 occurred during the few moments the Sovereign 
 stood beside the remains of the late Earl is known 
 only to those who accompanied Her Majesty. When, 
 at last, the sad visit was concluded the Queen and 
 Princess Beatrice emerged slowly from the exca- 
 vation, and, walking to their carriage, drove from 
 the churchyard, some heavy drops of rain falling 
 as the Eoyal party proceeded up the steep and 
 winding roadway on the hillside to the small plateau 
 on which the residence of the late Lord Beacons- 
 field is situated. Entering the private grounds of 
 the Manor House, where the Queen's arrival was 
 heralded by the startled cry of Lord Beaconsfield's 
 favourite peacocks as they strutted about the minia- 
 ture lawn, Her Majesty and Princess Beatrice alighted 
 at the glass-sheltered piazza, the interior of which 
 is adorned with statuary and foliage plants, and 
 passing into the mansion, engaged for some time in 
 conversation with Lord Eowton. The Royal visitors 
 inspected the Earl of Beaconsfield's study and the 
 other principal apartments, and after a stay of three- 
 quarters of an hour at the house, left Hughenden on 
 their return home. It was half-past five when Her 
 Majesty and Princess Beatrice quitted the ground, 
 the Royal carriage passing down the Park slopes 
 to Wycombe, proceeding thence to Windsor Castle, 
 some heavy showers falling as the Royal party 
 
 P 2 
 
212 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 quitted the Hughenden demesne at the close of the 
 visit. Before their departure for London, Lord 
 Eowton and Sir Philip Eose returned to the church^ 
 yard, and saw that the masonry work for finally 
 closing the vault was far advanced, Her Majesty 
 having expressed a desire that the vault should not 
 again be opened. 
 
LORD BEACONSFIELD'S WILL. 
 
 The will of Lord Beaconsfield was read by Mr. 
 P. r. Eose, solicitor, in the saloon at Hughenden 
 Manor immediately after the funeral, and in the 
 presence of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Con- 
 naught, Prince Leopold, and the other distinguished 
 mourners. In this will, which is dated December 
 16th, 1878, the late Earl bequeaths all his personal 
 estate, including the copjnright of his works, to his 
 executors, upon trust that they shall convert it 
 into money, and after the payment of his debts 
 and funeral expenses, apply the residue in the 
 manner subsequently directed. The Manor of 
 Hughenden, with the mansion-house, grounds, and 
 appurtenances, the advowson of the church, and 
 all his. landed property in the county of Bucks, 
 are bequeathed to Coningsby Ealph Disraeli, son 
 of Mr. Ealph Disraeli ; after Coningsby's decease to 
 his sons, with remainder to the other sons of Mr. E- 
 Disraeli, who may be hereafter born, and failing 
 
214 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 them, successively to the three daughters of his 
 brother Ealph and their children. Whoever be- 
 comes possessed of Hughenden under this will 
 shall take the name of Disraeli only. The trees 
 on the estates are not to be cut down. The 
 mansion and estate may be let during the min- 
 ority of the heir, which extends to the age of 
 twenty-six years, and the rents applied for the 
 permanent improvement of the property. If they 
 grant leases, the trustees are to reserve " the best 
 yearly rent that can reasonably be gotten without 
 taking any premium." The trustees may sell any 
 portion of the estate, except Hughenden Manor 
 and its grounds, and with the proceeds purchase 
 other freehold or copyhold hereditaments, or dis- 
 charge any mortgages. A discretion is given them 
 to make a selection from the contents of Hughen- 
 den House of articles to be held as heirlooms. 
 The bequest of the papers of the late Earl is in 
 the following words : — 
 
 '*I give and bequeath to my friend and private secretary, 
 Montagu Corry, Esq., all the letters, papers and documents, 
 whether of a private or of a public character, and whether in 
 print or in manuscript ; and also all the manuscript of any 
 writing published or composed by me of which I shall die 
 possessed ; and also all the manuscripts and papers of my late 
 father, Isaac Disraeli, Esq., upon the trusts hereinafter 
 declared concerning the same. 
 
 "I hereby request the said Montagu Corry, with all con- 
 venient speed after my death, to collect, or aid in collecting, 
 the said documents ; and I hereby, relying on tlie discretion 
 
LOKD BEACONSFIELD'S WILL. 215 
 
 of the said Montagu Corry, do authorise and request him to 
 destroy any of the said documents, or any part thereof, as he 
 in the absolute exercise of such discretion shall think ought 
 to be destroyed, and I authorise the said Montagu Corry to 
 keep and deposit all or any of the said documents as he shall 
 think ought not to be destroyed in such place as he shall 
 think fit during such period of time as he shall require to have 
 access to them for the purposes of examination or publication. 
 I give to the said Montagu Corry full discretion with regard 
 to the publication of all or any of such documents, leaving to 
 him to decide as to the time and mode of publication ; and as 
 many of the said documents are connected with my official 
 and public lite, and contain matters bearing on the character 
 and conduct of contemporary statesmen, and on affairs which 
 it may be of importance to the public interest should not be 
 prematurely or indiscreetly disclosed, I give the above dis- 
 cretion to the said Montagu Corry, in the full assurance that 
 he will scrupulously respect every confidence reposed in me, 
 and will cause or allow nothing to be published calculated to 
 do injury to the public service, or to inflict needless pain on 
 the living or on the families of the dead. 
 
 ''And 1 especially and expressly desire and direct that no 
 portion of my correspondence with Her Majesty Queen Victoria 
 shall be published or made known until the said Montagu 
 Corry shall have ascertained and shall have satisfied himself 
 that no objection is entertained to such use of the said cor- 
 respondence on the part of Her Majesty herself during her 
 life, or after her death on the part of those who may, in the 
 belief of the said Montagu Corry, be likely to be conversant 
 with her wishes and opinions on the subject. 
 
 " And I hereby authorise the said Montagu Corry to sell 
 and dispose of the copyright of any of the said documents in 
 the case of their publication, or to make such pecuniary 
 arrangements as to the terms of their publication as he may 
 think fit, and if any less sum than five hundred pounds should, 
 after payment of all expenses of publication, be received by 
 the said Montagu Corry from the publication of any of such 
 
216 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 documents, I hereby give and bequeath such sum to the said 
 Montagu Corry for his own use ; but if any greater sum 
 than the sum of five hundred pounds, after payment of ex- 
 penses as aforesaid, shall be so received, I desire and direct 
 that the said Montagu Corry shall pay such surplus as soon 
 as the same shall have been actually received and got in by 
 him to the trustees or trustee of this my will, and that the 
 said trustees or trustee of this my will shall apply the same 
 upon the trusts and with and subject to the powers and pro- 
 visions applicable to moneys arising from sales under the 
 power of sale hereinbefore contained, and investments 
 respecting the same ; but I expressly declare that this proviso 
 shall not be construed to give to any person the right to 
 interfere with any discretion of the said Montagu Corry with 
 regard to the time and mode of publication of the said 
 documents. 
 
 " And I hereby authorise the said Montagu Corry to give 
 gratuitous access, whether for historical, literary, or other 
 purposes, to any person or persons to whom in his judgment 
 such access should be given. And with regard to the perma- 
 nent disposal of the said documents I direct and desire that 
 the said Montagu Corry will, when and so far as is consistent 
 with the due carrying out of the purposes of this my will as 
 to publication and otherwise, deposit the same at my mansion 
 house of Hughenden Manor, and allow the same to go, 
 devolve, and remain as heirlooms, together with my said 
 mansion house, so far as the rules of law and equity will 
 permit, but so, nevertheless, that the same shall not vest 
 absolutely in any person hereby made tenant in tail male, 
 unless such person shall attain the age of twenty-one years ; 
 but on the death of such tenant in tail male under the age of 
 twenty-one years the said documents shall go and devolve and 
 remain as if the same had been freeholds of inheritance and 
 had been devised in strict settlement accordingly. 
 
 " And I hereby declare that it shall be lawful for the said 
 Montagu Corry to seal up and keep sealed up all or any of 
 such documents as he shall think proper, and that it shall be 
 
LORD BEACONSFIELD'S WILL. 217 
 
 lawful at any time for the said Montagu Corry, or for any 
 person bearing an order signed by him, to have access to the 
 said documents, and to make copies of the same, or any part 
 thereof, and for the said Montagu Corry to remove to such 
 place as he shall think proper any of the said documents, and 
 to make copies of the same, or any part thereof ; and for the 
 said Montagu Corry to remove to such place as he shall think 
 proper any of the said documents for such length of time as 
 he may desire, for the purposes of examination or publica- 
 tion. And further, that a list shall be made, subject to revision 
 from time to time, of the said documents not destroyed, and 
 shall be signed by the said Montagu Corry, and by every 
 person for the time being entitled to the use and occupation 
 of my said mansion house, or during the minority of any 
 person who shall be so entitled as aforesaid by the trustees or 
 trustee of this my will, provided always that the said 
 Montagu Corry shall not at any time be responsible for any 
 inadvertent loss or damage which may happen to any of the 
 said documents, but shall not be precluded from interfering 
 for the preservation and protection of the said documents 
 whenever he shall think fit. 
 
 "And I hereby declare that if and when the said Montagu 
 Corry shall die or become incapable to act, or be desirous of re- 
 tiring from the execution of the trusts herein conferred upon 
 him, it shall be lawful for the trustees or trustee of this my will 
 to appoint a successor or successors to the said Montagu Corry 
 in the execution of the said trusts relating to the said docu- 
 ments, and thereupon the execution of the said trusts and all 
 powers and rights hereby conferred on the said Montagu 
 Corry in relation thereto shall devolve on the said successor 
 or successors so appointed as aforesaid, precisely as if he or 
 they had been named m this my will. 
 
 "Provided always that all sums of money received by the 
 said Montagu Corry which he would be entitled to keep and 
 retain for his own use under the provisions of this my will 
 shall remain the absolute property of the said Montagu Corry, 
 his executors, administrators, and assigns, and shall not pass 
 
218 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 to such successor or successors as aforesaid, and such suc- 
 cessor or successors shall pay to and account for to the 
 trustees or trustee of this my will all sums of money received 
 by him or them on account of the publication of any of 
 the said documents after payment of all expenses incurred 
 in connection with such publication, and the trustees or 
 trustee of this my will shall apply such sums in the same 
 manner as the money received by them from the said Montagu 
 Corry in respect of the publication of any of the said documents 
 as hereinbefore directed to be applied. 
 
 '* And 1 hereby direct and desire that the trustees or trustee 
 of this my will shall collect or aid in collecting the said 
 documents with ajl convenient speed after my death, and 
 place the same at the disposal of -the said Montagu Corry ; 
 and I authorise them to pay all the expense of such collection 
 out of my personal estate. 
 
 " Provided always, and I hereby declare, that upon every 
 or any appointment of a new trustee of this my will the 
 number of the said trustees may be augmented or reduced, 
 and (in addition to the ordinary powers of indemnity and 
 right to reimbursement by law given to trustees) the trustes, 
 or trustee of this my will shall be at liberty to accept less 
 than a marketable tithe upon the purchase or taking in ex- 
 change of any hereditaments, and shall not be answerable for 
 any loss thereby occasioned, nor for any default in title or 
 value of hereditaments purchased or taken in exchange. I 
 hereby appoint the said Sir Nathaniel Mayer de Rothschild 
 and the said Sir Philip Rose executors of this my wil]." 
 
VI. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY. 
 
 There can no longer be any doubt as to the place 
 or date of Lord Beaconsfield's birth. It is certain 
 that he was born at 5 or 6, Bloomsbury Square, 
 on December 21, 1804. As regards the place, the 
 following extract from BelVs Life of June 19th 
 1869, is worth reproduction : — 
 
 " Sixty years ago, before the police authorities 
 had changed the names of the old thoroughfares, 
 the house, 215, Upper Street, Islington, now divided 
 into two shops, was a well-looking private residence, 
 situate in Trinity Place, its front windows com- 
 manding a view of Canonbury fields, its back 
 windows overlooking its own grounds, which were 
 moderately extensive. The then occupier was no 
 less a personage than the elder Disraeli, author of 
 Curiosities of Literaturey and in that house was 
 born his son, the Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, late 
 Prime Minister of the Crown." Mr. Truefitt, of 
 
220 MEMOKIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 No. 5, Bloomsbury Square, however, writes as 
 follows : — " When I took offices here, above five- 
 and-twenty years ago, I was informed by those who 
 had known the house for many years that Benjamin 
 Disraeli was born in this house, and I have never 
 since heard anything to cause me to doubt the 
 believed fact. Yesterday you correctly described 
 the house as at the south-west corner, looking into 
 Hart Street. Mrs. Eust, however, in this morning's 
 paper, has ' assured ' you that he was born at No. 6. 
 She is quite right in saying No. 6, but that was the 
 number of this house until the Board of Works 
 took to renumbering houses, and the first one they 
 altered was this, turning it into No. 5, and calling 
 the next house, Mrs. Eust's, No. 6, which till then 
 was 6a or 6 J. The rate-books, or any old Directory, 
 will show the correctness of what I state, and I 
 still feel perfectly satisfied that No. 5, Bloomsbury 
 Square (formerly No. 6) was the birthplace of Lord 
 Beaconsfield. When the Disraelis left, it was, after 
 a time, I believe, used as a foreign boarding-house, 
 and then let out into offices, ever since which time, 
 some thirty years ago, it has been a well-known 
 house for gentlemen of my profession, the whole of 
 the sets of rooms, with the exception of the ground 
 floor, being nearly always let to architects." 
 
 With reference to the date of the birth, the 
 following is the entry, copied from the baptismal 
 register of St. Andrew's, Holborn : — 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY 
 
 221 
 
 " Entry of Baptism, St. Andrew's, Holborn. 
 
 "July 31, 1817. — Benjamin, 'sd to be about 
 twelve years old,' son of Isaac and Maria D' Israeli 
 former described as gentleman) residing at King's 
 Ed. — Officiating clergyman, Eev. J. Thimbleby." 
 
 The subjoined is an exact transcript from the 
 registry of the synagogue in Bevis Marks : — 
 
 Vestry Room, 
 
 Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Synagogue, 
 
 Bevis Marks, E.G. 
 
 Child's 
 
 Name. 
 
 Father's 
 Name. 
 
 Mother's 
 Name. 
 
 Maria. 
 
 Surname. 
 D'Israeli. 
 
 Day in 
 
 Week of 
 
 Child's 
 
 Birth. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Jewish 
 Date. 
 
 19 
 
 Tebet, 
 
 5565. 
 
 Christian 
 Era. 
 
 21 
 
 December, 
 
 ,1804. ^ 
 
 Circum- 
 cised by 
 
 D. A. Lindo, 
 
 26 Tebet, 
 
 5565. 
 
 Attested 
 by 
 
 D. J. Do 
 
 Castro. 
 
 Benjamin. 
 
 Isaac. 
 
 " I hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the entry 
 made in the Registry Book of Births kept at the Spanish and 
 Portuguese Jews' Synagogue, Bevis Marks. 
 
 " London, April 19, 1881. E. H. Lindo, Secretary:' 
 
 The Solicitors' Journal states that the facts re- 
 lating to Lord Beaconsfield's connection with the 
 law in early life are these : — 
 
 *• He was articled to Mr. William Stevens, soli- 
 citor, of the firm of Swain, Stevens, Maples, Pearse, 
 and Hunt, of No. 6, Frederick's Place, Old Jewry. 
 The articles of clerkship, which are still preserved 
 by Messrs. Maples. Teesdale, and Co., the successors 
 to the business of the above-mentioned firm, are 
 dated the 10th of November, 1821. Mr. Disraeli, 
 
222 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 though articled to Mr. Stevens, was exclusively 
 employed in the department of the late Mr. Maples, 
 one of the other partners in the firm, who was an 
 old friend of Mr. Disraeli's father and mother. It 
 was, indeed, through this friendship that Mr. Disraeli 
 came into the office. Mr. Maples always described 
 Mr. Disraeli as being most assiduous in his atten- 
 tion to business, and as showing great ability in its 
 transaction. So marked, indeed, was his talent that 
 Mr. Maples advised Mr. Isaac Disraeli that his son 
 ought to be allowed to go to the bar. This advice 
 was not followed, and Mr. Disraeli remained be- 
 tween three and four years in Messrs. Swain and 
 Co.'s office, but left, we beUeve, about the beginning 
 of the year 1825." 
 
 High Wycombe and its neighbourhood are full 
 of and about Lord Beaconsfield. At the White 
 Hart Hotel the landlord exhibits a chair which 
 was made at the time when the late Earl contested 
 High Wycombe, and which was provided by the 
 local chairmakers, who represented the staple in- 
 dustry of the district, for the purpose of charing the 
 youthful candidate in case he was successful. It is 
 a substantial piece of workmanship, and the story 
 of the use to which it was intended to have been 
 put is indicated by the fact that the colours which 
 the friends of the candidates then bore are worked 
 into it. One little fiction in connection with the 
 late Earl's first candidature has been exposed in the 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY. 223 
 
 discovery that the large lion which stands on the 
 portico of the Eed Lion Hotel, and suggests such 
 stolidity of body and activity of tail, is not the 
 original lion beside which Lord Beaconsfield (then 
 Mr. Disraeli) stood, and on which he leaned when 
 he addressed the electors. The fact is that for two 
 or three years the hotel was without its wooden 
 sign, and the present lion is a modern substitute. 
 Some of the anecdotes told of his Lordship are of 
 the most trivial kind, but the eager way in which 
 they are retailed among the people shows how deep 
 was the impression he made upon his humbler neigh- 
 bours. It is, however, pleasing to hear the praise 
 that is bestowed upon his memory by those who 
 know how he used frequently to enter the cottages 
 of his tenants, and make practical inquiries as to 
 the sanitary arrangements of their homes. When 
 there were children in the family he would often 
 have them called in, and while they stood in line 
 before him he would put them through a short 
 examination to test their scholastic progress, giving 
 them small rewards in recognition of the ability 
 they displayed. 
 
 That the late Earl was held in high esteem among 
 his tenantry is also in many other ways testified. 
 The labourers on his estate speak warmly of him as 
 one who, when they met him sauntering about the 
 sylvan slopes of his little demesne, always had a 
 kind word of inquiry for them and theirs, and who 
 
224 MEMORIALS OF LORD BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 showed a more practical sympathjr in winter by 
 judicious gifts of warm clothing and fuel, and who, 
 in conjunction with the Vicar, looked closely after 
 the well-being of three ancient nonagenarians — one 
 ninety-one, another ninety-two, and a third ninety- 
 five — who survive their benefactor, to testify to the 
 healthiness of the Buckinghamshire Downs. Occa- 
 sionally he extended his walks to the farm-houses 
 of his few tenants, sitting down familiarly, and 
 talking over rural and local matters with them in 
 a simple homely style that won their hearts. There 
 is only one little anecdote told of these periodical 
 excursions concerning a tenant who happened at 
 the time to be suffering from rheumatism. The 
 farm-house was large, and, like many of the home- 
 steads of the district, had brick ground flooring. 
 Speaking more in joke than in earnest, the tenant 
 suggested that this brick flooring had something to 
 do with the malady from which he was suffering, 
 upon which his landlord, taking him an serieux, 
 said he could not afford to lose a good tenant for 
 so trifling a matter as that, took his departure, and 
 next day sent a carpenter to substitute a board floor 
 for a brick one. It is also told of him that when 
 a labourer at Hughenden, addressing his Lordship's 
 coachman, and not knowing that his Lordship was 
 in the carriage, asked, "How is the old man to-day ?" 
 "I am quite well, thank you," said his Lordship, 
 with a merry twinkle in his eye as he popped his 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY. 225 
 
 head through the carriage window. Overtaken in his 
 own grounds by two intrusive women, who did not 
 know him, and who asked whether this was "Dizzy's 
 place," he courteously answered their inquiry and 
 directed them to a place from which they might 
 get a good view of the exterior of the house. The 
 women were grievously confused when they after- 
 wards found that they h^d been addressing his 
 Lordship himself. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 On Monday, May 9th, the proposal for erecting si 
 monument to the memory of Lord Beaconsfield in 
 Westminster Abbey was agreed to b}'- both Houses 
 of Parliament. In the House of Lords there was 
 no opposition; in the House of Commons Mr. 
 Labouchere moved an amendment, which was rejected 
 by 380 to 54. The following are the speeches 
 delivered in the House of Lords : — 
 
 Eari Granville. — My Lords, I wish to move the Address of 
 which I have given notice, and which is as follows : — *' That 
 an humble Address be presented to her Majesty, praying that 
 her Majesty will give directions that a monument be erected 
 in the collegiate church of St. Peter, Westminster, to the 
 memory of the late Eight Hon. the Earl of Beaconsfield, K.G., 
 with an inscription expressive of the high sense entertained 
 by the House of his rare and splendid gifts, and of his de- 
 voted labours in Parliament and in great offices of State ; and 
 to assure her Majesty that tliis House will concur in giving 
 effect to her Majesty's most gracious Message." My Lords, 
 very few arguments are required to induce your Lordships to 
 agree to that Motion ; and for that reason, and for some 
 others, 1 shall confine my observations within narrow limits. 
 This is not the time, and I am not the person, to give any 
 biographical sketch of a man so well known as Lord 
 Beaconsfield, and it would still less become me to analyse in 
 any degree his policy or his political action. For me to give 
 my approval of these would give a stamp of insincerity to 
 my remarks which would be displeasing to your Lordships, 
 and which would not be creditable to myself (hear, hear). 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 My Lords, our long experience of constitutional government 
 has persuaded almost every Englishman that party govern- 
 ment is necessary for the well-working of representative in- 
 stitutions, and that party organisation is needful in order to 
 establish a strong and efficient Government under the Consti- 
 tion (hear, hear). We owe the same experience to other 
 favourable circumstances — that there is no country in which 
 the relations of political opponents are more free from any- 
 thing like personal bitterness than our own (cheers), or 
 one where there is more readiness on a fitting occasion 
 to drop all party feeling, and to think only of what is 
 good for the dignity of the country (hear, hear). Now, 
 my Lords, I believe it is for the national dignity that Parlia- 
 ment should from time to time, on exceptional occasions, 
 acknowledge the services of statesmen, not thereby giving 
 any general opinion in favour of any particular policy those 
 statesmen may have pursued, but a general recognition of 
 their great abilities having been devoted in eminent situations 
 to the service of the state (hear, hear). My Lords, it is im- 
 possible for any one to deny that Lord Beaconsfield played a 
 great part in English history. No one can deny his rare and 
 splendid gifts, and his force of character. No one can deny 
 how long and how continuous have been his services, both 
 with regard to the Crown and Parliament. Lord Beaconsfield 
 achieved by his own strong individuality, without any adven- 
 titious circumstances, the great personal success to which he 
 attained. My Lords, I myself, assisted by some of those 
 social advantages which Lord Beaconsfield was without, came 
 into the House of Commons at a very early age, and some six 
 months before Mr. Disraeli took his seat in that assembly. I 
 had thus the opportunity of hearing that speech famous for 
 its failure, although I am convinced that if that speech had 
 been made in a House of Commons which knew him better it 
 would have been received with cheers and sympathetic, in- 
 stead of derisive, laughter — a speech which, owing to the 
 feeling of his audience, he was obliged to conclude with a 
 sentence somewhat resembling an ejaculation by Mr. Sheridan, 
 which showed the unconquerabre confidence which strong 
 men have in their own power. My Lords, the last time that 
 Lord Beaconsfield spoke in this House a speech of an argu- 
 mentative character was a few weeks ago. I think it was about 
 ten o'clock on the second day of the debate on Afghanistan 
 that Lord Beaconsfield sent me a message saying that he 
 purposed speaking directly. I sent him a strong remon- 
 strance, saying that two peers who had beeni in office and 
 a third peer, one of the most remarkable speakers in the 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 House, desired to take part in the debate ; but Lord Beacons- 
 field persisted, and I thought I was justified in making a 
 rather strong complaint of his having done so. I have since 
 learned with regret that Lord Beaconsfield had, just before 
 he received that message from me, swallowed one drug and 
 had inhaled another drug in quantities nicely adapted so as 
 to enable him to speak free from the depression of his com- 
 plaint during the time that that speech required for delivery. 
 I cannot help thinking that such incidents as these, although 
 not very great in themselves, one at the beginning and the 
 other at the end of a Parliamentary career lasting forty-four 
 years, were proofs of that determination which he possessed 
 and that contempt for obstacles which might have alarmed 
 more weak men (hear, hear). My Lords, I remember another 
 small fact connected Avith this House which appeared to me 
 indicative of Lord Beaconsfield's self-control and his great 
 patience. I think there are few men coming into the House 
 of Lords as Prime Minister with a great oratorical reputation 
 who would not have shown some impatience for an early 
 opportunity for its display. I daresay your Lordships 
 remember how silent and how reticent Lord Beaconsfield 
 was for two or three months, and it was only when an 
 unfounded charge was made against him that he took the 
 opportunity of making a speech by which he immediately 
 obtained that hold over your Lordships' House which he had so 
 long maintained in another place (hear, hear). My Lords, 
 some men obtain influence over others by possessing in a still 
 stronger degree the merits or the qualities or the faults of 
 those they lead ; others produce the same effect by exactly 
 opposite causes. I believe that Lord Beaconsfield, a man him- 
 self very free from prejudices, and more or less tolerant of 
 them in others, belonged to the latter class. I have never 
 known any man so complete a master in writing, in speaking, 
 and in conversation, of censure and of eulogy. His long habit 
 of sparkling literary composition, his facility of dealing with 
 metaphor, with antithesis, and even with alliteration, gave 
 him a singular power of coining and applying phrases which 
 caught the popular mind, and which attached praise and 
 blame to the actions of the great parties in the State. My 
 Lords, the noble Earl undoubtedly possessed the power of 
 appealing to the imagination, not only of his countrymen, but 
 of foreigners ; and that power was not destroyed even by 
 death. With certain exceptions. Lord Beaconsfield was 
 singularly tolerant with regard to his political opponents 
 and very appreciative of their merits. I believe no more 
 happy compliment was ever paid to Lord Palmerston 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 and Lord Russell than by Mr. Disraeli in the House of 
 Commons; and I have heard one of Mr. Cobden's dearest 
 ' friends quote as the most touching speech he ever heard the 
 tribute which Mr. Disraeli paid in the House of Commons to 
 his great and victorious free trade opponent, I myself can 
 boast of having been treated in this House by successive 
 leaders of the great Conservative Party in it with great kind- 
 ness and great forbearance, but 1 am bound to say that by 
 none was that great fairness and forbearance more remarkably 
 displayed than by Lord Beaconsfield during the few years 
 that I had the honour of sitting opposite him, and on 
 some previous occasions with regard to Foreign AfEairs. My 
 Lords, the noble Duke, speaking on the authority of an intimate 
 friend, told your Lordships how kind and good-natured a man 
 in private life Lord Beaconsheld was. I believe that to be 
 perfectly true, notwithstanding the singular power of destruc- 
 tiveness w^hich he possessed, and sometimes exercised. I 
 remember being told by one to whom the constant devotion 
 of Lord Beaconsfield during his life was one of the character- 
 istic traits of his character, that not only was he a kind and 
 good-natured man, but that he was singularly sensitive to 
 kindness shown to him by others. My Lords, there is one 
 reason why we should pay respect to the memory of Lord 
 Beaconsfield in this House which is not altogether of a dis- 
 interested character. The aristocracy of this country, some- 
 times in praise, sometimes in blame, has been described as 
 proud, powerful, and wealthy. The democratic element, 
 combined with this aristocratic institution, has added to its 
 wealth, to its strength, and possibly to its pride ; and I can 
 conceive no brighter, no more brilliant example of the way in 
 which the portals of this Assembly smoothly roll back to 
 admit eminent and distinguished men, and welcome them to 
 the very first ranks in the Assembly that they so enter, than 
 the example of the late Lord Beaconsfield (loud cheers). My 
 Lords, I beg to move the Eesolution of which I have given 
 notice. 
 
 The Marquess of Salisbury, who was received with cheers, 
 said : — My Lords, the noble Earl, in the graceful language in 
 which he moved the erection of this last and melancholy 
 tribute to a political opponent, justly said that not only con- 
 tested questions were in no degree affected by the action that 
 he or your Lordships might take, or the language he used, 
 but also that not many words were needed to commend this 
 Motion to the acceptance of Parliament. In this case, indeed, 
 not many words are needed, because one of the most striking- 
 phenomena attending this brilliant and remarkable career has 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 been the deep interest with which, through his illness and 
 after his death, his fate was followed not only by his own 
 friends and adherents, but by men of every class and opinion 
 in this country, and by men of the greatest influence and 
 power in other countries also. Whatever else may be said of 
 the deceased statesman, this, at least, can never be gain- 
 say ed — that while his memory will ever be associated with 
 many a controverted issue, the historian must always add 
 that, when the fierce struggle was over, and the great career 
 closed, there was no doubt what the verdict was of his 
 countrymen upon the services he had rendered. This unani- 
 mity of opinion with respect to one whose measures were 
 necessarily much contested will suggest various explanations. 
 That his friends and colleagues should mourn his loss and 
 revere his memory is only too natural. I have not the same 
 title to speak on this subject as many of those beside me, be- 
 cause my close political connection with him was comparatively 
 recent. But it lasted through anxious and difficult times, 
 when the character of men may be plainly seen by those 
 who work with them. And to me, as I believe to all others 
 who have worked with him, his patience, his gentle- 
 ness, his unswerving and unselfish loyalty to his colleagues 
 and fellow-labourers, have made an impression which will 
 never leave me so long as life endures. But these feel- 
 ings could only affect a limited circle of his immediate 
 adherents. The impression which his career and cha- 
 racter have made on the vast mass of his countrymen 
 must be sought elsewhere. To a great extent, no doubt, 
 it is due to the peculiar character of his genius, to its 
 varied nature, to the wonderful combination of qualities 
 which he possessed and which rarely reside in the same brain. 
 To some extent, also, it is no doubt that the circumstances to 
 which the noble Earl has so eloquently alluded — that is, the 
 social difficulties which opposed themselves to his early rise, 
 and the splendid perseverance by which they were overcome 
 — impressed his countrymen, who love to see exemplified that 
 open career to all persons, whatever their initial difficulties 
 may be, which is one of the characteristics of the institutions 
 of which they are most proud (hear). They saw in Lord 
 Beaconsfield's life a proof that whatever difficulties may 
 attend the beginning of a man's fame, if the genius and 
 the perseverance are there, the most splendid position and the 
 widest influence are open to any subject of the Queen. But 
 there was another cause. Lord Beaconsfield' s feelings and 
 principles with respect to the greatness of his country, more 
 and more as life went oil, made an impression on his country- 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 men. Zeal for the greatness of England was the passion of 
 his mind (hear, hear). Opinions might and did differ deeply 
 as to the measures and steps by which expression was given to 
 the dominant feelings, and more and more as life drew near 
 its close, as the heat and turmoil of controversy were left 
 behind, as the gratification of every possible ambition nega- 
 tived the suggestion of any inferior motives, and brought out 
 into greater prominence the purity and strengh of this one 
 intense feeling, the people of this country recognised the 
 force with which this desire dominated his actions, and they 
 repaid it by an affection and reverence which did not depend 
 upon, nor had any concern with, their opinion as to the par-- 
 ticular policy pursued. This was the great title to their 
 attachment, namely, that above all things he wished to see 
 England united, powerful, and great. In the questions of 
 interior policy which divided classes he had to consider them, 
 he had to judge them, and to take his course accordingly. It 
 seemed to me that he treated them always as of secondary 
 interest, compared to this one great question — how the 
 country to which he belonged might be made united and 
 strong. The feeling he showed was repaid to him abundantly, 
 and it is because this affection spread itself through all 
 classes both among those who were his friends and among 
 his opponents, that this vote which has been moved by the 
 noble Earl, and which I have risen to second, is no expression 
 of any party or section of party, is not representative of any 
 opinion upon any controverted question, but is the homage 
 and recognition of a united people to the splendid genius and 
 the magnificent services he rendered (cheers). 
 
 The Earl of Malmesbury.— I should be making a great 
 sacrifice to my own feelings if I did not on this occasion 
 express my opinion, not on the great political powers and 
 talent of Lord Beaconsfield, but as the witness of his private 
 life. My excuse for speaking of him is that I knew him in- 
 timately. I knew Lord Beaconsfield before he was a Minister. 
 I was in the first Cabinet in which he sat ; I was with him in 
 four Cabinets afterwards, including the last one. With all 
 these opportunities of knowing him, I must say that his was 
 one complete character as far as good nature, amiability, and 
 sincere friendship are concerned. Men might naturally think, 
 when they saw him sitting in the place in which he gained 
 so much honour, with an unmoved countenance, even re- 
 ceiving the thrusts of the greatest gladiators of the day, 
 that he was a man without the common feelings of nature. 
 But that was not the case. I know no man who felt disap- 
 pointment more, or so much enjoyed triumph. It was 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 his indomitable courrge which enabled him to master his 
 features, as well as supported him through all the difficulties 
 of his career. He had every domestic virtue that I consider 
 a man need have. He was supported by a most amiable and 
 devoted wife, to whom he was equally devoted. I remember 
 when he was at last deprived of her support, he said to me with 
 tears in his eyes, " I hope some of my friends will take notice 
 of me in my great misfortune, for I have now no home. I 
 feel, when I tell my coachman to drive home, that it is a 
 mockery." Her devotion to him is well illustrated by a re- 
 markable story which your Lordships have, no doubt, heard, 
 and which was told me by himself. One day he arrived at 
 the House of Commons, having a very important speech 
 to make. The servant, in closing the door of the carriage, 
 shut in Lady Beaconsfield's fingers. She had the courage 
 not to cry out or make any remark until he was out of 
 sight, lest it should disturb his mind, and have a prejudicial 
 influence on his speech. A very short time before his 
 death he gave an instance of the extraordinary courage 
 and perseverance which existed in his character. I was 
 walking with him one day, and we met an old friend, a 
 gentleman very active formerly in public life, and who had 
 reached the age of eighty-four, still looking, for that age, 
 very young. Lord Beaconsfield said to him, " How is it that 
 you maintain your youthful appearance and health in the 
 way you seem to do ? " Our friend answered, " By enjoying 
 all the repose I can." It would be impossible for me to 
 imitate the manner, tone, or gesture with which the late Earl 
 observed, " Ah 1 repose. Good heavens, repose ! " It im- 
 pressed one more than anything with his invincible determi- 
 nation to continue his labours in the public service of his 
 country. For these reasons, and for the reasons stated by the 
 noble liOrds who have proposed and seconded this Vote, it is 
 our duty and pleasure to raise a monument to this great 
 Englishman (hear, hear). 
 
 The Motion was then agreed to. 
 
 In the House of Commons Mr. Gladstone and Sir 
 Stafford Northcote spoke as follows : — 
 
 Mr. Gladstone having moved that the Speaker leave the 
 Chair, the motion was agreed to, and the House went into 
 Committee on the monument in Westminster Abbey to the 
 late Earl of Beaconsfield. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, amid loud Ministerial cheers, then rose to 
 move the following resolution : — " That an humble Address 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 he presented to her Majesty, praying that her Majesty will 
 give directions that a monument be erected in the Collegiate 
 Church of St. Peter, Westminster, to the memory of the late 
 Kight Hon. Earl of Beaconsfield, with an inscription ex- 
 pressive of the high sense entertained by the House of his 
 rare and splendid gifts, and of his devoted labours in Par- 
 liament and in great offices of State, and to assure her Majesty 
 that this House will make good the expenses attending the 
 same." The right hon. gentleman said, — Sir, considering the 
 notice of amendment that appears in conjunction with my 
 own upon the paper, it would perhaps be too sanguine were 
 I to express even the faintest hope that this motion may 
 receive the unanimous assent of the Committee. But, sir, 
 while I do not venture to express that hope, I do entertain a 
 very earnest hope, I would even say I offer a most earnest 
 entreaty, that it may not be made a subject of lengthened or 
 contentious argument (cheers). I say that in the condition 
 of one especially bound to consider what is for the dignity 
 of the House, but I say it also in the character of an old 
 and keen opponent of Lord Beaconsfield ; and nothing would 
 be so painful to me — except, indeed, the rejection of the 
 vote, which I think impossible — as that its grace should 
 be entirely marred by its being a subject of angry dis- 
 cussion (hear, hear). It has not been unnatural that on 
 a subject of this kind, exciting so much and so varied 
 public interest, criticism should have been busy ; and on that 
 criticism, both in respect of what has been done, and in respect 
 of what has not been done, I will simply say that my object 
 has been the fulfilment of my duty, and that fulfilment of my 
 duty has appeared to lie in a careful consideration of the 
 rules and precedents applicable to the case. I think that 
 those precedents ought to be liberally interpreted, but for my 
 own part, in all these monumental and complimentary 
 matters, 1 have great jealousy of adding to them. There is a 
 temptation under the influence of feeling to make these ad- 
 ditions, and every addition made on a particular occasion 
 becomes an embarrassment in the next. I will simply say, 
 not that I have interpreted the precedents aright — I will not 
 assume that — but I have endeavoured strictly and carefully 
 to make them my guide. Every one will feel that this is not 
 an occasion to attempt an historical portrait of Lord Beacons- 
 field ; neither is it the occasion to attempt, especially on this 
 side of the House, or from no side of the House, I will 
 venture to say, is it the occasion to attempt a political eulogy 
 of Lord Beaconsfield. It would be mistaking the purpose for 
 which we are met. I would go a little further, and admit 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 that the position of the House is, in some respects, and in 
 part, peculiar. I do not know that it has ever happened that 
 a Parliament in sharper antagonism to the policy of a particu- 
 lar Minister has been called upon to accept a proposition of 
 this kind with respect to that Minister whose policy it had 
 opposed ; but at the same time, though there is no case 
 exactly analogous to this, yet there are cases which make a 
 material approximation to it in those very respects. When 
 Lord Eussell proposed, in 1850, in a speech of great taste, 
 a monument to the memory of Sir Robert Peel, he very 
 naturally looked back, not merely to the crisis of the anti- 
 corn-law movement, which had brought them together, but 
 to the long struggles of thirty years ; and Lord Kussell 
 said, in very becoming language, " I will not enter into the 
 nature of the measures with which his name is associ- 
 ated ; " and again, "this is not the time to consider 
 particular opinions or particular measures." But he also 
 quoted an earlier case, in which it happened that Colonel 
 Barr^ proposed a public monument to Lord Chatham, with 
 whom he himself, no very long time before, had been in the 
 sharpest antagonism, so that although the features of this 
 case are marked features, yet we are not without guidance 
 from the proceedings of those who have gone before. But 
 this I will venture to say, that this is an occasion on which I 
 should affirm that a majority of this side of the House ought 
 to be on their guard against giving way to our own narrower 
 political sympathies (Ministerial cheers). It would be better 
 that propositions of this kind were to be altogether abandoned 
 and forgotten than that they should degenerate into occasions 
 for issuing a manifesto of political alliances or ordinary par- 
 tisanships (hear, hear). If I am asked why, endeavouring 
 to look without fear or favour at this case upon its merits and 
 upon nothing else, and desirous of speaking the truth without 
 restraint, but without exaggeration — why I venture to recom- 
 mend this proposition to the House, why I think that the 
 same reasons which have led the House to give, in the case 
 of other Prime Ministers of this country, a testimony such 
 as I now invite to the memory of Lord Beaconsfield, I say 
 that in my judgment we have to look to two questions, and 
 to two questions only, and these are, whether the tribute it is 
 proposed to pay is proposed to be paid to one who in the first 
 place has sustained a great historic part and done great deeds, 
 written on the page of Parliamentary and national history ; 
 and the other, whether these deeds have been done with the 
 full authority of the constituted organs of the nation and of 
 the nation itself. I think that an impartial regard to what 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 has happened will satisfy the House that upon neither of 
 these points is there the smallest room for doubt. It 
 may seem to be a sharp mental transition for us to make 
 when we pass from the balance of political opinion which 
 now prevails in this House to the balance of opinion which 
 subsisted here two, three, or four years ago. But it is 
 right, it is just, it is necessary, that we should reflect that 
 what was done by the late Parliament, what was done by the 
 late Ministry, what was done, above all, by Lord Beacons- 
 field, as the ofiQcial head and as the guiding spirit of the 
 whole Ministry, was done under precisely the same Constitu- 
 tional title and exactly the same charter and authority as that 
 under which we now claim to act (Ministerial cheers). 
 Therefore I cast behind me for a moment the question of 
 what I approve and what I disapprove, what I rejoice at and 
 what I regret. We are here to act on the part of the nation, 
 and to maintain that description of action which is suitable to 
 and which is required by a nation's continuous life. The 
 career of Lord Beaconsfield is, in many respects, the most 
 remarkable one in Parliamentary history. For my own part, 
 I know but one that can fairly be compared to it in regard to 
 the emotion of surprise, and when viewed as a whole, an 
 emotion, I might almost say, of wonder, and that is the career, 
 and especially the earlier career, of Mr. Pitt. Lord Beacons- 
 field's name is associated with great Constitutional changes — 
 at least with one great Constitutional change, in regard to 
 which I think it will ever be admitted, at least I never can 
 scruple to admit, that its arrival was accelerated by his per- 
 sonal act (hear, hear). I will not dwell upon that, but I 
 will simply mention the close association of his name with 
 that important change in the principle of the Parliamentary 
 franchise. It is also associated with great European trans- 
 actions and great European arrangements. I feel myself in 
 the position, not necessarily of a friend and admirer, who 
 looks with sympathy at the character and action of Lord 
 Beaconsfield, but I look at the magnitude of the part which 
 he played on behalf of his country, and I say that one who 
 was his political friend might fairly have said of him when 
 he came back from Berlin — 
 
 ** Aspice, ut insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis 
 Ingreditur, vie torque viros supereminet onines." 
 
 (Cheers.) My duty is to look at these things in the magnitude 
 of their national and historical character, and it is in so look- 
 ing at them that I have no doubt that the man who for seven 
 years sustained the office of Prime Minister, the man wlio for 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 nearly thirty years led, either in one House or in both, a great 
 party of this country, and the man who had so intertwined 
 himself in the interest of the general heart, as was shown 
 upon the occasion of his illness, is a man in whom those 
 features meet which justify me in asking for this vote. I 
 have said that, in my opinion, the magnitude of the part 
 which he played, and the authority on which it was played, 
 are the only matters to which we can look. I would press 
 this point especially, for it is one many of us might forget 
 or only feebly or ineffectually remember — namely, that he 
 acted with the same authority as that which we claim for our- 
 selves. The same Constitution, the same popular liberties, 
 the same franchises, the same principle of the prevalence of 
 the majority placed him, first in this House and then in the 
 House of Lords, to give effect to the policy which he believed 
 to be for the benefit of his country (cheers), and which have 
 now placed other men in his position to give effect to what 
 they, with equal sincerity, desire to recommend to Parliament. 
 I think that that somewhat dry portion of my duty which I 
 have now performed in directing attention to those two points 
 which I deem to contain the whole estimate of the case is 
 concluded. As I have said, I will not attempt to give any- 
 thing hke a historial portrait. It Would not be fair or frank, 
 even if it were appropriate in point of time, that I who 
 have been separated from Lord Beaconsfield by longer and 
 larger differences than perhaps ever separated any two persons 
 brought into constant contact in the transaction of public 
 business — it would not be fair to him, it would not be fair to 
 his friends, that I should endeavour to draw a picture of 
 him which must be more faintly coloured, and I must add, 
 which must be differently coloured, if executed by my hand 
 than that which they could fairly claim (hear, hear). But 
 yet, sir, I will allow myself some satisfaction in dwelling 
 on matters upon which I feel it is pleasurable to myself, 
 and on which I also think it is useful for us all to dwell. 
 There were certain great qualities of the deceased states- 
 man on which I think it right to touch. His extraordinary 
 intellectual powers are as well understood by others as 
 by me, and they are not proper subjects for our present 
 commendation. But there were other great qualities — quali- 
 ties not merely intellectual in the sense of being dissociated 
 from conduct, but qualities immediately connected with con- 
 duct, with regard to which I should say, were I a younger 
 man, that I should like to stamp the recollection of them on 
 myself for my own future guidance, and with regard to which 
 1 will confidently say to those who are younger than myself 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 that I would strongly recommend them for notice and imita- 
 tion (cheers). They were qualities not only written in a 
 marked manner on his career, but possessed by him in a 
 degree undoubtedly extraordinary. I speak, for example, of 
 such as these — his strength of will ; his long-sighted per- 
 sistency of purpose, reaching from the first entrance on the 
 avenue of life to its very close ; his remarkable powers of 
 self-government ; and last, but not least, of all, his great 
 Parliamentary courage, a quality in which I, who have been 
 associated in the course of my life with some scores of 
 Ministers, have oever known but two whom I could pronounce 
 to be his equal. There were some other points in his character 
 upon which I cannot refrain from saying one word. I wish 
 to express the admiration I have always felt for his strong 
 sympathy with his race, for the sake of which he was always 
 ready to risk popularity and influence (cheers). A like senti- 
 ment I feel towards the strength of his sympathy with that 
 brotherhood to which he tl^ought, and justly thought, he was 
 entitled to belong — the brotherhood of men of letters. With 
 struggling genius his sympathy was ever ready, and in a book 
 of the greatest interest, the Autobiography of Mr. Thomas 
 Cooper, within the last few days I have read how, in the year 
 1844, when Lord Beaconsfield' s character with his party, and 
 his influence with his party, were not yet established, and 
 when Mr. Cooper appeared before him in the character of a 
 struggling literary man, who was also a Chartist, Mr. Disraeli 
 met him with the most generous and active sympathy 
 (cheers). There was a feeling, Sir, lying yet nearer the very 
 centre of his existence which, though a domestic feeling, 
 may now without indelicacy be referred to — his profound, his 
 devoted, tender, and grateful affection for his wife (cheers), 
 which, if as may b.e the case — I know not whether it be 
 so or not — has deprived him of the honour of public 
 obsequies, has nevertheless left for him a more perma- 
 nent title as one who knew, even ai;nidst the calls and 
 temptations ot political life, what was due to the 
 sanctity and strength of domestic affection, and which 
 made himself an example in that respect to the country 
 in which he lived (cheers). \ have expressed the hope that 
 the debate may not be a lengthened debate, and I wish that 
 my own contribution to it should be confined within the 
 limits of necessity. I believe that if the House has been 
 kind enough to listen to the few words which I have used I 
 have set before them all that is necessary, perhaps all that is 
 warrantable, for me to say. There is, however, one slighter 
 matter on which X desire to, give myself the satisfaction of a 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 brief reference to Lord Beaconsfield. The feeling I am 
 about to express is not a novel feeling. It is one which for 
 many long years on the occasions of private life has been 
 made known to me by my friends. There is much error and 
 misapprehension abroad as to the personal sentiments that 
 prevail between men who are divided in politics (cheers). 
 Their words must necessarily from time to time be sharp ; 
 their judgments may occasionally, may warrantably, may 
 necessarily be severe ; but the general idea of persons less 
 informed than those within the Parliamentary circle is that 
 they are actuated towards one another by sentiments of 
 intense antipathy or hatred. I wish to take this occasion, 
 with the permission of the House — if for a moment I may 
 degenerate into egoism upon a subject much too high for it — 
 I wish to record in this place and at this hour my firm 
 conviction that in all the judgments ever delivered by the 
 late Lord Beaconstield on myself, he was never actuated by 
 sentiments of personal antipathy (cheers). It is a pleasure 
 to me to make that acknowledgment. It is not new, although 
 it is one that could hardly with propriety be made on an 
 earlier occasion. I am sure the House will excuse me for 
 having obtruded it now (cheers). Upon callmg the attention 
 of the House to the fact that what we have to look at to- 
 night is the greatness of the man, the greatness of the offices 
 sustained by him, the greatness of the part he played, the 
 greatness of the transactions associated with his name, and 
 finally the full and undisputed Constitutional authority which 
 he possessed for those actions, whether they were according 
 to our/ sense and taste or not — that full plenar}^ Constitutional 
 power which he possessed to authorise beforehand and to 
 sanction afterwards what he did. These are the essential 
 considerations that ought to guide us ; and I feel convinced 
 — unless it be my own grievous fault, and if so I can but 
 regret it — that I have said enough to show the Committee 
 that they will do well and wisely to accept in a kindly spirit 
 the Motion which I have now the honour to submit 
 on behalf of a public monument to Lord Beaconsfield 
 (cheers). 
 
 Sir S. NoRTHCOTE. — In rising to second the Motion just pro- 
 posed I shall say but a very few words, because I am sure 
 I shall best fulfil the wishes of the House, and best respond 
 to the spirit in which the Motion lias been made, if I abstain 
 from anything that can in the slightest degree derogate from 
 the tone which has been given to the discussion by the speech 
 of the right hon. gentleman. If I could contemplate for a 
 moment that this motion should not meet with the general — 
 
 R 
 
2 42 APPENDIX. 
 
 let me say I hope the unanimous, acceptance of the Com- 
 mittee, in a spirit and manner satisfactory to those who long 
 to see this mark of honour paid to one whom they love, we 
 should at least feel that a monument of a higher character 
 than any that could be carved in stone and marble has been 
 already erected to Lord Beaconsfield in the speech to which 
 we have just listened (cheers). Sir, that speech has been 
 nobly expressed, and, still more, it has been nobly conceived. 
 I venture to say that in this tribute paid to the memory of a 
 sharp political opponent by one who has been engaged for so 
 many years in the severest of political contests, we have a 
 record which will be not merely for the honour of the speaker, 
 not merely for the honour of whom the words were spoken, 
 but for the honour of the British House of Commons (cheers). 
 It is a true key that has been struck in our political life and 
 contest. Taking up the last words of the Prime Minister, and 
 speaking as one who had a large share of the private con- 
 fidence and intimacy of our distinguished friend — who has 
 sat by his side for many years in the midst of contests, and 
 who had also the privilege of enjoying his confidence in quiet 
 and retired moments — I can entirely, and from the bottom of 
 my heart, confirm the saying of the Prime Minister that in 
 all those contests, ready as he always was to enter into the 
 battle — sharp as his words were in the course of action — 
 there was nothing in his mind or spirit that was unworthy of 
 a generous antagonist (cheers). No personal feeling was 
 allowed to warp a sentiment of admiration for his chief 
 political rival (hear, hear). I feel that this is not a moment 
 in which I could appropriately address the Committee as I 
 could wish to do. It is not a moment for the indulgence of 
 private feeling. Although we have been connected together 
 on occasions of contest and public debate, yet there is much 
 beside and behind that to those who were intimate with Lord 
 Beaconsfield it would be painful to attempt to parade. There 
 was much in him to love ; there was much in his sympathy and 
 readiness at all times to give advice, to enter into every diffi- 
 culty, however trifling it might be, to encourage when en- 
 couragement was wanted, to warn and assist where he thought 
 warning and assistance necessary, which greatly endeared 
 him to those who knew him (cheers). It would be less ap- 
 propriate were I to attempt to enter at such a moment as this 
 — it would be an outrage on the House were I to draw any- 
 thing like a political character which would be in the nature 
 of a political eulogium (hear, hear). I distinguish such occa- 
 sions as those which are characteristic of the British House 
 of Commons and the British nation from those eulogiums 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 which are passed sometimes in other countries at the funerals 
 of men who have borne a distinguished part in party war- 
 fare — occasions which are sometimes used for the purpose of 
 glorifying and promoting the objects of poHtical parties. We 
 have nothing of that sort here ; we are here engaged for a 
 a moment, pausing in the midst of our political strife, in 
 placing a wreath on the bier of a champion who has fallen 
 amongst us, and who we all, on both sides, are prepared to 
 honour. I could quite understand that if there was anything 
 in the proposal that seemed to pledge the House and the 
 country to an approval of the particular policy of Lord 
 Beaconsfield, there would be difficulties raised in many 
 quarters to paying a tribute that might be misunderstood. 
 But such is not the case. We are now doing honour to 
 a man whose rare gifts we have all admired, and which 
 have been acknowledged by all those who have had any 
 opportunity of witnessing their display. We are doing 
 honour to a man who never quailed before danger, who 
 never allowed himself to be disheartened by defeat or 
 discouraged by difficulty, who always kept a high standard 
 before him — whether it approved itself to all men or not 
 I will not say — and who never, under any difficulties or 
 circumstances, lost sight of or shrank from the standard 
 he so displayed. When he came to the post of dignity to 
 which he had so fairly fought his way against the greatest 
 obstacles and discouragements, he commanded not only the 
 respect of the people of this country, but the respect of 
 those among whom he sat and took his place as the repre- 
 sentative of Britain in the affairs of foreign countries. 
 We have been reminded that the public honours which it was 
 desired to be conferred upon him at his funeral were ex- 
 changed for a funeral of a more private character, that was 
 not only in accordance with his written directions, but with 
 the whole spirit of his life. He was one who above all 
 things rejoiced in that retirement of which he was allowed to 
 enjoy so small a portion, and his heart was in the home and 
 sepulchre in which his body is now placed (hear, hear). Al- 
 though his funeral was private, although there was nothing 
 in the nature of invitation to the nation to it, yet that Eng- 
 land was there — that the occasion was one in which the hearts 
 of the people, whatever may have been their rank or distinc- 
 tion, were turned to Hughenden, there was no doubt. Whether 
 or not you have a memorial erected to him in this or any other 
 place of public notoriety, the name and fame of him whom 
 we have lost is secure in the memories of Englishmen, and 
 will never perish (cheers). 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 On these speeches in both Houses of Parliament 
 The Standard published the next day this leading 
 article : — 
 
 The English Parliament has rarely been engaged 
 in a labour more deserving of its high character than 
 that which occupied both Houses for a brief interval 
 on their assembly yesterday. The proposal that a 
 Monument should be erected to the late Lord 
 Beaconsfield in Westminster Abbey, at the public 
 expense, was introduced in the Lords by Earl 
 Granville, and in the Commons by the Prime 
 Minister, in speeches which, differing from each 
 other as they did in every other respect, resembled 
 each other in a striking manner in the elevated tone 
 and the discriminating taste by which both were 
 marked. Lord Granville, perhaps, was never heard 
 to greater advantage than while dwelling on the 
 familiar characteristics of the great Statesman 
 whom only a few weeks ago he was opposing 
 with all the vigour of English Parliamentary 
 life. There is no greater art in oratory than the 
 apt introduction of personal reminiscences, and 
 frequently as the English people have read of the 
 dramatic incident of the first speech delivered by 
 Lord Beaconsfield in the House of Commons forty- 
 four years ago, Lord Granville contrived to confer 
 on it a novel interest, and almost a novel character, 
 by the skilful manner in which he recalled the fact 
 that he himself formed part of the audience on that 
 famous occasion. We hear much in these days of the 
 degeneracy of Parliamentary manners ; but it may 
 be doubted if even the present House of Commons 
 would, under the utmost provocation, treat its most 
 unpopular member with the discourtesy and the in- 
 justice Lord Granville admits were inflicted upon 
 Mr. Disraeli when he first sought to gain the ear 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 of the Lec^islature. The allusion to the latest serious 
 effort of Lord Beaconsfield to address the House of 
 Lords, and to the physical measures he found it 
 necessary to adopt in order to secure that effort 
 against failure, was skilfully associated with the in- 
 domitable self-confidence of his earliest Parliamentary 
 experiences, and Lord Granville was thereby enabled 
 to point his moral with telling effect, and to pronounce 
 a eulogium as just as it was generous upon the un- 
 conquerable will which from first to last triumphed 
 over all obstacles. It is easier to extol a foe than 
 a friend, and panegyric is necessarily more interesting 
 when it proceeds from an opponent than from an 
 avowed ally. Thus Lord Salisbury was at some dis- 
 advantage when he rose, in his new character of 
 Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of 
 Lords, to second the proposal of the Government. 
 Nevertheless, more difficult as was his task, he ac- 
 quitted himself of it in a manner worthy of the 
 occasion and of the assembly he was addressing. 
 Eschewing, with instinctive tact, any laudation of the 
 policy of his departed chief, Lord Salisbury brought 
 out into salient relief the important fact that the 
 consuming passion of Lord Beaconsfield's political 
 life was anxiety for the greatness and the glory of 
 England. Whilst accepting the assertion to the full, 
 we may add that this passion was rather the growth 
 of life and experience than a strong innate sentiment. 
 But no one who watched Lord Beaconsfield closely, 
 or who enjoyed his political intimacy, could fail to 
 remark that of late years, this zeal for the greatness 
 of the English Empire assumed ever larger dimensions, 
 until in the last resort what he deemed the humilia- 
 tion of his country became to him a deep personal 
 sorrow. No one will complain that the Earl of 
 Malmesbury, so long associated in the Public Service 
 with tlie deceased Statesman, should add his personal 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 testimony to the engaging qualities of his colleague 
 and friend, or supplement the panegyric upon his 
 public talents with a graceful reference to his private 
 virtues and his domestic tenderness. Perhaps the 
 House of Lords would have been willing to prolong 
 the Debate, had its prolongation been caused by a 
 few words from Lord Derby. This hope was formed, 
 but it was not gratified. 
 
 Public curiosity was, perhaps, attracted yesterday 
 more to the Lower than the Upper House, for it was 
 known that Mr. Gladstone had returned to town, and 
 w^ould himself perform the task that had devolved 
 upon Lord Granville in the other Chamber. The 
 Prime Minister acquitted himself of a difficult duty 
 with a grace that must baffle the most captious of 
 his critics. He was not effusive; he w^ould have 
 sinned against good taste, had such been his tone. 
 But his eulogium was dignified and ungrudging ; and 
 Sir Stafford Northcote accurately reflected its character 
 when he observed that it was nobly conceived and 
 nobly expressed. English public life demands some 
 hard hitting from its political athletes ; and just as 
 Lord Granville observed that Lord Beaconsfield was a 
 master equally of censure and of praise, so the Prime 
 Minister showed last night that he can appreciate 
 great qualities as freely as he can denounce what he 
 conceives to be a vicious policy. Alone of the 
 speakers in both Houses, Mr. Gladstone placed the 
 proposal to erect a National Monument to Lord 
 Beaconsfield on a proper and unanswerable footing. 
 It is strange that Mr. Labouchere should not have 
 felt that his objections were answered in anticipation 
 by his own Leader. The only approach to argument 
 to be found in the honourable member's speech was 
 the contention that splendid gifts are imperious, and 
 to be deprecated when they are employed to the 
 delriraeut of the State. As Mr. Gladstone pointed 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 out with admirable force, whether the gifts of any 
 particular • Statesman are employed to the public 
 advantage is a matter of opinion ; and the opinion of 
 what is called the Nation is a fluctuating one. Tiiree 
 years ago the Nation would almost to a certainty 
 have pronounced overwhelmingly in Lord Beacons- 
 field's favour. Who shall say what opinion, three 
 years hence, it may record, or have recorded, of the 
 policy of those who superseded him '? It is enough 
 to point out, as the Prime Minister says, that he did 
 great things, and did them under the same constitu- 
 tional title, the same charter and authority which can 
 be pleaded by any Statesman, dead or living, for his 
 public measures and public policy. A defence of 
 Lord Beacon slield so complete and so conclusive from 
 the mouth of Mr. Gladstone naturally left Sir Stafford 
 Northcote little to say, save to echo the praises he 
 had listened to, and endorse the reasoning in which 
 he had been anticipated. Like Lord Salisbury, Sir 
 Stafford Northcote had to bewail the loss of a friend 
 as well as to do justice to the memory of a States- 
 man ; and the voice of private frendship is apt to 
 quiver and wax inarticulate when it ventures upon 
 notes of public appreciation. 
 
 The country has no reason to be dissatisfied with 
 the issue of a proposal which at one time threatened 
 to engender acrimony and scandal. The faint and 
 futile opposition with which it has been encountered 
 by persons to whom we are quite willing to ascribe 
 conscientious motives, while reproaching them with 
 somewhat questionable taste and wholly irrelevant 
 argument, has only served to bring into bolder out- 
 line the general unanimity of sentiment with which 
 the suggestion of the Government has been met. In 
 spite of his faults, the English people are proud of 
 Lord Beaconsfield. They will cherish his memory 
 because they feel that he added lustre to the country 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 he served, and possessed those elements of grandeur 
 in his character which redeem public life from inter- 
 ested motives and unseemly rivalries. Upon his 
 opponents, as well as upon his colleagues, while he 
 lived, he reflected something of the lustre of his own 
 distinction, and it is possible that men who seemed 
 great so long as they were his rivals will lose some- 
 thing of their eminence now that he is gone. As the 
 Prime Minister observed yesterday, the interest and 
 attraction of Lord Beaconsfi eld's career are un- 
 matched in our Parliamentary annals, even by the 
 younger Pitt. But mere romantic or dramatic effect 
 does not suffice to collect a nation at the grave of a 
 deceased Statesman. No doubt Lord Beaconsfield 
 captivated the world by the brilliancy of his wit. 
 But he secured the lasting approval of its judgment 
 by the sobriety of his understanding. He was at 
 once an original and practical Statesman. His 
 originality cannot easily be imitated. But his good 
 sense and his patriotic resolution may be studied 
 with eflect. 
 
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