still more miraculous toil; what think you would have been his sensations if, while his soul was revelling in the futurity of his descendants keeping their state in this splendid pile, some wizard had foretold to him that, ere three centuries could elapse, the fortunes of his mighty family would be the sport of two individuals; one of them a foreigner, unconnected in blood, or connected only in hatred; and the other, a young adventurer alike unconnected with his race, in blood or in love; a being ruling all things by the power of his own genius, and reckless of all consequences save his own prosperity? If the future had been revealed to my great ancestor, the Lord Valerian, think you, Vivian Grey, that you and I should be walking in this long gallery?'

"And here she grasped Vivian with a feverish hand. 'Omnipotent and ineffable essence! . . Miserable mocker! It is not true,, Vivian Grey; you are but echoing the world's deceit, and even at this hour of the night you dare not speak as you do think. You worship no omnipotent and ineffable essence; you believe in no omnipotent and ineffable essence. Shrined in the secret chamber of your soul there is an image before which you bow down in adoration, and that image is YOURSELF. And truly, when I do gaze upon your radiant eyes,' and here the lady's tone became more terrestrial; and truly, when I do look upon your luxuriant curls,'* and here the

Is not Mr. Disraeli's description of Vivian Grey very like Mr. Willis's description of Mr. Disraeli?

lady's small white hand played like lightning through Vivian's dark hair; 'and truly, when I do remember the beauty of your all-perfect form, I cannot deem your self-worship a false idolatry,' and here the lady's arms were locked round Vivian's neck, and her head rested on his bosom."

Vivian Grey is, in the end, defeated by Mrs. Lorraine. The Marquess of Carabas, foiled in his schemes, turns him from his doors, and he is challenged by Cleveland. In the duel, Cleveland is killed, and Vivian Grey rushes away on a foreign tour to drown his grief. The second part of the book describes the hero's adventures on the Continent, but that part of the story I have not time to notice.

Such, then, is Vivian Grey.†

Now, at the very outset of this work, I frankly tell the reader the thesis I attempt to prove. My

Ibid. 112-13.

+ I must dismiss briefly, and in the obscurity of a note, some of Lord Beaconsfield's earlier productions. The "Rise of Iskander" describes the revolt of a Christian against Mohammedan rule with as much apparent sympathy at that of the Jew " Alroy" against the same oppression. It is a short, picturesque, brisk narrative. "Ixion in Heaven," and the "Infernal Marriage," are burlesques, in which, after a fashion novel in Lord Beaconsfield's youth, but commonplace in ours, the heathen divinities are introduced, and, in professing to describe celestial manners, the author lashes modern foibles. These two sketches are little known; but they are among the best things Lord Beaconsfield has written. The wit is effective, and often brilliant; and the more ambitious passages are picturesque without being tawdry. The simple and chaste style of some of Lord Beaconsfield's earlier works, indeed, curiously enough, contrast favourably with the pretentiousness and bathos of some of his maturer creations.

view of Lord Beaconsfield's character is that it is essentially a counterpart of that of Vivian Grey; and my view of Lord Beaconsfield's political career is that it has been conducted upon the same arts as are practised by the hero of his earliest story. I shall give the reader abundant opportunity of seeing whether this estimate be correct or not. I will endeavour to maintain, so far as possible, throughout my narrative, the parallel between the two careers. The reader has just traced the life of Vivian Grey. Let us now resume our record of the life of Lord Beaconsfield.

43

CHAPTER III.

THE FIRST ELECTION.

Up to this time we find the young Disraeli still wavering between a political and a literary career, though unmistakably prepossessed in favour of the former mode of life. The events of 1832, however, brought these doubts to an end. The agitation for Reform swept like a storm over the land: the Crown, the House of Lords, the House of Commons as it was then constituted,-all existing institutions seemed for a while endangered, and there was that uneasiness and excitement in the public mind which presage and sometimes prepare a revolution. In such moments, politics become, of course, the paramount subject of interest. Amid exciting realities, people turn away with impatience from the tamer sensations of the romance; and the public have no ears for any poet's lute, save only when it gives voice to their passions. The hour was not favourable to literature; and young Disraeli-as he has so often told us already-was not the man to play to an inattentive audience.

An accidental circumstance, besides, drew him, if he still had any hesitation, into an active career. His father had some years before this taken Bradenham House, in Bucks; and, in the midst of all this Reform whirlwind, a vacancy arose in a borough close by.

High Wycombe, or Chipping Wycombe, as it is sometimes called, was, when young Disraeli first sought its representation, a constituency of the good old kind. Inside the parish, which was 6,318 acres in extent, was the municipal borough, the area of which was but 128 acres.* This area of 128 acres was represented in Parliament by two Members, and these two Members were elected exclusively by the corporation and burgesses of the town.

High Wycombe had for many years been represented by the Hon. Robert Smith and Sir Thomas Baring, both staunch Liberals.

In April or May of 1832, there began to be rumours of a vacancy in one of the seats. The report was first circulated, then denied; and finally it was announced that Sir Thomas Baring had determined to leave High Wycombe in order to contest Hants. Young Disraeli put himself forward as a candidate for the vacant place.

In order to make clear the contest which ensued, I must say a few words on the state of political parties at this period. The Ministry of Earl Grey was in power; and had just passed, after many delays and stupendous obstacles, the first Reform Bill. The

* Sheahan's "History of Buckinghamshire," 917-919.