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Show Disraeli ANEW life of Disraeli, backed by the papers and letters found in his possession at his death, has been issued in London. It comes from the pen of Mr. Monypenny, who is a journalist jour-nalist rather than a man of letters, he having been for many years one of the staff of the London Lon-don Times. Extended reviews of the new boo1: are published in the eastern newspapers, but they do not shed very much light on the charac- ter of the -wonderful man. And it is not strange, for Disraeli was not like other men, and so ' when i comes to comparisons the description fails, and we sometimes think It is easier for men to judge him correctly who have obtained their impressions of him at a distance; just from his ' ' writings, his 3ayings and his acts when a crisis ' )le was on; than by those who saw him from day ler to day, were unduly attracted by his magnetism ier or repelled when brought in contact with the as negative features of his character. How can nd the flash and fire of his genius be compared to 33- the steady glow of the mind of Gladstone? As in well try to compare a blood-horse to a Clydesdale or Percheron. The latter has more steady sel ,power, is a more patient laborer, the more help-ct help-ct ful in the daily work of life; but suppose a cti point must be gained in a stated time, and that te the exertion must ' ) to the extreme and must 311 continue to the limn, of life itself, then which re will be chosen? The horse comparison may seem rg coarse and undignified, but it really is apt. The er one is the steady worker, a child may lead him, aa he cheerfully works every day, and the volume jj0 of his work is something enormous; of his ef-op ef-op flciency there is no question; his faithfulness a Is man's admiration and his power is universally acknowledged. The other is eccentric from the first, he is prone to kick down his stable; in an ordinary race he is liable to jump the fence and take to the hills; only a master can control him; but 113 when he has rivals, when the flags are waving and the music playing and the long track a stretches out before him, and he knows by the e preparations that the struggle is to be for life a or death, and he sees the s'atue of victory dimly ls through the haze; then his foolishness vanishes; w then with wary eyes he watches his competitors, M collects his strength; "smells the battle afar off" e and "rejoiceth in his strength." ie When Russia had fairly conquered Turkey ck and the powers called a conference Disraeli went n to represent his country. The greatest of all ie Europe was there, but Disraeli clipped the wings ft of Russia's furious eagle, def lauding tne great 'e northern power of half its legitimate spoils; and e softly feeling his way obtained a deed of gift n from Turkey of the Island of Cypress the key &- to the eastern Mediterranean. When the quests ques-ts tlon of who should control the Suez canal be-P be-P came a vital one and the world supposed that ie of right it would fall to France, the world awoke s one morning to learn that without a bit of noise x Disraeli had secured it for Great Brita'n. When is our Avar was on; when the world was declar-is declar-is ing that to subdue an upheaval like that, backed f by such numbers, ouch valor and endurance, i, would be utterly impiobable; when the mer-e mer-e chants and manufacturers and the eager nobilitv s of Great Britain were clamoring for full rec-e rec-e ognition of the new lower that had been formed, g and the French emperor was soliciting England d to join with him in the recognition, when nearly t all the staid lEngllsh statesmen, including Glad-e Glad-e stone, were swelling the same cry; with a clear s intuition Disraeli said it was too late in the y world to found an empiie with its foundations r resting on slavery, and backed his queen in op-? op-? posing the recognition. When it ame to writing, l there were men all aiound him who could reason y as clearly, and with more consistant logic, but to him belonged an Inherited oriental imagery that gave a charm to all that he wrote which none other could imitate, and much that he wrote had 3 all the charm of the Psalms, all the lofty dignity and solemnity of Isaiah. The reader may say, "that is not our iuea of Disraeli at all." That will be very probable, but ' then there will be no other description of him that will be probable. The genius of most men la earthbound; that of Disraeli was "hitcuea to a star," and not one man in a million could , i measure its magnitude or compute the orbit of" its i flight. No doubt in this new book there will be much that will be intensely interesting, but nowhere Within, we venture to say, will there be a clear analysis ofthe man. |