more ambitious design of publishing a daily morning paper,
a project now chiefly interesting from the fact that in this venture he
had the assistance of the future Lord Beaconsfield. The intimacy which
existed between the Murrays and D'Israelis had afforded Mr. Murray
exceptional opportunities of forming an opinion of Benjamin's character,
and he saw with delight the rapidly developing capacities of his old
friend's son. Even in his eighteenth year Benjamin was consulted by Mr.
Murray as to the merits of a MS., and two years later he wrote a novel
entitled "Aylmer Papillon," which did not see the light. He also edited
a "History of Paul Jones, Admiral in the Russian Navy," written by
Theophilus Smart, an American, and originally published in the United
States.

Young Disraeli was already gifted with a power of influencing others,
unusual in a man of his age. He was eloquent, persuasive, and ingenious,
and even then, as in future years, when he became a leading figure in
the political world, he had the power of drawing others over to the
views which he entertained, however different they might be from their
own. Looking merely to his literary career as a successful novel writer,
his correspondence with Mr. Murray about his proposed work of "Aylmer
Papillon" is not without interest.

_Mr. Benjamin Disraeli to John Murray_.

_May_, 1824.

MY DEAR SIR,

Your very kind letter induces me to trouble you with this most trivial
of trifles. My plan has been in these few pages so to mix up any
observations which I had to make on the present state of society with
the bustle and hurry of a story, that my satire should never be
protruded on my reader. If you will look at the last chapter but one,
entitled "Lady Modeley's," you will see what I mean better than I can
express it. The first pages of that chapter I have written in the same
manner as I would a common novel, but I have endeavoured to put in
_action_ at the _end_, the present fashion of getting on in the world. I
write no humbug about "candidly giving your opinion, etc., etc." You
must be aware that you cannot do me a greater favour than refusing to
publish it, if you think _it won't do_; and who should be a better judge
than yourself?

Believe me ever to be, my dear Sir,

Your most faithful and obliged,

B. DISRAELI. [Footnote: It will be observed that while the father
maintained the older spelling of the name, the son invariably writes it
thus.]

P.S.--The se