s
brought him in great sums of money; a friend, Mrs. Brydges Willyams, of
Torquay, after twelve years of romantic intimacy with him and his wife,
bequeathed him a fortune, and lies buried by the side of himself and
Lady Beaconsfield at Hughenden. His circumstances were easy, his fame
was assured, and when he went down to Parliament for the first time
after he became Prime Minister, the crowds outside cheered him to the
echo, the crowds within took up the acclaim, and the House that once had
silenced him with derisive mockery, hailed with wild welcome this man
who, without money, without birth, without support, had made himself, by
force of will, courage, genius, loyalty, and truth, the ruler of the
British Empire.

While he was again in opposition Mr. Disraeli took occasion to write
"Lothair," a precise portraiture of the British aristocracy and a clear
presentation of its relation to the Church, the spirit of revolution,
the intrigues of the ultramontanes, the simplicity of true religion;
every page splendid with wit and with picturesque charm. During another
period of enforced leisure he wrote "Endymion," in which there are some
slight autobiographical features.

Succeeded by Mr. Gladstone as prime minister, a half-dozen years later
Disraeli was again at the helm. The Eastern question was then one of
passionate interest; and when Russia was dictating terms of peace with
the Ottoman, Mr. Disraeli insisted on their revision at a Conference of
all the Powers, held at Berlin, which he attended in person, and where
he obliged Russia to yield, and won a great diplomatic victory.[17] He
returned to London, said Mr. Froude, "in a blaze of glory, bearing
peace with honor." He was made Earl of Beaconsfield, and given the
Garter; and before he went into retirement again, after the nation had
revived its interest in imperialism, he had acquired the mastery of the
Suez Canal, and he had annexed Cyprus, and, by giving the queen the
additional title of Empress of India, this child of the Orient had made
of Great Britain an Oriental empire. He had ruled the country for six
consecutive years when he next went into retirement. He died shortly
afterward, from the effect of a severe cold, aggravating an attack of
gout, on April 19, 1881.

[Footnote 17: In the painting of the Berlin Conference by
Werner, Prince Gortschakoff is seated at the left with his hand
on Disraeli's arm. Prince Bismarck in the foregrou