the
strange and sinister figure of the great Disraeli. The Whigs had
laughed at him for thirty years; but now, to use a phrase of the
nursery, they laughed on the wrong side of their mouths. There
was nothing ludicrous about him now, nothing to provoke a smile,
except when he wished to provoke it, and gaily unhorsed his opponents
of every type--Gladstone, or Lowe, or Beresford-Hope. He seemed,
for the moment, to dominate the House of Commons, to pervade it
with his presence, and to guide it where he would. At every turn
he displayed his reckless audacity, his swiftness in transition,
his readiness to throw overboard a stupid colleague, his alacrity
to take a hint from an opponent and make it appear his own. The
Bill underwent all sorts of changes in Committee; but still it
seemed to be Disraeli's Bill, and no one else's. And, indeed, he
is entitled to all the credit which he got, for it was his genius
that first saw the possibilities hidden in a Tory democracy.

To a boy of fourteen, details of rating, registration, and residential
qualification make no strong appeal; but the personality of this
strange magician, un-English, inscrutable, irresistible, was profoundly
interesting. "Gladstone," wrote Lord Houghton to a friend, "seems
quite awed with the diabolical cleverness of Dizzy, who, he says,
is gradually driving all ideas of political honour out of the House,
and accustoming it to the most revolting cynicism." I had been
trained by people who were sensitive about "Political honour,"
and I knew nothing of "cynicism"; but the "diabolical cleverness"
made an impression on me which has lasted to this day.

What was Dizzy in personal appearance? If I had not known the fact,
I do not think that I should have recognized him as one of the
ancient race of Israel. His profile was not the least what we in
England consider Semitic. He might have been a Spaniard or an Italian,
but he certainly was not a Briton. He was rather tall than short,
but slightly bowed, except when he drew himself up for the more
effective delivery of some shrewd blow. His complexion was extremely
pale, and the pallor was made more conspicuous by contrast with his
hair, steeped in Tyrian dye, worn long, and eked out with artificial
additions.

He was very quietly dressed. The green velvet trousers and rings
worn outside white kid gloves, which had helped to make his fame
in "the days of the dandies," had long since been discarded. He
dressed, like