Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 2.djvu/55

BEACONSFIELD 39 EARLDOM. I. Benjamin D'Israeli,(^) s. and h. of Isaac D'L, of . J, ^ Hughenden Manor, Bucks (purchased in 1847, the year ' before his death), and of Bradenham, BuckSjC") by Mary, „„ da. of Nathan Basevi, of Billiter Sq., London. He was b. 21 Dec. i8o4,() in his father's apartments at the Adelphi,('^) Westminster, and was bap. when twelve years old, 31 July 1 8 17, at St. Andrew's, Holborn, "from King's Road," his father having been, during that period, converted from the Jewish to the Christian faith. He began the profession of the law,() which, however, through ill health he discontinued, and, going abroad, began his career as author, his first novel being Vivian Grey, pub. in 1826. His subsequent literary and political career (more especially the latter) is a matter of history. He was M.P. (Conservative) for Maidstone, 1837-41; for Shrewsbury, 1841- 47; and for Buckinghamshire (nearly 30 years), 1847 to 1876, having sue. to Hughenden in that co. by the death of his father, 19 Jan. 1848. P.C. 27 Feb. 1852. He was thrice Chancellor of the Exchequer, viz. (i) Feb. to Dec. 1852, (2) Feb. 1858 to June 1859, and (3) July 1866 to Feb. 1868; was twice First Lord oj the Treasury (Prime saying stupid things, most frequently about him, which tended to make him ridicu- lous; as, for instance, when the conversation turned on some man's fine complexion — ' Ah,' said she, ' I wish you could only see Dizzy in his bath, then you would know what a fine skin is.' " In The Table Talk of Shirley, by John Skelton, there is also a description of her and her husband. " Old Lady Ruthven was there — a miraculous old woman. She and Mrs. Disraeli, sitting over the fire with their feet on the fender, made between them the funniest pair — the witches in ' Macbeth ' or what you will. And the mighty wizard himself. ... I had never seen him in the daylight before, and the daylight accentuates his strangeness. The face is more like a mask than ever, and the division between him and mere mortals more marked. I would as soon have thought of sitting down at table with Hamlet, or Lear, or the Wandering Jew." V.G. (*) He adopted the form Disraeli instead of D'Israeli in or about 1838. V.G. (•>) He was the well-known author of Curiosities of Literature, ^c. ("=) Date of birth as registered at the Spanish Synagogue, Bevis Marks. (A. & 0., 9th Ser., vol. iv, p. 527). {^) According to his own statement in his last illness. In a proposal for insuring his life (1824) he, however, assigned St. Mary Axe as his birthplace. According to others he was h. at 22 Theobald's Road, at the corner of John Str., formerly 6 King's Road. See a full account of his pedigree, a copy of will, &c., in Foster's Collectanea, pp. 6 to 1 6 and p. 60. (') A paragraph in The Standard, 23 Dec. 1904, quotes the following from The Law Times. — " Having spent three years in a City solicitor's office, he became a student at Lincoln's Inn. He ceased his connection with the Inn in 1831, when the Benchers made the following entry in their records: — 'Upon the petition of Benjamin Disraeli, Esq., a Fellow of this Society, praying that his name may be taken off the Books, his health not permitting him to follow the profession of the Law. It is ordered accordingly, on the usual terms.' Seven years later the Benchers made a similar entry in regard to Disraeli's great rival. . . . Who shall say how different wonld have been the history of the country if these two men had been rivals in the Courts instead of the Senate?"