Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield, K.G. / Cartoons from "Punch" 1843-1878

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ON of Isaac D'Israeli, author of Curiosities of Literature , of Jewish extraction; born in London 21st December, 1805; published his political novel, Vivian Grey , 1825; travelled in the East between 1828 and 1831; contested Wycombe in 1831, and Marylebone, 1833, both unsuccessfully; was returned for Maidstone, 1837; for Shrewsbury, 1841; for Bucks, 1847; member of Sir R. Peel's party until Peel became a convert to Free Trade, from which time Mr. Disraeli allied himself closely with the Conservatives, of whom he became the leader in the House of Commons after the death of Lord George Bentinck in 1848; conspicuous for his attacks on Peel in Parliament; Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Derby's first Ministry, 1852; and in his second, 1858-9; in 1859 brought in a Reform Bill which was defeated by the Whigs; again Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Derby's third Ministry, July, 1866; brought in a second Reform Bill, based on Household Suffrage, which was passed, 1867; on Lord Derby's resignation, February, 1868, became Prime Minister, which office he resigned at the end of the year; on Mr. Gladstone's Government resigning office, in consequence of their defeat on the Irish University Bill, March, 1873, Mr. Disraeli was commissioned by the Queen to form a Ministry, but declined to do so under the then circumstances. On Mr. Gladstone appealing to the country in 1874, the election returns placed him in a minority, and he resigned without meeting the new Parliament; Mr. Disraeli succeeded him as Prime Minister and formed his cabinet, March, 1874; created Earl of Beaconsfield, August, 1876; first Plenipotentiary for Great Britain at the Congress of Berlin, 1878, and K.G. Lord Beaconsfield's principal novels (besides Vivian Grey ) are The Young Duke, Henrietta Temple, and Venetia , and, since his entrance on political life, Coningsby, Sybil, Tancred, and Lothair.
London, 1878.