Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: BENJAMIN, LORD BEACONSFIELD 1804-1881 "H1s ringlets of silken black hair, his flashing eyes, his effeminate and lisping voice, his dress-coat of black velvet lined Jeaffreson's with white satin, his white kid Navels and . .... . , , Novelists. gloves with his wrist surrounded by a long hanging fringe of black silk, and his ivory cane, of which the handle, inlaid with gold, was relieved by more black silk in the shape of a tassel. . . . Such was the perfumed boy-exquisite who forced his way into the salons of peeresses."—1829. " In the front seat on the Conservative side of the House, may be observed a man who, if his hat be off, which it generally Mil,,s is, is sure to arrest one's attention, Beaconsfield. and we need scarcely to be told after having once seen him that he is the leader of thatgreat party. He is not old, just turned fifty we may suppose, but he bears his age well, whatever it may be. His face, which was once handsome, is now ' sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.' The head is long, and the forehead massive and finished. The eye is restless, but full of fire; the hair black and curly. Nature has evidently taken some pains to finish the exterior."—about 1855. " Certes, le premier aspect de Mr. Gladstone . . . reponds a l'idee qu'on peut se faire j. H. du Vivier, d'un chef doue d'un elan irresist- £!ZL ible. mieuxque l'attitudemaladive d'ttat. je lord Beaconsfield, ses traits mous, son regard fletri et comme perdu dans l'abstraction ou dans une reverie hantee par la disillusion et la lassitude. . . . Chez le plus faible ... on devine bientot que si le fourreau est use par la lame, c'est a raison de la devorante activite de celle-ci. ... La tete s'incline avec melancholic, la bouche a pris l'habitude des contractions douleureuses ; ma...