Young England and the Oxford Tractarians--Disraeli a Hebrew at heart--'Coningsby'--Sidonia--'Sybil; or the Two Nations'--The great towns under the new creed--Lords of the soil, as they were and as they are--Disraeli an aristocratic socialist--Practical working of Parliamentary institutions--Special importance of 'Sybil' 107 CHAPTER IX The New Gospel--Effect on English character--The Manchester School--Tendencies of Sir Robert Peel--The Corn Laws--Peel brought into office as a Protectionist--Disraeli and Peel--Protracted duel--Effect of Disraeli's speeches--Final declaration of Peel against the Corn Laws--Corn Laws repealed--Lord George Bentinck--Irish Coercion Bill--The Canning episode--Defeat and fall of Peel--Disraeli succeeds to the Leadership of the Conservative Party 129 CHAPTER X Disraeli as Leader of the Opposition--Effects of Free Trade--Scientific discoveries--Steam--Railroads--Commercial revolution--Unexampled prosperity--Twenty-five years of Liberal government--Disraeli's opinions and general attitude--Party government and the conditions of it--Power of an Opposition Leader--Never abused by Disraeli for party interests--Special instances--The _coup d'état_--The Crimean War--The Indian Mutiny--The Civil War in America--Remarkable warning against playing with the Constitution 149 CHAPTER XI Literary work--'Tancred; or, the New Crusade'--Modern philosophy--The 'Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'--'Life of Lord George Bentinck'--Disraeli's religious views--Revelation as opposed to Science--Dislike and dread of Rationalism--Religion and statesmanship--The national creed the supplement of the national law--Speech in the theatre at Oxford--Disraeli on the side of the angels 165 CHAPTER XII Indifference to money--Death of Isaac Disraeli--Purchase of Hughenden--Mrs. Brydges Willyams of Torquay--An assignation with unexpected results--Intimate acquaintance with Mrs. Willyams--Correspondence--Views on many subjects--The Crown of Greece--Louis Napoleon--Spanish pedigree of Mrs. Willyams 178 CHAPTER XIII Fall of the Whigs in 1867--Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer--Reform Bill, why undertaken--Necessities, real or fancied, of a Party Leader--Alternatives--Split in the Cabinet--Disraeli carries his point--Niagara to be shot--Retirement of Lord Derby--Disraeli Prime Minister--Various judgments of his character--The House of Commons responsible for his elevation--Increasing popularity with all classes 188 CHAPTER XIV