Copy Book Archive

As Good as his Word Benjamin Disraeli did not make a promising start to his Parliamentary career - but he did start with a promise.
1837
Music: Alice Mary Smith

Photo by Henry Lenthall (1819-1897), from the Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Source

About this picture …

A photograph of Benjamin Disraeli, taken by Henry Lenthall (1819-1897). Disraeli, Britain’s only Prime Minister so far of Jewish heritage, was a Conservative, who served in 1868 and again from 1874 to 1880. His fractious relationship with William Gladstone of the Liberal Party remains one of the great rivalries of British political history.

As Good as his Word
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister, oversaw the expansion of the electorate as well as a range of social reforms aimed at improving the living and working conditions of the poorer classes. He was also an accomplished novelist, though his first attempts had been cruelly mocked by the critics, and his early political career fared little better.

AS an orator too, his first appearance in the House of Commons was a failure. Though composed in a grand and ambitious strain, every sentence was hailed with “loud laughter.” But he concluded with a sentence which embodied a prophecy.

Writhing under the laughter with which his studied eloquence had been received, he exclaimed, “I have begun several times many things, and have succeeded in them at last. I shall sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me.”

He did not, as many young men do, having once failed, retire dejected, to mope and whine in a corner, but diligently set himself to work. He carefully unlearnt his faults, studied the character of his audience, practised sedulously the art of speech, and industriously filled his mind with the elements of parliamentary knowledge.

The recollection of his early failure was effaced, and by general consent he was at length admitted to be one of the most finished and effective of parliamentary speakers.

Précis

When Benjamin Disraeli gave his first speech in the House of Commons, the other MPs mocked his pompous style. Instead of being cowed, however, he promised that one day they would listen to him; and spurred on to perfect his public speaking skills, he eventually became one of Parliament’s most accomplished speakers. (52 / 60 words)

Source

From ‘Self-Help’ by Samuel Smiles (1812-1904).

Suggested Music

Symphony in C minor

3. Allegro ma non troppo - Poco meno mosso - Tempo I

Alice Mary Smith (1839-1884)

Howard Shelley with the London Mozart Players and Angela Malsbury (Clarinet).

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