Sir Benjamin Disraeli (Statesmen, No. 1) 30 January 1869

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Sir Benjamin Disraeli (Statesmen, No. 1)

Leslie Ward ('Spy').

30 January 1869

Watercolour

Vanity Fair.

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That the character of the man may be seen in his walk I have frequently proved, though never more clearly than through the two most distinguished statesmen of their generation; Disraeli walked, or [241] appeared to walk, on his heels as though he were avoiding hot ashes. [Continued below]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: The Statesman's Walk

Above: Spy caricatures of Disraeli as an elder statesman in "Dizzy" and "Monty" (The Earl Beaconsfield and Mr. Montagu Corry, Lord Rowton) (1880), facing page 240.

In strongest contrast was the walk of Gladstone, who planted his feet with deliberate but most vigorous firmness as though with every step he would iron his strong opinion into the mind of the nation. ["The Grand Old Man," pp. 240-241]

"He educated the Tories and dished the Whigs to pass Reform, but to have become what what he is from what he was is the greatest Reform of all." ["Statesmen, No. 1." Vanity Fair, 30 January 1869]

Caricatures of Other Political and Literary Figures in Vanity Fair

Bibliography

Ward, Leslie ['Spy']. Benjamin Disraeli. No. 13. Statesmen, No. 1. 30 January 1869. Vanity Fair. Watercolour, 1869. Web. 27 July 2023.

Ward, Leslie ['Spy']. "Dizzy" and "Monty" Corry (Lord Rowton). Forty Years of 'Spy'. London: Chatto and Windus, 1915. Facing p. 240.

Created 25 July 2023