ime of Louis Napoleon's _coup-d'etat_;
he would have prevented the Crimean War had it been possible; and he
would not allow retaliation in kind for the Sepoy atrocities. He did the
most and the best with his opportunities. His policy was always to
develop and sustain English character. "There is no country," he said in
a remarkable warning to the House, "at the present moment that exists
under the same circumstances and under the same conditions as the people
of this realm. You have an ancient, powerful, and richly endowed Church,
and perfect religious liberty. You have unbroken order and complete
freedom. You have landed estates as large as the Romans, combined with a
commercial enterprise such as Carthage and Venice united never equalled.
And you must remember that this peculiar country, with these strong
contrasts, is not governed by force. It is governed by a most singular
series of traditionary influences, which generation after generation
cherishes and preserves, because it knows that they embalm custom and
represent law. And with this you have created the greatest empire of
modern times. You have amassed a capital of fabulous amount. You have
devised and sustained a system of credit still more marvellous, and you
have established a scheme so vast and complicated of labor and industry
that the history of the world affords no parallel to it. And these
mighty creations are out of all proportion to the essential and
indigenous elements and resources of the country. If you destroy that
state of society, remember this: _England cannot begin again._"

In religion Disraeli accepted Christianity fully--but as a completion of
the Hebrew revelation. He coupled in thought and word "the sacred
heights of Sinai and of Calvary." He was proud of his great people, and
never hesitated to declare his pride. "All the north of Europe worship a
Jew," he said, "and all the south of Europe worship a Jew's mother." In
spite of the fact that he was an Asiatic by nature, he despised what he
called the pagan ceremonies of the ritualists, and distrusted what he
felt to be the atheistic tendency of science.

Shortly after his father's death, Mr. Disraeli had purchased with his
paternal inheritance the manor of Hughenden, near Bradenham, in whose
park his wife erected a monument to his father; and there, in the
intervals of public business, he found quiet and enjoyment with his
peacocks and swans and owls, his gardening, his tenantry. His book