“ The strongly marked characteristics which determined Isaac D’Israeli’s career were displayed to a singular degree even in his boyhood. He spent his time over books and in long day-dreams, and evinced the strongest distaste for business and all the more bustling pursuits of life. These idiosyncrasies met with no sympathy from either of his parents, whose ambitious plans for his future career they threatened to disappoint. ”

“ The authorship of the poem was much debated, and it was attributed by some to William Hayley, upon whom it was actually avenged, with characteristic savageness, by its victim. It is greatly to Wolcot’s credit that, on learning his mistake, he sought the acquaintance of his young opponent, whose friend he remained to the end of his life. Through the success of this satire D’Israeli made the acquaintance of Henry James Pye, who helped to persuade his father that it would be a mistake to force him into a business career, and introduced him into literary circles. ”

“ When he was about fourteen, in the hope of changing the bent of his mind, his father sent him to live with his agent at Amsterdam, where he worked under a tutor for four or five years. Here he studied Bayle and Voltaire, and became an ardent disciple of Rousseau. Here also he wrote a long poem against commerce, which he produced as an exposition of his opinions when, on his return to England, his father announced his intention of placing him in a commercial house at Bordeaux. Against such a destiny D’Israeli’s mind strongly revolted ”