LORD BEACONSFIELD.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5163, 27 August 1878, Page 2

LORD BEACONSFIELD.

Some amusing anecdotes appear in an article on political clubs in the May number of the Nineteenth Century. Many of them will be new to this generation, and will have been almost forgotten by those who lived at the time and were cognisant of them. Illustrative of the political vagaries of the idol of the moment, Lord Beaconsfield, we. are reminded that in . 1834 he was associated with " the most advanced section of the Liberal party " in the Westminster Club, of which he was elected a member on July 2, 1834. He was not, however, particularly mindful of the conditions of membership, for in the ensuing December he, with Lord Dunboyne and Mr (after Sir) E. L. Bulwer, were reminded that their subscriptions were unpaid. Probably this reminder caused the embryo Premier to " cut up rough," for in the following March a letter from him was read at the club, " enclosing a cheque for fifteen guineas, and requesting that his name may be , erased from the list of members of the club, as he is prevented by engagements from availing himself of its conveniences." The letter and cheque were returned to him, with the explanation that "the committee" had "no inclination to-ac-cept money from gentlemen whose engagements render them unable to avail themselves of the convenience of the club." At the same meeting a resolution wa3 passed " that a board be put up in the hall that the Westminster Club is accessible to members only." The writer of the article suggests that it might be inferred that there was a fear on the part of the committee lest Mr Disraeli should enter the club. " That he should have joined this Radical Club is less singular than may be supposed by persons who are familiar with his early career as a. politician. If it had been a purely Whig ; Club he would never have become a member. But he began life, as he doubtless will end it, a sentimental Radical at heart." Evidently, Lord Beaconsfield has completed the pelitical circle, but he is too old to begin another round.