'"
Nor did he ever again fail to get a hearing. He spoke often and
to the point, enlivening his solid argument with touches of wit
and gleams of imagination which light up the dreary pages of the
parliamentary journals. At the first he was the steady supporter
of Peel, but this clever man of ideals, imagination, and insight,
could have little in common with that prosy, plodding man of
business, whose stronghold was in the esteem of the plodding
middle classes. When the Tories came into power in 1841, with
Peel as Prime Minister, he found no place in his government for
the supporter whose talent all parties had now begun to
recognize. The slight bred coolness, and as Peel began to veer
towards free trade principles, Disraeli, gathering a few ardent
Tory protectionists about him, made himself a thorn in the
premier's side. His caustic sayings about Peel's acceptance of
the principles of the opposition were the talk of the clubs. "The
right honorable gentleman," he said, "caught the Whigs bathing
and he walked away with their clothes." He characterized the
premier's genius as "sublime mediocrity," amid shouts of
applause, and his government, raised to office by protectionist
votes, yet steadily promoting free trade measures, he branded as
"organized hypocrisy.
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