New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-15
ENGLISH TAKERS.
IL.
MR. BALFoUR MIR. CIIAMBERLATN, A GROUP
OF JOURNALISTS.

other: 1 mean Mr. Balfour. The word"
said a lady whose word in such matters
and in others is law, (which describes Mr. Bal
tours talk is charm. 1t is not common in wom-
en-: IL is so rare in men that YOU can count the
instances on your fingers Well, IL a man may
presume 10 Judge where woman has given her
verdict, charm is not too heavy word. 1t is
charm Of character first OF all, or of nature
or of temperament, or whatever the right word
be- No two men are at the moment more OPP
posed than he and Mr. John Morley, and if any
thing could tempt me to break my resolution
not TO make comparisons, it would be to draw
q parallel between these two. But / will not
have said good deal before about Mr.
Morley, and I abide by il all, and l must be
much more brief about Mr.. Bafour, and such
ms the sketch is ne shall have il TO himself
His too, is mind which has undergone
training far more austerc than have most men
10 these modern ippaut days. lie IS an on
nIverous reader; of everything but newspapers.
into which he never looks, and that act OF
self.indulgcnec by itself might serve as guide
TO his character. lie has read widely in many
directions; speculative very largely, and because
of this metaphysical tendency it used to be said
that he would never take to practical politics.
Ask cur Irish friends what they think about u
now, and whether they consider Mr. Balfours
Lord Rosebury the other day, it is TO be said
that his reading betrays itself by results IL
comes out in his talk, of course; full mind
shows itself to be full What Matthew Arnold
delighted TO call play of mind is equally striking
in his discussion Of any subject, in his approach
10 it, in the attitude he takes up, in his choice
of positon as it were, and on the lesurely survey
of his object from distance, and from severaI
sides II single other word besides charm has
to be fixed upon descriptive of these INTEL.
lcctual processes and deverances, perhaps leisure
illness would he the one Nothing so vulgar as
hurry is 10 be seen: yet the conclusion may
come and often does come swiftly: KIND OF
lightning. following Unexpectedly on
half INDECENT inspection OF the whole matter.
He can be acute and decisive when he chooses,
perenptory, too and hit straight and hard; an
other point OH which the Irish in the House may
be called as witnesses. The conversation that
occurs between them and the Chief Secretary at
question time day by day is very often brill
liant example of dialogue and sometimes OF dia-
lcctics.
Perhaps YOU wOnld like him better at table.
or on the lawn OF a lazy afternoon. Then Mr..
l,alfour would appear 10 you as man who had
all kinds OF weapons in his armofy; great range
OF subjects, q flashing humor and kindly per-
snasiveness and luminous polished dction, with
in reserve not TO be often brought out wit
almost scornful in its touch, and power OF
deadly repartee. or that afiectation, whether 81
cynici>m or anything else, which MI russell
impu,es 10 him, he has, so far Us have SEEM
no faint or trace 1t is mind which looks out
clcarcycd upon the world it is, aud truthfuIiy,
Witch likes truth in others and in himself and
with nj least as much hatred of shams Carlyle
believed ne himself had. / have heard Mr.. Bal |
four talk in vorious circumstances Like every |
lcdy else be talks better some times than At
OTHER tines but never can | remember 10 have |
head note that rang false or hollow. lie is |
master OF pure and delicate English; colloqulal
Enalish nevertheless. with nothing in his IAN |
,1aTc 10 suggest the book in breeches or prim |
ncss of any kind. 2retence.
Mr. Chamberlain can hardly be left out of the |
hist. lie lacks hcNbity, but he talks with the
rr eison and energy OF one OF those machines
which his beloved Midland capital is so proud
OF producing 4 machine, however, is usually
adnpted to one special purpose, and Providence
l,as not confined Mr.. Chamberlans activities to
n single area, that the analogy is not qulue
accurate. lie is sometimes thought more per-
cmptorv and more positive than those who are
rontent 10 accept the ordinary London code oil
conversation. he that as it may, he IS acute,
ingenious. confident, and capable of strsagem in
conform 10 all the eonventionaltes of the society
which be entered later than most men, he shows
himself loyal to the provincial world in which
lie WAS brought up: il is still the world for which
I've cares most nor is provincial word OF reprOach.
lis OWN town, his own people, the ideas ana
customs and opinions OF his local friends ana
his constituents-these are all powerful with Mr.
Chamberlain, now as when they were all he
had 10 consider 1t is natural, therefore, that
the rat ne Of his talk should be less wide than II
he had enlarged his interests and studies earlier
iu life People in London will not talk politics
forever; they care less for them, or at amy rate
say less about them, than is sometimes
supposed For the municipal affairs which hold
so large a space in the mind of the eX-N yor
they care nothing at all, just as he in n
cares notl6ng at all for SO many of the mat rs
which make up the staple of dnner-tabl Tx
in Mayfair. When, however he became con-
siderable figure In public life be became figure
In society. He dined with the Prince Of Wales
az the Marlborough Club, and there were fashion
able ladies who asked him and asked their friends
TO meet him, so that his opportunities were
numerous If he had wished to adapt himself
70 these new circumstances he had every advan-
tage. But Mr.. Chamberlain has an unbending
character, and he does not accept all the over
lures made TO him readily adopt that winch is
new. This limitation upon his methods of talk
is evidently voluntary; he prefers his own path,
and walks resolutely in the familiar tracks. No
doubt he could branch out into Others and make
himself heard in fresh woods and pastures new.
But the West End of London owes something TO
him among other things more accurate acqualnt-
ance than il would otherwise have had with the
social peculiarites Of the Nonconformist com
munity, and with the laws of social intercourse
90 they are understood in Birmingham
Journalism is not without men who can talk as
well as write Who has not heard OF Mr. SaIa. or
Il Oh to hnar |