New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-01
MR.. BALFOUR.
Il.
HIS VIEWS OF NEWSPAPERS-HIS EARLY
CAREER-HIS RELATIONS WITH THE IRISH
IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

CAREER-HIS RELATIONS WITH THE IRISH
IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
London, October 30.
II Mr.. Balfour read the papers he might OF
night not be gratiGed by the eulogies poured OUT
on him these Inst few days But he does not read
the papers That is one of his pcculiarties, and
one that may account in part, for the distinction
Of mind which he preserves amid the confessions
and ignoblc influences of political life. Emerson
said II we should give to the great writer's
70 Milton, or Bacon or Wordsworth, the Time
we give to the newspapers-but who dare sPo"H
of such thing2' i know not whether MI D"i-
four is a reader of Emerson. nor whether he ever
spoke in public of such thing as his omission 10
read those sources Of intelligence-and OIL o'hof
things-which we call newspapers. But his view
and Emerson's are in effect the same anu
imagine no public man of his time has Know" 80
little of the contents of the press from day 70 uaS
as Mr. Balfour. OF course he loses something oS
this abstention Il is conceivable that he may
also gain something. In most matters there ls
balance of loss and GAIN and Mr.. BalfOur long smce
satisfied himself that for him there was more 10 pe
cnined IN other quarters than IN the daily press OF
England Had his lot been cast in America MS
view might have been different That is maOtef
of speculation into which we need not now enter.
But what wish to point out is that Mr. BAL
fonrs mower OF not reading newspapers may be
key, or one key, to very original and interest
inr character The conception of public life
without newspapers is individual; entirely pecu-
liar 70 him, i imagine. know Of nobody else IN
England who holds it or practises 1t. Inc
reading of newspapers may be hKeneo 10 Ihe use
Of Intoxicating liquors. of which some people take
more and some less hardly anybody abstains alto
eether mean hardly anybody in public life in
this country few fanatics excepted who are
hardly in public life So engrossng are the occu-
nations of those who have the conduct OF affairs
that many find little time to devoe to newspapers
You may often hear a Minister who is questioned
in the House of Commons about some story IN a
paper make answer that he has not seen IT. lie
reads as it were, by proxy. The journals OF the
t]ay are read for him BY one of his private secre-
tares, and marked, or extracts from them lald
before him; extracts which refer to his own
department Of business.
II Won travel up to town by rail
any morning you will see how the Engiishaaii
of the period reads his paper He tolls through it
with a conscientiousness which is admlraple' aii
conscientiousness is admirable. He reads only one
but he reads that thoroughly; editorials and all
and the beholder wonders in what condition his
mind must be when the operation has been ac-
comulished, and the last word reached Does
he DIGEST this mutifarious mass But such an
inquiry takes us too far / want the newspaper
reader of the railway only as contrast, ana ne
would be just good contrast II ne han peeh
caught in a club at his own breaK1asItaDie'
best of all perhaps at the latter, wnere
he absorbs all this printed wisdom into his system
very much as he does his coffee and oolied eggs.
An eminent Glsdstonian who will some day lean
the remains of the Gadstonian party has theory
that the influence of the English press is slight.
So 1t,,n.n rttn H. nv adj
sligbter still He is who finds pleasure III
paradox But If he really held the view which
It amuses him to maintain in the presence of jour
nslists he might be asked to consider the news
paper reader of the kind just mentioned; him and
his WAYS III he studied him he would as soon think
of saving that his coffee and boiled eggs had no
influence on his physical system as that his news
paper had 10 influence on his mental system Later
i'm the day the same man pours out to his nelgnpor
what he has gathered each of them imparts these
same views to the other, and neither of them sus-
nccts that his own or his friends wisdom is not
entirely spontaneous and original. His thinking
has been done for him, and done so ceverly that
he fully believes he has done it himself. There ls
q story that Southey was once describing to Nine
de Stael the distribution Of his time many hours
of reading before breakfast on one subject, and
SO many hours after breakfast on another subject,
till the whole day was gone. And pray, Mr.
Southey," inquired the Frenchwoman. when do
YOU think?o The same question might be put to
the kind of reader / have been describing.
Mr.. Balfour, it may be imagined. does his think.
fne and much else during the hours when the Phil
istine is having his done for him. Upon his first
entry into. public life his opponents derided
his gifts as academic. They thought him man
of books and what they despised still more, mere
thinker man TO whom metaphysics were more
than the machine; another John Stuart Mill, and
n lesser 1t was long before he troubled himself
TO disturb this notion. He took very active part
in the business of the House. even in the conduct
of those affairs which the Fourth Party, of which
he was kind Of honorary member. made their
own He was thought Indifferent II not INDECENT.
He was in no hurry. He seemed TO care llttle TOT
the nenutation 70 be gained by debate He spoke
none too often, and rather negllgenty Inc Cd
server in the House. he who took note of novelties,
might sometimes hear flashing sentence which fell
from Mr.. Balfour's lips in a tone very unlike the
deliverances Of the average debater sentence
equally incsive and illuminative. The manner was
gentle easy impassive as if the object he had be-
fore him in speaking were hardly worth an effort.
This manner rnised the House, which is jealous
and tolerates nothing like neglect OF its own good
opinon. and demands conformity TO its own stand
ards 1t changed very gradually 1t was never
really flung of till Mr.. Balfour became Irish Sec
retary and even then the manner changed less thai
the man.
There was point of likeness between him and
a very different parsonage. Lord Harrington. Both
of them wore the same armor; neither cared one
straw for the shafts which the Irish brigade
launched against them. It used to be matter of
complaint against Mr. Balfour that he
showed too plainly his contempt for the cslumnies
and insults which the Irish showered upon him as
they had upon every previous Irish Sec
retary. and will upon his successor, and suppose,
upon all Irish Secretaries TO the end of time The