The Irish standard., 1910-07-02

experience of the practical politician
: that in group of men who meet to-
gether in counsel, personal tsmpera-
ment even more than intelligence
tells; and that the man who is able
\, to stick to his opinions and his point,
in the end by sheer force of will and
perseverance bears down the other
soen who have lack either of force
or of patience.
i. The conference and his enthusiasm
TOR it, mark another side of his char
i acter. Fearless, sometimes relentless,
& and even fierce in his political temper
.,tand pronouncement, he is far happier
when he is exercising the gentle art
of the typical Celt in persuading or
cajoling people into the adoption of his
!. views and the surrender of their OWL
: He is adroit, supple; he can even he
3 plant; his patience is ineXhaustible;
his temper is naturally of the fiery
Welsh fervor, but he can keep it I'M
. der control; or if he let it loose has
it out with whoever is present. and
then forgets all about it, And he has
the truly practical mans abiding feel
ing that men more frequently in their
conflicts are quarreling over words
rather than realities.
=. oratory Like Slow Stream.
His oratory also is like his char
acter; it flows in broad, pellucid,
slow stream-every word is in the
9 right place-almost each sentence,
: though lengthy and even unwieldy,
ends in perfect construction, grammar
and lucidity; but 1t sometimes gives a
;, certain mechanical impression, as
though you were listening to a gramo-
!. phone rather than a man. On the 9TH
er hand, while Asquith therefore is
liable to lack amiability of speech and
pliancy Of opinion intellectually it IS
said by those who have watched him
closely that the firmness and rugged
ness of speech are not backed by 4
really firm will or tenacious purpose.
Asquith, unlike George, can be tired
out or talked out, or coaxed out of the
purpose with which he starts.
Finally Balfour is a combination Of
the qualities of the other two men;
. and intellectually is perhaps better
equipped than either of them for the
work Of negotiator. 1t is, indeed, the
dread Of Balfour which accounts part
~ for the dim apprehension of the
Liberals that the conference may end
IN Liberal defeat. AS he is physical
. ly, so ia Balfour mentally.
BaIfour Eccentric Man.
Tall, thin. willowy, with small
head a long, thin neck, manner that
is usually almost defiantly languid,
his long legs stretched out to their
full length, his whole body sometimes
! seeming to rest on his thin neck, he
used, in the long ago days when Gill
bert and Sullivan were satirizing the
sunflower school Of Bunthornes which
to be always compared to a typical
embodiment of that lackadaiscsl
school 1t was not till he became
chief secretary for ireland and showed
immense, and indeed, iron resolution
In nghting a serious and violent move
nent in Ireland that the people began
to take him seriously, or regarded him
as anything but a wllowy triner who
played with politics as he might with
a ladys fan. He then revealed tena-
city, courage, infinite dexterity, and
as time has gone on has shown fur
Their subtlety, and elusiveness, in de-
bate unexampled since the great
weaver Of words, Gladstone, disap-
peared from the parliamentary scene.
Courteous, cultured, with something
of the grand manner of the aristocrat
and the scholar, Mr. Balfour is per-
sonally popular, but his slimness, his
adroitness, his inexhaustible power of
escaping from the highest corner at
the hottest pursuit make him dread;
and many Liberals look with appre-
hension on an encounter between him
and even such brilliant leaders of their
own sides as Asquith and Lloyd
y George.