. Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern. w of the Prime Minister, Lord Salis-bury. His tastes were those of a retired thinker. He cared for lit-erature, music, and philosophy, but very little for the political world;so little that he never read the tendency was increased by his deli-cate health. When, therefore, as a youngman in the neighborhood of thirty, hewas made Secretary for Scotland, peoplelaughed. His uncles choice proved to bea wise one, however: and he later, in 1886,gave his nephew the very important posi-tion of Irish Secretary, at a time whenso
. Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern. w of the Prime Minister, Lord Salis-bury. His tastes were those of a retired thinker. He cared for lit-erature, music, and philosophy, but very little for the political world;so little that he never read the tendency was increased by his deli-cate health. When, therefore, as a youngman in the neighborhood of thirty, hewas made Secretary for Scotland, peoplelaughed. His uncles choice proved to bea wise one, however: and he later, in 1886,gave his nephew the very important posi-tion of Irish Secretary, at a time whensome of the ablest and most experiencedstatesmen had failed. Mr. Balfour won anunexpected success and a wide reputation,and from that time on he developed rap-idly into one of the most skillful statesmen of the Conservative party. By tradition and by temperament he is anextreme Tory; and it is in the opposition, as a skillful fencer indebate and a sharp critic of pretentious schemes, that he has beenmost admired and most feared. However, he is kept from being. Arthur J. Balfour 1288 ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR narrowly confined to the traditional point of view by the philosophicinterests and training of his mind, which he has ti:rned into practi-cal fairness. Some of his speeches are most original in suggestion,and all show a literary quality of a high order. His writings onother subjects are also broad, scholarly, and practical. <A Defenseof Philosophic Doubt ^ is thought by some philosophers to be theablest work of destructive criticism since Hume. * The Foundationsof Belief * covers somewhat the same ground and in more popularfashion. ^ Essays and Addresses * is a collection of papers on litera-ture and sociology. THE PLEASURES OF READINGFrom his Rectorial Address before the University of Glasgow I CONFESS to have been much perplexed in my search for a topicon which I could say something to which you would have patience to listen, or on which I might find it profitable tospeak. On
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