(1848-)
Although the prominence of Arthur James Balfour in English contemporary
life is in the main that of a statesman, he has a high place as a critic
of philosophy, especially in its relation to religion. During the early
part of his life his interests were entirely those of a student. He was
born in 1848, a member of the Cecil family, and a nephew of the Prime
Minister, Lord Salisbury. His tastes were those of a retired thinker. He
cared for literature, music, and philosophy, but very little for the
political world; so little that he never read the newspapers. This
tendency was increased by his delicate health. When, therefore, as a
young man in the neighborhood of thirty, he was made Secretary for
Scotland, people laughed. His uncle's choice proved to be a wise one,
however; and he later, in 1886, gave his nephew the very important
position of Irish Secretary, at a time when some of the ablest and most
experienced statesmen had failed. Mr. Balfour won an unexpected success
and a wide reputation, and from that time on he developed rapidly into
one of the most skillful statesmen of the Conservative party. By
tradition and by temperament he is an extreme Tory; and it is in the
opposition, as a skillful fencer in debate and a sharp critic of
pretentious schemes, that he has been most admired and most feared.
However, he is kept from being narrowly confined to the traditional
point of view by the philosophic interests and training of his mind,
which he has turned into practical fairness. Some of his speeches are
most original in suggestion, and all show a literary quality of a high
order. His writings on other subjects are also broad, scholarly, and
practical. 'A Defense of Philosophic Doubt' is thought by some
philosophers to be the ablest work of destructive criticism since Hume.
'The Foundations of Belief' covers somewhat the same ground and in more
popular fashion. 'Essays and Addresses' is a collection of papers on
literature and sociology.
[Illustration: ARTHUR J. BALFOUR]