BALFOUR, hill' nor or ARTIII'D JAMES (1848—). An English statesman. Ile was born July 25, 1848, and studied at Eton and Cam bridge. From 1878 to ISSO he held the office of private secretary to his uncle, the Marquis of Salisbury, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was present at the Congress of Berlin. He repre sented Hertford in the House of Commons in 1874-85, and Manchester from 188G. Always a stanch Conservative, Balfour was appointed to the presidency ot the Local Government Board in 1885: in 1880 he became Secretary of State for Scotland. and in 18S7, Chief Secretary for Ire land. Under the second and third Salisbury ad ministrations, he was First Lord of the Treasury and Government leader of the House of COM mons, and in 1893 led the opposition against Gladstone's Home-Rule Bill. During Lord Salis bury's absence in 1898, through illness, was at the head of foreign affairs: and in July, 1902, on Lord Salisbury's resignation, he was made premier.
When his political career began, it was fashion able to regard him as a dilettante, a mere lite rary man, with no genius for practical work; and his first parliamentary prominence was as a member of the irresponsible group of four led by Lord Randolph Churchill and known a., the
'Fourth Party.' His appointment to the Irish secretaryship, the most difficult administrative post in the Government, surprised every one; but his conduct of the office won the praise even of his most decided opponent,. Despite his lack of enthusiasm and passion, and a turn for sarcasm not always restrained, he made one of the most popular leaders the }louse of Commons ever had. In his philosophic writings the naturally skepti cal bent of his mind is clearly displayed; he is one to whom disladief, or a contemptuous sus pension of judgment, collies more easily than faith. As a writer, his highest merits are sub tlety and originality—a directness of thought, a freshness of point of view, which make his work powerful, though his style has few technical merits, and though Silencer and others whose conclusions he impugns have accused his dia lectic of sophistry. His works are I Defense of Philosophic Doubt (1879) ; Essays and Addresses (1893) ; The Foundations of Belief (1895; new ed. l900).