12 NOVEMBER 1927, Page 40

Opinions and Arguments from the Speeches and Addresses of the

Earl of Balfour (Hodder and Stoughton, 12s. 6d.) is a selection made by Lord Balfour's niece. Lord Balfour says in a characteristic preface that " Mrs. Dugdale is probably the better judge of what (if anything) in the way of old speeches the public are likely to tolerate," than, he himself would be, and that anyway he does not propose to read the selection that has been made. As a contrast to the rich rotundity of Lord Oxford's diction, these clever, staccato cogitations are very striking. Nothing could be more different in matter and manner : it is a commentary on our public life that two such different minds could both attain the highest office of state.