That is both good sense and justice; but unfortunately Mr.
Balfour thought it quite a sufficient explanation of why he had done nothing to carry out his policy to say that his views were "personal," and not acceptable to his colleagues and the House of Commons. That seems to us a very weak and poor-spirited position for a Prime Minister to assume. Had Mr. •Balfour told his colleagues and his party three years ago that they could not have him as Prime Minister if they would not accept his policy in regard to Irish University education, they would, we believe, have accepted it, for the chief enemies of the proposal were not his followers, but his opponents, the Nonconformists. Bat apparently it never occurred to him that a policy in which one believes is a policy for which it is worth while to sacrifice something. When Prime Ministers begin to talk about personal views which they do not mean to press, they soon lose the confi- dence of the nation. If Mr. Balfour is not prepared to make his personal views effective, he should at least refrain from talking about them in public. That is a homage which opportunism surely owes to dignity and self-respect.
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