A Spectator's Notebook
ROBERT STEPHEN RINTOUL, who died a hundred years ago this week, was the founder of the Spectator. Its obituary notice of him said that 'even those subscribers who were most irritated by the course it pur- sued could find no substitute and continued their subscriptions . . . its circulation being chiefly, as it must always aim to be, among the men of culture, who like to listen to all sides of con- troversies, provided the argument is conducted with fairness and moderation.' On another page, Paul Bloomfield has more to say about Rintoul, and about the Spectator's early years; but he does not mention one of his comments which, I feel, deserves to be remembered. I am occasionally asked by people, 'What really are the Spectator's politics?'—the puzzled (and sometimes even resentful) implication being that the paper ought to follow a party line. Rintoul did not think so : when the same question was asked of him, his reply was: 'We run counter to the prejudices of all parties.' 1 hope we still do.
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