THE EDITOR OF THE 'TIMES.' 'GOOD heavens!' cried the Duke of Wellington one day, 'that is the most powerful man in England.' It was Mr. Barnes, the Editor of the Times, to whom the great Duke applied these words; and that they were hardly exaggerated, was proved by the fact that the gentleman in question had just dictated to the Duke's own Ministry the conditions upon which alone he would consent to support it in the columns of the Times. I do not propose to speak in this sketch of any particular individual. Remembering the care with which the Editor of the Times has always hedged himself round from the public gaze, it would be impertinent to do so. I merely wish to write of the impersonal editor, or in other words, of the political director of the greatest of English newspapers, and of his place in the political hierarchy. Very interesting, no doubt, would it be to trace the career of individual editors, and to see how they were successful just in proportion as they possessed that fine journalistic instinct which no man can acquire by training or study, and without which no man can ever be a great editor. Very interesting, too, would it be to trace the history of such a journal as the Times, to follow its rise from small beginnings, to observe its connection with the two political parties and with the many great questions which have stirred the world |