Abstract
From 1903 to 1906 British politics was in tumult over tariff reform, and the Unionist government of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was hanging by a thread. At one end of the party, Joseph Chamberlain was vigorously pushing for Empire-wide protection, and at the other end, others, equally vigorously, were defending the principle of free trade, with Balfour in between trying to keep his party from disintegrating. It was a thankless task, and one that, in the long run, Balfour ultimately failed to accomplish. His efforts at compromise only alienated all sides, and he earned the contempt of being considered a poor leader, a trimmer, and a dilettante. In the midst of this political battle an article appeared in the Nineteenth Century defending Balfour, seeing in his political gymnastics not the feebleness of a roi fainéant, but the consummate statesmanship of a true ruler. The article was entitled "A Political Fabius Maximus" and its author was Wilfrid Ward (1856-1916), a good friend of Balfour and a leading Catholic thinker of the day. 1
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