THE GRAND YOUNG MAN OF EUROPE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3135, 18 September 1922, Page 2

THE GRAND YOUNG MAN OF EUROPE.

(My M. Morton).

Lord Balfour is seventy-four years of age. At a time of life when, fifty years ago men called for their wine, and reviewed their past Jives, Lord Balfour is still active in public and private life.

His body is fresh enough for tennis, and his mind keen enough for politics. Quite recently he has achieved the big successes of his career.

At the moment he is one of the foremost statesmen of Europe. Yet, in his early years, he was regarded as frail of physique and possessing no outstanding qualities. Lord Salisbury sent him to- Ireland years ago, in an hour of blood and turmoil. The Irish called him "Pretty Fanny" when he arrived carrying a walking stick. Six months later thev called him "Bloody Balfour."

What is the secret of his vitality? He is now at the height of his prestige, at seventy-four. The secret is—fresh ail'. 11l other countries they grow old more quickly. In England men walk and play, golf and tennis. The city is full of these young-old men.

They take care of their health, not in the old fussy manner, but in a still elder and more effective way. They eat and drink rationally. They do not wear goloshes or live on a doctor's doorstep. They go into the country, and heal minds ami bodies overstrained by hard work. All the men who rise to the head of their professions keep a nice balance between work and play. That is the secret of their stamina.

We have-learned to play again. We have discovered that open-air life is something more than a question of fresh air for the lungs and tan for tho cheeks. Tho mind reacts. The wind and tho rain and the sun scour it clean of staleness and smugness and humbug. They keep it human and kindly, and give it a boyisli zest. Nothing so quickly reduces problems to their fitting proportions as a few hours in the open. Nothing gives such clarity of vision, such sureness of perception. Nothing so fosters honest thought. Tennis and golf and other outdoor exercises are adding yeare to the normal period of activity of public men. Fifty years ago a man of seventyfour was generally too decrepit to hunt or walk. He indulged in an excess of gout. To-day the brain is more heavily taxed, and the wise man. realising this. puts in the stitch in time. ford Balfour is the shining example of the effect of the only one of all our modern philosophies that can be called sane and healthy. He has preserved brain and body by imbibing the glorious doctrine of fields and hills and woods. He is the Grand Young Man of Europe.