THE LATE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Southland Times, Issue 3626, 5 February 1880, Page 2

THE LATE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Mr John Thaddeus Delane, late editor of the Times, died on November 22, 1879, at his residence, Ascot Heath, aged 62. He was the son of the late Mr W. F. A. Delane, financial manager of the Times, and was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he graduated B.A, in 1839, and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1847. He became assistant editor of the Times in 1839, under the late Mr T. Barnes, and on the death of that gentleman in 1841 he succeeded to the editorsliip.which he held until three or four years ago, when he retired owing to failing health. The Pall Mall Gazette, speaking of him, says : "Many men of i great ability were enlisted under him ! during that period : but the mind of the : paper, its judgment, its sentiment, were unvaryingly his own. His personality^ to use a word' for which we have little liking, was stamped upon the paper so distinctly that even when he turned his back upon it for a few weeks' rest-^it is deplorable that his holidays were not more trequent than they were— the most careloss reader of the Times became aware of the fact immediately ; which was all the more remarkable since Delane seldom or never wrote. But in truth his care was so great,

the thoroughness with which dhc did his work so complete, that almost every paragraph of news that appeared injhis paper when he was at "work upon it, passed under his own eyes and had the Warrant of his signature^ before iifcould he printed. One most important' f acuity he hiad dwhich the out«3e public could hdot so "\ve\l, discern, though it contributed very largely to the general excellence of the Times under his ma,a%emont. : 7 He knew -not -only what "to print in the paper, but what to leave out of it ; and to those whose business it is to watch the conduct of journalism there is ,no.more significant '.mark of differenco .be^ 'tween "one editor and another than the presence or the absence .of this faculty. The higher qualifications of editorship Mr Delane posessed in so eminent a degree that we do not hesitate, to say that as long as his mind retained its vigor ho had not his equal in Europe, No man perhaps m the position he held so' long, "can quite escape the operation of the political and social influences so constantly - t and assiduously brought to bear upon him ; but no man yielded to snch influences less than did Mr Delane ; and he never yielded to them at all in affairs of serious importance ; but faithfully followed the inspirations of his own judgment ; never for ; an hour forgetting that his first duty was to i the nation over whose policies he exercised so mighty a control. That he was Jjuiek ! to feel every changing current of .opinion and feeling that agitated tho community, was another of the many qualities that fitted him so well for his post. That he followed these currents too raddenly'sonietimes, that he did not always distinguish between a passing wave of sentiment and the steadier and fuller inflow, may be said with truth perhaps ; but there is a doubt about it, because it was his business, it was his. first principle of conduct, to reflect in the Tunes. .from day to day the predominant feelings and opinions of the country, whatever turn they might happen to take. And though we do not choose the guidance of that principle ourselves, we have always seen that when once the principle is declared and understood, there is much more to be said about it than that it converted the Times into a 'weathercock. 1 And further, it must be allowed that now and then, in matters of grave concern, Mr Delane did not hesitate to sacrifice his main principle of conduct itself. In any case he never made any mistake as to the feeling of the couutiy. It was as if the nation had but one pulse, and as if it could always be found beating in his own wrist. Much more we could say in praise of a truly great and most honorable journalist ; but it is not an hour since we first heard of his death, and time fails us, and we confess to some agitations of mind unfavorable to critical reflection."