Note 23 — THE LIBERAL PROFESSIONS

On the occasion of Punch's Jubilee, in 1891, The Times remarked: "May we be excused for noting the fact that he (Punch) has generally, in regard to public affairs, taken his cue from The Times?" That was substantially true of The Times under the old régime when Delane was editor. Mr. Herbert Paul, himself a strong Liberal, writes in his History of Modern England that "Delane's chief quality was his independence." Mr. Dasent, in his biography, gives good grounds for his assertion that Delane was at no time what could be called a party man, though his instincts were essentially Liberal, and notes that "if charged with inconsistency, Delane would merely remind his critics that The Times was the organ of no party, and that every issue was complete in itself."