e. Yet here you have an
order of men blessed with every fortune which Providence can bestow on
them grudging a small pittance out of their super-abundance in order to
protect those who have built up their wealth against the haunting
terror of misery and despair. They have thrown it out, and in doing so
they have initiated one of the greatest, gravest, and most promising
struggles of the time. Liberty owes as much to the foolhardiness of
its foes as it does to the sapience and wisdom of its friends. At last
the case between the peers and the people has been set down for trial
in the great assize of the people, and the verdict will be given soon."

The country was quickly in the midst of the election. It cannot be
said that Lloyd George dealt lightly with the House of Lords. Here is
a typical reference: "Who are the guardians of this mighty British
people? I shall have to make exceptions, but they are men who have
neither the training, the qualifications, nor the experience which
would fit them for such a gigantic task. The majority of them are
simply men whose sole qualification is that they are the first-born of
persons who had just as little qualifications as themselves. To invite
this imperial race, this, the greatest commercial nation in the world,
the nation that has taught the world in the principles of
self-government and liberty--to invite this nation itself to sign a
decree that declares itself unfit to govern itself without the
guardianship of such people, that is an insult which I hope will be
thrown back with ignominy."

Not only the upper classes, but a great many of the lower classes
stormed and raged at these and similar words. The _Daily Mail_ went so
far as to give a column of titbits from Lloyd George's speeches in
order to show what a really vulgar and detestable person he was, and
how unfit to occupy any leading position in the state.

The election results as they began to come in indicated that while the
Liberals were losing a number of seats which in years gone by had been
Conservative strongholds, they were, nevertheless, going to retain the
confidence of the country. In the result Mr. Asquith found himself
once again in command of the House of Commons with a majority of one
hundred and twenty-four.

The cards were placed in the hands of the Liberals now, but they had to
be very carefully played. The House of Lords swallowed its humiliation
as best it could and passed the famous Bud