nt with a second chamber of
hereditary legislators, and many proposals are on foot for the reform of
the House of Lords. While the Conservatives are more anxious to change the
constitution of the Upper House, and to make it a stronger and more
representative assembly, the Liberals prefer that its power of veto should
be abolished. No Act of Parliament was required to abolish the veto of the
Crown on Acts of Parliament, but the growth of a democratic public opinion
did not prove strong enough to end the veto of the Lords on the Bills
passed by a Liberal majority in the Commons, and therefore the Parliament
Act was passed.

THE POPULARITY OF THE CROWN

The popularity of the Crown has become increasingly wider and more general
in the years that have seen the British people steadily taking up the work
of self-government. The fear of a hostile demonstration by the inhabitants
of London kept William IV. from visiting the Mansion House in 1830, and the
death of that monarch in 1837 evoked no national mourning. Queen Victoria,
unknown to the people on her accession, had the very great advantage of
Lord Melbourne's political advice in the early years of her reign. Her
marriage, in 1840, with the Prince Consort--who himself learnt much from
Melbourne--brought a wise counsellor to the assistance of the throne. "I
study the politics of the day with great industry," wrote the Prince
Consort. "I speak quite openly to the Ministers on all subjects, and
endeavour quietly to be of as much use to Victoria as I can." The Prince
Consort saw quickly that "if monarchy was to rise in popularity, it could
only be by the sovereign leading a good life, and keeping quite aloof from
party." The days of a profligate court and of "the King's friends" in
politics were past and gone; the royal _influence_ was to succeed the royal
_prerogative_.[87]

The aloofness from political partisanship has been faithfully maintained by
the successors of Queen Victoria, and great as the royal influence may be
in the social life of the wealthier classes, it is certain that no such
influence operates in the casting of votes by the people at Parliamentary
elections. No one suspects the King of desiring the return of Liberals over
Tories, or of favouring the Tory programme rather than the Liberal; and
this neutrality is the surest guarantee of the continued popularity of the
Crown.

For some years in the late 'seventies and early 'eighties of the nineteenth
centur