eir own powers. After the passing of this resolution the cry against
the House of Lords rapidly weakened, since it became clear at the
by-elections (culminating at Peckham in March 1908) that the "will of
the people" was by no means unanimously on the side of the bills which
had failed to pass.

The result of the two years was undoubtedly to revive the confidence of
the Opposition, who found that they had outlived the criticisms of the
general election, and both on the question of tariff reform and on
matters of general politics were again holding their own. The failure of
the government in Ireland (where the only success was Mr Birrell's
introduction of the Universities Bill in April 1908), their internal
divisions as regards socialistic legislation, their variance from the
views of the self-governing colonies on Imperial administration, the
admission after the general election that the alleged "slavery" of the
Chinese in the Transvaal was, in Mr Winston Churchill's phrase, a
"terminological inexactitude," and the introduction of extreme measures
such as the Licensing Bill of 1908, offered excellent opportunities of
electioneering attack. Moreover, the Liberal promises of economy had
been largely falsified, the reductions in the navy estimates being
dangerous in themselves, while the income tax still remained at
practically the war level. For much of all this the prime minister's
colleagues were primarily responsible; but he himself had given a lead
to the anti-militarist section by prominently advocating international
disarmament, and the marked rebuff to the British proposals at the Hague
conference of 1907 exposed alike the futility of this Radical ideal and
the general inadequacy of the prime minister's policy of pacificism. Sir
Henry's rather petulant intolerance of Unionist opposition, shown at the
opening of the 1906 session in his dismissal of a speech by Mr Balfour
with the words "Enough of this foolery!" gradually gave way before the
signs of Unionist reintegration. His resignation took place at a moment
when the Liberal, Irish and Labour parties were growing restive under
their obligations, government policy stood in need of concentration
against an Opposition no longer divided and making marked headway in the
country, and the ministry had to be reconstituted under a successor, Mr
Asquith, towards whom, so far, there was no such feeling of personal
devotion as had been the chief factor in Sir Henry Campbell-B