d much more.

In the summer of 1911 Mr. Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister, after
prolonged and heated discussion, forced the House of Lords to accept
the Veto Bill, which is now law. He did this by using the same threat
which enable Earl Grey to carry the Reform Bill of 1832 (S582). The
Veto Act makes it impossible for the House of Lords to defeat any
Public Bill which the House of Commons has passed for three successive
sessions, extending over a period of not less than two years. This
momentous Act was passed at a critical time when the great Dockers
Strike had practically closed the port of London, and had cut off the
chief food supply of the city. A little later, the Prime Minister
passed the Salary Bill, which pays the members of the House of Commons
400 pounds annually (S591). Next, the Government passed (1911) the
Workmen's Compulsory Insurance Bill against sickness and
unemployment. The worker and his employer contribute small sums
weekly, the Government gives the rest. The law has an excellent
motive.

632. General Summary of the Development of the English Nation.

Such is the condition of the English nation in the twentieth century
and in the reign of King George V. Looking back to the time when
Caesar landed in Britain, we see that since that period an island
which then had a population of a few thousand "barbarians" (SS4, 18)
has gradually become the center of a great and powerful empire (SS14,
15).

The true history of the country began, however, not with Caesar's
landing, but with the Saxon invasion in 449, about five centuries
later. Then the fierce blue-eyed German and Scandinavian races living
on the shores of the Baltic and North Seas took possession of Britain.
They, with the help of the primitive British, or Celtic, stock, laid
the foundation of a new nation. Their speech in a modified form,
their laws, and their customs became in large degree permanent.

Later, missionaries from Rome converted this mixed population to the
Christian faith. They baptized Britain with the name England, which
it has ever since retained (S50).

In the eleventh century the Normans, who sprang originally from the
same stock as the Northmen and Saxons, conquered the island. They
grafted onto the civilization which they found there certain elements
of Continental civilization (S126). Eventually the Saxon yeoman and
the Norman knight joined hands and fortunes, and became one people
(S192).

This union