ters of education. Six times
between 1838 and 1857 they rejected Bills for removing Jewish
disabilities; three times between 1858 and 1869 they vetoed the
abolition of Church Rates. For thirty-six years (1835-1871) the
admission of Nonconformists to the universities by the abolition of
tests was delayed by them. It was only to be expected, therefore, that
they would be deaf to the popular outcry that had been caused by the
Balfour Education Bill of 1902. But in the very first session of the
Parliament in which the Government had been returned to power by the
immense majority of 354, that they should immediately show their teeth
and claws was, from their own point of view, as events proved, a vital
error. Their second mistake was the rejection in 1908 by a body of
Peers at Lansdowne House of the Licensing Bill, which had occupied many
weeks of the time of the House of Commons. This was rightly regarded as
a gratuitous insult to the House of elected representatives. Finally,
their culminating act of folly was the rejection of the Budget in 1909.
It was an outrageous breach of acknowledged constitutional practise,
which alienated from them a large body of moderate opinion. In addition
to these three notable measures there were, of course, a number of
other Bills on land, electoral, and social reform that were either
mutilated or thrown out during this period. How could any politician in
his senses suppose that a party who possessed any degree of confidence
in the country would tamely submit to treatment such as this? While the
Lords proceeded light-heartedly with their wrecking tactics, the
Liberal Government slowly and cautiously, but with great deliberation,
took action step by step. A provocative move on the part of the Lords
was met each time by a counter-move, and thus gradually the final and
decisive phase of the dispute was reached.

After the loss of the Education Bill of 1906, the first note of warning
was sounded by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. "The resources of the
House of Commons," he declared, "are not exhausted, and I say with
conviction that a way must be found, and a way will be found, by which
the will of the people expressed through their elected representatives
in this House will be made to prevail."

The first mention of the subject in a King's Speech occurred in March,
1907, when this significant phrase was used: "Serious questions
affecting the working of our party system have arisen from unfortuna