His story is, therefore, not mine."
There had probably never been a politician in British public life who
was so affectionately regarded by all those persons who were brought
into personal contact with him, whether they agreed with him or not.
Pressmen whose duty it was to berate him in the papers were generally
fond of him personally. Opponents in the House of Commons when not
engaged in combat had, in most cases, an active liking for him.
Business men and persons not connected with politics after once meeting
him had nothing but good to say of the "Welsh demagogue." And in face
of all this Lloyd George has truly been the most hated man of his
generation. He used to chuckle over it--which sent his opponents to
the last degree of fury. "The dukes," he would remark, cheerily, "are
scolding like omnibus-drivers, and the lords swearing like
stable-boys." He would fling out his hand with a humorously despairing
gesture about it.
Lloyd George was not very precise in his attacks sometimes. Though he
was very rarely, perhaps never, successfully challenged on the general
basis of his charges, his vivid wording always brought on him a flood
of recriminations. He was called an "ignorant demagogue," an
"unscrupulous electioneer," was accused of using "false sentiment" and
of "setting class against class." His principal weapons throughout, it
was said, were his inaccuracies and offensive personalities. The
exasperated Conservatives, only a few months before the war, secured
the time of the House of Commons to indict him for some of these sins.
Here was the resolution moved from the Conservative benches: "That this
House contemplates with regret the repeated inaccuracies of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and his gross and unfounded charges upon
individuals." No motion could have pleased Lloyd George better.
Ponderous and dignified were the speeches against him. He replied with
a quizzical lightness, and did not refrain from personal remarks even
in the course of his defense. He demonstrated the general accuracy of
his speeches, ridiculed the indictment against himself, and showed how
it arose partly from political prejudices, partly from the mental
obtuseness and anger of his opponents. A portion of his speech
recalled the things the Conservatives attacking him said about Joseph
Chamberlain, now one of their idols. They were remarks made during
Chamberlain's radical days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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