"Proofs to the contrary ?" And in the silence he asked again, "Well ?" Then he added, "Still well, but not so well, that argument of yours." But Dr.Hammerfield was temporarily crushed, and the battle raged on in new directions.

On point after point, Ernest challenged the ministers.
When they affirmed that they knew the working class, he told them fundamental truths about the working class that they did not know, and challenged them for disproofs.

He gave them facts, always facts, checked their excursions into the air, and brought them back to the solid earth and its facts.
How the scene comes back to me! I can hear him now, with that war-note in his voice, flaying them with his facts, each fact a lash that stung and stung again.

And he was merciless.

He took no quarter,* and gave none.