And whatever each man believed in he hammered at steadily, without scepticism: and there was a time when the Established Church might have fallen, and the House of Lords nearly fell.

It was because Radicals were wise enough to be constant and consistent; it was because Radicals were wise enough to be Conservative.

But in the existing atmosphere there is not enough time and tradition in Radicalism to pull anything down.

There is a great deal of truth in Lord Hugh Cecil's suggestion (made in a fine speech) that the era of change is over, and that ours is an era of conservation and repose.

But probably it would pain Lord Hugh Cecil if he realised (what is certainly the case) that ours is only an age of conservation because it is an age of complete unbelief.