Romantic and idealist from the first, and with unconcealed ambition and considerable courage, Mr.
Lloyd George, with the strong backing of his Welsh compatriots, fought his way into the front rank of the Liberal Party during the ten years (1895-1905) of opposition.

More than once Mr.George pitted himself against Mr.Joseph Chamberlain in the days of the Conservative ascendancy and the South African War, and his powers as a Parliamentary debater won general acknowledgment.

In youth Mr.Lloyd George, full of the fervour of Mazzini's democratic teaching, dreamed of Wales as a nation, a republic, with himself, perhaps, as its first president.

Welsh nationalism could not breed a Home Rule Party as Irish nationalism has done, and Mr.Lloyd George has found greater scope for his talents in the Liberal Party.

The Welsh "question" has dwindled into a campaign for the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales, a warfare of Dissenters and Churchmen, and to Mr.Lloyd George there were bigger issues at stake than the position of the Welsh Church.
[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON.