was the third loss of a colleague which the Prime Minister had suffered since the Coalition. Sir Edward Carson, the Attorney- General, had resigned in the autumn owing to the muddles of ministerial policy in the Balkans, and Mr. Churchill because of his exclusion from the immediate direction of the war. All three became occasionally keen critics of their former colleagues, whose delays in this vital matter of universal service weakened and discredited them in the country.
Mr. Asquith took a further step early in 1016 in the direction of close cooperation between the Allies by attending, along with Sir E. Grey, Mr. Lloyd George, Lord Kitchener and Gen. Sir William Robertson, an Allied conference in Paris, representative not only of England and France, but of Russia, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Serbia, and Portugal. Thence he went on to Rome, where he visited the Pope, and made a speech in the Capitol declaring the solidarity of Italy, France, and England at that critical moment of the world's history; afterwards proceeding to the Italian headquarters, where he was received by King Victor Emanuel and Gen. Cadorna. Later, in June, he and his Govern- ment arranged an economic conference, also in Paris, which provided for measures of economic union between the Allies, for conservation of the national resources of Allied countries, and for economic protection against enemy trade " penetration " and " dumping " after the war. His special attention was claimed at the end of April by rebellion in Ireland, the most serious in- cident of which was the capture of a great part of Dublin for a week by rebels (see IRELAND). After the suppression of the rising by the troops and the prompt execution of the leaders, he appointed a commission of inquiry, and he himself visited Ireland and returned with a conviction that a united effort must be made to reconstitute Irish government. He appointed Mr. Lloyd George to negotiate and formulate suggestions. In the result he proposed a provisional settlement, for the war and 12 months after, on the basis of bringing the Home Rule Act with certain amendments into immediate operation, with the ex- clusion of six Ulster counties. To this Sir Edward Carson agreed, but Mr. Redmond objected to the amendments, and nothing was done. The negotiations lost Mr. Asquith the services of Lord Selborne as the rebellion had deprived him of those of Mr. Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
The basis of his ministry was rudely shaken in the summer of 1916 by the loss of Lord Kitchener at sea. Lord Kitchener's place at the War Office was taken by Mr. Lloyd George, whose reputa- tion for " getting things done " had been enormously enhanced by the energy with which he had organized the Ministry of Munitions. The attack on the Somme seemed to promise an end to the trench war, but after many weeks of most determined fighting the German line was not broken through; and in the latter part of the year Rumania was crushed. These events in- creased public dissatisfaction, which had been stimulated by half-hearted dealings with the blockade of Germany, with the food problem, and with the creation of an adequate aerial force; and public criticism was focused on Mr. Asquith, whose in- cautious phrase of six years before" wait and see " was frequently flung in his face. In the House of Commons two strong committees, one of Liberals and one of Conservatives, had been formed for the purpose of the resolute prosecution of the war and the keeping of ministers up to the mark. Mr. Asquith's speeches were always resolute enough ; he promptly denounced any over- tures of pacifists for a premature peace ; but he was thought to be lacking in initiative, and to carry into the counsels of war some- what the attitude of an impartial Cabinet chairman weighing pros and cons and counting heads for a decision.
The War Council initiated under his Liberal Government was continued with very little modification, save in personnel, under the Coalition ; and the final authority remained with the Cabinet. It was felt that a small body, sitting daily, with power to act at once without reference, was essential for the proper conduct of the war. Mr. Lloyd George, the most active member of the War Council, by a letter on Dec. i, demanded the establish- ment of such a body, with himself as one of its members, but without Mr. Asquith. He subsequently amended his proposal,
giving Mr. Asquith a consultative membership and a power of veto. But it was clear that the effect must be to transfer the main conduct of the war from Mr. Asquith to Mr. Lloyd George. Mr. Asquith, who had consented to reconstruct his Government, refused Mr. Lloyd George's ultimatum; and on Dec. 5 Mr. Lloyd George resigned. Without him Mr. Asquith clearly could not carry on, and he himself resigned the same evening, being suc- ceeded, after some complications, by Mr. Lloyd George. So ended a premiership which had lasted nearly nine years, and left an ineffaceable mark on English history. He carried into retirement his principal Liberal colleagues, including Lord Grey of Fallodon ; and many tributes of regard and respect were paid him by the Unionists who had been his colleagues.
After his resignation Mr. Asquith took his seat on the front Opposition bench; but he disclaimed being in any sense a leader of Opposition, and affirmed that his one desire was to give the Government the benefit of whatever experience he had gained. He maintained this attitude throughout 1917, making resolute and helpful speeches in different parts of the country on behalf of the national war aims. In Parliament he rendered material assistance to the Ministerial Franchise bill; and he announced that the services of women during the war had converted him to female suffrage. In 1918 he became rather more critical, and in particular called parliamentary attention to a letter in which Gen. Sir Frederick Maurice, formerly Director of Military Operations, challenged the veracity of ministerial statements. He moved to refer the general's charges to a select committee of the House, but was beaten on a division by 293 votes to 106. This action, taken during the period of the alarming German advance, marked a definite cleavage with the Government, which was widened after the Armistice by the conditions under which the general election was held in December. Mr. Asquith and those of his colleagues who had not joined Mr. Lloyd George, together with a considerable section of Liberal members, de- clined to pledge their support to the Coalition Government, and desired to be returned as independent Liberals. As the electorate was resolved that those who had won the war should make the peace and begin the reconstruction of the country, he and the whole of his principal colleagues lost their seats, and only 28 of his followers in all were returned. He did not come back to Parliament till Feb. 1920, when he was elected at a by-election for Paisley. This time he appeared as the leader of the independent Liberal Opposition which had been temporarily led in his absence by Sir Donald Maclean; but his followers, though they had gained some seat's since the general election, were still smaller in number in Parliament than the representa- tives of Labour. Possibly for that reason he was more active in the country than in Parliament, devoting himself to efforts for reviving the Liberal party. He maintained that the time was come to put an end to the Coalition and resume party Govern- ment. He attacked ministers for their departures from Free Trade, for their wasteful administration, and for their policy in Ireland. He strongly condemned reprisals in that island, and declared for Dominion Home Rule. For a time he seemed to be recovering his hold on the country; but in the last half of 1920 and in 1921 there was a setback. It was no help to his political position that Mrs. Asquith published in the autumn of 1920 a volume of very frank and indiscreet Reminiscences.
In 1918 Mr. Asquith himself published a volume of Occasional Addresses, delivered between the years 1893-1916, thus remind- ing the world that he was a worthy successor of a long line of scholarly and intellectual Prime Ministers, capable of treating with distinction and acceptance matters of the mind wholly un- connected with politics. The book contained, amongst others, Rectorial Addresses to the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, a Presidential Address to the Classical Association, and a dis- sertation on " biography " read before the Edinburgh Philo- sophical Institution. The universities of the country duly recog- nized the claims made upon them by his scholarship. Besides being elected to the rectorships, first of Glasgow and then of Aberdeen, he received honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews, Durham, Bristol and Leeds.
