The Resolution was supported, or rather was not opposed, by
Lord Lansdowne and Lord Crewe, who agreed in thinking that, as the Lord Chancellor later declared, "it was compatible with these Resolutions that this Chamber should consist of all hereditary Peers, of all nominated Peers, or of all elected Peers, or in any of the numerous possible combinations between these three." Lord Rose- bery in his reply expressed his belief that the principles laid down "would act as a very agreeable and acceptable alternative in the minds of the great mass of the nation as compared with those that were produced in the newspapers that morning." The result showed the wisdom of the Peers. Only seventeen Peers could be found to support Lord Halsbui7, and the abandonment of heredity alone as a ground for membership of the House of Lords was carried by a majority of 158. That is a very striking and very satisfactory result of Lord Rosebery's action.
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