Besides, Lord Rosebery goes on to say, the question is
not an isolated one or a sudden cleavage, nor is it the result of accidental causes or personal antagonisms. It is a question of Imperialists and Little Englanders—Lord Rosebery does not use the words, but that is what he means—as sum- marised by Sir Wilfrid Lawson and Sir Edward Grey. "Both hold with intense conviction opinions on foreign and Imperial policy which cannot by any conceivable compromise be recon- ciled. And yet the party is to unite on the recognition and toleration of both. Now a party cannot be conducted on the principles of Issachar." The real cause of weakness in the Liberal party is "an honest and irreconcilable division of opinion on a group of questions of the first importance." One school or other must prevail if the Liberal party is to become once more a force. But the crisis is not merely a party one, it is national, for we have "a weak Government faced by a weaker Opposition." "I believe that public opinion is becoming aware that this is a crisis in our history • which may have an unlimited effect on our future. Yet for the moment I see no favourable issue."
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