1909] Asquith Assailed by Suffragettes 275 



pleasant evening. Winston was in excellent form, and as he and 

 Harry are old and very intimate friends, the ball of conversation was 

 kept rolling well. Harry described to us Asquith's adventure with the 

 Suffragettes at Lympne. He was there with Asquith and Herbert Glad- 

 stone, and the suffragettes assaulted Asquith, striking him on the face 

 with their fists, or rather with their wrists (he gave a demonstration). 

 He, Harry, was Secretary of the Golf Club and intervened, telling 

 the women that whatever their dispute with the Prime Minister might 

 be it was impossible they should be allowed to walk on the grass, as 

 it was against the regulations of the Club. This, he said, impressed 

 them. Asquith defended himself, and caught hold of one of the 

 women and Herbert of another, and eventually got away in a motor. 

 While they were at dinner a stone, a big block of granite, was thrown 

 through the window of their room and fell within a yard of Margot. 

 He says it will come to murder before long. The women were quite 

 mad. 



" Winston gave us a very full account of what his policy in the 

 Budget dispute with the Lords would be. He began by saying that 

 his hope and prayer was that they would throw out the Bill, as it 

 would save the Government from a certain defeat if the Elections 

 were put off. The Budget, once it became law, would be immensely 

 unpopular, and everybody would be against it. It was therefore to 

 the interest of the Opposition to let it pass. It seemed, however, likely 

 that the Lords would throw it out. Then there were two courses, either 

 to resign at once or to dissolve. He is for dissolving. Then if the 

 Government came back with a good majority he thinks they could go 

 in for a regular attack on the Lords' veto. He thinks the King would 

 go with them in swamping the House of Lords by a creation of peers, 

 and so would abolish the veto. But, if only with a small majority, they 

 would say the King's Government could not be carried on, and would 

 resign, when Lansdowne would be called on to form an administration ; 

 and he also being unable to carry on the King's Government, would 

 have again to dissolve. Thus it would no longer be a question of the 

 Budget but of a quarrel between Lords and Commons, ' and in time 

 we should have all the forces on our side ' — except the physical forces. 

 Winston is an admirable and delightful talker; very clear in his ideas 

 and with an extraordinarily ready wit. Harry, though also ready and 

 witty, was nowhere at all with him in the discussion, which he tried 

 to maintain from the Tory side. We had continued our talk after 

 leaving the dining-room and got on the subject of India and George 

 Curzon. Curzon, according to Harry, entirely lost his head in India; 

 and after Broderick became Secretary of State, thought he could do 

 what he liked. St. John, he said, had been George's butt for thirty 

 years. He had always laughed at him and would not treat him ser- 



