Ffynh 8I

One of the main elements of Mr Lloyd George’s character is push. He is largely endowed, too, with worldly wisdom. A superficial observer of the man may pronounce him rash and indiscreet; all who are thoroughly familiar with his history will, however, unite in saying that his rashness and indiscretion must be more apparent than real, for they always prove advantageous to him as a party politician by strengthening his position in his constituency and in the country generally. Even this little revolt of his, untimely though it may seem to most of us, will tell hereafter, we feel confident, to his advantage. It is distinctly in his favour that he has the courage to revolt at all. If the Government yield to his demands, great will be his reward; if the Government decline to yield to his demands, great will be the disgrace in the sight of the Welsh people, not of Lloyd George, but of the members who have refused to follow his lead. But why did he revolt? Was it because he felt that he must do something heroic, something sensational, if the attention of his countrymen was to be distracted from his complete discomfiture in the Welsh Disestablishment Debate? If the revolt is to be regarded as a tactical movement designed for some such purpose as this, it must be acknowledged to have turned out a perfect success. The courageous little rebel has entirely over-shadowed the fallen parliamentary champion of Welsh Disestablishment.

Mr George has a very interesting personality. He is very affable, very frank and outspoken. He has a bright and intelligent face and (in private life) very pleasing manners. One hardly knows what a Campbellite–Particular Baptist ought to look like, but one has no difficulty in bringing before one’s mental eye the typical outward characteristics of a popular demagogue. These are by no means the outward characteristics of Mr Lloyd George.

He once delivered a powerful speech on Temperance in the House of Commons; he has delivered many equally powerful speeches on the subject in his constituency. He is one of the half-dozen total abstainers in the ranks of the Welsh parliamentary party.

Take him for all in all, he seems by far the best-fitted of the Welsh members for the leadership of the National party in the House of Commons ... He is quick-witted; he is eloquent; he is daring; in a word, he is perhaps the truest Celt that Wales has ever sent into the House of Commons.

(T. Marchant Williams, ‘Mr David Lloyd George’, The Welsh Members of Parliament, Cardiff, 1894, p. 26 [Tip: daliwch Ctrl a chliciwch dolen i'w agor mewn tab newydd. (Cuddio tip)] )