He became a free lance
and while sometimes he ran amuck his cause was always the cause of his
people.
In those earlier Parliamentary days you find some of the traits that
distinguished him later on. For one thing he disdained the drudgery of
committee work: he chafed at the confinement of the conference room;
eagle-like he yearned to spread his wings. His forte was talking. He
loathed to mull over dull and unresponsive reports. He frankly admitted
a disinclination to work, and it makes him one of the most superficial
of men in what the world calls culture. His intelligence has more than
once been characterised as "brilliant but hasty."
But offsetting all this is the man's persuasive and pleading personality
which always gets him over the shallow ground of ignorance. This is one
reason why Lloyd George has always been stronger in attack than in
defence. His tactic has always been either to assault first or make a
swift counterdrive. He is a sort of Stonewall Jackson of Debate.
Then, as throughout his whole career, he showed an extraordinary
aversion to letter-writing. He became known in Parliament as the "Great
Unanswered." He used to say, and still does, that an unanswered letter
answers itself in time. This led to the tradition that the only way to
get a written reply out of Lloyd George was to enclose two addressed and
stamped cards, one bearing the word "Yes" and the other "No." More than
once, however, when friends and constituents tried this ruse they got
both cards back in the same envelope!
Not long ago a well known Englishman wanted to make a written request of
Lloyd George and on consulting one of his associates was given this
instruction: "Make it brief.
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