While he was still contemplating action Lord Fisher wrote to
him an extraordinary letter in which he threatened resignation if he were not given complete control of naval policy. Shortly afterwards Lord Fisher did resign. The thought of losing Lord Fisher had stirred up the Unionists, and the result of their discussions was that Mr. Bonar Law wrote a letter to Mr. Asquith saying that unless the Government were reconstituted it would be necessary for the Unionists to raise the whole question openly in the House of Commons. Mr. Asquith, for the reasons already stated, was extremely well pleased to form the Coalition Government of May, 1915. He was always so justly esteemed for his accuracy that we have no doubt that this is the true account of the birth of the Coalition, though it is much less dramatic than Lord Beaverbrook's picture of the Unionists holding a pistol to the head of the Prime Minister and com- pelling him to open the doors of his Cabinet. Lord Oxford's diary deepens one's sense of the steadiness and unselfishness with which he carried on amidst the storms of agitation and passion.
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