Notwithstanding the severity of their defeat—­they were in a minority of 45 in the House—­the Liberals in opposition showed a good fighting front, and ere long hope revived.  The Borden government found itself in difficulties from the moment of taking office—­largely by reason of the tactics by which Laurier’s supremacy in Quebec had been undermined.  The Nationalist chiefs declined an invitation to enter the government, but they controlled the Quebec appointments to the cabinet, and thus assumed a quasi-responsibility for the new government’s policy.  The result was disastrous to them; for the Borden government, subject to the influences that had enabled it to sweep Ontario, could not concern itself with the preservation of Bourassa’s fortunes.  The extension of the Manitoba boundaries was a blow to the Nationalists; they failed in their efforts to preserve the educational rights of the minority in the added territory.  Laurier had evaded this issue; Borden could not evade it, and by its settlement Bourassa was damaged.  Still more disastrous to the Nationalist cause was the naval policy which Mr. Borden submitted to Parliament in the session of 1912-1913.  There was in its presentation an ingenious attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable which deceived nobody.  The contribution of the three largest dreadnoughts that could be built was to satisfy the Conservatives; the Nationalists were expected to be placated by the assurance that this contribution was merely to meet an emergency, leaving over for later consideration the question of a permanent naval policy.  But all the circumstances attending the setting out of the policy—­the report of the admiralty, the letters of Mr. Churchill, the speeches by which it was supported with their insistence upon the need for common naval and foreign policies—­made it only too clear that it marked the abandonment of the Canadian naval policy which had been entered upon only four years before with the consent of all parties and the acceptance in principle of the Round Table view of the Imperial problem.  Laurier challenged the proposition whole-heartedly.  Here was familiar fighting ground.  From the moment they joined battle with the government the Liberals found their strength growing.  They were indubitably on firm ground.  They were helped mightily by Mr. Churchill’s attempted intervention in which he belittled Canadian capacity in a manner worthy of Downing street in its palmiest days.  Mr. Churchill had the bright idea of coming to Canada to take a hand personally in the controversy.  A Canadian-born member of the British House of Commons sounded out various Canadians as to the nature of the reception Mr. Churchill would receive.  Mr. Churchill did not come—­fortunately for the government.  The Liberals fought the proposition so furiously in the Commons that the government had to introduce closure to secure its passage through the commons, whereupon the Liberal majority in the Senate threw it out.  The Liberal policy was to