"Few democratic political parties can have so systemically and ruthlessly called into question the integrity, the devotion to the institutions of the country, and the patriotism of its opponents. In illustrating this argument it is appropriate to begin with Disraeli's Crystal Palace speech in 1872, one of the most important public speeches ever made by a Conservative leader. He argued...that it was the threefold purpose of the Conservative Party "to maintain the institutions of the country..., to uphold the empire of England..., [and] to elevate the condition of the people." It is with the enunciation of the second Conservative purpose that the party took its first long step to becoming the party of empire and indeed of imperialism... In the years that immediately followed Disraeli's pre-emption of the Empire as a uniquely Conservative cause, an increasingly strident note creeps into party literature whenever reference is made to the Liberals' attitude on imperial and foreign issues."