The antagonism between the Lords and the Commons is not a matter of recent origin. It is practically as old as the Lower House itself, and may be said to have existed at intervals, at least in one form or another, since the days of Simon de Montfort. It was inevitable that it should be so. When a legislature is composed of two Houses, legally coördinate, the one on an hereditary basis and the other upon an elective, an opposition of views, interests, and purposes is sure to follow with the advance of the democratic spirit.