ABSTRACT
Chamberlain once applied to himself a phrase of Gambetta’s, saying that he was ‘un radical autoritaire’, and there is abundant evidence that the self-made man from Birmingham possessed what is now known as ‘an authoritarian personality’. According to Margot Asquith, Salisbury, after saying that Gladstone was much hated but also much loved, went on to ask whether anyone ever loved Joe. Chamberlain and Gladstone were both by temperament excessively vigorous men with strong emotions. Both could be extremely vindictive. But Gladstone was acutely aware of the resulting dangers. Gladstone’s religion filled him in his more equable moments with respect for human personality and a belief in the superiority of persuasion to force, the two hall marks of genuine liberalism.
