This absence of "pose" was, by the way, one of the most striking things
about Mr. Chamberlain. He was an extraordinarily natural man. You cannot
possibly imagine his taking up anything, from a new kind of cigar, a new
form of hat, or a new type of novel, because he was told it was the
right thing to do, or because he thought it was expedient for a
politician with a future to encourage this or that fashionable craze. I
have compared him to Disraeli in the matter of imagination. In the
absence of "pose" he was, however, the exact opposite of Disraeli. For
example, Lord Beaconsfield praised Lord Bolingbroke and talked about
Lord Carteret, not because he really liked either of the statesmen
mentioned, but because he thought it sounded well, and also because it
amused him to look more learned historically than he was. You could no
more expect Mr. Chamberlain to do that than to wear a particular flower,
not because he liked it, but because it had been admired by say Mr. Pitt
or Mr. Canning.
It must not be supposed from this, however, that Mr. Chamberlain was
indifferent to, or ignorant of, the past. Though he was not going to let
himself be dominated by old traditions, he was as distinctly well read
in political history as in poetry.
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