The true nature of the devotion which he inspires in
so many of his followers is something which ought to be analysed and examined by those who are interested in the condition and future of the Conservative Party. It is not the descendants of the old governing classes who display the greatest en- thusiasm for their leader ; it is rather the descendants of the industrial revolution. Mr. Chamberlain is the idol of the busi- ness men; they feel that he understands their perplexities, their ignorance, their sad little optirnisms, their harmless ambitions; they have during all these years identified themselves with this representative of the backbone of England, and any decline in his prestige is a decline in their own. They do not have the same personal feelings for Mr. Churchill. They do not feel that Mr. Churchill understands that their desire for distinc- tions is no mere social greed but a quite respectable wish to separate themselves from the mediocrity by which they are surrounded. There are awful moments when they feel that Mr. Churchill does not find them interesting.
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