Introduction: Gladstone and Religious Discourse

Abstract

The tendency to dismiss William Gladstone's "conviction" politics is rooted in a misunderstanding of the complexity of the positions from which he started. Gladstone's political strategy was based upon a resolve to harness intellectual and social forces unleashed by the growth of liber-alism to achieve conservative goals. His populist style was deeply influ-enced by the religious modes of agitation typical of the Reformed tradi-tion and Protestant revivalism. In all his political efforts, he tried to iden-tify and intepret for contemporaries the centrality of the traditional Chris-tian message.