It is a stainless and a splendid record.

There are men in English politics to whom a greater immediate influence may be ascribed, just as in political philosophy he cannot claim the persistent inspiration of Hobbes and Locke.

But in that middle ground between the facts and speculation his supremacy is unapproached.

There had been nothing like him before in English politics; and in continental politics Royer Collard alone has something of his moral fibre, though his practical insight was far less profound.

Hamilton had Burke's full grasp of political wisdom, but he lacked his moral elevation.