Lord Macaulay writes an epilogue to his History
Among the statesmen of his time Churchill was, in genius, the first. His intellect was fertile, daring and capacious. His careful and animated eloquence, set off by the defiant tones of his voice and by gestures which anticipated the delight he l',,t1ew he had to offer his audience; was the inspiration of his countrymen and, even in his closing years, the life of the thought, of Commons. His conversation overflowed with be'ught, fancy and wit. His political writings well deserve to studied for their literary merit, and fully entitle him to a Place among the English classics. His historical writings united a just historical perspective with a decent respect for h ancestors, and where the two could not be reconciled the to, rale r de properly had to concede to the latter. To the weight rived from talents so great and various, he joined a mag- nanimity which was armour against the insidious temptations of political life. Yet he was never wholly trusted. Indeed, those ample qualities which were the source of his greatness, frequently impeded him in the contests of the political arena. For he always saw events, not in the point of view in which they commonly appear to one who bears a part in them, but in the point of view in which, after their consummation, they appear to the philosophical historian. With such a turn of mind, he could not easily continue to act cordially with any body of ordinary politicians. Every faction, in tile day of its insolent and vindictive triumph, uttered its censure of him; and every faction, when in distress, found in him an unrancorous protectors
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