His work, however, could not be undone, and as passions have subsided his fame has proved to be of that highest and rarest kind which broadens and rises with the lapse of years, until in the light of history it overtops that of any of our statesmen, except of his own great chief and Abraham Lincoln.
Lodge reflects on Hamilton's enduring legacy and the challenges he faced during his lifetime, noting the evolution of his reputation over time.
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He never by any chance bored the American people.
Let us imitate this prudence; and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may, at least, be able to conjecture where we now are.
The bitter medicine of defeat, however unpalatable, is usually extremely sobering, but the strong new wine of success generally sets the heads of poor humanity spinning, and leads often to worse results than folly.
No man of that time, with the exception of Hamilton, ever grasped and realized as he did the imperial future which stretched before the United States.