As a counsellor, he was supreme.

He had that faculty for anticipating the future, that broad, far-reaching vision of the chain of events which can proceed only from long, deep and constant thought, and which is truly admirable when united, as it was in him, to a sovereign contempt for this or that momentary outcry.

In these qualities of insight and foresight I have only seen one man approach him, the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, to whose credit stands the greatest work of Imperial reconciliation accomplished in our day.

But Redmond had supremely what the wise old Scotsman lacked--the gift of persuasive speech, to win acceptance for his wisdom and his vision.
He could persuade, but he could not compel.

His was not the magnetism which constrains allegiance almost in despite of reason--the power which was possessed by his first and only leader, Parnell.