Hampden, on the other hand, was for vigorous and decisive measures. When he drew the sword, as Clarendon has well aid, he threw away the scabbard. He had shown that he knew better than any public man of his time how to value and how to practice moderation. He knew that the essence of war is violence, and that moderation in war is imbecility.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician

“John Hampden,” Essays Contributed to the Edinburgh Review, Vol. 1 (1843)
    (Source)

Review of Lord Nugent, Some Memorials of John Hampden, His Party, and His Times (1831).