His chief opponent, the Earl of Clarendon, a senior advisor to Charles during the First English Civil War, later wrote; 'he had a very comely and grave way of expressing himself...and understood the temper and affections of the kingdom as well as any man’. Pym's reputation suffered in comparison to less complex figures like Hampden and Viscount Falkland, especially during the Victorian era which romanticised the Royalist cause. One exception was the historian Goldwin Smith, who described him as "the greatest member of Parliament that ever lived". He is now generally viewed as an astute politician who laid the foundations of modern Parliamentary democracy and effective speaker, whose ideas and language were adapted by Patriots during the American Revolution and 19th century American liberals.