Men admired their firmness, while they regretted the delusion under which it was thought they acted

[William] Wilberforce and [Charles James] Fox and [William] Pitt, when they urged on the British Parliament the abolition of the slave trade, incurred the suspicion of fanaticism, but were never denounced as ignominious. When, after every defeat, they returned with fresh ardour to the attack, and, foiled in one scheme, immediately resorted to another, they were deemed headstrong in errour, but men admired [t]heir firmness, while they regretted the delusion under which it was thought they acted.
~ The Plaindealer (February 4, 1837)