And, as with his English predecessors — not just Ashton but Jane Austen and George Eliot — his imagination is rooted in a firm secular morality.
The authoritativeness goes with a package of characteristics: a certain lack of professionalism ("I scribble anywhere," she says), an airy claim that she's so hopeless with figures she doesn't even know how old she is (late 50s), all topped off with a firm, no-nonsense morality.
He has done this rejecting big money politics and by taking a stand that is fundamentally based on a firm sense of morality - without consideration for funding donors or corporate interests.
Amongst young people, there is a sense of a historic moment when liberal values can replace the firm grip of Catholic morality.
Fidelity, devotion, discretion, a sense of tacit virtue, unyielding principle, and conspicuous reserve — Ben is the apotheosis of conventional liberal morality, a firm grid of values that he applies to himself without daring to impose on others.
His mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants, taught her children "some pretty firm ideas about sexual morality," George told me, and then he begged me not to repeat some of his more recent arguments on the subject.
He tried not to take a firm stand on the morality of Snowden's leaks, but Sullivan did conclude, "it's hard to deal with the constant stops and spurts of stories, and to figure out what's really going on, but a world more concerned with security and things like encryption…that's the silver lining on this".
But David Cameron is a public figure, who has made a very public fuss, quite rightly, about the questionable morality of firms that do lucrative business in the UK – and in this case claim the kudos of being a "British" brand – while paying little or no taxation here, and keeping their financial affairs secret.
Every human being has a conscience, a common sense grasp of morality, and a firm conviction that he or she is morally accountable.
Although, I wish you luck if you want to get a firm grasp on Edward's morality.
