When he had to receive a deputation, he could hardly ever do so with becoming gravity.

The worthy delegates of the tallow-chandlers, or the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, were distressed and mortified when, in the midst of their speeches, the Prime Minister became absorbed in blowing a feather, or suddenly cracked an unseemly joke.

How could they have guessed that he had spent the night before diligently getting up the details of their case?
He hated patronage and the making of appointments--a feeling rare in Ministers.

"As for the Bishops," he burst out, "I positively believe they die to vex me." But when at last the appointment was made, it was made with keen discrimination.

His colleagues observed another symptom--was it of his irresponsibility or his wisdom?
He went to sleep in the Cabinet.
Probably, if he had been born a little earlier, he would have been a simpler and a happier man.