He seems to have a power of dismissing the
weight of public affairs, of diverting himself with the playfulness of
youth.' Sir George was living in Park Place, St. James's, and on
returning from Windsor the Premier drove him there. His rooms were at
Number 7, and here the street ended in a sharp incline, with somebody's
yard beyond.
Sir George suggested that the coachman should stop, and let him down at a
point where the horses could readily turn. 'Not at all,' Lord Rosebery
insisted, 'I'll drive you to the door and we'll manage to turn somehow.'
A trifle anxious, Sir George waited on his door-step to see how this was
to be done.
'Quick of eye,' he related, 'the coachman discerned the possibilities of
the yard at the top of the incline. Accordingly, he whipped into it,
wheeled round, and trotted gently away past me. There sat the Premier in
the carriage, waving his hat in a triumph, the fun of which quite
infected me.'
Sir George appreciated kindly attentions the more, in that he was himself
a king in courtesy, with his heart ever on the latch. He estimated the
side of Lord Rosebery's character, thus manifested, to be among the best
ornaments he could have. 'It seems clear to me,' were his words, 'that he
is a man of sincerity and simple nobility, one who wishes with all his
heart to do what he can for his fellow men.
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