He is now the privileged companion of their majesties, in their
seclusion for the rest of the evening. His cheerful face, in its full
evening disguise of wig and tie, his invariable good humour, his frank
manners, his wonderful sense, his views, more practical than elevated,
sufficiently account for the influence which this celebrated minister
obtained over Queen Caroline, and the readiness of King George to submit
to the tie. But Sir Robert's great source of ascendancy was his temper.
Never was there in the annals of our country a minister so free of
access: so obliging in giving, so unoffending when he refused; so
indulgent and kind to those dependent on him; so generous, so faithful
to his friends, so forgiving to his foes. This was his character under
one phase: even his adherents sometimes blamed his easiness of temper;
the impossibility in his nature to cherish the remembrance of a wrong,
or even to be roused by an insult. But, whilst such were the amiable
traits of his character, history has its lists of accusations against
him for corruption of the most shameless description. The end of this
veteran statesman's career is well known. The fraudulent contracts which
he gave, the peculation and profusion of the secret service money, his
undue influence at elections, brought around his later life a storm,
from which he retreated into the Upper House, when created Earl of
Orford.
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