He himself was proud of this distinction; he assumed the grand manner very easily and carried it well.

As a public speaker he was one of the last of the followers of the old school of orators.

He even carried the diction and manner of the rostrum into private life.

It was said of him that his most colloquial conversation could be taken down in shorthand and read off as an admirable specimen of pure, well-chosen English.

He loved to do things upon a grand scale, to preside, to dominate.