Occasionally shifting a piece of rare old glass or blue Delft china, he would the while talk to anyone who chanced to come in, greeting heartily his old friends, and remembering every detail of their circumstances, opinions, and conduct.
Concerning the latter, he did not fail to remind them of any failings he had taken note of.

Those who were frauds, incompetent, or lazy, he never spared, and often such conversations were a source of much amusement to me.

On the other hand, those who had been true to him, and had not veered round with the tide of public opinion after 1896, were ever remembered and rewarded.

It was remarkable to note the various Dutch members of the Assembly who dropped in, sometimes stealthily in the early morning hours, or, like Nicodemus, by night.

One such gentleman came to breakfast one day, bringing as a gift two curious antique pipes and a pouch of Boer tobacco.