"He was, above all, a man of the world. He had been Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and was now a member of the Cabinet. He liked the good things of office.... He did not expect his order to endure forever.... He had no abhorrence for anybody; but he liked pleasant people; he liked to treat everything as a joke; and he liked the labours of his not unlabourious life to he minimized" - Marion Fay.