...dulness. He never allowed himself a joke in his speeches, nor attempted even the smallest flourish of rhetoric. He was very careful in his language, labouring...desired also to be honoured for his knowledge. But ho had no desire to be honoured for the language in which his knowledge was conveyed. He was an upright,...

...by his wit or trenchant turns of phrase. He strives to be upright, predictable and to inspire trust. 'He had taught himself to believe that oratory, as...honesty in politics by which he strove to guide himself (Trollope 1982: I, 246-7). A long apprenticeship in self-possession, hard to accomplish in its own...