, at all times, much in the habit of attempting to make
encroachments on the proper domain of any minister who had the courage
and the strength to oppose him, and Canning had to endure a good deal
of interference of this kind. The Foreign Minister patiently and
steadfastly held his own, and George did not see his way to come to any
open rupture. The King found it hard to make up his mind to settle
down to the part of a purely constitutional sovereign. Perhaps the
part had not yet {47} been clearly enough evolved from the conditions
of the time, and George, even when he had the best intentions, was
always lapsing back into the way of his predecessors. George was a
great letter-writer. To adopt a modern phrase, he "fancied himself" as
a composer of State papers. It seems marvellous now that a man so lazy
by nature should have found the time to pen so many documents of the
kind. Perhaps even in the most commonplace ways of life we are often
compelled to wonder at the amount of work a man habitually lazy can
sometimes contrive to cram into his day's doings. George was now as
much addicted to indolence, to mere amusement, and to pleasures as he
had been during earlier seasons of his career. He was just as fond of
the society of his intimates and of all the pastimes and social
enjoyments in which he and they delighted. He had not reformed any of
his habits, and his growing years did not bring him any steady resolve
to apply himself to the actual business of his position. Yet he seemed
to be frequently inspired by fitful desires to display himself as the
genuine ruler of a State and to let his ministers know they must not
attempt to do without him.

One of the King's prime favorites was Sir William Knighton, who had
begun by being a physician, had made his way into Court circles, and
become the private and confidential adviser of the King. Sir William
Knighton had been appointed to the office of Keeper of the Royal Purse,
and in that capacity he had rendered much service to George by
endeavoring with skill and pertinacity to keep income and expenditure
on something more nearly approaching to a balance than had been the way
in former days. Knighton's was not exactly a State office and it gave
him no position among ministers, but the King constantly used him as a
go-between when he desired to have private dealings with any of his
recognized advisers, and Knighton was the recipient of his most
confidential communicat