A Wide-awake Minister
LORD NORTH'S good humor and readiness were of admirable service to him
when the invectives of his opponents would have discomforted a graver
minister. He frequently indulged in a real or seeming slumber. On one
occasion, an opposition debater, supposing him to be napping, exclaimed,
Even now, in these perils, the noble lord is asleep!--I wish I
was, suddenly interposed the weary minister.