It was towards the end of the year 1859 that, fresh from Marlborough, I distinguished myself by gaining the first place in a competition held by the Civil Service Commissioners for a clerkship in the Privy Council Office
Frankness compels me to admit that the other two nominees (required by the regulations to make up the prescribed number of 3) may possibly have been the special couple known as the Treasury Idiots, who could never pass anything, & were sent again & again to give a walk-over to any Ministers protege able to reach the standard of minimum qualifications. At any rate, they could barely read or write, & so I found myself entitled to a desk in Downing St
H Preston Thomas: The Work & Play of a Government Inspector
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