1827.] [ 321 ] 



BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



THE RIGHT HON GEORGE CANNING. 



THE political life of Mr. Cunning must 

 be read in the history of his country, in the 

 parliamentary debates, in the state papers, 

 <fec. of the last thirty or five and thirty 

 years. Regarding it through these media, 

 different inferences will be drawn, different 

 estimates will be formed, according to the 

 principles or prejudices of the reader. Under 

 <>ny circumstances, however, it seems im- 

 possible and we make not the remark dis- 

 respect fully to consider Mr. Canning other- 

 wise than as an adventurer ; as a man who, 

 without family or connexions, made his 

 way by dint of talent, perseverance, and a 

 suppleness of ambition, to the highest honours 

 of the state. Mr. Canning, too, was the 

 creature of circumstance. He was not a 

 greater man in the summer of 1827 than he 

 was in the summer of 1825 ; yet, had he 

 passed away two years ago, his death would, 

 comparatively, not have been felt or noticed. 

 Twenty years hence, if our judgment de- 

 ceive us not, his memory will be but little 

 regarded. At the best, his policy on many 

 points was doubtful. As a scholar, Mr. Can- 

 ning was elegant and accomplished ; as an 

 orator, he was caustic, sbewy, brilliant, 

 and sparkling; as a statesman, he appears 

 not to have been consistent, profound, or 

 comprehensive in his views. It is not a little 

 remarkable that from his warmest eulogists, 

 his reputation has, since his death, received 

 the deadliest stabs. Facts, however, not 

 comments, are our present aim. 



Mr. George Canning, the father of the 

 late premier, was a native of the sister king- 

 dom, and related to the family of Garvagh, 

 the present representative of which was 

 recently elevated to the peerage. He was 

 educated for the law ; and, without fortune 

 himself, he married a lady equally destitute. 

 This offended his wealthy relations ; and, 

 with only the paltry stipend of 159 per 

 annum from his father, he came over to 

 England, became a member of the Honour- 

 able Society of the Middle Temple, and was 

 admitted to the bar. He was a man of con- 

 siderable poetical and literary talent. He 

 wrote several tracts in favour of public 

 liberty ; and, amongst other effusions, the 

 verses supposed to have been written by Lord 

 William R,ussell, the night before his execu- 

 tion, are said to have been his. lie is un- 

 derstood to have lived in humble circum- 

 stances. We have seen it stated that he died 

 on the 11th of April, 1771. If so, he died on 

 the very day that his son George, the subject 

 of this sketch, completed his first year, as, 

 according to the inscription on Mr. Canning's 

 coffin-lid, that gentleman was born on the 

 llth of April, 1770. Mrs. Canning subse- 

 quently became the wife of Reddish, a 

 theatrical performer of some celebrity, who 

 died insane; and his relict, who died in 



MM. Nac Scries. VoL.IV. No.2l. 



March last, at the age of eighty-one, 

 afterwards married a person either a linen- 

 draper or an actor of the name of Hunri. 



George Canning was born at Paddington. 

 Under the auspices of a paternal uncle, he 

 was placed at Eton, where his genius soon 

 became apparent. In the year 1780, he was 

 one of the senior scholars. He was the 

 projector and editor of " The Microcosm," 

 a periodical paper, which was published by 

 him and his school -fellows, under the ficti- 

 tious direction of Gregory Griffin, Esq. 

 To this work, commenced on the 7th of 

 November, 1786, and closed on the 30th of 

 July 1787, Mr. Canning contributed ten or 

 twelve papers, under the signature <e B," 

 all of them distinguished, more or less, by 

 playfulness of fancy, originality of thought, 

 and elegance of diction. The Microcosm 

 has passed through three editions a fourth 

 is now in the press, and it is not incurious to 

 remark that the document still exists, bear- 

 ing Mr. Canning's signature, and dated July 

 31, 1787; which, for the sum of fifty gui- 

 neas, assigned the copyright to Mr. Charles 

 Knight, of Windsor. 



From Eton, Mr. Canning was transferred 

 to Christ's Church College, Oxford, where 

 his orations attracted extraordinary notice, 

 and his Latin poetry was greatly admired. 

 Having completed his studies at college, he 

 entered himself at one of the Inns of Court, 

 and was in due time called to the bar. In 

 the public debating societies at that period, 

 he may be suid to have schooled himself for 

 the senate. 



At college Mr. Canning had formed some 

 good connexions. He was intimate with the 

 present Earl of Liverpool, and, upon bis 

 entrance into life he is understood to have 

 derived considerable advantage from the 

 friendship of Mr. Sheridan. It is said to 

 have been owing to the advice of that gen- 

 tleman, that he attached himself to the 

 ministerial party. Mr. Pitt became his 

 patron. At the age of three ami twenty, he 

 succeeded Sir Richard Wolesley, as M. P. 

 for the borough of Newport, in the Isle of 

 Wight ; and, on the 31st of January, 1794, 

 he delivered his maiden speech in parliament, 

 in favour of the subsidy proposed to be 

 granted to the King of Sardinia. His re- 

 ception was auspicious, and his subsequent 

 political progress was rapid. In J796 he 

 was appointed one of the under secretaries 

 of state. A more important event occurred 

 to him in the year 1799 : this was his mar- 

 riage with Miss Joan Scott, one of the 

 daughters and co-heiresses of General Scott, 

 whose immense fortune had been made by 

 play. Miss ScoH's two sisters were mar- 

 ried ; one to Lord Downe, and the other to 

 the Marquis of Tichfield, now Duke of 

 Portland. 



About the latter period, or rather before, 



2 T 



