Dread of Schism-Persecution.

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This is a very early instance of the intolerance of Ferdinand and Isabella. A few years before, they had begun to introduce the Inquisition into Spain, and as they seem to have been at Valladolid only a month or two before the ambassadors were there, the imprisonment of Porthilho was probably an act of their own. If not, it was then one of the innumerable instances which obtained their hearty confirmation and their warmest approval.

That dread and hatred of schism, to which we have adverted, arising as it did from the theory of the necessity of outward unity in the Church, and the duty of the civil power to maintain it, virtuous as it undoubtedly was, logically led to intolerance. And it needs no words of ours to show why Gerson, who was so zealous a reformer, that he carried reform over the heads of Popes, and deposed them to preserve the unity of the Church, at the same moment was exerting all his power to crush Huss and Jerome of Prague-why Henry VII., and Ferdinand and Isabella, and Morton and Ximenes, zealously engaged in the reform of the monasteries, and ready to combine even to reform the morals of the Pope, were equally zealous in the persecution of heretics, whether their faith were that of the Moor, the Lollard, or the Jew. Here we must abruptly take leave of the "Memorials of Henry VII."

The review of detached materials must necessarily partake of a somewhat desultory character; but in thus glancing at some of the points, which the perusal of the volume has suggested to ourselves, we have wished to bear testimony to the value of its contents, and, at the same time, to enlist the interest of our readers in the history of a period hitherto little explored, and much standing in need of further investigation.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.

U

ART. II.-The Life and Times of George Canning. By A. G. STAPLETON. London, 1859.

THIS book is less a biography of Canning, than a catalogue of his views and opinions, connected and explained by a running commentary. It does not aim at giving us a portrait of the man, in the seclusion of Gloucester Lodge, at his desk in Downing Street, or leading the debates of the House of Commons; but it professes to guide us along the lines of policy on which he moved in public life. Taking it even within these self-prescribed limits, we cannot say that it affords much fresh information, or that it shows skill in arrangement and composition. With the exception of some letters and memoranda, which throw light upon Canning's early career in politics and illustrate one or two passages in his later years, the original matter in this volume has already been published; and, as for Mr Stapleton's observations upon it, they have either been anticipated in his previous works, or are not remarkable for depth or acuteness. As regards method, too, this book is faulty; and its style, compared with that of Canning, with which of course it often comes in contact, reminds us of the contrast every schoolboy draws between the prose of Pauw and Brunck, and the verse of Sophocles. Still, though there is little merit in this work as such, it is impossible not to respect the motive which caused its publication, and the feeling and purpose which animate its pages. At a distance of nearly a third of a century, Mr Stapleton still cherishes the memory of his chief; and this has led him to undertaking the task of bringing Canning's acts before the minds of the present generation. In his endeavour to accomplish this pious work, he has at least shown assiduity as a compiler; and we feel that a tribute of friendship to the distinguished dead should not be exposed to much adverse scrutiny. Whatever may be the literary value of this volume, Mr Stapleton has some right to keep away the critic from it, and to exclaim as regards the memory of Canning

"His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani

Munere."

Unlike Mr Stapleton, however, no personal tie connects us with Canning: so, with the aid of the book before us, and of other sources of information, we shall endeavour to form a just estimate of him as an orator, statesman, and public servant. We are glad that Mr Stapleton has given us the opportunity; for, in our judgment, the reputation of Canning in England was scarcely ever at its just height, and has declined unduly since

The Reputation of Canning in England lower than it should be. 305

his death. It is not perhaps too much to say, that, even in 1827, he was more generally admired abroad than at home, and that since 1827 he has been better appreciated at Athens and Lisbon than by the majority of his countrymen. Why this is so, is sufficiently intelligible. The fame of Canning rests, in the main, upon the sagacity with which, in 1808, he advocated our taking up the cause of Spain and Portugal as the best means of giving a blow to Napoleon, and upon the prudent skill with which, from 1821 to 1826, he detached England from the influences of continental despotism, and restored her to her proper place in Europe. But, at the first of these periods, it was his misfortune that another reaped the harvest of which he had sown the seed; and, as to the second, the vicissitudes of the last thirty years have made most men forget the real significance of the policy which broke up the Holy Alliance. Add to this, that these were the triumphs of our foreign policy only; and that our foreign policy is always that part of our administration in which we take the least interest, and which we forget with the greatest rapidity. On the other hand, in the sphere of domestic politics, within which we are far more at home with our statesmen, Canning for many years was on the unpopular side, and to the last showed no more than a tendency to Liberalism. It is probable that, had he entered public life ten years earlier or later, he never would have identified himself with Eldonian Toryism, and that at home, as well as abroad, his name would have been known among the advocates of progress and improvement. But his first impressions with regard to the government of England, and the bearing and objects of the popular party, were acquired in 1793 and 1794; and these impressions not only clung to him through life, but coloured all his views on English politics. Hence he long confounded Liberalism with Jacobinism, persisted in characterising wholesome changes as revolutionary, and to the last was an opponent of Parliamentary Reform. In youth he supported Mr Pitt's worst measures of coercion; and in mature manhood he maintained the necessity of renewing them when the occasion required a very different policy. At the close of the war he preferred to connect himself with the reactionary and harsh schemes of Addington and Vansittart, than to join the great and increasing Liberal party which was rising rapidly in general estimation. So, too, though inclined to Free Trade, he continued till his last years a Protectionist; though opposed to the Slave Trade, he resisted Emancipation; though a sincere advocate of the Catholic claims, he did his best to put down the Catholic Association. Nor has his name been connected with any great social measure which makes a statesman a bye-word of honour in a nation, and redeems him from all antecedent discredit.

The result has been, that, viewed only as a Home Minister, Canning has not escaped the just censure which attaches to the earlier Liverpool Administration; and as this is the aspect from which he is often beheld, his real merits have not been sufficiently considered. Even the fame of his oratory is now only a tradition; and few care to give an hour to the study of an eloquence which legitimately connects the age of Pitt and Fox with that of Brougham, Lord Derby, and Lord Palmerston. Though we cannot hope to change public opinion on these points, we may at least try to set Canning fairly before its tribunal; and, if we do not err, the verdict of history on him will be, that, although not without several flaws in his character, and notwithstanding some grave errors of policy, he still deserves to take a place among the great ministers of England, while as an orator he was almost unrivalled during a period of nearly thirty years in Parliament.

Of the early years of Canning we shall say very little, though they form a tempting subject of comment. He was the scion of a respectable Anglo-Irish family, which migrated from Warwickshire in the reign of Elizabeth, and obtained grants of land in the counties of Kilkenny and Londonderry. In the middle of the last century its head was Mr Stratford Canning, a quiet country gentleman of small estate, yet who became the ancestor of three ennobled houses. His eldest son, George, about 1757 was driven from his father's roof on account of a love affair, and, with an allowance of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, was sent to make his fortune in London. In this attempt he was not successful; and although he seems to have been by no means wanting in talent, we see him, in 1767, as a briefless barrister, occasionally employed in writing pamphlets and articles for Dodsley. In 1768 he married a Miss Costello, and died in 1771 in great poverty, a year after the birth of an only son, George, subsequently Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons. Shortly afterwards his widow married an actor of the name of Reddish, and betook herself to the stage as a means of livelihood. This marriage was an unhappy one; and for some years her young son was exposed to the ill-treatment of a vicious stepfather, and to the contamination of the society of strolling players. It was only to be expected that these evil influences should have had the worst effect upon him; but the contrary happened to be the result, and the boy grew up singularly steady and moral in his conduct. At the age of ten he was removed to the house of one of his father's brothers, who from this time undertook his education; and, as he now began to show the signs of remarkable promise, he was soon afterwards sent to Eton. Here he remained until 1787; and gradually rose to be the most brilliant scholar at the place, while he became a general

Canning at Eton and Oxford.

307

favourite among the masters and pupils. During these years, in the vacations which he spent with his uncle, he attracted the notice of Fox and Sheridan, who, it is said, predicted his future eminence; and at Eton he showed a fine taste for English literature, by setting on foot the "Microcosm," a periodical in which the best style of Addison was parodied with great felicity. At the same time, his character developed with his intellect; he was strictly honourable, steady, and persevering; somewhat proud and petulant, but generous and high-spirited; and filled with a just and lofty ambition. In 1788 he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford; and there, beside many of his Eton friends, he became associated with several young men of promise, with whom he rose in after life to distinction. At Oxford his career was such as it had been at Eton; he was an accomplished scholar and an earnest student; he was greatly beloved as a friend and companion; and he was marked out among his fellows as certain to rise to future honour. About this time, too, he began to show his skill as a speaker in a debating society, founded under his auspices; and as he was very prepossessing in appearance, and with a perfect air and manner, he was often a guest at some of the best houses in England. It so happened that his hosts were usually of the Whig party, who confidently hoped to find in him a brilliant recruit; and, at this period, it would seem, from a letter in this volume, that he was decidedly Whiggish in his politics. At Devonshire House he was already spoken of as a rising Foxite, and in the gay reunions of Mrs. Crewe he was prominent among her buff and blue admirers.

Canning left Oxford, in 1792, with as high a social and academic reputation as, perhaps, was ever gained by a student. He was the pet of Christ Church dons, the rising hope of troops of friends, the Coryphæus of Eton and Oxford stars, and a man of mark at Brookes's and Whig coteries. But, though his introduction to life was thus brilliant, his fortune was scanty and precarious; so, with a proper sense of independence, he betook himself to the study of law, and entered his name at the Inner Temple. That he would have become a great advocate, had he continued in the legal profession, is proved by the dexterity of his speeches, and his skill in managing evidence; but it is probable that his intellect was too cultivated and refined to take kindly to the elements of English law; and it would seem, if we may judge from what he left behind him, that he did not pay much attention to the study even of jurisprudence. In none of his state papers or reported speeches is to be found that mastery of legal principles which distinguish several of the compositions of Burke, and show conclusively that he was thoroughly imbued with the main doctrines of law as a science. It was rather in the society