Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

un

The quarrel naturally excited a called together. In the debates considerable sensation among the which took place immediately, friends of both parties at the time. and again in the session which It was understood that his late opened on the 15th January, majesty expressed his strong, and 1811, on the Regency bill, certainly his just disapprobation of Mr. Canning, while he genethe practice of settling minis- rally supported government, enterial disputes by sword or pistol, deavoured to diminish the reand the duke of Portland, as well strictions which the bill imas Mr. Canning and lord Castle- posed on the regent. The affairs reagh, resigned his official situa- of Spain and Portugal coming tion.

under discussion on the introducBut although Mr. Canning no tion of the army estimates, Mr. longer formed a part of his majes- Canning, on the 4th of March, ty's government, he continued ac- 1811, made another powerful and tively to discharge his duties as a glowing address to the House, member of the House of Com- urging a determined perseverance mons. In the first session of 1810, in the course which had been Mr. Whitbread having moved cer- adopted. When Mr. Horner pretain resolutions inculpating the sented the Report from the Bullion conduct of lord Chatham in the Committee, Mr. Canning expressed Walcheren expedition as his entire concurrence in the Re. constitutional, Mr. Canning pro- port; and took a part in the disposed an amendment, which was cussions which soon afterwards carried, blaming the noble lord's occurred on the state of the curconduct, but in more mode- rency. rate terms. He also supported

Immediately on the assassinasir Thomas Lethbridge's resolu- tion of Mr. Perceval (11th of tion, declaring that the celebrated May, 1812), the remaining minisletter which sir Francis Burdett ters were, of course, anxiously had addressed to his constituents employed in considering how they was a libel on the House of Com- might best supply the loss of their

On Mr. Grattan's moving, distinguished chief and leader. Con the 18th of May, 1810, the Lord Liverpool was, in the first reference of the Catholic claims to instance, authorized by the prince the consideration of a committee Regent to apply to the marquis of the whole House, Mr. Canning, Wellesley and Mr. Canning. His opposed the adoption of the motion lordship's overtures were, however, at that moment; no security or declined, principally on the gro engagement having been offered of the unaltered views professed on the part of the Catholics. to be entertained by lord Liverpool One of his most splendid ef- and his colleague lord Castlereagh forts was his speech on the 15th respecting the question of concesof June, 1810, in reply to Mr. sion to the Catholics. It is not imWhitbread, who had been express- probable that the nature of the proing very desponding sentiments posed ministerial arrangement, by with respect to Spain.

which lord Liverpool was to become In the latter end of the year First Lord of the Treasury, and 1810, in consequence of the king's lord Castlereagh to retain the illness, parliament was suddenly Secretaryship of Foreign Affairs

mons.

and the lead in the House of on one side, and the other, in addiCommons, constituted another tion to the four real ones ; the maand, perhaps, greater difficulty. jority, however, of Mr. Canning, The marquis of Wellesley was was greater than on any occasion afterwards empowered by the before. The last election of 1820 prince Regent to form an adminis- was less warmly contested, his tration, of which Mr. Canning chief opponent being a gentleman was to be a member; but the of the name of Crompton, who noble marquis failed to accomplish obtained only 345 votes. his object; nor was another at- In October, 1814, Mr. Canning tempt by earl Moira more success- was appointed Ambassador Extraful.

ordinary and Plenipotentiary to Soon after this failure, namely, the prince Regent of Portugal. on the 22nd of June, 1812, Mr. He accordingly repaired to Lisbon, Canning moved a resolution, which where he resided until the downa was carried by a majority of 129; fall of Buonaparte at Waterloo. pledging the House to take the After that event Mr. Canning reCatholic question into considera- signed his situation and went to tion early in the next session of the South of France, for the parliament. Upon this occasion health of some of his family, Mr. Canning again entered at which was, in fact, the real great length on the consideration motive for his going abroad at of this question.

all. There he remained until the : Parliament having been dissol- middle of the summer of 1816, ved, Mr. Canning offered himself when he returned to England, as a candidate for the representa- and, on the death of the earl of tion of Liverpool, and was elected. Buckinghamshire, he was apMr. Canning stood, in all, four pointed President of the Board of times for Liverpool, and was every Control. time elected; but never without Early in the Spring of 1820 strong opposition. On the first Mr. Canning lost his son, Mr. occasion he had four antagonists, George Charles Canning, in the and his majority was 500; the 19th year of his age, who had for numbers being for Mr. Canning, a considerable time been in a de1,631 ; for general Gascoyne (the clining state. This was a severe second member), 1,532 ; for Mr. stroke to the father, who recorded Brougham, 1,131 ; for Mr. Cree- his sense of the calamity in some vey, 1,068 ; and for general Tarle- pathetic lines inscribed on an eleton 11. At the second election in gant monument in the new bury, 1814, very great exertions were ing ground at Kensington. made to throw Mr. Canning out; When the message relative to but he was returned after a the late queen was presented to struggle of three days, by the the House, on the 7th of June, retirement of his opponent Mr. 1820, Mr. Canning, while he Leyland. The third election, of denied that the inquiry into her 1818, was distinguished by an majesty's conduct had been forced extraordinary quantity of elec- on by ministers, who, on the contioneering manæuvre, eighteen no- trary, had done every thing in minal candidates having been set up their power to avert it, allowed

got so much of the public môney.” At that time sir Francis was in confinement in the King's-bench. Immediately on his liberation, Mr. Canning wrote to the hon. baronet, requiring an explanation of the obnoxious expressions. Sir Francis Burdett in his answer disclaimed any intention of giving personal offence to Mr. Canning, and the latter declared himself satisfied.

On the recall of the marquis of Hastings, Mr. Canning was nominated Governor-general of India. He accordingly made all his árrangements for leaving the country, and went down to Liverpool to take leave of his friends and constituents in that town. While Mr. Canning was on this valedictory visit, the marquis of Londonderry put an end to his own existence on the 12th of August, 1822.

On the 16th of September, 1822, Mr. Canning was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

We do not enter into any details of his conduct in that office. His elevation to the post of prime minister, and his death are recorded in our history for the present year.

that much mischief must be the result. "Towards the illustrious personage who is the object of this investigation," observed Mr. Can ning, “I feel an unaltered regard and affection. If there had been any injustice meditated towards her, no consideration on earth should have induced me to be a party to it, or to stand where I now stand. It is but due to those with whom I act, to say, that all that has been done by government with respect to her Majesty, has been done in the spirit of honour, candour, justice, and feeling. Having dis charged my duty in making these observations, I hope I may, with out any dereliction of it, indulge my private feelings, by abstaining as much as possible from taking any part in the future stages of these proceedings."

Soon after, Mr. Canning resigned the Presidency of the Board of Control, and went abroad for a few weeks.

In a letter addressed by sir Francis Burdett, on the 4th of April, 1821, to the Chairman of a dinner of parliamentary reformers, the hon. baronet mentioned Mr. Canning as the natural" champion of a system, by the hocus pocus tricks of which he and his family

ANECDOTES OF WILLIAM GIFFORD, Esq.

Of the earlier part of Mr. Gifford's life we shall say nothing, but shall only refer to the preface to his translation of Juvenal, which was first published in the year 1802. Of some strictures on the translation, which appeared in the

Critical Review, Mr. Gifford published an "Examination," in 1803, and a "Supplement to that Examination in 1804." A second edition of the Juvenal was published in 1806.

[ocr errors]

When Mr. Gifford published his

Translation of Juvenal, he had already acquired great celebrity as the author of "The Baviad" and "The Mæviad" although in his autobiography he does not notice those successful productions of his muse. The former satire was pub lished in 1794.

The next object of Mr. Gifford's satiric muse was Wolcott, better known by his assumed name of Peter Pindar. Mr. Gifford, whowell knew the man, his history, and his habits, sent against him one of his sharpest arrows, in the form of an epistle. Wolcott, though a lampooner of others, could not bear to be satir ized himself; and, stung to the soul by this attack, determined upon revenge. Instead, however, of applying in the first place to his most powerful weapon, "the grey goose quill," he assumed the argumentum baculinum, and sallied forth in quest of his adversary. Watch ing his opportunity, and seeing Mr. Gifford enter the shop of Mr. Wright, the bookseller, in Picca dilly, now Hatchard's, he rushed in after him, and aimed a blow at Mr. Gifford's head, with a cudgel which he had provided for the occasion. Fortunately, a gentleman standing by, saw the movement in time to seize the arm of the enraged poet, who was then bundled out into the street, and rolled in the mud, to the great amusement of the gathered crowd. Nothing further took place at that time, but the disappointed satirist went home and penned one of his worst pieces, which he published with the title of "A Cut at a Cobbler." As, however, there was more passion than either poetry or wit in this performance, the only laugh which it provoked was against its author. About this time, Mr. Gifford entered into a warfare of much

greater moment. A number of men of brilliant talents and high connection, at the head of whom was Mr. Canning, having determined to establish a weekly paper, for the purpose of exposing to deserved ridicule and indignation the political agitators by whom the country was then inundated, had engaged as editor a Dr. Grant, well known as a writer in the reviews and other periodical works of that perod. A few days before the intended publication of the first num ber of "The Anti-jacobin" (which was the name given to the new paper), Dr. Grant, being taken seriously ill, sent for Mr. Wright the bookseller, who was to be the publisher of it, told him of his utter inability to discharge the arduous and responsible duties of editor, and requested that he would communicate the circumstance to some of the individuals by whom the undertaking had been projected. Mr. Wright accordingly waited upon Mr. Charles Long (now Lord Farnborough), and informed him of what had occurred. Mr. Long asked Mr. Wright, if he knew any one who was competent to the office. Mr. Wright mentioned Mr. Gifford's name, and was immediately commissioned to make Mr. Gifford the offer, which that gentleman accepted without hesitation. The first number appeared on the 20th of November, 1797, and the publication continued until the 9th of July, 1798. Some of the ablest articles in this celebrated journal were written by Mr. Gifford. A corner of the paper was expressly reserved for the "misrepresentations" and "lies” of the opposition papers; and these misrepresentations and lies it was especially Mr. Gifford's province to detect and expose.

Mr. Gifford's connexion with edition of Shakspeare, in which it the Anti-jacobin naturally led to a was his intention to abridge the very agreeable intimacy with a cumbrous and superfluous notes number of men of rank and dis- of the Variorum Shakspeare ; and tinction, among whom were Mr. to expose the blunders and fanciful Canning, Mr. Freere, Mr. Charles new readings of all the previous Long (now Lord Farnborough), editors and commentators. For Mr. Jenkinson (the present Earl such an undertaking no man could of Liverpool), Lord Mornington have been better qualified. (now Marquis Wellesley), Lord It was as the editor of “The Clare, Mr. Pitt, &c. , With one or Quarterly Review” that Mr. Gifother of these eminent individuals ford was most generally known. Mr. Gifford dined twice or thrice On its establishment in 1809, he a week; and at these festive meet- was in a happy hour for the proings many of the most exquisite prietor and for the public, appapers in the Anti-jacobin were pointed to conduct it; and it concocted. The value of Mr. Gif- remained under his direction until ford's powerful assistance was ac- about two years before his decease. knowledged by every one ; but of Of the unwearied industry, extenall governments on the face of the sive knowledge, varied talent, globe, that of England has invari- correct judgment, and sound prinably exhibited the most prudish ciple, exhibited by Mr. Gifford in delicacy of finance in the recom- the management of this excellent pense of literary exertion. The and popular publication, during the ministerial recollection of Mr. Gif- long course of between fifteen and ford's services was by no means a sixteen years, it is wholly unnecessignal exception to the rule, al- sary to speak. It must be acknowthough he obtained the Paymaster- ledged, that at times his pen was at ship of the Band of Gentlemen least sufficiently severe; but it Pensioners. At a subsequent pe merits observation, that none of riod he was made a double com- the various parties, poetical, relimissioner of the lottery.

gious, or political, that occasionally In the notes to his Juvenal, Mr. felt the castigation bestowed upon Gifford had displayed an extensive their productions in the Quarterly acquaintance with the early Eng- Review, ever ventured to recrimilish poets; and, throughout his nate, by attacking the moral life, he prosecuted at his leisure character of the editor. Even Lord hours that interesting study. In Byron, who alternately praised and 1805, he published an edition of abused most of his contemporaries, the Plays of Massinger, in four professed great respect for Mr. volumes; and in 1816, the Works Gifford, lauded the purity of his of Ben Jonson, in nine volumes. principles, and courted his friendSince his death, the Dramatic ship. Works of Ford, in two volumes, He disliked incurring an obliwhich he left in a complete state gation which might in any degree for publication, have appeared ; shackle the expression of his free and they will soon be followed by opinion. Agreeably to this, he the Works of Shirley, in six laid down a rule, from which he yolumes. At one period of his never departed that every writer life, Mr. Gifford contemplated an in the Quarterly should receive

« ForrigeFortsæt »