April 11th, 1771, leaving his widow with a son and two daughters in most destitute circumstances.-Mrs Canning first set up a school for the supportof her family, and afterwards attempted the stage. She was related to the Sheridan family, and under the auspices of Mr Thomas Sheridan she made her appearance at Drury Lane, where she performed the character of Jane Shore, to Garrick's Hastings. Not obtaining an engagement in London, she became a performer at Bath and other provincial theatres, where she is said to have been very successful. During her theatrical career she married Mr Reddish, an actor; and his death, in 1785, again leaving her at liberty, she married, during a professional excursion to Exeter, a linen-draper of that city, named Hunn. This gentleman was stage-struck, and gave up his business for the drama; but he was a very indifferent actor. Mrs Hunn long survived her third husband, and passed her latter years at Bath in the enjoyment of a pension which was bestowed on her in consideration of the political services of her son, whose death was shortly preceded by her own.

6

After the melancholy decease of Mr Canning, his family so far relented as to undertake the guardianship of his orphan son, who was placed under the immediate protection of one of his uncles, who was a London merchant, engaged in the wine trade. He also had settled on him a small estate in Ireland, which supplied a fund for the expenses of his education.* He received his earliest instruction at Hyde Abbey school near Winchester, under the Rev. Charles Richards. While at this seminary his opening talents were displayed to advantage in the recitation, at a public exhibition, of a prize poem on West's picture of The Resurrection of Lazarus,' which forms the altar-piece of Winchester cathedral. From this school, in which he had risen to the highest class, he was removed to Eton College, where at the age of fifteen he had become one of the senior scholars. Soon after he gave a remarkable proof of his talents and influence over his young associates, in forming a literary association for conducting a periodical paper, on the plan of the Spectator. This work, of which Canning was the editor, (under the assumed name of Gregory Griffin), was intitled The Microcosm,' and was published weekly, the first number November 6, 1786, and the last July 30, 1787. The principal contributors were John Smith, late paymaster of the navy; Robert Smith, late M.P. for Lincoln; John Hookham Frere, late ambassador at Madrid; and the editor, who wrote eleven papers. They were assisted by Lord Henry Spencer, second son of the late Duke of Marlborough; Joseph Mellish; Benjamin Way; Capel Lofft; and Mr Little

hales.

This work was creditable to the talents of all who were

*See Note C, at the end of this Article.

engaged in it; but the productions of Mr Canning, in general, are superior to those of his coadjutors, displaying a lively faney and a considerable command of language. One piece, a poem on The Slavery of Greece,' is distinguished by a warmth of feeling and enthusiasm for liberty which subsequent events have rendered peculiarly interesting.

The publication of the Microcosm raised a spirit of emulation among the scholars of Westminster, who commenced a rival paper, intitled 'The Trifler.' To the first number was prefixed, by way of frontispiece, a caricature, representing critical justice in the attitude of weighing the merits of the Westminster boys against the Etonians; and while the former seem to display their alacrity in sinking, as a symbol of the weight of their talents, the latter kick the beam. Canning being shewn this graphic satire, took his pencil, and wrote under it the following epigram:

"What mean ye by this print so rare,

Ye wits-of Eton jealous,

But that we soar aloft in air,
And ye are heavy fellows."

When Mr Canning was at Eton, an institution had for several years existed in the school for the purpose of promoting political discussions. The boys were accustomed to meet in one of the halls of the establishment, and choosing a speaker, form a sort of mimic House of Commons, in which the crown and the people found their respective champions, who thus sharpened their talents for the future warfare of the senate. Mr Wellesley, (now the Marquis Wellesley,) Mr Grey, (now Earl Grey,) and at a subsequent period Mr Canning distinguished themselves in this debating society.

The grand object of education in public schools is the acquisition of classical learning, a species of knowledge which is seldom undervalued except by those who are unacquainted with it. Indolence or stupidity may prevent a youth from profiting by a residence at the Colleges of Westminster or Eton; but extraordinary abilities or industry are requisite to enable him to attain peculiar distinction. Canning was not of a temper to fail in any pursuit for want of exertion, and of his early success in the cultivation of polite literature he has left proofs as the author of some of the most splendid compositions in the Musa Etonienses.' Circumstances thus concurred to render the recollection of Eton highly gratifying to Mr Canning; and he assiduously kept up his connection with that celebrated school. His annual visits to the Montem were almost uninterrupted; and he seemed on these occasions to resume all the hilarity of boyhood amidst the gaiety and juvenile exultation and love of sport by which he was surrounded. At the Montem of 1823, he accidentally met Mr

Brougham, for the first time in public, after their dispute in the House of Commons. The hand of the generous secretary was immediately stretched out to his great rival, in the presence of a thousand admiring spectators. On the 4th of June, the following year, Mr Canning was the sitter in the ten-oar, at the Eton Regatta, a post of honour always reserved by the boys for some favoured visitor. He huzzaed again and again with the loudest of them as they passed the crowded shores; and Eton felt proud of her scholar and statesman.

Mr Canning had, in the academic phrase, become Captain of the School, when in October 1787, he removed to Oxford. He entered as a student of the College of Christchurch, where he found himself surrounded by his Westminster antagonists, whose admiration and esteem he excited by his talents and conduct. He by no means relaxed in literary industry; for while yet a young student he stood forth a candidate for the chancellor's first prize, which he gained, for a Latin poem, intitled 'Iter ad Meccam Religionis Causa susceptum.' At Oxford, Mr Canning formed a friendly intimacy with Mr Jenkinson, (the present Earl of Liverpool,) which was far from being interrupted by the contrariety of their political sentiments. To this connection he was partly indebted for his introduction to Mr Pitt. Mr Canning was invited to dine with Lord Liverpool, (father of the present Earl,) at Addiscombe House, to meet Mr Pitt, when it was found, to the surprise and amusement of their host, that the two supposed stranger guests were already acquainted; for Mr Pitt, (through what channel is not exactly known,) had some time previously intimated a wish to see Mr Canning, and they had accordingly had an interview before they met at Addiscombe.

At the time that Mr Canning entered on public life, Mr Sheridan, to whom he was related, was at the height of his popularity. To him Canning was indebted for an introduction to Burke, Fox, General Burgoyne, Tickell, Richardson, and other distinguished wits and statesmen. It was probably also to Sheridan that he owed the early notice taken of him by the Marquis of Lansdown, who is said to have predicted to Mr Bentham, that Canning would one day be Prime Minister of England. Stimulated by the early distinction which he had acquired, and the encouragement held out to him by Mr Sheridan, he was not likely to waste his time in the retirement of a college. He soon made the metropolis his residence and having taken his first degree, he entered as a student of Lincoln's inn, but with a view to higher objects than the bar. While thus engaged, he was a frequent speaker at a debating society that held its meetings in Old Bond street. Sheridan often attended to witness the displays of his young friend; and thus confirmed the high opinion he had formed of his abilities. The circumstances of Mr Canning's early intercourse with the political world are thus noticed by Mr Moore, in his Life of Sheridan:

"Mr Canning entered Parliament, in 1793. From the political faith," says Mr Moore, "in which he had been educated, under the very eyes of Mr Sheridan, who had long been the friend of his family, and at whose house he generally passed his college vacations, the line that he was to take in the House of Commons seemed already, according to the usual course of events, marked out for him. Mr Sheridan had, indeed, with an eagerness which, however premature, showed the value which he and others set upon the alliance, taken occasion, in the course of a laudatory tribute to Mr Jenkinson, (now the Earl of Liverpool,) on the success of his first effort in the House, to announce the accession which his own party was to receive in the talents of another gentleman-the companion and friend of the young orator who had now distinguished himself. Whether this and other friendships, formed by Mr Canning at the University, had any share in alienating him from a political creed which he had hitherto perhaps adopted rather from habit and authority than choice-or whether he was startled at the idea of appearing for the first time in the world as the announced pupil and friend of a person who, both by the vehemence of his politics and the irregularities of his life, had put himself in some degree under the ban of public opinion-or whether, lastly, he saw the difficulties which even genius like his would experience in rising to the full growth of its ambition, under the shadowy branches of the Whig Aristocracy, and that superseding influence of birth and connections which had contributed to keep even such men as Burke and Sheridan out of the Cabinet-which of these motives it was that now decided the choice of the young political Hercules between the two paths that equally wooed his footsteps, none perhaps but himself can fully determine. His decision, we know, was in favour of the Minister and Toryism; and, after a friendly and candid explanation to Mr Sheridan of the reasons and feelings that urged him to this step, he entered into terms with Mr Pitt, and was by him immediately brought into Parliament. However dangerous it might be to exalt such an example into a precedent, it is questionable whether, in thus resolving to join the ascendant side, Mr Canning has not conferred a greater benefit on the country than he ever would have been able to effect in the ranks of his original friends. That party which has now so long been the sole depository of the power of the state had, in addition to the original narrowness of its principles, contracted all that proud obstinacy in antiquated error which is the invariable characteristic of such monopolies; and which, however consonant with its vocation as the chosen instrument of the Crown, should have long since invalided it in the service of a free and enlightened people. Some infusion of the spirit of the times into this body had become necessary even for its preservation, in the same manner as the inhalement of youthful breath has been recommended by some physicians to the infirm and superannuated. This renovating inspiration the genius of Mr. Canning has supplied. His first political lessons were derived from sources too sacred to his young admiration to be forgotten. He has carried the spirit of these lessons with him into the councils which he joined, and by the vigor of the graft, which already indeed shews itself in the fruits, bids fair to change altogether the nature of Toryism."

In addition to this statement of the share Mr Sheridan may have had in the circumstances which induced Mr Canning to join the ministerial party in the state, the ensuing anecdotes have been promulgated. It was said that the measure originated entirely with Mr Sheridan, who with more private sincerity and individual friendship than public honesty, undertook to convince his aspiring protegée that liberal notions and exalted principles of freedom are productive of nothing better than empty fame and the admiration of the mob; and that it would be certain ruin for a poor man to enter the House of Commons with a view to public business, unless he previously determined to devote his talents to the support of the minister; but that for talents united with a flexible disposition, the House of Commons is the richest market in the world.-Another story is, that at a supper given by the celebrated blue-stocking of that day, Mrs Crewe, at whose hospitable mansion the Whigs and wits were accustomed to assemble, and among whose frequent guests were Fox and Sheridan, Mr Canning, then about twenty-three years of age, in a tête-à-tête with Sheridan (whom he had drawn from the circle of his friends for the purpose), formally consulted him on the expediency of giving up an unprofitable set of principles for others that were more marketable and productive, or in other words of abandoning his friends and going over to the minister; and that Sheridan, after he had listened to the communication with all due gravity, as if deeply interested in the question, instead of replying to the private ear of the anxious querist, broke forth in a loud and humorous appeal to the lady hostess and the circle around her, demanding their judgment on a point of so much consequence to the character and consistency of the scrupulous and conscientious young gentleman who requested their advice.

Whatever the degree of credit to which either of these opposing statements may be entitled, there can be no doubt, that whether from motives suggested by another, or originating in his own observation and reflections, Mr Canning entered the House of Commons under the influence of the convictions and reasoning which are common to both of them. He was not only introduced into parlia ment by the minister, but his introduction assumed the usual form of Swiss servitude and mere party dependency implied by a seat for a close borough, and the regular arrangements known to be consequent on that nominal species of representation. This took place in 1793, when he was elected M. P. for the borough of Newport in the Isle of Wight, in the room of Sir Richard Worsley who accepted the Chiltern Hundreds to leave an opening for his admission.

It is not necessary here to enter into the controversy relative to the existing constitution of the House of Commons, or to investi