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| Biography: George Canning |
The English orator and statesman George Canning (1770-1827) opposed intervention by Continental powers in constitutionalist movements of other states. He successfully supported the insurgent Spanish-American colonies and the establishment of Greek autonomy.
George Canning was born in London on April 11, 1770, the son of a barrister who had been disowned by his well-to-do Londonderry family. When his father died a year later, his mother took to the provincial stage to support herself and her son. Fortunately his father's family relented and sent Canning to Eton and Oxford, where he won a reputation for his classical scholarship as well as for his wit, oratory, and Jacobin leanings.
Early Career
The excesses of the French Revolution modified Canning's political views, and when he entered Parliament in 1796, he was a supporter of Prime Minister Pitt. He was undersecretary for foreign affairs from 1796 to 1799; after serving in other offices he resigned with Pitt on the Catholic issue in 1801. His marriage to Joan Scott in 1800 relieved him from financial dependence on his political supporters.
In March 1807 Canning became foreign secretary in the Portland administration. Here he was chiefly responsible for the decision to seize the Danish fleet in 1807 to prevent it from coming under the control of Napoleon. He justified this action on the basis of secret articles of the Tilsit treaties but did not reveal his sources. He actively supported the Peninsular campaign but came into jurisdictional conflict with Lord Castlereagh, the minister of war. He privately urged the Prime Minister to transfer Castlereagh to another office, and finally, on Sept. 9, 1809, Canning resigned. At that point Castlereagh heard of the matter in such terms as to indicate that Canning had engaged in dishonorable intrigue against him. He demanded satisfaction and slightly wounded Canning in a duel on September 19. The illness and subsequent death of the Prime Minister removed the one person who could clear Canning, and he never quite lived down the mistrust that the episode both revealed and increased.
Canning's acid wit - Sir Walter Scott wrote that it could "penetrate the hide of a rhinoceros" - often gave offense. His great oratorical abilities were useful to a cabinet, but he was not always accepted with cordial confidence by Tory colleagues. He was offered the Foreign Office again in 1812 in the Liverpool ministry, but he demanded, unacceptably, the leadership of the Commons as well and lost his chance to the more tactful and unassuming Castlereagh. From 1816 to 1820 Canning was in the Cabinet as president of the Board of Control for India and served there with distinction, but he resigned in 1820 to support Queen Caroline in the divorce case. In 1822 he was appointed governor general of India and was about to embark when the suicide of Castlereagh in August 1822 opened the Foreign Office to him once more. Again he insisted on the leadership of the Commons, and this time he got it. From then until his death in 1827 he was the most influential member of the government.
Diplomatic Achievements
The immediate problem in foreign affairs was the Congress of the Great Powers (Russia, Austria, Prussia, Britain, and France) called for September to deal with the revolutions in Greece, Spain, and the Spanish colonies. The four Continental powers, after easy Austrian success in suppressing the constitutionalists in Naples, were now in full cry against popular movements. Castlereagh had planned to attend and make a major effort to dissuade them from any further interventions and, if necessary, to break openly with the alliance. Canning was in accord with this line, but he recognized that the Duke of Wellington would carry more weight on this mission. Wellington, however, was unable to deter the allies, who pledged their support to French intervention in Spain. The French success there in 1823 at once raised talk of another congress for French action against the rebellious Spanish-American colonies. In the British view, this would further disturb the balance of power and threaten British security as well as commerce.
Canning met this problem by giving a timely warning to the French that British sea power would be used to prevent any non-Spanish expedition across the Atlantic. He used his oratory to rouse Britain and to convince Europeans of his purpose. If it came to war, he declared, it would be a "war of opinions," a "civil war," in which Britain would find "under her banners all the discontented and restless spirits of the age."
In 1825 Canning extended British recognition to three Spanish-American republics, thus consolidating their independence and making the British money market more accessible to them. This situation inspired his most famous statement: "I resolved that if France had Spain, it should not be Spain 'with the Indies.' I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old." Throughout, he avoided any special trade privileges from the new states, while his friend William Huskisson at the Board of Trade was doing much to liberalize British commercial policies.
Developments in the Greek revolt against Turkish rule soon led Canning to depart from the policy of nonintervention and to support the Greek national cause. The Turks had enlisted the army and navy of Mehemet Ali of Egypt and threatened to depopulate the Morea. This not only intensified British sympathy for the Greeks but also led to a threat of Russian intervention on their behalf, thus endangering the balance in the Near East. To meet this situation, in 1826 Canning enlisted Russian support for British mediation for Greek autonomy. Then, in July 1827, he formed an alliance with Russia and France to enforce Greek autonomy on the Turks. This new alignment, far too strong for Austria to resist, broke the fourpower front against national and constitutionalist movements and established Greek independence.
Canning himself did not live to guide this alliance to its fulfillment. After Lord Liverpool became paralyzed in February 1827, Canning succeeded him as prime minister but at the price of a serious split in the Tory party. Wellington, Peel, and others, mistrusting Canning in this office, refused to serve under him. Canning was able to recruit others, but the transition dragged out to 6 weeks of intense strain from which, bearing a heavy cold, he never recovered. His "hundred days" at the pinnacle ended in death on Aug. 8, 1827.
Further Reading
The best biography of Canning is H. W. V. Temperley, Life of Canning (1905). Josceline Bagot, ed., George Canning and His Friends (2 vols., 1909), contains interesting material. On Canning's foreign policy, H. W. V. Temperley, The Foreign Policy of Canning, 1822-1827 (1925; 2d ed. 1966), is standard. Also well worth consulting is C. K. Webster, ed., Britain and the Independence of Latin America, 1812-1830: Select Documents from the Foreign Office Archives (2 vols., 1938).
Additional Sources
Dixon, Peter, Canning, politician and statesman, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976; New York: Mason/Charter, 1976.
Hinde, Wendy, George Canning, New York, St. Martin's Press 1974, 1973.
| British History: George Canning |
Canning, George (1770-1827). Prime minister. The most brilliant disciple of the younger Pitt Canning was distrusted as an intriguer. He also suffered from the fact that his father had died in penury and that his mother had been an actress. Rescued by a wealthy uncle, Canning was educated at Eton and Oxford. Entering the Commons in 1794 he shone as an orator and writer of witty polemical verses, denouncing the French Revolution and supporting the war against France. When Portland became prime minister in 1807 Canning was made foreign secretary. He prevented the Danish fleet from falling into French hands and supported the Spaniards and Portuguese in their struggle against Napoleon. But the failure of the Walcheren expedition heightened distrust of Canning and he sought to make Castlereagh the scapegoat. The outcome was the famous duel which consigned both men to the back benches. Only in 1818 did Canning return to office as president of the Board of Control and in 1822 he was about to sail for India as governor-general when Castlereagh's suicide led to his appointment as foreign secretary. His success was as dazzling as it was controversial. Always opposed to the Congress system, he disengaged from Europe with enthusiasm. By recognizing the independence of the Spanish American colonies, he opened up Latin America for British commerce. When he was asked to form a government in 1827 Wellington and Peel refused to serve under him. Canning's ministry was a coalition of liberal Tories and conservative Whigs. His unexpected death in August 1827 after only three months meant that his premiership did not fulfil its promise.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: George Canning |
Bibliography
See biography by W. Hinde (1973, repr. 1989); studies by D. Marshall (1938), C. A. Petrie (2d ed. 1946), H. W. V. Temperley (1925, repr. 1966, and 1905, repr. 1968).
| Quotes By: George Canning |
Quotes:
"Indecision and delays are the parents of failure."
"Give me the avowed, the erect, the manly foe, bold I can meet, perhaps may turn his blow! But of all plagues, good Heavens, thy wrath can send, save, save, oh save me from the candid friend!"
"Away with the cant of Measures, not men! -- the idle supposition that it is the harness and not the horses that draw the chariot along. No, Sir, if the comparison must be made, if the distinction must be taken, men are everything, measures comparatively nothing."
| Wikipedia: George Canning |
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The Right Honourable
George Canning |
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| In office 10 April 1827 – 8 August 1827 |
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| Monarch | George IV |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Liverpool |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Goderich |
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| In office 10 April 1827 – 8 August 1827 |
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| Monarch | George IV |
| Preceded by | Frederick John Robinson |
| Succeeded by | John Charles Herries |
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| In office 13 September 1822 – 20 April 1827 |
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| Monarch | George IV |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Londonderry |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Dudley and Ward |
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| In office 25 March 1807 – 11 October 1809 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Viscount Howick |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Bathurst |
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| Born | 11 April 1770 Marylebone, London |
| Died | 8 August 1827 (aged 57) Chiswick, Middlesex |
| Political party | Tory |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
George Canning (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.
Contents |
Canning was born at his parents' home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, London. His father, George Canning, Sr., of Garvagh, County Londonderry, was a gentleman of limited means, a failed wine merchant and lawyer, who renounced his right to inherit the family estate in exchange for payment of his substantial debts. George Sr. eventually abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his son's first birthday, in London. Canning's mother, Mary Anne Costello, took work as a stage actress, a profession not considered respectable at the time.
Because Canning showed unusual intelligence and promise at an early age, family friends persuaded his uncle, London merchant Stratford Canning (father to the diplomat Stratford Canning), to become his nephew's guardian. George Canning grew up with his cousins at the home of his uncle, who provided him with an income and an education. Stratford Canning's financial support allowed the young Canning to study at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.
While at school, Canning gained renown for his skill in writing and debate. He struck up friendships with the then-future Lord Liverpool as well as with Granville Leveson-Gower and John Hookham Frere. Canning began practising law after receiving his BA from Oxford in the summer of 1791. Yet he wished to enter politics.
Stratford Canning was a Whig and would introduce his nephew in the 1780s to prominent Whigs such as Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. George Canning's friendship with Sheridan would last for the remainder of Sheridan's life.
George Canning's impoverished background and limited financial resources, however, made unlikely a bright political future in a Whig party whose political ranks were led mostly by members of the wealthy landed aristocracy in league with the newly rich industrialist classes. Regardless, along with Whigs such as Burke, Canning himself would become considerably more conservative in the early 1790s after witnessing the excessive radicalism of the French Revolution. Henry Brooks Adams wrote, "The political reaction which followed swept the young man to the opposite extreme: and his vehemence for monarchy gave point to a Whig sarcasm, - that men had often been known to turn their coats, but this was the first time that a boy had turned his jacket." Jefferson (Library of America) p. 968.
So when Canning decided to enter politics he sought and received the patronage of the leader of the "Tory" group, William Pitt the Younger. In 1793, thanks to the help of Pitt, Canning became a Member of Parliament for Newtown on the Isle of Wight, a rotten borough. In 1796, he changed seats to a different rotten borough, Wendover in Buckinghamshire. He was elected to represent several constituencies during his parliamentary career.
Canning rose quickly in British politics as an effective orator and writer. His speeches in Parliament as well as his essays gave the followers of Pitt a rhetorical power they had previously lacked. Canning's skills saw him gain leverage within the Pittite faction that allowed him influence over its policies along with repeated promotions in the Cabinet. Over time, Canning became a prominent public speaker as well, and was one of the first politicians to campaign heavily in the country.
As a result of his charisma and promise, Canning early on drew to himself a circle of supporters who would become known as the Canningites. Conversely though, Canning had a reputation as a divisive man who alienated many.
He was a dominant personality and often risked losing political allies for personal reasons. He once reduced Lord Liverpool to tears with a long satirical poem mocking Liverpool's attachment to his time as a colonel in the militia. He then forced Liverpool to apologise for being upset.
On 2 November 1795, Canning received his first ministerial post: Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In this post he proved a strong supporter of Pitt, often taking his side in disputes with the Foreign Secretary, Lord Grenville. He resigned this post on 1 April 1799.
In 1799 Canning became a commissioner of the Board of Control, followed by Paymaster of the Forces in 1800. When Pitt resigned in 1801, Canning loyally followed him into opposition and again returned to office in 1804 with Pitt, becoming Treasurer of the Navy.
Canning left office with the death of Pitt but was appointed Foreign Secretary in the new government of the Duke of Portland the following year. Given key responsibilities for the country's diplomacy in the Napoleonic Wars, he was responsible for planning the attack on Copenhagen in September 1807, much of which he undertook at his country estate, South Hill Park at Easthampstead in Berkshire. In November 1807, Canning oversaw the Portuguese royal family's flight from Portugal to Brazil.
In 1809 Canning entered into a series of disputes within the government that were to become famous. He argued with the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Lord Castlereagh, over the deployment of troops that Canning had promised would be sent to Portugal but which Castlereagh sent to the Netherlands. The government became increasingly paralysed in disputes between the two men. Portland was in deteriorating health and gave no lead, until Canning threatened resignation unless Castlereagh were removed and replaced by Lord Wellesley. Portland secretly agreed to make this change when it would be possible.
Castlereagh discovered the deal in September 1809 and challenged Canning to a duel. Canning accepted the challenge and it was fought on 21 September 1809. Canning, who had never before fired a pistol, widely missed his mark. Castlereagh, who was regarded as one of the best shots of his day, wounded his opponent in the thigh. There was much outrage that two cabinet ministers had resorted to such a method. Shortly afterwards the ailing Portland resigned as Prime Minister, and Canning offered himself to George III as a potential successor. However, the King appointed Spencer Perceval instead, and Canning left office once more. He did take consolation, though, in the fact that Castlereagh also stood down.
Upon Perceval's assassination in 1812, the new Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, offered Canning the position of Foreign Secretary once more. Canning refused, as he also wished to be Leader of the House of Commons and was reluctant to serve in any government with Castlereagh. In 1814 he became the British Ambassador to Portugal, returning the following year. He received several further offers of office from Liverpool and in 1816 he became President of the Board of Control.
Canning resigned from office once more in 1820, in opposition to the treatment of Queen Caroline, estranged wife of the new King George IV. Canning and Caroline were close friends and may have had a brief sexual affair. This would have been regarded as unacceptable.
In 1822, Castlereagh, now Marquess of Londonderry, committed suicide. Canning succeeded him as both Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. In his second term of office he sought to prevent South America from coming into the French sphere of influence, and in this he was successful.[citation needed] He also gave support to the growing campaign for the abolition of slavery. Despite personal issues with Castlereagh, he continued many of his foreign policies, such as the view that the powers of Europe (Russia, France, etc.) should not be allowed to meddle in the affairs of other states. This policy enhanced public opinion of Canning as a liberal. He also prevented the United States from opening trade with the West Indies.
In 1827, Liverpool suffered a severe stroke and died soon afterwards. Canning, as Liverpool's right-hand man, was then chosen by George IV to succeed him, in preference to both the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel. Neither man agreed to serve under Canning, and they were followed by five other members of Liverpool's Cabinet as well as 40 junior members of the government. The Tory party was now heavily split between the "High Tories" (or "Ultras", nicknamed after the contemporary party in France) and the moderates supporting Canning, often called "Canningites". As a result Canning found it difficult to form a government and chose to invite a number of Whigs to join his Cabinet, including Lord Lansdowne. The government agreed not to discuss the difficult question of parliamentary reform, which Canning opposed but the Whigs supported.
However, Canning's health by this time was in steep decline. He died on 8 August 1827, in the very same room where Charles James Fox met his own end, 21 years earlier. To this day Canning's total period in office remains the shortest of any Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a mere 119 days. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.[2]
Canning has come to be regarded as a "lost leader", with much speculation about what his legacy could have been had he lived. His government of Tories and Whigs continued for a few months under Lord Goderich but fell apart in early 1828. It was succeeded by a government under the Duke of Wellington, which initially included some Canningites but soon became mostly "High Tory" when many of the Canningites drifted over to the Whigs. Wellington's administration would soon go down in defeat as well. Some historians have seen the revival of the Tories from the 1830s onwards, in the form of the Conservative Party, as the overcoming of the divisions of 1827. What would have been the course of events had Canning lived is highly speculative.
To some later Conservatives, most prominently Benjamin Disraeli, Canning came to be regarded as a model and forerunner of One Nation Conservatism, providing a contrast to Sir Robert Peel, whom Disraeli attacked bitterly.
A central square in Athens, Greece is named after Canning (Canning Square (Plateia Kanigos)), in appreciation of his supportive stance toward the Greeks during their War of Independence (1821-1830).
Canning married Joan Scott (later 1st Viscountess Canning) (1776-1837) on 8 July 1800, with John Hookham Frere and William Pitt the Younger as witnesses.
George and Joan Canning had four children:
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