The lamentable and sudden death of the Right Hon. George Canning has
produced a general sensation throughout this country. At the opening of
the present year our nation deplored the loss of a prince endeared to
the people by his honest worth--but a short interval has elapsed and
again the country is plunged in sorrow for the loss of one of its most
zealous supporters--one of its chiefest ornaments--one of its staunchest
friends--and one of its most eloquent and talented statesmen! The life
of the late George Canning furnishes much matter for meditation and
thought. From it much may be learnt. He was a genius, in the most
unlimited sense of the word; and his intellectual endowments were
commanding and imperative. Of humble origin he had to contend with
innumerable difficulties, consequent to his station in life,--and
although his talents, which were of the first order, befitted him for
the first rank in society, that rank he did not attain until the scene
of this world was about to be closed for ever from him. It may be said
of this eminent man, that he owed nothing to patronage--his _talents_
directed him to his elevated station, and to his intellectual
superiority homage was made,--not to the man.
But, in other respects, the loss of Mr. Canning is a national
bereavement. He was one of the master-spirits of the age. His very name
was distinguished--for he has added to the literature of his country--by
his writings and his eloquence he has stimulated the march of mind; he
has seconded the exertions of liberal friends to the improvements of the
uneducated, and he has patronized the useful as well as the fine arts,
philosophy and science, of his country. To expatiate at greater length
would be superfluous, as we have in another place recorded our humble
tribute to his general character.[2] We have now, therefore, merely to
put together the melancholy facts connected with his death, and which
will convey to another generation a just sense of the value, in our
time, attached to a noble and exalted genius. The just and elegant
laconism of Byron, by substituting the _past_ for the _present_ tense,
may now be adopted as a faithful and brief summary of what _was_ George
Canning.
[2] Biographical Memoir of Mr. Canning, with a Portrait, MIRROR,
Vol. iv.
"Canning _was_ a genius, almost an universal one:--an orator, a wit, a
poet, and a statesman."
* * * * *
The king, with his usual quickness, was the first to perceive the
dangerous state of Mr. Canning. We understand, that almost immediately
after he had quitted him, on Monday, his majesty observed to sir William
Knighton, that Mr. Canning appeared very unwell, and that he was in
great alarm for him. On Tuesday, sir William repaired to town, at the
express command of his majesty, to see Mr. Canning. At the interview
with him, at the Treasury, Sir William made particular inquiries into
the state of his health. Mr. Canning was then troubled with a cough, and
he observed to Sir William that he almost felt as if he were an old man;
that he was much weakened; but had no idea of there being anything
dangerous in his condition, and that he trusted that rest and retirement
would set him to rights. Sir William sent Dr. Maton to Mr. Canning, and
on parting with him, he observed that, as he should not leave town until
Wednesday morning, he would call on him, at Chiswick, on his way home to
Windsor. Sir William found Mr. Canning in bed, at Chiswick. He asked him
if he felt any pain in his side? Mr. Canning answered he had felt a pain
in his side for some days, and on endeavouring to lie on his side, the
pain was so acute that he was unable to do so. Sir William then inquired
if he felt any pain in his shoulder? He said he had been for some time
affected by rheumatic pains in the shoulder. Sir William told him that
the pain did not arise from rheumatism, but from a diseased liver, and
he immediately sent for the three physicians, who remained with him, and
were to the last unremitting in their attentions.
The disease continued to make rapid progress, in spite of all that the
first medical skill could do to baffle it, watching every turn it took,
and applying, on the instant, every remedy likely to subdue its
virulence, and mitigate his sufferings.
On the following Sunday, August 5, bulletins were issued, stating that
Mr. Canning was in most imminent danger. The most painful interest was
excited in the public mind by subsequent announcements of his alarming
state, and on Wednesday morning, the following melancholy intelligence
reached town:--
_Chiswick, Wednesday, August_, 8, 1827, (A. M.)
Mr. Canning expired this morning, without pain, at ten minutes before
four o'clock.
* * * * *