the essence; and by that we judge him.

We hear of his

enthusiasms, kindling easily at all times, but especially on the apprehension of great ideas: but what we see is, that no favourite ideas led him away from a steady regard to the realities of his time. We hear of his unquenchable fancy; but we see that it never beguiled him from taking a statesmanlike view of the society spread out below him, and waiting upon his administration of the powers of the government. He was one of the most practical of statesmen; and herein lay one of the most indisputable evidences of his genius. His genius, however, never was questioned. There might be, and there were, men who disparaged genius itself in its application to politics; but there were none who doubted Canning's having it,-whatever it might be worth.

"His faults were, not only unworthy of his genius, as all faults are, but of a nature which it is not easy to reconcile with genius of so high an order as his. Some of them, at least, were so. We may be able to allow for the confidence, and the spirit of enterprise of adventure,-which helped to obtain for him the name of 'adventurer;'-the spirit which sprang into the political amphitheatre, ready for the combat on all hands, and thinking at first more of the combat than the cause: we can allow for this, because time showed how, when he knew life and its seriousness better, the cause of any principle became every thing to him, and the combat, a thing not to be sought, however joyfully it may be met. The name of 'adventurer' can never be given to him who resigned office rather than take part against the Queen, and gave up his darling hope of representing his University in order to befriend the Catholic cause. He was truly adventurous in these acts, but with the self-denial of the true hero.

"We may allow, again, for the spirit of contempt, which was another of his attributes, least worthy of his genius. It was but partial; for no man was more capable of reverence; and much of his ridicule regarded fashions and follies, and affectations of virtue and vice but still, there was too much of it. It did visit persons; and it did wound honest or innocent feeling, as well as exasperate some whose weakness was a plea for generous treatment. For this fault, however, he paid a high penalty,-he underwent an ample retribution. Again, we may allow for some of his political acts, such as countenancing restrictions on the press,-from the

consideration of the temper and character of the times, and of his political comrades; but they necessarily detract from our estimate of his statesmanship.

"The same may be said about Parliamentary Reform. It is exactly those who most highly honour the advocates of Reform of Parliament who can most easily see into the difficulties, and understand the opposition, of the anti-reformers in Parliament. But there is no knowing what to say about Mr. Canning's opposition to the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts. He knew the facts of the case, of course:-his advocacy of the Catholic claims shows that he knew the principle of it. His inconsistency in this case must be regarded as one of the waywardnesses,-one of the faults, at once intellectual and moral (for he alleged no reasons,-no plea which he himself would call reasonable)—which are the links that bind down even the greatest to their condition of human frailty.As for all the rest of him, he was worthy of his endowments and his great function in life. He was an excellent son to his mother, who died, happily for herself, before him,—in March of the same year. He was nearly as large an object in the mental vision of all the leading men of his time as in that of his proud mother, or of his adoring family and private friends. mind and his name did indeed occupy a great space in the world, from the year 1822 till his death: and when he was gone, there was a general sensation of forlornness throughout the nation which made the thoughtful ponder how such dismay could be caused by the withdrawal of one from amidst its multitude of men." (Memoir prefixed to Speeches.-Bell's Life of Canning.Pictorial History, &c. &c.)

His

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WILLIAM WINDHAM.

WILLIAM WINDHAM, son of Colonel Windham of Felbrigge, was born in the year 1750. From the age of seven to sixteen he was at Eton school; thence he went to the University of Glasgow for one year, and from thence to Oxford as a Gentleman-commoner of University College. He left Oxford in 1771.

Mr. Windham was in early life on intimate terms with Dr. Johnson, who felt and professed the strongest sentiments of esteem for him. The following expressions from one so little

prone to pay compliments as Johnson was, show what a favourable impression Windham must have made on the old man's mind. They occur in one of the letters printed by Boswell, addressed to Dr. Brocklesby, in which Johnson says, "Mr. Windham has been here to see me; he came I think forty miles out of his way, and stayed about a day and a half; perhaps I may make the time shorter than it was. Such conversation I shall not have again till I come back to the regions of literature, and there Windham is 'inter stellas luna minores.""

Such was Windham in early life, and we learn what he was in more advanced years from Lord Brougham, who speaks of him from intimate personal acquaintance. "His manners were the most polished, and noble, and courteous, without the least approach to pride, or affectation, or condescension; his spirits were, in advanced life, so gay, that he was always younger than the youngest of his company.

"The advantages of a refined classical education, a lively wit of the most pungent and yet abstruse description, a turn for subtle reasoning, drawing nice distinctions, and pursuing remote analogies, great and early knowledge of the world, familiarity with men of letters and artists, as well as politicians, with Burke, Johnson, and Reynolds, as well as with Fox and North, much acquaintance with constitutional history and principle, a chivalrous spirit, a noble figure, a singularly expressive countenance-all fitted this remarkable person to shine in debate, but were all, when put together, unequal to the task of raising him to the first rank, and were, besides, mingled with defects which exceedingly impaired the impression of his oratory, while they diminished his usefulness and injured his reputation as a statesman.”

Lord Brougham goes on to point out Windham's strange love for paradox, which led him to advocate the slave trade, bullbaiting, the worst severities of our then sanguinary criminal code; in short, everything against which the current of popular feeling seemed to set most strongly.

Bentley's celebrated sarcasm upon Boyle [Phalaris Boyle] might be literally applied to Windham; for "his judgment, like other men's valour, had commonly the generosity to espouse the weaker side." He seems to have been a very effective, though very eccentric speaker in the House of Commons, of which he was a member for many years. He was, first, Secretary at War, and then of

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the Colonies under Fox and Lord Grenville. On the dismissal of the "Talents" ministry Windham returned to the Opposition benches, which had been his original, and, indeed, his natural place. He died in 1810. Many very amusing stories of his oratory and manners are given by Lord Brougham in the memoir of him, contained in his Lordship's well-known collection; and Sir James Mackintosh has left us this elegantly drawn portrait of Windham: "He was a man of very high order, spoiled by faults apparently small he had acuteness, wit, variety of knowledge, and fertility of illustration, in a degree probably superior to any man now alive. He had not the least approach to meanness,-on the contrary, he was distinguished by honour and loftiness of sentiment. But he was an indiscreet debater, who sacrificed his interest as a statesman to his momentary feelings as an orator. For the sake of a new subtlety or a forcible phrase, he was content to utter what loaded him with permanent unpopularity; his logical propensity led him always to extreme consequences; and he expressed his opinions so strongly, that they seemed to furnish the most striking examples of political inconsistency; though, if prudence had limited his logic and mitigated his expressions, they would have been acknowledged to be no more than those views of different sides of an object, which, in the changes of politics, must present themselves to the mind of a statesman. Singular as it may sound, he often opposed novelties for a love of paradox. These novelties had long been almost established opinions among men of speculation; and this sort of establishment had roused his mind to resist them, before they were proposed to be reduced to practice. The mitigation of penal law had, for example, been the system of every philosopher in Europe for the last half century, but Paley. The principles generally received by enlightened men on that subject had long almost disgusted him as common places, and he was opposing the established creed of minds of his own class when he appeared to be supporting the established code of law. But he was a scholar, a man of genius, and a gentleman of high spirit and dignified manners."

SAMUEL WHITBREAD.

SAMUEL WHITBREAD was born in 1758: he was the only son of Mr. Whitbread, a brewer of great wealth, by his second wife Mary, third daughter of Earl Cornwallis. He was sent to Eton at a very early age, where he had Mr. Charles Grey (since Earl Grey) and many others who afterwards filled high stations, among his young contemporaries.

After leaving Eton he went to Oxford, and then he made a continental tour of more than usual extent; on returning from which, in 1790, he succeeded in obtaining a seat in Parliament as a member for the borough of Bedford.

He at once joined the party of Mr. Fox, and continued to be one of his most devoted adherents until that statesman's death in 1806; and after the death of Fox he still zealously advocated the same line of politics.

He was a prominent speaker soon after he entered into parliament; for we find him, on the 28th February, 1792, moving for a committee of the whole house respecting the Ockazow armament, and his name from this time is of frequent occurrence in the parliamentary debates.

The most prominent event in Mr. Whitbread's career is the impeachment of Lord Melville for imputed misconduct in the administration of the naval department.

On the 8th of April, 1805, Mr. Whitbread moved twelve resolutions on this subject. These resolutions were strenuously opposed by Mr. Pitt, who was supported by Mr. Canning, the AttorneyGeneral, and the Master of the Rolls; while Tierney, Lord Henry Petty, Wilberforce, &c. spoke against the previous question. On a division the members proved exactly equal, there being two hundred and sixteen on each side; but the minister's motion-by which it had been intended to put an end to all inquiry-was negatived by the Speaker's vote. A few days after, Mr. Whitbread moved that an humble address should be presented to his Majesty, praying that he would be graciously pleased to dismiss Lord Melville from all offices held by him during pleasure, and also from his council and presence for ever." This motion, however, was withdrawn; but a vote having been passed "that the former resolutions