The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-10 00:00:00

THE CONVERT.

The mass of the reading, writing, and speech-making
public thought of nothing else, and during the first stages
of the Revolution, the valour and devotion of the republi-
cans furnished the grand theme of admiration everywhere,
in all companies, especially in the numerous debating so-
cieties, which at this period were the vents and safety-
valves of opinion. The young and unoccupied intellect of
the inns of court found congenial employment in these
stormy discussions, and here some apprentice politicians.
who afterwards won a wider celebrity, first tested their
powers, and .plumed their wings for more ambitious
flights.
Amongst them was a student of pale and thoughtful as-
pect, who brought to the nightly contests unusual fluency
and grace of elocution. He, to 6, along with the rest, had
been inspired by the heroic spectacle, had pondered upon
its causes, and exulted over its prospects. His head was
full of constitutions • for his studies lay amongst the ele-
mentary writers, rather than the special pleaders and the
form-mongers of the law. And after a morning of close
reading and severe reflection, he would wend his way in
the evening to one of these debating-rooms, and taking up
his place unobserved, watch the vicissitudes of the discus-
sion, noting well its effect upon the miscellaneous liste-
ners; then, seizing upon a moment when the argument
failed from lack of resources, or ran into sophistry or ex-
aggeration, he would present himself to the meeting. A
figure slight, but of elegant proportions; a face poetical
in repose, but fluctuating in its expression with every fu-
gitive emotion ; a voice low, clear, and rich in modulation ;
and an air of perfect breeding, prepares his hearers for one
who possesses superior powers, and is not unconscious of
them. He opens calmly—strips his topic of all extraneous
matter—distributes it under separate heads—disposes of
objections with a playful humour—rebukes the dangerous
excesses of preceding speakers carries his -auditors
through a complete syllogism—establishes the proposition
with which he set out—and sits down amidst the acclama-
tions of the little senate. Night after night witnesses si-
milar feats ; at length his name gets out ; he is talked of,
and speculated upon •, and people begin to ask questions
about the stripling who has so suddenly appeared amongst
them. as if he had fallen from the sky.
But be does not confine his range to the debating socie-
ties, which he uses as schools of practice, and as places in
which the nature of popular assemblies may be profitably
observed. He is frequently to be found in the soirees of
the Whig notabilities, where the aristocracy of his style is
more at home than amongst the crowds of the forum.
Here his' cultivated intellect, and fastidious taste are ap-
preciated by qualified judges; and these refined circles cry
up his accomplishments as eagerly as the others have ap-
plauded his patriotism. Popularity besets him on both
sides. The societies look to him as a man formed ex-
pressly for the people ; and the first Lord Lansdowne
(stranger still) predicts to Mr. Bentham that this strip-
ling will one day be prime minister of England 1 He is
plainly on the high road to greatness of some kind; but
how it is to end, whether he is to be a martyr or a minis-
ter, is yet a leap in the dark. The crisis approaches that
is to determine the doubt.
While he is revolving these auguries in his mind, and
filling his solitary chamber with phantoms of civic crowns
and strawberry leaves, flitting around his head in tantalis-
ing confusion, a note is hurriedly put into his hand, with
marks of secrecy and haste. It is from one of whom he
has but a slight personal knowledge, but whose notoriety,
if we may not venture to call it fame, is familiar to him.
The purport of the note is an intimation that the writer
desires a confidential interview on matters of importance,
and will breakfast with him on the following morning.
The abruptness of the self-invitation, the seriousness of
the affair it seems to indicate, and the known character of
the correspondent, excite the surprise of the law student,
and he awaits his visitor with more curiosity than he
chooses to betray.
A small fresh-coloured man, with intelligent eyes, an
obstinate expression of face, and pressing ardour of man-
ner, makes his appearance next morning at breakfast.
The host is collected, as a man should be wl.O holds him-
self prepared for a revelation. The guest, unreserved and
impatient of delay, hastens to unfold his mission. Among
the speculators who are thrown up to the surface, in great
political emergencies, there are generally some who are
misled by the grandeur of their conceptions ; and who, in
the purity and integrity of their own hearts, cannot see
the evil or the danger that lies before them. This was a
man of that order. He enters into an animated descrip-
tion of the state of the country, traces the inquietude of
the people to its source in the corruption and tyranny of
the government, declares that they are resolved to endure
oppression no longer, that they are already organised for
action, that the auspicious time has arrived to put out their
strength, and ends by the astounding announcement, that
they have selected him—this youth who had made such a
stir amongst them—as the fittest person to be placed at
the head of the movement. Miracle upon miracle ! -The
astonishment of the youth who receives this communica-
tion may well suspend his judgment : he requires an in-
terval to collect himself, and decide ; and then, dismissing
his strange visitor, shuts himself up to think. In that in-
terval he takes a step which commits him for life. It is
but a step from Lincoln's-inn to Downing-street. His
faith in the people is shaken. He sees in this theory of re-
generation nothing but folly and bloodshed. His reason
revolts from all participation in it. And the next cham-
ber to which we follow him, is the closet of the Minister,
to whom he makes his new confession of faith, and gives
in his final adherence.

Reader, the violent little man was William Godwin, the
author of the " Political Justice," and the convert was
George Canning.

TUE ANTI-JACOBIN.

The first number of the " Anti-Jacobin," or " Weekly
Examiner," was published on the 20th of November.
1797. The avowed purpose of this journal was to expose
the vicious doctrines of the revolution, and to turn into
ridicule and contempt the advocates of them in this coun-
try. The work originated with Mr. Canning, who wrote
the prospectus, and contributed some of its ablest articles.
Mr. Gifford was the editor, and amongst the writers were
Mr. John Hookham Frere, Mr. Jenkinson, Mr. George
Ellis. Lord Clare, and Lord Mornington. afterwards Mar-
quis Wellesley. It occupied the opposite ground to that
which had formerly been taken up by the " Rolliad" and
the " Probationary Odes," but " with a difference." The
wit and vigour (and scurrility) of the " Anti-Jacobin"
left behind, at an immeasurable distance, the gentlemanly
satire of the Whigs.
Wherever the wit of the " Anti-Jacobin" is irresistible,
the reader may conclude that he has detected the hand of
Canning ; but there was such a copartnery in tbese things,
and such a disinclination to separate each person's share,
even were it possible to do so, that, with some marked
exceptions, the authorship cannot now be ascertained with
certainty. The work closed in 1798, and during its brief
existence, Mr. Canning wrote largely for it. His connec-
tion with it was well known at the time, nor was he ever
disposed to disavow it. He declared in Parliament, ten
years afterwards, that he had no other source of regret for
the share he had in it, except the imperfection of his pieces.
But what that share • was is to a great extent a matter of
conjecture, to be determined by internal evidence.

CANNING'S DEVOTION TO PITT.

Mr. Pitt had been taunted by*Mr. Grey for his apostacy
on the question of parliamentary reform ; an apostacy ren-
dered the more glaring on this occasion by the fact that
one of the persons whom he had just dragged to prison for
agitating that question—John Horne Tooke—had formerly
been his own associate in the very same cause. " William
Pitt, the reformer of 1782," exclaimed Mr. Grey, " was
now the prosecutor, ay, the persecutor of reformers."
There was no possibility of turning aside this accusation.
It was drawn from circumstances too notorious to admit of
evasion. Mr. Canning met it boldly, and declared that

[* This work forms the present month's publication of
Messrs. Chapman rind Hall's excellent Monthly Series of Bio-
graphy and Romance. It contains many circumstances con-
nected with the life of its distinguished subject, Geo. Canning,
which are not only interesting, but perfectly new to us. We
look to the next number to furnish us with much matter. which
will be peculiarly acceptable to our readers, relating to his con-
nexion, as member, with the interests of the town of Liverpool.]

he entirely agreed with Mr. Pitt, that though such a re-
form might not be improper for discussion in time of
peace, yet it was a proposition that ought not to be agi-
tated in times of tumult and storm. As to the change in
opinion, be had no hesitation in saying that if Mr. Pitt in
future should return to his former opinion, it was probable
that he might again agree with him.
These declarations on the part of Mr. Canning, extra-
ordinary and extravagant as they are, can scarcely be re-
garded as involving any specific principles. They must be
looked upon rather as declarations of adhesion to Mr. Pitt.
He felt himself bound to support the ministerial policy as
a whole ; that was essential to what be believed to be the
true interests of the country; and he knew that the slightest
misgiving, the least wavering, or exercise of individual
judgment, might be productive of the most serious mis-
fortunes. The practical question arising out of such a line
of conduct, concerns, in effect, not the particular vote,
but the obligations understood to be imposed by all party
alliances.

The character of the compact is clear. We have seen
the ministerial majority turned round, like a troop of horse
in the amphitheatre, upon the selfsame question, and re-
voking their own decision of the night before, at the bid-
ding of the minister.* This is an extreme case (such a one
as it is reasonable to hope, for mere decency, may never
happen again) ; but it illustrates the action, and discloses
the real nature of a party compact. The united body
must move together—there must be no straggling—no
hanging back or breaking line for the pursuit of honest
crotchets—there must be a total surrender of opinion—a
tacit submission to orders—no man must think for him-
self—individual convictions must be sacrificed to unity of
purpose. It is upon this principle the papal power has
maintained itself so wondrously against the broken and
scattered assaults of independent reason, pushing its con-
q nests silently by the mere force of the wedge, which keeps
its place because there is no equal and uniform pressure
by which it can be dislodged.

This (happily uncommon) exploit occurred in the session
of 1845, on the Ten Hours' Bill of Lord Ashley, and has oc-
curred also on some occasions in radical administrations. The
devotion of Mr. Canning to Pitt, and adhesion to him in his
changes of policy, appears to us greatly to resemble the feeling
and conduct of our present Conservative nujority to their
leader, Sir Robert Peel.