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OBITUARY.
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Untitled Article
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Untitled Article
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Obituary.
OBITUARY .
Untitled Article
The Right Hou . George Canning . During the early part of the last nVonth the public mind was greatly agitated by intelligence of the severe and alarming Uluess , and subsequently of the death , of Mr . Canning , who had recently been raised to the high office of Prime Minister of Great Britain . His disorder terminated fatally , at the Dnke of Devonshire ' s house , Chiswick , at ten minutes before four o ' clock on the
morniug of Wednesday , the 8 th of August . The following statement will be found to comprise the chief facts of his private and public history . " Mr . George Canning , the father of the subject of the present memoir , was an Irish barrister of respectability , who was related to the family of Garvagh ( for the present representative of which ,
the late Prime Minister , a short time since , procured an Irish peerage ); and having displeased his wealthier relatives at an early age , by what they considered an imprudent marriage , he came over to this country , where he lived in great poverty , and died , leaving his widow and family entirely destitute of provision . While in Ireland , and when he
was first at the bar , Mr . Canning the elder had produced some poetical pieces ; these , however , though not devoid of taste and merit , met with no material success . In London he changed his course , and attempted to carry on the business of a wine-merchant ; but this effort was not prosperous , and it is generally believed that he died of dejected
spirits and a broken heart , brought on by the loss of all his early prospects and the subsequent miscarriage of several eudeavours at ameliorating his condition . After her husband ' s death , Mrs . Canning attempted the profession of the stage , and performed Jane Shore , in in Rowe ' s tragedy of that name , to Garrick * s Lord Hastings ; but her talent was not sufficient to command a Lon * -
don engagement . She afterwards acted in various provincial companies , and eventually married a person in the same pursuit , of the name of Hmrn . The Garvagh family , though deeply displeased with Mr . Canning ' s marriage , relented so far , at his death , as to take care of his son George ' s education , and the future Prime Minister was placed at Eton , where , While yet a boy , he exhibited considerable indications of genius ,
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and contributed several papers to a periodical publication called The Microcosm , the first number of which was published in 1786 . The essays signed " B . " are those written by Mr . Canning in this work , and the poem , The Slavery of Greece , may be quoted as a fair example
of their general merit . * From Eton Mr . Canning went to Oxford , where he studied at Christ Church , and distinguished himself principally as a Latin scholar , gaining several prizes . And , from thence , coming to London , he entered himself a member of Lincoln ' s
Inn , and proceeded in due course , with a view to being called to the bar . At this time , however , the friendship of Sheridan , who was then in his zenith , suggested another career to him—the career of politics ; and at three-andtwenty years of age , he took his seat in
Parliament , as member for the borough of Newport , in the Isle of Wight . Prior to the commencement of his political prospects , and while he was studying for the bar , Mr . Canning , at several private societies , had acquired considerable reputation as a speaker ; so much
[* This periodical paper was projected by a few of the senior scholars at Eton , in 1786 . The first number was published , as stated above , on Monday , the 6 th of November , in that year ; and the subsequent numbers followed in succession , every week , till Monday , July 30 ,
] 787 . The fictitious editor was Gregory Griffin , Esq . ; the real conductor is understood to have been Mr . Canning . The other principal writers were , Mr . John Smith , afterwards of King ' s College , Cambridge ; Mr . Robert Smith , Mr . John Frere , and Mr . Joseph Mellish . Other occasional contributors
were , Mr . B . Way , Mr . Littlehales , and Lord Henry Spencer . In the concluding paper , the Editor , under the form of a last will and testament , assigns to each writer the papers composed by him . Mr . Canning ' s are , Nos . 2 , 7 , 1 ) , 12 , 18 , 22 , 26 , 30 , 32 , 39 . Appended
to one of these is the poem on the ** Slavery of Greece , " which late circumstances have brought into public notice . Considering his age , the papers in the Microcosm did Mr . Canning great credit , and gave indications of the superior talents he afterwards displayed as a lively and elegant writer . Edit . 1
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1827, page 688, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1800/page/56/
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