In February, 1827, the illness of Lord Liverpool had made it
necessary to reorganize the cabinet and choose a new Prime
Minister. After much hesitation the King sent for Canning. Most
of his former colleagues declined to serve under him because he
was a professed pro-Catholic, and they were still of the opinion
that the Protestant constitution of England would be endangered
if the Irish demand for Roman Catholic emancipation should be
granted. Others were found to take the place of Wellington, Peel,
Eldon, and the other Tory leaders, and the Canning ministry got
under way, only to be abruptly halted at the grave. The remains
of the Prime Minister were deposited in Westminster Abbey, where
a statue by Chantry recalls his manly form and expressive
countenance.

Even in so slight a sketch as the foregoing, some characteristics
of the man stand forth. Canning's wit, while its mordancy cost
him many friends, distinguishes him among English statesmen. The
talent which had stood him in good stead as boy-editor of "The
Microcosm" at Eton, and which is to be seen in the slings and
arrows of "The Anti-Jacobin," he never quite lost. His pen was
always ready to dash off a scrap of lampooning verse, and
flashes of wit and extended passages of humor enlivened the
brilliant orations by means of which he explained and defended
his policies in Parliament. As an orator his speeches were of
exquisite polish, and the voice, gesture, countenance and entire
bodily presence of the speaker contributed to their tremendous
effect. There were not wanting those who criticised his oratory
as savoring more of the stage than the rostrum, but such persons
were aristocratic political opponents who would not let the
world forget that this man whose genius outshone them all was