The Power of Balance

George Canning warned the Commons to be very careful about their plans for reform.

1820

King George IV 1820-1830

Introduction

In 1820, republican reformers called for the way MPs were elected to be standardised, and for the composition of the Commons to reflect modern society. But George Canning – MP for Liverpool, irreverent rhymester, and illegitimate son of an actress – had little wish for any system crafted by career politicians to favour their own well-bred clones.

by George Canning MP 1770-1827

MY lot is cast under the British monarchy. Under that I have lived, — under that I have seen my country flourish, — under that I have seen it enjoy as great a share of prosperity, of happiness, and of glory as I believe any modification of human society to be capable of bestowing; and I am not prepared to sacrifice or to hazard the fruit of centuries of experience, of centuries of struggles, and of more than one century of liberty as perfect as ever blessed any country upon the earth, for visionary schemes of ideal perfectability, or for doubtful experiments even of possible improvement.*

I would have in the House of Commons a great variety of interests, and I would have them find their way there by a great variety of rights of election; satisfied that uniformity of election would produce any thing but a just representation of various interests.*

by George Canning MP 1770-1827

From a speech at the public dinner in honour of his re-election, in the music-hall, on Saturday March 18th, 1820, as given in ‘Speeches Delivered on Public Occasions in Liverpool’, by George Canning MP (1770-1827).

Canning died in 1827, a few short months into his tenure as Prime Minister; so we can only guess whether or not he would have supported The Reform Acts from 1832 onwards, which tidied up the electoral system and reassigned seats from unpopulated rural areas to bustling new towns such as Manchester and Liverpool. That side of it would not have worried him: his brand of liberal Toryism, which shortly afterwards took shape as the Liberal Party, enjoyed considerable popularity among the working-class electorate of such towns.

Canning mentions people of ‘inert wealth and inactive talent’, such as the elderly, the infirm, and ‘all who cannot face popular assemblies or engage in busy life’. He might have added women, who on Canning’s system were eligible to stand for Parliament, though they rarely did. The Reform Act of 1832 - apparently by an oversight - legally disqualified them for the first time.

Précis

In 1820, George Canning expressed concern over plans to reform Parliamentary elections. He argued that a standardised procedure would produce carbon-copy MPs, and that the practical liberty and prosperity Britain had enjoyed under the existing system was too remarkable to be risked for the sake of a theory.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

What did Canning think of Britain’s constitutional monarchy?

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Some wanted all MPs to be elected the same way. Canning argued against this. He said the MPs would all be the same.