George Canning

“ I have already said, that when the French army entered Spain, we might, if we chose, have resisted or resented that measure by war. But were there no other means than war for restoring the balance of power? - Is the balance of power a fixed and unalterable standard? Or is it not a standard perpetually varying, as civilization advances, and as new nations spring up, and take their place among established political communities? The balance of power a century and a half ago was to be adjusted between France and Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and England. ”

“ The last Canto treats of the Champion's Sickness and Death, and whoever considers the Beauty, Regularity and majestic Simplicity of the Relation, cannot but be surpris'd at the Advances that may be made in Poetry by the Strength of an uncultivated Genius, and may see how far Nature can proceed without the Ornamental Helps and Assistances of Art. The Poet don't attribute his Sickness to a Debauch, to the Irregularity or Intemperance of his Life, but to an Exercise becoming an Hero; and tho' he dies quietly in his Bed, he may be said in some measure to die in the Bed of Honour. ”

“ Nor strange that hence, with pious gifts array'd,
Thy shrine revered the Moslem tribes invade;
Such duteous zeal the Prophet's laws demand,
And fabled raptures of his promised land.
For woe to him, who ne'er with awe profound
At Mecca's shrine hath kiss'd the holy ground :
For him, denied celestial joys to share,
No blooming Houris shall his couch prepare;
But his the doom, where countless horrors reign,
To feel a dark eternity of pain;
Of deep remorse the bitter tear to shed,
Each hope of Paradise for ever fled.
Behold! one impulse every heart enthralls ”

“ The Spanish refugees have been harboured in this country, it is true; but on condition of abstaining from hostile expeditions against Spain; and more than once, when such expeditions have been planned, the British Government has interfered to suppress them. How is this tenderness for Spain rewarded? Spain not only harbours, and fosters, and sustains, but arms, equips, and marshals the traitorous refugees of Portugal, and pours them by thousands into the bosom of Great Britain's nearest ally. ”

“ And what can be more remarkable? What can raise the Sentiments of Pity and Compassion to an higher Pitch, than to see an Hero fall into such an unforeseen Disaster in the honourable Execution of his Office? ”

“ Saw, as the holy ground with awe he trod,
Reveal'd in flame the glory of his God :
Yet, while the radiance Horeb's brow illumed,
No eye beheld the burning bush consumed.
Onward the phalanx moves: yet fear demands
Augmented force 'mid Egypt's trackless sands ;
Forbids a scatter'd and defenceless train
Too boldly haste the Holy Land to gain ;
Till to their view, in martial pride display'd,
The Sultan's troops confirm securer aid. ”

“ We were then free to go to war, if we pleased, on grounds of political expediency. But we were not then bound to interfere, on behalf of Spain, as we now are bound to interfere on behalf of Portugal, by the obligations of treaty. War might then have been our free choice, if we had deemed it politic: interference on behalf of Portugal is now our duty, unless we are prepared to abandon the principles of national faith and national honour. ”

“ COMMENT
UPON THE
HISTORY
OF
TOM THUMB.
IT is a surprising thing that in an Age so Polite as this, in which we have such a Number of Poets, Criticks and Commentators, some of the best things that are extant in our Language shou'd pass unobserv'd amidst a Croud of inferiour Productions, and lie so long buried as it were, among those that profess such a Readiness to give Life to every thing that is valuable. ”

“ But when, with reference to the larger question of a military occupation of Spain by France, it is averred, that by that occupation the relative situation of Great Britain and France is altered; that France is thereby exalted and Great Britain lowered, in the eyes of Europe; - I must beg leave to say, that I dissent from that averment. The House knows - the country knows - that when the French army was on the point of entering Spain, His Majesty's Government did all in their power to prevent it; that we resisted it by all means, short of war. ”

“ By barren pomp and showy gifts like these.
Fount of Eternal Life ! how far more dear
In thy pure sight will stedfast faith appear;
How far more precious, through the mortal strife,
The guiltless conscience, and unspotted life ! ”

“ We pleaded guilty to the charge of wishing to avoid war. We described its inexpediency, its inconveniences, and its dangers - dangers, especially of the same sort with those which I have hinted at to-day - but we declared, that, although we could not overlook those dangers, those inconveniences and that inexpediency, in a case in which remote interest and doubtful policy were alone assigned as motives for war, we would cheerfully affront them all, in a case - if it should arrive - where national faith or national honour were concerned. ”

“ Not to keep my readers longer in suspense, the subject of the poem is "The Reformation of the Knave of Hearts." It is not improbable, that some may object to me that a Knave is an unworthy Hero for an Epic Poem; that a Hero ought to be all that is great and good. The objection is frivolous. The greatest work of this kind that the World has ever produced, has "The Devil" for its hero; and supported as my author is by so great a precedent, I contend, that his Hero is a very decent Hero ”

“ Our feelings are all alive—but the Poet, wisely dreading that our sympathy with the injured Queen might alienate our affections from his Hero, contrives immediately to awaken our fears for him, by telling us, that
“The King of Hearts
“Call’d for those Tarts,”—
We are all conscious of the fault of our Hero, and all tremble with him, for the punishment which the enraged Monarch may inflict ”

“ I have took a great deal of Pains to set these Matters of Importance in as clear a Light as we Criticks generally do, and shall begin with the first Canto, which treats of our Hero's Birth and Parentage, and Education, with some other Circumstances which you'll find are carry'd on in a manner not very inelegant, and cannot fail to please those who are not Judges of Language, or those who notwithstanding they are Judges of Language, have a genuine and unprejudic'd Tast of Nature. ”

“ From chaos bade creation's charms expand ;
Allah il Allah ! to whose sovereign nod
Creation bows,—the true, the only God !—
Then, on the ground still humbly stretch'd, they raise
The song of gladness in Mohammed's praise ”

“ We may observe, that there is nothing in which our Poet has better succeeded, than in keeping up an unremitted attention in his readers to the main instruments, the machinery of his poem, viz. The Tarts; insomuch, that the aforementioned Scriblerus has sagely observed, that "he can't tell, but he doesn't know, but the tarts may be reckoned the heroes of the Poem." Scriblerus, though a man of learning, and frequently right in his opinion, has here certainly hazarded a rash conjecture. ”

“ It has hitherto been customary for all Periodical Writers, to take some opportunity, in the course of their labours, to display their Critical abilities, either by making observations on some popular Author, and work of known character, or by bringing forth the performances of hidden merit, and throwing light on genius in obscurity. To the critiques of The Spectator, Shakespear, and more particularly, Milton, are indebted, for no inconsiderable share of the reputation, which they now so universally enjoy ”

“ I called the New World into existence, to redress the balance of the Old. ”

“ Some readers may perhaps be offended at his making his entré in so disadvantageous a character as that of a thief. To this I plead precedent.
The Hero of the Iliad, as I observed in a former paper, is made to lament very pathetically,—that "life is not like all other possessions, to be acquired by theft."—A reflection, in my opinion, evidently shewing, that, if he did refrain from the practice of this ingenious art, it was not from want of an inclination that way. We may remember too, that in Virgil's poem, almost the first light in which the Pious Æneas appears to us, is a deer-stealer ”

“ There are Variety of Incidents, dispers'd thro' the whole Series of this Historical Poem, that give an agreeable Delight and Surprise, and are such as Virgil himself wou'd have touch'd upon, had the like Story been told by that Divine Poet, viz. his falling into the Pudding-Bowl and others; which shew the Courage and Constancy, the Intrepidity and Greatness of Soul of this little Hero, amidst the greatest Dangers that cou'd possibly befall him, and which are the unavoidable Attendants of human Life. ”

“ Some years afterwards, Russia assumed her high station in European politics. Some years after that again, Prussia became not only a substantive, but a preponderating monarchy. - Thus, while the balance of power continued in principle the same, the means of adjusting it became more varied and enlarged. ”

“ A certain great Critick and Schoolmaster who has publish'd such Notes upon Horace as were never seen before, is of Opinion, and has very good Authority for what he says, that 'twas rather an Owl than a Raven; for, as he observes with a wonderful deal of Penetration and Sagacity, our Hero's Shoes were made of a Mouse's Skin which might induce the Owl to run away with him. The Giant, he owns, looks very probable, because we find 'em swallowing People very fast in almost all Romances.
This Canto concludes with our Hero's Arrival at Court ”

“ Tom Thumb his Life and Death, wherein is declar'd his many marvellous Acts of Manhood, full of Wonder and strange Merriment: Then he adds, which little Knight liv'd in King Arthur's Time in the Court of Great Britain. Indeed there are so many spurious Editions of this Piece upon one Account or other, that I wou'd advise my Readers to be very cautious in their Choice, and it would be very wisely done, if they wou'd consult the curious Ælianus concerning this Matter, who has the choicest Collection of any Man in England, and understands the most correct Editions of Books of this Nature. ”

“ It is well known that Addison's essays elicited the immediate objections of Dennis. The Spectator's "Design is to see how far he can lead his Reader by the Nose." He wants "to put Impotence and Imbecility upon us for Simplicity." Later Johnson in his Life of Addison quoted Dennis and added his own opinion of Chevy Chase: "The story cannot possibly be told in a manner that shall make less impression on the mind."
It was fairly easy to parody the ballads themselves, or at least the ballad imitations, as Johnson would demonstrate ex tempore. ”

“ It is impossible that any thing should be universally tasted and approved by a Multitude, tho' they are only the Rabble of a Nation, which hath not in it some peculiar Aptness to please and gratify the Mind of Man.... an ordinary Song or Ballad that is the Delight of the common People, cannot fail to please all such Readers as are not unqualified for the Entertainment by their Affectation or Ignorance. ”

“ The next Canto is the Story of Tom Thumb's being Swallow'd by a Cow, and his Deliverance out of her, which is treated of at large by Giordano Bruno in his Spaccio de la Bestia trionfante; which Book, tho' very scarce, yet a certain Gentleman, who has it in his Possession, has been so obliging as to let every Body know where to meet with it. ”

“ The following Part of this Canto is the Relation of our Hero's being put into a Pudding, and convey'd away in a Tinker's Budget; which is design'd by our Author to prove, if it is understood literally, That the greatest Men are subject to Misfortunes. But it is thought by Dr. B—tly to be all Mythology, and to contain the Doctrine of the Transmutation of Metals, and is design'd to shew, that all Matter is the same, tho' very differently Modified. He tells me, he intends to publish a distinct Treatise of this Canto ”

“ We are now come to the denouèment, the setting all to rights: and our Poet, in the management of his moral, is certainly superior to his great ancient 144 predecessors. The moral of their fables, if any they have, is so interwoven with the main body of their work, that in endeavouring to unravel it, we should tear the whole. Our Author has very properly preserved his whole and entire for the end of his poem, where he completes his main design, the Reformation of his Hero, thus ”

“ The passage therefore must stand thus,
“The Queen of Hearts
“She made some Tarts,
“All on a Summer’s Day.”
And thus ends the first part, or beginning; which is simple and unembellished; opens the subject in a natural and easy manner; excites, but does not too far gratify our curiosity: for a reader of accurate observation may easily discover, that the Hero of the Poem has not, as yet, made his appearance. ”

“ But if we reflect on the Obedience due to Parents, as our Author undoubtedly did, and the Necessities those People labour'd under, we cannot but admire at his ready Compliance with what could by no Means be agreeable to the Heroical Bent of his Inclinations, and perceive what a tender Regard he had for the Wellfare of his Family, when he took the strictest Care imaginable for the Preservation of the Hog-Pudding. ”

“ It is a rule in Logic, and I believe may hold good in most other Sciences, that "omne majus continet in se minus," that "every thing larger can hold any thing that is less;" but I own, I never heard the contrary advanced or defended with any plausible arguments, viz. "that every little thing can hold one larger." ”