One of England's best-known Tory leaders in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, George Canning served as prime minister, as a member of Parliament, and as an acclaimed foreign minister. He was considered one of the greatest orators of his time, and as a journalist he proved to be, along with Edmund Burke, a powerful opponent to a strong Jacobin movement in England during the Napoleonic period.

Whether in office or out, Canning was an important political figure because of his leadership role in the conservative branch of the Tory Party. His excursions into journalism, particularly when in public office, also offered him a means of political input unavailable to less-talented writers. The satiric wit displayed in his poems and essays was well known to peers and feared by political adversaries.

A Tory willing to implement liberal policy, particularly in regard to domestic affairs, Canning proved significantly...