In the province of trade and finance several valuable improvements were introduced by the influence of Huskisson. The old "Navigation Laws," dating from the time of Cromwell, [57] which impeded free trade with foreign countries, were abolished. The wise policy of reducing import duties on the raw materials needed for English manufactures was adopted, so that the cost of goods was perceptibly lowered, without any harm to the makers of them. Commercial treaties were concluded with several foreign powers, to the great benefit of both parties concerned. A considerable relief was given to the Exchequer by reducing the interest of the many loans raised during the great war from 5 or 4 per cent. to 3-1/2. Huskisson had also in hand measures for reducing the duty on the importation of foreign corn, and for the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, but before they could be carried out the unhappy death of Canning in 1827 broke up the ministry.
The Holy Alliance.—Canning's foreign policy.
A word is needed as to the foreign policy of England. The main characteristic of European history from 1815 to 1830 was the renewed despotism of the continental monarchs, when the fear of Bonaparte had vanished from their minds. The Emperors of Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia had formed a league called the "Holy Alliance," for the putting down of liberal opinions and demands for popular government in their own and their neighbours' dominions. The restored Bourbon monarchy in France was equally narrow and reactionary. Not content with crushing liberty in their own realms, the Austrians invaded Naples and the French Spain, when the kings of those countries had been forced to grant constitutional government to their subjects. In each case the constitution was abolished and despotic rule restored. While Castlereagh was guiding the Foreign Office, the English ministry had refused to interfere with these continental troubles, and had allowed the members of the Holy Alliance to do what they pleased with their smaller neighbours. Canning's advent to power changed this policy. He protected Portugal from an invasion by the French and Spaniards, allied in the cause of despotism, and recognized the independence of the revolted Spanish colonies in America, "calling," as he said, "the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old."
The Greek insurrection.—Battle of Navarino.
But the sympathy of Canning, and of all men of generous mind in England, was most deeply stirred by the Greek insurrection against the grinding tyranny of the Turks, which had commenced in 1821, and had been struggling on, accompanied by all manner of atrocities and massacres, for six years. The resurrection of the ancient people of Hellas stirred all the memories of the past, and called forth much enthusiasm in England. Many English volunteers hastened to the East to aid the insurgents: Lord Cochrane took command of their fleet, and General Church headed some of their land forces. Even Lord Byron, the poet, roused himself from his mis-spent life of luxury in Italy, and went out to offer his sword and fortune to a people rightly struggling to be free. His death from marsh-fever at Missolonghi caused him to be looked on as the martyr of liberty, and gave England yet a further interest in the cause that he had championed. When the Turks failed to put down the rising, in spite of all their massacres, the Sultan called in the aid of his vassal Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, who landed his well-trained army in the Peloponnesus and overran half the peninsula. Canning then induced the Russian and French governments, who had their own private ends to serve, to join him in interfering, and an English fleet was sent out to the coast of Greece. When the Egyptian troops refused to quit the Peloponnesus, and the atrocities continued, Sir Edward Codrington, the English admiral, aided by a few French and Russian ships, sailed into the bay of Navarino—the ancient Pylos—where the Turkish and Egyptian fleets lay, and destroyed them all save a few vessels. In this he had exceeded his instructions, but he saved the independence of Greece, and English public opinion ratified his action (Oct. 20, 1827).
Death of Canning.
But ere Navarino had been fought, a new ministry was in power in England. Lord Liverpool had been stricken by paralysis in February, 1827, and Canning, as was natural, became prime minister. But the weakness of his position was soon apparent. Many Tories who opposed the Catholic claims deserted him; the Whigs would not join him; the strain of responsibility told fatally on his health, and he died on August 8, after less than five months' tenure of the premiership. The ministry which he had formed continued for a few months, under the leadership of the weak and fussy Lord Goderich, who found himself unable to manage Canning's motley following, and was forced to resign before the meeting of Parliament.
Wellington and the Greek insurgents.
The king then proposed that a strong head should be found for the ministry, in the person of a man universally respected and owning a splendid reputation for loyalty and stern sense of duty—the Duke of Wellington, the hero of the Peninsular War. The suggestion was an unhappy one, for Wellington had little political knowledge, had never managed Parliament, and was full of honest but obstinate prejudices. He was, however, made prime minister, and troubles soon began to follow. Almost the first utterance of the duke was to stigmatise the victory of Navarino as "an untoward event"—which gave great offence, for most men looked upon it as a righteous blow against tyranny and oppression. He refused to continue Canning's efforts in favour of Greece, and that country ultimately obtained her freedom from the not very disinterested hands of Russia. For in 1828 Czar Nicholas attacked the Turks, sent his armies across the Balkans, and imposed peace on Sultan Mahmoud, helping himself to a large slice of Ottoman territory in Asia at the same time that he stipulated for the recognition of Greek independence.
Wellington as prime minister.