Introduction

Summary

Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool and prime minister since 1812, joined his colleague and eventual successor George Canning at a civic banquet held to honor them in Bristol on January 12, 1825. Canning told his wife that the mayor and council really wanted Liverpool and “would take no denial.” Sheriffs met the party and escorted them in procession to the Mansion House. Notables from surrounding counties joined Bristol merchants and tradesmen to honor the visitors. The Whig-leaning Bristol Mercury, which excoriated what it called the Tory system of William Pitt the Younger and gave Canning only cautious praise, acknowledged Liverpool's talents, while calling his father “one of our most able financiers.” The event congratulated ministers for reviving trade and bringing the country through a difficult transition to peace after the long struggle with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France.

Amidst the plaudits, Liverpool thanked Bristol's Merchant Venturers for conferring upon him the freedom of their society. Britain owed commerce its prosperity, which gave the landed interest its present revival. No interest, Liverpool declared, stood alone, “all were links in a great social chain, all connected and all dependent on each other for that mutual welfare he was pleased to witness and believed to be increasing.” Deliberately pitched to flatter his listeners, Liverpool's words expressed his sincere commitment both to trade and a conception of social relations that guided his public life. With trade the mainspring of British prosperity, he viewed society as an interlocking network of interests governed by a patrician elite acting for the public interest. Its leadership upheld the ordered liberty that secured property and lawful authority while allowing private initiative the widest possible scope. When toasted after dinner, Liverpool replied that his merits lay in good intentions and best efforts for the country. Neither would have succeeded without “the talents of my excellent and able colleagues.” Their united efforts, backed by commercial and other great interests, had brought peace and a prosperity that he fervently hoped would continue to increase. A rhetorical flourish captured Liverpool's habit of downplaying his own part and sharing credit with colleagues.