George Cornewall Lewis

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George Cornewall Lewis

Sir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd Baronet PC (born April 21, 1806 in London , † April 13, 1863 in Harpton Court, Radnorshire ) was a British statesman and scholar.

Early life; first literary activity

George Cornewall Lewis was the son of Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis and his wife Harriet Cornewall. His father was successively Treasury Secretary , Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Commissioner for Poor Care, was promoted to Baronet , of Harpton Court in the County of Radnor, in 1846 and died on January 22, 1855. Educated at Eton College , the young Lewis studied on 1824–1828 Christ Church College , Oxford and joined the Middle Temple as a barrister in 1831 , but without devoting himself to the practice of advocacy.

Instead, Lewis mainly pursued literary and language studies. Before leaving college, he had already published some reflections on Richard Whately's doctrine of predicables and had worked for the Classical Journal and the Foreign Quarterly Review since 1828 , in which his contributions referred by name to Herodotus and Aristotle as well as German literature. He had the merit of having made some important works by German authors known in England. He translated August Böckh's state budget of Athens and Karl Otfried Müller's history of Greek literature into English and helped Henry Tufnell with the translation of Müller's Dorier , which appeared in two volumes in 1830 as the History and Antiquities of the Doric Race . There was also an edition of the fables of Babrios . In 1831 he supported Connop Thirlwall and Julius Charles Hare in founding the Philological Museum . He also wrote occasional contributions for its successor, the Classical Museum .

In 1835 Lewis published an essay on the Origin and Formation of Romance Languages (new edition 1862), in which, for the first time in the British Empire, an effective criticism of Raynouard's theory of a unified Romance language represented by troubadour poetry was exercised. He also created a Glossary of Provincial Words Used in Herefordshire . But make the most important work of his early literary creative period his Remarks on Use and Abuse of some Political Terms (London 1832; new edition 1877). Represents While his friend Abraham Hayward the Law Magazine headed, he often wrote in articles on topics such as secondary penalties and Penal system.

Studies on Ireland and Malta

In 1833, Lewis served as one of the commissioners responsible for identifying the living conditions of poor Irish people in the United Kingdom. In 1834 Lord Althorp appointed him a member of the commission to investigate the state of the Irish Church. He wrote On Local Disturbances in Ireland, and the Irish Church Question (London 1836), in which he described the abolition of the State Church as the most effective means of reconciling the people of Ireland with English rule and advocated the view that an efficient organization of poor houses is necessary.

At the request of Lord Glenelg , Lewis accompanied John Austen to Malta in 1836 , whose administration and judicature they were to investigate. They reported on conditions on the island for nearly two years and drafted a new code of law. One of the main objectives of the two commissioners was to involve the Maltese in the government of the island.

On his return to England, Lewis was his father's successor from January 1839 to July 7, 1847, commissioner for poor relief. Two years after taking up this office, his essay on the Government of Dependencies (London 1841; new edition Oxford 1891) appeared, a systematic exposition and discussion of the various relationships between the colonies and the motherland.

marriage

Lewis married Lady Maria Theresa Villiers in 1844 (March 8, 1803 - November 9, 1865), a younger sister of Lord Clarendons , who was first married to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister and had three children from him. She was also active as a writer. Lewis spent most of his married life with his wife at Kent House in Knightsbridge . The couple had no offspring. Lewis' career was supported by his wife and her family.

Political career; later writings

After resigning from his office for poor relief, Lewis joined the House of Commons as a Liberal MP for Herefordshire . He was appointed Secretary of the Indian Office by Lord John Russell in November 1847 and then served as Undersecretary of State for the Interior from May 1848, succeeding Denis Le Marchant . In this capacity, he introduced two important legislative proposals, namely one to abolish the turnpike trusts and support the road network by a mixed local authority and one to define and regulate parish valuation. His essay on the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion (London 1849; 2nd edition 1875) also appeared at this time . As the successor to William Hayter , he served from July 1850 until the fall of the Russell Ministry in February 1852 as Secretary of the Treasury.

In the new elections that followed shortly thereafter, Lewis was first defeated in Herefordshire, then also in Peterborough and was therefore excluded from active participation in political events for a while. During this period he took over the editing of the Edinburgh Review from 1854 to 1855 and was also active for the Oxford Commission and the Committee for the Study of the London Government. He also wrote a Treatise on the Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics (1852) and completed his main work, Inquiry into the Credibility of Early Roman History, directed against Niebuhr's reconstruction of history (2 vols., London 1855; German von Liebrecht, Hannover 1858, 2 . Edition Hanover 1863). In it he took the view that it would hardly be possible to illuminate the history of the first centuries of Rome since its foundation from the representations of ancient historians such as Titus Livius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus through appropriate source criticism.

With the death of his father in early 1855 heir to the rank of baronet and the seat of parliament for the county of Radnor, Lewis soon succeeded Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer. During a difficult period of the British Empire (Orient War , Indian Uprising , entanglements in China ), in which he had to take out a war loan and impose high additional taxation, he managed the English finances with care and success until the Palmerston Ministry was dissolved February 1858. During the Derby Ministry he remained opposed.

After Lord Palmerston had become Prime Minister again in June 1859, Lewis first acted as Secretary of State for the Interior, from July 1861 against his will as the successor to Sidney Herbert as Secretary of War , which did not prevent him from continuing his scholarly occupations. In addition to numerous contributions to periodicals, he first wrote an Essay on Foreign Jurisdiction and the Extradition of Criminals in 1859 , a topic that was influenced by the assassination attempt on Napoleon III. Had attracted attention. He advocated an expansion of the extradition treaties and criticized the idea of ​​a world legal order proposed by Mohl. He also wrote a very comprehensive and thorough Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients (London 1862) and a Dialogue on the Best Form of Government (London 1863), in which he draws a parallel between the democratic, aristocratic and monarchical forms of government and under the The name Crito indicates to the supporters of the various systems that there is no abstract form of government that is always and everywhere the best possible.

Next to Gladstone, Lewis was the most prominent member of the Palmerston Ministry, in which he especially, adhering to the principle of peace, prevented a break with North America. He died on April 13, 1863 at his country estate at Harpton Court in Radnorshire at the age of almost 57. In 1864 a statue was erected for him in Hereford . After his death, the Essays on the Administration of Great Britain from 1783 to 1830 (London 1864) appeared. His brother Sir Gilbert F. Lewis , who followed him as baronet, published the Letters of Sir George Cornewall Lewis to various friends (London 1870).

literature

predecessor Office successor
William Hayter Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1850-1852 		George Alexander Hamilton
William Ewart Gladstone Chancellor of the Exchequer
1855–1858 		Benjamin Disraeli
Thomas Sotheron-Estcourt Home Secretary
1859-1861 		George Gray
Sidney Herbert Secretary of State for War
1861-1863 		George Robinson
personal data
SURNAME Lewis, George Cornewall
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British statesman and scholar
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1863
Place of death Harpton Court ( Radnorshire )