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diff --git a/2647-h/2647-h.htm b/2647-h/2647-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..20f6005 --- /dev/null +++ b/2647-h/2647-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16566 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, Vol. I by Sir George Otto Trevelyan + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, by +George Otto Trevelyan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay + +Author: George Otto Trevelyan + +Release Date: November 12, 2009 [EBook #2647] +Last Updated: January 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Adamson, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Volume I + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Sir George Otto Trevelyan + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF1"> PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF2"> PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY</b> + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. 1800-1818. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. 1818-1824. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. 1824-30. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. 1830-1832. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. 1832-1834. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. 1834-1838. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF1" id="link2H_PREF1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + </h2> + <p> + WHEN publishing the Second Edition of Lord MACAULAY'S Life and Letters, I + may be permitted to say that no pains were spared in order that the First + Edition should be as complete as possible. But, in the course of the last + nine months, I have come into possession of a certain quantity of + supplementary matter, which the appearance of the book has elicited from + various quarters. Stray letters have been hunted up. Half-forgotten + anecdotes have been recalled. Floating reminiscences have been reduced to + shape;—in one case, as will be seen from the extracts from Sir + William Stirling Maxwell's letter, by no unskilful hand. I should have + been tempted to draw more largely upon these new resources, if it had not + been for the examples, which literary history only too copiously affords, + of the risk that attends any attempt to alter the form, or considerably + increase the bulk, of a work which, in its original shape, has had the + good fortune not to displease the public. I have, however, ventured, by a + very sparing selection from sufficiently abundant material, slightly to + enlarge, and, I trust, somewhat to enrich the book. + </p> + <p> + If this Second Edition is not rigidly correct in word and substance, I + have no valid excuse to offer. Nothing more pleasantly indicates the + wide-spread interest with which Lord MACAULAY has inspired his readers, + both at home and in foreign countries, than the almost microscopic care + with which these volumes have been studied. It is not too much to say + that, in several instances, a misprint, or a verbal error, has been + brought to my notice by at least five-and-twenty different persons; and + there is hardly a page in the book which has not afforded occasion for + comment or suggestion from some friendly correspondent. There is no + statement of any importance throughout the two volumes the accuracy of + which has been circumstantially impugned; but some expressions, which have + given personal pain or annoyance, have been softened or removed. + </p> + <p> + There is another class of criticism to which I have found myself + altogether unable to defer. I have frequently been told by reviewers that + I should "have better consulted MACAULAY'S reputation," or "done more + honour to MACAULAY'S memory," if I had omitted passages in the letters or + diaries which may be said to bear the trace of intellectual narrowness, or + political and religious intolerance. I cannot but think that strictures, + of this nature imply a serious misconception of the biographer's duty. It + was my business to show my Uncle as he was, and not as I, or any one else, + would have had him. If a faithful picture of MACAULAY could not have been + produced without injury to his memory, I should have left the task of + drawing that picture to others; but, having once undertaken the work, I + had no choice but to ask myself, with regard to each feature of the + portrait, not whether it was attractive, but whether it was + characteristic. We who had the best opportunity of knowing him have always + been convinced that his character would stand the test of an exact, and + even a minute, delineation; and we humbly believe that our confidence was + not misplaced, and that the reading world has now extended to the man the + approbation which it has long conceded to his hooks. + </p> + <p> + G. O. T. + </p> + <p> + December 1876. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF2" id="link2H_PREF2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION + </h2> + <p> + THIS work has been undertaken principally from a conviction that it is the + performance of a duty which, to the best of my ability, it is incumbent on + me to fulfil. Though even on this ground I cannot appeal to the + forbearance of my readers, I may venture to refer to a peculiar difficulty + which I have experienced in dealing with Lord MACAULAY'S private papers. + </p> + <p> + To give to the world compositions not intended for publication may be no + injury to the fame of writers who, by habit, were careless and hasty + workmen; but it is far otherwise in the case of one who made it a rule for + himself to publish nothing which was not carefully planned, strenuously + laboured, and minutely finished. Now, it is impossible to examine Lord + MACAULAY'S journals and correspondence without being persuaded that the + idea of their being printed, even in part, never was present to his mind; + and I should not feel myself justified in laying them before the public if + it were not that their unlaboured and spontaneous character adds to their + biographical value all, and perhaps more than all, that it detracts from + their literary merit. + </p> + <p> + To the heirs and relations of Mr. Thomas Flower Ellis and Mr. Adam Black, + to the Marquis of Lansdowne, to Mr. Macvey Napier, and to the executors of + Dr. Whewell, my thanks are due for the courtesy with which they have + placed the different portions of my Uncle's correspondence at my disposal. + Lady Caroline Lascelles has most kindly permitted me to use as much of + Lord Carlisle's journal as relates to the subject of this work; and Mr. + Charles Cowan, my Uncle's old opponent at Edinburgh, has sent me a + considerable mass of printed matter bearing upon the elections of 1847 and + 1852. The late Sir Edward Ryan, and Mr. Fitzjames Stephen, spared no pains + to inform me with regard to Lord MACAULAY'S work at Calcutta. His early + letters, with much that relates to the whole course of his life, have been + preserved, studied, and arranged, by the affectionate industry of his + sister, Miss Macaulay; and material of high interest has been entrusted to + my hands by Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Edward Cropper. I have been assisted + throughout the book by the sympathy, and the recollections, of my sister + Lady Holland, the niece to whose custody Lord MACAULAY'S papers by + inheritance descend. + </p> + <p> + G.O.T. + </p> + <p> + March 1876. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY + </h2> + <h3> + By + </h3> + <p> + Sir George Otto Trevelyan + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. 1800-1818. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Plan and scope of the work—History of the Macaulay family— + Aulay—Kenneth—Johnson and Boswell—John Macaulay and his + children—Zachary Macaulay—His career in the West Indies + and in Africa—His character—Visit of the French squadron + to Sierra Leone—Zachary Macaulay's marriage—Birth of his + eldest son—Lord Macaulay's early years—His childish + productions—Mrs. Hannah More—General Macaulay—Choice of a + school—Shelford—Dean Milner—Macaulay's early letters— + Aspenden hall—The boy's habits and mental endowments—His + home—The Clapham set—The boy's relations with his father— + The political ideas amongst which he was brought up, and + their influence on the work of his life. +</pre> + <p> + HE who undertakes to publish the memoirs of a distinguished man may find a + ready apology in the custom of the age. If we measure the effective demand + for biography by the supply, the person commemorated need possess but a + very moderate reputation, and have played no exceptional part, in order to + carry the reader through many hundred pages of anecdote, dissertation, and + correspondence. To judge from the advertisements of our circulating + libraries, the public curiosity is keen with regard to some who did + nothing worthy of special note, and others who acted so continuously in + the face of the world that, when their course was run, there was little + left for the world to learn about them. It may, therefore, be taken for + granted that a desire exists to hear something authentic about the life of + a man who has produced works which are universally known, but which bear + little or no indication of the private history and the personal qualities + of the author. + </p> + <p> + This was in a marked degree the case with Lord Macaulay. His two famous + contemporaries in English literature have, consciously or unconsciously, + told their own story in their books. Those who could see between the lines + in "David Copperfield" were aware that they had before them a delightful + autobiography; and all who knew how to read Thackeray could trace him in + his novels through every stage in his course, on from the day when as a + little boy, consigned to the care of English relatives and schoolmasters, + he left his mother on the steps of the landing-place at Calcutta. The + dates and names were wanting, but the man was there; while the most ardent + admirers of Macaulay will admit that a minute study of his literary + productions left them, as far as any but an intellectual knowledge of the + writer himself was concerned, very much as it found them. A consummate + master of his craft, he turned out works which bore the unmistakable marks + of the artificer's hand, but which did not reflect his features. It would + be almost as hard to compose a picture of the author from the History, the + Essays, and the Lays, as to evolve an idea of Shakespeare from Henry the + Fifth and Measure for Measure. + </p> + <p> + But, besides being a man of letters, Lord Macaulay was a statesman, a + jurist, and a brilliant ornament of society, at a time when to shine in + society was a distinction which a man of eminence and ability might justly + value. In these several capacities, it will be said, he was known well, + and known widely. But in the first place, as these pages will show, there + was one side of his life (to him, at any rate, the most important,) of + which even the persons with whom he mixed most freely and confidentially + in London drawing-rooms, in the Indian Council chamber, and in the lobbies + and on the benches of the House of Commons, were only in part aware. And + in the next place, those who have seen his features and heard his voice + are few already and become yearly fewer; while, by a rare fate in literary + annals, the number of those who read his books is still rapidly + increasing. For everyone who sat with him in private company or at the + transaction of public business,—for every ten who have listened to + his oratory in Parliament or from the hustings,—there must be tens + of thousands whose interest in history and literature he has awakened and + informed by his pen, and who would gladly know what manner of man it was + that has done them so great a service. + </p> + <p> + To gratify that most legitimate wish is the duty of those who have the + means at their command. His lifelike image is indelibly impressed upon + their minds, (for how could it be otherwise with any who had enjoyed so + close relations with such a man?) although the skill which can reproduce + that image before the general eye may well be wanting. But his own letters + will supply the deficiencies of the biographer. Never did any one leave + behind him more copious materials for enabling others to put together a + narrative which might be the history, not indeed of his times, but of the + man himself. For in the first place he so soon showed promise of being one + who would give those among whom his early years were passed reason to be + proud, and still more certain assurance that he would never afford them + cause for shame, that what he wrote was preserved with a care very seldom + bestowed on childish compositions; and the value set upon his letters by + those with whom he corresponded naturally enough increased as years went + on. And in the next place he was by nature so incapable of affectation or + concealment that he could not write otherwise than as he felt, and, to one + person at least, could never refrain from writing all that he felt; so + that we may read in his letters, as in a clear mirror, his opinions and + inclinations, his hopes and affections, at every succeeding period of his + existence. Such letters could never have been submitted to an editor not + connected with both correspondents by the strongest ties; and even one who + stands in that position must often be sorely puzzled as to what he has the + heart to publish and the right to withhold. + </p> + <p> + I am conscious that a near relative has peculiar temptations towards that + partiality of the biographer which Lord Macaulay himself so often and so + cordially denounced; and the danger is greater in the case of one whose + knowledge of him coincided with his later years; for it would not be easy + to find a nature which gained more by time than his, and lost less. But + believing, as I do, (to use his own words,) that "if he were now living he + would have sufficient judgment and sufficient greatness of mind" to wish + to be shown as himself, I will suppress no trait in his disposition, or + incident in his career, which might provoke blame or question. Such in all + points as he was, the world, which has been so indulgent to him, has a + right to know him; and those who best love him do not fear the + consequences of freely submitting his character and his actions to the + public verdict. + </p> + <p> + The most devout believers in the doctrine of the transmission of family + qualities will be content with tracing back descent through four + generations; and all favourable hereditary influences, both intellectual + and moral, are assured by a genealogy which derives from a Scotch Manse. + In the first decade of the eighteenth century Aulay Macaulay, the + great-grandfather of the historian, was minister of Tiree and Coll; where + he was "grievously annoyed by a decreet obtained after instance of the + Laird of Ardchattan, taking away his stipend." The Duchess of Argyll of + the day appears to have done her best to see him righted; "but his health + being much impaired, and there being no church or meeting-house, he was + exposed to the violence of the weather at all seasons; and having no manse + or plebe, and no fund for communion elements, and no mortification for + schools or any pious purpose in either of the islands, and the air being + unwholesome, he was dissatisfied;" and so, to the great regret of the + parishioners whom he was leaving behind, he migrated to Harris, where he + discharged the clerical duties for nearly half a century. + </p> + <p> + Aulay was the father of fourteen children, of whom one, Kenneth, the + minister of Ardnamurchan, still occupies a very humble niche in the temple + of literature. He wrote a History of St. Kilda which happened to fall into + the hands of Dr. Johnson, who spoke of it more than once with favour. His + reason for liking the book is characteristic enough. Mr. Macaulay had + recorded the belief prevalent in St. Kilda that, as soon as the factor + landed on the island, all the inhabitants had an attack which from the + account appears to have partaken of the nature both of influenza and + bronchitis. This touched the superstitious vein in Johnson, who praised + him for his "magnanimity" in venturing to chronicle so questionable a + phenomenon; the more so because,—said the Doctor,—"Macaulay + set out with a prejudice against prejudice, and wanted to be a smart + modern thinker." To a reader of our day the History of St. Kilda appears + to be innocent of any trace of such pretension; unless it be that the + author speaks slightingly of second-sight, a subject for which Johnson + always had a strong hankering. In 1773 Johnson paid a visit to Mr. + Macaulay, who by that time had removed to Calder, and began the interview + by congratulating him on having produced "a very pretty piece of + topography,"—a compliment which did not seem to the taste of the + author. The conversation turned upon rather delicate subjects, and, before + many hours had passed, the guest had said to the host one of the very + rudest things recorded by Boswell! Later on in the same evening he atoned + for his incivility by giving one of the boys of the house a pocket + Sallust, and promising to procure him a servitorship at Oxford. + Subsequently Johnson pronounced that Mr. Macaulay was not competent to + have written the book that went by his name; a decision which, to those + who happen to have read the work, will give a very poor notion of my + ancestor's abilities. + </p> + <p> + The eldest son of old Aulay, and the grandfather of Lord Macaulay, was + John, born in the year 1720. He was minister successively of Barra, South + Uist, Lismore, and Inverary; the last appointment being a proof of the + interest which the family of Argyll continued to take in the fortunes of + the Macaulays. He, likewise, during the famous tour in the Hebrides, came + across the path of Boswell, who mentions him in an exquisitely absurd + paragraph, the first of those in which is described the visit to Inverary + Castle. ["Monday, Oct. 25.—My acquaintance, the Rev. Mr. John + M'Aulay, one of the ministers of Inverary, and brother to our good friend + at Calder, came to us this morning, and accompanied us to the castle, + where I presented Dr. Johnson to the Duke of Argyll. We were shown through + the house; and I never shall forget the impression made upon my fancy by + some of the ladies' maids tripping about in neat morning dresses. After + seeing for a long time little but rusticity, their lively manner, and gay + inciting appearance, pleased me so much, that I thought for a moment I + could have been a knight-errant for them."] Mr. Macaulay afterwards passed + the evening with the travellers at their inn, and provoked Johnson into + what Boswell calls warmth, and anyone else would call brutality, by the + very proper remark that he had no notion of people being in earnest in + good professions if their practice belied them. When we think what + well-known ground this was to Lord Macaulay, it is impossible to suppress + a wish that the great talker had been at hand to avenge his grandfather + and grand-uncle. Next morning "Mr. Macaulay breakfasted with us, nothing + hurt or dismayed by his last night's correction. Being a man of good sense + he had a just admiration of Dr. Johnson." He was rewarded by seeing + Johnson at his very best, and hearing him declaim some of the finest lines + that ever were written in a manner worthy of his subject. + </p> + <p> + There is a tradition that, in his younger days, the minister of Inverary + proved his Whiggism by giving information to the authorities which almost + led to the capture of the young Pretender. It is perhaps a matter of + congratulation that this item was not added to the heavy account that the + Stuarts have against the Macaulay family. John Macaulay enjoyed a high + reputation as a preacher, and was especially renowned for his fluency. In + 1774 he removed to Cardross in Dumbartonshire, where, on the bank of the + noble estuary of the Clyde, he spent the last fifteen years of a useful + and honoured life. He was twice married. His first wife died at the birth + of his first child. Eight years afterwards, in 1757, he espoused Margaret, + daughter of Colin Campbell of Inveresragan, who survived him by a single + year. By her he had the patriarchal number of twelve children, whom he + brought up on the old Scotch system,—common to the households of + minister, man of business, farmer, and peasant alike,—on fine air, + simple diet, and a solid training in knowledge human and divine. Two + generations after, Mr. Carlyle, during a visit to the late Lord Ashburton + at the Grange, caught sight of Macaulay's face in unwonted repose, as he + was turning over the pages of a book. "I noticed," said he, "the homely + Norse features that you find everywhere in the Western Isles, and I + thought to myself 'Well! Anyone can see that you are an honest good sort + of fellow, made out of oatmeal.'" + </p> + <p> + Several of John Macaulay's children obtained position in the world. Aulay, + the eldest by his second wife, became a clergyman of the Church of + England. His reputation as a scholar and antiquary stood high, and in the + capacity of a private tutor he became known even in royal circles. He + published pamphlets and treatises, the list of which it is not worth while + to record, and meditated several large works that perhaps never got much + beyond a title. Of all his undertakings the one best deserving + commemoration in these pages was a tour that he made into Scotland in + company with Mr. Thomas Babington, the owner of Rothley Temple in + Leicestershire, in the course of which the travellers paid a visit to the + manse at Cardross. Mr. Babington fell in love with one of the daughters of + the house, Miss Jean Macaulay, and married her in 1787. Nine years + afterwards he had an opportunity of presenting his brother-in-law Aulay + Macaulay with the very pleasant living of Rothley. + </p> + <p> + Alexander, another son of John Macaulay, succeeded his father as minister + of Cardross. Colin went into the Indian army, and died a general. He + followed the example of the more ambitious among his brother officers, and + exchanged military for civil duties. In 1799 he acted as secretary to a + political and diplomatic Commission which accompanied the force that + marched under General Harris against Seringapatam. The leading + Commissioner was Colonel Wellesley, and to the end of General Macaulay's + life the great Duke corresponded with him on terms of intimacy, and (so + the family flattered themselves) even of friendship. Soon after the + commencement of the century Colin Macaulay was appointed Resident at the + important native state of Travancore. While on this employment he happened + to light upon a valuable collection of books, and rapidly made himself + master of the principal European languages, which he spoke and wrote with + a facility surprising in one who had acquired them within a few leagues of + Cape Comorin. + </p> + <p> + There was another son of John Macaulay, who in force and elevation of + character stood out among his brothers, and who was destined to make for + himself no ordinary career. The path which Zachary Macaulay chose to tread + did not lead to wealth, or worldly success, or indeed to much worldly + happiness. Born in 1768, he was sent out at the age of sixteen by a Scotch + house of business as bookkeeper to an estate in Jamaica, of which he soon + rose to be sole manager. His position brought him into the closest + possible contact with negro slavery. His mind was not prepossessed against + the system of society which he found in the West Indies. His personal + interests spoke strongly in its favour, while his father, whom he justly + respected, could see nothing to condemn in an institution recognised by + Scripture. Indeed, the religious world still allowed the maintenance of + slavery to continue an open question. John Newton, the real founder of + that school in the Church of England of which in after years Zachary + Macaulay was a devoted member, contrived to reconcile the business of a + slave trader with the duties of a Christian, and to the end of his days + gave scandal to some of his disciples, (who by that time were one and all + sworn abolitionists,) by his supposed reluctance to see that there could + be no fellowship between light and such darkness. + </p> + <p> + But Zachary Macaulay had eyes of his own to look about him, a clear head + for forming a judgment on what he saw, and a conscience which would not + permit him to live otherwise than in obedience to its mandates. The young + Scotchman's innate respect for his fellows, and his appreciation of all + that instruction and religion can do for men, was shocked at the sight of + a population deliberately kept ignorant and heathen. His kind heart was + wounded by cruelties practised at the will and pleasure of a thousand + petty despots. He had read his Bible too literally to acquiesce easily in + a state of matters under which human beings were bred and raised like a + stock of cattle, while outraged morality was revenged on the governing + race by the shameless licentiousness which is the inevitable accompaniment + of slavery. He was well aware that these evils, so far from being + superficial or remediable, were essential to the very existence of a + social fabric constituted like that within which he lived. It was not for + nothing that he had been behind the scenes in that tragedy of crime and + misery. His philanthropy was not learned by the royal road of tracts, and + platform speeches, and monthly magazines. What he knew he had spelt out + for himself with no teacher except the aspect of human suffering, and + degradation, and sin. + </p> + <p> + He was not one of those to whom conviction comes in a day; and, when + convinced, he did nothing sudden. Little more than a boy in age, + singularly modest, and constitutionally averse to any course that appeared + pretentious or theatrical, he began by a sincere attempt to make the best + of his calling. For some years he contented himself with doing what he + could, (so he writes to a friend,) "to alleviate the hardships of a + considerable number of my fellow-creatures, and to render the bitter cup + of servitude as palatable as possible." But by the time he was + four-and-twenty he became tired of trying to find a compromise between + right and wrong, and, refusing really great offers from the people with + whom he was connected, he threw up his position, and returned to his + native country. This step was taken against the wishes of his father, who + was not prepared for the construction which his son put upon the paternal + precept that a man should make his practice square with his professions. + </p> + <p> + But Zachary Macaulay soon had more congenial work to do. The young West + Indian overseer was not alone in his scruples. Already for some time past + a conviction had been abroad that individual citizens could not divest + themselves of their share in the responsibility in which the nation was + involved by the existence of slavery in our colonies. Already there had + been formed the nucleus of the most disinterested, and perhaps the most + successful, popular movement which history records. The question of the + slave trade was well before Parliament and the country. Ten years had + passed since the freedom of all whose feet touched the soil of our island + had been vindicated before the courts at Westminster, and not a few + negroes had become their own masters as a consequence of that memorable + decision. The patrons of the race were somewhat embarrassed by having + these expatriated freedmen on their hands; an opinion prevailed that the + traffic in human lives could never be efficiently checked until Africa had + obtained the rudiments of civilisation; and, after long discussion, a + scheme was matured for the colonisation of Sierra Leone by liberated + slaves. A company was organised, with a charter from the Crown, and a + board which included the names of Granville Sharpe and Wilberforce. A + large capital was speedily subscribed, and the Chair was accepted by Mr. + Henry Thornton, a leading City banker and a member of Parliament, whose + determined opposition to cruelty and oppression in every form was such as + might be expected in one who had inherited from his father the friendship + of the poet Cowper. Mr. Thornton heard Macaulay's story from Thomas + Babington, with whom he lived on terms of close intimacy and political + alliance. The Board, by the advice of its Chairman, passed a resolution + appointing the young man Second Member in the Sierra Leone Council, and + early in the year 1793 he sailed for Africa, where soon after his arrival + he succeeded to the position and duties of Governor. + </p> + <p> + The Directors had done well to secure a tried man. The colony was at once + exposed to the implacable enmity of merchants whose market the agents of + the new company spoiled in their capacity of traders, and slave-dealers + with whom they interfered in their character of philanthropists. The + native tribes in the vicinity, instigated by European hatred and jealousy, + began to inflict upon the defenceless authorities of the settlement a + series of those monkey-like impertinences which, absurdly as they may read + in a narrative, are formidable and ominous when they indicate that savages + feel their power. These barbarians, who had hitherto commanded as much rum + and gunpowder as they cared to have by selling their neighbours at the + nearest barracoon, showed no appreciation for the comforts and advantages + of civilisation. Indeed, those advantages were displayed in anything but + an attractive shape even within the pale of the company's territory. An + aggregation of negroes from Jamaica, London, and Nova Scotia, who + possessed no language except an acquired jargon, and shared no + associations beyond the recollections of a common servitude, were not very + promising apostles for the spread of Western culture and the Christian + faith. Things went smoothly enough as long as the business of the colony + was mainly confined to eating the provisions that had been brought in the + ships; but as soon as the work became real, and the commons short, the + whole community smouldered down into chronic mutiny. + </p> + <p> + Zachary Macaulay was the very man for such a crisis. To a rare fund of + patience, and self-command, and perseverance, he united a calm courage + that was equal to any trial. These qualities were, no doubt, inherent in + his disposition; but no one except those who have turned over his + voluminous private journals can understand what constant effort, and what + incessant watchfulness, went to maintain throughout a long life a course + of conduct, and a temper of mind, which gave every appearance of being the + spontaneous fruit of nature. He was not one who dealt in personal + experiences; and few among even the friends who loved him like father or + brother, and who would have trusted him with all their fortune on his bare + word, knew how entirely his outward behaviour was the express image of his + religious belief. The secret of his character and of his actions lay in + perfect humility and an absolute faith. Events did not discompose him, + because they were sent by One who best knew his own purposes. He was not + fretted by the folly of others, or irritated by their hostility, because + he regarded the humblest or the worst of mankind as objects, equally with + himself, of the divine love and care. On all other points he examined + himself so closely that the meditations of a single evening would fill + many pages of diary; but so completely in his case had the fear of God + cast out all other fear that amidst the gravest perils, and the most + bewildering responsibilities, it never occurred to him to question whether + he was brave or not. He worked strenuously and unceasingly, never amusing + himself from year's end to year's end, and shrinking from any public + praise or recognition as from an unlawful gratification, because he was + firmly persuaded that, when all had been accomplished and endured, he was + yet but an unprofitable servant, who had done that which was his duty to + do. Some, perhaps, will consider such motives as oldfashioned, and such + convictions as out of date; but self-abnegation, self-control, and + self-knowledge that does not give to self the benefit of any doubt, are + virtues which are not oldfashioned, and for which, as time goes on, the + world is likely to have as much need as ever. [Sir James Stephen writes + thus of his friend Macaulay: "That his understanding was proof against + sophistry, and his nerves against fear, were, indeed, conclusions to which + a stranger arrived at the first interview with him. But what might be + suggesting that expression of countenance, at once so earnest and so + monotonous—by what manner of feeling those gestures, so uniformly + firm and deliberate were prompted—whence the constant traces of + fatigue on those overhanging brows and on that athletic though ungraceful + figure—what might be the charm which excited amongst his chosen + circle a faith approaching to superstition, and a love rising to + enthusiasm, towards a man whose demeanour was so inanimate, if not + austere:—it was a riddle of which neither Gall nor Lavater could + have found the key." + </p> + <p> + That Sir James himself could read the riddle is proved by the concluding + words of a passage marked by a force and tenderness of feeling unusual + even in him: "His earthward affections,—active and all—enduring + as they were, could yet thrive without the support of human sympathy, + because they were sustained by so abiding a sense of the divine presence, + and so absolute a submission to the divine will, as raised him habitually + to that higher region where the reproach of man could not reach, and the + praise of man might not presume to follow him."] + </p> + <p> + Mr. Macaulay was admirably adapted for the arduous and uninviting task of + planting a negro colony. His very deficiencies stood him in good stead; + for, in presence of the elements with which he had to deal, it was well + for him that nature had denied him any sense of the ridiculous. + Unconscious of what was absurd around him, and incapable of being + flurried, frightened, or fatigued, he stood as a centre of order and + authority amidst the seething chaos of inexperience and insubordination. + The staff was miserably insufficient, and every officer of the Company had + to do duty for three in a climate such that a man is fortunate if he can + find health for the work of one during a continuous twelvemonth. The + Governor had to be in the counting-house, the law-court, the school, and + even the chapel. He was his own secretary, his own paymaster, his own + envoy. He posted ledgers, he decided causes, he conducted correspondence + with the Directors at home, and visited neighbouring potentates on + diplomatic missions which made up in danger what they lacked in dignity. + In the absence of properly qualified clergymen, with whom he would have + been the last to put himself in competition, he preached sermons and + performed marriages;—a function which must have given honest + satisfaction to one who had been so close a witness of the enforced and + systematised immorality of a slave-nursery. Before long, something fairly + resembling order was established, and the settlement began to enjoy a + reasonable measure of prosperity. The town was built, the fields were + planted, and the schools filled. The Governor made a point of allotting + the lightest work to the negroes who could read and write; and such was + the stimulating effect of this system upon education that he confidently + looked forward "to the time when there would be few in the colony unable + to read the Bible." A printing-press was in constant operation, and in the + use of a copying-machine the little community was three-quarters of a + century ahead of the London public offices. + </p> + <p> + But a severe ordeal was in store for the nascent civilisation of Sierra + Leone. On a Sunday morning in September 1794, eight French sail appeared + off the coast. The town was about as defensible as Brighton; and it is not + difficult to imagine the feelings which the sansculottes inspired among + Evangelical colonists whose last advices from Europe dated from the very + height of the Reign of Terror. There was a party in favour of escaping + into the forest with as much property as could be removed at so short a + notice; but the Governor insisted that there would be no chance of saving + the Company's buildings unless the Company's servants could make up their + minds to remain at their posts, and face it out. The squadron moored + within musket-shot of the quay, and swept the streets for two hours with + grape and bullets; a most gratuitous piece of cruelty that killed a + negress and a child, and gave one unlucky English gentleman a fright which + ultimately brought him to his grave. The invaders then proceeded to land, + and Mr. Macaulay had an opportunity of learning something about the + condition of the French marine during the heroic period of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + A personal enemy of his own, the captain of a Yankee slaver, brought a + party of sailors straight to the Governor's house. What followed had best + be told in Mr. Macaulay's own words. "Newell, who was attended by + half-a-dozen sans-culottes, almost foaming with rage, presented a pistol + to me, and with many oaths demanded instant satisfaction for the slaves + who had run away from him to my protection. I made very little reply, but + told him he must now <i>take</i> such satisfaction as he judged equivalent + to his claims, as I was no longer master of my actions. He became so very + outrageous that, after bearing with him a little while, I thought it most + prudent to repair myself to the French officer, and request his + safe-conduct on board the Commodore's ship. As I passed along the wharf + the scene was curious enough. The Frenchmen, who had come ashore in filth + and rags, were now many of them dressed out with women's shifts, gowns, + and petticoats. Others had quantities of cloth wrapped about their bodies, + or perhaps six or seven suits of clothes upon them at a time. The scene + which presented itself on my getting on board the flag-ship was still more + singular. The quarter-deck was crowded by a set of ragamuffins whose + appearance beggared every previous description, and among whom I sought in + vain for some one who looked like a gentleman. The stench and filth + exceeded anything I had ever witnessed in any ship, and the noise and + confusion gave me some idea of their famous Mountain. I was ushered into + the Commodore's cabin, who at least received me civilly. His name was + Citizen Allemand. He did not appear to have the right of excluding any of + his fellow-citizens even from this place. Whatever might be their rank, + they crowded into it, and conversed familiarly with him." Such was the + discipline of the fleet that had been beaten by Lord Hove on the first of + June; and such the raw material of the armies which, under firm hands, and + on an element more suited to the military genius of their nation, were + destined to triumph at Rivoli and Hohenlinden. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Macaulay, who spoke French with ease and precision, in his anxiety to + save the town used every argument which might prevail on the Commodore, + whose Christian name, (if one may use such a phrase with reference to a + patriot of the year two of the Republic,) happened oddly enough to be the + same as his own. He appealed first to the traditional generosity of + Frenchmen towards a fallen enemy, but soon discerned that the quality in + question had gone out with the old order of things, if indeed it ever + existed. He then represented that a people, who professed to be waging war + with the express object of striking off the fetters of mankind, would be + guilty of flagrant inconsistency if they destroyed an asylum for liberated + slaves; but the Commodore gave him to understand that sentiments, which + sounded very well in the Hall of the Jacobins, were out of place on the + West Coast of Africa. The Governor returned on shore to find the town + already completely gutted. It was evident at every turn that, although the + Republican battalions might carry liberty and fraternity through Europe on + the points of their bayonets, the Republican sailors had found a very + different use for the edge of their cutlasses. "The sight of my own and of + the Accountant's offices almost sickened me. Every desk, and every drawer, + and every shelf, together with the printing and copying presses, had been + completely demolished in the search for money. The floors were strewed + with types, and papers, and leaves of books; and I had the mortification + to see a great part of my own labour, and of the labour of others, for + several years totally destroyed. At the other end of the house I found + telescopes, hygrometers, barometers, thermometers, and electrical + machines, lying about in fragments. The view of the town library filled me + with lively concern. The volumes were tossed about and defaced with the + utmost wantonness; and, if they happened to bear any resemblance to + Bibles, they were torn in pieces and trampled on. The collection of + natural curiosities next caught my eye. Plants, seeds, dried birds, + insects, and drawings were scattered about in great confusion, and some of + the sailors were in the act of killing a beautiful musk-cat, which they + afterwards ate. Every house was full of Frenchmen, who were hacking, and + destroying, and tearing up everything which they could not convert to + their own use. The destruction of live stock on this and the following day + was immense. In my yard alone they killed fourteen dozen of fowls, and + there were not less than twelve hundred hogs shot in the town." It was + unsafe to walk in the streets of Freetown during the forty-eight hours + that followed its capture, because the French crews, with too much of the + Company's port wine in their heads to aim straight, were firing at the + pigs of the poor freedmen over whom they had achieved such a questionable + victory. + </p> + <p> + To readers of Erckmann-Chatrian it is unpleasant to be taken thus behind + the curtain on which those skilful artists have painted the wars of the + early Revolution. It is one thing to be told how the crusaders of '93 and + '94 were received with blessings and banquets by the populations to whom + they brought freedom and enlightenment, and quite another to read the + journal in which a quiet accurate-minded Scotchman tells us how a pack of + tipsy ruffians sat abusing Pitt and George to him, over a fricassee of his + own fowls, and among the wreck of his lamps and mirrors which they had + smashed as a protest against aristocratic luxury. + </p> + <p> + "There is not a boy among them who has not learnt to accompany the name of + Pitt with an execration. When I went to bed, there was no sleep to be had + on account of the sentinels thinking fit to amuse me the whole night + through with the revenge they meant to take on him when they got him to + Paris. Next morning I went on board the 'Experiment.' The Commodore and + all his officers messed together, and I was admitted among them. They are + truly the poorest-looking people I ever saw. Even the Commodore has only + one suit which can at all distinguish him, not to say from the officers, + but from the men. The filth and confusion of their meals was terrible. A + chorus of boys usher in the dinner with the Marseilles hymn, and it + finishes in the same way. The enthusiasm of all ranks among them is + astonishing, but not more so than their blindness. They talk with ecstasy + of their revolutionary government, of their bloody executions, of their + revolutionary tribunal, of the rapid movement of their revolutionary army + with the Corps of justice and the flying guillotine before it; forgetting + that not one of them is not liable to its stroke on the accusation of the + greatest vagabond on board. They asked me with triumph if yesterday had + not been Sunday. 'Oh,' said they, 'the National Convention have decreed + that there is no Sunday, and that the Bible is all a lie.'" After such an + experience it is not difficult to account for the keen and almost personal + interest with which, to the very day of Waterloo, Mr. Macaulay watched + through its varying phases the rise and the downfall of the French power. + He followed the progress of the British arms with a minute and intelligent + attention which from a very early date communicated itself to his son; and + the hearty patriotism of Lord Macaulay is perhaps in no small degree the + consequence of what his father suffered from the profane and rapacious + sansculottes of the revolutionary squadron. + </p> + <p> + Towards the middle of October the Republicans took their departure. Even + at this distance of time it is provoking to learn that they got back to + Brest without meeting an enemy that had teeth to bite. The African + climate, however, reduced the squadron to such a plight, that it was well + for our frigates that they had not the chance of getting its + fever-stricken crews under their hatches. The French never revisited + Freetown. Indeed, they had left the place in such a condition that it was + not worth their while to return. The houses had been carefully burned to + the ground, and the live stock killed. Except the clothes on their backs, + and a little brandy and flour, the Europeans had lost everything they had + in the world. Till assistance came from the mother country they lived upon + such provisions as could be recovered from the reluctant hands of the + negro settlers, who providentially had not been able to resist the + temptation of helping the Republicans to plunder the Company's stores. + Judicious liberality at home, and a year's hard work on the spot, did much + to repair the damage; and, when his colony was again upon its feet, Mr. + Macaulay sailed to England with the object of recruiting his health, which + had broken down under an attack of low fever. + </p> + <p> + On his arrival he was admitted at once and for ever within the innermost + circle of friends and fellow-labourers who were united round Wilberforce + and Henry Thornton by indissoluble bonds of mutual personal regard and + common public ends. As an indispensable part of his initiation into that + very pleasant confederacy, he was sent down to be introduced to Hannah + More, who was living at Cowslip Green, near Bristol, in the enjoyment of + general respect, mixed with a good deal of what even those who admire her + as she deserved must in conscience call flattery. He there met Selina + Mills, a former pupil of the school which the Miss Mores kept in the + neighbouring city, and a lifelong friend of all the sisters. The young + lady is said to have been extremely pretty and attractive, as may well be + believed by those who saw her in later years. She was the daughter of a + member of the Society of Friends, who at one time was a bookseller in + Bristol, and who built there a small street called "Mills Place," in which + he himself resided. His grandchildren remembered him as an old man of + imposing appearance, with long white hair, talking incessantly of Jacob + Boehmen. Mr. Mills had sons, one of whom edited a Bristol journal + exceedingly well, and is said to have made some figure in light + literature. This uncle of Lord Macaulay was a very lively, clever man, + full of good stories, of which only one has survived. Young Mills, while + resident in London, had looked in at Rowland Hill's chapel, and had there + lost a new hat. When he reported the misfortune to his father, the old + Quaker replied: "John, if thee'd gone to the right place of worship, + thee'd have kept thy hat upon thy head." Lord Macaulay was accustomed to + say that he got his "joviality" from his mother's family. If his power of + humour was indeed of Quaker origin, he was rather ungrateful in the use to + which he sometimes put it. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Macaulay fell in love with Miss Mills, and obtained her affection in + return. He had to encounter the opposition of her relations, who were set + upon her making another and a better match, and of Mrs. Patty More, (so + well known to all who have studied the somewhat diffuse annals of the More + family,) who, in the true spirit of romantic friendship, wished her to + promise never to marry at all, but to domesticate herself as a youngest + sister in the household at Cowslip Green. Miss Hannah, however, took a + more unselfish view of the situation, and advocated Mr. Macaulay's cause + with firmness and good feeling. Indeed, he must have been, according to + her particular notions, the most irreproachable of lovers, until her own + Coelebs was given to the world. By her help he carried his point in so far + that the engagement was made and recognised; but the friends of the young + lady would not allow her to accompany him to Africa; and, during his + absence from England, which began in the early months of 1796, by an + arrangement that under the circumstances was very judicious, she spent + much of her time in Leicestershire with his sister Mrs. Babington. + </p> + <p> + His first business after arriving at Sierra Leone was to sit in judgment + on the ringleaders of a formidable outbreak which had taken place in the + colony; and he had an opportunity of proving by example that negro + disaffection, from the nature of the race, is peculiarly susceptible to + treatment by mild remedies, if only the man in the post of responsibility + has got a heart and can contrive to keep his head. He had much more + trouble with a batch of missionaries, whom he took with him in the ship, + and who were no sooner on board than they began to fall out, ostensibly on + controversial topics, but more probably from the same motives that so + often set the laity quarrelling during the incessant and involuntary + companionship of a sea-voyage. Mr. Macaulay, finding that the warmth of + these debates furnished sport to the captain and other irreligious + characters, was forced seriously to exert his authority in order to + separate and silence the disputants. His report of these occurrences went + in due time to the Chairman of the Company, who excused himself for an + arrangement which had turned out so ill by telling a story of a servant + who, having to carry a number of gamecocks from one place to another, tied + them up in the same bag, and found on arriving at his journey's end that + they had spent their time in tearing each other to pieces. When his master + called him to account for his stupidity he replied: "Sir, as they were all + your cocks, I thought they would be all on one side." + </p> + <p> + Things did not go much more smoothly on shore. Mr. Macaulay's official + correspondence gives a curious picture of his difficulties in the + character of Minister of Public Worship in a black community. "The + Baptists under David George are decent and orderly, but there is + observable in them a great neglect of family worship, and sometimes an + unfairness in their dealings. To Lady Huntingdon's Methodists, as a body, + may with great justice be addressed the first verse of the third chapter + of the Revelation. The lives of many of them are very disorderly, and rank + antinomianism prevails among them." But his sense of religion and decency + was most sorely tried by Moses Wilkinson, a so-called Wesleyan Methodist, + whose congregation, not a very respectable one to begin with, had recently + been swollen by a Revival which had been accompanied by circumstances the + reverse of edifying. [Lord Macaulay had in his youth heard too much about + negro preachers, and negro administrators, to permit him to entertain any + very enthusiastic anticipations with regard to the future of the African + race. He writes in his journal for July 8 1858: "Motley called. I like him + much. We agree wonderfully well about slavery, and it is not often that I + meet any person with whom I agree on that subject. For I hate slavery from + the bottom of my soul; and yet I am made sick by the cant and the silly + mock reasons of the Abolitionists. The nigger driver and the negrophile + are two odious things to me. I must make Lady Macbeth's reservation: 'Had + he not resembled—,'"] The Governor must have looked back with regret + to that period in the history of the colony when he was underhanded in the + clerical department. + </p> + <p> + But his interest in the negro could bear ruder shocks than an occasional + outburst of eccentric fanaticism. He liked his work, because he liked + those for whom he was working. "Poor people," he writes, "one cannot help + loving them. With all their trying humours, they have a warmth of + affection which is really irresistible." For their sake he endured all the + risk and worry inseparable from a long engagement kept by the lady among + disapproving friends, and by the gentleman at Sierra Leone. He stayed till + the settlement had begun to thrive, and the Company had almost begun to + pay; and until the Home Government had given marked tokens of favour and + protection, which some years later developed into a negotiation under + which the colony was transferred to the Crown. It was not till 1799 that + he finally gave up his appointment, and left a region which, alone among + men, he quitted with unfeigned, and, except in one particular, with + unmixed regret. But for the absence of an Eve, he regarded the West Coast + of Africa as a veritable Paradise, or, to use his own expression, as a + more agreeable Montpelier. With a temper which in the intercourse of + society was proof against being ruffled by any possible treatment of any + conceivable subject, to the end of his life he showed faint signs of + irritation if anyone ventured in his presence to hint that Sierra Leone + was unhealthy. + </p> + <p> + On his return to England he was appointed Secretary to the Company, and + was married at Bristol on the 26th of August, 1799. A most close union it + was, and, (though in latter years he became fearfully absorbed in the + leading object of his existence, and ceased in a measure to be the + companion that he had been,) his love for his wife, and deep trust and + confidence in her, never failed. They took a small house in Lambeth for + the first twelve months. When Mrs. Macaulay was near her confinement, Mrs. + Babington, who belonged to the school of matrons who hold that the + advantage of country air outweighs that of London doctors, invited her + sister-in-law to Rothley Temple; and there, in a room panelled from + ceiling to floor, like every corner of the ancient mansion, with oak + almost black from age,—looking eastward across the park and + southward through an ivy-shaded window into a little garden,—Lord + Macaulay was born. It was on the 25th of October 1800, the day of St. + Crispin, the anniversary of Agincourt, (as he liked to say,) that he + opened his eyes on a world which he was destined so thoroughly to learn + and so intensely to enjoy. His father was as pleased as a father could be; + but fate seemed determined that Zachary Macaulay should not be indulged in + any great share of personal happiness. The next morning the noise of a + spinning-jenny, at work in a cottage, startled his horse as he was riding + past. He was thrown, and both arms were broken; and he spent in a + sick-room the remainder of the only holiday worth the name which, (as far + as can be traced in the family records,) he ever took during his married + life. Owing to this accident the young couple were detained at Rothley + into the winter; and the child was baptised in the private chapel which + formed part of the house, on the 26th November 1800, by the names of + Thomas Babington;—the Rev. Aulay Macaulay, and Mr. and Mrs. + Babington, acting as sponsors. + </p> + <p> + The two years which followed were passed in a house in Birchin Lane, where + the Sierra Leone Company had its office. The only place where the child + could be taken for exercise, and what might be called air, was Drapers' + Gardens, which (already under sentence to be covered with bricks and + mortar at an early date) lies behind Throgmorton Street, and within a + hundred yards of the Stock Exchange. To this dismal yard, containing as + much gravel as grass, and frowned upon by a board of Rules and Regulations + almost as large as itself, his mother used to convoy the nurse and the + little boy through the crowds that towards noon swarmed along Cornhill and + Threadneedle Street; and thither she would return, after a due interval, + to escort them back to Birchin Lane. So strong was the power of + association upon Macaulay's mind that in after years Drapers' Garden was + among his favourite haunts. Indeed, his habit of roaming for hours through + and through the heart of the City, (a habit that never left him as long as + he could roam at all,) was due in part to the recollection which caused + him to regard that region as native ground. + </p> + <p> + Baby as he was when he quitted it, he retained some impression of his + earliest home. He remembered standing up at the nursery window by his + father's side, looking at a cloud of black smoke pouring out of a tall + chimney. He asked if that was hell; an inquiry that was received with a + grave displeasure which at the time he could not understand. The kindly + father must have been pained, almost against his own will, at finding what + feature of his creed it was that had embodied itself in so very material a + shape before his little son's imagination. When in after days Mrs. + Macaulay was questioned as to how soon she began to detect in the child a + promise of the future, she used to say that his sensibilities and + affections were remarkably developed at an age which to her hearers + appeared next to incredible. He would cry for joy on seeing her after a + few hours' absence, and, (till her husband put a stop to it,) her power of + exciting his feelings was often made an exhibition to her friends. She did + not regard this precocity as a proof of cleverness; but, like a foolish + young mother, only thought that so tender a nature was marked for early + death. + </p> + <p> + The next move which the family made was into as healthy an atmosphere, in + every sense, as the most careful parent could wish to select. Mr. Macaulay + took a house in the High Street of Clapham, in the part now called the + Pavement, on the same side as the Plough inn, but some doors nearer to the + Common. It was a roomy comfortable dwelling, with a very small garden + behind, and in front a very small one indeed, which has entirely + disappeared beneath a large shop thrown out towards the road-way by the + present occupier, who bears the name of Heywood. Here the boy passed a + quiet and most happy childhood. From the time that he was three years old + he read incessantly, for the most part lying on the rug before the fire, + with his book on the ground, and a piece of bread and batter in his hand. + A very clever woman, who then lived in the house as parlour-maid, told how + he used to sit in his nankeen frock, perched on the table by her as she + was cleaning the plate, and expounding to her out of a volume as big as + himself. He did not care for toys, but was very fond of taking his walk, + when he would hold forth to his companion, whether nurse or mother, + telling interminable stories out of his own head, or repeating what he had + been reading in language far above his years. His memory retained without + shout effort the phraseology of the book which he had been last engaged + on, and he talked, as the maid said, "quite printed words," which produced + an effect that appeared formal, and often, no doubt, exceedingly droll. + Mrs. Hannah More was fond of relating how she called at Mr. Macaulay's, + and was met by a fair, pretty, slight child, with abundance of light hair, + about four years of age, who came to the front door to receive her, and + tell her that his parents were out, but that if she would be good enough + to come in he would bring her a glass of old spirits; a proposition which + greatly startled the good lady, who had never aspired beyond cowslip wine. + When questioned as to what he knew about old spirits, he could only say + that Robinson Crusoe often had some. About this period his father took him + on a visit to Lady Waldegrave at Strawberry Hill, and was much pleased, to + exhibit to his old friend the fair bright boy, dressed in a green coat + with red cellar and cuffs, a frill at the throat, and white trousers. + After some time had been spent among the wonders of the Orford Collection, + of which he ever after carried a catalogue in his head, a servant who was + waiting upon the company in the great gallery spilt some hot coffee over + his legs. The hostess was all kindness and compassion, and when, after a + while, she asked how he was feeling, the little fellow looked up in her + face and replied: "Thank you, madam, the agony is abated." + </p> + <p> + But it must not be supposed that his quaint manners proceeded from + affectation or conceit; for all testimony declares that a more simple and + natural child never lived, or a more lively and merry one. He had at his + command the resources of the Common; to this day the most unchanged spot + within ten miles of St. Paul's, and which to all appearance will ere long + hold that pleasant preeminence within ten leagues. That delightful + wilderness of gorse bushes, and poplar groves, and gravel-pits, and ponds + great and small, was to little Tom Macaulay a region of inexhaustible + romance and mystery. He explored its recesses; he composed, and almost + believed, its legends; he invented for its different features a + nomenclature which has been faithfully preserved by two generations of + children. A slight ridge, intersected by deep ditches, towards the west of + the Common, the very existence of which no one above eight years old would + notice, was dignified with the title of the Alps; while the elevated + island, covered with shrubs, that gives a name to the Mount pond, was + regarded with infinite awe as being the nearest approach within the + circuit of his observation to a conception of the majesty of Sinai. + Indeed, at this period his infant fancy was much exercised with the + threats and terrors of the Law. He had a little plot of ground at the back + of the house, marked out as his own by a Tory of oyster-shells, which a + maid one day threw away as rubbish. He went straight to the drawing-room, + where his mother was entertaining some visitors, walked into the circle, + and said very solemnly: "Cursed be Sally; for it is written, Cursed is he + that removeth his neighbour's land-mark." + </p> + <p> + While still the merest child he was sent as a day-scholar to Mr. Greaves, + a shrewd Yorkshireman with a turn for science, who had been originally + brought to the neighbourhood in order to educate a number of African + youths sent over to imbibe Western civilisation at the fountain-head. The + poor fellows had found as much difficulty in keeping alive at Clapham as + Englishmen experience at Sierra Leone; and, in the end, their tutor set up + a school for boys of his own colour, and at one time had charge of almost + the entire rising generation of the Common. Mrs. Macaulay explained to Tom + that he must learn to study without the solace of bread and butter, to + which he replied: "Yes, mama, industry shall be my bread and attention my + butter." But, as a matter of fact, no one ever crept more unwillingly to + school. Each several afternoon he made piteous entreaties to be excused + returning after dinner, and was met by the unvarying formula: "No, Tom, if + it rains cats and dogs, you shall go." + </p> + <p> + His reluctance to leave home had more than one side to it. Not only did + his heart stay behind, but the regular lessons of the class took him away + from occupations which in his eyes were infinitely more delightful and + important; for these were probably the years of his greatest literary + activity. As an author he never again had mere facility, or anything like + so wide a range. In September 1808, his mother writes: "My dear Tom + continues to show marks of uncommon genius. He gets on wonderfully in all + branches of his education, and the extent of his reading, and of the + knowledge he has derived from it, are truly astonishing in a boy not yet + eight years old. He is at the same time as playful as a kitten. To give + you some idea of the activity of his mind I will mention a few + circumstances that may interest you and Colin. You will believe that to + him we never appear to regard anything he does as anything more than a + schoolboy's amusement. He took it into his head to write a compendium of + Universal History about a year ago, and he really contrived to give a + tolerably connected view of the leading events from the Creation to the + present time, filling about a quire of paper. He told me one day that he + had been writing a paper, which Henry Daly was to translate into Malabar, + to persuade the people of Travancore to embrace the Christian religion. On + reading it I found it to contain a very clear idea of the leading facts + and doctrines of that religion, with some strong arguments for its + adoption. He was so fired with reading Scott's Lay and Marmion, the former + of which he got entirely, and the latter almost entirely, by heart, merely + from his delight in reading them, that he determined on writing himself a + poem in six cantos which he called the 'Battle of Cheviot.' After he had + finished about three of the cantos of about 120 lines each, which he did + in a couple of days, he became tired of it. I make no doubt he would have + finished his design, but, as he was proceeding with it, the thought struck + him of writing an heroic poem to be called 'Olaus the Great, or the + Conquest of Mona,' in which, after the manner of Virgil, he might + introduce in prophetic song the future fortunes of the family;—among + others, those of the hero who aided in the fall of the tyrant of Mysore, + after having long suffered from his tyranny; [General Macaulay had been + one of Tippoo Sahib's prisoners] and of another of his race who had + exerted himself for the deliverance of the wretched Africans. He has just + begun it. He has composed I know not how many hymns. I send you one, as a + specimen, in his own handwriting, which he wrote about six months ago on + one Monday morning while we were at breakfast." + </p> + <p> + The affection of the last generation of his relatives has preserved all + these pieces, but the piety of this generation will refrain from + submitting them to public criticism. A marginal note, in which Macaulay + has expressed his cordial approval of Uncle Toby's [Tristram Shandy, + chapter clxiii.] remark about the great Lipsius, indicates his own wishes + in the matter too clearly to leave any choice for those who come after + him. But there still may be read in a boyish scrawl the epitome of + Universal History, from "a new king who knew not Joseph,"—down + through Rameses, and Dido, and Tydeus, and Tarquin, and Crassus, and + Gallienus, and Edward the Martyr,—to Louis, who "set off on a + crusade against the Albigenses," and Oliver Cromwell, who "was an unjust + and wicked man." The hymns remain, which Mrs. Hannah More, surely a + consummate judge of the article, pronounced to be "quite extraordinary for + such a baby." To a somewhat later period probably belongs a vast pile of + blank verse, entitled "Fingal, a poem in xii books;" two of which are in a + complete and connected shape, while the rest of the story is lost amidst a + labyrinth of many hundred scattered lines, so transcribed as to suggest a + conjecture that the boy's demand for foolscap had outrun the paternal + generosity. + </p> + <p> + Of all his performances, that which attracted most attention at the time + was undertaken for the purpose of immortalising Olaus Magnus, King of + Norway, from whom the clan to which the bard belonged was supposed to + derive its name. Two cantos are extant, of which there are several + exemplars, in every stage of calligraphy from the largest round hand + downwards, a circumstance which is apparently due to the desire on the + part of each of the little Macaulays to possess a copy of the great family + epic. The opening stanzas, each of which contains more lines than their + author counted years, go swinging along with plenty of animation and no + dearth of historical and geographical allusion. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Day set on Cumbria's hills supreme, + And, Menai, on thy silver stream. + The star of day had reached the West. + Now in the main it sank to rest. + Shone great Eleindyn's castle tall: + Shone every battery, every hall: + Shone all fair Mona's verdant plain; + But chiefly shone the foaming main. +</pre> + <p> + And again + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Long," said the Prince, "shall Olave's name + Live in the high records of fame. + Fair Mona now shall trembling stand + That ne'er before feared mortal hand. + Mona, that isle where Ceres' flower + In plenteous autumn's golden hour + Hides all the fields from man's survey + As locusts hid old Egypt's day." +</pre> + <p> + The passage containing a prophetic mention of his father and uncle after + the manner of the sixth book of the Aeneid, for the sake of which, + according to Mrs. Macaulay, the poem was originally designed, can nowhere + be discovered. It is possible that in the interval between the conception + and the execution the boy happened to light upon a copy of the Rolliad. If + such was the case, he already had too fine a sense of humour to have + persevered in his original plan after reading that masterpiece of + drollery. It is worthy of note that the voluminous writings of his + childhood, dashed off at headlong speed in the odds and ends of leisure + from school-study and nursery routine, are not only perfectly correct in + spelling and grammar, but display the same lucidity of meaning, and + scrupulous accuracy in punctuation and the other minor details of the + literary art, which characterise his mature works. + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be more judicious than the treatment that Mr. and Mrs. + Macaulay adopted towards their boy. They never handed his productions + about, or encouraged him to parade his powers of conversation or memory. + They abstained from any word or act which might foster in him a perception + of his own genius with as much care as a wise millionaire expends on + keeping his son ignorant of the fact that he is destined to be richer than + his comrades. "It was scarcely ever," writes one who knew him well from + the very first, "that the consciousness was expressed by either of his + parents of the superiority of their son over other children. Indeed, with + his father I never remember any such expression. What I most observed + myself was his extraordinary command of language. When he came to describe + to his mother any childish play, I took care to be present, when I could, + that I might listen to the way in which he expressed himself, often + scarcely exceeded in his later years. Except this trifle, I remember him + only as a good-tempered boy, always occupied, playing with his sisters + without assumption of any kind." One effect of this early discipline + showed itself in his freedom from vanity and susceptibility,—those + qualities which, coupled together in our modern psychological dialect + under the head of "self-consciousness," are supposed to be the besetting + defects of the literary character. Another result was his habitual + over-estimate of the average knowledge possessed by mankind. Judging + others by himself, he credited the world at large with an amount of + information which certainly few have the ability to acquire, or the + capacity to retain. If his parents had not been so diligent in concealing + from him the difference between his own intellectual stores and those of + his neighbours, it is probable that less would have been heard of Lord + Macaulay's Schoolboy. + </p> + <p> + The system pursued at home was continued at Barley Wood, the place where + the Misses More resided from 1802 onwards. Mrs. Macaulay gladly sent her + boy to a house where he was encouraged without being spoiled, and where he + never failed to be a welcome guest. The kind old ladies made a real + companion of him, and greatly relished his conversation; while at the same + time, with their ideas on education, they would never have allowed him, + even if he had been so inclined, to forget that he was a child. Mrs. + Hannah More, who had the rare gift of knowing how to live with both young + and old, was the most affectionate and the wisest of friends, and readily + undertook the superintendence of his studies, his pleasures, and his + health. She would keep him with her for weeks, listening to him as he read + prose by the ell, declaimed poetry by the hour, and discussed and compared + his favourite heroes, ancient, modern, and fictitious, under all points of + view and in every possible combination; coaxing him into the garden under + pretence of a lecture on botany; sending him from his books to run round + the grounds, or play at cooking in the kitchen; giving him Bible lessons + which invariably ended in a theological argument, and following him with + her advice and sympathy through his multifarious literary enterprises. + ["The next time," (my uncle once said to us,) "that I saw Hannah More was + in 1807. The old ladies begged my parents to leave me with them for a + week, and this visit was a great event in my life. In parlour and kitchen + they could not make enough of me. They taught me to cook; and I was to + preach, and they got in people from the fields and I stood on a chair, and + preached sermons. I might have been indicted for holding a conventicle."] + She writes to his father in 1809: "I heartily hope that the sea air has + been the means of setting you up, and Mrs. Macaulay also, and that the + dear little poet has caught his share of bracing.... Tell Tom I desire to + know how 'Olaus' goes on. The sea, I suppose, furnished him with some new + images." + </p> + <p> + The broader and more genial aspect under which life showed itself to the + boy at Barley Wood has left its trace in a series of childish squibs and + parodies, which may still be read with an interest that his Cambrian and + Scandinavian rhapsodies fail to inspire. The most ambitious of these + lighter efforts is a pasquinade occasioned by some local scandal, entitled + "Childe Hugh and the labourer, a pathetic ballad." The "Childe" of the + story was a neighbouring baronet, and the "Abbot" a neighbouring rector, + and the whole performance, intended, as it was, to mimic the spirit of + Percy's Reliques, irresistibly suggests a reminiscence of John Gilpin. It + is pleasant to know that to Mrs. Hannah More was due the commencement of + what eventually became the most readable of libraries, as is shown in a + series of letters extending over the entire period of Macaulay's + education. When he was six years old she writes; "Though you are a little + boy now, you will one day, if it please God, be a man; but long before you + are a man I hope you will be a scholar. I therefore wish you to purchase + such books as will be useful and agreeable to you <i>then</i>, and that + you employ this very small sum in laying a little tiny corner-stone for + your future library." A year or two afterwards she thanks him for his "two + letters, so neat and free from blots. By this obvious improvement you have + entitled yourself to another book. You must go to Hatchard's and choose. I + think we have nearly exhausted the Epics. What say you to a little good + prose? Johnson's Hebrides, or Walton's Lives, unless you would like a neat + edition of Cowper's poems or Paradise Lost for your own eating? In any + case choose something which you do not possess. I want you to become a + complete Frenchman, that I may give you Racine, the only dramatic poet I + know in any modern language that is perfectly pure and good. I think you + have hit off the Ode very well, and I am much obliged to you for the + Dedication." The poor little author was already an adept in the + traditional modes of requiting a patron. + </p> + <p> + He had another Maecenas in the person of General Macaulay, who came back + from India in 1810. The boy greeted him with a copy of verses, beginning + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Now safe returned from Asia's parching strand, + Welcome, thrice welcome to thy native land." +</pre> + <p> + To tell the unvarnished truth, the General's return was not altogether of + a triumphant character. After very narrowly escaping with his life from an + outbreak at Travancore, incited by a native minister who owed him a + grudge, he had given proof of courage and spirit during some military + operations which ended in his being brought back to the Residency with + flying colours. But, when the fighting was over, he countenanced, and + perhaps prompted, measures of retaliation which were ill taken by his + superiors at Calcutta. In his congratulatory effusion the nephew presumes + to remind the uncle that on European soil there still might be found + employment for so redoubtable a sword. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For many a battle shall be lost and won + Ere yet thy glorious labours shall be done." +</pre> + <p> + The General did not take the hint, and spent the remainder of his life + peacefully enough between London, Bath, and the Continental capitals. He + was accustomed to say that his travelling carriage was his only freehold; + and, wherever he fixed his temporary residence, he had the talent of + making himself popular. At Geneva he was a universal favourite; he always + was welcome at Coppet; and he gave the strongest conceivable proof of a + cosmopolitan disposition by finding himself equally at home at Rome and at + Clapham. When in England he lived much with his relations, to whom he was + sincerely attached. He was generous in a high degree, and the young people + owed to him books which they otherwise could never have obtained, and + treats and excursions which formed the only recreations that broke the + uniform current of their lives. They regarded their uncle Colin as the man + of the world of the Macaulay family. + </p> + <p> + Zachary Macaulay's circumstances during these years were good, and + constantly improving. For some time he held the post of Secretary to the + Sierra Leone Company, with a salary of L500 per annum. He subsequently + entered into partnership with a nephew, and the firm did a large business + as African merchants under the names of Macaulay and Babington. The + position of the father was favourable to the highest interests of his + children. A boy has the best chance of being well brought up in a + household where there is solid comfort, combined with thrift and + simplicity; and the family was increasing too fast to leave any margin for + luxurious expenditure. Before the eldest son had completed his thirteenth + year he had three brothers and five sisters. + </p> + <p> + [It was in the course of his thirteenth year that the boy wrote his + "Epitaph on Henry Martyn." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Here Martyn lies. In manhood's early bloom + The Christian hero finds a Pagan tomb. + Religion, sorrowing o'er her favourite son, + Points to the glorious trophies that he won. + Eternal trophies! not with carnage red, + Not stained with tears by hapless captives shed, + But trophies of the Cross. For that dear name, + Through every form of danger, death, and shame, + Onward he journeyed to a happier shore, + Where danger, death and shame assault no more."] +</pre> + <p> + In the course of 1812 it began to be evident that Tom had got beyond the + educational capabilities of Clapham; and his father seriously contemplated + the notion of removing to London in order to place him as a day-scholar at + Westminster. Thorough as was the consideration which the parents gave to + the matter, their decision was of more importance than they could at the + time foresee. If their son had gone to a public school, it is more than + probable that he would have turned out a different man, and have done + different work. So sensitive and homeloving a boy might for a while have + been too depressed to enter fully unto the ways of the place; but, as he + gained confidence, he could not have withstood the irresistible + attractions which the life of a great school exercises over a vivid eager + nature, and he would have sacrificed to passing pleasures and emulations a + part, at any rate, of those years which, in order to be what he was, it + was necessary that he should spend wholly among his books. Westminster or + Harrow might have sharpened his faculties for dealing with affairs and + with men; but the world at large would have lost more than he could by any + possibility have gained. If Macaulay had received the usual education of a + young Englishman, he might in all probability have kept his seat for + Edinburgh; but he could hardly have written the Essay on Von Ranke, or the + description of England in the third chapter of the History. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Macaulay ultimately fixed upon a private school, kept by the Rev. Mr. + Preston, at Little Shelford, a village in the immediate vicinity of + Cambridge. The motives which guided this selection were mainly of a + religious nature. Mr. Preston held extreme Low Church opinions, and stood + in the good books of Mr. Simeon, whose word had long been law in the + Cambridge section of the Evangelical circle. But whatever had been the + inducement to make it, the choice proved singularly fortunate. The tutor, + it is true, was narrow in his views, and lacked the taste and judgment to + set those views before his pupils in an attractive form. Theological + topics dragged into the conversation at unexpected moments, inquiries + about their spiritual state, and long sermons which had to be listened to + under the dire obligation of reproducing them in an epitome, fostered in + the minds of some of the boys a reaction against the outward + manifestations of religion;—a reaction which had already begun under + the strict system pursued in their respective homes. But, on the other + hand, Mr. Preston knew both how to teach his scholars, and when to leave + them to teach themselves. The eminent judge, who divided grown men into + two sharply defined and most uncomplimentary categories, was accustomed to + say that private schools made poor creatures, and public schools sad dogs; + but Mr. Preston succeeded in giving a practical contradiction to Sir + William Maine's proposition. His pupils, who were limited to an average of + a dozen at a time, got far beyond their share of honours at the university + and of distinction in after life. George Stainforth, a grandson of Sir + Francis Baring, by his success at Cambridge was the first to win the + school an honourable name, which was more than sustained by Henry Malden, + now Greek Professor at University College, London, and by Macaulay + himself. Shelford was strongly under the influence of the neighbouring + university; an influence which Mr. Preston, himself a fellow of Trinity, + wisely encouraged. The boys were penetrated with Cambridge ambitions and + ways of thought; and frequent visitors brought to the table, where master + and pupils dined in common, the freshest Cambridge gossip of the graver + sort. + </p> + <p> + Little Macaulay received much kindness from Dean Milner, the President of + Queen's College, then at the very summit of a celebrity which is already + of the past. Those who care to search among the embers of that once + brilliant reputation can form a fair notion of what Samuel Johnson would + have been if he had lived a generation later, and had been absolved from + the necessity of earning his bread by the enjoyment of ecclesiastical + sinecures, and from any uneasiness as to his worldly standing by the + possession of academical dignities and functions. The Dean who had + boundless goodwill for all his fellow-creatures at every period of life, + provided that they were not Jacobins or sceptics, recognised the promise + of the boy, and entertained him at his college residence on terms of + friendliness, and almost of equality. After one of these visits he writes + to Mr. Macaulay; "Your lad is a fine fellow. He shall stand before kings, + he shall not stand before mean men." + </p> + <p> + Shelford: February 22, 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Papa,—As this is a whole holiday, I cannot find a better + time for answering your letter. With respect to my health, I am very well, + and tolerably cheerful, as Blundell, the best and most clever of all the + scholars, is very kind, and talks to me, and takes my part. He is quite a + friend of Mr. Preston's. The other boys, especially Lyon, a Scotch boy, + and Wilberforce, are very good-natured, and we might have gone on very + well had not one, a Bristol fellow, come here. He is unanimously alloyed + to be a queer fellow, and is generally characterised as a foolish boy, and + by most of us as an ill-natured one. In my learning I do Xenophon every + day, and twice a week the Odyssey, in which I am classed with Wilberforce, + whom all the boys allow to be very clever, very droll, and very impudent. + We do Latin verses trice a week, and I have not yet been laughed at, as + Wilberforce is the only one who hears them, being in my class. We are + exercised also once a week in English composition, and once in Latin + composition, and letters of persons renowned in history to each other. We + get by heart Greek grammar or Virgil every evening. As for sermon-writing, + I have hitherto got off with credit, and I hope I shall keep up my + reputation. We have had the first meeting of our debating society the + other day, when a vote of censure was moved for upon Wilberforce, but he + getting up said, "Mr. President, I beg to second the motion." By this + means he escaped. The kindness which Mr. Preston shows me is very great. + He always assists me in what I cannot do, and takes me to walk out with + him every now and then. My room is a delightful snug little chamber, which + nobody can enter, as there is a trick about opening the door. I sit like a + king, with my writing-desk before me; for, (would you believe it?) there + is a writing-desk in my chest of drawers; my books on one side, my box of + papers on the other, with my arm-chair and my candle; for every boy has a + candlestick, snuffers, and extinguisher of his own. Being pressed for + room, I will conclude what I have to say to-morrow, and ever remain, + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + THOMAS B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + The youth who on this occasion gave proof of his parentage by his + readiness and humour was Wilberforce's eldest son. A fortnight later on, + the subject chosen for discussion was "whether Lord Wellington or + Marlborough was the greatest general. A very warm debate is expected." + </p> + <p> + Shelford: April 20, 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mama,—Pursuant to my promise I resume my pen to write to you + with the greatest pleasure. Since I wrote to you yesterday, I have enjoyed + myself more than I have ever done since I came to Shelford. Mr. Hodson + called about twelve o'clock yesterday morning with a pony for me, and took + me with him to Cambridge. How surprised and delighted was I to learn that + I was to take a bed at Queen's College in Dean Milner's apartments! + Wilberforce arrived soon after, and I spent the day very agreeably, the + Dean amusing me with the greatest kindness. I slept there, and came home + on horseback to-day just in time for dinner. The Dean has invited me to + come again, and Mr. Preston has given his consent. The books which I am at + present employed in reading to myself are, in English, Plutarch's Lives, + and Milner's Ecclesiastical History; in French, Fenelon's Dialogues of the + Dead. I shall send you back the volumes of Madame de Genlis's petits + romans as soon as possible, and I should be very much obliged for one or + two more of them. Everything now seems to feel the influence of spring. + The trees are all out. The lilacs are in bloom. The days are long, and I + feel that I should be happy were it not that I want home. Even yesterday, + when I felt more real satisfaction than I have done for almost three + months, I could not help feeling a sort of uneasiness, which indeed I have + always felt more or less since I have been here, and which is the only + thing that hinders me from being perfectly happy. This day two months will + put a period to my uneasiness. + </p> + <p> + "Fly fast the hours, and dawn th' expected morn." + </p> + <p> + Every night when I lie down I reflect that another day is cut off from the + tiresome time of absence. + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + THOMAS B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Shelford: April 26 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Papa,—Since I have given you a detail of weekly duties, I + hope you will be pleased to be informed of my Sunday's occupations. It is + quite a day of rest here, and I really look to it with pleasure through + the whole of the week. After breakfast we learn a chapter in the Greek + Testament that is with the aid of our Bibles, and without doing it with a + dictionary like other lessons. We then go to church. We dine almost as + soon as we come back, and we are left to ourselves till afternoon church. + During this time I employ myself in reading, and Mr. Preston lends me any + books for which I ask him, so that I am nearly as well off in this respect + as at home, except for one thing, which, though I believe it is useful, is + not very pleasant. I can only ask for one book at a time, and cannot touch + another till I have read it through. We then go to church, and after we + come hack I read as before till tea-time. After tea we write out the + sermon. I cannot help thinking that Mr. Preston uses all imaginable means + to make us forget it, for he gives us a glass of wine each on Sunday, and + on Sunday only, the very day when we want to have all our faculties awake; + and some do literally go to sleep during the sermon, and look rather silly + when they wake. I, however, have not fallen into this disaster. + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + THOMAS B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + The constant allusions to home politics and to the progress of the + Continental struggle, which occur throughout Zachary Macaulay's + correspondence with his son, prove how freely, and on what an equal + footing, the parent and child already conversed on questions of public + interest. The following letter is curious as a specimen of the eagerness + with which the boy habitually flung himself into the subjects which + occupied his father's thoughts. The renewal of the East India Company's + charter was just then under the consideration of Parliament, and the whole + energies of the Evangelical party were exerted in order to signalise the + occasion by securing our Eastern dominions as a field for the spread of + Christianity. Petitions against the continued exclusion of missionaries + were in course of circulation throughout the island, the drafts of which + had been prepared by Mr. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Shelford: May 8, 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Papa,—As on Monday it will be out of my power to write, + since the examination subjects are to be given out I write to-day instead + to answer your kind and long letter. + </p> + <p> + I am very much pleased that the nation seems to take such interest in the + introduction of Christianity into India. My Scotch blood begins to boil at + the mention of the 1,750 names that went up from a single country parish. + Ask Mama and Selina if they do not now admit my argument with regard to + the superior advantages of the Scotch over the English peasantry. + </p> + <p> + As to my examination preparations, I will if you please give you a sketch + of my plan. On Monday, the day on which the examination subjects are given + out, I shall begin. My first performance will be my verses and my + declamation. I shall then translate the Greek and Latin. The first time of + going over I shall mark the passages which puzzle me, and then return to + them again. But I shall have also to rub up my Mathematics, (by the bye, I + begin the second book of Euclid to-day,) and to study whatever History may + be appointed for the examination. I shall not be able to avoid trembling, + whether I know my subjects or not. I am however intimidated at nothing but + Greek. Mathematics suit my taste, although, before I came, I declaimed + against them, and asserted that, when I went to College, it should not be + to Cambridge. I am occupied with the hope of lecturing Mama and Selina + upon Mathematics, as I used to do upon Heraldry, and to change Or, and + Argent, and Azure, and Gules, for squares, and points, and circles, and + angles, and triangles, and rectangles, and rhomboids, and in a word "all + the pomp and circumstance" of Euclid. When I come home I shall, if my + purse is sufficient, bring a couple of rabbits for Selina and Jane. + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + THOMAS B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + It will be seen that this passing fondness for mathematics soon changed + into bitter disgust. + </p> + <p> + Clapham May 28, 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Tom,—I am very happy to hear that you have so far advanced + in your different prize exercises, and with such little fatigue. I know + you write with great ease to yourself, and would rather write ten poems + than prune one; but remember that excellence is not attained at first. All + your pieces are much mended after a little reflection, and therefore take + some solitary walks, and think over each separate thing. Spare no time or + trouble to render each piece as perfect as you can, and then leave the + event without one anxious thought. I have always admired a saying of one + of the old heathen philosophers. When a friend was condoling with him that + he so well deserved of the gods, and yet that they did not shower their + favours on him, as on some others less worthy, he answered, "I will, + however, continue to deserve well of them." So do you, my dearest. Do your + best because it is the will of God you should improve every faculty to the + utmost now, and strengthen the powers of your mind by exercise, and then + in future you will be better enabled to glorify God with all your powers + and talents, be they of a more humble, or higher order, and you shall not + fail to be received into everlasting habitations, with the applauding + voice of your Saviour, "Well done, good and faithful servant." You see how + ambitious your mother is. She must have the wisdom of her son acknowledged + before Angels, and an assembled world. My wishes can soar no higher, and + they can be content with nothing less for any of my children. The first + time I saw your face, I repeated those beautiful lines of Watts' cradle + hymn, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mayst thou live to know and fear Him, + Trust and love Him all thy days + Then go dwell for ever near Him, + See His face, and sing His praise. +</pre> + <p> + and this is the substance of all my prayers for you. In less than a month + you and I shall, I trust, be rambling over the Common, which now looks + quite beautiful. + </p> + <p> + I am ever, my dear Tom, + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate mother, + </p> + <p> + SELINA MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + The commencement of the second half-year at school, perhaps the darkest + season of a boy's existence, was marked by an unusually severe and + prolonged attack of home-sickness. It would be cruel to insert the first + letter written after the return to Shelford from the summer holidays. That + which follows it is melancholy enough. + </p> + <p> + Shelford: August 14. 1813. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mama,—I must confess that I have been a little disappointed + at not receiving a letter from home to-day. I hope, however, for one + to-morrow. My spirits are far more depressed by leaving home than they + were last half-year. Everything brings home to my recollection. Everything + I read, or see, or hear, brings it to my mind. You told me I should be + happy when I once came here, but not an hour passes in which I do not shed + tears at thinking of home. Every hope, however unlikely to be realised, + affords me some small consolation. The morning on which I went, you told + me that possibly I might come home before the holidays. If you can confirm + this hope, believe me when I assure you that there is nothing which I + would not give for one instant's sight of home. Tell me in your next, + expressly, if you can, whether or no there is any likelihood of my coming + home before the holidays. If I could gain Papa's leave, I should select my + birthday on October 25 as the time which I should wish to spend at that + home which absence renders still dearer to me. I think I see you sitting + by Papa just after his dinner, reading my letter, and turning to him, with + an inquisitive glance, at the end of the paragraph. I think too that I see + his expressive shake of the head at it. O, may I be mistaken! You cannot + conceive what an alteration a favourable answer would produce in me. If + your approbation of my request depends upon my advancing in study, I will + work like a cart-horse. If you should refuse it, you will deprive me of + the most pleasing illusion which I ever experienced in my life. Pray do + not fail to write speedily. + </p> + <p> + Your dutiful and affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + His father answered him in a letter of strong religious complexion, full + of feeling, and even of beauty, but too long for reproduction in a + biography that is not his own. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Macaulay's deep anxiety for his son's welfare sometimes induced him to + lend too ready an ear to busybodies, who informed him of failings in the + boy which would have been treated more lightly, and perhaps more wisely, + by a less devoted father. In the early months of 1814 he writes as + follows, after hearing the tale of some guest of Mr. Preston whom Tom had + no doubt contradicted at table in presence of the assembled household. + </p> + <p> + London: March 4, 1814. + </p> + <p> + My dear Tom,—In taking up my pen this morning a passage in Cowper + almost involuntarily occurred to me. You will find it at length in his + "Conversation." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ye powers who rule the Tongue, if such there are, + And make colloquial happiness your care, + Preserve me from the thing I dread and hate, + A duel in the form of a debate. + Vociferated logic kills me quite. + A noisy man is always in the right." +</pre> + <p> + You know how much such a quotation as this would fall in with my notions, + averse as I am to loud and noisy tones, and self-confident, overwhelming, + and yet perhaps very unsound arguments. And you will remember how + anxiously I dwelt upon this point while you were at home. I have been in + hopes that this half-year would witness a great change in you in this + respect. My hopes, however, have been a little damped by something which I + heard last week through a friend, who seemed to have received an + impression that you had gained a high distinction among the young + gentlemen at Shelford by the loudness and vehemence of your tones. Now, my + dear Tom, you cannot doubt that this gives me pain; and it does so not so + much on account of the thing itself, as because I consider it a pretty + infallible test of the mind within. I do long and pray most earnestly that + the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit may be substituted for vehemence + and self-confidence, and that you may be as much distinguished for the + former as ever you have been for the latter. It is a school in which I am + not ambitious that any child of mine should take a high degree. + </p> + <p> + If the people of Shelford be as bad as you represent them in your letters, + what are they but an epitome of the world at large? Are they ungrateful to + you for your kindnesses? Are they foolish, and wicked, and wayward in the + use of their faculties? What is all this but what we ourselves are guilty + of every day? Consider how much in our case the guilt of such conduct is + aggravated by our superior knowledge. We shall not have ignorance to plead + in its extenuation, as many of the people of Shelford may have. Now, + instead of railing at the people of Shelford, I think the best thing which + you and your schoolfellows could do would be to try to reform them. You + can buy and distribute useful and striking tracts, as well as Testaments, + among such as can read. The cheap Repository and Religious Tract Society + will furnish tracts suited to all descriptions of persons; and for those + who cannot read—why should you not institute a Sunday school to be + taught by yourselves, and in which appropriate rewards being given for + good behaviour, not only at school but through the week, great effects of + a moral kind might soon be produced? I have exhausted my paper, and must + answer the rest of your letter in a few days. In the meantime, + </p> + <p> + I am ever your most affectionate father, + </p> + <p> + ZACHARY MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + A father's prayers are seldom fulfilled to the letter. Many years were to + elapse before the son ceased to talk loudly and with confidence; and the + literature that he was destined to distribute through the world was of + another order from that which Mr. Macaulay here suggests. The answer, + which is addressed to the mother, affords a proof that the boy could + already hold his own. The allusions to the Christian Observer, of which + his father was editor, and to Dr. Herbert Marsh, with whom the ablest pens + of Clapham were at that moment engaged in hot and embittered controversy, + are thrown in with an artist's hand. + </p> + <p> + Shelford: April 11. 1814. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mama,—The news is glorious indeed. Peace! Peace with a + Bourbon, with a descendant of Henri Quatre, with a prince who is bound to + us by all the ties of gratitude. I have some hopes that it will be a + lasting peace; that the troubles of the last twenty years may make kings + and nations wiser. I cannot conceive a greater punishment to Buonaparte + than that which the allies have inflicted on him. How can his ambitious + mind support it? All his great projects and schemes, which once made every + throne in Europe tremble, are buried in the solitude of an Italian isle. + How miraculously everything has been conducted! We almost seem to hear the + Almighty saying to the fallen tyrant, "For this cause have I raised thee + up, that I might show in thee My power." + </p> + <p> + As I am in very great haste with this letter, I shall have but little time + to write. I am sorry to hear that some nameless friend of Papa's denounced + my voice as remarkably loud. I have accordingly resolved to speak in a + moderate key except on the undermentioned special occasions. Imprimis, + when I am speaking at the same time with three others. Secondly, when I am + praising the Christian Observer. Thirdly, when I am praising Mr. Preston + or his sisters I may be allowed to speak in my loudest voice, that they + may hear me. + </p> + <p> + I saw to-day that greatest of churchmen, that pillar of Orthodoxy, that + true friend to the Liturgy, that mortal enemy to the Bible Society,—Herbert + Marsh, D.D., Professor of Divinity on Lady Margaret's foundation. I stood + looking at him for about ten minutes, and shall always continue to + maintain that he is a very ill-favoured gentleman as far as outward + appearance is concerned. I am going this week to spend a day or two at + Dean Milner's, where I hope, nothing unforeseen preventing, to see you in + about two months' time. + </p> + <p> + Ever your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + T.B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the year 1814 Mr. Preston removed his establishment to + Aspenden Hall near Buntingford, in Hertfordshire; a large old-fashioned + mansion, standing amidst extensive shrubberies, and a pleasant undulating + domain sprinkled with fine timber. The house has been rebuilt within the + last twenty years, and nothing remains of it except the dark oak panelling + of the hall in which the scholars made their recitations on the annual + speech day. The very pretty church, which stands hard by within the + grounds, was undergoing restoration in 1873 and by this time the only + existing portion of the former internal fittings is the family pew, in + which the boys sat on drowsy summer afternoons, doing what they could to + keep their impressions of the second sermon distinct from their + reminiscences of the morning. Here Macaulay spent four most industrious + years, doing less and less in the class-room as time went on, but enjoying + the rare advantage of studying Greek and Latin by the side of such a + scholar as Malden. The two companions were equally matched in age and + classical attainments, and at the university maintained a rivalry so + generous as hardly to deserve the name. Each of the pupils had his own + chamber, which the others were forbidden to enter under the penalty of a + shilling fine. This prohibition was in general not very strictly observed; + but the tutor had taken the precaution of placing Macaulay in a room next + his own;—a proximity which rendered the position of an intruder so + exceptionally dangerous that even Malden could not remember having once + passed his friend's threshold during the whole of their stay at Aspenden. + </p> + <p> + In this seclusion, removed from the delight of family intercourse, (the + only attraction strong enough to draw him from his books,) the boy read + widely, unceasingly, more than rapidly. The secret of his immense + acquirements lay in two invaluable gifts of nature,—an unerring + memory, and the capacity for taking in at a glance the contents of a + printed page. During the first part of his life he remembered whatever + caught his fancy without going through the process of consciously getting + it by heart. As a child, during one of the numerous seasons when the + social duties devolved upon Mr. Macaulay, he accompanied his father on an + afternoon call, and found on a table the Lay of the Last Minstrel, which + he had never before met with. He kept himself quiet with his prize while + the elders were talking, and, on his return home, sat down upon his + mother's bed, and repeated to her as many cantos as she had the patience + or the strength to listen to. At one period of his life he was known to + say that, if by some miracle of Vandalism all copies of Paradise Lost and + the Pilgrim's Progress were destroyed off the face of the earth, he would + undertake to reproduce them both from recollection whenever a revival of + learning came. In 1813, while waiting in a Cambridge coffee-room for a + postchaise which was to take him to his school, he picked up a county + newspaper containing two such specimens of provincial poetical talent as + in those days might be read in the corner of any weekly journal. One piece + was headed "Reflections of an Exile;" while the other was a trumpery + parody on the Welsh ballad "Ar hyd y nos," referring to some local + anecdote of an ostler whose nose had been bitten off by a filly. He looked + them once through, and never gave them a thought for forty years, at the + end of which time he repeated them both without missing,—or, as far + as he knew, changing,—a single word. + </p> + <p> + [Sir William Stirling Maxwell says, in a letter with which he has honoured + me: "Of his extraordinary memory I remember Lord Jeffrey telling me an + instance. They had had a difference about a quotation from Paradise Lost, + and made a wager about it; the wager being a copy of the hook, which, on + reference to the passage, it was found Jeffrey had won. The bet was made + just before, and paid immediately after, the Easter vacation. On putting + the volume into Jeffrey's hand, your uncle said, 'I don't think you will + find me tripping again. I knew it, I thought, pretty well before; but I am + sure I know it now.' Jeffrey proceeded to examine him, putting him on at a + variety of the heaviest passages—the battle of the angels—the + dialogues of Adam and the archangels,—and found him ready to declaim + them all, till he begged him to stop. He asked him how he had acquired + such a command of the poem, and had for answer: 'I had him in the country, + and I read it twice over, and I don't think that I shall ever forget it + again.' At the same time he told Jeffrey that he believed he could repeat + everything of his own he had ever printed, and nearly all he had ever + written, 'except, perhaps, some of my college exercises.' + </p> + <p> + "I myself had an opportunity of seeing and hearing a remarkable proof of + your uncle's hold upon the most insignificant verbiage that chance had + poured into his ear. I was staying with him at Bowood, in the winter of + 1852. Lord Elphinstone—who had been many years before Governor of + Madras,—was telling one morning at breakfast of a certain native + barber there, who was famous, in his time, for English doggrel of his own + making, with which he was wont to regale his customers. 'Of course,' said + Lord Elphinstone, 'I don't remember any of it; but was very funny, and + used to be repeated in society.' Macaulay, who was sitting a good way off, + immediately said: 'I remember being shaved by the fellow, and he recited a + quantity of verse to me during the operation, and here is some of it;' and + then he went off in a very queer doggrel about the exploits of Bonaparte, + of which I recollect the recurring refrain— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But when he saw the British boys, + He up and ran away. +</pre> + <p> + It is hardly conceivable that he had ever had occasion to recall that poem + since the day when he escaped from under the poet's razor.] + </p> + <p> + As he grew older, this wonderful power became impaired so far that getting + by rote the compositions of others was no longer an involuntary process. + He has noted in his Lucan the several occasions on which he committed to + memory his favourite passages of an author whom he regarded as unrivalled + among rhetoricians; and the dates refer to 1836, when he had just turned + the middle point of life. During his last years, at his dressing-table in + the morning, he would learn by heart one or another of the little idylls + in which Martial expatiates on the enjoyments of a Spanish country-house, + or a villa-farm in the environs of Rome;—those delicious morsels of + verse which, (considering the sense that modern ideas attach to the name,) + it is an injustice to class under the head of epigrams. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay's extraordinary faculty of assimilating printed matter at first + sight remained the same through life. To the end he read books more + quickly than other people skimmed them, and skimmed them as fast as anyone + else could turn the leaves. "He seemed to read through the skin," said one + who had often watched the operation. And this speed was not in his case + obtained at the expense of accuracy. Anything which had once appeared in + type, from the highest effort of genius down to the most detestable trash + that ever consumed ink and paper manufactured for better things, had in + his eyes an authority which led him to look upon misquotation as a species + of minor sacrilege. + </p> + <p> + With these endowments, sharpened by an insatiable curiosity, from his + fourteenth year onward he was permitted to roam almost at will over the + whole expanse of literature. He composed little beyond his school + exercises, which themselves bear signs of having been written in a + perfunctory manner. At this period he had evidently no heart in anything + but his reading. Before leaving Shelford for Aspenden he had already + invoked the epic muse for the last time. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Arms and the man I sing, who strove in vain + To save green Erin from a foreign reign." +</pre> + <p> + The man was Roderic, king of Connaught, whom he got tired of singing + before he had well completed two books of the poem. Thenceforward he + appears never to have struck his lyre, except in the first enthusiasm + aroused by the intelligence of some favourable turn of fortune on the + Continent. The flight of Napoleon from Russia was celebrated in a + "Pindaric Ode" duly distributed into strophes and antistrophes; and, when + the allies entered Paris, the school put his services into requisition to + petition for a holiday in honour of the event. He addressed his tutor in a + short poem, which begins with a few sonorous and effective couplets, grows + more and more like the parody on Fitzgerald in "Rejected Addresses," and + ends in a peroration of which the intention is unquestionably mock-heroic: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Oh, by the glorious posture of affairs, + By the enormous price that Omnium hears, + By princely Bourbon's late recovered Crown, + And by Miss Fanny's safe return from town, + Oh, do not thou, and thou alone, refuse + To show thy pleasure at this glorious news!" +</pre> + <p> + Touched by the mention of his sister, Mr. Preston yielded and young + Macaulay never turned another verse except at the bidding of his + schoolmaster, until, on the eve of his departure for Cambridge, he wrote + between three and four hundred lines of a drama, entitled "Don Fernando," + marked by force and fertility of diction, but somewhat too artificial to + be worthy of publication under a name such as his. Much about the same + time he communicated to Malden the commencement of a burlesque poem on the + story of Anthony Babington; who, by the part that he took in the plots + against the life of Queen Elizabeth, had given the family a connection + with English history which, however questionable, was in Macaulay's view + better than none. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Each, says the proverb, has his taste. 'Tis true. + Marsh loves a controversy; Coates a play; + Bennet a felon; Lewis Way a Jew; + The Jew the silver spoons of Lewis Way. + The Gipsy Poetry, to own the truth, + Has been my love through childhood and in youth." +</pre> + <p> + It is perhaps as well that the project to all appearance stopped with the + first stanza, which in its turn was probably written for the sake of a + single line. The young man had a better use for his time than to spend it + in producing frigid imitations of Beppo. + </p> + <p> + He was not unpopular among his fellow-pupils, who regarded him with pride + and admiration, tempered by the compassion which his utter inability to + play at any sort of game would have excited in every school, private or + public alike. He troubled himself very little about the opinion of those + by whom he was surrounded at Aspenden. It required the crowd and the stir + of a university to call forth the social qualities which he possessed in + so large a measure. The tone of his correspondence during these years + sufficiently indicates that he lived almost exclusively among books. His + letters, which had hitherto been very natural and pretty, began to smack + of the library, and please less than those written in early boyhood. His + pen was overcharged with the metaphors and phrases of other men; and it + was not till maturing powers had enabled him to master and arrange the + vast masses of literature which filled his memory that his native force + could display itself freely through the medium of a style which was all + his own. In 1815 he began a formal literary correspondence, after the + taste of the previous century, with Mr. Hudson, a gentleman in the + Examiner's Office of the East India House. + </p> + <p> + Aspenden Hall: August 22, 1815. + </p> + <p> + Dear Sir,—The Spectator observes, I believe in his first paper, that + we can never read an author with much zest unless we are acquainted with + his situation. I feel the same in my epistolary correspondence; and, + supposing that in this respect we may be alike, I will just tell you my + condition. Imagine a house in the middle of pretty large grounds, + surrounded by palings. These I never pass. You may therefore suppose that + I resemble the Hermit of Parnell. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "As yet by books and swains the world he knew, + Nor knew if books and swains report it true." +</pre> + <p> + If you substitute newspapers and visitors for books and swains, you may + form an idea of what I know of the present state of things. Write to me as + one who is ignorant of every event except political occurrences. These I + learn regularly; but if Lord Byron were to publish melodies or romances, + or Scott metrical tales without number, I should never see them, or + perhaps hear of them, till Christmas. Retirement of this kind, though it + precludes me from studying the works of the hour, is very favourable for + the employment of "holding high converse with the mighty dead." + </p> + <p> + I know not whether "peeping at the world through the loopholes of retreat" + be the best way of forming us for engaging in its busy and active scenes. + I am sure it is not a way to my taste. Poets may talk of the beauties of + nature, the enjoyments of a country life, and rural innocence; but there + is another kind of life which, though unsung by bards, is yet to me + infinitely superior to the dull uniformity of country life. London is the + place for me. Its smoky atmosphere, and its muddy river, charm me more + than the pure air of Hertfordshire, and the crystal currents of the river + Rib. Nothing is equal to the splendid varieties of London life, "the fine + flow of London talk," and the dazzling brilliancy of London spectacles. + Such are my sentiments, and, if ever I publish poetry, it shall not be + pastoral. Nature is the last goddess to whom my devoirs shall be paid. + </p> + <p> + Yours most faithfully, + </p> + <p> + THOMAS B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + This votary of city life was still two months short of completing his + fifteenth year! + </p> + <p> + Aspenden Hall: August 23, 1815. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mama,—You perceive already in so large a sheet, and so small + a hand, the promise of a long, a very long letter, longer, as I intend it, + than all the letters which you send in a half-year together. I have again + begun my life of sterile monotony, unvarying labour, the dull return of + dull exercises in dull uniformity of tediousness. But do not think that I + complain. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My mind to me a kingdom is, + Such perfect joy therein I find + As doth exceed all other bliss + That God or nature hath assigned. +</pre> + <p> + Assure yourself that I am philosopher enough to be happy,—I meant to + say not particularly unhappy,—in solitude; but man is an animal made + for society. I was gifted with reason, not to speculate in Aspenden Park, + but to interchange ideas with some person who can understand me. This is + what I miss at Aspenden. There are several here who possess both taste and + reading; who can criticise Lord Byron and Southey with much tact and + "savoir du metier." But here it is not the fashion to think. Hear what I + have read since I came here. Hear and wonder! I have in the first place + read Boccacio's Decameron, a tale of a hundred cantos. He is a wonderful + writer. Whether he tells in humorous or familiar strains the follies of + the silly Calandrino, or the witty pranks of Buffalmacco and Bruno, or + sings in loftier numbers + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dames, knights, and arms, and love, the feats that spring + From courteous minds and generous faith, +</pre> + <p> + or lashes with a noble severity and fearless independence the vices of the + monks and the priestcraft of the established religion, he is always + elegant, amusing, and, what pleases and surprises most in a writer of so + unpolished an age, strikingly delicate and chastised. I prefer him + infinitely to Chaucer. If you wish for a good specimen of Boccacio, as + soon as you have finished my letter, (which will come, I suppose, by + dinner-time,) send Jane up to the library for Dryden's poems, and you will + find among them several translations from Boccacio, particularly one + entitled "Theodore and Honoria." + </p> + <p> + But, truly admirable as the bard of Florence is, I must not permit myself + to give him more than his due share of my letter. I have likewise read Gil + Blas, with unbounded admiration of the abilities of Le Sage. Malden and I + have read Thalaba together, and are proceeding to the Curse of Kehama. Do + not think, however, that I am neglecting more important studies than + either Southey or Boccacio. I have read the greater part of the History of + James I. and Mrs. Montague's essay on Shakspeare, and a great deal of + Gibbon. I never devoured so many books in a fortnight. John Smith, Bob + Hankinson, and I, went over the Hebrew Melodies together. I certainly + think far better of them than we used to do at Clapham. Papa may laugh, + and indeed he did laugh me out of my taste at Clapham; but I think that + there is a great deal of beauty in the first melody, "She walks in + beauty," though indeed who it is that walks in beauty is not very exactly + defined. My next letter shall contain a production of my muse, entitled + "An Inscription for the Column of Waterloo," which is to be shown to Mr. + Preston to-morrow. What he may think of it I do not know. But I am like my + favourite Cicero about my own productions. It is all one to me what others + think of them. I never like them a bit less for being disliked by the rest + of mankind. Mr. Preston has desired me to bring him up this evening two or + three subjects for a Declamation. Those which I have selected are as + follows: 1st, a speech in the character of Lord Coningsby, impeaching the + Earl of Oxford; 2nd, an essay on the utility of standing armies; 3rd, an + essay on the policy of Great Britain with regard to continental + possessions. I conclude with sending my love to Papa, Selina, Jane, John, + ("but he is not there," as Fingal pathetically says, when in enumerating + his sons who should accompany him to the chase he inadvertently mentions + the dead Ryno,) Henry, Fanny, Hannah, Margaret, and Charles. Valete. + </p> + <p> + T.B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + This exhaustive enumeration of his brothers and sisters invites attention + to that home where he reigned supreme. Lady Trevelyan thus describes their + life at Clapham: "I think that my father's strictness was a good + counterpoise to the perfect worship of your uncle by the rest of the + family. To us he was an object of passionate love and devotion. To us he + could do no wrong. His unruffled sweetness of temper, his unfailing flow + of spirits, his amusing talk, all made his presence so delightful that his + wishes and his tastes were our law. He hated strangers; and his notion of + perfect happiness was to see us all working round him while he read aloud + a novel, and then to walk all together on the Common, or, if it rained, to + have a frightfully noisy game of hide-and-seek. I have often wondered how + our mother could ever have endured our noise in her little house. My + earliest recollections speak of the intense happiness of the holidays, + beginning with finding him in Papa's room in the morning; the awe at the + idea of his having reached home in the dark after we were in bed, and the + Saturnalia which at once set in;—no lessons; nothing but fun and + merriment for the whole six weeks. In the year 1816 we were at Brighton + for the summer holidays, and he read to us Sir Charles Grandison. It was + always a habit in our family to read aloud every evening. Among the books + selected I can recall Clarendon, Burnet, Shakspeare, (a great treat when + my mother took the volume,) Miss Edgeworth, Mackenzie's Lounger and + Mirror, and, as a standing dish, the Quarterly and the Edinburgh Reviews. + Poets too, especially Scott and Crabbe, were constantly chosen. Poetry and + novels, except during Tom's holidays, were forbidden in the daytime, and + stigmatised as 'drinking drams in the morning.'" + </p> + <p> + Morning or evening, Mr. Macaulay disapproved of novel-reading; but, too + indulgent to insist on having his own way in any but essential matters, he + lived to see himself the head of a family in which novels were more read, + and better remembered, than in any household of the United Kingdom. The + first warning of the troubles that were in store for him was an anonymous + letter addressed to him as editor of the Christian Observer, defending + works of fiction, and eulogising Fielding and Smollett. This he + incautiously inserted in his periodical, and brought down upon himself the + most violent objurgations from scandalised contributors, one of whom + informed the public that he had committed the obnoxious number to the + flames, and should thenceforward cease to take in the Magazine. The editor + replied with becoming spirit; although by that time he was aware that the + communication, the insertion of which in an unguarded moment had betrayed + him into a controversy for which he had so little heart, had proceeded + from the pen of his son. Such was young Macaulay's first appearance in + print, if we except the index to the thirteenth volume of the Christian + Observer, which he drew up during his Christmas holidays of 1814. The + place where he performed his earliest literary work can be identified with + tolerable certainty. He enjoyed the eldest son's privilege of a separate + bedchamber; and there, at the front window on the top story, furthest from + the Common and nearest to London, we can fancy him sitting, apart from the + crowded play-room, keeping himself warm as best he might, and travelling + steadily through the blameless pages the contents of which it was his task + to classify for the convenience of posterity. + </p> + <p> + Lord Macaulay used to remark that Thackeray introduced too much of the + Dissenting element into his picture of Clapham in the opening chapters of + "The Newcomes." The leading people of the place,—with the exception + of Mr. William Smith, the Unitarian member of Parliament,—were one + and all staunch Churchmen; though they readily worked in concert with + those religious communities which held in the main the same views, and + pursued the same objects, as themselves. Old John Thornton, the earliest + of the Evangelical magnates, when he went on his annual tour to the South + Coast or the Scotch mountains, would take with him some Independent or + Wesleyan minister who was in need of a holiday; and his followers in the + next generation had the most powerful motives for maintaining the alliance + which he had inaugurated. They could not neglect such doughty auxiliaries + in the memorable war which they waged against cruelty, ignorance, and + irreligion, and in their less momentous skirmishes with the votaries of + the stage, the racecourse, and the card-table. Without the aid of + nonconformist sympathy, and money, and oratory, and organisation, their + operations would have been doomed to certain failure. The cordial + relations entertained with the members of other denominations by those + among whom his youth was passed did much to indoctrinate Macaulay with a + lively and genuine interest in sectarian theology. He possessed a minute + acquaintance, very rare among men of letters, with the origin and growth + of the various forms of faith and practice which have divided the + allegiance of his countrymen; not the least important of his + qualifications for writing the history of an epoch when the national mind + gave itself to religious controversy even more largely than has been its + wont. + </p> + <p> + The method of education in vogue among the Clapham families was simple, + without being severe. In the spacious gardens, and the commodious houses + of an architecture already dating a century back, which surrounded the + Common, there was plenty of freedom, and good fellowship, and reasonable + enjoyment for young and old alike. Here again Thackeray has not done + justice to a society that united the mental culture, and the intellectual + activity, which are developed by the neighbourhood of a great capital, + with the wholesome quiet and the homely ways of country life. Hobson and + Brian Newcome are not fair specimens of the effect of Clapham influences + upon the second generation. There can have been nothing vulgar, and little + that was narrow, in a training which produced Samuel Wilberforce, and Sir + James Stephen, and Charles and Robert Grant, and Lord Macaulay. The plan + on which children were brought up in the chosen home of the Low Church + party, during its golden age, will bear comparison with systems about + which, in their day, the world was supposed never to tire of hearing, + although their ultimate results have been small indeed. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to trace whence the great bishop and the great writer derived + their immense industry. Working came as naturally as walking to sons who + could not remember a time when their fathers idled. "Mr. Wilberforce and + Mr. Babington have never appeared downstairs lately, except to take a + hasty dinner, and for half an hour after we have supped. The slave-trade + now occupies them nine hours daily. Mr. Babington told me last night that + he had fourteen hundred folio pages to read, to detect the contradictions, + and to collect the answers which corroborate Mr. Wilberforce's assertions + in his speeches. These, with more than two thousand pages to be abridged, + must be done within a fortnight, and they talk of sitting up one night in + every week to accomplish it. The two friends begin to look very ill, but + they are in excellent spirits, and at this moment I hear them laughing at + some absurd questions in the examination." Passages such as this are + scattered broadcast through the correspondence of Wilberforce and his + friends. Fortitude, and diligence, and self-control, and all that makes + men good and great, cannot be purchased from professional educators. + Charity is not the only quality which begins at home. It is throwing away + money to spend a thousand a year on the teaching of three boys, if they + are to return from school only to find the older members of their family + intent on amusing themselves at any cost of time and trouble, or + sacrificing self-respect in ignoble efforts to struggle into a social + grade above their own. The child will never place his aims high, and + pursue them steadily, unless the parent has taught him what energy, and + elevation of purpose, mean not less by example than by precept. + </p> + <p> + In that company of indefatigable workers none equalled the labours of + Zachary Macaulay. Even now, when he has been in his grave for more than + the third of a century, it seems almost an act of disloyalty to record the + public services of a man who thought that he had done less than nothing if + his exertions met with praise, or even with recognition. The nature and + value of those services may be estimated from the terms in which a very + competent judge, who knew how to weigh his words, spoke of the part which + Mr. Macaulay played in one only of his numerous enterprises,—the + suppression of slavery and the slave-trade. "That God had called him into + being to wage war with this gigantic evil became his immutable conviction. + During forty successive years he was ever burdened with this thought. It + was the subject of his visions by day and of his dreams by night. To give + them reality he laboured as men labour for the honours of a profession or + for the subsistence of their children. In that service he sacrificed all + that a man may lawfully sacrifice—health, fortune, repose, favour, + and celebrity. He died a poor man, though wealth was within his reach. He + devoted himself to the severest toil, amidst allurements to luxuriate in + the delights of domestic and social intercourse, such as few indeed have + encountered. He silently permitted some to usurp his hardly-earned + honours, that no selfish controversy might desecrate their common cause. + He made no effort to obtain the praises of the world, though he had + talents to command, and a temper peculiarly disposed to enjoy them. He + drew upon himself the poisoned shafts of calumny, and, while feeling their + sting as generous spirits only can feel it, never turned a single step + aside from his path to propitiate or to crush the slanderers." + </p> + <p> + Zachary Macaulay was no mere man of action. It is difficult to understand + when it was that he had time to pick up his knowledge of general + literature; or how he made room for it in a mind so crammed with facts and + statistics relating to questions of the day that when Wilberforce was at a + loss for a piece of information he used to say, "Let us look it out in + Macaulay." His private papers, which are one long register of unbroken + toil, do nothing to clear up the problem. Highly cultivated, however, he + certainly was, and his society was in request with many who cared little + for the objects which to him were everything. That he should have been + esteemed and regarded by Lord Brougham, Francis Homer, and Sir James + Mackintosh, seems natural enough, but there is something surprising in + finding him in friendly and frequent intercourse with some of his most + distinguished French contemporaries. Chateaubriand, Sismondi, the Duc de + Broglie, Madame de Stael, and Dumont, the interpreter of Bentham, + corresponded with him freely in their own language, which he wrote to + admiration. The gratification that his foreign acquaintance felt at the + sight of his letters would have been unalloyed but for the pamphlets and + blue-books by which they were too often accompanied. It is not difficult + to imagine the feelings of a Parisian on receiving two quarto volumes, + with the postage only in part pre-paid, containing the proceedings of a + Committee on Apprenticeship in the West Indies, and including the twelve + or fifteen thousand questions and answers on which the Report was founded. + It would be hard to meet with a more perfect sample of the national + politeness than the passage in which M. Dumont acknowledges one of the + less formidable of these unwelcome gifts. "Mon cher Ami,—Je ne + laisserai pas partir Mr. Inglis sans le charger de quelques lignes pour + vous, afin de vous remercier du Christian Observer que vous avez eu la + bonte de m'envoyer. Vous savez que j'ai a great taste for it; mais il faut + vous avouer une triste verite, c'est que je manque absolument de loisir + pour le lire. Ne m'en envoyez plus; car je me sens peine d'avoir sous les + yeux de si bonnes choses, dont je n'ai pas le temps de tue nourrir." + </p> + <p> + "In the year 1817," Lady Trevelyan writes, "my parents made a tour in + Scotland with your uncle. Brougham gave them a letter to Jeffrey, who + hospitably entertained them; but your uncle said that Jeffrey was not at + all at his ease, and was apparently so terrified at my father's religious + reputation that he seemed afraid to utter a joke. Your uncle complained + grievously that they travelled from manse to manse, and always came in for + very long prayers and expositions. [Macaulay writes in his journal of + August 8, 1859: "We passed my old acquaintance, Dumbarton castle, I + remembered my first visit to Dumbarton, and the old minister, who insisted + on our eating a bit of cake with him, and said a grace over it which might + have been prologue to a dinner of the Fishmongers' Company, or the + Grocers' Company."] I think, with all the love and reverence with which + your uncle regarded his father's memory, there mingled a shade of + bitterness that he had not met quite the encouragement and appreciation + from him which he received from others. But such a son as he was! Never a + disrespectful word or look; always anxious to please and amuse; and at + last he was the entire stay and support of his father's declining years. + </p> + <p> + "Your uncle was of opinion that the course pursued by his father towards + him during his youth was not judicious. But here I am inclined to disagree + with him. There was no want of proof of the estimation in which his father + held him, corresponding with him from a very early age as with a man, + conversing with him freely, and writing of him most fondly. But, in the + desire to keep down any conceit, there was certainly in my father a great + outward show of repression and depreciation. Then the faults of your uncle + were peculiarly those that my father had no patience with. Himself precise + in his arrangements, writing a beautiful hand, particular about neatness, + very accurate and calm, detesting strong expressions, and remarkably + self-controlled; while his eager impetuous boy, careless of his dress, + always forgetting to wash his hands and brush his hair, writing an + execrable hand, and folding his letters with a great blotch for a seal, + was a constant care and irritation. Many letters to your uncle have I read + on these subjects. Sometimes a specimen of the proper way of folding a + letter is sent him, (those were the sad days before envelopes were known,) + and he is desired to repeat the experiment till he succeeds. General + Macaulay's fastidious nature led him to take my father's line regarding + your uncle, and my youthful soul was often vexed by the constant + reprimands for venial transgressions. But the great sin was the idle + reading, which was a thorn in my father's side that never was extracted. + In truth, he really acknowledged to the full your uncle's abilities, and + felt that if he could only add his own morale, his unwearied industry, his + power of concentrating his energies on the work in hand, his patient + painstaking calmness, to the genius and fervour which his son possessed, + then a being might be formed who could regenerate the world. Often in + later years I have heard my father, after expressing an earnest desire for + some object, exclaim, 'If I had only Tom's power of speech!' But he should + have remembered that all gifts are not given to one, and that perhaps such + a union as he coveted is even impossible. Parents must be content to see + their children walk in their own path, too happy if through any road they + attain the same end, the living for the glory of God and the good of man." + </p> + <p> + From a marvellously early date in Macaulay's life public affairs divided + his thoughts with literature, and, as he grew to manhood, began more and + more to divide his aspirations. His father's house was much used as a + centre of consultation by members of Parliament who lived in the suburbs + on the Surrey side of London; and the boy could hardly have heard more + incessant, and assuredly not more edifying, political talk if he had been + brought up in Downing Street. The future advocate and interpreter of Whig + principles was not reared in the Whig faith. Attached friends of Pitt, who + in personal conduct, and habits of life, certainly came nearer to their + standard than his great rival,—and warmly in favour of a war which, + to their imagination, never entirely lost its early character of an + internecine contest with atheism.—the Evangelicals in the House of + Commons for the most part acted with the Tories. But it may be doubted + whether, in the long run, their party would not have been better without + them. By the zeal, the munificence, the laborious activity, with which + they pursued their religious and semi-religious enterprises, they did more + to teach the world how to get rid of existing institutions than by their + votes and speeches at Westminster they contributed to preserve them. + [Macaulay, writing to one of his sisters in 1844, says: "I think Stephen's + article on the Clapham Sect the best thing he ever did, I do not think + with you that the Claphamites were men too obscure for such delineation. + The truth is that from that little knot of men emanated all the Bible + Societies, and almost all the Missionary Societies, in the world. The + whole organisation of the Evangelical party was their work. The share + which they had in providing means for the education of the people was + great. They were really the destroyers of the slave-trade, and of slavery. + Many of those whom Stephen describes were public men of the greatest + weight, Lord Teignmouth governed India in Calcutta, Grant governed India + in Leadenhall Street, Stephen's father was Perceval's right-hand man in + the House of Commons. It is needless to speak of Wilberforce. As to + Simeon, if you knew what his authority and influence were, and how they + extended from Cambridge to the most remote corners of England, you would + allow that his real sway in the Church was far greater than that of any + primate. Thornton, to my surprise, thinks the passage about my father + unfriendly. I defended Stephen. The truth is that he asked my permission + to draw a portrait of my father for the Edinburgh Review. I told him that + I had only to beg that he would not give it the air of a puff; a thing + which, for myself and for my friends, I dread far more than any attack. My + influence over the Review is so well known that a mere eulogy of my father + appearing in that work would only call forth derision. I therefore am + really glad that Stephen has introduced into his sketch some little + characteristic traits which, in themselves, were not beauties."] With + their May meetings, and African Institutions, and Anti-slavery Reporters, + and their subscriptions of tens of thousands of pounds, and their + petitions bristling with hundreds of thousands of signatures, and all the + machinery for informing opinion and bringing it to bear on ministers and + legislators which they did so much to perfect and even to invent, they can + be regarded as nothing short of the pioneers and fuglemen of that system + of popular agitation which forms a leading feature in our internal history + during the past half-century. At an epoch when the Cabinet which they + supported was so averse to manifestations of political sentiment that a + Reformer who spoke his mind in England was seldom long out of prison, and + in Scotland ran a very serious risk of transportation, Toryism sat oddly + enough on men who spent their days in the committee-room and their + evenings on the platform, and each of whom belonged to more Associations + combined for the purpose of influencing Parliament than he could count on + the fingers of both his hands. + </p> + <p> + There was something incongruous in their position; and as time went on + they began to perceive the incongruity. They gradually learned that + measures dear to philanthropy might be expected to result from the advent + to power of their opponents; while their own chief too often failed them + at a pinch out of what appeared to them an excessive, and humiliating, + deference to interests powerfully represented on the benches behind him. + Their eyes were first opened by Pitt's change of attitude with regard to + the object that was next all their hearts. There is something almost + pathetic in the contrast between two entries in Wilberforce's diary, of + which the first has become classical, but the second is not so generally + known. In 1787, referring to the movement against the slave-trade, he + says: "Pitt recommended me to undertake its conduct, as a subject suited + to my character and talents. At length, I well remember, after a + conversation in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just + above the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a fit occasion in + the House of Commons of my intention to bring the subject forward." Twelve + years later Mr. Henry Thornton had brought in a bill for confining the + trade within certain limits upon the coast of Africa. "Upon the second + reading of this bill," writes Wilberforce, "Pitt coolly put off the debate + when I had manifested a design of answering P.'s speech, and so left + misrepresentations without a word. William Smith's anger;—Henry + Thornton's coolness;—deep impression on me, but conquered, I hope, + in a Christian way." + </p> + <p> + Besides instructing their successors in the art of carrying on a popular + movement, Wilberforce and his followers had a lesson to teach, the value + of which not so many perhaps will be disposed to question. In public life, + as in private, they habitually had the fear of God before their eyes. A + mere handful as to number, and in average talent very much on a level with + the mass of their colleagues;—counting in their ranks no orator, or + minister, or boroughmonger;—they commanded the ear of the House, and + exerted on its proceedings an influence, the secret of which those who + have studied the Parliamentary history of the period find it only too easy + to understand. To refrain from gambling and ball-giving, to go much to + church and never to the theatre, was not more at variance with the social + customs of the day than it was the exception in the political world to + meet with men who looked to the facts of the case and not to the wishes of + the minister, and who before going into the lobby required to be obliged + with a reason instead of with a job. Confidence and respect, and (what in + the House of Commons is their unvarying accompaniment) power, were + gradually, and to a great extent involuntarily, accorded to this group of + members. They were not addicted to crotchets, nor to the obtrusive and + unseasonable assertion of conscientious scruples. The occasions on which + they made proof of independence and impartiality were such as justified, + and dignified, their temporary renunciation of party ties. They interfered + with decisive effect in the debates on the great scandals of Lord Melville + and the Duke of York, and in more than one financial or commercial + controversy that deeply concerned the national interests, of which the + question of the retaining the Orders in Council was a conspicuous + instance. A boy who, like young Macaulay, was admitted to the intimacy of + politicians such as these, and was accustomed to hear matters of state + discussed exclusively from a public point of view without any afterthought + of ambition, or jealousy, or self-seeking, could hardly fail to grow up a + patriotic and disinterested man. "What is far better and more important + than all is this, that I believe Macaulay to be incorruptible. You might + lay ribbons, stars, garters, wealth, titles before him in vain. He has an + honest genuine love of his country, and the world would not bribe him to + neglect her interests." Thus said Sydney Smith, who of all his real + friends was the least inclined to over-praise him. + </p> + <p> + The memory of Thornton and Babington, and the other worthies of their day + and set, is growing dim, and their names already mean little in our ears. + Part of their work was so thoroughly done that the world, as its wont is, + has long ago taken the credit of that work to itself. Others of their + undertakings, in weaker hands than theirs, seem out of date among the + ideas and beliefs which now are prevalent. At Clapham, as elsewhere, the + old order is changing, and not always in a direction which to them would + be acceptable or even tolerable. What was once the home of Zachary + Macaulay stands almost within the swing of the bell of a stately and + elegant Roman Catholic chapel; and the pleasant mansion of Lord + Teignmouth, the cradle of the Bible Society, is now a religious house of + the Redemptorist Order. But in one shape or another honest performance + always lives, and the gains that accrued from the labours of these men are + still on the right side of the national ledger. Among the most permanent + of those gains is their undoubted share in the improvement of our + political integrity by direct, and still more by indirect, example. It + would be ungrateful to forget in how large a measure it is due to them + that one, whose judgments upon the statesmen of many ages and countries + have been delivered to an audience vast beyond all precedent, should have + framed his decisions in accordance with the dictates of honour and + humanity, of ardent public spirit and lofty public virtue. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. 1818-1824. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Macaulay goes to the University—His love for Trinity + College—His contemporaries at Cambridge—Charles Austin— + The Union Debating Society—University studies, successes, + and failures—The Mathematical Tripos—The Trinity + Fellowship—William the Third—Letters—Prize poems— + Peterloo—Novel-reading—The Queen's Trial—Macaulay's + feeling towards his mother—A Reading-party—Hoaxing an + editor—Macaulay takes pupils. +</pre> + <p> + IN October 1818 Macaulay went into residence at Trinity College, + Cambridge. Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton, the eldest son of the member for + Southwark, was his companion throughout his university career. The young + men lived in the same lodgings, and began by reading with the same tutor; + a plan which promised well, because, in addition to what was his own by + right, each had the benefit of the period of instruction paid for by the + other. But two hours were much the same as one to Macaulay, in whose eyes + algebra and geometry were so much additional material for lively and + interminable argument. Thornton reluctantly broke through the arrangement, + and eventually stood highest among the Trinity wranglers of his year; an + elevation which he could hardly have attained if he had pursued his + studies in company with one who regarded every successive mathematical + proposition as an open question. A Parliamentary election took place while + the two friends were still quartered together in Jesus Lane. A tumult in + the neighbouring street announced that the citizens were expressing their + sentiments by the only channel which was open to them before the days of + Reform; and Macaulay, to whom any excitement of a political nature was + absolutely irresistible, dragged Thornton to the scene of action, and + found the mob breaking the windows of the Hoop hotel, the head-quarters of + the successful candidates. His ardour was cooled by receiving a dead cat + full in the face. The man who was responsible for the animal came up and + apologised very civilly, assuring him that there was no town and gown + feeling in the matter, and that the cat had been meant for Mr. Adeane. "I + wish," replied Macaulay, "that you had meant it for me, and hit Mr. + Adeane." + </p> + <p> + After no long while he removed within the walls of Trinity, and resided + first in the centre rooms of Bishop's Hostel, and subsequently in the Old + Court, between the Gate and the Chapel. The door, which once bore his + name, is on the ground floor, to the left hand as you face the staircase. + In more recent years, undergraduates who are accustomed to be out after + lawful hours have claimed a right of way through the window which looks + towards the town;—to the great annoyance of any occupant who is too + good-natured to refuse the accommodation to others, and too steady to need + it himself. This power of surreptitious entry had not been discovered in + Macaulay's days; and, indeed, he would have cared very little for the + privilege of spending his time outside walls which contained within them + as many books as even he could read, and more friends than even he could + talk to. Wanting nothing beyond what his college had to give, he revelled + in the possession of leisure and liberty, in the almost complete command + of his own time, in the power of passing at choice from the most perfect + solitude to the most agreeable company. He keenly appreciated a society + which cherishes all that is genuine, and is only too out-spoken in its + abhorrence of pretension and display:—a society in which a man lives + with those whom he likes, and with those only; choosing his comrades for + their own sake, and so indifferent to the external distinctions of wealth + and position that no one who has entered fully into the spirit of college + life can ever unlearn its priceless lesson of manliness and simplicity. + </p> + <p> + Of all his places of sojourn during his joyous and shining pilgrimage + through the world, Trinity, and Trinity alone, had any share with his home + in Macaulay's affection and loyalty. To the last he regarded it as an + ancient Greek, or a mediaeval Italian, felt towards his native city. As + long as he had place and standing there, he never left it willingly or + returned to it without delight. The only step in his course about the + wisdom of which he sometimes expressed misgiving was his preference of a + London to a Cambridge life. The only dignity that in his later days he was + known to covet was an honorary fellowship, which would have allowed him + again to look through his window upon the college grass-plots, and to + sleep within sound of the splashing of the fountain; again to breakfast on + commons, and dine beneath the portraits of Newton and Bacon on the dais of + the hall; again to ramble by moonlight round Neville's cloister, + discoursing the picturesque but somewhat exoteric philosophy which it + pleased him to call by the name of metaphysics. From the door of his + rooms, along the wall of the Chapel, there runs a flagged pathway which + affords an acceptable relief from the rugged pebbles that surround it. + Here as a Bachelor of Arts he would walk, book in hand, morning after + morning throughout the long vacation, reading with the same eagerness and + the same rapidity whether the volume was the most abstruse of treatises, + the loftiest of poems, or the flimsiest of novels. That was the spot where + in his failing years he specially loved to renew the feelings of the past; + and some there are who can never revisit it without the fancy that there, + if anywhere, his dear shade must linger. + </p> + <p> + He was fortunate in his contemporaries. Among his intimate friends were + the two Coleridges—Derwent, the son, and Henry Nelson, who was + destined to be the son-in-law of the poet; and how exceptional that + destiny was the readers of Sara Coleridge's letters are now aware. Hyde + Villiers, whom an untimely death alone prevented from taking an equal + place in a trio of distinguished brothers, was of his year, though not of + his college. [Lord Clarendon, and his brothers, were all Johnians.] In the + year below were the young men who now bear the titles of Lord Grey, Lord + Belper, and Lord Romilly; [This paragraph was written in the summer of + 1874. Three of Macaulay's old college friends, Lord Romilly, Moultrie, and + Charles Austin, died, in the hard winter that followed, within a few days + of each other.] and after the same interval came Moultrie, who in his + "Dream of Life," with a fidelity which he himself pronounced to have been + obtained at some sacrifice of grace, has told us how the heroes of his + time looked and lived, and Charles Villiers, who still delights our + generation by showing us how they talked. Then there was Praed, fresh from + editing the Etonian, as a product of collective boyish effort unique in + its literary excellence and variety; and Sidney Walker, Praed's gifted + school fellow, whose promise was blighted by premature decay of powers; + and Charles Austin, whose fame would now be more in proportion to his + extraordinary abilities, had not his unparalleled success as an advocate + tempted him before his day to retire from the toils of a career of whose + rewards he already had enough. + </p> + <p> + With his vigour and fervour, his depth of knowledge and breadth of humour, + his close reasoning illustrated by an expansive imagination,—set + off, as these gifts were, by the advantage, at that period of life so + irresistible, of some experience of the world at home and abroad,—Austin + was indeed a king among his fellows. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Grave, sedate, + And (if the looks may indicate the age,) + Our senior some few years; no keener wit, + No intellect more subtle, none more bold, + Was found in all our host." +</pre> + <p> + So writes Moultrie, and the testimony of his verse is borne out by John + Stuart Mill's prose. "The impression he gave was that of boundless + strength, together with talents which, combined with such apparent force + of will and character, seemed capable of dominating the world." He + certainly was the only man who ever succeeded in dominating Macaulay. + Brimming over with ideas that were soon to be known by the name of + Utilitarian, a panegyrist of American institutions, and an unsparing + assailant of ecclesiastical endowments and hereditary privileges, he + effectually cured the young undergraduate of his Tory opinions, which were + never more than skin deep, and brought him nearer to Radicalism than he + ever was before or since. The report of this conversion, of which the most + was made by ill-natured tale-bearers who met with more encouragement than + they deserved, created some consternation in the family circle; while the + reading set at Cambridge was duly scandalised at the influence which one, + whose classical attainments were rather discursive than exact, had gained + over a Craven scholar. To this hour men may be found in remote parsonages + who mildly resent the fascination which Austin of Jesus exercised over + Macaulay of Trinity. [It was at this period of his career that Macaulay + said to the late Mr. Hampden Gurney: "Gurney, I have been a Tory, I am a + Radical; <i>but I never will be a Whig</i>."] + </p> + <p> + The day and the night together were too short for one who was entering on + the journey of life amidst such a band of travellers. So long as a door + was open, or a light burning, in any of the courts, Macaulay was always in + the mood for conversation and companionship. Unfailing in his attendance + at lecture and chapel, blameless with regard to college laws and college + discipline, it was well for his virtue that no curfew was in force within + the precincts of Trinity. He never tired of recalling the days when he + supped at midnight on milk-punch and roast turkey, drank tea in floods at + an hour when older men are intent upon anything rather than on the means + of keeping themselves awake, and made little of sitting over the fire till + the bell rang for morning chapel in order to see a friend off by the early + coach. In the license of the summer vacation, after some prolonged and + festive gathering, the whole party would pour out into the moonlight, and + ramble for mile after mile through the country, till the noise of their + wide-flowing talk mingled with the twittering of the birds in the hedges + which bordered the Coton pathway or the Madingley road. On such occasions + it must have been well worth the loss of sleep to hear Macaulay plying + Austin with sarcasms upon the doctrine of the Greatest Happiness, which + then had still some gloss of novelty; putting into an ever-fresh shape the + time-honoured jokes against the Johnians for the benefit of the + Villierses; and urging an interminable debate on Wordsworth's merits as a + poet, in which the Coleridges, as in duty bound, were ever ready to + engage. In this particular field he acquired a skill of fence which + rendered him the most redoubtable of antagonists. Many years afterwards, + at the time when the Prelude was fresh from the press, he was maintaining + against the opinion of a large and mixed society that the poem was + unreadable. At last, overborne by the united indignation of so many of + Wordsworth's admirers, he agreed that the question should be referred to + the test of personal experience; and on inquiry it was discovered that the + only individual present who had got through the Prelude was Macaulay + himself. + </p> + <p> + It is not only that the witnesses of these scenes unanimously declare that + they have never since heard such conversation in the most renowned of + social circles. The partiality of a generous young man for trusted and + admired companions may well colour his judgment over the space of even + half a century. But the estimate of university contemporaries was + abundantly confirmed by the outer world. While on a visit to Lord + Lansdowne at Bowood, years after they had left Cambridge, Austin and + Macaulay happened to get upon college topics one morning at breakfast. + When the meal was finished they drew their chairs to either end of the + chimney-piece, and talked at each other across the hearth-rug as if they + were in a first-floor room in the Old Court of Trinity. The whole company, + ladies, artists, politicians, and diners-out, formed a silent circle round + the two Cantabs, and, with a short break for lunch, never stirred till the + bell warned them that it was time to dress for dinner. + </p> + <p> + It has all irrevocably perished. With life before them, and each intent on + his own future, none among that troop of friends had the mind to play + Boswell to the others. One repartee survives, thrown off in the heat of + discussion, but exquisitely perfect in all its parts. Acknowledged without + dissent to be the best applied quotation that ever was made within five + miles of the Fitzwilliam Museum, it is unfortunately too strictly + classical for reproduction in these pages. + </p> + <p> + We are more easily consoled for the loss of the eloquence which then + flowed so full and free in the debates of the Cambridge Union. In 1820 + that Society was emerging from a period of tribulation and repression. The + authorities of the university, who, as old constituents of Mr. Pitt and + warm supporters of Lord Liverpool, had never been very much inclined to + countenance the practice of political discussion among the undergraduates, + set their faces against it more than ever at an epoch when the temper of + the time increased the tendency of young men to run into extremes of + partisanship. At length a compromise was extorted from the reluctant hands + of the Vice-Chancellor, and the Club was allowed to take into + consideration public affairs of a date anterior to the century. It + required less ingenuity than the leaders of the Union had at their command + to hit upon a method of dealing with the present under the guise of the + past. Motions were framed that reflected upon the existing Government + under cover of a censure on the Cabinets of the previous generation. + Resolutions which called upon the meeting to declare that the boon of + Catholic Emancipation should have been granted in the year 1795, or that + our Commercial Policy previous to 1800 should have been founded on the + basis of Free Trade, were clearly susceptible of great latitude of + treatment. And, again, in its character of a reading club, the Society, + when assembled for the conduct of private business, was at liberty to + review the political creed of the journals of the day in order to decide + which of them it should take in, and which it should discontinue. The + Examiner newspaper was the flag of many a hard-fought battle; the Morning + Chronicle was voted in and out of the rooms half-a-dozen times within a + single twelvemonth; while a series of impassioned speeches on the burning + question of interference in behalf of Greek Independence were occasioned + by a proposition of Malden's "that 'e Ellenike salpigks' do lie upon the + table." + </p> + <p> + At the close of the debates, which were held in a large room at the back + of the Red Lion in Petty Cury, the most prominent members met for supper + in the Hotel, or at Moultrie's lodgings, which were situated close at + hand. They acted as a self-appointed Standing Committee, which watched + over the general interests of the Union, and selected candidates whom they + put in nomination for its offices. The Society did not boast a Hansard;—an + omission which, as time went on, some among its orators had no reason to + regret. Faint recollections still survive of a discussion upon the august + topic of the character of George the Third. "To whom do we owe it," asked + Macaulay, "that while Europe was convulsed with anarchy and desolated with + war, England alone remained tranquil, prosperous, and secure? To whom but + the Good Old King? Why was it that, when neighbouring capitals were + perishing in the flames, our own was illuminated only for triumphs? [This + debate evidently made some noise in the university world. There is an + allusion to it in a squib of Praed's, very finished and elegant, and + beyond all doubt contemporary. The passage relating to Macaulay begins + with the lines—"Then the favourite comes with his trumpets and + drums, And his arms and his metaphors crossed."] You may find the cause in + the same three words: the Good Old King." Praed, on the other hand, would + allow his late monarch neither public merits nor private virtues. "A good + man! If he had been a plain country gentleman with no wider opportunities + for mischief, he would at least have bullied his footmen and cheated his + steward." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay's intense enjoyment of all that was stirring and vivid around him + undoubtedly hindered him in the race for university honours; though his + success was sufficient to inspirit him at the time, and to give him + abiding pleasure in the retrospect. He twice gained the Chancellor's medal + for English verse, with poems admirably planned, and containing passages + of real beauty, but which may not be republished in the teeth of the + panegyric which, within ten years after they were written, he pronounced + upon Sir Roger Newdigate. Sir Roger had laid down the rule that no + exercise sent in for the prize which he established at Oxford was to + exceed fifty lines. This law, says Macaulay, seems to have more foundation + in reason than is generally the case with a literary canon, "for the + world, we believe, is pretty well agreed in thinking that the shorter a + prize poem is, the better." + </p> + <p> + Trinity men find it difficult to understand how it was that he missed + getting one of the three silver goblets given for the best English + Declamations of the year. If there is one thing which all Macaulay's + friends, and all his enemies, admit, it is that he could declaim English. + His own version of the affair was that the Senior Dean, a relative of the + victorious candidate, sent for him and said: "Mr. Macaulay, as you have + not got the first cup, I do not suppose that you will care for either of + the others." He was consoled, however, by the prize for Latin Declamation; + and in 1821 he established his classical repute by winning a Craven + University scholarship in company with his friend Malden, and Mr. George + Long, who preceded Malden as Professor of Greek at University College, + London. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay detested the labour of manufacturing Greek and Latin verse in + cold blood as an exercise; and his Hexameters were never up to the best + Etonian mark, nor his Iambics to the highest standard of Shrewsbury. He + defined a scholar as one who reads Plato with his feet on the fender. When + already well on in his third year he writes: "I never practised + composition a single hour since I have been at Cambridge." "Soak your mind + with Cicero," was his constant advice to students at that time of life + when writing Latin prose is the most lucrative of accomplishments. The + advantage of this precept was proved in the Fellowship examination of the + year 1824, when he obtained the honour which in his eyes was the most + desirable that Cambridge had to give. The delight of the young man at + finding himself one of the sixty masters of an ancient and splendid + establishment; the pride with which he signed his first order for the + college plate, and dined for the first time at the high table in his own + right; the reflection that these privileges were the fruit, not of favour + or inheritance, but of personal industry and ability,—were matters + on which he loved to dwell long after the world had loaded him with its + most envied prizes. Macaulay's feeling on this point is illustrated by the + curious reverence which he cherished for those junior members of the + college who, some ninety years ago, by a spirited remonstrance addressed + to the governing body, brought about a reform in the Trinity Fellowship + examination that secured to it the character for fair play, and + efficiency, which it has ever since enjoyed. In his copy of the Cambridge + Calendar for the year 1859, (the last of his life,) throughout the list of + the old mathematical Triposes the words "one of the eight" appear in his + hand-writing opposite the name of each of these gentlemen. And I can never + remember the time when it was not diligently impressed upon me that, if I + minded my syntax, I might eventually hope to reach a position which would + give me three hundred pounds a year, a stable for my horse, six dozen of + audit ale every Christmas, a loaf and two pats of butter every morning, + and a good dinner for nothing, with as many almonds and raisins as I could + eat at dessert. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay was not chosen a Fellow until his last trial, nominally for the + amazing reason that his translations from Greek and Latin, while + faithfully representing the originals, were rendered into English that was + ungracefully bald and inornate. The real cause was, beyond all doubt, his + utter neglect of the special study of the place; a liberty which Cambridge + seldom allows to be taken with impunity even by her most favoured sons. He + used to profess deep and lasting regret for his early repugnance to + scientific subjects; but the fervour of his penitence in after years was + far surpassed by the heartiness with which he inveighed against + mathematics as long as it was his business to learn them. Everyone who + knows the Senate House may anticipate the result. When the Tripos of 1822 + made its appearance, his name did not grace the list. In short, to use the + expressive vocabulary of the university, Macaulay was gulfed—a + mishap which disabled him from contending for the Chancellor's medals, + then the crowning trophies of a classical career. "I well remember," says + Lady Trevelyan, "that first trial of my life. We were spending the winter + at Brighton when a letter came giving an account of the event. I recollect + my mother taking me into her room to tell me, for even then it was known + how my whole heart was wrapped up in him, and it was thought necessary to + break the news. When your uncle arrived at Brighton, I can recall my + mother telling him that he had better go at once to his father, and get it + over, and I can see him as he left the room on that errand." + </p> + <p> + During the same year he engaged in a less arduous competition. A certain + Mr. Greaves of Fulbourn had long since provided a reward of ten pounds for + "the Junior Bachelor of Trinity College who wrote the best essay on the + Conduct and Character of William the Third." As the prize is annual, it is + appalling to reflect upon the searching analysis to which the motives of + that monarch must by this time have been subjected. The event, however, + may be counted as an encouragement to the founders of endowments; for, + amidst the succession of juvenile critics whose attention was by his + munificence turned in the direction of his favourite hero, Mr. Greaves had + at last fallen in with the right man. It is more than probable that to + this old Cambridgeshire Whig was due the first idea of that History in + whose pages William of Orange stands as the central figure. The essay is + still in existence, in a close neat hand, which twenty years of Reviewing + never rendered illegible. Originally written as a fair copy, but so + disfigured by repeated corrections and additions as to be unfit for the + eyes of the college authorities, it bears evident marks of having been + held to the flames, and rescued on second, and in this case it will be + allowed, on better thoughts. The exercise, (which is headed by the very + appropriate motto, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Primus qui legibus urbem + Fundabit, Curibus parvis et paupere terra + Missus in imperium magnum,") +</pre> + <p> + is just such as will very likely be produced in the course of next Easter + term by some young man of judgment and spirit, who knows his Macaulay by + heart, and will paraphrase him without scruple. The characters of James, + of Shaftesbury, of William himself; the Popish plot; the struggle over the + Exclusion bill; the reaction from Puritanic rigour into the license of the + Restoration, are drawn on the same lines and painted in the same colours + as those with which the world is now familiar. The style only wants + condensation, and a little of the humour which he had not yet learned to + transfer from his conversation to his writings, in order to be worthy of + his mature powers. He thus describes William's lifelong enemy and rival, + whose name he already spells after his own fashion. + </p> + <p> + "Lewis was not a great general. He was not a great legislator. But he was, + in one sense of the words, a great king. He was a perfect master of all + the mysteries of the science of royalty,—of all the arts which at + once extend power and conciliate popularity,—which most + advantageously display the merits, or most dexterously conceal the + deficiencies, of a sovereign. He was surrounded by great men, by + victorious commanders, by sagacious statesmen. Yet, while he availed + himself to the utmost of their services, he never incurred any danger from + their rivalry. His was a talisman which extorted the obedience of the + proudest and mightiest spirits. The haughty and turbulent warriors whose + contests had agitated France during his minority yielded to the + irresistible spell, and, like the gigantic slaves of the ring and lamp of + Aladdin, laboured to decorate and aggrandise a master whom they could have + crushed. With incomparable address he appropriated to himself the glory of + campaigns which had been planned, and counsels which had been suggested, + by others. The arms of Turenne were the terror of Europe. The policy of + Colbert was the strength of France. But in their foreign successes, and + their internal prosperity, the people saw only the greatness and wisdom of + Lewis." + </p> + <p> + In the second chapter of the History much of this is compressed into the + sentence: "He had shown, in an eminent degree, two talents invaluable to a + prince,—the talent of choosing his servants well, and the talent of + appropriating to himself the chief part of the credit of their acts." + </p> + <p> + In a passage that occurs towards the close of the essay may be traced + something more than an outline of the peroration in which, a quarter of a + century later on, he summed up the character and results of the Revolution + of 1688. + </p> + <p> + "To have been a sovereign, yet the champion of liberty; a revolutionary + leader, yet the supporter of social order, is the peculiar glory of + William. He knew where to pause. He outraged no national prejudice. He + abolished no ancient form. He altered no venerable name. He saw that the + existing institutions possessed the greatest capabilities of excellence, + and that stronger sanctions, and clearer definitions, were alone required + to make the practice of the British constitution as admirable as the + theory. Thus he imparted to innovation the dignity and stability of + antiquity. He transferred to a happier order of things the associations + which had attached the people to their former government. As the Roman + warrior, before he assaulted Veii, invoked its guardian gods to leave its + walls, and to accept the worship and patronise the cause of the besiegers, + this great prince, in attacking a system of oppression, summoned to his + aid the venerable principles and deeply seated feelings to which that + system was indebted for protection." + </p> + <p> + A letter, written during the latter years of his life, expresses + Macaulay's general views on the subject of University honours. "If a man + brings away from Cambridge self-knowledge, accuracy of mind, and habits of + strong intellectual exertion, he has gained more than if he had made a + display of showy superficial Etonian scholarship, got three or four + Browne's medals, and gone forth into the world a schoolboy and doomed to + be a schoolboy to the last. After all, what a man does at Cambridge is, in + itself, nothing. If he makes a poor figure in life, his having been Senior + Wrangler or University scholar is never mentioned but with derision. If he + makes a distinguished figure, his early honours merge in those of a later + date. I hope that I do not overrate my own place in the estimation of + society. Such as it is, I would not give a halfpenny to add to the + consideration which I enjoy, all the consideration that I should derive + from having been Senior Wrangler. But I often regret, and even acutely, my + want of a Senior Wrangler's knowledge of physics and mathematics; and I + regret still more some habits of mind which a Senior Wrangler is pretty + certain to possess." Like all men who know what the world is, he regarded + the triumph of a college career as of less value than its disappointments. + Those are most to be envied who soonest learn to expect nothing for which + they have not worked hard, and who never acquire the habit, (a habit which + an unbroken course of University successes too surely breeds,) of pitying + themselves overmuch if ever in after life they happen to work in vain. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: Wednesday. (Post-mark, 1818) + </p> + <p> + My dear Mother,—King, I am absolutely certain, would take no more + pupils on any account. And, even if he would, he has numerous applicants + with prior claims. He has already six, who occupy him six hours in the + day, and is likewise lecturer to the college. It would, however, be very + easy to obtain an excellent tutor. Lefevre and Malkin are men of + first-rate mathematical abilities, and both of our college. I can scarcely + bear to write on Mathematics or Mathematicians. Oh for words to express my + abomination of that science, if a name sacred to the useful and + embellishing arts may be applied to the perception and recollection of + certain properties in numbers and figures! Oh that I had to learn + astrology, or demonology, or school divinity! Oh that I were to pore over + Thomas Aquinas, and to adjust the relation of Entity with the two + Predicaments, so that I were exempted from this miserable study! + "Discipline" of the mind! Say rather starvation, confinement, torture, + annihilation! But it must be. I feel myself becoming a personification of + Algebra, a living trigonometrical canon, a walking table of Logarithms. + All my perceptions of elegance and beauty gone, or at least going. By the + end of the term my brain will be "as dry as the remainder biscuit after a + voyage." Oh to change Cam for Isis! But such is my destiny; and, since it + is so, be the pursuit contemptible, below contempt, or disgusting beyond + abhorrence, I shall aim at no second place. But three years! I cannot + endure the thought. I cannot bear to contemplate what I must have to + undergo. Farewell then Homer and Sophocles and Cicero. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Farewell happy fields + Where joy for ever reigns + Hail, horrors, hail, Infernal world! +</pre> + <p> + How does it proceed? Milton's descriptions have been driven out of my head + by such elegant expressions as the following + </p> + <p> + [Long mathematical formula] + </p> + <p> + My classics must be Woodhouse, and my amusements summing an infinite + series. Farewell, and tell Selina and Jane to be thankful that it is not a + necessary part of female education to get a headache daily without + acquiring one practical truth or beautiful image in return. Again, and + with affectionate love to my Father, farewell wishes your most miserable + and mathematical son + </p> + <p> + T.B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: November 9, 1818. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—Your letter, which I read with the greatest + pleasure, is perfectly safe from all persons who could make a bad use of + it. The Emperor Alexander's plans as detailed in the conversation between + him and Clarkson [Thomas Clarkson, the famous assailant of slavery.] are + almost superhuman; and tower as much above the common hopes and + aspirations of philanthropists as the statue which his Macedonian namesake + proposed to hew out of Mount Athos excelled the most colossal works of + meaner projectors. As Burke said of Henry the Fourth's wish that every + peasant in France might have the chicken in his pot comfortably on a + Sunday, we may say of these mighty plans, "The mere wish, the unfulfilled + desire, exceeded all that we hear of the splendid professions and exploits + of princes." Yet my satisfaction in the success of that noble cause in + which the Emperor seems to be exerting himself with so much zeal is + scarcely so great as my regret for the man who would have traced every + step of its progress with anxiety, and hailed its success with the most + ardent delight. Poor Sir Samuel Romilly! Quando ullum invenient parem? How + long may a penal code at once too sanguinary and too lenient, half written + in blood like Draco's, and half undefined and loose as the common law of a + tribe of savages, be the curse and disgrace of the country? How many years + may elapse before a man who knows like him all that law can teach, and + possesses at the same time like him a liberality and a discernment of + general rights which the technicalities of professional learning rather + tend to blunt, shall again rise to ornament and reform our jurisprudence? + For such a man, if he had fallen in the maturity of years and honours, and + been borne from the bed of sickness to a grave by the side of his + prototype Hale amidst the tears of nobles and senators, even then, I + think, the public sorrow would have been extreme. But that the last + moments of an existence of high thoughts and great virtues should have + been passed as his were passed! In my feelings the scene at Claremont [The + death of Princess Charlotte.] this time last year was mere dust in the + balance in comparison. + </p> + <p> + Ever your affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: Friday, February 5, 1819. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I have not of course had time to examine with + attention all your criticisms on Pompeii. [The subject of the English poem + for the Chancellor's prize of 1819 was the Destruction of Pompeii.] I + certainly am much obliged to you for withdrawing so much time from more + important business to correct my effusions. Most of the remarks which I + have examined are perfectly just; but as to the more momentous charge, the + want of a moral, I think it might be a sufficient defence that, if a + subject is given which admits of none, the man who writes without a moral + is scarcely censurable. But is it the real fact that no literary + employment is estimable or laudable which does not lead to the spread of + moral truth or the excitement of virtuous feeling? Books of amusement tend + to polish the mind, to improve the style, to give variety to conversation, + and to lend a grace to more important accomplishments. He who can effect + this has surely done something. Is no useful end served by that writer + whose works have soothed weeks of languor and sickness, have relieved the + mind exhausted from the pressure of employment by an amusement which + delights without enervating, which relaxes the tension of the powers + without rendering them unfit for future exercise? I should not be + surprised to see these observations refuted; and I shall not be sorry if + they are so. I feel personally little interest in the question. If my life + be a life of literature, it shall certainly be one of literature directed + to moral ends. + </p> + <p> + At all events let us be consistent. I was amused in turning over an old + volume of the Christian Observer to find a gentleman signing himself + Excubitor, (one of our antagonists in the question of novel-reading,) + after a very pious argument on the hostility of novels to a religious + frame of mind, proceeding to observe that he was shocked to hear a young + lady who had displayed extraordinary knowledge of modern ephemeral + literature own herself ignorant of Dryden's fables! Consistency with a + vengeance! The reading of modern poetry and novels excites a worldly + disposition and prevents ladies from reading Dryden's fables! There is a + general disposition among the more literary part of the religious world to + cry down the elegant literature of our own times, while they are not in + the slightest degree shocked at atrocious profaneness or gross indelicacy + when a hundred years have stamped them with the title of classical. I say: + "If you read Dryden you can have no reasonable objection to reading + Scott." The strict antagonist of ephemeral reading exclaims, "Not so. + Scott's poems are very pernicious. They call away the mind from spiritual + religion, and from Tancred and Sigismunda." But I am exceeding all + ordinary limits. If these hasty remarks fatigue you, impute it to my + desire of justifying myself from a charge which I should be sorry to incur + with justice. Love to all at home. + </p> + <p> + Affectionately yours, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + With or without a moral, the poem carried the day. The subject for the + next year was Waterloo. The opening lines of Macaulay's exercise were + pretty and simple enough to ruin his chance in an academical competition. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + It was the Sabbath morn. How calm and fair + Is the blest dawning of the day of prayer! + Who hath not felt how fancy's mystic power + With holier beauty decks that solemn hour; + A softer lustre in its sunshine sees; + And hears a softer music in its breeze? + Who hath not dreamed that even the skylark's throat + Hails that sweet morning with a gentler note? + Fair morn, how gaily shone thy dawning smile + On the green valleys of my native isle! + How gladly many a spire's resounding height + With peals of transport hailed thy newborn light! + Ah! little thought the peasant then, who blest + The peaceful hour of consecrated rest, + And heard the rustic Temple's arch prolong + The simple cadence of the hallowed song, + That the same sun illumed a gory field, + Where wilder song and sterner music pealed; + Where many a yell unholy rent the air, + And many a hand was raised,—but not in prayer. +</pre> + <p> + The prize fell to a man of another college, and Trinity comforted itself + by inventing a story to the effect that the successful candidate had run + away from the battle. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1819 there took place a military affair, less attractive + than Waterloo as a theme for poets, but which, as far as this country is + concerned, has proved even more momentous in its ultimate consequences. On + the 16th of August a Reform demonstration was arranged at Manchester + resembling those which were common in the Northern districts during the + year 1866, except that in 1819 women formed an important element in the + procession. A troop of yeomanry, and afterwards two squadrons of hussars, + were sent in among the crowd, which was assembled in St. Peter's Fields, + the site on which the Free Trade Hall now stands. The men used their + swords freely, and the horses their hoofs. The people, who meant anything + but fighting, trampled each other down in the attempt to escape. Five or + six lives were lost, and fifty or sixty persons were badly hurt; but the + painful impression wrought upon the national conscience was well worth the + price. British blood has never since been shed by British hands in any + civic contest that rose above the level of a lawless riot. The immediate + result, however, was to concentrate and embitter party feeling. The grand + jury threw out the bills against the yeomen, and found true bills against + the popular orators who had called the meeting together. The Common + Councilmen of the City of London, who had presented an Address to the + Prince Regent reflecting upon the conduct of the Government, were roundly + rebuked for their pains. Earl Fitzwilliam was dismissed from the office of + Lord Lieutenant, for taking part in a Yorkshire county gathering which had + passed resolutions in the same sense as the Address from the City. On the + other hand, a Peterloo medal was struck, which is still treasured in such + Manchester families as have not learned to be ashamed of the old + Manchester politics. + </p> + <p> + In this heated state of the political atmosphere the expiring Toryism of + the Anti-Slavery leaders flamed up once again. "I declare," said + Wilberforce, "my greatest cause of difference with the democrats is their + laying, and causing people to lay, so great a stress on the concerns of + this world as to occupy their whole minds and hearts, and to leave a few + scanty and lukewarm thoughts for the heavenly treasure." Zachary Macaulay, + who never canted, and who knew that on the 16th of August the Manchester + Magistrates were thinking just as much or as little about religion as the + Manchester populace, none the less took the same side as Wilberforce. + Having formed for himself, by observations made on the spot, a decided + opinion that the authorities ought to be supported, he was much disturbed + by reports which came to him from Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + September, 1819. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—My mother's letter, which has just arrived, has + given me much concern. The letter which has, I am sorry to learn, given + you and her uneasiness was written rapidly and thoughtlessly enough, but + can scarcely, I think, as far as I remember its tenour, justify some of + the extraordinary inferences which it has occasioned. I can only assure + you most solemnly that I am not initiated into any democratical societies + here, and that I know no people who make politics a common or frequent + topic of conversation, except one man who is a determined Tory. It is true + that this Manchester business has roused some indignation here, as at + other places, and drawn philippics against the powers that be from lips + which I never heard opened before but to speak on university contests or + university scandal. For myself I have long made it a rule never to talk on + politics except in the most general manner; and I believe that my most + intimate associates have no idea of my opinions on the questions of party. + I can scarcely be censured, I think, for imparting them to you;—which, + however, I should scarcely have thought of doing, (so much is my mind + occupied with other concerns,) had not your letter invited me to state my + sentiments on the Manchester business. + </p> + <p> + I hope that this explanation will remove some of your uneasiness. As to my + opinions, I have no particular desire to vindicate them. They are merely + speculative, and therefore cannot partake of the nature of moral + culpability. They are early formed, and I am not solicitous that you + should think them superior to those of most people at eighteen. I will, + however, say this in their defence. Whatever the affectionate alarm of my + dear mother may lead her to apprehend, I am not one of the "sons of + anarchy and confusion" with whom she classes me. My opinions, good or bad, + were learnt, not from Hunt and Waithman, but from Cicero, from Tacitus, + and from Milton. They are the opinions which have produced men who have + ornamented the world, and redeemed human nature from the degradation of + ages of superstition and slavery. I may be wrong as to the facts of what + occurred at Manchester; but, if they be what I have seen them stated, I + can never repent speaking of them with indignation. When I cease to feel + the injuries of others warmly, to detest wanton cruelty, and to feel my + soul rise against oppression, I shall think myself unworthy to be your + son. + </p> + <p> + I could say a great deal more. Above all I might, I think, ask, with some + reason, why a few democratical sentences in a letter, a private letter, of + a collegian of eighteen, should be thought so alarming an indication of + character, when Brougham and other people, who at an age which ought to + have sobered them talk with much more violence, are not thought + particularly ill of? But I have so little room left that I abstain, and + will only add thus much. Were my opinions as decisive as they are + fluctuating, and were the elevation of a Cromwell or the renown of a + Hampden the certain reward of my standing forth in the democratic cause, I + would rather have my lips sealed on the subject than give my mother or you + one hour of uneasiness. There are not so many people in the world who love + me that I can afford to pain them for any object of ambition which it + contains. If this assurance be not sufficient, clothe it in what language + you please, and believe me to express myself in those words which you + think the strongest and most solemn. Affectionate love to my mother and + sisters. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: January 5, 1820. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—Nothing that gives you disquietude can give me + amusement. Otherwise I should have been excessively diverted by the + dialogue which you have reported with so much vivacity; the accusation; + the predictions; and the elegant agnomen of "the novel-reader" for which I + am indebted to this incognito. I went in some amazement to Malden, + Romilly, and Barlow. Their acquaintance comprehends, I will venture to + say, almost every man worth knowing in the university in every field of + study. They had never heard the appellation applied to me by any man. + Their intimacy with me would of course prevent any person from speaking to + them on the subject in an insulting manner; for it is not usual here, + whatever your unknown informant may do, for a gentleman who does not wish + to be kicked downstairs to reply to a man who mentions another as his + particular friend, "Do you mean the blackguard or the novel-reader?" But I + am fully convinced that had the charge prevailed to any extent it must + have reached the ears of one of those whom I interrogated. At all events I + have the consolation of not being thought a novel-reader by three or four + who are entitled to judge upon the subject, and whether their opinion be + of equal value with that of this John-a-Nokes against whom I have to plead + I leave you to decide. + </p> + <p> + But stronger evidence, it seems, is behind. This gentleman was in company + with me. Alas that I should never have found out how accurate an observer + was measuring my sentiments, numbering the novels which I criticised, and + speculating on the probability of my being plucked. "I was familiar with + all the novels whose names he had ever heard." If so frightful an + accusation did not stun me at once, I might perhaps hint at the + possibility that this was to be attributed almost as much to the + narrowness of his reading on this subject as to the extent of mine. There + are men here who are mere mathematical blocks; who plod on their eight + hours a day to the honours of the Senate House; who leave the groves which + witnessed the musings of Milton, of Bacon, and of Gray, without one + liberal idea or elegant image, and carry with them into the world minds + contracted by unmingled attention to one part of science, and memories + stored only with technicalities. How often have I seen such men go forth + into society for people to stare at them, and ask each other how it comes + that beings so stupid in conversation, so uninformed on every subject of + history, of letters, and of taste, could gain such distinction at + Cambridge! + </p> + <p> + It is in such circles, which, I am happy to say, I hardly know but by + report, that knowledge of modern literature is called novel-reading; a + commodious name, invented by ignorance and applied by envy, in the same + manner as men without learning call a scholar a pedant, and men without + principle call a Christian a Methodist. To me the attacks of such men are + valuable as compliments. The man whose friend tells him that he is known + to be extensively acquainted with elegant literature may suspect that he + is flattering him; but he may feel real and secure satisfaction when some + Johnian sneers at him for a novel-reader. [My uncle was fond of telling us + how he would walk miles out of Cambridge in order to meet the coach which + brought the last new Waverley novel.] + </p> + <p> + As to the question whether or not I am wasting time, I shall leave that + for time to answer. I cannot afford to sacrifice a day every week in + defence and explanation as to my habits of reading. I value, most deeply + value, that solicitude which arises from your affection for me; but let it + not debar me from justice and candour. Believe me ever, my dear Father, + </p> + <p> + Your most affectionate son, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + The father and son were in sympathy upon what, at this distance of time, + appears as the least inviting article of the Whig creed. They were both + partisans of the Queen. Zachary Macaulay was inclined in her favour by + sentiments alike of friendship, and of the most pardonable resentment. + Brougham, her illustrious advocate, had for ten years been the main hope + and stay of the movement against Slavery and the Slave Trade; while the + John Bull, whose special mission it was to write her down, honoured the + Abolitionist party with its declared animosity. However full its columns + might be of libels upon the honour of the wives and daughters of Whig + statesmen, it could always find room for calumnies against Mr. Macaulay + which in ingenuity of fabrication, and in cruelty of intention, were + conspicuous even among the contents of the most discreditable publication + that ever issued from the London press. When Queen Caroline landed from + the Continent in June 1820 the young Trinity undergraduate greeted her + Majesty with a complimentary ode, which certainly little resembled those + effusions that, in the old courtly days, an University was accustomed to + lay at the feet of its Sovereign. The piece has no literary value, and is + curious only as reflecting the passion of the hour. The first and last + stanzas run as follows:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Let mirth on every visage shine + And glow in every soul. + Bring forth, bring forth, the oldest wine, + And crown the largest bowl. + Bear to her home, while banners fly + From each resounding steeple, + And rockets sparkle in the sky, + The Daughter of the People. + E'en here, for one triumphant day, + Let want and woe be dumb, + And bonfires blaze, and schoolboys play. + Thank Heaven, our Queen is come. + + * * * * + + Though tyrant hatred still denies + Each right that fits thy station, + To thee a people's love supplies + A nobler coronation; + A coronation all unknown + To Europe's royal vermin; + For England's heart shall be thy throne, + And purity thine ermine; + Thy Proclamation our applause, + Applause denied to some; + Thy crown our love; thy shield our laws. + Thank Heaven, our Queen is come! +</pre> + <p> + Early in November, warned by growing excitement outside the House of + Lords, and by dwindling majorities within, Lord Liverpool announced that + the King's Ministers had come to the determination not to proceed further + with the Bill of Pains and Penalties. The joy which this declaration + spread through the country has been described as "beyond the scope of + record." + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: November 13, 1820. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—All here is ecstasy. "Thank God, the country is + saved," were my first words when I caught a glimpse of the papers of + Friday night. "Thank God, the country is saved," is written on every face + and echoed by every voice. Even the symptoms of popular violence, three + days ago so terrific, are now displayed with good humour and received with + cheerfulness. Instead of curses on the Lords, on every post and every wall + is written, "All is as it should be;" "Justice done at last;" and similar + mottoes expressive of the sudden turn of public feeling. How the case may + stand in London I do not know; but here the public danger, like all + dangers which depend merely on human opinions and feelings, has + disappeared from our sight almost in the twinkling of an eye. I hope that + the result of these changes may be the secure reestablishment of our + commerce, which I suppose political apprehension must have contributed to + depress. I hope, at least, that there is no danger to our own fortunes of + the kind at which you seem to hint. Be assured however, my dear Father, + that, be our circumstances what they may, I feel firmly prepared to + encounter the worst with fortitude, and to do my utmost to retrieve it by + exertion. The best inheritance you have already secured to me,—an + unblemished name and a good education. And for the rest, whatever + calamities befall us, I would not, to speak without affectation, exchange + adversity consoled, as with us it must ever be, by mutual affection and + domestic happiness, for anything which can be possessed by those who are + destitute of the kindness of parents and sisters like mine. But I think, + on referring to your letter, that I insist too much upon the signification + of a few words. I hope so, and trust that everything will go well. But it + is chapel time, and I must conclude. + </p> + <p> + Ever most affectionately yours, + </p> + <p> + T.B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Trin. Coll.: March 25, 1821. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mother,—I entreat you to entertain no apprehensions about my + health. My fever, cough, and sore-throat have all disappeared for the last + four days. Many thanks for your intelligence about poor dear John's + recovery, which has much exhilarated me. Yet I do not know whether illness + to him is not rather a prerogative than an evil. I am sure that it is well + worth while being sick to be nursed by a mother. There is nothing which I + remember with such pleasure as the time when you nursed me at Aspenden. + The other night, when I lay on my sofa very ill and hypochondriac, I was + thinking over that time. How sick, and sleepless, and weak I was, lying in + bed, when I was told that you were come! How well I remember with what an + ecstasy of joy I saw that face approaching me, in the middle of people + that did not care if I died that night except for the trouble of burying + me! The sound of your voice, the touch of your hand, are present to me + now, and will be, I trust in God, to my last hour. The very thought of + these things invigorated me the other day; and I almost blessed the + sickness and low spirits which brought before me associated images of a + tenderness and an affection, which, however imperfectly repaid, are deeply + remembered. Such scenes and such recollections are the bright half of + human nature and human destiny. All objects of ambition, all rewards of + talent, sink into nothing compared with that affection which is + independent of good or adverse circumstances, excepting that it is never + so ardent, so delicate, or so tender as in the hour of languor or + distress. But I must stop. I had no intention of pouring out on paper what + I am much more used to think than to express. Farewell, my dear Mother. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately, + </p> + <p> + T.B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay liked Cambridge too well to spend the long vacation elsewhere + except under strong compulsion; but in 1821, with the terrors of the + Mathematical Tripos already close at hand, he was persuaded into joining a + reading party in Wales with a Mr. Bird as tutor. Eardley Childers, the + father of the statesman of that name, has preserved a pleasant little + memorial of the expedition. + </p> + <p> + To Charles Smith Bird, Eardley Childers, Thos. B. Macaulay, William + Clayton Walters, Geo. B. Paley, Robert Jarratt, Thos. Jarratt, Edwin + Kempson, Ebenezer Ware, Wm. Cornwall, John Greenwood, J. Lloyd, and Jno. + Wm. Gleadall, Esquires. + </p> + <p> + Gentlemen,—We the undersigned, for ourselves and the inhabitants in + general of the town of Llanrwst in the county of Denbigh, consider it our + duty to express to you the high sense we entertain of your general good + conduct and demeanour during your residence here, and we assure you that + we view with much regret the period of your separation and departure from + amongst us. We are very sensible of the obligation we are under for your + uniformly benevolent and charitable exertions upon several public + occasions, and we feel peculiar pleasure in thus tendering to you + individually our gratitude and thanks. + </p> + <p> + Wishing you all possible prosperity and happiness in your future + avocations, we subscribe ourselves with unfeigned respect, Gentlemen, + </p> + <p> + Your most obedient servants, + </p> + <p> + REV. JOHN TILTEY, + </p> + <p> + &c., &c. + </p> + <p> + (25 signatures.) + </p> + <p> + In one respect Macaulay hardly deserved his share of this eulogium. A + scheme was on foot in the town to found an auxiliary branch of the Bible + Society. A public meeting was called, and Mr. Bird urged his eloquent + pupil to aid the project with a specimen of Union rhetoric. Macaulay, + however, had had enough of the Bible Society at Clapham, and sturdily + refused to come forward as its champion at Llanrwst. + </p> + <p> + Llanrwst: July—, 1821. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mother,—You see I know not how to date my letter. My + calendar in this sequestered spot is as irregular as Robinson Crusoe's + after he had missed one day in his calculation. I have no intelligence to + send you, unless a battle between a drunken attorney and an impudent + publican which took place here yesterday may deserve the appellation. You + may perhaps be more interested to hear that I sprained my foot, and am + just recovering from the effects of the accident by means of opodeldoc + which I bought at the tinker's. For all trades and professions here lie in + a most delightful confusion. The druggist sells hats; the shoemaker is the + sole bookseller, if that dignity may be allowed him on the strength of the + three Welsh Bibles, and the guide to Caernarvon, which adorn his window; + ink is sold by the apothecary; the grocer sells ropes, (a commodity which, + I fear, I shall require before my residence here is over,) and + tooth-brushes. A clothes-brush is a luxury yet unknown to Llanrwst. As to + books, for want of any other English literature, I intend to learn + Paradise Lost by heart at odd moments. But I must conclude. Write to me + often, my dear Mother, and all of you at home, or you may have to answer + for my drowning myself, like Gray's bard, in "Old Conway's foaming flood," + which is most conveniently near for so poetical an exit. + </p> + <p> + Ever most affectionately yours, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Llanrwst: August 32, 1821. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I have just received your letter, and cannot but + feel concerned at the tone of it. I do not think it quite fair to attack + me for filling my letters with remarks on the King's Irish expedition. It + has been the great event of this part of the world. I was at Bangor when + he sailed. His bows, and the Marquis of Anglesea's fete, were the + universal subjects of conversation; and some remarks on the business were + as natural from me as accounts of the coronation from you in London. In + truth I have little else to say. I see nothing that connects me with the + world except the newspapers. I get up, breakfast, read, play at quoits, + and go to bed. This is the history of my life. It will do for every day of + the last fortnight. + </p> + <p> + As to the King, I spoke of the business, not at all as a political, but as + a moral question,—as a point of correct feeling and of private + decency. If Lord were to issue tickets for a gala ball immediately after + receiving intelligence of the sudden death of his divorced wife, I should + say the same. I pretend to no great insight into party politics; but the + question whether it is proper for any man to mingle in festivities while + his wife's body lies unburied is one, I confess, which I thought myself + competent to decide. But I am not anxious about the fate of my remarks, + which I have quite forgot, and which, I dare say, were very foolish. To me + it is of little importance whether the King's conduct were right or wrong; + but it is of great importance that those whom I love should not think me a + precipitate, silly, shallow sciolist in politics, and suppose that every + frivolous word that falls from my pen is a dogma which I mean to advance + as indisputable; and all this only because I write to them without + reserve; only because I love them well enough to trust them with every + idea which suggests itself to me. In fact, I believe that I am not more + precipitate or presumptuous than other people, but only more open. You + cannot be more fully convinced than I am how contracted my means are of + forming a judgment. If I chose to weigh every word that I uttered or wrote + to you, and, whenever I alluded to politics, were to labour and qualify my + expressions as if I were drawing up a state paper, my letters might be a + great deal wiser, but would not be such letters as I should wish to + receive from those whom I loved. Perfect love, we are told, casteth out + fear. If I say, as I know I do, a thousand wild and inaccurate things, and + employ exaggerated expressions about persons or events in writing to you + or to my mother, it is not, I believe, that I want power to systematise my + ideas or to measure my expressions, but because I have no objection to + letting you see my mind in dishabille. I have a court dress for days of + ceremony and people of ceremony, nevertheless. But I would not willingly + be frightened into wearing it with you; and I hope you do not wish me to + do so. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To hoax a newspaper has, time out of mind, been the special ambition of + undergraduate wit. In the course of 1821 Macaulay sent to the Morning Post + a burlesque copy of verses, entitled "Tears of Sensibility." The editor + fell an easy victim, but unfortunately did not fall alone. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + No pearl of ocean is so sweet + As that in my Zuleika's eye. + No earthly jewel can compete + With tears of sensibility. + + Like light phosphoric on the billow, + Or hermit ray of evening sky, + Like ripplings round a weeping willow + Are tears of sensibility. + + Like drops of Iris-coloured fountains + By which Endymion loved to lie, + Like dew-gems on untrodden mountains + Are tears of sensibility. + + While Zephyr broods o'er moonlight rill + The flowerets droop as if to die, + And from their chaliced cup distil + The tears of sensibility. + + The heart obdurate never felt + One link of Nature's magic tie + If ne'er it knew the bliss to melt + In tears of sensibility. + + The generous and the gentle heart + Is like that balmy Indian tree + Which scatters from the wounded part + The tears of sensibility. + + Then oh! ye Fair, if Pity's ray + E'er taught your snowy breasts to sigh, + Shed o'er my contemplative lay + The tears of sensibility. +</pre> + <p> + November 2, 1821. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mother,—I possess some of the irritability of a poet, and it + has been a good deal awakened by your criticisms. I could not have + imagined that it would have been necessary for me to have said that the + execrable trash entitled "Tears of Sensibility" was merely a burlesque on + the style of the magazine verses of the day. I could not suppose that you + could have suspected me of <i>seriously</i> composing such a farrago of + false metaphor and unmeaning epithet. It was meant solely for a caricature + on the style of the poetasters of newspapers and journals; and, (though I + say it who should not say it,) has excited more attention and received + more praise at Cambridge than it deserved. If you have it, read it over + again, and do me the justice to believe that such a compound of jargon, + nonsense, false images, and exaggerated sentiment, is not the product of + my serious labours. I sent it to the Morning Post, because that paper is + the ordinary receptacle of trash of the description which I intended to + ridicule, and its admission therefore pointed the jest. I see, however, + that for the future I must mark more distinctly when I intend to be + ironical. + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate son + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge: July 26, 1822. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I have been engaged to take two pupils for nine + months of the next year. They are brothers, whose father, a Mr. Stoddart, + resides at Cambridge. I am to give them an hour a day, each; and am to + receive a hundred guineas. It gives me great pleasure to be able even in + this degree to relieve you from the burden of my expenses here. I begin my + tutorial labours to-morrow. My pupils are young, one being fifteen and the + other thirteen years old, but I hear excellent accounts of their + proficiency, and I intend to do my utmost for them. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + A few days later on he writes "I do not dislike teaching whether it is + that I am more patient than I had imagined, or that I have not yet had + time to grow tired of my new vocation. I find, also, what at first sight + may appear paradoxical, that I read much more in consequence, and that the + regularity of habits necessarily produced by a periodical employment which + cannot be procrastinated fully compensates for the loss of the time which + is consumed in tuition." + </p> + <p> + Trinity College, Cambridge: October 1, 1824. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I was elected Fellow this morning, shall be sworn in + to-morrow, and hope to leave Cambridge on Tuesday for Rothley Temple. The + examiners speak highly of the manner in which I acquitted myself, and I + have reason to believe that I stood first of the candidates. + </p> + <p> + I need not say how much I am delighted by my success, and how much I enjoy + the thought of the pleasure which it will afford to you, my mother, and + our other friends. Till I become a Master of Arts next July the pecuniary + emolument which I shall derive will not be great. For seven years from + that time it will make me almost an independent man. + </p> + <p> + Malden is elected. You will take little interest in the rest of our + Cambridge successes and disappointments. + </p> + <p> + Yours most affectionately, + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. 1824-30. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Macaulay is called to the bar—Does not make it a serious + profession—Speech before the Anti-Slavery Society—Knight's + Quarterly Magazine—The Edinburgh Review and the Essay on + Milton—Macaulay's personal appearance and mode of + existence—His defects and virtues, likings and antipathies— + Croker Sadler—Zachary Macaulay's circumstances— + Description of the family habits of life in Great Ormond + Street—Macaulay's sisters—Hannah Macaulay—the Judicious + Poet—Macaulay's humour in conversation—His articles in the + Review—His attacks on the Utilitarians and on Southey— + Blackwood's Magazine—Macaulay is made Commissioner of + Bankruptcy—Enters Parliament—Letters from Circuit and + Edinburgh. +</pre> + <p> + MACAULAY was called to the bar in 1826, and joined the Northern circuit. + On the evening that he first appeared at mess, when the company were + retiring for the night, he was observed to be carefully picking out the + longest candle. An old King's Counsel, who noticed that he had a volume + under his arm, remonstrated with him on the danger of reading in bed, upon + which he rejoined with immense rapidity of utterance "I always read in bed + at home; and, if I am not afraid of committing parricide, and matricide, + and fratricide, I can hardly be expected to pay any special regard to the + lives of the bagmen of Leeds." And, so saying, he left his hearers staring + at one another, and marched off to his room, little knowing that, before + many years were out, he would have occasion to speak much more + respectfully of the Leeds bagmen. + </p> + <p> + Under its social aspect Macaulay heartily enjoyed his legal career. He + made an admirable literary use of the Saturnalia which the Northern + circuit calls by the name of "Grand Night," when personalities of the most + pronounced description are welcomed by all except the object of them, and + forgiven even by him. His hand may be recognised in a macaronic poem, + written in Greek and English, describing the feast at which Alexander + murdered Clitus. The death of the victim is treated with an exuberance of + fantastic drollery, and a song, put into the mouth of Nearchus, the + admiral of the Macedonian fleet, and beginning with the lines + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When as first I did come back from ploughing the salt water + They paid me off at Salamis, three minae and a quarter,—" +</pre> + <p> + is highly Aristophanic in every sense of the word. + </p> + <p> + He did not seriously look to the bar as a profession. No persuasion would + induce him to return to his chambers in the evening, according to the + practice then in vogue. After the first year or two of the period during + which he called himself a barrister he gave up even the pretence of + reading law, and spent many more hours under the gallery of the House of + Commons, than in all the Courts together. The person who knew him best + said of him: "Throughout life he never really applied himself to any + pursuit that was against the grain." Nothing is more characteristic of the + man than the contrast between his unconquerable aversion to the science of + jurisprudence at the time when he was ostensibly preparing himself to be + an advocate, and the zest with which, on his voyage to India, he mastered + that science in principle and detail as soon as his imagination was fired + by the prospect of the responsibilities of a law-giver. + </p> + <p> + He got no business worth mention, either in London or on circuit. Zachary + Macaulay, who was not a man of the world, did what he could to make + interest with the attorneys, and, as a last resource, proposed to his son + to take a brief in a suit which he himself had instituted against the + journal that had so grossly libelled him. "I am rather glad," writes + Macaulay from York in March 1827, "that I was not in London, if your + advisers thought it right that I should have appeared as your counsel. + Whether it be contrary to professional etiquette I do not know; but I am + sure that it would be shocking to public feeling, and particularly + imprudent against adversaries whose main strength lies in detecting and + exposing indecorum or eccentricity. It would have been difficult to avoid + a quarrel with Sugden, with Wetherell, and with old Lord Eldon himself. + Then the John Bull would have been upon us with every advantage. The + personal part of the consideration it would have been my duty, and my + pleasure and pride also, to overlook; but your interests must have + suffered." + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile he was busy enough in fields better adapted than the law to his + talents and his temperament. He took a part in a meeting of the + Anti-Slavery Society held at Freemasons' Tavern, on the 25th of June 1824, + with the Duke of Gloucester in the chair. The Edinburgh Review described + his speech as "a display of eloquence so signal for rare and matured + excellence that the most practised orator may well admire how it should + have come from one who then for the first time addressed a public + assembly." + </p> + <p> + Those who know what the annual meeting of a well-organised and disciplined + association is, may imagine the whirlwind of cheers which greeted the + declaration that the hour was at hand when "the peasant of the Antilles + will no longer crawl in listless and trembling dejection round a + plantation from whose fruits he must derive no advantage, and a hut whose + door yields him no protection; but, when his cheerful and voluntary labour + is performed, he will return with the firm step and erect brow of a + British citizen from the field which is his freehold to the cottage which + is his castle." + </p> + <p> + Surer promise of aptitude for political debate was afforded by the skill + with which the young speaker turned to account the recent trial for + sedition, and death in prison, of Smith, the Demerara missionary; an event + which was fatal to Slavery in the West Indies in the same degree as the + execution of John Brown was its deathblow in the United States. "When this + country has been endangered either by arbitrary power or popular delusion, + truth has still possessed one irresistible organ, and justice one + inviolable tribunal. That organ has been an English press, and that + tribunal an English jury. But in those wretched islands we see a press + more hostile to truth than any censor, and juries more insensible to + justice than any Star Chamber. In those islands alone is exemplified the + full meaning of the most tremendous of the curses denounced against the + apostate Hebrews, 'I will curse your blessings.' We can prove this + assertion out of the mouth of our adversaries. We remember, and God + Almighty forbid that we ever should forget, how, at the trial of Mr. + Smith, hatred regulated every proceeding, was substituted for every law, + and allowed its victim no sanctuary in the house of mourning, no refuge in + the very grave. Against the members of that court-martial the country has + pronounced its verdict. But what is the line of defence taken by its + advocates? It has been solemnly and repeatedly declared in the House of + Commons that a jury composed of planters would have acted with far more + injustice than did this court;—this court which has never found a + single lawyer to stake his professional character on the legality of its + proceedings. The argument is this. Things have doubtless been done which + should not have been done. The court-martial sat without a jurisdiction; + it convicted without evidence; it condemned to a punishment not warranted + by law. But we must make allowances. We must judge by comparison. 'Mr + Smith ought to have been very thankful that it was no worse. Only think + what would have been his fate if he had been tried by a jury of planters!' + Sir, I have always lived under the protection of the British laws, and + therefore I am unable to imagine what could be worse; but, though I have + small knowledge, I have a large faith; I by no means presume to set any + limits to the possible injustice of a West Indian judicature. And since + the colonists maintain that a jury composed of their own body not only + possibly might, but necessarily must, have acted with more iniquity than + this court-martial, I certainly shall not dispute the assertion, though I + am utterly unable to conceive the mode." + </p> + <p> + That was probably the happiest half-hour of Zachary Macaulay's life. "My + friend," said Wilberforce, when his turn came to speak, "would doubtless + willingly bear with all the base falsehoods, all the vile calumnies, all + the detestable artifices which have been aimed against him, to render him + the martyr and victim of our cause, for the gratification he has this day + enjoyed in hearing one so dear to him plead such a cause in such a + manner." Keen as his pleasure was, he took it in his own sad way. From the + first moment to the last, he never moved a muscle of his countenance, but + sat with his eyes fixed on a piece of paper, on which he seemed to be + writing with a pencil. While talking with his son that evening, he + referred to what had passed only to remark that it was ungraceful in so + young a man to speak with folded arms in the presence of royalty. + </p> + <p> + In 1823 the leading members of the cleverest set of boys who ever were + together at a public school found themselves collected once more at + Cambridge. Of the former staff of the Etonian, Praed, Moultrie, Nelson + Coleridge, and, among others, Mr. Edmond Beales, so well known to our + generation as an ardent politician, were now in residence at King's or + Trinity. Mr. Charles Knight, too enterprising a publisher to let such a + quantity of youthful talent run to waste, started a periodical, which was + largely supported by undergraduates and Bachelors of Arts, among whom the + veterans of the Eton press formed a brilliant, and, as he vainly hoped, a + reliable nucleus of contributors. + </p> + <p> + Knight's Quarterly Magazine is full of Macaulay, and of Macaulay in the + attractive shape which a great author wears while he is still writing to + please no one but himself. He unfortunately did not at all please his + father. In the first number, besides a great deal of his that is still + worth reading, there were printed under his adopted signature of Tristram + Merton two little poems, the nature of which may be guessed from Praed's + editorial comments. "Tristram Merton, I have a strong curiosity to know + who Rosamond is. But you will not tell me; and, after all, as far as your + verses are concerned, the surname is nowise germane to the matter. As poor + Sheridan said, it is too formal to be registered in love's calendar." And + again: "Tristram, I hope Rosamond and your Fair Girl of France will not + pull caps; but I cannot forbear the temptation of introducing your Roxana + and Statira to an admiring public." The verses were such as any man would + willingly look back to having written at two and twenty; but their + appearance occasioned real misery to Zachary Macaulay, who indeed + disapproved of the whole publication from beginning to end, with the + exception of an article on West Indian Slavery which his son had inserted + with the most filial intention, but which, it must be allowed, was not + quite in keeping with the general character of the magazine. + </p> + <p> + July 9, 1823. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I have seen the two last letters which you have sent + to my mother. They have given me deep pain; but pain without remorse. I am + conscious of no misconduct, and whatever uneasiness I may feel arises + solely from sympathy for your distress. + </p> + <p> + You seem to imagine that the book is edited, or principally written, by + friends of mine. I thought that you had been aware that the work is + conducted in London, and that my friends and myself are merely + contributors, and form a very small proportion of the contributors. The + manners of almost all of my acquaintances are so utterly alien from + coarseness, and their morals from libertinism, that I feel assured that no + objection of that nature can exist to their writings. As to my own + contributions I can only say that the Roman Story was read to my mother + before it was published, and would have been read to you if you had + happened to be at home. Not one syllable of censure was uttered. + </p> + <p> + The Essay on the Royal Society of Literature was read to you. I made the + alterations which I conceived that you desired, and submitted them + afterwards to my mother. As to the poetry which you parallel with + Little's, if anything vulgar or licentious has been written by myself, I + am willing to bear the consequences. If anything of that cast has been + written by my friends, I allow that a certain degree of blame attaches to + me for having chosen them at least indiscreetly. If, however, a bookseller + of whom we knew nothing has coupled improper productions with ours in a + work over which we had no control, I cannot plead guilty to anything more + than misfortune; a misfortune in which some of the most rigidly moral and + religious men of my acquaintance have participated in the present + instance. + </p> + <p> + I am pleading at random for a book which I never saw. I am defending the + works of people most of whose names I never heard. I am therefore writing + under great disadvantages. I write also in great haste. I am unable even + to read over what I have written. + </p> + <p> + Affectionately yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Moved by the father's evident unhappiness, the son promised never to write + again for the obnoxious periodical. The second number was so dull and + decorous that Zachary Macaulay, who felt that, if the magazine went on + through successive quarters reforming its tone in the same proportion, it + would soon be on a level of virtue with the Christian Observer, withdrew + his objection; and the young man wrote regularly till the short life of + the undertaking ended in something very like a quarrel between the + publisher and his contributors. It is not the province of biography to + dilate upon works which are already before the world; and the results of + Macaulay's literary labour during the years 1823 and 1824 have been, + perhaps, only too freely reproduced in the volumes which contain his + miscellaneous writings. It is, however, worthy of notice that among his + earlier efforts in literature his own decided favourite was "the + Conversation between Mr. Abraham Cowley and Mr. John Milton touching the + great Civil War." But an author, who is exempt from vanity, is inclined to + rate his own works rather according as they are free from faults than as + they abound in beauties; and Macaulay's readers will very generally give + the preference to two fragmentary sketches of Roman and Athenian society + which sparkle with life, and humour, and a masculine vigorous fancy that + had not yet learned to obey the rein. Their crude but genuine merit + suggests a regret that he did not in after days enrich the Edinburgh + Review with a couple of articles on classical subjects, as a sample of + that ripened scholarship which produced the Prophecy of Capys, and the + episode relating to the Phalaris controversy in the Essay on Sir William + Temple. + </p> + <p> + Rothley Temple: October 7, 1824. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—As to Knight's Magazine, I really do not think that, + considering the circumstances under which it is conducted, it can be much + censured. Every magazine must contain a certain quantity of mere ballast, + of no value but as it occupies space. The general tone and spirit of the + work will stand a comparison, in a moral point of view, with any + periodical publication not professedly religious. I will venture to say + that nothing has appeared in it, at least since the first number, from the + pen of any of my friends, which can offend the most fastidious. Knight is + absolutely in our hands, and most desirous to gratify us all, and me in + particular. When I see you in London I will mention to you a piece of + secret history which will show you how important our connection with this + work may possibly become. + </p> + <p> + Yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + The "piece of secret history" above referred to was beyond a doubt the + commencement of Macaulay's connection with the Edinburgh Review. That + famous periodical, which for three and twenty years had shared in and + promoted the rising fortunes of the Liberal cause, had now attained its + height—a height unequalled before or since—of political, + social, and literary power. To have the entry of its columns was to + command the most direct channel for the spread of opinions, and the + shortest road to influence and celebrity. But already the anxious eye of + the master seemed to discern symptoms of decline. Jeffrey, in Lord + Cockburn's phrase, was "growing feverish about new writers." In January + 1825 he says in a letter to a friend in London: "Can you not lay your + hands on some clever young man who would write for us? The original + supporters of the work are getting old, and either too busy or too stupid, + and here the young men are mostly Tories." Overtures had already been made + to Macaulay, and that same year his article on Milton appeared in the + August number. + </p> + <p> + The effect on the author's reputation was instantaneous. Like Lord Byron, + he awoke one morning and found himself famous. The beauties of the work + were such as all men could recognise, and its very faults pleased. The + redundance of youthful enthusiasm, which he himself unsparingly condemns + in the preface to his collected essays, seemed graceful enough in the eyes + of others, if it were only as a relief from the perverted ability of that + elaborate libel on our great epic poet which goes by the name of Dr. + Johnson's Life of Milton. Murray declared that it would be worth the + copyright of Childe Harold to have Macaulay on the staff of the Quarterly. + The family breakfast table in Bloomsbury was covered with cards of + invitation to dinner from every quarter of London, and his father groaned + in spirit over the conviction that thenceforward the law would be less to + him than ever. A warm admirer of Robert Hall, Macaulay heard with pride + how the great preacher, then wellnigh worn out with that long disease, his + life, was discovered lying on the floor, employed in learning by aid of + grammar and dictionary enough Italian to enable him to verify the parallel + between Milton and Dante. But the compliment that of all others came most + nearly home,—the only commendation of his literary talent which even + in the innermost domestic circle he was ever known to repeat,—was + the sentence with which Jeffrey acknowledged the receipt of his + manuscript: "The more I think, the less I can conceive where you picked up + that style." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay's outward man was never better described than in two sentences of + Praed's Introduction to Knight's Quarterly Magazine. "There came up a + short manly figure, marvellously upright, with a bad neckcloth, and one + hand in his waistcoat pocket. ["I well remember," writes Sir William + Stirling Maxwell, "the first time I met him,—in 1845 or '46, I + think,—at dinner at the house of his old friend, Sir John Macleod. I + did not know him by sight, and, when he came into the room with two or + three other guests, I supposed that he was announced as General—I + forget what. The party was large, and I was on the other side of the + table, and a good way off, and I was very soon struck by the amazing + number of subjects on which he seemed at home;—politics, home and + foreign,—French literature, and Hebrew poetry;—and I remember + thinking, 'This is a General with a singularly well-stored mind and badly + tied neckcloth.' Till, at last, a remark on the prose of Dryden led me to + conclude that it could be no one but the Great Essayist."] Of regular + beauty he had little to boast; but in faces where there is an expression + of great power, or of great good humour, or both, you do not regret its + absence." This picture, in which every touch is correct, tells all that + there is to be told. He had a massive head, and features of a powerful and + rugged cast, but so constantly lit up by every joyful and ennobling + emotion that it mattered little if, when absolutely quiescent, his face + was rather homely than handsome. While conversing at table no one thought + him otherwise than good-looking; but, when he rose, he was seen to be + short and stout in figure. "At Holland House, the other day," writes his + sister Margaret in September 1831, "Tom met Lady Lyndhurst for the first + time. She said to him: 'Mr. Macaulay, you are so different to what I + expected. I thought you were dark and thin, but you are fair, and really, + Mr. Macaulay, you are fat."' He at all times sat and stood straight, full, + and square; and in this respect Woolner, in the fine statue at Cambridge, + has missed what was undoubtedly the most marked fact in his personal + appearance. + </p> + <p> + He dressed badly, but not cheaply. His clothes, though ill put on, were + good, and his wardrobe was always enormously overstocked. Later in life he + indulged himself in an apparently inexhaustible succession of handsome + embroidered waistcoats, which he used to regard with much complacency. He + was unhandy to a degree quite unexampled in the experience of all who knew + him. When in the open air he wore perfectly new dark kid gloves, into the + fingers of which he never succeeded in inserting his own more than half + way. After he had sailed for India there were found in his chambers + between fifty and sixty strops, hacked into strips and splinters, and + razors without beginning or end. About the same period he hurt his hand, + and was reduced to send for a barber. After the operation, he asked what + was to pay. "Oh, Sir," said the man, "whatever you usually give the person + who shaves you." "In that case," said Macaulay, "I should give you a great + gash on each cheek." + </p> + <p> + During an epoch when, at our principal seats of education, athletic + pursuits are regarded as a leading object of existence rather than as a + means of health and recreation, it requires some boldness to confess that + Macaulay was utterly destitute of bodily accomplishments, and that he + viewed his deficiencies with supreme indifference. He could neither swim, + nor row, nor drive, nor skate, nor shoot. He seldom crossed a saddle, and + never willingly. When in attendance at Windsor as a cabinet minister he + was informed that a horse was at his disposal. "If her Majesty wishes to + see me ride," he said, "she must order out an elephant." The only exercise + in which he can be said to have excelled was that of threading crowded + streets with his eyes fixed upon a book. He might be seen in such + thoroughfares as Oxford Street, and Cheapside, walking as fast as other + people walked, and reading a great deal faster than anybody else could + read. As a pedestrian he was, indeed, above the average. Till he had + passed fifty he thought nothing of going on foot from the Albany to + Clapham, and from Clapham on to Greenwich; and, while still in the prime + of life, he was for ever on his feet indoors as well as out. "In those + days," says his cousin Mrs. Conybeare, "he walked rapidly up and down a + room as he talked. I remember on one occasion, when he was making a call, + he stopped short in his walk in the midst of a declamation on some + subject, and said, 'You have a brick floor here.' The hostess confessed + that it was true, though she hoped that it had been disguised by double + matting and a thick carpet. He said that his habit of always walking + enabled him to tell accurately the material he was treading on." + </p> + <p> + His faults were such as give annoyance to those who dislike a man rather + than anxiety to those who love him. Vehemence, over-confidence, the + inability to recognise that there are two sides to a question or two + people in a dialogue, are defects which during youth are perhaps + inseparable from gifts like those with which he was endowed. Moultrie, + speaking of his undergraduate days, tells us that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To him + There was no pain like silence—no constraint + So dull as unanimity. He breathed + An atmosphere of argument, nor shrank + From making, where he could not find, excuse + For controversial fight." +</pre> + <p> + At Cambridge he would say of himself that, whenever anybody enunciated a + proposition, all possible answers to it rushed into his mind at once; and + it was said of him by others that he had no politics except the opposite + of those held by the person with whom he was talking. To that charge, at + any rate, he did not long continue liable. He left college a staunch and + vehement Whig, eager to maintain against all comers, and at any moment, + that none but Whig opinions had a leg to stand upon. His cousin George + Babington, a rising surgeon, with whom at one time he lived in the closest + intimacy, was always ready to take up the Tory cudgels. The two friends + "would walk up and down the room, crossing each other for hours, shouting + one another down with a continuous simultaneous storm of words, until + George at length yielded to arguments and lungs combined. Never, so far as + I remember, was there any loss of temper. It was a fair, good-humoured + battle in not very mannerly lists." + </p> + <p> + Even as a very young man nine people out of ten liked nothing better than + to listen to him, which was fortunate; because in his early days he had + scanty respect of persons, either as regarded the choice of his topics, or + the quantity of his words. But with his excellent temper, and entire + absence of conceit, he soon began to learn consideration for others in + small things as well as in great. By the time he was fairly launched in + London he was agreeable in company, as well as forcible and amusing. + Wilberforce speaks of his "unruffled good-humour." Sir Robert Inglis, a + good observer with ample opportunity of forming a judgment, pronounced + that he conversed and did not dictate, and that he was loud but never + overbearing. As far back as the year 1826 Crabb Robinson gave a very + favourable account of his demeanour in society, which deserves credence as + the testimony of one who liked his share of talk, and was not willing to + be put in the background for anybody. "I went to James Stephen, and drove + with him to his house at Hendon. A dinner party. I had a most interesting + companion in young Macaulay, one of the most promising of the rising + generation I have seen for a long time. He has a good face,—not the + delicate features of a man of genius and sensibility, but the strong lines + and well-knit limbs of a man sturdy in body and mind. Very eloquent and + cheerful. Overflowing with words, and not poor in thought. Liberal in + opinion, but no radical. He seems a correct as well as a full man. He + showed a minute knowledge of subjects not introduced by himself." + </p> + <p> + So loyal and sincere was Macaulay's nature that he was unwilling to live + upon terms of even apparent intimacy with people whom he did not like, or + could not esteem; and, as far as civility allowed, he avoided their + advances, and especially their hospitality. He did not choose, he said, to + eat salt with a man for whom he could not say a good word in all + companies. He was true throughout life to those who had once acquired his + regard and respect. Moultrie says of him + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His heart was pure and simple as a child's + Unbreathed on by the world: in friendship warm, + Confiding, generous, constant; and, though now + He ranks among the great ones of the earth + And hath achieved such glory as will last + To future generations, he, I think, + Would sup on oysters with as right good will + In this poor home of mine as e'er he did + On Petty Cury's classical first floor + Some twenty years ago." +</pre> + <p> + He loved to place his purse, his influence, and his talents at the + disposal of a friend; and anyone whom he called by that name he judged + with indulgence, and trusted with a faith that would endure almost any + strain. If his confidence proved to have been egregiously misplaced, which + he was always the last to see, he did not resort to remonstrance or + recrimination. His course under such circumstances he described in a + couplet from an old French comedy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Le bruit est pour le fat, la plainte pour le sot; + L'honnete homme trompe s'eloigne et ne dit mot. +</pre> + <p> + ["La Coquette corrigee. Comedie par Mr. Delanoue, 1756." In his journal of + February 15, 1851, after quoting the couplet, Macaulay adds: "Odd that two + lines of a damned play, and, it should seem, a justly damned play, should + have lived near a century and have become proverbial."] + </p> + <p> + He was never known to take part in any family quarrel, or personal broil, + of any description whatsoever. His conduct in this respect was the result + of self-discipline, and did not proceed from any want of sensibility. "He + is very sensitive," said his sister Margaret, "and remembers long, as well + as feels deeply, anything in the form of slight." Indeed, at college his + friends used to tell him that his leading qualities were "generosity and + vindictiveness." Courage he certainly did not lack. During the years when + his spirit was high, and his pen cut deep, and when the habits of society + were different from what they are at present, more than one adversary + displayed symptoms of a desire to meet him elsewhere than on paper. On + these occasions, while showing consideration for his opponent, he evinced + a quiet but very decided sense of what was due to himself, which commanded + the respect of all who were implicated, and brought difficulties that + might have been grave to an honourable and satisfactory issue. + </p> + <p> + He reserved his pugnacity for quarrels undertaken on public grounds, and + fought out with the world looking on as umpire. In the lists of criticism + and of debate it cannot be denied that, as a young man, he sometimes + deserved the praise which Dr. Johnson pronounced upon a good hater. He had + no mercy for bad writers, and notably for bad poets, unless they were in + want of money; in which case he became within his means, the most + open-handed of patrons. He was too apt to undervalue both the heart and + the head of those who desired to maintain the old system of civil and + religious exclusion, and who grudged political power to their + fellow-countrymen, or at any rate to those of their fellow-countrymen whom + he was himself prepared to enfranchise. Independent, frank, and proud + almost to a fault, he detested the whole race of jobbers and time-servers, + parasites and scandal-mongers, led-captains, led-authors, and led-orators. + Some of his antipathies have stamped themselves indelibly upon literary + history. He attributed to the Right Honourable John Wilson Croker, + Secretary to the Admiralty during the twenty years preceding 1830, + qualities which excited his disapprobation beyond control, and possibly + beyond measure. His judgment has been confirmed by the public voice, which + identifies Croker with the character of Rigby in Mr. Disraeli's Coningsby. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay was the more formidable as an opponent because he could be angry + without losing his command of the situation. His first onset was terrific; + but in the fiercest excitement of the melee he knew when to call a halt. A + certain member of Parliament named Michael Thomas Sadler had fallen foul + of Malthus, and very foul indeed of Macaulay, who in two short and telling + articles took revenge enough for both. [Macaulay writes to Mr. Napier in + February 1831: "People here think that I have answered Sadler completely. + Empson tells me that Malthus is well pleased, which is a good sign. As to + Blackwood's trash I could not get through it. It bore the same relation to + Sadler's pamphlet that a bad hash bears to a bad joint."] He writes on + this subject to Mr. Macvey Napier, who towards the close of 1829 had + succeeded Jeffrey in the editorship of the Edinburgh Review: "The position + which we have now taken up is absolutely impregnable, and, if we were to + quit it, though we might win a more splendid victory, we should expose + ourselves to some risk. My rule in controversy has always been that to + which the Lacedaemonians adhered in war: never to break the ranks for the + purpose of pursuing a beaten enemy." He had, indeed, seldom occasion to + strike twice. Where he set his mark, there was no need of a second + impression. The unduly severe fate of those who crossed his path during + the years when his blood was hot teaches a serious lesson on the + responsibilities of genius. Croker, and Sadler, and poor Robert + Montgomery, and the other less eminent objects of his wrath, appear likely + to enjoy just so much notoriety, and of such a nature, as he has thought + fit to deal out to them in his pages; and it is possible that even Lord + Ellenborough may be better known to our grand-children by Macaulay's + oration on the gates of Somnauth than by the noise of his own deeds, or + the echo of his own eloquence. + </p> + <p> + When Macaulay went to college he was justified in regarding himself as one + who would not have to work for his bread. His father, who believed himself + to be already worth a hundred thousand pounds, had statedly declared to + the young man his intention of making him, in a modest way, an eldest son; + and had informed him that, by doing his duty at the university, he would + earn the privilege of shaping his career at choice. In 1818 the family + removed to London, and set up an establishment on a scale suited to their + improved circumstances in Cadogan Place, which, in everything except + proximity to Bond Street, was then hardly less rural than Clapham. But the + prosperity of the house of Macaulay and Babington was short-lived. The + senior member of the firm gave his whole heart, and five-sixths of his + time, to objects unconnected with his business; and he had selected a + partner who did not possess the qualities necessary to compensate for his + own deficiencies. In 1819 the first indications of possible disaster begin + to show themselves in the letters to and from Cambridge; while waiting for + a fellowship Macaulay was glad to make a hundred guineas by taking pupils; + and, as time went on, it became evident that he was to be an eldest son + only in the sense that, throughout the coming years of difficulty and + distress, his brothers and sisters would depend mainly upon him for + comfort, guidance, and support. He acknowledged the claim cheerfully, + lovingly, and, indeed, almost unconsciously. It was not in his disposition + to murmur over what was inevitable, or to plume himself upon doing what + was right. He quietly took up the burden which his father was unable to + bear; and, before many years had elapsed, the fortunes of all for whose + welfare he considered himself responsible were abundantly assured. In the + course of the efforts which he expended on the accomplishment of this + result he unlearned the very notion of framing his method of life with a + view to his own pleasure; and such was his high and simple nature, that it + may well be doubted whether it ever crossed his mind that to live wholly + for others was a sacrifice at all. + </p> + <p> + He resided with his father in Cadogan Place, and accompanied him when, + under the pressure of pecuniary circumstances, he removed to a less + fashionable quarter of the town. In 1823 the family settled in 50 Great + Ormond Street, which runs east and west for some three hundred yards + through the region bounded by the British Museum, the Foundling Hospital, + and Gray's Inn Road. It was a large rambling house, at the corner of Powis + Place, and was said to have been the residence of Lord Chancellor Thurlow + at the time when the Great Seal was stolen from his custody. It now forms + the east wing of an Homoeopathic hospital. Here the Macaulays remained + till 1831. "Those were to me," says Lady Trevelyan, "years of intense + happiness. There might be money troubles, but they did not touch us. Our + lives were passed after a fashion which would seem indeed strange to the + present generation. My father, ever more and more engrossed in one object, + gradually gave up all society; and my mother never could endure it. We had + friends, of course, with whom we stayed out for months together; and we + dined with the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, Sir Robert Inglis, and others; + but what is now meant by 'society' was utterly unknown to us. + </p> + <p> + "In the morning there was some pretence of work and study. In the + afternoon your uncle always took my sister Margaret and myself a long + walk. We traversed every part of the City, Islington, Clerkenwell, and the + Parks, returning just in time for a six o'clock dinner. What anecdotes he + used to pour out about every street, and square, and court, and alley! + There are many places I never pass without 'the tender grace of a day that + is dead' coming back to me. Then, after dinner, he always walked up and + down the drawing-room between us chatting till tea-time. Our noisy mirth, + his wretched puns, so many a minute, so many an hour! Then we sang, none + of us having any voices, and he, if possible, least of all; but still the + old nursery songs were set to music, and chanted. My father, sitting at + his own table, used to look up occasionally, and push back his spectacles, + and, I dare say, wonder in his heart how we could so waste our time. After + tea the book then in reading was produced. Your uncle very seldom read + aloud himself of an evening, but walked about listening, and commenting, + and drinking water. + </p> + <p> + "The Sundays were in some respects trying days to him. My father's habit + was to read a long sermon to us all in the afternoon, and again after + evening service another long sermon was read at prayer-time to the + servants. Our doors were open to sons of relations or friends; and cousins + who were medical students, or clerks in merchants' houses, came in + regularly to partake of our Sunday dinner and sermons. Sunday walking, for + walking's sake, was never allowed; and even going to a distant church was + discouraged. When in Cadogan Place, we always crossed the Five Fields, + where Belgrave Square now stands, to hear Dr. Thorpe at the Lock Chapel, + and bring him home to dine with us. From Great Ormond Street, we attended + St. John's Chapel in Bedford Row, then served by Daniel Wilson, afterwards + Bishop of Calcutta. He was succeeded in 1826 by the Rev. Baptist Noel. + Your uncle generally went to church with us in the morning, and latterly + formed the habit of walking out of town, alone or with a friend, in the + after part of the day. I never heard that my father took any notice of + this; and, indeed, in the interior of his own family, he never attempted + in the smallest degree to check his son in his mode of life, or in the + expression of his opinions. + </p> + <p> + "I believe that breakfast was the pleasantest part of the day to my + father. His spirits were then at their best, and he was most disposed to + general conversation. He delighted in discussing the newspaper with his + son, and lingered over the table long after the meal was finished. On this + account he felt it extremely when, in the year 1829, your uncle went to + live in chambers, and often said to my mother that the change had taken + the brightness out of his day. Though your uncle generally dined with us, + yet my father was tired by the evening, so that the breakfast hour was a + grievous loss to him, as indeed it was to us all. Truly he was to old and + young alike the sunshine of our home; and I believe that no one, who did + not know him there, ever knew him in his most brilliant, witty, and + fertile vein." + </p> + <p> + That home was never more cheerful than during the eight years which + followed the close of Macaulay's college life. There had been much quiet + happiness at Clapham, and much in Cadogan Place; but it was round the + house in Great Ormond Street that the dearest associations gathered. More + than forty years afterwards, when Lady Trevelyan was dying, she had + herself driven to the spot, as the last drive she ever took, and sat + silent in her carriage for many minutes with her eyes fixed upon those + well-known walls. + </p> + <p> + [In August 1857, Macaulay notes in his diary: "I sent the carriage home, + and walked to the Museum. Passing through Great Ormond Street I saw a bill + upon No. 50. I knocked, was let in, and went over the house with a strange + mixture of feelings. It is more than twenty-six years since I was in it. + The dining-room, and the adjoining room, in which I once slept, are + scarcely changed—the same colouring on the wall, but more dingy. My + father's study much the same;—the drawing-rooms too, except the + papering. My bedroom just what it was. My mother's bedroom. I had never + been in it since her death. I went away sad."] + </p> + <p> + While warmly attached to all his nearest relations, Macaulay lived in the + closest and most frequent companionship with his sisters Hannah and + Margaret, younger than himself by ten and twelve years respectively. His + affection for these two, deep and enduring as it was, had in it no element + of blindness or infatuation. Even in the privacy of a diary, or the + confidence of the most familiar correspondence, Macaulay, when writing + about those whom he loved, was never tempted to indulge in fond + exaggeration of their merits. Margaret, as will be seen in the course of + this narrative, died young, leaving a memory of outward graces, and sweet + and noble mental qualities, which is treasured by all among whom her short + existence was passed. As regards the other sister, there are many alive + who knew her for what she was; and, for those who did not know her, if + this book proves how much of her brother's heart she had, and how well it + was worth having, her children will feel that they have repaid their debt + even to her. + </p> + <p> + Education in the Macaulay family was not on system. Of what are ordinarily + called accomplishments the daughters had but few, and Hannah fewest of + any; but, ever since she could remember anything, she had enjoyed the run + of a good standard library, and had been allowed to read at her own time, + and according to her own fancy. There were two traits in her nature which + are seldom united in the same person: a vivid practical interest in the + realities which surrounded her, joined with the power of passing at will + into a world of literature and romance in which she found herself entirely + at home. The feeling with which Macaulay and his sister regarded books + differed from that of other people in kind rather than in degree. When + they were discoursing together about a work of history or biography, a + bystander would have supposed that they had lived in the times of which + the author treated, and had a personal acquaintance with every human being + who was mentioned in his pages. Pepys, Addison, Horace Walpole, Dr. + Johnson, Madame de Genlis, the Duc de St. Simon, and the several societies + in which those worthies moved, excited in their minds precisely the same + sort of concern, and gave matter for discussions of exactly the same type, + as most people bestow upon the proceedings of their own contemporaries. + The past was to them as the present, and the fictitious as the actual. The + older novels, which had been the food of their early years, had become + part of themselves to such an extent that, in speaking to each other, they + frequently employed sentences from dialogues in those novels to express + the idea, or even the business, of the moment. On matters of the street or + of the household they would use the very language of Mrs. Elton and Mrs. + Bennet, Mr. Woodhouse, Mr. Collins, and John Thorpe, and the other + inimitable actors on Jane Austen's unpretending stage: while they would + debate the love affairs and the social relations of their own circle in a + series of quotations from Sir Charles Grandison or Evelina. + </p> + <p> + The effect was at times nothing less than bewildering. When Lady Trevelyan + married, her husband, whose reading had lain anywhere rather than among + the circulating libraries, used at first to wonder who the extraordinary + people could be with whom his wife and his brother-in-law appeared to have + lived. This style of thought and conversation had for young minds a + singular and a not unhealthy fascination. Lady Trevelyan's children were + brought up among books, (to use the homely simile of an American author), + as a stable-boy among horses. The shelves of the library, instead of + frowning on us as we played and talked, seemed alive with kindly and + familiar faces. But death came, and came again, and then all was changed, + and changed as in an instant. There were many favourite volumes out of + which the spirit seemed to vanish at once and for ever. We endeavoured + unsuccessfully to revive by our own efforts the amusement which we had + been taught to find in the faded flatteries and absurdities that passed + between Miss Seward and her admirers, or to retrace for ourselves the + complications of female jealousy which played round Cowper's tea-table at + Olney. We awoke to the discovery that the charm was not in us, nor + altogether in the books themselves. The talisman, which endowed with life + and meaning all that it touched, had passed away from among us, leaving + recollections which are our most cherished, as they must ever be our + proudest, possession. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay thought it probable that he could re-write Sir Charles Grandison + from memory, and certainly he might have done so with his sister's help. + But his intimate acquaintance with a work was no proof of its merit. + "There was a certain prolific author," says Lady Trevelyan, "named Mrs. + Meeke, whose romances he all but knew by heart; though he quite agreed in + my criticism that they were one just like another, turning on the fortunes + of some young man in a very low rank of life who eventually proves to be + the son of a Duke. Then there was a set of books by a Mrs. Kitty + Cuthbertson, most silly though readable productions, the nature of which + may be guessed from their titles:—'Santo Sebastiano, or the Young + Protector,' 'The Forest of Montalbano,' 'The Romance of the Pyrenees,' and + 'Adelaide, or the Countercharm.' I remember how, when 'Santo Sebastiano' + was sold by auction in India, he and Miss Eden bid against each other till + he secured it at a fabulous price; and I possess it still." + </p> + <p> + As an indication of the thoroughness with which this literary treasure has + been studied, there appears on the last page an elaborate computation of + the number of fainting-fits that occur in the course of the five volumes. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Julia de Clifford..... 11 + Lady Delamore....... 4 + Lady Theodosia....... 4 + Lord Glenbrook...... 2 + Lord Delamore...... 2 + Lady Enderfield...... 1 + Lord Ashgrove....... 1 + Lord St. Orville..... 1 + Henry Mildmay....... 1 +</pre> + <p> + A single passage, selected for no other reason than because it is the + shortest, will serve as a specimen of these catastrophes "One of the + sweetest smiles that ever animated the face of mortal now diffused itself + over the countenance of Lord St. Orville, as he fell at the feet of Julia + in a death-like swoon." + </p> + <p> + The fun that went on in Great Ormond Street was of a jovial, and sometimes + uproarious, description. Even when the family was by itself, the + school-room and the drawing-room were full of young people; and friends + and cousins flocked in numbers to a resort where so much merriment was + perpetually on foot. There were seasons during the school holidays when + the house overflowed with noise and frolic from morning to night; and + Macaulay, who at any period of his life could literally spend whole days + in playing with children, was master of the innocent revels. Games of + hide-and-seek, that lasted for hours, with shouting and the blowing of + horns up and down the stairs and through every room, were varied by + ballads, which, like the Scalds of old, he composed during the act of + recitation, while the others struck in with the chorus. He had no notion + whatever of music, but an infallible ear for rhythm. His knack of + improvisation he at all times exercised freely. The verses which he thus + produced, and which he invariably attributed to an anonymous author whom + he styled "the Judicious Poet," were exclusively for home consumption. + Some of these effusions illustrate a sentiment in his disposition which + was among the most decided, and the most frequently and loudly expressed. + Macaulay was only too easily bored, and those whom he considered fools he + by no means suffered gladly. He once amused his sisters by pouring out + whole Iliads of extempore doggrel upon the head of an unfortunate country + squire of their acquaintance, who had a habit of detaining people by the + button, and who was especially addicted to the society of the higher order + of clergy + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His Grace Archbishop Manners Sutton + Could not keep on a single button. + As for Right Reverend John of Chester, + His waistcoats open at the breast are. + Our friend* has filled a mighty trunk + With trophies torn from Doctor Monk + And he has really tattered foully + The vestments of Archbishop Howley + No button could I late discern on + The garments of Archbishop Vernon, + And never had his fingers mercy + Upon the garb of Bishop Percy. + The buttons fly from Bishop Ryder + Like corks that spring from bottled cyder,—" +</pre> + <p> + [*The name of this gentleman has been concealed, as not being sufficiently + known by all to give point, but well enough remembered by some to give + pain.] + </p> + <p> + and so on, throughout the entire bench, until, after a good half-hour of + hearty and spontaneous nonsense, the girls would go laughing back to their + Italian and their drawing-boards. + </p> + <p> + He did not play upon words as a habit, nor did he interlard his talk with + far-fetched or overstrained witticisms. His humour, like his rhetoric, was + full of force and substance, and arose naturally from the complexion of + the conversation or the circumstance of the moment. But when alone with + his sisters, and, in after years, with his nieces, he was fond of setting + himself deliberately to manufacture conceits resembling those on the + heroes of the Trojan War which have been thought worthy of publication in + the collected works of Swift. When walking in London he would undertake to + give some droll turn to the name of every shopkeeper in the street, and, + when travelling, to the name of every station along the line. At home he + would run through the countries of Europe, the States of the Union, the + chief cities of our Indian Empire, the provinces of France, the Prime + Ministers of England, or the chief writers and artists of any given + century; striking off puns, admirable, endurable, and execrable, but all + irresistibly laughable, which followed each other in showers like sparks + from flint. Capping verses was a game of which he never tired. "In the + spring of 1829," says his cousin Mrs. Conybeare, "we were staying in + Ormond Street. My chief recollection of your uncle during that visit is on + the evenings when we capped verses. All the family were quick at it, but + his astounding memory made him supereminent. When the time came for him to + be off to bed at his chambers, he would rush out of the room after + uttering some long-sought line, and would be pursued to the top of the + stairs by one of the others who had contrived to recall a verse which + served the purpose, in order that he might not leave the house victorious; + but he, with the hall-door open in his hand, would shriek back a crowning + effort, and go off triumphant." + </p> + <p> + Nothing of all this can be traced in his letters before the year 1830. Up + to that period he corresponded regularly with no one but his father, + between whom and himself there existed a strong regard, but scanty + sympathy or similarity of pursuits. It was not until he poured out his + mind almost daily to those who approached him more nearly in age, and in + tastes, that the lighter side of his nature began to display itself on + paper. Most of what he addressed to his parents between the time when he + left Cambridge, and the time when he entered the House of Commons, may be + characterised as belonging to the type of duty-letters, treating of + politics, legal gossip, personal adventures, and domestic incidents, with + some reticence and little warmth or ease of expression, The periodical + insertion on the son's part of anecdotes and observations bearing upon the + question of Slavery reminds the reader of those presents of tall recruits + with which, at judiciously chosen intervals, Frederic the Great used to + conciliate his terrible father. As between the Macaulays, these little + filial attentions acquire a certain gracefulness from the fact that, in + the circumstances of the family, they could be prompted by no other motive + than a dutiful and disinterested affection. + </p> + <p> + It must not be supposed,—no one who examines the dates of his + successive essays will for a moment suppose,—that his attention was + distracted, or his energy dissipated, by trifles. Besides the finished + study of Machiavelli, and the masterly sketch of our great civil troubles + known as the article on Hallam's Constitutional History, he produced much + which his mature judgment would willingly have allowed to die, but which + had plenty of life in it when it first appeared between the blue and + yellow covers. His most formidable enterprise, during the five earliest + years of his connection with the great Review, was that passage of arms + against the champions of the Utilitarian philosophy in which he touched + the mighty shields of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham, and rode slashing to + right and left through the ranks of their less distinguished followers. + Indeed, while he sincerely admired the chiefs of the school, he had a + young man's prejudice against their disciples, many of whom he regarded as + "persons who, having read little or nothing, are delighted to be rescued + from the sense of their own inferiority by some teacher who assures them + that the studies which they have neglected are of no value, puts five or + six phrases into their mouths, lends them an odd number of the Westminster + Review, and in a month transforms them into philosophers." It must be + allowed that there was some colour for his opinion. The Benthamite + training may have stimulated the finer intellects, (and they were not + few,) which came within its influence; but it is impossible to conceive + anything more dreary than must have been the condition of a shallow mind, + with a native predisposition to sciolism, after its owner had joined a + society "composed of young men agreeing in fundamental principles, + acknowledging Utility as their standard in ethics and politics," "meeting + once a fortnight to read essays and discuss questions conformably to the + premises thus agreed on," and "expecting the regeneration of mankind, not + from any direct action on the sentiments of unselfish benevolence and love + of justice, but from the effect of educated intellect enlightening the + selfish feelings." John Stuart Mill, with that candour which is the rarest + of his great qualities, gave a generous and authoritative testimony to the + merit of these attacks upon his father, and his father's creed, which + Macaulay himself lived to wish that he had left unwritten. + </p> + <p> + ["The author has been strongly urged to insert three papers on the + Utilitarian Philosophy, which, when they first appeared, attracted some + notice. * * * He has, however, determined to omit these papers, not + because he is disposed to retract a single doctrine which they contain, + but because he is unwilling to offer what might be regarded as an affront + to the memory of one from whose opinions he still widely dissents, but to + whose talents and virtues he admits that he formerly did not do justice. * + * It ought to be known that Mr. Mill had the generosity, not only to + forgive, but to forget the unbecoming acrimony with which he had been + assailed, and was, when his valuable life closed, on terms of cordial + friendship with his assailant."—Preface to Macaulay's Collected + Essays.] + </p> + <p> + He was already famous enough to have incurred the inevitable penalty of + success in the shape of the pronounced hostility of Blackwood's Magazine. + The feelings which the leading contributors to that periodical habitually + entertained towards a young and promising writer were in his case + sharpened by political partisanship; and the just and measured severity + which he infused into his criticism on Southey's "Colloquies of Society" + brought down upon him the bludgeon to whose strokes poetic tradition has + attributed the death of Keats. Macaulay was made of harder stuff, and gave + little heed to a string of unsavoury invectives compounded out of such + epithets as "ugly," "splay-footed," and "shapeless;" such phrases as + "stuff and nonsense," "malignant trash," "impertinent puppy," and + "audacity of impudence;" and other samples from the polemical vocabulary + of the personage who, by the irony of fate, filled the Chair of Moral + Philosophy at Edinburgh. The substance of Professor Wilson's attacks + consisted in little more than the reiteration of that charge of + intellectual juvenility, which never fails to be employed as the last + resource against a man whose abilities are undoubted, and whose character + is above detraction. + </p> + <p> + "North. He's a clever lad, James. + </p> + <p> + "Shepherd. Evidently; and a clever lad he'll remain, depend ye upon that, + a' the days of his life. A clever lad thirty years auld and some odds is + to ma mind the maist melancholy sight in nature. Only think of a clever + lad o' three-score-and-ten, on his deathbed, wha can look back on nae + greater achievement than having aince, or aiblins ten times, abused Mr. + Southey in the Embro' Review." + </p> + <p> + The prophecies of jealousy seldom come true. Southey's book died before + its author, with the exception of the passages extracted by Macaulay, + which have been reproduced in his essay a hundred times, and more, for + once that they were printed in the volumes from which he selected them for + his animadversion. + </p> + <p> + The chambers in which he ought to have been spending his days, and did + actually spend his nights between the years 1829 and 1834, were within + five minutes' walk of the house in Great Ormond Street. The building of + which those chambers formed a part,—8 South Square, Gray's Inn,—has + since been pulled down to make room for an extension of the Library; a + purpose which, in Macaulay's eyes, would amply compensate for the loss of + such associations as might otherwise have attached themselves to the + locality. His Trinity fellowship brought him in nearly three hundred + pounds annually, and the Edinburgh Review nearly two hundred. In January + 1828, during the interregnum that separated the resignation of Lord + Goderich and the acceptance of the Premiership by the Duke of Wellington, + Lord Lyndhurst made him a Commissioner of Bankruptcy; a rare piece of luck + at a time when, as Lord Cockburn tells us, "a youth of a Tory family, who + was discovered to have a leaning towards the doctrines of the opposition, + was considered as a lost son." "The Commission is welcome," Macaulay + writes to his father, "and I am particularly glad that it has been given + at a time when there is no ministry, and when the acceptance of it implies + no political obligation. To Lord Lyndhurst I of course feel personal + gratitude, and I shall always take care how I speak of him." + </p> + <p> + The emoluments of the office made up his income, for the three or four + years during which he held it, to about nine hundred pounds per annum. His + means were more than sufficient for his wants, but too small, and far too + precarious, for the furtherance of the political aspirations which now + were uppermost in his mind. "Public affairs," writes Lady Trevelyan, "were + become intensely interesting to him. Canning's accession to power, then + his death, the repeal of the Test Act, the Emancipation of the Catholics, + all in their turn filled his heart and soul. He himself longed to be + taking his part in Parliament, but with a very hopeless longing. + </p> + <p> + "In February 1830 I was staying at Mr. Wilberforce's at Highwood Hill when + I got a letter from your uncle, enclosing one from Lord Lansdowne, who + told him that he had been much struck by the articles on Mill, and that he + wished to be the means of first introducing their author to public life by + proposing to him to stand for the vacant seat at Calne. Lord Lansdowne + expressly added that it was your uncle's high moral and private character + which had determined him to make the offer, and that he wished in no + respect to influence his votes, but to leave him quite at liberty to act + according to his conscience. I remember flying into Mr. Wilberforce's + study, and, absolutely speechless, putting the letter into his hands. He + read it with much emotion, and returned it to me, saying 'Your father has + had great trials, obloquy, bad health, many anxieties. One must feel as if + Tom were given him for a recompense.' He was silent for a moment, and then + his mobile face lighted up, and he clapped his hand to his ear, and cried: + 'Ah! I hear that shout again. Hear! Hear! What a life it was!'" + </p> + <p> + And so, on the eve of the most momentous conflict that ever was fought out + by speech and vote within the walls of a senate-house, the young recruit + went gaily to his post in the ranks of that party whose coming fortunes he + was prepared loyally to follow, and the history of whose past he was + destined eloquently, and perhaps imperishably, to record. + </p> + <p> + York: April 2, 1826. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I am sorry that I have been unable to avail myself + of the letters of introduction which you forwarded to me. Since I received + them I have been confined to the house with a cold; and, now that I am + pretty well recovered, I must take my departure for Pontefract. But, if it + had been otherwise, I could not have presented these recommendations. + Letters of this sort may be of great service to a barrister; but the + barrister himself must not be the bearer of them. On this subject the rule + is most strict, at least on our circuit. The hugging of the Bar, like the + Simony of the Church, must be altogether carried on by the intervention of + third persons. We are sensible of our dependence on the attorneys, and + proportioned to that sense of dependence is our affectation of + superiority. Even to take a meal with an attorney is a high misdemeanour. + One of the most eminent men among us brought himself into a serious scrape + by doing so. But to carry a letter of introduction, to wait in the outer + room while it is being read, to be then ushered into the presence, to + receive courtesies which can only be considered as the condescensions of a + patron, to return courtesies which are little else than the blessings of a + beggar, would be an infinitely more terrible violation of our professional + code. Every barrister to whom I have applied for advice has most earnestly + exhorted me on no account whatever to present the letters myself. I should + perhaps add that my advisers have been persons who cannot by any + possibility feel jealous of me. + </p> + <p> + In default of anything better I will eke out my paper with some lines + which I made in bed last night,—an inscription for a picture of + Voltaire. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If thou would'st view one more than man and less, + Made up of mean and great, of foul and fair, + Stop here; and weep and laugh, and curse and bless, + And spurn and worship; for thou seest Voltaire. + That flashing eye blasted the conqueror's spear, + The monarch's sceptre, and the Jesuit's beads + And every wrinkle in that haggard sneer + Hath been the grave of Dynasties and Creeds. + In very wantonness of childish mirth + He puffed Bastilles, and thrones, and shrines away, + Insulted Heaven, and liberated earth. + Was it for good or evil? Who shall say? +</pre> + <p> + Ever affectionately yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + York: July 21, 1826. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—The other day, as I was changing my neck-cloth which + my wig had disfigured, my good landlady knocked at the door of my bedroom, + and told me that Mr. Smith wished to see me, and was in my room below. Of + all names by which men are called there is none which conveys a less + determinate idea to the mind than that of Smith. Was he on the circuit? + For I do not know half the names of my companions. Was he a special + messenger from London? Was he a York attorney coming to be preyed upon, or + a beggar coming to prey upon me, a barber to solicit the dressing of my + wig, or a collector for the Jews' Society? Down I went, and to my utter + amazement beheld the Smith of Smiths, Sydney Smith, alias Peter Plymley. I + had forgotten his very existence till I discerned the queer contrast + between his black coat and his snow-white head, and the equally curious + contrast between the clerical amplitude of his person, and the most + unclerical wit, whim, and petulance of his eye. I shook hands with him + very heartily; and on the Catholic question we immediately fell, regretted + Evans, triumphed over Lord George Beresford, and abused the Bishops. + [These allusions refer to the general election which had recently taken + place.] He then very kindly urged me to spend the time between the close + of the Assizes and the commencement of the Sessions at his house; and was + so hospitably pressing that I at last agreed to go thither on Saturday + afternoon. He is to drive me over again into York on Monday morning. I am + very well pleased at having this opportunity of becoming better acquainted + with a man who, in spite of innumerable affectations and oddities, is + certainly one of the wittiest and most original writers of our times. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Bradford: July 26, 1826. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—On Saturday I went to Sydney Smith's. His parish + lies three or four miles out of any frequented road. He is, however, most + pleasantly situated. "Fifteen years ago," said he to me as I alighted at + the gate of his shrubbery, "I was taken up in Piccadilly and set down + here. There was no house, and no garden; nothing but a bare field." One + service this eccentric divine has certainly rendered to the Church. He has + built the very neatest, most commodious, and most appropriate rectory that + I ever saw. All its decorations are in a peculiarly clerical style; grave, + simple, and gothic. The bed-chambers are excellent, and excellently fitted + up; the sitting-rooms handsome; and the grounds sufficiently pretty. + Tindal and Parke, (not the judge of course,) two of the best lawyers, best + scholars, and best men in England, were there. We passed an extremely + pleasant evening, had a very good dinner, and many amusing anecdotes. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast the next morning I walked to church with Sydney Smith. The + edifice is not at all in keeping with the rectory. It is a miserable + little hovel with a wooden belfry. It was, however, well filled, and with + decent people, who seemed to take very much to their pastor. I understand + that he is a very respectable apothecary; and most liberal of his skill, + his medicine, his soul, and his wine, among the sick. He preached a very + queer sermon—the former half too familiar and the latter half too + florid, but not without some ingenuity of thought and expression. + </p> + <p> + Sydney Smith brought me to York on Monday morning, in time for the + stage-coach which runs to Skipton. We parted with many assurances of + goodwill. I have really taken a great liking to him. He is full of wit, + humour, and shrewdness. He is not one of those show-talkers who reserve + all their good things for special occasions. It seems to be his greatest + luxury to keep his wife and daughters laughing for two or three hours + every day. His notions of law, government, and trade are surprisingly + clear and just. His misfortune is to have chosen a profession at once + above him and below him. Zeal would have made him a prodigy; formality and + bigotry would have made him a bishop; but he could neither rise to the + duties of his order, nor stoop to its degradations. + </p> + <p> + He praised my articles in the Edinburgh Review with a warmth which I am + willing to believe sincere, because he qualified his compliments with + several very sensible cautions. My great danger, he said, was that of + taking a tone of too much asperity and contempt in controversy. I believe + that he is right, and I shall try to mend. + </p> + <p> + Ever affectionately yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Lancaster: September 1, 1827. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—Thank Hannah from me for her pleasant letter. I + would answer it if I had anything equally amusing to say in return; but + here we have no news, except what comes from London, and is as stale as + inland fish before it reaches us. We have circuit anecdotes to be sure; + and perhaps you will be pleased to hear that Brougham has been rising + through the whole of this struggle. At York Pollock decidedly took the + lead. At Durham Brougham overtook him, passed him at Newcastle, and got + immensely ahead of him at Carlisle and Appleby, which, to be sure, are the + places where his own connections lie. We have not been here quite long + enough to determine how he will succeed with the Lancastrians. This has + always hitherto been his least favourable place. He appears to improve in + industry and prudence. He learns his story more thoroughly, and tells it + more clearly, than formerly. If he continues to manage causes as well as + he has done of late he must rise to the summit of the profession. I cannot + say quite so much for his temper, which this close and constant rivalry + does not improve. He squabbles with Pollock more than, in generosity or + policy, he ought to do. I have heard several of our younger men wondering + that he does not show more magnanimity. He yawns while Pollock is + speaking; a sign of weariness which, in their present relation to each + other, he would do well to suppress. He has said some very good, but very + bitter, things. There was a case of a lead-mine. Pollock was for the + proprietors, and complained bitterly of the encroachments which Brougham's + clients had made upon this property, which he represented as of immense + value. Brougham said that the estimate which his learned friend formed of + the property was vastly exaggerated, but that it was no wonder that a + person who found it so easy to get gold for his lead should appreciate + that heavy metal so highly. The other day Pollock laid down a point of law + rather dogmatically. "Mr. Pollock," said Brougham, "perhaps, before you + rule the point, you will suffer his Lordship to submit a few observations + on it to your consideration." + </p> + <p> + I received the Edinburgh paper which you sent me. Silly and spiteful as it + is, there is a little truth in it. In such cases I always remember those + excellent lines of Boileau + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Moi, qu'une humeur trop libre, un esprit peu soumis, + De bonne heure a pourvo d'utiles ennemis, + Je dois plus a leur haine (il faut que je l'avoue) + Qu'au faible et vain talent dont la France me loue. + Sitot que sur un vice un pensent me confondre, + C'est en me guerissant que je sais leur repondre." +</pre> + <p> + This place disagrees so much with me that I shall leave it as soon as the + dispersion of the circuit commences,—that is, after the delivery of + the last batch of briefs; always supposing, which may be supposed without + much risk of mistake, that there are none for me. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + It was about this period that the Cambridge Senate came to a resolution to + petition against the Catholic Claims. The minority demanded a poll, and + conveyed a hint to their friends in London. Macaulay, with one or two more + to help him, beat up the Inns of Court for recruits, chartered a + stage-coach, packed it inside and out with young Whig Masters of Arts, and + drove up King's Parade just in time to turn the scale in favour of + Emancipation. The whole party dined in triumph at Trinity, and got back to + town the same evening; and the Tory journalists were emphatic in their + indignation at the deliberate opinion of the University having been + overridden by a coachful of "godless and briefless barristers." + </p> + <p> + Court House, Pomfret: April 15, 1828. + </p> + <p> + My dear Mother,—I address this epistle to you as the least + undeserving of a very undeserving family. You, I think, have sent me one + letter since I left London. I have nothing here to do but to write + letters; and, what is not very often the case, I have members of + Parliament in abundance to frank them, and abundance of matter to fill + them with. My Edinburgh expedition has given me so much to say that, + unless I write off some of it before I come home, I shall talk you all to + death, and be voted a bore in every house which I visit. I will commence + with Jeffrey himself. I had almost forgotten his person; and, indeed, I + should not wonder if even now I were to forget it again. He has twenty + faces almost as unlike each other as my father's to Mr. Wilberforce's, and + infinitely more unlike to each other than those of near relatives often + are; infinitely more unlike, for example, than those of the two Grants. + When absolutely quiescent, reading a paper, or hearing a conversation in + which he takes no interest, his countenance shows no indication whatever + of intellectual superiority of any kind. But as soon as he is interested, + and opens his eyes upon you, the change is like magic. There is a flash in + his glance, a violent contortion in his frown, an exquisite humour in his + sneer, and a sweetness and brilliancy in his smile, beyond anything that + ever I witnessed. A person who had seen him in only one state would not + know him if he saw him in another. For he has not, like Brougham, marked + features which in all moods of mind remain unaltered. The mere outline of + his face is insignificant. The expression is everything; and such power + and variety of expression I never saw in any human countenance, not even + in that of the most celebrated actors. I can conceive that Garrick may + have been like him. I have seen several pictures of Garrick, none + resembling another, and I have heard Hannah More speak of the + extraordinary variety of countenance by which he was distinguished, and of + the unequalled radiance and penetration of his eye. The voice and delivery + of Jeffrey resemble his face. He possesses considerable power of mimicry, + and rarely tells a story without imitating several different accents. His + familiar tone, his declamatory tone, and his pathetic tone are quite + different things. Sometimes Scotch predominates in his pronunciation; + sometimes it is imperceptible. Sometimes his utterance is snappish and + quick to the last degree; sometimes it is remarkable for rotundity and + mellowness. I can easily conceive that two people who had seen him on + different days might dispute about him as the travellers in the fable + disputed about the chameleon. + </p> + <p> + In one thing, as far as I observed, he is always the same and that is the + warmth of his domestic affections. Neither Mr. Wilberforce, nor my uncle + Babington, come up to him in this respect. The flow of his kindness is + quite inexhaustible. Not five minutes pass without some fond expression, + or caressing gesture, to his wife or his daughter. He has fitted up a + study for himself; but he never goes into it. Law papers, reviews, + whatever he has to write, he writes in the drawing-room, or in his wife's + boudoir. When he goes to other parts of the country on a retainer he takes + them in the carriage with him. I do not wonder that he should be a good + husband, for his wife is a very amiable woman. But I was surprised to see + a man so keen and sarcastic, so much of a scoffer, pouring himself out + with such simplicity and tenderness in all sorts of affectionate nonsense. + Through our whole journey to Perth he kept up a sort of mock quarrel with + his daughter; attacked her about novel-reading, laughed her into a pet, + kissed her out of it, and laughed her into it again. She and her mother + absolutely idolise him, and I do not wonder at it. + </p> + <p> + His conversation is very much like his countenance and his voice, of + immense variety; sometimes plain and unpretending even to flatness; + sometimes whimsically brilliant and rhetorical almost beyond the license + of private discourse. He has many interesting anecdotes, and tells them + very well. He is a shrewd observer; and so fastidious that I am not + surprised at the awe in which many people seem to stand when in his + company. Though not altogether free from affectation himself, he has a + peculiar loathing for it in other people, and a great talent for + discovering and exposing it. He has a particular contempt, in which I most + heartily concur with him, for the fadaises of bluestocking literature, for + the mutual flatteries of coteries, the handing about of vers de societe, + the albums, the conversaziones, and all the other nauseous trickeries of + the Sewards, Hayleys, and Sothebys. I am not quite sure that he has + escaped the opposite extreme, and that he is not a little too desirous to + appear rather a man of the world, an active lawyer, or an easy careless + gentleman, than a distinguished writer. I must own that, when Jeffrey and + I were by ourselves, he talked much and very well on literary topics. His + kindness and hospitality to me were, indeed, beyond description, and his + wife was as pleasant and friendly as possible. I liked everything but the + hours. We were never up till ten, and never retired till two hours at + least after midnight. Jeffrey, indeed, never goes to bed till sleep comes + on him overpoweringly, and never rises till forced up by business or + hunger. He is extremely well in health; so that I could not help + suspecting him of being very hypochondriac; for all his late letters to me + have been filled with lamentations about his various maladies. His wife + told me, when I congratulated her on his recovery, that I must not + absolutely rely on all his accounts of his own diseases. I really think + that he is, on the whole, the youngest-looking man of fifty that I know, + at least when he is animated. + </p> + <p> + His house is magnificent. It is in Moray Place, the newest pile of + buildings in the town, looking out to the Forth on one side, and to a + green garden on the other. It is really equal to the houses in Grosvenor + Square. Fine, however, as is the new quarter of Edinburgh, I decidedly + prefer the Old Town. There is nothing like it in the island. You have been + there, but you have not seen the town, and no lady ever sees a town. It is + only by walking on foot through all corners at all hours that cities can + be really studied to good purpose. There is a new pillar to the memory of + Lord Melville; very elegant, and very much better than the man deserved. + His statue is at the top, with a wreath on the head very like a nightcap + drawn over the eyes. It is impossible to look at it without being reminded + of the fate which the original most richly merited. But my letter will + overflow even the ample limits of a frank, if I do not conclude. I hope + that you will be properly penitent for neglecting such a correspondent + when you receive so long a dispatch, written amidst the bellowing of + justices, lawyers, criers, witnesses, prisoners, and prisoners' wives and + mothers. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Lancaster: March 24, 1829. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—A single line to say that I am at Lancaster. Where + you all are I have not the very slightest notion. Pray let me hear. That + dispersion of the Gentiles which our friends the prophets foretell seems + to have commenced with our family. + </p> + <p> + Everything here is going on in the common routine. The only things of + peculiar interest are those which we get from the London papers. All minds + seem to be perfectly made up as to the certainty of Catholic Emancipation + having come at last. The feeling of approbation among the barristers is + all but unanimous. The quiet townspeople here, as far as I can see, are + very well contented. As soon as I arrived I was asked by my landlady how + things had gone. I told her the division, which I had learned from + Brougham at Garstang. She seemed surprised at the majority. I asked her if + she was against the measure. "No; she only wished that all Christians + would live in peace and charity together." A very sensible speech, and + better than one at least of the members for the county ever made in his + life. + </p> + <p> + I implore you above everything, my dear Father, to keep up your health and + spirits. Come what may, the conveniences of life, independence, our + personal respectability, and the exercise of the intellect and the + affections, we are almost certain of retaining; and everything else is a + mere superfluity, to be enjoyed, but not to be missed. But I ought to be + ashamed of reading you a lecture on qualities which you are so much more + competent to teach than myself. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours very affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + 50 Great Ormond Street, London: + </p> + <p> + January 25, 1830. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sir,—I send off by the mail of to-day an article on Southey,—too + long, I fear, to meet your wishes, but as short as I could make it. + </p> + <p> + There were, by the bye, in my last article a few omissions made, of no + great consequence in themselves; the longest, I think, a paragraph of + twelve or fourteen lines. I should scarcely have thought this worth + mentioning, as it certainly by no means exceeds the limits of that + editorial prerogative which I most willingly recognise, but that the + omissions seemed to me, and to one or two persons who had seen the article + in its original state, to be made on a principle which, however sound in + itself, does not I think apply to compositions of this description. The + passages omitted were the most pointed and ornamented sentences in the + review. Now, for high and grave works, a history for example, or a system + of political or moral philosophy, Doctor Johnson's rule,—that every + sentence which the writer thinks fine ought to be cut out,—is + excellent. But periodical works like ours, which unless they strike at the + first reading are not likely to strike at all, whose whole life is a month + or two, may, I think, be allowed to be sometimes even viciously florid. + Probably, in estimating the real value of any tinsel which I may put upon + my articles, you and I should not materially differ. But it is not by his + own taste, but by the taste of the fish, that the angler is determined in + his choice of bait. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps after all I am ascribing to system what is mere accident. Be + assured, at all events, that what I have said is said in perfect good + humour, and indicates no mutinous disposition. + </p> + <p> + The Jews are about to petition Parliament for relief from the absurd + restrictions which lie on them,—the last relique of the old system + of intolerance. I have been applied to by some of them in the name of the + managers of the scheme to write for them in the Edinburgh Review. I would + gladly further a cause so good, and you, I think, could have no objection. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Bowood: February 20, 1830. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—I am here in a very nice room, with perfect liberty, + and a splendid library at my command. It seems to be thought desirable + that I should stay in the neighbourhood, and pay my compliments to my + future constituents every other day. + </p> + <p> + The house is splendid and elegant, yet more remarkable for comfort than + for either elegance or splendour. I never saw any great place so + thoroughly desirable for a residence. Lord Kerry tells me that his uncle + left everything in ruin,—trees cut down, and rooms unfurnished,—and + sold the library, which was extremely fine. Every book and picture in + Bowood has been bought by the present Lord, and certainly the collection + does him great honour. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that I stayed here. A burgess of some influence, who, at the + last election, attempted to get up an opposition to the Lansdowne + interest, has just arrived. I called on him this morning, and, though he + was a little ungracious at first, succeeded in obtaining his promise. + Without him, indeed, my return would have been secure; but both from + motives of interest and from a sense of gratitude I think it best to leave + nothing undone which may tend to keep Lord Lansdowne's influence here + unimpaired against future elections. + </p> + <p> + Lord Kerry seems to me to be going on well. He has been in very good + condition, he says, this week; and hopes to be at the election, and at the + subsequent dinner. I do not know when I have taken so much to so young a + man. In general my intimacies have been with my seniors; but Lord Kerry is + really quite a favourite of mine,—kind, lively, intelligent, modest, + with the gentle manners which indicate a long intimacy with the best + society, and yet without the least affectation. We have oceans of beer, + and mountains of potatoes, for dinner. Indeed, Lady Lansdowne drank beer + most heartily on the only day which she passed with us, and, when I told + her laughing that she set me at ease on a point which had given me much + trouble, she said that she would never suffer any dandy novelist to rob + her of her beer or her cheese. + </p> + <p> + The question between law and politics is a momentous one. As far as I am + myself concerned, I should not hesitate; but the interest of my family is + also to be considered. We shall see, however, before long what my chance + of success as a public man may prove to be. At present it would clearly be + wrong in me to show any disposition to quit my profession. + </p> + <p> + I hope that you will be on your guard as to what you may say to Brougham + about this business. He is so angry at it that he cannot keep his anger to + himself. I know that he has blamed Lord Lansdowne in the robing-room of + the Court of King's Bench. The seat ought, he says, to have been given to + another man. If he means Denman, I can forgive, and even respect him, for + the feeling which he entertains. + </p> + <p> + Believe me ever yours most affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. 1830-1832. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + State of public affairs when Macaulay entered Parliament— + His maiden speech—The French Revolution of July 1830— + Macaulay's letters from Paris—The Palais Royal—Lafayette— + Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia—The new Parliament meets— + Fall of the Duke of Wellington—Scene with Croker—The + Reform Bill—Political success—House of Commons life— + Macaulay's party spirit—Loudon Society—Mr. Thomas Flower + Ellis—Visit to Cambridge—Rothley Temple—Margaret + Macaulay's Journal—Lord Brougham—Hopes of Office—Macaulay + as a politician—Letters to Hannah Macaulay, Mr. Napier, and + Mr. Ellis. +</pre> + <p> + THROUGHOUT the last two centuries of our history there never was a period + when a man conscious of power, impatient of public wrongs, and still young + enough to love a fight for its own sake, could have entered Parliament + with a fairer prospect of leading a life worth living, and doing work that + would requite the pains, than at the commencement of the year 1830. + </p> + <p> + In this volume, which only touches politics in order to show to what + extent Macaulay was a politician, and for how long, controversies cannot + appropriately be started or revived. This is not the place to enter into a + discussion on the vexed question as to whether Mr. Pitt and his + successors, in pursuing their system of repression, were justified by the + necessities of the long French war. It is enough to assert, what few or + none will deny, that, for the space of more than a generation from 1790 + onwards, our country had, with a short interval, been governed on declared + reactionary principles. We, in whose days Whigs and Tories have often + exchanged office, and still more often interchanged policies, find it + difficult to imagine what must have been the condition of the kingdom, + when one and the same party almost continuously held not only place, but + power, throughout a period when, to an unexampled degree, "public life was + exasperated by hatred, and the charities of private life soured by + political aversion." [These expressions occur in Lord Cockburn's Memorials + of his Time.] Fear, religion, ambition, and self-interest,—everything + that could tempt and everything that could deter,—were enlisted on + the side of the dominant opinions. To profess Liberal views was to be + excluded from all posts of emolument, from all functions of dignity, and + from all opportunities of public usefulness. The Whig leaders, while + enjoying that security for life and liberty which even in the worst days + of our recent history has been the reward of eminence, were powerless in + the Commons and isolated in the Lords. No motive but disinterested + conviction kept a handful of veterans steadfast round a banner which was + never raised except to be swept contemptuously down by the disciplined and + overwhelming strength of the ministerial phalanx. Argument and oratory + were alike unavailing under a constitution which was indeed a despotism of + privilege. The county representation of England was an anomaly, and the + borough representation little better than a scandal. The constituencies of + Scotland, with so much else that of right belonged to the public, had got + into Dundas's pocket. In the year 1820 all the towns north of Tweed + together contained fewer voters than are now on the rolls of the single + burgh of Hawick, and all the counties together contained fewer voters than + are now on the register of Roxburghshire. So small a band of electors was + easily manipulated by a party leader who had the patronage of India at his + command. The three Presidencies were flooded with the sons and nephews of + men who were lucky enough to have a seat in a Town Council, or a + superiority in a rural district; and fortunate it was for our empire that + the responsibilities of that noblest of all careers soon educated young + Indian Civil Servants into something higher than mere adherents of a + political party. + </p> + <p> + While the will of the nation was paralysed within the senate, effectual + care was taken that its voice should not be heard without. The press was + gagged in England, and throttled in Scotland. Every speech, or sermon, or + pamphlet, the substance of which a Crown lawyer could torture into a + semblance of sedition, sent its author to the jail, the hulks, or the + pillory. In any place of resort where an informer could penetrate, men + spoke their minds at imminent hazard of ruinous fines, and protracted + imprisonment. It was vain to appeal to Parliament for redress against the + tyranny of packed juries, and panic-driven magistrates. Sheridan + endeavoured to retain for his countrymen the protection of Habeas Corpus; + but he could only muster forty-one supporters. Exactly as many members + followed Fox into the lobby when he opposed a bill, which, interpreted in + the spirit that then actuated our tribunals, made attendance at an open + meeting summoned for the consideration of Parliamentary Reform a service + as dangerous as night-poaching, and far more dangerous than smuggling. + Only ten more than that number ventured to protest against the + introduction of a measure, still more inquisitorial in its provisions and + ruthless in its penalties, which rendered every citizen who gave his + attention to the removal of public grievances liable at any moment to find + himself in the position of a criminal;—that very measure in behalf + of which Bishop Horsley had stated in the House of Peers that he did not + know what the mass of the people of any country had to do with the laws, + except to obey them. + </p> + <p> + Amidst a population which had once known freedom, and was still fit to be + entrusted with it, such a state of matters could not last for ever. Justly + proud of the immense success that they had bought by their resolution, + their energy, and their perseverance, the Ministers regarded the fall of + Napoleon as a party triumph which could only serve to confirm their power. + But the last cannon-shot that was fired on the 18th of June, was in truth + the death-knell of the golden age of Toryism. When the passion and ardour + of the war gave place to the discontent engendered by a protracted period + of commercial distress, the opponents of progress began to perceive that + they had to reckon, not with a small and disheartened faction, but with a + clear majority of the nation led by the most enlightened, and the most + eminent, of its sons. Agitators and incendiaries retired into the + background, as will always be the case when the country is in earnest; and + statesmen who had much to lose, but were not afraid to risk it, stepped + quietly and firmly to the front. The men, and the sons of the men, who had + so long endured exclusion from office, embittered by unpopularity, at + length reaped their reward. Earl Grey, who forty years before had been + hooted through the streets of North Shields with cries of "No Popery," + lived to bear the most respected name in England; and Brougham, whose + opinions differed little from those for expressing which Dr. Priestley in + 1791 had his house burned about his ears by the Birmingham mob, was now + the popular idol beyond all comparison or competition. + </p> + <p> + In the face of such unanimity of purpose, guided by so much worth and + talent, the Ministers lost their nerve, and, like all rulers who do not + possess the confidence of the governed, began first to make mistakes, and + then to quarrel among themselves. Throughout the years of Macaulay's early + manhood the ice was breaking fast. He was still quite young when the + concession of Catholic Emancipation gave a moral shock to the Tory party + from which it never recovered until the old order of things had finally + passed away. [Macaulay was fond of repeating an answer made to him by Lord + Clarendon in the year 1829. The young men were talking over the situation, + and Macaulay expressed curiosity as to the terms in which the Duke of + Wellington would recommend the Catholic Relief Bill to the Peers. "Oh," + said the other, "it will be easy enough. He'll say 'My lords! Attention! + Right about face! March!'"] It was his fortune to enter into other men's + labours after the burden and heat of the day had already been borne, and + to be summoned into the field just as the season was at hand for gathering + in a ripe and long-expected harvest of beneficent legislation. + </p> + <p> + On the 5th of April, 1830, he addressed the House of Commons on the second + reading of Mr. Robert Grant's bill for the Removal of Jewish Disabilities. + Sir James Mackintosh rose with him, but Macaulay got the advantage of the + preference that has always been conceded to one who speaks for the first + time after gaining his seat during the continuance of a Parliament;—a + privilege which, by a stretch of generosity, is now extended to new + members who have been returned at a general election. Sir James + subsequently took part in the debate; not, as he carefully assured his + audience, "to supply any defects in the speech of his honourable friend, + for there were none that he could find, but principally to absolve his own + conscience." Indeed, Macaulay, addressing himself to his task with an + absence of pretension such as never fails to conciliate the goodwill of + the House towards a maiden speech, put clearly and concisely enough the + arguments in favour of the bill;—arguments which, obvious, and + almost common-place, as they appear under his straightforward treatment, + had yet to be repeated during a space of six and thirty years before they + commended themselves to the judgment of our Upper Chamber. + </p> + <p> + "The power of which you deprive the Jew consists in maces, and gold + chains, and skins of parchment with pieces of wax dangling from their + edges. The power which you leave the Jew is the power of principal over + clerk, of master over servant, of landlord over tenant. As things now + stand, a Jew may be the richest man in England. He may possess the means + of raising this party and depressing that; of making East Indian + directors; of making members of Parliament. The influence of a Jew may be + of the first consequence in a war which shakes Europe to the centre. His + power may come into play in assisting or thwarting the greatest plans of + the greatest princes; and yet, with all this confessed, acknowledged, + undenied, you would have him deprived of power! Does not wealth confer + power? How are we to permit all the consequences of that wealth but one? I + cannot conceive the nature of an argument that is to bear out such a + position. If we were to be called on to revert to the day when the + warehouses of Jews were torn down and pillaged, the theory would be + comprehensible. But we have to do with a persecution so delicate that + there is no abstract rule for its guidance. You tell us that the Jews have + no legal right to power, and I am bound to admit it; but in the same way, + three hundred years ago they had no legal right to be in England, and six + hundred years ago they had no legal right to the teeth in their heads. + But, if it is the moral right we are to look at, I hold that on every + principle of moral obligation the Jew has a right to political power." + </p> + <p> + He was on his legs once again, and once only, during his first Session; + doing more for future success in Parliament by his silence than he could + have effected by half a dozen brilliant perorations. A crisis was rapidly + approaching when a man gifted with eloquence, who by previous + self-restraint had convinced the House that he did not speak for + speaking's sake, might rise almost in a day to the very summit of + influence and reputation. The country was under the personal rule of the + Duke of Wellington, who had gradually squeezed out of his Cabinet every + vestige of Liberalism, and even of independence, and who at last stood so + completely alone that he was generally supposed to be in more intimate + communication with Prince Polignac than with any of his own colleagues. + The Duke had his own way in the Lords; and on the benches of the Commons + the Opposition members were unable to carry, or even visibly to improve + their prospect of carrying, the measures on which their hearts were set. + The Reformers were not doing better in the division lobby than in 1821; + and their question showed no signs of having advanced since the day when + it had been thrown over by Pitt on the eve of the French Revolution. + </p> + <p> + But the outward aspect of the situation was very far from answering to the + reality. While the leaders of the popular party had been spending + themselves in efforts that seemed each more abortive than the last,—dividing + only to be enormously outvoted, and vindicating with calmness and + moderation the first principles of constitutional government only to be + stigmatised as the apostles of anarchy,—a mighty change was surely + but imperceptibly effecting itself in the collective mind of their + fellow-countrymen. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For, while the tired waves, vainly breaking, + Seem here no painful inch to gain, + Far back, through creeks and inlets making, + Comes silent, flooding in, the main." +</pre> + <p> + Events were at hand, which unmistakably showed how different was the + England of 1830 from the England of 1790. The King died; Parliament was + dissolved on the 24th of July; and in the first excitement and bustle of + the elections, while the candidates were still on the roads and the writs + in the mailbags, came the news that Paris was in arms. The troops fought + as well as Frenchmen ever can be got to fight against the tricolour; but + by the evening of the 29th it was all over with the Bourbons. The + Minister, whose friendship had reflected such unpopularity on our own + Premier, succumbed to the detestation of the victorious people, and his + sacrifice did not save the dynasty. What was passing among our neighbours + for once created sympathy, and not repulsion, on this side the Channel. + One French Revolution had condemned English Liberalism to forty years of + subjection, and another was to be the signal which launched it on as long + a career of supremacy. Most men said, and all felt, that Wellington must + follow Polignac; and the public temper was such as made it well for the + stability of our throne that it was filled by a monarch who had attracted + to himself the hopes and affection of the nation, and who shared its + preferences and antipathies with regard to the leading statesmen of the + day. + </p> + <p> + One result of political disturbance in any quarter of the globe is to fill + the scene of action with young members of Parliament, who follow + Revolutions about Europe as assiduously as Jew brokers attend upon the + movements of an invading army. Macaulay, whose re-election for Calne had + been a thing of course, posted off to Paris at the end of August, + journeying by Dieppe and Rouen, and eagerly enjoying a first taste of + continental travel. His letters during the tour were such as, previously + to the age of railroads, brothers who had not been abroad before used to + write for the edification of sisters who expected never to go abroad at + all. He describes in minute detail manners and institutions that to us are + no longer novelties, and monuments which an educated Englishman of our + time knows as well as Westminster Abbey, and a great deal better than the + Tower. Everything that he saw, heard, ate, drank, paid, and suffered, was + noted down in his exuberant diction to be read aloud and commented on over + the breakfast table in Great Ormond Street. + </p> + <p> + "At Rouen," he says, "I was struck by the union of venerable antiquity + with extreme liveliness and gaiety. We have nothing of the sort in + England. Till the time of James the First, I imagine, our houses were + almost all of wood, and have in consequence disappeared. In York there are + some very old streets; but they are abandoned to the lowest people, and + the gay shops are in the newly-built quarter of the town. In London, what + with the fire of 1666, and what with the natural progress of demolition + and rebuilding, I doubt whether there are fifty houses that date from the + Reformation. But in Rouen you have street after street of lofty + stern-looking masses of stone, with Gothic carvings. The buildings are so + high, and the ways so narrow, that the sun can scarcely reach the + pavements. Yet in these streets, monastic in their aspect, you have all + the glitter of Regent Street or the Burlington Arcade. Rugged and dark, + above, below they are a blaze of ribands, gowns, watches, trinkets, + artificial flowers; grapes, melons, and peaches such as Covent Garden does + not furnish, filling the windows of the fruiterers; showy women swimming + smoothly over the uneasy stones, and stared at by national guards + swaggering by in full uniform. It is the Soho Bazaar transplanted into the + gloomy cloisters of Oxford." + </p> + <p> + He writes to a friend just before he started on his tour: "There is much + that I am impatient to see, but two things specially,—the Palais + Royal, and the man who called me the Aristarchus of Edinburgh." Who this + person might be, and whether Macaulay succeeded in meeting him, are + questions which his letters leave unsolved; but he must have been a + constant visitor at the Palais Royal if the hours that he spent in it bore + any relation to the number of pages which it occupies in his + correspondence. The place was indeed well worth a careful study; for in + 1830 it was not the orderly and decent bazaar of the Second Empire, but + was still that compound of Parnassus and Bohemia which is painted in vivid + colours in the "Grand Homme de Province" of Balzac,—still the + paradise of such ineffable rascals as Diderot has drawn with terrible + fidelity in his "Neveu de Rameau." + </p> + <p> + "If I were to select the spot in all the earth in which the good and evil + of civilisation are most strikingly exhibited, in which the arts of life + are carried to the highest perfection, and in which all pleasures, high + and low, intellectual and sensual, are collected in the smallest space, I + should certainly choose the Palais Royal. It is the Covent Garden Piazza, + the Paternoster Row, the Vauxhall, the Albion Tavern, the Burlington + Arcade, the Crockford's the Finish, the Athenaeum of Paris all in one. + Even now, when the first dazzling effect has passed off, I never traverse + it without feeling bewildered by its magnificent variety. As a great + capital is a country in miniature, so the Palais Royal is a capital in + miniature,—an abstract and epitome of a vast community, exhibiting + at a glance the politeness which adorns its higher ranks, the coarseness + of its populace, and the vices and the misery which lie underneath its + brilliant exterior. Everything is there, and everybody. Statesmen, wits, + philosophers, beauties, dandies, blacklegs, adventurers, artists, idlers, + the king and his court, beggars with matches crying for charity, wretched + creatures dying of disease and want in garrets. There is no condition of + life which is not to be found in this gorgeous and fantastic Fairyland." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay had excellent opportunities for seeing behind the scenes during + the closing acts of the great drama that was being played out through + those summer months. The Duc de Broglie, then Prime Minister, treated him + with marked attention, both as an Englishman of distinction, and as his + father's son. He was much in the Chamber of Deputies, and witnessed that + strange and pathetic historical revival when, after an interval of forty + such years as mankind had never known before, the aged La Fayette again + stood forth, in the character of a disinterested dictator, between the + hostile classes of his fellow-countrymen. + </p> + <p> + "De La Fayette is so overwhelmed with work that I scarcely knew how to + deliver even Brougham's letter, which was a letter of business, and should + have thought it absurd to send him Mackintosh's, which was a mere letter + of introduction, I fell in with an English acquaintance who told me that + he had an appointment with La Fayette, and who undertook to deliver them + both. I accepted his offer, for, if I had left them with the porter, ten + to one they would never have been opened. I hear that hundreds of letters + are lying in the lodge of the hotel. Every Wednesday morning, from nine to + eleven, La Fayette gives audience to anybody who wishes to speak with him; + but about ten thousand people attend on these occasions, and fill, not + only the house, but all the courtyard and half the street. La Fayette is + Commander in Chief of the National Guard of France. The number of these + troops in Paris alone is upwards of forty thousand. The Government find a + musket and bayonet; but the uniform, which costs about ten napoleons, the + soldiers provide themselves. All the shopkeepers are enrolled, and I + cannot sufficiently admire their patriotism. My landlord, Meurice, a man + who, I suppose, has realised a million francs or more, is up one night in + four with his firelock doing the duty of a common watchman. + </p> + <p> + "There is, however, something to be said as an explanation of the zeal + with which the bourgeoisie give their time and money to the public. The + army received so painful a humiliation in the battles of July that it is + by no means inclined to serve the new system faithfully. The rabble + behaved nobly during the conflict, and have since shown rare humanity and + moderation. Yet those who remember the former Revolution feel an extreme + dread of the ascendency of mere multitude and there have been signs, + trifling in themselves, but such as may naturally alarm people of + property. Workmen have struck. Machinery has been attacked. Inflammatory + handbills have appeared upon the walls. At present all is quiet; but the + thing may happen, particularly if Polignac and Peyronnet should not be put + to death. The Peers wish to save them. The lower orders, who have had five + or six thousand of their friends and kinsmen butchered by the frantic + wickedness of these men, will hardly submit. 'Eh! eh!' said a fierce old + soldier of Napoleon to me the other day. 'L'on dit qu'ils seront deportes: + mais ne m'en parle pas. Non! non! Coupez-leur le cou. Sacre! Ca ne passera + pas comme ca.'" + </p> + <p> + "This long political digression will explain to you why Monsieur De La + Fayette is so busy. He has more to do than all the Ministers together. + However, my letters were presented, and he said to my friend that he had a + soiree every Tuesday, and should be most happy to see me there. I drove to + his house yesterday night. Of the interest which the common Parisians take + in politics you may judge by this. I told my driver to wait for me, and + asked his number. 'Ah! monsieur, c'est un beau numero. C'est un brave + numero. C'est 221.' You may remember that the number of deputies who voted + the intrepid address to Charles the Tenth, which irritated him into his + absurd coup d'etat, was 221. I walked into the hotel through a crowd of + uniforms, and found the reception-rooms as full as they could hold. I was + not able to make my way to La Fayette; but I was glad to see him. He looks + like the brave, honest, simple, good-natured man that he is." + </p> + <p> + Besides what is quoted above, there is very little of general interest in + these journal letters; and their publication would serve no purpose except + that of informing the present leader of the Monarchists what his father + had for breakfast and dinner during a week of 1830, and of enabling him to + trace changes in the disposition of the furniture of the De Broglie hotel. + "I believe," writes Macaulay, "that I have given the inventory of every + article in the Duke's salon. You will think that I have some intention of + turning upholsterer." + </p> + <p> + His thoughts and observations on weightier matters he kept for an article + on the State of Parties in France which he intended to provide for the + October number of the Edinburgh Review. While he was still at Paris, this + arrangement was rescinded by Mr. Napier in compliance with the wish, or + the whim, of Brougham; and Macaulay's surprise and annoyance vented itself + in a burst of indignant rhetoric strong enough to have upset a Government. + [See on page 142 the letter to Mr. Napier of September 16, 1831.] His + wrath,—or that part of it, at least, which was directed against the + editor,—did not survive an interchange of letters; and he at once + set to work upon turning his material into the shape of a volume for the + series of Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia, under the title of "The History + of France, from the Restoration of the Bourbons to the Accession of Louis + Philippe." Ten years ago proofs of the first eighty-eight pages were found + in Messrs. Spottiswoode's printing office, with a note on the margin to + the effect that most of the type was broken up before the sheets had been + pulled. The task, as far as it went, was faithfully performed; but the + author soon arrived at the conclusion that he might find a more profitable + investment for his labour. With his head full of Reform, Macaulay was loth + to spend in epitomising history the time and energy that would be better + employed in helping to make it. + </p> + <p> + When the new Parliament met on the 26th of October it was already evident + that the Government was doomed. Where the elections were open, Reform had + carried the day. Brougham was returned for Yorkshire, a constituency of + tried independence, which before 1832 seldom failed to secure the triumph + of a cause into whose scale it had thrown its enormous weight. The + counties had declared for the Whigs by a majority of eight to five, and + the great cities by a majority of eight to one. Of the close boroughs in + Tory hands many were held by men who had not forgotten Catholic + Emancipation, and who did not mean to pardon their leaders until they had + ceased to be Ministers. + </p> + <p> + In the debate on the Address the Duke of Wellington uttered his famous + declaration that the Legislature possessed, and deserved to possess, the + full and entire confidence of the country; that its existing constitution + was not only practically efficient but theoretically admirable; and that, + if he himself had to frame a system of representation, he should do his + best to imitate so excellent a model, though he admitted that the nature + of man was incapable at a single effort of attaining to such mature + perfection. His bewildered colleagues could only assert in excuse that + their chief was deaf, and wish that everybody else had been deaf too. The + second ministerial feat was of a piece with the first. Their Majesties had + accepted an invitation to dine at Guildhall on the 9th of November. The + Lord Mayor elect informed the Home Office that there was danger of riot, + and the Premier, (who could not be got to see that London was not Paris + because his own political creed happened to be much the same as Prince + Polignac's,) advised the King to postpone his visit to the City, and + actually talked of putting Lombard Street and Cheapside in military + occupation. Such a step taken at such a time by such a man had its + inevitable result. Consols, which the Duke's speech on the Address had + brought from 84 to 80, fell to 77 in an hour and a half; jewellers and + silversmiths sent their goods to the banks; merchants armed their clerks + and barricaded their warehouses; and, when the panic subsided, fear only + gave place to the shame and annoyance which a loyal people, whose loyalty + was at that moment more active than ever, experienced from the reflection + that all Europe was discussing the reasons why our King could not venture + to dine in public with the Chief Magistrate of his own capital. A strong + Minister, who sends the funds down seven per cent. in as many days, is an + anomaly that no nation will consent to tolerate; the members of the + Cabinet looked forward with consternation to a scheme of Reform which, + with the approbation of his party, Brougham had undertaken to introduce on + the 15th of November; and when, within twenty-four hours of the dreaded + debate, they were defeated on a motion for a committee on the Civil List, + their relief at having obtained an excuse for retiring at least equalled + that which the country felt at getting rid of them. + </p> + <p> + Earl Grey came in, saying, (and meaning what he said,) that the principles + on which he stood were "amelioration of abuses, promotion of economy, and + the endeavour to preserve peace consistently with the honour of the + country." Brougham, who was very sore at having been forced to postpone + his notice on Reform on account of the ministerial crisis, had + gratuitously informed the House of Commons on two successive days that he + had no intention of taking office. A week later on he accepted the + Chancellorship with an inconsistency which his friends readily forgave, + for they knew that, when he resolved to join the Cabinet, he was thinking + more of his party than of himself; a consideration that naturally enough + only sharpened the relish with which his adversaries pounced upon this + first of his innumerable scrapes. When the new writ for Yorkshire was + moved, Croker commented sharply on the position in which the Chancellor + was placed, and remarked that he had often heard Brougham declare that + "the characters of public men formed part of the wealth of England;"—a + reminiscence which was delivered with as much gravity and unction as if it + had been Mackintosh discoursing on Romilly. Unfortunately for himself, + Croker ruined his case by referring to a private conversation, an error + which the House of Commons always takes at least an evening to forgive; + and Macaulay had his audience with him as he vindicated the absent orator + with a generous warmth, which at length carried him so far that he was + interrupted by a call to order from the Chair. "The noble Lord had but a + few days for deliberation, and that at a time when great agitation + prevailed, and when the country required a strong and efficient Ministry + to conduct the government of the State. At such a period a few days are as + momentous as months would be at another period. It is not by the clock + that we should measure the importance of the changes that might take place + during such an interval. I owe no allegiance to the noble Lord who has + been transferred to another place; but as a member of this House I cannot + banish from my memory the extraordinary eloquence of that noble person + within these walls,—an eloquence which has left nothing equal to it + behind; and when I behold the departure of the great man from amongst us, + and when I see the place in which he sat, and from which he has so often + astonished us by the mighty powers of his mind, occupied this evening by + the honourable member who has commenced this debate, I cannot express the + feelings and emotions to which such circumstances give rise." + </p> + <p> + Parliament adjourned over Christmas; and on the 1st of March 1831 Lord + John Russell introduced the Reform Bill amidst breathless silence, which + was at length broken by peals of contemptuous laughter from the Opposition + benches, as he read the list of the hundred and ten boroughs which were + condemned to partial or entire disfranchisement. Sir Robert Inglis led the + attack upon a measure that he characterised as Revolution in the guise of + a statute. Next morning as Sir Robert was walking into town over + Westminster Bridge, he told his companion that up to the previous night he + had been very anxious, but that his fears were now at an end, inasmuch as + the shock caused by the extravagance of the ministerial proposals would + infallibly bring the country to its senses. On the evening of that day + Macaulay made the first of his Reform speeches. When he sat down the + Speaker sent for him, and told him that in all his prolonged experience he + had never seen the House in such a state of excitement. Even at this + distance of time it is impossible to read aloud the last thirty sentences + without an emotion which suggests to the mind what must have been their + effect when declaimed by one who felt every word that he spoke, in the + midst of an assembly agitated by hopes and apprehensions such as living + men have never known, or have long forgotten. ["The question of + Parliamentary Reform is still behind. But signs, of which it is impossible + to misconceive the import, do most clearly indicate that, unless that + question also be speedily settled, property, and order, and all the + institutions of this great monarchy, will be exposed to fearful peril. Is + it possible that gentlemen long versed in high political affairs cannot + read these signs? Is it possible that they can really believe that the + Representative system of England, such as it now is, will last to the year + 1860? If not, for what would they have us wait? Would they have us wait, + merely that we may show to all the world how little we have profited by + our own recent experience? Would they have us wait, that we may once again + hit the exact point where we can neither refuse with authority, nor + concede with grace? Would they have us wait, that the numbers of the + discontented party may become larger, its demands higher, its feelings + more acrimonious, its organisation more complete? Would they have us wait + till the whole tragicomedy of 1827 has been acted over again? till they + have been brought into office by a cry of 'No Reform,' to be reformers, as + they were once before brought into office by a cry of 'No Popery', to be + emancipators? Have they obliterated from their minds—gladly, + perhaps, would some among them obliterate from their minds—the + transactions of that year? And have they forgotten all the transactions of + the succeeding year? Have they forgotten how the spirit of liberty in + Ireland, debarred from its natural outlet, found a vent by forbidden + passages? Have they forgotten how we were forced to indulge the Catholics + in all the license of rebels, merely because we chose to withhold from + them the liberties of subjects? Do they wait for associations more + formidable than that of the Corn Exchange, for contributions larger than + the Rent, for agitators more violent than those who, three years ago, + divided with the King and the Parliament the sovereignty of Ireland? Do + they wait for that last and most dreadful paroxysm of popular rage, for + that last and most cruel test of military fidelity? Let them wait, if + their past experience shall induce them to think that any high honour or + any exquisite pleasure is to be obtained by a policy like this. Let them + wait, if this strange and fearful infatuation be indeed upon them, that + they should not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, or + understand with their heart. But let us know our interest and our duty + better. Turn where we may, within, around, the voice of great events is + proclaiming to us, Reform, that you may preserve. Now, therefore, while + everything at home and abroad forebodes ruin to those who persist in a + hopeless struggle against the spirit of the age, now, while the crash of + the proudest throne of the Continent is still resounding in our ears, now, + while the roof of a British palace affords an ignominious shelter to the + exiled heir of forty kings, now, while we see on every side ancient + institutions subverted, and great societies dissolved, now, while the + heart of England is still sound, now, while old feelings and old + associations retain a power and a charm which may too soon pass away, now, + in this your accepted time, now, in this your day of salvation, take + counsel, not of prejudice, not of party spirit, not of the ignominious + pride of a fatal consistency, but of history, of reason, of the ages which + are past, of the signs of this most portentous time. Pronounce in a manner + worthy of the expectation with which this great debate has been + anticipated, and of the long remembrance which it will leave behind. Renew + the youth of the State. Save property, divided against itself. Save the + multitude, endangered by its own ungovernable passions. Save the + aristocracy, endangered by its own unpopular power. Save the greatest, the + fairest, and most highly civilised community that ever existed, from + calamities which may in a few days sweep away all the rich heritage of so + many ages of wisdom and glory. The danger is terrible. The time is short. + If this bill should be rejected, I pray to God that none of those who + concur in rejecting it may ever remember their votes with unavailing + remorse, amidst the wreck of laws, the confusion of ranks, the spoliation + of property, and the dissolution of social order."] Sir Thomas Denman, who + rose later on in the discussion, said, with universal acceptance, that the + orator's words remained tingling in the ears of all who heard them, and + would last in their memories as long as they had memories to employ. That + sense of proprietorship in an effort of genius, which the House of Commons + is ever ready to entertain, effaced for a while all distinctions of party. + "Portions of the speech," said Sir Robert Peel, "were as beautiful as + anything I have ever heard or read. It reminded one of the old times." The + names of Fox, Burke, and Canning were during that evening in everybody's + mouth; and Macaulay overheard with delight a knot of old members + illustrating their criticisms by recollections of Lord Plunket. He had + reason to be pleased; for he had been thought worthy of the compliment + which the judgment of Parliament reserves for a supreme occasion. In 1866, + on the second reading of the Franchise Bill, when the crowning oration of + that memorable debate had come to its close amidst a tempest of applause, + one or two veterans of the lobby, forgetting Macaulay on Reform,—forgetting, + it may be, Mr. Gladstone himself on the Conservative Budget of 1852,—pronounced, + amidst the willing assent of a younger generation, that there had been + nothing like it since Plunket. + </p> + <p> + The unequivocal success of the first speech into which he had thrown his + full power decided for some time to come the tenor of Macaulay's career. + During the next three years he devoted himself to Parliament, rivalling + Stanley in debate, and Hume in the regularity of his attendance. He + entered with zest into the animated and manysided life of the House of + Commons, of which so few traces can ordinarily be detected in what goes by + the name of political literature. The biographers of a distinguished + statesman too often seem to have forgotten that the subject of their + labours passed the best part of his waking hours, during the half of every + year, in a society of a special and deeply marked character, the leading + traits of which are at least as well worth recording as the fashionable or + diplomatic gossip that fills so many volumes of memoirs and + correspondence. Macaulay's letters sufficiently indicate how thoroughly he + enjoyed the ease, the freedom, the hearty good-fellowship, that reign + within the precincts of our national senate; and how entirely he + recognised that spirit of noble equality, so prevalent among its members, + which takes little or no account of wealth, or title, or indeed of + reputation won in other fields, but which ranks a man according as the + value of his words, and the weight of his influence, bear the test of a + standard which is essentially its own. + </p> + <p> + In February 1831 he writes to Whewell: "I am impatient for Praed's debut. + The House of Commons is a place in which I would not promise success to + any man. I have great doubts even about Jeffrey. It is the most peculiar + audience in the world. I should say that a man's being a good writer, a + good orator at the bar, a good mob-orator, or a good orator in debating + clubs, was rather a reason for expecting him to fail than for expecting + him to succeed in the House of Commons. A place where Walpole succeeded + and Addison failed; where Dundas succeeded and Burke failed; where Peel + now succeeds and where Mackintosh fails; where Erskine and Scarlett were + dinner-bells; where Lawrence and Jekyll, the two wittiest men, or nearly + so, of their time, were thought bores, is surely a very strange place. And + yet I feel the whole character of the place growing upon me. I begin to + like what others about me like, and to disapprove what they disapprove. + Canning used to say that the House, as a body, had better taste than the + man of best taste in it, and I am very much inclined to think that Canning + was right." + </p> + <p> + The readers of Macaulay's letters will, from time to time, find reason to + wish that the young Whig of 1830 had more frequently practised that + studied respect for political opponents, which now does so much to correct + the intolerance of party among men who can be adversaries without ceasing + to regard each other as colleagues. But this honourable sentiment was the + growth of later days; and, at an epoch when the system of the past and the + system of the future were night after night in deadly wrestle on the floor + of St. Stephen's, the combatants were apt to keep their kindliness, and + even their courtesies, for those with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder + in the fray. Politicians, Conservative and Liberal alike, who were + themselves young during the Sessions of 1866 and 1867, and who can recall + the sensations evoked by a contest of which the issues were far less grave + and the passions less strong than of yore, will make allowances for one + who, with the imagination of a poet and the temperament of an orator, at + thirty years old was sent straight into the thickest of the tumult which + then raged round the standard of Reform, and will excuse him for having + borne himself in that battle of giants as a determined and a fiery + partisan. + </p> + <p> + If to live intensely be to live happily, Macaulay had an enviable lot + during those stirring years; and, if the old songwriters had reason on + their side when they celebrated the charms of a light purse, he certainly + possessed that element of felicity. Among the earliest economical reforms + undertaken by the new Government was a searching revision of our + Bankruptcy jurisdiction, in the course of which his Commissionership was + swept away, without leaving him a penny of compensation. "I voted for the + Bankruptcy Court Bill," he said in answer to an inquisitive constituent. + "There were points in that Bill of which I did not approve, and I only + refrained from stating those points because an office of my own was at + stake." When this source fell dry he was for a while a poor man; for a + member of Parliament, who has others to think of besides himself, is + anything but rich on sixty or seventy pounds a quarter as the produce of + his pen, and a college income which has only a few more months to run. At + a time when his Parliamentary fame stood at its highest he was reduced to + sell the gold medals which he had gained at Cambridge; but he was never + for a moment in debt; nor did he publish a line prompted by any lower + motive than the inspiration of his political faith, or the instinct of his + literary genius. He had none but pleasant recollections connected with the + period when his fortunes were at their lowest. From the secure prosperity + of after life he delighted in recalling the time when, after cheering on + the fierce debate for twelve or fifteen hours together, he would walk home + by daylight to his chambers, and make his supper on a cheese which was a + present from one of his Wiltshire constituents, and a glass of the audit + ale which reminded him that he was still a fellow of Trinity. + </p> + <p> + With political distinction came social success, more rapid and more + substantial, perhaps, than has ever been achieved by one who took so + little trouble to win or to retain it. The circumstances of the time were + all in his favour. Never did our higher circles present so much that would + attract a new-comer, and never was there more readiness to admit within + them all who brought the honourable credentials of talent and celebrity. + In 1831 the exclusiveness of birth was passing away, and the exclusiveness + of fashion had not set in. The Whig party, during its long period of + depression, had been drawn together by the bonds of common hopes, and + endeavours, and disappointments; and personal reputation, whether + literary, political, or forensic, held its own as against the advantages + of rank and money to an extent that was never known before, and never + since. Macaulay had been well received in the character of an Edinburgh + Reviewer, and his first great speech in the House of Commons at once + opened to him all the doors in London that were best worth entering. + Brought up, as he had been, in a household which was perhaps the strictest + and the homeliest among a set of families whose creed it was to live + outside the world, it put his strength of mind to the test when he found + himself courted and observed by the most distinguished and the most + formidable personages of the day. Lady Holland listened to him with + unwonted deference, and scolded him with a circumspection that was in + itself a compliment. Rogers spoke of him with friendliness, and to him + with positive affection, and gave him the last proof of his esteem and + admiration by asking him to name the morning for a breakfast-party. He was + treated with almost fatherly kindness by the able and worthy man who is + still remembered by the name of Conversation Sharp. Indeed, his deference + for the feelings of all whom he liked and respected, which an experienced + observer could detect beneath the eagerness of his manner and the + volubility of his talk, made him a favourite among those of a generation + above his own. He bore his honours quietly, and enjoyed them with the + natural and hearty pleasure of a man who has a taste for society, but + whose ambitions lie elsewhere. For the space of three seasons he dined out + almost nightly, and spent many of his Sundays in those suburban residences + which, as regards the company and the way of living, are little else than + sections of London removed into a purer air. + </p> + <p> + Before very long his habits and tastes began to incline in the direction + of domesticity, and even of seclusion; and, indeed, at every period of his + life he would gladly desert the haunts of those whom Pope and his + contemporaries used to term "the great," to seek the cheerful and cultured + simplicity of his home, or the conversation of that one friend who had a + share in the familiar confidence which Macaulay otherwise reserved for his + nearest relatives. This was Mr. Thomas Flower Ellis, whose reports of the + proceedings in King's Bench, extending over a whole generation, have + established and perpetuated his name as that of an acute and industrious + lawyer. He was older than Macaulay by four years. Though both Fellows of + the same college, they missed each other at the university, and it was not + until 1827, on the Northern circuit, that their acquaintance began. + "Macaulay has joined," writes Mr. Ellis; "an amusing person; somewhat + boyish in his manner, but very original." The young barristers had in + common an insatiable love of the classics; and similarity of character, + not very perceptible on the surface, soon brought about an intimacy which + ripened into an attachment as important to the happiness of both concerned + as ever united two men through every stage of life and vicissitude of + fortune. Mr. Ellis had married early; but in 1839 he lost his wife, and + Macaulay's helpful and heartfelt participation in his great sorrow riveted + the links of a chain that was already indissoluble. + </p> + <p> + The letters contained in this volume will tell, better than the words of + any third person, what were the points of sympathy between the two + companions, and in what manner they lived together till the end came. Mr. + Ellis survived his friend little more than a year; not complaining or + lamenting but going about his work like a man from whose day the light has + departed. + </p> + <p> + Brief and rare were the vacations of the most hard-worked Parliament that + had sat since the times of Pym and Hampden. In the late autumn of 1831, + the defeat of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords delivered over the + country to agitation, resentment, and alarm; and gave a short holiday to + public men who were not Ministers, magistrates, or officers in the + yeomanry. Hannah and Margaret Macaulay accompanied their brother on a + visit to Cambridge, where they met with the welcome which young Masters of + Arts delight in providing for the sisters of a comrade of whom they are + fond and proud. + </p> + <p> + "On the evening that we arrived," says Lady Trevelyan, "we met at dinner + Whewell, Sedgwick, Airy, and Thirlwail and how pleasant they were, and how + much they made of us two happy girls, who were never tired of seeing, and + hearing and admiring! We breakfasted, lunched, and dined with one or the + other of the set during our stay, and walked about the colleges all day + with the whole train. [A reminiscence from that week of refined and genial + hospitality survives in the Essay on Madame d'Arblay. The reception which + Miss Burney would have enjoyed at Oxford, if she had visited it otherwise + than as an attendant on Royalty, is sketched off with all the writer's + wonted spirit, and more than his wonted grace.] Whewell was then tutor; + rougher, but less pompous, and much more agreeable, than in after years; + though I do not think that he ever cordially liked your uncle. We then + went on to Oxford, which from knowing no one there seemed terribly dull to + us by comparison with Cambridge, and we rejoiced our brother's heart by + sighing after Trinity." + </p> + <p> + During the first half of his life Macaulay spent some months of every year + at the seat of his uncle, Mr. Babington, who kept open house for his + nephews and nieces throughout the summer and autumn. Rothley Temple, which + lies in a valley beyond the first ridge that separates the flat + unattractive country immediately round Leicester from the wild and + beautiful scenery of Charnwood Forest, is well worth visiting as a + singularly unaltered specimen of an old English home. The stately trees; + the grounds, half park and half meadow; the cattle grazing up to the very + windows; the hall, with its stone pavement rather below than above the + level of the soil, hung with armour rude and rusty enough to dispel the + suspicion of its having passed through a collector's hands; the low + ceilings; the dark oak wainscot, carved after primitive designs, that + covered every inch of wall in bedroom and corridor; the general air which + the whole interior presented of having been put to rights at the date of + the Armada and left alone ever since;—all this antiquity contrasted + quaintly, but prettily enough, with the youth and gaiety that lit up every + corner of the ever-crowded though comfortable mansion. In wet weather + there was always a merry group sitting on the staircase, or marching up + and down the gallery; and, wherever the noise and fun were most abundant, + wherever there was to be heard the loudest laughter and the most vehement + expostulation, Macaulay was the centre of a circle which was exclaiming at + the levity of his remarks about the Blessed Martyr; disputing with him on + the comparative merits of Pascal, Racine, Corneille, Moliere, and Boileau + or checking him as he attempted to justify his godparents by running off a + list of all the famous Thomases in history. The place is full of his + memories. His favourite walk was a mile of field-road and lane which leads + from the house to a lodge on the highway; and his favourite point of view + in that walk was a slight acclivity, whence the traveller from Leicester + catches his first sight of Rothley Temple, with its background of hill and + greenwood. He is remembered as sitting at the window in the hall, reading + Dante to himself, or translating it aloud as long as any listener cared to + remain within ear-shot. He occupied, by choice, a very small chamber on + the ground floor, through the window of which he could escape unobserved + while afternoon callers were on their way between the front door and the + drawing-room. On such occasions he would take refuge in a boat moored + under the shade of some fine oaks which still exist, though the ornamental + water on whose bank they stood has since been converted into dry land. + </p> + <p> + A journal kept at intervals by Margaret Macaulay, some extracts from which + have here been arranged in the form of a continuous narrative, affords a + pleasant and faithful picture of her brother's home-life during the years + 1831 and 1832. With an artless candour, from which his reputation will not + suffer, she relates the alternations of hope and disappointment through + which the young people passed when it began to be a question whether or + not he would be asked to join the Administration. + </p> + <p> + "I think I was about twelve when I first became very fond of my brother, + and from that time my affection for him has gone on increasing during a + period of seven years. I shall never forget my delight and enchantment + when I first found that he seemed to like talking to me. His manner was + very flattering to such a child, for he always took as much pains to amuse + me, and to inform me on anything I wished to know, as ho could have done + to the greatest person in the land. I have heard him express great disgust + towards those people who, lively and agreeable abroad, are a dead weight + in the family circle. I think the remarkable clearness of his style + proceeds in some measure from the habit of conversing with very young + people, to whom he has a great deal to explain and impart. + </p> + <p> + "He reads his works to us in the manuscript, and, when we find fault, as I + very often do with his being too severe upon people, he takes it with the + greatest kindness, and often alters what we do not like. I hardly ever, + indeed, met with a sweeter temper than his. He is rather hasty, and when + he has not time for an instant's thought, he will sometimes return a quick + answer, for which he will be sorry the moment he has said it. But in a + conversation of any length, though it may be on subjects that touch him + very nearly, and though the person with whom he converses may be very + provoking and extremely out of temper, I never saw him lose his. He never + uses this superiority, as some do, for the purpose of irritating another + still more by coolness; but speaks in a kind, good-natured manner, as if + he wished to bring the other back to temper without appearing to notice + that he had lost it. + </p> + <p> + "He at one time took a very punning turn, and we laid a wager in books, my + Mysteries of Udolpho against his German Theatre, that he could not make + two hundred puns in one evening. He did it, however, in two hours, and, + although they were of course most of them miserably bad, yet it was a + proof of great quickness. + </p> + <p> + "Saturday, February 26, 1831—At dinner we talked of the Grants. Tom + said he had found Mr. Robert Grant walking about in the lobbies of the + House of Commons, and saying that he wanted somebody to defend his place + in the Government, which he heard was going to be attacked. 'What did you + say to him?' we asked. 'Oh, I said nothing; but, if they'll give me the + place, I'll defend it. When I am Judge Advocate, I promise you that I will + not go about asking anyone to defend me.' + </p> + <p> + "After dinner we played at capping verses, and after that at a game in + which one of the party thinks of something for the others to guess at. Tom + gave the slug that killed Perceval, the lemon that Wilkes squeezed for + Doctor Johnson, the pork-chop which Thurtell ate after he had murdered + Weare, and Sir Charles Macarthy's jaw which was sent by the Ashantees as a + present to George the Fourth. + </p> + <p> + "Some one mentioned an acquaintance who had gone to the West Indies, + hoping to make money, but had only ruined the complexions of his + daughters. Tom said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mr. Walker was sent to Berbice + By the greatest of statesmen and earls. + He went to bring back yellow boys, + But he only brought back yellow girls. +</pre> + <p> + "I never saw anything like the fun and humour that kindles in his eye when + a repartee or verse is working in his brain. + </p> + <p> + "March 3, 1831.—Yesterday morning Hannah and I walked part of the + way to his chambers with Tom, and, as we separated, I remember wishing him + good luck and success that night. He went through it most triumphantly, + and called down upon himself admiration enough to satisfy even his sister. + I like so much the manner in which he receives compliments. He does not + pretend to be indifferent, but smiles in his kind and animated way, with + 'I am sure it is very kind of you to say so,' or something of that nature. + His voice from cold and over-excitement got quite into a scream towards + the last part. A person told him that he had not heard such speaking since + Fox. 'You have not heard such screaming since Fox,' he said. + </p> + <p> + "March 24, 1831.—By Tom's account, there never was such a scene of + agitation as the House of Commons presented at the passing of the second + reading of the Reform Bill the day before yesterday, or rather yesterday, + for they did not divide till three or four in the morning. When dear Tom + came the next day he was still very much excited, which I found to my + cost, for when I went out to walk with him he walked so very fast that I + could scarcely keep up with him at all. With sparkling eyes he described + the whole scene of the preceding evening in the most graphic manner. + </p> + <p> + "'I suppose the Ministers are all in high spirits,' said Mamma. 'In + spirits, Ma'am? I'm sure I don't know. In bed, I'll answer for it.' Mamma + asked him for franks, that she might send his speech to a lady [This lady + was Mrs. Hannah More.] who, though of high Tory principles, is very fond + of Tom, and has left him in her will her valuable library. 'Oh, no,' he + said, 'don't send it. If you do, she'll cut me off with a prayer-book.' + </p> + <p> + "Tom is very much improved in his appearance during the last two or three + years. His figure is not so bad for a man of thirty as for a man of + twenty-two. He dresses better, and his manners, from seeing a great deal + of society, are very much improved. When silent and occupied in thought, + walking up and down the room as he always does, his hands clenched and + muscles working with the intense exertion of his mind, strangers would + think his countenance stern; but I remember a writing-master of ours, when + Tom had come into the room and left it again, saying, 'Ladies, your + brother looks like a lump of good-humour!' + </p> + <p> + "March 30, 1831—Tom has just left me, after a very interesting + conversation. He spoke of his extreme idleness. He said: 'I never knew + such an idle man as I am. When I go in to Empson or Ellis their tables are + always covered with books and papers. I cannot stick at anything for above + a day or two. I mustered industry enough to teach myself Italian. I wish + to speak Spanish. I know I could master the difficulties in a week, and + read any book in the language at the end of a month, but I have not the + courage to attempt it. If there had not been really something in me, + idleness would have ruined me.' + </p> + <p> + "I said that I was surprised at the great accuracy of his information, + considering how desultory his reading had been. 'My accuracy as to facts,' + he said, 'I owe to a cause which many men would not confess. It is due to + my love of castle-building. The past is in my mind soon constructed into a + romance.' He then went on to describe the way in which from his childhood + his imagination had been filled by the study of history. 'With a person of + my turn,' he said, 'the minute touches are of as great interest, and + perhaps greater, than the most important events. Spending so much time as + I do in solitude, my mind would have rusted by gazing vacantly at the shop + windows. As it is, I am no sooner in the streets than I am in Greece, in + Rome, in the midst of the French Revolution. Precision in dates, the day + or hour in which a man was born or died, becomes absolutely necessary. A + slight fact, a sentence, a word, are of importance in my romance. Pepys's + Diary formed almost inexhaustible food for my fancy. I seem to know every + inch of Whitehall. I go in at Hans Holbein's gate, and come out through + the matted gallery. The conversations which I compose between great people + of the time are long, and sufficiently animated; in the style, if not with + the merits, of Sir Walter Scott's. The old parts of London, which you are + sometimes surprised at my knowing so well, those old gates and houses down + by the river, have all played their part in my stories.' He spoke, too, of + the manner in which he used to wander about Paris, weaving tales of the + Revolution, and he thought that he owed his command of language greatly to + this habit. + </p> + <p> + "I am very sorry that the want both of ability and memory should prevent + my preserving with greater truth a conversation which interested me very + much. + </p> + <p> + "May 21, 1831.—Tom was from London at the time my mother's death + occurred, and things fell out in such a manner that the first information + he received of it was from the newspapers. He came home directly. He was + in an agony of distress, and gave way at first to violent bursts of + feeling. During the whole of the week he was with us all day, and was the + greatest comfort to us imaginable. He talked a great deal of our sorrow, + and led the conversation by degrees to other subjects, bearing the whole + burden of it himself and interesting us without jarring with the + predominant feeling of the time. I never saw him appear to greater + advantage—never loved him more dearly. + </p> + <p> + "September 1831.—Of late we have walked a good deal. I remember + pacing up and down Brunswick Square and Lansdowne Place for two hours one + day, deep in the mazes of the most subtle metaphysics;—up and down + Cork Street, engaged over Dryden's poetry and the great men of that time;—making + jokes all the way along Bond Street, and talking politics everywhere. + </p> + <p> + "Walking in the streets with Tom and Hannah, and talking about the hard + work the heads of his party had got now, I said: + </p> + <p> + "'How idle they must think you, when they meet you here in the busy part + of the day!' 'Yes, here I am,' said he, 'walking with two unidea'd girls. + [Boswell relates in his tenth chapter how Johnson scolded Langton for + leaving "his social friends, to go and sit with a set of wretched unidea'd + girls."] However, if one of the Ministry says to me, "Why walk you here + all the day idle?" I shall say, "Because no man has hired me."' + </p> + <p> + "We talked of eloquence, which he has often compared to fresco-painting: + the result of long study and meditation, but at the moment of execution + thrown off with the greatest rapidity; what has apparently been the work + of a few hours being destined to last for ages. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Tierney said he was sure Sir Philip Francis had written Junius, for + he was the proudest man he ever knew, and no one ever heard of anything he + had done to be proud of. + </p> + <p> + "November 14, 1831, half-past-ten.—On Friday last Lord Grey sent for + Tom. His note was received too late to be acted on that day. On Saturday + came another, asking him to East Sheen on that day, or Sunday. Yesterday, + accordingly, he went, and stayed the night, promising to be here as early + as possible to-day. So much depends upon the result of this visit! That he + will be offered a place I have not the least doubt. He will refuse a + Lordship of the Treasury, a Lordship of the Admiralty, or the Mastership + of the Ordnance. He will accept the Secretaryship of the Board of Control, + but will not thank them for it; and would not accept that, but that he + thinks it will be a place of importance during the approaching discussions + on the East Indian monopoly. + </p> + <p> + "If he gets a sufficient salary, Hannah and I shall most likely live with + him. Can I possibly look forward to anything happier? I cannot imagine a + course of life that would suit him better than thus to enjoy the pleasures + of domestic life without its restraints; with sufficient business, but + not, I hope, too much. + </p> + <p> + "At one o'clock he came. I went out to meet him. 'I have nothing to tell + you. Nothing. Lord Grey sent for me to speak about a matter of importance, + which must be strictly private.' + </p> + <p> + "November 27.—I am just returned from a long walk, during which the + conversation turned entirely on one subject. After a little previous talk + about a certain great personage, [The personage was Lord Brougham, who at + this time was too formidable for the poor girl to venture to write his + name at length even in a private journal.] I asked Tom when the present + coolness between them began. He said: 'Nothing could exceed my respect and + admiration for him in early days. I saw at that time private letters in + which he spoke highly of my articles, and of me as the most rising man of + the time. After a while, however, I began to remark that he became + extremely cold to me, hardly ever spoke to me on circuit, and treated me + with marked slight. If I were talking to a man, if he wished to speak to + him on politics or anything else that was not in any sense a private + matter, he always drew him away from me instead of addressing us both. + When my article on Hallam came out, he complained to Jeffrey that I took + up too much of the Review; and, when my first article on Mill appeared, he + foamed with rage, and was very angry with Jeffrey for having printed it.' + </p> + <p> + "'But,' said I,' the Mills are friends of his, and he naturally did not + like them to be attacked.' + </p> + <p> + "'On the contrary,' said Tom, 'he had attacked them fiercely himself; but + he thought I had made a hit, and was angry accordingly. When a friend of + mine defended my articles to him, he said: "I know nothing of the + articles. I have not read Macaulay's articles." What can be imagined more + absurd than his keeping up an angry correspondence with Jeffrey about + articles he has never read? Well, the next thing was that Jeffrey, who was + about to give up the editorship, asked me if I would take it. I said that + I would gladly do so, if they would remove the headquarters of the Review + to London. Jeffrey wrote to him about it. He disapproved of it so strongly + that the plan was given up. The truth was that he felt that his power over + the Review diminished as mine increased, and he saw that he would have + little indeed if I were editor. + </p> + <p> + "'I then came into Parliament. I do not complain that he should have + preferred Denman's claims to mine, and that he should have blamed Lord + Lansdowne for not considering him. I went to take my seat. As I turned + from the table at which I had been taking the oaths, he stood as near to + me as you do now, and he cut me dead. We never spoke in the House, + excepting once, that I can remember, when a few words passed between us in + the lobby. I have sat close to him when many men of whom I knew nothing + have introduced themselves to me to shake hands, and congratulate me after + making a speech, and he has never said a single word. I know that it is + jealousy, because I am not the first man whom he has used in this way. + During the debate on the Catholic claims he was so enraged because Lord + Plunket had made a very splendid display, and because the Catholics had + chosen Sir Francis Burdett instead of him to bring the Bill forward, that + he threw every difficulty in its way. Sir Francis once said to him: + "Really, Mr.— you are so jealous that it is impossible to act with + you." I never will serve in an Administration of which he is the head. On + that I have most firmly made up my mind. I do not believe that it is in + his nature to be a month in office without caballing against his + colleagues. ["There never was a direct personal rival, or one who was in a + position which, however reluctantly, implied rivalry, to whom he has been + just; and on the fact of this ungenerous jealousy I do not understand that + there is any difference of opinion."—Lord Cockburn's Journal.] + </p> + <p> + "'He is, next to the King, the most popular man in England. There is no + other man whose entrance into any town in the kingdom would be so certain + to be with huzzaing and taking off of horses. At the same time he is in a + very ticklish situation, for he has no real friends. Jeffrey, Sydney + Smith, Mackintosh, all speak of him as I now speak to you. I was talking + to Sydney Smith of him the other day, and said that, great as I felt his + faults to be, I must allow him a real desire to raise the lower orders, + and do good by education, and those methods upon which his heart has been + always set. Sydney would not allow this, or any other, merit. Now, if + those who are called his friends feel towards him, as they all do, angry + and sore at his overbearing, arrogant, and neglectful conduct, when those + reactions in public feeling, which must come, arrive, he will have nothing + to return upon, no place of refuge, no hand of such tried friends as Fox + and Canning had to support him. You will see that he will soon place + himself in a false position before the public. His popularity will go + down, and he will find himself alone. Mr. Pitt, it is true, did not study + to strengthen himself by friendships but this was not from jealousy. I do + not love the man, but I believe he was quite superior to that. It was from + a solitary pride he had. I heard at Holland House the other day that Sir + Philip Francis said that, though he hated Pitt, he must confess there was + something fine in seeing how he maintained his post by himself. "The lion + walks alone," he said. "The jackals herd together."'" + </p> + <p> + This conversation, to those who have heard Macaulay talk, bears + unmistakable signs of having been committed to paper while the words,—or, + at any rate, the outlines,—of some of the most important sentences + were fresh in his sister's mind. Nature had predestined the two men to + mutual antipathy. Macaulay, who knew his own range and kept within it, and + who gave the world nothing except his best and most finished work, was + fretted by the slovenly omniscience of Brougham, who affected to be a + walking encyclopaedia, "a kind of semi-Solomon, half knowing everything + from the cedar to the hyssop." [These words are extracted from a letter + written by Macaulay.] The student, who, in his later years, never left his + library for the House of Commons without regret, had little in common with + one who, like Napoleon, held that a great reputation was a great noise; + who could not change horses without making a speech, see the Tories come + in without offering to take a judgeship, or allow the French to make a + Revolution without proposing to naturalise himself as a citizen of the new + Republic. The statesman who never deserted an ally, or distrusted a + friend, could have no fellowship with a free-lance, ignorant of the very + meaning of loyalty; who, if the surfeited pen of the reporter had not + declined its task, would have enriched our collections of British oratory + by at least one Philippic against every colleague with whom he had ever + acted. The many who read this conversation by the light of the public + history of Lord Melbourne's Administration, and still more the few who + have access to the secret history of Lord Grey's Cabinet, will acknowledge + that seldom was a prediction so entirely fulfilled, or a character so + accurately read. And that it was not a prophecy composed after the event + is proved by the circumstance that it stands recorded in the handwriting + of one who died before it was accomplished. + </p> + <p> + "January 3, 1832.—Yesterday Tom dined at Holland House, and heard + Lord Holland tell this story. Some paper was to be published by Mr. Fox, + in which mention was made of Mr. Pitt having been employed at a club in a + manner that would have created scandal. Mr. Wilberforce went to Mr. Fox, + and asked him to omit the passage. 'Oh, to be sure,' said Mr. Fox; 'if + there are any good people who would be scandalised, I will certainly put + it out!' Mr. Wilberforce then preparing to take his leave, he said: 'Now, + Mr. Wilberforce, if, instead of being about Mr. Pitt, this had been an + account of my being seen gaming at White's on a Sunday, would you have + taken so much pains to prevent it being known?' 'I asked this,' said Mr. + Fox, 'because I wanted to see what he would say, for I knew he would not + tell a lie about it. He threw himself back, as his way was, and only + answered: "Oh, Mr. Fox, you are always so pleasant!"' + </p> + <p> + "January 8, 1832.—Yesterday Tom dined with us, and stayed late. He + talked almost uninterruptedly for six hours. In the evening he made a + great many impromptu charades in verse. I remember he mentioned a piece of + impertinence of Sir Philip Francis. Sir Philip was writing a history of + his own time, with characters of its eminent men, and one day asked Mr. + Tierney if he should like to hear his own character. Of course he said + 'Yes,' and it was read to him. It was very flattering, and he expressed + his gratification for so favourable a description of himself. 'Subject to + revision, you must remember, Mr. Tierney,' said Sir Philip, as he laid the + manuscript by; 'subject to revision according to what may happen in the + future.' + </p> + <p> + "I am glad Tom has reviewed old John Bunyan. Many are reading it who never + read it before. Yesterday, as he was sitting in the Athenaeum, a gentleman + called out: 'Waiter, is there a copy of the Pilgrim's Progress in the + library?' As might be expected, there was not. + </p> + <p> + "February 12, 1832.—This evening Tom came in, Hannah and I being + alone. He was in high boyish spirits. He had seen Lord Lansdowne in the + morning, who had requested to speak with him. His Lordship said that he + wished to have a talk about his taking office, not with any particular + thing in view, as there was no vacancy at present, and none expected, but + that he should be glad to know his wishes in order that he might be more + able to serve him in them. + </p> + <p> + "Tom, in answer, took rather a high tone. He said he was a poor man, but + that he had as much as he wanted, and, as far as he was personally + concerned, had no desire for office. At the same time he thought that, + after the Reform Bill had passed, it would be absolutely necessary that + the Government should be strengthened; that he was of opinion that he + could do it good service; that he approved of its general principles, and + should not be unwilling to join it. Lord Lansdowne said that they all,—and + he particularly mentioned Lord Grey,—felt of what importance to them + his help was, and that he now perfectly understood his views. + </p> + <p> + "February 13, 1832.—It has been much reported, and has even appeared + in the newspapers, that the Ministers were doing what they could to get + Mr. Robert Grant out of the way to make room for Tom. Last Sunday week it + was stated in the John Bull that Madras had been offered to the Judge + Advocate for this purpose, but that he had refused it. Two or three nights + since, Tom, in endeavouring to get to a high bench in the House, stumbled + over Mr. Robert Grant's legs, as he was stretched out half asleep. Being + roused he apologised in the usual manner, and then added, oddly enough: 'I + am very sorry, indeed, to stand in the way of your mounting.' + </p> + <p> + "March 15, 1832.—Yesterday Hannah and I spent a very agreeable + afternoon with Tom. + </p> + <p> + "He began to talk of his idleness. He really came and dawdled with us all + day long; he had not written a line of his review of Burleigh's Life, and + he shrank from beginning on such a great work. I asked him to put it by + for the present, and write a light article on novels. This he seemed to + think he should like, and said he could get up an article on Richardson in + a very short time, but he knew of no book that he could hang it on. Hannah + advised that he should place at the head of this article a fictitious + title in Italian of a critique on Clarissa Harlowe, published at Venice. + He seemed taken with this idea, but said that, if he did such a thing, he + must never let his dearest friend know. + </p> + <p> + "I was amused with a parody of Tom's on the nursery song 'Twenty pounds + shall marry me,' as applied to the creation of Peers. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + What though now opposed I be? + Twenty Peers shall carry me. + If twenty won't, thirty will, + For I'm his Majesty's bouncing Bill. +</pre> + <p> + Sir Robert Peel has been extremely complimentary to him. One sentence he + repeated to us: 'My only feeling towards that gentleman is a not + ungenerous envy, as I listened to that wonderful flow of natural and + beautiful language, and to that utterance which, rapid as it is, seems + scarcely able to convey its rich freight of thought and fancy!' People say + that these words were evidently carefully prepared. + </p> + <p> + "I have just been looking round our little drawing-room, as if trying to + impress every inch of it on my memory, and thinking how in future years it + will rise before my mind as the scene of many hours of light-hearted + mirth; how I shall again see him, lolling indolently on the old blue sofa, + or strolling round the narrow confines of our room. With such a scene will + come the remembrance of his beaming countenance, happy affectionate smile, + and joyous laugh; while, with everyone at ease around him, he poured out + the stores of his full mind in his own peculiarly beautiful and expressive + language, more delightful here than anywhere else, because more perfectly + unconstrained. The name which passes through this little room in the + quiet, gentle tones of sisterly affection is a name which will be repeated + through distant generations, and go down to posterity linked with eventful + times and great deeds." + </p> + <p> + The last words here quoted will be very generally regarded as the tribute + of a sister's fondness. Many, who readily admit that Macaulay's name will + go down to posterity linked with eventful times and great deeds, make that + admission with reference to times not his own, and deeds in which he had + no part except to commemorate them with his pen. To him, as to others, a + great reputation of a special order brought with it the consequence that + the credit, which he deserved for what he had done well, was overshadowed + by the renown of what he did best. The world, which has forgotten that + Newton excelled as an administrator, and Voltaire as a man of business, + remembers somewhat faintly that Macaulay was an eminent orator and, for a + time at least, a strenuous politician. The universal voice of his + contemporaries, during the first three years of his parliamentary career, + testifies to the leading part which he played in the House of Commons, so + long as with all his heart he cared, and with all his might he tried, to + play it. Jeffrey, (for it is well to adduce none but first-rate evidence,) + says in his account of an evening's discussion on the second reading of + the Reform Bill: "Not a very striking debate. There was but one exception, + and it was a brilliant one. I mean Macaulay, who surpassed his former + appearance in closeness, fire, and vigour, and very much improved the + effect of it by a more steady and graceful delivery. It was prodigiously + cheered, as it deserved, and I think puts him clearly at the head of the + great speakers, if not the debaters, of the House." And again, on the 17th + of December: "Macaulay made, I think, the best speech he has yet + delivered; the most condensed, at least, and with the greatest weight of + matter. It contained, indeed, the only argument to which any of the + speakers who followed him applied themselves." Lord Cockburn, who sat + under the gallery for twenty-seven hours during the last three nights of + the Bill, pronounced Macaulay's speech to have been "by far the best;" + though, like a good Scotchman, he asserts that he heard nothing at + Westminster which could compare with Dr. Chalmers in the General Assembly. + Sir James Mackintosh writes from the Library of the House of Commons: + "Macaulay and Stanley have made two of the finest speeches ever spoken in + Parliament;" and a little further on he classes together the two young + orators as "the chiefs of the next, or rather of this, generation." + </p> + <p> + To gain and keep the position that Mackintosh assigned him Macaulay + possessed the power, and in early days did not lack the will. He was + prominent on the Parliamentary stage, and active behind the scenes;—the + soul of every honourable project which might promote the triumph of his + principles, and the ascendency of his party. One among many passages in + his correspondence may be quoted without a very serious breach of ancient + and time-worn confidences. On the 17th of September, 1831, he writes to + his sister Hannah: "I have been very busy since I wrote last, moving + heaven and earth to render it certain that, if our ministers are so + foolish as to resign in the event of a defeat in the Lords, the Commons + may be firm and united; and I think that I have arranged a plan which will + secure a bold and instant declaration on our part, if necessary. Lord + Ebrington is the man whom I have in my eye as our leader. I have had much + conversation with him, and with several of our leading county members. + They are all staunch; and I will answer for this,—that, if the + ministers should throw us over, we will be ready to defend ourselves." + </p> + <p> + The combination of public spirit, political instinct, and legitimate + self-assertion, which was conspicuous in Macaulay's character, pointed him + out to some whose judgment had been trained by long experience of affairs + as a more than possible leader in no remote future; and it is not for his + biographer to deny that they had grounds for their conclusion. The + prudence, the energy, the self-reliance, which he displayed in another + field, might have been successfully directed to the conduct of an + executive policy, and the management of a popular assembly. Macaulay never + showed himself deficient in the qualities which enable a man to trust his + own sense; to feel responsibility, but not to fear it; to venture where + others shrink; to decide while others waver; with all else that belongs to + the vocation of a ruler in a free country. But it was not his fate; it was + not his work; and the rank which he might have claimed among the statesmen + of Britain was not ill exchanged for the place which he occupies in the + literature of the world. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + York: March 22, 1830. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sir,—I was in some doubt as to what I should be able to do + for Number 101, and I deferred writing till I could make up my mind. If my + friend Ellis's article on Greek History, of which I have formed high + expectations, could have been ready, I should have taken a holiday. But, + as there is no chance of that for the next number, I ought, I think, to + consider myself as his bail, and to surrender myself to your disposal in + his stead. + </p> + <p> + I have been thinking of a subject, light and trifling enough, but perhaps + not the worse for our purpose on that account. We seldom want a sufficient + quantity of heavy matter. There is a wretched poetaster of the name of + Robert Montgomery who has written some volumes of detestable verses on + religious subjects, which by mere puffing in magazines and newspapers have + had an immense sale, and some of which are now in their tenth or twelfth + editions. I have for some time past thought that the trick of puffing, as + it is now practised both by authors and publishers, is likely to degrade + the literary character, and to deprave the public taste, in a frightful + degree. I really think that we ought to try what effect satire will have + upon this nuisance, and I doubt whether we can ever find a better + opportunity. + </p> + <p> + Yours very faithfully + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + London: August 19, 1830. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sir,—The new number appeared this morning in the shop + windows. The article on Niebuhr contains much that is very sensible; but + it is not such an article as so noble a subject required. I am not like + Ellis, Niebuhr-mad; and I agree with many of the remarks which the + reviewer has made both on this work, and on the school of German critics + and historians. But surely the reviewer ought to have given an account of + the system of exposition which Niebuhr has adopted, and of the theory + which he advances respecting the Institutions of Rome. The appearance of + the book is really an era in the intellectual history of Europe, and I + think that the Edinburgh Review ought at least to have given a luminous + abstract of it. The very circumstance that Niebuhr's own arrangement and + style are obscure, and that his translators have need of translators to + make them intelligible to the multitude, rendered it more desirable that a + clear and neat statement of the points in controversy should be laid + before the public. But it is useless to talk of what cannot be mended. The + best editors cannot always have good writers, and the best writers cannot + always write their best. + </p> + <p> + I have no notion on what ground Brougham imagines that I am going to + review his speech. He never said a word to me on the subject. Nor did I + ever say either to him, or to anyone else, a single syllable to that + effect. At all events I shall not make Brougham's speech my text. We have + had quite enough of puffing and flattering each other in the Review. It is + a vile taste for men united in one literary undertaking to exchange their + favours. + </p> + <p> + I have a plan of which I wish to know your opinion. In ten days, or + thereabouts, I set off for France, where I hope to pass six weeks. I shall + be in the best society, that of the Duc de Broglie, Guizot, and so on. I + think of writing an article on the Politics of France since the + Restoration, with characters of the principal public men, and a parallel + between the present state of France and that of England. I think that this + might be made an article of extraordinary interest. I do not say that I + could make it so. It must, you will perceive, be a long paper, however + concise I may try to be; but as the subject is important, and I am not + generally diffuse, you must not stint me. If you like this scheme, let me + know as soon as possible. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + It cannot be denied that there was some ground for the imputation of + systematic puffing which Macaulay urges with a freedom that a modern + editor would hardly permit to the most valued contributor. Brougham had + made a speech on Slavery in the House of Commons; but time was wanting to + get the Corrected Report published soon enough for him to obtain his + tribute of praise in the body of the Review. The unhappy Mr. Napier was + actually reduced to append a notice to the July number regretting that + "this powerful speech, which, as we are well informed, produced an + impression on those who heard it not likely to be forgotten, or to remain + barren of effects, should have reached us at a moment when it was no + longer possible for us to notice its contents at any length.... On the eve + of a general election to the first Parliament of a new reign, we could + have wished to be able to contribute our aid towards the diffusion of the + facts and arguments here so strikingly and commandingly stated and + enforced, among those who are about to exercise the elective franchise.... + We trust that means will be taken to give the widest possible circulation + to the Corrected Report. Unfortunately, we can, at present, do nothing + more than lay before our readers its glowing peroration—so worthy of + this great orator, this unwearied friend of liberty and humanity." + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + Paris: September 16, 1830. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sir,—I have just received your letter, and I cannot deny + that I am much vexed at what has happened. It is not very agreeable to + find that I have thrown away the labour, the not unsuccessful labour as I + thought, of a month; particularly as I have not many months of perfect + leisure. This would not have happened if Brougham had notified his + intentions to you earlier, as he ought in courtesy to you, and to + everybody connected with the Review, to have done. He must have known that + this French question was one on which many people would be desirous to + write. + </p> + <p> + I ought to tell you that I had scarcely reached Paris when I received a + letter containing a very urgent application from a very respectable + quarter. I was desired to write a sketch, in one volume, of the late + Revolution here. Now, I really hesitated whether I should not make my + excuses to you, and accept this proposal,—not on account of the + pecuniary terms, for about these I have never much troubled myself—but + because I should have had ampler space for this noble subject than the + Review would have afforded. I thought, however, that this would not be a + fair or friendly course towards you. I accordingly told the applicants + that I had promised you an article, and that I could not well write twice + in one month on the same subject without repeating myself. I therefore + declined; and recommended a person whom I thought quite capable of + producing an attractive book on these events. To that person my + correspondent has probably applied. At all events I cannot revive the + negotiation. I cannot hawk my rejected articles up and down Paternoster + Row. + </p> + <p> + I am, therefore, a good deal vexed at this affair; but I am not at all + surprised at it. I see all the difficulties of your situation. Indeed, I + have long foreseen them. I always knew that in every association, literary + or political, Brougham would wish to domineer. I knew also that no Editor + of the Edinburgh Review could, without risking the ruin of the + publication, resolutely oppose the demands of a man so able and powerful. + It was because I was certain that he would exact submissions which I am + not disposed to make that I wished last year to give up writing for the + Review. I had long been meditating a retreat. I thought Jeffrey's + abdication a favourable time for effecting it; not, as I hope you are well + assured, from any unkind feeling towards you; but because I knew that, + under any Editor, mishaps such as that which has now occurred would be + constantly taking place. I remember that I predicted to Jeffrey what has + now come to pass almost to the letter. + </p> + <p> + My expectations have been exactly realised. The present constitution of + the Edinburgh Review is this, that, at whatever time Brougham may be + pleased to notify his intention of writing on any subject, all previous + engagements are to be considered as annulled by that notification. His + language translated into plain English is this: "I must write about this + French Revolution, and I will write about it. If you have told Macaulay to + do it, you may tell him to let it alone. If he has written an article, he + may throw it behind the grate. He would not himself have the assurance to + compare his own claims with mine. I am a man who act a prominent part in + the world; he is nobody. If he must be reviewing, there is my speech about + the West Indies. Set him to write a puff on that. What have people like + him to do, except to eulogise people like me?" No man likes to be reminded + of his inferiority in such a way, and there are some particular + circumstances in this case which render the admonition more unpleasant + than it would otherwise be. I know that Brougham dislikes me; and I have + not the slightest doubt that he feels great pleasure in taking this + subject out of my hands, and at having made me understand, as I do most + clearly understand, how far my services are rated below his. I do not + blame you in the least. I do not see how you could have acted otherwise. + But, on the other hand, I do not see why I should make any efforts or + sacrifices for a Review which lies under an intolerable dictation. + Whatever my writings may be worth, it is not for want of strong + solicitations, and tempting offers, from other quarters that I have + continued to send them to the Edinburgh Review. I adhered to the + connection solely because I took pride and pleasure in it. It has now + become a source of humiliation and mortification. + </p> + <p> + I again repeat, my dear Sir, that I do not blame you in the least. This, + however, only makes matters worse. If you had used me ill, I might + complain, and might hope to be better treated another time. Unhappily you + are in a situation in which it is proper for you to do what it would be + improper in me to endure. What has happened now may happen next quarter, + and must happen before long, unless I altogether refrain from writing for + the Review. I hope you will forgive me if I say that I feel what has + passed too strongly to be inclined to expose myself to a recurrence of the + same vexations. + </p> + <p> + Yours most truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + A few soft words induced Macaulay to reconsider his threat of withdrawing + from the Review; but, even before Mr. Napier's answer reached him, the + feeling of personal annoyance had already been effaced by a greater + sorrow. A letter arrived, announcing that his sister Jane had died + suddenly and most unexpectedly. She was found in the morning lying as + though still asleep, having passed away so peacefully as not to disturb a + sister who had spent the night in the next room, with a door open between + them. Mrs. Macaulay never recovered from this shock. Her health gave way, + and she lived into the coming year only so long as to enable her to + rejoice in the first of her son's Parliamentary successes. + </p> + <p> + Paris: September 26. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—This news has broken my heart. I am fit neither to + go nor to stay. I can do nothing but sit down in my room, and think of + poor dear Jane's kindness and affection. When I am calmer, I will let you + know my intentions. There will be neither use nor pleasure in remaining + here. My present purpose, as far as I can form one, is to set off in two + or three days for England; and in the meantime to see nobody, if I can + help it, but Dumont, who has been very kind to me. Love to all,—to + all who are left me to love. We must love each other better. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: March 30, 1831 + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—I have little news for you, except what you will learn + from the papers as well as from me. It is clear that the Reform Bill must + pass, either in this or in another Parliament. The majority of one does + not appear to me, as it does to you, by any means inauspicious. We should + perhaps have had a better plea for a dissolution if the majority had been + the other way. But surely a dissolution under such circumstances would + have been a most alarming thing. If there should be a dissolution now, + there will not be that ferocity in the public mind which there would have + been if the House of Commons had refused to entertain the Bill at all. I + confess that, till we had a majority, I was half inclined to tremble at + the storm which we had raised. At present I think that we are absolutely + certain of victory, and of victory without commotion. + </p> + <p> + Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw, and never expect + to see again. If I should live fifty years, the impression of it will be + as fresh and sharp in my mind as if it had just taken place. It was like + seeing Caesar stabbed in the Senate House, or seeing Oliver taking the + mace from the table; a sight to be seen only once, and never to be + forgotten. The crowd overflowed the House in every part. When the + strangers were cleared out, and the doors locked, we had six hundred and + eight members present,—more by fifty-five than ever were in a + division before. The Ayes and Noes were like two volleys of cannon from + opposite sides of a field of battle. When the opposition went out into the + lobby, an operation which took up twenty minutes or more, we spread + ourselves over the benches on both sides of the House; for there were many + of us who had not been able to find a seat during the evening. ["The + practice in the Commons, until 1836, was to send one party forth into the + lobby, the other remaining in the House."—Sir T. Erskine May's + "Parliamentary Practice."] When the doors were shut we began to speculate + on our numbers. Everybody was desponding. "We have lost it. We are only + two hundred and eighty at most. I do not think we are two hundred and + fifty. They are three hundred. Alderman Thompson has counted them. He says + they are two hundred and ninety-nine." This was the talk on our benches. I + wonder that men who have been long in Parliament do not acquire a better + coup d'oeil for numbers. The House, when only the Ayes were in it, looked + to me a very fair House,—much fuller than it generally is even on + debates of considerable interest. I had no hope, however, of three + hundred. As the tellers passed along our lowest row on the left hand side + the interest was insupportable,—two hundred and ninety-one,—two + hundred and ninety-two,—we were all standing up and stretching + forward, telling with the tellers. At three hundred there was a short cry + of joy,—at three hundred and two another,—suppressed however + in a moment; for we did not yet know what the hostile force might be. We + knew, however, that we could not be severely beaten. The doors were thrown + open, and in they came. Each of them, as he entered, brought some + different report of their numbers. It must have been impossible, as you + may conceive, in the lobby, crowded as they were, to form any exact + estimate. First we heard that they were three hundred and three; then that + number rose to three hundred and ten; then went down to three hundred and + seven. Alexander Barry told me that he had counted, and that they were + three hundred and four. We were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles + Wood, who stood near the door, jumped up on a bench and cried out, "They + are only three hundred and one." We set up a shout that you might have + heard to Charing Cross, waving our hats, stamping against the floor, and + clapping our hands. The tellers scarcely got through the crowd; for the + House was thronged up to the table, and all the floor was fluctuating with + heads like the pit of a theatre. But you might have heard a pin drop as + Duncannon read the numbers. Then again the shouts broke out, and many of + us shed tears. I could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the + face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul; and Herries looked like + Judas taking his necktie off for the last operation. We shook hands, and + clapped each other on the back, and went out laughing, crying, and + huzzaing into the lobby. And no sooner were the outer doors opened than + another shout answered that within the House. All the passages, and the + stairs into the waiting-rooms, were thronged by people who had waited till + four in the morning to know the issue. We passed through a narrow lane + between two thick masses of them; and all the way down they were shouting + and waving their hats, till we got into the open air. I called a + cabriolet, and the first thing the driver asked was, "Is the Bill + carried?" "Yes, by one." "Thank God for it, Sir." And away I rode to + Gray's Inn,—and so ended a scene which will probably never be + equalled till the reformed Parliament wants reforming; and that I hope + will not be till the days of our grandchildren, till that truly orthodox + and apostolical person Dr. Francis Ellis is an archbishop of eighty. + </p> + <p> + As for me, I am for the present a sort of lion. My speech has set me in + the front rank, if I can keep there; and it has not been my luck hitherto + to lose ground when I have once got it. Sheil and I are on very civil + terms. He talks largely concerning Demosthenes and Burke. He made, I must + say, an excellent speech; too florid and queer, but decidedly successful. + </p> + <p> + Why did not Price speak? If he was afraid, it was not without reason; for + a more terrible audience there is not in the world. I wish that Praed had + known to whom he was speaking. But, with all his talent, he has no tact, + and he has fared accordingly. Tierney used to say that he never rose in + the House without feeling his knees tremble under him; and I am sure that + no man who has not some of that feeling will ever succeed there. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + London: May 27, 1835. + </p> + <p> + My dear Hannah,—Let me see if I can write a letter a la Richardson:—a + little less prolix it must be, or it will exceed my ounce. By the bye, I + wonder that Uncle Selby never grudged the postage of Miss Byron's letters. + According to the nearest calculation that I can make, her correspondence + must have enriched the post office of Ashby Canons by something more than + the whole annual interest of her fifteen thousand pounds. + </p> + <p> + I reached Lansdowne House by a quarter to eleven, and passed through the + large suite of rooms to the great Sculpture Gallery. There were seated and + standing perhaps three hundred people, listening to the performers, or + talking to each other. The room is the handsomest and largest, I am told, + in any private house in London. I enclose our musical bill of fare. Fanny, + I suppose, will be able to expound it better than I. The singers were more + showily dressed than the auditors, and seemed quite at home. As to the + company, there was just everybody in London (except that little million + and a half that you wot of,)—the Chancellor, and the First Lord of + the Admiralty, and Sydney Smith, and Lord Mansfield, and all the Barings + and the Fitzclarences, and a hideous Russian spy, whose face I see + everywhere, with a star on his coat. During the interval between the + delights of "I tuoi frequenti," and the ecstasies of "Se tu m'ami," I + contrived to squeeze up to Lord Lansdowne. I was shaking hands with Sir + James Macdonald, when I heard a command behind us: "Sir James, introduce + me to Mr. Macaulay;" and we turned, and there sate a large bold-looking + woman, with the remains of a fine person, and the air of Queen Elizabeth. + "Macaulay," said Sir James, "let me present you to Lady Holland." Then was + her ladyship gracious beyond description, and asked me to dine and take a + bed at Holland House next Tuesday. I accepted the dinner, but declined the + bed, and I have since repented that I so declined it. But I probably shall + have an opportunity of retracting on Tuesday. + </p> + <p> + To-night I go to another musical party at Marshall's, the late M.P. for + Yorkshire. Everybody is talking of Paganini and his violin. The man seems + to be a miracle. The newspapers say that long streamy flakes of music fall + from his string, interspersed with luminous points of sound which ascend + the air and appear like stars. This eloquence is quite beyond me. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: May 28, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Hannah,—More gaieties and music-parties; not so fertile of + adventures as that memorable masquerade whence Harriet Byron was carried + away; but still I hope that the narrative of what passed there will + gratify "the venerable circle." Yesterday I dressed, called a cab, and was + whisked away to Hill Street. I found old Marshall's house a very fine one. + He ought indeed to have a fine one; for he has, I believe, at least thirty + thousand a year. The carpet was taken up, and chairs were set out in rows, + as if we had been at a religious meeting. Then we had flute-playing by the + first flute-player in England, and pianoforte-strumming by the first + pianoforte-strummer in England, and singing by all the first singers in + England, and Signor Rubini's incomparable tenor, and Signor Curioni's + incomparable counter-tenor, and Pasta's incomparable expression. You who + know how airs much inferior to these take my soul, and lap it in Elysium, + will form some faint conception of my transport. Sharp beckoned me to sit + by him in the back row. These old fellows are so selfish. "Always," said + he, "establish yourself in the middle of the row against the wall; for, if + you sit in the front or next the edges, you will be forced to give up your + seat to the ladies who are standing." I had the gallantry to surrender + mine to a damsel who had stood for a quarter of an hour; and I lounged + into the ante-rooms, where I found Samuel Rogers. Rogers and I sate + together on a bench in one of the passages, and had a good deal of very + pleasant conversation. He was,—as indeed he has always been to me,—extremely + kind, and told me that, if it were in his power, he would contrive to be + at Holland House with me, to give me an insight into its ways. He is the + great oracle of that circle. + </p> + <p> + He has seen the King's letter to Lord Grey, respecting the Garter; or at + least has authentic information about it. It is a happy stroke of policy, + and will, they say, decide many wavering votes in the House of Lords. The + King, it seems, requests Lord Grey to take the order, as a mark of royal + confidence in him "at so critical a time;"—significant words, I + think. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah More Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: May 30, 1831. + </p> + <p> + Well, my dear, I have been to Holland House. I took a glass coach, and + arrived, through a fine avenue of elms, at the great entrance towards + seven o'clock. The house is delightful;—the very perfection of the + old Elizabethan style;—a considerable number of very large and very + comfortable rooms, rich with antique carving and gilding, but carpeted and + furnished with all the skill of the best modern upholsterers. The library + is a very long room,—as long, I should think, as the gallery at + Rothley Temple,—with little cabinets for study branching out of it. + warmly and snugly fitted up, and looking out on very beautiful grounds. + The collection of books is not, like Lord Spencer's, curious; but it + contains almost everything that one ever wished to read. I found nobody + there when I arrived but Lord Russell, the son of the Marquess of + Tavistock. We are old House of Commons friends; so we had some very + pleasant talk, and in a little while in came Allen, who is warden of + Dulwich College, and who lives almost entirely at Holland House. He is + certainly a man of vast information and great conversational powers. Some + other gentlemen dropped in, and we chatted till Lady Holland made her + appearance. Lord Holland dined by himself on account of his gout. We sat + down to dinner in a fine long room, the wainscot of which is rich with + gilded coronets, roses, and portcullises. There were Lord Albemarle, Lord + Alvanley, Lord Russell, Lord Mahon,—a violent Tory, but a very + agreeable companion, and a very good scholar. There was Cradock, a fine + fellow who was the Duke of Wellington's aide-de-camp in 1815, and some + other people whose names I did not catch. What however is more to the + purpose, there was a most excellent dinner. I have always heard that + Holland House is famous for its good cheer, and certainly the reputation + is not unmerited. After dinner Lord Holland was wheeled in, and placed + very near me. He was extremely amusing and good-natured. + </p> + <p> + In the drawing-room I had a long talk with Lady Holland about the + antiquities of the house, and about the purity of the English language, + wherein she thinks herself a critic. I happened, in speaking about the + Reform Bill, to say that I wished that it had been possible to form a few + commercial constituencies, if the word constituency were admissible. "I am + glad you put that in," said her ladyship. "I was just going to give it + you. It is an odious word. Then there is <i>talented</i> and <i>influential</i>, + and <i>gentlemanly</i>. I never could break Sheridan of <i>gentlemanly</i>, + though he allowed it to be wrong." We talked about the word <i>talents</i> + and its history. I said that it had first appeared in theological writing, + that it was a metaphor taken from the parable in the New Testament, and + that it had gradually passed from the vocabulary of divinity into common + use. I challenged her to find it in any classical writer on general + subjects before the Restoration, or even before the year 1700. I believe + that I might safely have gone down later. She seemed surprised by this + theory, never having, so far as I could judge, heard of the parable of the + talents. I did not tell her, though I might have done so, that a person + who professes to be a critic in the delicacies of the English language + ought to have the Bible at his fingers' ends. + </p> + <p> + She is certainly a woman of considerable talents and great literary + acquirements. To me she was excessively gracious; yet there is a + haughtiness in her courtesy which, even after all that I had heard of her, + surprised me. The centurion did not keep his soldiers in better order than + she keeps her guests. It is to one "Go," and he goeth; and to another "Do + this," and it is done. "Ring the bell, Mr. Macaulay." "Lay down that + screen, Lord Russell; you will spoil it." "Mr. Allen, take a candle and + show Mr. Cradock the picture of Buonaparte." Lord Holland is, on the other + hand, all kindness, simplicity, and vivacity. He talked very well both on + politics and on literature. He asked me in a very friendly manner about my + father's health, and begged to be remembered to him. + </p> + <p> + When my coach came, Lady Holland made me promise that I would on the first + fine morning walk out to breakfast with them, and see the grounds;—and, + after drinking a glass of very good iced lemonade, I took my leave, much + amused and pleased. The house certainly deserves its reputation for + pleasantness, and her ladyship used me, I believe, as well as it is her + way to use anybody. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Court of Commissioners, Basinghall Street: May 31, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—How delighted I am that you like my letters, and how + obliged by yours! But I have little more than my thanks to give for your + last. I have nothing to tell about great people to-day. I heard no fine + music yesterday, saw nobody above the rank of a baronet, and was shut up + in my own room reading and writing all the morning. This day seems likely + to pass in much the same way, except that I have some bankruptcy business + to do, and a couple of sovereigns to receive. So here I am, with three of + the ugliest attorneys that ever deserved to be transported sitting + opposite to me; a disconsolate-looking bankrupt, his hands in his empty + pockets, standing behind; a lady scolding for her money, and refusing to + be comforted because it is not; and a surly butcher-like looking creditor, + growling like a house-dog, and saying, as plain as looks can say "If I + sign your certificate, blow me, that's all." Among these fair and + interesting forms, on a piece of official paper, with a pen and with ink + found at the expense of the public, am I writing to Nancy. + </p> + <p> + These dirty courts, filled with Jew money-lenders, sheriffs' officers, + attorneys' runners, and a crowd of people who live by giving sham bail and + taking false oaths, are not by any means such good subjects for a lady's + correspondent as the Sculpture Gallery at Lansdowne House, or the + conservatory at Holland House, or the notes of Pasta, or the talk of + Rogers. But we cannot be always fine. When my Richardsonian epistles are + published, there must be dull as well as amusing letters among them; and + this letter is, I think, as good as those sermons of Sir Charles to + Geronymo which Miss Byron hypocritically asked for, or as the greater part + of that stupid last volume. + </p> + <p> + We shall soon have more attractive matter. I shall walk out to breakfast + at Holland House; and I am to dine with Sir George Philips, and with his + son the member for Steyning, who have the best of company; and I am going + to the fancy ball of the Jew. He met me in the street, and implored me to + come. "You need not dress more than for an evening party. You had better + come. You will be delighted. It will be so very pretty." I thought of Dr. + Johnson and the herdsman with his "See, such pretty goats." [See Boswell's + Tour to the Hebrides, Sept. 1 1773. "The Doctor was prevailed with to + mount one of Vass's grays. As he rode upon it downhill, it did not go + well, and he grumbled. I walked on a little before, but was excessively + entertained with the method taken to keep him in good humour. Hay led the + horse's head, talking to Dr. Johnson as much as he could and, (having + heard him, in the forenoon, express a pastoral pleasure on seeing the + goats browsing,) just when the Doctor was uttering his displeasure, the + fellow cried, with a very Highland accent, 'See, such pretty goats!' Then + he whistled whu! and made them jump."] However, I told my honest Hebrew + that I would come. I may perhaps, like the Benjamites, steal away some + Israelite damsel in the middle of her dancing. + </p> + <p> + But the noise all round me is becoming louder, and a baker in a white coat + is bellowing for the book to prove a debt of nine pounds fourteen + shillings and fourpence. So I must finish my letter and fall to business. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London June 1, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—My last letter was a dull one. I mean this to be + very amusing. My last was about Basinghall Street, attorneys, and + bankrupts. But for this,—take it dramatically in the German style. + </p> + <p> + Fine morning. Scene, the great entrance of Holland House. + </p> + <p> + Enter MACAULAY and Two FOOTMEN in livery. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First Footman.—Sir, may I venture to demand your name? + + Macaulay.—Macaulay, and thereto I add M.P. + And that addition, even in these proud halls, + May well ensure the bearer some respect. + + Second Footman.—And art thou come to breakfast with our Lord? + + Macaulay.—I am for so his hospitable will, + And hers—the peerless dame ye serve—hath bade. + + First Footman.—Ascend the stair, and thou above shalt find, + On snow-white linen spread, the luscious meal. +</pre> + <p> + (Exit MACAULAY up stairs.) + </p> + <p> + In plain English prose, I went this morning to breakfast at Holland House. + The day was fine, and I arrived at twenty minutes after ten. After I had + lounged a short time in the dining-room, I heard a gruff good-natured + voice asking, "Where is Mr. Macaulay? Where have you put him?" and in his + arm-chair Lord Holland was wheeled in. He took me round the apartments, he + riding and I walking. He gave me the history of the most remarkable + portraits in the library, where there is, by the bye, one of the few bad + pieces of Lawrence that I have seen—a head of Charles James Fox, an + ignominious failure. Lord Holland said that it was the worst ever painted + of so eminent a man by so eminent an artist. There is a very fine head of + Machiavelli, and another of Earl Grey, a very different sort of man. I + observed a portrait of Lady Holland painted some thirty years ago. I could + have cried to see the change. She must have been a most beautiful woman. + She still looks, however, as if she had been handsome, and shows in one + respect great taste and sense. She does not rouge at all; and her costume + is not youthful, so that she looks as well in the morning as in the + evening. We came back to the dining-room. Our breakfast party consisted of + my Lord and Lady, myself, Lord Russell, and Luttrell. You must have heard + of Luttrell. I met him once at Rogers's; and I have seen him, I think, in + other places. He is a famous wit,—the most popular, I think, of all + the professed wits,—a man who has lived in the highest circles, a + scholar, and no contemptible poet. He wrote a little volume of verse + entitled "Advice to Julia,"—not first rate, but neat, lively, + piquant, and showing the most consummate knowledge of fashionable life. + </p> + <p> + We breakfasted on very good coffee, and very good tea, and very good eggs, + butter kept in the midst of ice, and hot rolls. Lady Holland told us her + dreams; how she had dreamed that a mad dog bit her foot, and how she set + off to Brodie, and lost her way in St. Martin's Lane, and could not find + him. She hoped, she said, the dream would not come true. I said that I had + had a dream which admitted of no such hope; for I had dreamed that I heard + Pollock speak in the House of Commons, that the speech was very long, and + that he was coughed down. This dream of mine diverted them much. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast Lady Holland offered to conduct me to her own + drawing-room, or, rather, commanded my attendance. A very beautiful room + it is, opening on a terrace, and wainscoted with miniature paintings + interesting from their merit, and interesting from their history. Among + them I remarked a great many,—thirty, I should think,—which + even I, who am no great connoisseur, saw at once could come from no hand + but Stothard's. They were all on subjects from Lord Byron's poems. "Yes," + said she; "poor Lord Byron sent them to me a short time before the + separation. I sent them back, and told him that, if he gave them away, he + ought to give them to Lady Byron. But he said that he would not, and that + if I did not take them, the bailiffs would, and that they would be lost in + the wreck." Her ladyship then honoured me so far as to conduct me through + her dressing-room into the great family bedchamber to show me a very fine + picture by Reynolds of Fox, when a boy, birds-nesting. She then consigned + me to Luttrell, asking him to show me the grounds. + </p> + <p> + Through the grounds we went, and very pretty I thought them. In the Dutch + garden is a fine bronze bust of Napoleon, which Lord Holland put up in + 1817, while Napoleon was a prisoner at St. Helena. The inscription was + selected by his lordship, and is remarkably happy. It is from Homer's + Odyssey. I will translate it, as well as I can extempore, into a measure + which gives a better idea of Homer's manner than Pope's singsong couplet. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + For not, be sure, within the grave + Is hid that prince, the wise, the brave; + But in an islet's narrow bound, + With the great Ocean roaring round, + The captive of a foeman base + He pines to view his native place. +</pre> + <p> + There is a seat near the spot which is called Rogers's seat. The poet + loves, it seems, to sit there. A very elegant inscription by Lord Holland + is placed over it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Here Rogers sate; and here for ever dwell + With me those pleasures which he sang so well." +</pre> + <p> + Very neat and condensed, I think. Another inscription by Luttrell hangs + there. Luttrell adjured me with mock pathos to spare his blushes; but I am + author enough to know what the blushes of authors mean. So I read the + lines, and very pretty and polished they were, but too many to be + remembered from one reading. + </p> + <p> + Having gone round the grounds I took my leave, very much pleased with the + place. Lord Holland is extremely kind. But that is of course; for he is + kindness itself. Her ladyship too, which is by no means of course, is all + graciousness and civility. But, for all this, I would much rather be + quietly walking with you; and the great use of going to these fine places + is to learn how happy it is possible to be without them. Indeed, I care so + little for them that I certainly should not have gone to-day, but that I + thought that I should be able to find materials for a letter which you + might like. + </p> + <p> + Farewell. + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 3, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I cannot tell you how delighted I am to find that my + letters amuse you. But sometimes I must be dull like my neighbours. I paid + no visits yesterday, and have no news to relate to-day. I am sitting again + in Basinghall Street and Basil Montagu is haranguing about Lord Verulam, + and the way of inoculating one's mind with truth; and all this a propos of + a lying bankrupt's balance-sheet. ["Those who are acquainted with the + Courts in which Mr. Montagu practises with so much ability and success, + will know how often he enlivens the discussion of a point of law by citing + some weighty aphorism, or some brilliant illustration, from the De + Augmentis or the Novum Organum."—Macaulay's Review of Basil + Montagu's Edition of Bacon.] + </p> + <p> + Send me some gossip, my love. Tell me how you go on with German. What + novel have you commenced? Or, rather, how many dozen have you finished? + Recommend me one. What say you to "Destiny"? Is the "Young Duke" worth + reading? and what do you think of "Laurie Todd"? + </p> + <p> + I am writing about Lord Byron so pathetically that I make Margaret cry, + but so slowly that I am afraid I shall make Napier wait. Rogers, like a + civil gentleman, told me last week to write no more reviews, and to + publish separate works; adding, what for him is a very rare thing, a + compliment: "You may do anything, Mr. Macaulay." See how vain and + insincere human nature is! I have been put into so good a temper with + Rogers that I have paid him, what is as rare with me as with him, a very + handsome compliment in my review. ["Well do we remember to have heard a + most correct judge of poetry revile Mr. Rogers for the incorrectness of + that most sweet and graceful passage:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Such grief was ours,—it seems but yesterday,— + When in thy prime, wishing so much to stay, + Twas thine, Maria, thine without a sigh + At midnight in a sister's arms to die, + Oh! thou wast lovely; lovely was thy frame, + And pure thy spirit as from heaven it came; + And, when recalled to join the blest above, + Thou diedst a victim to exceeding love + Nursing the young to health. In happier hours, + When idle Fancy wove luxuriant flowers, + Once in thy mirth thou badst me write on thee; + And now I write what thou shalt never see.' +</pre> + <p> + Macaulay's Essay on Byron.] It is not undeserved; but I confess that I + cannot understand the popularity of his poetry. It is pleasant and flowing + enough; less monotonous than most of the imitations of Pope and Goldsmith; + and calls up many agreeable images and recollections. But that such men as + Lord Granville, Lord Holland, Hobhouse, Lord Byron, and others of high + rank in intellect, should place Rogers, as they do, above Southey, Moore, + and even Scott himself, is what I cannot conceive. But this comes of being + in the highest society of London. What Lady Jane Granville called the + Patronage of Fashion can do as much for a middling poet as for a plain + girl like Miss Arabella Falconer. [Lady Jane, and Miss Arabella, appear in + Miss Edgeworth's "Patronage."] + </p> + <p> + But I must stop. This rambling talk has been scrawled in the middle of + haranguing, squabbling, swearing, and crying. Since I began it I have + taxed four bills, taken forty depositions, and rated several perjured + witnesses. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 7, 1831. + </p> + <p> + Yesterday I dined at Marshall's, and was almost consoled for not meeting + Ramohun Roy by a very pleasant party. The great sight was the two wits, + Rogers and Sydney Smith. Singly I have often seen them; but to see them + both together was a novelty, and a novelty not the less curious because + their mutual hostility is well known, and the hard hits which they have + given to each other are in everybody's mouth. They were very civil, + however. But I was struck by the truth of what Matthew Bramble, a person + of whom you probably never heard, says in Smollett's Humphrey Clinker: + that one wit in a company, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives a flavour; + but two are too many. Rogers and Sydney Smith would not come into + conflict. If one had possession of the company, the other was silent; and, + as you may conceive, the one who had possession of the company was always + Sydney Smith, and the one who was silent was always Rogers. Sometimes, + however, the company divided, and each of them had a small congregation. I + had a good deal of talk with both of them; for, in whatever they may + disagree, they agree in always treating me with very marked kindness. + </p> + <p> + I had a good deal of pleasant conversation with Rogers. He was telling me + of the curiosity and interest which attached to the persons of Sir Walter + Scott and Lord Byron. When Sir Walter Scott dined at a gentleman's in + London some time ago, all the servant-maids in the house asked leave to + stand in the passage and see him pass. He was, as you may conceive, + greatly flattered. About Lord Byron, whom he knew well, he told me some + curious anecdotes. When Lord Byron passed through Florence, Rogers was + there. They had a good deal of conversation, and Rogers accompanied him to + his carriage. The inn had fifty windows in front. All the windows were + crowded with women, mostly English women, to catch a glance at their + favourite poet. Among them were some at whose houses he had often been in + England, and with whom he had lived on friendly terms. He would not notice + them, or return their salutations. Rogers was the only person that he + spoke to. + </p> + <p> + The worst thing that I know about Lord Byron is the very unfavourable + impression which he made on men, who certainly were not inclined to judge + him harshly, and who, as far as I know, were never personally ill-used by + him. Sharp and Rogers both speak of him as an unpleasant, affected, + splenetic person. I have heard hundreds and thousands of people who never + saw him rant about him; but I never heard a single expression of fondness + for him fall from the lips of any of those who knew him well. Yet, even + now, after the lapse of five-and-twenty years, there are those who cannot + talk for a quarter of an hour about Charles Fox without tears. + </p> + <p> + Sydney Smith leaves London on the 20th, the day before Parliament meets + for business. I advised him to stay, and see something of his friends who + would be crowding to London. "My flock!" said this good shepherd. "My dear + Sir, remember my flock! The hungry sheep look up and are not fed." + </p> + <p> + I could say nothing to such an argument; but I could not help thinking + that, if Mr. Daniel Wilson had said such a thing, it would infallibly have + appeared in his funeral sermon, and in his Life by Baptist Noel. But in + poor Sydney's mouth it sounded like a joke. He begged me to come and see + him at Combe Florey. "There I am, Sir, the priest of the Flowery Valley, + in a delightful parsonage, about which I care a good deal, and a + delightful country, about which I do not care a straw." I told him that my + meeting him was some compensation for missing Ramohun Roy. Sydney broke + forth: + </p> + <p> + "Compensation! Do you mean to insult me? A beneficed clergyman, an + orthodox clergyman, a nobleman's chaplain, to be no more than compensation + for a Brahmin; and a heretic Brahmin too, a fellow who has lost his own + religion and can't find another; a vile heterodox dog, who, as I am + credibly informed eats beef-steaks in private! A man who has lost his + caste! who ought to have melted lead poured down his nostrils, if the good + old Vedas were in force as they ought to be." + </p> + <p> + These are some Boswelliana of Sydney; not very clerical, you will say, but + indescribably amusing to the hearers, whatever the readers may think of + them. Nothing can present a more striking contrast to his rapid, loud, + laughing utterance, and his rector-like amplitude and rubicundity, than + the low, slow, emphatic tone, and the corpse-like face of Rogers. There is + as great a difference in what they say as in the voice and look with which + they say it. The conversation of Rogers is remarkably polished and + artificial. What he says seems to have been long meditated, and might be + published with little correction. Sydney talks from the impulse of the + moment, and his fun is quite inexhaustible. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 8, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Yesterday night I went to the Jew's. I had indeed no + excuse for forgetting the invitation; for, about a week after I had + received the green varnished billet, and answered it, came another in the + self-same words, and addressed to Mr. Macaulay, Junior. I thought that my + answer had miscarried; so down I sate, and composed a second epistle to + the Hebrews. I afterwards found that the second invitation was meant for + Charles. + </p> + <p> + I set off a little after ten, having attired myself simply as for a + dinner-party. The house is a very fine one. The door was guarded by + peace-officers, and besieged by starers. My host met me in a superb + court-dress, with his sword at his side. There was a most + sumptuous-looking Persian, covered with gold lace. Then there was an + Italian bravo with a long beard. Two old gentlemen, who ought to have been + wiser, were fools enough to come in splendid Turkish costumes at which + everybody laughed. The fancy-dresses were worn almost exclusively by the + young people. The ladies for the most part contented themselves with a few + flowers and ribands oddly disposed. There was, however, a beautiful Mary + Queen of Scots, who looked as well as dressed the character perfectly; an + angel of a Jewess in a Highland plaid; and an old woman, or rather a + woman,—for through her disguise it was impossible to ascertain her + age,—in the absurdest costume of the last century. These good people + soon began their quadrilles and galopades, and were enlivened by all the + noise that twelve fiddlers could make for their lives. + </p> + <p> + You must not suppose the company was made up of these mummers. There was + Dr. Lardner, and Long, the Greek Professor in the London University, and + Sheil, and Strutt, and Romilly, and Owen the philanthropist. Owen laid + bold on Sheil, and gave him a lecture on Co-operation which lasted for + half an hour. At last Sheil made his escape. Then Owen seized Mrs. Sheil,—a + good Catholic, and a very agreeable woman,—and began to prove to her + that there could be no such thing as moral responsibility. I had fled at + the first sound of his discourse, and was talking with Strutt and Romilly, + when behold! I saw Owen leave Mrs. Sheil and come towards us. So I cried + out "Sauve qui peut!" and we ran off. But before we had got five feet from + where we were standing, who should meet us face to face but Old Basil + Montagu? "Nay, then," said I, "the game is up. The Prussians are on our + rear. If we are to be bored to death there is no help for it." Basil + seized Romilly; Owen took possession of Strutt; and I was blessing myself + on my escape, when the only human being worthy to make a third with such a + pair, J—, caught me by the arm, and begged to have a quarter of an + hour's conversation with me. While I was suffering under J—, a smart + impudent-looking young dog, dressed like a sailor in a blue jacket and + check shirt, marched up, and asked a Jewish-looking damsel near me to + dance with him. I thought that I had seen the fellow before; and, after a + little looking, I perceived that it was Charles; and most knowingly, I + assure you, did he perform a quadrille with Miss Hilpah Manasses. + </p> + <p> + If I were to tell you all that I saw I should exceed my ounce. There was + Martin the painter, and Proctor, alias Barry Cornwall, the poet or + poetaster. I did not see one Peer, or one star, except a foreign order or + two, which I generally consider as an intimation to look to my pockets. A + German knight is a dangerous neighbour in a crowd. [Macaulay ended by + being a German knight himself.] After seeing a galopade very prettily + danced by the Israelitish women, I went downstairs, reclaimed my hat, and + walked into the dining-room. There, with some difficulty, I squeezed + myself between a Turk and a Bernese peasant, and obtained an ice, a + macaroon, and a glass of wine. Charles was there, very active in his + attendance on his fair Hilpah. I bade him good night. "What!" said young + Hopeful, "are you going yet?" It was near one o'clock; but this joyous tar + seemed to think it impossible that anybody could dream of leaving such + delightful enjoyments till daybreak. I left him staying Hilpah with + flagons, and walked quietly home. But it was some time before I could get + to sleep. The sound of fiddles was in mine ears; and gaudy dresses, and + black hair, and Jewish noses, were fluctuating up and down before mine + eyes. + </p> + <p> + There is a fancy ball for you. If Charles writes a history of it, tell me + which of us does it best. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 10. 1835. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am at Basinghall Street, and I snatch this quarter + of an hour, the only quarter of an hour which I am likely to secure during + the day, to write to you. I will not omit writing two days running, + because, if my letters give you half the pleasure which your letters give + me, you will, I am sure, miss them. I have not, however, much to tell. I + have been very busy with my article on Moore's Life of Byron. I never + wrote anything with less heart. I do not like the book; I do not like the + hero; I have said the most I could for him, and yet I shall be abused for + speaking as coldly of him as I have done. + </p> + <p> + I dined the day before yesterday at Sir George Philips's with Sotheby, + Morier the author of "Hadji Baba," and Sir James Mackintosh. Morier began + to quote Latin before the ladies had left the room, and quoted it by no + means to the purpose. After their departure he fell to repeating Virgil, + choosing passages which everybody else knows and does not repeat. He, + though he tried to repeat them, did not know them, and could not get on + without my prompting. Sotheby was full of his translation of Homer's + Iliad, some specimens of which he has already published. It is a complete + failure; more literal than that of Pope, but still tainted with the deep + radical vice of Pope's version, a thoroughly modern and artificial manner. + It bears the same kind of relation to the Iliad that Robertson's narrative + bears to the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. + </p> + <p> + There is a pretty allegory in Homer—I think in the last book, but I + forget precisely where—about two vessels, the one filled with + blessings and the other with sorrow, which stand, says the poet, on the + right and left hand of Jupiter's throne, and from which he dispenses good + and evil at his pleasure among men. What word to use for these vessels has + long posed the translators of Homer. Pope, who loves to be fine, calls + them <i>urns</i>. Cowper, who loves to be coarse, calls them <i>casks</i>;—a + translation more improper than Pope's; for a cask is, in our general + understanding, a wooden vessel; and the Greek word means an earthen + vessel. There is a curious letter of Cowper's to one of his female + correspondents about this unfortunate word. She begged that Jupiter might + be allowed a more elegant piece of furniture for his throne than a cask. + But Cowper was peremptory. I mentioned this incidentally when we were + talking about translations. This set Sotheby off. "I," said he, "have + translated it <i>vase</i>. I hope that meets your ideas. Don't you think + vase will do? Does it satisfy you?" I told him, sincerely enough, that it + satisfied me; for I must be most unreasonable to be dissatisfied at + anything that he chooses to put in a book which I never shall read. + Mackintosh was very agreeable; and, as usually happens when I meet him, I + learned something from him. [Macaulay wrote to one of his nieces in + September 1859: "I am glad that Mackintosh's Life interests you. I knew + him well; and a kind friend he was to me when I was a young fellow, + fighting my way uphill."] + </p> + <p> + The great topic now in London is not, as you perhaps fancy, Reform, but + Cholera. There is a great panic; as great a panic as I remember, + particularly in the City. Rice shakes his head, and says that this is the + most serious thing that has happened in his time; and assuredly, if the + disease were to rage in London as it has lately raged in Riga, it would be + difficult to imagine anything more horrible. I, however, feel no + uneasiness. In the first place I have a strong leaning towards the + doctrines of the anti-contagionists. In the next place I repose a great + confidence in the excellent food and the cleanliness of the English. + </p> + <p> + I have this instant received your letter of yesterday with the enclosed + proof-sheets. Your criticism is to a certain extent just; but you have not + considered the whole sentence together. Depressed is in itself better than + weighed down; but "the oppressive privileges which had depressed industry" + would be a horrible cacophony. I hope that word convinces you. I have + often observed that a fine Greek compound is an excellent substitute for a + reason. + </p> + <p> + I met Rogers at the Athenaeum. He begged me to breakfast with him, and + name my day, and promised that he would procure me as agreeable a party as + he could find in London. Very kind of the old man, is it not? and, if you + knew how Rogers is thought of, you would think it as great a compliment as + could be paid to a Duke. Have you seen what the author of the "Young Duke" + says about me: how rabid I am, and how certain I am to rat? + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay's account of the allusion to himself in the "Young Duke" is + perfectly accurate; and yet, when read as a whole, the passage in question + does not appear to have been ill-naturedly meant. ["I hear that Mr. + Babington Macaulay is to be returned. If he speaks half as well as he + writes, the House will be in fashion again. I fear that he is one of those + who, like the individual whom he has most studied, will give up to a party + what was meant for mankind. At any rate, he must get rid of his rabidity. + He writes now on all subjects as if he certainly intended to be a + renegade, and was determined to make the contrast complete."—The + Young Duke, book v chap. vi.] It is much what any young literary man + outside the House of Commons might write of another who had only been + inside that House for a few weeks; and it was probably forgotten by the + author within twenty-four hours after the ink was dry. It is to be hoped + that the commentators of the future will not treat it as an authoritative + record of Mr. Disraeli's estimate of Lord Macaulay's political character. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 25, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—There was, as you will see, no debate on Lord John + Russell's motion. The Reform Bill is to be brought in, read once, and + printed, without discussion. The contest will be on the second reading, + and will be protracted, I should think, through the whole of the week + after next;—next week it will be, when you read this letter. + </p> + <p> + I breakfasted with Rogers yesterday. There was nobody there but Moore. We + were all on the most friendly and familiar terms possible; and Moore, who + is, Rogers tells me, excessively pleased with my review of his book, + showed me very marked attention. I was forced to go away early on account + of bankrupt business; but Rogers said that we must have the talk out so we + are to meet at his house again to breakfast. What a delightful house it + is! It looks out on the Green Park just at the most pleasant point. The + furniture has been selected with a delicacy of taste quite unique. Its + value does not depend on fashion, but must be the same while the fine arts + are held in any esteem. In the drawing-room, for example, the + chimney-pieces are carved by Flaxman into the most beautiful Grecian + forms. The book-case is painted by Stothard, in his very best manner, with + groups from Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Boccacio. The pictures are not + numerous; but every one is excellent. In the dining-room there are also + some beautiful paintings. But the three most remarkable objects in that + room are, I think, a cast of Pope taken after death by Roubiliac; a noble + model in terra-cotta by Michael Angelo, from which he afterwards made one + of his finest statues, that of Lorenzo de Medici; and, lastly, a mahogany + table on which stands an antique vase. + </p> + <p> + When Chantrey dined with Rogers some time ago he took particular notice of + the vase, and the table on which it stands, and asked Rogers who made the + table. "A common carpenter," said Rogers. "Do you remember the making of + it?" said Chantrey. "Certainly," said Rogers, in some surprise. "I was in + the room while it was finished with the chisel, and gave the workman + directions about placing it." "Yes," said Chantrey, "I was the carpenter. + I remember the room well, and all the circumstances." A curious story, I + think, and honourable both to the talent which raised Chantrey, and to the + magnanimity which kept him from being ashamed of what he had been. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 29, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—We are not yet in the full tide of Parliamentary + business. Next week the debates will be warm and long. I should not wonder + if we had a discussion of five nights. I shall probably take a part in it. + </p> + <p> + I have breakfasted again with Rogers. The party was a remarkable one,—Lord + John Russell, Tom Moore, Tom Campbell, and Luttrell. We were all very + lively. An odd incident took place after breakfast, while we were standing + at the window and looking into the Green Park. Somebody was talking about + diners-out. "Ay," said Campbell— + </p> + <p> + "Ye diners-out from whom we guard our spoons." + </p> + <p> + Tom Moore asked where the line was. "Don't you know?" said Campbell. "Not + I," said Moore. "Surely," said Campbell, "it is your own." "I never saw it + in my life," said Moore. "It is in one of your best things in the Times," + said Campbell. Moore denied it. Hereupon I put in my claim, and told them + that it was mine. Do you remember it? It is in some lines called the + Political Georgics, which I sent to the Times about three years ago. They + made me repeat the lines, and were vociferous in praise of them. Tom Moore + then said, oddly enough: + </p> + <p> + "There is another poem in the Times that I should like to know the author + of;—A Parson's Account of his Journey to the Cambridge Election." I + laid claim to that also. "That is curious," said Moore. "I begged Barnes + to tell me who wrote it. He said that he had received it from Cambridge, + and touched it up himself, and pretended that all the best strokes were + his. I believed that he was lying, because I never knew him to make a good + joke in his life. And now the murder is out." They asked me whether I had + put anything else in the Times. Nothing, I said, except the Sortes + Virgilianae, which Lord John remembered well. I never mentioned the + Cambridge Journey, or the Georgics, to any but my own family; and I was + therefore, as you may conceive, not a little flattered to hear in one day + Moore praising one of them, and Campbell praising the other. + </p> + <p> + I find that my article on Byron is very popular; one among a thousand + proofs of the bad taste of the public. I am to review Croker's edition of + Bozzy. It is wretchedly ill done. The notes are poorly written, and + shamefully inaccurate. There is, however, much curious information in it. + The whole of the Tour to the Hebrides is incorporated with the Life. So + are most of Mrs. Thrale's anecdotes, and much of Sir John Hawkins's + lumbering book. The whole makes five large volumes. There is a most + laughable sketch of Bozzy, taken by Sir T. Lawrence when young. I never + saw a character so thoroughly hit off. I intend the book for you, when I + have finished my criticism on it. You are, next to myself, the best read + Boswellite that I know. The lady whom Johnson abused for flattering him + [See Boswell's Life of Johnson, April 15, 1778.] was certainly, according + to Croker, Hannah More. Another ill-natured sentence about a Bath lady + ["He would not allow me to praise a lady then at Bath; observing, 'She + does not gain upon me, sir; I think her empty-headed.'"] whom Johnson + called "empty-headed" is also applied to your godmother. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 6, 1835. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I have been so busy during the last two or three + days that I have found no time to write to you. I have now good news for + you. I spoke yesterday night with a success beyond my utmost expectations. + I am half ashamed to tell you the compliments which I have received; but + you well know that it is not from vanity, but to give you pleasure, that I + tell you what is said about me. Lord Althorp told me twice that it was the + best speech he had ever heard; Graham, and Stanley, and Lord John Russell + spoke of it in the same way; and O'Connell followed me out of the house to + pay me the most enthusiastic compliments. I delivered my speech much more + slowly than any that I have before made, and it is in consequence better + reported than its predecessors, though not well. I send you several + papers. You will see some civil things in the leading articles of some of + them. My greatest pleasure, in the midst of all this praise, is to think + of the pleasure which my success will give to my father and my sisters. It + is happy for me that ambition has in my mind been softened into a kind of + domestic feeling, and that affection has at least as much to do as vanity + with my wish to distinguish myself. This I owe to my dear mother, and to + the interest which she always took in my childish successes. From my + earliest years, the gratification of those whom I love has been associated + with the gratification of my own thirst for fame, until the two have + become inseparably joined in my mind. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M Macaulay + </p> + <p> + London: July 8, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Do you want to hear all the compliments that are + paid to me? I shall never end, if I stuff my letters with them; for I meet + nobody who does not give me joy. Baring tells me that I ought never to + speak again. Howick sent a note to me yesterday to say that his father + wished very much to be introduced to me, and asked me to dine with them + yesterday, as, by great good luck, there was nothing to do in the House of + Commons. At seven I went to Downing Street, where Earl Grey's official + residence stands. It is a noble house. There are two splendid + drawing-rooms, which overlook St. James's Park. Into these I was shown. + The servant told me that Lord Grey was still at the House of Lords, and + that her Ladyship had just gone to dress. Howick had not mentioned the + hour in his note. I sate down, and turned over two large portfolios of + political caricatures. Earl Grey's own face was in every print. I was very + much diverted. I had seen some of them before; but many were new to me, + and their merit is extraordinary. They were the caricatures of that + remarkably able artist who calls himself H. B. In about half an hour Lady + Georgiana Grey, and the Countess, made their appearance. We had some + pleasant talk, and they made many apologies. The Earl, they said, was + unexpectedly delayed by a question which had arisen in the Lords. Lady + Holland arrived soon after, and gave me a most gracious reception; shook + my hand very warmly, and told me, in her imperial decisive manner, that + she had talked with all the principal men on our side about my speech, + that they all agreed that it was the best that had been made since the + death of Fox, and that it was more like Fox's speaking than anybody's + else. Then she told me that I was too much worked, that I must go out of + town, and absolutely insisted on my going to Holland House to dine, and + take a bed, on the next day on which there is no Parliamentary business. + At eight we went to dinner. Lord Howick took his father's place, and we + feasted very luxuriously. At nine Lord Grey came from the House with Lord + Durham, Lord Holland, and the Duke of Richmond. They dined on the remains + of our dinner with great expedition, as they had to go to a Cabinet + Council at ten. Of course I had scarcely any talk with Lord Grey. He was, + however, extremely polite to me, and so were his colleagues. I liked the + ways of the family. + </p> + <p> + I picked up some news from these Cabinet Ministers. There is to be a + Coronation on quite a new plan; no banquet in Westminster Hall, no feudal + services, no champion, no procession from the Abbey to the Hall, and back + again. But there is to be a service in the Abbey. All the Peers are to + come in state and in their robes, and the King is to take the oaths, and + be crowned and anointed in their presence. The spectacle will be finer + than usual to the multitude out of doors. The few hundreds who could + obtain admittance to the Hall will be the only losers. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 8, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Since I wrote to you I have been out to dine and + sleep at Holland House. We had a very agreeable and splendid party; among + others the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, and the Marchioness of + Clanricarde, who, you know, is the daughter of Canning. She is very + beautiful, and very like her father, with eyes full of fire, and great + expression in all her features. She and I had a great deal of talk. She + showed much cleverness and information, but, I thought, a little more of + political animosity than is quite becoming in a pretty woman. However, she + has been placed in peculiar circumstances. The daughter of a statesman who + was a martyr to the rage of faction may be pardoned for speaking sharply + of the enemies of her parent; and she did speak sharply. With knitted + brows, and flashing eyes, and a look of feminine vengeance about her + beautiful mouth, she gave me such a character of Peel as he would + certainly have had no pleasure in hearing. + </p> + <p> + In the evening Lord John Russell came; and, soon after, old Talleyrand. I + had seen Talleyrand in very large parties, but had never been near enough + to hear a word that he said. I now had the pleasure of listening for an + hour and a half to his conversation. He is certainly the greatest + curiosity that I ever fell in with. His head is sunk down between two high + shoulders. One of his feet is hideously distorted. His face is as pale as + that of a corpse, and wrinkled to a frightful degree. His eyes have an odd + glassy stare quite peculiar to them. His hair, thickly powdered and + pomatumed, hangs down his shoulders on each side as straight as a pound of + tallow candles. His conversation, however, soon makes you forget his + ugliness and infirmities. There is a poignancy without effort in all that + he says, which reminded me a little of the character which the wits of + Johnson's circle give of Beauclerk. For example, we talked about + Metternich and Cardinal Mazarin. "J'y trouve beaucoup a redire. Le + Cardinal trompait; mais il ne mentait pas. Or, M. de Metternich ment + toujours, et ne trompe jamais." He mentioned M. de St. Aulaire,—now + one of the most distinguished public men of France. I said: "M. de + Saint-Aulaire est beau-pere de M. le duc de Cazes, n'est-ce pas?" "Non, + monsieur," said Talleyrand; "l'on disait, il y a douze ans, que M. de + Saint-Aulaire etoit beau-pere de M. de Cazes; l'on dit maintenant que M. + de Cazes est gendre de M. de Saint-Aulaire." [This saying remained in + Macaulay's mind. He quoted it on the margin of his Aulus Gellius, as an + illustration of the passage in the nineteenth book in which Julius Caesar + is described, absurdly enough as "perpetuus ille dictator, Cneii Pompeii + socer".] It was not easy to describe the change in the relative positions + of two men more tersely and more sharply; and these remarks were made in + the lowest tone, and without the slightest change of muscle, just as if he + had been remarking that the day was fine. He added: "M. de Saint-Aulaire a + beaucoup d'esprit. Mais il est devot, et, ce qui pis est, devot honteux. + Il va se cacher dans quelque hameau pour faire ses Paques." This was a + curious remark from a Bishop. He told several stories about the political + men of France; not of any great value in themselves; but his way of + telling them was beyond all praise,—concise, pointed, and delicately + satirical. When he had departed, I could not help breaking out into + admiration of his talent for relating anecdotes. Lady Holland said that he + had been considered for nearly forty years as the best teller of a story + in Europe, and that there was certainly nobody like him in that respect. + </p> + <p> + When the Prince was gone, we went to bed. In the morning Lord John Russell + drove me back to London in his cabriolet, much amused with what I had seen + and heard. But I must stop. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Basinghall Street: July 15 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The rage of faction at the present moment exceeds + anything that has been known in our day. Indeed I doubt whether, at the + time of Mr. Pitt's first becoming Premier, at the time of Sir Robert + Walpole's fall, or even during the desperate struggles between the Whigs + and Tories at the close of Anne's reign, the fury of party was so + fearfully violent. Lord Mahon said to me yesterday that friendships of + long standing were everywhere giving way, and that the schism between the + reformers and the anti-reformers was spreading from the House of Commons + into every private circle. Lord Mahon himself is an exception. He and I + are on excellent terms. But Praed and I become colder every day. + </p> + <p> + The scene of Tuesday night beggars description. I left the House at about + three, in consequence of some expressions of Lord Althorp's which + indicated that the Ministry was inclined to yield on the question of going + into Committee on the Bill. I afterwards much regretted that I had gone + away; not that my presence was necessary; but because I should have liked + to have sate through so tremendous a storm. Towards eight in the morning + the Speaker was almost fainting. The Ministerial members, however, were as + true as steel. They furnished the Ministry with the resolution which it + wanted. "If the noble Lord yields," said one of our men, "all is lost." + Old Sir Thomas Baring sent for his razor, and Benett, the member for + Wiltshire, for his night-cap; and they were both resolved to spend the + whole day in the House rather than give way. If the Opposition had not + yielded, in two hours half London would have been in Old Palace Yard. + </p> + <p> + Since Tuesday the Tories have been rather cowed. But their demeanour, + though less outrageous than at the beginning of the week, indicates what + would in any other time be called extreme violence. I have not been once + in bed till three in the morning since last Sunday. To-morrow we have a + holiday. I dine at Lansdowne House. Next week I dine with Littleton, the + member for Staffordshire, and his handsome wife. He told me that I should + meet two men whom I am curious to see, Lord Plunket and the Marquess + Wellesley; let alone the Chancellor, who is not a novelty to me. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 25, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—On Saturday evening I went to Holland House. There I + found the Dutch Ambassador, M. de Weissembourg, Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Smith, + and Admiral Adam, a son of old Adam, who fought the duel with Fox. We + dined like Emperors, and jabbered in several languages. Her Ladyship, for + an esprit fort, is the greatest coward that I ever saw. The last time that + I was there she was frightened out of her wits by the thunder. She closed + all the shutters, drew all the curtains, and ordered candles in broad day + to keep out the lightning, or rather the appearance of the lightning. On + Saturday she was in a terrible taking about the cholera; talked of nothing + else; refused to eat any ice because somebody said that ice was bad for + the cholera; was sure that the cholera was at Glasgow; and asked me why a + cordon of troops was not instantly placed around that town to prevent all + intercourse between the infected and the healthy spots. Lord Holland made + light of her fears. He is a thoroughly good-natured, open, sensible man; + very lively; very intellectual; well read in politics, and in the lighter + literature both of ancient and modern times. He sets me more at ease than + almost any person that I know, by a certain good-humoured way of + contradicting that he has. He always begins by drawing down his shaggy + eyebrows, making a face extremely like his uncle, wagging his head and + saying: "Now do you know, Mr. Macaulay, I do not quite see that. How do + you make it out?" He tells a story delightfully; and bears the pain of his + gout, and the confinement and privations to which it subjects him, with + admirable fortitude and cheerfulness. Her Ladyship is all courtesy and + kindness to me; but her demeanour to some others, particularly to poor + Allen, is such as it quite pains me to witness. He really is treated like + a negro slave. "Mr. Allen, go into my drawing-room and bring my reticule." + "Mr. Allen, go and see what can be the matter that they do not bring up + dinner." "Mr. Allen, there is not enough turtle-soup for you. You must + take gravy-soup or none." Yet I can scarcely pity the man. He has an + independent income; and, if he can stoop to be ordered about like a + footman, I cannot so much blame her for the contempt with which she treats + him. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps I may write again to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Library of the House of Commons + </p> + <p> + July 26, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Here I am seated, waiting for the debate on the + borough of St. Germains with a very quiet party,—Lord Milton, Lord + Tavistock, and George Lamb. But, instead of telling you in dramatic form + my conversations with Cabinet Ministers, I shall, I think, go back two or + three days, and complete the narrative which I left imperfect in my + epistle of yesterday. + </p> + <p> + [This refers to a passage in a former letter, likewise written from the + Library of the House. + </p> + <p> + "'Macaulay!' Who calls Macaulay? Sir James Graham. What can he have to say + to me? Take it dramatically: + </p> + <p> + Sir J. G. Macaulay! + </p> + <p> + Macaulay. What? + </p> + <p> + Sir J. G. Whom are you writing to, that you laugh so much over your + letter? + </p> + <p> + Macaulay. To my constituents at Caine, to be sure. They expect news of the + Reform Bill every day. + </p> + <p> + Sir J. G. Well, writing to constituents is less of a plague to you than to + most people, to judge by your face. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay. How do you know that I am not writing a billet doux to a lady? + </p> + <p> + Sir J. G. You look more like it, by Jove! + </p> + <p> + Cutlar Ferguson, M.P. for Kirkcudbright. Let ladies and constituents + alone, and come into the House. We are going on to the case of the borough + of Great Bedwin immediately."] + </p> + <p> + At half after seven on Sunday I was set down at Littleton's palace, for + such it is, in Grosvenor Place. It really is a noble house; four superb + drawing-rooms on the first floor, hung round with some excellent pictures—a + Hobbema, (the finest by that artist in the world, it is said,) and + Lawrence's charming portrait of Mrs. Littleton. The beautiful original, by + the bye, did not make her appearance. We were a party of gentlemen. But + such gentlemen! Listen, and be proud of your connection with one who is + admitted to eat and drink in the same room with beings so exalted. There + were two Chancellors, Lord Brougham and Lord Plunket. There was Earl + Gower; Lord St. Vincent; Lord Seaford; Lord Duncannon; Lord Ebrington; Sir + James Graham; Sir John Newport; the two Secretaries of the Treasury, Rice + and Ellice; George Lamb; Denison; and half a dozen more Lords and + distinguished Commoners, not to mention Littleton himself. Till last year + he lived in Portman Square. When he changed his residence his servants + gave him warning. They could not, they said, consent to go into such an + unheard-of part of the world as Grosvenor Place. I can only say that I + have never been in a finer house than Littleton's, Lansdowne House + excepted,—and perhaps Lord Milton's, which is also in Grosvenor + Place. He gave me a dinner of dinners. I talked with Denison, and with + nobody else. I have found out that the real use of conversational powers + is to put them forth in tete-a-tete. A man is flattered by your talking + your best to him alone. Ten to one he is piqued by your overpowering him + before a company. Denison was agreeable enough. I heard only one word from + Lord Plunket, who was remarkably silent. He spoke of Doctor Thorpe, and + said that, having heard the Doctor in Dublin, he should like to hear him + again in London. "Nothing easier," quoth Littleton; "his chapel is only + two doors off; and he will be just mounting the pulpit." "No," said Lord + Plunket; "I can't lose my dinner." An excellent saying, though one which a + less able man than Lord Plunket might have uttered. + </p> + <p> + At midnight I walked away with George Lamb, and went—where for a + ducat? "To bed," says Miss Hannah. Nay, my sister, not so; but to + Brooks's. There I found Sir James Macdonald; Lord Duncannon, who had left + Littleton's just before us; and many other Whigs and ornaments of human + nature. As Macdonald and I were rising to depart we saw Rogers, and I went + to shake hands with him. You cannot think how kind the old man was to me. + He shook my hand over and over, and told me that Lord Plunket longed to + see me in a quiet way, and that he would arrange a breakfast party in a + day or two for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + Away I went from Brooks's—but whither? "To bed now, I am sure," says + little Anne. No, but on a walk with Sir James Macdonald to the end of + Sloane Street, talking about the Ministry, the Reform Bill, and the East + India question. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + House of Commons Smoking Room: Saturday. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The newspapers will have, explained the reason of + our sitting to-day. At three this morning I left the House. At two this + afternoon I have returned to it, with the thermometer at boiling heat, and + four hundred and fifty people stowed together like negroes in the John + Newton's slaveship. I have accordingly left Sir Francis Burdett on his + legs, and repaired to the smoking-room; a large, wainscoted, uncarpeted + place, with tables covered with green baize and writing materials. On a + full night it is generally thronged towards twelve o'clock with smokers. + It is then a perfect cloud of fume. There have I seen, (tell it not to the + West Indians,) Buxton blowing fire out of his mouth. My father will not + believe it. At present, however, all the doors and windows are open, and + the room is pure enough from tobacco to suit my father himself. + </p> + <p> + Get Blackwood's new number. There is a description of me in it. What do + you think he says that I am? "A little, splay-footed, ugly, dumpling of a + fellow, with a mouth from ear to ear." Conceive how such a charge must + affect a man so enamoured of his own beauty as I am. + </p> + <p> + I said a few words the other night. They were merely in reply, and quite + unpremeditated, and were not ill received. I feel that much practice will + be necessary to make me a good debater on points of detail; but my friends + tell me that I have raised my reputation by showing that I was quite equal + to the work of extemporaneous reply. My manner, they say, is cold and + wants care. I feel this myself. Nothing but strong excitement, and a great + occasion, overcomes a certain reserve and mauvaise honte which I have in + public speaking; not a mauvaise honte which in the least confuses me, or + makes me hesitate for a word, but which keeps me from putting any fervour + into my tone or my action. This is perhaps in some respects an advantage; + for, when I do warm, I am the most vehement speaker in the House, and + nothing strikes an audience so much as the animation of an orator who is + generally cold. + </p> + <p> + I ought to tell you that Peel was very civil, and cheered me loudly; and + that impudent leering Croker congratulated the House on the proof which I + had given of my readiness. He was afraid, he said, that I had been silent + so long on account of the many allusions which had been made to Calne. Now + that I had risen again he hoped that they should hear me often. See + whether I do not dust that varlet's jacket for him in the next number of + the Blue and Yellow. I detest him more than cold boiled veal. ["By the + bye," Macaulay writes elsewhere, "you never saw such a scene as Croker's + oration on Friday night. He abused Lord John Russell; he abused Lord + Althorp; he abused the Lord Advocate, and we took no notice;—never + once groaned or cried 'No!' But he began to praise Lord Fitzwilliam;—'a + venerable nobleman, an excellent and amiable nobleman' and so forth; and + we all broke out together with 'Question!' 'No, no!' 'This is too bad!' + 'Don't, don't!' He then called Canning his right honourable friend. 'Your + friend! damn your impudent face!' said the member who sate next me."] + </p> + <p> + After the debate I walked about the streets with Bulwer till near three + o'clock. I spoke to him about his novels with perfect sincerity, praising + warmly, and criticising freely. He took the praise as a greedy boy takes + apple-pie, and the criticism as a good dutiful boy takes senna-tea. He has + one eminent merit, that of being a most enthusiastic admirer of mine; so + that I may be the hero of a novel yet, under the name of Delamere or + Mortimer. Only think what an honour! + </p> + <p> + Bulwer is to be editor of the New Monthly Magazine. He begged me very + earnestly to give him something for it. I would make no promises; for I am + already over head and ears in literary engagements. But I may possibly now + and then send him some trifle or other. At all events I shall expect him + to puff me well. I do not see why I should not have my puffers as well as + my neighbours. + </p> + <p> + I am glad that you have read Madame de Stael's Allemagne. The book is a + foolish one in some respects; but it abounds with information, and shows + great mental power. She was certainly the first woman of her age; Miss + Edgeworth, I think, the second; and Miss Austen the third. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: August 29, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Here I am again settled, sitting up in the House of + Commons till three o'clock five days in the week, and getting an + indigestion at great dinners the remaining two. I dined on Saturday with + Lord Althorp, and yesterday with Sir James Graham. Both of them gave me + exactly the same dinner; and, though I am not generally copious on the + repasts which my hosts provide for me, I must tell you, for the honour of + official hospitality, how our Ministers regale their supporters. Turtle, + turbot, venison, and grouse, formed part of both entertainments. + </p> + <p> + Lord Althorp was extremely pleasant at the head of his own table. We were + a small party; Lord Ebrington, Hawkins, Captain Spencer, Stanley, and two + or three more. We all of us congratulated Lord Althorp on his good health + and spirits. He told us that he never took exercise now; that from his + getting up, till four o'clock, he was engaged in the business of his + office; that at four he dined, went down to the House at five, and never + stirred till the House rose, which is always after midnight; that he then + went home, took a basin of arrow-root with a glass of sherry in it, and + went to bed, where he always dropped asleep in three minutes. "During the + week," said he, "which followed my taking office, I did not close my eyes + for anxiety. Since that time I have never been awake a quarter of an hour + after taking off my clothes." Stanley laughed at Lord Althorp's + arrow-root, and recommended his own supper, cold meat and warm negus; a + supper which I will certainly begin to take when I feel a desire to pass + the night with a sensation as if I was swallowing a nutmeg-grater every + third minute. + </p> + <p> + We talked about timidity in speaking. Lord Althorp said that he had only + just got over his apprehensions. "I was as much afraid," he said, "last + year as when first I came into Parliament. But now I am forced to speak so + often that I am quite hardened. Last Thursday I was up forty times." I was + not much surprised at this in Lord Althorp, as he is certainly one of the + most modest men in existence. But I was surprised to hear Stanley say that + he never rose without great uneasiness. "My throat and lips," he said, + "when I am going to speak, are as dry as those of a man who is going to be + hanged." Nothing can be more composed and cool than Stanley's manner. His + fault is on that side. A little hesitation at the beginning of a speech is + graceful; and many eminent speakers have practised it, merely in order to + give the appearance of unpremeditated reply to prepared speeches; but + Stanley speaks like a man who never knew what fear, or even modesty, was. + Tierney, it is remarkable, who was the most ready and fluent debater + almost ever known, made a confession similar to Stanley's. He never spoke, + he said, without feeling his knees knock together when he rose. + </p> + <p> + My opinion of Lord Althorp is extremely high. In fact, his character is + the only stay of the Ministry. I doubt whether any person has ever lived + in England who, with no eloquence, no brilliant talents, no profound + information, with nothing in short but plain good sense and an excellent + heart, possessed so much influence both in and out of Parliament. His + temper is an absolute miracle. He has been worse used than any Minister + ever was in debate; and he has never said one thing inconsistent, I do not + say with gentlemanlike courtesy, but with real benevolence. Lord North, + perhaps, was his equal in suavity and good-nature; but Lord North was not + a man of strict principles. His administration was not only an + administration hostile to liberty, but it was supported by vile and + corrupt means,—by direct bribery, I fear, in many cases. Lord + Althorp has the temper of Lord North with the principles of Romilly. If he + had the oratorical powers of either of those men, he might do anything. + But his understanding, though just, is slow, and his elocution painfully + defective. It is, however, only justice to him to say that he has done + more service to the Reform Bill even as a debater than all the other + Ministers together, Stanley excepted. + </p> + <p> + We are going,—by we I mean the Members of Parliament who are for + reform,—as soon as the Bill is through the Commons, to give a grand + dinner to Lord Althorp and Lord John Russell, as a mark of our respect. + Some people wished to have the other Cabinet Ministers included; but Grant + and Palmerston are not in sufficiently high esteem among the Whigs to be + honoured with such a compliment. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: September 9, 1835. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I scarcely know where to begin, or where to end, my + story of the magnificence of yesterday. No pageant can be conceived more + splendid. The newspapers will happily save me the trouble of relating + minute particulars. I will therefore give you an account of my own + proceedings, and mention what struck me most. I rose at six. The cannon + awaked me; and, as soon as I got up, I heard the bells pealing on every + side from all the steeples in London. I put on my court-dress, and looked + a perfect Lovelace in it. At seven the glass coach, which I had ordered + for myself and some of my friends, came to the door. I called in Hill + Street for William Marshall, M.P. for Beverley, and in Cork Street for + Strutt the Member for Derby, and Hawkins the Member for Tavistock. Our + party being complete, we drove through crowds of people, and ranks of + horseguards in cuirasses and helmets, to Westminster Hall, which we + reached as the clock struck eight. + </p> + <p> + The House of Commons was crowded, and the whole assembly was in uniform. + After prayers we went out in order by lot, the Speaker going last. My + county, Wiltshire, was among the first drawn; so I got an excellent place + in the Abbey, next to Lord Mahon, who is a very great favourite of mine, + and a very amusing companion, though a bitter Tory. + </p> + <p> + Our gallery was immediately over the great altar. The whole vast avenue of + lofty pillars was directly in front of us. At eleven the guns fired, the + organ struck up, and the procession entered. I never saw so magnificent a + scene. All down that immense vista of gloomy arches there was one blaze of + scarlet and gold. First came heralds in coats stiff with embroidered + lions, unicorns, and harps; then nobles bearing the regalia, with pages in + rich dresses carrying their coronets on cushions; then the Dean and + Prebendaries of Westminster in copes of cloth of gold; then a crowd of + beautiful girls and women, or at least of girls and women who at a + distance looked altogether beautiful, attending on the Queen. Her train of + purple velvet and ermine was borne by six of these fair creatures. All the + great officers of state in full robes, the Duke of Wellington with his + Marshal's staff, the Duke of Devonshire with his white rod, Lord Grey with + the Sword of State, and the Chancellor with his seals, came in procession. + Then all the Royal Dukes with their trains borne behind them, and last the + King leaning on two Bishops. I do not, I dare say, give you the precise + order. In fact, it was impossible to discern any order. The whole abbey + was one blaze of gorgeous dresses, mingled with lovely faces. + </p> + <p> + The Queen behaved admirably, with wonderful grace and dignity. The King + very awkwardly. The Duke of Devonshire looked as if he came to be crowned + instead of his master. I never saw so princely a manner and air. The + Chancellor looked like Mephistopheles behind Margaret in the church. The + ceremony was much too long, and some parts of it were carelessly + performed. The Archbishop mumbled. The Bishop of London preached, well + enough indeed, but not so effectively as the occasion required; and, above + all, the bearing of the King made the foolish parts of the ritual appear + monstrously ridiculous, and deprived many of the better parts of their + proper effect. Persons who were at a distance perhaps did not feel this; + but I was near enough to see every turn of his finger, and every glance of + his eye. The moment of the crowning was extremely fine. When the + Archbishop placed the crown on the head of the King, the trumpets sounded, + and the whole audience cried out "God save the King." All the Peers and + Peeresses put on their coronets, and the blaze of splendour through the + Abbey seemed to be doubled. The King was then conducted to the raised + throne, where the Peers successively did him homage, each of them kissing + his cheek, and touching the crown. Some of them were cheered, which I + thought indecorous in such a place, and on such an occasion. The Tories + cheered the Duke of Wellington; and our people, in revenge, cheered Lord + Grey and Brougham. + </p> + <p> + You will think this a very dull letter for so great a subject; but I have + only had time to scrawl these lines in order to catch the post. I have not + a minute to read them over. I lost yesterday, and have been forced to work + to-day. Half my article on Boswell went to Edinburgh the day before + yesterday. I have, though I say it who should not say it, beaten Croker + black and blue. Impudent as he is, I think he must be ashamed of the + pickle in which I leave him. [Mr. Carlyle reviewed Croker's book in + "Fraser's Magazine" a few months after the appearance of Macaulay's + article in the "Edinburgh." The two Critics seem to have arrived at much + the same conclusion as to the merits of the work. "In fine," writes Mr. + Carlyle, "what ideas Mr. Croker entertains of a literary <i>whole</i>, and + the thing called <i>Book</i>, and how the very Printer's Devils did not + rise in mutiny against such a conglomeration as this, and refuse to print + it, may remain a problem.... It is our painful duty to declare, aloud, if + that be necessary, that his gift, as weighed against the hard money which + the booksellers demand for giving it you, is (in our judgment) very much + the lighter. No portion, accordingly, of our small floating capital has + been embarked in the business, or ever shall be. Indeed, were we in the + market for such a thing, there is simply no edition of Boswell to which + this last would seem preferable,"] + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: September 13, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am in high spirits at the thought of soon seeing + you all in London, and being again one of a family, and of a family which + I love so much. It is well that one has something to love in private life; + for the aspect of public affairs is very menacing;—fearful, I think, + beyond what people in general imagine. Three weeks, however, will probably + settle the whole, and bring to an issue the question, Reform or + Revolution. One or the other I am certain that we must and shall have. I + assure you that the violence of the people, the bigotry of the Lords, and + the stupidity and weakness of the Ministers, alarm me so much that even my + rest is disturbed by vexation and uneasy forebodings; not for myself; for + I may gain, and cannot lose; but for this noble country, which seems + likely to be ruined without the miserable consolation of being ruined by + great men. All seems fair as yet, and will seem fair for a fortnight + longer. But I know the danger from information more accurate and certain + than, I believe, anybody not in power possesses; and I perceive, what our + men in power do not perceive, how terrible the danger is. + </p> + <p> + I called on Lord Lansdowne on Sunday. He told me distinctly that he + expected the Bill to be lost in the Lords, and that, if it were lost, the + Ministers must go out. I told him, with as much strength of expression as + was suited to the nature of our connection, and to his age and rank, that, + if the Ministers receded before the Lords, and hesitated to make Peers, + they and the Whig party were lost; that nothing remained but an insolent + oligarchy on the one side, and an infuriated people on the other; and that + Lord Grey and his colleagues would become as odious and more contemptible + than Peel and the Duke of Wellington. Why did they not think of all this + earlier? Why put their hand to the plough, and look back? Why begin to + build without counting the cost of finishing? Why raise the public + appetite, and then baulk it? I told him that the House of Commons would + address the King against a Tory Ministry. I feel assured that it would do + so. I feel assured that, if those who are bidden will not come, the + highways and hedges will be ransacked to get together a reforming Cabinet. + To one thing my mind is made up. If nobody else will move an address to + the Crown against a Tory Ministry, I will. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: October 17, 1831. + </p> + <p> + My dear Ellis,—I should have written to you before, but that I + mislaid your letter and forgot your direction. When shall you be in + London? Of course you do not mean to sacrifice your professional business + to the work of numbering the gates, and telling the towers, of boroughs in + Wales. [Mr. Ellis was one of the Commissioners appointed to arrange the + boundaries of Parliamentary boroughs in connection with the Reform Bill.] + You will come back, I suppose, with your head full of ten pound + householders instead of eroes and of Caermarthen and Denbigh instead of + Carians and Pelasgians. Is it true, by the bye, that the Commissioners are + whipped on the boundaries of the boroughs by the beadles, in order that + they may not forget the precise line which they have drawn? I deny it + wherever I go, and assure people that some of my friends who are in the + Commission would not submit to such degradation. + </p> + <p> + You must have been hard-worked indeed, and soundly whipped too, if you + have suffered as much for the Reform Bill as we who debated it. I believe + that there are fifty members of the House of Commons who have done + irreparable injury to their health by attendance on the discussions of + this session. I have got through pretty well, but I look forward, I + confess, with great dismay to the thought of recommencing; particularly as + Wetherell's cursed lungs seem to be in as good condition as ever. + </p> + <p> + I have every reason to be gratified by the manner in which my speeches + have been received. To say the truth, the station which I now hold in the + House is such that I should not be inclined to quit it for any place which + was not of considerable importance. What you saw about my having a place + was a blunder of a stupid reporter's. Croker was taunting the Government + with leaving me to fight their battle, and to rally their followers; and + said that the honourable and learned member for Calne, though only a + practising barrister in title, seemed to be in reality the most efficient + member of the Government. By the bye, my article on Croker has not only + smashed his book, but has hit the Westminster Review incidentally. The + Utilitarians took on themselves to praise the accuracy of the most + inaccurate writer that ever lived, and gave as an instance of it a note in + which, as I have shown, he makes a mistake of twenty years and more. John + Mill is in a rage, and says that they are in a worse scrape than Croker; + John Murray says that it is a damned nuisance; and Croker looks across the + House of Commons at me with a leer of hatred, which I repay with a + gracious smile of pity. + </p> + <p> + I am ashamed to have said so much about myself. But you asked for news + about me. No request is so certain to be granted, or so certain to be a + curse to him who makes it as that which you have made to me. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + London: January 9, 1832. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—I have been so much engaged by bankrupt business, as we + are winding up the affairs of many estates, that I shall not be able to + send off my article about Hampden till Thursday the 12th. It will be, I + fear, more than forty pages long. As Pascal said of his eighteenth letter, + I would have made it shorter if I could have kept it longer. You must + indulge me, however; for I seldom offend in that way. + </p> + <p> + It is in part a narrative. This is a sort of composition which I have + never yet attempted. You will tell me, I am sure with sincerity, how you + think that I succeed in it. I have said as little about Lord Nugent's book + as I decently could. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: January 19, 1832. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—I will try the Life of Lord Burleigh, if you will tell + Longman to send me the book. However bad the work may be, it will serve as + a heading for an article on the times of Elizabeth. On the whole, I + thought it best not to answer Croker. Almost all the little pamphlet which + he published, (or rather printed, for I believe it is not for sale,) is + made up of extracts from Blackwood; and I thought that a contest with your + grog-drinking, cock-fighting, cudgel-playing Professor of Moral Philosophy + would be too degrading. I could have demolished every paragraph of the + defence. Croker defended his thuetoi philoi by quoting a passage of + Euripides which, as every scholar knows, is corrupt; which is nonsense and + false metre if read as he reads it; and which Markland and Matthiae have + set right by a most obvious correction. But, as nobody seems to have read + his vindication, we can gain nothing by refuting it. ["Mr. Croker has + favoured us with some Greek of his own. 'At the altar,' say Dr. Johnson. + 'I recommended my th ph.' 'These letters,' says the editor, (which Dr. + Strahan seems not to have understood,) probably mean <i>departed friends.</i>' + Johnson was not a first-rate Greek scholar; but he knew more Greek than + most boys when they leave school; and no schoolboy could venture to use + the word thuetoi in the sense which Mr. Croker ascribes to it without + imminent danger of a flogging."—Macaulay's Review of Croker's + Boswell.] + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. 1832-1834. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Macaulay is invited to stand for Leeds—The Reform bill + passes—Macaulay appointed Commissioner of the Board of + Control—His life in office—Letters to his sisters— + Contested election at Leeds—Macaulay's bearing as a + candidate—Canvassing—Pledges—Intrusion of religion into + politics—Placemen in Parliament—Liverpool—Margaret + Macaulay's marriage—How it affected her brother—He is + returned for Leeds—Becomes Secretary of the Board of + Control—Letters to Hannah Macaulay—Session of 1832— + Macaulay's Speech on the India Bill—His regard for Lord + Glenelg—Letters to Hannah Macaulay—The West Indian + question—Macaulay resigns Office—He gains his point, and + resumes his place—Emancipation of the Slaves—Death of + Wilberforce—Macaulay is appointed Member of the Supreme + Council of India—Letters to Hannah Macaulay, Lord + Lansdowne, and Mr. Napier—Altercation between Lord Althorp + and Mr. Shiel—Macaulay's appearance before the Committee of + Investigation—He sails for India. +</pre> + <p> + DURING the earlier half of the year 1832 the vessel of Reform was still + labouring heavily; but, long before she was through the breakers, men had + begun to discount the treasures which she was bringing into port. The time + was fast approaching when the country would be called upon to choose its + first Reformed Parliament. As if the spectacle of what was doing at + Westminster did not satisfy their appetite for political excitement, the + Constituencies of the future could not refrain from anticipating the + fancied pleasures of an electoral struggle. Impatient to exercise their + privileges, and to show that they had as good an eye for a man as those + patrons of nomination seats whose discernment was being vaunted nightly in + a dozen speeches from the Opposition benches of the House of Commons, the + great cities were vying with each other to seek representatives worthy of + the occasion and of themselves. The Whigs of Leeds, already provided with + one candidate in a member of the great local firm of the Marshalls, + resolved to seek for another among the distinguished politicians of their + party. As early as October 1831 Macaulay had received a requisition from + that town, and had pledged himself to stand as soon as it had been + elevated into a Parliamentary borough. The Tories, on their side, brought + forward Mr. Michael Sadler, the very man on whose behalf the Duke of + Newcastle had done "what he liked with his own" in Newark,—and, at + the last general election, had done it in vain. Sadler, smarting from the + lash of the Edinburgh Review, infused into the contest an amount of + personal bitterness that for his own sake might better have been spared; + and, during more than a twelvemonth to come, Macaulay lived the life of a + candidate whose own hands are full of public work at a time when his + opponent has nothing to do except to make himself disagreeable. But, + having once undertaken to fight the battle of the Leeds Liberals, he + fought it stoutly and cheerily; and he would have been the last to claim + it as a merit, that, with numerous opportunities of a safe and easy + election at his disposal, he remained faithful to the supporters who had + been so forward to honour him with their choice. + </p> + <p> + The old system died hard; but in May 1832 came its final agony. The Reform + Bill had passed the Commons, and had been read a second time in the Upper + House; but the facilities which Committee affords for maiming and delaying + a measure of great magnitude and intricacy proved too much for the + self-control of the Lords. The King could not bring himself to adopt that + wonderful expedient by which the unanimity of the three branches of our + legislature may, in the last resort, be secured. Deceived by an utterly + fallacious analogy, his Majesty began to be persuaded that the path of + concession would lead him whither it had led Louis the Sixteenth; and he + resolved to halt on that path at the point where his Ministers advised him + to force the hands of their lordships by creating peers. The supposed + warnings of the French Revolution, which had been dinned into the ears of + the country by every Tory orator from Peel to Sibthorpe, at last had + produced their effect on the royal imagination. Earl Grey resigned, and + the Duke of Wellington, with a loyalty which certainly did not stand in + need of such an unlucky proof, came forward to meet the storm. But its + violence was too much even for his courage and constancy. He could not get + colleagues to assist him in the Cabinet, or supporters to vote with him in + Parliament, or soldiers to fight for him in the streets; and it was + evident that in a few days his position would be such as could only be + kept by fighting. + </p> + <p> + The revolution had in truth commenced. At a meeting of the political + unions on the slope of Newhall Hill at Birmingham a hundred thousand + voices had sung the words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + God is our guide. No swords we draw. + We kindle not war's battle fires. + By union, justice, reason, law, + We claim the birthright of our sires. +</pre> + <p> + But those very men were now binding themselves by a declaration that, + unless the Bill passed, they would pay no taxes, nor purchase property + distrained by the tax-gatherer. In thus renouncing the first obligation of + a citizen they did in effect draw the sword, and they would have been + cravens if they had left it in the scabbard. Lord Milton did something to + enhance the claim of his historic house upon the national gratitude by + giving practical effect to this audacious resolve; and, after the lapse of + two centuries, another Great Rebellion, more effectual than its + predecessor, but so brief and bloodless that history does not recognise it + as a rebellion at all, was inaugurated by the essentially English + proceeding of a quiet country gentleman telling the Collector to call + again. The crisis lasted just a week. The Duke had no mind for a + succession of Peterloos, on a vaster scale, and with a different issue. He + advised the King to recall his Ministers; and his Majesty, in his turn, + honoured the refractory lords with a most significant circular letter, + respectful in form, but unmistakable in tenor. A hundred peers of the + Opposition took the hint, and contrived to be absent whenever Reform was + before the House. The Bill was read for a third time by a majority of five + to one on the 4th of June; a strange, and not very complimentary, method + of celebrating old George the Third's birthday. On the 5th it received the + last touches in the Commons; and on the 7th it became an Act, in very much + the same shape, after such and so many vicissitudes, as it wore when Lord + John Russell first presented it to Parliament. + </p> + <p> + Macaulay, whose eloquence had signalised every stage of the conflict, and + whose printed speeches are, of all its authentic records, the most + familiar to readers of our own day, was not left without his reward. He + was appointed one of the Commissioners of the Board of Control, which, for + three quarters of a century from 1784 onwards, represented the Crown in + its relations to the East Indian directors. His duties, like those of + every individual member of a Commission, were light or heavy as he chose + to make them; but his own feeling with regard to those duties must not be + deduced from the playful allusions contained in letters dashed off, during + the momentary leisure of an over-busy day, for the amusement of two girls + who barely numbered forty years between them. His speeches and essays teem + with expressions of a far deeper than official interest in India and her + people; and his minutes remain on record, to prove that he did not affect + the sentiment for a literary or oratorical purpose. The attitude of his + own mind with regard to our Eastern empire is depicted in the passage on + Burke, in the essay on Warren Hastings, which commences with the words, + "His knowledge of India—," and concludes with the sentence, + "Oppression in Bengal was to him the same thing as oppression in the + streets of London." That passage, unsurpassed as it is in force of + language, and splendid fidelity of detail, by anything that Macaulay ever + wrote or uttered, was inspired, as all who knew him could testify, by + sincere and entire sympathy with that great statesman of whose humanity + and breadth of view it is the merited, and not inadequate, panegyric. + </p> + <p> + In Margaret Macaulay's journal there occurs more than one mention of her + brother's occasional fits of contrition on the subject of his own + idleness; but these regrets and confessions must be taken for what they + are worth, and for no more. He worked much harder than he gave himself + credit for. His nature was such that whatever he did was done with all his + heart, and all his power; and he was constitutionally incapable of doing + it otherwise. He always under-estimated the tension and concentration of + mind which he brought to bear upon his labours, as compared with that + which men in general bestow on whatever business they may have in hand; + and, to-wards the close of life, this honourable self-deception no doubt + led him to draw far too largely upon his failing strength, under the + impression that there was nothing unduly severe in the efforts to which he + continued to brace himself with ever increasing difficulty. + </p> + <p> + During the eighteen months that he passed at the Board of Control he had + no time for relaxation, and very little for the industry which he loved + the best. Giving his days to India, and his nights to the inexorable + demands of the Treasury Whip, he could devote a few hours to the Edinburgh + Review only by rising at five when the rules of the House of Commons had + allowed him to get to bed betimes on the previous evening. Yet, under + these conditions, he contrived to provide Mr. Napier with the highly + finished articles on Horace Walpole and Lord Chatham, and to gratify a + political opponent, who was destined to be a life-long friend, by his + kindly criticism and spirited summary of Lord Mahon's "History of the War + of the Succession in Spain." And, in the "Friendship's Offering" of 1833, + one of those mawkish annual publications of the album species which were + then in fashion, appeared his poem of the Armada; whose swinging couplets + read as if somewhat out of place in the company of such productions as + "The Mysterious Stranger, or the Bravo of Banff;" "Away to the Greenwood, + a song;" and "Lines on a Window that had been frozen," beginning with, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Pellucid pane, this morn on thee + My fancy shaped both tower and tree." +</pre> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay + </p> + <p> + Bath: June 10, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—Everything has gone wrong with me. The people at + Calne fixed Wednesday for my re-election on taking office; the very day on + which I was to have been at a public dinner at Leeds. I shall therefore + remain here till Wednesday morning, and read Indian politics in quiet. I + am already deep in Zemindars, Ryots, Polygars, Courts of Phoujdary, and + Courts of Nizamut Adawlut. I can tell you which of the native Powers are + subsidiary, and which independent, and read you lectures of an hour on our + diplomatic transactions at the courts of Lucknow, Nagpore, Hydrabad, and + Poonah. At Poonah, indeed, I need not tell you that there is no court; for + the Paishwa, as you are doubtless aware, was deposed by Lord Hastings in + the Pindarree War. Am I not in fair training to be as great a bore as if I + had myself been in India?—that is to say, as great a bore as the + greatest. + </p> + <p> + I am leading my watering-place life here; reading, writing, and walking + all day; speaking to nobody but the waiter and the chambermaid; solitary + in a great crowd, and content with solitude. I shall be in London again on + Thursday, and shall also be an M. P. From that day you may send your + letters as freely as ever; and pray do not be sparing of them. Do you read + any novels at Liverpool? I should fear that the good Quakers would twitch + them out of your hands, and appoint their portion in the fire. Yet + probably you have some safe place, some box, some drawer with a key, + wherein a marble-covered book may lie for Nancy's Sunday reading. And, if + you do not read novels, what do you read? How does Schiller go on? I have + sadly neglected Calderon; but, whenever I have a month to spare, I shall + carry my conquests far and deep into Spanish literature. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 2, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I am, I think, a better correspondent than you two + put together. I will venture to say that I have written more letters, by a + good many, than I have received, and this with India and the Edinburgh + Review on my hands; the Life of Mirabeau to be criticised; the Rajah of + Travancore to be kept in order; and the bad money, which the Emperor of + the Burmese has had the impudence to send us byway of tribute, to be + exchanged for better. You have nothing to do but to be good, and write. + Make no excuses, for your excuses are contradictory. If you see sights, + describe them; for then you have subjects. If you stay at home, write; for + then you have time. Remember that I never saw the cemetery or the + railroad. Be particular, above all, in your accounts of the Quakers. I + enjoin this especially on Nancy; for from Meg I have no hope of extracting + a word of truth. + </p> + <p> + I dined yesterday at Holland House; all Lords except myself. Lord Radnor, + Lord Poltimore, Lord King, Lord Russell, and his uncle Lord John. Lady + Holland was very gracious, praised my article on Burleigh to the skies, + and told me, among other things, that she had talked on the preceding day + for two hours with Charles Grant upon religion, and had found him very + liberal and tolerant. It was, I suppose, the cholera which sent her + Ladyship to the only saint in the Ministry for ghostly counsel. Poor + Macdonald's case was most undoubtedly cholera. It is said that Lord + Amesbury also died of cholera, though no very strange explanation seems + necessary to account for the death of a man of eighty-four. Yesterday it + was rumoured that the three Miss Molyneuxes, of whom by the way there are + only two, were all dead in the same way; that the Bishop of Worcester and + Lord Barham were no more; and many other foolish stories. I do not believe + there is the slightest ground for uneasiness; though Lady Holland + apparently considers the case so serious that she has taken her conscience + out of Allen's keeping, and put it into the hands of Charles Grant. + </p> + <p> + Here I end my letter; a great deal too long already for so busy a man to + write, and for such careless correspondents to receive. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 6, 1832. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Be you Foxes, be you Pitts, + You must write to silly chits. + Be you Tories, be you Whigs, + You must write to sad young gigs. + On whatever board you are— + Treasury, Admiralty, War, + Customs, Stamps, Excise, Control;— + Write you must, upon my soul. +</pre> + <p> + So sings the judicious poet; and here I sit in my parlour, looking out on + the Thames, and divided, like Garrick in Sir Joshua's picture, between + Tragedy and Comedy; a letter to you, and a bundle of papers about + Hydrabad, and the firm of Palmer and Co., late bankers to the Nizam. + </p> + <p> + Poor Sir Walter Scott is going back to Scotland by sea tomorrow. All hope + is over; and he has a restless wish to die at home. He is many thousand + pounds worse than nothing. Last week he was thought to be so near his end + that some people went, I understand, to sound Lord Althorp about a public + funeral. Lord Althorp said, very like himself, that if public money was to + be laid out, it would be better to give it to the family than to spend it + in one day's show. The family, however, are said to be not ill off. + </p> + <p> + I am delighted to hear of your proposed tour, but not so well pleased to + be told that you expect to be bad correspondents during your stay at Welsh + inns. Take pens and ink with you, if you think that you shall find none at + the Bard's Head, or the Glendower Arms. But it will be too bad if you send + me no letters during a tour which will furnish so many subjects. Why not + keep a journal, and minute down in it all that you see and hear? and + remember that I charge you, as the venerable circle charged Miss Byron, to + tell me of every person who "regards you with an eye of partiality." + </p> + <p> + What can I say more? as the Indians end their letters. Did not Lady + Holland tell me of some good novels? I remember:—Henry Masterton, + three volumes, an amusing story and a happy termination. Smuggle it in, + next time that you go to Liverpool, from some circulating library; and + deposit it in a lock-up place out of the reach of them that are clothed in + drab; and read it together at the curling hour. + </p> + <p> + My article on Mirabeau will be out in the forthcoming number. I am not a + good judge of my own compositions, I fear; but I think that it will be + popular. A Yankee has written to me to say that an edition of my works is + about to be published in America with my life prefixed, and that he shall + be obliged to me to tell him when I was born, whom I married, and so + forth. I guess I must answer him slick right away. For, as the judicious + poet observes, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Though a New England man lolls back in his chair, + With a pipe in his mouth, and his legs in the air, + Yet surely an Old England man such as I + To a kinsman by blood should be civil and spry. +</pre> + <p> + How I run on in quotation! But, when I begin to cite the verses of our + great writers, I never can stop. Stop I must, however. + </p> + <p> + Yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 18, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I have heard from Napier. He speaks rapturously of + my article on Dumont, [Dumont's "Life of Mirabeau." See the Miscellaneous + Writings of Lord Macaulay.] but sends me no money. Allah blacken his face! + as the Persians say. He has not yet paid me for Burleigh. + </p> + <p> + We are worked to death in the House of Commons, and we are henceforth to + sit on Saturdays. This, indeed, is the only way to get through our + business. On Saturday next we shall, I hope, rise before seven, as I am + engaged to dine on that day with pretty, witty Mrs.—. I fell in with + her at Lady Grey's great crush, and found her very agreeable. Her husband + is nothing in society. Ropers has some very good stories about their + domestic happiness,—stories confirming a theory of mine which, as I + remember, made you very angry. When they first married, Mrs.—treated + her husband with great respect. But, when his novel came out and failed + completely, she changed her conduct, and has, ever since that unfortunate + publication, henpecked the poor author unmercifully. And the case, says + Ropers, is the harder, because it is suspected that she wrote part of the + book herself. It is like the scene in Milton where Eve, after tempting + Adam, abuses him for yielding to temptation. But do you not remember how I + told you that much of the love of women depended on the eminence of men? + And do you not remember how, on behalf of your sex, you resented the + imputation? + </p> + <p> + As to the present state of affairs, abroad and at home, I cannot sum it up + better than in these beautiful lines of the poet: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Peel is preaching, and Croker is lying. + The cholera's raging, the people are dying. + When the House is the coolest, as I am alive, + The thermometer stands at a hundred and five. + We debate in a heat that seems likely to burn us, + Much like the three children who sang in the furnace. + The disorders at Paris have not ceased to plague us; + Don Pedro, I hope, is ere this on the Tagus; + In Ireland no tithe can be raised by a parson; + Mr. Smithers is just hanged for murder and arson; + Dr. Thorpe has retired from the Lock, and 'tis said + That poor little Wilks will succeed in his stead. +</pre> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 21 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I am glad to find that there is no chance of + Nancy's turning Quaker. She would, indeed, make a queer kind of female + Friend. + </p> + <p> + What the Yankees will say about me I neither know nor care. I told them + the dates of my birth, and of my coming into Parliament. I told them also + that I was educated at Cambridge. As to my early bon-mots, my crying for + holidays, my walks to school through showers of cats and dogs, I have left + all those for the "Life of the late Right Honourable Thomas Babington + Macaulay, with large extracts from his correspondence, in two volumes, by + the Very Rev. J. Macaulay, Dean of Durham, and Rector of Bishopsgate, with + a superb portrait from the picture by Pickersgill in the possession of the + Marquis of Lansdowne." + </p> + <p> + As you like my verses, I will some day or other write you a whole rhyming + letter. I wonder whether any man ever wrote doggrel so easily. I run it + off just as fast as my pen can move, and that is faster by about three + words in a minute than any other pen that I know. This comes of a + schoolboy habit of writing verses all day long. Shall I tell you the news + in rhyme? I think I will send you a regular sing-song gazette. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + We gained a victory last night as great as e'er was known. + We beat the Opposition upon the Russian loan. + They hoped for a majority, and also for our places. + We won the day by seventy-nine. You should have seen their faces. + Old Croker, when the shout went down our rank, looked blue with rage. + You'd have said he had the cholera in the spasmodic stage. + Dawson was red with ire as if his face was smeared with berries; + But of all human visages the worst was that of Herries. + Though not his friend, my tender heart I own could not but feel + A little for the misery of poor Sir Robert Peel. + But hang the dirty Tories! and let them starve and pine! + Huzza for the majority of glorious seventy-nine! +</pre> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + House of Commons Smoking-Room + </p> + <p> + July 23, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I am writing here, at eleven at night, in this + filthiest of all filthy atmospheres, and in the vilest of all vile + company; with the smell of tobacco in my nostrils, and the ugly, + hypocritical face of Lieutenant —— before my eyes. There he + sits writing opposite to me. To whom, for a ducat? To some secretary of an + Hibernian Bible Society; or to some old woman who gives cheap tracts, + instead of blankets, to the starving peasantry of Connemara; or to some + good Protestant Lord who bullies his Popish tenants. Reject not my letter, + though it is redolent of cigars and genuine pigtail; for this is the room— + </p> + <p> + The room,—but I think I'll describe it in rhyme, That smells of + tobacco and chloride of lime. The smell of tobacco was always the same; + But the chloride was brought since the cholera came. + </p> + <p> + But I must return to prose, and tell you all that has fallen out since I + wrote last. I have been dining with the Listers at Knightsbridge. They are + in a very nice house, next, or almost next, to that which the Wilberforces + had. We had quite a family party. There were George Villiers, and Hyde + Villiers, and Edward Villiers. Charles was not there. George and Hyde rank + very high in my opinion. I liked their behaviour to their sister much. She + seems to be the pet of the whole family; and it is natural that she should + be so. Their manners are softened by her presence; and any roughness and + sharpness which they have in intercourse with men vanishes at once. They + seem to love the very ground that she treads on; and she is undoubtedly a + charming woman, pretty, clever, lively, and polite. + </p> + <p> + I was asked yesterday evening to go to Sir John Burke's, to meet another + heroine who was very curious to see me. Whom do you think? Lady Morgan. I + thought, however, that, if I went, I might not improbably figure in her + next novel; and, as I am not ambitious of such an honour, I kept away. If + I could fall in with her at a great party, where I could see unseen and + hear unheard, I should very much like to make observations on her; but I + certainly will not, if I can help it, meet her face to face, lion to + lioness. + </p> + <p> + That confounded chattering—, has just got into an argument about the + Church with an Irish papist who has seated himself at my elbow; and they + keep such a din that I cannot tell what I am writing. There they go. The + Lord Lieutenant—the Bishop of Derry-Magee—O'Connell—your + Bible meetings—your Agitation meetings—the propagation of the + Gospel—Maynooth College—the Seed of the Woman shall bruise the + Serpent's head. My dear Lieutenant, you will not only bruise, but break, + my head with your clatter. Mercy! mercy! However, here I am at the end of + my letter, and I shall leave the two demoniacs to tear each other to + pieces. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Library of the H. of C. July 30, 1832, 11 o'clock at night. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—Here I am. Daniel Whittle Harvey is speaking; the + House is thin; the subject is dull; and I have stolen away to write to + you. Lushington is scribbling at my side. No sound is heard but the + scratching of our pens, and the ticking of the clock. We are in a far + better atmosphere than in the smoking-room, whence I wrote to you last + week; and the company is more decent, inasmuch as that naval officer, whom + Nancy blames me for describing in just terms, is not present. + </p> + <p> + By the bye, you know doubtless the lines which are in the mouth of every + member of Parliament, depicting the comparative merits of the two rooms. + They are, I think, very happy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If thou goest into the Smoking-room + Three plagues will thee befall,— + The chloride of lime, the tobacco smoke, + And the Captain who's worst of all, + The canting Sea-captain, + The prating Sea-captain, + The Captain who's worst of all. + + If thou goest into the Library + Three good things will thee befall,— Very good books, and very good air, + And M*c**l*y, who's best of all, + The virtuous M*c**l*y, + The prudent M*c**l*y, + M*c**l*y who's best of all. +</pre> + <p> + Oh, how I am worked! I never see Fanny from Sunday to Sunday. All my + civilities wait for that blessed day; and I have so many scores of visits + to pay that I can scarcely find time for any of that Sunday reading in + which, like Nancy, I am in the habit of indulging. Yesterday, as soon as I + was fixed in my best and had breakfasted, I paid a round of calls to all + my friends who had the cholera. Then I walked to all the clubs of which I + am a member, to see the newspapers. The first of these two works you will + admit to be a work of mercy; the second, in a political man, one of + necessity. Then, like a good brother, I walked under a burning sun to + Kensington to ask Fanny how she did, and stayed there two hours. Then I + went to Knightsbridge to call on Mrs. Listen and chatted with her till it + was time to go and dine at the Athenaeum. Then I dined, and after dinner, + like a good young man, I sate and read Bishop Heber's journal till + bedtime. There is a Sunday for you! I think that I excel in the diary + lire. I will keep a journal like the Bishop, that my memory may + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust." +</pre> + <p> + Next Sunday I am to go to Lord Lansdowne's at Richmond, so that I hope to + have something to tell you. But on second thoughts I will tell you + nothing, nor ever will write to you again, nor ever speak to you again. I + have no pleasure in writing to undutiful sisters. Why do you not send me + longer letters? But I am at the end of my paper, so that I have no more + room to scold. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: August 14, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—Our work is over at last; not, however, till it has + half killed us all.[On the 8th August, 1832, Macaulay writes to Lord + Mahon: "We are now strictly on duty. No furloughs even for a dinner + engagement, or a sight of Taglioni's legs, can be obtained. It is very + hard to keep forty members in the House. Sibthorpe and Leader are on the + watch to count us out; and from six till two we never venture further than + the smoking-room without apprehension. In spite of all our exertions the + end of the Session seems further and further off every day. If you would + do me the favour of inviting Sibthorpe to Chevening Park you might be the + means of saving my life, and that of thirty or forty more of us who are + forced to swallow the last dregs of the oratory of this Parliament; and + nauseous dregs they are."] On Saturday we met,—for the last time, I + hope, on business. When the House rose, I set off for Holland House. We + had a small party, but a very distinguished one. Lord Grey, the + Chancellor, Lord Palmerston, Luttrell, and myself were the only guests. + Allen was of course at the end of the table, carving the dinner and + sparring with my Lady. The dinner was not so good as usual; for the French + cook was ill; and her Ladyship kept up a continued lamentation during the + whole repast. I should never have found out that everything was not as it + should be but for her criticisms. The soup was too salt; the cutlets were + not exactly comme il faut; and the pudding was hardly enough boiled. I was + amused to hear from the splendid mistress of such a house the same sort of + apologies which—made when her cook forgot the joint, and sent up too + small a dinner to table. I told Luttrell that it was a comfort to me to + find that no rank was exempted from these afflictions. + </p> + <p> + They talked about —'s marriage. Lady Holland vehemently defended the + match; and, when Allen said that—had caught a Tartar, she quite went + off into one of her tantrums: "She a Tartar! Such a charming girl a + Tartar! He is a very happy man, and your language is insufferable: + insufferable, Mr. Allen." Lord Grey had all the trouble in the world to + appease her. His influence, however, is very great. He prevailed on her to + receive Allen again into favour, and to let Lord Holland have a slice of + melon, for which he had been petitioning most piteously, but which she had + steadily refused on account of his gout. Lord Holland thanked Lord Grey + for his intercession.. "Ah, Lord Grey, I wish you were always here. It is + a fine thing to be Prime Minister." This tattle is worth nothing, except + to show how much the people whose names will fill the history of our times + resemble, in all essential matters, the quiet folks who live in + Mecklenburg Square and Brunswick Square. + </p> + <p> + I slept in the room which was poor Mackintosh's. The next day, Sunday, + —— came to dinner. He scarcely ever speaks in the society of + Holland House. Rogers, who is the bitterest and most cynical observer of + little traits of character that ever I knew-, once said to me of him: + "Observe that man. He never talks to men; he never talks to girls; but, + when he can get into a circle of old tabbies, he is just in his element. + He will sit clacking with an old woman for hours together. That always + settles my opinion of a young fellow." + </p> + <p> + I am delighted to find that you like my review on Mirabeau, though I am + angry with Margaret for grumbling at my Scriptural allusions, and still + more angry with Nancy for denying my insight into character. It is one of + my strong points. If she knew how far I see into hers, she would he ready + to hang herself. Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: August 16, 1832, + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—We begin to see a hope of liberation. To-morrow, or + on Saturday at furthest, the hope to finish our business. I did not reach + home till four this morning, after a most fatiguing and yet rather amusing + night. What passed will not find its way into the papers, as the gallery + was locked during most of the time. So I will tell you the story. + </p> + <p> + There is a bill before the House prohibiting those processions of + Orangemen which have excited a good deal of irritation in Ireland. This + bill was committed yesterday night. Shaw, the Recorder of Dublin, an + honest man enough, but a bitter Protestant fanatic, complained that it + should be brought forward so late in the Session. Several of his friends, + he said, had left London believing that the measure had been abandoned. It + appeared, however, that Stanley and Lord Althorp had given fair notice of + their intention; so that, if the absent members had been mistaken, the + fault was their own; and the House was for going on. Shaw said warmly that + he would resort to all the means of delay in his power, and moved that the + chairman should leave the chair. The motion was negatived by forty votes + to two. Then the first clause was read. Shaw divided the House again on + that clause. He was beaten by the same majority. He moved again that the + chairman should leave the chair. He was beaten again. He divided on the + second clause. He was beaten again. He then said that he was sensible that + he was doing very wrong; that his conduct was unhandsome and vexatious; + that he heartily begged our pardons; but that he had said that he would + delay the bill as far as the forms of the House would permit; and that he + must keep his word. Now came a discussion by which Nancy, if she had been + in the ventilator, [A circular ventilator, in the roof of the House of + Commons, was the only Ladies' Gallery that existed in the year 1832.] + might have been greatly edified, touching the nature of vows; whether a + man's promise given to himself,—a promise from which nobody could + reap any advantage, and which everybody wished him to violate,—constituted + an obligation. Jephtha's daughter was a case in point, and was cited by + somebody sitting near me. Peregrine Courtenay on one side of the House, + and Lord Palmerston on the other, attempted to enlighten the poor + Orangeman on the question of casuistry. They might as well have preached + to any madman out of St. Luke's. "I feel," said the silly creature, "that + I am doing wrong, and acting very unjustifiably. If gentlemen will forgive + me, I will never do so again. But I must keep my word." We roared with + laughter every time he repeated his apologies. The orders of the House do + not enable any person absolutely to stop the progress of a bill in + Committee, but they enable him to delay it grievously. We divided + seventeen times, and between every division this vexatious Irishman made + us a speech of apologies and self-condemnation. Of the two who had + supported him at the beginning of his freak one soon sneaked away. The + other, Sibthorpe, stayed to the last, not expressing remorse like Shaw, + but glorying in the unaccommodating temper he showed and in the delay + which he produced. At last the bill went through. Then Shaw rose; + congratulated himself that his vow was accomplished; said that the only + atonement he could make for conduct so unjustifiable was to vow that he + would never make such a vow again; promised to let the bill go through its + future stages without any more divisions; and contented himself with + suggesting one or two alterations in the details. "I hint at these + amendments," he said. "If the Secretary for Ireland approves of them, I + hope he will not refrain from introducing them because they are brought + forward by me. I am sensible that I have forfeited all claim to the favour + of the House. I will not divide on any future stage of the bill." We were + all heartily pleased with these events; for the truth was that the + seventeen divisions occupied less time than a real hard debate would have + done, and were infinitely more amusing. The oddest part of the business is + that Shaw's frank good-natured way of proceeding, absurd as it was, has + made him popular. He was never so great a favourite with the House as + after harassing it for two or three hours with the most frivolous + opposition. This is a curious trait of the House of Commons. Perhaps you + will find this long story, which I have not time to read over again, very + stupid and unintelligible. But I have thought it my duty to set before you + the evil consequences of making vows rashly, and adhering to them + superstitiously; for in truth, my Christian brethren, or rather my + Christian sisters, let us consider &c. &c. &c. + </p> + <p> + But I reserve the sermon on promises, which I had to preach, for another + occasion. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah and Margaret Macaulay + </p> + <p> + London: August 17, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I brought down my story of Holland House to + dinnertime on Saturday evening. To resume my narrative, I slept there on + Sunday night. On Monday morning, after breakfast, I walked to town with + Luttrell, whom I found a delightful companion. Before we went, we sate and + chatted with Lord Holland in the library for a quarter of an hour. He was + very entertaining. He gave us an account of a visit which he paid long ago + to the Court of Denmark; and of King Christian, the madman, who was at + last deprived of all real share in the government on account of his + infirmity. "Such a Tom of Bedlam I never saw," said Lord Holland. "One day + the Neapolitan Ambassador came to the levee, and made a profound bow to + his Majesty. His Majesty bowed still lower. The Neapolitan bowed down his + head almost to the ground; when, behold! the King clapped his hands on his + Excellency's shoulders, and jumped over him like a boy playing at + leap-frog. Another day the English Ambassador was sitting opposite the + King at dinner. His Majesty asked him to take wine. The glasses were + filled. The Ambassador bowed, and put the wine to his lips. The King + grinned hideously and threw his wine into the face of one of the footmen. + The other guests kept the most profound gravity; but the Englishman, who + had but lately come to Copenhagen, though a practised diplomatist, could + not help giving some signs of astonishment. The King immediately addressed + him in French: 'Eh, mais, Monsieur l'Envoye d'Angleterre, qu'avez-vous + done? Pourquoi riez-vous? Est-ce qu'il y'ait quelque chose qui vous ait + diverti? Faites-moi le plaisir de me l'indiquer. J'aime beaucoup les + ridicules.'" + </p> + <p> + Parliament is up at last. We official men are now left alone at the West + End of London, and are making up for our long confinement in the mornings + by feasting together at night. On Wednesday I dined with Labouchere at his + official residence in Somerset House. It is well that he is a bachelor; + for he tells me that the ladies his neighbours make bitter complaints of + the unfashionable situation in which they are cruelly obliged to reside + gratis. Yesterday I dined with Will Brougham, and an official party, in + Mount Street. We are going to establish a Club, to be confined to members + of the House of Commons in place under the present Government, who are to + dine together weekly at Grillon's Hotel, and to settle the affairs of the + State better, I hope, than our masters at their Cabinet dinners. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: September 20, 1832 + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am at home again from Leeds, where everything is + going on as well as possible. I, and most of my friends, feel sanguine as + to the result. About half my day was spent in speaking, and hearing other + people speak; in squeezing and being squeezed; in shaking hands with + people whom I never saw before, and whose faces and names I forget within + a minute after being introduced to them. The rest was passed in + conversation with my leading friends, who are very honest substantial + manufacturers. They feed me on roast beef and Yorkshire pudding; at night + they put me into capital bedrooms; and the only plague which they give me + is that they are always begging me to mention some food or wine for which + I have a fancy, or some article of comfort and convenience which I may + wish them to procure. + </p> + <p> + I travelled to town with a family of children who ate without intermission + from Market Harborough, where they got into the coach, to the Peacock at + Islington, where they got out of it. They breakfasted as if they had + fasted all the preceding day. They dined as if they had never breakfasted. + They ate on the road one large basket of sandwiches, another of fruit, and + a boiled fowl; besides which there was not an orange-girl, an old man with + cakes, or a boy with filberts, who came to the coach-side when we stopped + to change horses, of whom they did not buy something. + </p> + <p> + I am living here by myself with no society, or scarcely any, except my + books. I read a play of Calderon before I breakfast; then look over the + newspaper; frank letters; scrawl a line or two to a foolish girl in + Leicestershire; and walk to my Office. There I stay till near five, + examining claims of money-lenders on the native sovereigns of India, and + reading Parliamentary papers. I am beginning to understand something about + the Bank, and hope, when next I go to Rothley Temple, to be a match for + the whole firm of Mansfield and Babington on questions relating to their + own business. When I leave the Board, I walk for two hours; then I dine; + and I end the day quietly over a basin of tea and a novel. + </p> + <p> + On Saturday I go to Holland House, and stay there till Monday. Her + Ladyship wants me to take up my quarters almost entirely there; but I love + my own chambers and independence, and am neither qualified nor inclined to + succeed Allen in his post. On Friday week, that is to-morrow week, I shall + go for three days to Sir George Philips's, at Weston, in Warwickshire. He + has written again in terms half complaining; and, though I can ill spare + time for the visit, yet, as he was very kind to me when his kindness was + of some consequence to me, I cannot, and will not, refuse. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay + </p> + <p> + London: September 25, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I went on Saturday to Holland House, and stayed + there Sunday. It was legitimate Sabbath employment,—visiting the + sick,—which, as you well know, always stands first among the works + of mercy enumerated in good books. My Lord was ill, and my Lady thought + herself so. He was, during the greater part of the day, in bed. For a few + hours he lay on his sofa, wrapped in flannels. I sate by him about twenty + minutes, and was then ordered away. He was very weak and languid; and, + though the torture of the gout was over, was still in pain; but he + retained all his courage, and all his sweetness of temper. I told his + sister that I did not think that he was suffering much. "I hope not," said + she; "but it is impossible to judge by what he says; for through the + sharpest pain of the attack he never complained." I admire him more, I + think, than any man whom I know. He is only fifty-seven, or fifty-eight. + He is precisely the man to whom health would be particularly valuable; for + he has the keenest zest for those pleasures which health would enable him + to enjoy. He is, however, an invalid, and a cripple. He passes some weeks + of every year in extreme torment. When he is in his best health he can + only limp a hundred yards in a day. Yet he never says a cross word. The + sight of him spreads good humour over the face of every one who comes near + him. His sister, an excellent old maid as ever lived, and the favourite of + all the young people of her acquaintance, says that it is quite a pleasure + to nurse him. She was reading the "Inheritance" to him as he lay in bed, + and he enjoyed it amazingly. She is a famous reader; more quiet and less + theatrical than most famous readers, and therefore the fitter for the + bed-side of a sick man. Her Ladyship had fretted herself into being ill, + could eat nothing but the breast of a partridge, and was frightened out of + her wits by hearing a dog howl. She was sure that this noise portended her + death, or my Lord's. Towards the evening, however, she brightened up, and + was in very good spirits. My visit was not very lively. They dined at + four, and the company was, as you may suppose at this season, but scanty. + Charles Greville, commonly called, heaven knows why, Punch Greville, came + on the Saturday. Byng, named from his hair Poodle Byng, came on the + Sunday. Allen, like the poor, we had with us always. I was grateful, + however, for many pleasant evenings passed there when London was full, and + Lord Holland out of bed. I therefore did my best to keep the house alive. + I had the library and the delightful gardens to myself during most of the + day, and I got through my visit very well. + </p> + <p> + News you have in the papers. Poor Scott is gone, and I cannot be sorry for + it. A powerful mind in ruins is the most heart-breaking thing which it is + possible to conceive. Ferdinand of Spain is gone too; and, I fear, old Mr. + Stephen is going fast. I am safe at Leeds. Poor Hyde Villiers is very ill. + I am seriously alarmed about him. Kindest love to all. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Weston House: September 29, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I came hither yesterday, and found a handsome house, + pretty grounds, and a very kind host and hostess. The house is really very + well planned. I do not know that I have ever seen so happy an imitation of + the domestic architecture of Elizabeth's reign. The oriels, towers, + terraces, and battlements are in the most perfect keeping; and the + building is as convenient within as it is picturesque without. A few + weather-stains, or a few American creepers, and a little ivy, would make + it perfect; and all that will come, I suppose, with time. The terrace is + my favourite spot. I always liked "the trim gardens" of which Milton + speaks, and thought that Brown and his imitators went too far in bringing + forests and sheep-walks up to the very windows of drawing-rooms. + </p> + <p> + I came through Oxford. It was as beautiful a day as the second day of our + visit, and the High Street was in all its glory. But it made me quite sad + to find myself there without you and Margaret. All my old Oxford + associations are gone. Oxford, instead of being, as it used to be, the + magnificent old city of the seventeenth century,—still preserving + its antique character among the improvements of modern times, and + exhibiting in the midst of upstart Birminghams and Manchesters the same + aspect which it wore when Charles held his court at Christchurch, and + Rupert led his cavalry over Magdalene Bridge, is now to me only the place + where I was so happy with my little sisters. But I was restored to mirth, + and even to indecorous mirth, by what happened after we had left the fine + old place behind us. There was a young fellow of about five-and-twenty, + mustachioed and smartly dressed, in the coach with me. He was not + absolutely uneducated; for he was reading a novel, the Hungarian brothers, + the whole way. We rode, as I told you, through the High Street. The coach + stopped to dine; and this youth passed half an hour in the midst of that + city of palaces. He looked about him with his mouth open, as he re-entered + the coach, and all the while that we were driving away past the Ratcliffe + Library, the Great Court of All Souls, Exeter, Lincoln, Trinity, Balliol, + and St. John's. When we were about a mile on the road he spoke the first + words that I had heard him utter. "That was a pretty town enough. Pray, + sir, what is it called?" I could not answer him for laughing; but he + seemed quite unconscious of his own absurdity. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + During all the period covered by this correspondence the town of Leeds was + alive with the agitation of a turbulent, but not very dubious, contest. + Macaulay's relations with the electors whose votes he was courting are too + characteristic to be omitted altogether from the story of his life; though + the style of his speeches and manifestoes is more likely to excite the + admiring envy of modern members of Parliament, than to be taken as a model + for their communications to their own constituents. This young politician, + who depended on office for his bread, and on a seat in the House of + Commons for office, adopted from the first an attitude of high and almost + peremptory independence which would have sat well on a Prime Minister in + his grand climacteric. The following letter, (some passages of which have + been here omitted, and others slightly condensed,) is strongly marked in + every line with the personal qualities of the writer. + </p> + <p> + London: August 3, 1832. + </p> + <p> + "My dear Sir,—I am truly happy to find that the opinion of my + friends at Leeds on the subject of canvassing agrees with that which I + have long entertained. The practice of begging for votes is, as it seems + to me, absurd, pernicious, and altogether at variance with the true + principles of representative government. The suffrage of an elector ought + not to be asked, or to be given as a personal favour. It is as much for + the interest of constituents to choose well, as it can be for the interest + of a candidate to be chosen. To request an honest man to vote according to + his conscience is superfluous. To request him to vote against his + conscience is an insult. The practice of canvassing is quite reasonable + under a system in which men are sent to Parliament to serve themselves. It + is the height of absurdity under a system under which men are sent to + Parliament to serve the public. While we had only a mock representation, + it was natural enough that this practice should be carried to a great + extent. I trust it will soon perish with the abuses from which it sprung. + I trust that the great and intelligent body of people who have obtained + the elective franchise will see that seats in the House of Commons ought + not to be given, like rooms in an almshouse, to urgency of solicitation; + and that a man who surrenders his vote to caresses and supplications + forgets his duty as much as if he sold it for a bank-note. I hope to see + the day when an Englishman will think it as great an affront to be courted + and fawned upon in his capacity of elector as in his capacity of juryman. + He would be shocked at the thought of finding an unjust verdict because + the plaintiff or the defendant had been very civil and pressing; and, if + he would reflect, he would, I think, be equally shocked at the thought of + voting for a candidate for whose public character he felt no esteem, + merely because that candidate had called upon him, and begged very hard, + and had shaken his hand very warmly. My conduct is before the electors of + Leeds. My opinions shall on all occasions be stated to them with perfect + frankness. If they approve that conduct, if they concur in those opinions, + they ought, not for my sake, but for their own, to choose me as their + member. To be so chosen, I should indeed consider as a high and enviable + honour; but I should think it no honour to be returned to Parliament by + persons who, thinking me destitute of the requisite qualifications, had + yet been wrought upon by cajolery and importunity to poll for me in + despite of their better judgment. + </p> + <p> + "I wish to add a few words touching a question which has lately been much + canvassed; I mean the question of pledges. In this letter, and in every + letter which I have written to my friends at Leeds, I have plainly + declared my opinions. But I think it, at this conjuncture, my duty to + declare that I will give no pledges. I will not bind myself to make or to + support any particular motion. I will state as shortly as I can some of + the reasons which have induced me to form this determination. The great + beauty of the representative system is, that it unites the advantages of + popular control with the advantages arising from a division of labour. + Just as a physician understands medicine better than an ordinary man, just + as a shoemaker makes shoes better than an ordinary man, so a person whose + life is passed in transacting affairs of State becomes a better statesman + than an ordinary man. In politics, as well as every other department of + life, the public ought to have the means of checking those who serve it. + If a man finds that he derives no benefit from the prescription of his + physician, he calls in another. If his shoes do not fit him, he changes + his shoemaker. But when he has called in a physician of whom he hears a + good report, and whose general practice he believes to be judicious, it + would be absurd in him to tie down that physician to order particular + pills and particular draughts. While he continues to be the customer of a + shoemaker, it would be absurd in him to sit by and mete every motion of + that shoemaker's hand. And in the same manner, it would, I think, be + absurd in him to require positive pledges, and to exact daily and hourly + obedience, from his representative. My opinion is, that electors ought at + first to choose cautiously; then to confide liberally; and, when the term + for which they have selected their member has expired, to review his + conduct equitably, and to pronounce on the whole taken together. + </p> + <p> + "If the people of Leeds think proper to repose in me that confidence which + is necessary to the proper discharge of the duties of a representative, I + hope that I shall not abuse it. If it be their pleasure to fetter their + members by positive promises, it is in their power to do so. I can only + say that on such terms I cannot conscientiously serve them. + </p> + <p> + "I hope, and feel assured, that the sincerity with which I make this + explicit declaration, will, if it deprive me of the votes of my friends at + Leeds, secure to me what I value far more highly, their esteem. + </p> + <p> + "Believe me ever, my dear Sir, + </p> + <p> + "Your most faithful Servant, + </p> + <p> + "T. B. MACAULAY." + </p> + <p> + This frank announcement, taken by many as a slight, and by some as a + downright challenge, produced remonstrances which, after the interval of a + week, were answered by Macaulay in a second letter; worth reprinting if it + were only for the sake of his fine parody upon the popular cry which for + two years past had been the watchword of Reformers. + </p> + <p> + "I was perfectly aware that the avowal of my feelings on the subject of + pledges was not likely to advance my interest at Leeds. I was perfectly + aware that many of my most respectable friends were likely to differ from + me; and therefore I thought it the more necessary to make, uninvited, an + explicit declaration of my feelings. If ever there was a time when public + men were in an especial measure <i>bound to speak the truth, the whole + truth, and nothing but the truth</i>, to the people, this is that time. + Nothing is easier than for a candidate to avoid unpopular topics as long + as possible, and, when they are forced on him, to take refuge in evasive + and unmeaning phrases. Nothing is easier than for him to give extravagant + promises while an election is depending, and to forget them as soon as the + return is made. I will take no such course. I do not wish to obtain a + single vote on false pretences. Under the old system I have never been the + flatterer of the great. Under the new system I will not be the flatterer + of the people. The truth, or what appears to me to be such, may sometimes + be distasteful to those whose good opinion I most value. I shall + nevertheless always abide by it, and trust to their good sense, to their + second thoughts, to the force of reason, and the progress of time. If, + after all, their decision should be unfavourable to me, I shall submit to + that decision with fortitude and good humour. It is not necessary to my + happiness that I should sit in Parliament; but it is necessary to my + happiness that I should possess, in Parliament or out of Parliament, the + consciousness of having done what is right." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay had his own ideas as to the limits within which constituents are + justified in exerting their privilege of questioning a candidate; and, on + the first occasion when those limits were exceeded, he made a notable + example of the transgressor. During one of his public meetings, a voice + was heard to exclaim from the crowd in the body of the hall: "An elector + wishes to know the religious creed of Mr. Marshall and Mr. Macaulay." The + last-named gentleman was on his legs in a moment. "Let that man stand up!" + he cried. "Let him stand on a form, where I can see him!" The offender, + who proved to be a Methodist preacher, was heisted on to a bench by his + indignant neighbours; nerving himself even in that terrible moment by a + lingering hope that he might yet be able to hold his own. But the unhappy + man had not a chance against Macaulay, who harangued him as if he were the + living embodiment of religious intolerance and illegitimate curiosity. "I + have heard with the greatest shame and sorrow the question which has been + proposed to me; and with peculiar pain do I learn that this question was + proposed by a minister of religion. I do most deeply regret that any + person should think it necessary to make a meeting like this an arena for + theological discussion. I will not be a party to turning this assembly to + such a purpose. My answer is short, and in one word. Gentlemen, I am a + Christian." At this declaration the delighted audience began to cheer; but + Macaulay would have none of their applause. "This is no subject," he said, + "for acclamation. I will say no more. No man shall speak of me as the + person who, when this disgraceful inquisition was entered upon in an + assembly of Englishmen, brought forward the most sacred subjects to be + canvassed here, and be turned into a matter for hissing or for cheering. + If on any future occasion it should happen that Mr. Carlile should favour + any large meeting with his infidel attacks upon the Gospel, he shall not + have it to say that I set the example. Gentlemen, I have done; I tell you, + I will say no more; and if the person who has thought fit to ask this + question has the feelings worthy of a teacher of religion, he will not, I + think, rejoice that he has called me forth." + </p> + <p> + This ill-fated question had been prompted by a report, diligently spread + through the town, that the Whig candidates were Unitarians; a report + which, even if correct, would probably have done little to damage their + electioneering prospects. There are few general remarks which so uniformly + hold good as the observation that men are not willing to attend the + religious worship of people who believe less than themselves, or to vote + at elections for people who believe more than themselves. While the + congregations at a high Anglican service are in part composed of Low + churchmen and Broad churchmen; while Presbyterians and Wesleyans have no + objection to a sound discourse from a divine of the Establishment; it is + seldom the case that any but Unitarians are seen inside a Unitarian + chapel. On the other hand, at the general election of 1874, when not a + solitary Roman Catholic was returned throughout the length and breadth of + the island of Great Britain, the Unitarians retained their long + acknowledged pre-eminence as the most over-represented sect in the + kingdom. + </p> + <p> + While Macaulay was stern in his refusal to gratify his electors with the + customary blandishments, he gave them plenty of excellent political + instruction; which he conveyed to them in rhetoric, not premeditated with + the care that alone makes speeches readable after a lapse of years, but + for this very reason all the more effective when the passion of the moment + was pouring itself from his lips in a stream of faultless, but unstudied, + sentences. A course of mobs, which turned Cobden into an orator, made of + Macaulay a Parliamentary debater; and the ear and eye of the House of + Commons soon detected, in his replies from the Treasury bench, welcome + signs of the invaluable training that can be got nowhere except on the + hustings and the platform. There is no better sample of Macaulay's + extempore speaking than the first words which he addressed to his + committee at Leeds after the Reform Bill had received the Royal assent. "I + find it difficult to express my gratification at seeing such an assembly + convened at such a time. All the history of our own country, all the + history of other countries, furnishes nothing parallel to it. Look at the + great events in our own former history, and in every one of them, which, + for importance, we can venture to compare with the Reform Bill, we shall + find something to disgrace and tarnish the achievement. It was by the + assistance of French arms and of Roman bulls that King John was harassed + into giving the Great Charter. In the times of Charles I., how much + injustice, how much crime, how much bloodshed and misery, did it cost to + assert the liberties of England! But in this event, great and important as + it is in substance, I confess I think it still more important from the + manner in which it has been achieved. Other countries have obtained + deliverances equally signal and complete, but in no country has that + deliverance been obtained with such perfect peace; so entirely within the + bounds of the Constitution; with all the forms of law observed; the + government of the country proceeding in its regular course; every man + going forth unto his labour until the evening. France boasts of her three + days of July, when her people rose, when barricades fenced the streets, + and the entire population of the capital in grins successfully vindicated + their liberties. They boast, and justly, of those three days of July; but + I will boast of our ten days of May. We, too, fought a battle, but it was + with moral arms. We, too, placed an impassable barrier between ourselves + and military tyranny; but we fenced ourselves only with moral barricades. + Not one crime committed, not one acre confiscated, not one life lost, not + one instance of outrage or attack on the authorities or the laws. Our + victory has not left a single family in mourning. Not a tear, not a drop + of blood, has sullied the pacific and blameless triumph of a great + people." + </p> + <p> + The Tories of Leeds, as a last resource, fell to denouncing Macaulay as a + placeman; a stroke of superlative audacity in a party which, during + eight-and-forty years, had been out of office for only fourteen months. It + may well be imagined that he found plenty to say in his own defence. "The + only charge which malice can prefer against me is that I am a placeman. + Gentlemen, is it your wish that those persons who are thought worthy of + the public confidence should never possess the confidence of the King? Is + it your wish that no men should be Ministers but those whom no populous + places will take as their representatives? By whom, I ask, has the Reform + Bill been carried? By Ministers. Who have raised Leeds into the situation + to return members to Parliament? It is by the strenuous efforts of a + patriotic Ministry that that great result has been produced. I should + think that the Reform Bill had done little for the people, if under it the + service of the people was not consistent with the service of the Crown." + </p> + <p> + Just before the general election Hyde Villiers died, and the Secretaryship + to the Board of Control became vacant. Macaulay succeeded his old college + friend in an office that gave him weighty responsibility, defined duties, + and, as it chanced, exceptional opportunities for distinction. About the + same time, an event occurred which touched him more nearly than could any + possible turn of fortune in the world of politics. His sisters Hannah and + Margaret had for some months been almost domesticated among a pleasant + nest of villas which lie in the southern suburb of Liverpool, on Dingle + Bank; a spot whose natural beauty nothing can spoil, until in the fulness + of time its inevitable destiny shall convert it into docks. The young + ladies were the guests of Mr. John Cropper, who belonged to the Society of + Friends, a circumstance which readers who have got thus far into the + Macaulay correspondence will doubtless have discovered for themselves. + Before the visit was over, Margaret became engaged to the brother of her + host, Mr. Edward Cropper, a man in every respect worthy of the personal + esteem and the commercial prosperity which have fallen to his lot. + </p> + <p> + There are many who will be surprised at finding in Macaulay's letters, + both now and hereafter, indications of certain traits in his disposition + with which the world, knowing him only through his political actions and + his published works, may perhaps be slow to credit him; but which, taking + his life as a whole, were predominant in their power to affect his + happiness and give matter for his thoughts. Those who are least partial to + him will allow that his was essentially a virile intellect. He wrote, he + thought, he spoke, he acted, like a man. The public regarded him as an + impersonation of vigour, vivacity, and self-reliance; but his own family, + together with one, and probably only one, of his friends, knew that his + affections were only too tender, and his sensibilities only too acute. + Others may well be loth to parade what he concealed; but a portrait of + Macaulay, from which these features were omitted, would be imperfect to + the extent of misrepresentation; and it must be acknowledged that, where + he loved, he loved more entirely, and more exclusively, than was well for + himself. It was improvident in him to concentrate such intensity of + feeling upon relations who, however deeply they were attached to him, + could not always be in a position to requite him with the whole of their + time, and the whole of their heart. He suffered much for that + improvidence; but he was too just and too kind to permit that others + should suffer with him; and it is not for one who obtained by inheritance + a share of his inestimable affection to regret a weakness to which he + considers himself by duty bound to refer. + </p> + <p> + How keenly Macaulay felt the separation from his sister it is impossible + to do more than indicate. He never again recovered that tone of thorough + boyishness, which had been produced by a long unbroken habit of gay and + affectionate intimacy with those younger than himself; indulged in without + a suspicion on the part of any concerned that it was in its very nature + transitory and precarious. For the first time he was led to doubt whether + his scheme of life was indeed a wise one; or, rather, he began to be aware + that he had never laid out any scheme of life at all. But with that + unselfishness which was the key to his character and to much of his + career, (resembling in its quality what we sometimes admire in a woman, + rather than what we ever detect in a man,) he took successful pains to + conceal his distress from those over whose happiness it otherwise could + not have failed to cast a shadow. + </p> + <p> + "The attachment between brothers and sisters," he writes in November 1832, + "blameless, amiable, and delightful as it is, is so liable to be + superseded by other attachments that no wise man ought to suffer it to + become indispensable to him. That women shall leave the home of their + birth, and contract ties dearer than those of consanguinity, is a law as + ancient as the first records of the history of our race, and as + unchangeable as the constitution of the human body and mind. To repine + against the nature of things, and against the great fundamental law of all + society, because, in consequence of my own want of foresight, it happens + to bear heavily on me, would be the basest and most absurd selfishness. + </p> + <p> + "I have still one more stake to lose. There remains one event for which, + when it arrives, I shall, I hope, be prepared. From that moment, with a + heart formed, if ever any man's heart was formed, for domestic happiness, + I shall have nothing left in this world but ambition. There is no wound, + however, which time and necessity will not render endurable; and, after + all, what am I more than my fathers,—than the millions and tens of + millions who have been weak enough to pay double price for some favourite + number in the lottery of life, and who have suffered double disappointment + when their ticket came up a blank?" + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Leeds: December 12, 1832 + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The election here is going on as well as possible. + Today the poll stands thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Marshall Macaulay Sadler + 1,804 1,792 1,353 +</pre> + <p> + The probability is that Sadler will give up the contest. If he persists, + he will be completely beaten. The voters are under 4,000 in number; those + who have already polled are 3,100; and about five hundred will not poll at + all. Even if we were not to bring up another man, the probability is that + we should win. On Sunday morning early I hope to be in London; and I shall + see you in the course of the day. + </p> + <p> + I had written thus far when your letter was delivered to me. I am sitting + in the midst of two hundred friends, all mad with exultation and party + spirit, all glorying over the Tories, and thinking me the happiest man in + the world. And it is all that I can do to hide my tears, and to command my + voice, when it is necessary for me to reply to their congratulations. + Dearest, dearest sister, you alone are now left to me. Whom have I on + earth but thee? But for you, in the midst of all these successes, I should + wish that I were lying by poor Hyde Villiers. But I cannot go on. I am + wanted to waste an address to the electors; and I shall lay it on Sadler + pretty heavily. By what strange fascination is it that ambition and + resentment exercise such power over minds which ought to be superior to + them? I despise myself for feeling so bitterly towards this fellow as I + do. But the separation from dear Margaret has jarred my whole temper. I am + cried up here to the skies as the most affable and kind-hearted of then, + while I feel a fierceness and restlessness within me, quite new, and + almost inexplicable. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: December 24, 1832. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am much obliged to you for your letter, and am + gratified by all its contents, except what you say about your own cough. + As soon as you come back, you shall see Dr. Chambers, if you are not quite + well. Do not oppose me in this; for I have set my heart on it. I dined on + Saturday at Lord Essex's in Belgrave Square. But never was there such a + take-in. I had been given to understand that his Lordship's cuisine was + superintended by the first French artists, and that I should find there + all the luxuries of the Almanach des Gourmands. What a mistake! His + lordship is luxurious, indeed, but in quite a different way. He is a true + Englishman. Not a dish on his table but what Sir Roger de Coverley, or Sir + Hugh Tyrold, [The uncle of Miss Burney's Camilla.] might have set before + his guests. A huge haunch of venison on the sideboard; a magnificent piece + of beef at the bottom of the table; and before my Lord himself smoked, not + a dindon aux truffes, but a fat roasted goose stuffed with sage and + onions. I was disappointed, but very agreeably; for my tastes are, I fear, + incurably vulgar, as you may perceive by my fondness for Mrs. Meeke's + novels. + </p> + <p> + Our party consisted of Sharp; Lubbock; Watson, M.P. for Canterbury; and + Rich, the author of "What will the Lords do?" who wishes to be M. P. for + Knaresborough. Rogers was to have been of the party; but his brother chose + that very day to die upon, so that poor Sam had to absent himself. The + Chancellor was also invited, but he had scampered off to pass his + Christmas with his old mother in Westmoreland. We had some good talk, + particularly about Junius's Letters. I learned some new facts which I will + tell you when we meet. I am more and more inclined to believe that Francis + was one of the people principally concerned. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T.B. M. + </p> + <p> + On the 29th of January, 1833, commenced the first Session of the Reformed + Parliament. The main incidents of that Session, so fruitful in great + measures of public utility, belong to general history; if indeed Clio + herself is not fated to succumb beneath the stupendous undertaking of + turning Hansard into a narrative imbued with human interest. O'Connell,—criticising + the King's speech at vast length, and passing in turns through every mood + from the most exquisite pathos to downright and undisguised ferocity,—at + once plunged the House into a discussion on Ireland, which alternately + blazed and smouldered through four livelong nights. Shed and Grattan spoke + finely; Peel and Stanley admirably; Bulwer made the first of his + successes, and Cobbett the second of his failures; but the longest and the + loudest cheers were those which greeted each of the glowing periods in + which Macaulay, as the champion of the Whig party, met the great agitator + face to face with high, but not intemperate, defiance.["We are called + base, and brutal, and bloody. Such are the epithets which the honourable + and learned member for Dublin thinks it becoming to pour forth against the + party to which he owes every political privilege that he enjoys. The time + will come when history will do justice to the Whigs of England, and will + faithfully relate how much they did and suffered for Ireland. I see on the + benches near me men who might, by uttering one word against Catholic + Emancipation.—nay, by merely abstaining from uttering a word in + favour of Catholic Emancipation,—have been returned to this House + without difficulty or expense, and who, rather than wrong their Irish + fellow-subjects, were content to relinquish all the objects of their + honourable ambition, and to retire into private life with conscience and + fame untarnished. As to one eminent person, who seems to be regarded with + especial malevolence by those who ought never to mention his name without + respect and gratitude, I will only say this, that the loudest clamour + which the honourable and learned gentleman can excite against Lord Grey + will be trifling when compared with the clamour which Lord Grey withstood + in order to place the honourable and learned gentleman where he now sits. + Though a young member of the Whig party I will venture to speak in the + name of the whole body. I tell the honourable and learned gentleman, that + the same spirit which sustained us in a just contest for him will sustain + us in an equally just contest against him. Calumny, abuse, royal + displeasure, popular fury, exclusion from office, exclusion from + Parliament, we were ready to endure them all, rather than that he should + be less than a British subject. We never will suffer him to be more."] In + spite of this flattering reception, he seldom addressed the House. A + subordinate member of a Government, with plenty to do in his own + department, finds little temptation, and less encouragement, to play the + debater. The difference of opinion between the two Houses concerning the + Irish Church Temporalities Bill, which constituted the crisis of the year, + was the one circumstance that excited in Macaulay's mind any very lively + emotions; but those emotions, being denied their full and free expression + in the oratory of a partisan, found vent in the doleful prognostications + of a despairing patriot which fill his letters throughout the months of + June and July. His abstinence from the passing topics of Parliamentary + controversy obtained for him a friendly, as well as an attentive, hearing + from both sides of the House whenever he spoke on his own subjects; and + did much to smooth the progress of those immense and salutary reforms with + which the Cabinet had resolved to accompany the renewal of the India + Company's Charter. + </p> + <p> + So rapid had been the march of events under that strange imperial system + established in the East by the enterprise and valour of three generations + of our countrymen, that each of the periodical revisions of that system + was, in effect, a revolution. The legislation of 1813 destroyed the + monopoly of the Indian trade. In 1833 the time had arrived when it was + impossible any longer to maintain the monopoly of the China trade; and the + extinction of this remaining commercial privilege could not fail to bring + upon the Company commercial ruin. Skill, and energy, and caution, however + happily combined, would not enable rulers who were governing a population + larger than that governed by Augustus, and making every decade conquests + more extensive than the conquests of Trajan, to compete with private + merchants in an open market. England, mindful of the inestimable debt + which she owed to the great Company, did not intend to requite her + benefactors by imposing on them a hopeless task. Justice and expediency + could be reconciled by one course, and one only;—that of buying up + the assets and liabilities of the Company on terms the favourable + character of which should represent the sincerity of the national + gratitude. Interest was to be paid from the Indian exchequer at the rate + of ten guineas a year on every hundred pounds of stock; the Company was + relieved of its commercial attributes, and became a corporation charged + with the function of ruling Hindoostan; and its directors, as has been + well observed, remained princes, but merchant princes no longer. + </p> + <p> + The machinery required for carrying into effect this gigantic + metamorphosis was embodied in a bill every one of whose provisions + breathed the broad, the fearless, and the tolerant spirit with which + Reform had inspired our counsels. The earlier Sections placed the whole + property of the Company in trust for the Crown, and enacted that "from and + after the 22nd day of April 1834 the exclusive right of trading with the + dominions of the Emperor of China, and of trading in tea, shall cease." + Then came clauses which threw open the whole continent of India as a place + of residence for all subjects of his Majesty; which pronounced the doom of + Slavery; and which ordained that no native of the British territories in + the East should "by reason only of his religion, place of birth, descent, + or colour, be disabled from holding any place, office, or employment." The + measure was introduced by Mr. Charles Grant, the President of the Board of + Control, and was read a second time on Wednesday the 10th July. On that + occasion Macaulay defended the bill in a thin House; a circumstance which + may surprise those who are not aware that on a Wednesday, and with an + Indian question on the paper, Cicero replying to Hortensius would hardly + draw a quorum. Small as it was, the audience contained Lord John Russell, + Peel, O'Connell, and other masters in the Parliamentary craft. Their + unanimous judgment was summed up by Charles Grant, in words which every + one who knows the House of Commons will recognise as being very different + from the conventional verbiage of mutual senatorial flattery. "I must + embrace the opportunity of expressing, not what I felt, (for language + could not express it,) but of making an attempt to convey to the House my + sympathy with it in its admiration of the speech of my honourable and + learned friend; a speech which, I will venture to assert, has never been + exceeded within these walls for the development of statesmanlike policy + and practical good sense. It exhibited all that is noble in oratory; all + that is sublime, I had almost said, in poetry; all that is truly great, + exalted, and virtuous in human nature. If the House at large felt a deep + interest in this magnificent display, it may judge of what were my + emotions when I perceived in the hands of my honourable friend the great + principles which he expounded glowing with fresh colours, and arrayed in + all the beauty of truth." + </p> + <p> + There is no praise more gratefully treasured than that which is bestowed + by a generous chief upon a subordinate with whom he is on the best of + terms. Macaulay to the end entertained for Lord Glenelg that sentiment of + loyalty which a man of honour and feeling will always cherish with regard + to the statesman under whom he began his career as a servant of the Crown. + [The affinity between this sentiment and that of the Quaestor towards his + first Proconsul, so well described in the Orations against Verres, is one + among the innumerable points of resemblance between the public life of + ancient Rome and modern England.] The Secretary repaid the President for + his unvarying kindness and confidence by helping him to get the bill + through committee with that absence of friction which is the pride and + delight of official men. The vexed questions of Establishment and + Endowment, (raised by the clauses appointing bishops to Madras and Bombay, + and balancing them with as many salaried Presbyterian chaplains,) + increased the length of the debates and the number of the divisions; but + the Government carried every point by large majorities, and, with slight + modifications in detail, and none in principle, the measure became law + with the almost universal approbation both of Parliament and the country. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + House of Commons. Monday night, half-past 12. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The papers will scarcely contain any account of what + passed yesterday in the House of Commons in the middle of the day. Grant + and I fought a battle with Briscoe and O'Connell in defence of the Indian + people, and won it by 38 to 6. It was a rascally claim of a dishonest + agent of the Company against the employers whom he had cheated, and sold + to their own tributaries. [In his great Indian speech Macaulay referred to + this affair, in a passage, the first sentence of which has, by frequent + quotation, been elevated into an apophthegm: "A broken head in Cold Bath + Fields produces a greater sensation than three pitched battles in India. A + few weeks ago we had to decide on a claim brought by an individual against + the revenues of India. If it had been an English question the walls would + scarcely have held the members who would have flocked to the division. It + was an Indian question; and we could scarcely, by dint of supplication, + make a House."] The nephew of the original claimant has been pressing his + case on the Board most vehemently. He is an attorney living in Russell + Square, and very likely hears the word at St. John's Chapel. He hears it + however to very little purpose; for he lies as much as if he went to hear + a "cauld clatter of morality" at the parish church. + </p> + <p> + I remember that, when you were at Leamington two years ago, I used to fill + my letters with accounts of the people with whom I dined. High life was + new to me then; and now it has grown so familiar that I should not, I + fear, be able, as I formerly was, to select the striking circumstances. I + have dined with sundry great folks since you left London, and I have + attended a very splendid rout at Lord Grey's. I stole thither, at about + eleven, from the House of Commons with Stewart Mackenzie. I do not mean to + describe the beauty of the ladies, nor the brilliancy of stars and + uniforms. I mean only to tell you one circumstance which struck, and even + affected me. I was talking to Lady Charlotte Lindsay, the daughter of Lord + North, a great favourite of mine, about the apartments and the furniture, + when she said with a good deal of emotion: "This is an interesting visit + to me. I have never been in this house for fifty years. It was here that I + was born; I left it a child when my father fell from power in 1782, and I + have never crossed the threshold since." Then she told me how the rooms + seemed dwindled to her; how the staircase, which appeared to her in + recollection to be the most spacious and magnificent that she had ever + seen, had disappointed her. She longed, she said, to go over the garrets + and rummage her old nursery. She told me how, in the No-Popery riots of + 1780, she was taken out of bed at two o'clock in the morning. The mob + threatened Lord North's house. There were soldiers at the windows, and an + immense and furious crowd in Downing Street. She saw, she said, from her + nursery the fires in different parts of London; but she did not understand + the danger; and only exulted in being up at midnight. Then she was + conveyed through the Park to the Horse Guards as the safest place; and was + laid, wrapped up in blankets, on the table in the guardroom in the midst + of the officers. "And it was such fun," she said, "that I have ever after + had rather a liking for insurrections." + </p> + <p> + I write in the midst of a crowd. A debate on Slavery is going on in the + Commons; a debate on Portugal in the Lords. The door is slamming behind me + every moment, and people are constantly going out and in. Here comes + Vernon Smith. "Well, Vernon, what are they doing?" "Gladstone has just + made a very good speech, and Howick is answering him." "Aye, but in the + House of Lords?" "They will beat us by twenty, they say." "Well, I do not + think it matters much." "No; nobody out of the House of Lords cares either + for Don Pedro, or for Don Miguel." + </p> + <p> + There is a conversation between two official men in the Library of the + House of Commons on the night of the 3rd June 1833, reported word for + word. To the historian three centuries hence this letter will be + invaluable. To you, ungrateful as you are, it will seem worthless. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Smoking-Room of the House of Commons June 6, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My Darling,—Why am I such a fool as to write to a gypsey at + Liverpool, who fancies that none is so good as she if she sends one letter + for my three? A lazy chit whose fingers tire with penning a page in reply + to a quire! There, Miss, you read all the first sentence of my epistle, + and never knew that you were reading verse. I have some gossip for you + about the Edinburgh Review. Napier is in London, and has called on me + several times. He has been with the publishers, who tell him that the sale + is falling off; and in many private parties, where he hears sad + complaints. The universal cry is that the long dull articles are the ruin + of the Review. As to myself, he assures me that my articles are the only + things which keep the work up at all. Longman and his partners correspond + with about five hundred booksellers in different parts of the kingdom. All + these booksellers, I find, tell them that the Review sells, or does not + sell, according as there are, or are not, articles by Mr. Macaulay. So, + you see, I, like Mr. Darcy,[The central male figure in "Pride and + Prejudice."] shall not care how proud I am. At all events, I cannot but be + pleased to learn that, if I should be forced to depend on my pen for + subsistence, I can command what price I choose. + </p> + <p> + The House is sitting; Peel is just down; Lord Palmerston is speaking; the + heat is tremendous; the crowd stifling; and so here I am in the + smoking-room, with three Repealers making chimneys of their mouths under + my very nose. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To think that this letter will bear to my Anna + The exquisite scent of O'Connor's Havannah! +</pre> + <p> + You know that the Lords have been foolish enough to pass a vote implying + censure on the Ministers.[On June 3rd, 1833, a vote of censure on the + Portuguese policy of the Ministry was moved by the Duke of Wellington, and + carried in the Lords by 79 votes to 69. On June 6th a counter-resolution + was carried in the Commons by 361 votes to 98.] The Ministers do not seem + inclined to take it of them. The King has snubbed their Lordships + properly; and in about an hour, as I guess, (for it is near eleven), we + shall have come to a Resolution in direct opposition to that agreed to by + the Upper House. Nobody seems to care one straw for what the Peers say + about any public matter. A Resolution of the Court of Common Council, or + of a meeting at Freemasons' Hall, has often made a greater sensation than + this declaration of a branch of the Legislature against the Executive + Government. The institution of the Peerage is evidently dying a natural + death. + </p> + <p> + I dined yesterday—where, and on what, and at what price, I am + ashamed to tell you. Such scandalous extravagance and gluttony I will not + commit to writing. I blush when I think of it. You, however, are not + wholly guiltless in this matter. My nameless offence was partly occasioned + by Napier; and I have a very strong reason for wishing to keep Napier in + good humour. He has promised to be at Edinburgh when I take a certain + damsel thither; to loop out for very nice lodgings for us in Queen Street; + to show us everything and everybody; and to see us as far as Dunkeld on + our way northward, if we do go northward. In general I abhor visiting; but + at Edinburgh we must see the people as well as the walls and windows; and + Napier will be a capital guide. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: June 14, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I do not know what you may have been told. I may + have grumbled, for ought I know, at not having more letters from you; but, + as to being angry, you ought to know by this time what sort of anger mine + is when you are its object. + </p> + <p> + You have seen the papers, I dare say, and you will perceive that I did not + speak yesterday night.[The night of the First Reading of the India Bill.] + The House was thin. The debate was languid. Grant's speech had done our + work sufficiently for one night; and both he and Lord Althorp advised me + to reserve myself for the Second Reading. + </p> + <p> + What have I to tell you? I will look at my engagement book, to see where I + am to dine. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Friday June 14 . Lord Grey. + Saturday June 15. Mr. Boddington. + Sunday June 16 . Mr. S. Rice. + Saturday June 22. Sir R. Inglis. + Thursday June 27. The Earl of Ripon. + Saturday June 29. Lord Morpeth. +</pre> + <p> + Read, and envy, and pine, and die. And yet I would give a large slice of + my quarter's salary, which is now nearly due, to be at the Dingle. I am + sick of Lords with no brains in their heads, and Ladies with paint on + their cheeks, and politics, and politicians, and that reeking furnace of a + House. As the poet says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh! rather would I see this day + My little Nancy well and merry + Than the blue riband of Earl Grey, + Or the blue stockings of Miss Berry. +</pre> + <p> + Margaret tells us that you are better, and better, and better. I want to + hear that you are well. At all events our Scotch tour will set you up. I + hope, for the sake of the tour, that we shall keep our places; but I + firmly believe that, before many days have passed, a desperate attempt + will be made in the House of Lords to turn us out. If we stand the shock, + we shall be firmer than ever. I am not without anxiety as to the result; + yet I believe that Lord Grey understands the position in which he is + placed, and, as for the King, he will not forget his last blunder, I will + answer for it, even if he should live to the age of his father. [This + "last blunder" was the refusal of the King to stand by his Ministers in + May 1832. Macaulay proved a bad prophet; for, after an interval of only + three years, William the Fourth repeated his blunder in an aggravated + form.] + </p> + <p> + But why plague ourselves about politics when we have so much pleasanter + things to talk of? The Parson's Daughter; don't you like the Parson's + Daughter? What a wretch Harbottle was! And Lady Frances, what a sad + worldly woman! But Mrs. Harbottle, dear suffering angel! and Emma Level, + all excellence! Dr. Mac Gopus you doubtless like; but you probably do not + admire the Duchess and Lady Catherine. There is a regular cone over a + novel for you! But, if you will have my opinion, I think it Theodore + Book's worst performance; far inferior to the Surgeon's Daughter; a set of + fools making themselves miserable by their own nonsensical fancies and + suspicions. Let me hear your opinion, for I will be sworn that, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In spite of all the serious world, + Of all the thumbs that ever twirled, + Of every broadbrim-shaded brow, + Of every tongue that e'er said "thou," + You still read books in marble covers + About smart girls and dapper lovers. +</pre> + <p> + But what folly I have been scrawling! I must go to work. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I cannot all day + Be neglecting Madras + And slighting Bombay + For the sake of a lass. +</pre> + <p> + Kindest love to Edward, and to the woman who owns him. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: June 17, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—All is still anxiety here. Whether the House of Lords + will throw out the Irish Church Bill, whether the King will consent to + create new Peers, whether the Tories will venture to form a Ministry, are + matters about which we are all in complete doubt. If the Ministry should + really be changed, Parliament will, I feel quite sure, be dissolved. + Whether I shall have a seat in the next Parliament I neither know nor + care. I shall regret nothing for myself but our Scotch tour. For the + public I shall, if this Parliament is dissolved, entertain scarcely any + hopes. I see nothing before us but a frantic conflict between extreme + opinions; a short period of oppression; then a convulsive reaction; and + then a tremendous crash of the Funds, the Church, the Peerage, and the + Throne. It is enough to make the most strenuous royalist lean a little to + republicanism to think that the whole question between safety and general + destruction may probably, at this most fearful conjuncture, depend on a + single man whom the accident of his birth has placed in a situation to + which certainly his own virtues or abilities would never have raised him. + </p> + <p> + The question must come to a decision, I think, within the fortnight. In + the meantime the funds are going down, the newspapers are storming, and + the faces of men on both sides are growing day by day more gloomy and + anxious. Even during the most violent part of the contest for the Reform + Bill I do not remember to have seen so much agitation in the political + circles. I have some odd anecdotes for you, which I will tell you when we + meet. If the Parliament should be dissolved, the West Indian and East + Indian Bills are of course dropped. What is to become of the slaves? What + is to become of the tea-trade? Will the negroes, after receiving the + Resolutions of the House of Commons promising them liberty, submit to the + cart-whip? Will our merchants consent to have the trade with China, which + has just been offered to them, snatched away? The Bank Charter, too, is + suspended. But that is comparatively a trifle. After all, what is it to me + who is in or out, or whether those fools of Lords are resolved to perish, + and drag the King to perish with them in the ruin which they have + themselves made? I begin to wonder what the fascination is which attracts + men, who could sit over their tea and their books in their own cool quiet + room, to breathe bad air, hear bad speeches, lounge up and down the long + gallery, and doze uneasily on the green benches till three in the morning. + Thank God, these luxuries are not necessary to me. My pen is sufficient + for my support, and my sister's company is sufficient for my happiness. + Only let me see her well and cheerful, and let offices in Government, and + seats in Parliament, go to those who care for them. If I were to leave + public life to-morrow, I declare that, except for the vexation which it + might give you and one or two others, the event would not be in the + slightest degree painful to me. As you boast of having a greater insight + into character than I allow to you, let me know how you explain this + philosophical disposition of mine, and how you reconcile it with my + ambitious inclinations. That is a problem for a young lady who professes + knowledge of human nature. + </p> + <p> + Did I tell you that I dined at the Duchess of Kent's, and sate next that + loveliest of women, Mrs. Littleton? Her husband, our new Secretary for + Ireland, told me this evening that Lord Wellesley, who sate near us at the + Duchess's, asked Mrs. Littleton afterwards who it was that was talking to + her. "Mr. Macaulay." "Oh! "said the Marquess," I am very sorry I did not + know it. I have a most particular desire to be acquainted with that man." + Accordingly Littleton has engaged me to dine with him, in order to + introduce me to the Marquess. I am particularly curious, and always was, + to know him. He has made a great and splendid figure in history, and his + weaknesses, though they make his character less worthy of respect, make it + more interesting as a study. Such a blooming old swain I never saw; hair + combed with exquisite nicety, a waistcoat of driven snow, and a star and + garter put on with rare skill. + </p> + <p> + To-day we took up our Resolutions about India to the House of Lords. The + two Houses had a conference on the subject in an old Gothic room called + the Painted Chamber. The painting consists in a mildewed daub of a woman + in the niche of one of the windows. The Lords sate in little cocked hats + along a table; and we stood uncovered on the other side, and delivered in + our Resolutions. I thought that before long it may be our turn to sit, and + theirs to stand. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: June 21, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—I cannot tell you how delighted I was to learn from + Fanny this morning that Margaret pronounces you to be as well as she could + wish you to be. Only continue so, and all the changes of public life will + be as indifferent to me as to Horatio. If I am only spared the misery of + seeing you suffer, I shall be found + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A man that fortune's buffets and rewards + Has ta'en with equal thanks. +</pre> + <p> + Whether we are to have buffets or rewards is known only to Heaven and to + the Peers. I think that their Lordships are rather cowed. Indeed, if they + venture on the course on which they lately seemed bent, I would not give + sixpence for a coronet or a penny for a mitre. + </p> + <p> + I shall not read the Repealers; and I think it very impudent in you to + make such a request. Have I nothing to do but to be your novel-taster? It + is rather your duty to be mine. What else have you to do? I have read only + one novel within the last week, and a most precious one it was: the + Invisible Gentleman. Have you ever read it? But I need not ask. No doubt + it has formed part of your Sunday studies. A wretched, trumpery, imitation + of Godwin's worst manner. What a number of stories I shall have to tell + you when we meet!—which will be, as nearly as I can guess, about the + 10th or 12th of August. I shall be as rich as a Jew by that time. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Next Wednesday will be quarter-day; + And then, if I'm alive, + Of sterling pounds I shall receive + Three hundred seventy-five. + + Already I possess in cash + Two hundred twenty-four, + Besides what I have lent to John + Which makes up twenty more. + + Also the man who editeth + The Yellow and the Blue + Doth owe me ninety pounds at least, + All for my last review. + + So, if my debtors pay their debts, + You'll find, dear sister mine, + That all my wealth together makes + Seven hundred pounds and nine. +</pre> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + The rhymes in which Macaulay unfolds his little budget derive a certain + dignity and meaning from the events of the ensuing weeks. The unparalleled + labours of the Anti-Slavery leaders were at length approaching a + successful issue, and Lord Grey's Cabinet had declared itself responsible + for the emancipation of the West Indian negroes. But it was already + beginning to be known that the Ministerial scheme, in its original shape, + was not such as would satisfy even the more moderate Abolitionists. Its + most objectionable feature was shadowed forth in the third of the + Resolutions with which Mr. Stanley, who had the question in charge, + prefaced the introduction of his bill: "That all persons, now slaves, be + entitled to be registered as apprenticed labourers, and to acquire thereby + all the rights and privileges of freemen, subject to the restriction of + labouring, for a time to be fixed by Parliament, for their present + owners." It was understood that twelve years would be proposed as the + period of apprenticeship; although no trace of this intention could be + detected in the wording of the Resolution. Macaulay, who thought twelve + years far too long, felt himself justified in supporting the Government + during the preliminary stages; but he took occasion to make some remarks + indicating that circumstances might occur which would oblige him to resign + office, and adopt a line of his own. + </p> + <p> + As time went on it became evident that his firmness would be put to the + test; and a severe test it was. A rising statesman, whose prospects would + be irremediably injured by abruptly quitting a Government that seemed + likely to be in power for the next quarter of a century; a zealous Whig, + who shrank from the very appearance of disaffection to his party; a man of + sense, with no ambition to be called Quixotic; a member for a large + constituency, possessed of only seven hundred pounds in the world when his + purse was at its fullest; above all, an affectionate son and brother, now, + more than ever, the main hope and reliance of those whom he held most + dear;—it may well be believed that he was not in a hurry to act the + martyr. His father's affairs were worse than bad. The African firm, + without having been reduced to declare itself bankrupt, had ceased to + exist as a house of business; or existed only so far that for some years + to come every penny that Macaulay earned, beyond what the necessities of + life demanded, was scrupulously devoted to paying, and at length to paying + off, his father's creditors; a dutiful enterprise in which he was assisted + by his brother Henry, [Henry married in 1841 a daughter of his brother's + old political ally, Lord Denman. He died at Boa Vista, in 1846, leaving + two sons, Henry, and Joseph, Macaulay.] a young man of high spirit and + excellent abilities, who had recently been appointed one of the + Commissioners of Arbitration in the Prize Courts at Sierra Leone. + </p> + <p> + The pressure of pecuniary trouble was now beginning to make itself felt + even by the younger members of the family. About this time, or perhaps a + little earlier, Hannah Macaulay writes thus to one of her cousins: "You + say nothing about coming to us. You must come in good health and spirits. + Our trials ought not greatly to depress us; for, after all, all we want is + money, the easiest want to bear; and, when we have so many mercies—friends + who love us and whom we love; no bereavements; and, above all, (if it be + not our own fault,) a hope full of immortality—let us not be so + ungrateful as to repine because we are without what in itself cannot make + our happiness." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay's colleagues, who, without knowing his whole story, knew enough + to be aware that he could ill afford to give up office, were earnest in + their remonstrances; but he answered shortly, and almost roughly: "I + cannot go counter to my father. He has devoted his whole life to the + question, and I cannot grieve him by giving way when he wishes me to stand + firm." During the crisis of the West India Bill, Zachary Macaulay and his + son were in constant correspondence. There is something touching in the + picture which these letters present of the older man, (whose years were + coming to a close in poverty which was the consequence of his having + always lived too much for others,) discussing quietly and gravely how, and + when, the younger was to take a step that in the opinion of them both + would be fatal to his career; and this with so little consciousness that + there was anything heroic in the course which they were pursuing, that it + appears never to have occurred to either of their that any other line of + conduct could possibly be adopted. + </p> + <p> + Having made up his mind as to what he should do, Macaulay set about it + with as good a grace as is compatible with the most trying position in + which a man, and especially a young man, can find himself. Carefully + avoiding the attitude of one who bargains or threatens, he had given + timely notice in the proper quarter of his intentions and his views. At + length the conjuncture arrived when decisive action could no longer be + postponed. On the 24th of July Mr. Thomas Fowell Buxton moved an amendment + in Committee, limiting the apprenticeship to the shortest period necessary + for establishing the system of free labour. Macaulay, whose resignation + was already in Lord Althorp's hands, made a speech which produced all the + more effect as being inornate, and, at times, almost awkward. Even if + deeper feelings had not restrained the range of his fancy and the flow of + his rhetoric, his judgment would have told him that it was not the moment + for an oratorical display. He began by entreating the House to extend to + him that indulgence which it had accorded on occasions when he had + addressed it "with more confidence and with less harassed feelings." He + then, at some length, exposed the effects of the Government proposal. "In + free countries the master has a choice of labourers, and the labourer has + a choice of masters; but in slavery it is always necessary to give + despotic power to the master. This bill leaves it to the magistrate to + keep peace between master and slave. Every time that the slave takes + twenty minutes to do that which the master thinks he should do in fifteen, + recourse must be had to the magistrate. Society would day and night be in + a constant state of litigation, and all differences and difficulties must + be solved by judicial interference." + </p> + <p> + He did not share in Mr. Buxton's apprehension of gross cruelty as a result + of the apprenticeship. "The magistrate would be accountable to the + Colonial Office, and the Colonial Office to the House of Commons, in which + every lash which was inflicted under magisterial authority would be told + and counted. My apprehension is that the result of continuing for twelve + years this dead slavery,—this state of society destitute of any + vital principle,—will be that the whole negro population will sink + into weak and drawling inefficacy, and will be much less fit for liberty + at the end of the period than at the commencement. My hope is that the + system will die a natural death; that the experience of a few months will + so establish its utter inefficiency as to induce the planters to abandon + it, and to substitute for it a state of freedom. I have voted," he said, + "for the Second Reading, and I shall vote for the Third Reading; but, + while the bill is in Committee, I shall join with other honourable + gentlemen in doing all that is possible to amend it." + </p> + <p> + Such a declaration, coming from the mouth of a member of the Government, + gave life to the debate, and secured to Mr. Buxton an excellent division, + which under the circumstances was equivalent to a victory. The next day + Mr. Stanley rose; adverted shortly to the position in which the Ministers + stood; and announced that the term of apprenticeship would be reduced from + twelve years to seven. Mr. Buxton, who, with equal energy and wisdom, had + throughout the proceedings acted as leader of the Anti-slavery party in + the House of Commons, advised his friends to make the best of the + concession; and his counsel was followed by all those Abolitionists who + were thinking more of their cause than of themselves. It is worthy of + remark that Macaulay's prophecy came true, though not at so early a date + as he ventured to anticipate. Four years of the provisional system brought + all parties to acquiesce in the premature termination of a state of things + which denied to the negro the blessings of freedom, and to the planter the + profits of slavery. + </p> + <p> + "The papers," Macaulay writes to his father, "will have told you all that + has happened, as far as it is known to the public. The secret history you + will have heard from Buxton. As to myself, Lord Althorp told me yesterday + night that the Cabinet had determined not to accept my resignation. I have + therefore the singular good luck of having saved both my honour and my + place, and of having given no just ground of offence either to the + Abolitionists or to my party-friends. I have more reason than ever to say + that honesty is the best policy." + </p> + <p> + This letter is dated the 27th of July. On that day week, Wilberforce was + carried to his grave in Westminster Abbey. "We laid him," writes Macaulay, + "side by side with Canning, at the feet of Pitt, and within two steps of + Fox and Grattan." He died with the promised land full in view. Before the + end of August Parliament abolished slavery, and the last touch was put to + the work that had consumed so many pure and noble lives. In a letter of + congratulation to Zachary Macaulay, Mr. Buxton says: "Surely you have + reason to rejoice. My sober and deliberate opinion is that you have done + more towards this consummation than any other man. For myself, I take + pleasure in acknowledging that you have been my tutor all the way through, + and that I could have done nothing without you." Such was the spirit of + these men, who, while the struggle lasted, were prodigal of health and + ease; but who, in the day of triumph, disclaimed, each for himself, even + that part of the merit which their religion allowed them to ascribe to + human effort and self-sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + London: July 11, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—I have been so completely overwhelmed with business for + some days that I have not been able to find time for writing a line. + Yesterday night we read the India Bill a second time. It was a Wednesday, + and the reporters gave hardly any account of what passed. They always + resent being forced to attend on that day, which is their holiday. I made + the best speech, by general agreement, and in my own opinion, that I ever + made in my life. I was an hour and three-quarters up; and such compliments + as I had from Lord Althorp, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, Wynne, + O'Connell, Grant, the Speaker, and twenty other people, you never heard. + As there is no report of the speech, I have been persuaded, rather against + my will, to correct it for publication. I will tell you one compliment + that was paid me, and which delighted me more than any other. An old + member said to me: "Sir, having heard that speech may console the young + people for never having heard Mr. Burke." [A Tory member said that + Macaulay resembled both the Burkes: that he was like the first from his + eloquence, and like the second from his stopping other people's mouths.] + </p> + <p> + The Slavery Bill is miserably bad. I am fully resolved not to be dragged + through the mire, but to oppose, by speaking and voting, the clauses which + I think objectionable. I have told Lord Althorp this, and have again + tendered my resignation. He hinted that he thought that the Government + would leave me at liberty to take my own line, but that he must consult + his colleagues. I told him that I asked for no favour; that I knew what + inconvenience would result if official men were allowed to dissent from + Ministerial measures, and yet to keep their places; and that I should not + think myself in the smallest degree ill-used if the Cabinet accepted my + resignation. This is the present posture of affairs. In the meantime the + two Houses are at daggers drawn. Whether the Government will last to the + end of the Session I neither know nor care. I am sick of Boards, and of + the House of Commons; and pine for a few quiet days, a cool country + breeze, and a little chatting with my dear sister. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay + </p> + <p> + London: July 19, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I snatch a few minutes to write a single line to + you. We went into Committee on the India Bill at twelve this morning, sate + till three, and are just set at liberty for two hours. At five we + recommence, and shall be at work till midnight. In the interval between + three and five I have to despatch the current business of the office, + which, at present, is fortunately not heavy; to eat my dinner, which I + shall do at Grant's; and to write a short scrawl to my little sister. + </p> + <p> + My work, though laborious, has been highly satisfactory. No Bill, I + believe, of such importance,—certainly no important Bill in my time, + has been received with such general approbation. The very cause of the + negligence of the reporters, and of the thinness of the House, is that we + have framed our measure so carefully as to give little occasion for + debate. Littleton, Denison, and many other members, assure me that they + never remember to have seen a Bill better drawn or better conducted. + </p> + <p> + On Monday night, I hope, my work will be over. Our Bill will have been + discussed, I trust, for the last time in the House of Commons; and, in all + probability, I shall within forty-eight hours after that time be out of + office. I am fully determined not to give way about the West India Bill; + and I can hardly expect,—I am sure I do not wish,—that the + Ministers should suffer me to keep my place and oppose their measure. + Whatever may befall me or my party, I am much more desirous to come to an + end of this interminable Session than to stay either in office or in + Parliament. The Tories are quite welcome to take everything, if they will + only leave me my pen and my books, a warm fireside, and you chattering + beside it. This sort of philosophy, an odd kind of cross between Stoicism + and Epicureanism, I have learned, where most people unlearn all their + philosophy, in crowded senates and fine drawing-rooms. + </p> + <p> + But time flies, and Grant's dinner will be waiting. He keeps open house + for us during this fight. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: July 22, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father,—We are still very anxious here. The Lords, though + they have passed the Irish Church Bill through its first stage, will very + probably mutilate it in Committee. It will then be for the Ministers to + decide whether they can with honour keep their places. I believe that they + will resign if any material alteration should be made; and then everything + is confusion. + </p> + <p> + These circumstances render it very difficult for me to shape my course + right with respect to the West India Bill, the Second Reading of which + stands for this evening. I am fully resolved to oppose several of the + clauses. But to declare my intention publicly, at a moment when the + Government is in danger, would have the appearance of ratting. I must be + guided by circumstances; but my present intention is to say nothing on the + Second Reading. By the time that we get into Committee the political + crisis, will, I hope, be over; the fate of the Church Bill will be decided + one way or the other; and I shall be able to take my own course on the + Slavery question without exposing myself to the charge of deserting my + friends in a moment of peril. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 24, 1833, + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—You will have seen by the papers that the West India + debate on Monday night went off very quietly in little more than an hour. + To-night we expect the great struggle, and I fear that, much against my + inclination, I must bear a part in it. My resignation is in Lord Althorp's + hands. He assures me that he will do his utmost to obtain for me liberty + to act as I like on this question; but Lord Grey and Stanley are to be + consulted, and I think it very improbable that they will consent to allow + me so extraordinary a privilege. I know that, if I were Minister, I would + not allow such latitude to any man in office; and so I told Lord Althorp. + He answered in the kindest and most flattering manner; told me that in + office I had surpassed their expectations, and that, much as they wished + to bring me in last year, they wished much more to keep me in now. I told + him in reply that the matter was one for the Ministers to settle, purely + with a view to their own interest; that I asked for no indulgence; that I + could make no terms; and that, what I would not do to serve them, I + certainly would not do to keep my place. Thus the matter stands. It will + probably be finally settled within a few hours. + </p> + <p> + This detestable Session goes on lengthening, and lengthening, like a human + hair in one's mouth. (Do you know that delicious sensation?) Last month we + expected to have been up before the middle of August. Now we should be + glad to be quite certain of being in the country by the first of + September. One comfort I shall have in being turned out: I will not stay a + day in London after the West India Bill is through Committee; which I hope + it will be before the end of next week. + </p> + <p> + The new Edinburgh Review is not much amiss; but I quite agree with the + publishers, the editor, and the reading public generally, that the number + would have been much the better for an article of thirty or forty pages + from the pen of a gentleman who shall be nameless. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 25, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The plot is thickening. Yesterday Buxton moved an + instruction to the Committee on the Slavery Bill, which the Government + opposed, and which I supported. It was extremely painful to me to speak + against all my political friends; so painful that at times I could hardly + go on. I treated them as mildly as I could; and they all tell me that I + performed my difficult task not ungracefully. We divided at two this + morning, and were 151 to 158. The Ministers found that, if they persisted, + they would infallibly be beaten. Accordingly they came down to the House + at twelve this day, and agreed to reduce the apprenticeship to seven years + for the agricultural labourers, and to five years for the skilled + labourers. What other people may do I cannot tell; but I am inclined to be + satisfied with this concession; particularly as I believe that, if we + press the thing further, they will resign, and we shall have no Bill at + all, but instead of it a Tory Ministry and a dissolution. Some people + flatter me with the assurance that our large minority, and the consequent + change in the Bill, have been owing to me. If this be so, I have done one + useful act at least in my life. + </p> + <p> + I shall now certainly remain in office; and if, as I expect, the Irish + Church Bill passes the Lords, I may consider myself as safe till the next + Session; when Heaven knows what may happen. It is still quite uncertain + when we may rise. I pine for rest, air, and a taste of family life, more + than I can express. I see nothing but politicians, and talk about nothing + but politics. + </p> + <p> + I have not read Village Belles. Tell me, as soon as you can get it, + whether it is worth reading. As John Thorpe [The young Oxford man in + "Northanger Abbey."] says "Novels! Oh Lord! I never read novels. I have + something else to do." + </p> + <p> + Farewell. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M, + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay, + </p> + <p> + London: July 27, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Here I am, safe and well, at the end of one of the + most stormy weeks that the oldest man remembers in Parliamentary affairs. + I have resigned my office, and my resignation has been refused. I have + spoken and voted against the Ministry under which I hold my place. The + Ministry has been so hard run in the Commons as to be forced to modify its + plan; and has received a defeat in the Lords, [On the 25th of July the + Archbishop of Canterbury carried an amendment on the Irish Church Bill, + against the Government, by 84 votes to 82.]—a slight one to be sure, + and on a slight matter,—yet such that I, and many others, fully + believed twenty-four hours ago that they would have resigned. In fact, + some of the Cabinet,—Grant among the rest, to my certain knowledge, + were for resigning. At last Saturday has arrived. The Ministry is as + strong as ever. I am as good friends with the Ministers as ever. The East + India Bill is carried through our House. The West India Bill is so far + modified that, I believe, it will be carried. The Irish Church Bill has + got through the Committee in the Lords; and we are all beginning to look + forward to a Prorogation in about three weeks. + </p> + <p> + To-day I went to Hayden's to be painted into his great picture of the + Reform Banquet. Ellis was with me, and declares that Hayden has touched me + off to a nicety. I am sick of pictures of my own face. I have seen within + the last few days one drawing of it, one engraving, and three paintings. + They all make me a very handsome fellow. Hayden pronounces my profile a + gem of art, perfectly antique; and, what is worth the praise of ten + Haydens, I was told yesterday that Mrs. Littleton, the handsomest woman in + London, had paid me exactly the same compliment. She pronounced Mr. + Macaulay's profile to be a study for an artist. I have bought a new + looking-glass and razor-case on the strength of these compliments, and am + meditating on the expediency of having my hair cut in the Burlington + Arcade, rather than in Lamb's Conduit Street. As Richard says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Since I am crept in favour with myself, + I will maintain it with some little cost." +</pre> + <p> + I begin, like Sir Walter Elliot, [The Baronet in "Persuasion."] to rate + all my acquaintance according to their beauty. But what nonsense I write, + and in times that make many merry men look grave! + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 29, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I dined last night at Holland House. There was a + very pleasant party. My Lady was courteous, and my Lord extravagantly + entertaining, telling some capital stories about old Bishop Horsley, which + were set off with some of the drollest mimicry that I ever saw. Among many + others there were Sir James Graham; and Dr. Holland, who is a good scholar + as well as a good physician; and Wilkie, who is a modest, pleasing + companion as well as an excellent artist. For ladies, we had her Grace of—; + and her daughter Lady—, a fine, buxom, sonsy lass, with more colour + than, I am sorry to say, is often seen among fine ladies. So our dinner + and our soiree were very agreeable. + </p> + <p> + We narrowly escaped a scene at one time. Lord is in the navy, and is now + on duty in the fleet at the Tagus. We got into a conversation about + Portuguese politics. His name was mentioned, and Graham, who is First Lord + of the Admiralty, complimented the Duchess on her son's merit, to which, + he said, every despatch bore witness. The Duchess forthwith began to + entreat that he might be recalled. He was very ill, she said. If he stayed + longer on that station she was sure that he would die; and then she began + to cry. I cannot bear to see women cry, and the matter became serious, for + her pretty daughter began to bear her company. That hardhearted Lord + —— seemed to be diverted by the scene. He, by all accounts, + has been doing little else than making women cry during the last + five-and-twenty years. However, we all were as still as death while the + wiping of eyes and the blowing of noses proceeded. At last Lord Holland + contrived to restore our spirits; but, before the Duchess went away, she + managed to have a tete-a-tete with Graham, and, I have no doubt, begged + and blubbered to some purpose. I could not help thinking how many honest + stout-hearted fellows are left to die on the most unhealthy stations for + want of being related to some Duchess who has been handsome, or to some + Duchess's daughter who still is so. + </p> + <p> + The Duchess said one thing that amused us. We were talking about Lady + Morgan. "When she first came to London," said Lord Holland, "I remember + that she carried a little Irish harp about with her wherever she went." + Others denied this. I mentioned what she says in her Book of the Boudoir. + There she relates how she went one evening to Lady—'s with her + little Irish harp, and how strange everybody thought it. "I see nothing + very strange," said her Grace, "in her taking her harp to Lady—'s. + If she brought it safe away with her, that would have been strange + indeed." On this, as a friend of yours says, we la-a-a-a-a-a-a-ft. + </p> + <p> + I am glad to find that you approve of my conduct about the Niggers. I + expect, and indeed wish, to be abused by the Agency Society. My father is + quite satisfied, and so are the best part of my Leeds friends. + </p> + <p> + I amuse myself, as I walk back from the House at two in the morning, with + translating Virgil. I am at work on one of the most beautiful episodes, + and am succeeding pretty well. You shall have what I have done when I come + to Liverpool, which will be, I hope, in three weeks or thereanent. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: July 31, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Political affairs look cheeringly. The Lords passed + the Irish Church Bill yesterday, and mean, we understand, to give us + little or no trouble about the India Bill. There is still a hitch in the + Commons about the West India Bill, particularly about the twenty millions + for compensation to the planters; but we expect to carry our point by a + great majority. By the end of next week we shall be very near the + termination of our labours. Heavy labours they have been. + </p> + <p> + So Wilberforce is gone! We talk of burying him in Westminster Abbey; and + many eminent men, both Whigs and Tories, are desirous to join in paying + him this honour. There is, however, a story about a promise given to old + Stephen that they should both lie in the same grave. Wilberforce kept his + faculties, and, except when he was actually in fits, his spirits, to the + very last. He was cheerful and full of anecdote only last Saturday. He + owned that he enjoyed life much, and that he had a great desire to live + longer. Strange in a man who had, I should have said, so little to attach + him to this world, and so firm a belief in another; in a man with an + impaired fortune, a weak spine, and a worn-out stomach! What is this + fascination which makes us cling to existence in spite of present + sufferings and of religious hopes? Yesterday evening I called at the house + in Cadogan Place, where the body is lying. I was truly fond of him; that + is, "je l'aimais comme l'on aime." And how is that? How very little one + human being generally cares for another! How very little the world misses + anybody! How soon the chasm left by the best and wisest men closes! I + thought, as I walked back from Cadogan Place, that our own selfishness + when others are taken away ought to teach us how little others will suffer + at losing us. I thought that, if I were to die to-morrow, not one of the + fine people, whom I dine with every week, will take a cotelette aux petits + pois the less on Saturday at the table to which I was invited to meet + them, or will smile less gaily at the ladies over the champagne. And I am + quite even with them. What are those pretty lines of Shelley? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh, world, farewell! + Listen to the passing bell. + It tells that thou and I must part + With a light and heavy heart. +</pre> + <p> + There are not ten people in the world whose deaths would spoil my dinner; + but there are one or two whose deaths would break my heart. The more I see + of the world, and the more numerous my acquaintance becomes, the narrower + and more exclusive my affection grows, and the more I cling to my sisters, + and to one or two old tried friends of my quiet days. But why should I go + on preaching to you out of Ecclesiastes? And here comes, fortunately, to + break the train of my melancholy reflections, the proof of my East India + Speech from Hansard; so I must put my letter aside, and correct the press. + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: August 2, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I agree with your judgment on Chesterfield's + Letters. They are for the most part trash; though they contain some clever + passages, and the style is not bad. Their celebrity must be attributed to + causes quite distinct from their literary merit, and particularly to the + position which the author held in society. We see in our own time that the + books written by public men of note are generally rated at more than their + real value: Lord Granville's little compositions, for example; Canning's + verses; Fox's history; Brougham's treatises. The writings of people of + high fashion, also, have a value set on them far higher than that which + intrinsically belongs to them. The verses of the late Duchess of + Devonshire, or an occasional prologue by Lord Alvanley, attract a most + undue share of attention. If the present Duke of Devonshire, who is the + very "glass of fashion and mould of form," were to publish a book with two + good pages, it would be extolled as a masterpiece in half the + drawing-rooms of London. Now Chesterfield was, what no person in our time + has been or can be, a great political leader, and at the same time the + acknowledged chief of the fashionable world; at the head of the House of + Lords, and at the head of laze; Mr. Canning and the Duke of Devonshire in + one. In our time the division of labour is carried so far that such a man + could not exist. Politics require the whole of energy, bodily and mental, + during half the year; and leave very little time for the bow window at + White's in the day, or for the crush-room of the Opera at night. A century + ago the case was different. Chesterfield was at once the most + distinguished orator in the Upper House, and the undisputed sovereign of + wit and fashion. He held this eminence for about forty years. At last it + became the regular custom of the higher circles to laugh whenever he + opened his mouth, without waiting for his bon mot. He used to sit at + White's with a circle of young men of rank round him, applauding every + syllable that he uttered. If you wish for a proof of the kind of position + which Chesterfield held among his contemporaries, look at the prospectus + of Johnson's Dictionary. Look even at Johnson's angry letter. It contains + the strongest admission of the boundless influence which Chesterfield + exercised over society. When the letters of such a man were published, of + course they were received more favourably by far than they deserved. + </p> + <p> + So much for criticism. As to politics, everything seems tending to repose; + and I should think that by this day fortnight we shall probably be + prorogued. The Jew Bill was thrown out yesterday night by the Lords. No + matter. Our turn will come one of these days. + </p> + <p> + If you want to see me puffed and abused by somebody who evidently knows + nothing about me, look at the New Monthly for this month. Bulwer, I see, + has given up editing it. I suppose he is making money in some other way; + for his dress must cost as much as that of any five other members of + Parliament. + </p> + <p> + To-morrow Wilberforce is to be buried. His sons acceded, with great + eagerness, to the application made to them by a considerable number of the + members of both Houses that the funeral should be public. We meet + to-morrow at twelve at the House of Commons, and we shall attend the + coffin into the Abbey. The Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, and Sir R. Peel + have put down their names, as well as the Ministers and the Abolitionists. + </p> + <p> + My father urges me to pay some tribute to Wilberforce in the House of + Commons. If any debate should take place on the third reading of the West + India Bill in which I might take part, I should certainly embrace the + opportunity of doing honour to his memory. But I do not expect that such + an occasion will arise. The House seems inclined to pass the Bill without + more contest; and my father must be aware that anything like theatrical + display,—anything like a set funeral oration not springing naturally + out of the discussion of a question,—is extremely distasteful to the + House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + I have been clearing off a great mass of business, which had accumulated + at our office while we were conducting our Bill through Parliament. Today + I had the satisfaction of seeing the green boxes, which a week ago were + piled up with papers three or four feet high, perfectly empty. Admire my + superhuman industry. This I will say for myself, that, when I do sit down + to work, I work harder and faster than any person that I ever knew. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + The next letter, in terms too clear to require comment, introduces the + mention of what proved to be the most important circumstance in Macaulay's + life. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: August 17, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am about to write to you on a subject which to you + and Margaret will be one of the most agitating interest; and which, on + that account chiefly, is so to me. + </p> + <p> + By the new India bill it is provided that one of the members of the + Supreme Council, which is to govern our Eastern Empire, is to be chosen + from among persons who are not servants of the Company. It is probable, + indeed nearly certain, that the situation will be offered to me. + </p> + <p> + The advantages are very great. It is a post of the highest dignity and + consideration. The salary is ten thousand pounds a year. I am assured by + persons who know Calcutta intimately, and who have themselves mixed in the + highest circles and held the highest offices at that Presidency, that I + may live in splendour there for five thousand a year, and may save the + rest of the salary with the accruing interest. I may therefore hope to + return to England at only thirty-nine, in the full vigour of life, with a + fortune of thirty thousand pounds. A larger fortune I never desired. + </p> + <p> + I am not fond of money, or anxious about it. But, though every day makes + me less and less eager for wealth, every day shows me more and more + strongly how necessary a competence is to a man who desires to be either + great or useful. At present the plain fact is that I can continue to be a + public man only while I can continue in office. If I left my place in the + Government, I must leave my seat in Parliament too. For I must live; I can + live only by my pen; and it is absolutely impossible for any man to write + enough to procure him a decent subsistence, and at the same time to take + an active part in politics. I have not during this Session been able to + send a single line to the Edinburgh Review; and, if I had been out of + office, I should have been able to do very little. Edward Bulwer has just + given up the New Monthly Magazine on the ground that he cannot conduct it, + and attend to his Parliamentary duties. Cobbett has been compelled to + neglect his Register so much that its sale has fallen almost to nothing. + Now, in order to live like a gentleman, it would be necessary for me to + write, not as I have done hitherto, but regularly, and even daily. I have + never made more than two hundred a year by my pen. I could not support + myself in comfort on less than five hundred; and I shall in all + probability have many others to support. The prospects of our family are, + if possible, darker than ever. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime my political outlook is very gloomy. A schism in the + Ministry is approaching. It requires only that common knowledge of public + affairs, which any reader of the newspapers may possess, to see this; and + I have more, much more, than common knowledge on the subject. They cannot + hold together. I tell you in perfect seriousness that my chance of keeping + my present situation for six months is so small, that I would willingly + sell it for fifty pounds down. If I remain in office, I shall, I fear, + lose my political character. If I go out, and engage in opposition, I + shall break most of the private ties which I have formed during the last + three years. In England I see nothing before me, for some time to come, + but poverty, unpopularity, and the breaking up of old connections. + </p> + <p> + If there were no way out of these difficulties, I would encounter them + with courage. A man can always act honourably and uprightly; and, if I + were in the Fleet Prison or the rules of the King's Bench, I believe that + I could find in my own mind resources which would preserve me from being + positively unhappy. But, if I could escape from these impending disasters, + I should wish to do so. By accepting the post which is likely to be + offered to me, I withdraw myself for a short time from the contests of + faction here. When I return, I shall find things settled, parties formed + into new combinations, and new questions under discussion. I shall then be + able, without the scandal of a violent separation, and without exposing + myself to the charge of inconsistency, to take my own line. In the + meantime I shall save my family from distress; and shall return with a + competence honestly earned, as rich as if I were Duke of Northumberland or + Marquess of Westminster, and able to act on all public questions without + even a temptation to deviate from the strict line of duty. While in India, + I shall have to discharge duties not painfully laborious, and of the + highest and most honourable kind. I shall have whatever that country + affords of comfort or splendour; nor will my absence be so long that my + friends, or the public here, will be likely to lose sight of me. + </p> + <p> + The only persons who know what I have written to you are Lord Grey, the + Grants, Stewart Mackenzie, and George Babington. Charles Grant and Stewart + Mackenzie, who know better than most men the state of the political world, + think that I should act unwisely in refusing this post; and this though + they assure me,—and, I really believe, sincerely,—that they + shall feel the loss of my society very acutely. But what shall I feel? And + with what emotions, loving as I do my country and my family, can I look + forward to such a separation, enjoined, as I think it is, by prudence and + by duty? Whether the period of my exile shall be one of comfort,—and, + after the first shock, even of happiness,—depends on you. If, as I + expect, this offer shall be made to me, will you go with me? I know what a + sacrifice I ask of you. I know how many dear and precious ties you must, + for a time, sunder. I know that the splendour of the Indian Court, and the + gaieties of that brilliant society of which you would be one of the + leading personages, have no temptation for you. I can bribe you only by + telling you that, if you will go with me, I will love you better than I + love you now, if I can. + </p> + <p> + I have asked George Babington about your health and mine. He says that he + has very little apprehension for me, and none at all for you. Indeed, he + seemed to think that the climate would be quite as likely to do you good + as harm. + </p> + <p> + All this is most strictly secret. You may, of course, show the letter to + Margaret; and Margaret may tell Edward; for I never cabal against the + lawful authority of husbands. But further the thing must not go. It would + hurt my father, and very justly, to hear of it from anybody before he + hears of it from myself; and, if the least hint of it were to get abroad, + I should be placed in a very awkward position with regard to the people at + Leeds. It is possible, though not probable, that difficulties may arise at + the India House; and I do not mean to say anything to any person, who is + not already in the secret, till the Directors have made their choice, and + till the King's pleasure has been taken. + </p> + <p> + And now think calmly over what I have written. I would not have written on + the subject even to you, till the matter was quite settled, if I had not + thought that you ought to have full time to make up your mind. If you feel + an insurmountable aversion to India, I will do all in my power to make + your residence in England comfortable during my absence, and to enable you + to confer instead of receiving benefits. But if my dear sister would + consent to give me, at this great crisis of my life, that proof, that + painful and arduous proof, of her affection, which I beg of her, I think + that she will not repent of it. She shall not, if the unbounded confidence + and attachment of one to whom she is dearer than life can compensate her + for a few years' absence from much that she loves. + </p> + <p> + Dear Margaret! She will feel this. Consult her, my love, and let us both + have the advantage of such advice as her excellent understanding, and her + warm affection for us, may furnish. On Monday next, at the latest, I + expect to be with you. Our Scotch tour, under these circumstances, must be + short. By Christmas it will be fit that the new Councillor should leave + England. His functions in India commence next April. We shall leave our + dear Margaret, I hope, a happy mother. + </p> + <p> + Farewell, my dear sister. You cannot tell how impatiently I shall wait for + your answer. + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + This letter, written under the influence of deep and varied emotions, was + read with feelings of painful agitation and surprise. India was not then + the familiar name that it has become to a generation which regards a visit + to Cashmere as a trip to be undertaken between two London seasons, and + which discusses over its breakfast table at home the decisions arrived at + on the previous afternoon in the Council-room of Simla or Calcutta. In + those rural parsonages and middle-class households where service in our + Eastern territories now presents itself in the light of a probable and + desirable destiny for a promising son, those same territories were forty + years ago regarded as an obscure and distant region of disease and death. + A girl who had seen no country more foreign than Wales, and crossed no + water broader and more tempestuous than the Mersey, looked forward to a + voyage which (as she subsequently learned by melancholy experience), might + extend over six weary months, with an anxiety that can hardly be imagined + by us who spend only half as many weeks on the journey between Dover and + Bombay. A separation from beloved relations under such conditions was a + separation indeed; and, if Macaulay and his sister could have foreseen how + much of what they left at their departure they would fail to find on their + return, it is a question whether any earthly consideration could have + induced them to quit their native shore. But Hannah's sense of duty was + too strong for these doubts and tremors; and, happily, (for on the whole + her resolution was a fortunate one,) she resolved to accompany her brother + in an expatriation which he never would have faced without her. With a + mind set at ease by a knowledge of her intention, he came down to + Liverpool as soon as the Session was at an end; and carried her off on a + jaunt to Edinburgh, in a post-chaise furnished with Horace Walpole's + letters for their common reading, and Smollett's collected works for his + own. Before October he was back at the Board of Control; and his letters + recommenced, as frequent and rather more serious and business-like than of + old. + </p> + <p> + London: October 5, 1833 + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—Life goes on so quietly here, or rather stands so + still, that I have nothing, or next to nothing, to say. At the Athenaeum I + now and then fall in with some person passing through town on his way to + the Continent or to Brighton. The other day I met Sharp, and had a long + talk with him about everything and everybody,—metaphysics, poetry, + politics, scenery, and painting. One thing I have observed in Sharp, which + is quite peculiar to him among town-wits and diners-out. He never talks + scandal. If he can say nothing good of a man, he holds his tongue. I do + not, of course, mean that in confidential communication about politics he + does not speak freely of public men; but about the foibles of private + individuals I do not believe that, much as I have talked with him, I ever + heard him utter one word. I passed three or four hours very agreeably in + his company at the club. + </p> + <p> + I have also seen Kenny for an hour or two. I do not know that I ever + mentioned Kenny to you. When London is overflowing, I meet such numbers of + people that I cannot remember half their names. This is the time at which + every acquaintance, however slight, attracts some degree of attention. In + the desert island, even poor Poll was something of a companion to Robinson + Crusoe. Kenny is a writer of a class which, in our time, is at the very + bottom of the literary scale. He is a dramatist. Most of the farces, and + three-act plays, which have succeeded during the last eight or ten years, + are, I am told, from his pen. Heaven knows that, if they are the farces + and plays which I have seen, they do him but little honour. However, this + man is one of our great comic writers. He has the merit, such as it is, of + hitting the very bad taste of our modern audiences better than any other + person who has stooped to that degrading work. We had a good deal of + literary chat; and I thought him a clever shrewd fellow. + </p> + <p> + My father is poorly; not that anything very serious is the matter with + him; but he has a cold, and is in low spirits. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: October 14, 1833 + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—I have just finished my article on Horace Walpole. This + is one of the happy moments of my life; a stupid task performed; a weight + taken off my mind. I should be quite joyous if I had only you to read it + to. But to Napier it must go forthwith; and, as soon as I have finished + this letter, I shall put it into the general post with my own fair hands. + I was up at four this morning to put the last touch to it. I often differ + with the majority about other people's writings, and still oftener about + my own; and therefore I may very likely be mistaken; but I think that this + article will be a hit. We shall see. Nothing ever cost me more pains than + the first half; I never wrote anything so flowingly as the latter half; + and I like the latter half the best. I have laid it on Walpole so + unsparingly that I shall not be surprised if Miss Berry should cut me. You + know she was Walpole's favourite in her youth. Neither am I sure that Lord + and Lady Holland will be well pleased. But they ought to be obliged to me; + for I refrained for their sake from laying a hand, which has been thought + to be not a light one, on that old rogue the first Lord Holland. [Lord + Holland, once upon a time, speaking to Macaulay of his grandfather, said: + "He had that temper which kind folks have been pleased to say belongs to + my family; but he shared the fault that belonged to that school of + statesmen, an utter disbelief in public virtue."] + </p> + <p> + Charles Grant is still at Paris; ill, he says. I never knew a man who + wanted setting to rights so often. He goes as badly as your watch. + </p> + <p> + My father is at me again to provide for P—. What on earth have I to + do with P—? The relationship is one which none but Scotchmen would + recognise. The lad is such a fool that he would utterly disgrace my + recommendation. And, as if to make the thing more provoking, his sisters + say that he must be provided for in England, for that they cannot think of + parting with him. This, to be sure, matters little; for there is at + present just as little chance of getting anything in India as in England. + </p> + <p> + But what strange folly this is which meets me in every quarter; people + wanting posts in the army, the navy, the public offices, and saying that, + if they cannot find such posts, they must starve! How do all the rest of + mankind live? If I had not happened to be engaged in politics, and if my + father had not been connected, by very extraordinary circumstances, with + public men, I should never have dreamed of having places. Why cannot P— + be apprenticed to some hatter or tailor? He may do well in such a + business; he will do detestably ill as a clerk in my office. He may come + to make good coats; he will never, I am sure, write good despatches. There + is nothing truer than Poor Richard's say: "We are taxed twice as heavily + by our pride as by the state." The curse of England is the obstinate + determination of the middle classes to make their sons what they call + gentlemen. So we are overrun by clergymen without livings; lawyers without + briefs; physicians without patients; authors without readers; clerks + soliciting employment, who might have thriven, and been above the world, + as bakers, watchmakers, or innkeepers. The next time my father speaks to + me about P—, I will offer to subscribe twenty guineas towards making + a pastry-cook of him. He had a sweet tooth when he was a child. + </p> + <p> + So you are reading Burnet! Did you begin from the beginning? What do you + think of the old fellow? He was always a great favourite of mine; honest, + though careless; a strong party man on the right side, yet with much kind + feeling towards his opponents, and even towards his personal enemies. He + is to me a most entertaining writer; far superior to Clarendon in the art + of amusing, though of course far Clarendon's inferior in discernment, and + in dignity and correctness of style. Do you know, by the bye, Clarendon's + life of himself? I like it, the part after the Restoration at least, + better than his great History. + </p> + <p> + I am very quiet; rise at seven or half-past; read Spanish till ten; + breakfast; walk to my office; stay there till four; take a long walk, dine + towards seven; and am in bed before eleven. I am going through Don Quixote + again, and admire it more than ever. It is certainly the best novel in the + world, beyond all comparison. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: October 21, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Grant is here at last, and we have had a very long + talk about matters both public and private. The Government would support + my appointment; but he expects violent opposition from the Company. He + mentioned my name to the Chairs, and they were furious. They know that I + have been against them through the whole course of the negotiations which + resulted in the India Bill. They put their opposition on the ground of my + youth,—a very flattering objection to a man who this week completes + his thirty-third year. They spoke very highly of me in other respects; but + they seemed quite obstinate. + </p> + <p> + The question now is whether their opposition will be supported by the + other Directors. If it should be so, I have advised Grant most strongly to + withdraw my name, to put up some other man, and then to fight the battle + to the utmost. We shall be suspected of jobbing if we proceed to + extremities on behalf of one of ourselves; but we can do what we like, if + it is in favour of some person whom we cannot be suspected of supporting + from interested motives. From the extreme unreasonableness and pertinacity + which are discernible in every communication that we receive from the + India House at present, I am inclined to think that I have no chance of + being chosen by them, without a dispute in which I should not wish the + Government to engage for such a purpose. Lord Grey says that I have a + right to their support if I ask for it; but that, for the sake of his + administration generally, he is very adverse to my going. I do not think + that I shall go. However, a few days will decide the matter. + </p> + <p> + I have heard from Napier. He praises my article on Walpole in terms + absolutely extravagant. He says that it is the best that I ever wrote; + and, entre nous, I am not very far from agreeing with him. I am impatient + to have your opinion. No flattery pleases me so much as domestic flattery. + You will have the Number within the week. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + London: October 21, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—I am glad to learn that you like my article. I like it + myself; which is not much my habit. Very likely the public, which has + often been kinder to my performances than I was, may on this, as on other + occasions, differ from me in opinion. If the paper has any merit, it owes + it to the delay of which you must, I am sure, have complained very + bitterly in your heart. I was so thoroughly dissatisfied with the article, + as it stood at first, that I completely re-wrote it; altered the whole + arrangement; left out ten or twelve pages in one part; and added twice as + many in another. I never wrote anything so slowly as the first half, or so + rapidly as the last half. + </p> + <p> + You are in an error about Akenside, which I must clear up for his credit, + and for mine. You are confounding the Ode to Curio and the Epistle to + Curio. The latter is generally printed at the end of Akenside's works, and + is, I think, the best thing that he ever wrote. The Ode is worthless. It + is merely an abridgment of the Epistle executed in the most unskilful way. + Johnson says, in his Life of Akenside, that no poet ever so much mistook + his powers as Akenside when he took to lyric composition. "Having," I + think the words are, "written with great force and poignancy his Epistle + to Curio, he afterwards transformed it into an Ode only disgraceful to its + author." ["Akenside was one of the fiercest and the most uncompromising of + the young patriots out of Parliament. When he found that the change of + administration had produced no change of system, he gave vent to his + indignation in the 'Epistle to Curio,' the best poem that he ever wrote; a + poem, indeed, which seems to indicate that, if he had left lyrical + composition to Cray and Collins, and had employed his powers in grave and + elevated satire, he might have disputed the pre-eminence of Dryden." This + passage occurs in Macaulay's Essay on Horace Walpole. In the course of the + same Essay, Macaulay remarks that "Lord Chesterfield stands much lower in + the estimation of posterity than he would have done if his letters had + never been published."] + </p> + <p> + When I said that Chesterfield had lost by the publication of his letters, + I of course considered that he had much to lose; that he has left an + immense reputation, founded on the testimony of all his contemporaries of + all parties, for wit, taste, and eloquence; that what remains of his + Parliamentary oratory is superior to anything of that time that has come + down to us, except a little of Pitt's. The utmost that can be said of the + letters is that they are the letters of a cleverish man; and there are not + many which are entitled even to that praise. I think he would have stood + higher if we had been left to judge of his powers,—as we judge of + those of Chatham, Mansfield, Charles Townshend, and many others,—only + by tradition, and by fragments of speeches preserved in Parliamentary + reports. + </p> + <p> + I said nothing about Lord Byron's criticism on Walpole, because I thought + it, like most of his Lordship's criticism, below refutation. On the drama + Lord Byron wrote more nonsense than on any subject. He wanted to have + restored the unities. His practice proved as unsuccessful as his theory + was absurd. His admiration of the "Mysterious Mother" was of a piece with + his thinking Gifford, and Rogers, greater poets than Wordsworth, and + Coleridge. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + London: October 28, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—I wish to have Malkin as head of the Commission at + Canton, and Grant seems now to be strongly bent on the same plan. [Sir + Benjamin Malkin, a college friend of Macaulay, was afterwards a judge in + the Supreme Court at Calcutta.] Malkin is a man of singular temper, + judgment, and firmness of nerve. Danger and responsibility, instead of + agitating and confusing him, always bring out whatever there is in him. + This was the reason of his great success at Cambridge. He made a figure + there far beyond his learning or his talents, though both his learning and + his talents are highly respectable. But the moment that he sate down to be + examined, which is just the situation in which all other people, from + natural flurry, do worse than at other times, he began to do his very + best. His intellect became clearer, and his manner more quiet, than usual. + He is the very man to make up his mind in three minutes if the Viceroy of + Canton were in a rage, the mob bellowing round the doors of the factory, + and an English ship of war making preparations to bombard the town. + </p> + <p> + A propos of places, my father has been at me again about P—. Would + you think it? This lad has a hundred and twenty pounds a year for life! I + could not believe my ears; but so it is; and I, who have not a penny, with + half a dozen brothers and sisters as poor as myself, am to move heaven and + earth to push this boy who, as he is the silliest, is also, I think, the + richest relation that I have in the world. + </p> + <p> + I am to dine on Thursday with the Fishmongers' Company, the first company + for gourmandise in the world. Their magnificent Hall near London Bridge is + not yet built, but, as respects eating and drinking, I shall be no loser; + for we are to be entertained at the Albion Tavern. This is the first + dinner-party that I shall have been to for a long time. There is nobody in + town that I know except official men, and they have left their wives and + households in the country. I met Poodle Byng, it is true, the day before + yesterday in the street; and he begged me to make haste to Brooks's; for + Lord Essex was there, he said, whipping up for a dinner-party; cursing and + swearing at all his friends for being out of town; and wishing—what + an honour!—that Macaulay was in London. I preserved all the dignity + of a young lady in an affaire du coeur. "I shall not run after my Lord, I + assure you. If he wants me, he knows where he may hear of me." This nibble + is the nearest approach to a dinner-party that I have had. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: November 1, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—I have not much to add to what I told you yesterday; + but everything that I have to add looks one way. We have a new Chairman + and Deputy Chairman, both very strongly in my favour. Sharp, by whom I + sate yesterday at the Fishmongers' dinner, told me that my old enemy James + Mill had spoken to him on the subject. Mill is, as you have heard, at the + head of one of the principal departments of the India House. The late + Chairman consulted him about me; hoping, I suppose, to have his support + against me. Mill said, very handsomely, that he would advise the Company + to take me; for, as public men went, I was much above the average, and, if + they rejected me, he thought it very unlikely that they would get anybody + so fit. This is all the news that I have to give you. It is not much. But + I wish to keep you as fully informed of what is going on as I am myself. + </p> + <p> + Old Sharp told me that I was acting quite wisely, but that he should never + see me again; and he cried as he said it. [Mr. Sharp died in 1837, before + Macaulay's return from India.] I encouraged him; and told him that I hoped + to be in England again before the end of 1839, and that there was nothing + impossible in our meeting again. He cheered up after a time; told me that + he should correspond with me, and give me all the secret history both of + politics and of society; and promised to select the best books, and send + them regularly to me. + </p> + <p> + The Fishmongers' dinner was very good, but not so profusely splendid as I + had expected. There has been a change, I find, and not before it was + wanted. They had got at one time to dining at ten guineas a head. They + drank my health, and I harangued them with immense applause. I talked all + the evening to Sharp. I told him what a dear sister I had, and how readily + she had agreed to go with me. I had told Grant the same in the morning. + Both of them extolled my good fortune in having such a companion. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: November—, 1833. + </p> + <p> + Dear Hannah,—Things stand as they stood; except that the report of + my appointment is every day spreading more widely; and that I am beset by + advertising dealers begging leave to make up a hundred cotton shirts for + me, and fifty muslin gowns for you, and by clerks out of place begging to + be my secretaries. I am not in very high spirits to-day, as I have just + received a letter from poor Ellis, to whom I had not communicated my + intentions till yesterday. He writes so affectionately and so plaintively + that he quite cuts me to the heart. There are few indeed from whom I shall + part with so much pain; and he, poor fellow, says that, next to his wife, + I am the person for whom he feels the most thorough attachment, and in + whom he places the most unlimited confidence. + </p> + <p> + On the 11th of this month there is to be a dinner given to Lushington by + the electors of the Tower Hamlets. He has persecuted me with importunities + to attend, and make a speech for him; and my father has joined in the + request. It is enough, in these times, Heaven knows, for a man who + represents, as I do, a town of a hundred and twenty thousand people to + keep his own constituents in good humour; and the Spitalfields weavers, + and Whitechapel butchers, are nothing to me. But, ever since I succeeded + in what everybody allows to have been the most hazardous attempt of the + kind ever made,—I mean in persuading an audience of manufacturers, + all Whigs or Radicals, that the immediate alteration of the corn-laws was + impossible,—I have been considered as a capital physician for + desperate cases in politics. However,—to return from that delightful + theme, my own praises,—Lushington, who is not very popular with the + rabble of the Tower Hamlets, thinks that an oration from me would give him + a lift. I could not refuse him directly, backed as he was by my father. I + only said that I would attend if I were in London on the 11th; but I added + that, situated as I was, I thought it very probable that I should be out + of town. + </p> + <p> + I shall go to-night to Miss Berry's soiree. I do not know whether I told + you that she resented my article on Horace Walpole so much that Sir + Stratford Canning advised me not to go near her. She was Walpole's + greatest favourite. His Reminiscences are addressed to her in terms of the + most gallant eulogy. When he was dying at past eighty, he asked her to + marry him, merely that he might make her a Countess and leave her his + fortune. You know that in Vivian Grey she is called Miss Otranto. I always + expected that my article would put her into a passion, and I was not + mistaken; but she has come round again, and sent me a most pressing and + kind invitation the other day. + </p> + <p> + I have been racketing lately, having dined twice with Rogers, and once + with Grant. Lady Holland is in a most extraordinary state. She came to + Rogers's, with Allen, in so bad a humour that we were all forced to rally, + and make common cause against her. There was not a person at table to whom + she was not rude; and none of us were inclined to submit. Rogers sneered; + Sydney made merciless sport of her. Tom Moore looked excessively + impertinent; Bobus put her down with simple straightforward rudeness; and + I treated her with what I meant to be the coldest civility. Allen flew + into a rage with us all, and especially with Sydney, whose guffaws, as the + Scotch say, were indeed tremendous. When she and all the rest were gone, + Rogers made Tom Moore and me sit down with him for half an hour, and we + coshered over the events of the evening. Rogers said that he thought + Allen's firing up in defence of his patroness the best thing that he had + seen in him. No sooner had Tom and I got into the street than he broke + forth: "That such an old stager as Rogers should talk such nonsense, and + give Allen credit for attachment to anything but his dinner! Allen was + bursting with envy to see us so free, while he was conscious of his own + slavery." + </p> + <p> + Her Ladyship has been the better for this discipline. She has overwhelmed + me ever since with attentions and invitations. I have at last found out + the cause of her ill-humour, or at least of that portion of it of which I + was the object. She is in a rage at my article on Walpole, but at what + part of it I cannot tell. I know that she is very intimate with the + Waldegraves, to whom the manuscripts belong, and for whose benefit the + letters were published. But my review was surely not calculated to injure + the sale of the book. Lord Holland told me, in an aside, that he quite + agreed with me, but that we had better not discuss the subject. + </p> + <p> + A note; and, by my life, from my Lady Holland: "Dear Mr. Macaulay, pray + wrap yourself very warm, and come to us on Wednesday." No, my good Lady. I + am engaged on Wednesday to dine at the Albion Tavern with the Directors of + the East India Company; now my servants; next week, I hope, to be my + masters. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: November 22, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—The decision is postponed for a week; but there is + no chance of an unfavourable result. The Chairs have collected the + opinions of their brethren; and the result is, that, of the twenty-four + Directors, only six or seven at the most will vote against me. + </p> + <p> + I dined with the Directors on Wednesday at the Albion Tavern. We had a + company of about sixty persons, and many eminent military men amongst + them. The very courteous manner in which several of the Directors begged + to be introduced to me, and drank my health at dinner, led me to think + that the Chairs have not overstated the feeling of the Court. One of them, + an old Indian and a great friend of our uncle the General, told me in + plain words that he was glad to hear that I was to be in their service. + Another, whom I do not even know by sight, pressed the Chairman to propose + my health. The Chairman with great judgment refused. It would have been + very awkward to have had to make a speech to them in the present + circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Of course, my love, all your expenses, from the day of my appointment, are + my affair. My present plan, formed after conversation with experienced + East Indians, is not to burden myself with an extravagant outfit. I shall + take only what will be necessary for the voyage. Plate, wine, coaches, + furniture, glass, china, can be bought in Calcutta as well as in London. I + shall not have money enough to fit myself out handsomely with such things + here; and to fit myself out shabbily would be folly. I reckon that we can + bring our whole expense for the passage within the twelve hundred pounds + allowed by the Company. My calculation is that our cabins and board will + cost L250 apiece. The passage of our servants L50 apiece. That makes up + L600. My clothes and etceteras, as Mrs. Meeke observes, I will, I am quite + sure, come within L200. [Mrs. Meeke was his favourite among bad + novel-writers, See page 96.] Yours will, of course, be more. I will send + you L300 to lay out as you like; not meaning to confine you to it, by any + means; but you would probably prefer having a sum down to sending in your + milliner's bills to me. I reckon my servant's outfit at L50; your maid's + at as much more. The whole will be L1200. + </p> + <p> + One word about your maid. You really must choose with great caution. + Hitherto the Company has required that all ladies, who take maidservants + with them from this country to India, should give security to send them + back within two years. The reason was, that no class of people + misconducted themselves so much in the East as female servants from this + country. They generally treat the natives with gross insolence; an + insolence natural enough to people accustomed to stand in a subordinate + relation to others when, for the first time, they find a great population + placed in a servile relation towards them. Then, too, the state of society + is such that they are very likely to become mistresses of the wealthy + Europeans, and to flaunt about in magnificent palanquins, bringing + discredit on their country by the immorality of their lives and the + vulgarity of their manners. On these grounds the Company has hitherto + insisted upon their being sent back at the expense of those who take them + out. The late Act will enable your servant to stay in India, if she + chooses to stay. I hope, therefore, that you will be careful in your + selection. You see how much depends upon it. The happiness and concord of + our native household, which will probably consist of sixty or seventy + people, may be destroyed by her, if she should be ill-tempered and + arrogant. If she should be weak and vain, she will probably form + connections that will ruin her morals and her reputation. I am no + preacher, as you very well know; but I have a strong sense of the + responsibility under which we shall both lie with respect to a poor girl, + brought by us into the midst of temptations of which she cannot be aware, + and which have turned many heads that might have been steady enough in a + quiet nursery or kitchen in England. + </p> + <p> + To find a man and wife, both of whom would suit us, would be very + difficult; and I think it right, also, to offer to my clerk to keep him in + my service. He is honest, intelligent, and respectful; and, as he is + rather inclined to consumption, the change of climate would probably be + useful to him. I cannot bear the thought of throwing any person who has + been about me for five years, and with whom I have no fault to find, out + of bread, while it is in my power to retain his services. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: December 5, 1833 + </p> + <p> + Dear Lord Lansdowne,—I delayed returning an answer to your kind + letter till this day, in order that I might be able to send you definite + intelligence. Yesterday evening the Directors appointed me to a seat in + the Council of India. The votes were nineteen for me, and three against + me. + </p> + <p> + I feel that the sacrifice which I am about to make is great. But the + motives which urge me to make it are quite irresistible. Every day that I + live I become less and less desirous of great wealth. But every day makes + me more sensible of the importance of a competence. Without a competence + it is not very easy for a public man to be honest; it is almost impossible + for him to be thought so. I am so situated that I can subsist only in two + ways: by being in office, and by my pen. Hitherto, literature has been + merely my relaxation,—the amusement of perhaps a month in the year. + I have never considered it as the means of support. I have chosen my own + topics, taken my own time, and dictated my own terms. The thought of + becoming a bookseller's hack; of writing to relieve, not the fulness of + the mind, but the emptiness of the pocket; of spurring a jaded fancy to + reluctant exertion; of filling sheets with trash merely that the sheets + may be filled; of bearing from publishers and editors what Dryden bore + from Tonson, and what, to my own knowledge, Mackintosh bore from Lardner, + is horrible to me. Yet thus it must be, if I should quit office. Yet to + hold office merely for the sake of emolument would be more horrible still. + The situation, in which I have been placed for some time back, would have + broken the spirit of many men. It has rather tended to make me the most + mutinous and unmanageable of the followers of the Government. I tendered + my resignation twice during the course of the last Session. I certainly + should not have done so if I had been a man of fortune. You, whom + malevolence itself could never accuse of coveting office for the sake of + pecuniary gain, and whom your salary very poorly compensates for the + sacrifice of ease, and of your tastes, to the public service, cannot + estimate rightly the feelings of a man who knows that his circumstances + lay him open to the suspicion of being actuated in his public conduct by + the lowest motives. Once or twice, when I have been defending unpopular + measures in the House of Commons, that thought has disordered my ideas, + and deprived me of my presence of mind. + </p> + <p> + If this were all, I should feel that, for the sake of my own happiness and + of my public utility, a few years would be well spent in obtaining an + independence. But this is not all. I am not alone in the world. A family + which I love most fondly is dependent on me. Unless I would see my father + left in his old age to the charity of less near relations; my youngest + brother unable to obtain a good professional education; my sisters, who + are more to me than any sisters ever were to a brother, forced to turn + governesses or humble companions,—I must do something, I must make + some effort. An opportunity has offered itself. It is in my power to make + the last days of my father comfortable, to educate my brother, to provide + for my sisters, to procure a competence for myself. I may hope, by the + time I am thirty-nine or forty, to return to England with a fortune of + thirty thousand pounds. To me that would be affluence. I never wished for + more. + </p> + <p> + As far as English politics are concerned, I lose, it is true, a few years. + But, if your kindness had not introduced me very early to Parliament,—if + I had been left to climb up the regular path of my profession, and to rise + by my own efforts,—I should have had very little chance of being in + the House of Commons at forty. If I have gained any distinction in the + eyes of my countrymen,—if I have acquired any knowledge of + Parliamentary and official business, and any habitude for the management + of great affairs,—I ought to consider these things as clear gain. + </p> + <p> + Then, too, the years of my absence, though lost, as far as English + politics are concerned, will not, I hope, be wholly lost, as respects + either my own mind or the happiness of my fellow-creatures. I can scarcely + conceive a nobler field than that which our Indian Empire now presents to + a statesman. While some of my partial friends are blaming me for stooping + to accept a share in the government of that Empire, I am afraid that I am + aspiring too high for my qualifications. I sometimes feel, I most + unaffectedly declare, depressed and appalled by the immense responsibility + which I have undertaken. You are one of the very few public men of our + time who have bestowed on Indian affairs the attention which they deserve; + and you will therefore, I am sure, fully enter into my feelings. + </p> + <p> + And now, dear Lord Lansdowne, let me thank you most warmly for the kind + feeling which has dictated your letter. That letter is, indeed, but a very + small part of what I ought to thank you for. That at an early age I have + gained some credit in public life; that I have done some little service to + more than one good cause; that I now have it in my power to repair the + ruined fortunes of my family, and to save those who are dearest to me from + the misery and humiliation of dependence; that I am almost certain, if I + live, of obtaining a competence by honourable means before I am past the + full vigour of manhood,—this I owe to your kindness. I will say no + more. I will only entreat you to believe that neither now, nor on any + former occasion, have I ever said one thousandth part of what I feel. + </p> + <p> + If it will not be inconvenient to you, I propose to go to Bowood on + Wednesday next. Labouchere will be my fellow-traveller. On Saturday we + must both return to town. Short as my visit must be, I look forward to it + with great pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Believe me, ever, + </p> + <p> + Yours most faithfully and affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: December 5, 1833 + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am overwhelmed with business, clearing off my work + here, and preparing for my new functions. Plans of ships, and letters from + captains, pour in without intermission. I really am mobbed with gentlemen + begging to have the honour of taking me to India at my own time. The fact + is that a Member of Council is a great catch, not merely on account of the + high price which he directly pays for accommodation, but because other + people are attracted by him. Every father of a young writer, or a young + cadet, likes to have his son on board the same vessel with the great man, + to dine at the same table, and to have a chance of attracting his notice. + Everything in India is given by the Governor in Council; and, though I + have no direct voice in the disposal of patronage, my indirect influence + may be great. + </p> + <p> + Grant's kindness through all these negotiations has been such as I really + cannot describe. He told me yesterday, with tears in his eyes, that he did + not know what the Board would do without me. I attribute his feeling + partly to Robert Grant's absence; not that Robert ever did me ill offices + with him far from it; but Grant's is a mind that cannot stand alone. It is + begging your pardon for my want of gallantry, a feminine mind. It turns, + like ivy, to some support. When Robert is near him, he clings to Robert. + Robert being away, he clings to me. This may be a weakness in a public + man; but I love him the better for it. + </p> + <p> + I have lately met Sir James Graham at dinner. He took me aside, and talked + to me on my appointment with a warmth of kindness which, though we have + been always on good terms, surprised me. But the approach of a long + separation, like the approach of death, brings out all friendly feelings + with unusual strength. The Cabinet, he said, felt the loss strongly. It + was great at the India Board, but in the House of Commons, (he used the + word over and over,) "irreparable." They all, however, he said, agreed + that a man of honour could not make politics a profession unless he had a + competence of his own, without exposing himself to privation of the + severest kind. They felt that they had never had it in their power to do + all they wished to do for me. They had no means of giving me a provision + in England; and they could not refuse me what I asked in India. He said + very strongly that they all thought that I judged quite wisely; and added + that, if God heard his prayers, and spared my health, I should make a far + greater figure in public life than if I had remained during the next five + or six years in England. + </p> + <p> + I picked up in a print-shop the other day some superb views of the suburbs + of Chowringhee, and the villas of the Garden Reach. Selina professes that + she is ready to die with envy of the fine houses and verandahs. I heartily + wish we were back again in a nice plain brick house, three windows in + front, in Cadogan Place or Russell Square, with twelve or fifteen hundred + a year, and a spare bedroom,—(we, like Mrs. Norris, [A leading + personage in Miss Austen's "Mansfield Park."] must always have a spare + bedroom,)—for Edward and Margaret, Love to them both. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + London: December 5, 1833 + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—You are probably not unprepared for what I am about to + tell you. Yesterday evening the Directors of the East India Company + elected me one of the members of the Supreme Council. It will, therefore, + be necessary that in a few weeks,—ten weeks, at furthest,—I + should leave this country for a few years. + </p> + <p> + It would be mere affectation in me to pretend not to know that my support + is of some importance to the Edinburgh Review. In the situation in which I + shall now be placed, a connection with the Review will be of some + importance to me. I know well how dangerous it is for a public man wholly + to withdraw himself from the public eye. During an absence of six years, I + run some risk of losing most of the distinction, literary and political, + which I have acquired. As a means of keeping myself in the recollection of + my countrymen during my sojourn abroad the Review will be invaluable to + me; nor do I foresee that there will be the slightest difficulty in my + continuing to write for you at least as much as ever. I have thought over + my late articles, and I really can scarcely call to mind a single sentence + in any one of them which might not have been written at Calcutta as easily + as in London. Perhaps in India I might not have the means of detecting two + or three of the false dates in Croker's Boswell. But that would have been + all. Very little, if any, of the effect of my most popular articles is + produced either by minute research into rare books, or by allusions to + mere topics of the day. + </p> + <p> + I think therefore that we might easily establish a commerce mutually + beneficial. I shall wish to be supplied with all the good books which come + out in this part of the world. Indeed, many books which in themselves are + of little value, and which, if I were in England, I should not think it + worth while to read, will be interesting to me in India; just as the + commonest daubs, and the rudest vessels, at Pompeii attract the minute + attention of people who would not move their eyes to see a modern + signpost, or a modern kettle. Distance of place, like distance of time, + makes trifles valuable. + </p> + <p> + What I propose, then, is that you should pay me for the articles which I + may send you from India, not in money, but in books. As to the amount I + make no stipulations. You know that I have never haggled about such + matters. As to the choice of books, the mode of transmission, and other + matters, we shall have ample time to discuss them before my departure. Let + me know whether you are willing to make an arrangement on this basis. + </p> + <p> + I have not forgotten Chatham in the midst of my avocations. I hope to send + you an article on him early next week. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours sincerely + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + From the Right Hon. Francis Jeffrey to Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + 24, Moray Place Saturday evening, December + </p> + <p> + My dear Napier,—I am very much obliged to you for the permission to + read this. It is to me, I will confess, a solemn and melancholy + announcement. I ought not, perhaps, so to consider it. But I cannot help + it. I was not prepared for six years, and I must still hope that it will + not be so much. At my age, and with that climate for him, the chances of + our ever meeting again are terribly endangered by such a term. He does not + know the extent of the damage which his secession may be to the great + cause of Liberal government. His anticipations and offers about the Review + are generous and pleasing, and must be peculiarly gratifying to you. I + think, if you can, you should try to see him before he goes, and I envy + you the meeting. + </p> + <p> + Ever very faithfully yours + </p> + <p> + F. JEFFREY. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: December 21, 1833. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—Yesterday I dined at Boddington's. We had a very + agreeable party: Duncannon, Charles Grant, Sharp, Chantrey the sculptor, + Bobus Smith, and James Mill. Mill and I were extremely friendly, and I + found him a very pleasant companion, and a man of more general information + than I had imagined. + </p> + <p> + Bobus was very amusing. He is a great authority on Indian matters. He was + during several years Advocate-General in Bengal, and made all his large + fortune there. I asked him about the climate. Nothing, he said, could be + pleasanter, except in August and September. He never ate or drank so much + in his life. Indeed, his looks do credit to Bengal; for a healthier man of + his age I never saw. We talked about expenses. "I cannot conceive," he + said, "how anybody at Calcutta can live on less than L3,000 a year, or can + contrive to spend more than L4,000." We talked of the insects and snakes, + and he said a thing which reminded me of his brother Sydney: "Always, Sir, + manage to have at your table some fleshy, blooming, young writer or cadet, + just come out; that the musquitoes may stick to him, and leave the rest of + the company alone." + </p> + <p> + I have been with George Babington to the Asia. We saw her to every + disadvantage, all litter and confusion; but she is a fine ship, and our + cabins will be very good. The captain I like much. He is an agreeable, + intelligent, polished man of forty; and very good-looking, considering + what storms and changes of climate he has gone through. He advised me + strongly to put little furniture into our cabins. I told him to have yours + made as neat as possible, without regard to expense. He has promised to + have it furnished simply, but prettily; and when you see it, if any + addition occurs to you, it shall be made. I shall spare nothing to make a + pretty little boudoir for you. You cannot think how my friends here praise + you. You are quite Sir James Graham's heroine. + </p> + <p> + To-day I breakfasted with Sharp, whose kindness is as warm as possible. + Indeed, all my friends seen to be in the most amiable mood. I have twice + as many invitations as I can accept; and I have been frequently begged to + name my own party. Empty as London is, I never was so much beset with + invitations. Sharp asked me about you. I told him how much I regretted my + never having had any opportunity of showing you the best part of London + society. He said that he would take care that you should see what was best + worth seeing before your departure. He promises to give us a few + breakfast-parties and dinner-parties, where you will meet as many as he + can muster of the best set in town,—Rogers, Luttrell, Rice, Tom + Moore, Sydney Smith, Grant, and other great wits and politicians. I am + quite delighted at this; both because you will, I am sure, be amused, and + pleased, at a time when you ought to have your mind occupied, and because + even to have mixed a little in a circle so brilliant will be of advantage + to you in India. You have neglected, and very rightly and sensibly, + frivolous accomplishments; you have not been at places of fashionable + diversion; and it is, therefore, the more desirable that you should appear + among the dancing, pianoforte-playing, opera-going, damsels at Calcutta as + one who has seen society better than any that they ever approached. I hope + that you will not disapprove of what I have done. I accepted Sharp's offer + for you eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: January 2, 1834. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am busy with an article for Napier. [The first + article on Lord Chatham.] I cannot in the least tell at present whether I + shall like it or not. I proceed with great ease; and in general I have + found that the success of my writings has been in proportion to the ease + with which they have been written. + </p> + <p> + I had a most extraordinary scene with Lady Holland. If she had been as + young and handsome as she was thirty years ago, she would have turned my + head. She was quite hysterical about my going; paid me such compliments as + I cannot repeat; cried; raved; called me dear, dear Macaulay. "You are + sacrificed to your family. I see it all. You are too good to them. They + are always making a tool of you; last Session about the slaves; and now + sending you to India!" I always do my best to keep my temper with Lady + Holland for three reasons; because she is a woman; because she is very + unhappy in her health, and in the circumstances of her position; and + because she has a real kindness for me. But at last she said something + about you. This was too much, and I was beginning to answer her in a voice + trembling with anger, when she broke out again: "I beg your pardon. Pray + forgive me, dear Macaulay. I was very impertinent. I know you will forgive + me. Nobody has such a temper as you. I have said so a hundred times. I + said so to Allen only this morning. I am sure you will bear with my + weakness. I shall never see you again;" and she cried, and I cooled; for + it would have been to very little purpose to be angry with her. I hear + that it is not to me alone that she runs on in this way. She storms at the + Ministers for letting me go. I was told that at one dinner she became so + violent that even Lord Holland, whose temper, whatever his wife may say, + is much cooler than mine, could not command himself, and broke out: "Don't + talk such nonsense, my Lady. What, the devil! Can we tell a gentleman who + has a claim upon us that he must lose his only chance of getting an + independence in order that he may come and talk to you in an evening?" + </p> + <p> + Good-bye, and take care not to become so fond of your own will as my Lady. + It is now my duty to omit no opportunity of giving you wholesome advice. I + am henceforward your sole guardian. I have bought Gisborne's Duties of + Women, Moore's Fables for the Female Sex, Mrs. King's Female Scripture + Characters, and Fordyce's Sermons. With the help of these books I hope to + keep my responsibility in order on our voyage, and in India. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Hannah M. Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + London: January 4, 1834. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sister,—I am now buying books; not trashy books which will + only bear one reading; but good books for a library. I have my eye on all + the bookstalls; and I shall no longer suffer you, when we walk together in + London, to drag me past them as you used to do. Pray make out a list of + any which you would like to have. The provision which I design for the + voyage is Richardson, Voltaire's works, Gibbon, Sismondi's History of the + French, Davila, the Orlando in Italian, Don Quixote in Spanish, Homer in + Greek, Horace in Latin. I must also have some books of jurisprudence, and + some to initiate me in Persian and Hindostanee. Shall I buy "Dunallan" for + you? I believe that in your eyes it would stand in the place of all the + rest together. But, seriously, let me know what you would like me to + procure. + </p> + <p> + Ellis is making a little collection of Greek classics for me. Sharp has + given me one or two very rare and pretty books, which I much wanted. All + the Edinburgh Reviews are being bound, so that we shall have a complete + set, up to the forth coming number, which will contain an article of mine + on Chatham. And this reminds me that I must give over writing to you, and + fall to my article. I rather think that it will be a good one. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + London: February 13, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—It is true that I have been severely tried by + ill-health during the last few weeks; but I am now rapidly recovering, and + am assured by all my medical advisers that a week of the sea will make me + better than ever I was in my life. + </p> + <p> + I have several subjects in my head. One is Mackintosh's History; I mean + the fragment of the large work. Another plan which I have is a very fine + one, if it could be well executed. I think that the time is come when a + fair estimate may be formed of the intellectual and moral character of + Voltaire. The extreme veneration, with which he was regarded during his + lifetime, has passed away; the violent reaction, which followed, has spent + itself; and the world can now, I think, bear to hear the truth, and to see + the man exhibited as he was,—a strange mixture of greatness and + littleness, virtues and vices. I have all his works, and shall take them + in my cabin on the voyage. But my library is not particularly rich in + those books which illustrate the literary history of his times. I have + Rousseau, and Marmontel's Memoirs, and Madame du Deffand's Letters, and + perhaps a few other works which would be of use. But Grimm's + Correspondence, and several other volumes of memoirs and letters, would be + necessary. If you would make a small collection of the works which would + be most useful in this point of view, and send it after me as soon as + possible, I will do my best to draw a good Voltaire. I fear that the + article must be enormously long,—seventy pages perhaps;—but + you know that I do not run into unnecessary lengths. + </p> + <p> + I may perhaps try my hand on Miss Austen's novels. That is a subject on + which I shall require no assistance from books. + </p> + <p> + Whatever volumes you may send me ought to be half bound; or the white ants + will devour them before they have been three days on shore. Besides the + books which may be necessary for the Review, I should like to have any + work of very striking merit which may appear during my absence. The + particular department of literature which interests me most is history; + above all, English history. Any valuable book on that subject I should + wish to possess. Sharp, Miss Berry, and some of my other friends, will + perhaps, now and then, suggest a book to you. But it is principally on + your own judgment that I must rely to keep me well supplied. + </p> + <p> + Yours most truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + On the 4th of February Macaulay bade farewell to his electors, in an + address which the Leeds Tories probably thought too high-flown for the + occasion. ["If, now that I have ceased to be your servant, and am only + your sincere and grateful friend, I may presume to offer you advice which + must, at least, be allowed to be disinterested, I would say to you: Act + towards your future representatives as you have acted towards me. Choose + them, as you chose me, without canvassing and without expense. Encourage + them, as you encouraged me, always to speak to you fearlessly and plainly. + Reject, as you have hitherto rejected, the wages of dishonour. Defy, as + you have hitherto defied, the threats of petty tyrants. Never forget that + the worst and most degrading species of corruption is the corruption which + operates, not by hopes, but by fears. Cherish those noble and virtuous + principles for which we have struggled and triumphed together—the + principles of liberty and toleration, of justice and order. Support, as + you have steadily supported, the cause of good government; and may all the + blessings which are the natural fruits of good government descend upon you + and be multiplied to you an hundredfold! May your manufactures flourish; + may your trade be extended; may your riches increase! May the works of + your skill, and the signs of your prosperity, meet me in the furthest + regions of the East, and give me fresh cause to be proud of the + intelligence, the industry, and the spirit of my constituents!"] But he + had not yet done with the House of Commons. Parliament met on the first + Tuesday in the month; and, on the Wednesday, O'Connell, who had already + contrived to make two speeches since the Session began, rose for a third + time to call attention to words uttered during the recess by Mr. Hill, the + Member for Hull. That gentleman, for want of something better to say to + his constituents, had told them that he happened to know "that an Irish + Member, who spoke with great violence against every part of the Coercion + Bill, and voted against every clause of it, went to Ministers and said: + 'Don't bate a single atom of that Bill, or it will be impossible for any + man to live in Ireland."' O'Connell called upon Lord Althorp, as the + representative of the Government, to say what truth there was in this + statement. Lord Althorp, taken by surprise, acted upon the impulse of the + moment, which in his case was a feeling of reluctance to throw over poor + Mr. Hill to be bullied by O'Connell and his redoubtable tail. After + explaining that no set and deliberate communication of the nature + mentioned had been made to the Ministers, his Lordship went on to say that + he "should not act properly if he did not declare that he had good reason + to believe that some Irish Members did, in private conversation, use very + different language" from what they had employed in public. + </p> + <p> + It was chivalrously, but most unwisely, spoken. O'Connell at once gave the + cue by inquiring whether he himself was among the Members referred to, and + Lord Althorp assured him that such was not the case. The Speaker tried to + interfere; but the matter had gone too far. One Irish representative after + another jumped up to repeat the same question with regard to his own case, + and received the same answer. At length Sheil rose, and asked whether he + was one of the Members to whole the Noble Lord had alluded. Lord Althorp + replied: "Yes. The honourable and learned gentleman is one." Sheil, "in + the face of his country, and the presence of his God," asserted that the + individual who had given any such information to the Noble Lord was guilty + of a "gross and scandalous calumny," and added that he understood the + Noble Lord to have made himself responsible for the imputation. Then + ensued one of those scenes in which the House of Commons appears at its + very worst. All the busybodies, as their manner is, rushed to the front; + and hour after hour slipped away in an unseemly, intricate, and apparently + interminable wrangle. Sheil was duly called upon to give an assurance that + the affair should not be carried beyond the walls of the House. He refused + to comply, and was committed to the charge of the Sergeant at Arms. The + Speaker then turned to Lord Althorp, who promised in Parliamentary + language not to send a challenge. Upon this, as is graphically enough + described in the conventional terms of Hansard, "Mr O'Connell made some + observation to the honourable Member sitting next him which was not heard + in the body of the House. Lord Althorp immediately rose, and amid loud + cheers, and with considerable warmth, demanded to know what the honourable + and learned gentleman meant by his gesticulation;" and then, after an + explanation from O'Connell, his Lordship went on to use phrases which very + clearly signified that, though he had no cause for sending a challenge, he + had just as little intention of declining one; upon which he likewise was + made over to the Sergeant. Before, however, honourable Members went to + their dinners, they had the relief of learning that their refractory + colleagues had submitted to the Speaker's authority, and had been + discharged from custody. + </p> + <p> + There was only one way out of the difficulty. On the 10th of February a + Committee of Investigation was appointed, composed of Members who enjoyed + a special reputation for discretion. Mr. Hill called his witnesses. The + first had nothing relevant to tell. Macaulay was the second; and he + forthwith cut the matter short by declaring that, on principle, he refused + to disclose what had passed in private conversation; a sentiment which was + actually cheered by the Committee. One sentence of common sense brought + the absurd embroilment to a rational conclusion. Mr. Hill saw his mistake; + begged that no further evidence might be taken; and, at the next sitting + of the House, withdrew his charge in unqualified terms of self-abasement + and remorse. Lord Althorp readily admitted that he had acted "imprudently + as a man, and still more imprudently as a Minister," and stated that he + considered himself bound to accept Sheil's denial; but he could not manage + so to frame his remarks as to convey to his hearers the idea that his + opinion of that honourable gentleman had been raised by the transaction. + Sheil acknowledged the two apologies with effusion proportioned to their + respective value; and so ended an affair which, at the worst, had evoked a + fresh proof of that ingrained sincerity of character for the sake of which + his party would have followed Lord Althorp to the death. [In Macaulay's + journal for June 4, 1851, we read: "I went to breakfast with the Bishop of + Oxford, and there learned that Sheil was dead. Poor fellow! We talked + about Sheil, and I related my adventure of February 1834. Odd that it + should have been so little known or so completely forgotten!"] + </p> + <p> + Gravesend: February 15, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dear Lord Lansdowne,—I had hoped that it would have been in my power + to shake hands with you once more before my departure; but this deplorably + absurd affair in the House of Commons has prevented me from calling on + you. I lost a whole day while the Committee were deciding whether I + should, or should not, be forced to repeat all the foolish, shabby, things + that I had heard Sheil say at Brooks's. Everybody thought me right, as I + certainly was. + </p> + <p> + I cannot leave England without sending a few lines to you,—and yet + they are needless. It is unnecessary for me to say with what feelings I + shall always remember our connection, and with what interest I shall + always learn tidings of you and of your family. + </p> + <p> + Yours most sincerely + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. 1834-1838. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The outward voyage—Arrival at Madras—Macaulay is summoned + to join Lord William Bentinck in the Neilgherries—His + journey up-country—His native servant—Arcot—Bangalore— + Seringapatam—Ascent of the Neilgherries—First sight of the + Governor-General—Letters to Mr. Ellis, and the Miss + Macaulays—A summer on the Neilgherries—Native Christians— + Clarissa—A tragi-comedy—Macaulay leaves the Neilgherries, + travels to Calcutta, and there sets up house—Letters to Mr. + Napier, and Mrs. Cropper—Mr. Trevelyan—Marriage of Hannah + Macaulay—Death of Mrs. Cropper—Macaulay's work in India— + His Minutes for Council—Freedom of the Press—Literary + gratitude—Second Minute on the Freedom of the Press—The + Black Act—A Calcutta public meeting—Macaulay's defence of + the policy of the Indian Government—His Minute on + Education—He becomes President of the Committee of Public + Instruction—His industry in discharging the functions of + that post—Specimens of his official writing—Results of his + labours—He is appointed President of the Law Commission, + and recommends the framing of a Criminal Code—Appearance of + the Code—Comments of Mr. Fitzjames Stephen—Macaulay's + private life in India—Oriental delicacies—Breakfast- + parties—Macaulay's longing for England—Calcutta and + Dublin—Departure from India—Letters to Mr. Ellis, Mr. + Sharp, Mr. Napier, and Mr. Z. Macaulay. +</pre> + <p> + FROM the moment that a deputation of Falmouth Whigs, headed by their + Mayor, came on board to wish Macaulay his health in India and a happy + return to England, nothing occurred that broke the monotony of an easy and + rapid voyage. "The catching of a shark; the shooting of an albatross; a + sailor tumbling down the hatchway and breaking his head; a cadet getting + drunk and swearing at the captain," are incidents to which not even the + highest literary power can impart the charm of novelty in the eyes of the + readers of a seafaring nation. The company on the quarterdeck was much on + a level with the average society of an East Indiaman. "Hannah will give + you the histories of all these good people at length, I dare say, for she + was extremely social; danced with the gentlemen in the evenings, and read + novels and sermons with the ladies in the mornings. I contented myself + with being very civil whenever I was with the other passengers, and took + care to be with them as little as I could. Except at meals, I hardly + exchanged a word with any human being. I never was left for so long a time + so completely to my own resources; and I am glad to say that I found them + quite sufficient to keep me cheerful and employed. During the whole voyage + I read with keen and increasing enjoyment. I devoured Greek, Latin, + Spanish, Italian, French, and English; folios, quartos, octavos, and + duodecimos." + </p> + <p> + On the 10th of June the vessel lay to off Madras; and Macaulay had his + first introduction to the people for whom he was appointed to legislate in + the person of a boatman who pulled through the surf on his raft. "He came + on board with nothing on him but a pointed yellow cap, and walked among us + with a self-possession and civility which, coupled with his colour and his + nakedness, nearly made me die of laughing." This gentleman was soon + followed by more responsible messengers, who brought tidings the reverse + of welcome. Lord William Bentinck, who was then Governor-General, was + detained by ill-health at Ootacamund in the Neilgherry Hills; a place + which, by name at least, is now as familiar to Englishmen as Malvern; but + which in 1834 was known to Macaulay, by vague report, as situated + somewhere "in the mountains of Malabar, beyond Mysore." The state of + public business rendered it necessary that the Council should meet; and, + as the Governor-General had left one member of that body in Bengal as his + deputy, he was not able to make a quorum until his new colleague arrived + from England. A pressing summons to attend his Lordship in the Hills + placed Macaulay in some embarrassment on account of his sister, who could + not with safety commence her Eastern experiences by a journey of four + hundred miles up the country in the middle of June. Happily the second + letter which he opened proved to be from Bishop Wilson, who insisted that + the son and daughter of so eminent an Evangelical as the Editor of the + Christian Observer, themselves part of his old congregation in Bedford + Row, should begin their Indian life nowhere except under his roof. Hannah, + accordingly, continued her voyage, and made her appearance in Calcutta + circles with the Bishop's Palace as a home, and Lady William Bentinck as a + kind, and soon an affectionate, chaperon; while her brother remained on + shore at Madras, somewhat consoled for the separation by finding himself + in a country where so much was to be seen, and where, as far as the + English residents were concerned, he was regarded with a curiosity at + least equal to his own. + </p> + <p> + During the first few weeks nothing came amiss to him. "To be on land after + three months at sea is of itself a great change. But to be in such a land! + The dark faces, with white turbans, and flowing robes; the trees not our + trees; the very smell of the atmosphere that of a hothouse, and the + architecture as strange as the vegetation." Every feature in that + marvellous scene delighted him both in itself, and for the sake of the + innumerable associations and images which it conjured up in his active and + well-stored mind. The salute of fifteen guns that greeted him, as he set + his foot on the beach, reminded him that he was in a region where his + countrymen could exist only on the condition of their being warriors and + rulers. When on a visit of ceremony to a dispossessed Rajah or Nabob, he + pleased himself with the reflection that he was face to face with a prince + who in old days governed a province as large as a first-class European + kingdom, conceding to his Suzerain, the Mogul, no tribute beyond "a little + outward respect such as the great Dukes of Burgundy used to pay to the + Kings of France; and who now enjoyed the splendid and luxurious + insignificance of an abdicated prince which fell to the lot of Charles the + Fifth or Queen Christina of Sweden," with a court that preserved the forms + of royalty, the right of keeping as many badly armed and worse paid + ragamuffins as he could retain under his tawdry standard, and the + privilege of "occasionally sending letters of condolence and + congratulation to the King of England, in which he calls himself his + Majesty's good brother and ally." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay set forth on his journey within a week from his landing, + travelling by night, and resting while the sun was at its hottest. He has + recorded his first impressions of Hindostan in a series of journal letters + addressed to his sister Margaret. The fresh and vivid character of those + impressions—the genuine and multiform interest excited in him by all + that met his ear or eye—explain the secret of the charm which + enabled him in after days to overcome the distaste for Indian literature + entertained by that personage who, for want of a better, goes by the name + of the general reader. Macaulay reversed in his own case, the experience + of those countless writers on Indian themes who have successively blunted + their pens against the passive indifference of the British public; for his + faithful but brilliant studies of the history of our Eastern Empire are to + this day incomparably the most popular of his works. [When published in a + separate form the articles on Lord Clive and Warren Hastings have sold + nearly twice as well as the articles on Lord Chatham, nearly thrice as + well as the article on Addison, and nearly five times as well as the + article on Byron. The great Sepoy mutiny, while it something more than + doubled the sale of the essay on Warren Hastings, all but trebled the sale + of the essay on Lord Clive; but, taking the last twenty years together, + there has been little to choose between the pair. The steadiness and + permanence of the favour with which they are regarded may be estimated by + the fact that, during the five years between 1870 and 1874, as compared + with the five years between 1865 and 1869, the demand for them has been in + the proportion of seven to three; and, as compared with the five years + between 1860 and 1864, in the proportion of three to one.] It may be + possible, without injury to the fame of the author, to present a few + extracts from a correspondence, which is in some sort the raw material of + productions that have already secured their place among our national + classics: + </p> + <p> + "In the afternoon of the 17th June I left Madras. My train consisted of + thirty-eight persons. I was in one palanquin, and my servant followed in + another. He is a half-caste. On the day on which we set out he told me he + was a Catholic; and added, crossing himself and turning up the whites of + his eyes, that he had recommended himself to the protection of his patron + saint, and that he was quite confident that we should perform our journey + in safety. I thought of Ambrose Llamela, Gil Blas's devout valet, who + arranges a scheme for robbing his master of his portmanteau, and, when he + comes back from meeting his accomplices, pretends that he has been to the + cathedral to implore a blessing on their voyage. I did him, however, a + great injustice; for I have found him a very honest man, who knows the + native languages, and who can dispute a charge, bully a negligent bearer, + arrange a bed, and make a curry. But he is so fond of giving advice that I + fear he will some day or other, as the Scotch say, raise my corruption, + and provoke me to send him about his business. His name, which I never + hear without laughing, is Peter Prim. + </p> + <p> + "Half my journey was by daylight, and all that I saw during that time + disappointed me grievously. It is amazing how small a part of the country + is under cultivation. Two-thirds at least, as it seemed to me, was in the + state of Wandsworth Common, or, to use an illustration which you will + understand better, of Chatmoss. The people whom we met were as few as in + the Highlands of Scotland. But I have been told that in India the villages + generally lie at a distance from the roads, and that much of the land, + which when I passed through it looked like parched moor that had never + been cultivated, would after the rains be covered with rice." + </p> + <p> + After traversing this landscape for fifteen hours he reached the town of + Arcot, which, under his handling, was to be celebrated far and wide as the + cradle of our greatness in the East. + </p> + <p> + "I was most hospitably received by Captain Smith, who commanded the + garrison. After dinner the palanquins went forward with my servant, and + the Captain and I took a ride to see the lions of the neighbourhood. He + mounted me on a very quiet Arab, and I had a pleasant excursion. We passed + through a garden which was attached to the residence of the Nabob of the + Carnatic, who anciently held his court at Arcot. The garden has been + suffered to run to waste, and is only the more beautiful for having been + neglected. Garden, indeed, is hardly a proper word. In England it would + rank as one of our noblest parks, from which it differs principally in + this, that most of the fine trees are fruit trees. From this we came to a + mountain pass which reminded me strongly of Borradaile, near Derwentwater, + and through this defile we struck into the road, and rejoined the + bearers." + </p> + <p> + And so he went forward on his way, recalling at every step the + reminiscence of some place, or event, or person; and, thereby, doubling + for himself, and perhaps for his correspondent, the pleasure which the + reality was capable of affording. If he put up at a collector's bungalow, + he liked to think that his host ruled more absolutely and over a larger + population than "a Duke of Saxe-Weimar or a Duke of Lucca;" and, when he + came across a military man with a turn for reading, he pronounced him "as + Dominic Sampson said of another Indian Colonel, 'a man of great erudition, + considering his imperfect opportunities.'" + </p> + <p> + On the 19th of June he crossed the frontier of Mysore; reached Bangalore + on the morning of the 20th and rested there for three days in the house of + the Commandant. + </p> + <p> + "On Monday, the 23rd, I took leave of Colonel Cubbon, who told me, with a + warmth which I was vain enough to think sincere, that he had not passed + three such pleasant days for thirty years. I went on all night, sleeping + soundly in my palanquin. At five I was waked, and found that a carriage + was waiting for me. I had told Colonel Cubbon that I very much wished to + see Seringapatam. He had written to the British authorities at the town of + Mysore, and an officer had come from the Residency to show me all that was + to be seen. I must now digress into Indian politics; and let me tell you + that, if you read the little that I shall say about them, you will know + more on the subject than half the members of the Cabinet." + </p> + <p> + After a few pages occupied by a sketch of the history of Mysore during the + preceding century, Macaulay proceeds + </p> + <p> + "Seringapatam has always been a place of peculiar interest to me. It was + the scene of the greatest events of Indian history. It was the residence + of the greatest of Indian princes. From a child, I used to hear it talked + of every day. Our uncle Colin was imprisoned there for four years, and he + was afterwards distinguished at the siege. I remember that there was, in a + shop-window at Clapham, a daub of the taking of Seringapatam, which, as a + boy, I often used to stare at with the greatest interest. I was delighted + to have an opportunity of seeing the place; and, though my expectations + were high, they were not disappointed. + </p> + <p> + "The town is depopulated; but the fortress, which was one of the strongest + in India, remains entire. A river almost as broad as the Thames at Chelsea + breaks into two branches, and surrounds the walls, above which are seen + the white minarets of a mosque. We entered, and found everything silent + and desolate. The mosque, indeed, is still kept up, and deserves to be so; + but the palace of Tippoo has fallen into utter ruin. I saw, however, with + no small interest, the airholes of the dungeon in which the English + prisoners were confined, and the water-gate leading down to the river + where the body of Tippoo was found still warm by the Duke of Wellington, + then Colonel Wellesley. The exact spot through which the English soldiers + fought their way against desperate disadvantages into the fort is still + perfectly discernible. But, though only thirty-five years have elapsed + since the fall of the city, the palace is in the condition of Tintern + Abbey and Melrose Abbey. The courts, which bear a great resemblance to + those of the Oxford Colleges, are completely overrun with weeds and + flowers. The Hall of Audience, once considered the finest in India, still + retains some very faint traces of its old magnificence. It is supported on + a great number of light and lofty wooden pillars, resting on pedestals of + black granite. These pillars were formerly covered with gilding, and here + and there the glitter may still be perceived. In a few more years not the + smallest trace of this superb chamber will remain. I am surprised that + more care was not taken by the English to preserve so splendid a memorial + of the greatness of him whom they had conquered. It was not like Lord + Wellesley's general mode of proceeding; and I soon saw a proof of his + taste and liberality. Tippoo raised a most sumptuous mausoleum to his + father, and attached to it a mosque which he endowed. The buildings are + carefully maintained at the expense of our Government. You walk up from + the fort through a narrow path, bordered by flower beds and cypresses, to + the front of the mausoleum, which is very beautiful, and in general + character closely resembles the most richly carved of our small Gothic + chapels. Within are three tombs, all covered with magnificent palls + embroidered in gold with verses from the Koran. In the centre lies Hyder; + on his right the mother of Tippoo; and Tippoo himself on the left." + </p> + <p> + During his stay at Mysore, Macaulay had an interview with the deposed + Rajah; whose appearance, conversation, palace, furniture, jewels, + soldiers, elephants, courtiers, and idols, he depicts in a letter, + intended for family perusal, with a minuteness that would qualify him for + an Anglo-Indian Richardson. By the evening of the 24th June he was once + more on the road; and, about noon on the following day, he began to ascend + the Neilgherries, through scenery which, for the benefit of readers who + had never seen the Pyrenees or the Italian slopes of an Alpine pass, he + likened to "the vegetation of Windsor Forest, or Blenheim, spread over the + mountains of Cumberland." After reaching the summit of the table-land, he + passed through a wilderness where for eighteen miles together he met + nothing more human than a monkey, until a turn of the road disclosed the + pleasant surprise of an amphitheatre of green hills encircling a small + lake, whose banks were dotted with red-tiled cottages surrounding a pretty + Gothic church. The whole station presented "very much the look of a rising + English watering-place. The largest house is occupied by the + Governor-General. It is a spacious and handsome building of stone. To this + I was carried, and immediately ushered into his Lordship's presence. I + found him sitting by a fire in a carpeted library. He received me with the + greatest kindness, frankness, and hospitality. He is, as far as I can yet + judge, all that I have heard; that is to say, rectitude, openness, and + good-nature, personified." Many months of close friendship and common + labours did but confirm Macaulay in this first view of Lord William + Bentinck. His estimate of that singularly noble character survives in the + closing sentence of the essay on Lord Clive; and is inscribed on the base + of the statue which, standing in front of the Town Hall may be seen far + and wide over the great expanse of grass that serves as the park, the + parade-ground, and the race-course of Calcutta. + </p> + <p> + To Thomas Flower Ellis. + </p> + <p> + Ootacamund: July 1, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—You need not get your map to see where Ootacamund is; + for it has not found its way into the maps. It is a new discovery; a place + to which Europeans resort for their health, or, as it is called by the + Company's servants—blessings on their learning,—a <i>sanaterion</i>. + It lies at the height of 7,000 feet above the sea. + </p> + <p> + While London is a perfect gridiron, here am I, at 13 degrees North from + the equator, by a blazing wood fire, with my windows closed. My bed is + heaped with blankets, and my black servants are coughing round me in all + directions. One poor fellow in particular looks so miserably cold that, + unless the sun comes out, I am likely soon to see under my own roof the + spectacle which, according to Shakespeare, is so interesting to the + English,—a dead Indian. [The Tempest, act ii. scene 2.] + </p> + <p> + I travelled the whole four hundred miles between this and Madras on men's + shoulders. I had an agreeable journey on the whole. I was honoured by an + interview with the Rajah of Mysore, who insisted on showing me all his + wardrobe, and his picture gallery. He has six or seven coloured English + prints, not much inferior to those which I have seen in the sanded parlour + of a country inn; "Going to Cover," "The Death of the Fox," and so forth. + But the bijou of his gallery, of which he is as vain as the Grand Duke can + be of the Venus, or Lord Carlisle of the Three Maries, is a head of the + Duke of Wellington, which has, most certainly, been on a sign-post in + England. + </p> + <p> + Yet, after all, the Rajah was by no means the greatest fool whom I found + at Mysore. I alighted at a bungalow appertaining to the British Residency. + There I found an Englishman who, without any preface, accosted me thus: + "Pray, Mr. Macaulay, do not you think that Buonaparte was the Beast?" "No, + Sir, I cannot say that I do." "Sir, he was the Beast. I can prove it. I + have found the number 666 in his name. Why, Sir, if he was not the Beast, + who was?" This was a puzzling question, and I am not a little vain of my + answer. "Sir," said I, "the House of Commons is the Beast. There are 658 + members of the House; and these, with their chief officers,—the + three clerks, the Sergeant and his deputy, the Chaplain, the doorkeeper, + and the librarian,—make 666." "Well, Sir, that is strange. But I can + assure you that, if you write Napoleon Buonaparte in Arabic, leaving out + only two letters, it will give 666." "And pray, Sir, what right have you + to leave out two letters? And, as St. John was writing Greek, and to + Greeks, is it not likely that he would use the Greek rather than the + Arabic notation?" "But, Sir," said this learned divine, "everybody knows + that the Greek letters were never used to mark numbers." I answered with + the meekest look and voice possible: "I do not think that everybody knows + that. Indeed I have reason to believe that a different opinion,—erroneous + no doubt,—is universally embraced by all the small minority who + happen to know any Greek." So ended the controversy. The man looked at me + as if he thought me a very wicked fellow; and, I dare say, has by this + time discovered that, if you write my name in Tamul, leaving out T in + Thomas, B in Babington, and M in Macaulay, it will give the number of this + unfortunate Beast. + </p> + <p> + I am very comfortable here. The Governor-General is the frankest and + best-natured of men. The chief functionaries, who have attended him + hither, are clever people, but not exactly on a par as to general + attainments with the society to which I belonged in London. I thought, + however, even at Madras, that I could have formed a very agreeable circle + of acquaintance; and I am assured that at Calcutta I shall find things far + better. After all, the best rule in all parts of the world, as in London + itself, is to be independent of other men's minds. My power of finding + amusement without companions was pretty well tried on my voyage. I read + insatiably; the Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil, Horace, Caesar's Commentaries, + Bacon de Augmentis, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, Don Quixote, Gibbon's + Rome, Mill's India, all the seventy volumes of Voltaire, Sismondi's + History of France, and the seven thick folios of the Biographia + Britannica. I found my Greek and Latin in good condition enough. I liked + the Iliad a little less, and the Odyssey a great deal more than formerly. + Horace charmed me more than ever; Virgil not quite so much as he used to + do. The want of human character, the poverty of his supernatural + machinery, struck me very strongly. Can anything be so bad as the living + bush which bleeds and talks, or the Harpies who befoul Aeneas's dinner? It + is as extravagant as Ariosto, and as dull as Wilkie's Epigoniad. The last + six books, which Virgil had not fully corrected, pleased me better than + the first six. I like him best on Italian ground. I like his localities; + his national enthusiasm; his frequent allusions to his country, its + history, its antiquities, and its greatness. In this respect he often + reminded me of Sir Walter Scott, with whom, in the general character of + his mind, he had very little affinity. The Georgics pleased me better; the + Eclogues best,—the second and tenth above all. But I think the + finest lines in the Latin language are those five which begin, + </p> + <p> + "Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala—" + </p> + <p> + [Eclogue viii. 37.] + </p> + <p> + I cannot tell you how they struck me. I was amused to find that Voltaire + pronounces that passage to be the finest in Virgil. + </p> + <p> + I liked the Jerusalem better than I used to do. I was enraptured with + Ariosto; and I still think of Dante, as I thought when I first read him, + that he is a superior poet to Milton, that he runs neck and neck with + Homer, and that none but Shakespeare has gone decidedly beyond him. + </p> + <p> + As soon as I reach Calcutta I intend to read Herodotus again. By the bye, + why do not you translate him? You would do it excellently; and a + translation of Herodotus, well executed, would rank with original + compositions. A quarter of an hour a day would finish the work in five + years. The notes might be made the most amusing in the world. I wish you + would think of it. At all events, I hope you will do something which may + interest more than seven or eight people. Your talents are too great, and + your leisure time too small, to be wasted in inquiries so frivolous, (I + must call them,) as those in which you have of late been too much engaged; + whether the Cherokees are of the same race with the Chickasaws; whether + Van Diemen's Land was peopled from New Holland, or New Holland from Van + Diemen's land; what is the precise anode of appointing a headman in a + village in Timbuctoo. I would not give the worst page in Clarendon or Fra + Paolo for all that ever was, or ever will be, written about the migrations + of the Leleges and the laws of the Oscans. + </p> + <p> + I have already entered on my public functions, and I hope to do some good. + The very wigs of the judges in the Court of King's Bench would stand on + end if they knew how short a chapter my Law of Evidence will form. I am + not without many advisers. A native of some fortune in Madras has sent me + a paper on legislation. "Your honour must know," says this judicious + person, "that the great evil is that men swear falsely in this country. No + judge knows what to believe. Surely if your honour can make men to swear + truly, your honour's fame will be great, and the Company will flourish. + Now, I know how men may be made to swear truly; and I will tell your + honour for your fame, and for the profit of the Company. Let your honour + cut off the great toe of the right foot of every man who swears falsely, + whereby your honour's fame will be extended." Is not this an exquisite + specimen of legislative wisdom? + </p> + <p> + I must stop. When I begin to write to England, my pen runs as if it would + run on for ever. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + To Miss Fanny and Miss Selina Macaulay. + </p> + <p> + Ootacamund: August 10, 1834. + </p> + <p> + My dear Sisters,—I sent last month a full account of my journey + hither, and of the place, to Margaret, as the most stationary of our + family; desiring her to let you all see what I had written to her. I think + that I shall continue to take the same course. It is better to write one + full and connected narrative than a good many imperfect fragments. + </p> + <p> + Money matters seem likely to go on capitally. My expenses, I find, will be + smaller than I anticipated. The Rate of Exchange, if you know what that + means, is very favourable indeed; and, if I live, I shall get rich fast. I + quite enjoy the thought of appearing in the light of an old hunks who + knows on which side his bread is buttered; a warm man; a fellow who will + cut up well. This is not a character which the Macaulays have been much in + the habit of sustaining; but I can assure you that, after next Christmas, + I expect to lay up, on an average, about seven thousand pounds a year, + while I remain in India. + </p> + <p> + At Christmas I shall send home a thousand, or twelve hundred, pounds for + my father, and you all. I cannot tell you what a comfort it is to me to + find that I shall be able to do this. It reconciles me to all the pains—acute + enough, sometimes, God knows,—of banishment. In a few years, if I + live—probably in less than five years from the time at which you + will be reading this letter—we shall be again together in a + comfortable, though a modest, home; certain of a good fire, a good joint + of meat, and a good glass of wine; without owing obligations to anybody; + and perfectly indifferent, at least as far as our pecuniary interest is + concerned, to the changes of the political world. Rely on it, my dear + girls, that there is no chance of my going back with my heart cooled + towards you. I came hither principally to save my family, and I am not + likely while here to forget them. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. M. + </p> + <p> + The months of July and August Macaulay spent on the Neilgherries, in a + climate equable as Madeira and invigorating as Braemar; where thickets of + rhododendron fill the glades and clothe the ridges; and where the air is + heavy with the scent of rose-trees of a size more fitted for an orchard + than a flower-bed, and bushes of heliotrope thirty paces round. The + glories of the forests and of the gardens touched him in spite of his + profound botanical ignorance, and he dilates more than once upon his + "cottage buried in laburnums, or something very like them, and geraniums + which grow in the open air." He had the more leisure for the natural + beauties of the place, as there was not much else to interest even a + traveller fresh from England. + </p> + <p> + "I have as yet seen little of the idolatry of India; and that little, + though excessively absurd, is not characterised by atrocity or indecency. + There is nothing of the sort at Ootacamund. I have not, during the last + six weeks, witnessed a single circumstance from which you would have + inferred that this was a heathen country. The bulk of the natives here are + a colony from the plains below, who have come up hither to wait on the + European visitors, and who seem to trouble themselves very little about + caste or religion. The Todas, the aboriginal population of these hills, + are a very curious race. They had a grand funeral a little while ago. I + should have gone if it had not been a Council day; but I found afterwards + that I had lost nothing. The whole ceremony consisted in sacrificing + bullocks to the manes of the defunct. The roaring of the poor victims was + horrible. The people stood talking and laughing till a particular signal + was made, and immediately all the ladies lifted up their voices and wept. + I have not lived three and thirty years in this world without learning + that a bullock roars when he is knocked down, and that a woman can cry + whenever she chooses. + </p> + <p> + "By all that I can learn, the Catholics are the most respectable portion + of the native Christians. As to Swartz's people in the Tanjore, they are a + perfect scandal to the religion which they profess. It would have been + thought something little short of blasphemy to say this a year ago; but + now it is considered impious to say otherwise, for they have got into a + violent quarrel with the missionaries and the Bishop. The missionaries + refused to recognise the distinctions of caste in the administration of + the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and the Bishop supported them in the + refusal. I do not pretend to judge whether this was right or wrong. Swartz + and Bishop Heber conceived that the distinction of caste, however + objectionable politically, was still only a distinction of rank; and that, + as in English churches the gentlefolks generally take the Sacrament apart + from the poor of the parish, so the high-caste natives might be allowed to + communicate apart from the Pariahs. + </p> + <p> + "But, whoever was first in the wrong, the Christians of Tanjore took care + to be most so. They called in the interposition of Government, and sent up + such petitions and memorials as I never saw before or since; made up of + lies, invectives, bragging, cant, bad grammar of the most ludicrous kind, + and texts of Scripture quoted without the smallest application. I remember + one passage by heart, which is really only a fair specimen of the whole: + 'These missionaries, my Lord, loving only filthy lucre, bid us to eat + Lord-supper with Pariahs as lives ugly, handling dead men, drinking rack + and toddy, sweeping the streets, mean fellows altogether, base persons, + contrary to that which Saint Paul saith: I determined to know nothing + among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.' + </p> + <p> + "Was there ever a more appropriate quotation? I believe that nobody on + either side of the controversy found out a text so much to the purpose as + one which I cited to the Council of India, when we were discussing this + business: 'If this be a question of words, and names, and of your law, + look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.' But though, like + Gallio, I drove them and their petitions from my judgment seat, I could + not help saying to one of the missionaries, who is here on the Hills, that + I thought it a pity to break up the Church of Tanjore on account of a + matter which such men as Swartz and Heber had not been inclined to regard + as essential. 'Sir,' said the reverend gentleman, 'the sooner the Church + of Tanjore is broken up the better. You can form no notion of the + worthlessness of the native Christians there.' I could not dispute this + point with him; but neither could I help thinking, though I was too polite + to say so, that it was hardly worth the while of so many good men to come + fifteen thousand miles over sea and land in order to make proselytes, who, + their very instructors being judges, were more children of hell than + before." + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately Macaulay's stay on the Neilgherries coincided with the + monsoon. "The rain streamed down in floods. It was very seldom that I + could see a hundred yards in front of me. During a month together I did + not get two hours' walking." He began to be bored, for the first and last + time in his life; while his companions, who had not his resources, were + ready to hang themselves for very dulness. The ordinary amusements with + which, in the more settled parts of India, our countrymen beguile the + rainy season, were wanting in a settlement that had only lately been + reclaimed from the desert; in the immediate vicinity of which you still + ran the chance of being "trod into the shape of half a crown by a wild + elephant, or eaten by the tigers, which prefer this situation to the + plains below for the same reason that takes so many Europeans to India; + they encounter an uncongenial climate for the sake of what they can get." + There were no books in the place except those that Macaulay had brought + with him, among which, most luckily, was Clarissa Harlowe. Aided by the + rain outside, he soon talked his favourite romance into general favour. + The reader will consent to put up with one or two slight inaccuracies in + order to have the story told by Thackeray. + </p> + <p> + "I spoke to him once about Clarissa. 'Not read Clarissa!' he cried out. + 'If you have once read Clarissa, and are infected by it, you can't leave + it. When I was in India I passed one hot season in the Hills; and there + were the Governor-General, and the Secretary of Government, and the + Commander-in-Chief, and their wives. I had Clarissa with me; and, as soon + as they began to read, the whole station was in a passion of excitement + about Miss Harlowe, and her misfortunes, and her scoundrelly Lovelace. The + Governor's wife seized the book; the Secretary waited for it; the Chief + justice could not read it for tears.' He acted the whole scene; he paced + up and down the Athenaeum library. I dare say he could have spoken pages + of the book; of that book, and of what countless piles of others!" + </p> + <p> + An old Scotch doctor, a Jacobin and a free-thinker, who could only be got + to attend church by the positive orders of the Governor-General, cried + over the last volume until he was too ill to appear at dinner. [Degenerate + readers of our own day have actually been provided with an abridgment of + Clarissa, itself as long as an ordinary novel. A wiser course than buying + the abridgment would be to commence the original at the Third volume. In + the same way, if anyone, after obtaining the outline of Lady Clementina's + story from a more adventurous friend, will read Sir Charles Grandison, + skipping all letters from Italians, to Italians, and about Italians, he + will find that he has got hold of a delightful, and not unmanageable, + book.] The Chief Secretary,—afterwards, as Sir William Macnaghten, + the hero and the victim of the darkest episode in our Indian history,—declared + that reading this copy of Clarissa, under the inspiration of its owner's + enthusiasm, was nothing less than an epoch in his life. After the lapse of + thirty years, when Ootacamund had long enjoyed the advantage of a + book-club and a circulating library, the tradition of Macaulay and his + novel still lingered on with a tenacity most unusual in the ever-shifting + society of an Indian station. + </p> + <p> + "At length Lord William gave me leave of absence. My bearers were posted + along the road; my palanquins were packed; and I was to start next day; + when an event took place which may give you some insight into the state of + the laws, morals, and manners among the natives. + </p> + <p> + "My new servant, a Christian, but such a Christian as the missionaries + make in this part of the world, had been persecuted most unmercifully for + his religion by the servants of some other gentlemen on the Hills. At last + they contrived to excite against him (whether justly or unjustly I am + quite unable to say) the jealousy of one of Lord William's under-cooks. We + had accordingly a most glorious tragi-comedy; the part of Othello by the + cook aforesaid; Desdemona by an ugly, impudent Pariah girl, his wife; Iago + by Colonel Casement's servant; and Michael Cassio by my rascal. The place + of the handkerchief was supplied by a small piece of sugar-candy which + Desdemona was detected in the act of sucking, and which had found its way + from my canisters to her fingers. If I had any part in the piece, it was, + I am afraid, that of Roderigo, whom Shakespeare describes as a 'foolish + gentleman,' and who also appears to have had 'money in his purse.' + </p> + <p> + "On the evening before my departure my bungalow was besieged by a mob of + blackguards. The Native judge came with them. After a most prodigious + quantity of jabbering, of which I could not understand one word, I called + the judge, who spoke tolerable English, into my room, and learned from him + the nature of the case. I was, and still am, in doubt as to the truth of + the charge. I have a very poor opinion of my man's morals, and a very poor + opinion also of the veracity of his accusers. It was, however, so very + inconvenient for me to be just then deprived of my servant that I offered + to settle the business at my own expense. Under ordinary circumstances + this would have been easy enough, for the Hindoos of the lower castes have + no delicacy on these subjects. The husband would gladly have taken a few + rupees, and walked away; but the persecutors of my servant interfered, and + insisted that he should be brought to trial in order that they might have + the pleasure of smearing him with filth, giving him a flogging, beating + kettles before him, and carrying him round on an ass with his face to the + tail. + </p> + <p> + "As the matter could not be accommodated, I begged the Judge to try the + case instantly; but the rabble insisted that the trial should not take + place for some days. I argued the matter with them very mildly, and told + them that I must go next day, and that, if my servant were detained, + guilty or innocent, he must lose his situation. The gentle and reasoning + tone of my expostulations only made them impudent. They are, in truth, a + race so accustomed to be trampled on by the strong that they always + consider humanity as a sign of weakness. The Judge told me that he never + heard a gentleman speak such sweet words to the people. But I was now at + an end of my sweet words. My blood was beginning to boil at the + undisguised display of rancorous hatred and shameless injustice. I sate + down, and wrote a line to the Commandant of the station, begging him to + give orders that the case might be tried that very evening. The Court + assembled, and continued all night in violent contention. At last the + judge pronounced my servant not guilty. I did not then know, what I + learned some days after, that this respectable magistrate had received + twenty rupees on the occasion. + </p> + <p> + "The husband would now gladly have taken the money which he refused the + day before; but I would not give him a farthing. The rascals who had + raised the disturbance were furious. My servant was to set out at eleven + in the morning, and I was to follow at two. He had scarcely left the door + when I heard a noise. I looked forth, and saw that the gang had pulled him + out of his palanquin, torn off his turban, stripped him almost naked, and + were, as it seemed, about to pull him to pieces. I snatched up a + sword-stick, and ran into the middle of them. It was all I could do to + force my way to him, and, for a moment, I thought my own person was in + danger as well as his. I supported the poor wretch in my arms; for, like + most of his countrymen, he is a chickenhearted fellow, and was almost + fainting away. My honest barber, a fine old soldier in the Company's + service, ran off for assistance, and soon returned with some police + officers. I ordered the bearers to turn round, and proceeded instantly to + the house of the Commandant. I was not long detained here. Nothing can be + well imagined more expeditious than the administration of justice in this + country, when the judge is a Colonel, and the plaintiff a Councillor. I + told my story in three words. In three minutes the rioters were marched + off to prison, and my servant, with a sepoy to guard him, was fairly on + his road and out of danger." + </p> + <p> + Early next morning Macaulay began to descend the pass. + </p> + <p> + "After going down for about an hour we emerged from the clouds and + moisture, and the plain of Mysore lay before us—a vast ocean of + foliage on which the sun was shining gloriously. I am very little given to + cant about the beauties of nature, but I was moved almost to tears. I + jumped off the palanquin, and walked in front of it down the immense + declivity. In two hours we descended about three thousand feet. Every + turning in the road showed the boundless forest below in some new point of + view. I was greatly struck with the resemblance which this prodigious + jungle, as old as the world and planted by nature, bears to the fine works + of the great English landscape gardeners. It was exactly a Wentworth Park, + as large as Devonshire. After reaching the foot of the hills, we travelled + through a succession of scenes which might have been part of the garden of + Eden. Such gigantic trees I never saw. In a quarter of an hour I passed + hundreds the smallest of which would bear a comparison with any of those + oaks which are shown as prodigious in England. The grass, the weeds, and + the wild flowers grew as high as my head. The sun, almost a stranger to + me, was now shining brightly; and, when late in the afternoon I again got + out of my palanquin and looked back, I saw the large mountain ridge from + which I had descended twenty miles behind me, still buried in the same + mass of fog and rain in which I had been living for weeks. + </p> + <p> + "On Tuesday, the 16th" (of September), "I went on board at Madras. I + amused myself on the voyage to Calcutta with learning Portuguese, and made + myself almost as well acquainted with it as I care to be. I read the + Lusiad, and am now reading it a second time. I own that I am disappointed + in Camoens; but I have so often found my first impressions wrong on such + subjects that I still hope to be able to join my voice to that of the + great body of critics. I never read any famous foreign book, which did + not, in the first perusal, fall short of my expectations; except Dante's + poem, and Don Quixote, which were prodigiously superior to what I had + imagined. Yet in these cases I had not pitched my expectations low." + </p> + <p> + He had not much time for his Portuguese studies. The run was unusually + fast, and the ship only spent a week in the Bay of Bengal, and forty-eight + hours in the Hooghly. He found his sister comfortably installed in + Government House, where he himself took up his quarters during the next + six weeks; Lady William Bentinck having been prepared to welcome him as + her guest by her husband's letters, more than one of which ended with the + words "e un miracolo." Towards the middle of November, Macaulay began + housekeeping for himself; living, as he always loved to live, rather more + generously than the strict necessities of his position demanded. His + residence, then the best in Calcutta, has long since been converted into + the Bengal Club. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: December 10, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—First to business. At length I send you the article on + Mackintosh; an article which has the merit of length, whatever it may be + deficient in. As I wished to transmit it to England in duplicate, if not + in triplicate, I thought it best to have two or three copies coarsely + printed here under the seal of strict secresy. The printers at Edinburgh + will, therefore, have no trouble in deciphering my manuscript, and the + corrector of the press will find his work done to his hands. + </p> + <p> + The disgraceful imbecility, and the still more disgraceful malevolence, of + the editor have, as you will see, moved my indignation not a little. I + hope that Longman's connection with the Review will not prevent you from + inserting what I have said on this subject. Murray's copy writers are + unsparingly abused by Southey and Lockhart in the Quarterly; and it would + be hard indeed if we might not in the Edinburgh strike hard at an + assailant of Mackintosh. + </p> + <p> + I shall now begin another article. The subject I have not yet fixed upon; + perhaps the romantic poetry of Italy, for which there is an excellent + opportunity; Panizzi's reprint of Boiardo; perhaps the little volume of + Burnet's Characters edited by Bishop Jebb. This reminds me that I have to + acknowledge the receipt of a box from Longman, containing this little + book; and other books of much greater value, Grimm's Correspondence, + Jacquemont's Letters, and several foreign works on jurisprudence. All that + you have yet sent have been excellently chosen. I will mention, while I am + on this subject, a few books which I want, and which I am not likely to + pick up here—Daru's Histoire de Venise; St. Real's Conjuration de + Venise; Fra Paolo's works; Monstrelet's Chronicle; and Coxe's book on the + Pelhams. I should also like to have a really good edition of Lucian. + </p> + <p> + My sister desires me to send you her kind regards. She remembers her visit + to Edinburgh, and your hospitality, with the greatest pleasure. Calcutta + is called, and not without some reason, the city of palaces; but I have + seen nothing in the East like the view from the Castle Rock, nor expect to + see anything like it till we stand there together again. + </p> + <p> + Kindest regards to Lord Jeffrey. + </p> + <p> + Yours most truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Mrs. Cropper. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: December 7, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dearest Margaret,—I rather suppose that some late letters from Nancy + may have prepared you to learn what I am now about to communicate. She is + going to be married, and with my fullest and warmest approbation. I can + truly say that, if I had to search India for a husband for her, I could + have found no man to whom I could with equal confidence have entrusted her + happiness. Trevelyan is about eight and twenty. He was educated at the + Charter-house, and then went to Haileybury, and came out hither. In this + country he has distinguished himself beyond any man of his standing by his + great talent for business; by his liberal and enlarged views of policy; + and by literary merit, which, for his opportunities, is considerable. He + was at first placed at Delhi under ——, a very powerful and a + very popular man, but extremely corrupt. This man tried to initiate + Trevelyan in his own infamous practices. But the young fellow's spirit was + too noble for such things. When only twenty-one years of age he publicly + accused ——, then almost at the head of the service, of + receiving bribes from the natives. A perfect storm was raised against the + accuser. He was almost everywhere abused, and very generally cut. But with + a firmness and ability scarcely ever seen in any man so young, he brought + his proofs forward, and, after an inquiry of some weeks, fully made out + his case. —— was dismissed in disgrace, and is now living + obscurely in England. The Government here and the Directors at home + applauded Trevelyan in the highest terms; and from that tithe he has been + considered as a man likely to rise to the very top of the service. Lord + William told him to ask for anything that he wished for. Trevelyan begged + that something might be done for his elder brother, who is in the + Company's army. Lord William told him that he had richly earned that or + anything else, and gave Lieutenant Trevelyan a very good diplomatic + employment. Indeed Lord William, a man who makes no favourites, has always + given to Trevelyan the strongest marks, not of a blind partiality, but of + a thoroughly well-grounded and discriminating esteem. + </p> + <p> + Not long ago Trevelyan was appointed by him to the Under Secretaryship for + foreign affairs, an office of a very important and confidential nature. + While holding the place he was commissioned to report to Government on the + operation of the Internal Transit duties of India. About a year ago his + Report was completed. I shall send to England a copy or two of it by the + first safe conveyance; for nothing that I can say of his abilities, or of + his public spirit, will be half so satisfactory. I have no hesitation in + affirming that it is a perfect masterpiece in its kind. Accustomed as I + have been to public affairs, I never read an abler State paper; and I do + not believe that there is, I will not say in India, but in England, + another man of twenty-seven who could have written it. Trevelyan is a most + stormy reformer. Lord William said to me, before anyone had observed + Trevelyan's attentions to Nancy: "That man is almost always on the right + side in every question; and it is well that he is so, for he gives a most + confounded deal of trouble when he happens to take the wrong one." + [Macaulay used to apply to his future brother-in-law the remark which + Julius Caesar made with regard to his young friend Brutus: "Magni refert + hic quid velit; sed quidquid volet, valde volet."] He is quite at the head + of that active party among the younger servants of the Company who take + the side of improvement. In particular, he is the soul of every scheme for + diffusing education among the natives of this country. His reading has + been very confined; but to the little that he has read he has brought a + mind as active and restless as Lord Brougham's, and much more judicious + and honest. + </p> + <p> + As to his person, he always looks like a gentleman, particularly on + horseback. He is very active and athletic, and is renowned as a great + master in the most exciting and perilous of field sports, the spearing of + wild boars. His face has a most characteristic expression of ardour and + impetuosity, which makes his countenance very interesting to me. Birth is + a thing that I care nothing about; but his family is one of the oldest and + best in England. + </p> + <p> + During the important years of his life, from twenty to twenty-five, or + thereabouts, Trevelyan was in a remote province of India, where his whole + time was divided between public business and field sports, and where he + seldom saw a European gentleman and never a European lady. He has no small + talk. His mind is full of schemes of moral and political improvement, and + his zeal boils over in his talk. His topics, even in courtship, are steam + navigation, the education of the natives, the equalisation of the sugar + duties, the substitution of the Roman for the Arabic alphabet in the + Oriental languages. + </p> + <p> + I saw the feeling growing from the first; for, though I generally pay not + the smallest attention to those matters, I had far too deep an interest in + Nancy's happiness not to watch her behaviour to everybody who saw much of + her. I knew it, I believe, before she knew it herself; and I could most + easily have prevented it by merely treating Trevelyan with a little + coldness, for he is a man whom the smallest rebuff would completely + discourage. But you will believe, my dearest Margaret, that no thought of + such base selfishness ever passed through my mind. I would as soon have + locked my dear Nancy up in a nunnery as have put the smallest obstacle in + the way of her having a good husband. I therefore gave every facility and + encouragement to both of them. What I have myself felt it is unnecessary + to say. My parting from you almost broke my heart. But when I parted from + you I had Nancy; I had all my other relations; I had my friends; I had my + country. Now I have nothing except the resources of my own mind, and the + consciousness of having acted not ungenerously. But I do not repine. + Whatever I suffer I have brought on myself. I have neglected the plainest + lessons of reason and experience. I have staked my happiness without + calculating the chances of the dice. I have hewn out broken cisterns; I + have leant on a reed; I have built on the sand; and I have fared + accordingly. I must bear my punishment as I can; and, above all, I must + take care that the punishment does not extend beyond myself. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be kinder than Nancy's conduct has been. She proposes that we + should form one family; and Trevelyan, (though, like most lovers, he + would, I imagine, prefer having his goddess to himself,) consented with + strong expressions of pleasure. The arrangement is not so strange as it + might seem at home. The thing is often done here; and those quarrels + between servants, which would inevitably mar any such plan in England, are + not to be apprehended in an Indian establishment. One advantage there will + be in our living together of a most incontestable sort; we shall both be + able to save more money. Trevelyan will soon be entitled to his furlough; + but he proposes not to take it till I go home. + </p> + <p> + I shall write in a very different style from this to my father. To him I + shall represent the marriage as what it is, in every respect except its + effect on my own dreams of happiness—a most honourable and happy + event; prudent in a worldly point of view; and promising all the felicity + which strong mutual affection, excellent principles on both sides, good + temper, youth, health, and the general approbation of friends can afford. + As for myself, it is a tragical denouement of an absurd plot. I remember + quoting some nursery rhymes, years ago, when you left me in London to join + Nancy at Rothley Temple or Leamington, I forget which. Those foolish lines + contain the history of my life. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "There were two birds that sat on a stone; + One flew away, and there was but one. + The other flew away, and then there was none; + And the poor stone was left all alone." +</pre> + <p> + Ever, my dearest Margaret, yours + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + A passage from a second letter to the same person deserves to be quoted, + as an instance of how a good man may be unable to read aright his own + nature, and a wise man to forecast his own future. "I feel a growing + tendency to cynicism and suspicion. My intellect remains; and is likely, I + sometimes think, to absorb the whole man. I still retain, (not only + undiminished, but strengthened by the very events which have deprived me + of everything else,) my thirst for knowledge; my passion for holding + converse with the greatest minds of all ages and nations; any power of + forgetting what surrounds me, and of living with the past, the future, the + distant, and the unreal. Books are becoming everything to me. If I had at + this moment my choice of life, I would bury myself in one of those immense + libraries that we saw together at the universities, and never pass a + waking hour without a book before me." So little was Macaulay aware that, + during the years which were to come, his thoughts and cares would be less + than ever for himself, and more for others, and that his existence would + be passed amidst a bright atmosphere of affectionate domestic happiness, + which, until his own death came, no accident was thenceforward destined to + overcloud. + </p> + <p> + But, before his life assumed the equable and prosperous tenor in which it + continued to the end, one more trouble was in store for him. Long before + the last letters to his sister Margaret had been written, the eyes which + were to have read them had been closed for ever. The fate of so young a + wife and mother touched deeply all who had known her, and some who knew + her only by name. [Moultrie made Mrs. Cropper's death the subject of some + verses on which her relatives set a high value. He acknowledges his little + poem to be the tribute of one who had been a stranger to her whom it was + written to commemorate: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And yet methinks we are not strange: so many claims there be + Which seem to weave a viewless band between my soul and thee. + Sweet sister of my early friend, the kind, the singlehearted, + Than whose remembrance none more bright still gilds the days departed! + Beloved, with more than sister's love, by some whose love to me + Is now almost my brightest gem in this world's treasury."] +</pre> + <p> + When the melancholy news arrived in India, the young couple were spending + their honeymoon in a lodge in the Governor-General's park at Barrackpore. + They immediately returned to Calcutta, and, under the shadow of a great + sorrow, began their sojourn in their brother's house, who, for his part, + did what he might to drown his grief in floods of official work. ["April + 8. Lichfield. Easter Sunday. After the service was ended we went over the + Cathedral. When I stood before the famous children by Chantrey, I could + think only of one thing; that, when last I was there, in 1832, my dear + sister Margaret was with me and that she was greatly affected. I could not + command my tears and was forced to leave our party, and walk about by + myself."—Macaulay's Journal for the year 1849.] + </p> + <p> + The narrative of that work may well be the despair of Macaulay's + biographer. It would be inexcusable to slur over what in many important + respects was the most honourable chapter of his life; while, on the other + hand, the task of interesting Englishmen in the details of Indian + administration is an undertaking which has baffled every pen except his + own. In such a dilemma the safest course is to allow that pen to tell the + story for itself; or rather so much of the story as, by concentrating the + attention of the reader upon matters akin to those which are in frequent + debate at home, may enable him to judge whether Macaulay, at the + council-board and the bureau, was the equal of Macaulay in the senate and + the library. + </p> + <p> + Examples of his Minute-writing may with some confidence be submitted to + the criticism of those whose experience of public business has taught them + in what a Minute should differ from a Despatch, a Memorial, a Report, and + a Decision. His method of applying general principles to the circumstances + of a special case, and of illustrating those principles with just as much + literary ornament as would place his views in a pictorial form before the + minds of those whom it was his business to convince, is strikingly + exhibited in the series of papers by means of which he reconciled his + colleagues in the Council, and his masters in Leadenhall Street, to the + removal of the modified Censorship which existed in India previously to + the year 1835. + </p> + <p> + "It is difficult," he writes, "to conceive that any measures can be more + indefensible than those which I propose to repeal. It has always been the + practice of politic rulers to disguise their arbitrary measures under + popular forms and names. The conduct of the Indian Government with respect + to the Press has been altogether at variance with this trite and obvious + maxim. The newspapers have for years been allowed as ample a measure of + practical liberty as that which they enjoy in England. If any + inconveniences arise from the liberty of political discussion, to those + inconveniences we are already subject. Yet while our policy is thus + liberal and indulgent, we are daily reproached and taunted with the + bondage in which we keep the Press. A strong feeling on this subject + appears to exist throughout the European community here; and the loud + complaints which have lately been uttered are likely to produce a + considerable effect on the English people, who will see at a glance that + the law is oppressive, and who will not know how completely it is + inoperative. + </p> + <p> + "To impose strong restraints on political discussion is an intelligible + policy, and may possibly—though I greatly doubt it—be in some + countries a wise policy. But this is not the point at issue. The question + before us is not whether the Press shall be free, but whether, being free, + it shall be called free. It is surely mere madness in a Government to make + itself unpopular for nothing; to be indulgent, and yet to disguise its + indulgence under such outward forms as bring on it the reproach of + tyranny. Yet this is now our policy. We are exposed to all the dangers—dangers, + I conceive, greatly over-rated—of a free Press; and at the same time + we contrive to incur all the opprobrium of a censorship. It is universally + allowed that the licensing system, as at present administered, does not + keep any man who can buy a press from publishing the bitterest and most + sarcastic reflections on any public measure, or any public functionary. + Yet the very words 'license to print' have a sound hateful to the ears of + Englishmen in every part of the globe. It is unnecessary to inquire + whether this feeling be reasonable; whether the petitioners who have so + strongly pressed this matter on our consideration would not have shown a + better judgment if they had been content with their practical liberty, and + had reserved their murmurs for practical grievances. The question for us + is not what they ought to do, but what we ought to do; not whether it be + wise in them to complain when they suffer no injury, but whether it be + wise in us to incur odium unaccompanied by the smallest accession of + security or of power. + </p> + <p> + "One argument only has been urged in defence of the present system. It is + admitted that the Press of Bengal has long been suffered to enjoy + practical liberty, and that nothing but an extreme emergency could justify + the Government in curtailing that liberty. But, it is said, such an + emergency may arise, and the Government ought to retain in its hands the + power of adopting, in that event, the sharp, prompt, and decisive measures + which may be necessary for the preservation of the Empire. But when we + consider with what vast powers, extending over all classes of people, + Parliament has armed the Governor-General in Council, and, in extreme + cases, the Governor-General alone, we shall probably be inclined to allow + little weight to this argument. No Government in the world is better + provided with the means of meeting extraordinary dangers by extraordinary + precautions. Five persons, who may be brought together in half an hour, + whose deliberations are secret, who are not shackled by any of those forms + which elsewhere delay legislative measures, can, in a single sitting, make + a law for stopping every press in India. Possessing as we do the + unquestionable power to interfere, whenever the safety of the State array + require it, with overwhelming rapidity and energy, we surely ought not, in + quiet times, to be constantly keeping the offensive form and ceremonial of + despotism before the eyes of those whom, nevertheless, we permit to enjoy + the substance of freedom." + </p> + <p> + Eighteen months elapsed; during which the Calcutta Press found occasion to + attack Macaulay with a breadth and ferocity of calumny such as few public + men, in any age or country, have ever endured, and none, perhaps, have + ever forgiven. There were many mornings when it was impossible for him to + allow the newspapers to lie about his sister's drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + The Editor of the Periodical which called itself, and had a right to call + itself, the "Friend of India," undertook to shame his brethren by + publishing a collection of their invectives; but it was very soon evident + that no decent journal could venture to foul its pages by reprinting the + epithets, and the anecdotes, which constituted the daily greeting of the + literary men of Calcutta to their fellow-craftsman of the Edinburgh + Review. But Macaulay's cheery and robust common sense carried him safe and + sound through an ordeal which has broken down sterner natures than his, + and embittered as stainless lives. The allusions in his correspondence, + all the more surely because they are brief and rare, indicate that the + torrent of obloquy to which he was exposed interfered neither with his + temper nor with his happiness; and how little he allowed it to disturb his + judgment or distort his public spirit is proved by the tone of a State + paper, addressed to the Court of Directors in September 1836, in which he + eagerly vindicates the freedom of the Calcutta Press, at a time when the + writers of that Press, on the days when they were pleased to be decent, + could find for him no milder appellations than those of cheat, swindler, + and charlatan. + </p> + <p> + "I regret that on this, or on any subject, my opinion should differ from + that of the Honourable Court. But I still conscientiously think that we + acted wisely when we passed the law on the subject of the Press; and I am + quite certain that we should act most unwisely if we were now to repeal + that law. + </p> + <p> + "I must, in the first place, venture to express an opinion that the + importance of that question is greatly over-rated by persons, even the + best informed and the most discerning, who are not actually on the spot. + It is most justly observed by the Honourable Court that many of the + arguments which may be urged in favour of a free Press at home do not + apply to this country. But it is, I conceive, no less true that scarcely + any of those arguments which have been employed in Europe to defend + restrictions on the Press apply to a Press such as that of India. + </p> + <p> + "In Europe, and especially in England, the Press is an engine of + tremendous power, both for good and for evil. The most enlightened men, + after long experience both of its salutary and of its pernicious + operation, have come to the conclusion that the good on the whole + preponderates. But that there is no inconsiderable amount of evil to be + set off against the good has never been disputed by the warmest friend to + freedom of discussion. + </p> + <p> + "In India the Press is comparatively a very feeble engine. It does far + less good and far less harm than in Europe. It sometimes renders useful + services to the public. It sometimes brings to the notice of the + Government evils the existence of which would otherwise have been unknown. + It operates, to some extent, as a salutary check on public functionaries. + It does something towards keeping the administration pure. On the other + hand, by misrepresenting public measures, and by flattering the prejudices + of those who support it, it sometimes produces a slight degree of + excitement in a very small portion of the community. + </p> + <p> + "How slight that excitement is, even when it reaches its greatest height, + and how little the Government has to fear from it, no person whose + observation has been confined to European societies will readily believe. + In this country the number of English residents is very small, and, of + that small number, a great proportion are engaged in the service of the + State, and are most deeply interested in the maintenance of existing + institutions. Even those English settlers who are not in the service of + the Government have a strong interest in its stability. They are few; they + are thinly scattered among a vast population, with whom they have neither + language, nor religion, nor morals, nor manners, nor colour in common; + they feel that any convulsion which should overthrow the existing order of + things would be ruinous to themselves. Particular acts of the Government—especially + acts which are mortifying to the pride of caste naturally felt by an + Englishman in India—are often angrily condemned by these persons. + But every indigo-planter in Tirhoot, and every shopkeeper in Calcutta, is + perfectly aware that the downfall of the Government would be attended with + the destruction of his fortune, and with imminent hazard to his life. + </p> + <p> + "Thus, among the English inhabitants of India, there are no fit subjects + for that species of excitement which the Press sometimes produces at home. + There is no class among them analogous to that vast body of English + labourers and artisans whose minds are rendered irritable by frequent + distress and privation, and on whom, therefore, the sophistry and rhetoric + of bad men often produce a tremendous effect. The English papers here + might be infinitely more seditious than the most seditious that were ever + printed in London without doing harm to anything but their own + circulation. The fire goes out for want of some combustible material on + which to seize. How little reason would there be to apprehend danger to + order and property in England from the most inflammatory writings, if + those writings were read only by Ministers of State, Commissioners of the + Customs and Excise, Judges and Masters in Chancery, upper clerks in + Government offices, officers in the army, bankers, landed proprietors, + barristers, and master manufacturers! The most timid politician would not + anticipate the smallest evil from the most seditious libels, if the + circulation of those libels were confined to such a class of readers; and + it is to such a class of readers that the circulation of the English + newspapers in India is almost entirely confined." + </p> + <p> + The motive for the scurrility with which Macaulay was assailed by a + handful of sorry scribblers was his advocacy of the Act familiarly known + as the Black Act, which withdrew from British subjects resident in the + provinces their so-called privilege of bringing civil appeals before the + Supreme Court at Calcutta. Such appeals were thenceforward to be tried by + the Sudder Court, which was manned by the Company's judges, "all of them + English gentlemen of liberal education; as free as even the judges of the + Supreme Court from any imputation of personal corruption, and selected by + the Government from a body which abounds in men as honourable and as + intelligent as ever were employed in the service of any state." The change + embodied in the Act was one of little practical moment; but it excited an + opposition based upon arguments and assertions of such a nature that the + success or failure of the proposed measure became a question of high and + undeniable importance. + </p> + <p> + "In my opinion," writes Macaulay, "the chief reason for preferring the + Sudder Court is this—that it is the court which we have provided to + administer justice, in the last resort, to the great body of the people. + If it is not fit for that purpose, it ought to be made so. If it is fit to + administer justice to the great body of the people, why should we exempt a + mere handful of settlers from its jurisdiction? There certainly is, I will + not say the reality, but the semblance of partiality and tyranny in the + distinction made by the Charter Act of 1813. That distinction seems to + indicate a notion that the natives of India may well put up with something + less than justice, or that Englishmen in India have a title to something + more than justice. If we give our own countrymen an appeal to the King's + Courts, in cases in which all others are forced to be contented with the + Company's Courts, we do in fact cry down the Company's Courts. We proclaim + to the Indian people that there are two sorts of justice—a coarse + one, which we think good enough for then, and another of superior quality, + which we keep for ourselves. If we take pains to show that we distrust our + highest courts, how can we expect that the natives of the country will + place confidence in them? + </p> + <p> + "The draft of the Act was published, and was, as I fully expected, not + unfavourably received by the British in the Mofussil. [The term "Mofussil" + is used to denote the provinces of the Bengal Presidency, as opposed to + the Capital.] Seven weeks have elapsed since the notification took place. + Time has been allowed for petitions from the furthest corners of the + territories subject to this Presidency. But I have heard of only one + attempt in the Mofussil to get up a remonstrance; and the Mofussil + newspapers which I have seen, though generally disposed to cavil at all + the acts of the Government, have spoken favourably of this measure. + </p> + <p> + "In Calcutta the case has been somewhat different; and this is a + remarkable fact. The British inhabitants of Calcutta are the only + British-born subjects in Bengal who will not be affected by the proposed + Act; and they are the only British subjects in Bengal who have expressed + the smallest objection to it. The clamour, indeed, has proceeded from a + very small portion of the society of Calcutta. The objectors have not + ventured to call a public meeting, and their memorial has obtained very + few signatures. But they have attempted to make up by noise and virulence + for what has been wanting in strength. It may at first sight appear + strange that a law, which is not unwelcome to those who are to live under + it, should excite such acrimonious feelings among people who are wholly + exempted from its operation. But the explanation is simple. Though nobody + who resides at Calcutta will be sued in the Mofussil courts, many people + who reside at Calcutta have, or wish to have, practice in the Supreme + Court. Great exertions have accordingly been made, though with little + success, to excite a feeling against this measure among the English + inhabitants of Calcutta. + </p> + <p> + "The political phraseology of the English in India is the same with the + political phraseology of our countrymen at home; but it is never to be + forgotten that the same words stand for very different things at London + and at Calcutta. We hear much about public opinion, the love of liberty, + the influence of the Press. But we must remember that public opinion means + the opinion of five hundred persons who have no interest, feeling, or + taste in common with the fifty millions among whom they live; that the + love of liberty means the strong objection which the five hundred feel to + every measure which can prevent them from acting as they choose towards + the fifty millions, that the Press is altogether supported by the five + hundred, and has no motive to plead the cause of the fifty millions. + </p> + <p> + "We know that India cannot have a free Government. But she may have the + next best thing—a firm and impartial despotism. The worst state in + which she can possibly be placed is that in which the memorialists would + place her. They call on us to recognise them as a privileged order of + freemen in the midst of slaves. It was for the purpose of averting this + great evil that Parliament, at the same time at which it suffered + Englishmen to settle in India, armed us with those large powers which, in + my opinion, we ill deserve to possess, if we have, not the spirit to use + them now." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay had made two mistakes. He had yielded to the temptation of + imputing motives, a habit which the Spectator newspaper has pronounced to + be his one intellectual vice, finely adding that it is "the vice of + rectitude;" and he had done worse still, for he had challenged his + opponents to a course of agitation. They responded to the call. After + preparing the way by a string of communications to the public journals, in + to which their objections to the Act were set forth at enormous length, + and with as much point and dignity as can be obtained by a copious use of + italics and capital letters, they called a public meeting, the proceedings + at which were almost too ludicrous for description. "I have seen," said + one of the speakers, "at a Hindoo festival, a naked dishevelled figure, + his face painted with grotesque colours, and his long hair besmeared with + dirt and ashes. His tongue was pierced with an iron bar, and his breast + was scorched by the fire from the burning altar which rested on his + stomach. This revolting figure, covered with ashes, dirt, and bleeding + voluntary wounds, may the next moment ascend the Sudder bench, and in a + suit between a Hindoo and an Englishman think it an act of sanctity to + decide against law in favour of the professor of the true faith." Another + gentleman, Mr. Longueville Clarke, reminded "the tyrant" that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + There yawns the sack, and yonder rolls the sea. +</pre> + <p> + "Mr. Macaulay may treat this as an idle threat; but his knowledge of + history will supply him with many examples of what has occurred when + resistance has been provoked by milder instances of despotism than the + decimation of a people." This pretty explicit recommendation to lynch a + Member of Council was received with rapturous applause. + </p> + <p> + At length arose a Captain Biden, who spoke as follows: "Gentlemen, I come + before you in the character of a British seaman, and on that ground claim + your attention for a few moments. Gentlemen, there has been much talk + during the evening of laws, and regulations, and rights, and liberties; + but you all seem to have forgotten that this is the anniversary of the + glorious Battle of Waterloo. I beg to propose, and I call on the statue of + Lord Cornwallis and yourselves to join me in three cheers for the Duke of + Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo." The audience, who by this time + were pretty well convinced that no grievance which could possibly result + under the Black Act could equal the horrors of a crowd in the Town Hall of + Calcutta during the latter half of June, gladly caught at the diversion, + and made noise enough to satisfy even the gallant orator. The business was + brought to a hurried close, and the meeting was adjourned till the + following week. + </p> + <p> + But the luck of Macaulay's adversaries pursued them still. One of the + leading speakers at the adjourned meeting, himself a barrister, gave + another barrister the lie, and a tumult ensued which Captain Biden in vain + endeavoured to calm by his favourite remedy. "The opinion at Madras, + Bombay, and Canton," said he,—and in so saying he uttered the only + sentence of wisdom which either evening had produced,—"is that there + is no public opinion at Calcutta but the lawyers. And now,—who has + the presumption to call it a burlesque?—let's give three cheers for + the Battle of Waterloo, and then I'll propose an amendment which shall go + into the whole question." The Chairman, who certainly had earned the vote + of thanks for "his very extraordinary patience," which Captain Biden was + appropriately selected to move, contrived to get resolutions passed in + favour of petitioning Parliament and the Home Government against the + obnoxious Act. + </p> + <p> + The next few weeks were spent by the leaders of the movement in squabbling + over the preliminaries of duels that never came off, and applying for + criminal informations for libel against each other, which their beloved + Supreme Court very judiciously refused to grant; but in the course of time + the petitions were signed, and an agent was selected, who undertook to + convey them to England. On the 22nd of March, 1838, a Committee of inquiry + into the operation of the Act was moved for in the House of Commons; but + there was nothing in the question which tempted Honourable Members to lay + aside their customary indifference with regard to Indian controversies, + and the motion fell through without a division. The House allowed the + Government to have its own way in the matter; and any possible hesitation + on the part of the Ministers was borne down by the emphasis with which + Macaulay claimed their support. "I conceive," he wrote, "that the Act is + good in itself, and that the time for passing it has been well chosen. The + strongest reason, however, for passing it is the nature of the opposition + which it has experienced. The organs of that opposition repeated every day + that the English were the conquerors, and the lords of the country, the + dominant race; the electors of the House of Commons, whose power extends + both over the Company at home, and over the Governor-General in Council + here. The constituents of the British Legislature, they told us, were not + to be bound by laws made by any inferior authority. The firmness with + which the Government withstood the idle outcry of two or three hundred + people, about a matter with which they had nothing to do, was designated + as insolent defiance of public opinion. We were enemies of freedom, + because we would not suffer a small white aristocracy to domineer over + millions. How utterly at variance these principles are with reason, with + justice, with the honour of the British Government, and with the dearest + interests of the Indian people, it is unnecessary for me to point out. For + myself, I can only say that, if the Government is to be conducted on such + principles, I am utterly disqualified, by all my feelings and opinions, + from bearing any part in it, and cannot too soon resign my place to some + person better fitted to hold it." + </p> + <p> + It is fortunate for India that a man with the tastes, and the training, of + Macaulay came to her shores as one vested with authority, and that he came + at the moment when he did; for that moment was the very turning-point of + her intellectual progress. All educational action had been at a stand for + some time back, on account of an irreconcilable difference of opinion in + the Committee of Public Instruction; which was divided, five against five, + on either side of a controversy,—vital, inevitable, admitting of + neither postponement nor compromise, and conducted by both parties with a + pertinacity and a warmth that was nothing but honourable to those + concerned. Half of the members were for maintaining and extending the old + scheme of encouraging Oriental learning by stipends paid to students in + Sanscrit, Persian, and Arabic; and by liberal grants for the publication + of works in those languages. The other half were in favour of teaching the + elements of knowledge in the vernacular tongues, and the higher branches + in English. On his arrival, Macaulay was appointed President of the + Committee; but he declined to take any active part in its proceedings + until the Government had finally pronounced on the question at issue. + Later in January 1835 the advocates of the two systems, than whom ten + abler men could not be found in the service, laid their opinions before + the Supreme Council; and, on the and of February, Macaulay, as a member of + that Council, produced a minute in which he adopted and defended the views + of the English section in the Committee. + </p> + <p> + "How stands the case? We have to educate a people who cannot at present be + educated by means of their mother-tongue. We must teach them some foreign + language. The claims of our own language it is hardly necessary to + recapitulate. It stands preeminent even among the languages of the West. + It abounds with works of imagination not inferior to the noblest which + Greece has bequeathed to us; with models of every species of eloquence; + with historical compositions, which, considered merely as narratives, have + seldom been surpassed, and which, considered as vehicles of ethical and + political instruction, have never been equalled; with just and lively + representations of human life and human nature; with the most profound + speculations on metaphysics, morals, government, jurisprudence, and trade; + with full and correct information respecting every experimental science + which tends to preserve the health, to increase the comfort, or to expand + the intellect of man. Whoever knows that language has ready access to all + the vast intellectual wealth which the the wisest nations of the earth + have created and hoarded in the course of ninety generations. It may + safely be said that the literature now extant in that language is of far + greater value than all the literature which three hundred years ago was + extant in all the languages of the world together. Nor is this all. In + India, English is the language spoken by the ruling class. It is spoken by + the higher class of natives at the seats of government. It is likely to + become the language of commerce throughout the seas of the East. It is the + language of two great European communities which are rising, the one in + the south of Africa, the other in Australasia; communities which are every + year becoming more important, and more closely connected with our Indian + Empire. Whether we look at the intrinsic value of our literature or at the + particular situation of this country, we shall see the strongest reason to + think that, of all foreign tongues, the English tongue is that which would + be the most useful to our native subjects. + </p> + <p> + "The question now before us is simply whether, when it is in our power to + teach this language, we shall teach languages in which, by universal + confession, there are no books on any subject which deserve to be compared + to our own; whether, when we can teach European science, we shall teach + systems which, by universal confession, whenever they differ from those of + Europe, differ for the worse; and whether, when we can patronise sound + philosophy and true history, we shall countenance, at the public expense, + medical doctrines, which would disgrace an English furrier—astronomy, + which would move laughter in the girls at an English boarding-school—history, + abounding with kings thirty feet high, and reigns thirty thousand years + long—and geography made up of seas of treacle and seas of butter. + </p> + <p> + "We are not without experience to guide us. History furnishes several + analogous cases, and they all teach the same lesson. There are in modern + times, to go no further, two memorable instances of a great impulse given + to the mind of a whole society—of prejudice overthrown—of + knowledge diffused—of taste purified—of arts and sciences + planted in countries which had recently been ignorant and barbarous. + </p> + <p> + "The first instance to which I refer is the great revival of letters among + the western nations at the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the + sixteenth century. At that time almost everything that was worth reading + was contained in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Had our + ancestors acted as the Committee of Public Instruction has hitherto acted; + had they neglected the language of Cicero and Tacitus; had they confined + their attention to the old dialects of our own island; had they printed + nothing, and taught nothing at the universities, but chronicles in + Anglo-Saxon, and romances in Norman French, would England have been what + she now is? What the Greek and Latin were to the contemporaries of More + and Ascham, our tongue is to the people of India. The literature of + England is now more valuable than that of classical antiquity. I doubt + whether the Sanscrit literature be as valuable as that of our Saxon and + Norman progenitors. In some departments—in history, for example—I + am certain that it is much less so. + </p> + <p> + "Another instance may be said to be still before our eyes. Within the last + hundred and twenty years a nation which had previously been in a state as + barbarous as that in which our ancestors were before the Crusades has + gradually emerged from the ignorance in which it was sunk, and has taken + its place among civilised communities. I speak of Russia. There is now in + that country a large educated class, abounding with persons fit to serve + the state in the highest functions, and in no way inferior to the most + accomplished men who adorn the best circles of Paris and London. There is + reason to hope that this vast Empire, which in the time of our + grandfathers was probably behind the Punjab, may, in the time of our + grandchildren, be pressing close on France and Britain in the career of + improvement. And how was this change effected? Not by flattering national + prejudices; not by feeding the mind of the young Muscovite with the old + woman's stories which his rude fathers had believed; not by filling his + head with lying legends about St. Nicholas; not by encouraging him to + study the great question, whether the world was or was not created on the + 13th of September; not by calling him 'a learned native,' when he has + mastered all these points of knowledge; but by teaching him those foreign + languages in which the greatest mass of information had been laid up, and + thus putting all that information within his reach. The languages of + western Europe civilised Russia. I cannot doubt that they will do for the + Hindoo what they have done for the Tartar." + </p> + <p> + This Minute, which in its original shape is long enough for an article in + a quarterly review, and as businesslike as a Report of a Royal Commission, + set the question at rest at once and for ever. On the 7th of March, 1835, + Lord William Bentinck decided that "the great object of the British + Government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science + among the natives of India;" two of the Orientalists retired from the + Committee of Public Instruction; several new members, both English and + native, were appointed; and Macaulay entered upon the functions of + President with an energy and assiduity which in his case was an infallible + proof that his work was to his mind. + </p> + <p> + The post was no sinecure. It was an arduous task to plan, found, and + construct, in all its grades, the education of such a country as India. + The means at Macaulay's disposal were utterly inadequate for the + undertaking on which he was engaged. Nothing resembling an organised staff + was as yet in existence. There were no Inspectors of Schools. There were + no training colleges for masters. There were no boards of experienced + managers. The machinery consisted of voluntary committees acting on the + spot, and corresponding directly with the superintending body at Calcutta. + Macaulay rose to the occasion, and threw himself into the routine of + administration and control with zeal sustained by diligence and tempered + by tact. "We were hardly prepared," said a competent critic, "for the + amount of conciliation which he evinces in dealing with irritable + colleagues and subordinates, and for the strong, sterling, practical + common sense with which he sweeps away rubbish, or cuts the knots of local + and departmental problems." The mastery which a man exercises over + himself, and the patience and forbearance displayed in his dealings with + others, are generally in proportion to the value which he sets upon the + objects of his pursuit. If we judge Macaulay by this standard, it is plain + that he cared a great deal more for providing our Eastern Empire with an + educational outfit that would work and wear than he ever cared for keeping + his own seat in Parliament or pushing his own fortunes in Downing Street. + Throughout his innumerable Minutes, on all subjects from the broadest + principle to the narrowest detail, he is everywhere free from crotchets + and susceptibilities; and everywhere ready to humour any person who will + make himself useful, and to adopt any appliance which can be turned to + account. + </p> + <p> + "I think it highly probable that Mr. Nicholls may be to blame, because I + have seldom known a quarrel in which both parties were not to blame. But I + see no evidence that he is so. Nor do I see any evidence which tends to + prove that Mr. Nicholls leads the Local Committee by the nose. The Local + Committee appear to have acted with perfect propriety, and I cannot + consent to treat them in the manner recommended by Mr. Sutherland. If we + appoint the Colonel to be a member of their body, we shall in effect pass + a most severe censure on their proceedings. I dislike the suggestion of + putting military men on the Committee as a check on the civilians. + Hitherto we have never, to the best of my belief, been troubled by any + such idle jealousies. I would appoint the fittest men without caring to + what branch of the service they belonged, or whether they belonged to the + service at all." [This, and the following extracts, are taken from a + volume of Macaulay's Minutes, "now first collected from Records in the + Department of Public instruction, by H. Woodrow, Esq., M.A., Inspector of + Schools at Calcutta, and formerly Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge." The + collection was published in India.] + </p> + <p> + Exception had been taken to an applicant for a mastership, on the ground + that he had been a preacher with a strong turn for proselytising. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. —— seems to be so little concerned about proselytising, + that he does not even know how to spell the word; a circumstance which, if + I did not suppose it to be a slip of the pen, I should think a more + serious objection than the 'Reverend' which formerly stood before his + name. I am quite content with his assurances." + </p> + <p> + In default of better, Macaulay was always for employing the tools which + came to hand. A warm and consistent advocate of appointment by competitive + examination, wherever a field for competition existed, he was no pedantic + slave to a theory. In the dearth of schoolmasters, which is a feature in + every infant educational system, he refused to reject a candidate who + mistook "Argos for Corinth," and backed the claims of aspirants of + respectable character who could "read, write, and work a sum." + </p> + <p> + "By all means accept the King of Oude's present; though, to be sure, more + detestable maps were never seen. One would think that the revenues of + Oude, and the treasures of Saadut Ali, might have borne the expense of + producing something better than a map in which Sicily is joined on to the + toe of Italy, and in which so important an eastern island as Java does not + appear at all." + </p> + <p> + "As to the corrupting influence of the zenana, of which Mr. Trevelyan + speaks, I may regret it; but I own that I cannot help thinking that the + dissolution of the tie between parent and child is as great a moral evil + as can be found in any zenana. In whatever degree infant schools relax + that tie they do mischief. For my own part, I would rather hear a boy of + three years old lisp all the bad words in the language than that he should + have no feelings of family affection—that his character should be + that which must be expected in one who has had the misfortune of having a + schoolmaster in place of a mother." + </p> + <p> + "I do not see the reason for establishing any limit as to the age of + scholars. The phenomena are exactly the same which have always been found + to exist when a new mode of education has been rising into fashion. No man + of fifty now learns Greek with boys; but in the sixteenth century it was + not at all unusual to see old Doctors of Divinity attending lectures side + by side with young students." + </p> + <p> + "With respect to making our College libraries circulating libraries, there + is much to be said on both sides. If a proper subscription is demanded + from those who have access to them, and if all that is raised by this + subscription is laid out in adding to the libraries, the students will be + no losers by the plan. Our libraries, the best of them at least, would be + better than any which would be readily accessible at an up-country + station; and I do not know why we should grudge a young officer the + pleasure of reading our copy of Boswell's Life of Johnson or Marmontel's + Memoirs, if he is willing to pay a few rupees for the privilege." + </p> + <p> + These utterances of cultured wisdom or homely mother-wit are sometimes + expressed in phrases almost as amusing, though not so characteristic, as + those which Frederic the Great used to scrawl on the margin of reports and + despatches for the information of his secretaries. + </p> + <p> + "We are a little too indulgent to the whims of the people in our employ. + We pay a large sum to send a master to a distant station. He dislikes the + place. The collector is uncivil; the surgeon quarrels with him; and he + must be moved. The expenses of the journey have to be defrayed. Another + man is to be transferred from a place where he is comfortable and useful. + Our masters run from station to station at our cost, as vapourised ladies + at home run about from spa to spa. All situations have their discomforts; + and there are times when we all wish that our lot had been cast in some + other line of life, or in some other place." + </p> + <p> + With regard to a proposed coat of arms for Hooghly College, he says + </p> + <p> + "I do not see why the mummeries of European heraldry should be introduced + into any part of our Indian system. Heraldry is not a science which has + any eternal rules. It is a system of arbitrary canons, originating in pure + caprice. Nothing can be more absurd and grotesque than armorial bearings, + considered in themselves. Certain recollections, certain associations, + make them interesting in many cases to an Englishman; but in those + recollections and associations the natives of India do not participate. A + lion, rampant, with a folio in his paw, with a man standing on each side + of him, with a telescope over his head, and with a Persian motto under his + feet, must seem to them either very mysterious, or very absurd." + </p> + <p> + In a discussion on the propriety of printing some books of Oriental + science, Macaulay writes + </p> + <p> + "I should be sorry to say anything disrespectful of that liberal and + generous enthusiasm for Oriental literature which appears in Mr. + Sutherland's minute; but I own that I cannot think that we ought to be + guided in the distribution of the small sum, which the Government has + allotted for the purpose of education, by considerations which seem a + little romantic. That the Saracens a thousand years ago cultivated + mathematical science is hardly, I think, a reason for our spending any + money in translating English treatises on mathematics into Arabic. Mr. + Sutherland would probably think it very strange if we were to urge the + destruction of the Alexandrian Library as a reason against patronising + Arabic literature in the nineteenth century. The undertaking may be, as + Mr. Sutherland conceives, a great national work. So is the breakwater at + Madras. But under the orders which we have received from the Government, + we have just as little to do with one as with the other." + </p> + <p> + Now and then a stroke, aimed at Hooghly College, hits nearer home. That + men of thirty should be bribed to continue their education into mature + life "seems very absurd. Moghal Jan has been paid to learn something + during twelve years. We are told that he is lazy and stupid; but there are + hopes that in four years more he will have completed his course of study. + We have had quite enough of these lazy, stupid schoolboys of thirty." + </p> + <p> + "I must frankly own that I do not like the list of books. Grammars of + rhetoric and grammars of logic are among the most useless furniture of a + shelf. Give a boy Robinson Crusoe. That is worth all the grammars of + rhetoric and logic in the world. We ought to procure such books as are + likely to give the children a taste for the literature of the West; not + books filled with idle distinctions and definitions, which every man who + has learned them makes haste to forget. Who ever reasoned better for + having been taught the difference between a syllogism and an enthymeme? + Who ever composed with greater spirit and elegance because he could define + an oxymoron or an aposiopesis? I am not joking, but writing quite + seriously, when I say that I would much rather order a hundred copies of + Jack the Giant-killer for our schools than a hundred copies of any grammar + of rhetoric or logic that ever was written." + </p> + <p> + "Goldsmith's Histories of Greece and Rome are miserable performances, and + I do not at all like to lay out 50 pounds on them, even after they have + received all Mr. Pinnock's improvements. I must own too, that I think the + order for globes and other instruments unnecessarily large. To lay out 324 + pounds at once on globes alone, useful as I acknowledge those articles to + be, seems exceedingly profuse, when we have only about 3,000 pounds a year + for all purposes of English education. One 12-inch or 18-inch globe for + each school is quite enough; and we ought not, I think, to order sixteen + such globes when we are about to establish only seven schools. Useful as + the telescopes, the theodolites, and the other scientific instruments + mentioned in the indent undoubtedly are, we must consider that four or + five such instruments run away with a year's salary of a schoolmaster, and + that, if we purchase them, it will be necessary to defer the establishment + of schools." + </p> + <p> + At one of the colleges at Calcutta the distribution of prizes was + accompanied by some histrionic performances on the part of the pupils. + </p> + <p> + "I have no partiality," writes Macaulay, "for such ceremonies. I think it + a very questionable thing whether, even at home, public spouting and + acting ought to form part of the system of a place of education. But in + this country such exhibitions are peculiarly out of place. I can conceive + nothing more grotesque than the scene from the Merchant of Venice, with + Portia represented by a little black boy. Then, too, the subjects of + recitation were ill chosen. We are attempting to introduce a great nation + to a knowledge of the richest and noblest literature in the world. The + society of Calcutta assemble to see what progress we are making; and we + produce as a sample a boy who repeats some blackguard doggerel of George + Colman's, about a fat gentleman who was put to bed over an oven, and about + a man-midwife who was called out of his bed by a drunken man at night. Our + disciple tries to hiccup, and tumbles and staggers about in imitation of + the tipsy English sailors whom he has seen at the punch houses. Really, if + we can find nothing better worth reciting than this trash, we had better + give up English instruction altogether." + </p> + <p> + "As to the list of prize books, I am not much better satisfied. It is + absolutely unintelligible to me why Pope's Works and my old friend Moore's + Lalla Rookh should be selected from the whole mass of English poetry to be + prize books. I will engage to frame, currente calamo, a better list. + Bacon's Essays, Hume's England, Gibbon's Rome, Robertson's Charles V., + Robertson's Scotland, Robertson's America, Swift's Gulliver, Robinson + Crusoe, Shakespeare's Works, Paradise Lost, Milton's smaller poems, + Arabian Nights, Park's Travels, Anson's Voyage, the Vicar of Wakefield, + Johnson's Lives, Gil Blas, Voltaire's Charles XII., Southey's Nelson, + Middleton's Life of Cicero. + </p> + <p> + "This may serve as a specimen. These are books which will amuse and + interest those who obtain them. To give a boy Abercrombie on the + Intellectual Powers, Dick's Moral Improvement, Young's Intellectual + Philosophy, Chalmers's Poetical Economy!!! (in passing I may be allowed to + ask what that means?) is quite absurd. I would not give orders at random + for books about which we know nothing. We are under no necessity of + ordering at haphazard. We know Robinson Crusoe, and Gulliver, and the + Arabian Nights, and Anson's Voyage, and many other delightful works which + interest even the very young, and which do not lose their interest to the + end of our lives. Why should we order blindfold such books as Markham's + New Children's Friend, the juvenile Scrap Book, the Child's Own Book, + Niggens's Earth, Mudie's Sea, and somebody else's Fire and Air?—books + which, I will be bound for it, none of us ever opened. + </p> + <p> + "The list ought in all its parts to be thoroughly recast. If Sir Benjamin + Malkin will furnish the names of ten or twelve works of a scientific kind, + which he thinks suited for prizes, the task will not be difficult; and, + with his help, I will gladly undertake it. There is a marked distinction + between a prize book and a school book. A prize book ought to be a book + which a boy receives with pleasure, and turns over and over, not as a + task, but spontaneously. I have not forgotten my own school-boy feelings + on this subject. My pleasure at obtaining a prize was greatly enhanced by + the knowledge that my little library would receive a very agreeable + addition. I never was better pleased than when at fourteen I was master of + Boswell's Life of Johnson, which I had long been wishing to read. If my + master had given me, instead of Boswell, a Critical Pronouncing + Dictionary, or a Geographical Class book, I should have been much less + gratified by my success." + </p> + <p> + The idea had been started of paying authors to write books in the + languages of the country. On this Macaulay remarks + </p> + <p> + "To hire four or five people to make a literature is a course which never + answered and never will answer, in any part of the world. Languages grow. + They cannot be built. We are now following the slow but sure course on + which alone we can depend for a supply of good books in the vernacular + languages of India. We are attempting to raise up a large class of + enlightened natives. I hope that, twenty years hence, there will be + hundreds, nay thousands, of natives familiar with the best models of + composition, and well acquainted with Western science. Among them some + persons will be found who will have the inclination and the ability to + exhibit European knowledge in the vernacular dialects. This I believe to + be the only way in which we can raise up a good vernacular literature in + this country." + </p> + <p> + These hopeful anticipations have been more than fulfilled. Twice twenty + years have brought into existence, not hundreds or thousands, but hundreds + of thousands, of natives who can appreciate European knowledge when laid + before them in the English language, and can reproduce it in their own. + Taking one year with another, upwards of a thousand works of literature + and science are published annually in Bengal alone, and at least four + times that number throughout the entire continent. Our colleges have more + than six thousand students on their books, and two hundred thousand boys + are receiving a liberal education in schools of the higher order. For the + improvement of the mass of the people, nearly seven thousand young men are + in training as Certificated Masters. The amount allotted in the budget to + the item of Public Instruction has increased more than seventy-fold since + 1835; and is largely supplemented by the fees which parents of all classes + willingly contribute when once they have been taught the value of a + commodity the demand for which is created by the supply. During many years + past the generosity of wealthy natives has to a great extent been diverted + from the idle extravagance of pageants and festivals, to promote the + intellectual advancement of their fellow-countrymen. On several different + occasions, at a single stroke of the pen, our Indian universities have + been endowed with twice, three times, four times the amount of the slender + sum which Macaulay had at his command. But none the less was he the + master-engineer, whose skill and foresight determined the direction of the + channels, along which this stream of public and private munificence was to + flow for the regeneration of our Eastern Empire. + </p> + <p> + It may add something to the merit of Macaulay's labours in the cause of + Education that those labours were voluntary and unpaid; and voluntary and + unpaid likewise was another service which he rendered to India, not less + durable than the first, and hardly less important. A clause in the Act of + 1833 gave rise to the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the + jurisprudence and jurisdiction of our Eastern Empire. Macaulay, at his own + instigation, was appointed President of that Commission. He had not been + many months engaged in his new duties before he submitted a proposal, by + the adoption of which his own industry and the high talents of his + colleagues, Mr. Cameron and Sir John Macleod, might be turned to the best + account by being employed in framing a Criminal Code for the whole Indian + Empire. "This Code," writes Macaulay, "should not be a mere digest of + existing usages and regulations, but should comprise all the reforms which + the Commission may think desirable. It should be framed on two great + principles, the principle of suppressing crime with the smallest possible + amount of suffering, and the principle of ascertaining truth at the + smallest possible cost of time and money. The Commissioners should be + particularly charged to study conciseness, as far as it is consistent with + perspicuity. In general, I believe, it will be found that perspicuous and + concise expressions are not only compatible, but identical." + </p> + <p> + The offer was eagerly accepted, and the Commission fell to work. The + results of that work did not show themselves quickly enough to satisfy the + most practical, and, (to its credit be it spoken,) the most exacting of + Governments; and Macaulay was under the necessity of explaining and + excusing a procrastination, which was celerity itself as compared with any + codifying that had been done since the days of Justinian. + </p> + <p> + "During the last rainy season,—a season, I believe, peculiarly + unhealthy,—every member of the Commission, except myself, was wholly + incapacitated for exertion. Mr. Anderson has been twice under the + necessity of leaving Calcutta, and has not, till very lately, been able to + labour with his accustomed activity. Mr. Macleod has been, till within the + last week or ten days, in so feeble a state that the smallest effort + seriously disordered him; and his health is so delicate that, admirably + qualified as he is, by very rare talents, for the discharge of his + functions, it would be imprudent, in forming any prospective calculation, + to reckon on much service from him. Mr. Cameron, of the importance of + whose assistance I need not speak, has been, during more than four months, + utterly unable to do any work, and has at length been compelled to ask + leave of absence, in order to visit the Cape for the recovery of his + health. Thus, as the Governor-General has stated, Mr. Millett and myself + have, during a considerable time, constituted the whole effective strength + of the Commission. Nor has Mr. Millett been able to devote to the business + of the Commission his whole undivided attention. + </p> + <p> + "I must say that, even if no allowance be made for the untoward + occurrences which have retarded our progress, that progress cannot be + called slow. People who have never considered the importance and + difficulty of the task in which we are employed are surprised to find that + a Code cannot be spoken of extempore, or written like an article in a + magazine. I am not ashamed to acknowledge that there are several chapters + in the Code on which I have been employed for months; of which I have + changed the whole plan ten or twelve times; which contain not a single + word as it originally stood; and with which I am still very far indeed + from being satisfied. I certainly shall not hurry on my share of the work + to gratify the childish impatience of the ignorant. Their censure ought to + be a matter of perfect indifference to men engaged in a task, on the right + performance of which the welfare of millions may, during a long series of + years, depend. The cost of the Commission is as nothing when compared with + the importance of such a work. The time during which the Commission has + sat is as nothing compared with the time during which that work will + produce good, or evil, to India. + </p> + <p> + "Indeed, if we compare the progress of the Indian Code with the progress + of Codes under circumstances far more favourable, we shall find little + reason to accuse the Law Commission of tardiness. Buonaparte had at his + command the services of experienced jurists to any extent to which he + chose to call for them; yet his legislation proceeded at a far slower rate + than ours. The French Criminal Code was begun, under the Consulate, in + March 1801; and yet the Code of Criminal Procedure was not completed till + 1808, and the Penal Code not till 1810. The Criminal Code of Louisiana was + commenced in February 1821. After it had been in preparation during three + years and a half, an accident happened to the papers which compelled Mr. + Livingstone to request indulgence for another year. Indeed, when I + remember the slow progress of law reforms at home, and when I consider + that our Code decides hundreds of questions, every one of which, if + stirred in England, would give occasion to voluminous controversy and to + many animated debates, I must acknowledge that I am inclined to fear that + we have been guilty rather of precipitation than of delay." + </p> + <p> + This Minute was dated the end of January, 1837; and in the course of the + same year the Code appeared, headed by an Introductory Report in the shape + of a letter to the Governor-General, and followed by an Appendix + containing eighteen notes, each in itself an essay. The most readable of + all Digests, its pages are alive with illustrations drawn from history, + from literature, and from the habits and occurrences of everyday life. The + offence of fabricating evidence is exemplified by a case which may easily + be recognised as that of Lady Macbeth and the grooms; ["A, after wounding + a person with a knife, goes into the room where Z is sleeping, smears Z's + clothes with blood, and lays the knife under Z's pillow; intending not + only that suspicion may thereby be turned away front himself, but also + that Z may be convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt. A is liable + to punishment as a fabricator of false evidence."] and the offence of + voluntary culpable homicide by an imaginary incident of a pit covered with + sticks and turf, which irresistibly recalls a reminiscence of Jack the + Giant-killer. The chapters on theft and trespass establish the rights of + book owners as against book stealers, book borrowers, and book defacers, + with an affectionate precision which would have gladdened the heart of + Charles Lamb or Sir Walter Scott. ["A, being on friendly terms with Z, + goes into Z's library, in Z's absence, and takes a book without Z's + express consent. Here, it is probable that A may have conceived that he + had Z's implied consent to use Z's books. If this was A's impression, A + has not committed theft." + </p> + <p> + "A takes up a book belonging to Z, and reads it, not having any right over + the book, and not having the consent of any person entitled to authorise A + so to do. A trespasses. + </p> + <p> + "A, being exasperated at a passage in a book which is lying on the counter + of Z, snatches it up, and tears it to pieces. A has not committed theft, + as he has not acted fraudulently, though he may have committed criminal + trespass and mischief."] In the chapter on manslaughter, the judge is + enjoined to treat with lenity an act done in the first anger of a husband + or father, provoked by the intolerable outrage of a certain kind of + criminal assault. "Such an assault produced the Sicilian Vespers. Such an + assault called forth the memorable blow of Wat Tyler." And, on the + question whether the severity of a hurt should be considered in + apportioning the punishment, we are reminded of "examples which are + universally known. Harley was laid up more than twenty days by the wound + which he received from Guiscard;" while "the scratch which Damien gave to + Louis the Fifteenth was so slight that it was followed by no feverish + symptoms." Such a sanguine estimate of the diffusion of knowledge with + regard to the details of ancient crimes could proceed from no pen but that + of the writer who endowed schoolboys with the erudition of professors, and + the talker who, when he poured forth the stores of his memory, began each + of his disquisitions with the phrase, "don't you remember?" + </p> + <p> + If it be asked whether or not the Penal Code fulfils the ends for which it + was framed, the answer may safely be left to the gratitude of Indian + civilians, the younger of whom carry it about in their saddle-bags, and + the older in their heads. The value which it possesses in the eyes of a + trained English lawyer may be gathered from the testimony of Macaulay's + eminent successor, Mr. Fitzjames Stephen, who writes of it thus: + </p> + <p> + "In order to appreciate the importance of the Penal Code, it must be borne + in mind what crime in India is. Here, in England, order is so thoroughly + well established that the crime of the country is hardly more than an + annoyance. In India, if crime is allowed to let to a head, it is capable + of destroying the peace and prosperity of whole tracts of country. The + mass of the people in their common moods are gentle, submissive, and + disposed to be innocent; but, for that very reason, bold and successful + criminals are dangerous in the extreme. In old days, when they joined in + gangs or organised bodies, they soon acquired political importance. Now, + in many parts of India, crime is quite as uncommon as in the least + criminal parts of England; and the old high-handed systematised crime has + almost entirely disappeared. This great revolution (for it is nothing + less) in the state of society of a whole continent has been brought about + by the regular administration of a rational body of criminal law. + </p> + <p> + "The administration of criminal justice is entrusted to a very small + number of English magistrates, organised according to a carefully-devised + system of appeal and supervision which represents the experience of a + century. This system is not unattended by evils; but it is absolutely + necessary to enable a few hundred civilians to govern a continent. Persons + in such a position must be provided with the plainest instructions as to + the nature of their duties. These instructions, in so far as the + administration of criminal justice is concerned, are contained in the + Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Code of Criminal + Procedure contains 541 sections, and forms a pamphlet of 210 widely + printed octavo pages. The Penal Code consists of 510 sections. Pocket + editions of these Codes are published, which may be carried about as + easily as a pocket Bible; and I doubt whether, even in Scotland, you would + find many people who know their Bibles as Indian civilians know their + Codes." + </p> + <p> + After describing the confusion and complication of the criminal law of our + Indian Empire before it was taken in hand by the Commission of 1834, Mr. + Stephen proceeds to say: + </p> + <p> + "Lord Macaulay's great work was far too daring and original to be accepted + at once. It was a draft when he left India in 1838. His successors made + remarks on it for twenty-two years. Those years were filled with wars and + rumours of wars. The Afghan disasters and triumphs, the war in Central + India, the wars with the Sikhs, Lord Dalhousie's annexations, threw law + reform into the background, and produced a state of mind not very + favourable to it. Then came the Mutiny, which in its essence was the + breakdown of an old system; the renunciation of an attempt to effect an + impossible compromise between the Asiatic and the European view of things, + legal, military, and administrative. The effect of the Mutiny on the + Statute-book was unmistakable. The Code of Civil Procedure was enacted in + 1859. The Penal Code was enacted in 1860, and came into operation on the + 1st of January 1862. The credit of passing the Penal Code into law, and of + giving to every part of it the improvements which practical skill and + technical knowledge could bestow, is due to Sir Barnes Peacock, who held + Lord Macaulay's place during the most anxious years through which the + Indian Empire has passed. The Draft and the Revision are both eminently + creditable to their authors; and the result of their successive efforts + has been to reproduce in a concise, and even beautiful, form the spirit of + the law of England; the most technical, the most clumsy, and the most + bewildering of all systems of criminal law; though I think, if its + principles are fully understood, it is the most rational. If anyone doubts + this assertion, let him compare the Indian Penal Code with such a book as + Mr. Greaves's edition of Russell on Crimes. The one subject of homicide, + as treated by Mr. Greaves and Russell, is, I should think, twice as long + as the whole Penal Code; and it does not contain a tenth part of the + matter." + </p> + <p> + "The point which always has surprised me most in connection with the Penal + Code is, that it proves that Lord Macaulay must have had a knowledge of + English criminal law which, considering how little he had practised it, + may fairly be called extraordinary. [Macaulay's practice at the bar had + been less than little, according to an account which he gave of it at a + public dinner: "My own forensic experience, gentlemen, has been extremely + small; for my only recollection of an achievement that way is that at + quarter sessions I once convicted a boy of stealing a parcel of cocks and + hens."] He must have possessed the gift of going at once to the very root + of the matter, and of sifting the corn from the chaff to a most unusual + degree; for his Draft gives the substance of the criminal law of England, + down to its minute working details, in a compass which, by comparison with + the original, may be regarded as almost absurdly small. The Indian Penal + Code is to the English criminal law what a manufactured article ready for + use is to the materials out of which it is made. It is to the French 'Code + Penal,' and, I may add, to the North German Code of 1871, what a finished + picture is to a sketch. It is far simpler, and much better expressed, than + Livingstone's Code for Louisiana; and its practical success has been + complete. The clearest proof of this is that hardly any questions have + arisen upon it which have had to be determined by the courts; and that few + and slight amendments have had to be made in it by the Legislature." + </p> + <p> + Without troubling himself unduly about the matter, Macaulay was conscious + that the world's estimate of his public services would be injuriously + affected by the popular notion, which he has described as "so flattering + to mediocrity," that a great writer cannot be a great administrator; and + it is possible that this consciousness had something to do with the + heartiness and fervour which he threw into his defence of the author of + "Cato" against the charge of having been an inefficient Secretary of + State. There was much in common between his own lot and that of the other + famous essayist who had been likewise a Whig statesman; and this + similarity in their fortunes may account in part for the indulgence, and + almost tenderness, with which he reviewed the career and character of + Addison. Addison himself, at his villa in Chelsea, and still more amidst + the gilded slavery of Holland House, might have envied the literary + seclusion, ample for so rapid a reader, which the usages of Indian life + permitted Macaulay to enjoy. "I have a very pretty garden," he writes, + "not unlike our little grass-plot at Clapham, but larger. It consists of a + fine sheet of turf, with a gravel walk round it, and flower-beds scattered + over it. It looks beautiful just now after the rains, and I hear that it + keeps its verdure during a great part of the year. A flight of steps leads + down from my library into the garden, and it is so well shaded that you + may walk there till ten o'clock in the morning." + </p> + <p> + Here, book in hand, and in dressing-gown and slippers, he would spend + those two hours after sun-rise which Anglo-Indian gentlemen devote to + riding, and Anglo-Indian ladies to sleeping off the arrears of the sultry + night. Regularly, every morning, his studies were broken in upon by the + arrival of his baby niece, who came to feed the crows with the toast which + accompanied his early cup of tea; a ceremony during which he had much ado + to protect the child from the advances of a multitude of birds, each + almost as big as herself, which hopped and fluttered round her as she + stood on the steps of the verandah. When the sun drove him indoors, (which + happened sooner than he had promised himself, before he had learned by + experience what the hot season was,) he went to his bath and toilette, and + then to breakfast; "at which we support nature under the exhausting + effects of the climate by means of plenty of eggs, mango-fish, snipe-pies, + and frequently a hot beefsteak. My cook is renowned through Calcutta for + his skill. He brought me attestations of a long succession of gourmands, + and among them one from Lord Dalhousie, who pronounced him decidedly the + first artist in Bengal. [Lord Dalhousie, the father of the + Governor-General, was Commander-In-Chief in India during the years 1830 + and 1831.] This great man, and his two assistants, I am to have for thirty + rupees a month. While I am on the subject of the cuisine, I may as well + say all that I have to say about it at once. The tropical fruits are + wretched. The best of them is inferior to our apricot or gooseberry. When + I was a child, I had a notion of its being the most exquisite of treats to + eat plantains and yams, and to drink palm-wine. How I envied my father for + having enjoyed these luxuries! I have now enjoyed them all, and I have + found like much greater men on much more important occasions, that all is + vanity. A plantain is very like a rotten pear,—so like that I would + lay twenty to one that a person blindfolded would not discover the + difference. A yam is better. It is like an indifferent potato. I tried + palm-wine at a pretty village near Madras, where I slept one night. I told + Captain Barron that I had been curious to taste that liquor ever since I + first saw, eight or nine and twenty years ago, the picture of the negro + climbing the tree in Sierra Leone. The next morning I was roused by a + servant, with a large bowl of juice fresh from the tree. I drank it, and + found it very like ginger-beer in which the ginger has been sparingly + used." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay necessarily spent away from home the days on which the Supreme + Council, or the Law Commission, held their meetings; but the rest of his + work, legal, literary, and educational, he carried on in the quiet of his + library. Now and again, a morning was consumed in returning calls, an + expenditure of time which it is needless to say that he sorely grudged. + "Happily, the good people here are too busy to be at home. Except the + parsons, they are all usefully occupied somewhere or other, so that I have + only to leave cards; but the reverend gentlemen are always within doors in + the heat of the day, lying on their backs, regretting breakfast, longing + for tiffin, and crying out for lemonade." After lunch he sate with Mrs. + Trevelyan, translating Greek or reading French for her benefit; and + Scribe's comedies and Saint Simon's Memoirs beguiled the long languid + leisure of the Calcutta afternoon, while the punkah swung overhead, and + the air came heavy and scented through the moistened grass-matting which + shrouded the windows. At the approach of sunset, with its attendant + breeze, he joined his sister in her drive along the banks of the Hooghly; + and they returned by starlight,—too often to take part in a vast + banquet of forty guests, dressed as fashionably as people can dress at + ninety degrees East from Paris; who, one and all, had far rather have been + eating their curry, and drinking their bitter beer, at home, in all the + comfort of muslin and nankeen. Macaulay is vehement in his dislike of + "those great formal dinners, which unite all the stiffness of a levee to + all the disorder and discomfort of a two-shilling ordinary. Nothing can be + duller. Nobody speaks except to the person next him. The conversation is + the most deplorable twaddle, and, as I always sit next to the lady of the + highest rank, or, in other words, to the oldest, ugliest, and proudest + woman in the company, I am worse off than my neighbours." + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless he was far too acute a judge of men to undervalue the special + type of mind which is produced and fostered by the influences of an Indian + career. He was always ready to admit that there is no better company in + the world than a young and rising civilian; no one who has more to say + that is worth hearing, and who can say it in a manner better adapted to + interest those who know good talk from bad. He delighted in that freedom + from pedantry, affectation, and pretension which is one of the most + agreeable characteristics of a service, to belong to which is in itself so + effectual an education, that a bore is a phenomenon notorious everywhere + within a hundred miles of the station which has the honour to possess him, + and a fool is quoted by name throughout all the three Presidencies. + Macaulay writes to his sisters at home: "The best way of seeing society + here is to have very small parties. There is a little circle of people + whose friendship I value, and in whose conversation I take pleasure: the + Chief Justice, Sir Edward Ryan; my old friend, Malkin; Cameron and + Macleod, the Law Commissioners; Macnaghten, among the older servants of + the Company, and Mangles, Colvin, and John Peter Grant among the younger. + [It cannot be said that all the claims made upon Macaulay's friendship + were acknowledged as readily as those of Sir Benjamin Malkin. "I am dunned + unmercifully by place-hunters. The oddest application that I have received + is from that rascal —, who is somewhere in the interior. He tells me + he is sure that prosperity has not changed me; that I am still the same + John Macaulay who was his dearest friend, his more than brother; and that + he means to come up, and live with me at Calcutta. If he fulfils his + intention, I will have him taken before the police-magistrates."] These, + in my opinion, are the flower of Calcutta society, and I often ask some of + them to a quiet dinner." On the Friday of every week, these chosen few met + round Macaulay's breakfast table to discuss the progress which the Law + Commission had made in its labours; and each successive point which was + started opened the way to such a flood of talk,—legal, historical, + political, and personal,—that the company would sit far on towards + noon over the empty teacups, until an uneasy sense of accumulating + despatch-boxes drove them, one by one, to their respective offices. + </p> + <p> + There are scattered passages in these letters which prove that Macaulay's + feelings, during his protracted absence from his native country, were at + times almost as keen as those which racked the breast of Cicero, when he + was forced to exchange the triumphs of the Forum, and the cozy suppers + with his brother augurs, for his hateful place of banishment at + Thessalonica, or his hardly less hateful seat of government at Tarsus. The + complaints of the English statesman do not, however, amount in volume to a + fiftieth part of those reiterated out pourings of lachrymose eloquence + with which the Roman philosopher bewailed an expatriation that was hardly + one-third as long. "I have no words," writes Macaulay, very much + under-estimating the wealth of his own vocabulary, "to tell you how I pine + for England, or how intensely bitter exile has been to me, though I hope + that I have borne it well. I feel as if I had no other wish than to see my + country again and die. Let me assure you that banishment is no light + matter. No person can judge of it who has not experienced it. A complete + revolution in all the habits of life; an estrangement from almost every + old friend and acquaintance; fifteen thousand miles of ocean between the + exile and everything that he cares for; all this is, to me at least, very + trying. There is no temptation of wealth, or power, which would induce me + to go through it again. But many people do not feel as I do. Indeed, the + servants of the Company rarely have such a feeling; and it is natural that + they should not have it, for they are sent out while still schoolboys, and + when they know little of the world. The moment of emigration is to them + also the moment of emancipation; and the pleasures of liberty and + affluence to a great degree compensate them for the loss of their home. In + a few years they become orientalised, and, by the time that they are of my + age, they would generally prefer India, as a residence, to England. But it + is a very different matter when a man is transplanted at thirty-three." + </p> + <p> + Making, as always, the best of everything, he was quite ready to allow + that he might have been placed in a still less agreeable situation. In the + following extract from a letter to his friend, Mrs. Drummond, there is + much which will come home to those who are old enough to remember how + vastly the Dublin of 1837 differed, for the worse, from the Dublin of + 1875, "It now seems likely that you may remain in Ireland for years. I + cannot conceive what has induced you to submit to such an exile. I + declare, for my own part, that, little as I love Calcutta, I would rather + stay here than be settled in the Phoenix Park. The last residence which I + would choose would be a place with all the plagues, and none of the + attractions, of a capital; a provincial city on fire with factions + political and religious, peopled by raving Orangemen and raving Repealers, + and distracted by a contest between Protestantism as fanatical as that of + Knot and Catholicism as fanatical as that of Bonner. We have our share of + the miseries of life in this country. We are annually baked four months, + boiled four more, and allowed the remaining four to become cool if we can. + At this moment, the sun is blazing like a furnace. The earth, soaked with + oceans of rain, is steaming like a wet blanket. Vegetation is rotting all + round us. Insects and undertakers are the only living creatures which seem + to enjoy the climate. But, though our atmosphere is hot, our factions are + lukewarm. A bad epigram in a newspaper, or a public meeting attended by a + tailor, a pastry-cook, a reporter, two or three barristers, and eight or + ten attorneys, are our most formidable annoyances. We have agitators in + our own small way, Tritons of the minnows, bearing the same sort of + resemblance to O'Connell that a lizard bears to an alligator. Therefore + Calcutta for me, in preference to Dublin." + </p> + <p> + He had good reason for being grateful to Calcutta, and still better for + not showing his gratitude by prolonging his stay there over a fourth + summer and autumn. "That tremendous crash of the great commercial houses + which took place a few years ago has produced a revolution in fashions. It + ruined one half of the English society in Bengal, and seriously injured + the other half. A large proportion of the most important functionaries + here are deeply in debt, and accordingly, the mode of living is now + exceedingly quiet and modest. Those immense subscriptions, those public + tables, those costly equipages and entertainments of which Heber, and + others who saw Calcutta a few years back, say so much, are never heard of. + Speaking for myself, it was a great piece of good fortune that I came + hither just at the time when the general distress had forced everybody to + adopt a moderate way of living. Owing very much to that circumstance, + (while keeping house, I think, more handsomely than any other member of + Council,) I have saved what will enable me to do my part towards making my + family comfortable; and I shall have a competency for myself, small + indeed, but quite sufficient to render me as perfectly independent as if I + were the possessor of Burleigh or Chatsworth." [Macaulay writes to Lord + Mahon on the last day of December 1836: "In another year I hope to leave + this country, with a fortune which you would think ridiculously small, but + which will make me as independent as if I had all that Lord Westminster + has above the ground, and Lord Durham below it. I have no intention of + again taking part in politics; but I cannot tell what effect the sight of + the old Hall and Abbey may produce on me."] + </p> + <p> + "The rainy season of 1837 has been exceedingly unhealthy. Our house has + escaped as well as any; yet Hannah is the only one of us who has come off + untouched. The baby has been repeatedly unwell. Trevelyan has suffered a + good deal, and is kept right only by occasional trips in a steamer down to + the mouth of the Hooghly. I had a smart touch of fever, which happily + stayed but an hour or two, and I took such vigorous measures that it never + came again; but I remained unnerved and exhausted for nearly a fortnight. + This was my first, and I hope my last, taste of Indian maladies. It is a + happy thing for us all that we are not to pass another year in the reek of + this deadly marsh." Macaulay wisely declined to set the hope of making + another lac of rupees against the risk, to himself and others of such a + fate as subsequently befell Lord Canning and Mr. James Wilson. He put the + finishing stroke to his various labours; resigned his seat in the Council, + and his Presidentships of the Law Commission and the Committee of Public + Instruction; and, in company with the Trevelyans, sailed for England in + the first fortnight of the year 1838. + </p> + <p> + To Mr Thomas Flower Ellis. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: December 16, 1834. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—Many thanks for your letter. It is delightful in this + strange land to see the handwriting of such a friend. We must keep up our + spirits. We shall meet, I trust, in little more than four years, with + feelings of regard only strengthened by our separation. My spirits are not + bad; and they ought not to be bad. I have health; affluence; + consideration; great power to do good; functions which, while they are + honourable and useful, are not painfully burdensome; leisure for study; + good books; an unclouded and active mind; warm affections; and a very dear + sister. There will soon be a change in my domestic arrangements. My sister + is to be married next week. Her lover, who is lover enough to be a knight + of the Round Table, is one of the most distinguished of our young + Civilians. + </p> + <p> + I have the very highest opinion of his talents both for action and for + discussion. Indeed, I should call him a man of real genius. He is also, + what is even more important, a man of the utmost purity of honour, of a + sweet temper, and of strong principle. His public virtue has gone through + very severe trials, and has come out resplendent. Lord William, in + congratulating me the other day, said that he thought my destined + brother-in-law the ablest young man in the service. His name is Trevelyan. + He is a nephew of Sir John Trevelyan, a baronet; in Cornwall I suppose, by + the name; for I never took the trouble to ask. + </p> + <p> + He and my sister will live with me during my stay here. I have a house + about as large as Lord Dudley's in Park Lane, or rather larger, so that I + shall accommodate them without the smallest difficulty. This arrangement + is acceptable to me, because it saves me from the misery of parting with + my sister in this strange land; and is, I believe, equally gratifying to + Trevelyan, whose education, like that of other Indian servants, was + huddled up hastily at home; who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge of + every sort; and who looks on me as little less than an oracle of wisdom. + He came to me the other morning to know whether I would advise him to keep + up his Greek, which he feared he had nearly lost. I gave him Homer, and + asked him to read a page; and I found that, like most boys of any talent + who had been at the Charterhouse, he was very well grounded in that + language. He read with perfect rapture, and has marched off with the book, + declaring that he shall never be content till he has finished the whole. + This, you will think, is not a bad brother-in-law for a man to pick up in + 22 degrees of North latitude, and 100 degrees of East longitude. + </p> + <p> + I read much, and particularly Greek; and I find that I am, in all + essentials, still not a bad scholar. I could, I think, with a year's hard + study, qualify myself to fight a good battle for a Craven's scholarship. I + read, however, not as I read at College, but like a man of the world. If I + do not know a word, I pass it by unless it is important to the sense. If I + find, as I have of late often found, a passage which refuses to give up + its meaning at the second reading, I let it alone. I have read during the + last fortnight, before breakfast, three books of Herodotus, and four plays + of Aeschylus. My admiration of Aeschylus has been prodigiously increased + by this reperusal. I cannot conceive how any person of the smallest + pretension to taste should doubt about his immeasurable superiority to + every poet of antiquity, Homer only excepted. Even Milton, I think, must + yield to him. It is quite unintelligible to me that the ancient critics + should have placed him so low. Horace's notice of him in the Ars Poetica + is quite ridiculous. There is, to be sure, the "magnum loqui;" but the + great topic insisted on is the skill of Aeschylus as a manager, as a + property-man; the judicious way in which he boarded the stage; the masks, + the buskins, and the dresses. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ["Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae + Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis, + Et docuit magnumnque loqui, nitique cothuruo."] +</pre> + <p> + And, after all, the "magnum loqui," though the most obvious characteristic + of Aeschylus, is by no means his highest or his best. Nor can I explain + this by saying that Horace had too tame and unimaginative a mind to + appreciate Aeschylus. Horace knew what he could himself do, and, with + admirable wisdom, he confined himself to that; but he seems to have had a + perfectly clear comprehension of the merit of those great masters whom he + never attempted to rival. He praised Pindar most enthusiastically. It + seems incomprehensible to me that a critic, who admired Pindar, should not + admire Aeschylus far more. + </p> + <p> + Greek reminds me of Cambridge and of Thirlwall. When you see Thirlwall, + tell him that I congratulate him from the bottom of my soul on having + suffered in so good a cause; and that I would rather have been treated as + he has been treated, on such an account, than have the Mastership of + Trinity. [The subjoined extract from the letter of a leading member of + Trinity College explains Macaulay's indignation. "Thirlwall published a + pamphlet in 1834, on the admission of Dissenters to the University. The + result was that he was either deprived of his Assistant Tutorship or had + to give it up. Thirlwall left Cambridge soon afterwards. I suppose that, + if he had remained, he would have been very possibly Wordsworth's + successor in the Mastership."] There would be some chance for the Church, + if we had more Churchmen of the same breed, worthy successors of Leighton + and Tillotson. + </p> + <p> + From one Trinity Fellow I pass to another. (This letter is quite a study + to a metaphysician who wishes to illustrate the Law of Association.) We + have no official tidings yet of Malkin's appointment to the vacant seat on + the Bench at Calcutta. I cannot tell you how delighted I am at the + prospect of having him here. An honest enlightened Judge, without + professional narrowness, is the very man whom we want on public grounds. + And, as to my private feelings, nothing could be more agreeable to me than + to have an old friend, and so estimable a friend, brought so near to me in + this distant country. + </p> + <p> + Ever, dear Ellis, + </p> + <p> + Yours very affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: February 8, 1835. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—The last month has been the most painful that I ever + went through. Indeed, I never knew before what it was to be miserable. + Early in January, letters from England brought me news of the death of my + youngest sister. What she was to me no words can express. I will not say + that she was dearer to me than anything in the world; for my sister who + was with me was equally dear; but she was as dear to me as one human being + can be to another. Even now, when time has begun to do its healing office, + I cannot write about her without being altogether unmanned. That I have + not utterly sunk under this blow I owe chiefly to literature. What a + blessing it is to love books as I love them;—to be able to converse + with the dead, and to live amidst the unreal! Many times during the last + few weeks I have repeated to myself those fine lines of old Hesiod: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ei gar tis kai penthos egon neokedei thumo + aksetai kradien akakhemenos, autar aoidos + mousaon therapon kleia proteron anthropon + umnese, makaras te theous oi Olumpon ekhousi, + aips oge dusphroneon epilethetai oude ti kedeon + memnetai takheos de paretrape dora theaon. +</pre> + <p> + ["For if to one whose grief is fresh as he sits silent with + sorrow-stricken heart, a minstrel, the henchman of the Muses, celebrates + the men of old and the gods who possess Olympus; straightway he forgets + his melancholy, and remembers not at all his grief, beguiled by the + blessed gift of the goddesses of song." In Macaulay's Hesiod this passage + is scored with three lines in pencil.] + </p> + <p> + I have gone back to Greek literature with a passion quite astonishing to + myself. I have never felt anything like it. I was enraptured with Italian + during the six months which I gave up to it; and I was little less pleased + with Spanish. But, when I went back to the Greek, I felt as if I had never + known before what intellectual enjoyment was. Oh that wonderful people! + There is not one art, not one science, about which we may not use the same + expression which Lucretius has employed about the victory over + superstition, "Primum Graius homo—." + </p> + <p> + I think myself very fortunate in having been able to return to these great + masters while still in the full vigour of life, and when my taste and + judgment are mature. Most people read all the Greek that they ever read + before they are five and twenty. They never find time for such studies + afterwards till they are in the decline of life; and then their knowledge + of the language is in a great measure lost, and cannot easily be + recovered. Accordingly, almost all the ideas that people have of Greek + literature, are ideas formed while they were still very young. A young + man, whatever his genius may be, is no judge of such a writer as + Thucydides. I had no high opinion of him ten years ago. I have now been + reading him with a mind accustomed to historical researches, and to + political affairs; and I am astonished at my own former blindness, and at + his greatness. I could not bear Euripides at college. I now read my + recantation. He has faults undoubtedly. But what a poet! The Medea, the + Alcestis, the Troades, the Bacchae, are alone sufficient to place him in + the very first rank. Instead of depreciating him, as I have done, I may, + for aught I know, end by editing him. + </p> + <p> + I have read Pindar,—with less pleasure than I feel in reading the + great Attic poets, but still with admiration. An idea occurred to me which + may very likely have been noticed by a hundred people before. I was always + puzzled to understand the reason for the extremely abrupt transitions in + those Odes of Horace which are meant to be particularly fine. The "justum + et tenacem" is an instance. All at once you find yourself in heaven, + Heaven knows how. What the firmness of just men in times of tyranny, or of + tumult, has to do with Juno's oration about Troy it is hardly possible to + conceive. Then, again, how strangely the fight between the Gods and the + Giants is tacked on to the fine hymn to the Muses in that noble ode, + "Descende coelo et die age tibia"! This always struck me as a great fault, + and an inexplicable one; for it is peculiarly alien from the calm good + sense, and good taste, which distinguish Horace. + </p> + <p> + My explanation of it is this. The Odes of Pindar were the acknowledged + models of lyric poetry. Lyric poets imitated his manner as closely as they + could; and nothing was more remarkable in his compositions than the + extreme violence and abruptness of the transitions. This in Pindar was + quite natural and defensible. He had to write an immense number of poems + on subjects extremely barren, and extremely monotonous. There could be + little difference between one boxing-match and another. Accordingly, he + made all possible haste to escape from the immediate subject, and to bring + in, by hook or by crook, some local description; some old legend; + something or other, in short, which might be more susceptible of poetical + embellishment, and less utterly threadbare, than the circumstances of a + race or a wrestling-match. This was not the practice of Pindar alone. + There is an old story which proves that Simonides did the same, and that + sometimes the hero of the day was nettled at finding how little was said + about him in the Ode for which he was to pay. This abruptness of + transition was, therefore, in the Greek lyric poets, a fault rendered + inevitable by the peculiarly barren and uniform nature of the subjects + which they had to treat. But, like many other faults of great masters, it + appeared to their imitators a beauty; and a beauty almost essential to the + grander Ode. Horace was perfectly at liberty to choose his own subjects, + and to treat them after his own fashion. But he confounded what was merely + accidental in Pindar's manner with what was essential; and because Pindar, + when he had to celebrate a foolish lad from Aegina who had tripped up + another's heels at the Isthmus, made all possible haste to get away from + so paltry a topic to the ancient heroes of the race of Aeacus, Horace took + it into his head that he ought always to begin as far from the subject as + possible, and then arrive at it by some strange and sudden bound. This is + my solution. At least I can find no better. The most obscure passage,—at + least the strangest passage,—in all Horace may be explained by + supposing that he was misled by Pindar's example: I mean that odd + parenthesis in the "Qualem Ministrum:" + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + quibus + Mos unde deductus per omne—. +</pre> + <p> + This passage, taken by itself, always struck me as the harshest, queerest, + and most preposterous digression in the world. But there are several + things in Pindar very like it. [Orelli makes an observation, much to the + same effect, in his note on this passage in his edition of 1850.] + </p> + <p> + You must excuse all this, for I labour at present under a suppression of + Greek, and am likely to do so for at least three years to come. Malkin may + be some relief; but I am quite unable to guess whether he means to come to + Calcutta. I am in excellent bodily health, and I am recovering my mental + health; but I have been sorely tried. Money matters look well. My new + brother-in-law and I are brothers in more than law. I am more comfortable + than I expected to be in this country; and, as to the climate, I think it, + beyond all comparison, better than that of the House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + Yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Writing three days after the date of the foregoing letter, Macaulay says + to his old friend Mr. Sharp: "You see that my mind is not in great danger + of rusting. The danger is that I may become a mere pedant. I feel a habit + of quotation growing on me; but I resist that devil, for such it is, and + it flees from me. It is all that I can do to keep Greek and Latin out of + all my letters. Wise sayings of Euripides are even now at my fingers' + ends. If I did not maintain a constant struggle against this propensity, + my correspondence would resemble the notes to the 'Pursuits of + Literature.' It is a dangerous thing for a man with a very strong memory + to read very much. I could give you three or four quotations this moment + in support of that proposition; but I will bring the vicious propensity + under subjection, if I can." [Many years later Macaulay wrote to my + mother: "Dr. — came, and I found him a very clever man; a little of + a coxcomb, but, I dare say, not the worse physician for that. He must have + quoted Horace and Virgil six times at least a propos of his medical + inquiries. Horace says, in a poem in which he jeers the Stoics, that even + a wise man is out of sort when 'pituita molesta est;' which is, being + interpreted, 'when, his phlegm is troublesome.' The Doctor thought it + necessary to quote this passage in order to prove that phlegm is + troublesome;—a proposition, of the truth of which, I will venture to + say, no man on earth is better convinced than myself."] + </p> + <p> + Calcutta, May 29, 1835. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—I am in great want of news. We know that the Tories + dissolved at the end of December, and we also know that they were beaten + towards the end of February. [In November 1834 the King called Sir Robert + Peel to power; after having of his own accord dismissed the Whig Ministry. + Parliament was dissolved, but the Tories did not succeed in obtaining a + majority. After three months of constant and angry fighting, Peel was + driven from office in April 1835.] As to what passed in the interval, we + are quite in the dark. I will not plague you with comments on events which + will have been driven out of your mind by other events before this reaches + you, or with prophecies which may be falsified before you receive them. + About the final issue I am certain. The language of the first great + reformer is that which I should use in reply to the exultation of our + Tories here, if there were any of them who could understand it + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + sebou, proseukhou thopte ton kratount aei + emoi d'elasson Zeuos e meden melei. + drato krateito tonde ton brakhun khronon + opes thelei daron gar ouk arksei theois +</pre> + <p> + ["Worship thou, adore, and flatter the monarch of the hour. To me Jove is + of less account than nothing. Let him have his will, and his sceptre, for + this brief season; for he will not long be the ruler of the Gods." It is + needless to say that poor William the Fourth was the Jove of the Whig + Prometheus.] + </p> + <p> + As for myself, I rejoice that I am out of the present storm. "Suave mari + magno;" or, as your new Premier, if he be still Premier, construes. "It is + a source of melancholy satisfaction." I may, indeed, feel the effects of + the changes here, but more on public than private grounds. A Tory + Governor-General is not very likely to agree with me about the very + important law reforms which I am about to bring before the Council. But he + is not likely to treat me ill personally; or, if he does, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + all ou ti khairon, en tod orthothe Belos, +</pre> + <p> + ["It shall be to his cost, so long as this bow carries true."] + </p> + <p> + as Philoctetes says. In a few months I shall have enough to enable me to + live, after my very moderate fashion, in perfect independence at home; and + whatever debts any Governor-General may choose to lay on me at Calcutta + shall be paid off, he may rely on it, with compound interest, at + Westminster. + </p> + <p> + My time is divided between public business and books. I mix with society + as little as I can. My spirits have not yet recovered,—I sometimes + think that they will never wholly recover,—the shock which they + received five months ago. I find that nothing soothes them so much as the + contemplation of those miracles of art which Athens has bequeathed to us. + I am really becoming, I hope not a pedant, but certainly an enthusiast + about classical literature. I have just finished a second reading of + Sophocles. I am now deep in Plato, and intend to go right through all his + works. His genius is above praise. Even where he is most absurd,—as, + for example, in the Cratylus,—he shows an acuteness, and an expanse + of intellect, which is quite a phenomenon by itself. The character of + Socrates does not rise upon me. The more I read about him, the less I + wonder that they poisoned him. If he had treated me as he is said to have + treated Protagoras, Hippias, and Gorgias, I could never have forgiven him. + </p> + <p> + Nothing has struck me so much in Plato's dialogues as the raillery. At + college, somehow or other, I did not understand or appreciate it. I cannot + describe to you the way in which it now tickles me. I often sink forward + on my huge old Marsilius Ficinus in a fit of laughter. I should say that + there never was a vein of ridicule so rich, at the same time so delicate. + It is superior to Voltaire's; nay, to Pascal's. Perhaps there are one or + two passages in Cervantes, and one or two in Fielding, that might give a + modern reader a notion of it. + </p> + <p> + I have very nearly finished Livy. I never read him through before. I + admire him greatly, and would give a quarter's salary to recover the lost + Decades. While I was reading the earlier books I went again through + Niebuhr. And I am sorry to say that, having always been a little sceptical + about his merits, I am now a confirmed unbeliever. I do not of course mean + that he has no merit. He was a man of immense learning, and of great + ingenuity. But his mind was utterly wanting in the faculty by which a + demonstrated truth is distinguished from a plausible supposition. He is + not content with suggesting that an event may have happened. He is certain + that it happened, and calls on the reader to be certain too, (though not a + trace of it exists in any record whatever,) because it would solve the + phenomena so neatly. Just read over again, if you have forgotten it, the + conjectural restoration of the Inscription in page 126 of the second + volume; and then, on your honour as a scholar and a man of sense, tell me + whether in Bentley's edition of Milton there is anything which approaches + to the audacity of that emendation. Niebuhr requires you to believe that + some of the greatest men in Rome were burned alive in the Circus; that + this event was commemorated by an inscription on a monument, one half of + which is sill in existence; but that no Roman historian knew anything + about it; and that all tradition of the event was lost, though the memory + of anterior events much less important has reached our time. When you ask + for a reason, he tells you plainly that such a thing cannot be established + by reason; that he is sure of it; and that you must take his word. This + sort of intellectual despotism always moves me to mutiny, and generates a + disposition to pull down the reputation of the dogmatist. Niebuhr's + learning was immeasurably superior to mine; but I think myself quite as + good a judge of evidence as he was. I might easily believe him if he told + me that there were proofs which I had never seen; but, when he produces + all his proofs, I conceive that I am perfectly competent to pronounce on + their value. + </p> + <p> + As I turned over his leaves just now, I lighted on another instance of + what I cannot but call ridiculous presumption. He says that Martial + committed a blunder in making the penultimate of Porsena short. Strange + that so great a scholar should not know that Horace had done so too! + </p> + <p> + Minacis aut Etrusca Porsenae manus. + </p> + <p> + There is something extremely nauseous to me in a German Professor telling + the world, on his own authority, and without giving the smallest reason, + that two of the best Latin poets were ignorant of the quantity of a word + which they must have used in their exercises at school a hundred times. + </p> + <p> + As to the general capacity of Niebuhr for political speculations, let him + be judged by the Preface to the Second Volume. He there says, referring to + the French Revolution of July 1830, that "unless God send us some + miraculous help, we have to look forward to a period of destruction + similar to that which the Roman world experienced about the middle of the + third century." Now, when I see a man scribble such abject nonsense about + events which are passing under our eyes, what confidence can I put in his + judgment as to the connection of causes and effects in times very + imperfectly known to us. + </p> + <p> + But I must bring my letter, or review, to a close. Remember me most kindly + to your wife. Tell Frank that I mean to be a better scholar than he when I + come back, and that he must work hard if he means to overtake me. + </p> + <p> + Ever, dear Ellis, + </p> + <p> + Your affectionate friend + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: August 25, 1835. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—Cameron arrived here about a fortnight ago, and we are + most actively engaged in preparing a complete Criminal Code for India. He + and I agree excellently. Ryan, the most liberal of Judges, lends us his + best assistance. I heartily hope, and fully believe, that we shall put the + whole Penal law, and the whole law of Criminal Procedure, into a + moderately sized volume. I begin to take a very warm interest in this + work. It is, indeed, one of the finest employments of the intellect that + it is easy to conceive. I ought, however, to tell you that, the more + progress I make as a legislator, the more intense my contempt for the mere + technical study of law becomes. + </p> + <p> + I am deep in the examination of the political theories of the old + philosophers. I have read Plato's Republic, and his laws; and I am now + reading Aristotle's Politics; after which I shall go through Plato's two + treatises again. I every now and then read one of Plutarch's Lives on an + idle afternoon; and in this way I have got through a dozen of them. I like + him prodigiously. He is inaccurate, to be sure, and a romancer; but he + tells a story delightfully, and his illustrations and sketches of + character are as good as anything in ancient eloquence. I have never, till + now, rated him fairly. + </p> + <p> + As to Latin, I am just finishing Lucan, who remains pretty much where he + was in my opinion; and I am busily engaged with Cicero, whose character, + moral and intellectual, interests me prodigiously. I think that I see the + whole man through and through. But this is too vast a subject for a + letter. I have gone through all Ovid's poems. I admire him; but I was + tired to death before I got to the end. I amused myself one evening with + turning over the Metamorphoses, to see if I could find any passage of ten + lines which could, by possibility, have been written by Virgil. Whether I + was in ill luck or no I cannot tell; but I hunted for half an hour without + the smallest success. At last I chanced to light on a little passage more + Virgilian, to my thinking, than Virgil himself. Tell me what you say to my + criticism. It is part of Apollo's speech to the laurel + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Semper habebunt + Te coma, te citharae, te nostrae, laure, pharetrae + Tu ducibus Latiis aderis, cum laeta triumphum + Vox canet, et longas visent Capitolia pompas. + Portibus Augustis cadem fidissima custos + Ante fores stabis, mediamque tuebere quercum. +</pre> + <p> + As to other Latin writers, Sallust has gone sadly down in my opinion. + Caesar has risen wonderfully. I think him fully entitled to Cicero's + praise. [In the dialogue "De Claris Oratoribus" Cicero makes Atticus say + that 'A consummate judge of style (who is evidently intended for Cicero + himself,) pronounces Caesar's Latin to be the most elegant, with one + implied exception, that had ever been heard in the Senate or the Forum'. + Atticus then goes on to detail at full length a compliment which Caesar + had paid to Cicero's powers of expression; and Brutus declares with + enthusiasm that such praise, coming from such a quarter, is worth more + than a Triumph, as Triumphs were then given; and inferior in value only to + the honours which were voted to the statesman who had baffled Catiline. + The whole passage is a model of self-glorification, exquisite in skill and + finish.] He has won the honour of an excellent historian while attempting + merely to give hints for history. But what are they all to the great + Athenian? I do assure you that there is no prose composition in the world, + not even the De Corona, which I place so high as the seventh book of + Thucydides. It is the ne plus ultra of human art. I was delighted to find + in Gray's letters the other day this query to Wharton: "The retreat from + Syracuse—Is it or is it not the finest thing you ever read in your + life?" + </p> + <p> + Did you ever read Athenaeus through? I never did; but I am meditating an + attack on him. The multitude of quotations looks very tempting; and I + never open him for a minute without being paid for my trouble. + </p> + <p> + Yours very affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: December 30, 1835, + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—What the end of the Municipal Reform Bill is to be I + cannot conjecture. Our latest English intelligence is of the 15th of + August. The Lords were then busy in rendering the only great service that + I expect them ever to render to the nation; that is to say, in hastening + the day of reckoning. [In the middle of August the Irish Tithe Bill went + up to the House of Lords, where it was destined to undergo a mutilation + which was fatal to its existence.] But I will not fill my paper with + English politics. + </p> + <p> + I am in excellent health. So are my sister and brother-in-law, and their + little girl, whom I am always nursing; and of whom I am becoming fonder + than a wise man, with half my experience, would choose to be of anything + except himself. I have but very lately begun to recover my spirits. The + tremendous blow which fell on me at the beginning of this year has left + marks behind it which I shall carry to my grave. Literature has saved my + life and my reason. Even now, I dare not, in the intervals of business, + remain alone for a minute without a book in my hand. What my course of + life will be, when I return to England, is very doubtful. But I am more + than half determined to abandon politics, and to give myself wholly to + letters; to undertake some great historical work, which may be at once the + business and the amusement of my life; and to leave the pleasures of + pestiferous rooms, sleepless nights, aching heads, and diseased stomachs + to Roebuck and to Praed. + </p> + <p> + In England I might probably be of a very different opinion. But, in the + quiet of my own little grass-plot,—when the moon, at its rising, + finds me with the Philoctetes or the De Finibus in my hand,—I often + wonder what strange infatuation leads men who can do something better to + squander their intellect, their health, their energy, on such subjects as + those which most statesmen are engaged in pursuing. I comprehend perfectly + how a man who can debate, but who would make a very indifferent figure as + a contributor to an annual or a magazine,—such a man as Stanley, for + example,—should take the only line by which he can attain + distinction. But that a man before whom the two paths of literature and + politics lie open, and who might hope for eminence in either, should + choose politics, and quit literature, seems to me madness. On the one side + is health, leisure, peace of mind, the search after truth, and all the + enjoyments of friendship and conversation. On the other side is almost + certain ruin to the constitution, constant labour, constant anxiety. Every + friendship which a man may have, becomes precarious as soon as he engages + in politics. As to abuse, men soon become callous to it, but the + discipline which makes them callous is very severe. And for what is it + that a man who might, if he chose, rise and lie down at his own hour, + engage in any study, enjoy any amusement, and visit any place, consents to + make himself as much a prisoner as if he were within the rules of the + Fleet; to be tethered during eleven months of the year within the circle + of half a mile round Charing Cross; to sit, or stand, night after night + for ten or twelve hours, inhaling a noisome atmosphere, and listening to + harangues of which nine-tenths are far below the level of a leading + article in a newspaper? For what is it that he submits, day after day, to + see the morning break over the Thames, and then totters home, with + bursting temples, to his bed? Is it for fame? Who would compare the fame + of Charles Townshend to that of Hume, that of Lord North to that of + Gibbon, that of Lord Chatham to that of Johnson? Who can look back on the + life of Burke and not regret that the years which he passed in ruining his + health and temper by political exertions were not passed in the + composition of some great and durable work? Who can read the letters to + Atticus, and not feel that Cicero would have been an infinitely happier + and better man, and a not less celebrated man, if he had left us fewer + speeches, and more Academic Questions and Tusculan Disputations; if he had + passed the time which he spent in brawling with Vatinius and Clodius in + producing a history of Rome superior even to that of Livy? But these, as I + said, are meditations in a quiet garden, situated far beyond the + contagious influence of English action. What I might feel if I again saw + Downing Street and Palace Yard is another question. I tell you sincerely + my present feelings. + </p> + <p> + I have cast up my reading account, and brought it to the end of the year + 1835. It includes December 1834; for I came into my house and unpacked my + books at the end of November 1834. During the last thirteen months I have + read Aeschylus twice; Sophocles twice; Euripides once; Pindar twice; + Callimachus; Apollonius Rhodius; Quintus Calaber; Theocritus twice; + Herodotus; Thucydides; almost all Xenophon's works; almost all Plato; + Aristotle's Politics, and a good deal of his Organon, besides dipping + elsewhere in him; the whole of Plutarch's Lives; about half of Lucian; two + or three books of Athenaeus; Plautus twice; Terence twice; Lucretius + twice; Catullus; Tibullus; Propertius; Lucan; Statius; Silius Italicus; + Livy; Velleius Paterculus; Sallust; Caesar; and, lastly, Cicero. I have, + indeed, still a little of Cicero left; but I shall finish him in a few + days. I am now deep in Aristophanes and Lucian. Of Aristophanes I think as + I always thought; but Lucian has agreeably surprised me. At school I read + some of his Dialogues of the Dead when I was thirteen; and, to my shame, I + never, to the best of my belief, read a line of him since. I am charmed + with him. His style seems to me to be superior to that of any extant + writer who lived later than the age of Demosthenes and Theophrastus. He + has a most peculiar and delicious vein of humour. It is not the humour of + Aristophanes; it is not that of Plato; and yet it is akin to both; not + quite equal, I admit, to either, but still exceedingly charming. I hardly + know where to find an instance of a writer, in the decline of a + literature, who has shown an invention so rich, and a taste so pure. But, + if I get on these matters, I shall fill sheet after sheet. They must wait + till we take another long walk, or another tavern dinner, together; that + is, till the summer of 1838. + </p> + <p> + I had a long story to tell you about a classical examination here; but I + have not time. I can only say that some of the competitors tried to read + the Greek with the papers upside down; and that the great man of the + examination, the Thirlwall of Calcutta, a graduate of Trinity College, + Dublin, translated the words of Theophrastus, osas leitourgias + leleitroupgeke "how many times he has performed divine service." ["How + many public services he had discharged at his own expense." Macaulay used + to say that a lady who dips into Mr. Grote's history, and learns that + Alcibiades won the heart of his fellow-citizens by the novelty of his + theories and the splendour of his liturgies, may get a very false notion + of that statesman's relations with the Athenian public.] + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + That the enormous list of classical works recorded in the foregoing letter + was not only read through, but read with care, is proved by the pencil + marks, single, double, and treble, which meander down the margin of such + passages as excited the admiration of the student; and by the remarks, + literary, historical, and grammatical, with which the critic has + interspersed every volume, and sometimes every page. In the case of a + favourite writer, Macaulay frequently corrects the errors of the press, + and even the punctuation, as minutely as if he were preparing the book for + another edition. He read Plautus, Terence, and Aristophanes four times + through at Calcutta; and Euripides thrice. [See the Appendix at the end.] + In his copy of Quintus Calaber, (a versifier who is less unknown by the + title of Quintus Smyrnaeus,) appear the entries, + </p> + <p> + "September 22, 1833." "Turned over, July 13, 1837." + </p> + <p> + It may be doubted whether the Pandects would have attained the celebrity + which they enjoy, if, in the course of the three years during which + Justinian's Law Commission was at work, the president Tribonian had read + Quintus Smyrnaeus twice. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta; May 30, 1836. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—I have just received your letter dated December, 28; How + time flies! Another hot season has almost passed away, and we are daily + expecting the beginning of the rains. Cold season, hot season, and rainy + season are all much the same to me. I shall have been two years on Indian + ground in less than a fortnight, and I have not taken ten grains of solid, + or a pint of liquid, medicine during the whole of that time. If I judged + only from my own sensations, I should say that this climate is absurdly + maligned; but the yellow, spectral, figures which surround me serve to + correct the conclusions which I should be inclined to draw from the state + of my own health. + </p> + <p> + One execrable effect the climate produces. It destroys all the works of + man with scarcely one exception. Steel rusts; razors lose their edge; + thread decays; clothes fall to pieces; books moulder away, and drop out of + their bindings; plaster cracks; timber rots; matting is in shreds. The + sun, the steam of this vast alluvial tract, and the infinite armies of + white ants, make such havoc with buildings that a house requires a + complete repair every three years. Ours was in this situation about three + months ago; and, if we had determined to brave the rains without any + precautions, we should, in all probability, have had the roof down on our + heads. Accordingly we were forced to migrate for six weeks from our + stately apartments and our flower-beds, to a dungeon where we were stifled + with the stench of native cookery, and deafened by the noise of native + music. At last we have returned to our house. We found it all snow-white + and pea-green; and we rejoice to think that we shall not again be under + the necessity of quitting it, till we quit it for a ship bound on a voyage + to London. + </p> + <p> + We have been for some months in the middle of what the people here think a + political storm. To a person accustomed to the hurricanes of English + faction this sort of tempest in a horsepond is merely ridiculous. We have + put the English settlers up the country under the exclusive jurisdiction + of the Company's Courts in civil actions in which they are concerned with + natives. The English settlers are perfectly contented; but the lawyers of + the Supreme Court have set up a yelp which they think terrible, and which + has infinitely diverted me. They have selected me as the object of their + invectives, and I am generally the theme of five or six columns of prose + and verse daily. I have not patience to read a tenth part of what they put + forth. The last ode in my praise which I perused began, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Soon we hope they will recall ye, + Tom Macaulay, Tom Macaulay." +</pre> + <p> + The last prose which I read was a parallel between me and Lord Strafford. + </p> + <p> + My mornings, from five to nine, are quite my own. I still give them to + ancient literature. I have read Aristophanes twice through since + Christmas; and have also read Herodotus, and Thucydides again. I got into + a way last year of reading a Greek play every Sunday. I began on Sunday + the 18th of October with the Prometheus, and next Sunday I shall finish + with the Cyclops of Euripides. Euripides has made a complete conquest of + me. It has been unfortunate for him that we have so many of his pieces. It + has, on the other hand, I suspect, been fortunate for Sophocles that so + few of his have come down to us. Almost every play of Sophocles, which is + now extant, was one of his masterpieces. There is hardly one of them which + is not mentioned with high praise by some ancient writer. Yet one of them, + the Trachiniae, is, to my thinking, very poor and insipid. Now, if we had + nineteen plays of Sophocles, of which twelve or thirteen should be no + better than the Trachiniae,—and if, on the other hand, only seven + pieces of Euripides had come down to us, and if those seven had been the + Medea, the Bacchae, the Iphigenia in Aulis, the Orestes, the Phoenissae, + the Hippolytus, and the Alcestis, I am not sure that the relative position + which the two poets now hold in our estimation would not be greatly + altered. + </p> + <p> + I have not done much in Latin. I have been employed in turning over + several third-rate and fourth-rate writers. After finishing Cicero, I read + through the works of both the Senecas, father and son. There is a great + deal in the Controversiae both of curious information, and of judicious + criticism. As to the son, I cannot bear him. His style affects me in + something the same way with that of Gibbon. But Lucius Seneca's + affectation is even more rank than Gibbon's. His works are made up of + mottoes. There is hardly a sentence which might not be quoted; but to read + him straightforward is like dining on nothing but anchovy sauce. I have + read, as one does read such stuff, Valerius Maximus, Annaeus Florus, + Lucius Ampelius, and Aurelius Victor. I have also gone through Phaedrus. I + am now better employed. I am deep in the Annals of Tacitus, and I am at + the same time reading Suetonius. + </p> + <p> + You are so rich in domestic comforts that I am inclined to envy you. I am + not, however, without my share. I am as fond of my little niece as her + father. I pass an hour or more every day in nursing her, and teaching her + to talk. She has got as far as Ba, Pa, and Ma; which, as she is not eight + months old, we consider as proofs of a genius little inferior to that of + Shakespeare or Sir Isaac Newton. + </p> + <p> + The municipal elections have put me in good spirits as to English + politics. I was rather inclined to despondency. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: July 25, 1836. + </p> + <p> + My dear Ellis,—I have heard from you again, and glad I always am to + hear from you. There are few things to which I look forward with more + pleasure than to our meeting. It is really worth while to go into + banishment for a few years for the pleasure of going home again. Yet that + home will in some things be a different home—oh how different a + home!—from that to which I expected to return. But I will not stir + up the bitterness of sorrow which has at last subsided. + </p> + <p> + You take interest, I see, in my Greek and Latin studies. I continue to + pursue them steadily and actively. I am now reading Demosthenes with + interest and admiration indescribable. I am slowly, at odd minutes, + getting through the stupid trash of Diodorus. I have read through Seneca, + and an affected empty scribbler he is. I have read Tacitus again, and, by + the bye, I will tell you a curious circumstance relating to that matter. + In my younger days I always thought the Annals a prodigiously superior + work to the History. I was surprised to find that the Annals seemed cold + and poor to me on the last reading. I began to think that I had overrated + Tacitus. But, when I began the History, I was enchanted, and thought more + highly of him than ever. I went back to the Annals, and liked them even + better than the History. All at once the explanation of this occurred to + me. While I was reading the Annals I was reading Thucydides. When I began + the History, I began the Hellenics. What made the Annals appear cold and + poor to me was the intense interest which Thucydides inspired. Indeed, + what colouring is there which would not look tame when placed side by side + with the magnificent light, and the terrible shade, of Thucydides? Tacitus + was a great man, but he was not up to the Sicilian expedition. When I + finished Thucydides, and took up Xenophon, the case was reversed. Tacitus + had been a foil to Thucydides. Xenophon was a foil to Tacitus. + </p> + <p> + I have read Pliny the Younger. Some of the Epistles are interesting. + Nothing more stupid than the Panegyric was ever preached in the University + church. I am reading the Augustan History, and Aulus Gellius. Aulus is a + favourite of mine. I think him one of the best writers of his class. + </p> + <p> + I read in the evenings a great deal of English, French, and Italian; and a + little Spanish. I have picked up Portuguese enough to read Camoens with + care; and I want no more. I have adopted an opinion about the Italian + historians quite different from that which I formerly held, and which, I + believe, is generally considered as orthodox. I place Fra Paolo decidedly + at the head of them, and next to him Davila, whom I take to be the best + modern military historian except Colonel Napier. Davila's battle of Ivry + is worthy of Thucydides himself. Next to Davila I put Guicciardini, and + last of all Machiavelli. But I do not think that you ever read much + Italian. + </p> + <p> + The English poetry of the day has very few attractions for me. Van + Artevelde is far the best specimen that I have lately seen. I do not much + like Talfourd's Ion; but I mean to read it again. It contains pretty + lines; but, to my thinking, it is neither fish nor flesh. There is too + much, and too little, of the antique about it. Nothing but the most + strictly classical costume can reconcile me to a mythological plot; and + Ion is a modern philanthropist, whose politics and morals have been + learned from the publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful + Knowledge. + </p> + <p> + I do not know whether the noise which the lawyers of the Supreme Court + have been raising against our legislative authority has reached, or will + reach, England. They held a public meeting, which ended,—or rather + began, continued, and ended,—in a riot; and ever since then the + leading agitators have been challenging each other, refusing each other's + challenges, libelling each other, swearing the peace against each other, + and blackballing each other. Mr. Longueville Clarke, who aspires to be the + O'Connell of Calcutta, called another lawyer a liar. The last-mentioned + lawyer challenged Mr. Longueville Clarke. Mr. Longueville Clarke refused + to fight, on the ground that his opponent had been guilty of hugging + attorneys. The Bengal Club accordingly blackballed Longueville. This, and + some other similar occurrences, have made the opposition here thoroughly + ridiculous and contemptible. They will probably send a petition home; but, + unless the House of Commons has undergone a great change since 1833, they + have no chance there. + </p> + <p> + I have almost brought my letter to a close without mentioning the most + important matter about which I had to write. I dare say you have heard + that my uncle General Macaulay, who died last February, has left me + L10,000 This legacy, together with what I shall have saved by the end of + 1837, will make me quite a rich man; richer than I even wish to be as a + single man; and every day renders it more unlikely that I should marry. + </p> + <p> + We have had a very unhealthy season; but sickness has not come near our + house. My sister, my brother-in-law, and their little child, are as well + as possible. As to me, I think that, as Buonaparte said of himself after + the Russian campaign, J'ai le diable au corps. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + To Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: November 26, 1836. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—At last I send you an article of interminable length + about Lord Bacon. I hardly know whether it is not too long for an article + in a Review; but the subject is of such vast extent that I could easily + have made the paper twice as long as it is. + </p> + <p> + About the historical and political part there is no great probability that + we shall differ in opinion; but what I have said about Bacon's philosophy + is widely at variance with what Dugald Stuart, and Mackintosh, have said + on the same subject. I have not your essay; nor have I read it since I + read it at Cambridge, with very great pleasure, but without any knowledge + of the subject. I have at present only a very faint and general + recollection of its contents, and have in vain tried to procure a copy of + it here. I fear, however, that, differing widely as I do from Stewart and + Mackintosh, I shall hardly agree with you. My opinion is formed, not at + second hand, like those of nine-tenths of the people who talk about Bacon; + but after several very attentive perusals of his greatest works, and after + a good deal of thought. If I am in the wrong, my errors may set the minds + of others at work, and may be the means of bringing both them, and me, to + a knowledge of the truth. I never bestowed so much care on anything that I + have written. There is not a sentence in the latter half of the article + which has not been repeatedly recast. I have no expectation that the + popularity of the article will bear any proportion to the trouble which I + have expended on it. But the trouble has been so great a pleasure to me + that I have already been greatly overpaid. Pray look carefully to the + printing. + </p> + <p> + In little more than a year I shall be embarking for England, and I have + determined to employ the four months of my voyage in mastering the German + language. I should be much obliged to you to send me out, as early as you + can, so that they may be certain to arrive in time, the best grammar, and + the best dictionary, that can be procured; a German Bible; Schiller's + works; Goethe's works; and Niebuhr's History, both in the original, and in + the translation. My way of learning a language is always to begin with the + Bible, which I can read without a dictionary. After a few days passed in + this way, I am master of all the common particles, the common rules of + syntax, and a pretty large vocabulary. Then I fall on some good classical + work. It was in this way that I learned both Spanish and Portuguese, and I + shall try the same course with German. + </p> + <p> + I have little or nothing to tell you about myself. My life has flowed away + here with strange rapidity. It seems but yesterday that I left my country; + and I am writing to beg you to hasten preparations for my return. I + continue to enjoy perfect health, and the little political squalls which I + have had to weather here are mere capfuls of wind to a man who has gone + through the great hurricanes of English faction. + </p> + <p> + I shall send another copy of the article on Bacon by another ship. + </p> + <p> + Yours very truly + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: November 28, 1836. + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—There is an oversight in the article on Bacon which I + shall be much obliged to you to correct. I have said that Bacon did not + deal at all in idle rants "like those in which Cicero and Mr. Shandy + sought consolation for the loss of Tullia and of Bobby." Nothing can, as a + general remark, be more true, but it escaped my recollection that two or + three of Mr. Shandy's consolatory sentences are quoted from Bacon's + Essays. The illustration, therefore, is singularly unfortunate. Pray alter + it thus; "in which Cicero vainly sought consolation for the loss of + Tullia." To be sure, it is idle to correct such trifles at a distance of + fifteen thousand miles. + </p> + <p> + Yours ever + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + From Lord Jeffrey to Macvey Napier, Esq. + </p> + <p> + May 2, 1837. + </p> + <p> + My dear N.,—What mortal could ever dream of cutting out the least + particle of this precious work, to make it fit better into your Review? It + would be worse than paring down the Pitt Diamond to fit the old setting of + a Dowager's ring. Since Bacon himself, I do not know that there has been + anything so fine. The first five or six pages are in a lower tone, but + still magnificent, and not to be deprived of a word. + </p> + <p> + Still, I do not object to consider whether it might not be best to serve + up the rich repast in two courses; and on the whole I incline to that + partition. 120 pages might cloy even epicures, and would be sure to + surfeit the vulgar; and the biography and philosophy are so entirely + distinct, and of not very unequal length, that the division would not look + like a fracture. + </p> + <p> + FRANCIS JEFFREY. + </p> + <p> + In the end, the article appeared entire; occupying 104 pages of the + Review; and accompanied by an apology for its length in the shape of one + of those editorial appeals to "the intelligent scholar," and "the best + class of our readers," which never fail of success. + </p> + <p> + The letters addressed to Zachary Macaulay are half filled with anecdotes + of the nursery; pretty enough, but such as only a grandfather could be + expected to read. In other respects, the correspondence is chiefly + remarkable for the affectionate ingenuity with which the son selects such + topics as would interest the father. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: October 12 1836. + </p> + <p> + My dear Father, We were extremely gratified by receiving, a few days ago, + a letter from you which, on the whole, gave a good account of your health + and spirits. The day after tomorrow is the first anniversary of your + little grand-daughter's birthday. The occasion is to be celebrated with a + sort of droll puppet-show, much in fashion among the natives; an + exhibition much in the style of Punch in England, but more dramatic and + more showy. All the little boys and girls from the houses of our friends + are invited, and the party will, I have no doubt, be a great deal more + amusing than the stupid dinners and routs with which the grown-up people + here kill the time. + </p> + <p> + In a few months,—I hope, indeed, in a few weeks,—we shall send + up the Penal Code to Government. We have got rid of the punishment of + death, except in the case of aggravated treason and wilful murder. We + shall also get rid indirectly of everything that can properly be called + slavery in India. There will remain civil claims on particular people for + particular services, which claims may be enforced by civil action; but no + person will be entitled, on the plea of being the master of another, to do + anything to that other which it would be an offence to do to a free-man. + </p> + <p> + Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. We find it difficult,—indeed, + in some places impossible,—to provide instruction for all who want + it. At the single town of Hoogly fourteen hundred boys are learning + English. The effect of this education on the Hindoos is prodigious. No + Hindoo, who has received an English education, ever remains sincerely + attached to his religion. Some continue to profess it as matter of policy; + but many profess themselves pure Deists, and some embrace Christianity. It + is my firm belief that, if our plans of education are followed up, there + will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal + thirty years hence. And this will be effected without any efforts to + proselytise; without the smallest interference with religious liberty; + merely by the natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily + rejoice in the prospect. + </p> + <p> + I have been a sincere mourner for Mill. He and I were on the best terms, + and his services at the India House were never so much needed as at this + time. I had a most kind letter from him a few weeks before I heard of his + death. He has a son just come out, to whom I have shown such little + attentions as are in my power. + </p> + <p> + Within half a year after the time when you read this we shall be making + arrangements for our return. The feelings with which I look forward to + that return I cannot express. Perhaps I should be wise to continue here + longer, in order to enjoy during a greater number of months the delusion,—for + I know that it will prove a delusion,—of this delightful hope. I + feel as if I never could be unhappy in my own country; as if to exist on + English ground and among English people, seeing the old familiar sights + and hearing the sound of my mother tongue, would be enough for me. This + cannot be; yet some days of intense happiness I shall surely have; and one + of those will be the day when I again see my dear father and sisters. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours most affectionately T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: November 30, 1836. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—How the months run away! Here is another cold season; + morning fogs, cloth coats, green peas, new potatoes, and all the + accompaniments of a Bengal winter. As to my private life, it has glided + on, since I wrote to you last, in the most peaceful monotony. If it were + not for the books which I read, and for the bodily and mental growth of my + dear little niece, I should have no mark to distinguish one part of the + year from another. Greek and Latin, breakfast; business, an evening walk + with a book, a drive after sunset, dinner, coffee, my bed,—there you + have the history of a day. My classical studies go on vigorously. I have + read Demosthenes twice,—I need not say with what delight and + admiration. I am now deep in Isocrates and from him I shall pass to + Lysias. I have finished Diodorus Siculus at last, after dawdling over him + at odd times ever since last March. He is a stupid, credulous, prosing old + ass; yet I heartily wish that we had a good deal more of him. I have read + Arrian's expedition of Alexander, together with Quintus Curtius. I have at + stray hours read Longus's Romance and Xenophon's Ephesiaca; and I mean to + go through Heliodorus, and Achilles Tatius, in the same way. Longus is + prodigiously absurd; but there is often an exquisite prettiness in the + style. Xenophon's Novel is the basest thing to be found in Greek. + [Xenophon the Ephesian lived in the third or fourth century of the + Christian era. At the end of his work Macaulay has written: "A most stupid + worthless performance, below the lowest trash of an English circulating + library." Achilles Tatius he disposes of with the words "Detestable + trash;" and the Aethiopics of Heliodorus, which he appears to have + finished on Easter-day, 1837, he pronounces "The best of the Greek + Romances, which is not saying much for it."] It was discovered at + Florence, little more than a hundred years ago, by an English envoy. + Nothing so detestable ever came from the Minerva Press. I have read + Theocritus again, and like him better than ever. + </p> + <p> + As to Latin, I made a heroic attempt on Pliny's Natural History; but I + stuck after getting through about a quarter of it. I have read Ammianus + Marcellinus, the worst written book in ancient Latin. The style would + disgrace a monk of the tenth century; but Marcellinus has many of the + substantial qualities of a good historian. I have gone through the + Augustan history, and much other trash relating to the lower empire; + curious as illustrating the state of society, but utterly worthless as + composition. I have read Statius again and thought him as bad as ever. I + really found only two lines worthy of a great poet in all the Thebais. + They are these. What do you think of my taste? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Clamorem, bello qualis supremus apertis + Urbibus, aut pelago jam descendente carina." +</pre> + <p> + I am now busy with Quintilian and Lucan, both excellent writers. The dream + of Pompey in the seventh book of the Pharsalia is a very noble piece of + writing. I hardly know an instance in poetry of so great an effect + produced by means so simple. There is something irresistibly pathetic in + the lines + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Qualis erat populi facies, clamorque faventum + Olim cum juvenis—" +</pre> + <p> + and something unspeakably solemn in the sudden turn which follows + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Crastina dira quies—" +</pre> + <p> + There are two passages in Lucan which surpass in eloquence anything that I + know in the Latin language. One is the enumeration of Pompey's exploits + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Quod si tam sacro dignaris nomine saxum—" +</pre> + <p> + The other is the character which Cato gives of Pompey, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Civis obit, inquit—" +</pre> + <p> + a pure gem of rhetoric, without one flaw, and, in my opinion, not very far + from historical truth. When I consider that Lucan died at twenty-six, I + cannot help ranking him among the most extraordinary men that ever lived. + </p> + <p> + [The following remarks occur at the end of Macaulay's copy of the + Pharsalia + </p> + <p> + August 30, 1835. + </p> + <p> + "When Lucan's age is considered, it is impossible not to allow that the + poem is a very extraordinary one; more extraordinary, perhaps, than if it + had been of a higher kind; for it is more common for the imagination to be + in full vigour at an early time of life than for a young man to obtain a + complete mastery of political and philosophical rhetoric. I know no + declamation in the world, not even Cicero's best, which equals some + passages in the Pharsalia. As to what were meant for bold poetical + flights,—the sea-fight at Marseilles, the Centurion who is covered + with wounds, the snakes in the Libyan desert, it is all as detestable as + Cibber's Birthday Odes. The furious partiality of Lucan takes away much of + the pleasure which his talents would otherwise afford. A poet who is, as + has often been said, less a poet than a historian, should to a certain + degree conform to the laws of history. The manner in which he represents + the two parties is not to be reconciled with the laws even of fiction. The + senators are demigods; Pompey, a pure lover of his country; Cato, the + abstract idea of virtue; while Caesar, the finest gentleman, the most + humane conqueror, and the most popular politician that Rome ever produced, + is a bloodthirsty ogre. If Lucan had lived, he would probably have + improved greatly." "Again, December 9, 1836,"] + </p> + <p> + I am glad that you have so much business, and sorry that you have so + little leisure. In a few years you will be a Baron of the Exchequer; and + then we shall have ample time to talk over our favourite classics. Then I + will show you a most superb emendation of Bentley's in Ampelius, and I + will give you unanswerable reasons for pronouncing that Gibbon was + mistaken in supposing that Quintus Curtius wrote under Gordian. + </p> + <p> + Remember me most kindly to Mrs. Ellis. I hope that I shall find Frank + writing as good Alcaics as his father. + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: March 8, 1837. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—I am at present very much worked, and have been so for a + long time past. Cameron, after being laid up for some months, sailed at + Christmas for the Cape, where I hope his health will be repaired; for this + country can very ill spare him. However, we have almost brought our great + work to a conclusion. In about a month we shall lay before the Government + a complete penal Code for a hundred millions of people, with a commentary + explaining and defending the provisions of the text. Whether it is well, + or ill, done heaven knows. I only know that it seems to me to be very ill + done when I look at it by itself; and well done when I compare it with + Livingstone's Code, with the French Code, or with the English statutes + which have been passed for the purpose of consolidating and amending the + Criminal Law. In health I am as well as ever I was in my life. Time glides + fast. One day is so like another that, but for a habit which I acquired + soon after I reached India of pencilling in my books the date of my + reading them, I should have hardly any way of estimating the lapse of + time. If I want to know when an event took place, I call to mind which of + Calderon's plays, or of Plutarch's Lives, I was reading on that day. I + turn to the book; find the date; and am generally astonished to see that, + what seems removed from me by only two or three months, really happened + nearly a year ago. + </p> + <p> + I intend to learn German on my voyage home, and I have indented largely, + (to use our Indian official term), for the requisite books. People tell me + that it is a hard language; but I cannot easily believe that there is a + language which I cannot master in four months, by working ten hours a day. + I promise myself very great delight and information from German + literature; and, over and above, I feel a soft of presentiment, a kind of + admonition of the Deity, which assures me that the final cause of my + existence,—the end for which I was sent into this vale of tears,—was + to make game of certain Germans. The first thing to be done in obedience + to this heavenly call is to learn German; and then I may perhaps try, as + Milton says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Frangere Saxonicas Britonum sub Marte phalanges." +</pre> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + The years which Macaulay spent in India formed a transition period between + the time when he kept no journal at all, and the time when the daily + portion of his journal was completed as regularly as the daily portion of + his History. Between 1834 and 1838, he contented himself with jotting down + any circumstance that struck his fancy in the book which he happened to + have in hand. The records of his Calcutta life, written in half a dozen + different languages, are scattered throughout the whole range of classical + literature from Hesiod to Macrobius. At the end of the eighty-ninth + Epistle of Seneca we read: "April 11, 1836. Hodie praemia distribui tois + en to mouseio Sanskritiko neaniskois. [To-day I distributed the prizes to + the students of the Sanscrit College."] + </p> + <p> + On the last page of the Birds of Aristophanes: "Jan. 16, 1836. Oi presbeis + of papa ton Basileos ton Nepauliton eisegonto khthes es Kalkouttan." ["The + ambassadors from the King of Nepaul entered Calcutta yesterday." It may be + observed that Macaulay wrote Greek with or without accents, according to + the humour, or hurry, of the moment.] + </p> + <p> + On the first page of Theocrats: "March 20, 1835. Lord W. Bentinck sailed + this morning." + </p> + <p> + On the last page of the "De Amicitia:" "March 5, 1836. Yesterday Lord + Auckland arrived at Government House, and was sworn in." + </p> + <p> + Beneath an idyl of Moschus, of all places in the world, Macaulay notes the + fact of Peel being First Lord of the Treasury; and he finds space, between + two quotations in Athenaeus, to commemorate a Ministerial majority of 29 + on the Second Reading of the Irish Church Bill. + </p> + <p> + A somewhat nearer approach to a formal diary may be found in his Catullus, + which contains a catalogue of the English books that he read in the cold + season of 1835-36; as for instance + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Gibbon's Answer to Davis. November 6 and 7 + Gibbon on Virgil's VI Aeneid November 7 + Whately's Logic November 15 + Thirlwall's Greece November 22 + Edinburgh Review November 29 +</pre> + <p> + And all this was in addition to his Greek and Latin studies, to his + official work, to the French that he read with his sister, and the + unrecorded novels that he read to himself; which last would alone have + afforded occupation for two ordinary men, unless this month of November + was different from every other month of his existence since the day that + he left Mr. Preston's schoolroom. There is something refreshing, amidst + the long list of graver treatises, to light upon a periodical entry of + "Pikwikina"; the immortal work of a Classic who has had more readers in a + single year than Statius and Seneca in all their eighteen centuries + together. Macaulay turned over with indifference, and something of + distaste, the earlier chapters of that modern Odyssey. The first touch + which came home to him was Jingle's "Handsome Englishman?" In that phrase + he recognised a master; and, by the time that he landed in England, he + knew his Pickwick almost as intimately as his Grandison. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: June 15, 1837 + </p> + <p> + Dear Napier,—Your letter about my review of Mackintosh miscarried, + vexatiously enough. I should have been glad to know what was thought of my + performance among friends and foes; for here we have no information on + such subjects. The literary correspondents of the Calcutta newspapers seem + to be penny-a-line risen, whose whole stock of literature comes from the + conversations in the Green Room. + </p> + <p> + My long article on Bacon has, no doubt, been in your hands some time. I + never, to the best of my recollection, proposed to review Hannah More's + Life or Works. If I did, it must have been in jest. She was exactly the + very last person in the world about whom I should choose to write a + critique. She was a very kind friend to me from childhood. Her notice + first called out my literary tastes. Her presents laid the foundation of + my library. She was to me what Ninon was to Voltaire,—begging her + pardon for comparing her to a bad woman, and yours for comparing myself to + a great man. She really was a second mother to me. I have a real affection + for her memory. I therefore could not possibly write about her unless I + wrote in her praise; and all the praise which I could give to her + writings, even after straining my conscience in her favour, would be far + indeed from satisfying any of her admirers. + </p> + <p> + I will try my hand on Temple, and on Lord Clive. Shaftesbury I shall let + alone. Indeed, his political life is so much connected with Temple's that, + without endless repetition, it would be impossible for me to furnish a + separate article on each. Temple's Life and Works, the part which he took + in the controversy about the ancients and moderns; the Oxford confederacy + against Bentley; and the memorable victory which Bentley obtained, will be + good subjects. I am in training for this part of the subject, as I have + twice read through the Phalaris controversy since I arrived in India. + </p> + <p> + I have been almost incessantly engaged in public business since I sent off + the paper on Bacon; but I expect to have comparative leisure during the + short remainder of my stay here. The Penal Code of India is finished, and + is in the press. The illness of two of my colleagues threw the work almost + entirely on me. It is done, however; and I am not likely to be called upon + for vigorous exertion during the rest of my Indian career. + </p> + <p> + Yours ever + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. + </p> + <p> + If you should have assigned Temple, or Clive, to anybody else, pray do not + be uneasy on that account. The pleasure of writing pays itself. + </p> + <p> + Calcutta: December 18, 1837. + </p> + <p> + Dear Ellis,—My last letter was on a deeply melancholy subject, the + death of our poor friend Malkin. I have felt very much for his widow. The + intensity of her affliction, and the fortitude and good feeling which she + showed as soon as the first agony was over, have interested me greatly in + her. Six or seven of Malkin's most intimate friends here have joined with + Ryan and me, in subscribing to put up a plain marble tablet in the + cathedral, for which I have written an inscription. [This inscription + appears in Lord Macaulay's Miscellaneous Works.] + </p> + <p> + My departure is now near at hand. This is the last letter which I shall + write to you from India. Our passage is taken in the Lord Hungerford; the + most celebrated of the huge floating hotels which run between London and + Calcutta. She is more renowned for the comfort and luxury of her internal + arrangements than for her speed. As we are to stop at the Cape for a short + time, I hardly expect to be with you till the end of May, or the beginning + of June. I intend to make myself a good German scholar by the time of my + arrival in England. I have already, at leisure moments broken the ice. I + have read about half of the New Testament in Luther's translation, and am + now getting rapidly, for a beginner, through Schiller's History of the + Thirty Years' War. My German library consists of all Goethe's works, all + Schiller's works, Muller's History of Switzerland, some of Tieck, some of + Lessing, and other works of less fame. I hope to despatch them all on my + way home. I like Schiller's style exceedingly. His history contains a + great deal of very just and deep thought, conveyed in language so popular + and agreeable that dunces would think him superficial. + </p> + <p> + I lately took it into my head to obtain some knowledge of the Fathers, and + I read therefore a good deal of Athanasius, which by no means raised him + in my opinion. I procured the magnificent edition of Chrysostom, by + Montfaucon, from a public library here, and turned over the eleven huge + folios, reading wherever the subject was of peculiar interest. As to + reading him through, the thing is impossible. These volumes contain matter + at least equal to the whole extant literature of the best times of Greece, + from Homer to Aristotle inclusive. There are certainly some very brilliant + passages in his homilies. It seems curious that, though the Greek + literature began to flourish so much earlier than the Latin, it continued + to flourish so much later. Indeed, if you except the century which elapsed + between Cicero's first public appearance and Livy's death, I am not sure + that there was any time at which Greece had not writers equal or superior + to their Roman contemporaries. I am sure that no Latin writer of the age + of Lucian is to be named with Lucian; that no Latin writer of the age of + Longinus is to be named with Longinus; that no Latin prose of the age of + Chrysostom can be named with Chrysostom's compositions. I have read + Augustin's Confessions. The book is not without interest; but he expresses + himself in the style of a field-preacher. + </p> + <p> + Our Penal Code is to be published next week. It has cost me very intense + labour; and, whatever its faults may be, it is certainly not a slovenly + performance. Whether the work proves useful to India or not, it has been + of great use, I feel and know, to my own mind. + </p> + <p> + [In October 1854, Macaulay writes to my mother: "I cannot but be pleased + to find that, at last, the Code on which I bestowed the labour of two of + the best years of my life has had justice done to it. Had this justice + been done sixteen years ago, I should probably have given much more + attention to legislation, and much less to literature than I have done. I + do not know that I should have been either happier or more useful than I + have been."] + </p> + <p> + Ever yours affectionately + </p> + <p> + T. B. MACAULAY. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, by +George Otto Trevelyan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND LETTERS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + +***** This file should be named 2647-h.htm or 2647-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/4/2647/ + +Produced by Martin Adamson, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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