THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY.

483. Popularity.- Macaulay does not belong to the writers who have been obliged to appeal from their own generation to a more discerning posterity. From the time he leaped into prominence by his essay on 'Milton" at the age of twentyfive, he has been immensely popular. No other English writer except, perhaps, some of the great novelists, has been more widely read. Though nearly half a century has passed since his death, there is scarcely an abatement of popular interest in his works. His "History of England," his "Essays," and his "Lays of Ancient Rome" find a place in our cheap editions of standard works. In many homes they take their place by the side of the Bible and Shakespeare.

484. Fortunate Parentage.— Macaulay counted his age by the years of the century, having been born Oct. 25, 1800, in Leicestershire. He was blessed in his parentage. His father Zachary Macaulay, of Scotch Presbyterian ancestry, was a man of strong character. Though sparing of words, he thought deeply; and he persisted in whatever he undertook with the tenacity of a stern sense of duty. He displayed a reformer's zeal for the abolition of slavery in the British dominions. Macaulay's mother, of Quaker descent, supplied the tenderness and grace that might otherwise have been lacking in the home. She was a mild, affectionate woman; but, at the same time, she had the firmness and the good sense to hold her son in the line of duty and high achievement.

485. Childish Precocity.-In his childhood Macaulay was regarded as nothing less than a prodigy. He acquired knowledge with astonishing ease and possessed an extraordinary power in casting it into literary form. At eight years he knew Scott's "Marmion" by heart. He produced history, epics, hymns, with surprising facility. But whatever joy these

promises of future eminence may have awakened in his mother's breast, she took care not to stimulate his vanity. When he was thirteen, she gave him this sensible advice: "I know you write with great ease to yourself, and would rather write ten poems than prune one. All your pieces are much mended after a little reflection; therefore, take your solitary walks and think over each separate thing. Spare not time or trouble, and render each piece as perfect as you can."

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486. At the University. In 1818 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. He exhibited an intense repugnance to mathematics. Oh, for words to express my abomination of that science," he wrote to his mother, "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! His dominant taste was for literature. While making excellent attainments in the ancient classics, he extended his reading over a wide field of modern literature. Poetry and fiction especially delighted him. His disposition was amiable and generous; and among his large circle of friends he exercised an almost sovereign sway through his brilliant power of conversation. With his large stores of knowledge and great command of language, he naturally took high rank as a debater. His various writings of this period show that his literary faculties matured early, and that his distinctive style was a natural gift.

487. Essay on Milton.-In 1825 he began his long series of contributions to the Edinburgh Review with his elaborate and well-known essay on "Milton." Though it contained, as he afterward said, "scarcely a paragraph such as his matured judgment approved," it almost took England by storm. It revealed the presence of a new force in literature. It introduced him with great éclat to the literary and social circles of the metropolis, where his genial nature and brilliant talk increased his popularity. At this period he was described by Henry Crabb Robinson as a man overflowing with words, and not poor in thought."

488. In Parliament.

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He entered the legal profession in 1826, but he had no liking for law, and got little practice. But

his talents were generally recognized, and a wider career soon opened to him. In 1830 he entered Parliament and speedily took a foremost place. As a Whig, he warmly supported the Reform Bill of 1832. His first speech created little less than a sensation; and afterward, says Gladstone, "whenever he rose to speak, it was a summons like a trumpet-call to fill the benches." His perspicuous thought, his copious diction, and his vigorous utterance all gave him great power as a speaker. He was a hard worker, and throughout his political career he exhibited not only an incorruptible integrity, but also a selfsacrificing devotion to the welfare of his country. During this laborious period, in the spare moments gained by early rising, he wrote some of his best-known essays, among which are "Moore's Life of Lord Byron," "Samuel Johnson," "John Hampden," and "Lord Burleigh."

489. An Insatiable Reader. In 1834 Macaulay sailed for India as legal adviser to the Supreme Council. It was a sacrifice to leave his native country and well-earned fame; but his new office, which paid a salary of ten thousand pounds, brought him the means to provide better for those dependent upon him. He spent the long voyage in reading. "Except at meals," he said, "I hardly exchanged a word with any human being. I devoured Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, and English." He was always an insatiable reader; history, travels, novels, poetry - he devoured them all with but little discrimination. He possessed the uncommon faculty of “riding post" through an author; and frequently mastered a volume during a morning's walk. As often happens with far less vigorous minds, books were allowed to take the place of reflection. To use the words of Gladstone, "He was always conversing or recollecting or reading or composing; but reflecting, never."

490. Work in India.― Macaulay was a man of strong personality, of great good sense, and of indefatigable industry. In Calcutta, as in London, he accomplished, apart from his special office, a large amount of valuable work. As chairman of the Committee of Public Instruction, he exerted a decisive influence on the educational policy of India. Instead of en