Still fay in long procession followed fay;

And still the little couch remained unblest:

But, when those wayward sprites had passed away,
Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best.

Oh! glorious lady, with the eyes of light,

And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow,
Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night,
Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou?

"Yes, darling; let them go," so ran the strain:

"Yes; let them go-gain, fashion, pleasure, power, And all the busy elves to whose domain

Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour.

"Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme,
The nether sphere, the fleeting hour resign.
Mine is the world of thought, the world of dream,
Mine all the past, and all the future mine.

"There are who, while to vulgar eyes they seem

Of all my bounties largely to partake,

Of me as of some rival's handmaid deem,

And court me but for gain's, power's, fashion's sake.

"To such, though deep their lore, though wide their fame, Shall my great mysteries be all unknown :

But thou, through good and evil, praise and blame,
Wilt not thou love me for myself alone?

"Yes; thou wilt love me with exceeding love;
And I will tenfold all that love repay:
Still smiling, though the tender may reprove;
Still faithful, though the trusted may betray.

"In the dark hour of shame, I deigued to stand
Before the frowning peers at Bacon's side;

On a far shore I smoothed with tender hand,
Through months of pain, the sleepless bed of Hyde.

"I brought the wise and brave of ancient days To cheer the cell where Raleigh pined alone.

I lighted Milton's darkness with the blaze

Of the bright ranks that guard the eternal throne.

"And even so, my child, it is my pleasure

That thou not then alone shouldst feel me nigh,

When in domestic bliss and studious leisure

Thy weeks uncounted come, uncounted fly.

"No; when on restless night dawns cheerless morro

When weary soul and wasting body pine, Thine am I still, in danger, sickness, sorrow,

In conflict, obloquy, want, exile, thine;

"Thine where on mountain waves the snow-birds scream, Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze, Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas;

"Thine when around thy litter's track all day

White sand-hills shall reflect the blinding glare; Thine when, through forests breathing death, thy way All night shall wind by many a tiger's lair;

"Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly, When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud,

For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy
A sullen priesthood and a raving crowd.

"Amidst the din of all things fell and vile,

Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray, Remember me; and with an unforced smile See riches, baubles, flatterers, pass away.

"Yes, they will pass away, nor deem it strange;
They come and go, as comes and goes the sea:
And let them come and go; thou, through all change,
Fix thy firm gaze on virtue and on me.”

CHAPTER XI.

1847-1849.

Macaulay retires into Private Life.-Extracts from Lord Carlisle's Journal. -Macaulay's Conversation.-His Memory.-His Distaste for General Society. His Ways with Children.-Letters to his Niece Margaret."The Judicious Poet."-Valentines.-Sight-seeing.-Eastern Tours.Macaulay's Method of Work.-His Diligence in collecting his Materials. Glencoe.-Londonderry.-Macaulay's Accuracy: Opinions of Mr. Bagehot and Mr. Buckle.-Macaulay's Industry at the Desk.-His Love for his Task. Extracts from his Diary.-His Attention to the Details of the Press.-The "History" appears.-Congratulations.-Lord Halifax; Lord Jeffrey; Lord Auckland; Miss Edgeworth.-The Popularity of the Work. -Extract from Punch.-Macanlay's Attitude in Relation to his Critics. -The Quarterly Review.-The Sacrifices which Macaulay made to Lit

erature.

AFTER a few nights of sound sleep, and a few days of quiet among his books, Macaulay had recovered both from the fatigues of the contest and the vexation of the defeat. On the 6th of August, 1847, he writes to his sister Fanny: "I am here in solitude, reading and working with great satisfaction to myself. My table is covered with letters of condolence, and with invitations from half the places which have not yet chosen members. I have been asked to stand for Ayr, for Wigton, and for Oxfordshire. At Wigton and in Oxfordshire I was actually put in nomination without my permission, and my supporters were with difficulty prevented from going to the poll. From The Sheffield Iris, which was sent me to-day, I see that a party wishes to put me up for the West Riding. Craig tells me that there is a violent reaction at Edinburgh, and that those who voted against me are very generally ashamed of themselves, and wish to have me back again. I did not know how great a politician I was till my Edinburgh

friends chose to dismiss me from politics. I never can leave public life with more dignity and grace than at present."

Such consolations as private life had to offer, Macaulay possessed in abundance. He enjoyed the pleasures of society in their most delightful shape; for he was one of a circle of eminent and gifted men who were the warm friends of himself and of each other. How brilliantly these men talked is already a matter of tradition. No report of their conversation has been published, and in all probability none exists. Scattered and meagre notices in the leaves of private diaries form the sole surviving record of many an Attic night and still more agreeable morning. Happily, Lord Carlisle's journal has preserved for us (as may be seen in the extracts which follow) at least the names of those with whom Macaulay lived; the houses which he frequented, and some few of the topics. which he discussed. That journal proves, by many an affectionate and admiring expression, how highly my uncle was esteemed by one whose approbation and regard were never lightly given.*

"June 27th, 1843.-I breakfasted with Hallam, John Russell, Macaulay, Everett, Van de Weyer, Mr. Hamilton, U. S., and Mahon. Never were such torrents of good talk as burst and sputtered over from Macaulay and Hallam. A great deal about Latin and Greek inscriptions. They think the first unrivaled for that purpose; so free from articles and particles.

*

Macaulay's acquaintance with the Howard family was of old standing, as may be gathered from a passage in a letter of the year 1833. This exceedingly droll production is too thickly strewn with personal allusions to admit of its being published, except in a fragmentary condition, which would be unjust to the writer, and not very interesting to the reader.

now

Hallam read some wondrous extracts from the "Lives of the Saints,"* being edited by Newman. Macaulay repeated, after the Yankees were gone, an egregious extract from a Natchez repudiation paper, making out our Saviour to be the first great repudiator when he overthrew the seats of the money-changers."

66

"March 4th, 1848.—Macaulay says that they” [the Parisian republicans] are refuting the doctrines of political economy in the way a man would refute the doctrine of gravitation by jumping off the Monument.”

“January 6th, 1849.-Finished Macaulay's two volumes. How admirable they are-full of generous impulse, judicial impartiality, wide research, deep thought, picturesque description, and sustained eloquence! Was history ever better written? Guizott praises Macaulay. He says that he has truly hit the ruling passion of William the Third-his hatred for Louis the Fourteenth.

February 12th.—Breakfasted with Macaulay. There were Van de Weyer, Hallam, Charles Austin, Panizzi, Colonel Mure, and Dicky Milnes; but he went to Yorkshire after the first cup. The conversation ranged the ‚world: art, ancient and modern; the Greek tragedians; characters of the orators, how Philip and Alexander probably felt toward them as we do toward a scurrilous newspaper editor. It is a refreshing break in commonplace life. I staid till past twelve. His rooms at the top of the Albany are very liveable and studious-looking."

"May 25th.-Breakfasted with Rogers. It was a beautiful morning, and his house, view, and garden looked lovely. It was extremely pleasant. Mahon tried to defend Clarendon, but was put down by Hallam and Macaulay. Macaulay was very severe on Cranmer. Then we all quoted a good deal; Macaulay (as I had heard him before) four very fine lines from

* About this period Macaulay writes to Mr. Napier: "Newman announces an English Hagiology in numbers, which is to contain the lives of such blessed saints as Thomas à Becket and Dunstan. I should not dislike to be the Avvocato del Diavolo on such an occasion." And again: "I hear much of the miracles of the third and fourth centuries by Newman. I think that I could treat that subject without giving scandal to any rational person, and I should like it much. The times require a Middleton."

+ Guizot was then a refugee in England. Shortly before this date, Macaulay writes to his sister Selina: "I left a card with Guizot, but did not ask to see him. I purposely avoided meeting him on Friday at Lord Holland's. The truth is, that I like and esteem the man, but I think the policy of the minister both at home and abroad detestable. At home it was all corruption, and abroad all treachery. I could not hold to him the language of entire respect and complacency without a violation of truth; and, in his present circumstances, I could not bear to show the least disappro bation."