Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-18 00:00:00

LOR 3 MACAITha

(From the Edinburgh Review, New Number)

The melancholy event which suddenly terminates the
labours of the most illustrious man of letters 'whom
England had in this age Iproduced,'claims in so peculiar
a manner from ourselves the expression of that sorrow
and regard which is_ shared by the whole nation, that
we hesitate not to ,depart on this occasion from the
usage of our journal, and. to record 'in these lines our
sense of so irreparable a loss.
Others' will relate, 'OS long as literary history excites
the sympathy and the curiosity of future ages, the
varied and inexhaustible gifts which marked out
Thomas Babington Macaulay from all his contempo-
raries. The astonishing activity of his mind had ranged
,from early youth through- every path of literary re-
search ; the capacity and precision of his memory

retained and arranged for instant use every page, every
thought; every incident, and evey name which had
at'-any time attracted'his attention. All he read, all

he knew—and what had heßelleglz:-.3yhat,did_he
11717;7=was reflected by some spectral process on
his memory, where it remained, subject to no change
-but-that-of mortality:- Accordingly the studies of his
•
earlier years, the sublime language of the liebrew
"Scriptures, the tragic grandeur of the Athenian stage,
the.eloquenee and wisdom of. the orators. and historians
of antiquity, and ,even the discourses of the Christian
Fathers, formed the basis of his mental culture, and were
no less present to his mind than every otheipart of the
vast structure of moilernditeiature.aullistoryl. raised
upon it. But whilst the universal raw of his acquirer
ments had rendered him familiar With all that was
''beautifutarittelevated in the" liferatiirCorothei-ageiand
other lands, the foeus of his genius centered in the
history, the language, and the literary life of Eng-
' land. Profoundly versed in the story of her' 'growth,
and imbued with the spirit of her freedom; admirably
Iskilled in the use of his mother-tongue, of which it may
be said as Wordsworth said of Milton, that in his hands
" the thing became a trumpet ;" incredibly familiar with
the writings and the lives of every man who has left a
trace in
,the letters of this country, till he seemed'to
lhave the power_of recalling the dead-ty the-vivacity-of
his own impressions of them, I.iord Macaulay was
essentially English in his habits of thought and in his
tastes. The strongest of all his feelings was the love
and pride excited in him by his native land ; for he
knew her and admired her, not only as the England of
this age, but from the dawn of her annals to the fulness
of her strength.
In other men gifted with these extraordinary powers
of memory, it has been remarked that the mind is over-
;burdened with its own stores, anktliat.pasmra af.vigor-
:o-rii thought are not unfrequently wanting to animate
„and 'control the mass of acquired knowledge. The intelr
lect of Lord Macaulay was more perfectly constituted.
lie combined so vivid an imagination with -so-s-olid a
judgment, that if he had not been a great historian he
might have passed down to posterity as a - great
poet; and whilst the amount of his ,intellectual
wealth would have overwhelmed a mind- of.. less
on mal power, with him remained. subordinate
to the genius of the master. No man was more
remarkable for the nice discrimination of his critical
powers, -or for the ingenious combinations by which ho
threw a new and vivid light on the course of events, the
play of human character, and the principles he lived to
advocate and defend. It was this rare union which

me so wonderful a charm tD his-style ; every sentence
waii-ipstinct_with-lifei- every woe+ touched by his pen
left its mark; and the same spell which captivated the
most accomplished of his contemporaries, and over-

ruled the hostility of his antagonists, gave him an un-
equialled popularity wherever the language of England
is'understood or admired.

' We speak of-Lord Macaulay mainly as a man of let-
ters, becausuwithout doubt that -is • his chief glory and
his most imperishable-character.
.For although we have
seen and admired the part he.sonietime filled iu political
debate, and his speeches in the Hpuse of Commons were
not unworthy of hiinself, he early discerned that he was'
the heir of a.loftier fame than political services Can 'earn,
or political distinctions -confer.
..:Wheit called by the
just favour of the Crown to the august ranks of the
British peerage, and to that Senate which, alas !
he • was never': able to addreSs, - the nation
felt that his coronet rested upon' his matchless literary
eminence; and •not upon' meie party connection.
No . peerage conferred by a Minister • was
ever more cordially sanctioned by the nation, for it was
felt that the lustre thrown by his genius upon the peer,.
age surpassed the distinction -conferred by the peerage
upon, himself. No .donbt Lord" Macaulay was strongly
attached to his political friends, and deeply imbued with
those immortal principles which have assigned to the
Whig 'Party so glorious a share in the,annals and go-
vernment of this country. But he raised those principles
to.a. higher power.• He gave them a broader and more
universal character. -Ite ;traced them. along the mighty
streams of history, and he expanded ,them till they
reached the noblest destinies of man. Enshrined in,
the memorable essays which first appeared in the pages
of this journal, and embodied' in the great history which,
though still ,incomplete, .includes the most remarkable
epoch and the most formidable crisis of British-consti-
tutional freedom,-these truths will be remembere'd in the
language he- gave them,. when Parlianientary orators
and the` contentions of statesmen are forgotten. Above
all things, his public career was singularly high-minded
and pure ; he was actuated by:no selfish motives ; he
disdained every vulgar reward; and, bound by principle
to the Whig party, he never made the slightest sacrifice
of his own judgment and independence to the demands
of popular prejudice or to the dictation of authority.

The brilliant- efforts of accomplished rhetoric, the
graphic scenes traced by a vivid imagination, the
energetic defence-of political principles, would, however,
fail to secure to Lord Macaulay that place which he
deserves in the memory of his countrymen; if 'his pro-,
digious intellectual powers had not been allied to a still
nobler temperament. It has been said by some, who
must indeed have known him imperfectly, and judged
him very unwisely, that he lacked the warmer qualities
of the,heart. Is it credible that without the highest
qualities of the heart a man could live the enthu-
siastic admirer of all that was generous, disin-
terested; - genial, and good—could die without one
single action to be reeorded of him which does hot -do
'honour to his name ? No one indeed, who has' lived in
or heard of the society of London in our time,could be
ignorant of the animation and brilliancy of his conver-
sation—of the fascinatin4 influence which drew the
'hearers 'round his chair—of the varied and abundant
stores of past knowledge and sudden inspiration by which
he was wont to illuminate,his path through life with a
preternatural radiance. But it, requires a more
mate acquaintance with the unobtrusive tenor of his
private life to know with what sympathy ' and
munificence he. Willi ever ready to assist with his
counsel and fortune those, who were struggling in the
humbler walks of literary toil; and if we were at liberty
to follow him into the narrower circle which bounded
his domestic ties, it would be seen that no man ever
lived of a more .tender and affectionate nature. Many
are they who at this hour feel, as we do, that they lost
one of the kindest as well as the greatest of their friends;
and although the applause and veneration of the world
does, in one sense, perpetuate the existence of so illus-
trious a writer,.we cannot forget that the virtues and
the graces we
.loved in his life and conversation have
vanished for ever.
Though singularly inaccessible to the ordinary temp-
tations of vanity or ambition, one wish of personal
distinction we know him to have entertained, and that
wish has been fitly fulfilled. He more than once