The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-28 00:00:00

On Wednesday evening, Mr, C. Buxton, one of
the representatives of the borough of Maidstone,
delivered a lecture to the members of the Literary
and Mechanics' Institution in that town, on " The
Life of Lord Macaulay." On the platform were
many of the leading inhabitants of the town, and
there were from 1,200 to 1,500 persons present.
Mr. BUXTON, who was very warmly greeted,
commenced by observing that on Monday fertnight
were laid in 'Westminster Abb .y the mortal remains
of the man who, of all the men of our day, would
have the most powerful and enduring influence
upon the mind of the people of England. Other
statesmen had had a career of higher splendour—
other orators had wielded the weapons of debate with
a more skilful hand—other administrators had won
more applause in the transaction of national affairs
—other writers had shown more originality and
subtlety of intellect—other poets had displayed a
loftier power of imagination—but was there any
writer of any time, whatever his genius, whose
works had at once gained such a grasp on the
mind, not of England alone, but of America and
of Europe, or which were so likely to retain
that grasp, as those of the great man
so lately deceased? The career of Lord
Macaulay was unique in this respect—that while'_
he stood among the foremost of those who had won
the ear of the world by the force and beauty of
their written words, he also, by his spoken words,
had given a series of powerful impulses to the cause
of progress and reform. In treating this subject,
he (Mr. Buxton) proposed first to dilate upon what
Lord Macaulay did, and then upon what he was.
The hon. gentleman then proceeded to notice the
works of the late noble lord, from which he quoted
several extracts to show that, while gifted with the
most vigorous and gigantic powers of reasoning, he
could yet "play with a topic like a kitten with a
ball." He (Mr. Buxton) knew that his lordship
looked upon style as of the utmost importance in
writing, and the blottings out and changes in his
manuscript showed that he polished his sentences
with extreme care. Speaking of the late lord's
" History of England," the hon. gentleman said ho
thought it would have been a still more wonderful
work of art if the author had been willing to vary
and set off its brilliancy by occasional simplicity
and repose • but with that one drawback—if draw-
back it could be called—of an excess of splendour,
it was unquestionably one of the noblest monu-
ments of literary labour with which the world had
been enriched. He knew that its accuracy had
been impugned ; but with the exception of a few
trivial errors, be believed the book stood on a rock,
and could not be shaken. It was melancholy that
the splendid expectation held out in the preface of
bringing up the history to within the memory of
men now living had been so far from fulfilment,
but the fragment that had been published had
done a work of transcendent importance, not merely
in the influence which it would have, for centuries
to come, on the mind of the English people, but
even more in training the people of Europe to the
idea of making a bold stand for freedom, teaching
them the value of constitutional Government, and
giving the noble example of true courage and
patriotism. He walked home from Lord Macau-
lay's
funeral with the son of one of the most illus-
trious Prussians of the present day, who said " Cer •
Willy you have had a grand ceremonial at the burial
of Lord Macaulay, but your appreciation of his writ-
ings is not to be named in the same breath with the
appreciation of them in Germany. There every one
is penetrated with reverence for them, as showing
the way to tread the path to freedom." Not only,
however, was Lord Macaulay, beyond all dispute,
the king of essayists, and one of the princes among
historians, but he also took no low place among the
poets of England. No one would claim for him a
place beside our greatest masters. His poems were
not like theirs, new creations, nor were they ar-
rayed in language of divine beauty ; but yet who
could deny the name of poetry to lyric effusions of
such extraordinary force and fire as proceeded from
the pen of the noble lord, varied with descriptions
at once so true and beautiful. As a politician, his
name would not go down to posterity with the lustre
attained by some other great men, as he had not
given that close attention to the details of public
business necessary to win the highest place in such
an arena as Parliament. He (Mr. Buxton) rem?.m-
bered that, after his election for Newport, his lord-
ship, on meeting him one day, asked him how ho
liked the House of Commons. He replied that he
was extremely pleased with it. The noble lord said,
"Well, I can't understand that ; how I used to hate
it ;" and went on to dilate upon the nuisance of sit-
ting there night after night, listening to dull
speeches. But though Lord Macaulay would not
have left a mighty name as one of a great race of
statesmen, he had nevertheless attained a position of
considerable height among them; and, though his
talents as an orator were net equal to those he pos-
sessed as an author, some of his speeches would al-
ways be counted among the greatest and most suc-
cessful that had ever been uttered in England. Hav-
ing then referred to the construction by Lord Ma-
caulay of the code of laws for India, which he (Mr.
Buxton) believed would some day be found of essen-
tial value to the well-being of that country, the hon.
gentleman noticed a variety of points in the life of
the late noble lord, and remarked that though there
might at times be a seeming isolation in his manner
towards those who had no tie with him, to those
who had the felicity of his acquaintance he was not
Macaulay the historian, or Macaulay the politician,
but Macaulay the talker—the last of that wonder-
ful galaxy of conversers who had made Holland
House so famous in days gone by. He displayed
the most hearty, untiring, and animating tender-
ness to his relatives, and stood forth to the world
as a man as stout-hearted, as truthful, and who
loved old England as dearly as any of the heroes he
delighted to portray.

The hon. gentlenian resumed his seat amid great
applause, and a cordial vote of thanks was accorded
to him for his interesting lecture. .

AT TEMPT TO MURDtR IN IRELAND.

The state of two Irish counties (King's and West-
meath) has lately become a source of anxiety from
thefrequent commission of outrages of the very
worst kind in the districts indicated. Scarcely
a week passes of late without an account of some
of those sanguinary attempts upon life which it
was hoped we had heard the last of when Tippe-
rary could be compared to Down in social tran-
quillity, and when the absnce of critne:formed
an agreeable feature in all judicial charges.
The following particulors of a murderous assault
upon an under-agent of Sir C. H. Coote, which it
is feared will have a fatal result, and given in the
Evening :—" On Monday night, about 10
o'clock, Mr. George Donne, an extensive landholder
and under-agent on the King's County estates of
Sir C. H. Coote, left the house of a friend in Tul-
lamore, with whom he had been spending the even-
ing, and walked towards his own residence, situated
in another part of the town, accompanied by a
man named Ryan. When they arrived near Mr.
Dunne's house Ryan separated from his companion,
and proceeded on his way to his residence in the
country. He had previously—is bas been since
ascertained—observed a man following him and
Mr. Dunne, but not apprehending any danger he
took no notice of him. Ryan had not proceeded
further than the length of one street when he heard
a shot. This did not alarm him, as he ' imagined
that somebody was firing at rats.' It turned out,
however, that the shot had been fired at Mr. Dunne
just as he had reached his own door, wounding
him dreadfully in the head, face, and cheek. One
eye was completely torn from its socket, and the
adjoining cheek riddled with slugs. Another slug
is lodged in one of the collar bones, and several
have penetrated the rib of the unfortunate victim
of Riband vengeance. It is hardly necessary to
add that Mr. Dunne lies without hope of recovery.
But we have now to record a damning fact, which
would be incredible in any country in the world
save our own. The murder—for so, we fear, we
may call it—took place at 10 o'clock on Monday
night, in a country town containing 6,000 inhabi-
tants, defended (?) by a stipendiary magistrate,
two other magistrates, a county inspector, a sub-
inspector, a head constable, with a full complement
of constables and sub-constables ; and yet not a
whisper of the outrage reached the authorities
until nine o'clock the followine. morning! 'hirel
offence for which Mr. Dunne has been executed
was, of course, agrarian." s The
Saunders's Neies of yesterday say
police had been actively exerting themselves,l and
succeeded in capturing a man named James -lan ,
better known by the cognomen of 'Champion
man who strck
Hand.' He is a resident of
he Tullamore. Dunune
having identified Hand as t
him with the stone, and subsequently fired at and
wounded him, the magistrates
took the necessary
depositions, and fully
committed
Hand to the
county prison for trial the approaching assizes.
also ap-
prehended, named Fitzpatrick, was
but he has been discharged.
Another
The cause
of this daring and brutal outrage is yet a matter of
conjecture."