New-York daily tribune., 1856-02-12
nACAULAH.
fghang'

the public shout are to the actor, the lamps Of 81.
stephen. and the party cheer are 10 the English
politician-an essential Of existence. Chatham,
ard Burke, and Fox, and Pitt, and Canning. and
Peel. all passed away with harness on their back
and some with the echo Of the loved applause still
lingering around them. Few have ever forsaken
the stoned scene until dragged of By AZ cleo
ton defeat or still sterner edict. Death has in
almost ever instance r1ng down the curtain. The
last intelligence from England however, brings 1s
3 distinguished exception TO this rule. Thomas
Babnrton Macaulay, who for twenty years has
PLAYED prominent part in European politics, and
occupied that place in the councils Of the great
parties Of England which had been teld BY Burke,
has taken leave of another OF the many fields in
which be reaped renOwD. a great Whig light
has become se-extnguished. HencefOrth the
poet, essayist, orator politician, all are merged in
the historian.
II was in the midst of the Reform tempest that
Macaulay first rose above the political horizon.
Previous to that great measure there were in En-
gland number OF small borOUghs, containing, per
haps thirty or forty voters, which were in the gift
Of wealthy nOblemen, who disposed OF them at
their pleasure or retained them for the purpose Of
introducing TO dependent party position some
brilliant adyenturer whose tributary genius might
equally serve the profitable purpose OF bis master.
In one Of those pet places which afterward' in
compliment to its Wing proprietor, Lord Lans-
downe, Reform left untOuched-the borough Of
Calne in Wiltshire-Mr. Macaulay found his po-
litcal cradle in 1882. As a rule, literary men
seldom succeed in the English House OF Com
mons. There is a prejudice against English
bards and Scotch reviewers ; and although
one who is at once both q politician and literary
man carries into tine arena two-edged weapon he
usually lacks the yigor of grasp and bOldness of
stroke which are essential TO success in popular
assembly Both Dsraeli and Bulwer, the two
most brilliant present examples Of the success in
politics Of literary men, made on their first efforts
but melancholy fascos, and never for years sue
ceeded in awakening the House into momentary
attention Macaulay, however, more than vindl-
Gated expectation. lie reached acknowledged en-
nence in bound and the storm of applause which
followed his first speech swept him from the yesti-
bule to the highest position in the House. Indeed,
Nacsulay's speeches, unlike those of Fox and
Canning. which owed much Of their effect to per-
sonal attributes or their adaptablity to the hasty
passion Of the hour, will live long after the
conflicts in which they were born have passed
away. He never rose but to pour food OF light
on the subject under discussion, which he handled
with mastery skill a grace of Illustration, and
depth aud readiness Of historic knowledge, unsur-
passed in the annals OF the forum. Take his
speech, for instance published, on the third read
ing Of the Reform bill. Nothing can be more
beautiful than its symmetry and strength, than the
art with which old sanctions were brought up to
hallOw new ideas, the whole force of an argument
at times suddenly centered in one burning ustra-
ton. and the present and future daguerreOtyped in
the light of the past. In this speech We find
as in all his others, rich profusOn of images, but
they are never loose or out Of place Each image is
set in a strong oak frame. In may also be found
those introductiOns of learning with which his
memory is so stored but the learning is never
master Of the argument. Imagery, eruditiOn in
yectiye, sarcasm, defamation, are introduced
with such an appropriateness, and the whole con-
such energy and power as 10 leave the impression
that everything that could be said, written or
thought upon the question had been exhausted.
Considered by their influence on opinion, the
great fault Of Macaulays speeches, as of all his
other productions lay in the fact that be looked at
all men and matters through the old Whig tee-
scope Seen through that glass the world was but
party, and all men judged By their facings or
measured by their votes. Considered in their i'm
mediate effect as Parliamentary efforts, the hard
and mOnOtonOus tone in which they We're delivered,
and the evident preparation bestowed on every
particle Of every line, robbed them OF much of
their influence and beauty With bat rare excep-
tiOns they We're delivered early in the evening, and
a stranger in the gallery almost before he became
conscious that a new orator had risen found a
midde-aged, square man, of robust build and harsh
Scotch accent, right in the thick of argument.
driving along with the speed and power of an en-
CINE, casting up in his fiery rush Illustrations. ar
guments and images, and leaving behind him
long line Of light Macauay seldom or never intro.
duced bis oratOns by an exOrdum. There are no
graceful porches 10 his temples. Unlike such
polished swordsmen as Gadsone aud Disraeli. he
never cOurteously fenced with his adversary before
the death-grapple, but struck on the principle of
Napoleon, direct at the heart, certain that that
once hit every fibre would quiver to the utmost ex-
tremity. But the effect was always produced By the
argument, never by the man. and the total absence
in bis voice Of either passion or emotion, and in his
argument Of any scope for the impulse of the mo-
ment deprived him personally Of that sympathy
which men like Fox or Clay always arouse, and
which is such a tasman 70 the public speaker