The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-01-21
&ithmunh 9ispattt.

&it9ulanh gispattt.
MOANING. JAN. 81, nsa.
Death Of Lsrd Macsuiay.
THIS event has already been announced IN
our nsws columns. II took place on Wednes' |
day, ssh December, 1T Holly Lodge. the resi-
dence Of The great sssayist near London. he
was In the Goth year Of his age, having been
born at Rothley Temple, In I4eices'ershire, on
the 2s,h day Of October. 1900 The complaint
10 which be ieil victim was disease Of the
heart from which he had been suffering seven
or eight years, complicated with asthma in a
very aggravated form. He died, It is said, in a
fainting 1T.
THOMAS BABINoToN MAcAULAy was the
son OF that ZACHARY MAcAuLAY, who, about
the beginning OF the present century, exer,ed
himself 50 pertinaciourly in favor Of the abo
litiou Of the slave trade, and who was SO mer-
cilessly assailed in Blaekscood's Maga= inc. and
other publications, rs the chief of what was
called the ~Ciapham sect" The family, as
the name imports, were Highland Scotch and
in q late No. Of Blaekwood the historian is
severely handled for the bitterness Of feeling
which he 10 supposed to betray towards the
Hirhlauds of Scotland, the home of his fore
fathers. rs we'll rs towards the Calvinists.
while il ather ani uncle had both been minis
ters OF the Kirk. MACAULAY entered Cam
bridge In the year Isl and took his Bachelors
degree in is.a. In his first year he took the
ChanceIlor's medal by his poem on "Pompei,"
and the next year carried the same prize by
. poem ION Evening" Both these poems
k~oan ,nuh He also Obtained
the second CRAVEN Of scholarship,and became
seouently Fellow Of his college (TrinityD
In 1926 he was called to the bar at Lin
colin. Inn. He was great writer, about this
period, in prose and poetry, upon great va
rietv Of topics. and to 1t are 10 be referred his
ballads on the Spanish Armada and the battle
of Ivry. He was q frequent contributor TO
KxleHr's Quarterly Magnsins, his con,ribu-
tions TO which had already obtained him such
a reputation that he was engaged when only
twenty.four years old to write an article upon
MILTON for the Edinburgh Rerie~. This essay
was the first Of that long series, which has
since obtained for him the reputation OF The
most brilliant Of all the British Essayists.-
JxrrRxY is said to have been struck with
the mower of thought and force of expression
which distinguish this production, in spite OF
The criticism afterwards passed upon IL
nv the author himself, that he immedi-
atelv secured his services AS regular
writer for the Edinburgh Recisic. BY the
wear 1890. his writings had already pro-
duced such profound impression, and proved
40 ,eryiceable to the Wing cause, that that
marty obtained for him in the Coalition Min
istry the appointment Of Commissioner Of
Bankrupts and during the same year he en-
tered Parliament as member for Calne. He
does not appear TO have answered the high ex-
,ectations that were formed of him in the
House. He made brilliant set speeches, but
was not good at a reply, and therefore, prob
ably. did not succeed as debater. After the
passage of the reform bill, he was returned
member for Leeds, and appointed Secretary Of
the Board Of Control. This last office he
threw up in 1894, upon his appointment as
nth member of the Supreme Council of India.
In that country he stayed five years, enjoying
a aalary Of fIO.OUO As member of the Council,
with nm additional! income as legal adviser
The main object Of his mission was to pre-
mare a new code of laws for the govern
uent of India. This code is said to be- in
,heory. the most perfect in existence. Its only
fault was that, in many respects, 1t was i'm.
practicable, in the state Of society existing in
India, 1t was, not the less, work of great
genius. worthy of the authors high reputa.
lion. This sojourn in India enabled him tC
amsss a fortune of fju.G0O, and to accomplish
one great object of his life-that of placing
his sisters, who had been left dependent on
him in a situation Of ease and comfort. 1t is
chiefly interesting in a literary point of view
from its having enabled him to make himself
acquainted, upon the spot with the history
and workings Of the British domination ir
India The knowledge thus acquired bort
fruit. in the Essays upon OLIVE and HAST
,SGs. the most magnificent contributions eveI
made to q periodical, published within few
wears after his return
MACAuLAY re-entered Parliament soon aftel
. his return from 1ndia-in 1910, we believe
was made Secretary of War, with a salary
.,f 60 500. by the Melbourne Ministry, ant
held the office until that Ministry was over
thrown by Sir ROBERT PEEL, in 1871. In lei
he was rejected by his constituents in conse
ouence of his voting in favor of the Maynootl
Grant but five years afterwards they re-electe'
him. although he was no candidate. In 1Sl
be WAS elected Lord Rector Of the Universit,
ofGlasgow, in 1910 he was made Professor O
Ancient History in the Royal Academy O
I.ondon. and in 1852 he received the Prussial
order of Merit. A few years ago he retired from
Parliament, and in 1858 he was raised to tn
Peerage.
As an essayist, MACAULAr is altogethe
without rival. His manner of reviewing
work is entirely original. He barely name
the work under consideration. using it only a
n hint for introducing his own views of TIL
men. things and times of which It propose
10 treat. In this way he became the fosnde
of a description Of writing which was an Ell
tire novelty in English literature, but whic
prevails now TO an amazing extent. Weallud
10 the historical essay. II was sufficient fo
him that some snterprising publisher had go
ten up q new edition, for instance, Of MACHIl
WILLIS works. Without, probably ever ha,
ing examined the edition in question, he ass
it q An excuse for introducing MACHIAVkz;
his principles, his writings, and all the reiian
policy and striking events Of the remarka6l
age in which he lived, to the notice of tn
reader in q single brilliant panorama. Whe
he lays down the book he knows MACHIAvELI
~ we'll Is though he had been personally a.
Quainted with him. The same method is pul
sued with regard TO CAMPBKLLs Life Of IL
Great FREDERICK. We become acquain Il
with FREDERICK as he ~ introduced to US !
MACAULAY, not by CAMPBELL. The same r
mark il applicable to the essays on Civ
on HASTINGS, on BARRERE, on MILTON, {
the Earl Of Chatham, on HORACE WALfoLE
to all his essays, in word, on works profes
ing to give US view Of particular portions
history. Al decidedly the father of the Hi
torical Eassay as HOMER was the father
Epic Poetry, or ScOrT the father Of the Hi