New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-03-30
LORD MACACLAY.


BIZ TIE AUTHOR o. ALBERT HASTINGS
AS historian. biographer and essayist,
this Laborious and gifted contributor 70
English literature has long ago obtained
his need Of admiration. But Macaulay
was only human after all. and Aytoun. a
name t~ranscendent in modern literature,
long since exposed his f~allacies in regard
to Scottish history and the fame Of Scot
lands most renowned warriors.
1t IL an evil and graceless task 10 decry
great men,, whether in p%olitica. or literary
spheres; but prejudice has its idiosynCracies.
and these are not to be tolerated at the
tribunal Of truth. His mastery del:nea-
tons Of character and motives few will
deny, but their just application. az applied
by him. we think few are 80 enslaved 10y
the artful and astute writer az to admit.
II is well known that William of Orange
vas his hero in EAglish annals. yet there
are not wanting those who consider this
same prince a cruel usurper, and, in short.
anything other THAI the superior parsonage,
whether as prince or man, which his devout
admirer would make him.
Lord MacaIlay always wrote sensibiy and
vigorously. He defended a wrong cause
with more power than an inferior genius,
sustained by truth. could sustain truth it
self, and hence the necessity of weighing
bis conclusions apart from his arguments,
Of resisting the glitter and seeming consist
encv of his elegant paragraphs. till mature
reelection and contemporary evidence con
cur in establishing his postulatee. His
elaboration and effective diction never
reached the masculine pith of Buiwer, and
none of his admirers can prove that the
airy and imaginative beauty of that won
derful and humanitarian genius adOrns his
vOiuminous. interesting, but still labored
pages. He always built an imposing tower
of defense when advocating his favOrites,
but that, like the leaning tower of Pisa
stood awry. and it is easy to perceive that
prejudice warps the stately structure.
Poor Miss Burney. as member of the
Queens household and a juvenile writer,
he accOrds some praise, but a~fterward,
IN the full maturity of her powers, and
Wu0n DOT idulJb ndu OeSn COrEeCteu ny eh-
perienoe, he declares that she became an
;mitatOr of DR.. johnson, simply because
she enjoyed the friendship of that great
man and took his judgment on her works.
Had Maoaulsy been ignorant of the friendly
relations which existed between the authors
of "Evelina" and "Rossetta," we doubt
whether such o superstition would have co.
CURED to his mind. We almost forgive the
stern critic when he adds, after having
placed his VICTIM in the attitude of of an
imator, the following commentator, it
would seem reluctantly given in Difference
to her established reputation: miss Bur
ney showed that a tale might be written in
which both the fashionable and the vulgar |
life Of London might be exhibited with |
great force and with broad comic humor, |
which yet should not contain a single
line inconsistent with rigid morality or
with virgin delicacy." Though we
may consider this some amends for his at
tacks on a noble female writer, still there |
are great men snd Kingdoms to whom be
can offer no apology now, and those ne has
5aAnIy Uron1ad |