The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-05-07

! have gained any reputation either IN POLITICS
or In letters.-lf | have had any success In life
1t has been without his help or countenancc
and often in spite Of his utmost exertioas to
keep me down." Nevertheless, Macaulay speaks
handsomely Of Broughams work in the Rcrtelc
more h ndsomely than most men would speak
nowadays. His late articles have very high
merit. They are, indeed models OF magazine
writing a. distinguished from other sorts OF
writing. Tho effect OF the first pcrusal Is great.
and few people read an article In arcview twice."
In this connection 1t Ia interesting to note that
Macaulay declined To review Scott's literary per-
formanccs, on the ground that he was not sue
cessful In analyznR the effect of works Of
genius. have never written page OF criticism
on poetry or tho flne arts which would not
burn If had the power"
That he was successful enough In graphic cas-
tigation Macaulay soon had disagreeable proof.
man named Wallace had compiled bogra-
ply Of Sir James Macintosh In a somewhat
cavalier ana impairment vein, and Macaulay
fell on him with contemptuo,s rlaor. walla. q
sent him challenge, but the affair was IN lily
compromised by tho seconds and few people
knew how near the son of the evangelical Zacha-
~ Macaulay came to lighting "a duel. Poor Rob
ert Montgomery was another victim who plead
ed desperately that the more caustic passages
III Mdttuldl CIlllClSm might De sollcncu Nueu
the ESSAYS were reprinted In llectcd form As
he could get satisfaction from the implaca-
BILE reviewer, MONTGOMERY threatened, and ap-
parently took measures to institute a suit In
chanccry.
Macaulay was not very fond Of Americans,
His intercourse with our countrymen does
not seem to have been uniformly cordial.
At Rome, in 1873, he called on the American
Consul. lie was very civil, and d 1t mode
dAmtiiqtc talked to me about my writings. ]
turned the conversation instantly. No topic, !
am glad to say, Is less to my taste" Whiting
from Florence In the same year, he says ayes
terday, as | was looking at some superb por-
traits by Raphael and ritian, a Yankee clergy
man introduced himself to me told me that he
had heard who l was; that he begged
to thank me for my writings In the name of
his countrymen; that he. had himself reprint
cd my paper; that 1t had great run iu the
States and that my name was greatly respected
there. bowed, thanked him, and stole away,
leaving the Grand Dukes pictures great deal
sooner than had intended" Some years later
be told his family of two letters he had re-
ceved from America, one from a Mr.. Crump, Of
ferng hin 500 n he would introduce the namo
OF Crump into his History !" another from a
Young Mems Philosophical Society In New
York. beginning, Possibly our fame has not
pinioned the Atlantic" when Mrs. Stowe was
in England. Macaulay met her, apparently to his
sorrow, for year aftcrward he writes Of her
sunny Memories" "A mighty foolish, i'm
pertinent book, this OF Mrs. stowe. She puts
into my mouth q grea: deal OF stuff that never
uttered, particularly about c,thedrals. What
blunders she makes Robert Walpole for
Horace Wapoe! Shaftesbury, the author Of
the Haoess Corpus act, she confounds with
Shaftesbury. tho author Of the Character
istics.' She cannot even see. Palmerston, whose
eyes are sky blue, she calls dark eyed. am Glad
that met her so seldom, and sorry that met
her at all" There ia nothing" Mscaulay says
elsewhere, "more ptiablc than an ex-lon or
ex-honess. London, have often thought, is
like the sorceress iI the Arabian Nights. who,
by some mysterious law, can love the same OBJ
Jet only forty days. During forty days she 10
all fondncss. As soon as they over she not
only discards the poor fsvorte, but turns him
into some wretched shape-a NANCY dog or
spawned horse. The strongest Instances, /
think, have been Betty, who called tue
young lscius, Edward irving, and Mrs. Beecher
stowe" Notwithstanding some unpleasant i'm
pressions Of Yankee charac Ter, Macaulay did not
approve oil Dickens's American Notes." and
refused to review 1t, although be had intended
TO do So Il cannot praise it," he said, "and
will not cut It up. Icannot praise It, though IT
CpnAhlu. lew lNel1 Oldloguet anu descriptions,
for 1t seems TO me to be on the whole a failure.
reader who wants all amusing account OF the
United States had better 20 TO Mrs. Irollope,
coarse ana malignant as she is. reader who
wants information about American politics,
manners. and literature, had better go even to
so poor creature as Buckingham. In short, |
pronounce the book, in spite of some CLEANS OF
genius, at once frivolous and dull"
Ahout 1852 Lord Carlisle saw good deal OF
our author, and in his journal notes many Of his
savings. We are led TO infer that the tone Of
conycrs atiou, when Macaulay was present, was
slightly disputatlous, aud that there was a ten
dency to talk very loud, and TO drift. into ety.
molcgy lie cites story told by Macaulay about
one 81 the French prophets Of tine seventeenth
century who came into the Court Of Kings
Bench and announced that the Holy Ghost had
sent him TO command Lord Holt to enter nolle
prosequi. H. said Lord Holt. 1.-The Holy
Ghost had wanted nolle prosequi he would
have bid YOU apply to the Attorney General.
The Hoy Ghost knows that l cannot enter
nole prosecute. Bur there ia one thing that
can d. | can lay a lying knave by the he is :"
aud thcreupon he committed him to prison.
Another anecdote from Lord Ctrlisle's journal
deserve quoting. II seems that Rowland lIill
In his later life used to como TO his chapel IN a
carriage. lie cot an anonymous letter rebukiug
HIN for this, because 1t was not the wav his
Heavenly Master travelled. hin read the letter
from the pulpit, said II was quite true, ana that
II the writer would come 10 the vestry after ser
vice with a saddle aud birdie he would ride him
/ home.
/ We learn from his biographcr that Macaulay
had q very slignt acquaintance with the works
/ Of some among the best writer's Of his owa
generation. lle not fond OF new lights
unless they had been kindled At the ancien.
! beacons; ana he was apt 10 prefer third rate
author, who had formed himself after somo
recognized model, TO a man Of high genius
/ whose sty.c and method were strikiugly d iiTer-
cnt from anything that had gone before" lie
resd next 10 nothing Of Ruskln. He could see
| little merit in Carlyle and the latter on his part
/ was not likely to appreciate Macaully. The two
met QUO day at Lord Ashburtons house, and
Carlyle was wofuy bored by tho Irresistible
! proofs Tor Sir "mup rrancla. "As If it could
matter" lie said, "the value OF brass farthing
to any living human being who was the author
Of 'Junius 70 Grote's Indifference to literary
grace and finish was intolerable to Macauay,
VINO yet admits that the former, with all his
faults of style, mad "really done wonders" In