Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-05-04
LORD MACAULAY.

ne nrst vOiume OF the Life and Let.
ters Gf Lord Macaulay have been pub
lishtd. From q review Of these in a
New York paper We obtain the follow.
ing facts:
Thomas Babipgton Nacaulay was the
son Of Zachary Nacaulay, who was we'll
known as the editor Of the London
Chr,stian Otserver. the warm personal
friend Of Wilberforce, and with him de-
voted to the abolition of the slave trade.
The son was born October 25th, 1900.
Although no special effort was made
either to develop his mind or to crowd
it with learning, he exhibited from his
infancy the precocity which in later
years became an intellectual SUPERIOR.
ty. Some of the sayings of his child.
hood have an almost ludicrous sound,
coming from one of his years, but, re-
garded in connection with his subse-
quent career, they seem quite natural.
When he was only FOUR years old bis
father took him on . visit to LADY
Waldegrave's, ut Strawberry Hill, and
was much pleased to exhibit to his old
friend the fair, bright boy, dressed in o
green coat, with red collar. and cuffs, a
frill at the throat, and white trousers.
After some time had been spent among
the wonders Of the Oxford Collection,
Of which from that day he carried a
catalogue in his head, q servant, who
was waiting on the company, split some
hot coffee over his legs. The hostess
was all compassion, and when, after
while, she asked how he was feeling,
the little fellow looked up in her face
and replied, Thank you, madam, the
agony h abated." At the back part of
his fathers house he had q little plot of
ground marked out as his own by row
Of oyster shells, which maid one day
gathered up and threw away as rub.
bish. He went straight to the drawing
room, where his mother was entertain
ing visitors, walked into the circle, and
said, very solemnly. Cursed be Sally;
for it is written, Cursed is he that re.
moveth his neighbor's landmark He
does not seem to have been regarded in
his fathers house as prodigy, and
these savings were so natural that they
did not appear out of place, or as indi-
eating affectation, however they might
appear in any other.
From the very FIRST his memory was
psodigious. When nero cbild, as in
after years, he read books with won.
derfrl rapidity, apparently skimming
over the pages, like n swallow over the
surface of u river. but the edaguerrotype
was fixed upon his mind. 1t is related
i'll the Memoirs that, when a child, he
ace, mranied his father on an afternoon
call, and found on table Scott's Law
Of the Last Minstrel which he had
never before seen. He kept himself
quiet with his prize while his elders
were talking, and on his return home
Sat down upon his mothers bed and re-
Peated to her as many cantos as she
had the patience to listen to. At one
period Of his life he was heard to saw
that if by some miracle of Vandalism
all the copies Of Paradise Lost and the
Pilgrims Progress were destroyed off
the face Of the earth, he would under
take to reproduce them both from re-
collection.
In 1918, while waiting in Cam
bridge coffee room for n post chaise,
which was to convey him to bis school,
lie picked up q country newspaper,
containing o poem entitled, Reflections
by an Exile. and another piece Of rhyme,
parody on Welsh ballad. He looked
them once through, and never gave
them 4 thought for forty years, at the
end Of which time he repeated them
both without missing, or N far a. he
knew. changing single word. As he
grew older this wonderful power became
somewhat impaired, but only 90 far
that getting by rote the compositions
Of others was no longer an involuntary
process.
OF his personal characteristics his
biographer writes:
During an epoch when. at our prin.
cipal seats Of education, athletic pur-
suits are regarded as . leading object
OF existence, rather than q means Of
health and recreation, it requires some
eoldness TO confess that Macaulay was
utterly destitute of bodily accomplish.
ments, and that he viewed his defcieu-
eies with supreme indifference. He
could neither swim, nor row, nor drive,
acr skate, nor shoot. de seldom crossed
. saddle. and never willingly. When
in attendance at Windsor. as Cabinet
Minister, he was informed that horse
was at his disposal. If her Majesty
wishes to see me ride be said, she
must order out an elephant
And yet he was always ready to Join
in the diversions Of childhood