The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-02-25
Anecdotes Of MacsniaY.

1t is one thing to be fond of children and
another never to get tired of them; and Macau-
lay, Hannah says was one Of those who never
got tired. he often spent the whole morning
at her home playing with the children, and
then, after luncheon, carried one Of them off
for long walk. But the great treats for him.
as well as for them, were the excursions into
the city to see the shows. These did not come
often enough to suit either him or the children
twice week is said to have been the average
he would have liked-and they used to last till
the little ones, to use his own expression.
could not drag one leg after the other" The
afternoons diversions began with bountiful
luncheou in London, to which Macaulay always
added some knick-knack for which the chill
dren had an especial contempt, for the pleas
ure OF seeing them reject it With scorn. The
afternoons sights were the lions and bears,
the panoramas and the wax-works, or even the
British Museum. One day he tells their moth
er in q letter how, all the other exhibitions
being exhausted, he took the children to the
National Gallery. and how, while Charley and
Margaret played the connoisseur, Georay said,
homes estly, "Lst US 60; there is nothing here
that care for at all;' and again, 81 don't call
this seeing sights; have seen no sight TO-
day." All of which seems to have amused
Macaulay greatly. The elaborate process of
sending valentine to his little niecs Alice is
recorded at length in his diary. February 12
he buys suDerb sheet of paper and writes the
valentine. February IS he sends it off to his
sister Fanny at Brighton to be forwarded.
February IA the whole entry of the day IS about
the valentine; how Fanny came at three with
the children, Alice 10 perfect rsptures, aud
begging quite pathetcslly TO be told the truth
about 1t. When they were alone together she
said-the little witch-she was goiog to be
very serions, and down she goes on her knees,
lifting up her hands in supplication: "Dear
Uncle, do tell the truth to your little girl. Did
you send the vslentine?" And then he had 20
own It, Macaulay would do almost ANYTHING to
please his favorites; he even tried to like their
dog, and dogs he was MOI fond Of In one
place IN his diary he denounces the animal as
"a beast that is always spelling conversation"
Bnt when the dog was pet of the children,
that was another matter, and he bought things
for 1t at the shops, and made poetry about it to
an extent which made the children happy, if
1t had no particular effect upon the dog.
When he was busy upon the second INSTALL
ment of his history, he would speed some
precious time inserting gold piece 10 the seal
of letter to his nephew George, so that it
might slip past the post office authorities and
would transmit 1t with the casual remark that
while the best part of lady's letter was in the
postsCrlpt, the DeSI part OF an uncle6 was IN
the seal. One day, coming out from collec-
tion of pictures, he saw more delightful pic
ture, he says, than any there. It was four
pretty little sisters, from about eleven to six
years old, riding in q donkey cart In deep,
shady lane, and quite beside themselves with
delight at the treat. They were laughing and
singing in way that almost made him cry
with sense OF the beautiful, and when he
asked them to 90 on they sang like little larks.
Whereupon all the silver he had in his pockets
went to buy dolls.-D. D. Lloyd, in Hsrpet's
Magazine for March.