Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-02-24
MACArIaT A. 4 TAIKRR

teris;ic illusions to Macaalsy thai are
worth quoting On one occasion
Greville breskfssted with Sir George
Cornwall Louis 10 meet Rsnke, the
German historian.
He had got Macsulsy. who bad
reviewed bis book. 10 meet him, Sir
Alexander Duff Gordon and his wife
daughter of Mrs. Austin. his trans
lstorl and Sir Edmund Head. went
prepared 10 listen to some first-rste
talk between such luminaries as Ma
caulay and Ranke, but there never
was q greater failure. The professor
q vivaciogs little man, not distin-
guished il appearance. could talk no
English, aud his French, though
spoken fiuently, was quite unintelli-
gible. On the other hand, Macsulsy
could not speak German, and he
spoke French without any facility
and with q very vile accent II was
comical 10 see the abundance OF his
matter struggling with his embarrsss-
nent in giving utterance to it, to
hear the torrent of knowledge trying
to force its way through the impedi-
ments of limited acquaintance with
the French Language and the want
of habit of conversing in it. But the
struggle was of short duration. He
began in French, but very soon could
bear the restraint no longer and broke
into English, pouring forth his stores
to the utterly unconscious and un-
comprehending professor. This ba-
bel of q breakfast. at which it was
impossible for seven people to con-
verse in any common language, soon
came to an end, and Ranke was evil
IDENTIFY glad TO 60 off to the State Pa
| per Office, where he was working
every day. After he was gone Ma
caulay held forth, and was, as usual,
very well worth listening to-"
Further on is an amusing account
of dinner at Holland House in the
winter of lS41:
1t was a party we'll composed for
talk, fer three we're listeners of INTEL
igence aud good specimen of the
sort of society of this house-Ms-
caulsy, Melbourne. Morpeth, Dun
cannon, Baron Rolfe, Allen and La
dy Holland, and John Russell came
in the evening. / wish that a short
hand writer could have been there
| to take down all the conversation or
that could have carried it away in
my head, because il was curious in
itself and curiously illustrative of
the characters of the performers.
Before dinner some mention was
made of the portraits of the Speakers
in the Speakers house, and | asked
how far they went back. Macaulay
said he was not sure, but certainly as
far back as Sir Thomas More. Sir
Thomas More' said Lady Holland,
l did not know that he had been
Speaker 'Oh. yes, said Mscsulay,
don't you remember when Cardinal
Wolsey came down to the House of
Commons and More was in the
chsiry and then he told the whole of
that well-knOwn transaction and all
More had said. At dinner, among q
variety OF persons and subjects, prin-
cipally ecclesiastical, which were dis
cussed- for Melbourne loves all sorts
of theological talk-we got upon In
dia and Indian men of eminence, pro-
ceeding from Gleig's Life of Warren
Hastings which Macaulay said was
the worst book that ever was written;
and then the name of Sir Thomas
Munro came uppermost Lady Hol-
land did not know why Sir Thomas
Munro was so distinguished; when
Macaulay explained all that he had
ever said, done, written or thought,
and indicated his claim to the title
of great man, till Lady Holland
got bored with Sir Thomas, told Ma.
caulay she had had enough of him
and would have no more. This
would have dashed and silenced an
ordinary talker. but to Macaulay it
was no more than replacing book
on its shelf, and he was as ready as
ever TO open on any other
topic. II would be impossible to
follow and describe the various ma
yes OF conversation, all of which he
threaded with an ease that was al
ways astonishing and instructive
and generally interesting and anus
ing. When we went upstairs We
gor upon the fathers of the Church
Allen aske1 Macaulay if he had
read much of the fathers. He said
not u greet deal. He had read Chry-
session. when he was in India; that is,
he had turned over the leaves and
for few months had read him for
two or three hours every morning
before breakfast, and he had read
some of Athanasius. I remember q
sermon, he said, of Chrysostom's in
praise Of the Bishop of Antioch, and
then he proceeded to give US the
subject of this sermon till Lady
Holland got tired OF the fat hers,
again put her extinguisher on Chry-
sostom as she had done on Munro
and, with sort Of derision and as IL
to have the pleasure of puzzling
Macaulay, she turned to him and
said: Pray, Macaulsy. what was the
origin Of q dolly When were dolls
first mentioned in historys' Macau.
lay was, however. just as much up
TO the dolls as he was to the fathers
and instantly replied that the Roman
children had their dolls, which they
offered up to Venus when they grew
older aud quoted Persius Veniri
donate q virgine puppe, and l have
not the least doubt il he had been
allowed to proceed he would have
told us who was the Chenevix of
ancient Rome and the name of the
drst baby that ever handled q doll.
OF Macaulay's general character.
istics as . talker Greville writes:
IL is not true, as some say, that
there is nothing original in it. but
certainly by far the greater part is
The mere outpouring OF memory.
Subjects are tapped and the current
flows without stopping. Wonderful
as IL Is, II Is certainly oppressive
after time and his departure Is
rather . relief than otherwise. Dun
das, who is very agreeable and very
well Informed. said today that be
Was bore, but that he is not II
certainly must be rather oppressive
after . certain time and would be
intolerable II il was not altogether
u