The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-12-26
MACAULAY'S MANNERS.
Facts Tending to Show That the Grea
Author Was also Great Bore.
From the Argona,lt.I J

lEiS VI ioAN-iiNf N"@A1+~; 80
lass, Jerroll, Tom Hood, Charlotte
Bronte, Macaulay, Thackeray and
Dickens.
So far, indeed. as concerns Mac
aulay, Trevelyaa's Life may fairly
be regarded as exhaustive. Yet
Mr.. Mason has found some useful
side sights in the memoirs andnote-
books of those who either had an
intimate acquaintance with Mac
aulay or saw him under interest
ing circumstances. Thus, while
Mr. Trevelyan ayers that his uncle
':dres>ed badly, but not poorly
Grenveille Murray, who knew the
historian in his youth, says he was
altogether slovenly. He was,' we
are told. "an undergraduate Of
Trinity when a certain don sent
him an invitation to dinner. Ma
caulay, who (at that time) hated
society, had already written letter
of refusal when some comradeS
hurst into his room, and being IN
formed of the correspondence pend
ing. told Macaulay that he must
accept. AS the invitation was for
that very day, they further decided
that Macauiaymust. be washed and
scrubbed for the occasion-tor IN
those days he,was excessively negll-
gent of his personal appearance
and the thing was done vi ct ar
mis-" Lord Cockburn, III his jour
nal. chronicles that she (Macau-
lav} IS not intellectual in his out
ward appearance. IN manner his
defect is that he is heavy and lum-
bering, though not big, and he has
an air of vulgality.' TO Haw-
thorne, however, who saw him at
a later period, there was IN Ma,
caulay's bearing "a somewhat
careless selt:poSseSsion, large and
broad enough to be called dignity ;
and the MR. l looked at him the
more I knew that he Was q dlStin,
guished person." Lord Campbell
owned that Toms manners Cali
not defend. TO him J; is 4 mat
ter of utter Indifference who the
company may be-ladlcS, bishops
LAWYERS, officers Of the army, prln-
ces of the blood, or distinguished
foreigners-whom the guests are
invited to meet, off he goes at score,
with hardly a gleam OF silence
without any adaptation to his
auditory OF the topics he discusses:
and without any remorse or any
consciousness of his having acted
at all improperly when they lave
left him in disgust" There is no
lack Of unf svorable testimony on
this point. Thus, Sir a. Allison
declared: II have often heard him
(Macaulay) styled, by those who III
general appreciated conversation
the most, perfect bore. ! must
own that I have sometimes seen
him to be such il company, and
admitted to he so by his greatest
admirers" Charles Peabody, writ
inc in the "Gentleman's Magazine"
reports that ''Macaulay was the
tvrant of the table, and rarely tol
Grated any talk but his own" Il DO
not. believe" Sidney Smith used 10
say, ''that Macaulay ever did hear
my voice. Sometimes, When l
have thought to myself. Poor Ma
caulay, he will De very sorry some
day to have missed hearing that"
Macaulay sat still only when COM
PEELED by sheer force, and then
only for a few seconds. y pro
tessional talker or a rival he. put
down in an instant, without the
slightest hesitation or compunctlon,
and trampled him into the bargain
if he showed any signs of resistance.
According to Lord Brougham.
who, like Smith, may have felt a
touch of jealousy, Macaulay WAS
absolutely renowned in society as
he greatest bore that had ever yet
ppeared. have seen people come
in from Holland House, .breathless
and knocked up, and able to say
but % dear ~ % mercy
What's the matter being asked.
oh, Macaulayn Then every one
says: That accounts for 1t; You
are lucky to be alive " Charles
Grevil,e thought Macaulay no less
inferior to Brougham as taiker toI
general society than as a debator IN
the House of Commons. He found
the formers conversation too dl-
dactic, all too good, and not Suttl-
GENTLY flexible, plastic and diver
sifed;' for the average auditor. IN
three extracts quoted fromGrevllle's
Journal" by Mr.. Mason, thejudg-
meut is reiterated that NacaulaE
was not agreeable. ''ie has none
of the grace of conversation: uone
of that exquisite tact and refine
mel,t which are the result OF a
felici;ouS intuition. or a long ;c-
with good society. or,
more probably, a mixture OF both.
The mighty. mass Of his knowledge
is not animated by the subtle spirit
of taste and discretion. : He
wants variety, elasticity. graceful
ness his is Il roaring torrent, and
Hot a meandering stream OF talk"
ih;.1..,.o.