North "), in a very flattering review of the Lays of Ancient Rome, finds but one passage in which there is any attempt at "pathetic emotion," that describing the death of Virginia. Macaulay was not unduly proud of his essays and poems. He speaks very modestly especially of the former: ". . . I am not successful in analyzing the effect of works of genius. I have written several things on historical, political, and moral questions, of which, on the fullest consideration, I am not ashamed, and by which I should be willing to be estimated; but I have never written a page of criticism on poetry, or the fine arts, which I would not burn if I had the power." He estimated his essays so lightly, indeed, that he was at first very unwilling to republish them in more permanent form, and finally consented to their republication only after repeated solicitation, coupled with the fact that the English market was flooded with edition after edition by an enterprising American publishing house.

The work, however, upon which he labored with. most diligence, and upon which he prided himself most, was his History of England. He began work upon this late in 1841, and was still engaged upon it when he died. It was to cover the period, in his own words, 66 from the Revolution to the Accession of the House of Hanover," but the death of William III (March 8, 1702) is the last event it records. The first

and second volumes were published in 1848, and were greeted with "an ebullition of national pride and satisfaction." The third and fourth volumes appeared late in 1855, and the edition of twenty-five thousand copies was sold by advance orders before publication. Few works were ever more popular. The fifth and last volume was published after his death. The History has been translated into almost every language that learned men read.

Public Life. Macaulay's articles in the Edinburgh Review, of course, brought him clearly into public notice; and, in January, 1828, Lord Lyndhurst offered him a position as Commissioner of Bankruptcy. This position paid about four hundred pounds per annum; besides which he already had his fellowship at Trinity College, paying about three hundred pounds; and his writings in the Edinburgh Review brought him about three hundred more: so that his income at this time must have approached very close to one thousand pounds per annum.

He now began to think seriously of politics, to which he had a decided tendency; and, in 1830, through the influence of Lord Lansdowne, who had been attracted to him because of his paper on Mill, he entered Parliament to represent the borough of Calne. He made but two speeches during the session of 1830, but the independence of thought and the fearlessness

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of statement used in these made a strong impression upon the House, and his rank was thenceforward assured. When Lord John Russell's bill for Parliamentary Reform was before the House, in 1831, Macaulay supported it in a speech into which he put all his powers. At the conclusion of the address, the Speaker called Macaulay to his desk and told him that he had never known a speech to excite the House to an equal degree; and Sir Robert Peel said that parts of this speech were as beautiful as anything I ever heard or read. It reminded me of the old times." The reputation thus established Macaulay upheld throughout his long parliamentary career. Yet he was not an orator in the popular sense of the word, for he used few gestures, and spoke with little attempt at forensic effect. The matter, however, of what he had to say, and his peculiar power of expressing his ideas with clearness, distinctness, and force, seemed to be wonderfully effective. The Reform Bill, however, did not become a law until the following year. From the very first, Macaulay had been one of its chief supporters, and to his eloquence may the passage of the bill, in large part, be attributed. His services received governmental recognition a few months afterward by an appointment as a Commissioner of the Board of Control, whose duty it was to look after the interests of the government in its relations with the East India Company.

In December, 1832, he was elected to Parliament from Leeds. Later he became Secretary of the Board of Control; and, on December 4, 1833, by a vote of nineteen directors to three, he was elected to membership on the Supreme Council for India. This position paid a salary of ten thousand pounds a year, which seemed to him an immense sum. He believed that he could live in splendor in India upon half of it, and save the other half for future use; but, on his arrival in India, and estimating expenses anew, he thought that he could save at least seven thousand pounds a year. While in the East, Macaulay devoted himself energetically to the betterment of the conditions of life there. He found that the English settlers claimed the right of having civil cases decided by the Supreme Court (a government body) at Calcutta, while the court of final resort for the native was the Sudder Court, under the control of the East India Company. This was productive of irregularities in the administration of justice between native and settler, and, though virulently opposed by colonist and colonial journal, he succeeded in obtaining legislation by which native and colonist were placed on an equal footing. He gave attention, too, to the matter of education among the natives. Some time before his arrival, all educational activity had ceased, because of disagreements in the committee to whom public instruction had been confided.

Five of this body were in favor of developing a system along oriental lines, and by oriental methods; while the other five were in favor of a system like that of England; and neither side would yield. Shortly after reaching India, Macaulay was made President of this Committee of Public Instruction, and he threw all the weight of his influence in favor of the English plan; so that whatever is modern and progressive in Indian education owes its origin to his efforts. He was also President of a Law Commission, which prepared a uniform and modern code of criminal law for the country. Though this great work was ostensibly the result of the labors of the commission, it was in reality almost entirely Macaulay's own production; for the illness of two of his colleagues made it impossible for them to render much assistance. It may be added that his services as President of the Committee of Public Instruction and of the Law Commission were voluntary and without compensation.

He returned to England early in 1838, and was the same year elected to Parliament from Edinburgh. He was reëlected in 1841 and 1846, but was defeated the following year. He was, however, elected from the same constituency again in 1852. He resigned in 1856, thus closing his parliamentary career, for he took no prominent part in the House of Lords. As a member of Parliament, he acted, spoke, and voted with intelligence