English Literature
answer to all its questions. Problems differ, but youth is ever the same,
and therefore Stevenson will probably be regarded by future generations as
one of our most enduring writers. To his life, with its "heroically happy"
struggle, first against poverty, then against physical illness, it is
impossible to do justice in a short article. Even a longer biography is
inadequate, for Stevenson's spirit, not the incidents of his life, is the
important thing; and the spirit has no biographer. Though he had written
much better work earlier, he first gained fame by his _Treasure Island_
(1883), an absorbing story of pirates and of a hunt for buried gold. _Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ (1886) is a profound ethical parable, in which,
however, Stevenson leaves the psychology and the minute analysis of
character to his readers, and makes the story the chief thing in his novel.
_Kidnapped_ (1886), _The Master of Ballantrae_ (1889), and _David Balfour_
(1893) are novels of adventure, giving us vivid pictures of Scotch life.
Two romances left unfinished by his early death in Samoa are _The Weir of
Hermiston_ and _St. Ives_. The latter was finished by Quiller-Couch in
1897; the former is happily just as Stevenson left it, and though
unfinished is generally regarded as his masterpiece. In addition to these
novels, Stevenson wrote a large number of essays, the best of which are
collected in _Virginibus Puerisque, Familiar Studies of Men and Books_, and
_Memories and Portraits_. Delightful sketches of his travels are found in
_An Inland Voyage_ (1878), _Travels with a Donkey_ (1879), _Across the
Plains_ (1892), and _The Amateur Emigrant_ (1894). _Underwoods_ (1887) is
an exquisite little volume of poetry, and _A Child's Garden of Verses_ is
one of the books that mothers will always keep to read to their children.
In all his books Stevenson gives the impression of a man at play rather
than at work, and the reader soon shares in the happy spirit of the author.
Because of his beautiful personality, and because of the love and
admiration he awakened for himself in multitudes of readers, we are
naturally inclined to exaggerate his importance as a writer. However that
may be, a study of his works shows him to be a consummate literary artist.
His style is always simple, often perfect, and both in his manner and in
his matter he exercises a profound influence, on the writers of the present
generation.
III. ESSAYISTS OF THE VICTORIAN AGE
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY (1800-1859)
Macaulay is one of the most typical figures of the nineteenth century.
Though not a great writer, if we compare him with Browning or Thackeray, he
was more closely associated than any of his literary contemporaries with
the social and political struggles of the age. While Carlyle was
proclaiming the gospel of labor, and Dickens writing novels to better the
condition of the poor, Macaulay went vigorously to work on what he thought
to be the most important task of the hour, and by his brilliant speeches
did perhaps more than any other single man to force the passage of the
famous Reform Bill. Like many of the Elizabethans, he was a practical man
of affairs rather than a literary man, and though we miss in his writings
the imagination and the spiritual insight which stamp the literary genius,
we have the impression always of a keen, practical, honest mind, which
looks at present problems in the light of past experience. Moreover, the
man himself, with his marvelous mind, his happy spirit, and his absolute
integrity of character, is an inspiration to better living.
LIFE. Macaulay was born at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, in 1800. His
father, of Scotch descent, was at one time governor of the Sierra Leone
colony for liberated negroes, and devoted a large part of his life to the
abolition of the slave trade. His mother, of Quaker parentage, was a
brilliant, sensitive woman, whose character is reflected in that of her
son. The influence of these two, and the son's loyal devotion to his
family, can best be read in Trevelyan's interesting biography.
As a child, Macaulay is strongly suggestive of Coleridge. At three years of
age he began to read eagerly; at five he "talked like a book"; at ten he
had written a compendium of universal history, besides various hymns, verse
romances, arguments for Christianity, and one ambitious epic poem. The
habit of rapid reading, begun in childhood, continued throughout his life,
and the number and vari ety of books which he read is almost incredible.
His memory was phenomenal. He could repeat long poems and essays after a
single reading; he could quote not only passages but the greater part of
many books, including _Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost_, and various
novels like _Clarissa_. Once, to test his memory, he recited two newspaper
poems which he had read in a coffeehouse forty years before, and which he
had never thought of in the interval.
At twelve years of age this remarkable boy was sent to a private school at
Little Shelford, and at eighteen he eqgered Trinity College, Cambridge.
Here he made a reputation as a classical scholar and a brilliant talker,
but made a failure of his mathematics. In a letter to his mother he wrote:
"Oh for words to express my abomination of that science.... Discipline of
the mind! Say rather starvation, confinement, torture, annihilation!" We
quote this as a commentary on Macaulay's later writings, which are
frequently lacking in the exactness and the logical sequence of the science
which he detested.
After his college course Macaulay studied law, was admitted to the bar,
devoted himself largely to politics, entered Parliament in 1830, and almost
immediately won a reputation as the best debater and the most eloquent
speaker, of the Liberal or Whig party. Gladstone says of him: "Whenever he
arose to speak it was a summons like a trumpet call to fill the benches."
At the time of his election he was poor, and the loss of his father's
property threw upon him the support of his brothers and sisters; but he
took up the burden with cheerful courage, and by his own efforts soon
placed himself and his family in comfort. His political progress was rapid,
and was due not to favoritism or intrigue, but to his ability, his hard
work, and his sterling character. He was several times elected to
Parliament, was legal adviser to the Supreme Council of India, was a member
of the cabinet, and declined many offices for which other men labor a
lifetime. In 1857 his great ability and services to his country were
recognized by his being raised to the peerage with the title of Baron
Macaulay of Rothley.
Macaulay's literary work began in college with the contribution of various
ballads and essays to the magazines. In his later life practical affairs
claimed the greater part of his time, and his brilliant essays were written
in the early morning or late at night. His famous _Essay on Milton_
appeared in the _Edinburgh Review_ in 1825. It created a sensation, and
Macaulay, having gained the ear of the public, never once lost it during
the twenty years in which he was a contributor to the magazines. His _Lays
of Ancient Rome_ appeared in 1842, and in the following year three volumes
of his collected _Essays_. In 1847 he lost his seat in Parliament,
temporarily, through his zealous efforts in behalf of religious toleration;
and the loss was most fortunate, since it gave him opportunity to begin his
_History of England_,--a monumental work which he had been planning for
many years. The first two volumes appeared in 1848, and their success can
be compared only to that of the most popular novels. The third and fourth
volumes of the _History_ (1855) were even more successful, and Macaulay was
hard at work on the remaining volumes when he died, quite suddenly, in
1859. He was buried, near Addison, in the Poets' Corner of Westminster
Abbey. A paragraph from one of his letters, written at the height of his
fame and influence, may give us an insight into his life and work:
I can truly say that I have not, for many years, been so happy as I am at
present.... I am free. I am independent. I am in Parliament, as honorably
seated as man can be. My family is comfortably off. I have leisure for
literature, yet I am not reduced to the necessity of writing for money. If
I had to choose a lot from all that there are in human life, I am not sure
that I should prefer any to that which has fallen to me. I am sincerely and
thoroughly contented.
WORKS OF MACAULAY. Macaulay is famous in literature for his essays, for his
martial ballads, and for his _History of England_. His first important
work, the _Essay on Milton_ (1825), is worthy of study not only for itself,
as a critical estimate of the Puritan poet, but as a key to all Macaulay's
writings. Here, first of all, is an interesting work, which, however much
we differ from the author's opinion, holds our attention and generally
makes us regret that the end comes so soon. The second thing to note is the
historical flavor of the essay. We study not only Milton, but also the
times in which he lived, and the great movements of which he was a part.
History and literature properly belong together, and Macaulay was one of
the first writers to explain the historical conditions which partly account
for a writer's work and influence. The third thing to note is Macaulay's
enthusiasm for his subject,--an enthusiasm which is often partisan, but
which we gladly share for the moment as we follow the breathless narrative.
Macaulay generally makes a hero of his man, shows him battling against
odds, and the heroic side of our own nature awakens and responds to the
author's plea. The fourth, and perhaps most characteristic thing in the
essay is the style, which is remarkably clear, forceful, and convincing.
Jeffrey, the editor of the _Edinburgh Review_, wrote enthusiastically when
he received the manuscript, "The more I think, the less I can conceive
where you picked up that style." We still share in the editor's wonder; but
the more we think, the less we conceive that such a style could be picked
up. It was partly the result of a well-stored mind, partly of unconscious
imitation of other writers, and partly of that natural talent for clear
speaking and writing which is manifest in all Macaulay's work.
In the remaining essays we find the same general qualities which
characterize Macaulay's first attempt. They cover a wide range of subjects,
but they may be divided into two general classes, the literary or critical,
and the historical. Of the literary essays the best are those on Milton,
Addison, Goldsmith, Byron, Dryden, Leigh Hunt, Bunyan, Bacon, and Johnson.
Among the best known of the historical essays are those on Lord Clive,
Chatham, Warren Hastings, Hallam's Constitutional History, Von Ranke's
History of the Papacy, Frederick the Great, Horace Walpole, William Pitt,
Sir William Temple, Machiavelli, and Mirabeau. Most of these were produced
in the vigor of young manhood, between 1825 and 1845, while the writer was
busy with practical affairs of state. They are often one-sided and
inaccurate, but always interesting, and from them a large number of busy
people have derived their first knowledge of history and literature.
The best of Macaulay's poetical work is found in the _Lays of Ancient Rome_
(1842), a collection of ballads in the style of Scott, which sing of the
old heroic days of the Rome Roman republic. The ballad does not require
much thought or emotion. It demands clearness, vigor, enthusiasm, action;
and it suited Macaulay's genius perfectly. He was, however, much more
careful than other ballad writers in making his narrative true to
tradition. The stirring martial spirit of these ballads, their fine
workmanship, and their appeal to courage and patriotism made them instantly