fame, and money only because these enabled him to give pleasure and support to the members of his family. He was attached to his family, especially to his sisters, with the tenderest affection. His real nature seems only to have thoroughly shone out when in their society. There he was loving, sportive even to joyous frolicsomeness; a glad schoolboy almost to the very end. He was remarkably generous and charitable even to strangers; his hand was almost always open; but he gave so unostentatiously that it was not until after his death that half his kindly deeds became known. He had a spirit which was absolutely above any of the corrupting temptations of money or rank. He was very poor at one time, but it did not seem to have occurred to him, when he was poor, that money was lacking to the dignity of his intellect and his manhood; or when he was rich that money added to it. He had certain defects of temper and manner rather than of character. He was apt to be overbearing in tone, and to show himself a little too confident of his splendid gifts and acquirements: his marvellous memory, his varied reading, his overwhelming power of argument. He trampled on men's prejudices too heedlessly, was inclined to treat ignorance as if it were a crime, and to make dulness feel that it had cause to be ashamed of itself. These defects only are worth mentioning as they serve to explain some of the misconceptions which were formed of Macaulay by many during his lifetime, and some of the antagonisms which he unconsciously created. Absolutely without literary affectation, undepressed by early poverty, unspoiled by later and almost unequalled success, he was an independent, quiet, self-relying man who, in all his noon of fame, found most happiness in the companionship and the sympathy of those he loved, and who, from first to last, was loved most tenderly by those who knew him best. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in the first week of the new year, and there truly took his place among his peers.

CHAPTER XVII.

LORD PALMERSTON AGAIN.

WHEN Lord Palmerston's Ministry came into power a profound distrust of Louis Napoleon prevailed almost everywhere. The fact that he had been recently our ally did not do much to diminish this distrust. On the contrary, it helped in a

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CH. XVI.

conscientiously accept office under such a leader. He refused the offer decisively, and the chief promoter of the repeal of the corn laws never held any place in an English Administration. Cobden, however, advised his friend, Mr. Milner Gibson, to avail himself of Lord Palmerston's offer, and Mr. Gibson, who had never stood out before the country in so conspicuous a position as an opponent of Lord Palmerston, acted on the advice.

Lord Palmerston had not made any tender of office to Mr. Bright; and he wrote to Mr. Bright frankly explaining his reasons. Mr. Bright had been speaking out too strongly, during his recent reform campaign, to make his presence in the Cabinet acceptable to some of the Whig magnates for whom seats had to be found. It is curious to notice now the conviction, which at that time seemed to be universal, that Mr. Cobden was a much more moderate reformer than Mr. Bright. The impression was altogether wrong. There was, in Mr. Bright's nature, a certain element of Conservatism which showed itself clearly enough the moment the particular reforms which he thought necessary were carried; Mr. Cobden would have gone on advancing in the direction of reform as long as he lived. Not much difference, to be sure, was ever to be noticed between them in public affairs. But where there was any difference, even of speculative opinion, Mr. Cobden went further than Mr. Bright along the path of Radicalism.

The closing days of the year were made memorable by the death of Macaulay. He had been raised to the peerage, and had had some hopes of being able to take occasional part in the stately debates of the House of Lords. But his health almost suddenly broke down, and his voice was never heard in the Upper Chamber. entered on his sixtieth year. Macaulay had had, as he often He died prematurely, having only said himself, a singularly happy life, although it was not without its severe losses and its griefs. His career was one of uninterrupted success. His books brought him fame, influence, social position, and wealth, all at once. failure. The world only applauded one book more than the other, the second speech more than the first. Macaulay the He never made a essayist, Macaulay the historian, Macaulay the ballad-writer, Macaulay the Parliamentary orator, Macaulay the brilliant, inexhaustible talker-he was alike, it might appear, supreme in everything he chose to do or to attempt. Macaulay was undoubtedly a great literary man. He was also a man of singularly noble character. He appears to have enjoyed advancement, success,

fame, and money only because these enabled him to give pleasure of and support to the members of his family. He was attached to his family, especially to his sisters, with the tenderest affection. His real nature seems only to have thoroughly shone out when ho in their society. There he was loving, sportive even to joyous frolicsomeness; a glad schoolboy almost to the very end. He e. was remarkably generous and charitable even to strangers; his hand was almost always open; but he gave so unostentais tiously that it was not until after his death that half his kindly deeds became known. He had a spirit which was absolutely 8 above any of the corrupting temptations of money or rank. 1 He was very poor at one time, but it did not seem to have occurred to him, when he was poor, that money was lacking to the dignity of his intellect and his manhood; or when he was rich that money added to it. He had certain defects of temper and manner rather than of character. He was apt to be overbearing in tone, and to show himself a little too confident of his splendid gifts and acquirements: his marvellous memory, his varied reading, his overwhelming power of argument. He trampled on men's prejudices too heedlessly, was inclined to treat ignorance as if it were a crime, and to make dulness feel that it had cause to be ashamed of itself. These defects only are worth mentioning as they serve to explain some of the misconceptions which were formed of Macaulay by many during his lifetime, and some of the antagonisms which he unconsciously created. Absolutely without literary affectation, undepressed by early poverty, unspoiled by later and almost unequalled success, he was an independent, quiet, self-relying man who, in all his noon of fame, found most happiness in the companionship and the sympathy of those he loved, and who, from first to last, was loved most tenderly by those who knew him best. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in the first week of the new year, and there truly took his place among his peers.

CHAPTER XVII.

LORD PALMERSTON AGAIN.

WHEN Lord Palmerston's Ministry came into power a profound distrust of Louis Napoleon prevailed almost everywhere. The fact that he had been recently our ally did not do much to diminish this distrust. On the contrary, it helped in a Q

certain sense to increase it. It was to have his revenge for Moscow and the Beresina, people said, that he struck at Russia; and he made us his mere tools in the enterprise. Now he turns upon Austria, to make her atone for other wrongs done against the ambition of the Bonapartes; and he has conquered. What next? Prussia perhaps—or England? The invasion panic sprang up again here in a moment. The volunteer forces began to increase in numbers and in ardour. Plans of coast fortification and of national defences generally were thrust upon Parliament from various quarters. A feverish anxiety about the security of the island took possession of many minds that were usually tranquil and shrewd enough. The venerable Lord Lyndhurst devoted himself to the work of inflaming the public spirit of England against Louis Napoleon with a vigour of manner and a literary freshness of style well worthy of his earlier and best years. Up to this time there was no evidence in the public opinion of England of any sympathy with Italian independence such as became the fashion a year later. The King of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel, had visited England not long before, and had been received with public addresses and other such demonstrations of admiration here and there; but he had not succeeded in securing the general sympathy of the English public.

The Ministry attempted great things. They undertook a complete remodelling of the Customs system, a repeal of the paper duties, and a Reform Bill. The news that a commercial treaty with France was in preparation broke on the world somewhat abruptly in the early days of 1860. The arrangement was made in a manner to set old formalism everywhere shaking its solemn head and holding up its alarmed hands. The French treaty was made without any direct assistance from professional diplomacy. It was made indeed in despite of professional diplomacy. It was the result of private conversations and an informal agreement between the Emperor of the French and Mr. Cobden. Although Mr. Cobden had never held official position of any kind in England, the Emperor received him very cordially and entered readily into his ideas on the subject of a treaty between England and France, which should remove many of the prohibitions and restrictions then interfering with a liberal interchange of the productions of the two nations. Napoleon the Third was a free-trader, or something nearly approaching to it. His cousin, Prince Napoleon, was still more advanced and more decided in his views of

political economy. The Emperor was, moreover, a good deal under the influence of the distinguished French economist Michel Chevalier. Mr. Cobden had the assistance of all the influence Mr. Gladstone could bring to bear. It is not likely that Lord Palmerston cared much about the French treaty project, but at least he did not oppose it. There were many difficulties in the way on both sides. The French people and the French manufacturing bodies were for the most part opposed to the principles of free trade. So were some of the most influential politicians of the country. M. Thiers was an almost impassioned Protectionist. The Emperor of the French had to enter into the engagement by virtue of his Imperial will and power, and a strong objection was felt in this country just then to any friendly negotiation or arrangement whatever with Louis Napoleon. As soon as it became known that the treaty was in course of negotiation a storm of indignation broke out in this country. Not only the Conservative party but a large portion of the Liberals condemned and denounced the proposed agreement, but the eloquence of Mr. Gladstone and the strength of the Government prevailed against them all. The effect of the treaty, so far as France was concerned, was an engagement virtually to remove all prohibitory duties on all the staples of British manufacture, and to reduce the duties on English coal and coke, bar and pig iron, tools, machinery, yarns, flax, and hemp. England, for her part, proposed to sweep away all duties on manufactured goods, and to reduce greatly the duties on foreign wines.

Mr. Gladstone not only succeeded in carrying this part of his Budget, but he carried, too, as far as the House of Commons was concerned, his important measure for the abolition of the duty on paper. The stamp duty was originally imposed with the object of checking the growth of seditious newspapers. It was reduced, increased, reduced again, and increased again, until in the early part of the century it stood at fourpence on each copy of a newspaper issued. In 1836 it was brought down to the penny, represented by a red stamp on every paper. There was besides this a considerable duty -sixpence, or some such sum-on every advertisement in a newspaper. Finally, there was the heavy duty on the paper material itself. The consequence was that a newspaper was a costly thing. Its possession was the luxury of the rich; those who could afford less had to be content with an occasional read