Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, vol 1 | Page 5

of the finest
lines that ever were written in a manner worthy of his subject.
There is a tradition that, in his younger days, the minister of Inverary
proved his Whiggism by giving information to the authorities which
almost led to the capture of the young Pretender. It is perhaps a matter
of congratulation that this item was not added to the heavy account that
the Stuarts have against the Macaulay family. John Macaulay enjoyed a
high reputation as a preacher, and was especially renowned for his
fluency. In 1774 he removed to Cardross in Dumbartonshire, where, on
the bank of the noble estuary of the Clyde, he spent the last fifteen
years of a useful and honoured life. He was twice married. His first
wife died at the birth of his first child. Eight years afterwards, in 1757,
he espoused Margaret, daughter of Colin Campbell of Inveresragan,
who survived him by a single year. By her he had the patriarchal
number of twelve children, whom he brought up on the old Scotch
system,--common to the households of minister, man of business,
farmer, and peasant alike,--on fine air, simple diet, and a solid training
in knowledge human and divine. Two generations after, Mr. Carlyle,
during a visit to the late Lord Ashburton at the Grange, caught sight of
Macaulay's face in unwonted repose, as he was turning over the pages
of a book. "I noticed," said he, "the homely Norse features that you find
everywhere in the Western Isles, and I thought to myself 'Well! Anyone
can see that you are an honest good sort of fellow, made out of
oatmeal.'"
Several of John Macaulay's children obtained position in the world.
Aulay, the eldest by his second wife, became a clergyman of the
Church of England. His reputation as a scholar and antiquary stood
high, and in the capacity of a private tutor he became known even in
royal circles. He published pamphlets and treatises, the list of which it
is not worth while to record, and meditated several large works that
perhaps never got much beyond a title. Of all his undertakings the one

best deserving commemoration in these pages was a tour that he made
into Scotland in company with Mr. Thomas Babington, the owner of
Rothley Temple in Leicestershire, in the course of which the travellers
paid a visit to the manse at Cardross. Mr. Babington fell in love with
one of the daughters of the house, Miss Jean Macaulay, and married her
in 1787. Nine years afterwards he had an opportunity of presenting his
brother-in-law Aulay Macaulay with the very pleasant living of
Rothley.
Alexander, another son of John Macaulay, succeeded his father as
minister of Cardross. Colin went into the Indian army, and died a
general. He followed the example of the more ambitious among his
brother officers, and exchanged military for civil duties. In 1799 he
acted as secretary to a political and diplomatic Commission which
accompanied the force that marched under General Harris against
Seringapatam. The leading Commissioner was Colonel Wellesley, and
to the end of General Macaulay's life the great Duke corresponded with
him on terms of intimacy, and (so the family flattered themselves) even
of friendship. Soon after the commencement of the century Colin
Macaulay was appointed Resident at the important native state of
Travancore. While on this employment he happened to light upon a
valuable collection of books, and rapidly made himself master of the
principal European languages, which he spoke and wrote with a facility
surprising in one who had acquired them within a few leagues of Cape
Comorin.
There was another son of John Macaulay, who in force and elevation of
character stood out among his brothers, and who was destined to make
for himself no ordinary career. The path which Zachary Macaulay
chose to tread did not lead to wealth, or worldly success, or indeed to
much worldly happiness. Born in 1768, he was sent out at the age of
sixteen by a Scotch house of business as bookkeeper to an estate in
Jamaica, of which he soon rose to be sole manager. His position
brought him into the closest possible contact with negro slavery. His
mind was not prepossessed against the system of society which he
found in the West Indies. His personal interests spoke strongly in its
favour, while his father, whom he justly respected, could see nothing to

condemn in an institution recognised by Scripture. Indeed, the religious
world still allowed the maintenance of slavery to continue an open
question. John Newton, the real founder of that school in the Church of
England of which in after years Zachary Macaulay was a devoted
member, contrived to reconcile the business of a slave trader with the
duties of a Christian, and to the end of his days