brothers-in-law taking place. It need scarcely be told that during his long and severe illness Macaulay bore his sufferings, which were very great, not only with fortitude and resignation, but with feelings, which he constantly expressed, of humble gratitude to his God for the blessings and comforts bestowed upon him. The anxious hopes of the family were now centred upon the desire that his life should be prolonged sufficiently for him to behold once more his eldest son, who, with his sister and her husband, were to have sailed from India early in January. His niece, Miss Babington, writes to a friend :—

May 1, 1838.

I hear that the Lord Hungerford, though a very comfortable, is an unusually slow ship, one of the oldest in the East Indian service, and built before many plans which would conduce to swift sailing were understood. Since that I have had a letter from Hannah herself, concluded Jan. 5th, saying that the captain hoped to reach Portsmouth by May 5th. We may hear of them any day, and you will know what we have felt when I tell you that for the last two or three days my uncle has been so very unwell that we have dreaded lest, after all, the much-desired meeting between him and his children would never take place. To-day's report is just come in, much the same, another bad night. Oh, may God avert what I dread, and not prepare them this blow just as they are, as it were, within sight of land!

Some occasional gleams of returning strength flattered their hopes. Sir George Stephen, whose superabundant energy had developed and carried on the Agency Committee, the tactics of which Macaulay had regarded with suspicion and disapproval, paid him a visit not long before his death, and writes that to him 'Anti-slavery labour was an actual restorative under pain. Though suffering greatly on the bed which he never again quitted, he immediately opened on colonial topics with a life and spirit that showed the power of the stimulus.' One day early in May Sir Fowell Buxton was admitted to see him, and felt that it was a visit of farewell. 'God bless you and yours,' said Macaulay, upon taking leave of his kind friend. 'I sympathise in all your trials, I concur in all your opinions, and your visits to me are as water to the thirsty soul.' But the meeting between Macaulay and his absent children was not to be, and on May 13, 1838, he died at the age of seventy.

FROM MISS BABINGTON TO MISS CAROLINE PALMER.

May 14, 1838.

I have been very much engrossed lately by the death of my uncle Zachary. It took place yesterday morning early, and now he is reunited to that little band of friends who loved each other so much in this world, and of whom I have no doubt they have renewed their friendship, and are hand in hand before the throne of God. My dear uncle was less tender and winning in manner than Mr. Wilberforce or than my father, but in some points he was second to none, and had a capacity for friendship, and a nobleness and generosity, which I never saw exceeded. Indeed he seemed, in speaking of others, scarcely to be aware that they could be actuated by mean or selfish motives. During the whole of last week he might be said to be dying, and was almost unconscious unless when roused by strong pain, which I grieve to say was often the case. I saw him several times, but he did not notice me. During the last night, however, which was a very suffering one, he certainly knew that his children were round him though unable to speak, and clung for hours to Charles with one arm round his neck, and holding his hand in his. It was the fourth night and day that Charles had never left him.

They have had a fright about the ship in which Tom is coming, but I hope without reason.

The most characteristic portrait that exists of Macaulay is a beautiful and delicate drawing by Slater, which has been engraved for the frontispiece of this volume by the kind permission of Mr. Charles T. Macaulay, who inherited it from his father, Macaulay's youngest child. It was taken in 1831, and reproduces that expression at once so earnest and so monotonous, which has been mentioned by one who knew him well; and a biography of Macaulay can scarcely be considered complete without quoting at least a portion of the masterly description drawn by the same pen.1

'That Zachary Macaulay's understanding was proof against sophistry, and his nerves against fear, were conclusions to which a stranger arrived at the first interview with him. But what might be the charm which excited among his chosen circle a faith approaching to superstition, and a love rising to enthusiasm, towards a man whose demeanour was so inanimate, if not austere? That much was passing within, which

1 Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography.

that ineloquent tongue and those taciturn features could not utter; and that he had won, without knowing how to court, the attachment of all who approached him closely-these were discoveries which the most casual acquaintance might make, but which they whom he honoured with his intimacy, and they alone, could explain.'

At the beginning of June the Lord Hungerford landed its passengers at Dartmouth. T. B. Macaulay went direct to London, where the sad tidings of his father's death were given to him, and where his arrival was eagerly welcomed by his relations. Lady Trevelyan went with her husband to Somersetshire in order to spend a day or two with his mother, from whom he had been absent for twelve years, before joining her own family. She writes to her sisters :

June 6, 1838.

I scarcely know how to express the feelings which rush over me; such a return home after such long expectations. The contrast between Charles's lot and mine strikes me very strongly. Here every one is alive, and is hurrying to meet him. We were received last night by a merry peal of bells rung in honour of his return by the townspeople, and a row of small cannon fired off a salute. I enjoyed the evening, and the delight of his family, and his own happiness; and in the morning I was told that the dear father I did so long to see was taken away just when I was pleasing myself with the thoughts of making known to him my husband and child. For our beloved father himself we can only say, 'Thank God, at last he is at rest; through much tribulation he has entered into the kingdom of heaven. He has known of late years but little earthly happiness, but what does it now all signify except that he may now see the reason of the thorny path he was made to tread?'

A strong desire was felt by Macaulay's friends that there should be some public recognition of his labours, and this feeling found expression finally in the form of a Meeting which was held on the 30th of July, and at which the following Resolutions were adopted :

'That the eminent services rendered by the late Zachary Macaulay, by the long and disinterested zeal with which he devoted his talents, his time, and all the powers of his wellinformed mind, to objects of benevolence and utility, and more especially to the abolition of the Slave Trade, and to the

important cause of Negro Emancipation, demand a public testimony, that may record his worth as a bright example for future generations, and prove the grateful esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries. That with this view a subscription be raised to erect a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey.'

The idea met with a prompt response from a large number of persons, and a marble bust was placed to commemorate him within the hallowed walls of the Abbey where his eldest son was laid twenty-one years later.

This attempt, however humble and imperfect it is felt to be, to give some idea of the life and character of Zachary Macaulay, may fitly conclude with an inscription written by Sir James Stephen for his tablet in Westminster Abbey.

In grateful remembrance
of a Man,

Who, throughout a protracted life,

Devoted all the resources of a comprehensive understanding

and

All the energies of an affectionate Heart,
To the diffusion of Christianity,

and

The relief of human wretchedness:
Who, during forty successive years,
Partaking in the counsels and the labours,
Which, guided by favouring Providence,
Rescued Africa from the woes,

And the British Empire from the guilt,
Of Slavery and the Slave Trade;

Meekly endured the toil, the privation, and the reproach,
Resigning to others the praise and the reward:
This Tablet

Is inscribed with the name

INDEX