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