At length on the 25th of November, 1855, Macaulay sent to the printer the last twenty pages of his History, and an edition of twenty-five thousand was ordered.  Within a generation one hundred and forty thousand copies of the work were sold in the United Kingdom alone.  Six rival translators were engaged in turning it into German; and it was published in the Polish, the Danish, the Swedish, the Italian, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Hungarian, the Russian, and the Bohemian languages, to say nothing of its immense circulation in the United States.  Such extraordinary literary popularity was accompanied by great honors.  In 1857 Macaulay was created a British Peer and elected Lord High Steward of the borough of Cambridge.  The academies of Utrecht, Munich, and Turin elected him to honorary membership.  The King of Prussia made him a member of the Order of Merit.  Oxford conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law, and he was elected president of the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh.  He could have little more in the way of academic and governmental honors.

The failing health of Macaulay now compelled him to resign his seat in the House of Commons.  It was also thought desirable for him to vacate his apartments at The Albany, which he had occupied for fifteen years, that he might be more retired and perhaps more comfortable.  His friends, at the suggestion of Dean Milman, selected a house in Kensington, the rooms of which were small, except the library, which opened upon a beautiful lawn, adorned with flowers and shrubs; it was called Holly Lodge, and was very secluded and attractive.  Here his latter days were spent, in the society of his nieces and a few devoted friends, and in dispensing simple hospitalities.  His favorite form of entertainment was the breakfast, at which his guests would linger till twelve, enchanted by his conversation, for his mind showed no signs of decay.

From this charming retreat Lord Macaulay very seldom appeared in London society.  Years passed without his even accepting invitations.  An occasional night at a friend’s house in the country, one or two nights at Windsor Castle, and one or two visits to Lord Stanhope’s seat in Kent in order to consult his magnificent library, were the only visits which Macaulay made in the course of the year.  He always had a dislike of visiting in private houses, much preferring hotels, where he could be free from conventional life.

Macaulay was always careful in his expenditures, wasting nothing that he might enjoy the pleasure of charity,—­for he gave liberally, especially to needy and unfortunate men of letters.  Once he gave L100 to a total stranger who implored his aid.  In his household he was revered, for he was the kindest and most considerate of masters, while his relatives absolutely worshipped him.  At home he made no claim to the privileges of genius; he had few eccentricities; he never interfered with the pleasures of others; he never obtruded his