Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The History of England From the Accession of James II, Vol. 1
Thomas Babington Macaulay was born at Rothley Temple in Leicestershire on St. Crispin's Day, 25th October 1800. At the age of eighteen he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and was elected a fellow in October 1824. His first article in the Edinburgh Review, on Milton, appeared in August 1825. From that time, and for many years, he was a regular contributor and his writings brought him to the notice of a Tory Lord Chancellor, Lord Lyndhurst, who, in spite of Macaulay's politics, appointed him a Commissioner in Bankruptcy in 1828. The following year Lord Lansdowne offered him a seat in Parliament without asking for any pledges as to voting. Macaulay made his first speech in Parliament on 5th April 1830 and, in 1832, became Secretary to the Board of Control (which looked after the affairs of the East India Company). The following year he, with the chairman of the Board, was responsible for piloting through the House of Commons the bill for renewing the Company's Charter. Soon afterwards he was offered a seat in the Supreme Council of India, as constituted by the new act, at a salary of 10,000 a year. He sailed for India in 1834, securely established at the age of thirty-four alike in fame and fortune.
Having served for four years in this office he returned to England in 1838, and in March 1839 began his History of England, on which his fame largely rests, although it is certain that his historic minute, written as a Member of Council in India, which decided that the educational system of India should be devoted to English not to Oriental studies, has had a greater influence on the destinies both of Great Britain and of Asia, than any views propounded by the History.
In September 1839 Macaulay, who had re-entered Parliament as a supporter of Lord Melbourne's Government, entered the Cabinet as Secretary at War. When the Government fell in 1841, he was active in opposition but was able to resume work on the History. He returned to public office under Lord John Russell in 1846 but was defeated at Edinburgh at the general election of 1847 He re-entered Parliament in 1852 but declined the offer of a Cabinet post and made his last speech in the House of Commons in July 1853. He was from 1847 on, until his death in 1859, mainly occupied with the History, the first and second volumes of which were published in 1848 and the third and fourth in 1855. The fifth volume was published in 1861, after his death, being prepared for the press by Lady Trevelyan.
These biographical details are very relevant to an understanding of Macaulay's approach to the writing of his History.
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