n. Their crude
but genuine merit suggests a regret that he did not in after days enrich
the Edinburgh Review with a couple of articles on classical subjects,
as a sample of that ripened scholarship which produced the Prophecy of
Capys, and the episode relating to the Phalaris controversy in the Essay
on Sir William Temple.

Rothley Temple: October 7, 1824.

My dear Father,--As to Knight's Magazine, I really do not think that,
considering the circumstances under which it is conducted, it can be
much censured. Every magazine must contain a certain quantity of mere
ballast, of no value but as it occupies space. The general tone and
spirit of the work will stand a comparison, in a moral point of view,
with any periodical publication not professedly religious. I will
venture to say that nothing has appeared in it, at least since the first
number, from the pen of any of my friends, which can offend the most
fastidious. Knight is absolutely in our hands, and most desirous to
gratify us all, and me in particular. When I see you in London I
will mention to you a piece of secret history which will show you how
important our connection with this work may possibly become.

Yours affectionately

T. B. M.

The "piece of secret history" above referred to was beyond a doubt the
commencement of Macaulay's connection with the Edinburgh Review. That
famous periodical, which for three and twenty years had shared in and
promoted the rising fortunes of the Liberal cause, had now attained its
height--a height unequalled before or since--of political, social, and
literary power. To have the entry of its columns was to command the
most direct channel for the spread of opinions, and the shortest road
to influence and celebrity. But already the anxious eye of the master
seemed to discern symptoms of decline. Jeffrey, in Lord Cockburn's
phrase, was "growing feverish about new writers." In January 1825 he
says in a letter to a friend in London: "Can you not lay your hands on
some clever young man who would write for us? The original supporters
of the work are getting old, and either too busy or too stupid, and here
the young men are mostly Tories." Overtures had already been made to
Macaulay, and that same year his article on Milton appeared in the
August number.

The effect on the author's reputation was instantaneous. Like Lord
Byron, he awoke one morning and found himself famous. The beauties
of the work were such as all men could recogn