Macaulay: The Tragedy of Power

On the 150th anniversary of his death, the great British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) remains an enigmatic character, steeped in contradictions between his actions, his proclamations and his interior life. The latter is not Sullivan’s central concern. Thus, the concealed love Macaulay felt for his two youngest sisters is not far developed here. Sullivan concentrates instead on Macaulay’s uncanny understanding of England’s grand position in the world. The author observes that “long before Henry Kissinger, [Macaulay] understood that 'power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.’ ” What makes him a unusual figure for our time is his classicism—his chief models being Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus—as well as his position as a bestseller with a multivolume history of England. Macaulay’s literary interests included Milton, Dryden, Byron and Bacon, but Machiavelli was the overriding influence, says Sullivan, a historian and associate vice president of Notre Dame. Macaulay detested Dickens for his socialistic smarminess; he anticipated Ivan Pavlov more than Sigmund Freud; and he was an abolitionist who didn’t believe in abolishing slavery. Overall, Macaulay remains a confounding figure, whose personality lies largely unraveled. 18 b&w illus. (Dec.)