ABSTRACT
Macaulay, of course, is best known for his work as a historian, but he also had, for most of his life, an active political career. Between 1839 and 1841 he served in Palmerston’s old office of Secretary at War and, when Russell did eventually manage to form a government in the summer of 1846, he was briefly Paymaster-General. He was closely involved in Russell’s earlier attempt to form a government, and largely blamed Grey for his failure. Lord Grey’s own scattered facts, and half-formed conclusions may, may must, have caught a power, as motives , beyond the force strictly appertaining to them, from his knowledge that some there are who profess, from other than party points of view, to have studied Lord Palmerston. This set of men are said to have laboured, and sacrificed considerably in the proclamation of their singular and painful convictions; and the advertisements of their works convey some proof of it.
