102-628: Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay , PC , FRS , FRSE ( / ˈ b æ b ɪ ŋ t ən m ə ˈ k ɔː l i / ; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian, poet, and Whig politician , who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 1846 and 1848. He also played a substantial role in determining India's education policy . Macaulay's The History of England , which expressed his contention of
204-466: A four-volume biography of the Duke of Marlborough to rebutting Macaulay's slights on his ancestor, expressing hope "to fasten the label 'Liar' to his genteel coat-tails". The Liberal historian Lord Acton read Macaulay's History of England four times and later described himself as "a raw English schoolboy, primed to the brim with Whig politics" but "not Whiggism only, but Macaulay in particular that I
306-413: A 'sovereign caste', wielding absolute power over its 'serfs'." Losurdo noted that this did not prompt any doubts from Macaulay over the right of Britain to administer its colonies in an autocratic fashion; for example, while Macaulay described the administration of governor-general of India Warren Hastings as being so despotic that "all the injustice of former oppressors, Asiatic and European, appeared as
408-599: A balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with freedom of belief and expression. This model of human progress has been called the Whig interpretation of history . This philosophy appears most clearly in the essays Macaulay wrote for the Edinburgh Review and other publications, which were collected in book form and a steady best-seller throughout the 19th century. But it is also reflected in History ;
510-578: A blessing", he (Hastings) deserved "high admiration" and a rank among "the most remarkable men in our history" for "having saved England and civilisation". Returning to Britain in 1838, he became MP again in Edinburgh in the following year. He was made Secretary at War in 1839 by Lord Melbourne and was sworn of the Privy Council the same year. In 1841 Macaulay addressed the issue of copyright law. Macaulay's position, slightly modified, became
612-479: A class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to
714-433: A clear yearly value of £10. The land must be within the electoral limits of the borough; and in order to qualify, the occupier must have been rated in respect of such premises, to all rates for the relief of the poor; and he must have paid at the time of registration all rates and taxes due from him the preceding April. This occupation franchise was the characteristic of the borough franchise after 1832. As ownership furnished
816-469: A decade earlier. However, Russell now had a House of Commons more favourable to his point of view. A uniform borough franchise was introduced, on top of the various ancient right franchises found in the old Parliamentary boroughs: (see the Unreformed House of Commons for a list of the different franchises in each borough). The new boroughs, like Leeds, had no ancient right borough voters so only
918-598: A division took place. The numbers were, for the amendment 66, against it 126, leaving a majority of 60 in favour of the measure peoposed by Lord John Russell. The Bill, as introduced this session, so far deviated from that of the previous year as to confer the Elective franchise upon the Mayor and Corporation of Leeds, and all Householders within the Borough, assessed at not less than Ten Pounds instead of Five Pounds per annum to
1020-827: A few institutions in the United Kingdom . The Judicial Committee also hears very occasional appeals from a number of ancient and ecclesiastical courts. These include the Church Commissioners , the Arches Court of Canterbury , the Chancery Court of York , prize courts, the High Court of Chivalry , and the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports . This committee usually consists of members of
1122-409: A former pupil of Hannah More . They named their first child after his uncle Thomas Babington , a Leicestershire landowner and politician, who had married Zachary's sister Jean. The young Macaulay was noted as a child prodigy; as a toddler, gazing out of the window from his cot at the chimneys of a local factory, he is reputed to have asked his father whether the smoke came from the fires of hell. He
SECTION 10
#17327875149591224-476: A good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia'. His tendency to see history as a drama led him to treat figures whose views he opposed as if they were villains, while characters he approved of were presented as heroes. Macaulay goes to considerable length, for example, to absolve his main hero William III of any responsibility for the Glencoe massacre . Winston Churchill devoted
1326-451: A key to half the prejudices of our age. It is the History (with one or two speeches) that is wonderful. He knew nothing respectably before the seventeenth century, he knew nothing of foreign history, of religion, philosophy, science, or art. His account of debates has been thrown into the shade by Ranke, his account of diplomatic affairs, by Klopp . He is, I am persuaded, grossly, basely unfair. Read him therefore to find out how it comes that
1428-868: A prelude to his own age. This is especially noticeable in the third chapter of his History of England , when again and again he contrasts the backwardness of 1685 with the advances achieved by 1848. Not only does this misuse the past, it also leads him to exaggerate the differences. Privy Council (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The Privy Council (formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council )
1530-739: A secretary of state. The Committee, which last met in 1988, is concerned with the design and usage of wafer seals . The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the executive committee of the Privy Council and the senior decision-making body of British Government . The Judicial Committee serves as the final court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies , the British Overseas Territories , some Commonwealth countries, military sovereign base areas and
1632-625: A smaller working committee which evolved into the modern Cabinet . By the end of the English Civil War , the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber , the House of Commons , instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons;
1734-446: Is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom . Its members, known as privy counsellors , are mainly senior politicians who are current or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords . The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the royal prerogative . The King-in-Council issues executive instruments known as Orders in Council . The Privy Council also holds
1836-400: Is a superb, living picture of Great Britain in the latter half of the seventeenth century ... No description of the relief of Londonderry in a major history of England existed before 1850; after his visit there and the narrative written round it no other account has been needed ... Scotland came fully into its own and from then until now it has been a commonplace that English history
1938-425: Is incomprehensible without Scotland. Potter noted that Macaulay has had many critics, some of whom put forward some salient points about the deficiency of Macaulay's History but added: "The severity and the minuteness of the criticism to which the History of England has been subjected is a measure of its permanent value. It is worth every ounce of powder and shot that is fired against it." Potter concluded that "in
2040-518: Is poetry. And I certainly never met with any orientalist who ventured to maintain that the Arabic and Sanskrit poetry could be compared to that of the great European nations. But when we pass from works of imagination to works in which facts are recorded and general principles investigated, the superiority of the Europeans becomes absolutely immeasurable. It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all
2142-466: Is writing a life of the late Lord Derby for Longman 's, brought to luncheon a young man of that name. His talk interested the P.M. ... Macaulay, Longman went on, was not read now; there was no demand for his books. The P.M. grunted that he was very sorry to hear this. Macaulay had been a great influence in his young days. George Richard Potter , Professor and Head of the Department of History at
SECTION 20
#17327875149592244-624: The Aeneid whilst he was in Malvern in 1851, and says he was moved to tears by Virgil 's poetry. He taught himself German, Dutch and Spanish, and was fluent in French. He studied law and in 1826 he was called to the bar , before he took more interest in a political career. Macaulay in the Edinburgh Review in 1827, and in a series of anonymous letters to The Morning Chronicle , censured
2346-567: The 1885 United Kingdom general election . Macaulay resigned after being appointed as a member of the Council of India, causing a by-election. Baines was appointed president of the Poor Law Board , requiring a by-election. Baines was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , requiring a by-election. Hall's death caused a by-election. Seat increased to three members Lees retired before polling day. Carter resigned, causing
2448-591: The Cabinet . With the creation of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, a single Privy Council was created for Great Britain and Ireland, although the Privy Council of Ireland continued to exist until 1922, when it was abolished upon the creation of the Irish Free State as an independent Dominion outside the United Kingdom, but within the British Empire . The Privy Council of Northern Ireland
2550-521: The History encompasses only as far as the death of William III in 1702, who was succeeded by Anne.) Herbert Butterfield 's The Whig Interpretation of History (1931) attacked Whig history. The Dutch historian Pieter Geyl , writing in 1955, considered Macaulay's Essays as "exclusively and intolerantly English". On 7 February 1954, Lord Moran , doctor to the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill , recorded in his diary: Randolph , who
2652-474: The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 ). The Crown-in-Council was formerly the supreme appellate court for the entire British Empire , but a number of Commonwealth countries have now abolished the right to such appeals. The Judicial Committee continues to hear appeals from several Commonwealth countries, from British Overseas Territories , Sovereign Base Areas and Crown Dependencies . The Judicial Committee had direct jurisdiction in cases relating to
2754-592: The Scotland Act 1998 , the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 , but this was transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009. The Scottish Universities Committee considers proposed amendments to the statutes of Scotland's four ancient universities . Leeds (UK Parliament constituency) Leeds was a parliamentary borough covering
2856-960: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges of the Commonwealth of Nations who are Privy Counsellors. Within the United Kingdom, the Judicial Committee hears appeals from ecclesiastical courts , the Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports, Prize Courts and the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons , appeals against schemes of the Church Commissioners and appeals under certain Acts of Parliament (e.g.,
2958-527: The University of Sheffield from 1931 to 1965, stated "In an age of long letters ... Macaulay's hold their own with the best". However Potter also stated: For all his linguistic abilities he seems never to have tried to enter into sympathetic mental contact with the classical world or with the Europe of his day. It was an insularity that was impregnable ... If his outlook was insular, however, it
3060-566: The civil disabilities of the Jews in the UK . He extensively wrote that Islam and Hinduism had little to offer to the world, and that Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit literature had little contribution to humanity. Macaulay's subsequent speeches in favour of parliamentary reform were commended. He became MP for Leeds subsequent to the 1833 enactment of the Reform Act 1832 , by which Calne's representation
3162-653: The civilising mission has been used by Dalitists, in particular by neo-liberalist Chandra Bhan Prasad , as a "creative appropriation for self-empowerment", based on the view that the Dalit community was empowered by Macaulay's deprecation of Hindu culture and support for Western-style education in India. Domenico Losurdo states that "Macaulay acknowledged that the English colonists in India behaved like Spartans confronting helots : we are dealing with 'a race of sovereign' or
Thomas Babington Macaulay - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-420: The final court of appeal for the entire British Empire (other than for the United Kingdom itself). It continues to hear judicial appeals from some other independent Commonwealth countries , as well as Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories . The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, created on 1 January 1801, was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland , the Privy Council of England , and
3366-438: The freedom of the city . In 1852, the voters of Edinburgh offered to re-elect him to Parliament. He accepted on the express condition that he need not campaign and would not pledge himself to a position on any political issue. Remarkably, he was elected on those terms. He seldom attended the House due to ill health. His weakness after suffering a heart attack caused him to postpone for several months making his speech of thanks to
3468-566: The Accession of James the Second , publishing the first two volumes in 1848. At first, he had planned to bring his history down to the reign of George III . After publication of his first two volumes, his hope was to complete his work with the death of Queen Anne in 1714. The third and fourth volumes, bringing the history to the Peace of Ryswick , were published in 1855. At his death in 1859 he
3570-575: The Accession of James the Second incomplete. On 9 January 1860 he was buried in Westminster Abbey , in Poets' Corner , near a statue of Addison . As he had no children, his peerage became extinct on his death. Macaulay's nephew, Sir George Trevelyan, Bt , wrote the "Life and Letters" of his uncle. His great-nephew was the Cambridge historian G. M. Trevelyan . As a young man he composed
3672-454: The Bill passed the House of Commons. The House of Lords amended the bill, as Mr Wynn had originally proposed, so Leeds had to wait until 1832 for enfranchisement. Yorkshire was the largest of the historic counties of England . Between 1826 and 1832 the undivided county returned four Members of Parliament to the House of Commons , instead of the traditional two knights of the shire which
3774-547: The Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1997, permitted the Prime Minister to grant up to three political advisers management authority over some Civil Servants. In the 1960s, the Privy Council made an order to evict an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 inhabitants of the 55-island Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for the establishment of a joint United States–United Kingdom military base on
3876-478: The Council — which later became the Court of the Star Chamber — was during the 15th century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by normal court procedure . During Henry VIII 's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death. By 1540
3978-821: The Court of Appeal were persuaded by this argument, but in 2007 the Law Lords of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords found the original decision to be flawed and overturned the ruling by a 3–2 decision, thereby upholding the terms of the Order in Council. As of 2023, negotiations between the Mauritian and UK governments that included the sovereignty of the Chagossians were still ongoing. The Privy Council has committees: The Baronetage Committee
4080-583: The Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the Oriental learning at the valuation of the Orientalists themselves. I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. He further argued : It will hardly be disputed, I suppose, that the department of literature in which the Eastern writers stand highest
4182-582: The Edinburgh voters. He resigned his seat in January 1856. In 1857 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Macaulay , of Rothley in the County of Leicester , but seldom attended the House of Lords . Macaulay sat on the committee to decide on the historical subjects to be painted in the new Palace of Westminster . The need to collect reliable portraits of notable figures from history for this project led to
Thomas Babington Macaulay - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-413: The English language as the official language of secondary education instruction in all schools where there had been none before, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers. In his minute, he urged Lord William Bentinck , the then- Governor-General to reform secondary education on utilitarian lines to deliver "useful learning", a phrase that to him was synonymous with Western culture. There
4386-459: The Gate: "To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his gods?" His essays, originally published in the Edinburgh Review , were collected as Critical and Historical Essays in 1843. During the 1840s, Macaulay undertook his most famous work, The History of England from
4488-565: The Indian Penal Code, which remains the basis for laws which criminalize homosexuality in several Commonwealth nations . In Indian culture, the term "Macaulay's Children" is sometimes used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt Western culture as a lifestyle, or display attitudes influenced by colonialism (" Macaulayism ") – expressions used disparagingly, and with the implication of disloyalty to one's country and one's heritage. In independent India, Macaulay's idea of
4590-535: The King-in-Council, although in practice its actual work of hearing and deciding upon cases is carried out day-to-day by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . The Judicial Committee consists of senior judges appointed as privy counsellors: predominantly justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges from the Commonwealth . The Privy Council formerly acted as
4692-712: The Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy , the Protector's Council was abolished. King Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. The formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 combined the Privy Councils of England and Scotland,
4794-519: The North and East Ridings combined; and, that instead of giving two representatives to Leeds, they should be granted to either of these divisions - Mr Wynn ... objected ... but was the first to recommend that the two new Members be transferred to the County of York, in addition to the two it already returned. ... The Legislature ... assembled in January 1821 ... Mr Beaumont renewed his objection ... upon which
4896-587: The Parliament elected in 1818 had assembled in 1819, a petition was presented to the House of Commons, complaining in the usual terms, that gross bribery and corruption had been practised in the return of the two Members for the Borough of Grampound , in Cornwall. In the course of the Session the matter was minutely investigated and the alleged guilt incontrovertibly proved. The course of procedure in such cases
4998-571: The Privy Council of Great Britain (1708–1800). Its continued existence has been described as "more or less a constitutional and historical accident". The key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below: In Anglo-Saxon England , the Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England . During the reigns of the Norman monarchs , the English Crown
5100-413: The Tories could hardly complain that the ministers were introducing new principles to favour urban interests ... . Stooks Smith records the number of electors in the Leeds polling district of the West Riding of Yorkshire constituency, at a by-election in 1835, as 2,250 (out of a total electorate of 18,063). Although it is not known if all these Leeds area voters were qualified as non-resident freeholders in
5202-408: The analysis of indentured labour by the British Colonial Office expert Colonel Thomas Moody, Kt. Macaulay's evangelical Whig father Zachary Macaulay , who desired a 'free black peasantry' rather than equality for Africans, also censured, in the Anti-Slavery Reporter , Moody's contentions. Macaulay, who did not marry nor have children, was rumoured to have fallen in love with Maria Kinnaird , who
SECTION 50
#17327875149595304-418: The ballads Ivry and The Armada , which he later included as part of Lays of Ancient Rome , a series of very popular poems about heroic episodes in Roman history which he began composing in India and continued in Rome, finally publishing in 1842. The most famous of them, Horatius , concerns the heroism of Horatius Cocles . It contains the oft-quoted lines: Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of
5406-436: The basis of copyright law in the English-speaking world for many decades. Macaulay argued that copyright is a monopoly and as such has generally negative effects on society. After the fall of Melbourne's government in 1841 Macaulay devoted more time to literary work, and returned to office as Paymaster General in 1846 in Lord John Russell 's administration. In the election of 1847 he lost his seat in Edinburgh. He attributed
5508-448: The body was headed by Oliver Cromwell , de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector , and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The Council became known as the Protector's Privy Council ; its members were appointed by
5610-411: The borough, the numbers given for this and other polling districts named after Parliamentary boroughs suggest that up to two-thirds of the county voters in the West Riding might have qualified on that basis. The remainder of this article deals with the borough representation only, which is its focus. In addition to the county constituency changes, the Representation of the People Act 1832 enfranchised
5712-469: The county had sent before then and all other English counties elected up until 1832. The Reform Act 1832 divided Yorkshire into three county constituencies, which each returned two members. The divisions were based on the three ridings, which were traditional sub-divisions of Yorkshire. Leeds was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and thus fell within that Riding constituency . Charles Seymour, in Electoral Reform in England and Wales , commented about
5814-597: The creation of a Penal Code, as the leading member of the Law Commission. In the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 , Macaulay's criminal law proposal was enacted. The Indian Penal Code in 1860 was followed by the Criminal Procedure Code in 1872 and the Civil Procedure Code in 1908. The Indian Penal Code inspired counterparts in most other British colonies , and to date many of these laws are still in effect in places as far apart as Pakistan , Malaysia , Myanmar , Bangladesh , Sri Lanka , Nigeria and Zimbabwe , as well as in India itself. This includes Section 377 of
5916-606: The dates of bank holidays . The Privy Council formerly had sole power to grant academic degree-awarding powers and the title of university , but following the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 these powers have been transferred to the Office for Students for educational institutions in England. Before the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 the Civil Service was governed by powers of royal prerogative . These powers were usually delegated to ministers by Orders in Council , and were used by Margaret Thatcher to ban GCHQ staff from joining trade unions. Another,
6018-410: The debate in 1832 about the non resident freeholder vote. This was a particularly important issue for the West Riding because the major towns of Bradford , Leeds and Sheffield and the important ones of Halifax , Huddersfield and Wakefield were all to become new Parliamentary boroughs in 1832. Though the general principle of the freeholder franchise was accepted without debate, one aspect of
6120-466: The delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. It advises the sovereign on the issuing of royal charters , which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and city or borough status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers have now been largely replaced by its executive committee, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom . Certain judicial functions are also performed by
6222-401: The foundation of the National Portrait Gallery , which was formally established on 2 December 1856. Macaulay was amongst its founding trustees and is honoured with one of only three busts above the main entrance. During his later years his health made work increasingly difficult for him. He died of a heart attack on 28 December 1859, aged 59, leaving his major work, The History of England from
SECTION 60
#17327875149596324-432: The great mass of the population. Macaulay's largely coincided with Bentinck's views and Bentinck's English Education Act 1835 closely matched Macaulay's recommendations (in 1836, a school named La Martinière , founded by Major General Claude Martin, had one of its houses named after him), but subsequent Governors-General took a more conciliatory approach to existing Indian education. His final years in India were devoted to
6426-435: The historical information which has been collected from all the books written in the Sanskrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England. In every branch of physical or moral philosophy, the relative position of the two nations is nearly the same. Hence, from the sixth year of schooling onwards, instruction should be in European learning, with English as
6528-535: The individual electors could only cast a maximum of two votes. This limited vote provision was designed to promote minority representation in the larger constituencies, which were mostly major cities. These provisions took effect from the 1868 United Kingdom general election . Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 single member constituencies became the norm. Leeds was divided into five such seats: Leeds Central , Leeds East , Leeds North , Leeds South and Leeds West . The new constituencies were first used for
6630-541: The largest island in the archipelago, Diego Garcia . In 2000, the High Court of Justice ruled that the inhabitants had a right to return to the archipelago. In 2004, the Privy Council, under Jack Straw 's tenure, overturned the ruling. In 2006, the High Court of Justice found the Privy Council's decision to be unlawful. Justice Kentridge stated that there was no known precedent "for the lawful use of prerogative powers to remove or exclude an entire population of British subjects from their homes and place of birth", and
6732-405: The latter body coming to an end in 1708. Under King George I , even more power transferred to a small committee of the Council, which began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Council, now known as
6834-494: The literature of the world for the propagation of the Liberal faith, and he was not only the greatest, but the most representative, Englishman then living". W. S. Gilbert described Macaulay's wit, "who wrote of Queen Anne " as part of Colonel Calverley's Act I patter song in the libretto of the 1881 operetta Patience . (This line may well have been a joke about the Colonel's pseudo-intellectual bragging, as most educated Victorians knew that Macaulay did not write of Queen Anne;
6936-401: The long roll of English historical writing from Clarendon to Trevelyan only Gibbon has surpassed him in security of reputation and certainty of immortality". Piers Brendon wrote that Macaulay is "the only British rival to Gibbon." In 1972, J. R. Western wrote that: "Despite its age and blemishes, Macaulay's History of England has still to be superseded by a full-scale modern history of
7038-457: The loss to the anger of religious zealots over his speech in favour of expanding the annual government grant to Maynooth College in Ireland, which trained young men for the Catholic priesthood; some observers also attributed his loss to his neglect of local issues. In 1849 he was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow , a position with no administrative duties, often awarded by the students to men of political or literary fame. He also received
7140-507: The major town of Leeds was represented in Parliament solely as a part of the county constituency of Yorkshire . The only exceptions had been that the town was represented as a single member borough in the First and Second Protectorate Parliaments from 1654 to 1658. Before 1832 no new English Parliamentary borough had been enfranchised since the 1670s, but Leeds came close to being represented from 1826. Stooks Smith, in The Parliaments of England , explained what happened. Immediately after
7242-411: The medium of instruction. This would create a class of anglicised Indians who would serve as cultural intermediaries between the British and the Indians; the creation of such a class was necessary before any reform of vernacular education. He stated : I feel with them that it is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form
7344-441: The most stirring passages in the work are those that describe the " Glorious Revolution " of 1688. Macaulay's approach has been criticised by later historians for its one-sidedness and its complacency. Karl Marx referred to him as a 'systematic falsifier of history'. Later historians have also highlighted his views on non-European cultures and philosophies as explicitly racist, citing, for example, his remark that 'a single shelf of
7446-660: The most unsympathetic of critics can think him very nearly the greatest of English writers… In 1885, Acton asserted that: We must never judge the quality of a teaching by the quality of the Teacher, or allow the spots to shut out the sun. It would be unjust, and it would deprive us of nearly all that is great and good in this world. Let me remind you of Macaulay. He remains to me one of the greatest of all writers and masters, although I think him utterly base, contemptible and odious for certain reasons which you know. In 1888, Acton wrote that Macaulay "had done more than any writer in
7548-417: The new franchise rules applied to them. Seymour explains that:- Only one class of new rights was created by the act of 1832. This was the £10 occupation qualification. According to the act, the franchise was granted to all male persons who for a year before registration had occupied as owner or tenants "any house, warehouse, country house, shop or other building, either separately or jointly with any land" of
7650-428: The nineteen-member council had become a new national institution, most probably the creation of Thomas Cromwell , without there being exact definitions of its powers. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body. In 1553 the Council consisted of forty members÷, whereas Henry VII swore over a hundred servants to his council. Sovereigns relied on
7752-412: The ordinary qualification for franchise in the counties, so in the boroughs, occupation, actual or constructive, was the basis of the suffrage. While however, in the counties no provision was made for ascertaining the true value or bona fide rent which was to qualify for the franchise; in the boroughs, assessment to the taxes was embodied with the condition of value, and actual payment was super-added. There
7854-544: The passing of the Government of India Act 1833 to accept an appointment as first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council . In 1834 Macaulay went to India, where he served on the Supreme Council between 1834 and 1838. His Minute on Indian Education of February 1835 was primarily responsible for the introduction of Western institutional education to India. Macaulay recommended the introduction of
7956-558: The period." In 1974 J. P. Kenyon stated that: "As is often the case, Macaulay had it exactly right." W. A. Speck wrote in 1980, that a reason Macaulay's History of England "still commands respect is that it was based upon a prodigious amount of research". Speck stated: Macaulay's reputation as an historian has never fully recovered from the condemnation it implicitly received in Herbert Butterfield's devastating attack on The Whig Interpretation of History . Though he
8058-479: The poor and parish rates. This provision, it was found on examination, would still have thrown the right of returning members, chiefly into the hands of the inferior classes, and necessarily have fostered those impure and unprincipled practices, notoriously prevalent in places similarly privileged. Mr J.A.S. Wortley to remedy this defect, moved ... that the qualification should be limited to Householders rated at not less than Twenty Pounds per annum ... in its amended form
8160-445: The power to grant royal assent to legislation, are a form of primary legislation, while orders made under statutory powers are a form of secondary legislation. Orders of Council , distinct from Orders in Council, are issued by members of the Privy Council without requiring the approval of the sovereign. Like Orders in Council, they can be made under statutory powers or royal prerogative. Orders of Council are most commonly used for
8262-465: The privilege to Leeds. The Bill was ... framed to extend the right of voting to all Householders rated at or over £5 per annum, which it was estimated would constitute a body of, at least 8,000 Electors for the Borough. When the ... measure came under discussion ... Mr Beaumont ... suggested that the County of York should be divided into two Counties, one consisting of the West Riding and the other of
8364-493: The question gave rise to much discussion at the time ... . The bill provided that the freeholders in boroughs who did not occupy their property should vote in the counties in which the borough was situated. This clause drew forth a torrent of complaint, especially from the Conservatives . Peel pointed out that it would be far simpler for the freeholders in the represented boroughs to vote in the borough where their property
8466-513: The regulation of public institutions and regulatory bodies. The sovereign also grants royal charters on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters bestow special status to incorporated bodies ; they are used to grant chartered status to certain professional, educational or charitable bodies, and sometimes also city and borough status to towns. The Privy Council therefore deals with a wide range of matters, which also includes university and livery company statutes, churchyards , coinage and
8568-583: The speakers of the Indian vernacular languages and existing Sanskrit and Persian texts were of little use for "useful learning". In one of the less scathing passages of the Minute he wrote : I have no knowledge of either Sanskrit or Arabic. But I have done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanskrit works. I have conversed both here and at home with men distinguished by their proficiency in
8670-529: The superiority of the Western European culture and of the inevitability of its sociopolitical progress , is a seminal example of Whig history commended for its prose style. Macaulay was born at Rothley Temple in Leicestershire on 25 October 1800, the son of Zachary Macaulay , a Scottish Highlander , who became a colonial governor and abolitionist , and Selina Mills of Bristol ,
8772-452: The supreme legislature of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, rather than on the advice of Parliament, were accepted as valid. Powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. For example, a committee of
8874-401: The town as a new two member Parliamentary borough . The Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 defined that borough as comprising the parish of Leeds . Lord John Russell, who was the member of the Whig government most involved in taking the reform legislation through Parliament in 1832, still favoured a more extensive franchise than Tory Party spokesmen - just as had been the case more than
8976-615: The town of Leeds , in the West Riding of Yorkshire , England . It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1885. The borough returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) until 1868, and then three MPs from 1868 until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 split the borough into five divisions at the 1885 general election . Until the 1832 United Kingdom general election
9078-400: Was advised by a royal court or curia regis , which consisted of magnates , ecclesiastics and high officials . The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration and justice. Later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice , while Parliament became
9180-592: Was another difference between the character of the county and borough franchises, as determined by the Reform Act. In the latter no claimant could be registered as a voter if he had received parochial relief within the past twelve months; in the counties, no disqualification was attached to the receipt of poor-relief. ... Under the Representation of the People Act 1867 Leeds was given a third seat, but
9282-425: Was created in 1922, but became defunct in 1972, when the Parliament of Northern Ireland was closed down. The sovereign may make Orders in Council upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders in Council, which are drafted by the government rather than by the sovereign, are forms of either primary or secondary legislation , depending on the power they are made under. Orders made under prerogative powers, such as
9384-602: Was educated at a private school in Hertfordshire , and, subsequently, at Trinity College, Cambridge , where he won several prizes, including the Chancellor's Gold Medal in June 1821, and where he in 1825 published a prominent essay on Milton in the Edinburgh Review . Macaulay did not study classical literature while at Cambridge, though he subsequently did when he was in India. In his letters he describes his reading of
9486-659: Was established by a 1910 Order in Council, during Edward VII 's reign, to scrutinise all succession claims (and thus reject doubtful ones) to be placed on the Roll of Baronets . The Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey recommends approval of Channel Islands legislation. The Committee for the purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877 consists of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal as well as
9588-412: Was never cited by name, there can be no doubt that Macaulay answers to the charges brought against Whig historians, particularly that they study the past with reference to the present, class people in the past as those who furthered progress and those who hindered it, and judge them accordingly. According to Speck: [Macaulay too often] denies the past has its own validity, treating it as being merely
9690-523: Was no tradition of secondary education in vernacular languages; the institutions supported by the East India Company taught either in Sanskrit or Persian . Hence, he argued, "We have to educate a people who cannot at present be educated by means of their mother-tongue. We must teach them some foreign language." Macaulay argued that Sanskrit and Persian were no more accessible than English to
9792-500: Was reduced from two MPs to one, and by which Leeds, which had not been represented before, had two MPs. Macaulay remained grateful to his former patron, Lansdowne, who remained his friend. Macaulay was Secretary to the Board of Control under Lord Grey from 1832 until he in 1833 required, as a consequence of the penury of his father, a more remunerative office, than that of the unremunerated office of an MP , from which he resigned after
9894-404: Was situate instead of being forced to travel to the county polling place; moreover if the borough freeholders were allowed to vote in the counties he felt that the boroughs would have an unfair influence in county elections and the rural element would be submerged by the urban. ... Althorp ... pointed out that until 1832 freeholders in the unrepresented towns always had voted in the counties, so
9996-557: Was so full of." However, after coming under German influence Acton would later find fault in Macaulay. In 1880 Acton classed Macaulay (with Burke and Gladstone ) as one "of the three greatest Liberals". In 1883, he advised Mary Gladstone : [T]he Essays are really flashy and superficial. He was not above par in literary criticism; his Indian articles will not hold water; and his two most famous reviews, on Bacon and Ranke , show his incompetence. The essays are only pleasant reading, and
10098-406: Was surely British rather than English. With regards to Macaulay's determination to inspect physically the places mentioned in his History , Potter said: Much of the success of the famous third chapter of the History which may be said to have introduced the study of social history , and even ... local history , was due to the intense local knowledge acquired on the spot. As a result it
10200-524: Was the wealthy ward of Richard 'Conversation' Sharp . Macaulay's strongest emotional relationships were with his youngest sisters: Margaret, who died while he was in India, and Hannah, to whose daughter Margaret, whom he called 'Baba', he was also attached. Macaulay in 1830 accepted the invitation of the Marquess of Lansdowne that he become Member of Parliament for the pocket borough of Calne . Macaulay's maiden speech in Parliament advocated abolition of
10302-511: Was to pass an act disfranchising the place convicted, and transferring the right so abused and forfeited, to some other body of Electors. It devolved upon Lord John Russell , who had conducted the proceedings in the House of Commons ... to originate a Bill for the above purpose. On the meeting of the New Parliament, April 28th, Lord J. Russell gave notice that he should bring in his proposed bill for disfranchising Grampound and transferring
10404-427: Was working on the fifth volume. This, bringing the History down to the death of William III , was prepared for publication by his sister, Lady Trevelyan, after his death. Macaulay's political writings are famous for their ringing prose and for their confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on a progressive model of British history, according to which the country threw off superstition, autocracy and confusion to create
#958041