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homas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), English essayist, historian, poet, lawyer, and member of Parliament, was a brilliant orator, politician, reformer and humanitarian. His florid style and his Whig sensibilities make his historical essays informative, insightful, and a delight to read. He was a champion of many progressive causes, and his writings provide an understanding of popular government that stands as a monument for all times.

These excerpts were selected from several of Macaulay's essays devoted to various topics. Macaulay had a habit of enriching the subject of his essay by including brief discourses on political topics that served as background to the main topic of the essay. Several of those discourses are collected here that relate to the principles of democratic government. They have received only the least amount of editing needed in order to extract them from their original setting and present them in their own right. The selections are taken from Maucaulay's Critical, Historical, and Miscellaneous Essays and Poems, 3 vols., New York: The Publishers Plate Renting Co., [n.d.]

This is a work in progress, and excerpts on topics related to democratic government will be added from time to time as they come to the editor's attention during his reading of the complete essays of Macaulay.

Eyler Robert Coates, Sr.
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      eyler.coates@worldnet.att.net