subjects which engrossed his life. His labors were too severe for his
strength, but he worked on, and even harder and harder.

At length on the 25th of November, 1855, Macaulay sent to the printer
the last twenty pages of his History, and an edition of twenty-five
thousand was ordered. Within a generation one hundred and forty thousand
copies of the work were sold in the United Kingdom alone. Six rival
translators were engaged in turning it into German; and it was published
in the Polish, the Danish, the Swedish, the Italian, the French, the
Dutch, the Spanish, the Hungarian, the Russian, and the Bohemian
languages, to say nothing of its immense circulation in the United
States. Such extraordinary literary popularity was accompanied by great
honors. In 1857 Macaulay was created a British Peer and elected Lord
High Steward of the borough of Cambridge. The academies of Utrecht,
Munich, and Turin elected him to honorary membership. The King of
Prussia made him a member of the Order of Merit. Oxford conferred on him
the degree of Doctor of Civil Law, and he was elected president of the
Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh. He could have little more in the
way of academic and governmental honors.

The failing health of Macaulay now compelled him to resign his seat in
the House of Commons. It was also thought desirable for him to vacate
his apartments at The Albany, which he had occupied for fifteen years,
that he might be more retired and perhaps more comfortable. His
friends, at the suggestion of Dean Milman, selected a house in
Kensington, the rooms of which were small, except the library, which
opened upon a beautiful lawn, adorned with flowers and shrubs; it was
called Holly Lodge, and was very secluded and attractive. Here his
latter days were spent, in the society of his nieces and a few devoted
friends, and in dispensing simple hospitalities. His favorite form of
entertainment was the breakfast, at which his guests would linger till
twelve, enchanted by his conversation, for his mind showed no signs
of decay.

From this charming retreat Lord Macaulay very seldom appeared in London
society. Years passed without his even accepting invitations. An
occasional night at a friend's house in the country, one or two nights
at Windsor Castle, and one or two visits to Lord Stanhope's seat in Kent
in order to consult his magnificent library, were the only visits which
Macaulay made in the course of the year. He always had a