His disposition was sweet and his life altogether fortunate. His biographer says of him: "Descended from Scotch Presbyterians --ministers many of them--on his father's side, and from a Quaker family on his mother's, he probably united as many guaranties of 'good birth,' in the moral sense of the word, as could be found in these islands at the beginning of the century." He was born at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, in 1800. He was prepared for college at good private schools, and sent to Cambridge when he was eighteen. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1825; but, in the following year, he determined to adopt literature as a profession, owing to the welcome given to his _Essay on Milton_. As he had written epics, histories, and metrical romances prior to the age of ten, his choice of a profession was neither hasty nor unexpected. He continued from this time to write for the _Edinburgh Review_, but literature was not the only field of his activity. He had a seat in Parliament, and he held several positions under the Government. He was never unemployed. Many of his _Essays_ were written before breakfast; while the other members of the household were asleep. He was a voracious reader. If he walked in the country or in London, he always carried a book to read. He spent some years in the government's service in India. On the long voyage over, he read incessantly, and on the return trip he studied the German language. He was beyond the age of forty when he found the leisure to begin his _History of England_. He worked uninterruptedly, but broke down early, dying at the age of fifty-nine. With his large, fine physique, his sturdy common sense, his interest in practical matters, and his satisfaction in the physical improvements of the people, Macaulay was a fine specimen of the English gentleman. Essays and Poetry.--Like De Quincey, Macaulay was a frequent contributor to periodicals. He wrote graphic essays on men of action and historical periods. The essays most worthy of mention in this class are _Sir William Temple, Lord Clive, Warren Hastings_, and _William Pitt, Earl of Chatham_. Some of his essays on English writers and literary subjects are still classic. Among these are _Milton, Dryden, Addison, Southey's Edition of Pilgrim's Progress, Croker's Edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson_, and the biographical essays on _Bunyan, Goldsmith_, and _Johnson_, contributed to the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_. Although they may lack deep spiritual insight into the fundamental principles of life and literary criticism, these essays are still deservedly read by most students of English history and literature.