Reading Notes - 1
The History of England from the Accession of James the Second - Lord Macaulay
First off if you have never read Macaulay – you should. Reading Macaulay is like reading some kind of based super Churchill on crack. The precision and ferocity of his prose is immense. I have some of his books from near their original publication date and I absolutely relish the opportunity to read them when I can. Macaulay himself is basically a lib. Technically he was actually a whig. This means his positions are fairly doctrinaire. However his own position within history (he’s kind of a big deal in India) at that point in time makes for some very interesting situational comedy. Again, because he is a Lib, reading him gives some insight into the mind of the lib. A Lot of his thinking, asides, and refrains are essentially the same as you would see from a modern lib. Including winking, derogatory references to the hicks in the American south and other vaguely virtue signally references. However, the incredibly anachronistic terminology he uses while making these references makes for some really hilarious juxtaposition. Without giving too much away, the word “Quadroon” may or may not appear.
Aside from this, what is probably most valuable to take away from reading Macaulay’s writing on English history is to understand his perspective on certain regimes throughout history. In understanding Macaulays views on, for instance, the Norman occupation of England, what might that tell us about his perspective on the British Occupation of India (Spoiler alert, he loves ’em both).