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LORD CLIVE.

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PREFACE.

MACAULAY'S two Indian Essays were written shortly after his return from India in 1838, and in some respects are equal to anything that ever came from his pen. His mind was at this period in the very hey-day of its strength and vivacity; his style-in some of the earlier Essays overloaded with ornament -had been chastened by self-discipline; to his hoards of learning, enriched with all that is grand and beautiful in the masterpieces of ancient and modern literature, to his study of the history of every age and clime, to his minute and insatiate industry, there had been added the breadth that comes of travel, of novel experiences, of a share in the practical art of government. The subjects, moreover, were well suited to his genius. They involved no subtle analysis of complex characters. They demanded no inquiry into abstract principles. They dealt with the actions of two great men who had pursued definite objects with unflinching tenacity, and whose practical natures were after Macaulay's own heart. They were suited to his genius in other ways. For in their treatment, while avoiding anything like tinsel rhetoric, he found scope for a certain pomp and pride and circumstance of

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