last mentioned essay, against the conventional notions respecting
the majesty of history might perhaps have been anticipated
something like the third chapter of the History of England. It
may be amusing to notice that in the article on Mitford, appears
the first sketch of the New Zealander, afterwards filled up in a
passage in the review of Mrs Austin's translation of Ranke, a
passage which at one time was the subject of allusion, two or
three times a week, in speeches and leading articles. In this,
too, appear, perhaps for the first time, the author's views on
the representative system. These he retained to the very last;
they are brought forward repeatedly in the articles published in
this collection and elsewhere, and in his speeches in parliament;
and they coincide with the opinions expressed in the letter to an
American correspondent, which was so often cited in the late
debate on the Reform Bill.

Some explanation appears to be necessary as to the publication of
the three articles "Mill on Government," "Westminster Reviewer's
Defence of Mill" and "Utilitarian Theory of Government."

In 1828 Mr James Mill, the author of the History of British
India, reprinted some essays which he had contributed to the
Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica; and among these was
an Essay on Government. The method of inquiry and reasoning
adopted in this essay appeared to Macaulay to be essentially
wrong. He entertained a very strong conviction that the only
sound foundation for a theory of Government must be laid in
careful and copious historical induction; and he believed that Mr
Mill's work rested upon a vicious reasoning a priori. Upon this
point he felt the more earnestly, owing to his own passion for